Unit 5 Active Reader

Grammar Punctuation Usage Lens


Page 1

The question is not whether societies desire welfare or not.


There are four sentence types in terms of structure: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A complex sentence contains one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.


This sentence is a complex sentence because it consists of an independent clause (The question is not) and a dependent clause (whether societies desire welfare or not).


The dependent clause, whether societies desire welfare or not, is a subordinating clause. It begins with an adverb (whether) that modifies another adverb (not). This group of words cannot stand alone as a sentence.



Therefore, if indicators are to drive the policies that push society in a genuine direction of progress, they should adequately measure wellbeing and progress.


A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns fall into one of three categories: first-, second-, or third-person pronouns.

In this sentence, the writer uses a third-person pronoun. They is a third person plural pronoun used in place of indicators, which appears near the beginning of the sentence. Because they replaces indicators in the second part of the sentence, indicators is the antecedent, or what comes before.

Examples of other third-person pronouns include “he,” “she,” and “it.”



It was never developed as a measure of social wellbeing or progress.


There are four sentence types in terms of structure: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A simple sentence contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.


This is a simple sentence because it has one independent clause. It is the subject of the sentence. (“It” is a third-person pronoun used in place of “Gross Domestic Product” or “GDP.”) The remainder of the sentence, was never developed as a measure of social wellbeing or progress, forms the predicate of this simple sentence.


Together, the subject and predicate form a group of words that completes a thought.



It is one measure of progress perhaps, but there are many other things to think about.


There are four sentence types in terms of structure: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A compound sentence contains multiple independent clauses but no dependent clauses.


This sentence is a compound sentence. It contains two independent clauses. A compound sentence contains at least two independent clauses.


Both of these clauses could stand alone as sentences. Here are the two independent clauses:


It is one measure of progress perhaps.


There are many other things to think about.


These two clauses are separated by a comma and the coordinating conjunction but.



If more holistic, comprehensive, and sustainable indicators are to emerge, what variables should be used?


Commas group and separate information in sentences to help the reader understand what the writer is trying to say. Writers use commas to separate items in a list or when showing a series of information.


In this sentence, there is a list of adjectives that are separated by commas. One of the most common uses of commas is to separate items in a series. This practice eliminates confusion because the reader can tell that each item is distinct.


The adjectives holistic, comprehensive, and sustainable modify the noun indicators. They describe the indicators that would help us analyze GDP as a measure of happiness. Writers often list adjectives as a way to add richness to their descriptions.



Page 2

In 2008, it shifted from being an absolute monarchy to a multiparty parliamentary democracy.


A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns fall into one of three categories: first-, second-, or third-person pronouns.


This sentence contains a third-person pronoun: it. This word stands in for Bhutan, the name of the country being described. Bhutan is the antecedent of the pronoun it.


This essay does not include first- or second-person pronouns. If the writer wrote about himself, he would use the first-person pronoun “I.” If the writer addressed the reader, he would use the second-person pronoun “you.” However, since the writer discusses concepts such as GDP and happiness, people such as the King of Bhutan and economists, and places such as the U.S. and Bhutan, he uses third-person pronouns such as “it,” “its,” “they,” and “their.”



In recent years, however, with more Bhutanese students pursuing education in India, the United States, and elsewhere, and with Bhutan slowly opening up to the world, the concept of GNH has been scrutinized and sometimes criticized for not being measurable or statistically sound.


There are four sentence types in terms of structure: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A simple sentence contains one independent clause and no dependent clauses.


This sentence is a long and descriptive simple sentence. Remember that length alone does not determine whether a sentence is simple, complex, compound, or compound-complex.


Let’s look at the pieces of the sentence:


In recent years is a prepositional phrase telling when the concept of GNH has been scrutinized and criticized.


however is a conjunctive adverb or transitional word showing the relationship between this sentence and the previous sentence.


with more Bhutanese students is a prepositional phrase describing the conditions under which GNH is scrutinized and criticized.


pursuing education in India, the United States, and elsewhere is a participial phrase acting as an adjective that tells more about the prepositional phrase with more Bhutanese students. (Notice that the three places—India, the United States, and elsewhere—are items in a series that are separated by commas.)


and is a conjunction separating two prepositional phrases and their modifiers. (Both prepositional phrases start with the word with.)


with Bhutan is a prepositional phrase.


slowly opening up to the world is a participial phrase modifying the prepositional phrase “with Bhutan.” It has its own modifiers, including “slowly” and the prepositional phrase “to the world.”


the concept of GNH has been scrutinized and sometimes criticized is the main part of the sentence. It contains the subject concept and two verbs: scrutinized and criticized. Since both verbs have the same subject, this sentence does not have a compound structure.


for not being measurable or statistically sound is a prepositional phrase acting as an adverb. It explains why the concept of GNH has been scrutinized and criticized.



Page 3

The psychological wellbeing domain of the GNH questionnaire covers three areas: general psychological distress indicators, emotional balance indicators, and spirituality indicators.


Commas group and separate information in sentences to help the reader understand what the writer is trying to say. Writers use commas to separate items in a list or when showing a series of information.


This sentence contains a list of items that are separated by commas. The items are general psychological distress indicators, emotional balance indicators, and spirituality indicators. These three indicators, as the writer explains, are the specific areas that the GNH questionnaire covers. Notice that the colon (:) after “areas” announces the list of items. Writers frequently use a colon to introduce items in a series.



It examines the nature of trust, belongingness, vitality of caring relationships, safety in home and community, and giving and volunteering.


A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns fall into one of three categories: first-, second-, or third-person pronouns.

This sentence contains the third-person pronoun it. If we look at the previous sentence, we can see that it refers to the domain of community vitality, one of the measures of GNH used in Bhutan.


Notice, too, that this sentence contains a list of items separated by commas. The items in a series are the nature of trust, belongingness, vitality of caring relationships, safety in home and community, and giving and volunteering. There is no comma between giving and volunteering because they are intended to be one item rather than separate items.



Health status indicators show information on self-rated health, disabilities, body-mass index, number of healthy days per month, knowledge about HIV transmission, and breast feeding practices.


Commas group and separate information in sentences to help the reader understand what the writer is trying to say. Writers use commas to separate items in a list or when showing a series of information.


This sentence contains a number of items listed in a series. The writer separates these items with commas.


The six items are as follows:


Notice that the writer places a comma between the next-to-last item and the conjunction and that leads to the last item listed: breast feeding practices. This final comma in the list is commonly called the Oxford comma, and most grammar and usage handbooks recommend using it.



Page 4

The education domain consists of the following areas: educational attainment, Dzongkha language, and folk and historical literacy.

Commas group and separate information in sentences to help the reader understand what the writer is trying to say. Writers use commas to separate items in a list or when showing a series of information.


Notice that in this list of items there is not a comma between folk and historical literacy. The writer does not separate these two with a comma because he is discussing two kinds of literacy: folk literacy and historical literacy. The adjectives folk and historical both modify the noun literacy.

If the writer had placed a comma after folk, the meaning of the sentence would be different. With the comma, the writer would have conveyed the meaning of folk as another word for people rather than a type of literacy. Commas are very important in helping writers convey meaning to their audiences.





The Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) is the planning branch of the government, and they use the information that the GNH index reveals to construct policies that promote GNH.

There are four sentence types in terms of structure: simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex. A compound-complex sentence contains multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.


This is a compound-complex sentence. It contains two independent clauses connected with a comma and coordinating conjunction (and).

It also contains two dependent clauses.

Compound-complex sentences contain at least two independent clauses and at least one dependent clause.

Here are the two independent clauses:

The Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) is the planning branch of the government,

and

they use the information

Here are the two dependent clauses:

that the GNH index reveals to construct policies

and

that promote GNH.



Reading Credit: Adapted from Gross National Happiness in Bhutan: A Living Example of an Alternative Approach to Progress, by Alejandro Adler Braun. Used with permission from Alejandro Adler Braun. © Copyright 2012 Alejandro Adler. All Rights Reserved.