DFW Grammar Quiz

Published by marco on

Updated by marco on

The post Grammar Challenge! by Amy McDaniel includes a quiz written by David Foster Wallace that she obtained during a writing course many years ago. Each of the sentences has one major fault—not necessarily a grammatical one—though there may be other, smaller ones as well.

The full text of the quiz is included below; the footnote for each line links to its answer.

25 February 2004

IF NO ONE HAS YET TAUGHT YOU HOW TO AVOID OR REPAIR CLAUSES LIKE THE FOLLOWING, YOU SHOULD, IN MY OPINION, THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT SUING SOMEBODY, PERHAPS AS CO-PLAINTIFF WITH WHOEVER’S PAID YOUR TUITION

He and I hardly see one another.[1]
I’d cringe at the naked vulnerability of his sentences left wandering around without periods and the ambiguity of his uncrossed “t”s.[2]
My brother called to find out if I was over the flu yet.[3]
I only spent six weeks in Napa.[4]
In my own mind, I can understand why its implications may be somewhat threatening.[5]
From whence had his new faith come?[6]
Please spare me your arguments of why all religions are unfounded and contrived.[7]
She didn’t seem to ever stop talking.[8]
As the relationship progressed, I found her facial tic more and more aggravating.[9]
The Book of Mormon gives an account of Christ’s ministry to the Nephites, which allegedly took place soon after Christ’s resurrection.[10]

A second post has the answers and explanations. A summary of these answers are included below (with a bit of space to let people avoid peeking, should they wish to avoid doing so).

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[1] He and I hardly see each otherone another. (The phrase “one another” is for more than two people.)↩

[2] I’d cringe at the naked vulnerability of his sentences left wandering around without periods and at the ambiguity of his uncrossed “t”s. (The speaker is cringing at two things, the first of which—the “sentences”—are followed by a long descriptive clause, which confuses things. It’s easier to spot the problem in a shorter version: “I’d cringe at his sentences and at his ‘t’s.”)↩

[3] My brother called to find out whetherif I was over the flu yet. (If “whether” fits, use it instead of “if”, which implies conditionality and can confuse intent.)↩

[4] I spent only six weeks in Napa. (The word “only” should modify “six”, not “spent”. The speaker wanted to use “only” to indicate a short length of time, not to indicate that time was only spent, rather than “worked” or “wasted” or whatever else one can do with time.)↩

[5] In my own mind, I can understand why its implications may be somewhat threatening. (The introductory phrase “In my own mind” is redundant as that is the only place in which understanding can possibly take place for anyone. Dropping the phrase simultaneously prevents the “its” from referring back to the “mind” in the original, which suggested that the mind’s implications were somewhat threatening, which made no sense whatsoever.)↩

[6] From Whence had his new faith come? (“Whence” means “From where”, so “From whence” is redundant.)↩

[7] Please spare me your arguments as toof why all religions are unfounded and contrived. (DFW claimed “idiom error”, which basically means it’s wrong because it’s wrong. The preposition “of” doesn’t perform the segue as well as “as to”.)↩

[8] She didn’t seem ever to everstop talking. (The word “ever” splits the infinitive “to stop”. Though split infinitives are not always verboten, they should definitely be avoided wherever it is possible to do so without “sacrificing meaning or elegance of expression.”↩

[9] As the relationship progressed, I found her facial tic more and more irritatingaggravating. (The word “aggravating” means “to make worse”; what is meant here is “to irritate” or “to annoy”. The word “aggravate” has, of late, been used colloquially as a synonym of these words, but it’s actually not. The point is to avoid synonyms with “a fraught usage history” as they unnecessarily distract the reader.↩

[10] The Book of Mormon gives an account of Christ’s ministry to the Nephites, which allegedly took place soon after HisChrist’s resurrection. (“Christ” is needlessly repeated, which makes the sentence more cumbersome.)↩