Why We Kill the Passive Voice
What is the passive voice and why do historians hate it? Passives
can occur in the present tense (is, are constructions), but occur more
commonly in the past tense (was, were constructions). "Mistakes
were made." "Help was not given." The passive voice
is unacceptable for historical writing because it ignores or masks
causation. In history we must explain precisely who did what to whom.
Recent Examples: The Bush II administration admitted that it improperly altered a report
documenting large racial and ethnic disparities in health care. "There was a mistake made,"
Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, told
Congress on Feb. 10, 2004. In April 2007, Bush II attorney general Alberto Gonzalez, in the midst of multiple justice department scandals, said "Mistakes were made."
What's wrong with the above statements?
You got it!
Using the passive hides the truth. WHO made the mistakes? As
you can see, the passive voice well serves those seeking to conceal or withhold
vital information. Not surprisingly, lawyers, politicians, and advertisers
find the passive very congenial.
As historians, we must explain who did what and why. We cannot
have anonymous mistakes simply appear. Somebody did something--the
historian must identify who. In fairness to Tommy, he did, when pressed,
volunteer more information about the "who." "Some individuals took
it upon themselves" he told Congress. Oh, that's really helpful to
historians. "Some individuals??" Unless your job requires profession
lying, evasion, and avoiding responsibility, avoid the passive. Sounds
like "some individuals" working for Tommy could use a little more oversight
from their boss. And I'm certain he did not know about the mistake
before Congress noticed. So far, Alberto has not volunteered even this tangential information.
Don't need more explanation? Ready to see how we kill the passive and render it active?
Need more convincing? OK. Another example: Passive: "People were killed by the explosion." Active: "A religious fundamentalist named John Doe threw a bomb into a crowded MacDonalds and killed two people, 12-year-old Jason Williams and twenty-year-old Julie Adams." In the latter example, we know who did what to whom. That is the essence of analytical, historical writing. [Note that I have also added as many specifics as possible. Identify specific individuals and social groups. Don't write "people" when you mean gauchos.]
Because we're writing about the past, historical essays often exhibit lots of passive voice sentences (was/ were). We need to avoid the passive in most instances. "Be a verb activist whenever you can," suggests DeWitt Scott. Likewise Strunk and White note that "the active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive." The boring passive drags down our narrative, but more seriously it avoids the essential concern of history-- causation. Do not avoid the issue of causation; confront it.
Most students overuse the passive voice in general and in historical essays in particular. Instead we want to rely on the simple past tense. Kill was/were constructions and substitute -ed verbs (simple past).
OK, let see how we kill the passive and render it active!
Don't take my word for it. No good writer likes the passive!
- The
Passive Voice: Its Proper and Improper Uses, Capital Community College,
Hartford, CT "The worst offense of the passive voice is when business
interests, government agencies, or the military (who must get weary
of this accusation) use the passive voice to avoid responsibility for
actions taken. Thus 'Cigarette ads were designed to appeal especially
to children' places the burden on the ads — as opposed to 'We designed
the cigarette ads to appeal especially to children,' in which 'we'
accepts responsibility." Likewise, historians cannot avoid identifying
and assigning responsibility for past actions.
- Recognizing
the Passive Voice, Arizona Statee University Writing Center "The
passive is particularly useful (even recommended) in two situations:
1. When it is more important to draw our attention to the person or
thing acted upon: The English instructor was killed during the early
morning hours.
2. When the actor in the situation is not important: The aurora borealis
can be observed in the early morning hours.
The most basic kind of sentence follows what is called the SVO pattern.
It begins with a subject (S), something performing an action; then
it has a verb (V), which is the action; then it has an object (O),
something that receives the action. (Not all sentences have an O.)
Passive voice slows down your writing and makes it wordy. Imagine reading
a whole paragraph of sentences that begin with "There is," "There are,"
"It is" or "They are." You can probably tell how that would get boring
and monotonous after awhile. Using more active verbs eliminates wordiness
and makes what you have written more interesting to read."
- Passive
Voice, About.com Homework Help by Kenneth Beare Also good tips
for those writing English as a Second Language (ISL).
- Passive
to Active Transformations by Kenneth Beare Practice turning passive
into active sentences.
|