Competent Writing Skills (was Re: teacher rants)

[S J Pate]

I'm no english/writing teacher, but that is most definitely a complete
sentence, if a flowery one. I'm thinking the confusion arises from the use
of "summer afternoons when the tar bubbles bloom in the road" as an
adverbial phrase, after which there should be a comma, of course. The
comma, along with a nice preposition, would render the sentence much clearer:

"[On] Summer afternoons when the tar bubbles bloom in the road, wild
daisies beckon girls to seek petal fortunes and weave chains of fragrant
dreams." 

Still a pretty bad sentence.

SJ

At 10:10 PM 7/13/97 -0700, Joe wrote:
>At 08:30 PM 7/12/97 -0700, Paul Mackin wrote:
>>The text in question: (non pynchonian)
>>
>> "Summer afternoons when the tar bubbles bloom in the road wild daisies
>> beckon girls to seek petal fortunes and weave chains of fragrant dreams."
>>
>>Joe sez:
>> How does "summer afternoons" function in
>> this sentence?  Doesn't it need a predicate or a preposition? 
>>
>>I say: Summer afternoons is an adverb or adverbial phrase. Doesn't
>>really need a proposition or verbal.
>>
>>Joe sez: I'm waiting to find out
>>> what the "summer afternoons" are doing.
>>
>>I say: they're modifying 'wild daisies beckon.' Telling WHEN
>>the action occurs.
>
>I've still got to disagree with you; it still seems to me like some kind of
>dangling noun phrase or something.
>
>Any of you english/writing teachers want to weigh in on this?
>
>>Hope this is taken as good clean fun.
>
>Of course.
>
>Joe
>
>
>