1. Voices Dynamism and Reporting

2. Voices • Sakuya pinched Meiling’s cheek. • Meiling’s cheek was pinched by Sakuya. • Do both sentences have the same meaning? • What’s the difference? • Which of the two seems to denote more action?

3. Voices

4. Voices Consider the following: • The angel struck down King Sennacherib’s army of 185,000 soldiers. • King Sennacherib’s army of 185,000 soldiers was struck down by the angel. • What is the difference in the “feel” given by the sentences? • The passive voice sometimes ends up slightly awkward, especially if the sentence is meant to be action-packed. • It sounds like a news report, which is typically not very exciting if compared to a novel.

5. Voices Consider the following: • The scientists mixed 500 ml of HCl into 1 liter of H20. • 500 ml of HCl was mixed into 1 liter of H2O. • In this case, the first sentence sounds awkward because it “tries” to be exciting, yet the presence of the chemical symbols and measurements makes it come off as unnecessarily detailed for a literary narration. • The second is more proper for a scientific lab report, as it has a more objective tone.