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Style:
Passive Voice
Here's an example from the
"Channeling" memo of the Selective Service (1965), describing
how certain men in scientific and technological jobs receive deferments,
while others are "channeled" into the military:
This deferment is
accomplished
on the basis of evidence of record in each individual case. No group
deferments are permitted. Deferments are granted, however,
in a realistic atmosphere so that the fullest effect of channeling will
be felt, rather than be terminated by military service at too
early a time.
Here the passive voice permits the
Selective Service Board to hide behind impersonal language. Passive
voice is the language of the done-to;
A registrar reading this memo would
not know who was doing what to whom, only that some vast
bureaucratic process was at work which might draft him.
Sometimes the language of the done-to is
useful:
The Vietnam memorial bears the names of
those who were killed in the war. The
houses were covered in snow up to the windows.
More often, the active voice helps
illustrate the agent and the effects of action.
Lucy was bitten by the vampire
and transformed into a vamp.
The vampire bit Lucy, transforming her into a vamp.
It was arranged that Senator
Flugelhorn be summoned before the subcommittee to answer certain
charges which had been brought against him by his former aides.
The subcommittee summoned Senator Flugelhorn to answer charges
made by his former aides.
Passive Voice
Intransitive Verbs
Too Many Little Words
Adverbitis
Hitchhikers, Babblers, and Jaw-Flappers
Windy and Pretentious Language
Balance and Consistency
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