Greeadbeeak’s Good Day: A Story Involving Active and Passive Voice

This summer as I lazed at the beach, I was reading a book, nothing much to do with grammar except for the writer’s excellent command of the English language. Early in the book, I noticed the author’s use of passive voice for emphasis. He moves the story along nicely in active voice but then suddenly shifts to three short sentences in passive voice, changing the whole cadence of the paragraph. The effect caught my attention to the max. To emulate the author’s technique, I’ve written the following bit of prose:

Greeadbeeak, a savvy sea gull, regarded tourists as they arrived at the beach with bags full of tasty food. Greeadbeeak saw her favorites – salty, crispy chips! Yum! She soared above, screeching welcome, and then hovered in the air near the tourists. Greeadbeeak especially noted the children, the very same children who just then spotted her and pointed, delighted to see a genuine seabird native to the Gulf of Mexico. “Wow! Look, a bird! Can we feed it, Mom…please, please?”

Neither the excited children nor their parents knew that the locals (some of them, the less than generous ones) called Greeadbeeak and her kind wharf rats, sea rats, and other unflattering terms. “Never mind locals,” Greeadbeeak thought to herself, contented with the present situation, an opportunity if she had ever seen one (and she had). Greeadbeeak’s thoughts continued, passively floating into her mind one by one:

“Gullible Tourists are known as easy marks.”

“Keys to snacks are held by their friendly young.”

“Salty, tasty snacks would soon be tossed to her beak.”

Greeadbeeak perceived the situation correctly. With her whole flock, she caught many tasty bites of food as the children threw chip after chip into the air just to see the white gulls catch them. When the sun had set and the tourists had driven away, Greeadbeeak, well fed, listened to the waves as she roosted and enjoyed the breeze softly rustling her feathers. Later, she dreamed of salty, crispy corn and potato chips and her own inestimable play among tourists who had shared their bounty with her and her flock that day.

From the story above, the following are examples of active and passive voice:

Ex. 1 Active voice: Greeadbeeak (subject) regarded (verb)

Ex. 2. Passive voice: Tourists (subject) were known (helping verb and verb)

The basic difference between active and passive voice is that in active voice, the subject is the one acting in the sentence; whereas in passive voice, the subject is acted upon, has something happen to it.

The effective use of passive voice can also be likened to a public speaker’s use of tone and volume. He’s exhorting the crowd, loudly proclaiming, and then suddenly drops his voice to a very soft register, nearly a whisper. Everyone in the audience leans forward, intent on catching every word. The orator has caught their attention…maybe to the max. Used sparingly, not often and generally for a reason, passive voice can serve a writer well.

See you next time the breeze is cool, the sun is up, and the waves roll into view! My next entry is coming soon. ‘Til then, hang ten!