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Janewantslearn Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Could you please help me understand this grammar.

"At its peak is storia, epic or heroic history whose elevating character is suitable in places of power and authority."
I couldn't figure out what the clause "whose..." refers to. Does it just refer to heroic history*? Or all *storia, epic and heroic history. Is there any rule to figure this out except understanding it by meaning?
Thanks.
  

Top answer

It seems to me that "epic or heroic history" is explaining or defining "storia" (in apposition), in which case the punctuation dictates that "whose" must grammatically refer to "epic or heroic history", though semantically it is also by implication describing a property of "storia". The original has "storia" in italics, which is another clue that what follows may be an explanation, but this is lost in your transcription. Your interpretations seem to require that "epic" is an uncountable noun, or that "storia" modifies "history", both of which seem unlikely if not impossible.

— GPY

  • It seems to me that "epic or heroic history" is explaining or defining "storia" (in apposition), in which case the punctuation dictates that "whose" must grammatically refer to "epic or heroic history", though semantically it is also by implication describing a property of "storia".
  • The original has "storia" in italics, which is another clue that what follows may be an explanation, but this is lost in your transcription.
  • Your interpretations seem to require that "epic" is an uncountable noun, or that "storia" modifies "history", both of which seem unlikely if not impossible.
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2 Answers
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It seems to me that "epic or heroic history" is explaining or defining "storia" (in apposition), in which case the punctuation dictates that "whose" must grammatically refer to "epic or heroic history", though semantically it is also by implication describing a property of "storia".

The original has "storia" in italics, which is another clue that what follows may be an explanation, but th
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Hi GPY, Thank you so much for your answer and analysis. I guessed two possibilities, and never thought there are more choices. I agree your analysis is more suitable to the sentence,and thank you very much for pointing out why my interpretations are wrong, it's very useful to me.
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