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Pructus Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Mark Twain
Hi,
Below is an excerpt from Mark Twain, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. The underlined "should"... Is it to be understood as (A) "have to", something that must be done, that is required to be done", or does it mean (B) out of some logical reason, it is reasonable to think so, or (C) both understanding id possible?
To make clear the distinction between (A) and (B)... Here are examples.
An example of (A) is: You should obey the law, or you will be punished.
An example of (B): I should know that, because I had done the job before.
*** *** ***
The question as to whether there is such a thing as divine right
of kings is not settled in this book. It was found too difficult.
That the executive head of a nation should be a person of lofty
character and extraordinary ability, was manifest and indisputable;
that none but the Deity could select that head unerringly, was
also manifest and indisputable; that the Deity ought to make that
selection, then, was likewise manifest and indisputable; consequently,
that He does make it, as claimed, was an unavoidable deduction.
I mean, until the author of this book encountered the Pompadour,
and Lady Castlemaine, and some other executive heads of that kind;
these were found so difficult to work into the scheme, that it
was judged better to take the other tack in this book (which
must be issued this fall), and then go into training and settle
the question in another book. It is, of course, a thing which
ought to be settled, and I am not going to have anything particular
to do next winter anyway.
Below is an excerpt from Mark Twain, A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. The underlined "should"... Is it to be understood as (A) "have to", something that must be done, that is required to be done", or does it mean (B) out of some logical reason, it is reasonable to think so, or (C) both understanding id possible?
To make clear the distinction between (A) and (B)... Here are examples.
An example of (A) is: You should obey the law, or you will be punished.
An example of (B): I should know that, because I had done the job before.
*** *** ***
The question as to whether there is such a thing as divine right
of kings is not settled in this book. It was found too difficult.
That the executive head of a nation should be a person of lofty
character and extraordinary ability, was manifest and indisputable;
that none but the Deity could select that head unerringly, was
also manifest and indisputable; that the Deity ought to make that
selection, then, was likewise manifest and indisputable; consequently,
that He does make it, as claimed, was an unavoidable deduction.
I mean, until the author of this book encountered the Pompadour,
and Lady Castlemaine, and some other executive heads of that kind;
these were found so difficult to work into the scheme, that it
was judged better to take the other tack in this book (which
must be issued this fall), and then go into training and settle
the question in another book. It is, of course, a thing which
ought to be settled, and I am not going to have anything particular
to do next winter anyway.
Top answer
To my ear it is a mix of advisory should and expectational should , but advisory should (your A) seems to be more prominent. There is even a shade of evaluative should present in the statement. ) [It is indisputable / It is only reasonable] that the head of a nation should be such a person.
- To my ear it is a mix of advisory should and expectational should , but advisory should (your A) seems to be more prominent.
- There is even a shade of evaluative should present in the statement.
- ) [It is indisputable / It is only reasonable] that the head of a nation should be such a person.
- CJ
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4 Answers
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To my ear it is a mix of advisory should and expectational should, but advisory should (your A) seems to be more prominent.
There is even a shade of evaluative should present in the statement. (It's almost like would.)
[It is indisputable / It is only reasonable] that the head of a nation should be such a person.
CJ
There is even a shade of evaluative should present in the statement. (It's almost like would.)
[It is indisputable / It is only reasonable] that the head of a nation should be such a person.
CJ
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Oh, I see....
Those seem to be good terms, "advisory" and "expectational"...
Thanks....
Those seem to be good terms, "advisory" and "expectational"...
Thanks....
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pructusThose seem to be good terms, "advisory" and "expectational"...Yes. Well, I like them better than the terms so often used in the linguistics literature: deontic and epistemic.
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