Tuesday, September 7, 2010

What Have You done To Me?


Number of Pronouns: 2 - you, me.
Number of verbs: 2 - done (past tense of to do), have.
Number of prepositions: 1 - to.
Number of question words: 1 - what (WHquestion).
Punctuation: 1 question mark.

There are five words in the sentence, mostly pronouns and verbs, no adjectives, adverbs or proper nouns.

The use of the past participle of the verb to do (have done) implies that there are no alternatives for the consequences of the subject's action.

The subject, me, feels that the perpetrator, you, has done something. That something is done to the subject implies that whatever the effect is on me, they should not be responsible. The responsibility for the action, the 'what' is clearly on the shoulders of you. This could be a positive something, like 'you made me smell like roses' but it could equally be a negative something, like, 'you made me crash the car and now my arm is broken.' Either way, the subject, me, puts them self as the consequent subject to you. The me character is clearly feeling less in control, subjugated or manipulated by you. The fact that me tells you this information, informs us that there is a direct mode of communication, perhaps even humour in the statement, though underpinned by a somewhat cynical view of their situation.

1 comment:

  1. I think about inserting some wild inaccuracies to give her some space for her work. "Before I got irritated and said, 'it's not true, I never said that', I now rub my hands, when I've found something wrong. It's another way of taking care of myself, a way of turning things around. Instead of being upset about being misinterpreted, I go looking for it, I hope for it, I wait for it. It's the right method, turning things to my advantage in order not to suffer from them."
    -Sophie Calle
    Interview with Angelique Chrisafis
    The Guardian, Saturday 16 June 2007

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