Maus: Active and Passive Voice

"Brace yourself - the Bielsko factory has been robbed!"

Who owns the Bielsko factory?

• Vladek

• Art

• Anja

• the Gestapo

"Brace yourself - the Bielsko factory has been robbed!"

What does the expression "brace yourself" mean?

• to stop talking and listen

• to speak louder or repeat yourself

• to prepare yourself for shocking information

• to prepare yourself for impact

"Brace yourself - the Bielsko factory has been robbed!"

Is the verb in this chunk in active or passive voice?

• active - we know who robbed the store

• passive - we don't know who is doing the action

"Brace yourself - the Bielsko factory has been robbed!"

How can you write this sentence in active voice?

Active voice means the subject is performing the action.

• Someone has robbed the Bielsko factory.

• The Bielsko factory was robbed.

• The factory was robbed by Bielsko.

• The factory has been robbed - brace yourself.

"Brace yourself - the Bielsko factory has been robbed!"

Why do you think the speaker used a verb in passive voice to deliver shocking news?

• He doesn't think Vladek will be upset.

• He wants to draw Vladek's attention to the factory, not the crime.

• He doesn't know who robbed it.

• He wants to rebuild the factory.

A strategy for identifying a sentence as active or passive is to look at the subject of the sentence. The subject comes BEFORE the verb. If the subject is performing the action, it is active voice.

What is the subject in the following ACTIVE sentence?

The eighth grader excels in math and science.

• math

• science

• excels

• eighth grader

A strategy for identifying a sentence as active or passive is to look at the subject of the sentence. The subject comes BEFORE the verb. If the subject is NOT the one doing the action, it is passive voice.

What is the subject in the following PASSIVE sentence?

This year's spring play was also written by Maddy.

• this

• spring play

• written

• also

Active or Passive? "But remember, if you're found there, I don't know you!"

Active: the subject clearly performs the action

Passive: the subject does not perform the action

• active - we know who is "finding"

• neither - the sentence has no verb

• passive- we don't know who is "finding"

Active or Passive: Every week or so a truck takes some of the prisoners away.

Active: the subject clearly performs the action

Passive: the subject does not perform the action

• active - we know what takes the prisoners away

• passive - we don't know what takes the prisoners away

• neither - the sentence does not have a verb

How could you rewrite the following active sentence as passive?

Every week or so a truck takes some of the prisoners away.

• Every week or so some of the prisoners are taken away.

• A truck takes some of the prisoners away.

• Some prisoners take a truck away.

• Every week or so some of the prisoners take a truck away.