Passive v. Active Voice

The active voice  When a sentence is in the active voice, the subject of the sentence is the actor. The subject is doing the action in the sentence.  Examples:  – The boy kicked the ball.  – The lawyer argued the case.

The passive voice  When a sentence is in the passive voice, – The subject is the receiver of the action. – The complete verb has at least two words. One of them is a form of “to be” (be, is, am, are, was, were, been). Examples: – The ball was kicked. – The books were shelved by the librarian

Problems with the passive voice Vague, because no actor is identified. Wordier, especially if the writer names the actor in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence. Examples: – The argument was made. How is this sentence vague? – The argument was made by Becky.  How can you make this sentence less wordy?

 1. "The reason I was standing way up on Thomsen Hill, instead of down at the game, was because I'd just gotten back from New York with the fencing team.”  Active or passive? Should this be changed?

 I damn near puked, listening to him. His date kept saying, "No—please. Please, don't. Please." But old Stradlater kept snowing her in this Abraham Lincoln, sincere voice, and finally there'd be this terrific silence in the back of the car.  Active or passive? Should this be changed?

Holden’s Passive Voice The passive voice creates distance, whereas active verbs feel immediate and real. Holden needs to create distance between himself and his reality.  Why would he want to distant himself when he is standing on top of that hill?  Why does he use passive voice when talking about himself and not about others (especially Stradlater)? Holden uses strategies of minimization of language as a form of self-protection. How does Holden’s use of passive voice relate to his narrative voice?

More on Holden’s Passive Voice 