Lesson 3 | The Third Pass: Arrows
Connecting Phrases with Arrows
Based on our indentation of the clauses in the second pass, we are now going to draw arrows between the phrases in the third pass. The reason for arrows is that they help to make the connection between phrases clear. There are four ways using arrows does this.
- Drawing an arrow from a subordinate phrase to its anchor phrase shows us if the anchor phrase is above or below the subordinate phrase.
- Drawing an arrow to a specific word (for genitive phrases) vs. the phrase at large clarifies what the specific point of connection is.
- Using curved arrows helps us to distinguish relative phrases and makes the connection between the relative pronoun and its antecedent explicit.
- Using different colors for the arrows gives us an instant visual reminder of the types of phrases in a passage.
Now, let’s look at the three types of arrows you’re going to use in the third pass.
Common Subordinate Phrases
Use yellow arrows for every subordinate phrase except for genitive and relative phrases. I’ll demonstrate how to do this in the Phrasing module in the next step; for now, you just need to know that for every subordinate relationship except for genitive and relative phrases, you add a yellow arrow to connect the phrases.
The phrase “in your youth” modifies its anchor phrase, “rejoice, O young man,” and so a yellow arrow connects them, pointing from the subordinate phrase to the first word in its anchor phrase.
When an anchor phrase has more than one subordinate phrase, you connect those phrases with one yellow arrow, as below.
The only exception to adding an arrow is when you have a list—two or more items parallel to each other on separate lines.
Because “foolish controversies,” “genealogies,” etc., are multiple direct objects of the verb “avoid,” and would be kept on the same line if they occurred on their own, a list is formed. But because there is not a subordinate relationship, there should be no yellow arrow. “About the law,” however, does have an arrow and connects to the last item in the list alone since that is the only item it directly relates to.
To help you spot lists, look for instances of one verb governing multiple direct objects (as above), or one subject governing multiple verbs.
Two Unique Phrases
Genitive and relative phrases are two phrase types that we want to display distinctly in order to highlight their unique attributes.
Use blue arrows for genitive phrases. The arrow will point from the genitive phrase to its anchor phrase.
But there is a key difference between the yellow arrows and the blue arrows that connect genitive phrases to their anchor phrases: the blue arrow points at the specific head noun of the genitive phrase rather than the beginning of its anchor phrase. (That’s why we indented genitive phrases past their head noun in the second pass.)
Use green arrows for relative phrases. You also use a different kind of arrow for relative phrases—a curved arrow. It points from the relative pronoun in the relative phrase to the referent of that relative pronoun.
The first “who” is pointing back to “those,” and the second is pointing back to “man.” These green arrows make the referent of a relative pronoun easier to see. The only time you shouldn't draw an arrow from a relative pronoun to its antecedent is when it is used in a question, in which case it has no antecedent (see Malachi 3:2 for an example).
