As I’ve mentioned before I’m a total book freak!!
Something, you might not know about me, unless you have snooped around a bit on my site, is that I majored in not only Elementary Education, but I pulled a double major as an English major! I am actually a grammar freak!
Like I say, you can’t tell that by my site. I do what I do, and try to keep it neat, but hey, it’s my blog for goodness sake! I have wrote so many papers and stuff over the years, I try to give myself a break when I can.
(I also like root words/pre fixes and suffixes and trying to decode the meanings of big word!)
Ahum. Anyways, I got the chance to review The Glamour of Grammar: A guide to the magic and mystery of practical english by Roy Peter Clark (that is a link to the publishers page).
The book was really easy to read and quite fascinating! There were all kinds of helpful tips and advice.At the end of each chapter there is a keepsakes section, which include sometimes things to do,(there was one about picking your favorite letter and making a profile about it) and also things that you can take away from that chapter!
One thing that really struck me the most was that there was a page about sentence diagramming! I don’t know if any of you all have ever had to do that or not? I had to do them in college for my grammar class, and I couldn’t do it to save my life. I think I was out when they went over it in class, and noone even understood it anyways!
I really couldn’t find any information even online to help me with doing it.I couldn’t even find it in any of my English books.
I actually had to call one of my aunts who was friends with an English teacher, and she did them for me! (she had her reasons, she basically said they were outdated, and that it was really difficult thing to explain to someone)
It was really nice to learn the history of it, and see it mentioned in a book somewhere! I can’t believe that these were popular up till the 70’s and kids did this stuff in elementary school.
If you like english, grammar,etc I would defiantly advise you to check out this book! I think that you could find some interesting information. I really hope to take a few things away from it, and try some of the things in the keepsakes sections!
Here is the description of the book from the publisher
Early in the history of English, the words “grammar” and “glamour” meant the same thing: the power to charm. Roy Peter Clark, author of Writing Tools, aims to put the glamour back in grammar with this fun, engaging alternative to stuffy instructionals. In this practical guide, readers will learn everything from the different parts of speech to why effective writers prefer concrete nouns and active verbs. THE GLAMOUR OF GRAMMAR gives readers all the tools they need to”live inside the language”–to take advantage of grammar to perfect their use of English, to instill meaning, and to charm through their writing.
This item was provided to me in exchange for my honest opinon! I was not required to give a positive review.
