What is this book about?
Topic:
Grammar
16
Jun
2017
A Real Grammar Quiz (version 2)
Submitted by Karl HagenSeveral years ago, I created something I called a "Real Grammar Quiz." It was born of my irritation with the many so-called grammar quizzes available on the Internet which treat "grammar" as a catch-all term for "writing usage" and focus mostly on spelling, punctuation, and diction rather than grammar in the strict sense. This quiz has proven to be continuously popular since I released it. I've even received reports of a company using it to help screen job applicants for their knowledge of formal grammar.
So for those who are drawn to such things, I've created a second version of the quiz. This is a parallel form to the earlier quiz, with all new questions but constructed with approximately the same balance of question types and (I hope) difficulty.
| Questions | 35 |
|---|---|
| Attempts allowed | Unlimited |
| Available | Always |
| Backwards navigation | Allowed |
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22
Oct
2015
The Concept of a Phrase in Traditional Grammar
Submitted by Karl HagenIn his life of Filippo Brunelleschi, Vasari tells a story about how the artist won the commission to build the dome for the cathedral of Florence:
18
Oct
2015
Before Diagrams
Submitted by Karl HagenThe earliest work to feature sentence diagrams is normally conceded to be S. W. Clark's Practical Grammar (1847). A decade before Clark, however, Frederick A. P. Barnard, who would go on to become president of Columbia College, and for whom Barnard College was named, wrote a very interesting work that is the earliest significant use of graphical symbols to annotate grammatical analysis that I'm aware of.
Andrews, E. A. & Stoddard, S. (1839 [1836]). A Grammar of the Latin Language (Sixth ed.). Boston: Crocker and Brewster.
Barnard, F. A. P. (1836). Analytic Grammar; With Symbolic Illustration. New York: E. French.
Brittain, R. C. (1973). A Critical History of Systems of Sentence Diagramming in English. PhD thesis, University of Texas at Austin.
Brown, G. (1845 [1823]). The Institutes of English Grammar, Methodically Arranged (stereotype ed.). New York: Samuel and William Wood.
Brown was so caught up with revising the technical aspects of English grammar that he paid little attention to pedagogy. His methods are generally traditional, even if the scheme he taught was entirely new. Altogether more innovative in his use of new pedagogical techniques was another writer from the 1830s: Frederick A. P. Barnard, the tenth president of Columbia College (now Columbia University) and the person for whom Barnard College was named.
The earliest, and certainly the most innovative, of these experimenters was James Brown, whose system of "American grammar," attempted a complete break with the terminology of English grammar—or indeed with that of any other system ever devised. A cursory glance at the pages of Brown's works provide the reader with definitions like the following:
II. THE CLAD ORDER,
In the decades before the first full system of diagrams, a number of authors experimented with various ways to visualize grammatical relationships. None of these systems were particularly influential, but they all show early instances of teachers grappling with the same problems that would later give rise to true diagrams.
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(This page was last updated October 17, 2015.)
20
May
2015
Illustrating the Unhelpfulness of that/which Rules
Submitted by Karl HagenThe lede of this TPM article made me do a double-take:
"Gawker writer J.K. Trotter published a report on Monday that alleged Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was accused during divorce proceedings of assaulting his ex-wife before they separated."
Topic:
4
Jan
2015
A Real Grammar Quiz
Submitted by Karl HagenI hate Internet grammar quizzes. Most of them are heavy on matters of punctuation (e.g., its vs. it's), spelling (e.g., there vs. their), and word choice (e.g., less vs. fewer) but light on measuring one's explicit knowledge of grammatical structure. And what grammatical assertions they do make are often wrong, or at least highly debatable. Their primary function seems to be to stroke the egos of those who want to be assured that they are part of the educated elite.
| Questions | 35 |
|---|---|
| Available | Always |
| Backwards navigation | Allowed |
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