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Rex Barks: Diagramming Sentences Made Easy By Phyllis DavenportLisa VanDamme ( Paper Tiger (NJ) )
Release Date: 2004-04-28
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $29.95
Price: $26.31
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 Drawing on Good Grammar ( psdwrite )
I look back at Miss Spargo, my high school English teacher, and remember her as OLD, man, really OLD, when she was hardly more than a few years older than I am now! I can still see her erect, school-marmish figure holding forth at the front of the class as she diagrammed sentences relentlessly and ad nauseum.
At the time, I found sentence diagramming a bit of a joke. It was only until I was out in the adult world that I realized I was using it almost every time I had something important to write. Oh, I don't mean I was mapping out every last sentence, but I certainly dusted off this arcane skill when I had a sentence that stumped me.
Now I think if only this book was a required text in high schools throughout this country, we might be graduating students who are articulate and grammatical, capable of writing and speaking the King's English, instead of stumbling through rudimentary sentences like illiterate third graders.
I despair over the future of this wonderful country with the current dumbing down of its educational system and the distressing trend of gauging student performance backwards by letting the poorest students set the bar for the highest. Formerly the school system set standards of excellence that everyone struggled to meet, and those who flunked, flunked. Now a high school diploma means nothing and four years of college is its equivalent. A masters degree is the current equivalent of a former college degree. At one time this country had one of the best school systems in the world. Current statistics show we are ranked as number eleven. Imagine!
If there's been a hole in your education, or if you have a child you'd REALLY like to give a leg up, or if you're just plain rusty in the finer points of grammar, this book is all you're going to need.
As a summer project, why not take a chapter a week and tutor your children at home with this disappearing key to the art of sound grammatical practice? When is a little enlightenment ever a bad thing? Your kids will think you're nuts now, but thank you when they're older and holding down a corporate job in which they need to write a sensible memo.
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Rex Barks teaches you grammar, the best way
I learned more about grammar and writing in the first ten pages than I did in 8 years of a Masters degree in English. This is a must have for all teachers or anyone who wants to understand the English language.
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27 years of efficacy ( kacouper )
Mrs. Davenport was my tenth-grade English teacher and we were the first class to use this book in class. She was great and the experience helped me learn writing and editing skills that I am using today as a professional writer. I always assumed that everyone got the same kind of education, but I see evidence to the contrary on a regular basis. Also, I can still recite Hamlet's soliliquy and the preamble to the Constitution. If you don't have access to Mrs. Davenport, at least you can still benefit from her book. I would recommend this book for students of any age who want to master the basics of English once and for all.
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 Love Diagramming?
If you love diagramming, this is a good resource. I was taught diagramming in junior high school and also took a college grammar course that also covered it. For additional practice with sentences, I would use sentences from any grammar book (such as English Fundamentals) or textbook.
Rex Barks has eight chapters: 1 - Parts of Speech, 2 -Diagramming Begins, 3 - Kinds of Verbs, 4 - Dependent Clauses, 5 -Verbals, 6 -Additional Constructions (appositives, objective complements, adverbial nouns), 7 - Compound and Complex Sentences, and 8 - Miscellany.
The following is from the book's website:
From the new Introduction by Lisa VanDamme
"...a masterful presentation of grammar--a well-structured, incremental course in diagramming with clear explanations and memorable illustrations of each new principle... Phyllis Davenport understands that if you want to make yourself understood, you need grammar. Her textbook abounds with examples of the ambiguities that result from an ignorance of grammatical rules...The art of diagramming sentences provides students with an indispensable foundation for the study of grammar, and Rex Barks makes the process of learning this skill manageable and fun. The book is laid out in logical, incremental steps, and students are given the opportunity to master one concept before proceeding to the next...It contains many clever devices to help students with tricky concepts (e.g., prepositions are to be remembered as "anything a squirrel can do to a tree.") And it is pervaded by her sense of humor and enthusiasm for her subject.
- Lisa VanDamme - Director, VanDamme Academy
wwww.papertig.com
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Good Information, Small Print ( hllnwlz )
This book is very good, but the printing is very small. Without having a copy for each student in my English class (they're $28 each) it's pretty tough to use this book. Still, the information is useful and laid out logically and incrementally. I wish there were more practice exercises though, because Ms. Davenport moves on pretty quickly.
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Addiction
