Grammar Lesson
Today, during a review of grammar, a student asked me why he had to learn grammar. I gave a several-part answer, including that his knowing grammar would make it easier for me to teach him to write better and that it is an essential element in education because grammar is the structure of thought. He thought for a moment and then said the sentence below. I wrote it on the board, and identified its grammatical parts. Looking at it together a few minutes later, we both decided the sentence as written and analyzed on the board was a marvelous poetic image of itself. Since I rarely achieve such a perfect unity of form and content, I asked his permission to share it with readers of my blog. So, for all who value grammar and all who do not, here it is:
Technicals: S stands for subject, V for verb, prep for preposition, O.P. for the object of the preposition, and the lines indicate that the prepositional phrase modifies the verb.
And I rest my case.
posted by GRap | 8:30 PM
2 Comments:
I'm sure you've come across the wonderful response a teacher once wrote to the question, "Why do we need to learn this?" It might be worth posting a link to it if you can. Of course students need to learn grammar and especially the grammar of our own language. Students learn grammar when studying foreign languages. Shouldn't English grammar receive just as much attention? I cringe every time I listen to the TV or radio or read an advertisment. Now more than ever people need to understand how to express themselves clearly and correctly. Thanks for continuing to address this in your classroom. I wish more people would do so.
In general, I suck at grammar, always have. However, what if I changed the sentence under discussion to "Without grammar, I think." Or how about, "Grammar without, I think." as if one was expecting Grammar at the door and heard knocking. Then there is "I, without grammar, think." Possibly, the whole business is a little oxymoronic, if that's the word I want. I have it that the human brain needs grammar in order to think...one can see where this is going of course and that is why English is so much fun. One minute you are tootling down the road, the sentences spilling out nicely behind you and then pow! you're off in a ditch with a grammatical flat tire. Or a spelling error. Or some other grievous insult to the King's E. Thank goodness there are remedies: dictionaries, Strunk and White's little tome, and English teachers!
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