Did you have fun on National Grammar Day? We were having so much fun we decided to extend it to a week (Why not? Black History Month used to be a week, Secretaries’ Day went from a day to a week, and Italian-American History Month was once Columbus Day). Looking for appropriate goodies to serve at our Grammar Day cocktail party, we were disappointed to find that alphabet soup and Alpha-Bits don’t contain punctuation. That’s like leaving dogs out of animal crackers (What? There are no dogs in animal crackers? You’re kidding.).
Using alphabet cookie cutters, we cut canapés in the shape of letters and placed them on a platter spelling out c-o-m-m-a, p-a-r-a-g-r-a-p-h, and other appropriate celebratory terms, such as “dangling participle.” Worn out from energetic games of “Pin the Punctuation on the Paragraph” and “Terrible Translation Tromp,” we’ve decided to celebrate day two of National Grammar Week with more sedentary activities (and we’re totally taking a pass on “Grab the Colon”).
Lucky for us, Marsha Sramek wrote The Great Grammar Book: Mastering Grammar Usage and the Essentials of Composition which she filled with witty guidance to help us muddle our way to good grammar. Make that “great” grammar. In addition to the lessons, Sramek supplies plenty of exercises (which of course we’re using for the big competition) to help readers improve their grammar usage and discover their weaknesses. The Great Grammar Book starts with a 100-question “diagnostic grammar test” and immediately jumps into one of my favorite categories “Subject-Verb Agreement.” Chapter two covers all the complaints Internet Grammar Nazis voice: you/you’re, its/it’s, there/their/they’re, should of/should’ve and so many more of the misuses that make readers cringe.
Using “fun facts, amazing trivia, and odd news events,” The Great Grammar Book makes learning grammar amusing. There are over 2000 practice sentences that will certainly put tonight’s games on the Olympic level. I am especially looking forward to creaming the competition with “Commas,” since I’ve always got more than enough to go around (which is why I am frequently sharing them with my husband).
Problems with run-on sentences and sentence fragments (who, me?)? Sramek addresses those fairly regular problems as well as irregular verbs (which are probably caused by misplaced colons). “Double Negatives” also merit their own chapter.
In the last chapter Sramek offers “Successful Writing Strategies,” which I will try to memorize as soon as I’m done writing this. The Great Grammar Book is a great resource for those whose grammar is not quite as…um…grammatical as it should be, but I suspect it’s actually something else disguising itself as a self-help book. After holding it in my hands, fondling every page, and allowing it to excite my intellect, I believe that The Great Grammar Book is porn for wordies—those folks whose grasp of grammar is so good, they enter grammar-bees and appear on Jeopardy. They do not write for your local paper.
Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could translate thoughts into writing? Whether looking to review or improve, readers will find The Great Grammar Book a valuable asset that enables them to “write clearer, more concise, and more readable sentences.”
Read more: http://technorati.com/entertainment/article/good-grammar-if-you-wont-use/#ixzz1oIAbQGgF
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