false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168197838m/31049.jpg 31049 3 "Kitty Burns Florey seems to write from a great wellspring of inner calm that derives from a gleeful appreciation of life's smallest details."-Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of <em>Empire Falls</em> Once wildly popular and used by grammar teachers across America, sentence diagramming is now a lost art to most people. But from the moment she encountered it in the sixth-grade classroom of Sister Bernadette, Kitty Burns Florey was fascinated by the bizarre method of mapping the words in a sentence. Now a novelist and veteran copyeditor, Florey studies the practice in a charming and funny look back at its odd history, its elegant method, and its rich, ongoing possibilities. From a discussion of its birth at the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, to a consideration of how it works, to a revealing look at some of literature's most famous sentences in diagram, it is a charming and often inspiring tale. Along the way, Florey explores the importance of good grammar and answers language lovers' most pressing questions: Was Mark Twain or James Fenimore Cooper a better grammarian? Can knowing how to diagram a sentence make your life better? And what's Gertrude Stein got to do with any of it? 2238416 1 10 2006 Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences total:202|5:28|4:65|3:83|2:19|1:7| 202 694 471 78 3 4 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 12 21:33:25 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 30 09:29:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 3 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Nov 29 08:36:32 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 29 08:42:34 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 23 09:41:40 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 30 19:07:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun May 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 22:36:07 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 22:45:07 -0700 2009
D...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 02 17:50:58 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 05 13:51:29 -0700 2009 Script and Scribble, a book about handwriting, and I really looked forward to reading this book about diagramming sentences. I fondly remember learning to diagram sentences in 7th grade with my English teacher, Mrs. Johnson, so I looked forward to reading this.

...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Jul 15 06:28:42 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 15 06:28:42 -0700 2008 1 0 false false Sat Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Jul 11 10:09:02 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 10:09:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Apr 28 00:42:15 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 28 01:05:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Aug 01 14:09:57 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 14:06:59 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 01 14:09:57 -0700 2008
In the spirit of the book, I'll tell you about my own history of diagr...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 03 08:10:25 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 18 07:06:19 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Aug 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 13:35:59 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 13:44:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 16 15:00:57 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 08:51:22 -0700 2009
Kitty seems to be unable to decide if she is a prescriptivist or descriptivist. I am profoundly a member of the descriptivist camp...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Mar 27 07:53:01 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 08:39:34 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon May 26 14:18:22 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 11:59:15 -0700 2008 Mon May 26 14:18:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Fri Apr 03 17:02:01 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 17:04:00 -0700 2009
I loved diagramming sentences in 8th grade honors english, and Florey's book presents an entertaining discussion of the origin of diagramming sentences, and even goes into attempts to diagram sentences by authors like Prous...more...]]> 4 0 true true Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 19:59:16 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 17 20:06:35 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Apr 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 09:21:06 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 09 21:17:31 -0700 2008 You took a sentence, threw it against the wall, picked up the pieces, and put them together again,...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 05 10:39:04 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 05 10:43:11 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 07:10:54 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 13 07:13:37 -0700 2009
A fun read as a diversion.]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 20:08:38 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 20:12:57 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=31049