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Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft -
Lecture transcripts
132 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
March 10, 2019
I don't make my living as a writer, so my rating of this lecture series is mostly irrelevant.
Brooks Landon offers us a the opportunity to understand the construction of "great sentences," but to do so he has to take us on a journey. In twenty-four lectures he covers many aspects of sentences including: Grammar, Rhetoric, Propositions and Meaning, Adjectival Steps, "The Rhythm of Cumulative Syntax," and How Sentences Grow.
For me, it was too much information. Perhaps similar to wanting to learn how to fly by dissecting bats, insects and birds. If I were Leonardo da Vinci, I might be able to turn all those parts into an ability to soar. Alas!
Landon knows his stuff, and is eager to share it. I'd hoped to be able to understand a bit more about the writer's craft. Having that as a goal, I'm not sure that I will ever use what I have learned in any review.
Brooks Landon offers us a the opportunity to understand the construction of "great sentences," but to do so he has to take us on a journey. In twenty-four lectures he covers many aspects of sentences including: Grammar, Rhetoric, Propositions and Meaning, Adjectival Steps, "The Rhythm of Cumulative Syntax," and How Sentences Grow.
For me, it was too much information. Perhaps similar to wanting to learn how to fly by dissecting bats, insects and birds. If I were Leonardo da Vinci, I might be able to turn all those parts into an ability to soar. Alas!
Landon knows his stuff, and is eager to share it. I'd hoped to be able to understand a bit more about the writer's craft. Having that as a goal, I'm not sure that I will ever use what I have learned in any review.
July 8, 2022
Have you ever heard from a teacher that short sentences were a sign of good writing?
I certainly have, so this course contained for me a sizable element of surprise since it explores the secrets of the art of writing sentences that are great but also long. Or great and very long, or even sometimes insanely long because the truly great sentences are inevitably long…..?
Since I have been guilty of writing a long (or too long) sentence more than once, it pleases me to hear that this manner of writing is not inherently evil. As a reader though I am not sure that I can wholeheartedly agree with a complete absolution of very long sentences ….
Learning to know the mechanics behind the art of writing great sentences is very useful. The lectures were definitely inspiring and in many respects eye-opening but long sentences, not to mention great long sentences are an advanced art form. Having learned about the various challenges and pitfalls that await those who dare to venture into the realm of excessive length, I can’t help the reflection that most of us mortals should probably stick to a moderate sentence length. I know that I should anyway … if only I can help it.
I certainly have, so this course contained for me a sizable element of surprise since it explores the secrets of the art of writing sentences that are great but also long. Or great and very long, or even sometimes insanely long because the truly great sentences are inevitably long…..?
Since I have been guilty of writing a long (or too long) sentence more than once, it pleases me to hear that this manner of writing is not inherently evil. As a reader though I am not sure that I can wholeheartedly agree with a complete absolution of very long sentences ….
Learning to know the mechanics behind the art of writing great sentences is very useful. The lectures were definitely inspiring and in many respects eye-opening but long sentences, not to mention great long sentences are an advanced art form. Having learned about the various challenges and pitfalls that await those who dare to venture into the realm of excessive length, I can’t help the reflection that most of us mortals should probably stick to a moderate sentence length. I know that I should anyway … if only I can help it.
November 11, 2011
I think this course would have been better titled, "The Joy of Long, Cumulative Sentences". The professor is especially enamored with this particular sentence structure, and with the ability for sentences of this nature to take the reader on a journey, a journey that he believes to be more compelling and expressive than the oft touted simple and direct writing style advocated by Strunk & White.
This has been the most successful of my (admittedly half-hearted) attempts to learn about grammar and sentence construction. I think this is because of the professors apparent allergy to describing grammar in terms of rules, believing this to take the life and joy out of the craft of writing. Instead, he focuses on giving ample examples of various forms of sentence construction, and emphasizing the importance of learning to tune your ears to understand the proper rhythm of correct grammar.
On the down side, I think this course could have been about a third shorter without losing much of the substance. A lot of that space was taken up by railing against conventional writing wisdom, of which I was mostly unfamiliar, and at least some of which I suspect is known only to professionals.
Overall a great course, as long as you have a fair bit of patience.
This has been the most successful of my (admittedly half-hearted) attempts to learn about grammar and sentence construction. I think this is because of the professors apparent allergy to describing grammar in terms of rules, believing this to take the life and joy out of the craft of writing. Instead, he focuses on giving ample examples of various forms of sentence construction, and emphasizing the importance of learning to tune your ears to understand the proper rhythm of correct grammar.
On the down side, I think this course could have been about a third shorter without losing much of the substance. A lot of that space was taken up by railing against conventional writing wisdom, of which I was mostly unfamiliar, and at least some of which I suspect is known only to professionals.
Overall a great course, as long as you have a fair bit of patience.
January 1, 2020
The best way to describe the contents of this magical course is to begin by listing the lecture titles.
1. A Sequence of Words
2. Grammar and Rhetoric
3. Propositions and Meaning
4. How Sentences Grow
5. Adjectival Steps
6. The Rhythm for Cumulative Syntax
7. Direction of Modification
8. Coordinate, Subordinate, and Mixed Patterns
9. Coordinate Cumulative Sentences
10. Subordinate and Mixed Cumulatives
11. Prompts of Comparison
12. Prompts of Explanation
13. The Riddle of Prose Rhythm
14. Cumulative Syntax to Create Suspense
15. Degrees of Suspensiveness
16. The Mechanics of Delay
17. Prefab Patterns for Suspense
18. Balanced Sentences and Balanced Forms
19. The Rhythm of Twos
20. The Rhythm of Threes
21. Balanced Series and Serial Balances
22. Master Sentences
23. Sentences in Sequence
24. Sentences and Prose Style
The guidebook ends with a glossary, bibliographical notes, and bibliography (23 pages in all).
The first question one might ask is why an entire course with focus on sentences is needed. Here’s Brooks’ answer: “The sentence is where we must start if we hope to understand why some writing captivates us and other writing leaves us unmoved.”
As an aside, this is the umpteenth time I have stepped outside my areas of expertise and comfort to learn something new, each time returning amazed of the rich variety of areas of scholarship I could not have imagined and the myriad of researchers who work in those areas, agreeing and disagreeing with each other, unbeknownst to me!
A key take-away from this course is that bad sentences are usually long, but not all long sentences are bad. In fact, while there are examples of brilliant short sentences in the works of masters, beautiful sentences tend to be long. So, it’s not the length of a sentence that make it bad but how the sentence grows to become long. There are but three ways to grow a kernel sentence such as “She raised the flag”: Connective (“She raised the flag, and she …”); Subordinative (“Realizing she was the lone survivor, she raised the flag”), and adjectival (“She raised the flag which was tattered by bullets”).
One of the most effective ways of building compelling long sentences is through cumulative syntax. According to Francis Christensen, an English professor at USC, who defied conventional wisdom of his time about effective writing and began looking at what great writers actually wrote, a cumulative sentence tends to develop by downshifting through increasingly detailed levels of generality, replacing the previously-advocated simplicity with a textured presentation, in which adjectives and adverbs, not just nouns and verbs, play key roles by introducing movement.
Let me clarify the concept of a cumulative sentence by means of two examples, both beginning with a base clause which is followed by modifying phrases. In the first example, the modifying phrases are all at the same secondary level, so they can be reordered, put before or after, or even in the middle of, the base clause.
“The elated Girl Scout went home, having sold all her boxes of cookies, having knocked on every door in her neighborhood, so proud of her accomplishment she immediately wanted more cookies to sell.”
The second example has modifying cluases at multiple levels, with tertiary clauses modifying secondary ones.
“The elated Girl Scout went home, having sold all her boxes of cookies, those inescapable icons of capitalism, having knocked on every door in her neighborhood, recognizing some who came to their doors as friends of her parents.”
Of course, it’s quite easy to overdo this by adding less-compelling details that turn the cumulative sentence into a mess, rather than an object of beauty. Also, cumulative sentences tend to be loners: string several of them together, and you are bound to lose your reader’s patience and interest.
Once we have read and written enough cumulative sentences, they come to us quite naturally. In fact, one of the most effective ways to test a cumulative sentence is to read it aloud and listen to the flow of the sentence. Having been exposed to and practiced writing cumulative sentences, we develop an intuition for spotting problematic syntax or less-than-compelling rhythm.
Cumulative sentences can also be used to create suspense by delaying the delivery of the most important or surprising pieces of information. Here’s an example sentence with an unexpected ending:
“He drove the car carefully, his shaggy hair whipped by the wind, his eyes hidden behind wraparound mirror shades, his mouth set in a grim smile, a .38 Police Special on the seat beside him, the corpse stuffed in the trunk.”
Good prose has a rhythm, and cumulative sentences provide an excellent mechanism for supplying such a rhythm. Landon recommends quite a few sources that have inspired work in this area or that would form good sources for additional study. They include George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” and Carl Klause’s 1968 essay “Reflections on Prose Style.” Here is a link to Orwell’s essay; I could find no on-line version of Klause’s essay.
https://faculty.washington.edu/rsoder...
Let me end my review with three examples of cumulative sentences from great writers.
“The radiators put out lots of heat, too much, in fact, and old-fashioned sounds and smells came with it, exhalations of the matter that composes our own mortality, and reminiscent of the intimate gases we all diffuse.” ~ Saul Bellow
“The San Bernardino Valley lies only an hour east of Los Angeles by the San Bernardino Freeway but is in certain ways an alien place: not the coastal California of the subtropical twilights and the soft westerlies off the Pacific but a harsher California, haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains, devastated by the hot dry Santa Ana wind that comes down through the passes at 100 miles an hour and whines through the eucalyptus windbreaks and works on the nerves.” ~ Joan Didion
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” ~ Thomas Jefferson, US Declaration of Independence
1. A Sequence of Words
2. Grammar and Rhetoric
3. Propositions and Meaning
4. How Sentences Grow
5. Adjectival Steps
6. The Rhythm for Cumulative Syntax
7. Direction of Modification
8. Coordinate, Subordinate, and Mixed Patterns
9. Coordinate Cumulative Sentences
10. Subordinate and Mixed Cumulatives
11. Prompts of Comparison
12. Prompts of Explanation
13. The Riddle of Prose Rhythm
14. Cumulative Syntax to Create Suspense
15. Degrees of Suspensiveness
16. The Mechanics of Delay
17. Prefab Patterns for Suspense
18. Balanced Sentences and Balanced Forms
19. The Rhythm of Twos
20. The Rhythm of Threes
21. Balanced Series and Serial Balances
22. Master Sentences
23. Sentences in Sequence
24. Sentences and Prose Style
The guidebook ends with a glossary, bibliographical notes, and bibliography (23 pages in all).
The first question one might ask is why an entire course with focus on sentences is needed. Here’s Brooks’ answer: “The sentence is where we must start if we hope to understand why some writing captivates us and other writing leaves us unmoved.”
As an aside, this is the umpteenth time I have stepped outside my areas of expertise and comfort to learn something new, each time returning amazed of the rich variety of areas of scholarship I could not have imagined and the myriad of researchers who work in those areas, agreeing and disagreeing with each other, unbeknownst to me!
A key take-away from this course is that bad sentences are usually long, but not all long sentences are bad. In fact, while there are examples of brilliant short sentences in the works of masters, beautiful sentences tend to be long. So, it’s not the length of a sentence that make it bad but how the sentence grows to become long. There are but three ways to grow a kernel sentence such as “She raised the flag”: Connective (“She raised the flag, and she …”); Subordinative (“Realizing she was the lone survivor, she raised the flag”), and adjectival (“She raised the flag which was tattered by bullets”).
One of the most effective ways of building compelling long sentences is through cumulative syntax. According to Francis Christensen, an English professor at USC, who defied conventional wisdom of his time about effective writing and began looking at what great writers actually wrote, a cumulative sentence tends to develop by downshifting through increasingly detailed levels of generality, replacing the previously-advocated simplicity with a textured presentation, in which adjectives and adverbs, not just nouns and verbs, play key roles by introducing movement.
Let me clarify the concept of a cumulative sentence by means of two examples, both beginning with a base clause which is followed by modifying phrases. In the first example, the modifying phrases are all at the same secondary level, so they can be reordered, put before or after, or even in the middle of, the base clause.
“The elated Girl Scout went home, having sold all her boxes of cookies, having knocked on every door in her neighborhood, so proud of her accomplishment she immediately wanted more cookies to sell.”
The second example has modifying cluases at multiple levels, with tertiary clauses modifying secondary ones.
“The elated Girl Scout went home, having sold all her boxes of cookies, those inescapable icons of capitalism, having knocked on every door in her neighborhood, recognizing some who came to their doors as friends of her parents.”
Of course, it’s quite easy to overdo this by adding less-compelling details that turn the cumulative sentence into a mess, rather than an object of beauty. Also, cumulative sentences tend to be loners: string several of them together, and you are bound to lose your reader’s patience and interest.
Once we have read and written enough cumulative sentences, they come to us quite naturally. In fact, one of the most effective ways to test a cumulative sentence is to read it aloud and listen to the flow of the sentence. Having been exposed to and practiced writing cumulative sentences, we develop an intuition for spotting problematic syntax or less-than-compelling rhythm.
Cumulative sentences can also be used to create suspense by delaying the delivery of the most important or surprising pieces of information. Here’s an example sentence with an unexpected ending:
“He drove the car carefully, his shaggy hair whipped by the wind, his eyes hidden behind wraparound mirror shades, his mouth set in a grim smile, a .38 Police Special on the seat beside him, the corpse stuffed in the trunk.”
Good prose has a rhythm, and cumulative sentences provide an excellent mechanism for supplying such a rhythm. Landon recommends quite a few sources that have inspired work in this area or that would form good sources for additional study. They include George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” and Carl Klause’s 1968 essay “Reflections on Prose Style.” Here is a link to Orwell’s essay; I could find no on-line version of Klause’s essay.
https://faculty.washington.edu/rsoder...
Let me end my review with three examples of cumulative sentences from great writers.
“The radiators put out lots of heat, too much, in fact, and old-fashioned sounds and smells came with it, exhalations of the matter that composes our own mortality, and reminiscent of the intimate gases we all diffuse.” ~ Saul Bellow
“The San Bernardino Valley lies only an hour east of Los Angeles by the San Bernardino Freeway but is in certain ways an alien place: not the coastal California of the subtropical twilights and the soft westerlies off the Pacific but a harsher California, haunted by the Mojave just beyond the mountains, devastated by the hot dry Santa Ana wind that comes down through the passes at 100 miles an hour and whines through the eucalyptus windbreaks and works on the nerves.” ~ Joan Didion
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” ~ Thomas Jefferson, US Declaration of Independence
December 5, 2018
This lecture was a lot of fun. Mr. Landon was enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the topic. It might be a little controversial though as he preaches a form of writing based on addition where a lot of other instruction focuses on concise sentences and subtraction. Personally, I loved it.
January 15, 2020
The course in my eyes starts to get stale towards the end as the focus shifts from cumulative sentences to style and master sentences. I graded it so well because it really helped me shift paradigms I had since a child that said less is more, short is better, trim, trim, trim. After reading this I feel I got a sort of "license to write" for longer sentences and it opens up a whole new approach to building sentences and paragraphs. I'm not a pro and I'd like to think pros know this already, but this kind of approach can benefit any writer and by that I mean practically everyone since we all use writing in one way or another as we go through life.
April 24, 2018
This has the distinction of being the only time I've asked for a refund on any of The Great Courses.
I made it through the fifth lecture before packing it up and sending it back. I was hoping for more of a refresher course in syntax or perhaps a comparison of styles. Really, I was just hoping it was interesting. It was not.
Landon seems to think that the longer, more complex, and more tortured a sentence is, the better it is.
That's only true if one is being paid per word.
I made it through the fifth lecture before packing it up and sending it back. I was hoping for more of a refresher course in syntax or perhaps a comparison of styles. Really, I was just hoping it was interesting. It was not.
Landon seems to think that the longer, more complex, and more tortured a sentence is, the better it is.
That's only true if one is being paid per word.
September 3, 2022
What is the book about?
Building Great Sentences focuses on how to construct long sentences with the help of cumulative syntax, a set of sentence structures accumulating information, specifying the ideas expressed in another clause or building suspense. Also, Brooks Landon deals with additional elements that improve one’s writing style, be they parallelisms, series of three or four, or phatic utterances. Last but not least, he also dives into the topic of style as such.
Can I recommend it? Whom is this book for?
If you love long sentences but have a hard time or take excessive time to construct them, this book will teach you an approach, helping you to build complex sentences more easily, effectively and elegantly. If you want to learn more about the concept of style, you will also find many useful information.
What did I learn from this book, if no specific concept?
- It has given me insight into the positions within literary theory, none of which being definite and exhaustive about the elements of prose style, consequently none succeeding at a clear-cut definition of prose.
- I was surprised: I did not expect it to be as concrete as it was, neither did I expect it to represent a writing method as simple as it turned out to be.
- I was inspired: It did inspire me to keep improving my writing, also to work on the quality of the long sentences I was in love with even before I listened to the book.
- Sentence rhythm can be conceptualised as morse code, its long and short clauses or phrases representing the short or long symbols of morse code.
Building Great Sentences focuses on how to construct long sentences with the help of cumulative syntax, a set of sentence structures accumulating information, specifying the ideas expressed in another clause or building suspense. Also, Brooks Landon deals with additional elements that improve one’s writing style, be they parallelisms, series of three or four, or phatic utterances. Last but not least, he also dives into the topic of style as such.
Can I recommend it? Whom is this book for?
If you love long sentences but have a hard time or take excessive time to construct them, this book will teach you an approach, helping you to build complex sentences more easily, effectively and elegantly. If you want to learn more about the concept of style, you will also find many useful information.
What did I learn from this book, if no specific concept?
- It has given me insight into the positions within literary theory, none of which being definite and exhaustive about the elements of prose style, consequently none succeeding at a clear-cut definition of prose.
- I was surprised: I did not expect it to be as concrete as it was, neither did I expect it to represent a writing method as simple as it turned out to be.
- I was inspired: It did inspire me to keep improving my writing, also to work on the quality of the long sentences I was in love with even before I listened to the book.
- Sentence rhythm can be conceptualised as morse code, its long and short clauses or phrases representing the short or long symbols of morse code.
March 24, 2021
Some writing courses contain easily digestible information that can be quickly used to improve your writing. I think specifically of James Scott Bell’s lecture in another Great Course, where he mentions not to head hop between characters too much during a scene and to make sure your book has literal or figurative death stakes. I read this, thought “okay, that makes sense”, and put these things into practice.
Yea, this is NOT that kind of course.
I feel like some of these lectures could be listened to every day for a month before they really start to sink in. Brooks Landon clearly knows what he’s talking about and doesn’t water things down. If this seems like a criticism, it’s really not. Writing is not easy or simple, and any book that makes it seem so is likely making huge over-generalizations. I’m looking forward to revisiting this, but next time around I might give each lecture more time to sink in.
Yea, this is NOT that kind of course.
I feel like some of these lectures could be listened to every day for a month before they really start to sink in. Brooks Landon clearly knows what he’s talking about and doesn’t water things down. If this seems like a criticism, it’s really not. Writing is not easy or simple, and any book that makes it seem so is likely making huge over-generalizations. I’m looking forward to revisiting this, but next time around I might give each lecture more time to sink in.
July 1, 2025
GC - Building Great Sentences – Great advice from a Great Course!!!
1 – Rhetorical vs. Grammatical = the speed, steps, how sentences make us feel.
2 – "Style is the man" loose syntax (upfront0 and periodic syntax ( suspended).
3 – Effectiveness and elegance are both rhetorical issues, grammar alone can lead us to neither.
4 – Density is one writing value I will argue for.
5 – A kernel sentence, cumulative sentence,
6 – Change speed with modifiers, increased details and abstraction creates movement and texture.
7 – Read aloud to make sure good phonetics, dense wring respects the reader.
8 – Prose should not be metrical, nor without rhythm. Be jazzy…. Suspend, delay, BALANCE.
9 – Mentioning songs - brings in the song! ( J.J. Ulysses), rhythm of 2s and 3s, , Schemes of Repetition_ Alliteration, etc., etc.,
10 – Speed bumps, Create your own joyful language
1 – Rhetorical vs. Grammatical = the speed, steps, how sentences make us feel.
2 – "Style is the man" loose syntax (upfront0 and periodic syntax ( suspended).
3 – Effectiveness and elegance are both rhetorical issues, grammar alone can lead us to neither.
4 – Density is one writing value I will argue for.
5 – A kernel sentence, cumulative sentence,
6 – Change speed with modifiers, increased details and abstraction creates movement and texture.
7 – Read aloud to make sure good phonetics, dense wring respects the reader.
8 – Prose should not be metrical, nor without rhythm. Be jazzy…. Suspend, delay, BALANCE.
9 – Mentioning songs - brings in the song! ( J.J. Ulysses), rhythm of 2s and 3s, , Schemes of Repetition_ Alliteration, etc., etc.,
10 – Speed bumps, Create your own joyful language
February 19, 2024
Quite informative! The course explores the structure of cumulative sentences specificially, the sentence type that allows us to string together many different propositions, zooming in and out of each clause to add more information were necessary, flowing seamlessly to the next piece of information we want to highlight and can also either taper off like a song fading out or culminate in an unexpected twist.
Audio is not the perfect medium for this type of informatino, though, since it does not allow one to concentrate on the sptial aspect of sentences.
On the final positive note, the course was absolutely full of numerous examples of beautiful sentences, mostly from American literature, woven intricately, every word chosen perfectly and deliberately. I know I, for one, have found some new authors I need to read.
Audio is not the perfect medium for this type of informatino, though, since it does not allow one to concentrate on the sptial aspect of sentences.
On the final positive note, the course was absolutely full of numerous examples of beautiful sentences, mostly from American literature, woven intricately, every word chosen perfectly and deliberately. I know I, for one, have found some new authors I need to read.
November 19, 2021
I read more than two-hundred pages of fiction and non-fiction every day, and there's no genre more tedious than academia. I'm not taking writing advice from an author I hate to read.
If you're like minded, I'd recommend Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything, that's also from The Great Courses.
If you're like minded, I'd recommend Analysis and Critique: How to Engage and Write about Anything, that's also from The Great Courses.
May 28, 2024
This was a “The Great Courses” series of lectures that really dives into creating Cumulative Sentences. This really goes into the stylistic advantages that would allow us to immediately see the advantage a human has over AI. This is a part of writing that does not lend to repetition, but instead allows the human thinking part of the brain. This was a strong lecture and very much something any student of writing or really any one that wants to deepen their knowledge of how amazing sentences are created. Strong recommend.
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
Joseph McKnight
http://www.josephmcknight.com
September 11, 2019
If you like to build long sentences, this work is great. I adopted some of the techniques, though have shied away from overly using cumulative sentences. It takes talent and skill, and a style that will suite some authors, but not others.
Whatever the case, it is a good read, or should I say listen. Practising the techniques will be better than just listening. Whatever the case, such practise will help shape your own style of writing. A recommended title to develop the craft.
Whatever the case, it is a good read, or should I say listen. Practising the techniques will be better than just listening. Whatever the case, such practise will help shape your own style of writing. A recommended title to develop the craft.
November 14, 2020
I viewed the DVD version of this, but I also have the books too. This professor will tell you everything and more about writing sentences.
I highly recommend watching the DVD of this title. The professor will astonish you with his knowledge on sentence writing. Pay close attention to all the material being taught and you will be glad you watched this professor on DVD or on another form of media of your choice. . . .
J.R. Fitzgerald
I highly recommend watching the DVD of this title. The professor will astonish you with his knowledge on sentence writing. Pay close attention to all the material being taught and you will be glad you watched this professor on DVD or on another form of media of your choice. . . .
J.R. Fitzgerald
March 2, 2023
Marvelous. The professor is so clear and enthusiastic in his presentation that my personal writing skills seem like I am using chisels and stone tablets to do my work. I really need to touch up the paint on my cave walls too.
I will have to listen to this audio course again to understand better how to build sentences. Please don't look at my current sentences as proof that I learned anything. All I learned was how far I have yet to go.
I will have to listen to this audio course again to understand better how to build sentences. Please don't look at my current sentences as proof that I learned anything. All I learned was how far I have yet to go.
September 11, 2021
CD course. I understand why this course is controversial. The standard advice on writing today is that sentences should be short and clear and uncluttered. That’s great advice. But there are still many times when having a long sentence with well-placed clauses really creates the effect you need. This excellent course shows you how to build such sentences well. It will strengthen anyone’s writing.
September 15, 2021
Unlike the substantive Great Courses, which I have enjoyed, following sentence construction by ear was difficult for me. It got a bit better towards the end (trained ear, perhaps?), but I would have learned more seeing the sentences in writing. No fault of the teacher, though, who is inspired and inspiring.
August 9, 2018
I've gone through this course twice, as from a writer's perspective I found this both helpful and fascinating, and I particularly enjoyed the rich set of examples and insights provided. It drilled to, and sustained, the level of detail that I hoped.
January 30, 2020
This lecture series is a great exploration into written rhetoric at the level of the sentence. I gained much from it. The professor's grasp of the mechanics of writing and his way of explaining it will make you a better technical writer. In a writer's education, this book has a place for sure.
September 16, 2021
There is much I wanted to say about this course, most of which I have forgotten, some of which I understand, little of which is important and useful to others. Despite my best efforts, I now know what a cumulative sentence is.
May 20, 2023
I think a lot of the essential information is lost in a format that seems to favour style over substance. There is some useful information in the book, but one does have to work hard to retrieve the nuggets. I few examples would have made comprehension of the concepts involved so much easier.
Read
August 30, 2020This is maybe one step too meta for me. Good lectures that worked in short bus-ride doeses before quarantine hit. now I haven't touched it in months and I'm going to put it on the DNF pile for now.
November 9, 2021
Not feeling this
April 3, 2023
There's so much good information here. I'm so glad Prof. Landon has taken to task all those rigid notions of what is good writing.
August 17, 2024
Good. Not as good as he thinks it is.
September 29, 2016
In my perception, the audio format was not suited to the topic. I have listened to two other lecture series from the Great Courses and found them very useful; however, this one could not captivate me in the same manner. Grammar and word order are best studied on paper. I struggled to follow the many examples from literature and more so the many variations of the same sentence in different word order. It was hard to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of the reformulations in the brief moments in which they were read out before the lecturer continued speaking. It was far easier for me to follow a printed book on the same topic.
Beyond this first point, I wish this particular course had been allowed to divert from the 24-lecture minimum that appears to be the rule for the Great Courses. In each lecture, only one point was made and then illustrated and rephrased so often that it became too thinly spread. A more concise series of 12 lectures would have appealed to me more.
I may give the print edition of this course a try.
Beyond this first point, I wish this particular course had been allowed to divert from the 24-lecture minimum that appears to be the rule for the Great Courses. In each lecture, only one point was made and then illustrated and rephrased so often that it became too thinly spread. A more concise series of 12 lectures would have appealed to me more.
I may give the print edition of this course a try.
November 4, 2013
The next time he reads a sentence 20 different ways to illustrate how many different ways there are to write it I think I'll be quitting. I GET IT. GO ON.
Uh, yeah, so I quit. This would probably be good for people who want to be writers but are not big readers.
Uh, yeah, so I quit. This would probably be good for people who want to be writers but are not big readers.
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