Publication
Melville House Publishing (2009), 154 pages
Description
Once wildly popular and used by teachers across America to teach grammar, sentence diagramming is now a lost art to most people. But from the moment she encountered it in the seventh-grade classroom of Sister Bernadette, Kitty Burns Florey was fascinated by the bizarre method of mapping the words in a sentence. Now a veteran copyeditor, Florey studies the practice in a funny look back at its odd history, its elegant method, and its rich, ongoing possibilities--from 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. Along the way, Florey explores the importance of good grammar and answers some of language lovers' most pressing questions: Can knowing how to diagram a sentence make your life better? And what's Gertrude Stein got to do with any of it?--From publisher description.… (more)
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LibraryThing member mkboylan
How embarrassing is that? I loved diagramming sentences when I was in grade school, and I often thought my college students would have constructed much better sentences if they had learned to do so. I mean I REALLY loved diagramming sentences! When this book was mentioned and I knew I had not read
I especially loved the chapter about famous authors. Florey determined if those authors were likely to have learned diagramming at the time and place they were educated, then examines their writing to decide if they benefitted or not. It was just plain fun and I learned still more about writing and styles.
There was also a bit about grammar and social class, always interesting topic to me.
I had fun reading this book, and recommend it to those who are interested in sentence diagramming. I would think that would be a pretty specific audience.
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any books in that category of the Dewey Decimal system, I grabbed it. I had a lot of fun reading it - just took a couple of hours, and learned some interesting things. There was a little bit about the history of grammar and the development of grammatical rules along with some discussion of the necessity of those rules. Opinions about both sides of that issue were presented mentioning things I had not thought about as it is a topic I am ambivalent about.I especially loved the chapter about famous authors. Florey determined if those authors were likely to have learned diagramming at the time and place they were educated, then examines their writing to decide if they benefitted or not. It was just plain fun and I learned still more about writing and styles.
There was also a bit about grammar and social class, always interesting topic to me.
I had fun reading this book, and recommend it to those who are interested in sentence diagramming. I would think that would be a pretty specific audience.
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LibraryThing member invisiblelizard
This is a book about sentence diagramming, that lost-art taught to many of us in those inbetween years where childhood frivolity is still easily remembered and teenage angst is just being tasted. Call it middle school, if you will, or junior high, whichever. Not everybody I know was subjected to
In regards to this subject, I find that there are exactly 3 kinds of people in this world:
1. Those that have never been taught diagramming.
2. Those that have been taught diagramming, and hated it.
3. Those that have been taught diagramming, and loved it.
So this book, about the history of, mythology around, adherence to, mysticism surrounding, (and) love for sentence diagramming, can only be described as a book for the 3rd in that list. Such as I.
To go into much detail about this book would be to tell you the whole story, for it's not very long. The author, Kitty Burns Florey, a writer and copyeditor, tells of the two men who "invented" diagramming, Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg (thank you very much, gentlemen). She discusses several famous author's own opinions on the subject. She diagrams "Proustian" sentences. She talks about some common pitfalls in the English language. And she summarizes with pros and cons of the whole regime.
I found the book to be a very fun, fast, light read, which brought me back to Mrs. Jeancake's 8th grade English classes, not a set of memories I generally remember fondly, though in this case, those memories of standing in front of the class, scratching my lines onto the chalkboard (one of the few academic endeavors I did well) make me smile ever so slightly.
Decide for yourself what you think of diagramming. What it's done for me is helped me recognize the various parts of my own speech and writing, especially those parts that act as others, and, most helpful, parts of speech that can be assumed. In the previous sentence, "standing" is acting as an object. In the numbered list above (nos. 2 and 3), what looks like a comma-spliced set of sentences, could, in fact, be just a regular old compound sentence if you insert an assumed "(who)" after the comma. The sentence "Such as I" is grammatically correct because the word "(am)" is assumed at the end. (Which is why "Such as me" is not correct.)
These are things I learned from diagramming. Reading Kitty's book (for I feel we should be on a first-name basis, now) helped me relive that feeling of learning the rules of the game and gaining the power to understand which rules can be bent or even broken to enhance a thought or idea. And what writer wouldn't want that power?
Invisible Lizard's Unusual Oranges
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it, but I certainly was. In eighth grade, Mrs. Jeancake called each of us up to the chalk-board for weeks (if not months) on end to pound the lessons of sentence diagramming into our young brains. Horizontal lines, vertical lines, slanted lines, dotted lines, lines standing off on their own, lines linking one set to another. Etcetera.In regards to this subject, I find that there are exactly 3 kinds of people in this world:
1. Those that have never been taught diagramming.
2. Those that have been taught diagramming, and hated it.
3. Those that have been taught diagramming, and loved it.
So this book, about the history of, mythology around, adherence to, mysticism surrounding, (and) love for sentence diagramming, can only be described as a book for the 3rd in that list. Such as I.
To go into much detail about this book would be to tell you the whole story, for it's not very long. The author, Kitty Burns Florey, a writer and copyeditor, tells of the two men who "invented" diagramming, Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg (thank you very much, gentlemen). She discusses several famous author's own opinions on the subject. She diagrams "Proustian" sentences. She talks about some common pitfalls in the English language. And she summarizes with pros and cons of the whole regime.
I found the book to be a very fun, fast, light read, which brought me back to Mrs. Jeancake's 8th grade English classes, not a set of memories I generally remember fondly, though in this case, those memories of standing in front of the class, scratching my lines onto the chalkboard (one of the few academic endeavors I did well) make me smile ever so slightly.
Decide for yourself what you think of diagramming. What it's done for me is helped me recognize the various parts of my own speech and writing, especially those parts that act as others, and, most helpful, parts of speech that can be assumed. In the previous sentence, "standing" is acting as an object. In the numbered list above (nos. 2 and 3), what looks like a comma-spliced set of sentences, could, in fact, be just a regular old compound sentence if you insert an assumed "(who)" after the comma. The sentence "Such as I" is grammatically correct because the word "(am)" is assumed at the end. (Which is why "Such as me" is not correct.)
These are things I learned from diagramming. Reading Kitty's book (for I feel we should be on a first-name basis, now) helped me relive that feeling of learning the rules of the game and gaining the power to understand which rules can be bent or even broken to enhance a thought or idea. And what writer wouldn't want that power?
Invisible Lizard's Unusual Oranges
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LibraryThing member ffortsa
This is a slight, funny book about the art of diagramming sentences, written by a copy editor and author who knows her stuff. Florey's touch is light, and toward the end of the book she shows a more liberal bent in language usage than is first apparent. Along the way, there are notes of interesting
I do recall some work diagramming sentences when I was in grade school. And I find my grammatical nomenclature has fallen by the wayside after all these years. So this was a refreshing little jaunt by a woman who shares my occasional aggravations with usage without sounding like a 'Sister Bernadette'.
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side remarks in the wide margins.I do recall some work diagramming sentences when I was in grade school. And I find my grammatical nomenclature has fallen by the wayside after all these years. So this was a refreshing little jaunt by a woman who shares my occasional aggravations with usage without sounding like a 'Sister Bernadette'.
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LibraryThing member masyukun
More than the mechanics, the nostalgic warm fuzzies of young diagramming love fill these pages. Florey includes some real show-stopping diagrams and presents a concise history of the development of the Reed-Kellog diagramming system. The prototypical bubble diagramming system is particularly
On a down note, she fails to address the root causes of why the system fell out of fashion during the 60s. It's presented as something that just happened, perhaps much like how women "just happened" to stop wearing hats to church or how drug use "inexplicably" skyrocketed. Also, she proves the traditional premise that diagramming makes better writers false like this: since writers who learned how to diagram sometimes write strange or ungrammatical sentences, diagramming does not teach people to be better writers. Diagramming forces the teacher to teach grammar (a novelty in education today) and the student to consider the syntactic constructions they use.
Overall, it's a light read. A Sunday drive, perhaps, for those of us who had excellent English teachers. Teachers who taught us that the English language is fun and something to love and enjoy.
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interesting.On a down note, she fails to address the root causes of why the system fell out of fashion during the 60s. It's presented as something that just happened, perhaps much like how women "just happened" to stop wearing hats to church or how drug use "inexplicably" skyrocketed. Also, she proves the traditional premise that diagramming makes better writers false like this: since writers who learned how to diagram sometimes write strange or ungrammatical sentences, diagramming does not teach people to be better writers. Diagramming forces the teacher to teach grammar (a novelty in education today) and the student to consider the syntactic constructions they use.
Overall, it's a light read. A Sunday drive, perhaps, for those of us who had excellent English teachers. Teachers who taught us that the English language is fun and something to love and enjoy.
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LibraryThing member jhedlund
As a grammar geek, I found this book about the lost art of diagramming sentences quite charming. It drags at times and is pretentious in places, but it rises in others to be downright funny. Case in point: Burns Florey takes issue with whether sentence diagramming actually improves one's grammar.
For language lovers, it's worth it to pick up this book just to see the diagrams of sentences from some famous authors, including the verbose Henry James and Proust.
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She argues that even bad sentences can be diagrammed and puts forward (among others) two of former President George W. Bush's as an example. The sentences: "(W)e want our teachers to be trained so they can meet the obligations, their obligations as teachers. We want them to know how to teach the science of reading in order to make sure there's not this kind of federal -- federal cufflink," can indeed be diagrammed. She goes on to say "...although diagramming a sentence can sometimes expose its structural problems, it doesn't touch the deeper issues. A diagram can't ferret out a lie, correct a lapse in logic, or explain a foray into sheer lunacy." Now ain't that the truth!For language lovers, it's worth it to pick up this book just to see the diagrams of sentences from some famous authors, including the verbose Henry James and Proust.
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LibraryThing member cbl_tn
I've never liked writing, but in high school I discovered that I could enjoy grammar and have fun with diagramming sentences. I haven't been asked to diagram a sentence since high school, and the practice receded from my memory until I came across this book. The author reminisces about the nun who
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taught her to diagram sentences, provides a history of the origin and eventual decline of sentence diagramming, and comments on diagrams of sentences taken from the works of well known authors like Gertrude Stein, Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, James Fenimore Cooper, Marcel Proust, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Eudora Welty. Some of these authors would have been taught to diagram sentences during their school days. Florey considers whether sentence diagramming made them better writers or imposed boundaries that they had to escape in order to succeed. Despite her professed love for sentence diagramming, the author is doubtful about its effectiveness as a teaching method. I was disappointed to learn from the acknowledgments at the end of the book that another person had created the complex diagrams that illustrate the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member rosalita
I got this recommendation from rebeccanyc, and picked up a used copy at a local bookshop. It’s an engaging history of how diagramming sentences came to be so in vogue in American grammar schools. I was intrigued by the topic because I distinctly remember having to diagram sentences around the
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fourth or fifth grade, and I remember really liking it. It appeals to my sense of order and slotting things into their appropriate places. My memory of exactly how to diagram has faded, however, and I had hoped this book would fill in the gaps. It didn’t really do that, because there isn’t much detail about the nuts and bolts of diagramming. That was a disappointment but overall I’m happy to know more about how diagramming sentences came to be. Florey peppers the book liberally with very engaging side notes about authors like Gertrude Stein and others whose prose is virtually impossible to diagram. Having only read a little bit of Stein, I’d have to agree on that point! Show Less
LibraryThing member et.carole
The heart of this book was an analysis of different authors' writing styles, laid out neatly in facts of education and origin and diagrammed clearly in their more famous sentences ("Poetry & Grammar," ch 4). Also of good value were the histories of sentence diagramming ("General Rules," ch 3), and
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a more linguistic evaluation of the use of diagramming in a cultural context ("Youse ain't got no class," ch 5). The playful delight and scholarly interest of these chapters was, unfortunately, slightly concealed by a veneer of nostalgia that completely overwhelmed the chapters earlier and later. Show Less
LibraryThing member mkunruh
Don't expect to learn how to diagram sentences. A quick (very), fun, engaging book. Well worth the couple of hours it will take you to read it.
LibraryThing member ShanLizLuv
So much fun (Yeah, yeah, yeah...Nutter, etc.)
LibraryThing member CBJames
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences, by Kitty Burns Florey is an entertaining memoir of sentence diagramming rather than a comlete history of it. Ms. Florey speaks for generations of students who learned to diagram increasingly complex sentences
Sentence diagramming began in the 1877y with the publication of Higher Lessons in English by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellog. It's popularity with elementary school teachers grew and endured through the century that followed. Ms. Florey learned how to diagram from her sixth grade teacher, Sister Bernadette. Supporters of sentence diagramming included Gertrude Stein who famously said "A rose is a rose is a rose." Which, it turns out, is fairly easy to diagram.
Ms. Florey presents the basic rules for diagramming sentences and gives many useful and fanciful examples. When she is focused on sentence diagramming her Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog is at its strongest. When she moves on to her personal grammatical bugaboos, the use of 'ain't' for example, the book becomes weaker. Too often she interjects her own political agenda in ways that do not add to the discussion of sentence diagramming. In the end one can see why students like Ms. Florey found sentence diagramming so much fun to do, but I cannot see that it had much real value. There must be a thorough study out there somewhere proving or disproving the effectiveness of sentence diagramming. I can't believe no one ever did a doctoral dissertation on this topic. But if there is, Ms. Florey has not included it in her book. This is what makes Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog an amusing memoir rather than a more complete history of sentence diagramming.
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in private and public schools up until the 1960's when sentence diagramming began to fall out of favor. Did these complicated illustrations of how sentences are constructed actually help them become better writers? Ms. Florey does not provide a definitive answer, but she does present a series of amusing examples and anecdotes along with many entertaining illustrations of diagrammed sentences.Sentence diagramming began in the 1877y with the publication of Higher Lessons in English by Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellog. It's popularity with elementary school teachers grew and endured through the century that followed. Ms. Florey learned how to diagram from her sixth grade teacher, Sister Bernadette. Supporters of sentence diagramming included Gertrude Stein who famously said "A rose is a rose is a rose." Which, it turns out, is fairly easy to diagram.
Ms. Florey presents the basic rules for diagramming sentences and gives many useful and fanciful examples. When she is focused on sentence diagramming her Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog is at its strongest. When she moves on to her personal grammatical bugaboos, the use of 'ain't' for example, the book becomes weaker. Too often she interjects her own political agenda in ways that do not add to the discussion of sentence diagramming. In the end one can see why students like Ms. Florey found sentence diagramming so much fun to do, but I cannot see that it had much real value. There must be a thorough study out there somewhere proving or disproving the effectiveness of sentence diagramming. I can't believe no one ever did a doctoral dissertation on this topic. But if there is, Ms. Florey has not included it in her book. This is what makes Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog an amusing memoir rather than a more complete history of sentence diagramming.
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LibraryThing member peggyar
I was disappointed in this book. I thought it would give more information on actually diagramming sentences instead of just giving examples of really difficult sentences that have been diagrammed. Eats, shoots and leaves was much more entertaining and educational.
LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV
My (then 13 yo) son loved this even more than I did! Great fun.
LibraryThing member akblanchard
I used to enjoy diagramming sentences. I was disappointed when I found out it wasn’t a skill with much applicability outside the classroom. So for me, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog was the perfect book to bring along to a recent emergency room visit (all's well). Kitty Burns Florey tells the
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mildly interesting story of sentence diagramming in an engaging manner and with plenty of examples from famous authors. For those of us old enough to remember when sentence diagramming was a standard part of language arts instruction, this is a fun look back at the purposes and methods of this "lost art" (or "educational fad", depending on your point of view).. Show Less
LibraryThing member Murphy-Jacobs
Who would believe that a book about diagramming sentences (that bane of my 4th grade existence) could be so much fun? This is fun. It's funny, it's understandable, and even if you never, ever, EVER take a sentence apart, it's worth a read.
LibraryThing member annbury
A short and charmingly written discussion of the (virtually lost) art of sentence diagramming. For word lovers of a certain age, this will recall a host of memories: dusty classrooms during the Cold War, terminal boredom enlivened with sparks of discovery, and really rigorous teachers. For the
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younger set, I fear that this will all be relatively meaningless. Too bad. Show Less
LibraryThing member fundevogel
I found this one a fun read. Its a whimsical look at the history and impact of sentence diagramming. The author has fond memories of diagramming and loves the challenge and art of creating a sentence diagram. But as much as this is a labor of love it is not one sided, she concludes early that
The author talks about the impact diagramming did or didn't have on famous writers and provides lovingly crafted diagrams of their sentences. Ultimately she says that diagramming has absolutely no effect on a person's ability to write well. Of the writers she mentions only Gertrude Stein devoted any breath to her love of diagramming. Keep in mind Stein didn't believe in commas or question marks.
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sentence diagramming is essentially useless in teaching grammar since you can diagram a bad sentence as well as a good one and consequently one must already know grammar before one can diagram a sentence.The author talks about the impact diagramming did or didn't have on famous writers and provides lovingly crafted diagrams of their sentences. Ultimately she says that diagramming has absolutely no effect on a person's ability to write well. Of the writers she mentions only Gertrude Stein devoted any breath to her love of diagramming. Keep in mind Stein didn't believe in commas or question marks.
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LibraryThing member laVermeer
Language geeks will love this book. I found the notes fabulous — funny and informative. Definitely quirky, but if you have an appreciation for grammar, copy editing, proofreading, or the magic of words, this book is worth your time. (And it's an easy read to boot!)
LibraryThing member Clif
Diagramming sentences was an epiphany for me in grade school. I have a distinct recollection of the time when diagramming was first explained to me, and my thinking to myself, "Oh, so this is what they've been trying to teach us about grammar!" Today I'm totally confounded as to why this teaching
"Diagramming made language seem friendly, like a dog who doesn't bark, but, instead, trots over to greet you, wagging its tail."
This book takes me back to my one-room rural grade school days when things made sense. As you can see, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling when reminiscing about diagramming sentences.
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tool is no longer used! Is it possible that the portion of students like me (who think graphically) is so small that they can be ignored? The following quote from this book explains my feelings about diagraming perfectly:"Diagramming made language seem friendly, like a dog who doesn't bark, but, instead, trots over to greet you, wagging its tail."
This book takes me back to my one-room rural grade school days when things made sense. As you can see, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling when reminiscing about diagramming sentences.
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LibraryThing member mykl-s
Like balancing simple chemical equations and demonstrating Euclidian theorems, diagramming not-too-complex sentences was a sometimes fun part of my schooling in the 1940s and 50s. Kitty Burns Florrey's interesting book brings all that back for a kid like me who wanted to understand how things
Though tree diagrams today might be a better way to demonstrate structure and syntax of an English sentence, diagramming was what we had back then. It showed how a sentence was put together with parts of speech, nouns, adverbs and such. Parts of sentences, clauses and phrases and all, were where some really good sentences might not allow themselves to be diagrammed.
Florrey's diagram examples, especially the two-page ones, are probably the best part of the book. Or maybe the stories about Sister Bernadette's classroom were even better.
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worked.Though tree diagrams today might be a better way to demonstrate structure and syntax of an English sentence, diagramming was what we had back then. It showed how a sentence was put together with parts of speech, nouns, adverbs and such. Parts of sentences, clauses and phrases and all, were where some really good sentences might not allow themselves to be diagrammed.
Florrey's diagram examples, especially the two-page ones, are probably the best part of the book. Or maybe the stories about Sister Bernadette's classroom were even better.
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ISBN
1933633107 / 9781933633107