Good Grammar Books?

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 6:30pm

I need to brush up on some basic principals of grammar. Any good books you'd recommend?
Updated On: 4/29/06 at 06:30 PM

[shameless]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 6:36pm

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.


Not that I've been using it to edit my posts.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 6:38pm

Shameless, I thought the same thing. That was standard issue for first year law school. That and the Blue Book of Citations and Black's Law Dictionary!

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 6:40pm

Different states, same requirements for law school.

I still have my blue book somewhere!

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 6:42pm

I have it at the office, but rarely use it. I wrote an article recently and used it then, but the courts here do not even follow the Blue Book in their own decisions.

[shameless]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 6:43pm

Journalism School. We had to pass a NASTY grammar test to graduate.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 7:33pm

Please let me note that Strunk and White is often WRONG in its usage of grammar. I've used that booklet in the classroom and ultimately went back to Warriner's Grammar and Composition. Everything you need to know is there and it's clearly written.

Updated On: 4/30/06 at 07:33 PM

[shameless]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 7:36pm

So, that's why I had such a hard time with that test. Dammit!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 8:35pm

That's probably the case. I can't come up with specific examples where Strunk and White go astray, but there were enough times for me to scrap the book and haul out the trusty Warriner's books.

Using Strunk and White was the idea of a principal who encountered them in a graduate course he was taking. This is the same principal who thought V.C. Andrews was an "exemplary" writer. At his urgings I tried to read FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC and couldn't get through the first 50 pages. Not only was it poorly written, but it was obvious.

He taught a single English class and had them read FLOWERS. My classes read THE GREAT GATSBY and got higher scores on the NYS Regents exam because they had a greater appreciation of literary technique and the use of symbolism.

What literary merit is to be found in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC?

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 9:33pm

I hear Liam wrote a great one.

Akiva

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:11pm

Have you noticed that Liam's writing has marginally improved?

(I take no credit for it, but the truth must be told!)

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:15pm

Is Liam still around?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:18pm

Yes. He posted on one of Yenta's threads today.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:20pm

DP, are you really in Montana, or was that a joke?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:32pm

What does your question have to do with Liam's improved writing skills?

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:34pm

Obviously nothing, I saw the Billings reference in another thread!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:38pm

Was Liam mentioned in the Billings reference that you caught in another thread?

I still don't see how you made the connection.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:43pm

It was a thread jack question, there was no connection, non sequitur sorry!

[Dollypop]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:50pm

Is "Thread Jack" the au courant term for "Mojito"?

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:52pm

No Comprende?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/29/06 at 11:54pm

"Sin and Syntax"

It's a little hardcore and makes you feel like an idiot.

It preaches grammatical rules so correctly that it, itself, isn't alway written perfectly.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 12:05am

"Please let me note that Strunk and White is often WRONG in their usage of grammar."

You mean ARE wrong?

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 12:07am

Well, now, that depends if Strunk and White is a company named for two people or are just the two people.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 12:12am

"their usage"

[RobbO]

Posted: 4/30/06 at 12:26am

strunk and white refers to the book so "is" is correct.

also, even if strunk and white referred to a company named for two people it would be "is" since "strunk and white" in this case refers to "the company."

therefore, the sentence would read: (the company) is wrong on all counts...

lastly, i highly doubt that the elements of style by strunk and white has numerous errors since the book is in its fourth edition now and, if there were errors, they would have been corrected by now. also, as several people here noted the book is known as an authority for journalists, lawyers, etc. it would not be the case if it had so many mistakes.

Updated On: 4/30/06 at 12:26 AM