Jul 11, 2007 01:10 PM
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If you’ve ever built a house — with real bricks or with kiddy blocks — you know that the whole thing is likely to fall down unless it’s sitting atop a strong foundation. Good Grammar books provide the stuff you need to lay the best foundation for your writing. Before I launch into a tirade, I must warn you that I’ve made two global assumptions about you, the reader. First, you have a busy life with very little time to waste on unnecessary frills. With this important fact in mind, I’ve tried to keep this review clear, simple, and short(ahem) Good grammar pays. No, I’m not making a sentimental statement about the importance of a job well done or the satisfaction of learning for learning’s sake, though I believe in both of those values.
I’m talking about cold, hard cash, the kind you fold and put into your wallet. Don’t believe me? Fine. Try this little test: The next time you go to the movies, tear yourself away from the story for a moment and concentrate on the dialogue. Chances are the characters who have fancy jobs or piles of dough sound different from those who don’t. I’m not making a value judgment here; I’m just describing reality. Proper English, either written or spoken, tends to be associated with the upper social or economic classes. Tuning up your grammar muscles doesn’t guarantee your entry into the Bill Gates income tax bracket, but poor grammar may make it much harder to fight your way in. Another payoff of good grammar is better grades and an edge in college admissions.
Teachers have always looked more favorably on nicely written sentences. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a lifetime improving your English. Ten minutes here, ten minutes there, and before you know it, your grammar muscles will be toned to fighting strength. A Grammar book is the equivalent of a health-club membership for your writing and speaking skills. Like a good health club, it doesn’t waste your time with lectures on the physiology of flat abs. Instead, it sends you right to the mat and sets you up with the exercises that actually do the job. A good Grammar book doesn’t concentrate on what we English teachers(yes, I confess I am one) call descriptive grammar — the kind where you circle all the nouns and draw little triangles around the prepositions.
A closely guarded English-teacher secret is that you don’t need to know any of that terminology(well, hardly any) to master grammar. Instead, a good book on grammar concentrates on functional grammar — what goes where in real-life speech and writing. Each chapter begins with a quick explanation of the rules(don’t smoke, don’t stick your chewing gum on the bedpost, be sure your sentence is complete, and so forth). Okay, I’m kidding about the smoking and the chewing gum, but you get the idea. They start off telling you what’s right and wrong in standard English usage. Next, they provide an example and then hit you with ten or so quick questions. Just to make sure you know that they’re not wasting your time, in every chapter you’re given a sample from real-life English(sometimes with a fairly absurd situation, just to keep your funny bone tingling), so you can see how proper grammar actually aids communication. Where to go from here: To the refrigerator for a snack. Nope. Just kidding.
Now that you know what’s where, turn to the section that best meets your needs. If you’re not sure what would benefit you most, take a moment to think about what bothers you. No, I’m not talking about the fact that your favorite brand of yogurt just cut two ounces from each container. I’m talking about the parts of writing or speaking that make you pause for a lengthy head scratch. Do you have trouble picking the appropriate verb tense? Is finding the right word a snap but placing a comma cause for concern? Do you go out of your way to avoid sentences with who because you never know when to opt for whom? After you’ve done a little grammatical reconnaissance, select the sections of the book that meet your needs.
Use the “How This Book Is Organized” or the introduction, the table of contents, and the index to find more detail about what is where. Turn to the exercises that address your issues and use the rest to line the birdcage. Of course, if you decide to read every single word they’ve written, you win their “favorite person of the month” award. But don’t beat yourself up if you pick and choose from the selection of tune-ups. If you aren’t sure whether a particular topic is a problem, no problem! Run your eyeballs over the explanation and sample question.
Try a couple of sentences and check your answers. If everything comes out okay and you understand the answers, move on. If you stub your toe, go back and do a few more until the grammar rule becomes clear. When you understand each concept separately but have trouble putting the whole picture together, take a stab at the comprehensive exercise that ends each chapter. You have to find and correct mistakes in a short piece of lunatic writing. After you find them, check yourself. One more thing: Don’t try to do everything at once. Hit your mind with a half cup of grammar(about ten minutes or so) at a time. More will stick, and as a huge plus, you’ll have time to go bowling.
