Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog

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 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. show more 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

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. 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 show more "...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. show less

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 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 show more 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

What a fun book! The only book I know in which the author reminisces fondly about diagramming sentences in middle school back in the day. It's an entertaining book, not a book teaching you how to diagram. Actually, I had no idea kids these days don't diagram sentences (except in a few rare schools) because I did it when I was in school. I diagrammed badly. I remember nothing of it, but I remember hating it.

I did not hate this book. I had a good time with it and now I wished I had paid more attention to the lessons. I learned how much Gertrude Stein loved diagramming - and try to diagram one of her sentences! The author talks about the style of many famous writers not to mention gives us a history of the lost art of diagramming.

I show more recommend this book if you have any interest in grammar and would like something light-hearted. This book can be read in an afternoon. show less

I owe this thoroughly delightful read to a review another LTer and it was the perfect accompaniment to waiting for my car at the shop: a quick, easy read that nonetheless had some meat to it. Not only did I enjoy revisiting the process of diagramming sentences, but I also appreciated Florey's entertaining examples (largely from literature) and her comments about other, more or less related, topics. She is an engaging writer and seems like a person I would like to know. This book was a lot of fun

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 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'.

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!)