The Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed
by Karen Elizabeth Gordon
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Description
Collection of bizarre, but instructional sentences used to help take the pain out of punctuation.Tags
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Member Reviews
Awesome, a grammar handbook that is entertaining. Gordon's whimsical sentences, which illustrate the many ways in which to apply commas, semi colons, and other punctuation marks make one forget that this book provides good guidance for all your tricky punctuation questions. How much more fun would 7th grade grammar have been if the sentences in our grammar text--"Saturday's Council meeting was unusually harmonious, for no one raised any objections."-- were replaced with the gems in The Well-Tempered Sentence: "The room filled up with philanderers, all seeking some buxom relief." "And don't you dare set foot in my hearse ever again!"
Grammar. That most hated of subjects - you either get it, or don't. Luckily, this book explains grammar using humorous sentences that both explain, and keeps a reader interested. And... its short. Which is always helpful. I especially love the illustrations. This is the first grammar book that I think I would actually want to use. I think I will start giving this book to high school graduates. It seems more useful than that Dr. Seuss book everyone gets!
Good writing generally means clear meaning, which is immeasurably enhanced by good punctuation. This pithy and entertaining book uses examples - many of them humourous - to delineate guidelines for using periods, question marks, exclamation points (so overused!), the comma, the semicolon, the colon, the hyphen, the dash, quotation marks, this punctuation mark it is misused in practice more than others.
(Shelf-Clearing Project Reference Book). A charming and exhaustive guide to punctuation, illustrated with amusing sentences and archival black-and-white pictures. Ms. Gordon endorses the Oxford Comma, so this one is definitely a keeper.
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ThingScore 100
I doubt that even my most hardcore grammar geek friends have ever laughed out loud while reading about writing properly. (I did while reading this one, and I got some strange looks from people in my vicinity.)
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Author Information
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1983
- Dedication
- I can't possibly give this book to one person, but certain sentences in it are for David Bromige, Judith Wright, Harold Schneider, Baillie Kay, Robert Bly, Carol Dunlop, and Kay Turney. For their ineffable assistance, I wish... (show all) to thank Linda Purdy and Maia Gregory. And thanks to Paul Aaen Gordon for his definition of Time
- First words
- The period is used to mark the end of a declarative or mild imperative sentence.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But who has memorized other memorable passages from that book?
- Blurbers
- Newman, Edwin
- Disambiguation notice
- Please distinguish Karen Elizabeth Gordon's original Work, The Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed (1983), from her revised edition, The New Well-Tempere... (show all)d Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed (1993).
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- Members
- 463
- Popularity
- 65,959
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (4.07)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 1
- UPCs
- 2
- ASINs
- 5
