...
It is a journey undertaken by most successful speakers and writers. The road leads from 'I aint got nobody' to 'I do not have anyone.' Traveling from 'What are you doing that for? ' to 'Why are you doing that? ' can make for a long and arduous trip.

My journey began with Mrs. Doyle in a fifth grade parochial school classroom and continues to this day. My latest 'pit stop' was Painless Grammar by Rebecca Elliott, Ph.D. She promises ". . .an enjoyable, completely painless examination of parts of speech, sentence construction, and punctuation." Aimed at students in "Sixth - Eighth Grades," Elliott hits that target easily and creates a fun grammar and writing roadmap for all of us, particularly the still-learning adult writer.


In five chapters Elliott moves from Parts of Speech through Building and Punctuating Sentences, to Agreement and Words, Words, Words, finishing strongly with Editing.

At one point in Painless Grammar Elliott stresses "Formal English doesn't sound stuffy and weird—it sounds clear, clean, and strong." That summarizes the main point of this book: to make a writer's words and thoughts as convincing as possible. The painless part is just a fringe benefit.


Each chapter covers several important areas related to the main topic. For instance, Chapter Two: Building and Punctuation Sentences addresses:

• Making Sentences,
• Sentence, Fragments, Phrases, and Clauses,
• Road Signs: Punctuation,
. . .and
• Highlights: Abbreviations, Numbers, Symbols, and Emphasis

It is not surprising that the largest section in this chapter is the one covering punctuation. Indeed, a full dozen pages are dedicated to the care and use of the lowly comma.

Rest assured the guidance here is never boring, never demanding. A general principle is stated and then various examples of weak or incorrect usage are given followed by examples of better usage.

Throughout the book, Elliott ends each segment with a Brain Ticklers self-test where the reader is tasked to "Find the goofs in these sentences and correct them." At the end of each chapter the 'goofy' sentences are re-stated and the answers humorously explained.

Perhaps the last entry in the book might demonstrate this style:

8. I'm dead tired, flat broke, and I'm having a bad hair day to boot.

One sentence, four clichés: dead tired, flat broke, bad hair day, and to boot. Since this is the last exercise of the book, let's let sleeping dogs lie (another cliché) and call it quits (another cliché). Whatta ya have to say about that (another cliché)? "


The real value of this book lies in the last chapter, Editing. Elliott stresses here that (to use what sounds like a dreaded cliché) "Good writing is 20 percent inspiration and 80 percent cleanup." Double talk, unnecessary words, blah blah blah, left out words, trite words, vague and foggy writing, double negatives, misplaced phrases, run-on sentences, and many other common problem areas are all addressed.

The book finishes with Elliott walking the reader through the edit of a short essay about MTV being a bad influence on kids. It is interesting and educational to see how she hones a hastily-written paragraph of loosely related thoughts into an 'A-level' (or 'most helpful') essay.


The Bottom Line
If you have a middle-grade student that needs a fun review of grammar and writing skills you can not go wrong with Painless Grammar. And you will probably learn (or re-learn) as much as your student by reading through it yourself.


Please Note:

I will repeat the warning placed at the end of the other review of this book published earlier here on Epinions:

"The downside of writing a review of a grammar book is the inevitable embarrassment that will result from having used incorrect grammar somewhere in the review. Oh well... that's why I bought the book. And I'm way past high school!"

Your polite yet critical feedback is encouraged..!!


Certified 'lean-n-mean' review.


My reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic reviews
 
 

Recommended: Yes