>  Instead of of slanted lines for modifiers, for instance, we use lines
>that come down vertically and then branch off horizontally to provide
>lines on which to  place the modifiers.  This permits you to stack
>modifiers on top of each other.
 
As a child.  I learned my grammar through the very sort of stacking
modifiers that you describe.  It made wonderful, visual sense to me.
>
>
>(2)  Does anybody know of a form for diagramming adverbs or
>prepositional phrases that modify whole sentences, as in "Unfortunately,
>he failed the test," or "According to Hoyle, you may do that."  Attaching
>them to the verbs seems unsatisfactory.
 
But "unfortunately" modifies "failed", not the entire sentence and
"According to Hoyle" is a participial phrase and thus modifies "you".
 
What do you call the infinitive phrase of this one?  "He caused her to do
it."  Is "to do it" an objective complement and if so, how to diagram?!  I
was asked this question as I left school for the day and said I'd think
about it over the weekend.
 
 
Cheers from a fellow grammarian.
 
Mary Tyler Knowles ([log in to unmask])
The Winsor School. Boston, MA
"I read; therefore, I am."