Max,

I have for several years used Joe Williams' STYLE: TEN LESSONS IN CLARITY
AND GRACE in advanced comp and teacher ed. Students generally find it very
difficult, but I persevere as long as their patience with me holds out. I
have also tried Art Peterson's THE WRITER'S WORKOUT BOOK, but not enough to
have a strong opinion about it.

Like you, I found these approaches to the study of style useful ways also
to get into the study of grammar. If the textbooks and I simply use
grammatical terminology to explain what we are asking students to do,
students seem to pick up the concepts with less strain.

I don't know why we should be surprised that it's a good idea to teach
grammar in the context of using grammatical concepts for practical
purposes. I may have begun learning to flyfish on the grass in my back
yard, but I quickly moved into flyfishing on water in pursuit of actual
fish. It was a lot more interesting, even when I wrapped the flyline around
my neck.

Bill




>Bill, wonderful summary of the issues.  I wish it were easy to summarize
>solutions.
>
>I've become enamored this past semester with Katy Wood Ray's book WONDROUS
>WORDS , which is on the craft of writing.  She explains craft in literature
>(children's to articles in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED).  And she shows how to teach
>students (elementary and middle school) how to read as writers and write as
>readers (how to recognize craft in literature and how to get that same kind
>of craft into their own writing). I'm using Ray's book  in my junior-level
>grammar class (mostly for English Ed majors) along with my own text.  The
>final paper in the class is a "craft paper," in which students have to take
>a piece of literature of their choice and explain its craft.  Usually, the
>students work on a chapter or a few pages of a novel or short story,
>anything from Henry James to primary-school picture books.
>
>Ray's book has allowed me to focus on the relationships between grammar,
>writing, and literature.  I THINK I'm finally getting students to see some
>use in their gaining a knowledge of grammar.  But, damn, it's taken me a
>long time to figure out how to do so, though it's what I've been trying to
>accomplish for 35 years or so now.  Maybe I'll finally succeed before I
>retire.   Max
>
>**************************************



William J. McCleary
3247 Bronson Hill Road
Livonia, NY 14487
716-346-6859

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