I concur fully with Susan van Druten's comment: I have structured similar
sentences for examinations.

In response to Edmund Wright (I hope that I remembered the name correctly),
American High School English do not normally have 6-7 classes; however, the
classes are larger:  My first year of teaching, I taught five different
classes of 40 students each with homework required in each subject five days
a week (English, mathematics, General Science, World Geography, Spanish.  My
third year, I ended up with Latin I, Latin II, French I, French II, and
World History (the last was for Educable Mentally Handicapped students).  My
fifteenth year, I did have seven classes (2 sections of English II, Latin I,
Latin II, Latin III, Latin IV, Spanish I).  Classes only averaged 25
students (150 in lieu of the 200, with which I had started); however,
homework was only four nights a week.  Several of the Latin classes had two
levels in the same room.
 

N. Scott Catledge, PhD/STD
Professor Emeritus
history & languages


-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of ATEG automatic digest system
Sent: Sunday, May 31, 2009 12:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: ATEG Digest - 29 May 2009 to 30 May 2009 (#2009-129)

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]
OHIO.EDU] On Behalf Of Susan van Druten
Sent: 2009-05-30 10:44
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Class size and SAT parallel structure questions

I agree that some test maker sometimes ask questions based on obscure rules=
, but this one seems fair to me.  Comparing "Heather" to "Joanne's fear" ca=
uses the reader one second of adjustment.  Try reading the sentence without=
 the interrupting clause.  Unlike her sister Heather, Joanne's fear kept he=
r from going anywhere near the creatures. Parallel structures (such as "unl=
ike x") set up expectations in readers.  When the writer doesn't deliver, i=
t is as unsatisfying as the musician who withholds the final note.

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