Books

Average customer rating:

It really isn't that good
Good book to have
Larry Wall is a genius.
The Essential Perl Book
Not my style of learning

Programming Perl (3rd Edition)
Larry Wall , Tom Christiansen , and Jon Orwant
Manufacturer: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Learning Perl, Second Edition
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ASIN: 0596000278

Amazon.com

Larry Wall wrote Perl and he wrote Programming Perl. Better yet, he writes amusingly and well--all of which comes across in this latest edition of the definitive guide to the language.

Like Topsy, Perl just grew, and as a result the need for a third edition came about. It's now over 1,000 pages, which it needs to be, as it performs several different duties. First, it's an introduction to the Perl language for those who are new to programming; also, it's a guide for those who are coming from other languages; and, finally, it's a Perl language reference.

Among Larry Wall's other pursuits is being a linguist, and it's perhaps for this reason that Perl is a peculiarly flexible language with many routes to achieving the same ends, as the authors ably demonstrate. It's also extensible in several ways, designed to work with many other languages. Also, as it's largely interpreted, programs written in Perl tend to run unmodified on a variety of platforms--although platform-specific Perl modules and programming practices are also discussed.

A major strength of Programming Perl is the way subject areas are approached from several directions. This constant shift of viewpoint eliminates blind spots in the reader's understanding and provides a pleasing echo of the way Perl itself can take many routes from here to there.

Because the Perl community is both knowledgeable and active, the language covers much more ground here than in the previous edition. Even if you have both previous editions, you'll want this latest version--if only for the new jokes. --Steve Patient, amazon.co.uk

Book Description

Perl is a powerful programming language that has grown in popularity since it first appeared in 1988. The first edition of this book, Programming Perl, hit the shelves in 1990, and was quickly adopted as the undisputed bible of the language. Since then, Perl has grown with the times, and so has this book. Programming Perl is not just a book about Perl. It is also a unique introduction to the language and its culture, as one might expect only from its authors. Larry Wall is the inventor of Perl, and provides a unique perspective on the evolution of Perl and its future direction. Tom Christiansen was one of the first champions of the language, and lives and breathes the complexities of Perl internals as few other mortals do. Jon Orwant is the editor of The Perl Journal, which has brought together the Perl community as a common forum for new developments in Perl. Any Perl book can show the syntax of Perl's functions, but only this one is a comprehensive guide to all the nooks and crannies of the language. Any Perl book can explain typeglobs, pseudohashes, and closures, but only this one shows how they really work. Any Perl book can say that my is faster than local, but only this one explains why. Any Perl book can have a title, but only this book is affectionately known by all Perl programmers as "The Camel." This third edition of Programming Perl has been expanded to cover version 5.6 of this maturing language. New topics include threading, the compiler, Unicode, and other new features that have been added since the previous edition.

Customer Reviews:

It really isn't that good.......2007-05-14

The book is written by the creators of Perl, but the truth is that the book is not nearly as good as it's cracked up to be. It suffers from the "fish describing water" syndrome, where the authors find it hard to know what to talk about and what not to talk about.

The book definitely is useful, but it's not as useful as a book written by more skillful technical writers would have been. It's very "ivory towers" and it badly needs more simple example scripts rather than "head in the clouds" discussions.

Unfortunately a lot of people who want to be "macho" about computers will say that this book is much easier to understand and useable than it really is - they'd probably tell you about how wonderful the emperor's new clothes are too.

It's not a bad book, and it's definitely useful, but I'd recommend borrowing a copy of this book to have a good look at it before buying it.

Good book to have.......2007-02-20

I haven't actually used this book in some time, but never got the last copy back from the person who borrowed it off my bookshelf. When it did see use, it was mostly to quickly look up things in the back.

Larry Wall is a genius........2006-11-17

Larry Wall (the father of Perl) is a genius. This book is essential for anyone who loves PERL. You might also want to consider "PERL: Essential Programs for Your Survival at Work" by Larry L. Smith.

The Essential Perl Book.......2006-08-23

This book is _the_ book to get when you want to get serious about Perl.
If you want to simply get to know Perl and write a few scripts, get "Learning Perl" and that'll teach you what you need to know, plus a few interesting tips here and there that you wouldn't catch yourself.
When you want to actually program in Perl and do the serious work, it's worth it to have access to this book. All the idiosyncrasies are given and you will develop a very indepth understanding of Perl... and once you have that, you can get a huge load done with Perl.

Not my style of learning.......2006-07-30

The book is well edited and has obviously evloved since its first edition to meet the needs of its readers, based on their feedback.

Unfortunately, it teaches you things inside out (and to be fair, the authors do actually tell you this about two chapters in).

They briefly mention/cite concepts in the early chapters which they then don't delve into until later chapters (e.g. they discuss symbol references early on, in regard to operators available in the language, without any introduction as to what a symbol reference is -- and I was left pretty confused sat 30k feet in the sky. I had to hop around the book to find out what was going on).

I am someone that likes to know what's going on every step of the way, where plausible, but I find it very difficult not to stop when I encounter a situation like this and hit Google to work out what they're referring to.

If you like a more methodical approach to learning a new language, try Learning Perl by Schwart et al.

Having said that, everything they do decide to drill down into is well described and becomes absorbed into your memory a lot quicker than most other texts.

Hodges' Harbrace Handbook (with InfoTrac) (Hodges Harbrace Handbook)

Average customer rating:

Hodges' Harbrace Handbook
The Guide for American English
The Guide for American English
Absolutely Essential

Hodges' Harbrace Handbook (with InfoTrac) (Hodges Harbrace Handbook)
Cheryl Glenn , Robert Keith Miller , Suzanne Strobeck Webb , and Loretta Gray
Manufacturer: Heinle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

The Longman Reader
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Steps to Writing Well with Additional Readings (with InfoTrac )
The Least You Should Know about English: Writing Skills, Form A (Least You Should Know about English: Writing Skills)
The Longman Writer

ASIN: 083840345X

Book Description

Bringing new insight to the comprehensive HODGES' HARBRACE HANDBOOK, Fifteenth Edition, rhetorician Cheryl Glenn and linguist Loretta Gray add their expertise to this market-leading handbook.

Customer Reviews:

Hodges' Harbrace Handbook.......2002-08-11

I've been using this handbook for about 25 years, and recently realized that my edition was the 3rd, published in the 1970s! So I ordered the latest edition (14th edition), and was so pleased with my purchase. This is a handbook that lives in our office, and gets used to death (we do graphic design, copywriting, editing). Any new employee on our staff is required to at least become familiar with the table of contents (in case of emergency!), and very soon they too are heading for Harbrace's to look up something. We love it.

The Guide for American English.......2002-07-31

It never ceases to amaze me how many times some ... grammarian tries to correct my writing only to review my Harbrace College Handbook to see they're wrong and I'm right. This is the definitive guide to American English grammar. Easy to read, plenty of examples, and more importantly it even covers those gray areas of usage letting the ready know this non-standard without simply cutting you off without explanation. I have purchased the latest edition ever since I purchased my first copy as text to Advanced Composition during my undergraduate days at the University of Maryland University College. Harbrace as served me very well ever since helping me obtain a high GPA in regards to my written assignments. I have a lot of other grammar books that I look at now and then, but Harbrace remains the standard.

The Guide for American English.......2002-07-31

It never ceases to amaze me how many times some anal grammarian tries to correct my writing only to review my Harbrace College Handbook to see they're wrong and I'm right. This is the definitive guide to American English grammar. Easy to read, plenty of examples, and more importantly it even covers those gray areas of usage letting the ready know this non-standard without simply cutting you off without explanation. I have purchased the latest edition ever since I purchased my first copy as text to Advanced Composition during my undergraduate days at the University of Maryland University Collage. Harbrace as served me very well ever since helping me obtain a high GPA in regards to my written assignments. I have a lot of other grammar books that I look at now and then, but Harbrace remains the standard.

Absolutely Essential.......2000-10-17

This is an exemplary work. It is absolutely essential to the high school level and above as a general and specific guideline to writing. I strongly recommend this book for those interested in perfecting their grammar and writing styles.

-Jonah Sampson Boyarin hehe

Average customer rating:

The Logical Syntax of Language (Open Court Classics)

Logical Syntax of Language
Rudolf Carnap
Manufacturer: Routledge Kegan & Paul
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Textbook Binding
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The Principles of Mathematics

ASIN: 0710031254

Book Description

Available for the first time in 20 years, here is the Rudolf Carnap's famous "principle of tolerance" by which everyone is free to mix and match the rules of language and logic. In The Logical Syntax of Language, Carnap explains how his entire theory of language structure came to him like a vision when he was ill. He postulates that concepts of the theory of logic are purely syntactical and therefore can be formulated in logical syntax.

Customer Reviews:

The Logical Syntax of Language (Open Court Classics).......2007-02-12

The front cover has been cut and demaged. However, as Amazon asserted that this was not their fault and asked me to pay the expensive international shipping fee if I really want to exchange for a new one. Absolutely nonsense.

Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses

Average customer rating:

How I am successfully using this book to become more conversational in Spanish?
A great resource for getting over the hump of verbs and tenses
Only One Course You Need to Speak Spanish
Great Resource
Excellent Book to improve Spanish

Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses
Dorothy Richmond
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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501 Spanish Verbs: with CD-ROM (Barron's Foreign Language Guides)

ASIN: 0844273341

Book Description

This convenient worktext gives students a unique approach to learning, remembering, and reviewing how to use Spanish verbs correctly. The book provides a systematic presentation and review of Spanish verb forms and explains when and why a certain verb tense should be used. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses includes an impressive number of exercises and open-ended questions, numerous conjugation charts, a list of verbs and their prepositions, and Spanish-English and English-Spanish vocabulary lists.

Customer Reviews:

How I am successfully using this book to become more conversational in Spanish? .......2007-06-25

This book is fantastic for teaching Spanish grammar for verb tenses. It goes great with a Spanish verb conjugation book such as 501 Spanish verbs. One of the most interesting things about this book is the vocabulary that you will learn. I was only expecting to learn how to conjugate verbs with this book. But I learned Spanish verb conjugation and so many new vocabulary words that I was able to put to use almost immediately with Spanish speakers. The exercises were also fun to do, and I never felt bored when studying with this book.

Many people say that you should first learn how to speak the language and reach an intermediate conversational level before attempting to study the grammar from a book. I disagree. I have used this book with my favorite Spanish course, Learning Spanish Like Crazy, and I am very happy with the progress that I have made. And I feel that this book has helped me to develop a better understanding of "why" sentences are said the way that they are in Spanish. Learning Spanish Like Crazy is probably the best self-study course for learning authentic Spanish from this side of the Atlantic, but it left me with certain questions about using Spanish verbs. But I have been able to use this book to successfully fill in those gaps and become more conversational. If you are truly serious about speaking fluent Spanish, then you'll want to order this book.

A great resource for getting over the hump of verbs and tenses.......2007-06-12

I have taken 4 years of spanish in high school but I hadn't taken a class in over 4 years and had lost most of what I had learned. This is a great resource that introduces (or reintroduces) you to spanish verb forms and tenses. Memorizing verbs and conjugations is probably the most difficult thing to master in the Spanish language but this book makes it easy to comprhend. This is not an instant thing though. Learning any language takes time and practice but this book is exactly what you need to get you over that hump. I would reccomend pairing this book with an audio tape that teaches conversational spanish through dialogues. It allows you to put to use what you learn in the book.

Only One Course You Need to Speak Spanish.......2007-06-01

Say it any way you like, verbs are the key to speaking any language, especially Spanish.
But as good as Practice Makes Perfect may be, it is not enough.
You must have verb practice, and in context.
Here are my best recommendations in order of importance:
1. Behind the Wheel Spanish/Complete Illustrated Text/Answer Keys/8 One Hour Audio CDs
This is the king of all Spanish courses and has wonderful verb templates, verbs in context, and verb practice. Most of the best written material is included in the CDs which you can listen to anywhere, even 'Behind the Wheel'.
2. 501 Spanish Verbs by Christopher Kendris
3. Practice Makes Perfect: Spanish Verb Tenses. Next to Kendris' 501 Spanish Verbs, the best on the market.
Used together, these form a potent learning mix that is sure to get you speaking, understanding and communicating effectively in Spanish.

Great Resource.......2007-06-01

This book is a must have for any student of the Spanish language. It was this book that helped to cement the rules of grammar for me. Some in the reviews have stated that "501 Verbs" is better but I disagree. The layout of this book is much cleaner and in reality they don't even compare in semantics. This book is a step by step, chapter by chapter book while the "501 Verbs" is more of a reference to verb conjugations with a little information at the beginning. If you are pondering whether or not to buy this book, just do it!

Excellent Book to improve Spanish.......2007-05-29

This book is really helpful for people who has middle knowledge of Spanish. The exercises are great and the Spanish is the good Spanish.

When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse

Average customer rating:

Speech Therapy
Parts of speech? Horrors! But clear and applicable in this book
The Parts of Speech Can Be Fun
Best language book I have read in some time.
"Current Reflections On the Parts Of Speech'

When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better And/Or Worse
Ben Yagoda
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left
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A Writer's Coach: An Editor's Guide to Words That Work

ASIN: 0767920775
Release Date: 2007-02-13

Book Description

What do you get when you mix nine parts of speech, one great writer, and generous dashes of insight, humor, and irreverence? One phenomenally entertaining language book.

In his waggish yet authoritative book, Ben Yagoda has managed to undo the dark work of legions of English teachers and libraries of dusty grammar texts. Not since School House Rock have adjectives, adverbs, articles, conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs been explored with such infectious exuberance. Read If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It and:

Learn how to write better with classic advice from writers such as Mark Twain (“If you catch an adjective, kill it”), Stephen King (“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs”), and Gertrude Stein (“Nouns . . . are completely not interesting”).

Marvel at how a single word can shift from adverb (“I did okay”), to adjective (“It was an okay movie”), to interjection (“Okay!”), to noun (“I gave my okay”), to verb (“Who okayed this?”), depending on its use.

Avoid the pretentious preposition at, a favorite of real estate developers (e.g., “The Shoppes at White Plains”).

Laugh when Yagoda says he “shall call anyone a dork to the end of his days” who insists on maintaining the distinction between shall and will.

Read, and discover a book whose pop culture references, humorous asides, and bracing doses of discernment and common sense convey Yagoda’s unique sense of the “beauty, the joy, the artistry, and the fun of language.”

Customer Reviews:

Speech Therapy.......2007-05-17

I caught it, fought it and still can't get rid of that hellacious adjective. Unfortunately, the book was of little help or kept my interest. If you're an English Lit. major this may be for you -- Steve

Parts of speech? Horrors! But clear and applicable in this book.......2007-05-07

I bought this book because I am ninety years old and had never been taught the parts of speech--and obviously did not have much time left if I were to learn them! This is far better written and presented than anything I have looked at before. I not only finished it it will stay with my dicionary at my side. Bill Weifenbach

The Parts of Speech Can Be Fun.......2007-04-04

Among writers of English, there is a strong interest in their own language, and a long tradition of manuals by writers who suggest how to use English without error. Ambrose Bierce wrote such a manual, and writers constantly refer (but not necessarily defer) to Fowler, and many can quote Strunk and White from memory. For some reason, contemporary writers on the subject of English are called "language mavens", and they are of two camps, the prescriptivists who would like to tell you how to say something properly according to the rules, and the descriptivists who document how the language is being (rather than should be) used. As usual, there are extremists at both ends of the spectrum, and it would be wise to stick to the middle. That does not mean staying bland. In _When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It: The Parts of Speech, for Better and/or Worse_ (Basic Books), Ben Yagoda is happy to enjoy creative use of English that breaks rules. We would all be poorer without, for instance, Fats Waller's "One never knows, do one?" But he is also happy to emphasize (and, one assumes since he is an English teacher, enforce) the rules that work to promote clarity and understanding. His book isn't really a rulebook, but a survey in nine chapters of nine parts of speech, each a useful essay on usage.

"Ultimately, the issue of correctness just isn't very interesting," Yagoda writes. What is interesting are "words, phrases, and sentences that transcend their meaning - because they're smart, funny, well-crafted, pungent, unexpected, or sometimes wrong in just the right way." There are lots and lots of examples of such lively, perhaps grammatically questionable, usage in all the chapters here. The title of the book, about killing adjectives, is advice generally attributed to Mark Twain, who knew that using the right noun would preclude unnecessary adjectives. But adverbs get even less respect. Elmore Leonard wrote, "I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances 'full of rape and adverbs.'" Stephen King wrote, "I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs." Yagoda says that two adverbs need special mention, and in so doing, demonstrates the subjective nature of judging usage. He doesn't like "arguably" as in, "He is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL", because it probably doesn't mean that anyone has taken this stance in an argument, but that the writer is withholding an opinion and standing behind a bogus adverb. But it is a surprise that he likes "like", as in "It's a complete obstruction of, like, freedom" because it makes the speaker seem less pompous (to be sure, this was a spoken, not a written example).

Yagoda dishes out such likes and dislikes in every chapter, with some being idiosyncratic and some conventional but for idiosyncratic reasons. For instance, in a section on sentence adverbs (one adverb to modify a whole sentence, as in "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"), he says that the most abused and annoying sentence adverb is "actually" which is overused as in "Actually, he's in a meeting", indicating that not only is he in a meeting, but I am actually telling you the truth when he is in a meeting. (It's fun to play the select-the-most-annoying game, and for worst-used adverb, I would have voted for "literally", as in, "She was literally walking on air.") He doesn't like "hopefully" except as meaning "done in a hopeful manner", as in, "He opened the treasure chest hopefully", but thinks it fills a need, as in "The package will arrive tomorrow, hopefully" since "... arrive tomorrow, I hope" sounds Pollyanna-ish. He would not accept, however, such a formation in a written essay. He shows to be foolish one of the prescriptivists' darling rules, that of never ending a sentence in a preposition. The original rule came from Latin usage, not English. While it is true that sentences as a rule should end strongly, forcing a preposition to the interior can weaken it, as in "We are such stuff on which dreams are made", or can render it stupid, as in repairing "I'm turning in," by "Turning in I am," which, Yagoda says, not even Yoda could spout with a straight face. There is plenty of good sense here, and fun in every chapter (yes, in a book about grammar), as well as entertaining sidelights on such things as the origin of the ampersand symbol and the inventor of the @ for e-mail addresses. There is also a lot of good advice quoted from great writers. Yagoda's book won't replace any style manuals, but his tone of tolerance for eccentricity and enthusiasm for colorful usage is welcome, and his own writing is clever and funny.

Best language book I have read in some time........2007-03-29

Very well-written and engaging approach to a topic we all need to learn more about! Bravo!

"Current Reflections On the Parts Of Speech'.......2007-03-29

The author takes readers on an informative and often entertaining walk through Fowler and Follett territory, contemporary usage. Neither a strict prescriptivist nor a lax descriptivist, Yagoda has good things to say about some much maligned current uses of "like," and some delightfully nasty ones about such a locution as "Mom." What distinguishes his presentation, and is evident throughout, is his middle-of-the-road sweet reasonableness. If his book has a limitation, though, I'd say it's the problem of his reiterating the obvious. That adverbs and adjectives can rob verbs of power or tumble into redundancy, that overuse of prepositions or triple and quadruple noun compounds will make prose bureaucratic and opaque, that verbs are the most important words in a language or a good prose style - none of these principles is exactly a revelation at this late date. Nevertheless, if it's true that people more often than not need to be reminded of essentials, Yagoda's book will serve a useful as well as entertaining purpose.

Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Cards (Zondervan Vocabulary Builder Series, The)

Average customer rating:

Great supplement to the book
Just a quick few words of caution...
Vocabulary Cards a Must
Mounce's Greek vocab cards
Greek Flash Cards Helpful

Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Cards (Zondervan Vocabulary Builder Series, The)
William D. Mounce
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards

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ASIN: 0310259878

Book Description

Basics of Biblical Greek Vocabulary Cards are keyed to Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar, have frequency numbers included, and contain principle parts of verbs. These cards are a convenient way for students to quiz themselves on new Greek words being learned. Want to find a card number for a particular Greek word? Click "Take a Closer Look" above. You'll find a listing of all the 1000 words in Greek alphabetical order. This list is not included in the Vocabulary Cards product. You'll want to print it out here as a study aid for yourself.

Customer Reviews:

Great supplement to the book.......2007-06-26

These cards are immensely helpful for the rote memorazation part of biblical greek. I was relieved to find that I would not have to make my own flashcards.

Just a quick few words of caution..........2007-03-16

I am just starting out on a journey to teach myself NT Greek and I purchased a set of these cards without also purchasing the author's text. I strongly suggest you get both, as the cards are much more useful with the text, to which they are indexed.

I must also not that these cards are NOT printed to flip in the most logical way, top edge back to reveal the English translation of the Greek word. Instead, they must be flipped the more awkward side edge to the back to reveal the properly positioned English.

I was also just a bit disappointed that there was no more complete information on the parts of speech on the cards, but then, I expect that will all be revealed in the text, which I have just ordered.

Vocabulary Cards a Must.......2007-02-10

These cards are invaluable. The size of each card is just right. I was able to take these with me whenever I travelled and I could easily review the words each day. Before I knew it, I had a sizeable vacabulary memorized and could easily identify the words in Scripture.

Mounce's Greek vocab cards.......2006-11-10

Good range of vocabulary, but could explain the forms and what tense they're in on another card.

Greek Flash Cards Helpful.......2006-07-05

I have been amazed at how helpful Mounce's Greek flash cards have been. Actually, this is my second set of cards because I previously used the cards that came with Parson's Greek Tutor software. In fact, the usefulness of the Parson's cards led me to buy Mounce's much larger set.

Mounce's cards are both more numerous (a thousand instead of about 150) and more detailed listing different word forms and word frequencies in the NT. Mounce's cards also tie in with his grammar book.

My cheerfulness about the cards arises because I can review a few words in time that is normally lost. I leave the cards next to my computer and pick them up when I am waiting for the computer to boot or download. They also good for reviewing when you are stuck on the phone for long periods of time.

More to the point, reviewing these cards has helped me focus on vocabulary independent of text. I am prone to skim over NT passage with an interlinear text and be too easily content to know the gist of the sentence than the meaning of particular words outside the context. The cards help me focus on that weakness in my study.

Stephen

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History And Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences

Average customer rating:

I hated diagramming, but I liked this.
Book | is \ frustrating
A History of a Lost Art
Great fun!
Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History And Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences
Kitty Burns Florey
Manufacturer: Melville House Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape

ASIN: 1933633107

Book Description

"Kitty Burns Florey seems to write from a great wellspring of inner calm that derives from a gleeful appreciation of life's smallest details."-Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls

Once wildly popular and used by grammar teachers across America, sentence diagramming is now a lost art to most people. But from the moment she encountered it in the sixth-grade classroom of Sister Bernadette, Kitty Burns Florey was fascinated by the bizarre method of mapping the words in a sentence.

Now a novelist and veteran copyeditor, Florey studies the practice in a charming and funny look back at its odd history, its elegant method, and its rich, ongoing possibilities. From a discussion of its birth at the Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn, to a consideration of how it works, to a revealing look at some of literature's most famous sentences in diagram, it is a charming and often inspiring tale.

Along the way, Florey explores the importance of good grammar and answers language lovers' most pressing questions: Was Mark Twain or James Fenimore Cooper a better grammarian? Can knowing how to diagram a sentence make your life better? And what's Gertrude Stein got to do with any of it?

Customer Reviews:

I hated diagramming, but I liked this........2007-04-13

Kitty Burns Florey, Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences (Melville House, 2006)

When I was in eighth grade, I feared English class. Odd for someone whose life's goal was to be a writer, eh? But walking into that room clutching Warriner's English Grammar and Composition like a buckler and a No. 2 pencil as a sword was like entering the Circus Maximus. Why? Eighth grade was the year we were introduced to diagramming sentences. It's the English teacher's equivalent of geometry, and for someone who's not math-minded, it's a terrifying experience. This feeling was unanimous in my classmates, and whenever I've brought up the subject of diagramming sentences in the (far too) many years since then, it's always been greeted with facial expressions ranging from disgust to post-traumatic stress disorder. I had rather thought the hatred and fear of diagramming was universal.

Not so. Kitty Burns Florey loved it, when she was in school. After reading Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, I have to say that if I'd had an English teacher who approached diagramming as Sister Bernadette did, I'd probably have gotten out of eighth grade with far less mental anguish than I actually did. Florey traces the (quirky, natch) history of diagramming whilst giving us a picture of how it was used when she was in school-- as a game, a way to break up the monotony of learning one's spelling words and parts of speech. Good stuff, that, and certainly more fun than opening one's Warriner's and finding that one's assignment for the night was to diagram an entire page of Henry James. (Okay, I exaggerate. But still. Florey diagrams a single sentence of James at one point in the book, and it's about as complex as the complete Tudor family tree.)

I've always been a fan of history books that illuminate some odd little forgotten corner of history, and so I'd have been predisposed to like this even if Florey hadn't approached her subject in such an accessible manner. But the book is short, readable, and (dare I say it?) fun. Even if you hated diagramming sentences (and I'm still not convinced anyone but Kitty Burns Florey ever actually liked it), this is a good'un. ****

Book | is \ frustrating.......2007-03-28

I consider myself quite the word nerd and started to read this book with great interest, but I found this book very frustrating. It started off well, suggesting a memoir of a life diagramming sentences (a craft I learned in the fifth grade) but soon turned to a mind-dulling treatise on the arcana of diagramming--without even any instructions for the uninitiated or out of practice.

So besides that headache, readers looking for Catholic humor or sepia-toned trips back in time to a pre-Vatican II era will be greatly disappointed. However, SISTER BERNADETTE'S BARKING DOG would make a fine gift for your favorite English teacher now living in the retirement wing of the convent's mother house--but for no one else.

A History of a Lost Art.......2007-02-28

"Diagramming sentences is one of those lost skills, like darning socks or playing the sackbut, that no one seems to miss." Thus begins Kitty Burns Florey in _Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences_ (Melville House), a funny little history, personal and social, of what would seem to be one of the dullest topics imaginable: not only grammar, but also a defunct pedagogical tool formerly inflicted on grade schoolers. And yet, Florey (now an author and copyeditor) thought that diagramming sentences was fun, and still thinks so, and even if, having finished this book, you don't start diagramming them for yourself, you will understand what the draw was, is, and could still be. After all, a half century ago, when Florey was in the sixth grade and being taught diagramming by Sister Bernadette, diagramming was a lark. She admits, "I'm not really sure why what was mostly considered a lark half a century ago is considered dull today." It's not dull in this book, though. "You took a sentence," Florey writes, "threw it against the wall, picked up the pieces, and put them together again, slotting each word into its pigeonhole. When you got it right, you made order and sense out of what we used all the time and took for granted: sentences." She makes it sound like fun, and it is.

Sister Bernadette, a teacher Florey remembers fondly, would start off with a simple sentence, from which the title of the book comes, "The dog barked," which of course is the first diagram in the book (there are plenty). "Dog" and "barked" are on the horizontal foundation line, separated by a vertical line that extends through the foundation, and the modifier "The" is on a diagonal below and attached to the line beneath "dog". "That was it," writes Florey, "subject, predicate, and the little modifying article that civilized the sentence - all of it made into a picture that was every bit as clear and informative as an actual portrait of a beagle in mid-woof." In the 1860's the pedagogues Alonzo Reed and Brainard "Brainy" Kellogg pioneered the system taught in succeeding decades. Generations of English teachers taught that diagramming sentences would improve one's writing. The problem was that many bad sentences diagram just fine. Noam Chomsky, using the sentence "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously" showed that nonsense can be perfectly grammatical, and indeed it diagrams just fine. I never would have guessed that Gertrude Stein was an enthusiast. She wrote, "I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." Florey admits that Gertrude Stein, for all her enthusiasm, usually wrote sentences that cannot be diagrammed, and gives a sampling, along with Stein's remarks disdaining question marks and commas while pledging fidelity to periods.

Florey does believe that despite all contemporary evidence to the contrary, "... clarity in speech and precision and consistency in writing will never cease to be important.... when we communicate better, we understand each other, and ... when we understand each other, life in general is greatly improved." Diagramming sentences has potential to help us understand how sentences are put together and understand the logical functions of words, and may help us write more correctly. But does it make us better writers? "I'm convinced," Florey admits, "that diagramming was no help to me at all as a writer." Perhaps, but she also says, "Diagramming made language seem friendly, like a dog who doesn't bark, but, instead, trots over to greet you, wagging its tail." That's not a bad attitude for students to develop, and it is well conveyed in the prose within Florey's friendly and amusing book.

Great fun!.......2007-02-21

Such literate writing is always a joy to read, but this was especially fun as it brought me back to my favorite school chore: Diagramming. Florey also defends and promotes the use of good English. I intend to give this as gifts to all those who share my love of diagramming and good writing.

Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences.......2007-02-18

I do a lot of writing, both for fun and for profit. Now that I've read Kitty Burns Florey's book on sentence diagramming, I can make a game out of visualizing a diagram of a sentence I've written, or of an intriguing sentence I come across in the morning newspaper, for example. The book has reawakened my interest in the parts of the English language and their relation to each other, and this alone makes it worth the read. An added bonus is that the book is fun to read.

Average customer rating:

in opposition to the other reviews
A step upwards in understanding cognition
For use in college philosphy course.
Unintended consequences...
Metaphors Can Keep Your Illusions Intact

Metaphors We Live By
George Lakoff , and Mark Johnson
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226468011

Book Description

The now-classic Metaphors We Live By changed our understanding of metaphor and its role in language and the mind. Metaphor, the authors explain, is a fundamental mechanism of mind, one that allows us to use what we know about our physical and social experience to provide understanding of countless other subjects. Because such metaphors structure our most basic understandings of our experience, they are "metaphors we live by"--metaphors that can shape our perceptions and actions without our ever noticing them.

In this updated edition of Lakoff and Johnson's influential book, the authors supply an afterword surveying how their theory of metaphor has developed within the cognitive sciences to become central to the contemporary understanding of how we think and how we express our thoughts in language.

Customer Reviews:

in opposition to the other reviews.......2007-06-01

After reading the other reviews, I feel obliged to opine about the book. I am a philosophy student. I generally introduce myself as a logician, but on the philosophy side. My areas of interest in philosophy are language, mind, epistemology, and metaphysics.

This book, as witnessed by the previous reviews, has a strong impact on readers. I agree with this sentiment. However, I disagree with the other sentiments that are expressed by the other reviewers. The other reviewers take the conclusions that the authors come to on face value. However, they fail to see some of the logical consequences of their view. For instance, the authors seem to be committed to what in philosophical circles is called anti-realism. This position can be boiled down to the claim that there is no external world; that may be a little harsh, but I feel that it expresses the overall point of anti-realism. the authors are committed to this position because they argue that truth, which is usually taken to be a correspondance between our statements and the facts, coherence between our statements, or some variation of pragmatism, is dependent upon metaphorical structuring of our experiences and the metaphorical concepts fittting together. This seems suspiciously circular; our metaphors and the sentences they ground are true when they fit together with the experiences that are structured by those very metaphors. we are never coming in contact with the world as is. there is always a metaphor between us and the world (except, of course, in our primitive concepts, one wonders why if primitive concepts, like up-down, front-back, can be conceptualized from experience alone, other concepts cannot be as well).

On another topic, when considering what a metaphor is, we understand that a metaphor puts two different and distinct things into a "X is B" relationship. For instance, "love is a journey." However, not all sentences of the form "X is B" are metaphors; for instance, "humans are mammals". Some, for example, are definitions. How can we tell the definitions from the metaphors? The only way is to know that the two objects in the metaphor are, in fact, different and distinct. This, however, involves conceptual understanding of the two objects apart from the metaphor. Thus, the concept has to be formed prior to the metaphor; the metaphor does not structure or ground the concept.

All in all, as a logician, I found the book to be distressing. The authors never really gave enough conclusive evidence to convince me that our conceptual system is metaphorical. In fact, the more I read the more I was convinced that their scheme presupposed a non-metaphorical conceptual scheme. However, I would recommend the book, but not in isolation. Don't indoctrinate yourself. If you read this, read something in support of the opposing position (I wish I could direct you to something here, but I have not done much research on the responses to Lakoff and Johnson). Hear all the arguments before you make a judgement as to whether our conceptual system is metaphorical.

A step upwards in understanding cognition.......2007-05-30

Metaphors are to language as building materials are to construction.

That is the point of this book which -- being written at the tail end of the 1970s -- presciently predicted the findings of evolutionary psychology that would follow within the next twenty years.

Specifically, writers Lakoff and Johnson understood that language wasn't merely spiced by the occassional metaphor but actually enabled by them. In this way, spacial allusions and other physical comparisons inform languages ability to describe abstract phenomenon.

Do you follow my argument?

Are you in an opposing camp?

Do these sentiments bring you up?

Do they enlighten you?

The various manifestations of our choice of metaphor become in their own way our choice of reality.

The thoughts outlined in this book have been largely confirmed by research in evolutionary psychology which has shown that our language centers borrow heavily from cerebral material that originally was pressed into service for understanding spacial relationships. So understood, this book therefore raises interesting questions about the nature of how we cognate and properly followed up also tells us much about our propensity to religiously ideate, our politics and other faith choices in general.

For use in college philosphy course........2006-12-28

This book reads like a text book or graduate thesis. Those with short attention spans need not pick up this book. While it did make some enlightening points on the pervasiveness and necessity of metaphors in our thought process, the book then trudges on for about another 100 needless pages.

The basic point of the authors is that; "...we define our reality in terms of metaphors and then proceed to act on the basis of metaphors." In the process they get quite wordy and go through lengthy explanations including one long discourse on why we understand a sentence to be true. It tests your self-discipline to keep reading.

The last 40% of the book then dives into a lenghty debate of objectivism vs. subjectivism and the presentation of their experientialist alternative. The authors present and then continue to rehash their arguments in a debate against a nameless opponent: the evil objectivist. There is some lip service paid to the less evil subjectivist.

I did gain a new understanding of the importance of metaphors in our language and thought, but not much else that I wanted to learn. The information that I found useful could have been presented in a much shorter form, perhaps a white paper.

Unintended consequences..........2006-09-18

So, I picked up this book awhile ago thinking that it would be a good survey of one part of linguistics. Yes, it is that. BUT, after reading several chapters, I discovered an unintended consequence, or perhaps an unexpected consequence. Since of the several reviews I read, no one addressed this isse, I thought I would.

Simply put: This book has improved my writing and the impact of my writing. Now, I might normally hit upon the perfectly crafted sentence eventually, but this book highlights so many issues in language that I believe it will help sooner and more effectively. Not like a style manual or how-to-write book, but in the context of the metaphor, the subtle implications of the sentence and the inferences readers might make from its construction. This is pretty exciting.

Many reviewers evaluate the book from a far more intellectual perspective than I, but for the more pragmatic of you that think it can have this unintended consequence, it might be just right for you. At the same time, your grasp of this concept will have a much stronger framework and structure bringng happiness to the linguistic engineers in the crowd. And your language will improve with cool words or phrases like "homonymy", "metonymies", or "experiential gestalt". So I am not that literate.

So enjoy, it is a very nice, informative read!

Metaphors Can Keep Your Illusions Intact.......2005-10-06

The Authors thought they had something new to say. They did, but it was mostly new jargon (coherence, spatialization, experiential, orientational) that can never be adequately defined. Why on earth couldn't these Authors coin metaphors to clarify their thesis? What was their thesis? In the Afterword they call it the Neural Theory of Language. In short, neural connections in the brain can link the abstract idea with a concrete image and metaphorical thinking is, therefore, inescapable.

When the Authors write "Metaphorical thought is unavoidable, ubiquitous and mostly unconscious" (P. 272) what are they attempting to convey? How can they describe something that is mostly unconscious? Claiming that the mechanisms in the brain for using metaphor are all unconscious makes it clear they don't know what they are talking about.

One problem for the authors is their claim that the concepts like UP-DOWN are universal. They often cite cultural and environmental differences to support their ideas but omit more universal differences such as the zero gravity environment. When one is orbiting the earth in zero gravity it is difficult to find an up or a down, or a top or bottom. Likewise, even on earth, when one stands on one's head, the feet point upward.

The most audacious part of Author's thesis is that using metaphors can create a new reality. Their claim is that if one either acts upon or believes a metaphorical view, this constitutes a "reality." Of course this all depends on what one calls reality. I always preferred Phil Dick's description: "Reality is that which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

The fallacy of the Author's thesis lies in their use of the term "concept." They try to use the term concept (defined as an abstract idea) to describe being metaphorically structured. But metaphors are, themselves, abstract or non literal use of language. It is hard to see how using one abstraction to clarify or structure another abstract term could enhance understanding. When using a metaphor one shape-shifts or morphs the language into a form that one person might find helpful, another comical, and still another nonsensical. For example to say for amusement, Bette bounces around like a rubber ball, hardly adds to any understanding or a serious description of poor Bette.

Average customer rating:

Invaluable reference for english students
Refreshing
an excellent study guide for the SAT writing section
Great beginning book
Helpful

English Grammar for Dummies
Geraldine Woods
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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English Grammar Workbook For Dummies (For Dummies (Language & Literature))

ASIN: 0764553224

Book Description

A few years ago, a magazine sponsored a contest for the comment most likely to end a conversation. The winning entry? "I teach English grammar." Just throw that line out at a party; everyone around you will clam up or start saying "whom."

Why does grammar make everyone so nervous? Probably because English teachers, for decades – no, for centuries – have been making a big deal out of grammar in classrooms, diagramming sentences and drilling the parts of speech, clauses, and verbals into students until they beg for mercy. Happily, you don't have to learn all those technical terms of English grammar – and you certainly don't have to diagram sentences – in order to speak and write correct English.

So rest assured – English Grammar For Dummies will probably never make your English teacher's top-ten list of must-read books, because you won't have to diagram a single sentence. What you will discover are fun and easy strategies that can help you when you're faced with such grammatical dilemmas as the choice between "I" and "me," "had gone" and "went," and "who" and "whom." With English Grammar For Dummies, you won't have to memorize a long list of meaningless rules (well, maybe a couple in the punctuation chapter!), because when you understand the reason for a particular word choice, you'll pick the correct word automatically.

English Grammar For Dummies covers many other topics as well, such as the following:

Verbs, adjectives, and adverbs – oh my!
Preposition propositions and pronoun pronouncements
Punctuation: The lowdown on periods, commas, colons, and all those other squiggly marks
Possession: It's nine-tenths of grammatical law
Avoiding those double negative vibes
How to spice up really boring sentences (like this one)
Top Ten lists on improving your proofreading skills and ways to learn better grammar

Just think how improving your speaking and writing skills will help you in everyday situations, such as writing a paper for school, giving a presentation to your company's big wigs, or communicating effectively with your family. You will not only gain the confidence in knowing you're speaking or writing well, but you'll also make a good impression on those around you!

Customer Reviews:

Invaluable reference for english students.......2006-09-02

A career change forced me to return to college. After almost 10 years since graduating from high school, I forgot a lot of the rules about English writing. English Grammar for Dummies helped to refresh my memory, as well teach me a few things that I did not learn from my high school english teacher. I was able to pass English 101 with an A (not as easy as it sounds when your instructor is published author and PhD in literature). I am taking English 102 this semester and will continue to refer to the Dummies book as frequently as the class text. I recommend this book for any student, or anyone who does formal writing on a regular basis.

Refreshing.......2006-07-04

I like to keep this book within arm's reach when I'm at the keyboard; it's simple and easy to use. Granted, the Chicago Manual of Style is an important book to have on hand, but EG for Dummies and Strunk and White are so much handier, and less clunky. Like other Dummy books, it speaks to the reader, not at him, like someone is talking with you as a friend or favorite teacher in a nice, relaxed manner. It's like taking a refresher course which, unless you're a professional proofreader or writer, we can all use from time to time.

an excellent study guide for the SAT writing section.......2006-06-29

Since grammar is not routinely taught or emphasized in the classrooms, it is imperative that high school students destined to take the SATs have a comprehensive guide to grammar which is simple but complete. This is a great grammar teaching/learning tool, and produced great results.

Great beginning book.......2006-03-21

Great book to refresh your grammar skills. Really liked this book, very easy and great book to read.

Helpful.......2006-02-25

Grammar for Dummies has helped me a great deal with understanding tenses and subject-verb agreement.

Understanding English Grammar (7th Edition)

Average customer rating:

The best I've found!
Muddled
Good Book, Good Grammar, Happy Tummy
A (very rare) compendium of English structural grammar
Working Your way backwards

Understanding English Grammar (7th Edition)
Martha J. Kolln , and Robert W Funk
Manufacturer: Longman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0321316835

Book Description

This highly praised, and top selling book on developing advanced grammar skills is a comprehensive description of sentence structure that encourages its readers to recognize and use their innate language expertise as they study the systematic nature of sentence grammar. A practical blend of the most useful elements of traditional, structural, and transformational grammar, this book emphasizes whole structures, most specifically the ten basic sentence patterns introduced in Chapter 2. Two key features separate this book from others: its clear organization and its user-friendly, accessible language. Users appreciate the self-teaching quality that incremental exercises provide throughout the chapters, with answers at the end of the book. For anyone interested in improving their grammar.

Customer Reviews:

The best I've found!.......2006-06-07

I own the 3rd edition of this book. I don't know if the comments I have will still apply to this edition, but here they are anyway.
I looked everywhere for a book that illustrated grammar instruction through diagramming sentences, and this is the only one I've found! If you aren't into that, don't let it discourage you. They are only used as illustrations and to show the similarities and differences between sentence types.
This book takes a very logical approach to grammar that I was very thankful for and which was very easy for me to follow, as it added just the right next bit of information as I was ready for it. It was just what I was looking for.

Muddled.......2005-07-08

I have just suffered through this book for a college grammar course and I was left in a muddle by this text. This book made me believe I understood it all, until I realized the authors did not discuss the exceptions such as the parallel uses of words listed under one category that really could be in two or three categories. Sometimes the authors gave such unclear explanations that I was left with many questions as to when the rule would really apply. And the organization of the book seemed backwards. Some of the end chapters needed to be discussed at the beginning. But what really upset me was the dishonesty. Giving us the line that descriptive grammar was so much better than prescriptive grammar (arbitrary rules), they inferred that language is like arithmetic, that there are rules to describe how language works. Unfortunately language is not so precise. Sometimes 2 plus 2 did not equal four, as their rule stated. There were many ways to interpret words and fit them into their forms and functions, yet this ambiguity was not admitted. Some of grammar will always be prescriptive. After believing I understood grammar, this book painted my knowledge of grammar in a confusing shade of gray.

Good Book, Good Grammar, Happy Tummy.......2003-07-28

I'm a fiction writer. And there are four books within reach of my writing desk. The most recent addition has been Martha Kolln's Understanding English Grammar. This bad boy has it all, folks. If you're like me, you get tripped up on lie and lay like the rest of us, and those kinds of words (and the rules underlying them) are at the very heart of what UEG sets out to clarify. I think I first went to Kolln's masterpiece for help with prepositions. I don't know who first introduced prepositions into the English language, man, but I'd like beat him with a wet dish rag!

As Kolln says on page 320: "Prepositions are among the most difficult words in the language for foreign speakers to master." I'd take this a step further; I'd say they're the most difficult words for _English_ speakers to master. A couple of examples she lists:

Be sure to fill out the form carefully.
Be sure to fill in the form carefully.

He wasn't fired.
He didn't get fired.

Can _you_ spot the correct usage above? Well, if it gives you pause then Understanding English Grammar may be the book for you. It is a model of grammatical clarity and a wonderful reference book to turn to in times of grammatical doubt:~)

Other books I keep close by my writing desk include: "The Merriam-Webster Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms," Richard Lanham's "A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms," and The Holy Bible. If cleanliness is next to Godliness, grammatical perfection is like Zen awareness. You know it's possible to attain, but achieving it is another matter altogether. Kolln's book can help -- with the grammar, that is.

Yours,
Stacey

A (very rare) compendium of English structural grammar.......2001-01-26

It turns out that this handbook makes a huge success of introducing the structural work on English syntax. This compendious guide will never prove to be a disppointment to those who see the value of structuralism.

Working Your way backwards.......2000-05-09

I have been using this as the text in my grammar class at Stephen F. Austin State University and I find it very helpful. It is a wonderful place to start for anyone wanting to be a better writer. If you can find the workbook that goes along with it I suggest using it. My only complaint is the sequence of the chapeters. I would start with the last section and then work my forward.

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