Saturday, January 13, 2007

Diagramming Sentences and Other Things

I've mentioned diagramming sentences before as a useful tool for writers. If you need a refresher course, go here and brush up. The three links at the top of the screen take you to example pages with explanations.

I find diagramming sentences useful as a writer when I find myself having written a long, rather tangled sentence. I can diagram it and see where I've gone wrong or where I can make it simpler and more readable.

Diagramming is also useful when you are reading. If you don't understand something the author wrote, diagram it and see if it makes sense after you sort out the parts of speech, the antecedents, etc.

An interesting site for definitions of terms is "Literary Terms." There are also several links on the screen to other useful information, such as the one for "Elements of Literature." Understanding what these elements are can help improve writing, too.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I need to study this. I remember in 7th grade that I was able to diagram everything the teacher gave me. I thought that was pretty cool!

If only all of life were so orderly!

Mary A said...

Barb, I confess that I love to diagram sentences! I think it's because it is so orderly. I'm with you--if only all of life were so orderly!!