The Grammarians

The Grammarians
Author: Cathleen Schine
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2019-09-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0374712190

An enchanting, comic love letter to sibling rivalry and the English language. From the author compared to Nora Ephron and Nancy Mitford, not to mention Jane Austen, comes a new novel celebrating the beauty, mischief, and occasional treachery of language. The Grammarians are Laurel and Daphne Wolfe, identical, inseparable redheaded twins who share an obsession with words. They speak a secret “twin” tongue of their own as toddlers; as adults making their way in 1980s Manhattan, their verbal infatuation continues, but this love, which has always bound them together, begins instead to push them apart. Daphne, copy editor and grammar columnist, devotes herself to preserving the dignity and elegance of Standard English. Laurel, who gives up teaching kindergarten to write poetry, is drawn, instead, to the polymorphous, chameleon nature of the written and spoken word. Their fraying twinship finally shreds completely when the sisters go to war, absurdly but passionately, over custody of their most prized family heirloom: Merriam Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition. Cathleen Schine has written a playful and joyful celebration of the interplay of language and life. A dazzling comedy of sisterly and linguistic manners, a revelation of the delights and stresses of intimacy, The Grammarians is the work of one of our great comic novelists at her very best.

Letters to the Grammarians

Letters to the Grammarians
Author: Dipo Kalejaiye
Publisher:
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2008
Genre: Education
ISBN:

The book is a collection of nine letters addressed to former high school classmates. It uses these letters as mirrors into the nostalgic past of a 'grammar school' (high school) experience at the onset of the postcolonial era in Nigeria. The aim of the book is to show the routine antics of classmates as 'informal' education and that this, in conjunction with 'formal' education, make a total high school experience. The first part of the book, the introduction, shows the process of recalling the experiences contained in the letters. The second part is the individual letters, among them are: 'A letter to Aranmsko, ' which shows adventure as a form of learning and the trepidation of the 'curse' he receives from a religious studies teacher. 'A letter to Sosorakota' portrays the controversial topic of sex during the teenage years. The third part of the book, the conclusion, asserts that the Letters reveal aspects of human character such as kindness, trust, hope, and fear

Guardians of Language

Guardians of Language
Author: Robert A. Kaster
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2023-09-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520342763

What did it mean to be a professional teacher in the prestigious "liberal schools"—the schools of grammar and rhetoric—in late antiquity? How can we account for the abiding prestige of these schools, which remained substantially unchanged in their methods and standing despite the political and religious changes that had taken place around them? The grammarian was a pivotal figure in the lives of the educated upper classes of late antiquity. Introducing his students to correct language and to the literature esteemed by long tradition, he began the education that confirmed his students' standing in a narrowly defined elite. His profession thus contributed to the social as well as cultural continuity of the Empire. The grammarian received honor—and criticism; the profession gave the grammarian a firm sense of cultural authority but also placed him in a position of genteel subordination within the elite. Robert A. Kaster provides the first thorough study of the place and function of these important but ambiguous figures. He also gives a detailed prosopography of the grammarians, and of the other "teachers of letters" below the level of rhetoric, from the middle of the third through the middle of the sixth century, which will provide a valuable research tool for other students of late-antique education.

Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students

Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students
Author: Mignon Fogarty
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2011-07-05
Genre: Young Adult Nonfiction
ISBN: 1429966661

Named to the International Reading Association's 2012 Teachers' Choice book list Grammar Girl Presents the Ultimate Writing Guide for Students is a complete and comprehensive guide to all things grammar from Grammar Girl, a.k.a. Mignon Fogarty, whose popular podcasts have been downloaded over twenty million times and whose first book, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, was a New York Times bestseller. For beginners to more advanced students, this guide covers it all: the parts of speech, sentences, and punctuation are all explained clearly and concisely with the warmth, wit, and accessibility Grammar Girl is known for. Pop quizzes are scattered throughout to reinforce the explanations, as well as Grammar Girl's trademark Quick and Dirty Tips—easy and fun memory tricks to help with those challenging rules. Complete with a writing style chapter and a guide to the different kinds of writing—everything from school papers to letter writing to e-mails—this guide is sure to become the one-stop, essential book on every student's desk.

The Three Weissmanns of Westport

The Three Weissmanns of Westport
Author: Cathleen Schine
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2010-02-15
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1429936371

A New York Times Best Seller A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice Betty Weissmann has just been dumped by her husband of forty-eight years. Exiled from her elegant New York apartment by her husband's mistress, she and her two middle-aged daughters, Miranda and Annie, regroup in a run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage. In Schine's playful and devoted homage to Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, the impulsive sister is Miranda, a literary agent entangled in a series of scandals, and the more pragmatic sister is Annie, a library director, who feels compelled to move in and watch over her capricious mother and sister. Schine's witty, wonderful novel The Three Weissmanns of Westport "is simply full of pleasure: the pleasure of reading, the pleasure of Austen, and the pleasure that the characters so rightly and humorously pursue....An absolute triumph" (The Cleveland Plain Dealer).

Letter Writing and Language Change

Letter Writing and Language Change
Author: Anita Auer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2015-07-16
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1107018641

This book draws on a range of informal letter corpora and outlines the historical sociolinguistic value of letter analysis.

Grammars, Grammarians and Grammar-Writing in Eighteenth-Century England

Grammars, Grammarians and Grammar-Writing in Eighteenth-Century England
Author: Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 373
Release: 2008-08-27
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 3110199181

The book offers insight into the publication history of eighteenth-century English grammars in unprecedented detail. It is based on a close analysis of various types of relevant information: Alston's bibliography of 1965, showing that this source needs to be revised urgently; the recently published online database Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) with respect to sources of information never previously explored or analysed (such as book catalogues and library catalogues); Carol Percy's database on the reception of eighteenth-century grammars in contemporary periodical reviews; and so-called precept corpora containing data on the treatment in a large variety of grammars (and other works) of individual grammatical constructions. By focussing on individual grammars and their history a number of long-standing questions are solved with respect to the authorship of particular grammars and related work (the Brightland/Gildon grammar and the Bellum Grammaticale; Ann Fisher's grammar) while new questions are identified, such as the significant change of approach between the publication of one grammar and its second edition of seven years later (Priestley), and the dependence of later practical grammars (for mothers and their children) on earlier publications. The contributions present a view of the grammarians as individuals with (or without) specific qualifications for undertaking what they did, with their own ideas on teaching methodology, and as writers ultimately engaged in the common aim presenting practical grammars of English to the general public. Interestingly - and importantly - this collection of articles demonstrates the potential of ECCO as a resource for further research in the field.

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
Author: Mignon Fogarty
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2008-07-08
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1429977493

Online sensation Grammar Girl makes grammar fun and easy in this New York Times bestseller Are you stumped by split infinitives? Terrified of using "who" when a "whom" is called for? Do you avoid the words "affect" and "effect" altogether? Grammar Girl is here to help! Mignon Fogarty, a.k.a. Grammar Girl, is determined to wipe out bad grammar—but she's also determined to make the process as painless as possible. A couple of years ago, she created a weekly podcast to tackle some of the most common mistakes people make while communicating. The podcasts have now been downloaded more than twenty million times, and Mignon has dispensed grammar tips on Oprah and appeared on the pages of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing covers the grammar rules and word-choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. From "between vs. among" and "although vs. while" to comma splices and misplaced modifiers, Mignon offers memory tricks and clear explanations that will help readers recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Chock-full of tips on style, business writing, and effective e-mailing, Grammar Girl's print debut deserves a spot on every communicator's desk.