Chapter 7 Writing at the Sentence Level
Although some people are willing to express their undying love for grammar via sonnet, most people find sentence-level mechanics daunting, overwhelming, confusing, and sometimes (gasp!) boring. Just the sight of sentence diagrams sends some people straight back to their seventh-grade English class and provokes tears of frustration. There are multitudes of components, hordes of definitions, and seemingly endless numbers of terms. How can anyone keep them all straight?!
Fear not. The good news is that you’ve had a miraculous understanding of English grammar (or the grammar of whatever your first language may be) since the time you learned to ask for more Cheerios. Your babbles as a baby, simple sentences as a toddler, and recent rap battles with friends have all prepared you to understand, work with, and manipulate language in complicated and ingenious ways. You’re already so cool!
