The Magic Lens

1. The Magic Lens Introduction to Grammar

2. Grammar A way of thinking about language.

3. Grammar . . . lets us think about language by giving names for different kinds of words and for the different ways that words represent our thoughts and feelings.

4. Grammar . . . is fascinating and worthwhile!

5. p as f of G Punctuation is a Function of Grammar.

6. p as f of G Punctuation is the art of marking the four levels of grammar so that written ideas and parts of ideas do not become confusing.

7. 4 Four Levels of Grammar.

8. Four Levels of Grammar • Parts of speech • Parts of a sentence • Phrases • Clauses

9. 1) Parts of speech The parts of speech level shows us each word, one at a time, asking, “What is this word doing?”

10. 2) Parts of a sentence The parts of a sentence levels shows use the architecture of the idea, asking, “What is being said about what?”

11. 3) Phrases The phrases level shows us the little groups of words in the sentence, groups that pretend to be a single part of speech, asking “What part of speech is this group of words doing?”

12. 4) Clauses The clauses level shows us whether or not more than one idea is drawn into the sentence’s design, asking “How many different ideas are connected together in this sentence?”

13. Four Levels of Grammar in action . . . Although we will explain the details of this four-level analysis later, we can demonstrate the simplicity of the four levels by looking at a sentence from poet T.S. Eliot . . .

14. These fragments I have shored against my ruins. Parts of Speech: adj. n. pron. v. v. prep. pron. n. Parts of Sentence: ----direct object--- subj. --------pred.------ Phrases: --prepositional phrase- Clauses: -------one independent clause, simple declarative sentence------------

15. LEVEL????? Before we continue, consider for a moment the word level as a metaphor. In looking at the parts of speech, parts of a sentence, phrases, and clauses of a sentence, we are thinking about the same sentence in four different ways; we are examining four different phenomena within the sentence. Our four different views of a sentence are like four different views of the same human body, which looks different in visible light, x-rays, infrared images, and CAT-scans.

16. It’s not so much to learn. Shhh. The actual content of grammar is tiny. There are only about 20 key terms! It is very learnable!

17. PARTS OF SPEECH Noun Proper/common Pronoun Subject/object Relative Demonstrative Person, 1,2,3 Adjective Degree Article Definite Indefinite Verb Tense Perfect tenses Helping verb Singular/plural Active/passive voice Action/linking Mood Adverb Conjunction Coordinating Subordinating Correlative Preposition Object of prep. interjection PARTS OF A SENTENCE PHRASES CLAUSES Sentence phrase independent Fragment prepositionaldependent Subject appositive structure Predicate verbal simple simple/complete gerund compound Direct object participlecomplex Indirect object infinitive compound-complex Subject compliment purpose predicate nom declarative predicate adj imperative interrogative exclamatory A Term Total

18. Level One: Eight Parts of Speech

19. Parts of Speech There are eight kinds of words: noun pronoun adjective verb adverb preposition conjunction interjection

20. n v n n pron adj adv adv adj adj adj interj CONJ