Grammar for Grownups (UCB Extension)
Constance Hale June 1st, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 10 am-5 pm:
Grammar Intensive I: How Syntax Can Make Your Prose Sing
Syntax–that collection of often prissy rules dictating how to string words together into sentences–can be a minefield for even the best writers. This one-day workshop for writers and editors gives you the basics of grammar and helps you straighten out your sentences. The course pays equal attention to the parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and the like) and to the parts of a sentence (subject, predicate, and various other pieces). Lists of dos and don’ts expose common pitfalls; readings are illustrative but not too sober; in-class exercises allow students to stretch new muscles.
UC Berkeley Extension, 1995 University Ave., Berkeley
$165
Saturday, August 11, 10 am-5 pm:
Grammar Intensive II: Musical Sentences, Magical Prose
This one-day workshop picks up where Grammar Intensive I leaves off. Once you know your parts of speech and parts of a sentence, you go on to plumb the mysteries of phrases, clauses, and sentences that slither and slide from long to short, from simple to complex. In the process we will demystify the comma, the colon, and the semicolon. Readings range from Mark Twain to Martin Luther King; in-class exercises have you parsing and paragraphing; short writing assignments help your mastery of the mother tongue.
UC Berkeley Extension, 1995 University Ave., Berkeley
$165
CONSTANCE HALE, M.A., is a widely published magazine writer and has been an editor at Wired and Health. Her book Sin and Syntax is a primer on polishing sentences and has been called “the hippest grammar guide ever written.”
