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Volume 13, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2042-8022
  • E-ISSN: 2042-8030

Abstract

The words grammar and glamour come from the same Scots root, meaning the ability to beguile. For this author, there was nothing beguiling about the study of grammar in grade school. I needed to make it my own, to internalize it, recognize its power to create a sense of rhythmic assurance on the page, breath air into the actual stuff of narrative. The article includes a potted history of the development of grammar to illustrate how it helps bridge the gap between spoken language and its appearance on the page; the development of a flexible mechanism for formal patterning that is limber enough to roll with the punches if you care to use it creatively. To stop the action in any number of subtle ways, make a reader hesitate, or make the story race forward – to hold the reader in narrative thrall. This is the beguilement of grammar.

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2023-08-14
2024-09-19
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): English; expression; language; punctuation; structure; syntax; writing

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