Grammar Wrap-up

Every Monday, Writing Forward features a post about grammar. It has been this way since the beginning. Normally, these are researched posts that reveal the rules of the English language. Occasionally, they are articles or commentaries on grammar usage and style.

The last few weeks, these grammar posts have become rather obligatory for me. At first, they were fun to write, and I had a big list of topics I wanted to cover. However, more and more, I find that these posts are just rehashing information that could just as easily be found elsewhere on the Web — or in your trusty grammar reference book (you are a writer, please tell me you have a trusty grammar reference book!).

It’s not that I don’t like writing about grammar. I do. And it’s not that I’m out of ideas for topics. I’ve got plenty. It’s just that you can get this information elsewhere, so why should I repeat it here? I’d rather link out to other blogs and web sites that are grammar-focused and bring you informative posts on the craft of writing.

So, grammar Mondays are officially a thing of Writing Forward’s past. This doesn’t mean I won’t bring you introspection or information about grammar in the future. You can bet that grammar is a topic that I will continue to embrace!

If you need hardcore grammar tips on a regular basis, I recommend the following:

Daily Writing Tips is updated every single day, has a team of writers, and brings you tons of nitty gritty information about grammar, language, punctuation, etymology, and more. Subscribe, because they are an indispensable resource for writers.

Punctuality Rules has an entire section dedicated to grammar and punctuation with well-written posts that offer simple explanations of grammatical complexities. Plus, lots of other content related to writing, which we all love.

Grammar Girl is a blog and a podcast, so you can either read or listen (I recommend listening). Each post/episode is just a few minutes long, very entertaining, and Grammar Girl’s expertise cannot be denied. This girl knows her business!

A Way with Words is actually a one hour radio program that is syndicated over the airwaves, but also is available as a podcast. The website has a synopsis of each episode and you can listen directly from the site using the audio feature, or you can hop into iTunes and subscribe there. This is a super engaging show, and you can even call in with questions about words, language, and grammar.

You didn’t think I’d leave you hanging without grammar resources did you? Ha! I do reserve the right to pick this topic back up at any time. Since I do intend to discuss grammar on occasion (just not every single Monday), feel free to suggest grammar related topics you’d like to explore here.

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An Introduction to the Vocabulary of Poetry

photo credit: Despotes

A writer’s vocabulary is stocked with words that help us understand and discuss our craft. We can talk about parts of speech, sentence structure, and punctuation the way scientists and doctors discuss organs, skeletons, and cells. These words and phrases help us learn our trade and allow us to navigate the language, which is where we live and breathe.

Within the world of poetry, there is a special subset of the writer’s vocabulary, which is used to define ways to trick out the language, making it more captivating and memorable. Copywriters, fiction writers, and (of course) bloggers can step up their language skills by embracing a few simple concepts from poetry. However, many writers ignore poetry completely. Later this week, I will explain how reading and writing poetry can make you a better writer. Today I want to focus on introducing some basic concepts that poets frequently use to spice up their writing.

Alliteration

Technically, alliteration refers to repeating the beginning sounds of words in a line of verse. However, it can be used loosely to describe the repetition of a sound nestled in the middle or even at the end of words. A word like blueberry has built-in alliteration with the b sound occurring twice. A more strict example of alliteration would be a phrase such as alliteration allows writers to create catchy phrases. In this example, the a sound in alliteration and allows as well as the c sound in create and catchy both demonstrate alliteration.

When alliteration is used beyond the initial sound of the word, as with blueberry, it is also called consonance.

So, how is alliteration used for effect? Well, think about repetition in general. When you repeat something over and over, it becomes embedded in your memory. Alliteration works the same way, but in this case, sounds are being embedded rather than strings of words, phrases, or entire written works, such as a song or poem. If used correctly, it can also enhance the rhythm of a piece. In short, it makes a phrase or even an entire piece more memorable. Alliteration also happens to be the cornerstone of tongue twisters.

Assonance

Assonance is similar to alliteration and they are often discussed in conjunction with each other. However, assonance deals exclusively in vowel sounds. In the example phrase, alliteration allows writers to create catchy phrases, there are several occurrences of assonance. The a sound in alliteration and allows as well as in catchy demonstrate one run of assonance. We can underline the sounds where another run occurs:

alliteration allows writers to create catchy phrases

There’s at least one more run of assonance in this phrase. Can you find it?

Assonance often evokes the sense of rhyme without serving up a direct or technical rhyme. A common phrase, fancy pants is an example of this. One final note about assonance: the vowel sounds can have siblings or cousins (such as the two different a sounds in the word assonance).

Onomatopoeia

Most writers are familiar with the phenomenon that is onomatopoeia, which occurs when a word represents the thing that it defines through sound and sense. Most such words are verbs and many deal with the world of nature. For example, cows moo, bees buzz, and rain pitter patters. These words most often mimic sounds, such as thump or boom. See if you can come up with some words that exemplify onomatopoeia. And if you think onomatopoeia is just for poets, think again. Does the phrase snap, crackle, pop ring a bell?

Fun and Games

Using these effects on language is common in poetry. They are like word vitamins, giving lines and phrases greater resilience. When you immerse yourself in poetry, these effects tend to leak over into your other writings, and pretty soon your fiction, blog posts, and articles, start coming alive with alliteration, assonance, and onomatopoeia. That, by the way, is a good thing.

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Poetry and Grammar

photo credit: KatieKrueger

Good writers respect grammar the way an acrobat respects the tightrope. Grammar might be intimidating and complicated, but we need it in order to perform. Grammar lends structure and clarity to our craft and gives us common ground rules that we use to communicate clearly and effectively. Just as the acrobat uses the tightrope to traverse great heights, writers use grammar to traverse language.

Many poets demonstrate grammatical expertise, neatly parking periods and commas in their designated spaces and paying homage to proper capitalization. Consider the following poem and how it follows the rules of grammar. Note that in poetry writing, the traditional rule is that the first letter of each line is capitalized regardless of whether or not it starts a new sentence.

Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers

Aunt Jennifer’s tigers prance across a screen,
Bright topaz denizens of a world of green.
They do not fear the men beneath the tree;
They pace in sleek chivalric certainty.

Aunt Jennifer’s finger fluttering through her wool
Find even the ivory needle hard to pull.
The massive weight of Uncle’s wedding band
Sits heavily upon Aunt Jennifer’s hand.

When Aunt is dead, her terrified hands will lie
Still ringed with ordeals she was mastered by.
The tigers in the panel that she made
Will go on prancing, proud and unafraid.

-Adrienne Rich

Poets don’t always follow the rules, which is why poetry is attractive to writers who are extra creative and enjoy coloring outside the lines. Grammar, particularly spelling and punctuation, is nothing more than a creative tool for many poets who choose to dismiss them altogether or use the them to decorate and add aesthetic elements to a piece. Many poets have skirted grammar with great success. Many more have failed. E.E. Cummings is well known for giving grammar the proverbial finger but he takes his anarchy one step further and actually alters basic sentence structure, and manages to do so quite effectively.

anyone lived in a pretty how town

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn’t he danced his did.

Women and men (both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain

children guessed (but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone’s any was all to her

someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream

stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
with by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men (both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

-ee cummings

Cummings has dismissed capital letters altogether and he uses punctuation seemingly at random. Yet the poem works. Imagine it with the proper grammar rules applied and you’ll quickly realize that his way is more effective for the piece.

As the poetry canon grows beyond measure, poets increasingly reach for creative devices to make their work stand out. Toying with grammar is one such device, but it is not something that can be approached carelessly. If you choose to forgo grammar because you don’t know it rather than as a creative method, it will show and the poem will present as amateurish. Of course, that’s true for all types of writing. Learn the rules, then break them.

I salute anyone who breaks the rules in the interest of writing great poetry just as much as I admire poets who craft meter and verse within the confines of traditional grammar. So for this poetry-loving writer and blogger, either way is the right way. Walk the tight rope or jump from it and see if you can fly.

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