Daphne Athas

Gram-o-rama: Breaking the Rules Daphne Athas

If John Lennon, Gertrude Stein, Stephen Hawking, and Mother Goose hadconspired to write a grammar book, GRAM-O-RAMA would be it. Designed for word-lovers and students in the classroom, this textbook containsdozens of unconventional exercises geared toward learning grammar. Its interactivemethod offers students and teachers a smart and accessible approach by encouragingwriters to experiment with grammatical functions, style, rhythm, and sound. "Beware, GRAM-O-RAMA is a dangerous book. It takes the cautions and rules ofgrammar and drops them into a fun house. I experienced many of these exercises inDaphne's class and still find myself relying on their lessons today. You could makea movie of this book. Or at least a theme park ride!"-Dave Krinsky, executive producer of TV series, King of the Hill and screenwriter for Blades of Glory"Daphne Athas sets words ablaze and puts sentences in flight. Every student andevery teacher, every writer and every editor, could benefit from her visionary eyeand musical ear."-Alane Salierno Mason, senior editor, W. W. Norton & Company,founding editor of www.wordswithoutborders.org"This book is not only charming and amusing, but profound in the way it forces thereader to see our language afresh, as something alive and throbbing withpossibilities. Indispensable reading."-Randall Kenan, associate professor of English, University of NorthCarolina at Chapel Hill, author of A Visitation of Spirits"Not your grandma's grammar, these irresistible exercises prod and provoke,delight and inspire. They rattle students (and teachers) out of boredom, apathy,and fear and awaken them to the power and possibilities of language."-Elizabeth Moose, instructor of English, North Carolina School of Science and Math