Classical, Visual, and Rhetorical Grammar

"Let no man, therefore, look down on the elements of grammar as
small matters; not because it requires great labor to distinguish
consonants from vowels, and to divide them into the proper
number of semivowels and mutes, but because, to those entering
the recesses, as it were, of this temple, there will appear much
subtlety on points, which may not only sharpen the wits of boys,
but may exercise even the deepest erudition and knowledge."
—Quintilian

I happen to be one of those people who breaks out in a cold sweat with the thought of grammar, but although I have learned more grammar than I thought possible when our kids started learning Latin, I've had to dig even deeper as we have dyslexia running in family.

Happily, we've discovered some wonderful resources for classical and visual approaches to grammar - and it sure beats memorizing all the rules in Warriner's.

If you need to be persuaded of the importance of grammar, check out Making a Case for Rhetorical Grammar, but in our case, we needed to troubleshoot some of the Writing problems of visual thinkers, so we wanted something reasonably direct, accessible, and memorable. Thankfully, we seem to have found this in a writer's workshop grammar book, Mechanically Inclined. There are some faults in this book (caveat emptor: some of the content of writing samples are poorly chosen - e.g. violent, tasteless etc.), but it is a very visual approach to grammar (like Image Grammar, but with better organization) and it satisfies a definite need for visual learners struggling with grammar conventions.

For every problem, Mechanically Inclined presents a student mistake, analysis of the mistake, correct examples from literature, and a visual scaffolding exercise that walks a student through correct grammatical writing. For example, in a chapter on dangling modifiers, the author provided examples of participial phrases used as openers, interrupters, and closers:

Wagging its tail, the dog approached me. Opener

The dog, wagging its tail, approached me. Interrupter

The dog approached me, wagging its tail. Closer

This approach is helpful because not because it gives students practice with sentence manipulation, but also because it allows grammatical conventions (like commas) to be naturally internalized through reading and writing, rather than rote memorization of a list of disembodied rules.

For older students, there is Rhetorical Grammar, a probably college-level text that teaches the art of grammar and persuasive writing.

Excerpt from a chapter on Sentence Rhythm:

The word eloquently has shifted the limelight from the topic of the speech to the senator's style of speaking; and, in doing so, it has set up a different expectation in the reader. We would not be surprised if the subject of the next sentence turned out to be he or she (the senator) rather than they (the homeless).

Haven't found many strong visual or rhetorical grammar sites freely available on the Internet, but let us know if you know of good ones. There are excerpts from Image Grammar here and here. We did find this nice link on Elaboration, however.

Institute for Excellence in Writing does have a new series entitled Classical Rhetoric Through Structure and Style. A sample chapter is posted here: here.

Classical Education for Visual Learners

One question raised by parents about a classical education is whether it is too "verbal" for some of their children, and the verbal demands of reading classical history or texts can't be underestimated.

But like great thinkers in all historical times, they come in many different sizes, shapes and varieties. If your young visual thinker is having his mind wander we you talk about Plutarch and Charlemagne, then perhaps you need to spiff up what you're doing to make history, philosophy, and the decisions of great men and women of the past come alive.

Here are some Classical Schooling ideas for Visual and Spatial Learners:

1. The Beauty in Every Time
Visual learners are often aesthetes who may lose their sense of time when studying something that they think is beautiful or amazing. In even the best of intentions to "cover the curriculum", it's wise to remind yourself to find and opportunities for beauty in your visual learner, whether it's in the the archaeological treasures of the past, the powerful images of beautiful or heroic poems, or the hidden treasures in nature.

2. A Visual Picture or Scene for People and Events
If a classical lesson doesn't seem to take, then you might need to provide a visual picture or scene to peg or personalize the events. If some students don't have a peg to hang other information on, knowledge with drift away like the tide. We have used flashcards like these for history, science, and philosophy. They make review more effective and the learning really sticks better.

3. Spatial Talents in Re-enacting Historical Battles and Engineering
Great activities for spatially-talented children involving building and simulations of historical battles. By studying the strategies of famous battles, students can immerse themselves in complex scenarios that involve tactics, geographical terrain, weighing of risks and resources, and contemplation of personal as well as opponents' strengths and weaknesses. Budding architects and engineers can study and try to replicate the various feats of architecture and engineering throughout the centuries.

4. You Were There - Historical Storytelling
Daydreaming children often thrive on the excitement of a good adventure story, and once they get the idea, they may enjoy spinning tales of their own.

5. Computer and Media Studies within a Classical Education
Finally, computer and media studies can definitely be integrated into a classical curriculum. Because of the quantity of literary or historical information relayed in a classical education, it is often easier to find verbal than visual material for your classical learner, but it is important to persevere.

There has never been a greater need to imbue classical studies with the talents that visual learners have to give. When classical education seemed to be on its death's door, it has undergone a rejuvenation because of the world wide resources of the Internet (surge in online Latin and Greek), the many different ways that classical educators can now find kindred spirits, and the interest from non-academic disciplines (contemporary movies, game industries) to learn more about the past.

In our household, our computer literacy and media studies take on many different forms - from simple online work (courses, research), to the study of film representations of classics and history, and lessons in computer programs (Flash, Photoshop, Adobe Premiere / Digital Video) that can allow our kids to express their ideas in a wide range of media.

When we get a chance, we'll post the films that we've used to complement our historical readings, and we'll post links and lessons that we've used to study film analysis as well as share some of our experiences dabbling with video editing. Since our posting about the Medieval Siege links, we've been busy building an elaborate medieval city from the paper templates for our daughter's Medieval Faire at the end of this week. I'll post a picture of this when I think we're just about done!