"Building Great Sentences"'. ? ? ?

[lagirl]

Has anyone seen/used "Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft"? (Great Courses DVD) I'm thinking of ordering this to supplement our English course but would like to know if this would be helpful and money well spent?

 

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Has anyone seen/used "Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft"? (Great Courses DVD) I'm thinking of ordering this to supplement our English course but would like to know if this would be helpful and money well spent?

 

Thanks for any insight you can give me.

 

We had it. I'll describe it to you and let you decide if it would be helpful to you.

 

First of all, the teacher is a large grandfatherly gentleman.... the picture of a professor. He held my attention. Some lecturers speak in a monotone voice and just can't be listened to...:lol: Although his lectures weren't *exciting*, neither were they boring.

 

His goal was to start with a simple sentence. He showed how to add phrases, clauses, and modifiers to turn that sentence into an elaborate work. When he was finished with the sentence, it was beautiful! He showed this process over and over.... Now, the repetition of the process got a little boring. It seemed he could have communicated the point in MUCH less time if he had wanted to.

 

Now, I wanted to hear about how to write an essay.... to boil points down.... to support an argument, etc... Therefore, this series did not meet my need. However, for someone who wanted to learn/teach creative writing, I think it would be a wonderful course.

[lagirl]

Thank you, that was exactly what I was wanting to know.