Grammar for the Soul: Using Language for Personal Change - Hardcover

Weinstein, Lawrence A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0835608654 ISBN 13: 9780835608657

Publisher: Quest Books, 2008

Synopsis

In this wise and charming book, Lawrence Weinstein explores how self-expression reveals the psyche and how changing language can change lives. In chapters like "Tolerating Ambiguity" and "Getting Out of One's Own Way," he describes how the proper use of an element of punctuation or syntax, even the simple reversal of an object and subject, can help one become a whole human being. Clear examples, amusing anecdotes, and telling quotes support Weinstein's technique for teaching self-improvement through improved grammar.

About this title

About the Author

From 1973 to 1983, Lawrence Weinstein taught at Harvard University, where he was in charge of the course "Expository Writing, Theory and Practice" and co-founded Harvard's Writing Center. Since 1983, he has been a member of the English Department of Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts. In 2001, the National Council of Teachers of English published his Writing at the Threshold, a book on writing instruction at the high school and college levels which has remained an NCTE bestseller ever since. In addition, Weinstein has written several full-length plays. One, "New Curtains for Macbeth", was produced in 2003 by the Lyric Stage Company of Boston, and was named a finalist at the International Playwriting Festival in the UK. Another, "The La Vidas' Landlord", will receive its world premiere at Theatre 3 in Dallas in March 2008.

From the Inside Flap

Semicolons for self-help? Aw, c'mon!

But as unlikely as little punctuation marks and other grammatical elements may seem as tools for personal change, author Lawrence Weinstein shows that how we use them can make a big difference in who we are and how we live.

Consider these sentences of a job applicant: "What a great pleasure it was to meet you today!! The position you described sounds absolutely perfect for me!" Such overuse of italics and intensifiers reflects a lack of trust in being heard. By cutting back on those devices--and discovering they aren't needed--a person can begin to increase his capacity for trust in life.

Or consider how passive constructions can obscure agency, as in, "Undoubtedly, mistakes were made." (Yes, but who made them?) And compare, "My parents were the source of all my troubles," with, "I kept upsetting myself by taking my parents' criticisms too seriously." The latter sentence gives up victimhood and takes ownership of one's fate--largely by employing active verbs.

Topics addressed in the book include:

* Grammar to Restore the Ego
* Grammar for Mindfulness
* Tolerating Ambiguity
* Getting Out of One's Own Way

Weinstein used to teach at Harvard, but don't let that intimidate you. Though his book is ultimately serious in nature, drawing on both Western and Eastern traditions, Weinstein's prose is witty, anecdotal, and packed with good, clear examples. He doesn't claim that personal change occurs easily. But, he muses, "For the right person, that mere featherweight, a comma, can alter the course of a day."

"Now that we know we create our own reality with our words and thoughts, Lawrence Weinstein offers us the perfect guidebook for precise and powerful creating. As a writer, teacher and lover of language, I LOVED this book!"
--Jan Phillips, author, The Art of Original Thinking: The Making of a Thought Leader

"Lawrence Weinstein confirms what we literary types have always known in our hearts: grammar equals virtue."
--Anne Fadiman, author, Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Edition details

• Publisher: Quest Books
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0835608654
• ISBN 13: 9780835608657
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 168