Meaning-Centered Grammar: An Introductory Text

Rather than narrowly dividing language between correct and incorrect, this book promotes a respect for the power and usefulness of language in all its forms. It draws from a number of linguistic grammars, traditional grammar, and contemporary composition theory, yet achieves a unified synthesis by seeing each of these as ways to understand the language itself and its natural, inherent, meaning-making grammatical system. The book draws heavily on real world writing, including authors like Annie Dillard, Richard Rodriguez, John McPhee, Alice Walker, Tim O'Brien, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Cornel West.