Brehe’s Grammar Anatomy

Reviewed by Michael Petersen, Professor, City Colleges of Chicago on 2/18/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Brehe's Grammar Anatomy is equally as comprehensive as other standard basic grammar textbooks. Furthermore, the chapters sub-divide complex topics into more-easily digestible categories. Brehe manages to achieve this comprehensiveness while keeping the chapter length between a desirable 5-15 pp. Even with this brevity, each topic is covered fully and efficiently.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The information, rules, and examples are accurate throughout the book. I did not find any instances of inaccuracy. The rules and conventions of English grammar are clear and correct.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The subject matter of English grammar is relatively timeless; the content does not become obsolete as content can in other disciplines. Furthermore, the examples often are drawn from contemporary life, allowing the students to relate to how the grammatical principles are explained. The commonsense tone of the book also makes what might be considered dry subject matter seem more relevant to the reader. Ideas are explained in a straight-forward way.

Clarity rating: 5

The grammatical ideas in the book are clear at the same time they are streamlined. There is very little jargon and no theory, and there are no digressions to get in the way of comprehension. The many examples help, too. I also appreciate that the writer isn’t afraid to let the students know what they should NOT do before getting to how they should properly follow a particular grammatical rule. All of this is accomplished clearly and efficiently.

Consistency rating: 5

One of the best things about the book is its consistency. The chapters are set up in a pattern that becomes familiar and that aids learning. We come to expect the regular chapter sections (including Points for Writers and Exercises), which nicely reinforce the grammatical concepts.

Modularity rating: 5

The short chapters are helpful given the amount of essential information included. (The type is rather large, too.) The intention seems to be to avoid overwhelming the student with the appearance of too much information on the page in order to make the grammar rules and practices more accessible and to seem less intimidating than in an old-fashioned grammar book. However, the consequence of this layout choice is that there is a lot of white space. It may appear to some as elementary, as if there isn’t enough information on the page, and that it might appear overly simplistic. But there are different ways of looking at the same physical spaces: that same white space may be perfect for today’s students, some of whom may not be used to conventional amounts of text on each page.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Grammatical concepts and examples are well organized. The Points for Writers sections are helpful (for both students and as teaching points), and the exercises are effective, as are the answer keys in the back of the book. The glossary is helpful, too, as is the index.

Interface rating: 5

One positive aspect of the book is its simplicity of design. It is the opposite of cluttered. There is nothing distracting about the way the content is presented, and there is nothing competing for our attention the way that some textbooks do when cramming in too many graphics, large-type quotes, or “fun facts” that may make learning less effective. Having noted that, the book might benefit from some graphics to accompany the text in order to complement the concise prose.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Fortunately for a grammar book, no errors found.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The examples speak to people from a range of cultural backgrounds. I did not perceive any biases that might require revision. The book isn’t culturally insensitive or offensive, as the author typically is direct in his approach to the grammatical topics. The intention of the author seems to be to teach or reinforce the information in a straightforward, no-nonsense and efficient way.

Comments

I like the tone, including the clever chapter titles (and the puns sometimes employed in the sub-headings) and the author’s friendly approach.

Reviewed by Samuel Hernandez, Instructor, James Madison University on 5/27/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book includes all, or nearly all elements of English grammar that can be included in a 300 or so pages book. This book is for those who already know English and wish to speak it better and learn the basic grammatical concepts of the language.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The book is accurate, correct, and precise for the most part. The book presents a few (two or three) concepts that can be argued by most linguists but the author acknowledges these concepts and lets the reader know that such concepts are topics of debate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text is written in a way that is closely connected and appropriate to today’s culture, society and academic realm. The author uses phrases and idioms that can be relatable to younger readers while maintaining the content clear and free of errors.

Clarity rating: 5

The content in the text is presented in a coherent and intelligible way with clear examples to explain the technical jargon used in typical grammar textbooks.

Consistency rating: 5

The framework and terminology does not vary greatly from chapter to chapter. This book is consistent and presents each chapter in a similar manner with a brief introduction, easy to follow examples, variations of the examples, notes for writers and practice exercises to reinforce the content presented.

Modularity rating: 3

The text is more of a comprehensive list of the most basic and frequently used terms and concepts of English grammar. It is not clear if the chapters can be grouped into modules; it appears that some chapters can be grouped and other cannot.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The concepts are presented in an organized and logical manner. The book first lists the most common and basic concepts of English grammar and then moves to more complex and less common concepts. The table of contents is easy to follow and easy to find. The glossary and index are very helpful and complete.

Interface rating: 4

There are no significant interface issues in the text. The charts used are easy to follow and ease to read. There are no images to view and almost no navigation problems. In fact, the charts can sometimes be perceived as too simple.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

There were no grammar mistakes present and the texts is well written presenting complex ideas in relatable way.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

This book describes the grammar of Standard American English and is intended for audiences familiar with the language. The text presents some comments that can be understood from their original cultural background by the intended audience. This book is not offensive or culturally insensitive. There is a brief mention on the inclusive usage of pronouns.

Comments

I enjoyed reading this book and the content is helpful to anyone who wants to improve their writing skills and overall knowledge of the English language. The notes for writers in every chapter makes the content relevant and practical. The exercises keep the reader engaged and allow the reader to monitor their progress. I also like the acronyms used and the writing style of the author.

Reviewed by Sangbok Kim, Instructor, CU Boulder on 7/1/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

It covers all of the eight parts of speech in English grammar, the concepts of a phrase/clause that is composed of parts of speech, and the concepts of syntactic roles (e.g., subject, object). It provides an effective index and glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The content of the text is sometimes ambiguous although it is error free and unbiased.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content of the text is about the grammatical rules of English that could rarely be updated within a short period of time. The rules of a languages does not change within a short period of time.

Clarity rating: 5

It adopts a narrative style or tone to explain the grammar, which requires less cognitive loads from readers to grasp the concepts of terminologies. However, due to such a narrative style, the text is unnecessarily wordy.

Consistency rating: 5

It uses consistent terms and keeps the same framework to explain the grammar of English.

Modularity rating: 4

Because the text has the consistent pattern of explaining concepts, providing examples of the concepts, and providing grammar exercises, the sections and the subsections are easily recognizable without efforts.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

It would be better for the textbook to have a preface from the beginning and a study guide. Readers could have hard time to find the underlying logic of the order of the table of contents.

Interface rating: 5

The text rarely rely on any diagrams/charts that can support readers’ understanding of the content. The tables that the textbook uses are well placed at the right positions.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The textbook is about English grammar, which explicitly explains why there are no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The textbook is about English grammar. The topic or subject of the content is not related to humans, societies, or cultures at all.

Reviewed by Cathy Carroll , Journalism Instructor, Central Oregon Community College on 6/20/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The book is quite comprehensive, and has an index and a glossary, too, which increases its user-friendliness.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book's subject matter is completely accurate. (One minor error is a reference to bold typeface when underlining was used instead.)
It is unbiased and makes distinctions throughout regarding casual conversation versus professional writing.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The only recent update would be how to handle sentence structure around people who identify individually as "they", and other potential issues around clarity in gender pronoun preferences.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is extremely clear in its explanation of many complex grammatical structures.

Consistency rating: 5

This book's terminology and framework offer a consistent and easy-to-follow format.

Modularity rating: 5

Each section of the book is deftly divided into explanations followed by examples and questions, making it effective in its quest to explain scores of grammatical topics.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The grammar topics are presented logically and clearly, making this book an extremely useful resource.

Interface rating: 5

The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This book about grammar does not have grammatical errors, thankfully.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The book is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It does make use of examples that are inclusive of women, but does not address other current gender issues regarding preferred pronouns.

Comments

This book is quite clear and useful, and I plan to use it in my journalism class.