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About the Author

Image credit: From his homepage http://www.nevilemartingwynne.net/welcome.htm

Obras de N.M. Gwynne

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome de batismo
Gwynne, Nevile Martin
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
UK

Membros

Resenhas

A long overdue antidote to the muddle of C20th Latin teaching: Gwynne (sorry; Mr Gwynne) puts his money where his mouth is and sets out to teach his reader(s) - and I hope there will be many - more Latin in half an hour than in any number of years' 'working' through the more modern course books currently on the market.

The exposition of his method (little more, really, than a rousing call for a return to traditional teaching - and what's wrong with that?) is lucid and convincing.

One is certainly presented with more information in Chapter One than in many, many chapters in other books (though not, I think, than in such ancient books as were used at my prep school); but whether one will read, mark, learn and inwardly digest this traditional fare in 30 minutes will very much depend on oneself, for, as Mr Gwynne makes no apology for remarking, there are no short cuts: the teacher happily, helpfully and confidently guides the pupil towards what must be learned - but the pupil himself must do the learning.

Then follows a clear explanation of what has been learnt and plenty of practice in its usage. The method continues, rejoicing as it does so in plentiful English > Latin exercise, the only way, I agree, through which a really thorough grasp of Latin can be attained.

I think this book is necessary. I think it might really work. But ...

The format. Although I think one could (should!) make a serious attempt to use Gwynne's Latin in the classroom, I fear its fate will instead be relegation to much (much!) smaller rooms: it has been presented (in brilliant yellow) as a charming little companion to that purple Christmas stocking-filler hit, Gwynne's Grammar. It has clearly been designed for the display at the front of the shop, alongside those oh-so-hilarious old-fashioned exam papers, collections of Molesworth-style howlers, 'stuff we used to know' nostalgia trips for the why-oh-why brigade (of Tunbridge Wells, I suppose? If you say so.)

This style is at best a misunderstanding, at worst a most heinous betrayal of the content and stated purpose of the book, which, like the 'Grammar', is in fact deeply serious and, I believe, right.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
jtck121166 | outras 2 resenhas | Jun 9, 2020 |
A very rigorous primer for learning Latin, which can function as a useful aide memoire for the essential grammatical rules. Unfortunately, the author's passion and belief in his subject lead him to make a number of absurd and inaccurate claims. He elevates the undoubted strong claims of Latin as an intellectually worthy, rich and useful subject of study, to the extent of belittling the study of all other subjects, and even claiming that he would choose to give children an education consisting solely of Latin and no other subjects, rather than teaching them a range of useful subjects. He claims his methods can teach more Latin in half an hour than any other method can in years of study, and then describes the content of that 30 minutes, the result of which exposes the absurdity of his claim. Finally, he claims that "no modern language comes close to approaching Latin in difficulty" - well, even among European languages, Russian and other Slavic languages have a similarly elaborate inflected morphology, Hungarian and Finnish are agglutinative languages, structured very differently from Latin or any modern west European language; not to mention the claims of Chinese and Japanese. It is a shame that a generally worthy endeavour such as this book is marred by such claims.… (mais)
1 vote
Marcado
john257hopper | outras 2 resenhas | Jan 12, 2016 |
Gwynne is a self-professed expert teacher of grammar and the English language. As this 2014 Knopf edition of "Gwynne's Grammar" states in the front book flap, Gwynne is a self-made teacher of grammar. "N.M. Gwynne is an Eton - and Oxford- educated banker who remade himself as a teacher for the modern age."

In short, I found this book to be: pompous, verbose, subjective, pedantic, egotistical, supercilious, judgmental, irrelevant, obnoxious and painful to read.

"Gwynne's on Grammar" is NOT a reference on grammar. What you get are Gwynne's opinions on child-rearing, education, current language, poetry and more. For example, Gwynne praises his book for its absence of "pointless and patronising pictures that have been the bane of almost every textbook on every single academic subject during the last fifty years and more." Gwynne believes that textbooks should only contain "needed" pictures, such as maps in geography books or skeletons in biology books. He sees illustrations, particularly in children's books, as "distractions that actually interfere with the learning process."

Sixty-three pages of the 236 pages of "Gwynne's on Grammar" are filled with a reprint of the 1918 edition of Cornell professor William Strunk's, "Elements of Style." Gwynne appropriates the 1918 "Elements of Style" for his book because it is in the public domain, and he views it as a work of genius.

Gwynne rejects the 1959 edition, as well as all later editions, of "Elements of Style," revised by E.B. White, in favor of the first edition. White, a student of Strunk, modernized and expanded the original book. Publisher Macmillan sold about two million copies of the revised edition in 1959. "Strunk and White" is now regarded as a fundamental reference for American writers.

Gwynne views the original 1918 edition of "Elements of Style" as superior to the "Strunk and White" version because it is shorter. His logic is that if Strunk has wanted to write a longer, more complete book, he could have done so! Accordingly, Strunk chose NOT to write a longer book, so the 1918 version is superior to all later editions.

The final insult of "Gwynne's on Grammar" is that it is not well-written. Gwynne constantly writes in the passive voice: "The treatment of consonants in combination is best shown from examples: "for-tune"; . . . "

All but the reprint of the 1918 "Elements of Style" is verbose. Although Gwynne lauds Strunk's admonition to "omit needless words," "Gwynne's on Grammar" does the opposite, over and over again. For example, "If I have made something of a case in answer to the question at the beginning of this chapter, my main purpose has been less to boast, you my readers may be comforted to learn, than to stress yet further the supreme importance - supreme practical importance - of what you and I are engaged in together as you go through this book."

It is full of supercilious, condescending comments, such as: "Will you now admit, dear discerning reader, that etymology can be helpful, and not only helpful but interesting too, and not only helpful and interesting but sometimes even fun?"

"For those many who have never been taught what everyone used to be expected to know, it may be helpful if I summarise the distinctions between science, on the one hand, and art, on the other, in any field: . . . "

In discussing two uses of "different than" and "different from," Gwynne writes: "Readers of this book who have the commendable prescriptive instincts that I have been trying to encourage will fight it in both instances, however."

Overuse of italics for emphasis makes the book difficult to read. Virtually every paragraph and sometimes several sentences of one paragraph contain words italicized for emphasis.

Reading "Gwynne's on Grammar" was an unpleasant experience that I do not recommend. Look to the latest "Elements of Style" or the "MLA Handbook" for a writing reference or, for a resource on grammar, "The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need: A One-Stop Source for Every Writing Assignment," by Larry Shea. Just don't rely on Gwynne's.
… (mais)
2 vote
Marcado
brendajanefrank | Jul 15, 2014 |
A long overdue antidote to the muddle of C20th Latin teaching: Gwynne (sorry; Mr Gwynne) puts his money where his mouth is and sets out to teach his reader(s) - and I hope there will be many - more Latin in half an hour than in any number of years' 'working' through the more modern course books currently on the market.

The exposition of his method (little more, really, than a rousing call for a return to traditional teaching - and what's wrong with that?) is lucid and convincing.

One is certainly presented with more information in Chapter One than in many, many chapters in other books (though not, I think, than in such ancient books as were used at my prep school); but whether one will read, mark, learn and inwardly digest this traditional fare in 30 minutes will very much depend on oneself, for, as Mr Gwynne makes no apology for remarking, there are no short cuts: the teacher happily, helpfully and confidently guides the pupil towards what must be learned - but the pupil himself must do the learning.

Then follows a clear explanation of what has been learnt and plenty of practice in its usage. The method continues, rejoicing as it does so in plentiful English > Latin exercise, the only way, I agree, through which a really thorough grasp of Latin can be attained.

I think this book is necessary. I think it might really work. But ...

The format. Although I think one could (should!) make a serious attempt to use Gwynne's Latin in the classroom, I fear its fate will instead be relegation to much (much!) smaller rooms: it has been presented (in brilliant yellow) as a charming little companion to that purple Christmas stocking-filler hit, Gwynne's Grammar. It has clearly been designed for the display at the front of the shop, alongside those oh-so-hilarious old-fashioned exam papers, collections of Molesworth-style howlers, 'stuff we used to know' nostalgia trips for the why-oh-why brigade (of Tunbridge Wells, I suppose? If you say so.)

This style is at best a misunderstanding, at worst a most heinous betrayal of the content and stated purpose of the book, which, like the 'Grammar', is in fact deeply serious and, I believe, right.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
jtck121166 | outras 2 resenhas | Apr 15, 2014 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
6
Membros
231
Popularidade
#97,643
Avaliação
3.8
Resenhas
4
ISBNs
10

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