Class Title: Painless Grammar for People Who've Forgotten What They Knew Instructor: Robin Reger Class Term: September 20-November 15, 2010 enroll in this class Synopsis Are you serious about your writing? Serious writing requires polished grammar skills. Do you ever wonder when to "dash"? Would a parenthetical clause be more appropriate? Do you know when to use the ellipsis? Do you remember how to punctuate a sentence that contains quotation marks? How about a quotation within a quotation? Be honest now; do your participles ever dangle? And then there are commas. Are they simply decorative or do they actually serve a purpose? Good grammar creates better writing. If you'd like to improve your prose and become more confident that your story is coming across exactly as you want it to, then you'll enjoy this class. Class Description The instructor will email a lesson each week, explaining a particular aspect of grammar. Students will write an essay and email it to the instructor as a Word attachment. She will respond with in-depth feedback within 48 hours. The objective is for students to become completely comfortable with syntax skills, and thereby stronger and more capable writers. Outline Unit 1: Punctuating for effect Unit 2: Avoiding dangling participles and other dangers Unit 3: Creating rhythm to add interest Unit 4: Practicing the strategies that have worked through the ages Unit 5: Exploring various sentence structures and their purposes Unit 6: Practicing the word tricks professionals use Unit 7: Proofreading for the perfect finish Student Skills, Equipment required Students will need Word, Internet access, an email address, and a desire to improve their writing. Students will need to do a lot of writing in order to practice and master the techniques being discussed. The time involved depends on how quickly the student writes. Tuition/Fees for this course SCN members: $225. Non-SCN members: $265. Instructor Bio Robin Reger is a professional writer and teacher who has encouraged and improved the writing skills of traditional university students, nontraditional college students, and nationally known corporate leaders. A graduate of Texas Christian University's acclaimed MA/PhD program in rhetoric and composition, she is currently restoring a century-old farmhouse and writing about it in Archer City, Texas, home to eighteen hundred people and five hundred thousand antiquarian books. Praise for Robin's Classes Robin is wonderful! Her lessons are fun and fascinating and well organized. I learned many things from both her lessons and her feedback about my assignments. I look forward to taking another class with her. —Tamra M., Austin TX This is a wonderful refresher for those of us that did pay attention in high school, and includes so much I either forgot or never learned. I would recommend Robin's course to anyone who wants to improve and polish their writing. —Susan K., Georgetown TX I believe my writing has grown in strength and readibility with Robin's empathetic guidance, along with my enjoyment and confidence in writing each story. Many thanks Robin, you are a great writing teacher and mentor. —Julie D., Bunkers Hill, Australia This class was excellent and suitable for writers of all levels. Robin offered warm encouragment to each student to develop their abilities no matter what their writing experience. I am looking forward to studying with Robin again. —Edith O., Greystones, Co. Wicklow Ireland I thoroughly enjoyed "meeting" Robin in cyberspace! I found her knowledge and skills in editing my story to be extremely helpful in developing my ability as a memoir writer and I look forward to participating in another online class with her. —Julie D., Bunkers Hill, Victoria Australia