After Reed and Kellogg published their book, the practice of diagramming sentences had something of a Golden Age in American schools. "It was a purely American phenomenon," Burns Florey says.

Sentence diagramming is the long division of English. It involves a bewildering array of lines and diagonal branches. It is loathed as an elementary school chore. And it is presumed to be obsolete.… ...

Diagramming Sentences Kitty Burns Florey explores a lost art in Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, ... the practice has fallen out of favor. Florey talks with Scott Simon about the book.

Kitty Burns Florey explores a lost art in Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, subtitled "The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences." Once used to teach grammar, the practice has fallen ...

Kitty Burns Florey explores a lost art in Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, subtitled "The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences." Once used to teach grammar, the practice has fallen ...

After Reed and Kellogg published their book, the practice of diagramming sentences had something of a Golden Age in American schools. "It was a purely American phenomenon," Burns Florey says. "It was ...

Kitty Burns Florey explores a lost art in Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, subtitled "The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences." Once used to teach grammar, the practice has fallen ...

But sentence diagramming brings geometry into grammar. If you weren't taught to diagram a sentence, this might sound a little zany. But the practice has a long — and controversial — history in ...

Kitty Burns Florey explores a lost art in Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, subtitled "The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences." Once used to teach grammar, the practice has fallen ...

If you weren't taught to diagram a sentence, this might sound a little zany. But the practice has a long -- and controversial -- history in U.S. schools.

Kitty Burns Florey explores a lost art in Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, subtitled "The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences." Once used to teach grammar, the practice has fallen ...