Mulroy's Makin' Me a Believer, Man!

In" The Myth of the Bad Old Days," David Mulroy explains that a sub-group in the NCTE--ATEG--are increasing in number to teach grammar. The problem is the negative view of traditional grammar (88). Mulroy goes into the inherent strenghts of Reed-Kellog diagrams, explaining that they alone can accurately break down compllex sentences in Greek and Latin, not to mention useful aphorisms, of which tree diagrams are cumbersome and unpractical for the challenge. He also explains that Reed-Kellog diagrams are more efficient than the former because they are efficient. Another argument that Mulroy makes is that tree sentences are "...suitable to sentences written in normal order," but there are flaws when the subject can change (95). He also made the bold claim that students are having a hard time with comprehension vs. vocabulary, which he believes can be corrected if diagraming is used to explicate sentences, of which he himself does with expedient results.