Input Junkie

I was taught sentence diagramming back in the sixties. It was a tidy little thing that I wasn't bad at and I didn't mind it, but it seemed to be of no use. Since I had very little drive, I didn't care.

Recently, I've had a couple of friends say that they consider sentence diagramming to be important, and I've thought about what it might be good for. Maybe it's useful if you want to write a complex sentence. Maybe it's useful for sorting out other people's complex sentences.

So, were you taught sentence diagramming? Do you think it was useful, and if so, for what?

I do think it's important for people to know how to write clearly, and I don't know how it can be taught. What do you think helps?

There's a good, lively discussion happening on Facebook. Comment here or there.

https://www.facebook.com/nancy.lebovitz/posts/pfbid02xuDx93EAJKamkgiZiAPvvr2Hu249A5CNgSvu6oksGMwbfGi5nHL7R5ju1GDvnft5l