In Defense of Diagramming

A few days ago, while I was going over the introduction to the Declaration of Independence with one of the kids, and we were trying to memorize it together, we got stuck on some of the more complex phrases. So I got out a pen and paper, thinking that diagramming might be helpful, which sent my young study partner scurrying. Fortunately for him, I soon got too wrapped in my project to call him back, and for the next few hours, in snatches of time while watching two preschoolers, answering questions and filling needs for older kids going to and fro, in and out, and later while making dinner, I worked on diagramming sentences from the Declaration of Independence. I had actually been struggling with anxiety throughout the day, and as I started working, the diagramming proved to be rather calming and therapeutic. Aimee came down at one point and said, "Mom, you know this isn't normal, right?" And later, when I mentioned on Facebook the irony of this being calming, one friend commented, in effect, that there was no way diagramming could be helpful in any regard, since it serves a language that is disorderly.

Well, perhaps it isn't a usual sort of therapy, but that's okay. I think it's perfectly reasonably to challenge myself and give my brain a workout now and then. In this instance, I really did start out helping the kids study the Declaration of Independence, which, for any citizen of any age, is certainly worth reviewing from time to time. So there's my excuse. And I do think diagramming helped immensely in that endeavor, as I think it does serve a purpose in general, despite what my nay-saying children and cynical friends may think. (Note: if you just think the English language is a hopeless cause, there's nothing for you here.)

Firstly, in the instance of the first sentence of the Declaration, diagramming it helped us get down to the bare bones of the sentence. The skeleton of that very lengthy sentence is simply, "respect requires," which is quite telling. The Declaration is stirring and exciting, but it is not the work of wild revolutionaries who just wanted to buck a system for the sake of it. It is a thoughtful and respectful document, describing the proper role of government, and how the current government was overstepping the bounds of that role and violating the principles of liberty. Because these violations formed such "a long train of abuses and usurpations," it was required, in respect to the cause of liberty, that a declaration be made to "dissolve...political bands", and at the same time, it was also in respect to the current leaders in Britain that the reasoning for this dissolution was carefully outline. After all, this was not to be done "for light and transient causes."

Secondly, diagramming a sentence of this length also serves to determine whether the sentence is constructed in a balanced and purposeful way, which can further an understand of the meaning. What describes or modifies what? Is a particular phrase useful in supporting the skeleton of a sentence? Someone else, in regard to my project, mentioned that the first sentence of the Declaration probably would not be tolerated by English teachers these days because of its length and verbosity. That may be true, but what is wonderful about this famous sentence is that each clause and phrase clearly supports another word or phrase in the sentence. It may seem lengthy and winding, but it is actually structured quite well. Hopefully a good English teacher would recognize the difference between a sentence that is long and wordy just for the sake of it, and one that is well crafted. The length shouldn't matter, as long as it can support itself. Good teachers and discriminating readers shouldn't need a diagram to indentify a good sentence, of course, but the beautiful thing about a diagram is that it can offer a visual of what the ear should be able to hear in a well-balanced sentence. I truly love that. Take, for instance, the following sentence: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object envinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government and to provide new Guards for their future security." This isn't simply a long train of words. It is beautifully balanced and carefully constructed.

Thirdly, for the most skeptical of critics (i.e. my children), diagramming is an exercise for the mind. It isn't something one will use in practical applications, admittedly, but critical and orderly thinking is, and diagramming demands such thinking. And for a real workout in this kind of exercise, one can try diagramming one of Jane Austen's sentences. My goodness. I have to say that getting to the above points for one of her sentences can get tricky. Often, the bare bones of the sentence does get lost in her incredible verbosity, and some of her sentences are far from balanced. I had to use two pages for the sentence below, and I'm not even sure about some of the phrases. I'm still working on it! But we love Jane Austen anyway.

These papers are rather crinkled, since I had to carry them around with me as I was working on it. Crumpled paper is not very orderly, but I'm not writing this out again, because the sentence is as follows: "Emma could not feel a doubt of having given Harriet's fancy a proper direction and raised the gratitude of her young vanity to a very good purpose, for she found her decidedly more sensible than before of Mr. Elton's being a remarkably handsome man, with most agreeable manners, and as she had no hesitation in following up the assurance of his admiration by agreeable hints, she was soon pretty confident of creating as much liking on Harriet's side, as there could be any occasion for."

I wonder what a modern English teacher would have to say about a sentence like that from a student! But there's the thing about good writing, and perhaps what the detractors would fault the world of English for most - diagramming may provide some rules and order, but even when a collection of words seems to step outside that order and convention, they can still be beautiful and entirely correct. That is rather therapeutic in itself.