Mitch offered up some questions for this time around, and they looked pretty good. Here goes -
What was your most embarrassing EGLS memory? or
What unique experience at EGLS has stuck with you or helped you in your life? or maybe
Who can still recite Paul Gruetzmacher’s prepositional phrase poem/brain worm? (btw… he added another verse.)
(and, by the way, "btw" means "by the way.")
Thanks, Mitch. As for the rest of you, answer one or more questions for a total of thirty points.
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5 comments:
Most embarrassing: I'm afraid all the really bad stuff has been removed from my memory after extensive therapy, heinous torture and brain surgery. Or maybe it's just because I'll be fifty in January. The most embarrassing thing that remains is of me in a basketball tournament, finally getting some hardwood time, stopping in the middle of a full-court press to say "Hi, Mom!"
Unique experience: This goes to what I was saying before about how amazing all of you are, and how much brain power we have in such a small class. What I took from EGLS, I think best of all, is a love of wisdom. It matters what I do and think, and having personal principles is important.
The Worm Thing: I only remember one line, to wit, "beside, beyond, below, at, through." I think my alien abductors have the rest in a jar somewhere.
Ok, easy one first. It was so deeply engrained in my brain, that I can still recite the prepositional phrase poem. However, now I am too old to learn the additional verse (my daughter tried to teach it to me, but to no avail). As for the embarrassing moments, there are too many to pick just one… well, in reality, I guess I just don’t want to unearth any of them again, because they were… embarrassing.
Lessons learned… well, like so many of the important lessons I have learned in my life, the most important ones I didn’t appreciate until many years later. EGL was no different. As I got into high school and college, EGL had prepared me pretty well academically. However, while I thought that religion class was a pretty easy way to spend an hour of the day (certainly easier then math or social studies), I didn’t really understand its importance until years later, when I hit that crisis of faith that really challenged what it was that I truly believed. Without going into all the gory details (this is probably already more than any of you that are still reading this really wanted to know), the point is that EGL gave me the background to know where in the Bible to look to answer many of the most critical questions.
How boring was that! I may have to start making stuff up just to make things more interesting.
Ok, for those of you who read this far, change of subject. I originally thought that we should not really talk about having a get together until there were more of us to get together (or until John brought it up), but maybe we should think about it trying to find a time and place and see what happens. We can always do it again if the group grows. I would think that it would be easiest to have it here in WI, but at a time that would be easiest for those of you who have to travel to get here. What do you think?
I just read about Mr. Greutzmacher and Elm Grove Lutheran School in David Mulroy's book, "The War Against Grammar," (pp.77, 110) I'd like to know more about his preposition poem and any other details you can remember. jbrondos@gmail.com
I will have to check out the book. I still run into Paul Gritzmacher once in a while. The last time was about a month ago.
l. a. and some the other EGLS graduates can probably check me on this. I usually say it so fast now that I don’t even think about the individual words anymore, not to mention I learned it over 35 years ago… but this is how I remember the verses:
Until by into after from
Across against with toward on
Among along around of to
Beside beyond below at through
Upon in for beneath between
Behind before without within
Up over under down about
Since underneath except throughout
l.a… did I miss anything here?
When my daughter had Mr. G. 11 years ago, he had added another verse. I didn’t think that the meter and rhyme was as good as the original verses, but since he was limited by the words he had to use, it was probably more important to include the missing prepositions then to be a great poem.
Here is the new verse:
Like during on account of as
Because of above according to near
In addition to by means of aside from aboard
Out of instead of in place of past
If there is anything else that you would like to know about Mr. Gritzmacher, just let me know and I will pass it along the next time I see him.
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