A Treasury of Puns, Tongue Twisters, and Amusing Vignettes: The New, Fun Way to Acquire Vocabulary, Reading, and Writing Skills [Paperback]

Francis G. Johann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 2010

This book is sheer laughter from beginning to end as Barnabee and Annabee play with the English language. Their sharp imagination has enabled them to create original puns by seeing phrases in single words. For them, for example, "hippopotamus" is "on my hip the pot I must", "embargoes" is "Em goes into a bar" and General Custer's dying words were "Indigenous!" (Injuns did us in!) But what was quite incredible is that they created an innovative literary genre called "the leitmotif vignette". They selected a list of words from the dictionary containing a keyword such as "red" and they wrote an amusing vignette about "The Redford Family" in which a wide variety of words with "red" is employed over and over again like a leitmotif in a Wagnerian opera. The number of amusing leitmotif vignettes in the Treasury is simply amazing. With their innovative puns and leitmotif vignettes, Barnabee and Annabee have produced entertaining original methods for general readers and for English students to enhance their vocabulary, reading and writing skills. They have even taken the time to provide all the definitions of the new words which saves students the tedious task of looking them up. The time saved permits students to immerse themselves directly into the new material. Teachers will find that these new methods will complement and facilitate their own methods because their students will be motivated by the ample gama of humor employed. And, as an added surprise treat, an essay called "I Hear America Rhyming" is included in the Appendix with an easy three-step method for creating simple rhymes to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other occasions or just for the sake of amusement. An AuthorHouse critic: "The puns are endearingly charming and incredibly clever".

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Francis G. Johann, a native of Saginaw, Michigan, has spent the major part of his life in Peru where he taught English as a Foreign Language for over thirty years. He lives in a quaint adobe house at the foot of the snow-capped Peruvian Andes where he spends his time in retirement writing books for students learning English. Right now, he is completing the companion volume to this book. It will be entitled: A Treasury of Vivid Newsweek English. The New, Ideal Way to Enhance Your Vocabulary, Reading, and Writing Skills.

Product Details

• Paperback: 532 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (January 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1449072305
• ISBN-13: 978-1449072308
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #782,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)