Figures Of Speech

An educational model for teaching language grammar, parts of speech, syntax, and sentence structure is disclosed in which thirty (30) individual elements of speech are identified and grouped into ten (10) distinct sets which are embodied in physical models. Each model represents a word or group of words, referred to as "elements," which form the logical building blocks of the language. Certain elements are actually hybrid elements in that they reflect the unique properties and derivations of verbals, phrases and clauses. The models interengage with one another without fully interlocking, in order to designate, simultaneously, each element's part of speech and part of sentence within the sentence. Each model is generic in that it does not impose case or agreement of person and number or predetermined word choices on the word or group of words it designates. Case is determined only by the position of each element as it interengages with other elements. Symbols are used to designate the function of each element; color is used to designate the element's set, and shape is used to designate sentence part and part of speech. The user interengages each element with other elements to form a phrase, clause, or sentence as an alternative to conventional sentence diagramming. The models may be embodied in print, plastic, video, or software.