Composition-Rhetoric
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Title: Composition-Rhetoric
Author: Stratton D. Brooks
Marietta Hubbard
Release date: April 1, 2004 [eBook #12088]
Most recently updated: October 28, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK COMPOSITION-RHETORIC ***
COMPOSITION-RHETORIC
BY
STRATTON D. BROOKS
_Superintendent of Schools, Boston, Mass._
AND
MARIETTA HUBBARD
_Formerly English Department, High School La Salle, Illinois_
* * * * *
NEW YORK - CINCINNATI - CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
1905
STRATTON D. BROOKS.
Entered at Stationers' Hall, London.
* * * * *
Brooks's Rhet.
W.P. 10
To MARCIA STUART BROOKS
Whose teaching first demonstrated
to the authors that composition
could become a delight and pleasure,
this book is dedicated......
PREFACE
The aim of this book is not to produce critical readers of literature, nor
to prepare the pupil to answer questions about rhetorical theory, but to
enable every pupil to express in writing, freely, clearly, and forcibly,
whatever he may find within him worthy of expression.
Three considerations of fundamental importance underlie the plan of the
book:--
First, improvement in the performance of an act comes from the repetition
of that act accompanied by a conscious effort to omit the imperfections of
the former attempt. Therefore, the writing of a new theme in which, the
pupil attempts to avoid the error which occurred in his former theme is of
much greater educational value than is the copying of the old theme for
the purpose of correcting the errors in it. To copy the old theme is to
correct a result, to write a new theme correctly is to improve a process;
and it is this improvement of process that is the real aim of composition
teaching.
Second, the logical arrangement of material should be subordinated to the
needs of the pupils. A theoretical discussion of the four forms of
discourse would require that each be completely treated in one place. Such
a treatment would ignore the fact that a high school pupil has daily need
to use each of the four forms of discourse, and that some assistance in
each should be given him as early in his course as possible. The book,
therefore, gives in Part 1 the elements of description, narration,
exposition, and argument, and reserves for Part II a more complete
treatment of each. In each part the effort has been made to adapt the
material presented to the maturity and power of thought of the pupil.
Third, expression cannot be compelled; it must be coaxed. Only under
favorable conditions can we hope to secure that reaction of intellect and
emotion which renders possible a full expression of self. One of the most
important of these favorable conditions is that the pupil shall write
something he wishes to write, for an audience which wishes to hear it. The
authors have, therefore, suggested subjects for themes in which high
school pupils are interested and about which they will wish to write. It
is hoped that the work will be so conducted by the teacher that every
theme will be read aloud before the class. It is essential that the
criticism of a theme so read shall, in the main, be complimentary,
pointing out and emphasizing those things which the pupil has done well;
and that destructive criticism be largely impersonal and be directed
toward a single definite point. Only thus may we avoid personal
embarrassment to the pupil, give him confidence in himself, and assure him
of a sympathetic audience--conditions essential to the effective teaching
of composition.
The plan of the book is as follows:--
1. Part 1 provides a series of themes covering description, narration,
exposition, and argument. The purpose is to give the pupil that
inspiration and that confidence in himself which come from the frequent
repetition of an act.
2. Each theme differs from the preceding usually by a single point, and
the teaching effort should be confined to that point. Only a false
standard of accuracy demands that every error be corrected every time it
appears. Such a course loses sight of the main point in a multiplicity of
details, renders instruction ineffective by scattering effort, produces
hopeless confusion in the mind of the pupil, and robs composition of that
inspiration without which it cannot succeed. In composition, as in other
things, it is better to do but one thing at a time.
3. Accompanying the written themes is a series of exercises, each designed
to emphasize the point presented in the text, but more especially intended
to provide for frequent drills in oral composition.
4. Throughout the first four chapters the paragraph is the unit of
composition, but for the sake of added interest some themes of greater
length have been included. Chapter V, on the Whole Composition, serves as
a review and summary of the methods of paragraph development, shows how to
make the transition from one paragraph to another, and discusses the more
important rhetorical principles underlying the union of paragraphs into a
coherent and unified whole.
5. The training furnished by Part 1 should result in giving to the pupil
some fluency of expression, some confidence in his ability to make known
to others that which he thinks and feels, and some power to determine that
the theme he writes, however rough-hewn and unshapely it may be, yet in
its major outlines follows closely the thought that is within his mind. If
the training has failed to give the pupil this power, it will be of little
advantage to him to have mastered some of the minor matters of technique,
or to have learned how to improve his phrasing, polish his sentences, and
distribute his commas.
6. Part II provides a series of themes covering the same ground as Part I,
but the treatment of these themes is more complete and the material is
adapted to the increased maturity and thought power of the pupils. By
means of references the pupils are directed to all former treatments of
the topics they are studying.
7. Part II discusses some topics usually treated in college courses in
rhetoric. These have been included for three reasons: first, because
comparatively few high school pupils go to college; second, because the
increased amount of time now given to composition enables the high school
to cover a wider field than formerly; and third, because such topics can
be studied with profit by pupils in the upper years of the high school
course.
8. It is not intended that the text shall be recited. Its purpose is to
furnish a basis for discussion between teacher and pupils before the
pupils attempt to write. The real test of the pupils' mastery of a
principle discussed in the text will be their ability to put it into
practice.
Any judgment of the success or failure of the book should be based upon
the quality of the themes which the pupils write. Criticisms and
suggestions will be welcomed from those who use the book.
The authors wish to express their obligation for advice and assistance to
Professor Edward Fulton, Department of Rhetoric, University of Illinois;
Messrs. Gilbert S. Blakely and H. E. Foster, Instructors in English,
Morris High School, New York; Miss Elizabeth Richardson, Girls' High
School, Boston; Miss Katherine H. Shute, Boston Normal School; Miss E.
Marguerite Strauchon, Kansas City High School.
The selections from Hawthorne, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, Whittier,
Warner, Burroughs, Howells, and Trowbridge are used by permission of and
by special arrangement with Hoaghton, Mifflin, and Company, publishers of
their works.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Harper and Brothers; The Century
Company; Doubleday, Page, and Company; and Charles Scribner's Sons for
permission to use the selections to which their names are attached: to the
publishers of the _Forum, Century, Atlantic Monthly, McClure's, Harper's,
Scribner's_, and the _Outlook_ for permission to use extracts: and to
Scott, Foresman, and Company; D. Appleton and Company; Henry Holt and
Company; G. P. Putnam's Sons; Thomas Y. Crowell and Company; and Benjamin
H. Sanborn and Company for permission to use copyrighted material.
CONTENTS
PART I
1. Expression of Ideas arising from Experience
II. Expression of Ideas furnished by Imagination
III. Expression of Ideas acquired through Language
IV. The Purpose of Expression
V. The Whole Composition
VI. Letter Writing
VII. Poetry
PART II
VIII. Description
IX. Narration
X. Exposition
XI. Argument
Appendix
I. Elements of Form
II. Review of Grammar
III. Figures of Speech
IV. The Rhetorical Features of the Sentence
V. List of Synonyms
VI. List of Words for Exercise in Word Usage
Index
PART 1
1. EXPRESSION OF IDEAS ARISING FROM EXPERIENCE
+1. Pleasure in Expressing Ideas.+--Though we all enjoy talking, we cannot
write so easily as we talk, nor with the same pleasure. We seldom talk
about topics in which we are not interested and concerning which we know
little or nothing, but we often have such topics assigned to us as
subjects for compositions. Under such conditions it is no wonder that
there is little pleasure in writing. The ideas that we express orally are
those with which we are familiar and in which we are interested, and we
tell them because we wish to tell them to some one who is likewise
interested and who desires to hear what we have to say. Such expression of
ideas is enjoyed by all. If we but choose to express the same kinds of
ideas and for the same reason, there is an equal or even greater pleasure
to be derived from the expression of ideas in writing. The purpose of this
book is to show you how to express ideas _clearly, effectively_, and _with
pleasure_.
+2. Sources of Ideas.+--We must have ideas before we can express them.
There are three sources from which ideas arise. We may gain them from
experience; we may recombine them into new forms by the imagination; and
we may receive them from others through the medium of language, either by
conversation or by reading.
Every day we add to our knowledge through our senses. We see and hear and
do, and thus, through experience, acquire ideas about things. By far the
greater part of expression has to do with ideas that have originated in
this way. The first chapter in this book is concerned with the expression
of ideas gained through experience.
We may, however, think about things that have not actually occurred. We
may allow our minds to picture a football game that we have not seen, or
to plan a story about a boy who never existed. Nearly every one takes
pleasure in such an exercise of the imagination. The second chapter has to
do with the expression of ideas of this kind.
We also add to our knowledge through the medium of language. Through
conversation and reading we learn what others think, and it is often of
value to restate these ideas. The expression of ideas so acquired is
treated in the third chapter.
+3. Advantages of Expressing Ideas Gained from Experience.+--Young people
sometimes find difficulty in writing because they "have nothing to say."
Such a reason will not hold in regard to ideas gained from experience.
Every one has a multitude of experiences every day, and wishes to tell
about some of them. Many of the things which happen to you or to your
friends, especially some which occur outside of the regular routine of
school work, are interesting and worth telling about. Thus experience
furnishes an abundance of material suitable for composition purposes, and
this material is of the best because the ideas are _sure to be your own_.
The first requisite of successful composition is to have thoughts of your
own. The expressing of ideas that are not your own is mere copy work, and
seldom worth doing.
Ideas acquired through experience are not only interesting and your own,
but they are likely to be _clear_ and _definite_. You know what you do and
what you see; or, if you do not, the effort to express your ideas so that
they will be clear to others will make you observe closely for yourself.
Still another advantage comes from the fact that your experiences are not
presented to you through the medium of language. When experience furnishes
the ideas, you are left free to choose for yourself the words that best
set forth what you wish to tell. The things of your experience are the
things with which you are most familiar, and therefore the words that best
apply to them are those which you most often use and whose meanings are
best known to you.
Because experience supplies an abundance of interesting, clear, and
definite ideas, which are your own and which may be expressed in familiar
language, it furnishes better material for training in expression than
does either imagination or reading.
+4. Essentials of Expression.+--The proper expression of ideas depends
upon the observance of two essentials: first, you should say what you
mean; and second, you should say it clearly. Without these, what you say
may be not only valueless, but positively misleading. If you wish your
hearer to understand what occurred at a certain time and place, you must
first of all know yourself exactly what did occur. Then you must express
it in language that shall make him understand it as clearly as you do. You
will learn much about clearness, later; but even now you can tell whether
you know what is meant by each sentence which you hear or read. It is not
so easy to tell whether what you say will convey clearly to another the
meaning you intend to convey, but you will be helped in this if you ask
yourself the questions: "Do I know exactly what happened?" "Have I said
what I intended to say?" "Have I said it so that it will be clear to the
listener?"
+Oral Composition 1.+--_Report orally on one of the following:_--
1. Were you so interested in anything yesterday that you told it to your
parents or friends? Tell the class about it.
2. Tell about something that you have done this week, so that the class
may know exactly what you did.
3. Name some things in which you have been interested within the last two
or three months. Tell the class about one of them.
4. Tell the class about something that happened during vacation. Have you
told the event exactly as it occurred?
+5. Interest.+--In order to enjoy listening to a story we must take an
interest in it, and the story should be so told as to arouse and maintain
this interest. As you have listened to the reports of your classmates you
have been more pleased with some than with others. Even though the meaning
of each was clear, yet the interest aroused was in each case different.
Since the purpose of a story is to entertain, any story falls short of its
purpose when it ceases to be interesting. We must at all times say what we
mean and say it clearly; but in story telling especially we must also take
care that what we say shall arouse and maintain interest.
+6. The Introduction.+--The story of an event should be introduced in such
a manner as to enable the hearer to understand the circumstances that are
related. Such an introduction contributes to clearness and has an
important bearing upon the interest of the entire composition. In order to
render our account of an event clear and interesting it is usually
desirable to tell the hearers _when_ and _where_ the event occurred and
_who_ were present. Their understanding of it may be helped further by
telling such of the attendant circumstances as will answer the question,
_Why_? If I begin my story by saying, "Last summer John Anderson and I
were on a camping trip in the Adirondacks," I have told when, where, and
who; and the addition of the words "on a camping trip" tells why we were
in the Adirondacks, and may serve to explain some of the events that are
to follow. Even the statement of the place indicates in some degree the
trend of the story, for many things that might occur "in the Adirondacks"
could not occur in a country where there are no mountains. Certainly the
story that would follow such an introduction would be expected to differ
from one beginning with the words, "Last summer John Anderson and I went
to visit a friend in New York."
It is not always necessary to tell when, where, who, and why in the
introduction, but it is desirable to do so in most cases of oral story
telling. These four elements may not always be stated in incidents taken
from books, for the reader may be already familiar with them from the
preceding portions of the book. The title of a printed or written story
may serve as an introduction and give us all needed information. In
relating personal incidents the time element is seldom omitted, though it
may be stated indirectly or indefinitely by such expressions as "once" or
'lately.' In many stories the interest depends upon the plot, and the time
is not definitely stated.
EXERCISE
Notice what elements are included in each of the following
introductions:--
1. Saturday last at Mount Holly, about eight miles from this place, nearly
three hundred people were gathered together to see an experiment or two
tried on some persons accused of witchcraft.
2. On the morning of the 10th instant at sunrise, they were discovered
from Put-in-Bay, where I lay at anchor with the squadron under my command.
3. It was on Sunday when I awoke to the realization that I had quitted
civilization and was afloat on an unfamiliar body of water in an open
boat.
4. Up and down the long corn rows Pap Overholt guided the old mule and the
small, rickety, inefficient plow, whose low handles bowed his tall, broad
shoulders beneath the mild heat of a mountain June sun. As he went--ever
with a furtive eye upon the cabin--he muttered to himself, shaking his
head.
5. After breakfast, I went down to the Saponey Indian town, which is about
a musket shot from the fort.
6. The lonely stretch of uphill road, upon whose yellow clay the midsummer
sun beat vertically down, would have represented a toilsome climb to a
grown and unencumbered man. To the boy staggering under the burden of a
brimful carpet bag, it seemed fairly unscalable; wherefore he stopped at
its base and looked up in dismay to its far-off, red-hot summit.
7. One afternoon last summer, three or four people from New York, two from
Boston, and a young man from the Middle West were lunching at one of the
country clubs on the south shore of Long Island, and there came about a
mild discussion of the American universities.
8. "But where is the station?" inquired the Judge.
"Ain't none, boss. Dis heah is jes a crossing. Train's about due now, sah;
you-all won't hab long fer to wait. Thanky, sah; good-by; sorry you-all
didn't find no birds."
The Judge picked up his gun case and grip and walked toward his two
companions waiting on the platform a few yards away. Silhouetted against
the moonlight they made him think of the figure 10, for Mr. Appleton was
tall and erect, and the little Doctor short and circular.
9. I sprang to the stirrup, and Joris and he;
I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three;
"Good speed!" cried the watch, as the gate bolts undrew,
"Speed!" echoed the wall to us galloping through.
Behind shut the postern, the lights sank to rest,
And into the midnight we galloped abreast.
--Browning.
+Oral Composition II.+--_Relate orally to the class some incident in which
you were personally concerned._
The following may suggest a subject:--
1. How I made friends with the squirrels.
2. A trick of a tame crow.
3. Why I missed the train.
4. How a horse was rescued.
5. Lost and found.
6. My visit to a menagerie.
(When preparing to relate this incident ask yourself first whether you
know exactly what happened. Consider then how to begin the story so that
your hearer will know when and where it happened and who were there.
Include in the beginning any statement that will assist the reader in
understanding the events which follow.)
+7. The Point of a Story.+--It is not necessary that a story be concerned
with a thrilling event in order to be interesting. Even a most commonplace
occurrence may be so told that it is worth listening to. It is more
important that a story have a point and be so told that this point will be
readily appreciated than that it deal with important or thrilling events.
The story should lead easily and rapidly to its point, and when this is
reached the end of the story should not be far distant. The beginning of a
story will contain statements that will assist us in appreciating the
point when we come to it, but if the point is plainly stated near the
beginning, or even if it is too strongly suggested, our story will drag.
At what point in the following selection is the interest greatest?
During the Civil War, I lived in that portion of Tennessee which was
alternately held by the conflicting armies. My father and brothers were
away, as were all the other men in the neighborhood, except a few very old
ones and some half-grown boys. Mother and I were in constant fear of
injury from stragglers from both armies. We had never been disturbed,
for our farm was a mile or more back from the road along which such
detachments usually moved. We had periods of comparative quiet in which we
felt at ease, and then would come reports of depredation near at hand, or
rumors of the presence of marauding bands in neighboring settlements.
One evening such a rumor came to us, and we were consequently anxious.
Early next morning, before the fog had lifted, I caught sight of two men
crossing the road at the far end of the orchard. They jumped over the
fence into the orchard and disappeared among the trees. I had but a brief
glimpse of them, but it was sufficient to show me that one had a gun over
his shoulder, while the other carried a saber.
"Quick, Mother, quick!" I cried. "Come to the window. There are soldiers
in the orchard."
Keeping out of sight, we watched the progress of the men through the
orchard. Our brief glimpses of them through the trees showed that they
were not coming directly to the house, but were headed for the barn and
sheds, and in order to keep out of sight, were following a slight ravine
which ran across the orchard and led to the back of the barns.
Mother and I were very much excited and hardly knew what to do. Finally it
was determined to hide upstairs in hopes that the men were bent on
stealing chickens or pigs, and might leave without disturbing the house.
We locked the doors and went upstairs, taking with us the old musket and
the butcher knife. We could hear the men about the barn, and after what
seemed an interminable time we heard them coming towards the house.
Though shaking all over, I summoned courage enough to go to the window and
look out of a hole in the shade. As the men came into sight around the
corner, I screamed outright, but from relief rather than fear, for the men
were not soldiers, but Grandpa Smith and his fourteen-year-old grandson.
They stopped at the well to get a drink, and when we opened the window,
the old man said, "We're just on our way to mow the back lot and stopped
to grind the scythe on your stone. We broke ours yesterday."
Then he picked up the scythe which in the fog I had taken for a saber,
while the grandson again shouldered his pitchfork musket.
What effect would it have on the interest aroused by the preceding story
to begin it as follows?
"One morning during the Civil War, I saw two of my neighbors, Grandpa
Smith and his grandson, crossing our orchard, one carrying a scythe and
the other a pitchfork."
Why is the expression, "before the fog had lifted," used near the
beginning of the story? Would a description of the appearance of the
house, the barn, or the persons add to the interest aroused by the story?
Is it necessary to add anything to the story?
EXERCISE
In each of the following selections decide where the interest reaches its
climax. Has anything been said in the beginning of any of them which
suggests what the point will be, or which helps you to appreciate it when
you come to it?
1. The next evening our travelers encamped on a sand bar, or rather a
great bank of sand, that ran for miles along one side of the river. They
kept watch as usual, Leon taking the first turn. He seated himself on a
pile of sand and did his best to keep awake; but in about an hour after
the rest were asleep, he felt very drowsy and fell into a nap that lasted
nearly half an hour, and might have continued longer had he not slid down
the sand hill and tumbled over on his side. This awoke him. Feeling vexed
with himself, he rubbed his eyes and looked about to see if any creature
had ventured near. He first looked towards the woods, for of course that
was the direction from which the tigers would come; but he had scarcely
turned himself when he perceived a pair of eyes glancing at him from the
other side of the fire. Close to them another pair, then another and
another, until, having looked on every side, he saw himself surrounded by
a complete circle of glancing eyes. It is true they were small ones, and
some of the heads which he could see by the blaze were small. They were
not jaguars, but they had an ugly look. They looked like the heads of
serpents. Was it possible that a hundred serpents could have surrounded
the camp?
Brought suddenly to his feet, Leon stood for some moments uncertain what
to do. He believed that the eyes belonged to snakes which had just crept
out of the river; and he feared that any movement on his part would lead
them to attack him. Having risen to his feet, his eyes were above the
level of the blaze, and he was able in a little while to see more clearly.
He now saw that the snakelike heads belonged to creatures with large oval
bodies, and that, besides the fifty or more which had come up to look at
the fire, there were whole droves of them upon the sandy beach beyond. As
far as he could see on all sides, the bank was covered with them. A
strange sight it was, and most fearful. For his life he could not make out
what it meant, or by what sort of wild animals he was surrounded.
He could see that their bodies were not larger than those of small sheep;
and, from the way in which they glistened in the moonlight, he was sure
they had come out of the river. He called to the Indian guide, who awoke
and started to his feet in alarm. The movement frightened the creatures
round the fire; they rushed to the shore, and were heard plunging by
hundreds into the water.
The Indian's ear caught the sounds, and his eye took in the whole thing at
a glance.
"Turtles," he said.
"Oh," said the lad; "turtles, are they?"
"Yes, master," answered the guide. "I suppose this is one of their great
hatching places. They are going to lay their eggs in the sand."
--Captain Mayne Reid.
Would the preceding incident be interesting if we were told at the
beginning that the boy and the Indian had encamped near a hatching place
of turtles?
2. Not every story that reads like fiction is fact, but the _Brooklyn
Eagle_ assures its readers that the one here quoted is quite true. The man
who told it was for many years an officer of the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad Company in Illinois, and had annual passes over all the
important railroads in the country. His duties took him to Springfield,
the state capital, and as he generally went by the Chicago, Alton & St.
Louis road, the conductors on that line knew him so well that they never
asked to see his pass.
"One day I received a telegram summoning me to meet one of the officers of
my company at Aurora the next morning. I had only a short time to catch my
train to Chicago, and in my haste left my passbook behind. I did not find
this out until I reached Chicago, and was about to take the last train for
Aurora that night. Then I saw that the conductor, a man brought over from
the Iowa division, was a stranger, and the fact that I would need my pass
reminded me that I did not have it.
"I told the conductor the situation, but he said he could not carry me on
my mere representation that I had a pass.
"Why, man," said I, "I am an officer of the company, going to Aurora on
company business, and this is the last train that will get me there in
time. You must take me."
"He was polite, but firm. He said he was a new man on this division, and
could not afford to make any mistakes.
"When I saw that he was determined, I rushed off to the telegraph office;
but it was too late to catch anybody authorized to issue passes, so I
settled it in my mind that I must go by carriage, and the prospect of an
all-night ride over bad roads through the dark was anything but inviting.
Indeed, it was so forbidding that I resolved to make one more appeal to
the conductor.
"You simply must take me to Aurora!" I said, with intense earnestness.
"I can't do it," he answered. "But I believe you are what you represent
yourself to be, and I will lend you the money personally. It is only one
dollar and twelve cents."
"Well, sir, you could have knocked me down with the flat side of a
palm-leaf fan. I had more than two thousand dollars in currency in my
pocket, but it had never for an instant occurred to me that I could pay my
fare and ride on that train. I showed the conductor a wad of money that
made his eyes stick out.
"I thought it was funny," said he, "that a man in your position couldn't
raise one dollar and twelve cents. It was that that made me believe you
were playing a trick to see if I would violate the rule."
"The simple truth was, I had ridden everywhere on passes so many years,
that it did not occur to me that I could ride in any other way."
+Oral Composition III.+[Footnote: Oral compositions should be continued
throughout the course. A few minutes may be profitably used once or twice
each week in having each member of the class stand before the class and
relate briefly some incident which he has witnessed since the last meeting
of the class. Exercises like those on page 53 also will furnish
opportunities for oral work.]--_Relate to the class some personal
incident suggested by one of the following subjects_:--
1. A day with my cousin.
2. Caught in the act.
3. A joke on me.
4. My peculiar mistake.
5. My experience on a farm.
6. My experience in a strange Sunday school.
7. What I saw when I was coming to school.
(In preparation for this exercise, consider the point of your story. What
must you tell first in order to enable the hearers to understand the
point? Can you say anything that will make them want to know what the
point is without really telling them? Can you lead up to it without too
long a delay? Can you stop when the point has been made?)
+8. Theme Writing and Correcting.+--Any written exercise, whether long or
short, is called a theme throughout this book. Just as one learns to skate
by skating, so one learns to write by writing; therefore many themes will
be required. Since the clear expression of thought is one of the essential
characteristics of every theme, theme correction should be primarily
directed to improvement in clearness. The teacher will need to assist in
this correction, but the really valuable part is that which you do for
yourself. After you leave school you will need to decide for yourself what
is right and what is best, and it is essential that you now learn how to
make such decisions.
To aid you in acquiring a habit of self-correction, questions or
suggestions follow the directions for writing each theme. In Theme I you
are to express clearly to others something that is already clear to you.
+Theme I.+-_Write a short theme on one of the subjects that you have used
for an oral composition._
(After writing this theme, read it aloud to yourself. Does it read
smoothly? Have you told what actually happened? Have you told it so that
the hearers will understand you? Have you said what you meant to say?
Consider the introduction. Has the story a point?)
+9. The Conclusion.+--Since the point of a story marks the climax of
interest, it is evident that the conclusion must not be long delayed after
the point has been reached. If the story has been well told, the point
marks the natural conclusion, and a sentence or two will serve to bring
the story to a satisfactory end. If a suitable ending does not suggest
itself, it is better to omit the conclusion altogether than to construct a
forced or flowery one. Notice the conclusion of the incident of the Civil
War related on page 18.
+Theme II.+-_Write a short theme suggested by one of the following
subjects:_--
1. A school picnic.
2. A race.
3. The largest fire I have seen.
4. A skating accident.
5. A queer mistake.
6. An experience with a tramp.
(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness. Consider the
introduction; the point; the conclusion.)
+10. Observation of Actions.+--Many of our most interesting experiences
arise from observing the actions of others. A written description of what
we have observed will gain in interest to the reader, if, in addition to
telling what was done, we give some indication of the way in which it was
done. A list of tools a carpenter uses and the operations he performs
during the half hour we watch him, may be dull and uninteresting; but our
description may have an added value if it shows his manner of working so
that the reader can determine whether the carpenter is an orderly,
methodical, and rapid worker or a mere putterer who is careless,
haphazard, and slow. Two persons will perform similar actions in very
different ways. Our description should be so worded as to show what the
differences are.
+Theme III.+--_Write a theme relating actions._
Suggested subjects:--
1. A mason, blacksmith, painter, or other mechanic at work.
2. How my neighbor mows his lawn.
3. What a man does when his automobile breaks down.
4. Describe the actions of a cat, dog, rabbit, squirrel, or other
animal.
5. Watch the push-cart man a half-hour and report what he did.
(Have you told exactly what was done? Can you by the choice of suitable
words show more plainly the way in which it was done? Does this theme need
to have an introduction? A point? A conclusion?)
+11. Selection of Details.+--You are at present concerned with telling
events that actually happen; but this does not mean that you need to
include everything that occurs. If you wish to tell a friend about some
interesting or exciting incident at a picnic, he will not care to hear
everything that took place during the day. He may listen politely to a
statement of what train you took and what you had in your lunch basket,
but he will be little interested in such details. In order to maintain
interest, the point of your story must not be too long delayed. Brevity is
desirable, and details that bear little relation to the main point, and
that do not prepare the listener to understand and appreciate this point,
are better omitted.
+Theme IV.+--_Write about something that you have done. Use any of the
following subjects, or one suggested by them:_--
1. My first hunt.
2. Why I was tardy.
3. My first fishing trip.
4. My narrow escape.
5. A runaway.
6. What I did last Saturday.
(Read the theme aloud to yourself. Does it read smoothly? Have you said
what you meant to say? Have you expressed it clearly? Consider the
introduction; the point; the conclusion. Reject unnecessary details.)
+12. Order of Events.+--The order in which events occur will assist in
establishing the order in which to relate them. If you are telling about
only one person, you can follow the time order of the events as they
actually happened; but if you are telling about two or more persons who
were doing different things at the same time, you will need to tell first
what one did and then what another did. You must, however, make it clear
to the reader that, though you have told one event after the other, they
really happened at the same time.
In the selection below notice how the italicized portions indicate the
relation in time that the different events bear to one another.
At the beach yesterday a fat woman and her three children caused a great
commotion. They had rigged themselves out in hired suits which might be
described as an average fit, for that of the mother was as much too small
as those of the children were too large. They trotted gingerly out into
the surf, wholly unconscious that the crowd of beach loungers had, for the
time, turned their attention from each other to the quartet in the water.
By degrees the four worked out farther and farther until a wave larger
than usual washed the smallest child entirely off his feet, and caused the
mother to scream lustily for help. The people on the beach started up, and
two or three men hastened to the rescue, but their progress was impeded by
the crowd of frightened girls and women _who were scrambling and splashing
towards the shore_. The mother's frantic efforts to reach the little boy
were rendered ineffectual by the two girls, _who at the moment of the
first alarm had been strangled_ by the salt water and _were now clinging_
desperately to her arms and _attempting_ to climb up to her shoulders.
_Meanwhile_, the lifeboat man was rowing rapidly towards the scene, but it
seemed to the onlookers _who had rushed to the platform railing_ that he
would never arrive. _At the same time_ a young man, _who had started from
the diving raft some time before_, was swimming towards shore with
powerful strokes. He _now_ reached the spot, caught hold of the boy, and
lifted him into the lifeboat, which had _at last_ arrived.
Such expressions as _meanwhile, in the meantime, during, at last, while_,
etc., are regularly used to denote the kind of time relations now under
discussion. They should be used when they avoid confusion, but often a
direct transition from one set of actions to another can be made without
their use. Notice also the use of the relative clause to indicate time
relations.
+Theme V.+-_Write a short theme, using some one of the subjects named
under the preceding themes or one suggested by them. Select one which you
have not already used._
(Have you told enough to enable the reader to follow easily the thread of
the story and to understand what you meant to tell? If your theme is
concerned with more than one set of activities, have you made the
transition from one to another in such a way as to be clear to the reader?
Have you expressed the transitions with the proper time relations? What
other questions should you ask yourself while correcting this theme?)
SUMMARY
1. There is a pleasure to be derived from the expression of ideas.
2. There are three sources of ideas: experience, imagination, language.
3. Ideas gained from experience may be advantageously used for
composition purposes because--
_a._ They are interesting.
_b._ They are your own.
_c._ They are likely to be clear and definite.
_d._ They offer free choice of language.
4. The two essentials of expression are--
_a._ To say what you mean.
_b._ To say it clearly.
5. A story should be told so as to arouse and maintain interest.
Therefore,--
_a._ The introduction usually tells when, where, who, and why.
_b._ Every story worth telling has a point.
_c._ Only such details are included as are essential to the
development
of the point.
_d._ The conclusion is brief. The story comes to an end shortly
after the point is told.
6. Care must be taken to indicate the time order, especially when two or
more events occur at the same time.
7. The correction of one's own theme is the most valuable form of
correction.
II. EXPRESSION OF IDEAS FURNISHED BY IMAGINATION
+13. Relation of Imagination to Experience.+--All ideas are based upon and
spring from experience, and the imagination merely places them in new
combinations. For the purpose of this book, however, it is convenient to
distinguish those themes that relate real events as they actually occurred
from those themes that relate events that did not happen. That body of
writing which we call literature is largely composed of works of an
imaginative character, and for this reason it has sometimes been
carelessly assumed that in order to write one must be possessed of an
excellent imagination. Such an assumption loses sight of the fact that
imaginative writings cover but one small part of the whole field. The
production of literature is the business of a few, while every one has
occasion every day to express ideas. It is evident that by far the greater
part of the ideas we are called upon to express do not require the use of
the imagination, but exercises in writing themes of an imaginative
character are given here because there is pleasure in writing such themes
and because practice in writing them will aid us in stating clearly and
effectively the many ideas arising from our daily experiences.
+14. Advantages and Disadvantages of Imaginative Theme Writing.+--Ideas
furnished by the imagination are no less your own than are those furnished
by experience, and the same freedom in the choice of language prevails.
Such ideas are, however, not likely to be so clear and definite. At the
time of their occurrence they do not make so deep and vital an impression
upon you. If not recorded as they occur, they can seldom be recalled in
the original form. Even though you attempt to write these imaginary ideas
as you think them, you can and do change and modify them as you go along.
This lack of clearness and permanent form, while it seems to give greater
freedom, carries with it disadvantages. In the first place the ideas are
less likely to be worth recording, and in the second place it is more
difficult to give them a unity and directness of statement that will hold
the attention and interest of the reader until the chief point is reached.
+15. Probability.+--Not everything that the imagination may furnish is
equally worth expressing. If you choose to write about something for which
imagination supplies the ideas, you may create for yourself such ideas as
you wish. Their order of occurrence and their time and place are not
determined by outward events, but solely by the mind itself. The events
are no longer real and actual, but may be changed and rearranged without
limit. An imaginative series of events may conform closely to the real and
probable, or it may be manifestly improbable. Which will be of greater
interest will depend upon the reader, but it will be found that the story
which comes nearest to reality is most satisfactory. In relating fairy
tales we confessedly attempt to tell events not possible in the real
world, but in relating tales of real life, however imaginary, we should
tell the events so that everything seems both possible and probable. An
imaginative story, in which the persons seem to be real persons who do and
say the things that real persons do and say, will be found much more
satisfactory than a story that depends for its outcome on something
manifestly impossible. He who really does the best in imaginative writing
is the one who has most closely observed the real events of everyday life,
and states his imaginary events so that they seem real.
+Theme VI.+--_Write a short theme, using one of the subjects below. You
need not tell something that actually happened, but what you tell should
be so told that your readers will think it might have happened._
1. A trip in a sailboat.
2. The travels of a penny.
3. How I was lost.
4. A cat's account of a mouse hunt.
5. The mouse's account of the same hunt.
6. My experience with a burglar.
7. The burglar's story.
+16. Euphony.+--Besides clearness in a composition there are other
desirable qualities. To one of these, various names have been applied, as
"euphony," "ease," "elegance," "beauty," etc. Of two selections equally
clear in meaning one may be more pleasing than the other. One may seem
harsh and rough, while the other flows along with a satisfying ease and
smoothness. If the thought that is in our mind fails to clothe itself in
suitable language and appropriate figures, we can do little by conscious
effort toward improving the beauty of the language; but by avoiding choppy
sentences and inharmonious combinations of words and phrases, we may
remove from our compositions much that is harsh and rough. That quality
which we call ease or euphony is better detected by the ear than by the
eye, and for this reason it has been suggested that you read each theme
aloud to yourself before presenting it to the class. Such a reading will
assist you to determine whether you have made your meaning clear and to
eliminate some of the more disagreeable combinations.
+17. Variety.+--Of the many elements which affect the euphony of a theme
none is more essential than variety. The constant repetition of the same
thing grows monotonous and distasteful, while a pleasing variety maintains
interest and improves the story. For the sake of this variety we avoid the
continual use of the same words and phrases, substituting synonyms and
equivalent expressions if we have need to repeat the same idea many times.
Most children begin every sentence of a story with "and," or perhaps it is
better to say that they conclude many sentences with "and-uh," leaving the
thought in suspense while they are trying to think of what to say next.
High school pupils are not wholly free from this habit, and it is
sometimes retained in their written work. This excessive use of _and_
needs to be corrected. An examination of our language habits will show
that nearly every one has one or more words which he uses to excess. A
professor of rhetoric, after years of correcting others, discovered by
underscoring the word _that_ each time it occurred in his own writing that
he was using it twice as often as necessary. _Got_ is one of the words
used too frequently, and often incorrectly.
EXERCISES
1. In the following selection notice how each sentence begins. Compare it
with one of your own themes.
I was witness to events of a less peaceful character. One day when I went
out to my woodpile, or rather my pile of stumps, I observed two large
ants, the one red, and the other much larger, nearly half an inch long,
and black, fiercely contending with each other. Having once got hold, they
never let go, but struggled and wrestled and rolled on the chips
incessantly. Looking farther, I was surprised to find that the chips were
covered with such combatants; that it was not a _duellum_, but a
_bellum_,--a war between two races of ants, the red always pitted against
the black, and frequently two red ones to one black. The legions of these
Myrmidons covered all the hills and vales in my woodyard, and the ground
was already strewn with the dead and the dying, both red and black.
It was the only battle which I have ever witnessed--the only battlefield I
ever trod while the battle was raging.... On every side they were engaged
in deadly combat, yet without any noise that I could hear, and human
soldiers never fought so resolutely.--Thoreau.
2. Examine one of your own themes. If some word occurs frequently,
underscore it each time, and then substitute words or expressions for it
in as many places as you can. If necessary, reconstruct the sentences so
as to avoid using the word in some cases. Notice how these substitutions
give a variety to your expression and improve the euphony of your
composition.
Theme VII.--_Write a short story suggested by one of the following
subjects:_--
1. The trout's revenge.
2. A sparrow's mistake.
3. A fortunate shot.
4. The freshman and the professor.
5. What the bookcase thought about it.
(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness. Cross out unnecessary
_ands_. Consider the beginnings of the sentences. Can you improve the
euphony by a different choice of words?)
18. Sentence Length.--Euphony is aided by securing a variety in the length
of sentences. In endeavoring to avoid the excessive use of _and_, some
pupils obtain results illustrated by the following example:--
Jean passed through the door of the church. He saw a child sitting on one
of the stone steps. She was fast asleep in the midst of the snow. The
child was thinly clad. Her feet, cold as it was, were bare.
A theme composed wholly of such a succession of short sentences is
tedious. Especially when read aloud does its monotony become apparent.
Though the thought in each sentence is complete, the effect is not
satisfactory to the reader, because the thought of the whole does not come
to him as fast as his mind can act. Such an arrangement of sentences might
be satisfactory to young children, because it would agree with their
habits of thought; but as one grows in ability to think more rapidly, he
finds that longer and more complicated sentences best express his thoughts
and are best understood by those for whom he writes. We introduce
sentences of different length and different structure, because they more
clearly express the thought of the whole and state it in a form more in
accordance with the mental activity of the hearer. When we have done this,
we at the same time secure a variety that avoids monotony.
In attempting to avoid a series of short sentences, care should be taken
not to go to the other extreme. Sentences should not be overloaded. Too
many adjectives or participles or subordinate clauses will render the
meaning obscure. The number of phrases and clauses that may safely be
introduced will be determined by the ability of the mind to grasp the
meaning readily and accurately. It is sometimes quite as important to
separate a long sentence into shorter ones as it is to combine short ones
into those of greater length.
Notice in the following selection the different ways in which several
ideas have been brought into the same sentence without rendering the
meaning obscure:--
Loki made his way across a vast desert moorland, and came, after three
days, into the barren hill country and among the rugged mountains of the
South. There an earthquake had split the rocks asunder, and opened dark
and bottomless gorges, and hollowed out many a low-walled cavern, where
the light of day was never seen. Along deep, winding ways, Loki went,
squeezing through narrow crevices, creeping under huge rocks, and gliding
through crooked clefts, until he came at last into a great underground
hall, where his eyes were dazzled by a light that was stronger and
brighter than the day; for on every side were glowing fires, roaring in
wonderful little gorges, and blown by wonderful little bellows.
+Theme VIII.+--_Write a story suggested by one of the following
subjects:_--
1. School in the year 2000.
2. The lost door key.
3. Our big bonfire.
4. Kidnapped.
5. A bear hunt.
6. A mistake in the telegram.
7. How Fido rescued his master.
(Can you render the meaning more clear by uniting short sentences into
longer ones, or by separating long sentences into shorter ones? Can you
omit any _ands_? How many of the sentences begin with the same word? Can
you change any of those words? Pick out the words which show the
subordinate relation of some parts to others. Do all of the incidents in
your story seem probable?)
+19. Conversation.+--It must not be inferred from the preceding section
that short sentences are never to be used. They are quite as necessary as
long ones, and in some cases, such as the portraying of strong emotion,
are more effective. Even a succession of short sentences may be used with
good results to describe rapid action. In conversation, also, sentences
are generally short, and often grammatically incomplete, though they may
be understood by the hearer. Sometimes this incompleteness is justified by
the idiom of the language, but more often it is the result of carelessness
on the part of the speaker. The hearer understands what is said either
because he knows about what to expect, or because the expression is a
familiar one. Such carelessness not only causes the omission of words
grammatically necessary, but brings about the incorrect pronunciation of
words and their faulty combination into sentences.
You speak much more often than you write. Your habits of speech are likely
to become permanent and your errors of speech will creep into your written
work. It is important therefore that you watch your spoken language.
Occasions will arise when the slang expressions that you so freely use
will seem inappropriate, and it will be unfortunate indeed if you find
that you have used the slang so long that you have no other words to take
their place. An abbreviated form of _gymnasium_ or of _mathematics_ may
not attract attention among your schoolmates, but there are circles where
such abbreviations are not used. By watching your own speech you will find
that some incorrect forms are very common. Improvement can be made by
giving your attention to one of them, such as the use of _guess_, or of
_got_, or of _don't_ and _doesn't_.
In making a written report of conversation you should remember that short
sentences predominate. A conversation composed of long sentences would
seem stilted and made to order. What each person says, however short, is
put into a separate division and indented. Explanatory matter accompanying
the conversation is placed with the spoken part to which it most closely
relates. Notice the indentations and the use of quotation marks in several
printed reports of conversation.
+20. Ideas from Pictures.+--If you look at a picture and then attempt to
tell some one else what you see, you will express ideas gained by
experience. A picture may, however, cause a very different set of ideas to
arise. Look at the picture on page 38. Can you imagine the circumstances
that preceded the situation shown by the picture? Or again, can you not
begin with that situation and imagine what would be done next? If you
write out either of the series of events, the theme, though suggested by
the picture, will be composed of ideas furnished by the imagination. In
the writing of a story suggested by a picture, the situation given in the
picture should be made the point of greatest interest, and should be
accounted for by relating a series of events supposed to have preceded it.
+Theme IX.+--_Write a story that will account for the condition shown in
the picture on page 38._
(Correct with reference to clearness and meaning. Do you need to change
the sentence length either for the sake of clearness or for the sake of
variety? Cross out unnecessary _ands_. Underscore _got_ and _then_ each
time you have used them. Can the reader follow the thread of your story to
its chief point?)
[Illustration]
+21. Vocabulary.+--A word is the symbol of an idea, and the addition of a
word to one's vocabulary usually means that a new idea has been acquired.
The more we see and hear and read, the greater our stock of ideas becomes.
As our life experiences increase, so should our supply of words increase.
We may have ideas without having the words with which to express them, and
we may meet with words whose meanings we do not know. In either case there
is chance for improvement. When you have a new idea, find out how best to
express it, and when you meet with a new word, add it to your vocabulary.
It is necessary to distinguish between our reading vocabulary and our
writing vocabulary. There are many words that belong only to the first. We
know what they mean when we meet them in our reading, but we do not use
them in our writing. Our speaking vocabulary also differs from that which
we employ in writing. We use words and phrases on paper that seldom appear
in our speech, and, on the other hand, many of the words that we speak do
not appear in our writing. There is, however, a constant shifting of words
from one to another of these three groups. When we meet an unknown word,
it usually becomes a part of our reading vocabulary. Later it may appear
in our written work, and finally we may use it in speaking. We add a word
to our reading vocabulary when we determine its meaning, but _we must use
it_ in order to add it to our writing and speaking vocabulary. A conscious
effort to aid in this acquisition of words is highly desirable.
A limited vocabulary indicates limited ideas. If one is limited to
_awfully_ in order to express a superlative; if his use of adjectives is
restricted to _nice, jolly, lovely_, and _elegant;_ if he must always
_abominate_ and never _abhor_, _detest, dislike_, or _loathe;_ if he can
only _adore_ and not _admire, respect, revere_, or _venerate_,--then he
has failed, indeed, to know the possibilities and beauties of English.
Such a language habit shows a mind that has failed to distinguish between
ideas. The best way to study the shades of meaning and the choice of words
is in the actual production of a theme wherein there is need to bring out
these differences in meaning by the use of words; but some help may be
gained from a formal study of synonyms and antonyms and of the distinction
in use and meaning between words which are commonly confused with each
other. For this purpose such exercises are given in the Appendix.
+22. Choice of Words.+--Even though our words may express the proper
meaning, the effect may not be a desirable one unless we use words suited
to the occasion described and to the person writing. Pupils of high school
age know the meaning of many words which are too "bookish" for daily use
by them. Edward Everett Hale might use expressions which would not be
suitable for a freshman's composition. Taste and good judgment will help
you to avoid the unsuitable or grandiloquent.
The proper selection of words not only implies that we shall avoid the
wrong word, but also that we shall choose the right one. A suitable
adjective may give a clearer image than is expressed by a whole sentence;
a single verb may tell better how some one acted than can be told by a
lengthy explanation. Since narration has to do with action, we need in
story telling to be especially careful in our choice of verbs.
What can you say of the suitability of the words in the following
selection, taken from an old school reader?
_Mrs. Lismore._ You are quite breathless, Charles; where have you been
running so violently?
_Charles._ From the poultry yard, mamma, where I have been diverting
myself with the bravado of the old gander. I did not observe him till he
came toward me very fiercely, when, to induce him to pursue me, I ran from
him. He followed, till, supposing he had beaten me, he returned to the
geese, who appeared to receive him with acclamations of joy, cackling very
loud, and seeming actually to laugh, and to enjoy the triumph of their
gallant chief.
_Emma._ I wish I had been with you, Charles; I have often admired the
gambols of these beautiful birds, and wondered how they came by the
appellation of _silly_, which is generally bestowed on them. I remember
Martha, our nursery maid, used often to call me a _silly goose_. How came
they to deserve that term, mamma? they appear to me to have as much
intelligence as any of the feathered tribe.
_Mrs. Lismore._ I have often thought with you, Emma, and supposed that
term, like many others, misapplied, for want of examining into the justice
of so degrading an epithet.
+23. Improbability.+--Up to this point we have been concerned with
relating events that _could_ exist, though we knew that they _did_ not. We
may, however, imagine a series of events that are manifestly impossible.
There is a pleasure in inventing improbable stories, and if we know from
the beginning that they are to be so, we enjoy listening to them. Such
tales are more satisfactory to young persons than to older ones, as is
shown by our declining interest in fairy stories as we grow older.
By limiting the improbability to a part of the story, it is possible to
give an air of reality to the whole. Though the conditions described in a
story about a trip to the moon might be wholly impossible, yet the reader
for the time being might feel that the events were actually happening if
the characters in the story were acting as real men would act under
similar circumstances. In stories such as those of Thompson-Seton, where
the animals are personified, the impossibilities are forgotten, because
the actions and situations are so real. In fairy stories and similar tales
neither characters nor actions are in any way limited by probability.
+Theme X.+--_Write a short story suggested by one of the subjects below.
Make either the characters or their surroundings seem real._
1. A week in Mars.
2. Exploring the lake bottom.
3. The cat's defense of her kittens.
(_a_) As told by the cat.
(_b_) As told by the dog.
4. How the fox fooled the hound.
5. Diary of a donkey.
6. A biography of Jack Frost.
(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness and two other points to
be assigned by the teacher.)
+24. How to Increase One's Vocabulary.+--In your daily work do what you
can to add words to your reading vocabulary, and especially to increase
your writing vocabulary. In the conversation of others and in reading you
will meet with many new words, and you should attempt to make them your
own. To do this, four things must be attended to:--
1. _Spelling._ Definite attention should be given to each new word until
its form both as written and as printed is indelibly stamped upon the
mind. In your general reading and in each of the subjects that you will
study in the high school you will meet unfamiliar words. It is only by
mastering the spelling of each new word _when you first meet it_ that you
can insure yourself against future chagrin from bad spelling. A part of
the time in each high school subject may well be devoted to the mastering
of the words peculiar to that subject.
2. _Pronunciation._ The complete acquisition of a word includes its
pronunciation. In reading aloud and in speaking, we have need to know it,
and faulty pronunciation is considered an indication of lack of culture.
3. _Meaning._ This includes more than the ability to give the definition
as found in the dictionary. It is possible to recite such definitions
glibly without in reality knowing the meaning of the word defined. It is
necessary to connect the word definitely and permanently in our mind with
the idea for which it is the symbol and to be able to distinguish the idea
clearly from others closely related to it.
4. _Use._ The actual use of a word is very important. If a word is to come
into our speaking and writing vocabulary, we must use it. It is important
that the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning be determined when you
_first_ meet the word, and it is equally important that the word be _used_
soon and often.
+Theme XI.+--_Write a short story suggested by one of the following
subjects. It may be wholly improbable, if you choose._
1. The good fairy.
2. Mary's luck.
3. The man in the moon.
4. The golden apple.
5. A wonderful fountain pen.
6. The goobergoo and the kantan.
(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness and two other points to
be assigned by the teacher.)
SUMMARY
1. The clear expression of the ideas connected with our daily experiences
is of greater importance to most of us than is the production of
literature.
2. Ideas furnished by imagination may be advantageously used for
composition purposes, because--
_a._ They are your own.
_b._ They offer free choice of language.
They are less desirable than those gained from experience, because--
_a._ They generally lack clearness and permanency.
_b._ They are less likely to be worth recording.
_c._ It is more difficult to give them that unity and directness of
statement that will keep the interest of the reader.
3. An imaginative series of events may seem probable or improbable. He who
most closely observes real life and states his imaginary events so
that they seem real will succeed best in imaginative writing.
4. Euphony is a desirable quality in a composition.
5. Variety aids euphony. It is gained by--
_a._ Avoiding the repetition of the same words and phrases.
_b._ Beginning our sentences in various ways.
_c._ Using sentences of different lengths.
6. Conversation is usually composed of short sentences.
7. Pictures may suggest ideas suitable for use in compositions.
8. Our reading, writing, and speaking vocabularies differ.
Each should be increased. With each new word
attention should be given to--
_a._ Spelling.
_b._ Pronunciation.
_c._ Meaning.
_d._ Use.
III. EXPRESSION OF IDEAS ACQUIRED THROUGH LANGUAGE
+25. Language as a Medium through Which Ideas are Acquired.+--We have
been considering language as a means of expression, an instrument by which
we can convey to others the ideas which come to us from experience and
imagination. We shall now consider it from a different point of view.
Language is not merely a means of expressing ideas, but it is also a
medium through which ideas are acquired. It has a double use: the writer
must put thought into language; the reader must get it out. A large part
of your schooling has been devoted to acquiring ideas from language, and
these ideas may be used for purposes of composition. _Since it is
absolutely necessary to have ideas before you can express them_, it will
be worth while to consider for a time how to get them from language.
+26. Image Making.+--Read the following selection from Hawthorne and form
a clear mental image of each scene:--
At first, my fancy saw only the stern hills, lonely lakes, and venerable
woods. Not a tree, since their seeds were first scattered over the infant
soil, had felt the ax, but had grown up and flourished through its long
generation, had fallen beneath the weight of years, been buried in green
moss, and nourished the roots of others as gigantic. Hark! A light paddle
dips into the lake, a birch canoe glides around the point, and an Indian
chief has passed, painted and feather-crested, armed with a bow of
hickory, a stone tomahawk, and flint-headed arrows. But the ripple had
hardly vanished from the water, when a white flag caught the breeze, over
a castle in the wilderness, with frowning ramparts and a hundred
cannon.... A war party of French and Indians were issuing from the gate to
lay waste some village of New England. Near the fortress there was a group
of dancers. The merry soldiers footing it with the swart savage maids;
deeper in the wood, some red men were growing frantic around a keg of the
fire-water; and elsewhere a Jesuit preached the faith of high cathedrals
beneath a canopy of forest boughs.
Did you form clear mental images? Can you picture them all at the same
time, or must you turn your attention from one image to another? The
formation of the proper mental images will be aided by making a persistent
effort to create them.
Many words do not cause us to form images; for example, _goodness,
innocence, position, insurance_; but when the purpose of a word is to set
forth an image, we should take care to get the correct one. In this the
dictionary will not always help us. We must distinguish between the
ability to repeat a definition and the power to form an accurate image of
the thing defined. The difficulty of forming correct images by the use of
dictionary definitions is so great that the definitions are frequently
accompanied by pictures.
EXERCISES
Notice the different mental images that come to you as you read each of
the following selections. Distinguish words that cause images to arise
from those that do not.
1. Before these fields were shorn and tilled,
Full to the brim our rivers flowed;
The melody of waters filled
The fresh and boundless wood;
And torrents dashed, and rivulets played,
And fountains spouted in the shade.
--Bryant: _An Indian at the Burial Place of his Fathers_.
2. At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of cries, and
at the signal four savages sprang from the cover of the driftwood. Heyward
felt a burning desire to rush forward to meet them, so intense was the
delirious anxiety of the moment; but he was restrained by the deliberate
examples of the scout and Uncas. When their foes, who leaped over the
black rocks that divided them, with long bounds, uttering the wildest
yells, were within a few rods, the rifle of Hawkeye slowly rose among the
shrubs and poured out its fatal contents. The foremost Indian bounded like
a stricken deer and fell headlong among the clefts of the island.
--Cooper: _Last of the Mohicans_.
3. The towering flames had now surmounted every obstruction, and rose to
the evening skies, one huge and burning beacon, seen far and wide through
the adjacent country. Tower after tower crashed down, with blazing roof
and rafter; and the combatants were driven from the courtyard. The
vanquished of whom very few remained, scattered and escaped into the
neighboring wood. The victors, assembling in large bands, gazed with
wonder, not unmixed with fear, upon the flames, in which their own ranks
and arms glanced dusky red. The maniac figure of the Saxon Ulrica was for
a long time visible on the lofty stand she had chosen, tossing her arms
abroad with wild exaltation as if she reigned empress of the conflagration
which she had raised. At length, with a terrific crash, the whole turret
gave way and she perished in the flames which had consumed her tyrant.
--Scott: _Ivanhoe_.
4. Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.
--Longfellow: _The Village Blacksmith_.
5. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door;
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this, and nothing more."
--Edgar A. Poe: _The Raven_.
6. Where with black cliffs the torrents toil,
He watch'd the wheeling eddies boil,
Till, from their foam, his dazzled eyes
Beheld the River Demon rise;
The mountain mist took form and limb
Of noontide hag or goblin grim.
--Scott: _Lady of the Lake_.
7. On nearer approach he was still more surprised at the singularity of
the stranger's appearance. He was a short, square-built old fellow, with
thick, bushy hair and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique Dutch
fashion--a cloth jerkin strapped around the waist--several pairs of
breeches, the outer ones of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons
down the sides and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulder a stout
keg that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to approach and
assist him with his load.
--Washington Irving: _Rip Van Winkle_.
+27. Complete and Incomplete Images.+--Some sentences have for their
purpose the presentation of an image, but in order to form that image
correctly and completely, we must be familiar with the words used. If an
unfamiliar word is introduced, the mind may omit entirely the image
represented, or may substitute some other for it. Notice the image
presented by this sentence from Henry James: "Her dress was dark and rich;
she had pearls around her neck and an old rococo fan in her hand." If the
meaning of _rococo_ is unknown to you, the image which you form will not
be exactly the one that Mr. James had in mind. The pearls and the dress
may stand out clearly in your image, but the fan will be lacking or
indistinct. The whole may be compared to a photograph of which a part is
blurred. If your attention is directed to the fan, you may recall the word
_rococo_, but not the image represented by it. If your attention is not
called to the fan, the mind is satisfied with the indistinct image, or
substitutes for it an image of some other fan. Such an image is therefore
either incomplete or inaccurate.
An oath in court provides that we shall "tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth," but, in forming images, it is not always
possible to hold our minds to such exactness. We are prone to picture more
or less than the words convey. In fact, in some forms of prose, and often
in poetry, the author purposely takes advantage of this habit of the mind
and wishes us to enlarge with creations of our own imagination the bare
image that his words convey. Such writing, however, aims to give pleasure
or to arouse our emotions. It calls out something in the reader even more
strongly than it sets forth something in the writer. This suggestiveness
in writing will be considered later, but for the present it will be well
for you to bear in mind that most language has for its purpose the exact
expression of a definite idea. Much of the failure in school work arises
from the careless substitution of one image for another, and from the
formation of incomplete and inaccurate images.
EXERCISES
_A._ Make a list of the words in the following selections whose meanings
you need to look up in order to make the images exact and complete. Do not
attempt to memorize the language of the definition, but to form a correct
image.
1. The sun stared brazenly down on a gray farmhouse, on ranges of
whitewashed outbuildings, and on a goodly array of dark-thatched ricks.
2. In his shabby frieze jacket and mud-laden brogans, he was scarcely an
attractive object.
3. In a sunlit corner of an old coquina fort they came suddenly face to
face with a familiar figure.
4. Somewhat back from the village street
Stands the old-fashioned country seat.
Across its antique portico
Tall poplar trees their shadows throw,
And from its station in the hall
An ancient timepiece says to all:
"Forever--never!
Never--forever!"
--Longfellow: _The Old Clock on the Stairs_.
5. There was a room which bore the appearance of a vault. Four spandrels
from the corners ran up to join a sharp cup-shaped roof. The architecture
was rough, but very strong. It was evidently part of a great building.
6. The officer proceeded, without affecting to hear the words which
escaped the sentinel in his surprise; nor did he again pause, until he had
reached the low strand, and in a somewhat dangerous vicinity to the
western water bastion of the fort.
7. She stood on the top step under the _porte-cochère_, on the extreme
edge, so that the toes of her small slippers extended a little over it.
She bent forward, and then tipped back on the high, exiguous heels again.
8. Before the caryatides of the fireplace, under the ancestral portraits, a
valet moves noiselessly about, arranging the glistening silver service on
the long table and putting in order the fruits, sweets, and ices.
9. No sooner is the heavy gate of the portal passed than one sees from
afar among the leafage the court of honor, to which one comes along an
alley decorated uniformly with upright square shafts like classic termae
in stone and bronze. The impression of the antique lines is striking: it
springs at once to the eyes, at first in this portico with columns and a
heavy entablature, but lacking a pediment.
_B._ Read again the selections beginning on page 46. Do you form complete
images in every case?
_C._ Notice in each of your lessons for to-day what images are incomplete.
Bring to class a list of the words you would need to look up in order to
form complete images. Do not include all the words whose meanings are not
clear, but only those that assist in forming images.
+Theme XII.+--_Form a clear mental image of some incident, person, or
place. Write about it, using such words as will give your classmates
complete and accurate images. The following may suggest a subject:_--
1. A party dress I should like.
2. My room.
3. A cozy glen.
4. In the apple orchard.
5. Going to the fire.
6. The hand-organ man.
7. A hornets' nest.
8. The last inning.
9. An exciting race.
(Consider what you have written with reference to the images which the
_reader_ will form. Do you think that when the members of the class hear
your theme, each will form the same images that you had in mind when
writing? Notice how many of your sentences begin in the same way. Can you
rewrite them so as to give variety?)
+28. Reproduction of Images.+--If we were asked to tell about an accident
which we had seen, we could recall the various incidents in the order of
their occurrence. If the accident had occurred recently, or had made a
vivid impression upon us, we could easily form mental images of each
scene. If we had only read a description of the accident, it would be more
difficult to recall the image; because that which we gain through language
is less vitally a part of ourselves than is that which comes to us through
experience.
When called upon to reproduce the images suggested to us by language, our
memory is apt to concern itself with the words that suggested the image,
and our expression is hampered rather than aided by this remembrance. The
author has made, or should have made, the best possible selection of words
and phrases. If we repeat his language, we have but memory drill or copy
work; and if we do not, we are limited to such second-class language as we
may be able to find.
Word memory has its uses, but it is less valuable than image memory. It is
necessary to distinguish carefully between the images that a writer
presents and the words that he uses. If a botany lesson should consist of
a description of fifteen different leaves, a pupil deficient in image
memory will attempt to memorize the language of the book. A better-trained
pupil, on meeting such a term as _serrated_, will ask himself: "Have I
ever seen such a leaf? Can I form an image of it?" If so, his only task
will be to give the new name, _serrated_, to the idea that he already has.
In a similar way he will form images for each of the fifteen leaves
described in the lesson. The language of the book may help him form these
images, but he will make no attempt to commit the language to memory. With
him, "getting the lesson" means forming images and naming them, and
reciting the lesson will be but talking about an image that he has clearly
in mind. Try this in your own lessons.
If we are called upon to reproduce the incidents and scenes of some story
that has been read to us, our success will depend upon the clearness of
the images that we have formed. Our efforts should be directed to making
the images as definite and vivid as possible, and our memory will be
concerned with the recalling of these images in their proper order, and
not with the language that first caused them to appear.
EXERCISES
1. Report orally some interesting incident taken from a book which you
have recently read. Do not reread the story. Use such language as will
cause the class to form clear mental images.
2. Report orally upon some chapter selected from Cooper's _Last of the
Mohicans_ or Scott's _Ivanhoe_.
3. Read a portion of Scott's _Lady of the Lake_, and report orally what
happened.
4. Report orally some incident that you have read about in a magazine.
Select one that caused you to form images, and tell it so that the hearers
will form like images.
+Theme XIII.+--_Reproduce a story read to you by the teacher._
(Before writing, picture to yourself the scenes and recall the order of
their occurrence. If it is necessary to condense, omit events of the least
importance.)
+29. Comparison.+--Writing which contains unfamiliar words fails to call
up complete and definite images. It is often difficult to form the correct
mental picture, even though the words in themselves are familiar.
Definitions, explanations, and descriptions may cause us to understand
correctly, but our understanding usually can be improved by means of a
comparison. We can form an image of an object as soon as we know what it
is like.
If I wished you to form an image of an okapi, a lengthy description would
give you a less vivid picture than the statement that it was a horselike
animal, having stripes similar to those of a zebra. If an okapi were as
well known to you as is a horse, the name alone would call up the proper
image, and no comparison would be necessary. By means of it we are enabled
to picture the unfamiliar. In this case the comparison is literal.
If the comparison is imaginative rather than literal, our language becomes
figurative, and usually takes the form of a simile or metaphor. Similes
and metaphors are of great value in rendering thought clear. They make
language forceful and effective, and they may add much to the beauty of
expression.
We may speak of an object as being like another, or as acting like
another. If the comparison is imaginative rather than literal, and is
directly stated, the expression is a simile. Similes are introduced by
_like, as_, etc.
He fought like a lion.
The river wound like a serpent around the mountains.
If two things are essentially different, but yet have a common quality,
their _implied comparison_ is a metaphor. A metaphor takes the form of a
statement that one is the other.
"He was a lion in the fight."
"The river wound its serpent course."
Sometimes inanimate objects, abstract ideas, or the lower animals
are given the attributes of human beings. Such a figure is called
personification, and is in fact a modified metaphor, since it is based
upon some resemblance of the lower to the higher.
This music crept by me upon the waters.
Time is a very bankrupt, and owes more than he is worth to
season.
Nay, he's a thief, too; have you not heard men say,
That time comes stealing on by night and day?
--Shakespeare.
+30. Use of Figures of Speech.+--The three figures of speech, simile,
metaphor, and personification, are more frequently used than are the
others. Figures of speech are treated in a later chapter, but some
suggestions as to their use will be of value to beginners.
1. Never write for the purpose of using figures of speech. Nearly
everything that we need to say can be well expressed in plain, bare
English, and the ability to express our thoughts in this way is the
essential thing. If a figure that adds to the force and clearness of your
expression occurs to you, use it without hesitation. A figure may also add
to the beauty of our expression. The examples to be found in literature
are largely of this character. If well used, they are effective, but the
beginner should beware of a figure that is introduced for decorative
purposes only. An attempt to find figures of speech in ordinary prose
writing will show how rarely they are used.
2. The figures should fit the subject in hand. Some comparisons are
appropriate and some are not. If the writer is familiar with his subject
and deeply in earnest, the appropriate figures will rise spontaneously in
his mind. If they do not, little is gained by seeking for them.
3. The effectiveness of a comparison, whether literal or figurative,
depends upon the familiarity of the reader with one of the two things
compared. To say that a petrel resembled a kite would be of no value to
one who knew nothing of either bird. Similarly a figure is defective if
neither element of the comparison is familiar to the readers.
4. Suitable figures give picturesqueness and vivacity to language, but
hackneyed figures are worse than none.
5. Elaborate and long-drawn-out figures, or an overabundance of short
ones, should be avoided.
6. A figure must be consistent throughout. A comparison once begun must be
carried through without change; mixing figures often produces results
which are ridiculous. The "mixed metaphor" is a common blunder of
beginners. This fault may arise either from confusing different metaphors
in the same sentence, or from blending literal language with metaphorical.
The following will serve to illustrate:--
1. [Confused metaphor.] Let us pin our faith to the rock of perseverance
and honest toil, where it may sail on to success on the wings of hope.
2. [Literal and figurative blended.] Washington was the father of his
country and a surveyor of ability.
3. When the last awful moment came, the star of liberty went down with all
on board.
4. The glorious work will never be accomplished until the good ship
"Temperance" shall sail from one end of the land to the other, and with a
cry of "Victory!" at each step she takes, shall plant her banner in every
city, town, and village in the United States.
5. All along the untrodden paths of the future we see the hidden
footprints of an unseen hand.
6. The British lion, whether it is roaming the deserts of India, or
climbing the forests of Canada, will never draw in its horns nor retire
into its shell.
7. Young man, if you have the spark of genius in you, water it.
EXERCISES
Are the images which you form made more vivid by
the use of the figures in the following selections?
1. She began to screech as wild as ocean birds.
2. And when its force expended,
The harmless storm was ended;
And as the sunrise splendid
Came blushing o'er the sea--
3. As a demon is hurled by an angel's spear,
Heels over head, to his proper sphere--
Heels over head and head over heels,--
Dizzily down the abyss he wheels,--
So fell Darius.
--J.T. Trowbridge.
4. In this republican country, amid the fluctuating waves of our social
life, somebody is always at the drowning point.
--Hawthorne.
5. Poverty, treading close at her heels for a lifetime, has come up with
her at last.
--Hawthorne.
6. Friendships begin with liking or gratitude--roots that can be pulled
up.
--George Eliot.
7. Nearing the end of the narrative, Ben paced up and down the narrow
limits of the tent in great excitement, running his fingers through his
hair, and barking out a question now and then.
8. A sky above,
Where one white cloud like a stray lamb doth move.
--Lowell.
9. In days of public commotion every faction, like an Oriental army, is
attended by a crowd of camp followers, a useless and heartless rabble, who
prowl round its line of march in the hope of picking up something under
its protection, but desert it in the day of battle, and often join to
exterminate it after a defeat.
--Macaulay.
10. It is to be regretted that the prose writings of Milton should, in our
time, be so little read. As compositions, they deserve the attention of
every man who wishes to become acquainted with the full power of the
English language. They abound with passages compared with which the finest
declamations of Burke sink into insignificance. They are a perfect field
of cloth of gold. The style is stiff with gorgeous embroidery.
--Macaulay.
11. And close behind her stood
Eight daughters of the plow, stronger than men,
Huge women blowzed with health, and wind, and rain,
And labor. Each was like a Druid rock,
Or like a spire of land that stands apart
Cleft from the main and wall'd about with mews.
--Tennyson.
12. But bland the smile that, like a wrinkling wind
On glassy water, drove his cheek in lines.
--Tennyson.
13. The rush of affairs drifts words from their original meanings, as
ships drag their anchors in a gale, but terms sheltered from common use
hold to their moorings forever.
--Mill.
+Theme XIV.+--_Write a story suggested by the picture on page 59 or by one
of the following subjects:_--
1. A modern fable.
2. The willow whistle.
3. How I baked a cake.
4. The delayed picnic.
5. The missing slipper.
6. A misdirected letter.
7. A ride on a raft.
8. The rescue of Ezekiel.
9. A railway experience.
10. A soldier's soldier.
(Do you think the reader will form the images you wish him to form?
Consider what you have written with reference to climax. (See Section 7.)
Have you needed to use figures? If so, have you used them in accordance
with the suggestions on page 55? If you have used the word _only_, is it
placed so as to give the correct meaning?)
+31. Determination of Meaning Requires More than Image Making.+--The
emphasis laid upon image making should not lead to the belief that this is
all that is necessary in order to determine what is meant by the language
we hear or read. Image making is important, but much of our language is
concerned with presenting ideas of which no mental pictures can be formed.
[Illustration]
This very paragraph will serve as an illustration of such language. Our
understanding of language of this kind depends upon our knowledge of the
meanings of words, upon our understanding of the relations between word
groups, or parts of sentences, and especially upon our appreciation of the
relations in thought that sentences bear to one another. Each of these
will be discussed in the following pages. Later it will be necessary to
consider the relations in thought existing among paragraphs.
+32. Word Relations.+--In order to get the thought of a sentence, we must
understand the relations that exist between the words and word groups
(phrases and clauses) that compose it. If the thought is simple, and
expressed in straightforward terms, we grasp it readily and without any
conscious effort to determine these relations. If the thought is complex,
the relations become more complicated, and before we are sure that we know
what the writer intends to say it may be necessary to note with care which
is the main clause and which are the subordinate clauses. In either case
our acquiring the thought depends upon our understanding the relations
between words and word groups. We may understand them without any
knowledge of the names that have been applied to them in grammar, but a
knowledge of the names will assist somewhat. These relations are treated
in the grammar review in the Appendix and need not be repeated here.
+33. Incomplete Thoughts.+--We have learned (Section 27) that the
introduction of unfamiliar words may cause us to form incomplete images.
When the language is not designed to present images, we may, in a similar
way, fail to get its real meaning if we are unfamiliar with the words
used. If you do not know the meaning of _fluent_ and _viscous_, you will
fail to understand correctly the statement, "Fluids range from the
peculiarly fluent to the peculiarly viscous." If we wish to think
precisely what the writer intended us to think, we must know the meanings
of the words he uses. Many of us are inclined to substitute other ideas
than those properly conveyed by the words of the writer, and so get
confused or incomplete or inaccurate ideas. The ability to determine
exactly what images the writer suggests, and what ideas his language
expresses, is the first requisite of scholarship and an important element
of success in life.
EXERCISES
_A._ The first step in acquiring knowledge is to determine what it is that
we do not know. Just which word or words in each of the following
sentences keep you from understanding the full meaning of the sentence?
Notice that a dictionary definition will not always make the meaning
clear.
1. It is really more scientific to repeat a quotation from a political
speech correctly, or to pass on a story undistorted, than it is to know of
the rings of Saturn or the striation of diatoms.
2. The process of testing a hypothesis requires great caution in order to
prevent mistakes.
3. The aërial foliage stem is the most favorable for studying stem
structure.
4. Taken collectively, isotherms indicate the distribution of mean
temperature over the region embraced in the map.
5. Vibrations of the membrane of the tympanum are "damped" by the ossicles
of the middle ear, which also receive and pass on the auditory tremors to
the membrane closing the oval window.
6. In the battle which followed, the mobile Roman legion, arranged in open
order three ranks deep, proved its superiority over the massive Macedonian
phalanx.
7. The narrow and dissected forms have been attributed to the scarcity of
carbon dioxide and oxygen in the water.
_B._ Make a list of words in your lessons in other subjects for to-day
that you need to look up in order to understand the lessons. This should
be done daily, whether assigned or not.
34. +Choice of Words Adapted to the Reader.+--Words familiar to the reader
should be used. Since the reader's ability to understand the thought of a
paragraph depends to some extent upon his understanding of the words
employed, it is necessary for the writer to choose words that will be
understood by those whom he addresses. Of course we cannot tell whether a
particular word will be understood by our readers, but, in case there is
doubt, it is well to substitute one that is more likely to be understood.
When you have written anything, it is well to ask yourself the question,
Have I used words with which _the reader_ is probably familiar?
+Theme XV.+---_Write a theme about one of the following subjects, using
words that you think will be understood by your readers:_--
1. How we breathe.
2. How to make a kite.
3. The causes of the seasons.
4. Why wood floats on water.
5. The use of baking powder.
6. The difference between arithmetic and algebra.
(Have you said what you meant to say? Have you used words that your reader
will understand? Find your longest sentence. Is its meaning clear? Notice
the short sentences. Should some of them be united into a longer one?)
+35. Word Selection.+--There are many shades of meaning which differ but
little, and a careful writer will select just the word that best conveys
his thought. The reader needs to be no less careful in determining the
exact meaning that the writer intends to convey. Exercises in synonyms are
thus of double importance (Section 21).
Another source of error, both in acquiring and expressing thought, arises
from the confusion of similar words. Some similarity of spelling causes
one word to be substituted for another. There are many words and
expressions that are so often interchanged that some time may be spent
with profit upon exercises in determining their correct usage. These
usually consist of brief reports to the class that set forth the meanings
of the words, show their uses, and illustrate their differences.
In preparing such reports, determine the meaning of the words from as many
sources as are available. The usual meaning can be determined from the
dictionary. A fuller treatment is given in some dictionaries in a chapter
on faulty diction. Additional material may be found in many of the
text-books on rhetoric, and in special books treating of word usage. After
you are sure that you know the correct use, prepare a report for the class
that shall make that use clear to others. In the simplest form this will
consist of definitions and sentences in which the words are correctly
used. The following examples, handed in by pupils, will serve to
illustrate such reports:--
1. A _council_ is an assembly of persons convened for consultation or
deliberation. _Counsel_ is used to indicate either (1) an opinion as the
result of consultation or (2) a lawyer engaged to give advice or to act as
advocate in court. Lewis furnishes the following example of the use of
these two words: "The plaintiff's _counsel_ held a _council_ with his
partners in law, and finally gave him as his best _counsel_ the advice
that he should drop the suit; but, as Swift says, 'No man will take
_counsel_, but every man will take money,' and the plaintiff refused to
accept the advice unless the _counsel_ could persuade the defendant to
settle the case out of court by paying a large sum."
2. The correct meaning of _transpire_ may perhaps be best understood by
considering its derivations. It comes from _trans_, through, and _spiro_,
to breathe, from which it gets its meaning, to escape gradually from
secrecy. It is frequently used incorrectly in the sense of to happen, but
both Webster and the Standard dictionary condemn this use of the word. The
latter says that it is often so misused especially in carelessly edited
newspapers, as in "Comments on the heart-rending disaster which transpired
yesterday are unnecessary, but," etc. When _transpire_ is correctly used,
it is not a synonym of _happen_. A thing that happened a year ago may
transpire to-day, that is, it may "become known through unnoticed
channels, exhale, as it were, through invisible pores like a vapor or a
gas disengaging itself." Many things which happen in school, thus become
known by being passed along in a semi-secret manner until nearly all know
of them though few can tell just how the information was spread.
_Transpire_ may properly be applied to such a diffusion of knowledge.
+Theme XVI.+--_Report as suggested above on any one of the following
groups of words:_--
1. Allude, mention.
2. Beside, besides.
3. Character, reputation.
4. Degrade, demean, debase.
5. Last, latest, preceding.
6. Couple, pair.
7. Balance, rest, remainder.
(Have you made clear the correct use of the words under discussion? Can
you give examples which do not follow the dictionaries so closely as do
the illustrative reports above?)
NOTE.--Lists of words suitable for exercises similar to the above are
given in the Appendix. The teacher will assign them to such an extent and
at such times as seems desirable. One such lesson a week will be found
profitable.
+36. Sentence Relations.+--What we read or hear usually consists of
several sentences written or spoken together. The meaning of any
particular sentence may depend upon the sentence or sentences preceding.
In order to determine accurately the meaning of the whole, we must
understand the relation in thought that each sentence bears to the others.
Notice the two sentences: "Guns are dangerous. Boys should not use them."
Though the last sentence is independent, it gets its meaning from the
first.
In the following selection consider each sentence apart from the others.
Notice that the meaning of the whole becomes intelligible only when the
sentences are considered in their relations to each other.
Once upon a time, a notion was started, that if all the people in the
world would shout at once, it might be heard in the moon. So the
projectors agreed it should be done in just ten years. Some thousand
shiploads of chronometers were distributed to the selectmen and other
great folks of all the different nations. For a year beforehand, nothing
else was talked about but the awful noise that was to be made on the great
occasion. When the time came, everybody had his ears so wide open, to hear
the universal ejaculation of Boo,--the word agreed upon,--that nobody
spoke except a deaf man in one of the Fiji Islands, and a woman in Pekin,
so that the world was never so still since the creation.--Holmes.
Gutenberg did a great deal of his work in secret, for he thought it was
much better that his neighbors should know nothing of what he was doing.
So he looked for a workshop where no one would be likely to find him. He
was now living in Strasburg, and there was in that city a ruined old
building where, long before his time, a number of monks had lived. There
was one room in the building which needed only a little repairing to make
it fit to be used. So he got the right to repair the room and use it as
his workshop.
In all good writing we find a similar dependence in thought. Each sentence
takes a meaning because of its relation to some other. The personal
pronouns and pronominal adjectives, adverbial phrases indicating time or
place, conjunctions, and such expressions as _certainly, however, on the
other hand_, etc., are used to indicate more or less directly a relation
in thought between the phrase or sentence in which they occur and some
preceding one. If the reader cannot readily determine to what they refer,
the meaning becomes obscure or ambiguous. The pronominal adjectives and
the personal pronouns are especially likely to be used in such a way as to
cause ambiguity. Care must be taken to use them so as to keep the meaning
clear, and your own good sense will help you in this more than rules.
Notice in your reading how frequently expressions similar to those
mentioned above are used.
+Theme XVII.+--_Write a theme suggested by one of the following
subjects:_--
1. The last quarter.
2. An excursion with the physical geography class.
3. What I saw while riding to town.
4. The broken bicycle.
5. An hour in the study hall.
6. Seen from my study window.
(Are your sentences so arranged that the relation in thought is clear? Are
the personal pronouns and pronominal adjectives used so as to avoid
ambiguity? Does your story relate real events or imaginary ones? If
imaginary events are related, have you made them seem probable?)
+37. Getting the Main Thought.+--In many cases the relation in thought is
not directly indicated, and we are left to determine it from the context,
just as we decide upon the meaning of a word because of what precedes or
follows it. In this case the meaning of a particular sentence may be made
clear if we have in mind the main topic under discussion. Many pupils fail
in recitations because they do not distinguish that which is more
important from that which is less so. If a dozen pages of history are
assigned, they cannot master the lesson because it is too long to be
memorized, and they are not able to select the three or four things of
importance with which it is really concerned. Thirty or forty minor
details are jumbled together without any clear knowledge of the relations
that they bear either to one another or to the main thoughts of the
lesson.
In the following selection but three things are discussed. Determine what
they are, but not what is said about them.
In all the ages the extent and value of flood plains have been increased
by artificial means. Dikes or levees are built to regulate the spread and
flow of the water and to protect the land from destructive floods. Dams
and reservoirs are constructed for the storage of water, which is led by a
system of canals and ditches to irrigate large tracts of land which would
be otherwise worthless. By means of irrigation, the farmer has control of
his water supply and is able to get larger returns than are possible where
he depends upon the irregular and uncertain rainfall. It is estimated that
in the arid regions of western United States there are 150,000 square
miles of land which may be made available for agriculture by irrigation.
Perhaps in the future the valley of the lower Colorado may become as
productive as that of the Nile.
Streams are the easiest routes of travel and commerce. A river usually
furnishes from its mouth well up toward its source a smooth, graded
highway, upon which a cargo may be transported with much less effort than
overland. If obstructions occur in the form of rapids or falls, boat and
cargo are carried around them. It is often easy to pass by a short portage
or "carry" from one stream system across the divide to another. In regions
which are not very level the easiest grades in every direction are found
along the streams, and the main routes of land travel follow the stream
valleys. In traversing a mountainous region, a railroad follows the
windings of some river up to the crest of the divide, which it crosses
through a pass, or often by a tunnel, and descends the valley of some
stream on the other side.
Man is largely indebted to streams for the variety and beauty of scenery.
Running water itself is attractive to young and old. A landscape without
water lacks its chief charm. A child instinctively finds its way to the
brook, and the man seeks beside the river the pleasure and recreation
which no other place affords. Streams have carved the surface of the land
into an endless variety of beautiful forms, and a land where stream
valleys are few or shallow is monotonous and tiresome. The most common as
well as the most celebrated beauty of scenery in the world, from the tiny
meanders of a meadow brook to the unequaled grandeur of the Colorado
canyons, is largely due to the presence and action of streams.
--Dryer: _Lessons in Physical Geography_.
In the above selection we find that each group of sentences is related to
some main topic. A more extended observation of good writing will give the
same result. Men naturally think in sentence groups. A group of sentences
related to each other and to the central idea is called a +paragraph.+
+38. Topic Statement.+--In the three paragraphs of the selection on page
67, notice that the first sentence in each tells what the paragraph is
about. In a well-written paragraph it is possible to select the phrase or
sentence that states the main thought. If such a sentence does not occur
in the paragraph itself, one can be framed that will express clearly and
concisely the chief idea of the paragraph. This brief, comprehensive
summary of the contents of a paragraph is called the topic statement.
In order to master the thought of what we read we must be able to select
or to make the successive topic statements, and in order to express our
own thoughts clearly we must write our paragraphs so that our readers may
easily grasp the topic statement of each.
When expressed in the paragraph, the topic statement may be a part of a
sentence, a whole sentence, or it may extend through two sentences. It is
usual to place the topic statement first, but it may be preceded by one or
more introductory sentences, or even withheld until the end of the
paragraph. For emphasis it may be repeated, though usually in a slightly
different form.
EXERCISES
Determine the topic statements of the following paragraphs. If one is not
expressed, make one.
1. No less valuable is the mental stimulus of play. The child is
trained by it to quick perception, rapid judgment, prompt decision. His
imagination cunningly suggests a thousand things to be done, and then
trains the will and every power of body and mind in the effort to do them.
The sports of childhood are admirably adapted to quicken the senses and
sharpen the wits. Nature has effective ways in her school of securing the
exercise which is needed to develop every mental and every bodily power.
She fills the activity brimful of enjoyment, and then gives her children
freedom, assured that they will be their own best teachers.
--Bradley
2. Our Common Law comes from England, and originated there in custom. It
is often called the unwritten law, because unwritten in origin, though
there are now many books describing it. Its principles originated as
habits of the people, five hundred, eight hundred, years ago, perhaps some
of them back in the time when the half-savage Saxons landed on the shores
of England. When the time came that the government, through its courts,
punished the breach of a custom, from that time the custom was a law. And
so the English people acquired these laws, one after another, just as they
were acquiring at the same time the habits of making roads, using forks at
table, manufacturing, meeting in Parliament, using firearms, and all the
other habits of civilization. When the colonists came to America, they
brought the English Common Law with them, not in a book, but in their
minds, a part of their life, like their religion.
--Clark: _The Government_.
3. Accuracy is always to be striven for but it can never be attained. This
fact is only fully realized by scientific workers. The banker can be
accurate because he only counts or weighs masses of metal which he assumes
to be exactly equal. The Master of the Mint knows that two coins are never
exactly equal in weight, although he strives by improving machinery and
processes to make the differences as small as possible. When the utmost
care is taken, the finest balances which have been constructed can weigh 1
lb. of a metal with an uncertainty less than the hundredth part of a
grain. In other words, the weight is not accurate, but the inaccuracy is
very small. No person is so stupid as not to feel sure that the height of
a man he sees is between 3 ft. and 9 ft.; some are able by the eye to
estimate the height as between 5 ft. 6 in. and 5 ft. 8 in.; measurement
may show it to be between 5 ft. 6 in. and 5 ft. 7 in., but to go closer
than that requires many precautions. Training in observation and the use
of delicate instruments thus narrow the limits of approximation. Similarly
with regard to space and time, there are instruments with which one
millionth of an inch, or of a second, can be measured, but even this
approximation, although far closer than is ever practically necessary, is
not accuracy. In the statement of measurements there is no meaning in more
than six significant figures, and only the most careful observations can
be trusted so far. The height of Mount Everest is given as 29,002 feet;
but here the fifth figure is meaningless, the height of that mountain not
being known so accurately that two feet more or less would be detected.
Similarly, the radius of the earth is sometimes given as 3963.295833
miles, whereas no observation can get nearer the truth than 3963.30 miles.
--Mill: _The Realm of Nature_. (Copyright, 1892, by Charles Scribner's
Sons.)
4. The chief cause which made the fusion of the different elements of
society so imperfect was the extreme difficulty which our ancestors found
in passing from place to place. Of all the inventions, the alphabet and
the printing press alone excepted, those inventions which abridge distance
have done most for the civilization of our species. Every improvement of
the means of locomotion benefits mankind morally and intellectually as
well as materially, and not only facilitates the interchange of the
various productions of nature and art, but tends to remove national and
provincial prejudices, and to bind together all the branches of the great
human family. In the seventeenth century the inhabitants of London were
for almost every practical purpose farther from Reading than they are now
from Edinburgh, and farther from Edinburgh than they are now from Vienna.
--Macaulay: _History of England_.
5. He touched New England at every point. He was born a frontiersman. He
was bred a farmer. He was a fisherman in the mountain brooks and off the
shore. He never forgot his origin, and he never was ashamed of it. Amid
all the care and honor of his great place here he was homesick for the
company of his old neighbors and friends. Whether he stood in Washington,
the unchallenged prince and chief in the Senate, or in foreign lands, the
kingliest man of his time in the presence of kings, his heart was in New
England. When the spring came, he heard far off the fife bird and the
bobolink calling him to his New Hampshire mountains, or of the
waves on the shore at Marshfield alluring him with a sweeter than siren's
voice to his home by the summer sea.
--George F. Hoar: _Daniel Webster_.
6. Nor must I forget the suddenly changing seasons of the northern clime.
There is no long and lingering spring, unfolding leaf and blossom one by
one; no long and lingering autumn, pompous with many-colored leaves and
the glow of Indian summer. But winter and summer are wonderful, and pass
into each other. The quail has hardly ceased piping in the corn when
winter, from the folds of trailing clouds, sows broadcast over the land
snow, icicles, and rattling hail. The days wane apace. Erelong the sun
hardly rises above the horizon, or does not rise at all. The moon and the
stars shine through the day; only at noon they are pale and wan, and in
the southern sky a red, fiery glow, as of a sunset, burns along the
horizon and then goes out. And pleasantly under the silver moon, and under
the silent, solemn stars, ring the steel shoes of the skaters on the
frozen sea, and voices, and the sound of bells.
--Longfellow: _Rural Life in Sweden_.
7. Extreme _busyness_, whether at school or college, kirk or market, is a
symptom of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a
catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity. There is a sort
of dead-alive, hackneyed people about, who are scarcely conscious of
living except in the exercise of some conventional occupation. Bring these
fellows into the country, or set them aboard ship, and you will see how
they pine for their desk or their study. They have no curiosity; they
cannot give themselves over to random provocations; they do not take
pleasure in the exercise of their faculties for its own sake; and unless
Necessity lays about them with a stick, they will even stand still. It is
no good speaking to such folk: they _cannot_ be idle, their nature is not
generous enough; and they pass those hours in a sort of coma, which are
not dedicated to furious moiling in the gold mill. When they do not
require to go to the office, when they are not hungry and have no mind to
drink, the whole breathing world is a blank to them. If they have to wait
an hour or so for a train, they fall into a stupid trance, with their eyes
open. To see them, you would suppose there was nothing to look at and no
one to speak with; you would imagine they were paralyzed or alienated; and
yet very possibly they are hard workers in their own way, and have good
eyesight for a flaw in a deed or a turn of the market. They have been to
school and college, but all the time they had their eye on the medal; they
have gone about in the world and mixed with clever people, but all the
time they were thinking of their own affairs. As if a man's soul were not
too small to begin with, they have dwarfed and narrowed theirs by a life
of all work and no play; until here they are at forty, with a listless
attention, a mind vacant of all material amusement, and not one thought to
rub against another while they wait for the train. Before he was breeched,
he might have clambered on the boxes; when he was twenty, he would have
stared at the girls; but now the pipe is smoked out, the snuffbox is
empty, and my gentleman sits bolt upright on a bench, with lamentable
eyes. This does not appeal to me as being Success in Life.
--Robert Louis Stevenson. (Copyright, by Charles Scribner's Sons.)
_B._ Examine the themes which you have written. Does each paragraph have a
topic statement? Have you introduced sentences which do not bear upon this
topic statement? Are the paragraphs real ones treating of a single topic,
or are they merely groups of sentences written together without any close
connection in thought?
+Theme XVIII.+--_State two or three advantages of public high schools over
private boarding schools. Use each as a topic statement and develop it
into a short paragraph._
(Add to each topic statement such sentences as will prove to a pupil of
your own age that the topic statement states a real advantage. Include in
each paragraph only that which bears upon the topic statement. Consider
the definition of a paragraph on page 68. Does this definition apply to
your paragraphs?)
+39. Reproduction of the Thought of a Paragraph.+--Our ability to
reproduce the thought of what we read will depend largely upon our ability
to select the topic statements. In preparing a lesson for recitation it is
evident that we must first determine definitely the topic statement of
each paragraph. These may bear upon one general subject or upon different
subjects. The three paragraphs on page 67 are all concerned with one
subject, the uses of rivers. A pupil preparing to recite them would have
in mind, when he went to class, an outline about as follows:--
General subject: The uses of rivers.
First topic statement: The fertility of flood plains is improved by
irrigation.
Second topic statement: Streams are the easiest routes of travel and
commerce.
Third topic statement: Man is indebted to streams for beauty of scenery.
While such a clear statement is the first step toward a proper
understanding of the lesson, it is not enough. In order to understand
thoroughly a topic statement, we need explanation or illustration. The
idea is not really our own until we have thought about it in its relations
to other knowledge already in our possession. In order to know whether you
understand the topic statements, the teacher will ask you to discuss them.
This may be done by telling what the writer said about them, or by giving
thoughts and illustrations of your own, but best of all, by doing both. It
is necessary, then, to know in what way the writer develops each topic
statement.
Read the following paragraph:--
The most productive lands in the world are flood plains. At every period
of high water, a stream brings down mantle rock from the higher grounds,
and deposits it as a layer of fine sediment over its flood plain. A soil
thus frequently enriched and renewed is literally inexhaustible. In a
rough, hilly, or mountainous country the finest farms and the densest
population are found on the "bottom lands" along the streams. The flood
plain most famous in history is that of the river Nile in Egypt. For a
distance of 1500 miles above its mouth this river flows through a rainless
desert, and has no tributary. The heavy spring rains which fall upon the
highlands about its sources produce in summer a rise of the water, which
overflows the valley on either side. Thus the lower Nile valley became one
of the earliest centers of civilization, and has supported a dense
population for 7000 years. The conditions in Mesopotamia, along the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers, are similar to those along the lower Nile, and in
ancient times this region was the seat of a civilization perhaps older
than that of Egypt. The flood plains of the Ganges in India, and the Hoang
in China, are the most extensive in the world, and in modern times the
most populous. The alluvial valley of the Mississippi is extremely
productive of corn, cotton, and sugar cane.
--Dryer: _Lessons in Physical Geography_.
Notice that the first sentence gives the topic statement, flood plains are
productive. The second and third sentences tell why this is so, and the
rest of the paragraph is given up to illustrations.
In preparing this paragraph for recitation the pupil should have in mind
an outline about as follows:--
Topic statement: Flood plains are the most productive lands in the world.
1. Reasons.
2. Examples: (_a_) Bottom lands.
(_b_) Nile.
(_c_) Tigris and Euphrates.
(_d_) Ganges.
(_e_) Hoang.
(_f_) Mississippi.
In order to make such an outline, the relative importance of the ideas in
the paragraph must be mastered. A recitation that omitted the topic
statement or the reasons would be defective, while one that omitted one or
more of the examples might be perfect, especially if the pupil could
furnish other examples from his own knowledge. The illustration about
bottom lands is a general one, and should suggest specific cases that
could be included in the recitation. The details in regard to the Nile
might be included if they happened to be recalled at the time of the
recitation, but even the omission of all mention of the Nile might not
materially detract from the value of the recitation. The effort to
remember minor details hinders real thought-getting power.
It is better not to write this outline. The use of notes or written
outlines at the time of the recitation soon establishes a habit of
dependence that renders real scholarship an impossibility. With such an
analysis of the thought clearly in mind, the pupil need not attempt to
remember the language of the writer.
EXERCISES
_A._ Complete the partial outline given for the paragraph below. Which of
the illustrations might be omitted from a recitation? For which can you
furnish different illustrations?
Mountain ranges have great influence upon climate, political geography,
and commerce. Many of them form climatic boundaries. The Cordilleras of
western America and the Scandinavian mountains arrest the warm, moist,
western winds which rise along those great rock barriers to cooler
altitudes, where their water vapor is condensed and falls as rain, so that
the country on the windward side of the mountains is wet and that on the
leeward side is dry. Mountain chains stretching east and west across
central Asia protect the southern part of the continent from frigid arctic
winds. The large winter tourist traffic of the Riviera is due to the
mountains that shield this favored French-Italian coast from the north and
northeast continental winds, giving it a considerably warmer winter's
temperature than that of Rome, two and a half degrees farther south. As
North America has no mountain barriers across the pathway of polar winds,
they sweep southward even to the Gulf of Mexico and have twice destroyed
Florida's orange groves within a decade. Mountain ranges are conspicuous
in political geography because they are the natural boundary between many
nations and languages, as the Pyrenees between France and Spain, the Alps
between Austria and Italy, and the Himalayas between Tibet and India.
Mountains sometimes guard nations from attack by the isolation they give,
and therefore promote national unity. Thus the Swiss are among the few
peoples in Europe who have maintained the integrity of their state.
Commercially, mountains are of great importance as a source of water,
which they store in snow, glaciers, and lakes. Snow and ice, melting
slowly on the mountains, are an unfailing source of supply for perennial
rivers, and thus promote navigation. Mountains are the largest source of
water-power, which is more valuable than ever now that electricity is
employed to transmit it to convenient centers for use in the industries. A
large part of the mining machinery in the United States is run by water
power. Switzerland, which has no coal, turns the wheels of its mills with
water. Mountains supply most of the metals and minerals, and are therefore
the scene of the largest mining industry. They are also among the greatest
sources of forest wealth. Though the slopes are not favorable for
agriculture they afford good pasturage, and the débris of the rocks washed
into the valleys and plains by mountain torrents supplies good soil. Thus
the Appalachians have been worn down to a comparatively low level, and the
soil formed from their rock particles is the basis of large husbandry.
The scenic attractions of many mountain regions is a source of large
revenue. The Alps attract crowds of tourists, who spend about twenty
million dollars a year in Switzerland and Austria, and give to many
thousands of persons.
--Adams: _Commercial Geography_.
OUTLINE (to be completed)
Mountain ranges have great influence upon--
I. Climate.
Why?
Where?
_a, b,_ etc.
II. Political geography.
Why?
Where?
_a, b,_ etc.
III. Commerce.
Why?
Where?
_a, b,_ etc.
_B._ Make an outline of the following paragraph:--
1. The armor of the different classes was also accurately ordered by the
law. The first class was ordered to wear for the defense of the body,
brazen helmets, shields, and coats of mail, and to bear spears and swords,
excepting the mechanics, who were to carry the necessary military engines
and to serve without arms. The members of the second class, excepting that
they had bucklers instead of shields and wore no coats of mail, were
permitted to bear the same armor and to carry the sword and spear. The
third class had the same armor as the second, excepting that they could
not wear greaves for the protection of their legs. The fourth had no arms
excepting a spear and a long javelin. The fifth merely carried slings and
stones for use in them. To this class belonged the trumpeters and horn
blowers.
--Gilman: _Story of Rome_.
_C._ In preparing your other lessons for to-day, make outlines of the
paragraphs.
+Theme XIX.+--_Reproduce the thought of some paragraph read to you by the
teacher._
(Do not attempt to remember the language. Try to get the main thought of
what is read and then write a paragraph which sets forth that same idea.
Use different illustrations if you can.)
NOTE.--This theme may be repeated as many times as seems desirable.
+40. Importance of the Paragraph.+--Emphasis needs to be laid upon the
importance of the paragraph. Our ability to express our thoughts clearly
depends, to a large extent, upon our skill in constructing paragraphs. The
writing of correct sentences is not sufficient. Though each of a series of
sentences may be correct, they may, as a whole, say but little, and that
very poorly; while another set of sentences, which cluster around some
central idea, may set it forth most effectively. It is only by giving our
sentence groups that unity of thought which combines them into paragraphs
that we make them most effective. A well-constructed paragraph will make
clear some idea, and a series of such paragraphs, related to each other
and properly arranged, will set forth the sum of our thoughts on any
subject.
+41. Paragraph Length.+--The proper length of a paragraph cannot be
determined by rule. Sometimes the thought to be presented will require
several sentences; sometimes two or three will be sufficient. A single
illustration may make a topic statement clear, or several illustrations
may be required. The writer must judge when he has included enough to make
his meaning understood, and must avoid including so much that the reader
will become weary. Usually a paragraph that exceeds three hundred words
will be found too long, or else it will contain more than one main idea,
each of which could have been presented more effectively in a separate
paragraph.
+42. Indentation.+--In written and printed matter the beginning of a
paragraph is indicated by an indentation. Indentation does not make a
paragraph, but we indent because we are beginning a new paragraph.
Indentation thus serves the same purpose as punctuation. It helps the
reader to determine when we have finished one main thought and are about
to begin another. Beginners are apt to use indentations too frequently.
There are some special uses of indentation in letter writing, printed
conversation, and other forms, but for ordinary paragraph division the
indentation is determined by the thought, and its correct use depends upon
clear thinking. Can the following selection be improved by reparagraphing?
Outside in the darkness, gray with whirling snowflakes, he saw the wet
lamps of cabs shining, and he darted along the line of hansoms and coupés
in frantic search for his own.
"Oh, there you are," he panted, flinging his suit case up to a
snow-covered driver. "Do your best now; we're late!" And he leaped into
the dark coupé, slammed the door, and sank back on the cushions,
turning up the collar of his heavy overcoat.
There was a young lady in the farther corner of the cab, buried to her
nose in a fur coat. At intervals she shivered and pressed a fluffy muff
against her face. A glimmer from the sleet-smeared lamps fell across her
knees.
Down town flew the cab, swaying around icy corners, bumping over car
tracks, lurching, rattling, jouncing, while its silent occupants, huddled
in separate corners, brooded moodily at their respective windows.
Snow blotted the glass, melting and running down; and over the watery
panes yellow light from shop windows played fantastically, distorting
vision.
Presently the young man pulled out his watch, fumbled for a match box,
struck a light, and groaned as he read the time.
At the sound of the match striking, the young lady turned her head. Then,
as the bright flame illuminated the young man's face, she sat bolt
upright, dropping the muff to her lap with a cry of dismay.
He looked up at her. The match burned his fingers; he dropped it and
hurriedly lighted another; and the flickering radiance brightened upon the
face of a girl whom he had never before laid eyes on.
"Good heavens!" he said, "where's my sister?"
The young lady was startled but resolute. "You have made a dreadful
mistake," she said; "you are in the wrong cab--"
+Theme XX.+--_Write a theme using one of the subjects below:_--
1. A personal incident.
2. The advantages and disadvantages of recesses.
3. Complete the story commenced in the selection just
preceding.
(Make a note of the different ideas you may discuss. Which are important
enough to become topic statements? Which may be grouped together in one
paragraph? In what order shall they occur? After your theme is written,
consider the paragraphs. Does the definition apply to them? Are any of
them too short or too long?)
+43. Reasons for Studying Paragraph Structure.+--A knowledge of the way in
which a paragraph is constructed will aid us in determining the thought it
contains. There are several methods of developing paragraphs, and usually
one of these is better suited than another to the expression of our
thought. Attention given to the methods used by others will enable us both
to understand better what we read, and to employ more effectively in our
own writing that kind of paragraph which best expresses our thought. Hence
we shall give attention to the more common forms of paragraph development.
+44. Development by Giving Specific Instances.+--If you hear a general
statement, such as, "Dogs are useful animals," you naturally think at once
of some of the ways in which they are useful, or of some particular
occasion on which a dog was of use. If a friend should say, "My dog, Fido,
knows many amusing tricks," you would expect the friend to tell you some
of them. A large part of our thinking consists of furnishing specific
instances to illustrate general ideas which arise. Since the language we
use is but the expression of the thoughts we have, it happens that many of
our paragraphs are made up of general statements and the specific
instances used to illustrate these statements. When the topic sentence is
a general statement, we naturally seek to supply specific instances, and
the writer will most readily make his meaning clear by furnishing such
illustrations. Either one or many instances may be used. The object is to
explain the topic statement or to prove its truth, and a good writer will
use that number of instances which best accomplishes his purpose.
In the following selection notice how the topic statement, set forth and
repeated in the first part of the paragraph, is illustrated in the last
part by means of several specific instances:--
Nine tenths of all that goes wrong in this world is because some one does
not mind his business. When a terrible accident occurs, the first cry is
that the means of prevention were not sufficient. Everybody declares we
must have a new patent fire escape, an automatic engine switch, or a
high-proof non-combustible sort of lamp oil. But a little investigation
will usually show that all the contrivances were on hand and in good
working order; the real trouble was that somebody didn't mind his
business; he didn't obey orders; he thought he knew a better way than the
way he was told; he said, "Just this once I'll take the risk," and in so
doing, he made other people take the risk too; and the risk was too great.
At Toronto, Canada, not long ago, a conductor, against orders, ran his
train on a certain siding, which resulted in the death of thirty or forty
people. The engineer of a mill, at Rochester, N.Y., thought the engine
would stand a higher pressure than the safety valve indicated, so he tied
a few bricks to the valve to hold it down; result--four workmen killed, a
number wounded, and a mill blown to pieces. The _City of Columbus_, an iron
vessel fitted out with all the means of preservation and escape in use on
shipboard, was wrecked on the best-known portion of the Atlantic coast, on
a moonlight night, at the cost of one hundred lives, because the officer
in command took it into his head to save a few ship-lengths in distance by
hugging the shore, in direct disobedience to the captain's parting orders.
The best-ventilated mine in Colorado was turned into a death trap for half
a hundred miners because one of the number entered with a lighted lamp the
gallery he had been warned against. Nobody survived to explain the
explosion of the dynamite-cartridge factory in Pennsylvania, but as that
type of disaster almost always is due to heedlessness, it is probable that
this instance is not an exception to the rule.
--Wolstan Dixey: _Mind Your Business_.
EXERCISES
_A._ Which sentences make the general statements, and which furnish
specific instances, in the following paragraphs?
My contemplations were often interrupted by strangers who came down
from Forsyth's to take their first view of the falls. A short, ruddy,
middle-aged gentleman, fresh from Old England, peeped over the rock, and
evinced his approbation by a broad grin. His spouse, a very robust lady,
afforded a sweet example of maternal solicitude, being so intent on the
safety of her little boy that she did not even glance at Niagara. As for
the child, he gave himself wholly to the enjoyment of a stick of candy.
Another traveler, a native American, and no rare character among us,
produced a volume of Captain Hall's tour, and labored earnestly to adjust
Niagara to the captain's description, departing, at last, without one new
idea or sensation of his own. The next comer was provided, not with a
printed book, but with a blank sheet of foolscap, from top to bottom of
which, by means of an ever pointed pencil, the cataract was made
to thunder. In a little talk which we had together, he awarded his
approbation to the general view, but censured the position of Goat Island,
observing that it should have been thrown farther to the right, so as to
widen the American falls, and contract those of the Horseshoe. Next
appeared two traders of Michigan, who declared that, upon the whole, the
sight was worth looking at; there certainly was an immense water power
here; but that, after all, they would go twice as far to see the noble
stone works of Lockport, where the Grand Canal is locked down a descent of
sixty feet. They were succeeded by a young fellow, in a homespun cotton
dress, with a staff in his hand, and a pack over his shoulders. He
advanced close to the edge of the rock, where his attention, at first
wavering among the different components of the scene, finally became fixed
in the angle of the Horseshoe falls, which is, indeed, the central point
of interest. His whole soul seemed to go forth and be transported thither,
till the staff slipped from his relaxed grasp, and falling down--down--
down--struck upon the fragment of the Table Rock.
--Hawthorne: _My Visit to Niagara_.
No wonder he learned English quickly, for he was ever on the alert--no
strange word escaped him, no unusual term. He would say it over and over
till he met a friend, and then demand its meaning. One day he came to me
with a very troubled face. "Madame," he said, "please tell me why shall a
man, like me, like any man, be a 'bluenose'?"
"A what?" I asked.
"A 'bluenose.' So he was called in the restaurant, but he seemed not
offended about it. I have looked in my books; I can't find any disease of
that name."
With ill-suppressed laughter I asked, "Do you know Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland?"
"I hear the laugh in your voice," he said; then added, "Yes, I know both
these places."
"They are very cold and foggy and wet," I explained.
But with brightening eyes he caught up the sentence and continued:
"And the people have blue noses, eh? Ha! ha! Excuse me, then, but is a
milksop a man from some state, or some country, too?"
At tea some one used the word "claptrap." "What's that?" quickly demanded
the student in our midst. "'Claptrap'--'clap' is so (he struck his hands
together); 'trap' is for rats--what is, then, 'claptrap'?"
"It is a vulgar or unworthy bid for applause," I explained.
"Bah!" he contemptuously exclaimed. "I know him,--that cheap actor who
plays at the gallery. He is, then, in English a 'clap-trapper,' is he not?"
It was hardly possible to meet him without having a word or a term offered
thus for explanation.
--Clara Morris: _Alessandro Salvini_ ("McClure's").
_B._ Write six sentences which might be developed into paragraphs by
giving specific instances.
+Theme XXI.+--_Write a paragraph by furnishing specific instances for one
of the following topic statements:_--
1. Nine tenths of all that goes wrong in this world is because some one
does not mind his business.
2. It requires a man of courage and perseverance to become a pioneer.
3. Even the wisest teacher does not always punish the boy who is most at
fault.
4. It is impossible to teach a dog many amusing tricks.
5. Even so stupid a creature as a chicken may sometimes exhibit much
intelligence.
6. Carelessness often leads into difficulty.
7. Our school clock must see many interesting things.
8. Our first impressions are not always our best ones.
9. I am a very busy lead pencil, for my duties are numerous.
10. Dickens's characters are taken from the lower classes of
people.
11. Some portions of the book I am reading are very interesting.
(Do your specific instances really illustrate the topic
statement? Have you said what you intended to say?
Can you omit any words or sentences? Have you used
_and_ or _got_ unnecessarily?).
+45. Development by Giving Details.+--Many general statements lead to a
desire to know the details, and the writer may make his idea clearer by
giving them. The statement, "The wedding ceremony was impressive," at once
arouses a desire to know the details. If a friend should say, "I enjoyed
my trip to the city," we wish him to relate that which pleased him. These
details assist us in understanding the topic statement, and increase our
interest in it. Notice in the paragraphs below how much is added to our
understanding of the topic statement by the sentences that give the
details:--
1. I left my garden for a week, just at the close of a dry spell. A season
of rain immediately set in, and when I returned the transformation was
wonderful. In one week every vegetable had fairly jumped forward. The
tomatoes, which I left slender plants, eaten of bugs and debating whether
they would go backward or forward, had become stout and lusty, with thick
stems and dark leaves, and some of them had blossomed. The corn waved like
that which grows so rank out of the French-English mixture at Waterloo.
The squashes--I will not speak of the squashes. The most remarkable growth
was the asparagus. There was not a spear above ground when I went away;
and now it had sprung up, and gone to seed, and there were stalks higher
than my head.
--Warner: _My Summer in a Garden_.
2. The wedding ceremony was solemn and beautiful, in the church on the
estate. At the door of the palace stood the mother of the bride, to greet
her return from the ceremony with the blessing, "May you always have bread
and salt," as she served her from a loaf of black bread, with a salt
cellar in the center, as is the Russian custom for prince and peasant.
Just at this dramatic moment a courier dashed up with a telegram from the
Czar and Czarina, and their gifts for the bride,--a magnificent tiara and
necklace of diamonds. The other presents were already displayed in a
magnificent room; but we saw their splendor through the glass of locked
cases,--a precaution surprising to an Englishwoman. The large swan of
forcemeat was the only reminder of boyar customs at the rather Parisian
feast. Wine was served between the courses, with a toast; while guests in
turn left their seats to express their sentiments to bride and groom, who
stood to receive them.
--Mary Louise Dunbar: _The Household of a Russian Prince_
("Atlantic Monthly ").
+Theme XXII.+--_Write a paragraph by giving details for one of the
following topic statements:_--
1. There were many interesting things on the farm where I spent my summer
vacation.
2. The sounds heard in the forest at night are somewhat alarming to one
who is not used to the language of the woods.
3. I am always much amused when the Sewing Circle meets at my mother's
house.
4. Good roads are of advantage to farmers in many ways.
5. A baseball game furnishes abundant opportunity to exercise good
judgment.
6. I remember well the first time that I visited a large city.
7. I shall never forget my first attempt at milking a cow.
8. The haunted house is a square, old-fashioned one of the colonial type.
9. A mouse suddenly entering the class room caused much disturbance.
10. A freshman's trials are numerous.
(Do the details bear upon the main idea? If the paragraph is long and
rambling, condense by omitting the least important parts. By changing the
order of the sentences, can you improve the paragraph?)
+46. Details Related in Time-Order.+--The experiences of daily life follow
each other in time, and when we read of a series of events we at once
think of them as having occurred in a certain time-order. To assist in
establishing the correct time-order, the writer should generally state the
details of his story in the order in which they occurred. The method of
showing time relations for simultaneous events has been discussed in
Section 11.
If the narrative is of considerable length, it may be divided into
paragraphs, each dealing with some particular stage of its progress. The
time relations among the sentences within the paragraph and among the
paragraphs themselves should be such that the reader may readily follow
the thread of the story to its main point. Narrative paragraphs often do
not have topic sentences.
In the following selection from _Black Beauty_ notice how the time
relations give unity of thought both to the paragraphs and to the whole
selection:--
He hung my rein on one of the iron spikes, and was soon hidden among the
trees. Lizzie was standing quietly by the side of the road, a few paces
off, with her back to me. My young mistress was sitting easily, with a
loose rein, humming a little song. I listened to my rider's footsteps
until he reached the house, and heard him knock at the door.
There was a meadow on the opposite side of the road, the gate of which
stood open. As I looked, some cart horses and several young colts came
trotting out in a very disorderly manner, while a boy behind was cracking
a great whip. The colts were wild and frolicsome. One of them bolted
across the road and blundered up against Lizzie. Whether it was the stupid
colt or the loud cracking of the whip, or both together, I cannot say, but
she gave a violent kick and dashed off into a headlong gallop. It was so
sudden that Lady Anne was nearly unseated, but she soon recovered herself.
I gave a long, shrill neigh for help. Again and again I neighed, pawing
the ground impatiently, and tossing my head to get the rein loose. I had
not long to wait. Blantyre came running to the gate. He looked anxiously
about, and just caught sight of the flying figure now far away on the
road. In an instant he sprang to the saddle. I needed no whip, no spur,
for I was as eager as my rider. He saw it; and giving me a free rein, and
leaning a little forward, we dashed after them.
For about a mile and a half the road ran straight, then bent to the right;
after this it divided into two roads. Long before we came to the bend my
mistress was out of sight. Which way had she turned? A woman was standing
at her garden gate, shading her eyes with her hand, and looking eagerly up
the road. Scarcely drawing rein, Lord Blantyre shouted, "Which way?" "To
the right!" cried the woman, pointing with her hand, and away we went up
the right-hand road. For a moment we caught sight of Lady Anne; another
bend, and she was hidden again. Several times we caught glimpses of the
flying rider, only to lose her again. We scarcely seemed to gain ground
upon her at all.
An old road mender was standing near a heap of stones, his shovel dropped
and his hands raised. As we came near he made a sign to speak. Lord
Blantyre drew the rein a little. "To the common, to the common, sir! She
has turned off there."
I knew this common very well. It was, for the most part, very uneven
ground, covered with heather and dark-green bushes, with here and there a
scrubby thorn tree. There were also open spaces of fine, short grass, with
ant-hills and mole turns everywhere--the worst place I ever knew for a
headlong gallop.
We had just turned on to the common, when we caught sight again of the
green habit flying on before us. My mistress's hat was gone, and her long
brown hair was streaming behind her. Her head and body were thrown back,
as if she were pulling with all her remaining strength, and as if that
strength were nearly exhausted. It was clear that the roughness of the
ground had very much lessened Lizzie's speed, and there seemed a chance
that we might overtake her.
While we were on the highroad, Lord Blantyre had given me my head; but
now, with a light hand and a practiced eye, he guided me over the ground
in such a masterly manner that my pace was scarcely slackened, and we
gained on them every moment.
About halfway across the common a wide dike had recently been cut and the
earth from the cutting cast up roughly on the other side. Surely this
would stop them! But no; scarcely pausing, Lizzie took the leap, stumbled
among the rough clods, and fell.
--Anne Sewell: _Black Beauty_.
+Theme XXIII.+--_Write a brief narrative giving unity to the paragraphs by
means of the time relations._
Suggested subjects:--
1. An adventure on horseback.
2. A trip with the engineer.
3. A day on the river.
4. Fido's mishaps.
5. An inquisitive crow.
6. The unfortunate letter carrier.
7. Teaching a calf to drink.
8. The story of a silver dollar.
9. A narrow escape.
10.An afternoon at the circus.
11.A story accounting for the situation shown in the
picture on page 90.
(Do you need more than one paragraph? If so, is each a group of sentences
treating of a single topic? Can the reader follow the thread of your
story? Leave out details not essential to the main point.)
+47. Order of Details Determined by Position in Space.+--The order of
presentation of details may be determined by the position that the details
themselves occupy in space. In description we wish both to give a correct
general impression of the thing described, and to make certain details
clear. The general impression should be given in the first sentence or two
and the details should follow. The effectiveness of the details will
depend upon their order of presentation. When one looks at a scene the eye
passes from one object to another near it; similarly when one is recalling
the scene the image of one thing naturally recalls that of an adjoining
one. A skillful writer takes advantage of this habit of thinking, and
states the details in his description in the order in which we would
naturally see them if we were actually looking at them. By so doing he
most easily presents to our minds the image he wishes to convey.
[Illustration]
In the following paragraphs notice that we get first an impression of the
general appearance, to which we are enabled to add new details as the
description proceeds.
The companion of the church dignitary was a man past forty, thin, strong,
tall, and muscular; an athletic figure, which long fatigue and constant
exercise seemed to have left none of the softer part of the human form,
having reduced the whole to brawn, bones, and sinews, which had sustained
a thousand toils, and were ready to dare a thousand more. His head was
covered with a scarlet cap, faced with fur, of that kind which the French
call _mortier_, from its resemblance to the shape of an inverted mortar.
His countenance was therefore fully displayed, and its expression was
calculated to impress a degree of awe, if not of fear, upon strangers.
High features, naturally strong and powerfully expressive, had been burnt
almost into negro blackness by constant exposure to the tropical sun, and
might, in their ordinary state, be said to slumber after the storm of
passion had passed away; but the projection of the veins of the forehead,
the readiness with which the upper lip and its thick black mustache
quivered upon the slightest emotion, plainly intimated that the tempest
might be again and easily awakened. His keen, piercing, dark eyes told in
every glance a history of difficulties subdued and dangers dared, and
seemed to challenge opposition to his wishes, for the pleasure of sweeping
it from his road by a determined exertion of courage and of will; a deep
scar on his brow gave additional sternness to his countenance and a
sinister expression to one of his eyes, which had been slightly injured on
the same occasion, and of which the vision, though perfect, was in a slight
and partial degree distorted.
The upper dress of this personage resembled that of his companion in
shape, being a long monastic mantle; but the color, being scarlet, showed
that he did not belong to any of the four regular orders of monks. On the
right shoulder of the mantle there was cut, in white cloth, a cross of a
peculiar form. This upper robe concealed what at first view seemed rather
inconsistent with its form, a shirt, namely, of linked mail, with sleeves
and gloves of the same, curiously plaited and interwoven, as flexible to
the body as those which are now wrought in the stocking loom out of less
obdurate materials. The fore part of his thighs, where the folds of his
mantle permitted them to be seen, were also covered with linked mail; the
knees and feet were defended by splints, or thin plates of steel,
ingeniously jointed upon each other; and mail hose, reaching from the
ankle to the knee, effectually protected the legs, and completed the
rider's defensive armor. In his girdle he wore a long and double-edged
dagger, which was the only offensive weapon about his person.
He rode, not a mule, like his companion, but a strong hackney for the
road, to save his gallant war horse, which a squire led behind, fully
accoutered for battle, with a chamfron or plaited headpiece upon his head,
having a short spike projecting from the front. On one side of the saddle
hung a short battle-ax, richly inlaid with Damascene carving; on the other
the rider's plumed headpiece and hood of mail, with a long two-handed
sword, used by the chivalry of the period. A second squire held aloft his
master's lance, from the extremity of which fluttered a small banderole,
or streamer, bearing a cross of the same form with that embroidered upon
his cloak. He also carried his small triangular shield, broad enough at
the top to protect the breast, and from thence diminishing to a point. It
was covered with a scarlet cloth, which prevented the device from being
seen.
--Scott: _Ivanhoe_.
Notice also how the description proceeds in an orderly way from one thing
to another, placing together in the description those which occur together
in the person described. Just as we turn our eyes naturally from one thing
to another near it in space, so in a paragraph should our attention be
called from one thing to that which naturally accompanies it. If the first
sentence describes a man's eyes, the second his feet, and a third his
forehead, our mental image is likely to become confused. If a description
covers several paragraphs, each may be given a unity by placing in it
those things which are associated in space.
EXERCISES
_A._ If you were to write three paragraphs describing a man, which of the
following details should be included in each paragraph?
(_a_) eyes, (_b_) shoes, (_c_) size, (_d_) complexion, (_e_) general
appearance, (_f_) hair, (_g_) carriage, (_h_) trousers,(_i_) mouth, (_j_)
coat, (_k_) nose.
_B._ Make a list of the details which might be mentioned in describing the
outside of a church. Arrange them in appropriate groups.
_C._ In the following paragraphs which sentences give the general outline
and which give details? Are the details arranged with reference to their
position in space? Can the paragraph be improved by rearranging them?
1. We came finally to a brook more wild and mysterious than the others.
There were a half dozen stepping-stones between the path we were on and
the place where it began again on the opposite side. After a few missteps
and much laughter we were landed at last, but several of the party had wet
feet to remember the experience by. We found ourselves in a space that had
once been a clearing. A tumbledown chimney overgrown with brambles and
vines told of an abandoned hearthstone. The blackened remnants of many a
picnic camp fire strewed the ground. A slight turn brought us to the spot
where the Indian Spring welled out of the hillside. The setting was all
that we could have hoped for,--great moss-grown rocks wet and slippery,
deep shade which almost made us doubt the existence of the hot August
sunshine at the edge of the forest, cool water dripping and tinkling. A
half-dozen great trees had been so undermined by the action of the water
long ago that they had tumbled headlong into the stream bed. There they
lay, heads down, crisscross--one completely spanning the brook just below
the spring--their tangled roots like great dragons twisting and thrusting
at the shadows. The water trickled slowly over the smooth rocky bottom as
if reluctant to leave a spot enchanted. A few yards below, the overflow
from Indian Spring joined the main stream, and their waters mingled in a
pretty little cataract. We went below and looked back at it. How it
wrinkled and paused over the level spaces, played with the bubbles in the
eddies, and ran laughing and turning somersaults wherever the ledges were
abrupt.
--Mary Rodgers Miller: _The Brook Book_. (Copyright, 1902, by Doubleday,
Page & Co.)
2. Rowena was tall in stature, yet not so much so as to attract
observation on account of superior height. Her complexion was exquisitely
fair, but the noble cast of her head and features prevented the insipidity
which sometimes attaches to fair beauties. Her clear blue eyes, which sat
enshrined beneath a graceful eyebrow of brown, sufficiently marked to give
expression to the forehead, seemed capable to kindle as well as to melt,
to command as well as to beseech. Her profuse hair, of a color betwixt
brown and flaxen, was arranged in a fanciful and graceful manner in
numerous ringlets, to form which art had probably been aided by nature.
These locks were braided with gems, and being worn at full length,
intimated the noble birth and free-born condition of the maiden. A golden
chain, to which was attached a small reliquary of the same metal, hung
around her neck. She wore bracelets on her arms, which were bare. Her
dress was an under gown and kirtle of pale sea-green silk, over which hung
a long loose robe, which reached to the ground, having very wide sleeves,
which came down, however, very little below the elbow. This robe was
crimson, and manufactured out of the very finest wool. A veil of silk,
interwoven with gold, was attached to the upper part of it, which could
be, at the wearer's pleasure, either drawn over the face and bosom after
the Spanish fashion, or disposed as a sort of drapery round the shoulders.
--Scott: _Ivanhoe_.
+Theme XXIV.+--_Write a paragraph and arrange the details with reference
to their association in space._
Suggested subjects:--
1. Ichabod Crane.
2. Rip Van Winkle.
3. The man who lives near us.
4. A minister I met yesterday.
5. Our family doctor.
6. The gymnasium.
7. A fire engine.
8. The old church.
9. The shoe factory.
10. Some character in the book you are reading.
(Which sentence gives the general impression and which sentences give the
details? Are the details arranged with reference to their real space
order? Should others be added? Can any be omitted? Will the reader form
the mental image you wish him to form?)
+48. Development by Comparison.+--In Section 29 we found that comparison,
whether literal or figurative, aided us in forming mental images of
objects. In a similar way events and general principles may be explained
by making suitable comparisons. We are continually comparing one thing
with another. Every idea tends to recall other ideas that are similar to
it or in contrast with it. When an unfamiliar idea is presented to us we
at once seek to associate it with similar ideas already known to us. A
writer, therefore, will make his meaning clear by furnishing, the desired
comparisons. If these are familiar to us, they enable us to understand
the new ideas presented. Even when both ideas in the comparison are
unfamiliar, each may gain in clearness by comparison with the other.
In comparing two objects, events, or principles we may point out that they
are _not_ alike in certain respects. A comparison that thus emphasizes
differences, rather than likenesses, becomes a contrast. The contrast may
be given in a single sentence or in a single paragraph, but often a
paragraph or more may be required for each of the two ideas contrasted.
EXERCISE
Notice how comparisons and contrasts are used in the following
paragraphs:--
1. Niagara is the largest cataract in the world, while Yosemite is the
highest; it is the volume that impresses you at Niagara, and it is the
height of Yosemite and the grand surroundings that make its beauty.
Niagara is as wide as Yosemite is high, and if it had no more water than
Yosemite has, it would not be of much consequence. The sound of the two
falls is quite different: Niagara makes a steady roar, deep and strong,
though not oppressive, while Yosemite is a crash and rattle, owing to the
force of the water as it strikes the solid rock after its immense leap.
2. It is not only in appearance that London and New York differ widely.
They also speak with different accents, for cities have distinctive
accents as well as people. Tennyson wrote about "streaming London's
central roar"; the roar is a gentle hum compared with the din which
tingles the ears of visitors to New York. The accent of New York is harsh,
grating, jarring. The rattle of the elevated railroad, the whir of the
cable cars, the ringing of electric-car bells, the rumble of vehicles over
the hard stones, the roar of the traffic as it reëchoes through the narrow
canyons of down-town streets, produce an appalling combination of
discords. The streets of New York are not more crowded than those of
London, but the noise in London is subdued. It is more regular, less
jarring and piercing. The muffled sounds in London are due partly to the
wooden and asphalt pavements, which deaden the sounds. London must be
soothing to the New Yorker, as the noise of New York is at first
disconcerting to the Londoner.--_Outlook._
3. Now their separate characters are briefly these. The man's power is
active, progressive, defensive. He is eminently the doer, the creator, the
discoverer, the defender. His intellect is for speculation and invention;
his energy for adventure, for war, and for conquest wherever war is just,
wherever conquest necessary. But the woman's power is for rule, not for
battle, and her intellect is not for invention or creation, but for sweet
ordering, arrangement, and decision. She sees the qualities of things,
their claims, and their places.
--Ruskin: _Sesame and Lilies_.
+Theme XXV.+--_Write a paragraph using comparison or contrast._
Suggested topics:--
1. The school, a beehive.
2. The body, a steam engine.
3. Two generals about whom you have read.
4. Girls, boys.
5. Two of your studies.
6. Graded school work, high school work.
7. Animal life, plant life.
8. Two of your classmates.
(Have you used comparison or contrast? Have you introduced any of the
other methods of development? Have you developed the paragraph so that the
reader will understand fully your topic statement? Omit sentences not
really needed.)
+49. Development by Stating Cause and Effect.+--We are better satisfied
with our understanding of a thing if we know the causes which have
produced it or the effects which follow it. Likewise we feel that another
has mastered the topic statement of a paragraph if he can answer the
question, Why is this so? or, What will result from this? When either is
stated, we naturally begin to think about the other. The idea of a topic
statement may, therefore, be satisfactorily developed by stating its
causes or its effects. A cause may be stated and the effects given or the
effects may be made the topic statement for which we account by giving its
causes.
The importance of the relation of cause and effect to scientific study is
discussed in the following paragraph from Mill:--
The relation of cause and effect is the fundamental law of nature. There
is no recorded instance of an effect appearing without a previous cause,
or of a cause acting without producing its full effect. Every change in
nature is the effect of some previous change and the cause of some change
to follow; just as the movement of each carriage near the middle of a long
train is a result of the movement of the one in front and a precursor
of the movement of the one behind. Facts or effects are to be seen
everywhere, but causes have usually to be sought for. It is the function
of science or organized knowledge to observe all effects, or phenomena,
and to seek for their causes. This twofold purpose gives richness and
dignity to science. The observation and classifying of facts soon become
wearisome to all but the specialist actually engaged in the work. But when
reasons are assigned, and classification explained, when the number of
causes is reduced and the effects begin to crystallize into essential and
clearly related parts of one whole, every intelligent student finds
interest, and many, more fortunate, even fascination in the study.
--Mill: _The Realm of Nature_. (Copyright, 1892, by Charles Scribner's
Sons.)
EXERCISES
_A._ In your reading, notice how often the effects are indicated by the
use of some one of the following expressions: _as a result, accordingly,
consequently, for, hence, so, so that, thus._
_B._ Which sentences state causes and which state effects in the following
paragraphs?
1. The power of water to dissolve most minerals increases with its
temperature and the amount of gases it contains. Percolating water at
great depths, therefore, generally dissolves more mineral matter than it
can hold in solution when it reaches the surface, where it cools, and,
being relieved of pressure, much of its carbonic acid gas escapes to the
atmosphere or is absorbed by aquatic plants or mosses. Hence, deep-seated
springs are usually surrounded by a deposit of the minerals with which the
water is impregnated. Sometimes this deposit may even form large hills;
sometimes it forms a mound around the spring, over the sides of which the
water falls, while the spray, evaporating from surrounding objects, leaves
them also incrusted with a mineral deposit. Percolating water evaporating
on the sides and roof of limestone caverns, leaves the walls incrusted
with carbonate of lime in beautiful masses of crystals. Water slowly
evaporating as it drips from the roof of caverns to the floor beneath
leaves a deposit on both places, which gradually grows downward from the
roof as a _stalactite_, and upward from the floor as a _stalagmite_, until
these meet and form one continuous column of stone.
--Hinman: _Eclectic Physical Geography_.
2. The frequent use of cigars or cigarettes by the young seriously affects
the quality of the blood. The red blood corpuscles are not fully developed
and charged with their normal supply of life-giving oxygen. This causes
paleness of the skin, often noticed in the face of the young smoker.
Palpitation of the heart is also a common result, followed by permanent
weakness, so that the whole system is enfeebled, and mental vigor is
impaired as well as physical strength. Observant teachers can usually tell
which of the boys under their care are addicted to smoking, simply by the
comparative inferiority of their appearance, and by their intellectual and
bodily indolence and feebleness. After full maturity is attained the evil
effects of commencing the use of tobacco are less apparent; but competent
physicians assert that it cannot be safely used by those under the age of
forty.
--Macy-Norris: _Physiology for High Schools_.
3. In many other ways, too, the Norman Conquest affected England. For
example, before long all the best places in the Church were filled with
foreigners. But most of the new bishops and abbots were far superior in
morals and education to the Englishmen whom they succeeded. They were also
devoted to the Pope of Rome, and soon made the English National Church a
part of the Roman Catholic Church. But William, while willing to bow to
the Pope as his chief in religious matters, refused to give way to him in
things which concerned only this world. No former English king had done
that, he knew, and no more would he. This union with the Roman Catholic
Church was of the greatest benefit to England, as it brought her once more
into connection with the educated men of Europe. Indeed, Lanfranc, the
Conqueror's Archbishop of Canterbury, was one of the best and wisest men
of his day.
--Higginson and Channing: _English History for American Readers_.
+Theme XXVI.+--_Develop one of the following topic statements into
paragraphs by stating causes or effects:_--
1. A government which had no soldiers to call upon in an emergency would
not last long.
2. One of the first needs of a new country is roads.
3. The number of people receiving public support is smaller in this
country than in Europe.
4. An efficient postal system is a great aid to civilization.
5. A straight stream is an impossibility in nature.
6. Mountain ranges have great influence upon climate.
7. The United States holds first place as a manufacturing nation.
8. There are many swift rivers in New England.
9. Towns or cities are located at the mouths of navigable rivers.
(Which sentences state causes and which state effects? Would the effects
which you have stated really follow the given causes?)
+50. Development by Repetition.+--The repetition of a thought in different
form will often make plain that which we do not at first understand. This
is especially true if the repetitions are accompanied by new comparisons.
In every school the teacher makes daily use of repetition in her efforts
to explain to the pupils that which they do not understand. In a similar
way a writer makes use of this tendency of ours, and develops the idea of
the topic sentence by repetition. Each sentence should, however, do more
than merely repeat. It should add something to the central idea, making
this idea clearer, more definite, or more emphatic. If repetition is
excessive and purposeless, it becomes a fault.
Repetition may extend through the whole paragraph, or it may be used to
explain any sentence or any part of a sentence. It may tell what the thing
is or what it is not, and in effect becomes a definition setting limits to
the original idea.
EXERCISE
Notice how the idea in the topic statement of each of the following
paragraphs is repeated in those which follow:--
1. No man ever made a complete new system of law and gave it to a people.
No monarch, however absolute or powerful, ever had the power to change the
habits of a people to that extent. Revolution generally means, not a
change of law, but merely a change of government officials; even when it
is a change from monarchy to democracy. Our Revolution made practically no
changes in the criminal and civil laws of the colonies.
--Clark: _The Government_.
2. People talk of liberty as if it meant the liberty to do just what a man
likes. I call that man free who fears doing wrong, but fears nothing else.
I call that man free who has learned the most blessed of all truths,--that
liberty consists in obedience to the power, and to the will, and to the
law that his higher soul reverences and approves. He is not free because
he does what he likes; but he is free because he does what he ought, and
there is no protest in his soul against the doing.
--Frederick William Robertson.
3. This dense forest was to the Indians a home in which they had lived
from childhood, and where they were as much at ease as a farmer on his own
acres. To their keen eyes, trained for generations to more than a wild
beast's watchfulness, the wilderness was an open book. Nothing at rest or
in motion escaped them. They had begun to track game as soon as they could
walk; a scrape on a tree trunk, a bruised leaf, a faint indentation of the
soil, which no white man could see, all told them a tale as plainly as if
it had been shouted in their ears.
--Theodore Roosevelt: _The Winning of the West_.
4. Public enterprises, whether conducted by the municipality or committed
to the public service corporation, exist to render public services.
Streets are public highways. They exist for the people's use. Nothing
should be placed in them unless required to facilitate their use by or for
the people. Only the general need of water, gas, electricity, and
transportation justifies the placing of pipes and wires and tracks in the
streets. The public need is the sole test and measure of such occupation.
To look upon the streets as a source of private gain, or even municipal
revenue, except as incidents of their public use, is to disregard their
public character. Adequate service at the lowest practicable rates, not
gain or revenue, is the test. The question is, not how much the public
service corporation may gain, but what can be saved to the people by its
employment.
--Edwin Burrett Smith: _The Next Step in Municipal Reform_
("Atlantic Monthly").
+Theme XXVII.+--_Develop one of the following topic statements into a
paragraph, using the method, of repetition as far as possible:_--
1. It is difficult to become angry with one who is always good-natured.
2. It is gloomy in the woods on a rainy day.
3. The government is always in need of honest men.
4. Rural free delivery of mail will have a great effect on country life.
5. Not every boy in school uses his time to the best advantage.
6. Haste is waste.
7. Regular exercise is one of the essentials of good health.
(Have the repetitions really made the idea of the topic sentence clearer
or more emphatic or more definite? What other methods of development have
you used?)
+51. Development by a Combination of Methods.+--A paragraph should have
unity of thought, and, so long as this unity of thought is kept, it does
not matter what methods of development are used. A dozen paragraphs taken
at random will show that combinations are very frequent. Often it will be
difficult to determine just how a paragraph has been developed. In
general, however, it may be said that an indiscriminate mixture of methods
is confusing and interferes with unity of thought. If more than one is
used, it requires skillful handling to maintain such a relation between
them that both contribute to the clear and emphatic statement of the main
thought.
The paragraph from Dryer, page 74, shows a combination of cause and effect
with specific illustrations; that from Wolstan Dixey, page 81, shows a
combination of repetition with specific instances.
EXERCISES
What methods of paragraph development, or what combinations of methods,
are used in the following selections?
1. I believe the first test of a truly great man is his humility. I do not
mean, by humility, doubt of his power, or hesitation in speaking of his
opinions; but a right understanding of the relation between what he can do
and say and the rest of the world's sayings and doings. All great men not
only know their business, but usually know that they know it; and are not
only right in their main opinions, but they usually know that they are
right in them; only they do not think much of themselves on that account.
Arnolfo knows he can build a good dome at Florence; Albert Dürer writes
calmly to one who had found fault with his work, "It cannot be better
done"; Sir Isaac Newton knows that he has worked out a problem or two
that would have puzzled anybody else; only they do not expect their
fellow-men therefore to fall down and worship them; they have a curious
undersense of powerlessness, feeling that the greatness is not _in_ them,
but _through_ them; that they could not do or be anything else than God
made them. And they see something divine and God-made in every other man
they meet, and are endlessly, foolishly, and incredibly merciful.
--Ruskin.
2. The first thing to be noted about the dress of the Romans is that its
prevalent material was always woolen. Sheep raising for wool was practiced
among them on an extensive scale, from the earliest historic times, and
the choice breeds of that animal, originally imported from Greece or Asia
Minor, took so kindly to the soil and climate of Italy that home-grown
wool came even to be preferred to the foreign for fineness and softness of
quality. Foreign wools were, however, always imported more or less, partly
because the supply of native wools seems never to have been quite
sufficient, partly because the natural colors of wools from different
parts varied so considerably as to render the art of the dyer to some
extent unnecessary. Thus, the wools of Canusium were brown or reddish,
those of Pollentia in Liguria were black, those from the Spanish Baetica,
which comprised Andalusia and a part of Granada, had either a golden brown
or a grayish hue; the wools of Asia were almost red; and there was a
Grecian fleece, called the crow colored, of which the natural tint was a
peculiarly deep and brilliant black.
--Preston and Dodge: _'The Private Life of the Romans_.
3. Art has done everything for Munich. It lies on a large flat plain
sixteen hundred feet above the sea and continually exposed to the cold
winds from the Alps. At the beginning of the present century it was but a
third-rate city, and was rarely visited by foreigners; since that time its
population and limits have been doubled, and magnificent edifices in every
style of architecture erected, rendering it scarcely secondary in this
respect to any capital in Europe. Every art that wealth or taste could
devise seems to have been spent in its decoration. Broad, spacious streets
and squares have been laid out; churches, halls, and colleges erected, and
schools of painting and sculpture established which drew artists from all
parts of the world.
--Taylor: _Views Afoot_.
4. In all excursions to the woods or to the shore the student of
ornithology has an advantage over his companions. He has one more, avenue
of delight. He, indeed, kills two birds with one stone and sometimes
three. If others wander, he can never get out of his way. His game is
everywhere. The cawing of a crow makes him feel at home, while a new note
or a new song drowns all care. Audubon, on the desolate coast of Labrador,
is happier than any king ever was; and on shipboard is nearly cured of his
seasickness when a new gull appears in sight.
--Burroughs: _Wake Robin_.
+Theme XXVIII.+--_Write a paragraph, using any method or combination of
methods which best suits your thought. Use any of the subjects hitherto
suggested that you have not already used._
(Is every sentence related to the topic statement so that your paragraph
possesses unity? What methods of development have you used?)
+52. The Topical Recitation.+--In conducting a recitation the teacher may
ask direct questions about each part of a paragraph or she may ask a pupil
to discuss some topic. Such a topical recitation should be an exercise in
clear thinking rather than in word memory, and in order to prepare for it,
the pupil should have made a careful analysis of the thought in each
paragraph similar to that discussed on page 74. When this analysis has
been made he will have clearly in mind the topic statement and the way it
has been developed, and will be able to distinguish the essential from the
non-essential elements.
A topical recitation demands that the pupil know the main idea and be able
to develop it in one of the following methods, or by a combination of
them: (1) by giving specific instances, (2) by giving details, (3) by
giving comparisons or contrasts, (4) by giving causes or effects, and (5)
by repetition.
Thoughts so mastered are our own. We understand them and believe them; and
consequently we can explain them, or describe them, or prove them to
others. We can furnish details or instances, originate comparisons, or
state causes and effects. _When ideas gained from language have thus
become our own, we do not need to remember the language in which they were
expressed, and not until then do they become proper material for
composition purposes._
+53. Outlining Paragraphs.+--Making an outline of a paragraph that we have
read brings the thought clearly before our mind. In a similar way we may
make our own thoughts clear and definite by attempting to prepare in
advance an outline of a paragraph that we are about to write. Arranging
the material that we have in mind and deciding upon the order in which we
shall present it, will both help us to understand the thought ourselves,
and enable us to present it more effectively to others.
EXERCISES
_A._ Prepare for recitation the following selection from Newcomer's
introduction to Macaulay's _Milton and Addison:_--
There were two faculties of Macaulay's mind that set his work far apart
from other work in the same field,--the faculties of organization and
illustration. He saw things in their right relation and he knew how to
make others see them thus. If he was describing, he never thrust minor
details into the foreground. If he was narrating, he never "got ahead of
his story." The importance of this is not sufficiently recognized. Many
writers do not know what organization means. They do not know that in all
great and successful literary work it is nine tenths of the labor. Yet
consider a moment. History is a very complex thing: divers events may be
simultaneous in their occurrence; or one crisis may be slowly evolving
from many causes in many places. It is no light task to tell these things
one after another and yet leave a unified impression, to take up a dozen
new threads in succession without tangling them and without losing the old
ones, and to lay them all down at the right moment and without confusion.
Such is the narrator's task, and it was at this task that Macaulay proved
himself a past master. He could dispose of a number of trivial events in a
single sentence. Thus, for example, runs his account of the dramatist
Wycherley's naval career: "He embarked, was present at a battle, and
celebrated it, on his return, in a copy of verses too bad for the
bellman." On the other hand, when it is a question of a great crisis, like
the impeachment of Warren Hastings, he knew how to prepare for it with
elaborate ceremony and to portray it in a scene of the highest dramatic
power.
This faculty of organization shows itself in what we technically name
structure; and logical and rhetorical structure may be studied at their
very best in his work. His essays are perfect units, made up of many
parts, systems within systems, that play together without clog or
friction. You can take them apart like a watch and put them together
again. But try to rearrange the parts and the mechanism is spoiled. Each
essay has its subdivisions, which in turn are groups of paragraphs. And
each paragraph is a unit. Take the first paragraph of the essay on Milton:
the word _manuscript_ appears in the first sentence, and it reappears in
the last; clearly the paragraph deals with a single very definite topic.
And so with all. Of course the unity manifests itself in a hundred ways,
but it is rarely wanting. Most frequently it takes the form of an
expansion of a topic given in the first sentence, or a preparation for a
topic to be announced only in the last. These initial and final sentences--
often in themselves both aphoristic and memorable--serve to mark with the
utmost clearness the different stages in the progress of the essay.
Illustration is of more incidental service, but as used by Macaulay
becomes highly organic. For his illustrations are not farfetched or
laboriously worked out. They seem to be of one piece with his story or his
argument. His mind was quick to detect resemblances and analogies. He was
ready with a comparison for everything, sometimes with half a dozen. For
example, Addison's essays, he has occasion to say, were different every
day of the week, and yet, to his mind, each day like something--like
Horace, like Lucian, like the "Tales of Scheherezade." He draws long
comparisons between Walpole and Townshend, between Congreve and Wycherley,
between Essex and Villiers, between the fall of the Carlovingians and the
fall of the Moguls. He follows up a general statement with swarms of
instances. Have historians been given to exaggerating the villainy of
Machiavelli? Macaulay can name you half a dozen who did so. Did the
writers of Charles's faction delight in making their opponents appear
contemptible? "They have told us that Pym broke down in a speech, that
Ireton had his nose pulled by Hollis, that the Earl of Northumberland
cudgeled Henry Marten, that St. John's manners were sullen, that Vane had
an ugly face, that Cromwell had a red nose." Do men fail when they quit
their own province for another? Newton failed thus; Bentley failed; Inigo
Jones failed; Wilkie failed. In the same way he was ready with quotations.
He writes in one of his letters: "It is a dangerous thing for a man with a
very strong memory to read very much. I could give you three or four
quotations this moment in support of that proposition; but I will bring
the vicious propensity under subjection, if I can." Thus we see his mind
doing instantly and involuntarily what other minds do with infinite pains,
bringing together all things that have a likeness or a common bearing.
It is precisely these talents that set Macaulay among the simplest and
clearest of writers, and that accounts for much of his popularity. People
found that in taking up one of his articles they simply read on and on,
never puzzling over the meaning of a sentence, getting the exact force of
every statement, and following the trend of thought with scarcely a mental
effort. And his natural gift of making things plain he took pains to
support by various devices. He constructed his sentences after the
simplest normal fashion, subject and verb and object, sometimes inverting
for emphasis, but rarely complicating, and always reducing expression to
the barest terms. He could write, for example, "One advantage the chaplain
had," but it is impossible to conceive of his writing, "Now, amid all the
discomforts and disadvantages with which the unfortunate chaplain was
surrounded, there was one thing which served to offset them, and which, if
he chose to take the opportunity of enjoying it, might well be regarded as
a positive advantage." One will search his pages in vain for loose,
trailing clauses and involved constructions. His vocabulary was of the
same simple nature. He had a complete command of ordinary English and
contented himself with that. He rarely ventured beyond the most abridged
dictionary. An occasional technical term might be required, but he was shy
of the unfamiliar. He would coin no words and he would use no archaisms.
Foreign words, when fairly naturalized, he employed sparingly. "We shall
have no disputes about diction," he wrote to Napier, Jeffrey's successor;
"the English language is not so poor but that I may very well find in it
the means of contenting both you and myself."
_B._ Recite upon some topic taken from your other lessons for the day. Let
the class tell what method of development you have used.
_C._ Make a collection of well-written paragraphs illustrating each of the
methods of development.
+Theme XXIX.+--_Write two paragraphs using the same topic statement, but
developing each by a different method._
Suggested topic statements:--
1. The principal tools of government are buildings, guns, and money.
2. The civilized world was never so orderly as now.
3. Law suits take time, especially in cities; sometimes they take years.
4. There is a difference between law and justice.
5. We cry for a multitude of reasons of surprising variety.
6. In the growth of a child nothing is more surprising than his ceaseless
activity.
7. Education for the children of a nation is a benefit to the whole
nation.
(Have you said what you intended to say? What methods of development have
you used? Is the main thought of the two paragraphs the same even though
they begin with the same sentence?)
SUMMARY
1. Language is (1) a means of expressing ideas, and (2) a medium through
which ideas are acquired.
2. The acquisition of ideas by means of language requires:--
_a._ That we know the meanings of words, and so avoid forming
incomplete images (Section 27) and incomplete thoughts (Section
33).
_b._ That we understand the relations in thought existing among words,
phrases, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs (Section 32).
3. Ideas acquired through language may be used for composition purposes--
_a._ Provided we form complete and accurate images and do not confuse
the image with the language that suggested it (Section 28).
_b._ Provided we make the main thoughts so thoroughly our own that we
can furnish details and instances, originate comparisons, or
state causes and effects, and thus become able to describe them
or explain them, or prove them to others (Section 52).
Until both _a_ and _b_ as stated above are done, ideas acquired
through language are undesirable for composition purposes.
4. Comparisons aid in the forming of correct images. They may be literal
or imaginative. If imaginative, they become figures of speech.
5. Figures of speech. (Complete list in the Appendix.)
_a._ A simile is a direct comparison.
_b._ A metaphor is an implied comparison.
_c._ Personification is a modified metaphor, assigning human
attributes to objects, abstract ideas, or the lower animals.
6. Suggestions as to the use of figures of speech.
_a._ Never write for the purpose of using them.
_b._ They should be appropriate to the subject.
_c._ One of the two things compared must be familiar to the reader.
_d._ Avoid hackneyed figures.
_e._ Avoid long figures.
_f._ Avoid mixed metaphors.
7. Choice of words.
_a._ Use words presumably familiar to the reader.
_b._ Use words that express your exact meaning. Do not confuse similar
words.
_e._ Avoid the frequent use of the same word (Section 17).
8. Ambiguity of thought must be avoided. Care must be exercised in the
use of the forms which show relations in thought between sentences,
especially with pronouns and pronominal adjectives (Section 36).
9. A paragraph is a group of sentences related to each other and to one
central idea.
10. The topic statement of a paragraph is a brief comprehensive summary of
the contents of the paragraph.
11. Methods of paragraph development. A paragraph may be developed--
_a._ By giving specific instances (Section 44).
_b._ By giving details (Section 45). The order in which the details
are told may be determined by--
(1) The order of their occurrence in time (Section 46).
(2) Their position in space (Section 47).
_c._ By comparison or contrast (Section 48).
_d._ By stating cause and effect (Section 49).
_e._ By repetition (Section 50).
_f._ By any suitable combination of the methods stated above.
12. The topical recitation demands--
_a._ That the pupil get the central idea of the paragraph and be able
to make the topic statement.
_b._ That he be able to determine the relative importance of the
remaining ideas in the paragraph.
_c._ That he know by which of the five methods named above the
paragraph has been developed.
_d._ That he be able to furnish details, instances, and comparisons of
his own. (See Sections 37, 38, 39, 52, 53.)
IV. THE PURPOSE OF EXPRESSION
+54. Kinds of Composition.+--When considered with reference to the
purpose in the mind of the writer, there are two general classes of
writing,--that which informs, and that which entertains. The language that
we use should make our meaning clear, arouse interest, and give vividness.
Writing that informs will lay greatest emphasis on clearness, though it
may at the same time be interesting and vivid. We do not add to the value
of an explanation by making it dull. On the other hand, writing that
entertains, though it must be clear, will lay greater emphasis on interest
and vividness. That language is best which combines all three of these
characteristics. The writer's purpose will determine to which the emphasis
shall be given.
Composition is also divided into description, narration, exposition, and
argument (including persuasion). These are called forms of discourse. It
will be found that this division is also based upon the purpose for which
the composition is written. You have occasion to use each of these forms
of discourse daily; you describe, you narrate, you explain, you argue, you
persuade. You have used language for these purposes from your infancy, and
you are now studying composition in order to acquire facility and
effectiveness in that use. When this chapter is completed, you will have
considered each of the four forms of discourse in an elementary way. A
more extended treatment is given in later chapters.
EXERCISES
_A._ To which of the two general classes of composition would each of the
following belong?
1. A business letter.
2. The story of a runaway.
3. A description of a lake written by a geologist.
4. A description of a lake written by a boy who was camping near it.
5. A letter to a friend describing a trip.
6. A text-book on algebra.
7. An application for a position as stenographer.
8. A recipe for making cake.
9. How I made a cake.
10. How to make a kite.
11. A political speech.
12. A debate.
_B._ Could a description be written for the purpose of entertaining? Could
the same object be described for the purpose of giving information?
_C._ To which general class do narratives belong? Explanations? Arguments?
+55. Discourse Presupposes an Audience.+--The object of composition is
communication, and communication is not concerned with one's self alone.
It always involves two,--the one who gives and the one who receives. If
its purpose is to inform, it must inform _somebody_; if to entertain, it
must entertain _somebody_. To be sure, discourse may be a pleasure to us,
because it is a means of self-expression, but it is _useful_ to us because
it conveys ideas to that other somebody who hears or reads it. We describe
in order that another may picture that which we have experienced; we
narrate, events for the entertainment of others; we explain to others that
which we understand; and we argue in order to prove to some one the truth
of a proposition or to persuade him to action. Thus all discourse, to be
useful, demands an audience. Its effective use requires that the writer
shall give quite as much attention to the way in which that reader will
receive his ideas as he gives to the ideas themselves. "Speaking or
writing is, therefore, a double-ended process. It springs from me, it
penetrates him; and both of these ends need watching. Is what I say
precisely what I mean? That is an important question. Is what I say so
shaped that it can readily be assimilated by him who hears? This is a
question of quite as great consequence and much more likely to be
forgotten.... As I write I must unceasingly study what is the line of
least intellectual resistance along which my thought may enter the
differently constituted mind; and to that line I must subtly adjust,
without enfeebling my meaning. Will this combination of words or that make
the meaning clear? Will this order of presentation facilitate swiftness of
apprehension or will it clog the movement?"[Footnote: Professor George
Herbert Palmer: _Self-cultivation in English_.]
In the preceding chapters emphasis has been laid upon the care that a
writer must give to saying exactly what he means. This must never be
neglected, but we need to add to it a consideration of how best to adapt
what we say to the interest and intelligence of our readers. It will
become clear in writing the following theme that the discussion of
paragraph development in Chapter III was in reality a discussion of
methods of adapting our discourse to the mental habits of our readers.
+Theme XXX.+--_Write a theme showing which one of the five methods of
paragraph development proceeds most nearly in accordance with the way the
mind usually acts._
(This theme will furnish a review of the methods of paragraph development
treated in Chapter III. If possible, write your theme without consulting
the chapter. "Think it out" for yourself. After the theme has been
written, review paragraph development treated in Chapter III. Can you
improve your theme? What methods of development have you used?)
+56. Selecting a Subject.+--Sometimes our theme subjects are chosen for
us, but usually we shall need to choose our own subjects. What we should
choose depends both upon ourselves and upon those for whom we write. The
elements which make a subject suitable for the reader will be considered
later. In so far as the writer is concerned, two things determine the
suitableness of a subject:--
First, the writer's knowledge of the subject. We cannot make ideas clear
to others unless they are clear to us. Our information must be clearly and
definitely our own before we can hope to present it effectively. This is
one of the advantages possessed by subjects arising from experience. Any
subject about which we know little or nothing, should be rejected. We must
not, however, reject a subject too soon. When it is first thought of we
may find that we have but few ideas about it, but by thinking we may
discover that our information is greater than it at first seemed. We may
be able to assign reasons or to give instances or to originate comparisons
or to add details, and by these processes to amplify our knowledge. Even
if we find that we know but little about the subject from our own
experience, we may still be able to use it for a composition subject by
getting our information from others. We may from conversation or from
reading gain ideas that we can make our own and consequently be able to
write intelligently. Care must be taken that this "reading up" on a
subject does not fill our minds with smatterings of ideas that we think we
understand because we can remember the language in which they were
expressed; but reading, _supplemented by thinking_, may enable us to write
well about a subject concerning which on first thought we seem to know but
little.
Second, the writer's interest in the subject. It will be found difficult
for the writer to present vividly a subject in which he himself has no
special interest. Enthusiasm is contagious, and if the writer has a real
interest in his subject, he is likely to present his material in such a
manner as to arouse interest in others. In our earlier years we are more
interested in the material presented by experience and imagination than in
that presented by reading, but as we grow older our interest in thoughts
conveyed to us by language increases. As we enlarge our knowledge of a
subject by reading and by conversation, so we are likely to increase our
interest in that subject. A boy may know but little about Napoleon, but
the effort to inform himself may cause him to become greatly interested.
This interest will lead him to a further search for information about
Napoleon, and will at the same time aid in making what he writes
entertaining to others.
EXERCISES
_A._ About which of the following subjects do you now possess a sufficient
knowledge to enable you to write a paragraph? In which of them are you
interested? Which would you need to "read up" about?
1. Golf.
2. Examinations.
3. Warships.
4. Wireless telegraphy.
5. Radium.
6. Tennis.
7. Automobiles.
8. Picnics.
9. Printing.
10. Bees.
11. Birds.
12. Pyrography.
13. Photography.
14. Beavers.
15. Making calls.
16. Stamp collecting.
17. The manufacture of tacks.
18. The manufacture of cotton.
19. The smelting of zinc.
20. The silver-plating process.
_B._ Make a list of thirty things about which you know something.
_C._ Bring to class a list of five subjects in which you are interested.
_D._ Make a list of five subjects about which you now possess a sufficient
knowledge to enable you to write a paragraph.
+Theme XXXI.+--_Write a short theme: Select a suitable subject from the
lists in the preceding exercise._
(What method or methods of paragraph development have you used? Have your
paragraphs unity of thought?)
+57. Subject Adapted to Reader.+--We may be interested in a subject and
possess sufficient knowledge to enable us to treat it successfully, but it
may still be unsuitable because it is not adapted to the reader. Some
knowledge of a subject and some interest in it are quite as necessary on
the part of the reader as on that of the writer, though in the beginning
this knowledge and interest may be meager. The possibility of developing
both knowledge and interest must exist, however, or the writing will be a
failure. It would be difficult to make "Imperialism" interesting to third
grade pupils, or "Kant's Philosophy" to high school pupils. Even if you
know enough to write a valuable "Criticism" of _Silas Marner_, or a real
"Review" of the _Vicar of Wakefield_, the work is time wasted if your
readers do not have a breadth of knowledge sufficient to insure a vital
and appreciative interest in the subject. You must take care to select a
subject that is of present, vital interest to your readers.
+58. Sources of Subjects.+--Thought goes everywhere, and human interest
touches everything. The sources of subjects are therefore unlimited; for
anything about which we think and in which we are interested may become a
suitable subject for a paragraph, an essay, or a book. Such subjects are
everywhere--in what we see and do, in what we think and feel, in what we
hear and read. We relate to our parents what a neighbor said; we discuss
for the teacher a
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