1 P E 1408 C296 1920 ED-P UC-NRLF SB 3D? TE^ GIFT OF y ,^^£^.a LESSON STUDIES TO ACCOMPANY CANBY AND OPDYCKE'S GOOD ENGLISH By MABEL F. BROOKS NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1920 LESSON STUDIES TO ACCOMPANY CANBY AND OPDYCKE'S GOOD ENGLISH By MABEL F. BROOKS NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1920 CLL.*IU l°\ LESSON STUDIES TO ACCOMPANY GOOD ENGLISH INTRODUCTION Only through the medium of language does civilized man make others see as he sees and act as he wishes them to act. The sooner the realization of such power comes to the pupil, the better. Rhetoric in the earlier days aimed to accomplish this by discipline plus instruction; rhetoric to-day makes use of instruction plus stimulation. The subject matter is now presented with such application to life that drudgery is lost sight of in eagerness to reach the goal. Welcome, then, to whatever means will help to develop in the mind of the first year high school pupil the idea that through the medium of words mind acts on mind. The practice sections in GOOD ENGLISH, by Canby and Opdycke, offer a laboratory of actual experience, where each may experiment to his heart's content and find the exercise best suited to fix in his mind the part of the lesson that he most needs. Teachers will find that with .this text- book the teaching of composition may be as informal, as flexible, as vital as the living speech itself, and yet never lose sight of a harmonious development and a definite goal. The plan of the book, in the table of contents, speaks for itself. The authors have based their work on the real needs of the youth of early high school age. A boy will not work at a lesson in formal rhetoric unless he is compelled to apply himself to it. If he can be led to see that, left Copyright 1920 by Tie Macmillan Company 46229; 2 LESSON STUDIES to himself, he cannot write a letter which is likely to persuade the rival ball team to accept his challenge; that he cannot persuade a controlling number of the school to vote for his candidate; that he cannot hold the attention of the class when he tells of the latest hike of the Scouts; then he may be turned loose with GOOD ENGLISH and directed in such a way that he will soon gain the power which he knows he needs. A good way for a teacher to discover the needs of her class, and, to as great an extent as she likes, of the individual members, is to begin with a general test, such as that given on page 334. If pupils fail in large numbers on question 1, then the letter writing sections of the book should be taught carefully. If they find difficulty with question 4, then the sections dealing with planning should be stressed. Con- versely, if pupils answer other questions well, it will show that there is little need of time spent on the parts of the book thus covered. It might be well to keep the class divided in two groups, one of which could be given more exercise in the work covered. This would give the slower group time to concen- trate on fewer things and furnish the more advanced pupils with material suited to their powers. The personnel of the two groups should be changed from time to time, as occasion requires. With each lesson there is abundant material for advanced work. Much can be gained by the occasional use of the pupil leader and of pupil committees for criticism. The sooner in the course the individual youngster can be led to wish to make his speech interesting, clear, and convincing, the greater the benefit will be derived from the book, from home work, and from the class recitations. But if he does not have a definite wish to make use of what he learns, not all LESSON STUDIES 2 the books in the world will make a bit of difference with his speech, either written or oral. A good textbook in the hands of an enthusiastic teacher will help to unlock fettered tongues and set thought free to make the world a happier place in which to live. M. F. B. LESSON STUDIES Class Exercise 1 Assignment: Pages 8-15. Purpose: To give interest to friendly letters. Questions: Which of your friends writes the most in- teresting letters? What makes these interesting? Could you be interested in a letter written by a person whom you do not know? Which of the letters printed in this assign- ment do you like best? When you were very young, did you ever receive letters from a person much older than you? Will you tell the class about them? Exercises: Prepare to discuss orally exercises 1 and 5 on page 15. Read carefully the letter beginning on page 11. Write a letter to a friend in some other school, telling about this letter of Stevenson's. Tell what you have learned about the author and about Tomarcher, what the author did to make the letter interest the child, whether you like the letter, and whether you think your teacher likes it. Try to give reasons for the last two statements. Result: A friendly letter that interests the reader by first interesting the writer. Class Exercise 2 Assignment: Pages 15-21. Purpose: To impress the importance of heading, correct address, and courteous form in friendly letters. Questions: Have you ever been annoyed when you received a friendly letter that lacked any of the parts il- lustrated on page 20? Have you ever been annoyed by poor writing, spelling, or sentence structure in a friendly letter? How would you attempt to correct these faults in your correspondent's letter? Why did Big Sister smile LESSON STUDIES 5 when Small Brother ended his letter to her, "Yours truly, Philip"? Exercises: Page 21, exercises 1-8. Oral discussion in charge of a member of the class. Use blackboards. Make a list of quotable salutations and endings that you have seen in friendly letters. What difference in meaning do you find between "Dear Clara" and "My dear Clara"? Submit for class inspection any good specimens of friendly letters. Submit in writing a letter based on any exercise from 10 to 18. Result: The correct letter picture. Subject in a letter interesting to the reader. Class Exercise 3 Assignme . : Pages 21-26. Purpose: Familiarity with a variety of correct ways of punctuating and placing the parts of a letter. Questions: How may failure to punctuate and place letter parts correctly mar the purpose of a letter? What commas and periods may be used or omitted as you choose? What commas and what periods must never be omitted? In what ways should you be consistent in the arrangement of letter parts? Exercises: Discuss orally the questions given above. Visit the waste basket at home and rescue from it any specimens of commercial letter writing that you may find. Study these to see how they conform with the best usage as illustrated in this book. From this time save all such letters for future study. You will find them very interesting in connection with other lessons. Submit in writing the letter called for in exercise 9. Result: Ability to use at least one letter form correctly and consistently. 6 LESSON STUDIES Class Exercise 4 Assignment: Pages 26-28. Purpose: To make friendly letters interesting. Questions: Some persons say they cannot write letters. Could they if they wished to? You have a friend whose conversation is interesting, but whose letters give you no satisfaction beyond the knowledge that he is alive and thinking of you. Tell him how to interest you. Why should you exercise great care in writing a joke or a bit of gentle irony that would be perfectly acceptable in spoken conversation? Why are sarcasm, a display of temper, and a discussion of your own troubles even worse in a letter than in spoken conversation? Exercises: Let a pupil leader take charge of the class. Discuss the questions given above. Submit in writing the letter called for in question 4. Read it aloud and discuss it in class. Ask your teacher to read to you some of the letters of Lewis Carroll, Phillips Brooks, and other letters of Robert Louis Stevenson to boys and girls. Result: A friendly letter that leaves the reader interested, satisfied, and eager for another. Class Exercise 5 Assignment: Pages 28-32. Purpose: To learn how to prepare an envelope correctly. Questions: What part of the letter appears the second time? What are the essentials in the preparation of the envelope? In what way can * the envelope be called an advertisement of the writer? Should you like to have your character judged by the envelopes that you address? Dis- cuss the business necessity of accuracy and legibility here LESSON STUDIES 7 What tragedy or what disaster might result from the faulty preparation of an envelope? Exercises: Submit in writing answers to the last two questions given above. Submit samples of envelopes pre- pared in various forms. If possible bring used envelopes with peculiar forms, some, perhaps, that came from Russia. It would be interesting if you could bring one that had been forwarded once or twice, and one that had been returned to the sender. Result: An envelope addressed, sealed, and stamped legi- bly, accurately, and neatly. Class Exercise 6 Assignment: Pages 32-43. Purpose: To tell an interesting story in the third person. Questions: Have you ever heard any one try to tell a story, who put in frequently, "er-er," "and-a," "so," and "so-er?" How did you like it? Do you ever do the same thing? Why? Have you heard a story spoiled because the point was not well made? What effect may the use of dialect have on the interest of a story? Exercises: Read the story carefully. Observe the plan indicated: 1. Lena's letter. 2. Lena's dream. 3. Hondo Bill's reproof. Prepare to tell the story to the class, making use of dialect and of both first and second person, when they add to the interest. When three pupils have told the story, each in his own way, let a pupil committee decide which told his story the best. Be sure that the committee give ample reasons for their choice. Tell the story as Lena told it in after years to her children. Result: Story telling without hesitation. 8 LESSON' STUDIES Class Exercise 7 Assignment: Pages 43^54. Purpose: To tell a story in an interesting manner. Questions: What did you learn in the last recitation about telling a story so that your hearers are interested? What faults are you learning to avoid? In which character are you more interested, Buddy or Waffles? Why? What does the author say that makes you smile? How did you feel when Waffles dropped "dead"? Exercises: After you have read the story carefully, make a short plan like the one used for "The Chaparral Prince." Prepare to tell the story to the class, so that a visitor would appreciate Buddy's feeling of awe at meeting the clown, and so that he would really believe Waffles was shot. Submit a letter that you have written to the author, telling him why you like the story. Be prepared to comment on the recitations given. Result: Story telling that holds interest. Class Exercise 8 Assignment: Pages 57-64. Purpose: To tell, without hesitation and with interest, a story in the first person. Questions: Does it make the story teller seem con- ceited if he tells the story in the first person? If it ever does, how could it be avoided? What stories have you read that profess to be told by one of the characters of the story? Is the narrator generally the chief person, or one of the minor characters? Which is more fitting? Why? Exercises: Using the plan given on page 57, prepare to tell this story in your own words to your classmates. Write the letter that Mr. Wynne might have written to David LESSON STUDIES 9 Dove if he had not called at David's school. Make a list of unusual words that are used in this story. Be sure you know what they mean, and then use them as you impersonate Hugh. Result: Smoothness in story telling. Class Exercise 9 Assignment: Pages 64-69. Purpose: To tell a story well, using the first person. Questions: Why does the author use so much direct quotation? Is it easier or harder to do this well in the first person than in the third? Does it make the story more or less interesting? Why does the author put in a number of unfamiliar words? Shall you use them in retelling? Exercises: Let a pupil take charge of the class. Group I may prepare to tell the story in the first person, and Group II may prepare to tell it in the third person. The class may discuss the question as to which is the better form for this story. Reproduce the letter that Jack might write to another boy about the Day of Judgment at Aunt John's. Result: Smoothness in story telling. Note: Similar programs may be planned for presenting the other stories of Lessons Six and Seven. Class Exercise 10 Assignment: Pages 69-74. Purpose: To make a clear plan for a story. Questions: What name is applied to the plan by which one makes a dress? a cake? a story? What might happen in each case without a plan made beforehand? What is meant by chronological order? How does the order of things in "The Chaparral Prince" differ from the chronological 10 LESSON STUDIES order? Why is this done? Is this order disregarded in any of the stories that you read in school? Exercises: Let each member of the class select a topic from exercises 8, 9, or 10. Submit in writing the work called for. At the beginning of the recitation exchange papers, discuss them, and decide upon the best five. Have these rewritten, bound in a booklet, and kept in the class files. Perhaps it would be well to let the best penmen in the class do the copying, whether they composed the papers or not. If the class is sufficiently skilled in typewriting, one copy might be typed and presented to the head of the English department. Result: A clear plan for a well told story. Class Exercise 11 Assignment: Pages 74-83. Purpose: To appreciate a story told in verse. Questions: Do very small children like stories in verse? Do first year high school pupils like stories told in verse? Can you explain either of your answers? Should you like "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' ' more or less if it were told in prose? Would "The Lady of the Lake" be more or less interesting in prose? Exercises: Let the best readers of the class be appointed to read aloud the poems in this lesson. After the reading of each poem, let some one retell the story in the best prose. A committee of judges may decide in each case which is better and give reasons for their decisions. Let some one find and read the ballad of Sir Patrick Spens. Result: The realization that some stories gain from being told in verse. Introduction to the ballad form. LESSON STUDIES 11 Class Exercise 12 Assignment: Pages 83-87. Purpose: To appreciate a story told in verse and in the first person. Questions: In which of the poems in Lessons Nine and Ten are the most unusual events set forth? Which of the events seem impossible? In what way does this affect your interest in the story? Which poem has the most interesting character? Which story is the most pathetic? Exercises: Prepare a letter to a friend, in which you tell the story of "Bird Thoughts." After several pupils have read their letters aloud, the class should try to decide whether first or second person is better for this story. "The Yarn of the Nancy Bell" may be treated in the same way. Result: Appreciation of a story told in verse and in the first person. Note: The teacher might well read aloud "The Old Man and Jim," following it with one or two other first person poems by the same author. Class Exercise 13 Assignment: Pages 87-90. Purpose: To learn how to make a story interesting. Questions: What kind of events make good subject matter for stories? What is meant by the "hero" or the "heroine" of a story? Is the meaning of the word "hero" the same in the Iliad and the Odyssey as it is here? Could a man like Philip Nolan, then, be called the hero of "A Man without a Country?" Why is a character sometimes made of more importance than the avents of the story? What is meant by the background or setting? 12 LESSON STUDIES Exercises: Name three books that you have read, in which the main interest centers in events — in character — in setting. Let each member of the class be prepared to relate some story from the writings of Kipling, Ernest Seton-Thompson, or Jack London, in which an animal or even an inanimate thing, such as a locomotive or a steamship, is made the hero. What makes these stories interesting? The members of the class who do not tell their stories may act as critics for those who do. Result: Realization that interest in a story may be derived from setting and character as well as from events. Class Exercise 14 Assignment: Pages 90-95. Purpose: To gain knowledge of words and precision in their use. Questions: What are some of the first requirements of good letter writing? What will they amount to without the correct use of words? What is meant by each of the following terms as applied to words: Standard, technical, coined, obsolete, archaic, provincial, dialectic, foreign? What is a synonym? an antonym? a homonym? What is slang? What place has it, if any, in our language? Exercises: Study exercises 2, 5, 6, and 7 in connection with the definitions called for in the questions above. Let Group I submit the work called for in the first half of exer- cise 3, and Group II the work indicated in the second half of the exercise. Let a pupil take charge of the recitation, and let much of the work be done on the board. Result: Further knowledge of the. meanings of common words. LESSON STUDIES 13 Class Exercise 15 Assignment: Pages 95-97. Purpose: To learn how to find words in the dictionary and how to divide and accent them. Questions: In what ways will a good dictionary help you? What is your estimate of the number of words in your vocabulary? Do you carry a pocket dictionary? What is the advantage of doing this? When you have looked up a word, what is the next thing to do? Exercises: Explain all the symbols used in indicating the division and accent of ' 'insignificant.' ' Learn the unfamiliar abbreviations given on page 97. Indicate the correct syl- lable division and accent of the words in exercise 3, page 101. This may be divided between Groups I and II. Each group should follow closely the other's recitation. The work should be put on the board for the benefit of the class. Result: Ability to find, separate, and accent any word in the dictionary. Class Exercise 16 Assignment: Pages 97-99. Purpose: To learn how to pronounce words as they appear in the dictionary. Questions: What are some of the principal "means of identification" used in showing the pronunciation of words? What are the names of some of the best known dictionaries? How many times do you have to turn pages to find a word? What are guide words? Where are they found, and what do they indicate? What is the key line? Where is it, and how is it used? Exercises: Study the signs indicating the pronunciation of letters as found in your dictionary. Select from the list 14 LESSON STUDIES of words that you know, but seldom use, ten that trouble you by their pronunciation. Write them and indicate their pronunciation by means of signs. Comparison of these lists written on the board will be helpful. A pupil chairman might call for and check the work. Spell orally the words in exercise 3, page 101, making a pause between syllables. Result: Ease in acquiring the correct pronunciation of a new word. Class Exercise 17 Assignment: Pages 99-101. Purpose: To clear up some of the difficulties concerning the compounding of words. Questions: What are you going to do about using the hyphen, if the dictionaries do not agree? What will deter- mine your usage? "Any" and "every," compounded with "one," are written how? How are they compounded with "body" and "thing"? What is the better usage in regard to "tonight," "today," "tomorrow"? Exercises: Consult the rules that you find on page 351 in regard to the hyphen. Consult the best newspaper and the best magazine you can find for some of the common words concerning which you may be in doubt. With the list at the top of page 101 divided among the class, let the entire list be written on the board and corrected or verified in regard to the method of compounding. Plan a lesson for page 102. Result: Familiarity with the use of the hyphen. Class Exercise 18 Assignment: Pages 103-108. Purpose: To gain an interesting manner of speaking. Questions: How may a- story that is well planned and well worded still be spoiled? How may his speech betray a LESSON STUDIES 15 person who lacks refinement? What can those who hear you speak tell about your home influences? How early in life are the principal speech habits formed? Who must always be your best teacher if you would learn to speak well? Are long words and good words always the same? Exercises: Select from exercises 1-12 the difficulties that are frequently met by members of your class. Divide these between the two groups of the class, letting each group con- duct the recitation for half the period. While one group recites, the other always acts as critic. Organize a "secret service" squad, whose identity shall be kept secret and whose duty shall be to report all attempts to do injury to the "King's English." Many offenders may be apprehended during the lunch period. Names of offenders are not reported to the teacher, only the nature of the offences. Result: A strong wish to improve one's speech. Class Exercise 19 Assignment: Pages 108-111. Purpose: To learn how to use a word, the meaning of which has already been mastered. Questions: What comparison can you make between the tools of a machinist and the words of a writer? Between a painter's colors and a writer's words? What effect has the frequent use of slang on the growth of a person's vocabulary? What does a boy mean when he says he had "some" time last night? What does a girl mean by saying that her new dress is a "dandy"? Exercises: You will find that the first exercise on page 110 may be very interesting. It should be assigned soon enough to allow you to make observations. Keep your discoveries to yourself until you reach the classroom, then compare your 16 LESSON STUDIES report with that of your neighbors. If possible, extend the study to other birds, for the sake of comparison. Result: An appreciation of the correct meanings of words. Class Exercise 20 Assignment: Chapter II in review. Purpose: To fix in mind a few essentials in regard to creating interest through letter writing, story telling, and the correct use of words. Questions: What outline will you make for the work of the chapter? Let "A" represent Letters, and include Lessons One to Five; "B," Stories, and include Lessons Six to Eleven; "C," Words, and include Lessons Twelve to Fifteen. What three topics will you make under "A"? what four under "B"? what four under "C"? Exercises : Submit the plan indicated above. Let Group I prepare "A" and "B," Group II, "B" and "C." Each group will prepare a program for about one-half of the rec- itation period, arranging the details beforehand. Each pupil chairman should close his program with a concise statement of the result of the study of the topics under con- sideration. The teacher may use a little of the time fcr helpful comparison and criticism. Result: The mastery of a little more of the mother tongue. Class Exercise 21 Assignment: Pages 131-134. Purpose: To fix in the mind correct forms of address and salutation. Questions: What difficulties or even tragedies might result from an envelope that was not addressed clearly? This question has been asked before, but it is of vital importance. LESSON STUDIES 17 What difficulties have you or your friends ever had through lack of clearness in addressing an envelope? What interest- ing stories in. regard to this can you get from some friend in the postal service? Exercises: Review Lesson V, Submit to the class several difficult addresses, gathered from newspapers, or from the telephone book. A poll tax list will yield interesting material. These addresses may be collected, dictated to the class, and corrected from the board. Submit the letter called for in exercise 5. Group II may submit the reply as well. Result: Accuracv in the use of address and salutation in business letters. Class Exercise 22 Assignment: Pages 134-137. Purpose: To make formal notes and invitations clear. Questions: Did you ever go to a party at the wrong time because the invitation was not clear? Can you imagine an embarrassing situation that might result from lack of clear- ness in an invitation? What facts should be included in a note of invitation? Which of these should be repeated in the reply? Why? What details are essential in a note of absence? Exercises: Criticise and correct in all details this note: "Dear Teacher Please excuse me for being absent yesterday I had to go shopping with my mother to get my graduation dress. Yours truly, Mr. Jacob Levinson." A pupil may impersonate the teacher who receives this note. He will decide whether the excuse is acceptable. Submit a note of invitation to a party and with it a note of acceptance and a note of regret. Result: The required clearness in notes of excuse and of invitation. 18 LESSON STUDIES Class Exercise 23 Assignment: Pages 175-179. Purpose: To make an explanation clear through the use of a plan. Questions: At what age do some children begin to try to explain things? Do you know of any child whose first words were used to explain? What is the real test of your power to make things clear? Before you can mate things clear for others, what must you do for yourself? What must you know about your reader or hearer? How will your knowledge of him affect your explanation? Exercises: Explain the necessity of using a plan when you are trying to make a thought clear. Illustrate the fre- quent need of definition in explaining a subject. Using the general plan provided on page 177, make a plan for a com- position on any topic in exercises 2, 7, or 8. Several of these might be put on the board and studied by the entire class. Result: A plan that will make it easy to write a clear explanation. Class Exercise 24 Assignment: Pages 184-188. Purpose: To understand the use of the sentence group called a paragraph. Questions: How does the combination of sentences in a paragraph, just by its form, help in producing clearness? What principle governs the grouping? In speaking, how do you indicate the paragraph structure? What is meant by a key sentence? Where may the key sentence be placed? Where is it usually placed? What governs the length of the paragraph? LESSON STUDIES 19 Exercises: Prepare a plan for a composition based on the first introductory paragraph of exercise 4. Write a similar introductory paragraph on any topic selected from the list in exercise 1 or 7. Prepare a plan for the composition for which the first paragraph assigned in exercise 5 is the con- clusion. Study the second exercise in 6. What topic was discussed before this paragraph, and what is to be discussed in the next one following? Result: Knowledge in regard to handling the paragraph so as to gain clearness. Class Exercise 25 Assignment: Pages 166-169, 186. Purpose: To test paragraphs for unity and to observe them for length. Questions: In the extract beginning on page 166, what relation has the first sentence in each paragraph to the rest of the paragraph? Why are these so much alike? Do you like this repetition? How many other extracts with para- graphs beginning in a similar way can you find in this book? Exercises: Make a list of key sentences from the extract on page 166. Omitting repeated words, make these sentences into a smooth paragraph. If necessary, compose a good master key sentence for this paragraph. With this new paragraph as a basis, prepare an outline from which to reproduce the explanation of the qualifications of a Scout. Result: Familiarity with the use of the paragraph. Class Exercise 26 Assignment: Pages 201-20C Purpose: To learn how to get clearness in description through the use of a plan. 20 LESSON STUDIES Questions: What is meant by point of view in descrip- tions? Is it physical or mental? What happens if you change the point of view without mentioning it? Why is it often well to mention the general impression before the particular details? When is it well to let the impression made on the writer form the conclusion? How is a word picture like and how unlike a photograph? Exercises: Group I may submit a plan for a short com- position on any one of the topics in exercise 2. Indicate the point of view, general appearance, particular details, and impression on the writer. Then write the composition, ap- pealing, if possible, to the senses of hearing, smell, and taste to produce the desired effect. Group II may do the same with any topic in exercise 8. Result: Ability to prepare a plan that will result in a clear description. Note: Recitations 23, 24, and 26 may be used as a basis for planning Lesson Thirty Eight. Class Exercise 27 Assignment: Pages 215-217. Purpose: To appreciate something of the value of words in making thought clear. Questions: How many times have you said aloud or to yourself, "I know what I mean, but I don't know how to say it"? Do you ever use a long word when a short one would make the thought clearer? Do you ever feel the need of a long word to give a more exact expression to your thought? Does one adjective have to do all the work in describing something that pleases you? Exercises: Select one group from exercise 3. Define each word and show the value of an exact and precise choice of words. When are general words useful? When are special LESSON STUDIES 21 words better? Study the relationship of structure, building, house, dwelling, cottage. Prepare exercises 1 and 2, selecting the words from the extract beginning on page 169. Result: A realization of the power of exactly the right word. Class Exercise 28 Assignment: Pages 217-219. Purpose: To learn how to make thought clear by means of well chosen words. Questions: When a girl says she had "an awfully good time/' what does she mean? What equally misleading words would a boy use? What do the expressions in exercise 10 mean? Why should you have to use different, words to tell the story of a ball game to your mother from those you would use to tell the same story to your older brother? Exercises : Using each word in exercise 5 as a basis, make for each as long a list of special words as possible. It will be interesting, also, to see how long a list you can make from each word in exercise 6. Study carefully the poem in exercise 12. You will find the verbs and the adjectives very interesting. Explain how each helps to make the thought clear. Result: A feeling for the value of the exact word, and a little more willingness to hunt for it. Class Exercise 29 Assignment: Chapter III in review. Purpose: To fix in mind a few essentials in regard to words, sentences, and paragraphs ; explanation and descrip- tion; and clearness in notes and letters. Questions: What is the relation between clearness and efficiency? Why must clearness and accuracy be required 22 LESSON STUDIES of all who have dealings with others? Who is the greatest speaker that you have ever heard? Did you understand him easily? Is there possibly some connection between greatness and simplicity of style? Exercises: Submit a plan for the work covered in this chapter. When a corrected form of this plan has been put on the board, let a pupil leader conduct an oral recitation from the topics of the plan. One committee of pupils may check the recitation from the point of view of clearness, and a second may judge the recitation according to the principles contained in Chapter II. Result: Another step in the mastery of the mother tongue. Class Exercise 30 Assignment: Pages 238-240, 243, 244. Purpose: To gain emphasis through the arrangement of words. Questions: When you were in the elementary school, were you ever warned against repetition? Why was this warning necessary? What faults of repetition have you out- grown? What are the important positions in a sentence? Why does a person sometimes throw on the floor a letter which he wishes to mail? How does the principle involved apply to the arrangement of words? Do any of your friends ever use too many words to express a thought? Exercises: Prepare the sentences of exercise 1, page 243, for oral recitation. Group I may submit in writing the first five sentences of exercise 2, page 244, and Group II may submit the second five. These may be written on the board and discussed by the class. Result: Familiarity with the arrangement of words to give emphasis. LESSON STUDIES 23 Class Exercise 31 Assignment: Pages 240-243, 247. Purpose: To make words convincing by means of their arrangement. Questions: What did you learn are the emphatic parts of a sentence? What is the most emphatic part? ' Why? What is the natural order in a sentence? How may the sentence depart from this for the sake of emphasis? How may special kinds of sentences aid in giving emphasis? Exercises: Review Lesson Twenty. Submit in writing exercise 6, discussing orally the work as it is given. Prepare exercise 7. After the sentences have been written on the board, the class may decide which forms are foest, always telling why they are the best. Result: Familiarity with the arrangement of words to give emphasis. Class Exercise 32 Assignment: Pages 248, 249. Purpose: To learn the convincing force of balanced and periodic sentences. Questions: What is a balanced sentence? When may it be used to advantage? What is a periodic sentence? How may it be made to give emphasis? What happens if either is used too often? What happens if either is used in the wrong place? Exercises : Exercise 8, page 248, may be divided between Groups I and II. When each group has put on the board the sentences assigned, the other group may act as critics. They should decide which forms are best, and whether the periodic or the balanced form of sentence is better in each case dis- cussed. 24 LESSON STUDIES Result: Familiarity with the use of the periodic and the balanced sentence. Glass Exercise 33 Assignment: Pages 249, 250. Purpose: To learn how to persuade some one else to your way of thinking. Questions: How early in life did you begin to try to have your own way? What success did you have? How often during the day do you now try to convince some one that you are right? In what ways do others try to persuade you? What happens when either of you loses his temper? How can this be avoided? Do you ever tell a story or explain or describe something when you are trying to be persuasive? Exercises: Note the way in which the key sentence in the paragraph at the foot of page 250 is backed up by reasons. From exercise 2, on page 253, select one topic and prepare a paragraph similar in construction to the one mentioned above. One-half the class might use the same key sentence in the negative form. An interesting discussion should be the result. The teacher will decide which side presents the better argument. Result: A bit more knowledge of the rules of the game in which one tries to convince another. Class Exercise 34 Assignment: Page 252. Purpose: To apply the principles of argument to human conduct. Questions: How often do you have to argue with yourself in regard to your conduct? When you do that, what two LESSON STUDIES 25 persons seem to be speaking? Does either one ever change the other's mind? Do you ever have to settle the same question twice? Why, or why not? What progress have you made in applying argument to the correction of some fault of your own-? Exercises: Select a topic from those given in, exercise 1. Write three reasons for answering in the affirmative the question asked. Back up each statement with reasons, as you did in Recitation 33. Write the chief argument that might be used against you and develop it into a paragraph showing that the argument is not valid. Result: Application of reason to human conduct. Note: Similar lessons may be planned for other topics on pages 253-256, leading to more elaborate but similar plans in Lesson Thirty Eight. Class Exercise 35 Assignment: Pages 297, 298. Purpose: To test speech for correct pronunciation. Questions: Why is it more difficult to correct errors in speech than errors in writing? Which, in point of time, had the start? Which is more used? Which is more subject to home influence? How can ear and eye help each other in correcting both oral and written speech? Which of the errors at the top of page 298 are yours? Exercises: Make a list of words commonly mispronounced by the boys and girls that you know. Make a list of words that you have succeeded in mastering so that you now use them freely. In class practise with the words in exercises 1 and 2, page 303, until you are sure that you will pronounce them correctly in the future. In a similar manner practise with lists submitted by other members of the class. For reference consult page 104. 26 LESSON STUDIES Result: The correction of some of the common errors of pronunciation. Class Exercise 36 Assignment: Pages 299-301, 304, 305. Purpose: To test speech for the correct use of pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions. Questions: Which of the errors in the use of pronouns given on page 299 are common among the members of your class? With which adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions do they have the most trouble? Which part of speech is the most difficult to master? Exercises: Let the entire period be used for a match between the two groups. Exercises 4, 5, and 6 furnish material for competition. Each member of the class should have his textbook, and as his turn comes, should read cor- rectly the sentence that falls to him. The rules for a spelling match may be pretty closely followed. A teacher from some other class may be persuaded to act as referee and to keep a record of the most troublesome sentences. Result: A better use of every day English. Class Exercise 37 Assignment: Pages 301, 302, 306. Purpose: To test speech for correct use of verbs. Questions: Which of the errors indicated on pages 301 and 302 are you liable to make? Which do you hear others make? What other common errors in verbs might you add to this list? Why are verbs generally more troublesome than the other parts of speech? What is meant by inflection? In what ways do verbs change form to express a difference in meaning? LESSON STUDIES 27 Exercises: Group I may prepare sentences 1-15 in exercise 7, page 306, and Group II, sentences 16-31. Write the explanation for each correction. Be prepared to inflect each verb in any way called for. Each group should listen with especial attention to the recitation of the other group, in order to learn as many correct forms as possible. Result: The correction of some of the common errors in the use of verbs. Class Exercise 38 Assignment: Pages 307-310, 318. Purpose: To learn the exact meaning of a few words com- monly confused or misused. Questions: What use have you made of what you learned in Lesson Fifteen? Do you still say that you had a "good time" yesterday, if you enjoyed yourself? Can you describe a dress or a ball game so that your hearers will have a clear idea of how the dress looked and how the game differed from other games of the same kind? Exercises: Study carefully words groups 1-13. Submit in writing the correct forms of sentences 1-21, page 317, preparing to explain orally in class why you have chosen other words in place of those in italics. Let the class prepare beforehand slips of cardboard, on each of which one of these words is written. Let the slips be shaken in a box and drawn out one at a time by the pupils, each of whom will define the word drawn. Result: Familiarity with the exact meaning of the words studied. Class Exercise 39 Assignment: Pages 311-313, 318, 319. Purpose: To learn the exact meaning of a few words often confused or misused. 28 LESSON STUDIES Questions: What use have you made of what you learned in Lesson Thirty Two? Does "red" still mean to you any- thing from pink to purple? Do you still use general name words? What progress have you made in the use of special words and words indicating association? Exercises: Study carefully the words in groups 14-30. Prepare slips of cardboard and repeat the drill called for in Exercise 38. Write the correct forms of sentences 22^10, page 318, preparing to explain orally the reason for each change that you make. Result: Familiarity with the exact meaning of the words studied. Class Exercise 40 Assignment: Pages 314-317, 319. Purpose: To learn the exact meaning of a few more words that are commonly confused or misused. Questions: Are your words any more convincing than they were before you studied Lesson Forty Two? Are your own words any clearer, more interesting, or more convincing than they were last term? Have you learned anything of the power of short words for making a vivid impression and of longer words for giving finer variations of meaning? Exercises: Study the words in groups 31-60, page 319. Prepare for a definition match, and conduct it much as you would a spelling match, using all the words in groups 1-50. Each person called on should give the exact meaning of the word assigned. It would be well riot to have the words in any pair given in direct succession. Result: Fixing in the mind the exact meaning of a store of common words.