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 Southern Branch 
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 Form L-l 

 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 
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 A FIRST BOOK 
 IN WRITING ENGLISH
 
 :*&&&.
 
 A FIRST BOOK 
 
 IN 
 
 WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 PEDAGOGICAL !*L' 
 STATE NORMAL S 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWIN HERBERT LEWIS, Ph.D. 
 
 ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN LEWIS INSTITUTE 
 AND IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO 
 
 j£b9 8 
 
 Nefo ||orfe 
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 
 
 LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd. 
 
 1897 
 
 All rights reserved
 
 Copyright, 1897, 
 By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Nortoooti 33rrsss 
 
 J. S. Cushing 4 Co. — Berwick & Smith 
 Nurwuod Mass. U.S.A.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 It sometimes happens that the study of the prin- 
 ciples of composition is left until the overcrowded 
 last year of the high school, under the plea that 
 facts ought to precede generalizations. Is it not 
 better to have the pupil begin two or three years 
 earlier than this to frame simple generalizations 
 for his own future guidance ? The first year stu- 
 dent daily awakes to new experiences and prob- 
 lems. He demands rules and reasons : " How shall 
 he choose theme topics ? How much shall he 
 put into a sentence '? Why is electrocution in bad 
 usage ? " If the principle is asked for, should it 
 not be given — as much of it as can be digested '■! 
 ^ When such a course is followed, time enough is 
 v v ^ left in the high school for composition to become 
 _ ' a habit. The complex process wherein invention, 
 *J as it proceeds, is rectified by criticism, involves 
 many delicate reflexes. The formulated principle, 
 invaluable to the student in revising, in turn grows 
 to be an unconscious factor in every succeeding act 
 of composition. 
 
 The more essential rules ought not to be mere 
 phantoms to the boy just completing his first year
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 in the secondary school. In regard to other mat- 
 ters of living, great principles are taught him from 
 infancy, without the slightest fear of setting up too 
 analytic a state of mind. If a boy of three may be 
 told "always to do one thing at a time/' must a 
 boy be eighteen before he is told "always to 
 write about one thing at a time"? At three the 
 child is required to control some of his strongest 
 emotions; must he be eighteen before he is asked 
 to check digressions in the paragraph':' And is it 
 possible to implant a genuine habit of checking 
 digressions except by leading the student from 
 particular instances to some generalization which 
 he may keep in mind as a norm for future self- 
 criticism ? Synthesis and analysis cannot safely 
 be separated; a good prescription for most rhetori- 
 cal disorders is, more of both. Indeed, what seems 
 to be needed to-day in teaching composition is not 
 one thing, but several : on the one hand, more 
 utilization of literature and more appeal to social 
 interests ; on the other hand, more inductions and 
 generalizations by the student himself; on both 
 hands, more time for practice and self-criticism. 
 
 In the present book, originally printed privately 
 for my own classes and now rewritten and enlarged, 
 I have tried to present a large number of definite 
 situations to be faced for constructive practice both 
 in organization and in diction; and to give in 
 simple, even colloquial language, all the larger
 
 PREFACE Vll 
 
 generalizations which a boy presenting himself at 
 college might reasonably be expected to have been 
 using for two or three years as touchstones of his 
 own work. Except in the chapters on punctuation 
 and grammar, the order of reaching generalizations 
 is meant to be essentially inductive. In these 
 review-chapters a part of the principles come 
 before the illustrations in order to get the help of 
 all past associations. Even here the induction is 
 often gone through with a second time, leading up 
 to a restatement of the principle. It is recom- 
 mended that students should often be asked to 
 frame generalizations of their own, though the text- 
 book may have led up to similar ones. In Chapters 
 VII. and X., on words, I have tried to present con- 
 ditions favorable to the framing of definitions by 
 the student. By various devices I have constantly 
 tried to avoid separation between exercise critical 
 and exercise constructive. Occasionally, after the 
 correct form has been studied, bad English is of- 
 fered for correction, for the sake of the appeal to 
 the student's personal pride and his sense of the 
 ridiculous ; but in general it is assumed that the 
 student's correction of his own bad English will 
 afford plenty of contact with faulty forms. 
 
 The book is primarily intended to be used in 
 close connection with the literary studies of the 
 first two years of the secondary course. It may 
 be used later if the arrangement of subjects allows
 
 viii PREFACE 
 
 little time for literature in these earlier years. 
 The order of presentation should, 1 in the author's 
 opinion, follow that of the book. Still, Chapter 
 VIII., on correct choice of words* may be taken at 
 the start if the teacher prefers. Where a good deal 
 of literary study is carried 1 on in the first year, the 
 first eight chapters are perhaps enough for this 
 year. But a rate of progress cannot be prescribed. 
 A text-book is a mere help, and bad in proportion 
 as it tries to be anything more. Its function seems 
 to be to supply the supplementary appeal to the 
 eye, srhce the living teacher can engage to do this 
 but to a limited extent. It appears obvious that 
 the book should be read slowly enough to permit 
 two things — much parallel literary study, and 
 much revision of themes in the light of preceding 
 chapters. First drafts are sometimes all that are 
 worth making; but usually a task requiring con- 
 nected discourse is not finished until there have 
 been several revisions. If the student writes each 
 new composition with a view to one particular kind 
 of excellence, and then revises with reference to 
 the kinds of excellence he has previously striven 
 for, he will gradually be able to hold several sty- 
 listic principles in mind as he composes. Many 
 themes should be written in class. A limited pe- 
 
 1 From the first, brief supplementary themes, especially re- 
 productions, should be required. For bibliography of material, 
 see Chapter XIII.
 
 PREFACE IX 
 
 riocl should be set for the first draft; and half as 
 much time may well be spent in revising before 
 this is handed in. In this revision the student 
 may profitably read his theme as many times as 
 there are chapters to be mentally reviewed. 
 
 The remarkable strength of the verbal memory 
 in students of the first two years of the secondary 
 school is a fact by which every teacher must have 
 been impressed. 1 Add to this fact the other, that 
 the pupil's social interests are now in a perfect 
 renaissance of liveliness, and you have exactly the 
 conditions for enlarging the working vocabulary. 
 It is now or never. The boy, though like the man 
 he hates a fine distinction in conversation, is grow- 
 ing out of the exaggerated reticence which has 
 of late seemed to him the manly thing. He is no 
 longer determined to employ what Mrs. Meynell, 
 speaking of the boy of twelve, calls his "carefully 
 shortened vocabulary." 2 The girl, even more than 
 the boy, is full of new ideas which would flower 
 into speech if the words were to be had. To capt- 
 ure these new interests and satisfy them by litera- 
 ture is of course the best thing. Study of isolated 
 words, whether for knowledge or for power, is but 
 supplementary to the study of the vital functions 
 of words in the living organism. But even the 
 study of synonyms, if pursued in preparation for 
 
 1 Cf. President Stanley Hall's Pedagogical Seminary, iv.i. 76. 
 
 2 The Children, p. 103. (The Bodley Head. John Lane.)
 
 X PREFACE 
 
 an oral debate, — one of the very best exercises 
 for first-year students, — or in connection with a 
 page of spirited prose, rapidly becomes construc- 
 tive and vital. Although the chapters on vocabu- 
 lary (IX. and X.) may be given before the student 
 has begun a foreign language, the best results with 
 them will not be secured until he has had at least 
 six months in Latin. The study of prefixes and 
 suffixes (p. 18G ff.) should not be made burdensome. 
 Some general view of the subject seems desirable, 
 but the detailed study is best given in connection 
 with an interesting context. 
 
 For kindly criticism or advice I have debts of 
 gratitude to Professor and Mrs. W. I). McClintock ; 
 to Professor F. A. March, Professor John Dewey, 
 and Professor Robert Herrick ; to several of my 
 colleagues, especially Director George M. Carman, 
 Miss Jane Noble, and Mr. Phil B. Kohlsaat; to 
 Mr. F. A. Manny, to Mrs. Hufford and Miss Dye, 
 of Indianapolis ; to Superintendent A. F. Night- 
 ingale, Miss Jones, and Miss Herrick, of the 
 Chicago high schools. I have been particularly 
 indebted to Carpenter's Advanced Exercises, a book 
 made familiar to me by using it with freshmen in 
 college; and to Scott & Denney's ParagntjtJi-Writhn/. 
 For the index I have to thank Miss L. E. W. Bene- 
 dict, librarian of Lewis Institute, and Mr. Lewis 
 
 Gustafson. 
 
 E. IT. L. 
 Chicago, April 15, 1897.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface v 
 
 12 
 
 21 
 
 Introductory Explanations .... 
 I. The Art of Writing English . 
 II. On Heading Alodd, and on Spelling 
 
 III. A Review of Punctuation 
 
 IV. Grammatical Phases of Writing English 43 
 V. On Dividing a Paragraph into Sentences 74 
 
 VI. On Well-knit Sentences .... 96 
 
 VII. On Organizing the Theme . . . .114 
 
 VIII. On Correctness in Choice of Words . 147 
 
 IX. Sources of the English Vocabulary . 181 
 
 X. The Mastery of a Writing Vocabulary 194 
 
 XI. Right Number and Skilful Choice of 
 
 Words 227 
 
 XII. Letter-Writing ...... 255 
 
 XIII. Reproduction, Abstract, Summary, 
 
 Abridgment ...... 202 
 
 XIV. Narration and Description . . . 271 
 XV. Exposition and Argument . . . 279 
 
 Index . . . . . . . . . . 283 
 
 xi
 
 INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS 
 
 Our plan provides for a good many short com- 
 positions. These, as well as all other exercises, 
 should be written on uniform theme-paper, 1 say 
 eight inches by ten, with a broad margin at both 
 sides. There are advantages in the double margin. 
 First, it is easier for the reader of the theme to 
 jot down his suggestions at the right, since he 
 need not turn the paper to do so. Secondly, it is 
 well for the student to learn the knack of keeping 
 a straight edge at the left hand. Only one side of 
 the paper should be written on. If a mistake is 
 made, a heavy line may be drawn through the 
 word. The manuscript ought to present the neat- 
 est possible appearance. Blank spaces are to be 
 avoided at the end of lines, except where a para- 
 graph ends. The straight edge, referred to above, 
 is to be scrupulously preserved at the left of the 
 page, except that when a new paragraph (that is, 
 division of the theme) is to begin, the first line 
 of it should start about Uvo inches farther to the 
 right than the other lines. The pages should be 
 carefully numbered in the upper right-hand cor- 
 1 Some teachers will prefer to use composition-books. 
 
 B 1
 
 2 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 ner, and kept in their proper order. Nothing is 
 more disconcerting to any person who reads a 
 manuscript than to open the paper ami find before 
 him the last page, rather than the first. Every 
 theme should have a definite title. This should 
 appear in the blank space at the top of the first 
 page and in the endorsement of the folded paper, 
 on the back of the last page. The theme should 
 be folded once, lengthwise. In the blank space at 
 the top should be written the endorsement, which 
 should follow this model : (1) name ; (2) name of 
 course ; (3) title ; (4) date. 
 
 Richard Doe. 
 
 First year English. 
 A Dialogue on Politics. 
 Oct. 1, 189-. 
 
 After the themes have been read, whether by 
 the instructor alone or by the class and the 
 instructor, they will be returned with marginal 
 comments, and (just under the endorsement) a 
 summary of these comments. In many cases the 
 student will be expected to rewrite, and the word 
 Rewrite will appear with the general comment. 
 Otherwise he will be expected to Revise, that is, 
 to interline corrections and improvements on the 
 manuscript without copying it. 
 
 Each student's papers will be filed and kept. 
 He will often be asked to consult with the instruc-
 
 INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS 3 
 
 tor concerning his own progress, as shown by his 
 bundle of themes. 
 
 The following suggestive signs ] may be used 
 in the margin of themes, indicating the presence 
 of errors, the actual errors to be discovered by 
 the pupil for himself. Some teachers will prefer 
 a simpler system of symbols, some a more elaborate 
 system. The suggested list can easily be modified 
 or supplanted. 
 
 Ms. Bad manuscript. 
 
 V. Some obvious fault — a mark which will be used more 
 and more frequently as the student's knowledge in- 
 creases. The check-mark will frequently indicate 
 bad spelling or punctuation, or fault in capitalizing. 
 
 Sp. Bad spelling (see under check-mark). - 
 
 Hy. Fault in use of hyphen. 
 
 P. Fault in punctuation (see also under check-mark). 
 
 Cap. Fault in the use of a capital letter (see check-mark). 
 
 L. Too loose ; structure rambling. 
 
 S. Solecism. 
 
 C. Structure incoherent. 
 
 E. Lack of emphasis in sentence. 
 
 U. Lack of unity in sentence. 
 
 Tr. Transpose order of words. 
 
 V. Vague. 
 
 A. Ambiguous. 
 
 H"U. Lack of unity in paragraph. 
 
 1. Proper place for a paragraph. 
 
 (. Eun two paragraphs together. 
 
 []. Passages within brackets to be omitted. 
 
 ,9. Dele, take out, omit ; a mark used in correcting print- 
 er's proof. 
 
 1 A part of these signs are from G. R. Carpenter's admirable 
 Exercises in Rhetoric and English Composition.
 
 4 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 | . Against a passage requiring to be wholly recast. 
 
 Hi. Unnecessary repetition of idea. 
 
 Questions truth of statement. 
 
 IS. Barbarism. 
 
 I. Impropriety. 
 W. Wordy. 
 
 II. High-flown, inflated, or over-ambitious. 
 I). Consult the dictionary. 
 
 Hack. Hackneyed. 
 
 B\v. Better word needed — a more exact or appropriate 
 
 word. 
 Rw. Unnecessary repetition of a word. 
 M. Metaphors mixed, or other fault in the use of figures 
 
 of speech. 
 K. Awkward, ugly, or unpleasing. 
 Br. Bad taste. 
 
 A strong notebook of portable size is needed for 
 the work in spelling and vocabulary. It should 
 be used from the first for noting new words, etc. 
 See page 199.
 
 A FIKST BOOK 
 
 IN 
 
 WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 An Art of Communication. — Language may be 
 studied in various ways. It may be scientifically 
 investigated as a historical growth, or as a curious 
 revelation of how the human mind works. This 
 kind of study has pure knowledge for its object; if 
 it learns the laws which govern language, it is satis- 
 fied. Again, language may be studied with a view 
 to applying its principles to the art of self-expres- 
 sion. The attempt to find words for one's ideas 
 has enlivened many a weary hour for many a per- 
 son who wrote merely for his own satisfaction. But 
 the chief object for which language should be 
 studied is that it may be made a means of com- 
 munication. 
 
 Most that is good in life comes from men's ability 
 
 5
 
 6 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISII 
 
 to make their fellows share their thoughts and 
 feelings. Uut it is not always an easy thing to 
 make others see how we feel or think. The young 
 child is called an infant, a word which means not- 
 speaking. Half his miseries arise from his inability 
 to communicate his notions. "Men are but chil- 
 dren of a larger growth," and much of their misery 
 results from inability to tell what they think or 
 feel. In a sense the case is worse for the man 
 than for the child. The latter makes gestures and 
 grimaces to help his meaning out ; and he depends 
 not in vain on pitch and stress. The grown man is 
 partly shorn of these helps, in that he has to com- 
 municate by letters and other compositions. How 
 much more work the eye does to-day than the ear ! 
 Before the age of printing, things were different. 
 
 Both in speaking and in writing there are many 
 special laws that must be observed if there is to be 
 real communication. The special laws of spoken 
 language are not so numerous as those of written 
 language. Written language has to be much more 
 careful than spoken ; the writer has no chance of 
 correcting himself on the spot if not understood. 
 Nevertheless a knowledge of how to communicate 
 by written words is a very great help in communi- 
 cating orally. 
 
 The art of communicating by means of written 
 English words is called English composition, or 
 rhetoric. The latter word once meant the art of
 
 THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH 7 
 
 speaking ; and it still keeps this sense when a com- 
 position is written to be delivered. Rhetoric is a 
 useful art, like that of curing the sick, or that of 
 building bridges. A matter of prime importance 
 to each man is that, in business or in society, he 
 should be able to say or write exactly what he 
 means ; rhetoric helps him to do this. A business 
 man may lose money by failing to make himself 
 clearly understood; misunderstandings and quar- 
 rels arise between friends because some one has 
 failed to write just what he meant; a man is liable 
 to be taken for a boor if he abuses the English lan- 
 guage. Rhetoric is an exceedingly practical art. 
 
 It would not, however, be fair to remove all em- 
 phasis from the fact that rhetoric is a fine art, an 
 art of beauty. As soon as the student begins to mas- 
 ter the use of words, he has a chance to become an 
 artist in language. In producing a beautiful thing 
 he feels the artist's pleasure. Most persons like 
 to play some musical instrument, or experiment 
 in color, or use a camera. Why should they not 
 come to enjoy the art of setting down their ideas 
 in words skilfully chosen, and arranged with deli- 
 cate precision? The old Greeks enjoyed it — those 
 people who knew how to extract so much high 
 pleasure from life. Along with their musical con- 
 tests and athletic contests, they had trials of skill 
 in poetry and in public speech. 
 
 There is no more delightful art than that of
 
 8 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 writing, if the writer finds words for his own fresh 
 impressions. In order to learn the mandolin, a 
 new player will train his wrist till it aches. 
 But thrumming music is doubtless small pleasure 
 compared with writing music; and writing Eng- 
 lish is in a way like writing music, — a fine, 
 high, creative process, which, in the hands of a 
 master, results in a permanent, not a fleeting, 
 product. 
 
 A teacher of English recently said that, in a cer- 
 tain sense, if a student likes any study at all he 
 can be brought to like composition also. 1 She was 
 right. If he cares for mathematics, and the beau- 
 tiful precision by which everything in mathematics 
 falls exactly into its place, he will enjoy showing 
 the exact relations he conceives to exist between 
 the parts of his sentence. If a girl likes music 
 she will care for the music that is in prose. She 
 will perceive that a good sentence is free from 
 ugly sounds, and has furthermore a music of 
 rhythm, a finely modulated rise and fall that a 
 keen ear readily perceives. A lad declares him- 
 self interested in inventing or in building machin- 
 ery. If so, why should he not enjoy building a 
 theme ? To think out a new mechanical device 
 recpiires much the same kind of ingenuity, sense 
 of proportion, perception of cause and effect, that 
 
 1 Elizabeth H. Spalding : The Problem of Elementary Com- 
 position. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co.
 
 THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH 9 
 
 are required in thinking out the logical frame- 
 work of a composition. 
 
 The student should work steadily toward the 
 point where he may come to have an abiding love 
 for that which is lucid and beautiful in expression 
 by words. He will never regret the time he 
 spends in perfecting his instrument of expression. 
 No matter how practical the life he plans to lead, 
 the power of writing down his ideas in good 
 English, in a way that will leave no doubt as 
 to what he meant and how earnestly he meant 
 it, will always profit him. One meets every- 
 where men who lament that they gave so little 
 attention to our language when they Avere young 
 enough to master it. 
 
 The Limitations of the Art. — It must never be 
 supposed that, because to some extent a fine art, 
 rhetoric should be studied as an end in itself. What 
 was said a moment ago about the primary aim 
 of the study must be kept steadily in view. We 
 study the art of composition not for the art's 
 sake, but to communicate our ideas and feelings. 
 Rhetoric does not profess to supply the student 
 with ideas, though it assumes that his mind is 
 stimulated to new thought by trying to express that 
 which he already has. The more ideas he brings 
 to the study, — ideas he has thought out in 
 life or in his other studies, like literature, history,
 
 10 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 civics, — the more facility lie will carry away ; 
 for ideas are the very best of material to make 
 themes of. If composition does only one thing for 
 a given person, — if, namely, it brings him to a 
 sturdy habit of finding something to say before he 
 asks other people to listen to him, — it is eminently 
 worth while. 
 
 Write for an Audience. — Writing is usually good 
 in proportion as the writer is interested in it. If 
 he cares for it, if he is anxious to find a worthy 
 thought and make it clear to the eyes of others, 
 he will be very likely to succeed in doing so. 
 Something of every student's weekly work ought 
 to be good enough to come before the eyes of his 
 friends and to command his friends' respect. The 
 student will find that his mates are keen critics; 
 they will not respect poor work. l>ut they are 
 also fair and sympathetic critics, ready and willing 
 to surrender on sight to really good work. A. class 
 as a whole will judge the compositions of each 
 member disinterestedly and appreciatively. 
 
 Whatever is most characteristic of you, as differ- 
 ent from other people; whatever gift is yours, of 
 imagination, or reasoning power, or emotion, or 
 humor, — all will find its fit expression in your 
 writing. Every human being is particularly inter- 
 ested in something, is peculiarly apt at something. 
 To find out what most appeals to one's self in
 
 THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH 11 
 
 literature or in life, and to voice one's ideas about 
 it, is to know a keen pleasure. It is more. It is to 
 be of some use to one's fellows. As human beings 
 we want other human beings to tell us the best 
 that is in them. If a man has ideas we wish to 
 share them — and wish him to learn how to ex- 
 press them that we may share them. If he hasn't 
 ideas, the effort to express what he considers such 
 will convince both him and us of the fact. But 
 then ! — everybody has ideas.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 ON READING ALOUD, AND ON SPELLING 
 
 Reading Aloud. — One of the quickest ways of 
 learning to know good English, is oral reading. 
 For him who would write the language it is there- 
 fore a great economy to learn to read it. It is an 
 invaluable habit to read aloud every day some piece 
 of prose with the finest feeling the reader can lend 
 to it. In no other way can one so easily learn to 
 notice and to remember new words. In no other 
 way can one catch the infinitely varied rhythm of 
 prose, and acquire a sense of how a good sentence 
 rises gradually from the beginning and then de- 
 scends in a cadence. This rise and fall of the sen- 
 tence is not merely a matter of voice ; it is a matter 
 of thought as well. Similarly, the law of unity 
 in the senteuce, a law which prescribes what shall 
 constitute a complete thought, is curiously bound 
 up with the laws of the human voice. A clause 
 that is too long to be pronounced in a single breath 
 is usually clumsy in logic, In the next place, read- 
 ing aloud helps one to spell correctly. Further- 
 more, it is the best means of detecting those useless 
 repetitions which betray poverty of vocabulary. 
 
 12
 
 ON READING ALOUD, ON SPELLING 13 
 
 Rousseau called accent the soul of language. If 
 the student reads aloud from writers whose work 
 was natural, unforced, original, he will gradually 
 come to see his own ideas more clearly, feel his 
 own feelings more keenly. Best of all, however, 
 let him read his own work aloud, habitually. This 
 will help him to see whether or not it is correct, 
 natural, effective. 
 
 Spelling. 1 — Bad spelling should practically be a 
 thing of the past for each student by the end of 
 his first high school year. Every one can learn to 
 spell, though some more rapidly than others. 
 
 Perhaps the chief reason why persons fail to 
 spell correctly is that they do not read correctly. 
 They have not trained their eyes to see what is on 
 the page ; they do not notice the syllables. It is a 
 good practice to read every day a page or two very 
 slowly, examining the words letter by letter. It is 
 equally helpful to read the page aloud after ex- 
 amining it. In so doing give every vowel its true 
 value ; cut no syllable short that should be sounded 
 distinctly. 
 
 After writing a theme, go through it, challenging 
 the spelling. Do not hand in your work without 
 having consulted your own dictionary. A bad 
 
 1 Do not discard your old text-book in grammar or in " lan- 
 guage." Bring it to school and keep it at hand for ready refer- 
 ence. In it are rules for spelling; these, as well as other rules, 
 you will be glad to review occasionally.
 
 14 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 speller may not be able to win in an oral spelling- 
 match ; but there is no reason why every page of 
 his writing should not be perfect in orthography. 
 
 Into a little blank-book copy the correct form of 
 every word you misspell. Each day read over 
 carefully several words by syllables, and then write 
 them from memory. The more frequently the 
 hand writes the word in its correct form, the 
 better; for the hand has a memory of its own, 
 and the mere act of writing a given form tends 
 to fix it in memory. 
 
 Make good spelling a matter of pride. Habitual 
 bad spelling is a slovenly thing, a mark of illiteracy. 
 
 Spelling of Compound Words. — It may be well 
 to call attention here to the use of the hyphen in 
 compound words. 
 
 1. The hyphen is needed in a compound adjective, 
 if there is any doubt as to the meaning when the 
 hyphen is omitted. "Red-hot iron" may be a 
 different idea from "red hot iron." 
 
 2. Numbers like the following take the hyphen: 
 seventy-three, seventy -third. 
 
 3. Many a word once compounded is now written 
 solid, that is, as a single word : railroad, steamboat, 
 anybody, anything, raindrop, forever, schoolboy, 
 schoolhouse, schoolmate, schoolfellow (but school 
 d;iys, school teacher, school district); myself, your- 
 self (but one's self; ; childlike, lifelike. All these
 
 ON READING ALOUD, ON SPELLING 15 
 
 words but two, it will be seen, have a monosyl- 
 lable for the first part. When in doubt as to 
 whether or not a hyphen is needed, consult 
 some special manual like Bigelow's Handbook of 
 Punctuation. 
 
 In all your writing, join distinctly syllables that 
 you wish to have go together. Notice the absurd 
 and misleading effect of such careless writing as 
 this: "He was a glass maker and worked down 
 at the glass house; his gal lant moust ache and 
 his loud voice trai necl by blow ing glass mad e 
 him wel come at the harvest home celebrations." 
 
 Possessives. — The possessive singular of a mono- 
 syllable ending in s is regularly made by adding *s, 
 pronounced as an extra syllable. Thus : Jones's ; 
 Briggs's. For the polysyllable ending in s or the 
 sound of s, merely the apostrophe is usually re- 
 quired, as in the plural. Thus: "Moses' seat"; 
 "conscience' sake." 
 
 Singulars and Plurals. — Spell aloud by syllables, 
 and write from dictation the plurals of the follow- 
 ing ? 'Analysis, animalcule, antithesis, appen- 
 dix, bandit, cherub, crisis, ellipsis, focus, fungus, 
 genus, hypothesis, madame, memorandum, mon- 
 sieur, mother-in-law, mussulman, nebula, oasis, pa- 
 renthesis, radius, spoonful, synopsis. 
 
 What are the singulars — if singulars there are 
 — of data, errata, magi, strata, vertebrae ?
 
 1C FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Written Exercise. — Below are given the correct 
 form of certain words often misspelled by pupils 
 in the first and second years of a secondary school. 
 Without previous study write each word from dic- 
 tation. Afterwards spell aloud by syllables each 
 word that you misspelled in writing from dictation. 
 Then write at least twenty times the correct form. 
 The object is to acquire a kind of automatic cor- 
 rectness. In composing, one should have his mind 
 free for thought; one should not have to think 
 much more about spelling than about breathing. 
 
 Accompany; advisability; all right; anniversary; 
 appearance ; associated ; bargained ; buried ; car- 
 riage ; catarrh ; cemetery ; characteristic ; com- 
 mander ; commotion; conceive; condescension; 
 confidante ; confidence ; deceive ; describe ; descrip- 
 tions ; despair; difficulty; dilapidate; disappointed; 
 disappeared ; ecstasy ; enemies ; enemy ; exagger- 
 ate ; excrescence; existence; fascination; fatigu- 
 ing; finally; further; grammar; handkerchief 
 hating ; hemorrhage ; immature ; indispensable 
 irresistible; lightning; literary; living; loathsome 
 lose (the money) ; manoeuvre ; melancholy ; min 
 ister ; ministry ; misshapen ; necessary ; niece 
 occurrence ; offered ; opportunity ; outrageous 
 parallel; paralysis; peaceable; persuade; planned 
 poniard; primitive; principal (objection) ; princi- 
 ple (of action); privilege; promenading; pur- 
 suit; received; recommend; redoubtable; referred;
 
 ON HEADING ALOUD, ON SPELLING 17 
 
 representatives; rhythm; sacrilegious; secretary; 
 seize; seized; separate; shoeing; siege; simile; 
 stopped; striking; studied; superintendent; sup- 
 posing; tenants; theatre; their (money); trans- 
 ferred; until; veil (on face); vengeance; very; vil- 
 lage; wasn't; whether; Roger de Cover] ey ; George 
 Eliot; Lord Macaulay; Michigan; Thackeray. 
 
 Word Breaking. — At the end of a line do not 
 divide (a) a monosyllable, (6) a short dissyllable, 
 such as real, doing. Divide polysyllables accord- 
 ing to their etymological composition (to be found 
 in the dictionary). Some authors discountenance 
 beginning a second line with -ic, -al, -ing, -ly. These 
 breakings are perhaps permissible, if the hyphen is 
 made very distinct. 
 
 Written and Oral Exercise. — The instructor 
 should ask each pupil in turn to recall, spell, 
 and pronounce some word that doubles the letter 
 c. The class should then be given a few minutes 
 to write from memory as many of those given as 
 they can recall. After this the pronouncing and 
 spelling should proceed as long as possible, alter- 
 nately with the writing. The lists should then be 
 compared, and the pupil who has reproduced the 
 largest number of words should be asked to spell 
 and pronounce each one on his list. The other 
 pupils should then be called upon to read from
 
 18 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 their own lists words that the first fails to give. 
 Each should then be asked to add to his paper all 
 words remembered by other members of the class, 
 but not by him. 1 
 
 Pronunciation. — A person who regards good usage 
 in pronunciation and who articulates with unaffected 
 nicety, is received at once as an educated man. It 
 is interesting to see how often Lord Chesterfield, 
 the best-mannered of Englishmen, insists that a 
 gentleman is known by his accent. Chesterlield's 
 letters to his son are full of this idea. A sense 
 of ease and security blesses him who knows how 
 to sound every word that occurs to him as he talks ; 
 it is such a sense as a man feels when he is sure 
 that his clothes fit him and are cut according to 
 the accepted conventions. It is accordingly worth 
 all the trouble involved, to form a habit of letting 
 no word pass unchallenged as to its orthoepy. 
 Look it up in the dictionary, or in a good manual like 
 Phyfe's Seven Thousand Words often Mispronounced. 
 
 Exercise. — Below is given a short list of words 
 frequently mispronounced. The instructor should 
 pronounce the words, and ask the class to pro- 
 nounce them. 
 
 1 The author is indebted for the idea of this exercise to Miss 
 Catherine Aiken's Mi thods of Mind-Training (Harper & I'.ros.). 
 If it proves helpful it should he extended to the consonants </, 
 /, g, I, m, n. p, r. 8, >.
 
 ON READING ALOUD, ON SPELLING 19 
 
 Abdomen, 
 
 biography, 
 
 finance, 
 
 abject, 
 
 bitumen, 
 
 financier, 
 
 absinthe, 
 
 boatswain, 
 
 garrulous, 
 
 abstruse, 
 
 bravado, 
 
 gaunt, 
 
 cLCtlClct. 
 
 bronchitis, 
 
 genuine, 
 
 accessory, 
 
 canine, 
 
 gibber, 
 
 acclimate, 
 
 cant, 
 
 gibbet, 
 
 acoustics, 
 
 can't, 
 
 glacier, 
 
 actor, 
 
 cement (noun), 
 
 gratis, 
 
 adagio, 
 
 cemetery, 
 
 grimace, 
 
 adult, 
 
 cerebrum, 
 
 half, 
 
 advertisement, 
 
 clematis, 
 
 hegira, 
 
 aeronaut, 
 
 coadjutor, 
 
 heinous, 
 
 again, 
 
 daunt, 
 
 impious, 
 
 aged, 
 
 decade, 
 
 jugular, 
 
 aggrandize, 
 
 devil, 
 
 lamentable, 
 
 aide-de-camp, 
 
 diphtheria, 
 
 learned (adj.), 
 
 allopathy, 
 
 disdain, 
 
 legend, 
 
 ally, 
 
 dislike, 
 
 lever, 
 
 alma mater, 
 
 drama, 
 
 literature, 
 
 alternate (noun 
 
 duke, 
 
 nape, 
 
 and adjective), 
 
 dynasty, 
 
 nomad, 
 
 amenable, 
 
 enervate, 
 
 opponent, 
 
 apricot, 
 
 evil, 
 
 pageant, 
 
 arbutus, 
 
 exhale, 
 
 patriot, 
 
 aroma, 
 
 exhaust, 
 
 patron, 
 
 aspirant, 
 
 extant, 
 
 petal, 
 
 bade, 
 
 extempore, 
 
 precedence, 
 
 bellows, 
 
 finale, 
 
 precedent,
 
 20 FIRST HOOK IN WMTLXU ENGLISH 
 
 quay, 
 
 squalor, 
 
 water, 
 
 revolt. 
 
 subtile, 
 
 wrath, 
 
 rise (noun), 
 
 subtle, 
 
 zoology. 1 
 
 sacrifice, 
 
 vagary, 
 
 
 Abelard, 
 
 Alcantara, 
 
 Czerny, 
 
 Abernethy, 
 
 Alcuin, 
 
 Latin, 
 
 About (Ednioud), 
 
 Aldebaran, 
 
 Laocoon, 
 
 Abydos, 
 
 Alighieri, 
 
 Medici, 
 
 Acheron, 
 
 Amphion, 
 
 Mivart, 
 
 Achitophel, 
 
 Andronicus, 
 
 (St. George), 
 
 Adonis, 
 
 Antinous, 
 
 Orion, 
 
 /Egean, 
 
 Aquinas, 
 
 Paderewski, 
 
 ^olus, 
 
 Arab, 
 
 Pepys, 
 
 /Eschylus, 
 
 Aral, 
 
 Proserpine, 
 
 Afghanistan, 
 
 Arundel, 
 
 Sienkiewicz, 
 
 Agincourt, 
 
 Athos, 
 
 • * 
 
 Southey, 
 
 Agues, 
 
 Avon, 
 
 Thalia, 
 
 Aguilar (Grace), 
 
 Aytoun, 
 
 Tschaikowsky, 
 
 Aula, 
 
 Bajazet, 
 
 Volapiik, 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 
 Balliol (college), 
 
 Wagner, 
 
 Alaric, 
 
 Balmoral, 
 
 Ygdrasil. 
 
 1 The mark over the second syllable is called the diaeresis. 
 U indicates that each vowel is to be pronounced separately.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 
 
 Punctuation is a system of disjunctive marks by 
 which the eye and ear are helped to understand the 
 sense of what is written. It is desirable to regard 
 the subject as governed to a great extent by a few 
 principles of common sense. The present chapter 
 reviews those matters of capitalization and punctua- 
 tion which seem to give most trouble to secondary 
 school students. 
 
 Capitals. 
 
 1. Of course all proper nouns should begin with 
 capital letters, and so should adjectives derived 
 from them : examples, Russia, Russian, Jew, Jeiv- 
 ish, Gentile, French, German. But the word chris- 
 tian is not always capitalized, especially if it is 
 used vaguely as a synonym for good, righteous, etc. 
 
 2. We capitalize the words North, South, East, 
 West, when, because we mean parts of the country, 
 we use the article the before them. Thus, " The ex- 
 treme West favors free silver." But if we speak 
 of direction merely, we do not capitalize : " Many 
 
 21
 
 22 FIEST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 people took Horace Greeley's advice and went 
 west." Capitalize sections of the country, but not 
 points of the compass. 
 
 3. Names of the seasons are not capitalized. 
 Thus, though we write June, September, we also 
 write spring, autumn. 
 
 4. In the salutation of a letter, the word Sir is 
 capitalized, but not the preceding adjective unless 
 that begins the salutation. Thus: " My dear Sir." 
 So in the leave-taking only the first word receives 
 a capital. Thus: " Yours very truly.* 7 
 
 5. One valuable device is the use of the capital 
 to introduce the semblance of a quotation, or what 
 might be called a rhetorical quotation. Note : " I 
 should answer, No." Here the quotation Xo is 
 merely rhetorical, or pretended, not real. Or this : 
 "Let me give you a short rule for success: Trust 
 in God and keep your powder dry." Or this, from 
 Longfellow : '" Perhaps the greatest lesson which 
 the lives of literary men teach us is told in a single 
 word: Wait!" 
 
 G. In titles of books, essays, etc., the important 
 words are capitalized. Thus : " My theme-title 
 to-day was, A Description of a Person." 
 
 7. Names of Deity begin with a capital, and 
 many persons prefer to capitalize adjectives refer- 
 ring directly to Deity. Thus : " We crave Thy 
 grace." But this habit should not be carried so 
 far as the capitalization of words like divine, omnia-
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 23 
 
 cient, when these are not applied to Deity. Rather : 
 " His goodness was divine." 
 
 Written Exercise. — Copy the following, capitaliz- 
 ing where necessary : — 
 
 1. After going south last spring I understood 
 better than before what is meant by the new south. 
 The southerners have taken to manufacturing ; the 
 cotton is no longer all shipped away. Wealth 
 has multiplied. Immigration has increased — the 
 french are not the only foreigners now. There 
 are colleges and even universities, that compare 
 favorably with those of the north. Are the people 
 wide-awake and ambitious ? I answer, yes. 
 
 The Reasons for Punctuation. — In early days 
 manuscripts were written " solid," thus : — 
 
 MANUSCRIPTSWEREWRITTENSOLID. 
 
 It was found that both eye and ear demanded 
 spaces and punctuation. The reader's train of 
 thought goes straight ahead from word to word 
 until the punctuation mark warns it that there 
 is danger of misunderstanding if it does not pause. 
 The mark shows that the words which precede it 
 are to be understood mentally as a group, and 
 to be read orally as a group. If the thought is 
 kept in mind that a punctuation mark is a sort 
 of danger signal, many of the difficulties of the 
 subject vanish. "Henry rose, and I with him
 
 24 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 laughed at the story we had heard." If that 
 comma be omitted between rose and and, what 
 happens ? 
 
 The Comma. 
 
 1. The comma, even more than other points, 
 shows what the meaning of the sentence is ; it 
 should set off the parts of the thought. Nothing is 
 easier than to spoil a minor unit of thought by 
 breaking it in two with a comma. So far as may 
 be, the modified subject of a sentence should not be 
 cut into by a comma; neither should the modified 
 predicate ; nor should a subject and its predicate be 
 separated any oftener by commas than is necessary. 
 The following passage, written by a lad of fifteen 
 from dictation, shows the minor units of thought 
 divided by too many commas : — 
 
 The mean appearance of the houses, in old Boston, was, 
 to some extent, relieved by the rich display, of painted, and 
 sculptured signs, which adorned the front of taverns, and 
 stores. . . . They served sometimes, as advertisements of 
 the business, sometimes merely as designations, of the shops 
 which were indicated popularly, and, in the newspapers, by 
 their signs. 
 
 If this passage be read aloud, a pause being made 
 wherever a comma is placed, it will sound un- 
 natural, disconnected. Revised, it will read some- 
 what as follows : — 
 
 The mean appearance of the houses in old Boston was, 
 to some extent, relieved by the rich display of painted and
 
 A BE VIEW OF PUNCTUATION 25 
 
 sculptured signs which adorned the front of taverns and 
 stores. . . . They served sometimes as advertisements of 
 the business, sometimes merely as designations of the shops, 
 which were indicated popularly and in the newspapers by 
 their signs. 
 
 2. Commas are used to set off matter that is 
 parenthetical, but not sufficiently so as to need 
 parentheses or dashes. Such words as therefore 
 are not usually to be considered as parenthetical. 
 A parenthetical group of words is not to be broken 
 into unnecessarily by a comma. Incorrect form : 
 " The squire remarked, as all Ave who live here, in 
 Smithboro, know, that, so far as the people who 
 lived over there, in Edinburgh, are concerned, we 
 are as happy as they." Correct form : " The squire 
 remarked, as all we who live here in Smithboro' 
 know, that so far as the people who live over 
 there in Edinburgh are concerned, we are as happy 
 as they." 
 
 3. Vocative words, that is, words used in direct 
 address, are set off by commas. " Come, men, let's 
 go ! " " Well, sir, how now ? " It is curious that 
 in the expressions " Yes, sir," " No, sir," in pro- 
 nouncing which we do not pause before " sir" we 
 still place a comma here. Probably no rule of 
 punctuation is more neglected than this of vocative 
 words. Something like this usage is the placing of 
 a comma after the expletive Now. Thus: "Now, 
 I think that the case is a little different."
 
 26 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 4. (a) Words or phrases forming a series are 
 separated by commas when conjunctions are 
 omitted; and the comma is used between the 
 last two members of the series, conjunction or no 
 conjunction. Thus : " Burns, Barnes of Dorset- 
 shire, and lliley are poets of the people." If the 
 last comma were omitted, we should seem not to 
 be considering each man separately. Exceptions: 
 " little old man," "fine fat hen," etc. 
 
 (b) A rapid series of independent propositions, 
 very closely related in sense, may be punctuated 
 by commas. Thus: "I came, I saw, I conquered." 
 This is the only structure in which an mdependenl 
 statement, not introduced by a conjunction, is ever 
 pointed with the comma. If there is any doubt 
 whether or not the series is rapid enough to admit 
 commas, semicolons should be used instead. 
 
 5. Relative clauses not restrictive 1 are set off by 
 commas. This is a rather important rule. If I 
 say, " The moon, which, as everybody is aware, goes 
 round the earth, is cold," the which clause does not 
 so restrict or define the word " moon " that it is 
 necessary to our understanding what is meant by 
 " the moon " ; the relative clause can be picked out 
 bodily, and the sentence will still be intelligible. 
 " The moon is cold," is clear enough to people who 
 
 1 Such may be called logically co-ordinate, though grammati- 
 cally dependent. The restrictive relative clause maybe called 
 the necessary relative clause; the non-restrictive may be called 
 the unnecessary or additional relative clause.
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 27 
 
 live on the earth. They understand that the earth's 
 moon is meant. But suppose I say, " The moon 
 which goes round the earth is smaller than one of 
 Jupiter's moons " ; now the relative clause identifies, 
 restricts the word "moon" — tells what moon is 
 meant. The clause forms an integral part of the 
 subject. It is no longer the moon merely, a thing 
 that everybody knows about; it is one particular 
 moon : the-moon-which-goes-round-the-earth. Occa- 
 sionally such a clause can be identified by that, 
 for many writers save this relative for restrictive 
 clauses. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Copy and punctuate the fol- 
 lowing sentences, all of which, except the first, are 
 from Robert Louis Stevenson. Defend orally your 
 pointing : — 
 
 1. There goes President Harper who is so much 
 interested in everything that interests students. 
 
 2. Marquis I said, if you take another step I fire 
 upon you'/ 
 
 3. In the midst of these imagine that natural 
 clumsy unintelligent and mirthful animal John. 
 
 4. The terms and spirit in which he spoke of 
 his political beliefs were in our eyes suited to 
 religious beliefs and vice versa. 
 
 5. Oh yes I dare say said John. 
 
 6. Moy pronounced Moy was a pleasant little 
 village.
 
 28 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 7. We were in a large bare apartment adorned 
 with two allegorical prints of music and painting 
 and a copy of the law against public drunkenness 
 
 8. Now what I like so much in France is the 
 clear unflinching recognition by everybody of his 
 own luck 
 
 9. If it ever be**"a good thing to take such de- 
 spondency to heart the Miserere is the right music 
 and a cathedral a fit scene 
 
 10. But the sun was already down the air was 
 chill and we had scarcely a dry stitch between the 
 pair of us 
 
 11. The inn to which we had been recommended 
 at Quartes was full. 
 
 12. Mine. Gilliard set herself to waken the boy 
 who had come far that day and was peevish and 
 dazzled by the light. 
 
 13. Do you remember the Frenchman who was 
 put down at Waterloo Station 
 
 14. The children who played together to-day by 
 the Sambre and Oise canal each at his own father's 
 threshold when and where might they next meet 
 
 15. I began with a remark upon their dog which 
 had somewhat the look of a pointer 
 
 16. The only buildings that had any interest for 
 us were the hotel and the cafe 
 
 17. Not long after the drums had passed the 
 cafe [we] began to grow sleepy and set out for the 
 hotel which was only a door or two away 
 
 i-
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 29 
 
 The Semicolon. 
 
 1. The semicolon is a kind of weak full-stop, i.e. 
 period. Nearly always it separates clauses that 
 are grammatically able to get along without each 
 other, but that are closely related in sense. So 
 rare indeed are the cases in which the semicolon 
 may be used with a dependent clause, that a high 
 school student may properly ignore them. For the 
 present, avoid using the semicolon to }ioint a depend- 
 ent clause. 
 
 2. Sometimes the semicolon punctuates a series 
 of mere phrases. This occurs if some particular 
 emphasis is desired for them, or if they are too 
 long to be set off by commas. Example : — 
 
 An enormous smoke-stack blocks my view ; built 
 of brick, and massive ; blue in the cold winter 
 mist ; glowing like a pillar of fire as soon as the 
 sunlight reaches it ; the most changing, the most 
 stable, thing is this landscape. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Which statements in the follow- 
 ing sentences are independent ? which dependent ? 
 (It need hardly be suggested that the necessity of 
 understanding a subject or a predicate does not 
 make a statement dependent.) 
 
 1. If the sky falls, we shall catch larks. 
 
 2. Faults are thick, where love is thin. 
 
 3. Happy is he that is happy'in his children. 
 
 4. Histories make men wise ; poets, witty ; the
 
 30 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 mathematics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; 
 morals, grave ; logic and rhetoric, able to contend. 
 
 5. 0, there be players that I have seen play, — 
 and heard others praise, and that highly — not to 
 speak it profanely, that neither having the accent 
 of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, aor 
 man' have so strutted and bellowed, that I have 
 thought some of nature's journeymen had made 
 men, and not made them well* they imitated hu- 
 manity so abominably. — Hamlet, Act III. Sc. 2. 
 
 The following sentences were written by a pupil 
 in the first year of the high school. If there are 
 mistakes in punctuation, explain what principle is 
 violated : — 
 
 1. When the time came to retire ; my uncle was 
 shown to the tower-room. 
 
 2. A short time afterward when he was travel- 
 ling through Normandy ; he came to an old castle 
 standing in the midst of a park. 
 
 3. The postilion was ordered to drive to the 
 castle ; where my uncle received a welcome from 
 the little Marquis. 
 
 4. This seemed the very night for ghosts ; with 
 the wind howling outside and whistling through 
 the ill-fitting casement. 
 
 The Colon. 
 
 1. The colon is usually a mark of specification. 
 Thus, ''The old idea of education was simple:
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 31 
 
 reading, writing, arithmetic." A fine distinction 
 of logic can be shown by using it : a general state- 
 ment may be followed by a colon, after which the 
 details that explain the statement may be given. 
 In the following sentence the colon specifies what 
 is meant by fine character. "He was a fellow of 
 fine character: brave, honorable, free from false 
 pretense." Usually the colon separates clauses 
 that are logically, if not grammatically, in apposi- 
 tion with each other. 
 
 2. The colon introduces a formal or long, the 
 comma an informal or short, quotation. "He 
 answered, 'I will work while the day lasts." 
 "The Declaration of Independence begins as fol- 
 lows: 'When, in the course of human events." 
 
 The Dash. 
 
 1. The dash shows a sudden break in the thought. 
 Thus: "We were hurrying onward — but first let 
 me tell what happened before that." 
 
 2. The dash sometimes precedes a summing up. 
 Here it usually follows a comma, since the mem- 
 bers of the series are set off by commas: "Chaucer, 
 Shakespeare, Wordsworth, — very many of our great 
 poets indeed, were at home in the country." Some- 
 times the dash is used when there is no real summing 
 up, but an appositive phrase is added, as a further 
 explanation. For an example, see the last sentence 
 of the next paragraph, — and this sentence also.
 
 'ol FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 3. The dash, like the comma, is often used to set 
 off a parenthetical expression. (See 2, under the 
 comma.) Examples: "His father — that iron gen- 
 tleman — had long ago dethroned himself." "He 
 was a man — the reader must already have per- 
 ceived — of easy, not to say familiar, manners." 
 Note that in these examples no commas are used 
 with the dashes, because if the parenthetical words 
 were lifted out, the sentence would close up without 
 punctuation. J Jut suppose the sentence were such 
 that it could not close up without punctuation ; then 
 the comma would be needed. The comma in "His 
 father being angry, he felt afraid," remains when 
 the parenthesis is inserted : " His father being 
 angry, — that iron gentleman, — he felt afraid." 
 Note that in such a case a second comma is used, 
 — with the second dash. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Copy and punctuate the 
 following sentences from Stevenson. In the first 
 is there not a choice of punctuation after " difficul- 
 ties"? 
 
 1. All the way down we had our fill of difficulties 
 sometimes it was a wear which could be shot some- 
 times one so shallow and full of stakes that we 
 must withdraw the boats from the water and carry 
 them round 
 
 2. But this is a fashion I love to kiss the hand 
 or wave a handkerchief to people I shall never see
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 33 
 
 again to play with possibility and knock in a peg 
 for fancy to hang upon 
 
 3. You see what it is to be a gentleman I beg 
 your pardon what it is to be a pedler. 
 
 4. Centralization said he but the landlord was at 
 his throat in a minute 
 
 5. There should be some myth but if there is I 
 know it not founded on the shivering of the reeds 
 there are not many things in nature more striking 
 to man's eye 
 
 6. " The fire should have been here at this side " 
 explained the husband " then one might have a 
 writing table in the middle books and" compre- 
 hensively * " all it would be quite coquettish ca serait 
 tout-a-fait coquet." 
 
 Quotation Marks. 
 
 1. Marks of quotation, or, as the English call 
 them, inverted commas, are placed around direct 
 quotations. Many students neglect a part of this 
 little duty : they fail to mark the end of the quota- 
 tion. 
 
 2. A quotation within a quotation stands between 
 
 single commas. Thus: "We were gathered on 
 
 shore, watching the schooner. Gray spoke up : 
 
 ' She's certainly going down, and we must let the 
 
 saving station know it. Maybe the patrol has 
 
 1 Comprehensively is Mr. Stevenson's word — not the hus- 
 band's ; it is inserted to show the way in which, prohahly with 
 a vague gesture, the hushand said all. 
 
 D
 
 34 FIIiST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 already seen her; 1 saw a sailor walking on the 
 beach not long since, and singing, " Yeave ho, my 
 lads, the wind blows free."'" Note that when 
 there is a quotation within the second quotation, it 
 receives the double marks. 
 
 3. Sometimes a quotation is given in substance, 
 with no attempt at accuracy; to show this fact 
 it is quoted in single commas. Thus : ' A foolish 
 consistency frightens little minds.' This is the 
 substance of Emerson's remark, " A foolish consist- 
 ency is the bugbear of little minds." 
 
 Theme. — Write a dialogue a page or two long. 
 Show the change from speaker to speaker by the 
 use of quotation marks and paragraphing. Each 
 reply of each interlocutor, with its word or two of 
 introduction, if such there be, should go by itself 
 as a paragraph. Choose your own topic ; or take 
 one of these, changing the wording : (1) Smith 
 tries to make Brown see the difference between 
 relative clauses restrictive and those merely coor- 
 dinate. (2) Two girls lament the difficulties of 
 punctuation. (3) Two lads [or, men] talk politics. 
 Do not begin each speech as in Shakespeare each is 
 begun — with the speaker's name. Refer occasion- 
 ally to the speakers, if you please, e.g., "'Not by 
 any means,' responded Bangs, rather tartly"; but 
 do not hesitate to let most of the speeches stand 
 without comment. Punctuate the dialogue care-
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 35 
 
 fully, as you write. Then revise it carefully for 
 punctuation. 
 
 Brackets. — Brackets indicate that the included 
 matter is inserted by another person than the origi- 
 nal author ; that is, by a person who is quoting or 
 editing the passage. Thus : " He [Goethe] tells 
 us that character is developed in the busy world, 
 though intellect is developed in solitude." 
 
 The Exclamation Point. 
 
 1. There is a tendency to punctuate with the period 
 sentences that are really exclamatory ; it is better 
 to use the exclamation point. Thus : " I am so de- 
 lighted to see you ! " 
 
 It is better still to avoid an excess of exclamatory 
 sentences, however correctly punctuated. 
 
 2. The word oh ! should be followed by an ex- 
 clamation point or by a comma. This is not the 
 word 0, which is used in direct address — 
 
 " O thou that rollest above, 
 Round as the shield of my fathers," 
 
 and to express a wish : 
 
 " O that I had wings like a dove." 
 
 3. The exclamation point may stand in the midst 
 of a sentence, at the end of a clause. The mark 
 is then not followed by a capital letter. Thus : " Is 
 it possible ! is it credible ! " exclaimed the Bishop.
 
 36 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 The Interrogation Point. 
 
 1. Placed in parentheses the interrogation point 
 questions the accuracy of a statement. Ex. : "' It is 
 in New York (?) that the largest number of exiled 
 Russians is found." 
 
 2. Like the exclamation mark, the question 
 mark may stand at the end of a clause, before a 
 small letter. Thus : " Do you believe it ? was the 
 way he greeted me as I finished reading the letter." 
 Or, "Shall we lie here inactive? Shall we plan 
 nothing ? attempt nothing ? do nothing ? " 
 
 Written Exercise. — Copy and punctuate the fol- 
 lowing sentences from Stevenson: — 
 
 1. Such a dinner as we were going to eat such 
 beds as we were to sleep in 
 
 2. Where were the boating men of Belgium 
 where the judge and his good wines and where the 
 graces of Origny 
 
 3. Come back again she cried and all the hills 
 echoed her 
 
 4. All the gold had withered out of the sky and 
 the balloon had disappeared whither I ask myself ; 
 caught up into the seventh heaven or come safely to 
 land somewhere in that blue uneven distance into 
 which the roadway dipped and melted before our eyes 
 
 Italics. 
 
 1. A good rule for italics is to shun them — that 
 is, not to use them freely to denote emphasis.
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 37 
 
 Emphasis can be secured by some other means ; 
 for instance, by putting the emphatic word near 
 the beginning of the sentence. Thus : " It was 
 such a very % /i*He thing to spin along over the ice" 
 becomes, " A line thing it was, to spin along over 
 the ice." 
 
 2. Use italics to show that a word is foreign. 
 Thus : " Sophronia likes to interlard her English 
 with such fine phrases as en jiassant, Jin xle sie~de, 
 and al fresco." 
 
 3. It is usual to italicize single words if they are 
 specified, — spoken of as words. Thus : " A good 
 many words that pass muster with most people are 
 not really in good use ; for example, burglarize." 
 
 The Apostrophe. 
 
 1. One use of the apostrophe is to mark the 
 plural of single letters, or figures. Ex. : Distin- 
 guish between your 8's and 3's ; dot your i's and 
 cross your tfs. 
 
 2. The commoner use of the apostrophe is to 
 mark the possessive case. There is however no 
 apostrophe in the word its, which is considered an 
 adjective, not a personal, pronoun. 
 
 Asterisks. — A row of asterisks is used to show 
 an omission. Thus, if a writer were quoting, and 
 wished to skip a page or two, he would insert this 
 sign * * * * But if he omitted only a few 
 words, he would rather use " leaders " ; thus ....
 
 38 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Oral Exercise, in Review. — Read this passage 
 over carefully, and listen to the reading of it aloud 
 by some member of the class or by the instructor. 
 Then explain how it should be punctuated. 
 
 Mr. Higginbotham Mr. Higginbotham tell 
 us the particulars about old Mr. Higginbotham 
 bawled the mob what is the coroner's verdict 
 are the murderers apprehended is Mr. Higgin- 
 botham's- niece come out of her fainting fits Mr. 
 Higginbotham Mr. Higginbotham 
 
 The coachman said not a word except to swear 
 awfully at the ostler for not bringing him a fresh 
 team of horses the lawyer inside had generally 
 his wits about him even when asleep the first 
 thing he did after learning the cause of the ex- 
 citement was to produce a large red pocket-book 
 meantime Dominicus Pike being an extremely 
 polite young man and also suspecting that a female 
 tongue would tell the story as glibly as a lawyer's 
 had handed the lady out of the coach she was a fine 
 smart girl now wide awake and bright as a button 
 and had such a sweet pretty mouth, that Dominicus 
 would almost as lieves have heard a love tale from 
 it as a tale of murder 
 
 Gentleman and ladies said the lawyer to tin' 
 shopkeepers the mill men and t he factory girls I 
 can assure you that some unaccountable mistake or 
 more probably a wilful falsehood maliciously con- 
 trived to injure Mr lligginbotham's credit has ex-
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 39 
 
 cited this singular uproar we passed through 
 Kimballton at three o'clock this morning and most 
 certainly should have been informed of the murder 
 had any been perpetrated but I have proof nearly 
 as strong as Mr. Higginbotham's own oral testi- 
 mony in the negative here is a note relating to a 
 suit of his in the Connecticut courts which was 
 delivered me from that gentleman himself I find 
 it dated at ten o'clock last evening 
 
 So saying the lawyer exhibited the date and 
 signature of the note which irrefragably proved 
 either that this perverse Mr. Higginbotham was 
 alive when he wrote it or as some deemed the more 
 probable case of two doubtful ones that he was 
 so absorbed in worldly business as to continue to 
 transact it even after his death but unexpected 
 evidence was forthcoming the young lady after 
 listening to the pedlers explanation merely seized 
 a moment to smooth her gown and put her curls in 
 order, and then appeared at the tavern-door making 
 a modest signal to be heard 
 
 Good people said she I am Mr. Higginbotham's 
 niece 
 
 Written Exercise, in Review. — Copy, punctuate, 
 and capitalize the following, from Charles Lamb : 
 
 And first let us remember as first in importance 
 in our childish eyes the young men as they almost 
 were who under the denomination of Grecians were
 
 40 FIRST BOOK IX WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 waiting the expiration of the period when they 
 should be sent at the charges of the Hospital to 
 one or other of our Universities but more fre- 
 quently to Cambridge these youths from their 
 superior acquirements their superior age and stat- 
 ure and the fewness of their numbers for seldom 
 above two or three at a time were inaugurated into 
 that high order drew the eyes of all and especially 
 of the younger boys into a reverent observance and 
 admiration how tall they used to seem to us how 
 stately would they pace along the cloisters while 
 the play of the lesser boys was absolutely suspended 
 or its boisterousness at least allayed at their pres- 
 ence not that they ever beat or struck the boys that 
 would have been to have demeaned 1 themselves the 
 dignity of their persons alone insured them all re- 
 spect the task of blows, or corporal chastisement 
 they left to the common monitors or heads of wards 
 who it must be confessed in our time had rather 
 too much license allowed them to oppress and mis- 
 use their inferiors and the interference of the 
 Grecian who may be considered as the spiritual 
 ] lower was not unfrequently called for to mitigate 
 by its mediation the heavy unrelenting arm of this 
 temporal power or monitor in fine the Grecians 
 were the solemn Muftis of the school oeras 2 were 
 computed from their time it used to be said such 
 
 1 Demean = behave. What word would be better here? 
 
 2 A quaint way of spelling eras.
 
 A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 41 
 
 rp 
 
 or such a thing was done when S or 
 
 was Grecian. 
 
 Common Abbreviations. 
 
 The following list of abbreviations should be learned, 
 
 Latin words and all. 
 
 A.B., Artium Baccalaureus. Bachelor of Arts. In Eng- 
 land, B. A. 
 
 A. D., Anno Domini. In the Year of our Lord. 
 
 Ad. lib., or ad. lib., Ad libitum. At pleasure. 
 
 ALt., ^Etatis. Of age ; aged. 
 
 A. M., Ante Meridiem. Before noon. 
 
 A. M. , Artium Magister. Master of Arts. In England, 
 M. A. 
 
 A. U. C, Anno Urbis Conditce. In the year from the Build- 
 ing of the City (Rome). 
 
 D. C. L. Doctor of Civil Law. 
 
 D. D., Divinitatis Doctor. Doctor of Divinity. 
 
 D. D. S. Doctor of Dental Surgery. 
 Do. , Ditto. The same. 
 
 E. E. Errors excepted. (Used in book-keeping.) 
 E. 0. E. Errors and omissions excepted. 
 
 E. G., or e. g., Exempli gratia. For example. 
 
 Etc., or &c, Et coitera. And so forth; literally, And 
 others. 
 
 F. R. S. Fellow of the Royal Society. 
 H. M. His or Her Majesty. 
 
 H. M. S. His or Her Majesty's Ship or Service. 
 
 H. R. H. His or Her Royal Highness. 
 
 Ibid. , Ibidem. In the same place. Used in quoting several 
 
 selections from one book, or making several references to 
 
 one source. 
 I. e., or i. e., Id est. That is. In reading aloud, one gives 
 
 the English words only. 
 I. H. S., sometimes explained as Iesus Hominum Salvator. 
 
 Jesus the Saviour of Men. More properly, this abbrevia-
 
 42 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 tion merely means "Jesus." It is made up of the first 
 three letters of the Greek word for Jesus — IHSOTS. 
 The H, in I. U.S., is really the Greek letter eta, from 
 wliich we get our capital E. 
 
 I. N. R. I., Iesus Nazarenus Ilex Iudworum. Jesus of Naza- 
 reth, King of the Jews. 
 
 L. II. D., Litterarum Humanarum Doctor. Doctor of Hu- 
 mane Letters. 
 
 LL. D., Leg um Doctor. Doctor of Laws. 
 
 M., Meridies. Mid-day. 
 
 M. A. Master of Arts. 
 
 M. D., Medicines Doctor. Doctor of Medicine. 
 
 Messks. Gentlemen. (French, Messieurs.) 
 
 Mme. Madame. 
 
 Mlle. Mademoiselle. 
 
 MS. , or Ms. Manuscript. MSS. Manuscripts. 
 
 X. B., Nota bene. Mark well, or take notice. 
 
 N. S. New Style (after 1752). 
 
 Ob., Obiit. He or she died. 
 
 O. S. Old Style (previous to 17f>2). 
 
 Ph.D., Philosophioe Doctor. Doctor of Philosophy. 
 
 Pr. Pages. 
 
 P.P. C, Pour prendre conge. To take leave. This is not 
 an abbreviation for the English words : Paid parting call. 
 
 Pro tem., Pro tempore. For the time being. 
 
 Prox., Proximo. Next, or the next month. 
 
 Q. E. D., Quod erat demonstrandum. Which was to be 
 demonstrated. 
 
 R. S. V. P., or R. s. v. p., Pepondez, s'(7 vous plait. Answer, 
 if you please. 
 
 Viz., or viz., Videlicet. Namely, to wit. I 'idelicet has etymo- 
 logically about the force of "You see," or "It can be 
 seen." 
 
 Vs., Versus. Against.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES OF WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 The present chapter reviews only those gram- 
 matical principles that are sometimes violated by 
 students who have had a year of formal grammar. 
 
 Clearness. — If composition is the art of com- 
 municating one's ideas in words, it is certain that 
 clearness is the first requisite of good writing. 
 Clearness, perfect intelligibility, is secured by 
 means innumerable. One secret however of being 
 clear is to regard grammatical usages. If a man is 
 to be understood exactly, he must be grammatical. 
 No one is excepted. " Grammar," said Moliere, 
 "knows how to lord it even over kings." 
 
 Ambiguity. — When an expression is open to two 
 interpretations, it is said to be ambiguous. In the 
 sentence, " He is a fair man," fair is an ambiguous 
 word. In the sentence, " He was arrested by two 
 officers, who were about to board a West Madison 
 street car, in possession of a large amount of stolen 
 property," the phrase in possession, etc., holds an 
 ambiguous position. Grammatical errors often pro- 
 dace this fault. 
 
 43
 
 44 FUi ST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Solecisms. — Infringements of grammatical rules 
 are called solecism*. 1 Never losing sight of the 
 fact that writing English is largely the art of tell- 
 ing some one else just what one means, let us note 
 a few solecisms that hinder a writer from giving 
 his exact meaning. 
 
 Coherence by placing Modifiers rightly. — I. The 
 rhetorics are fond of quoting droll sentences in 
 which, from being wrongly placed, ideas fail to 
 cohere, stick together. A favorite sentence is that 
 from an epitaph in an Ulster churchyard : " Erected 
 to the memory of John Phillips, accidently shot, 
 as a mark of affection by his brother." Mr. Bar- 
 deen ("Sentence-Making") quotes the following, 
 which sounds like a manufactured joke, but is 
 nevertheless to the point. "Is there a gentleman 
 with one eye named Walker in the club?" "I 
 don't know ; what was the name of his other 
 eye?" Another much quoted and startling sen- 
 tence reads thus: "In one evening I counted 
 twenty-seven meteors sitting on my back piazza." 
 Remedy the incoherence of these sentences. Put 
 close together on the paper ideas that belong close 
 together in the mind. Do not let adverbs and 
 modifying clauses stray from the thought to which 
 they belong. 
 
 1 Solecism is Greek in origin. The Athenian colonists of Soli 
 in Asia Minor spoke Greek so badly thai the Attic Greeks came 
 to refer to an error in grammar (or in pronunciation) as soloikis- 
 mds, whence our word.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 45 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The order of words in the fol- 
 lowing sentences should so be changed as to in- 
 crease the logical coherence of the thoughts. 
 
 1. The tops of the French ships were rilled with 
 riflemen, like those of the enemy's ships. 
 
 2. The killing by Orlando, of the wrestler, was 
 indirectly due to a plot against his brother, which 
 Oliver invented. 
 
 3. I hardly ever remember to have heard such 
 music. 
 
 4. I never remember to have seen him. [Here it 
 is better to recast the sentence than to change the 
 position of never. ] 
 
 5. The lad managed a bronco pony, very vicious 
 and dangerous, when only thirteen. 
 
 6. Wanted, a hostler to take care of a horse, of 
 a religious turn of mind. 
 
 7. After a brief rest Blondin set out again with 
 "Tom Sayers," and accomplished the feat he had 
 undertaken without a hitch. 
 
 This week will see the last times of "The 
 Rogue's Comedy," as next season Mr. Willard will 
 play the new play of Henry Arthur Jones entitled 
 " The Physician " exclusively. 
 
 II. Only, and not only, usually belong directly 
 before the word modified. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Insert only in the proper blank. 
 1. Browning wrote a few poems for boys.
 
 40 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 2. She breathed the name ; but we 
 
 heard it. 
 
 3. We received his letter, this morning. 
 
 4. jje gave five cents to the church. 
 
 III. Avoid the Janus-clause ; the Janus-phrase ; 
 the Janus-adverb or adjective. The Latin god 
 Janus had two faces, one looking back, the other 
 ahead. Avoid putting a modifier where it becomes 
 double-faced, — where it may be taken either with 
 the preceding idea or with the following idea. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — So change the position of the 
 double-faced modifiers that their allegiance will be 
 known. 
 
 1. There is no doubt that Milton gave Dry den 
 permission to paraphrase Paradise Lost; Dryden 
 did imitate Milton as a matter of fact not very 
 cleverly. 
 
 2. There can be no doubt that he quarrelled, — 
 that he fought indeed vigorously. He reappeared 
 at least with a black eye. 
 
 3. She will sing in any case charmingly; her 
 training has been admirable. 
 
 4. As Hazlitt says, in his book of English prov- 
 erbs, where no fault is, there needs no pardon. 
 
 IV. Avoid putting an adverb between the parts of 
 an infinitive, — between the to and the verb. Some 
 reputable writers approve this construction; still.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 47 
 
 the better order is to place the modifier before or 
 after the whole infinitive. " Clearly to see," or 
 "To see clearly," is better than "To clearly see." 
 This error is called the deft infinitive. 
 
 Concord of Subject and Predicate. 
 
 1. A collective noun takes a singular verb if the 
 group of objects is thought of as a whole : " The 
 United States is coining gold and silver." The 
 collective noun takes a plural verb if each separate 
 member of the group is thought of: "The United 
 States are firmly bound together in one union." 
 
 2. When two subject nouns are so closely related 
 in thought that they seem to mean one thing, the 
 verb is in the singular : " His courage and bravery 
 is well approved." 
 
 3. In writing a long sentence, glance back at the 
 number of the subject before you write the verb. 
 A plural near the verb often leads one to forget 
 that the subject is singular. Thus: "The great 
 number of the crows that settle nightly in the 
 grove and fill the air with their cries, makes [not 
 make] the place a bedlam." 
 
 4. When a singular subject precedes a paren- 
 thetical phrase, the former reaches over the head 
 of the latter, and makes the verb singular. This 
 rule holds even when the parenthesis is intro- 
 duced by with. Thus : " Napoleon, with all his 
 army, was on the march."
 
 48 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 5. Either, neither, when used as distributive con- 
 junctions, take a singular verb. .Mr. Carpenter 1 
 gives this instance of the error: "Neither Senators 
 Dawes nor Hoar were in their seats to-day." How 
 shall the sentence be changed to distribute the 
 senators properly ? 
 
 6. If two subjects connected by either — or, etc, 
 differ in person, it is possible to make the verb 
 agree with the subject nearest; as "Neither she 
 nor you are to blame in this ; either I or he is to 
 blame." But this construction is awkward. Avoid 
 the difference in person, or else say, "Neither she 
 is to blame, nor are you ; either he is to blame, or 
 I am." 
 
 7. Each, ever)/, either, neither, when used as 
 pronouns, always take a singular verb. " Each of 
 us knows; neither of us is ignorant." 
 
 8. None takes either a singular or a plural verb. 
 It is originally no one, and many careful writers 
 prefer to keep the singular with it. 
 
 Concord of Adjective (or Participle) and Noun. 
 
 1. There is an old pnrase, these kind, which, 
 though permitted a century ago,< was essentially 
 ungrammatical, and is not allowed to-day. Say, 
 this kind, that kind. etc. 
 
 2. (a) Every participle, like every adjective, 
 must agree with its noun in person and number. 
 
 1 Advanced Exercises, p. 85.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 49 
 
 But furthermore, every participle has an indisput- 
 able right to have something to agree with. Too 
 often the poor word is left dangling in mid air. 
 Shun the unrelated participle and the misrelated par- 
 ticiple. The best of us are' only too prone to such 
 slips as this : " Coming up stairs, it was seen that 
 the great window fell," instead of, " Coming up 
 stairs, we saw the great window fall." Or this : 
 "Coming up stairs, the window fell on him," 
 where the coming may belong to the window or to 
 the him. In the first of the two incorrect sentences 
 the participle is unrelated ; in the second it is 
 misrelated, or at least ambiguously related. 
 
 (b) Care should be taken not to use a participle 
 when a verbal noun in ing is needed. " The fact 
 of Poe being intemperate should not blind us to the 
 fact of his genius," is wrong for " The fact of Poe's 
 being intemperate," etc. 
 
 3. Particularly avoid a singular adjective with 
 a plural noun, in such expressions as, "A long 
 way" [not ways]. Note here that sidewise, not 
 sideivays, is correct. 
 
 Concord of Pronoun and Antecedent. 
 
 1. It should be remembered that every singular 
 antecedent takes a singular pronoun. " Everybody 
 came forward and laid his contribution on the 
 table " — not " their contribution." 
 
 2. Before writing the verb of a relative clause, 
 
 E
 
 50 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 think whether the antecedent is singular or plural. 
 " Her voice is one of the sweetest that have [not 
 has] been heard in this town." 
 
 3. When a number of persons, men and women, 
 are spoken of distributively, the pronouns he and 
 his are proper forms of reference — not their, not 
 his or her. "The audience rose and each person 
 waved his applause" would be correct, even if 
 there were ten ladies to each man. The he or his 
 may here be called the neutral pronoun. What 
 pronouns should fill the blanks in the following 
 sentence ? " Let every man and woman who would 
 
 like to join our picnic betake to the pier at 
 
 three o'clock, and give no anxiety about-   
 
 lunch ; will find plenty of sandwiches and 
 
 cake and coffee on the picnic-boat." 
 
 Such expressions as " every man and woman " 
 are however undesirable whenever the neutral 
 pronoun is to be used. A neutral antecedent, like 
 ever>/ person, everybody, every one, is preferable. 
 
 4. When the indefinite pronoun one is used, 
 there is often ambiguity in referring to it later 
 by he, his, etc. Kepeat the one. Thus, " One does 
 not always know one's own mind." Better still, 
 use an expression like the indefinite you, or. " 
 person, which has its own representative among 
 the pronouns. Thus, "A person doesn't always 
 know his own mind." 
 
 5. Use sparingly, if at all, the Latin construction
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 51 
 
 — which fact, which idea, etc. Say rather, a fact 
 which, etc. E.g. "He was slightly deaf, a misfor- 
 tune which he bore without whimpering." 
 
 6. Avoid the Latin construction that makes which 
 refer to the idea of a whole clause; it is a clumsy 
 fashion. Example, " He said that he always doted 
 on Shakespeare — which I, for one, didn't believe, 
 because I know the fellow." There is nothing here 
 for which to tie to; it is a relative without anything 
 to which to relate. Rather a better way is to 
 discard the relative clause, substituting and with a 
 demonstrative. Thus, " He bowed politely, which 
 set us all at ease," becomes, " He bowed politely, 
 and this set us all at ease." The this is allowed by 
 our idiom to refer to the clause, though the con- 
 struction is still vague. It is best to hunt up a 
 good synonym for the idea of the preceding clause: 
 " He bowed politely, and this courtesy set us all at 
 ease." But it is not necessary to discard the rela- 
 tive clause. A little ingenuity will enable one to 
 find and insert just before the relative an ap- 
 positive to the clause. Into each of the following 
 sentences slip an appropriate appositive chosen 
 from the following list : a fact, an idea, a task, a 
 statement, an assertion, a notion, an excuse, a fancy, 
 a belief, a hyperbole, a prevarication, a remedy. 
 
 (a) Mr. Ignatius Donnelly thinks that Bacon 
 
 wrote Shakespeare, which ought not to bother 
 
 the student who likes Romeo and Juliet.
 
 52 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 (6) Maine told father that there were a thousand 
 
 cats in the back yard, which, according to 
 
 father, meant our cat and another. 
 
 (c) He has undertaken to learn two hard lessons 
 
 in one hour, which will probably prove too 
 
 much for the lad. 
 
 (d) He proposes to cut the hand off, which 
 
 seems rather cruel. 
 
 Concord of Cases. 
 
 Subject and complement of an intransitive verb 
 agree in case. 
 
 1. The complement of an intransitive verb in a 
 finite mode is in the nominative case. " It's I " 
 [not me]. " I am he." " I thought it was he." 
 
 2. If the subject of an infinitive is in the ob- 
 jective case, the complement is in the same case. 
 "I thought it to be him" [not he]. But, "It was 
 thought to lie lie" 
 
 Concord of Tenses. 
 
 1. In writing the verb of a subordinate clause, 
 be sure that its tense shall show just what you wish 
 it to show — whether the same time as that of the 
 principal verb, or earlier time, or later time. For 
 example : — 
 
 The same time. — "He did not think himself to 
 be much of a poet." 
 
 Earlier time. — "He did not think that he had 
 been much of a poet." " He was sorry not to have
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 53 
 
 been much of a poet." " Yesterday, when John 
 spoke of the matter, I should have liked to have 
 had some experience that I might have used in 
 advising him." 
 
 Later time. — "I wanted to go " [not to have 
 gone]. "I had intended to go." "I should have 
 liked to go." 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Correct the errors in concord of 
 tenses, explaining each emendation. 
 
 1. Where did you say St. Peter's was ? 
 
 2. Is it warm out of doors ? I should say it was. 
 
 3. I fully intended to have met you at the 
 concert. 
 
 Government. 
 
 1. "He invited him and 7," is not an unheard- 
 of blunder. People often needlessly shrink from 
 saying a correct sentence like this — "He invited 
 him and me " — and will even insert the full 
 names of him and me rather than out with the 
 right case of the pronoun. 
 
 2. In asking a question, think whether who or 
 whom is required. " Whom did you see ? " but, 
 " Who was it that you saw ? " 
 
 3. Let governs the objective case, quite as any 
 other active verb. " Let John and me go." 
 
 4. An error often occurs in the case of the 
 relative after a verb of saying, thinking, telling, 
 and the like. "Franklin's Autobiography is the
 
 54 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 work of a man whom I should think would be 
 known to every American." The whom is wrong 
 for who. Had the writer set off "I should think " 
 by commas, he would have seen the mistake. 
 
 5. How should the following newspaper sen- 
 tence be corrected ? " He stated that the offering 
 was $101,500, an amount upon which he would 
 stake his honor would all be paid up." 
 
 On the Reference of Pronouns. 
 
 1. Iu the use of pronouns one cannot be too care- 
 ful that each refers to the right person. " Farmer 
 .Jones called on his neighbor and told him that 
 his cows were in his pasture," leaves us in doubt 
 whether Farmer Jones came to make a complaint 
 or an apology. How should the sentence be con- 
 structed to remove the ambiguity ? The following 
 delicious error has been much quoted : " If fresh 
 milk does not seem to agree with the child, boil 
 it." How change the sentence to save the child's 
 life? 
 
 2. Sometimes a demonstrative can be used to 
 better advantage than a personal pronoun. "They 
 lent us their horses for the afternoon and these 
 [not they'] took us a long way out into the coun- 
 try." 
 
 3. Sometimes it is better to repeat the antece- 
 dent, varying it by simple synonyms, than to use 
 any pronoun. Not, "He gave him his word of
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 55 
 
 honor, that whenever he should see his brother 
 in London, he would do all for him that he ought 
 to do for an old comrade's brother." Rather thus : 
 " He gave his friend his word of honor, that when- 
 ever he should see the latter's brother in London, 
 he would do for the boy all that a man ought to 
 do for the brother of an old comrade." 
 
 4. Acquire a habit of writing, " It is he," or " It's 
 he," instead of " He is the one." This latter phrase 
 is permissible in colloquial speech, where its clumsi- 
 ness is not much felt. The correct expression may 
 sometimes seem over-precise. But a person of tact 
 ought to be able to speak correctly without seeming 
 affected. 
 
 Conjunctions and Prepositions. 
 
 1. Shall we say " as large as," " not as large as," 
 etc.? The first expression is right. But after a nega- 
 tive, use so for a correlative to as : " not so large as." 
 
 2. In general be careful not to omit necessary 
 conjunctions. What should be supplied in the fol- 
 lowing sentence ? and how should the order be 
 changed ? " Henty is better known but not so 
 interesting to older boys as Stevenson." 
 
 3. And ichich, and ivho, etc., are wrong for ivhich, 
 who, etc., when no relative has previously been 
 used. Correct the following : " Irving, the histo- 
 rian, and whom we honor as our first writer of 
 prose tales, is a prime favorite of us all." 
 
 V
 
 56 FIRST BOOK IX WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 4. Like is not a conjunction. It is incorrect 
 to say. "Do like I do." This wrong use of like 
 is habitual in many parts of our country, and a 
 native of any one of these districts has to watch 
 himself narrowly to acquire the habit of using as 
 for like. It is, however, correct enough to say, 
 "She talks like him." Here like is an adjective 
 governing what was the dative case, and the phrase 
 like him has the value of an adverb. 
 
 5. Different to is wrong for different from. This 
 error, though rarely to be found in America, 
 is habitual in England. The commoner American 
 error is different than. This mistake frequently 
 occurs when the comparative degree has previ- 
 ously been used. E.g. "This last kind of apple 
 is different and sweeter than the first." The better 
 form is: " This last kind of apple is different from 
 the first, and sweeter." Do not split the particles, 
 by saying, "This kind of apple is different from 
 and sweeter than the first." 
 
 Adverb or Adjective? 
 
 1. There is a group of words — verbs of sensa- 
 tion and the like, look, sound, feel, smell, taste, ap- 
 pear, seem — which take an adjective to complete 
 their meaning. "She looks sweet" "It tastes 
 sweet," "She seems happy," are common and cor- 
 rect ways of speaking. Notice that here something 
 of the same idea can he given by saying, " She is
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 57 
 
 sweet," " It is sweet, " " She is happy." The 
 sweet idea or the happy idea describes the subject, 
 the person, not the verb. Of course, one might 
 write a sentence in which the sweet idea would 
 tell the way a given act was done. " She looked 
 sweetly" would imply that she was gazing sweetly 
 at something or somebody. 
 
 But here must be noted an exception or two. 
 (a) The word bad has two senses : moral badness, 
 and badness that is not moral — badness of health, 
 for instance. If I say " I feel bad," the bad seems 
 to mean moral badness: i.e. "I am bad." It is 
 therefore permissible to break the rule and apply 
 badly to physical feeling. " I feel badly " is a 
 common expression for " I feel sick " ; and by the 
 exception to the rule is correct. Which is better 
 in the following sentence — bad or badly? "It 
 
 sounds to hear a young man swear." (6) There 
 
 are a few cases where the adverb is retained 
 when the verb is not felt as acting. " The report 
 sounds well," certainly does not mean that the 
 report is in good health ; but it is certainly good 
 English. Similarly we have : " She appears well 
 in company." 
 
 It is to be kept in mind that ill and ivell 
 are not always adverbs. They are often ad- 
 jectives ; and if one says " I feel ill," or " I feel 
 well," one is using the adjective ill or the adjective 
 ivell.
 
 58 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Which of the italicized words is 
 preferable in the following sentences ? (a) " This 
 old stern-wheel boat rides over the waves quite as 
 easy (easily) as any propeller, if not easier (more 
 easily)." (b) " This old chaise rides as easy (easily) 
 as any modern one." (c) " An old shoe feels easy 
 (easily)." (d) "As Billings read that passage it 
 sounded different (differently) from the way in which 
 the Colonel read it." (e) " Do you feel good (well) 
 after your night's rest ? " (/) " I've been to church 
 and, for me, really feel good (well)." (g) " He voted 
 independently (independent)." (h) "Home, sweet 
 home" sounds well (good) to the ears of the Amer- 
 ican "abroad. 
 
 Shall or Will. — Most Americans, like most Scotch- 
 men, use the woT&will too frequently, to the neglect 
 of shall. 
 
 Shall is from Old English sceal (skay'-al) and 
 once meant oive, be obliged. It still may mean the 
 same thing, when not used as a mere auxiliary. 
 That is, should often means ought, which was once 
 the past tense of owe. It still can mean "to 
 be obliged." "You shall," "he shall," are ex- 
 pressions that imply obligation, imposed by the 
 speaker. "I shall at last die" still has in it the 
 idea of being compelled. But this phrase illus- 
 trates happily one way by which shall with the first 
 person has come to be Eelt as a mere future.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 59 
 
 Nearly always to-day i" shall names a voluntary act ; 
 but the volition is usually not emphasized ; the 
 speaker has usually made up his mind before he 
 says I shall, and the words simply foretell the 
 future act. "I shall be there" incidentally an- 
 nounces the speaker's intention, but the chief thing 
 it announces is that the speaker will be there. It is 
 probably the future fact that is of interest to his 
 friends. Ordinarily, therefore, shall in the first per- 
 son means futurity more than it means volition. 
 
 Will is from wilian (wil'-yan), meaning to wish, to 
 iv ill. It frequently means that to-day, though in 
 the second and third persons it is also used for 
 the simple future. "I will" always implies voli- 
 tion. I will implies either deliberate intention, dis- 
 tinct vvish, or distinct ivillingness. " I will go " 
 means " I am determined to go," or, " I wish to 
 go," or, " I am willing to go." Frequently such a 
 phrase implies that there is opposition or an ob- 
 stacle. " You will," " they will," usually lack the 
 volitive idea; they simply foretell that which you, 
 they, are about to do. Yet you will, he will, they will 
 may still mean you are determined, etc., if applied 
 to a being that has the power of choice. Here one 
 has but to emphasize the will, and the old meaning 
 is brought back. Thus : " He will persist in doing 
 so, though all his friends deplore it." 
 
 Our first rule will accordingly be as follows : To 
 indicate mere futurity, use shall in the first jwson,
 
 60 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 will in the second and third. Examples: "I shall 
 be glad to come. You and the others will find me 
 on hand at the pier." So far, so good. But note that 
 this rule also applies when the speaker is made to 
 report his own words in indirect narrative. "Ab- 
 ner says that he shall be glad to come, and that you 
 and the others will find him on hand at the pier." 
 Just so if the indirect discourse is in the past, and 
 it is still the speaker who reports his own words. 
 "Abner said that he should be glad to come, and 
 that you and the others would find him at the 
 pier." All this seems sensible enough, for the 
 speaker is merely made to foretell his own future 
 act. The rule is too often broken. "Abner said 
 he was afraid he'd miss the boat." Here the con- 
 traction he'd stands (as always) for he would, a 
 form that is wrong in this place for he should. 
 
 The same rule applies when the indirect narra- 
 tive is merely implied; that is, when instead of 
 such a word as say we have think, or fear, or be- 
 lieve. "Luke thinks he shall miss his boat," is 
 correct; so is, "Luke feared he should miss the 
 boat." 
 
 Suppose, now, it is no longer what Luke said about 
 his own future act, but what somebody else said 
 about it. " Evarts remarked that Luke was ready 
 and would hurry to the pier; but Evarts feared that 
 Luke would miss the boat." The shall gives place 
 naturally enough to will. After verbs of sayimj.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 61 
 
 thinking, telling, and the like, shall (or should) is the 
 proper auxiliary if the future act is foretold by the actor. 
 
 Now we are ready to ask how these words should 
 be used in questions. A very simple rule is enough 
 for most purposes: In the second and third persons, 
 use in the question the form you expect in the answer. 
 
 " Shall you be at the pier by three, Abner ? " 
 Abner replies, " I certainly shall." " Will you 
 kindly bring my lunch with you ? the cook has it 
 ready." "I will, with great pleasure." 
 
 The rule holds when applied to indirect dis- 
 course. Thus : " Abner's aunt asked him whether 
 he should be at the pier by three. Abner replied 
 that he should. Then she wanted to know if he 
 would kindly bring her lunch along ; Abner prom- 
 ised that he would." 
 
 If a question is put in the first person, shall often 
 asks for instructions. " Shall I go ? " But if 
 mere information is asked, shall is still the form : 
 " Shall I be required to do all this ? " " Yes, I fear 
 you will." Briefly, then, for a question in the first 
 person always use shall. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Where blanks appear in the fol- 
 lowing sentences insert the right auxiliary. Cor- 
 rect any misuse of auxiliaries. 
 
 1. Sometimes an Irishman, sometimes a French- 
 man, is credited with this remark : " I will be 
 drowned ; nobody shall help me."
 
 62 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 2. I be delighted to see you with us. 
 
 3. I be obliged if you lend me your 
 
 pencil. 
 
 4. The director thinks he be able to speak 
 
 well of that student, if the boy need a good word. 
 
 r>. you be content if you get to college ? 
 
 6. I be permitted to say that you see 
 
 him before anything is done ? 
 
 7. Jim Hawkins was mortally afraid that he 
 
 be killed by Long John Silver ; and in turn 
 
 Long John began to fear that Jim be the death 
 
 of him. 
 
 8. you like some bread ? [Here should is 
 
 the right word ; to like is a word of volition, and it 
 does not need the volitive auxiliary would."] 
 
 9. you mind my asking where you bought 
 
 that jersey ? 
 
 10. His father insisted that he stick to the 
 
 task; and the son afterwards seemed glad of the 
 
 fact, and asked whether he do some more work 
 
 of the same sort. 
 
 11. If we were better, we be happier. 
 
 12. In which sentence can a contraction of he 
 would be used ? (a) He said be glad to ac- 
 cept, (b) Luther declared go to a certain city, 
 
 though there were as many devils there as tiles on 
 the housetops. 
 
 13. I be asked to go ? Yes, you will. 
 
 14. Of whom I be afraid '.'
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 63 
 
 Matters of Etymology. 
 
 1. Good usage recommends that we say " the 
 schools of Chicago " rather than " Chicago's 
 schools " ; " the cause of the accident " rather than 
 " the accident's cause." In other words, it recom- 
 mends that Ave save the possessive in 's (or Saxon 
 genitive) for living beings. For things, for abstract 
 ideas, for cities — everything except beings — the 
 possessive in of (or Norman genitive) is preferred. 
 Thus we say, " Napoleon's hat," and " the rim of 
 Napoleon's hat," instead of "Napoleon's hat's rim." 
 The newspapers, perhaps to save space, have fallen 
 into the habit of talking about " Chicago's inter- 
 ests," "Evanston's water-works," "America's navy," 
 etc.; but it is better not to imitate these expres- 
 sions. 1 Such matters are matters, not of right and 
 wrong, but of better and worse. 
 
 2. While got is usually better than gotten as a 
 past participle, the two words have, in one case, 
 different meanings. "I have got my lesson" is 
 perhaps preferable to " I have gotten my lesson." 
 But " I have got to be a scholar " means, " I must be 
 a scholar " ; while, " I have gotten to be a scholar " 
 is, well, — perhaps a boast. 
 
 3. Good use prescribes he drank, but he has drunk 
 [not, he has drank']. 
 
 4. Anybody else's, or anybody's else — which is 
 
 1 There are few exceptions : day's work, iveek's pay, etc.
 
 64 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 in better use ? For most places, the former. 
 Thus : " Anybody else's dog would have been 
 shot for his sheep-stealing." But anybody's else 
 is often preferable at the end of the clause or 
 sentence. Thus : " If the dog had been anybody 
 else's it would have been shot; unfortunately 
 it was nobody's else." The distinction has ceased 
 to be a matter of logic, and become a matter of 
 euphony. Of course, else is strictly an adjective, 
 and might seem to be exempt from the possessive 
 case. But adjectives have always had a way of 
 growing fast to nouns and becoming part of them : 
 e.g. sweetbriar, liedfern, Goodman. Though else 
 is not written as a part of the noun anybody (which 
 is already long enough), it is often felt as a part 
 of the noun. What you think is not always any- 
 l mi hi + else ; it is often, anybodyelse. As a matter 
 of fact, the word anybody itself is really two words 
 grown together till we do not think of them as 
 adjective + noun. 
 
 Oral Exercise in Review. — Below are given a 
 number of sentences from Hughes's Tom Broivn's 
 School Days, a book which every one likes for its 
 racy Saxon style, but which is not always be- 
 yond reproach in sentence-structure. Most, how- 
 ever, of the sentences given below were correctly 
 written. Examine the passages, and decide as to 
 which of the bracketed words should be omitted.
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 65 
 
 When several words are italicized, correct the order 
 of them. 
 
 1. Tom's nurse was one who took in her instruc- 
 tion very slowly — -she seemed to have two left 
 hands and no head ; and so Mrs. Brown kept her 
 on longer than usual, that [she, the girl] might 
 expend her awkwardness and forgetfulness upon 
 those who would not judge and punish [her, the 
 girl] too strictly for them. 
 
 2. It had been the immemorial habit of the vil- 
 lage [either] to [either] christen children [either] 
 by Bible names or [by] those of the cardinal and 
 other virtues. 
 
 3. He was a hearty, strong boy from the first, 
 given to fighting [with and escaping from his 
 nurse, with his nurse and escaping from her] and 
 fraternizing with all [of] the village boys, with 
 whom he made expeditions all around the neigh- 
 borhood. 
 
 4. You shall hear at once what sort of [a] folk 
 the Browns are, [at least] my branch of them [at 
 least] ; and then if you don't like the sort, why 
 cut the concern at once, and let you and [I, me] 
 cry quits before either of us can grumble at the 
 other. 
 
 5. For a short time after a boy has taken up 
 [such] a life [as, like] Arnold would have urged 
 upon him, he has a hard time of it. He finds his 
 judgment often at fault, his body and intellect run-
 
 66 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 ning away with him into all sorts of pitfalls, and 
 [he, himself] coming" down with a crash. 
 
 6. "No, Poinpey, I must preach whenever I see 
 a chance of being listened to, [which, and this] I 
 never did before." 
 
 7. And now, my boys, you [who, whom] I want 
 to get for readers, have you had enough? [Will, 
 shall] you give in at once, and say you're con- 
 vinced, and let me begin my story, or will you 
 have more of it? Itemember, I've [only] been 
 over [only] a little bit of a hillside yet — what you 
 could ride round easily on your ponies in an hour. 
 
 8. To-day, however, [being, being the day of] 
 the school-house match, none of the school-house 
 praepostors [stay, stays] by the door to watch for 
 truants of their side; there is carte blanche to the 
 school-house fags to go where they like: "They 
 trust to our honor," as East proudly informs 
 Tom; "they know [very well] that no school- 
 house boy would cut the match [very well]. If 
 he did [we'd, we should] very soon cut him, I can 
 tell you." 
 
 9. Passing along the Ridgeway to the west for 
 about a mile, [we come to, appears] a little clump 
 of young beech and firs, with a growth of thorn 
 and privet underwood. 
 
 11). I [only] know [only] two English neighbor- 
 hoods thoroughly, and [in each] within a circle of 
 five miles, [within each] there is enough of interest
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 67 
 
 and beauty to last any reasonable man his life. I 
 believe this to be the case [almost] throughout the 
 country [almost] ; but each has a special attraction, 
 and [neither, none] can be richer than the one I am 
 speaking of and going to [very particularly] in- 
 troduce to you [very particularly]. 
 
 11. It's very odd [how, that] almost all English 
 boys love danger. 
 
 12. He wore an old full-bottomed wig, the gift 
 of some dandy old Brown whom he had [in the 
 middle of the last century] valeted [in the middle 
 of the last century], [which habiliment, a habili- 
 ment which] Master Tom looked upon with con- 
 siderable respect, not to say fear. 
 
 13. [It was he, He was the one] who bent the 
 first pin with which Tom extracted his first stickle- 
 back out of [" Pebbly Brook,"] the little stream 
 which ran through the village, ["Pebbly Brook"]. 
 The first stickleback was a splendid fellow, with 
 fabulous red and blue gills. Tom kept him in a 
 small basin till the day of [his, the fish's] death, 
 and became a fisherman from that day. 
 
 14. His nurse told him that those good-natured 
 looking women were in the constant habit of en- 
 ticing children into the barges and taking [them, 
 these] up to London and selling them, [which, a 
 story which] Tom wouldn't believe. 
 
 15. " I say," said East, as soon as he [got, had 
 gotten] his wind, looking with much increased re-
 
 68 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 spect at Tom, "you [ain't, you're not, aren't, are 
 not] a bud scud, not by [no, any] means." 
 
 10. But who [shall, will] tell the joy of the next 
 morning, when the church hells were ringing a 
 merry peal, and [in the servants' hall] old Benjy 
 appeared [in the servants' hall] resplendent in a 
 long blue coat and brass buttons [in the servants' 
 hall], and a pair of old yellow buckskins ami top- 
 boots, which he had cleaned for and inherited from 
 Tom's grandfather. 
 
 17. So, as we are going [to at any rate, at any 
 rate to] see Tom Brown through his boyhood, [sup- 
 posing, if] we never get any further, [which, 
 though] (if you show a proper sense of the value 
 of this history, there is no knowing but [that, 
 what] we may), let ns have a look at the life and 
 environments of the child. 
 
 18. He felt [like, as if] he had been severely 
 beaten all down his back, the natural result of his 
 performance at his first match. 
 
 1 ( .). "And now come in and see my study; we 
 [shall, will] have just time before dinner; and 
 afterwards, before calling over, [we'll, we shall] 
 do the close." 
 
 20. It [certainly] wasn't very large [certainly], 
 being about six feet long by four broad. It couldn't 
 he called light, as there [was, were] bars and a 
 grating to the window; [which] little precautions 
 [which] were necessary in the studies on the
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 69 
 
 ground floor looking out into the close, to prevent 
 the exit of small boys [after locking up], and the 
 entrance of contraband articles [after locking up.] 
 
 21. And now, [having broken my resolution 
 never to write a Preface,] there are just two or 
 three things which I [would, should] like to say 
 a word about [having broken my resolution never 
 to write a Preface]. 
 
 22. My dear boys, old and young, you who have 
 belonged, [or do belong,] to other schools and other 
 houses, don't begin throwing my poor little book 
 about the room, and abusing [me and it] [it and I], 
 and vowing 1 you'll read no more when you get to 
 this point. I allow you've provocation for it. But, 
 come now, [would, should] yon, any of you, give a 
 fig for a fellow who didn't believe in, and stand up 
 for his own house and his own school? You know 
 you [wouldn't, shouldn't]. Then don't object to my 
 cracking up the old school-house, Rugby. Haven't 
 I a ricrht to do it, when I'm taking all the trouble 
 of writing this true history for all your benefits ? 
 If [you're not, you ain't] satisfied, go and write the 
 history [of your own houses] in your own times 
 [of your own houses] and say all you know for 
 your own schools and houses, [provided it's true,] 
 and [I'll, I shall] read it without abusing you 
 [provided it's true]. 
 
 1 Is there incoherence hetween the clauses of this sentence 
 after voicing ? If so, how remedy it ?
 
 70 first book in writing English 
 
 23. All the way up to London he had pondered 
 what he [would, should] say to Tom [by way of 
 parting advice], something that the boy could keep 
 in his head ready for use, [by way of parting 
 advice]. 
 
 21. " I say, Green," Snooks began one night, 
 " [ain't, isn't] that new boy, Harrison, your fag ? " 
 
 "Yes; why?" 
 
 "Oh, I know something of him at home, and 
 [would, should] like to excuse him — will you 
 swap ? " 
 
 " [Who, Whom] will you give me ? " 
 
 "Well, let's see; there's Willis, Johnson — no, 
 that won't do. Yes, I have it — there's young 
 East, I'll give you him." 
 
 " Don't you wish you may get it ? " replied 
 Green. " I'll tell you what I'll do — I'll give you 
 [if you like] two for Willis [if you like]." 
 
 " [Whom, Who] then ? " asked Snooks. 
 
 "Hall and Brown." 
 
 « [Shouldn't, Wouldn't] have Vm at a gift." 
 
 25. By keeping out of bounds [all day], or at all 
 events out of the house and quadrangle, [all day,] 
 and [carefully] barring themselves [carefully] in 
 at night, East and Tom managed to hold on with- 
 out feeling very [miserably, miserable]; but it was 
 as much as they could do. 
 
 26. His friends at home, [hadn't put him into 
 tails] having regard, I suppose, to his age, and not
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 71 
 
 to his size and place in the school, [hadn't put him 
 into tails] ; and [even] his jackets were always 
 too small [even] ; and he had a talent for de- 
 stroying clothes, and making himself look [shabbily, 
 shabby]. 
 
 Oral Review-Exercise. — Correct the following 
 sentences, after naming each fault. 
 
 1. Belonging to the modern realistic school of 
 novelists, his address was an able defence of their 
 tenets. 
 
 2. It is not probable that the scholars will yet 
 give him a very lofty place, and they will be disin- 
 clined to call his books literature, but the division 
 of sentiment as to their exact standing will not de- 
 tract from the brilliancy of the future they promise. 
 
 3. "Here you are, a great, hulking fellow, en- 
 dowed by providence with magnificent strength, 
 instead of which you go about stealing nuts." 
 
 4. Ctesar and all his legions was encamped 
 around the city, and the barbarians knew well 
 enough it was them they had to fight, them the 
 soldiers of the Roman god-like man. 
 
 5. " It wasn't us ! it wasn't us ! We wasn't there, 
 we warnt." 
 
 6. Neither of the adventurers, Olson and Lefevre, 
 saw their native land again. 
 
 7. He sat the cage down; and the bird cried, 
 between each mouthful, " Polly wants a cracker."
 
 72 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 8. Like Lucretius, his pleasure was in watching 
 the sea fight from a secure place. 
 
 9. Masquerading under the stage name of Viola 
 Violet, there was a gasp of astonishment when she 
 made her first entrance and was recognized by her 
 many friends in the audience. 
 
 10. Lacking practice in what might be called the 
 technique of acting, there was now and then some 
 restraint in pose and gesture, and the essential ele- 
 ment of artistic repose was lacking. 
 
 11. Passengers are warned not to get off the train 
 while in motion. 
 
 12. Without stopping to fully describe the con- 
 struction of this aural instrument, suffice it to say, 
 that it is small and compact, and can be carried in 
 the pocket, weighing about two ounces, constructed 
 mostly of aluminum. 
 
 13. When I go back to Cuba again I should like 
 to go with 10,000 interpreters instead of one, all in 
 United States uniforms, and who would talk fust 
 and to the point and would not expect or wait for 
 an answer. 
 
 14. Passing a field where brother David was sow- 
 ing rye, several merry voices called out, "How are 
 you, Mr. Newton ? " 
 
 15. Mr. Adams positively declines to hang cards 
 over the edges of the boxes at the grand opera 
 with the names of those present in larue type. 
 
 1C>. Eva picked up the letter from the hall table,
 
 GRAMMATICAL PHASES 73 
 
 looked quickly round at the closed hall door, at the 
 closed dining-room door, and at the baize door that 
 led to the kitchen stairs — and kissed it. 
 
 17. Talking the other day with a friend (the late 
 Mr. Keats) about Dante, he observed that whenever 
 so great a poet told us anything in addition or con- 
 tinuation of an ancient story, he had a right to be 
 regarded as classical authority. 
 
 18. Alcibiades told the Spartan envoys that if 
 they would say to the Athenians that their power 
 was limited and that they could only listen and 
 then tell the Spartans what they heard that he 
 would see that the Athenians did not join the 
 alliance : so when the ambassadors went there they 
 did as Alcibiades said and Alcibiades got up and 
 said, that they could not tell two things alike and 
 the Athenians would not have anything more to do 
 with them and they joined the alliance. 
 
 19. Having given this department-store question 
 much careful thought I have decided a more dan- 
 gerous monopoly could not be found, for reasons as 
 follows: First, they tend to centralize business, 
 which is dangerous, and should not exist if we 
 wish our city to grow and thereby equalize taxa- 
 tion. Second, the continuous advertising of the 
 entire stock of an unfortunate merchant on sale in 
 'these stores at 33 cents on the dollar is not encour- 
 aging to strangers who visit us.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ON DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH INTO SENTENCES 
 
 The Sentence not its own Master. — Everybody 
 learns at an early age some such definition as this: 
 A sentence is the expression of a complete thought 
 in words. But many students who have just left 
 the grammar school are not very clear in their own 
 minds as to what the definition means. When 
 they come to write sentences they find it hard to 
 decide what constitutes a complete thought. They 
 know what the test of grammatical completeness is 
 — the sentence must have a subject and a predi- 
 cate ; but they are hazy as to when the sentence 
 is logically complete. Frankly, the most accom- 
 plished writers are sometimes troubled to decide 
 this question. Having two ideas, they are not 
 sure whether these ought to stand in separate 
 sentences, or in semicolon clauses. There is no 
 magic rule; but by the right kind of practice one 
 may become perfectly sure, in nine cases out of 
 ten, of the best course to take. 
 
 Perhaps the easiest way to approach the matter 
 is to remember that the sentence is only a part of a 
 
 74
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 75 
 
 larger unit, — the paragraph. A paragraph is either 
 a miniature composition, or a main part of a short 
 composition. In long works, the chapter is the short 
 composition of which the paragraphs are the divi- 
 sions. The sentence, in turn, is a main part of the 
 paragraph. Whether a sentence should be long or 
 short depends on the part it plays in the paragraph. 
 
 To make this statement plain, we need consider 
 only the paragraph that stands alone, a miniature 
 composition. Whatever be the number of its sen- 
 tences, each forms a main part or step in the de- 
 velopment of the paragraph-thought. All are 
 concerned with explaining the same thing; each 
 contributes something to the idea. If there is a 
 topic sentence and this be likened to a root, the 
 other sentences are like the stalks and leaves which 
 grow from the root. 
 
 Note how each of the following miniature com- 
 positions 1 has a root, from which the rest of the 
 paragraph springs necessarily. 
 
 1. Flowers have an expression of countenance as much 
 as men or animals. Some seem to smile ; some have a sad 
 expression ; some are pensive and diffident ; others again 
 are plain, honest, and upright, like the broad-faced sun- 
 flower and the hollyhock. — H. W. Beecher. 
 
 2. There are three wicks ... to the lamp of a man's 
 life ; brain, blood, and breath. Tress the brain a little, its 
 
 1 Each of these paragraphs was written as a part of a larger 
 whole. But each is complete in itself, and may be considered 
 as an independent whole. 
 
 '
 
 lb FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 lii^Iit goes out. followed by both the others. Stop the heart 
 a minute, and out go all three of the wicks, choke the air 
 out of the luim>, and presently the fluid ceases to supply the 
 oi ler centres of Same, and all is soon stagnation, cold, and 
 darkness. — Dr. Holmes. 
 
 Consider the parts of the paragraphs just given. 
 Mr. Beecher has two sentences, the second group- 
 ing together the details which explain the first. 
 But the first sentence is made much shorter than 
 the second, because, word for word, it is to be 
 more emphatic. The second is the longer, because 
 no one of the separate clauses seemed to the writer 
 important enough to stand alone. The clauses of 
 detail taken together form one main division of the 
 paragraph. The short sentence that states the gist 
 of the paragraph is another main division. In Dr. 
 Holmes's brief parable, there are four sentences. 
 Three of them develop the general idea stated in 
 the first. Dr. Holmes cannot condense these three 
 into one explanatory sentence, as Beecher does ; 
 he has too much to say. By giving a sentence 
 to each of the three " wicks," he shows that he 
 considers them all approximately equal in impor- 
 tance. 
 
 Study now another paragraph : — 
 
 It is saying less than the truth to affirm that an excellent 
 book (and the remark holds almost equally good of a Raph- 
 ael as of a Milton) is like a well-chosen and well-tended 
 fruit tree. Its fruits are not of one season only. With the 
 due and natural intervals, we may recur to it year after
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 77 
 
 year, and it will supply the same nourishment and the same 
 gratification, if only we ourselves return to it with the same 
 healthful appetite. — Coleridge. 
 
 In this passage from Coleridge the first sen- 
 tence is the root of the paragraph ; ' a book is like 
 a fruit tree.' But the second sentence is made 
 shorter than the first, because it is to state the pith 
 of the paragraph more clearly and emphatically 
 than did the first. The meaning of the first sen- 
 tence is a little vague ; how a book is like a fruit 
 tree, it does not say. The second sentence does say 
 how. Note, then, that a short sentence is always 
 emphatic, and that accordingly it should be used to 
 state something that is important in the paragraph. 
 
 Study also the following paragraph : — 
 
 Our chief want in life, is somebody who shall make us do 
 what we can. This is the service of a friend. With him 
 we are easily great. There is a sublime attraction in him to 
 whatever virtue is in us. How he flings wide the doors of 
 existence ! What questions we ask of him ! what an under- 
 standing we have ! how few words are needed ! It is the 
 only real society. — Emerson. 
 
 In this paragraph of Emerson's, the main ideas 
 are stated in brief sentences, and the summary of 
 the paragraph comes in a sentence of six short 
 words. But note that in the last sentence except 
 one, the writer groups three clauses, because the 
 three constitute parts of one main idea of the 
 paragraph.
 
 78 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Read the following rather abstruse paragraphs, 
 
 and decide as to which shows the chief divisions of 
 the whole thought. 
 
 There is, first, the litera- 
 ture of knowledge ; and, 
 secondly, the literature of 
 power. The function of the 
 first is, to teach ; the func- 
 tion of the second is, to 
 move; the first is a rudder, 
 the second an oar or a sail. 
 The first speaks to the nun' 
 discursive understanding ; 
 the second speaks ultimately, 
 it may happen, to the higher 
 understanding or reason, but 
 always through affections of 
 pleasure and sympathy. — 
 
 De QciNCEY. 
 
 There is, first, the litera- 
 ture of knowledge. Ami, 
 secondly, the literature of 
 power. The function of the 
 tirst is. to teach. The func- 
 tion of the second is, to 
 move. The first is a rudder. 
 The second, an oar or a .-ail. 
 The first speaks to the mere 
 discursive understanding. 
 The second speaks ulti- 
 mately, it may happen, to 
 the higher understanding or 
 reason, but always through 
 affections of pleasure and 
 sympathy. 
 
 From a study of the foregoing selections, it 
 becomes clear that the sentence is not its own 
 master. It is the servant of the paragraph. The 
 paragraph, having an idea to give, uses sentences 
 to develop this idea. A skilful writer is not in 
 haste to crowd into a sentence all of one large, 
 complex thought. The full expression of that 
 thought is the task of the paragraph. The sen- 
 tences are the means by which its parts may be 
 made clear. The long sentences are for explana- 
 tory details ; the short ones are for emphatic sum- 
 maries or generalizations, and for rapid narrative
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 79 
 
 Sentence Unity. — I. A sentence that 2 )0SS€Sses 
 Unity of Substance constitutes one main step in the 
 development of the paragraph-idea. A main step, as 
 thus employed, usually means a sentence giving 
 one of the following : (1) the general subject of the 
 paragraph ; (2) the general thought or assertion of 
 the paragraph ; (3) the repetition of a preceding 
 idea in new words ; (4) an illustration ; (5) a group 
 of particulars or details ; (6) one proof, or term, in a 
 chain of reasoning ; (7) a brief contrast ; (8) a cause 
 and an effect; (9) an assertion and a very brief 
 illustration. It would be absurd to hold these 
 principles of unity anxiously in mind when one is 
 writing. Having thought them over a little, and 
 taken to heart the general doctrine that the sen- 
 tence should be one main step, the scholar should 
 trust his own sense of unity. The chief value of 
 any such analysis is that it may help the scholar 
 to give thought to his own sentences. 
 
 II. A sentence that possesses Unity of Form keeps 
 one coherent structure throughout, and subordinates 
 unimportant clauses to the important. Unity of 
 form does not concern the division of the paragraph 
 into sentences. It will be considered in Chapter 
 VI., under Well-knit Sentences. 
 
 I. Unity of Substance by Excluding Irrelevant 
 Ideas. — Perhaps the first thing that is noticed in 
 reading hasty composition, is that some sentences
 
 80 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 are too Long. Here is our. written by a lad of 
 fourteen. It will seem to most readers to be a sen- 
 tence of infantine simplicity, such as no high school 
 student is in the slightest danger of perpetrating. 
 My apology for giving it is that it renders every 
 heterogeneous sentence ridiculous. 
 
 Oliver Orlando's brother did not like him and when he 
 heard tliat Orlando whipped Charles he was very angry and 
 was going to burn Orlando's house up with him in it, but 
 Adam, Orlando's faithful servant, ran out and told him. so 
 they got all the money they had and started for the foresl 
 of Arden, when they got pretty near there Adam being so 
 old fainted from hunger. 
 
 The student who wrote this was not thinking of 
 the parts of his paragraph; he was flunking merely 
 of the story of As You Like It. He plunged ahead 
 after the story, never looking behind him. The 
 result is a long, rambling sentence, with several 
 chief thoughts in it. These chief thoughts are 
 four: (1) Oliver hatefully plots to kill Orlando. 
 (2) Adam foils Oliver. (3) Adam and Orlando 
 flee. (4) Adam at last faints. The paragraph 
 therefore divides into four decent, though childish, 
 sentences : — 
 
 Oliver, Orlando's brother, did not like him; and when he 
 heard thai Orlando whippi d Charles he was very angry, and 
 was going to burn Orlando's house up with him in it. But 
 Adam, < Orlando's Faithful servant, ran out and told him. So 
 they got together all the money they had. and started for the 
 forest of Arden. When they uot pretty near there, Adam, 
 being so old, fainted from hunger.
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 81 
 
 Periods are now substituted for several of the 
 student's commas. That writer had confused these 
 two marks, the comma and the full stop. Such an 
 error may be called, for mere convenience, the comma 
 fault. It is readily seen that of all possible mistakes 
 in punctuation, the comma fault is the most serious 
 and elementary. To begin a new sentence after a 
 comma is an infallible sign of illiteracy. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — In the following passages, cor- 
 rect the comma fault wherever it appears. Change 
 the sentences in other ways to give a more mature 
 tone to them. 
 
 1. I don't know what to do in such a case, it is 
 too hard to decide. [Change comma to semicolon.] 
 
 2. Romeo fell in love at once, he couldn't help 
 himself, he had never seen any person so lovable. 
 
 3. So they also started for the forest of Arden 
 disguised as a countryman and woman, when they 
 got there they bought a house that was to be sold 
 at auction, once while wandering around they met 
 Orlando and Rosalind asked him if it was he that 
 was spoiling the trees by carving love sentences on 
 them, and he said it was, so she said he could pre- 
 tend that she was Rosalind, so he came there every 
 day until one day he was detained by seeing a lion- 
 ess just going to spring on Oliver. 
 
 Theme. — Write a paragraph of six to ten short 
 sentences. Let the first state the whole event in 
 
 G
 
 82 FIRST BOOR IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 brief. Let the others give the steps of the action 
 tersely, rapidly, emphatically. Revise for spelling 
 ami punctuation. Suggested topics: — 
 
 1. Shooting the rapids. 
 
 2. How the water comes down at the falls. 
 
 3. How the accidenl happened. 
 
 4. How a log-jam is broken. 
 
 5. The way to shoot a glass ball. 
 
 6. Down a- hill on a wheel. 
 
 7. Sights from a car window. 
 
 8. A fall on the ice. 
 
 9. Shooting the "Chutes." 
 1(1. A runaway. 
 
 11. A flash-light photograph. 
 
 12. How the bird (or game) escaped. 
 
 13. .Paul Revere's ride. 
 
 14. An exciting moment. 
 
 II. Unity of Substance by Including all the Parts 
 of an Idea. — It has already been said that a para- 
 graph may be composed of several very short sen- 
 tences, each one a main step of the paragraph, 
 each one a unit. For example : — 
 
 A great silence made itself felt. Then, on a sudden, a 
 dry sound cracked in the air. The viscount had slapped his 
 adversary's face. Every one rose to interfere. Cards were 
 exchanged between tie' two. 
 
 Here, indeed, it may lie that the second and third 
 sentences are halves of one idea, divided to make
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 83 
 
 its parts more emphatic. At all events, while a 
 sentence may be very short and still constitute a 
 principal factor of the paragraph, sentences should 
 not be so brief that each is, so to speak, only hall 
 a main thought. A main thought may be compos- 
 ite. Thus, it is often effective (a) to state and to 
 explain an idea very briefly, within the one sen- 
 tence ; (b) to show an extremely close relation of 
 cause and effect, by stating both within the one 
 sentence ; (o) to contrast two things very briefly 
 within the one sentence. 
 
 Now, a child gives his ideas in mere bits ; he 
 cannot express the relations of the bits to each 
 other. For example : — 
 
 My aunt was a very large woman. My uncle was a very 
 thin man. He was very delicate. He dwindled. I mean, 
 he got thinner and punier every day. And my aunt thought 
 a great deal of him. She wished him to get well. She gave 
 him a great deal of medicine. She gave him so much that 
 he began to get worse. He finally died. 
 
 This paragraph tells the story of how a woman 
 doctored her husband to death. The writer has 
 made eight steps in the story, which perhaps has 
 not really more than four main parts : (1) The 
 contrast between my aunt and uncle. (2) My uncle 
 ''dwindled" — explained by saying he got punier 
 daily. (3) My aunt's love, and its consequence — 
 her wish for my uncle's recovery. (4) The form 
 the wish took, — giving of medicine. (5) The
 
 84 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 twofold result, — aggravation of the disease, then 
 death. 
 
 The original sentences may be combined into 
 four. In combining them, what pointing shall be 
 used instead of so many full stops ? We may use 
 commas, but only if we make one clause dependent 
 or join two clauses or propositions by a conjunction. 
 We may say, for example, " My aunt was a very 
 large woman, and my uncle a very thin, delicate 
 man." We have inserted an and; this permits the 
 use of a comma. The result is a pretty good sen- 
 tence, having one complex idea, — the contrast 
 between the ample lady and her slight husband. 
 
 But another invaluable means of showing the 
 real factors of the sentence is the semicolon. The 
 semicolon, as was said in Chapter III., is a kind of 
 weak full stop. Nearly always it connects state- 
 ments that are unrelated and independent grammati- 
 cally, but intimately related in sense. In a way, 1 
 the semicolon connects sentences, a period sepa- 
 rates sentences. The former sign is priceless to 
 the writer who. when he comes to expand each 
 idea of his paragraph, finds the structure growing 
 too complicated. He has merely to place a semi- 
 colon and go ahead with a miniature new sentence, 
 which every reader will understand to be a part of 
 the logical unit in hand. 
 
 1 In another and largei sense, every mark of punctuation is 
 disjunctive, as was said on page 21.
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 85 
 
 If Ave combine the eight sentences by the help 
 of the semicolon, we get four, somewhat like the 
 following : — 
 
 My aunt was a very large woman ; my uncle, on the con- 
 trary, was a very thin delicate man. He dwindled ; that is, 
 he got thinner and punier every day. My aunt thought a 
 good deal of him, and naturally she wished him to get well. 
 She gave him, accordingly, a great deal of medicine. She 
 gave him so much indeed that he began to get worse ; and, 
 finally, he died. 
 
 Most students do not use the semicolon enough. 
 Two or three semicolon clauses, however, are suffi- 
 cient for .a very long sentence. If more are written 
 there is usually danger of encroaching upon the 
 next main thought of the paragraph. It is better to 
 write too many short sentences than too many long 
 ones. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Consider the following paragraph, 
 and decide whether the main thoughts of it are nine, 
 as here indicated, or four. If four, the thoughts 
 are : (1) Contrast between light above and dark 
 below. (2) The growing dark. (3) The faint, 
 weird sights and sounds that come to the narrator. 
 (4) His retreat from the abbey. If, having given 
 the matter careful thought, you think there should 
 be but four sentences, or if you think there is any 
 other fault in the punctuation, explain how you 
 would repoint.
 
 86 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 The last beams of day were now faintly streaming through 
 the painted windows in the high vaults above me. The 
 lower parts of the abbey were already wrapped in the ol>- 
 scurity of twilight. The chapels and aisles grew darker and 
 darker. The effigies of the kings faded into shadows. The 
 marble figures of the monuments assumed strange shapes in 
 the uncertain light. The evening breeze crept through the 
 aisles like the cold breath of the grave. And even the dis- 
 tant footfall of a verger, traversing the Poet's Corner, had 
 something strange and dreary in its sound. I slowly re- 
 traced my morning's walk. And as I passed out at the 
 portal of the cloisters, the door, closing with a jarring noise 
 behind me, filled the whole building with echoes. 
 
 Punctuation for Emphasis. — Below are given three 
 ways of punctuating the same words. We may sup- 
 pose the same words to be used by three different 
 generals. 
 
 1. General A. twirled his moustache, and spoke 
 softly, in his calm, unruffled way, as if he were 
 explaining a mathematical problem to a cadet ; he 
 
 aid to the soldier, " You are a coward : you shrink, 
 you dodge, you hide, you run away when the dan- 
 ger comes." He spoke meditatively, and with a 
 little drawl, letting his voice rise at each pause. 
 
 2. General 1?. looked at the soldier steadily, and 
 said in a sharp, decided tone : " You are a coward: 
 you shrink; you dodge; you hide; you run away 
 when the danger comes." 
 
 ."». General C. sprang up from his camp-stool, 
 angry and indignant. He spoke explosively and 
 incoherently. "You are a coward! You shrink.
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 87 
 
 You dodge. You hide. You run away when the 
 danger conies." 
 
 Evidently the punctuation here is largely de- 
 pendent on the different states of mind. A calm, 
 logical attitude is reflected in the nice distinctions 
 conveyed by the colon and comma. An excited 
 mood over-emphasizes each detail, and makes it a 
 sentence. There is sometimes need of indignant 
 emphasis on each detail. Perhaps therefore the 
 strict unity of the sentence may sometimes be 
 sacrificed for the sake of emphasis. Such a sacri- 
 fice however should very rarely be made. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Consider the following paragraph 
 as a whole, and decide whether the sentences rep- 
 resent the main factors of the paragraph-thought. 
 If you agree that "the song of a young girl's voice " 
 is as important in the paragraph as several of the 
 other songs put together, how can this importance 
 be indicated by punctuation ? 
 
 The first thing which Tom saw was the black cedars, high 
 and sharp against the rosy dawn. And St. Brandan's Isle 
 reflected double in the still broad silver sea. The wind sung 
 softly in the cedars, and the water sung among the caves. 
 The sea-birds sung as they streamed out into the ocean, and 
 the land-birds as they built among the boughs. And the 
 air was so full of song that it stirred St. Brandan and his 
 hermits, as they slumbered in the shade. And they moved 
 their good old lips, and sung their good old hymn amid their 
 dreams. But among all the songs one came across the water 
 more sweet and clear than all, for it was the song of a young 
 girl's voice.
 
 SS FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Theme. — Write a paragraph of four sentences 
 on one of the following subjects. Let the first 
 sentence be a general statement. Then let cadi 
 of three compound sentences group together details, 
 and so explain the first. 
 
 1. The three parts of a tree, and their charac- 
 teristics. 
 
 2. The three parts of my town. 
 
 3. A picture I like : its background, its figures, 
 its coloring. 
 
 4. The lunch-room. 
 
 5. A sleeping-car : the car itself, the travellers, 
 the porter. 
 
 6. Uses of a jack-knife : legitimate, illegitimate, 
 doubtful. 
 
 7. Three men representing three kinds of true 
 Americanism. 
 
 8. Three great men, typically English. 
 
 9. Three great men typically Roman. 
 
 10. Three types of philanthropist. 
 
 11. Three kinds of coward. 
 
 12. Three kinds of hero. 
 
 13. Three noble American women. 
 11. Three Avomen who write stories. 
 
 Written Exercise. — In the seventeenth century 
 there were many authors whose minds were full of 
 Latin models. These writers trieil In build up in 
 English, an uninflected language, sentences as com-
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 89 
 
 plex as those of Cicero. They tried to make the 
 sentence do the work of the paragraph. How 
 utterly they failed may be seen in the following 
 passages from Defoe and Lord Clarendon. Con- 
 sidering each selection as a paragraph, rewrite with 
 reference to unity of substance in the sentence. 
 
 1. There is one thing more remarkable in this parish, and 
 it is this : twenty-six sheets of lead, hanging all together, 
 were blown off from the middle isle of our church, and were 
 carried over the north isle, which is a very large one, with- 
 out touching it ; and into the churchyard ten yards' distance 
 from the church ; and they were took up all joined together 
 as they were on the roof ; the plumber told me that the 
 sheets weighed each three hundred and a half, one with 
 another. This is what is most observable in our parish: 
 but I shall give you an account of one thing (which perhaps 
 you may have from other hands) that happened in another, 
 called Kingscote, a little village about three miles from Ted- 
 bury, and seven from us: where William Kingscote, Esq., 
 has many woods ; among which was one grove of very tall 
 trees, being each near eighty foot high ; the which he greatly 
 valued for the tallness and prospect of them, and therefore 
 resolved never to cut them down : but it so happened, that 
 six hundred of them, within the compass of five acres were 
 wholly blown down ; (and supposed to be much at the same 
 time) each tree tearing up the ground with its root ; so that 
 the roots of most of the trees, with the turf and earth about 
 them, stood up at least fifteen or sixteen foot high; the lying 
 down of which trees is an amazing sight to all beholders. — 
 Defoe. 
 
 2. It is true, that as he * was of a most incomparable gen- 
 tleness, application, and even submission to good and worthy 
 and entire men, so he was naturally (which could not be 
 
 1 That is, Lord Falkland.
 
 90 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 more evident in liis place, which objected him to another 
 conversation and intermixture than his own election would 
 have done) adversus malos injucundus ; and was so ill a 
 
 dissembler of his dislike and disinclination to ill men, that it 
 was not possible for such not to discern it. There was once, 
 
 in the House of Commons, such a declared acceptation of 
 the good service an eminent member had done to them, and, 
 as they said, to the whole kingdom, that it was moved, he 
 being present, "That the speaker might, in the name of the 
 whole house, give him thanks, ami then that every member 
 might, as a testimony of his particular acknowledgment, stir 
 or move his hat towards him; the which (though not 
 ordered) when very many did, the lord Falkland (who 
 believed the service itself not to be of that moment, and 
 that an honourable and generous person could not have 
 stooped to it for any recommence ) instead of moving his hat, 
 stretched both his arms out, and clasped his hands together 
 upon the crown of his hat, and held it close down to his 
 head ; that all men might see, how odious that flattery was to 
 him, and that very approbation of the person, though at the 
 same time most popular. — Clarendon. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the paragraphs l>y Haw- 
 thorne (p. L06), Macaulay, Webster, Huxley (pp. 
 L07-8) to sec whet bier the sentences are units in sub- 
 stance. Note also the different effects produced by 
 long and short sentences. 
 
 III. A. Unity of Substance by Keeping to the 
 Point. — In a hastily written manuscript will often 
 lie found unlike ideas joined together in one sen- 
 tence. Some persons are worse than others in this 
 matter, but everybody, in composing rapidly, is 
 liable to the fault. It is amusingly easy to fly off
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 91 
 
 at a tangent, if the parts of the paragraph have not 
 been properly thought out. The mind often works 
 erratically ; it is pursuing a given idea when some 
 word used suggests a different line of thinking and 
 the train is switched off its track. 
 
 Cardinal Newman once wrote a burlesque of this 
 scatter-brained kind of writing. He pretends that 
 the lad is writing a theme on the topic, " Fortune fa- 
 vors the brave." In the midst of it the boy says : — 
 
 Napoleon, too, shows us how little we can rely on fort- 
 une ; but Ins faults, great as they were, are being redeemed 
 by his nephew, Louis Napoleon, who has shown himself 
 very different from what was expected, though he has never 
 explained how he came to swear to the constitution, and 
 then mounted the imperial throne. 
 
 Here the writer has not committed the comma 
 fault ; he has not begun an independent sentence 
 after a comma. But he has set down ideas irrele- 
 vant to the sentence, and, in this case, irrelevant 
 even to the theme. 
 
 This lack of unity often arises from putting 
 down, as the sentence proceeds, the details that 
 occur parenthetically to the writer ; he empties his 
 mind upon the paper. Thus : — 
 
 My aunt happened to notice, as she stood looking into 
 the glass and thinking how pretty she was, for she was 
 really pretty for one so old, that the eyes of a portrait or 
 one of the eyes was moving, for my aunt had a large picture 
 of my uncle in her room in her country-house, which was 
 in Derbyshire.
 
 92 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 B. Many a sentence which ends in an irrelevant 
 clause can be made to show unity by the insertion of 
 some intermediate link that occurred in the mind 
 but was overlooked in the writing. "Johnson wrote 
 political articles, and took care that the Whigs did 
 not get the best of it," becomes a unit if we supply 
 a few words : " Johnson wrote political articles, a ml 
 in those which referred hi parUanwidanj debutes took 
 care that the Whigs did not get the best of it." 
 In other words, a sentence must not merely 
 include the expressed parts of a main thought, 
 as in the second kind of unity of substance ; it 
 must express every part of the main thought. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Trim the following sentences 
 into shape, so that each shall be a unit. If neces- 
 sary, divide the sentence. 
 
 1. He was young ; but his foolishness stood him 
 in good stead. 
 
 2. The cholera in Egypt is assuming a more 
 loathsome form, among the dead being Major 
 Roddy Owen, the famous Uganda explorer. 
 
 3. The delegates, wearied by the excitement of 
 the past week, have hurried to their homes, a 
 few remaining for all the business men have 
 been making unusual displays in spite of the hard 
 times. 
 
 4. The new light is placed upon a ijas-jet, which 
 supplies the gas to a curious film, which is made of
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 93 
 
 some chemically prepared substance that becomes 
 incandescent, not having to be changed oftener 
 than twice a year, if you are careful with it. 
 
 0. The electric lights, which are of the Edison 
 pattern, are not burned later than six o'clock. 
 They are more convenient than gas, and they come 
 packed in straw. 
 
 Oral Exercise, in Review. — Decide whether the 
 following sentences are units or not. Indicate 
 which form of sentence unity each has or lacks. 
 Suggest improvements. 
 
 1. In the midst of life we are in death, and it 
 has been said that the tariff is a tax. 
 
 2. Jesu ! Jesu ! Dead ! — he drew a good bow ; 
 — and dead ! — he shot a fine shoot : — John of 
 Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on 
 his head.— 2 Henry IV., Act III., Sc. 2, 1. 48. 
 
 3. He had one claw knobbed and the other 
 jagged ; and Tom delighted in watching him hold 
 on to the sea-weed with his knobbed claw, while 
 he cut up salads with his jagged one, and then put 
 them into his mouth, after smelling at them, like a 
 monkey, and always the little barnacles threw out 
 their casting nets and swept the water, and came 
 in for their share of whatever there was for dinner. 
 
 4. We were now thoroughly broken down, but 
 the intense excitement of the time denied us repose, 
 and after a unique slumber of some three or four
 
 94 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 hours' duration, we arose, as if by preconcert, to 
 make examination of our treasure. 
 
 5. Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt 
 [partly-gilt] goblet, sitting in my Dolphin-chamber, 
 at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, upon Wednes- 
 day in Whitsun week, when the prince broke thy 
 head for likening his father to a singing man of 
 Windsor; thou didst swear to me then, as I was 
 washing thy wound, to marry me, and make me 
 my lady thy wife. — 2 Henry IV., Act II., 8c. 1, 
 1. 94. 
 
 6. There was something in the tone of this note 
 which gave me great uneasiness. Its whole style 
 differed materially from that of Legrand ; what 
 could he be dreaming of? what new crotchet pos- 
 sessed his excitable brain ? what " business of the 
 highest importance" could he possibly have to tran- 
 sact? Jupiter's account of him boded no good; I 
 dreaded lest the continued pressure of misfortune 
 had, at length, fairly unsettled the reason of my 
 friend ; without a moment's hesitation, therefore, 
 I prepared to accompany the negro. 
 
 7. And in that country is an old castle, that 
 stands upon a rock, the which is cleped the Castle 
 of the sparrowhawk, that is beyond the city of 
 Lay as, beside the town of Parsipee, that belongeth 
 to the lordship of Cruk; that ' is a rich lord and 
 a good Christian man; where men find a sparrow- 
 
 1 This '• that " is demonstrative.
 
 DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH 95 
 
 hawk upon a perch right fair, and right well made ; 
 and a fair Lady of Fayryre, that keepeth it. — Man- 
 cleviUe. 
 
 8. And thus will the city have more lights on 
 the subject, and Avhat will be a gain in lighting to 
 the city will be a greater loss in cash, and the city's 
 loss will be the Water Works company's gain, and 
 we are glad of it so far as the company is concerned, 
 for the company was put off and were refused a 
 renewal of its contract with the city at terms that 
 were most reasonable, and the company will also 
 make up for lost time now in good shape.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 
 
 A sentence may be said to be well-knit if it 
 stands the following tests. It must have unity of 
 form ; freedom from excessive looseness ; a due 
 amount of emphasis; and climax, if climax is re- 
 quired. All these technical terms need expla- 
 nation. 
 
 Unity of Form. — To be a unit of form, a sen- 
 tence must place subordinate thoughts in sub- 
 ordinate clauses, and must keep one coherent 
 structure throughout. 
 
 Subordination of Clauses. — In the early years 
 of a language, before it has been used to express 
 philosophy and science, the structure of the sen- 
 tences is loose and simple; it sounds like the 
 speech of a child. Here is a passage from a book 
 which appeared about 1370, as the Voyage and 
 Travels of Sir John Mandeville. There is some 
 doubt whether or not there was really a Sir John ; 
 but these Travels are very interesting and curious 
 
 reading. 
 
 96
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 97 
 
 And some men say that in the Isle of Lango is yet the 
 daughter of Hippocrates, in form and likeness of a great 
 dragon, that is a hundred fathom of length, as men say: 
 for I have not seen her. And they of the Isles call her, 
 Lady of the Land. And she lieth in an old castle, in a 
 cave, and sheweth twice or thrice in the year. And she 
 doth no harm to no man, but if men do her harm. And 
 she was thus changed and transformed, from a fair damsel, 
 into likeness of a dragon, by a goddess, that was cleped 
 Diana. And men say, that she shall so endure in that 
 form of a dragon, unto the time that a knight come, that 
 is so hardy, that dare come to her and kiss her on the 
 mouth : and then shall she turn again to her own kind, and 
 be a woman again. But after that she shall not live long. 
 
 Though much of the naive, childlike quality of 
 this passage is due to the archaic phraseology, 
 much also is due to the use of and and but in- 
 stead of other conjunctions. 
 
 In certain kinds of writing it is natural enough 
 that ideas should be strung together with and's. 
 Thus : " It rained, and hailed, and blew, and snowed, 
 and froze, and they became weary of winter." But 
 suppose that they did not weary of winter. The 
 sentence then would run, " Though it rained, and 
 hailed, and snow-ed, and froze, they did not become 
 weary of winter." Here we have ceased the mere 
 enumeration of things that happened, one after 
 the other, and have stated a process of reasoning. 
 The result is a complex sentence. The ability to 
 construct good complex sentences means ability to 
 do careful thinking.
 
 98 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 In every complex sentence there is some one 
 proposition that ought to stand out, with the 
 high light upon it. This is the thing we most 
 wish to say; to change the comparison, it is the 
 heart of the sentence. If the other parts can 
 be made subordinate to it, the strongest kind of 
 sentence unity is secured. In the sentence, "It 
 rained; it snowed; it hailed; they did not weary 
 of winter," all the assertions are stated as equally 
 important. But, clearly enough, the last one is the 
 kernel of the sentence. Therefore the preceding 
 clauses ought to be reduced to their proper rank 
 by being made dependent. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the following compound 
 sentences, to decide whether or not there is in each 
 some important thought to which the others ought 
 to have been subordinated. Then improve the 
 unity by reducing the subordinate ideas to depend- 
 ent clauses having a participle, or a relative adverb 
 like when. 
 
 1. Love is blind ; it is not for want of eyes. 
 
 2. The soldiers were perhaps somewhat sleepy 
 with the sultriness of the afternoon; they had 
 now laid by much of their vigilance. 
 
 3. I spied an honest fellow coming along a lane, 
 and askeil him if he had ever heard of a house 
 called the house of Sliaws. 
 
 4. The next person I came across was a dapper
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 99 
 
 little man in a beautiful white wig ; I knew well that 
 barbers were great gossips, and I asked him plainly 
 what kind of a man was Mr. Balfour of the Shaws. 
 
 5. In these days folk still believed in witches 
 and trembled at a curse; and this curse fell pat, 
 like a wayside omen, to arrest me ; it took the pith 
 out of my legs. 
 
 6. I was called in at last ; my uncle counted out 
 into my hand seven and thirty golden gninea pieces. 
 
 7. I had come close to one of the turns in the 
 stair ; I felt my way as usual ; my hand slipped 
 upon an edge and found nothing but emptiness 
 beyond it. 
 
 8. I returned to the kitchen; I made up such a 
 blaze as had not shone there for many a long year ; 
 I wrapped myself in my plaid; I lay down upon 
 the chests and fell asleep. 
 
 The So Construction. — The conjunction so is a 
 useful word, and the learner prefers it to its syno- 
 nyms, therefore and consequent!)/, because it is 
 simpler, less formal than either. But in a narra- 
 tive which is liberally besprinkled with so's the 
 reader feels that the simplicity is overdone. Here 
 is an extreme example. 
 
 A short time afterward my uncle died ; so my aunt went 
 to her country-house in Derbyshire. She did not wish to be 
 alone in the country ; so she took her servants. When they 
 got there they found the house very lonely ; so the maids 
 did not want to stay, but they did.
 
 100 Fin ST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Examine the sentences just quoted, unci show 
 the relations between the clauses by other devices 
 than the use of so. 
 
 So, as a conjunction, should be employed very 
 sparingly. When it is employed, it should usually 
 be preceded by a semicolon rather than a com ma. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — A careful writer is known by 
 his use of conjunctions: he does not use and unless 
 the clauses joined are co-ordinate ; nor but unless 
 there is a real opposition ; nor a given subordinate 
 conjunction unless it is actually required by logic. 
 In the subjoined selections from Ruskin the original 
 conjunctions have been changed to those in italics. 
 Find better expressions for those italicized. 
 
 1. In employing all the muscular power at our disposal 
 we are to make the employments we choose as educational 
 as possible. Consequently a wholesome human employ- 
 ment is the first and best method of education, mental as 
 well as bodily. A man taught to plough, row, or steer well, 
 moreover a woman taught to cook properly, and make a 
 dress neally, arc already educated in many essential moral 
 habits. Labour considered as a discipline has hitherto been 
 thought of only for criminals, therefore the real and noblest 
 function of labour is to prevent crime, hut not to be Be- 
 t'onnatory, but Fonnatory. — Risicix. 
 
 2. We must spend our money in some way, at some time, 
 accordingly it cannot at any time be spent without employ- 
 ing somebody. While we gamble it away, the person who 
 wins it must spend it ; while we lose it in a railroad specu- 
 lation, it has gone into some one else's pockets, or merely 
 gone to pay navvies for making a useless embankment, but
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 101 
 
 not to pay ribaud or button makers for making useless 
 ribands or buttons ; we cannot lose it (unless by actually 
 destroying it) and not give employment of some kind ; 
 nevertheless whatever quantity of money exists, the relative 
 quantity of employment must some day come out of it ; 
 and the distress of the nation signifies that the employ- 
 ments given have produced nothing that will support its ex- 
 istence. Men cannot live on ribands, or buttons, or velvet, 
 or by going quickly from place to place ; but every coin 
 spent in useless ornament, or useless motion, is so much 
 withdrawn from the national means of life. — Ruskin. 
 
 One Coherent Structure. — A Ye have seen that to 
 be well-knit a sentence must have thatf unity of 
 form which gives every thought its proper clause- 
 rank. It must also be uniform in structure. There 
 should be no sudden, unnecessary change in sub- 
 ject, or in the form of the verb. Sometimes a sen- 
 tence is ptilled about by the mind as a child by a 
 cross nurse. It begins in the active voice, it is 
 twitched aside into the passive. It begins as the 
 act of one person, it ends as that of another. Even 
 so admirable a writer as John Fiske has this sen- 
 tence : " But How r e could not bear to acknowledge 
 the defeat of his attempts to storm, and accord- 
 ingly, at five o'clock, with genuine British persis- 
 tency, a third attack was ordered." This " British 
 persistency" is evidently Howe's. Why not give 
 him full credit for it, thus ? — " But Howe could 
 not bear to acknowledge the defeat of his attempts 
 to storm, and accordingly, at five o'clock, with gen- 
 uine British persistency he ordered a third attack."
 
 102 FIRST BOOK IX WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Change the following sentences 
 so that each shall have unity of form. 
 
 1. A blue pencil? there is nothing so easy for 
 an editor to manage, so unmistakable in reading, so 
 wholly impressive to a contributor when he sees it. 
 
 2. Tom and East became good friends, and the 
 tyranny of a certain insolent fellow was sturdily 
 resisted by them together. 
 
 3. You will see no sudden jerks of the St. Am- 
 brose rudder, nor will any clumsy rounding of a 
 point be seen. 
 
 4. Miller, motionless till now, lifts his right 
 hand and the tassel is whirled round his head. 
 
 5. Thorold had just read the account of John 
 Inglesant's vision of the dead King Charles. He 
 disliked the idea of spending the night in the old 
 country house, and still more to go through the 
 tapestried chamber ; but it was immediately de- 
 termined by him that such an invitation must not 
 be refused. 
 
 The Loose Sentence. — The passage given at the 
 beginning of the chapter, from Mandeville, is writ- 
 ten in what arc called loose sentences. Loose as 
 applied to a sentence, does not necessarily mean 
 that the sentence is bad, — that it is rambling or 
 disjointed. A loose sentence is one in which 
 an independent statement comes first, followed by 
 others, dependent or independent. Example:
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 103 
 
 "And some men say that in the Isle of Lango is 
 yet the daughter of Hippocrates, in form and like- 
 ness of a great dragon, that is a hundred fathom of 
 length, as men say : for I have not seen her." In 
 this sentence comes first a proposition, — " And 
 some men say," followed by several subordinate 
 clauses, and by one independent clause, — " for I 
 have not seen her." The test of a loose sentence 
 is a grammatical one : the sentence can be closed at 
 some point before the end, without hurting the 
 grammatical structure. At what places in the 
 sentence just quoted is the grammatical structure 
 complete ? 
 
 The loose sentence is used freely in conversation. 
 The speaker gives his main idea first, and qualifies 
 it afterward. Therefore the legitimate effect of 
 the loose sentence is to lend an air of simplicity, 
 a colloquial air, to the style. The danger is that 
 it may become a mere sequence of clauses, that 
 dangle insecurely, each from the preceding, like 
 needles hanging from a magnet. Avoid long loose 
 sentences. 
 
 Examine the sentence by Defoe, p. 89. It is a 
 fine example of what a loose sentence should not be. 
 
 The Periodic Sentence. — In the sentence, " A 
 short time afterward my uncle died ; so my aunt 
 went to her country-house in Derbyshire," the 
 grammatical structure is complete at " died." But
 
 104 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 if the two clauses be welded together by because, 
 they will no longer be grammatically free. Thus: 
 '■'Because my uncle died shortly afterward, my aunt 
 went to ho- country-house in Derbyshire." This 
 sentence is periodic in form. A periodic sentence 
 is a complex sentence in which the modi tiers of 
 the verb precede the verb. The effect of this 
 structure is to delay the main idea of the sen- 
 tence until the last. 1 Obviously, if too many 
 subordinate ideas occur before the main one, the 
 mind of the reader will weary with the tension 
 of expectation. Short periodic sentences however 
 are extremely effective in arousing the reader's 
 attention and holding it till the important idea 
 is stated. It is plain that good periodic structure 
 is highly conducive to unity in the sentence: each 
 subordinate idea is held in its proper place of sub- 
 ordination till the main idea is stated, and on the 
 reader is flashed a pleasant sense that the structure 
 has grown naturally into one complete whole. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the oral exercise on 
 pages 98, 99, and say which sentences were made 
 periodic in the effort to improve their unity. 
 
 1 Sometimes a simple sentence is called periodic. This is 
 when the natural order of subject and predicate is inverted. 
 Thus: " Great is Diana of the Ephesians." Indeed, the attribu- 
 tive position of the adjective is sometimes called periodic, be- 
 cause it delays the noun-idea. A long sentence is sometimes 
 periodic up to a certain point, then loose; sometimes the oppo- 
 site is true.
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 105 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Below are given some good peri- 
 odic sentences. 1 Give equivalent loose sentences. 
 Decide whether or not the loose are better than 
 the periodic. 
 
 1. At this moment a large, comfortable white 
 house, that had been heretofore hidden by green 
 trees, came into view. 
 
 [Changed, this might read : "A large, comfortable white 
 house had been heretofore hidden by green trees ; it came 
 into view at this moment."] 
 
 2. Off went Timothy's hat. 
 
 3. And it was to this household that Timothy 
 had brought his child for adoption. 
 
 4. Gay, not being used to a regular morning 
 toilet, had fought against it valiantly at first. 
 
 5. If you care to feel a warm glow in the region 
 of your heart, imagine little Timothy Jessup sent 
 to play in that garden. 
 
 6. Yet of an evening, or on Sunday, she was no 
 village gossip. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The following passage, from 
 Hawthorne, is written in excellent loose sentences. 
 Change to periodic all of them that can be so 
 changed without hurting the ease of structure. 
 Whatever else it be, a periodic sentence should 
 never be strained or unnatural. 
 
 1 Sentences that are in the main periodic may ordinarily be 
 given this name.
 
 106 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Then Theseus bent himself in sood earnest to the task, 
 and strained every sinew with manly strength and resolution. 
 He put his whole brave heart into the effort. He wrestled 
 with the big and sluggish stone as if it had been a living 
 enemy. He heaved, he lilted, lie resolved now to succeed, 
 or else to perish there, and let the rock be bis monument 
 forever! ZEthra stood gazing at him, and clasped her hands, 
 partly with a mother's pride, and partly with a mother's sor- 
 row. The great rock stirred! Yes, it was raised slowly 
 from the bedded moss and earth, uprooting the shrubs and 
 flowers along with it, and was turned upon its side. Theseus 
 had conquered I 
 
 Inappropriate Periodicity. — It is foolish to use an 
 elaborate suspended structure when a very simple 
 thought or a very rapid narrative is to be given. 
 Note the pomposity of the following sentences. 
 Remove it by changing the structure. 
 
 "Three summers ago, to rejoin my family in 
 northern Michigan, I left the city. On a little 
 peninsula which juts out into Lake Michigan, a 
 group of houses, dignified by the name of Edge- 
 wood, stands. CJndistracted by the bustle of hotel 
 life, a few sensible people live here. To get away 
 from town for a few days and lounge in the pine 
 woods about Edge wood, to me is always very 
 pleasant." 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the following sentences 
 one by one, and say whether each is (a) wholly 
 periodic, (6) wholly loose, or (c) partly loose and 
 partly periodic. When the last is the case, show 
 at what point the change of structure occurs.
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 107 
 
 1. He who walks in the way these following ballads point 
 will be manful in necessary fight, fair in trade, loyal in love, 
 generous to the poor, tender in the household, prudent in 
 living, plain in speech, merry upon occasion, simple in be- 
 havior, and honest in all things. — Lanier. 
 
 2. While Johnson was busied with his Idlers, his mother, 
 who had accomplished her ninetieth year, died at Lichfield. 
 It was long since he had seen her; but he had not failed to 
 contribute largely, out of his small means, to her comfort. 
 In order to defray the charges of her funeral, and to pay 
 some debts which she had left, he wrote a little book in a 
 single week, and sent off the sheets to the press without 
 reading them over. A hundred pounds were paid him for 
 the copyright ; and the purchasers had great cause to be 
 pleased with their bargain, for the book was "llasselas." 
 
 — Macaulay : Life of Johnson. 
 
 3. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatso- 
 ever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, what- 
 soever things are pure, whatsoever tilings are lovely, 
 whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any 
 virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 
 
 — Philippians. 
 
 -1. "Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is 
 weak ; it is in your hands ! I know it is one of the lesser 
 lights in the literary horizon of our country. You may put 
 it out. But, if you do so, you must carry through your 
 work ! You must extinguish, one after another, all those 
 greater lights of science which, for more than a century, 
 have thrown their radiance over our land ! It is, Sir, as I 
 have said, a small college. And yet there are those who 
 love it." — Webster. 
 
 5. Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections ; let me 
 indulge in refreshing remembrance of the past ; let me re- 
 mind you that, in early times, no States cherished greater 
 harmony, both of principle and feeling, than Massachusetts 
 and South Carolina. Would to God that harmony might 
 again return ! Shoulder to shoulder they went through the
 
 108 FIUST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Revolution; hand in hand they stood round the administra- 
 tion of Washington, and felt his own great arm lean on 
 them for support. Unkind feeling, if it exist, alienation 
 and distrust, are the growth, unnatural to such soils, of 
 false principles since sown. They are weeds, the seeds of 
 winch that same great arm never scattered. — Webster. 
 
 6. That man, 1 think, has had a liberal education, who 
 has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready 
 servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the 
 work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect 
 is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal 
 strength, ami in smooth working order; ready, like a 
 steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin 
 the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; 
 whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and 
 fundamental truths of Nature ami of the laws of her opera- 
 tions; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire" 
 but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous 
 will, the servant of a tender conscience ; who has learned to 
 love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to hate all vile- 
 ness, and to respect others as himself. — Huxley. 
 
 7. If then the power of speech is a gift as great as any 
 thai can be named, — if the origin of language is by many 
 philosophers even considered to be nothing short of divine, — 
 if by means of words the secrets of the heart are brought 
 to light, pain of soul is relieved, hidden grief is carried oil', 
 sympathy conveyed, counsel imparted, experience recorded, 
 and wisdom perpetuated, — if by great authors the many 
 are drawn up into unity, national character is fixed, a 
 people speaks, the past and the future, the East and the 
 West are brought into communication with each other, — 
 if such men are, in a word, the spokesmen and prophets of 
 tin' human family. — it will not answer to make light of 
 Literature or to neglect its study; rather we may be sure 
 that, in proportion as we master it in whatever language, 
 and imbibe its spirit, we shall ourselves become in our own 
 measure the ministers of like benefits to others, be they
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 109 
 
 many or few, be they in the obscurer or the more distin- 
 guished walks of life, — who are united to us by social ties, 
 and are within the sphere of our personal influence. — 
 Cardinal Newman. 1 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Each of the passages given above 
 should be read aloud as a whole, to get the effects 
 produced by the different types of sentence. In 
 the first passage note that the first clause arouses 
 interest by the periodic structure. So do the 
 first and third sentences in the second passage ; 
 but the third and fourth — loose — have a fine sim- 
 plicity that adds to the weight of their subject 
 matter. The third passage moves up steadily to 
 an impressive point, — the word think. The fourth 
 passage is extremely direct and earnest. Webster 
 is pleading for his Alma Mater, Dartmouth; is 
 making an appeal, straight from his heart. Almost 
 choked with emotion, he has no desire to frame 
 periodic sentences and nicely subordinated clauses. 
 In the fifth passage he is perhaps equally direct; 
 but he is master of himself, and his sentences are 
 somewhat more elaborate. In the sixth passage, 
 Huxley gets a steadily increasing strength of 
 thought, but not of structure. Cardinal Newman, 
 on the other hand, builds up his period with superb 
 suspense both of form and thought. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Change the sentence by Hux- 
 ley into the periodic form. This can be done by 
 
 1 The longer passages to which the last two selections belong 
 may be found in Geuung's Rhetorical Analysis.
 
 110 Fill ST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 changing the order of clauses, ami beginning each 
 subordinate clause with if, or with suppose, or with 
 a relative. 
 
 Emphasis in the Sentence. — A sentence cannot 
 be called well-knit if it does not succeed in calling 
 most attention to the most important idea. We 
 have seen already how important it is to put the 
 unimportant parts of the sentence into subor- 
 dinate clauses. How may further emphasis be 
 had? 
 
 The beginning and the end of the sentence are 
 the most prominent places. Important words 
 should usually stand in these places. Rarely 
 should these points lie covered up with trivial 
 expressions. Compare two sentences. " As a mat- 
 ter of fact, it is bread, rather than advice, that 
 people actually need, in this city." "Bread it is, 
 rather than advice, that, in this city, people ac- 
 tually need." 
 
 Attention can always be called to a word by 
 placing it out of the ordinary, commonplace order. 
 The in re rtcd order, where verb precedes the noun, 
 or predicate adjective precedes the verb, frequently 
 permits emphasis to be put just where it is wanted. 
 The oft-quoted example is as good a one as can 
 be found: '-Great is Diana of the Ephesians!*' 
 How much better it is. how much greater the cry 
 is than, " Diana of the Ephesians is great ! "
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 111 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Which of the following sentences 
 from Buskin begin and end with words that deserve 
 distinction ? x 
 
 "For all books are divisible into two classes, — the 
 books of the hour, and the books of all time. Mark 
 this distinction ; it is not one of quality only. It 
 is not merely the bad book that does not last, and 
 the good one that does ; it is a distinction of species. 
 There are good books for the hour, and good ones 
 for all time ; bad books for the hour, and bad ones 
 for all time. I must define the two kinds before I 
 go farther." 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Change the order of words in the 
 following sentences so as to throw more emphasis 
 on the italicized words. Avoid infringement of 
 English idiom in making the changes. 
 
 1. It is courage that wins. 
 
 2. Never say die, under any circumstances. 
 
 3. Yet he stood beautiful and bright, as born to 
 rule the storm. 
 
 4. A rascal, nothing more or less, he was. 
 
 5. Gilpin went away, and the post boy went 
 away. 
 
 6. The English child is white as an angel. 
 
 7. When wild northwesters rave on stormy nights 
 With wind and wave how proud a thing to fight. 
 
 1 The phrase, "words that deserve distinction," is Professor 
 Barrett Wendell's. See his English Composition, p. 103 (Scrib- 
 ner's).
 
 112 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 8. What a piece of work man is! 
 
 9. Trafalgar lay, full in face, bluish mid the 
 burning water. 
 
 10. He repeatedly pronounced these words, and 
 they were the last which he uttered. 
 
 11. The king said, "Alas, help me from hence." 
 
 12. .Man is the paragon of animals, the beauty of 
 the world. 
 
 13. What a place an old library is to be in. It 
 seems as though all the souls of all the writers 
 that have bequeathed their labors to these Bod- 
 leians, as in some middle shite or dormitory, were 
 reposing here. [ do not want to handle, to profane 
 their winding sheet, the leaves. I could a shade as 
 soon dislodge. 
 
 Climax. — The principle of climax demands that 
 in a series of related terms the weaker degree 
 should precede the stronger. Southey says of Lord 
 Nelson's being permitted to live to hear the news 
 of his great victory : " That consolation, that joy, 
 that triumph, was afforded him." By these three 
 nouns the reader ascends, as if by a ladder — climax 
 is merely Greek for ladder. Endeavor to discover 
 the original order in which the following sentences 
 were written to secure climax. Changing them by 
 slight omissions, weave them together into two 
 sentences. 
 
 "The most triumphant death is that of the
 
 ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 113 
 
 martyr. The most splendid death is that of the 
 hero in the hour of victory. If the chariot and 
 the horses of tire had been vouchsafed for Nel- 
 son's translation, he could scarcely have de- 
 parted in a brighter blaze of glory. The most 
 awful death is that of the martyred patriot. 
 He has left us, not indeed his mantle of inspira- 
 tion, but an example which will continue to be our 
 shield and our strength, and a name which is our 
 pride — an example and a name which are at this 
 hour inspiring hundreds of the youth of England." 
 Which of the sentences quoted on pages 107, 108, 
 have climax of thought ?
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 
 
 Different Ways of Planning. — There are various 
 kinds of composition, — description, narration, argu- 
 ment, and others. These will be treated one by- 
 one in later chapters. Each kind has laws of its 
 own. Each has its own vocabulary, which may 
 well be studied apart from other vocabularies. So, 
 too, each type calls for special methods of organi- 
 zation. For the present, only a few principles of 
 planning, applicable to all types alike, need be con- 
 sidered. 
 
 The Growth of a Thought. — When a thought is 
 first conceived, it is always misty, dim, nebulous. 1 
 When we speak of having a "general notion," a 
 "vague notion," we usually mean that a thought is 
 just beginning. If it receives attention, it emerges 
 from the nebulous condition and forms into several 
 definite thoughts. Or, to change the figure, it 
 
 1 See also Scot! ami Dennoy, Composition-Rhetoric, p. 72 ff. 
 Teachers will lie interested to compare an article by Miss Ger- 
 trude Buck, Educational Review, March, 1887. The matter is 
 touched upon in the History of tin English Paragraph, by the 
 author of this book, p. io cC ul. (Univ. of Chicago Press). 
 
 114
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 115 
 
 grows and branches. Suppose that the mind 
 awakes to the vague notion that the room is get- 
 ting cold. Cold is the undeveloped root from which 
 may presently branch off such thoughts as these : 
 " Yes, it is really cold. In fact, I feel cold all over. 
 My hands are blue, and I am shivering. Besides, 
 Horace over there is standing with his back to the 
 radiator, and so he too must be cold." The thought 
 has grown into several sentences. Cold branched 
 into / am cold all over, and this also sent off two 
 shoots — My hands are blue, and I am shivering. 
 Then the mind stopped this line of branching, and 
 out from the stock sprang a new branch : Horace is 
 standing with his back to the radiator; and then this 
 sends off the branch and so he too must be cold. 
 Try to draw a picture to represent the process that 
 has gone on. 
 
 Now, the whole growth of a thought — stock and 
 branches — can sometimes be expressed within 
 the limits of one grammatical sentence. If there 
 are too many thoughts for this, they are put into 
 separate sentences, and the whole is called a minia- 
 ture composition, or isolated paragraph. 
 
 Exactly as a paragraph grows, so a long compo- 
 sition may grow out of one vague idea. Some ideas 
 have in them only enough matter to be developed 
 into a paragraph. Others are germs from which 
 whole books might grow. " That apple looks good " 
 would probably develop into a short paragraph ;
 
 116 FIIiST BOOK IX WBITING ENGLISH 
 
 but, "it is strange that that apple should fall to the 
 earth instead of away from it" might blossom into 
 a great system of natural philosophy. If a nebu- 
 lous idea has in it lln' making of a long theme, it 
 will develop into main parts if the attention be 
 fixed keenly upon it. These are paragraph nebulae, 
 which will subdivide into sentences. Or, to vary 
 the figure, the main thought will send out main 
 branches (paragraphs) which will send off lesser 
 ones (sentences). 
 
 Unity. — Although thought grows, one must keep 
 in mind that it does not always grow to fruit unless 
 it is trained and pruned. Thought loves to branch, 
 and unless restrained by a stern sense of logic, it 
 will often end in a mere tangle of superfluous twigs 
 and leaves. To speak less figuratively, every writer 
 is in danger of setting down matters suggested by 
 the subject in hand but not logically related to it. 
 This is as true of a large piece of work as of a 
 sentence (compare page 90). Every theme, like 
 every sentence, should have unity. It should be 
 the development of one idea — a large, complex 
 idea, if you please, but, nevertheless, one. No 
 matter -how long or how short the whole, it must 
 all concern the different phases of one thing 
 or one thought. It should grow naturally from 
 one germ. Every part in it should bear on the 
 central idea of the whole — so that, after reading
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 117 
 
 any given sentence, the reader can see a real con- 
 nection between title and sentence. A well-organ- 
 ized composition cannot spare any part ; each is 
 essential to its life. Milton said, " Almost as well 
 kill a man as kill a good book"; and we may 
 adapt this idea to the structure of the theme. A 
 good composition is so well organized that if you 
 cut it anywhere it will bleed. 
 
 Planning a Paragraph. — Before writing a para- 
 graph, try to think out the whole of it. Let the 
 thought grow in the mind before you let it grow 
 on paper. This method will afford a chance to re- 
 view the whole mentally and to determine whether 
 the thoughts follow each other logically. 
 
 The Topic Sentence. — When an after-dinner 
 speaker rises to respond to a toast, he generally 
 announces his topic at once, or after a sentence or 
 two of introduction. He is very likely also to an- 
 nounce at once his chief thought about the subject ; 
 for he knows that people like to hear him come to 
 the point. If however he has reason to think 
 that his hearers may not agree with him imme- 
 diately, he is likely to state his subject first, and 
 then lead up gradually to his own conclusion 
 about it. 
 
 We naturally follow some such course in writing. 
 With each paragraph we begin a new speech, as it 
 were. It is a matter both of courtesy and of econ-
 
 118 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 omy if in each we state definitely what we are 
 talking about. The topic sentence of a paragraph 
 ordinarily states the general subject, or else de- 
 clares the general thought, i.e. conclusion, of the 
 whole. It is generally short, because emphatic. 
 
 The following paragraph shows its general sub- 
 ject in the opening sentence. 
 
 A Tree-Planting Association lias been organized in New 
 York City. The Association will be organized with twelve 
 or nunc members on a block, who will form a local club 
 under the Association. A tree-planting association may, in 
 this city, fail to plant trees, but it certainly will encourage 
 the planting of window boxes, the fencing of unused lots, 
 the painting of fences to the exclusion of posters, and the 
 general care of the public street. Back yards will assume 
 some relation to the general good of the community, and 
 trees, vines, and flowers will find place in them. The chil- 
 dren will be taught to care for the appearance of the block, 
 and chalk-marks and other defacements will soon disappear, 
 because of new-born civic pride. — The Outlook. 
 
 In the following paragraph, Miacaulay does not 
 
 slate his topic till the second sentence. The hist 
 is a general remark by way of introduction. 
 
 One of the first objects of an inquirer, who wishes to 
 form a correct notion of the state of a community at a given 
 time, must be to ascertain of how many persons that com- 
 munity then consisted. Unfortunately the population of 
 England in 1685, cannot, lie ascertained with perfect accu- 
 racy. For no greal state had then adopted the wise course 
 of periodically numbering the people. All men were left 
 to conjecture for themselves; and, as they generally con- 
 jectured without examining facts, and under the influence
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 119 
 
 of strong passions and prejudices, their guesses were often 
 ludicrously absurd. Even intelligent Londoners ordinarily 
 talked of London as containing several millions of souls. 
 It was confidently asserted by many that, during the thirty- 
 five years which had elapsed between the accession of Charles 
 the First and the Restoration, the population of the City had 
 increased by two millions. Even while the ravages of the 
 plague and fire were recent, it was the fashion to say that 
 the capital still had a million and a half of inhabitants. 
 Some persons, disgusted by these exaggerations, ran vio- 
 lently into the opposite extreme. Thus Isaac Vossius, a 
 man of undoubted parts and learning, strenuously main- 
 tained that there were only two millions of human beings 
 in England, Scotland, and Ireland taken together. — 
 Macaulav: History of England, Chapter III. 
 
 In the following paragraph, the topic sentence 
 states the general thought of the whole. 
 
 The appetite of this fish is almost insatiable. Mr. Jesse 
 threw to one pike of five pounds 1 weight, four roach, each 
 about four inches in length, which it devoured instantly, and 
 swallowed 1 a fifth within a quarter of an hour. Moor-hens, 
 ducks, and even swans have been known to fall a prey to 
 this voracious fish, its long teeth effectually keeping them 
 prisoners under water until drowned. — Dr. J. G. Wood. 
 
 The following paragraph states in the topic sen- 
 tence the general subject, in the last sentence the 
 general thought, which has grown out of the subject. 
 
 Two years ago the Boston School Board encouraged the 
 establishment of cheap luncheons in the schools. Up to the 
 
 1 Is there not some ambiguity as to the grammatical structure 
 here ? Swallowed is logically the act performed by it, the fish, 
 
 but grammatically it may be taken with ? Remedy the 
 
 fault.
 
 120 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 present time this lias been considered an experiment. It is 
 now conceded that the experimental stage is passed, and 
 that cheap, nutritious school luncheons can successfully be 
 provided, and are in demand. 
 
 The following shows how the first sentence of a 
 paragraph may be made to include the general topic. 
 
 I cite as an instance of the absence of vandalism in 
 Japan the experience of a Japanese friend of mine who 
 lived on a street near and parallel to the busiest street in 
 Tokio. He had placed in his front gate, bordering im- 
 mediately upon the sidewalk, an exquisite panel carved in 
 delicate tracery and nearly two hundred years old. Such 
 a specimen would be placed in our Museums of Art under 
 lock and key. On my expressing surprise that he would 
 expose so precious a relic without fear that some heed- 
 less boy might break off a twig, or otherwise deface it, he 
 assured me it was quite as safe there as in his library. 
 Three years afterwards I chanced to be in Japan again, and 
 though my friend was dead, and a stranger occupied the 
 premises, I was led to seek the place to ascertain the condi- 
 tion of the delicate wood-carving. It was absolutely un- 
 injured, though slightly bleached by the weather, and this 
 in the great commercial city of Tokio, with a population of 
 over one million. — Edward S. Mouse. 1 
 
 Kinds of Paragraphs. — What can be said within 
 the limits of a paragraph '.' The same things that 
 can be said in a sen) once, but more fully. We need 
 to consider here only a few of these. The sentences 
 may repeat the substance of the topic sentence, 
 adding something new. Or, if the paragraph states 
 the general conclusion first, the succeeding sen- 
 1 Good Manners, a pamphlet. (II. L. Hastings, Boston )
 
 ON OBGANIZING THE THEME 121 
 
 tences may give the needed particulars, or illus- 
 trations, or examples, or proofs. Once more, the 
 paragraph may open with the statement of a 
 cause, this being followed by the statement of a 
 necessary effect. Or, the paragraph as a whole 
 may develop a contrast. Or, it may consist of a 
 group of sentences that narrate the particulars of 
 some event, or describe some scene. 
 
 The following paragraph exhibits a single thought 
 by repetition. 
 
 A true critic must love the subject-matter of literature. 
 He must care for its message. The theme of the story, the 
 thing the author was trying to say, must not escape him. 
 The form of the thing is much, but the soul is more. 
 
 The following gives a general thought first, then 
 the particulars. 
 
 That farm bore every manner of fruit known to the 
 climate. There were apples, a score of varieties, from 
 the snow apple that burned among the leaves, and when 
 bitten revealed a flesh so white that you kept biting it lest 
 the juice should discolor it, to the great cold autumn fruits 
 that were resonant beneath the snap of your finger. There 
 were opulent pears, distilling the golden sun into their 
 bottles. There were plums, the kind that succeed. Grapes 
 there were, and quinces, and peaches, — the last not so 
 prolific as the apples, but a very worthy fruit. 
 
 The following gives a general thought, repeats 
 it, explains it, illustrates it, and so defends it. 
 
 If it were only for a vocabulary, the scholar would be 
 covetous of action. Life is our dictionary. Years are well
 
 122 FIIiST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 spent in country labors ; in town ; in the insight into trades 
 and manufactures; in frank intercourse with many men 
 and women; in science; in art ; to the one end of master- 
 ing in all their facts a language by which to illustrate and 
 embody our perceptions. I Irani immediately from any 
 speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty 
 or the splendor of his speech. Life lies behind us as the quarry 
 from whence we get tiles and copestones for the masonry 
 of to-day. This is the way to learn grammar. Colleges and 
 books only copy the language which the field and the work- 
 yard made. — Emerson. 
 
 The following gives cause and effect : — 
 
 The King could not see that there were two England's — 
 that of himself and North, and that of Burke and Chatham. 
 The result was inevitable. A third England sprang up 
 across the sea. 
 
 The following sets up a quaint contrast. The 
 passage is from Dr. Johnson's allegory on 117/ (tml 
 Leo mi tit/ : — 
 
 Their conduct was, whenever they desired to recom- 
 mend themselves to distinction, entirely opposite. Wit 
 was daring ami adventurous ; Learning cautions ami 
 deliberate. Wit thought nothing reproachful but dullness ; 
 Learning was afraid of no imputation but that of error. 
 Wit answered before he understood, lest his quickness of 
 apprehension should be questioned ; Learning paused, 
 when- there was no difficulty, lest any insidious sophism 
 should lie undiscovered. Wrr perplexed every debate by 
 rapidity ami confusion; Leaknim; tired the hearers with 
 endless distinctions, and prolonged the dispute without ad- 
 vantage, by proving that which never was denied. Wit, in 
 hopes of shining, would venture to produce what he had not 
 considered, and often succeeded beyond his own expectation,
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 123 
 
 by following the train of a lucky thought ; Learning would 
 reject every new notion, for fear of being entangled in con- 
 sequences which she could not foresee, and was often 
 hindered, by her caution, from pressing her advantages, and 
 subduing her opponent. 
 
 Oral Exercise. 1 — Each of the following para- 
 graphs had a topic sentence stating a cause, which 
 was then followed by a statement of the effect. 
 Frame a topic sentence for each, stating the cause. 
 
 1. Consequently it is a good 
 
 thing to apply pretty sharp tests to whatever 
 offers itself as the genuine thing. Often the 
 great schemes that men hatch for growing rich 
 are nothing but pyrites. The acid of sharp com- 
 mon sense corrodes and discolors them. 
 
 2. Nothing 
 
 worse could have befallen the man. Being unused 
 to the possession of wealth he ran through his 
 millions in a year. In 1876 his old friend Everard 
 met him in the street and passsed him by as a 
 beggar. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the following para- 
 graphs of explanation, and form a topic sentence 
 for each. 
 
 1. In other 
 
 w r ords, hold to the good you have. Let well 
 
 enough alone. People lay great plans ; they see 
 
 1 For the idea of this exercise the author is indebted to Pro- 
 fessors Scott and Deuney, Composition- Rhetoric (Allyn and 
 Bacon) .
 
 124 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 the future through rosy lenses; they build castles 
 in Spain. But great plans that can't be carried 
 out are of less value than small, practicable 
 plans; the future is never just what it promises 
 to be; and as for castles in Spain, of what value 
 are they to owners who can neither rent nor in- 
 habit them? 
 
 2. It is 
 
 not, observe, a mere coating of snow of given depth 
 throughout, hid it is snow loaded on until the rocks 
 can hold in) more. The surplus does not fall in the 
 winter, because, fastened by continual frost, the 
 quantity of snow which an Alp can carry is greater 
 than each single winter can bestow; it falls in the 
 first mild days of spring in enormous avalanches. 
 Afterward the melting continues, gradually remov- 
 ing from all the steep rocks the small quantity of 
 snow which was all they could hold, and leaving 
 them black and bare among the accumulated fields 
 of unknown depth, which occupy the capacious val- 
 leys and less inclined superficies of the mountain. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Analyze the following narrative 
 paragraphs from Irving's Sketch-Book, endeavoring 
 to discover what office each sentence performs in 
 the paragraph. 
 
 " We had not been long home when the sound 
 of music was heard from a distance. A band of 
 country lads, without coats, their shirt-sleeves
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 125 
 
 fancifully tied with ribbons, their hats decorated 
 with greens, and clubs in their hands, were seen 
 advancing up the avenue, followed by a large 
 number of villagers and peasantry. They stopped 
 before the hall door, where the music struck up 
 a peculiar air, and the lads performed a curious 
 and intricate dance, advancing, retreating, and 
 striking their clubs together, keeping exact time 
 to the music; while one, whimsically crowned with 
 a fox's skin, the tail of which flaunted down his 
 back, kept capering round the skirts of the dance, 
 and rattling a Christmas-box with many antic 
 gesticulations." 
 
 "After the dance was concluded, the whole party 
 was entertained with brawn and beef and stout 
 home-brewed. The 'Squire himself mingled among 
 the rustics, and was received with awkward dem- 
 onstrations of deference and regard. It is true, 
 I perceived two or three of the younger peas- 
 ants, as they were raising their tankards to their 
 mouths, Avhen the 'Squire's back was turned, mak- 
 ing something of a grimace, and giving each other 
 the wink; but the moment they caught my eye 
 they pulled grave faces, and were exceedingly de- 
 mure. With Master Simon, however, they all 
 seemed more at their ease. His varied occupa- 
 tions and amusements had made him well known 
 throughout the neighborhood. He was a visitor 
 at every farm-house and cottage; gossiped with
 
 126 FUiST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 the farmers and their wives; romged with their 
 daughters; and, like that type of a vagrant bache- 
 lor, the humble-bee, tolled the sweets from all the 
 rosy lips of the country round." 
 
 Theme. — Choose one of the following topic sen- 
 tences, and develop the idea coherently, by a suc- 
 cession of illustrations, of details, or of particulars, 
 into a paragraph of 150 words. 
 
 1. The ghosts one hears of are not all alike. 
 
 2. In some respects, athletics are dangerous. 
 
 3. It was a dreary day. 
 
 4. It was one of those mornings that stir the 
 blood. 
 
 5. There are battles with fate that can never be 
 won. 
 
 C. " A dog hath his day," runs the old proverb. 
 
 7. It is easy to enumerate the ways of getting 
 a lesson. 
 
 8. The race is not always to the swift, 
 
 9. There are many instances of bravery in every- 
 day life. 
 
 10. Many phases of American life are illustrated 
 in American short stories. 
 
 Theme. — Choose one of the following topic sen- 
 tences, and defend it by giving reasons, proofs, to 
 the extent of 150 or 200 words. 
 
 1. On the whole, school athletics are a good 
 thing.
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 127 
 
 2. Vivisection is necessary to science. 
 
 3. Vivisection is crnel and unnecessary. 
 
 4. None but scientists are competent to decide 
 whether or not vivisection is necessary to science. 
 
 5. If necessary to science, vivisection should be 
 practised only when necessary. 
 
 6. A debating society is a help in education. 
 
 7. The American Revolution is an uninteresting 
 theme topic. 
 
 8. The American Revolution is not an uninterest- 
 ing theme topic. 
 
 [Other sentences can easily be suggested hj stu- 
 dents or teacher.] 
 
 Theme. — Develop one of the following topic 
 sentences into a paragraph of contrast, — 200 
 words. 
 
 1. There is a difference between knowing a 
 thing, and being able to tell it, 
 
 2. Outside the wild winds were rioting ; within 
 all was cheer. 
 
 3. I saw an old man holding his granddaughter 
 in his arms. 
 
 4. I know two persons: one is a dreamer, the 
 other a doer. 
 
 5. Hawthorne [or some other writer] has two 
 characters that are strong foils to each other. 
 
 6. I imagined what was going on in those two 
 houses.
 
 128 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 7. Some men are always hopeful, some always 
 in despair. 
 
 8. I knew two men of very unlike abilities. 
 
 9. I knew two persons of very unlike disposi- 
 tions. 
 
 10. The great choir presented fine contrasts in 
 color of garments. 
 
 Expansion of One Paragraph into Several. — Let 
 it be supposed that having composed a theme of 
 one paragraph, a student has been asked to develop 
 the subject at greater length; the paragraph has 85 
 words, and the audience wants 200, or 225. What 
 will be the right course ? It is possible to expand 
 one paragraph of 85 words into one paragraph of 
 2L'.~> words. But if the paragraph of 85 words has 
 two or three distinct parts, it is better to expand 
 each into a new paragraph. 
 
 Let it be imagined that Dr. "Wood, the English 
 naturalist, had written a very short paragraph on 
 the Crustacea; that it ran somewhat like this. 
 
 The Cristacea 
 
 The aquatic animals known as the Crustacea have no 
 internal skeleton, but are defended by a strong crust, made 
 of a series of rings. This unyielding armor, together with 
 the coverings of the eyes, the tendons of the claws, and the 
 lining membrane of the stomach, with its teeth, is cast off 
 annually to permit the growth of the body. The Crustacea 
 possess the power of reproducing a lost or original limb ; 
 and, indeed, if injured the animal itself shakes off the injured 
 joint.
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 129 
 
 Suppose, now, that Dr. Wood found himself dis- 
 satisfied with these somewhat cramped and over- 
 loaded sentences, and determined to rewrite, making 
 three paragraphs where he had formerly but one. 
 In the new theme, the main topics would be, as 
 before: Definition of Crustacea; Annual shedding; 
 Reproduction of Limbs. Each would have a para- 
 graph to itself, where before it had but a sentence. 
 All the sentences to be made about the Definition 
 would be set off by themselves as one main part 
 of the theme ; all those about the Shedding would 
 form a second; all those about the New Limbs, a 
 third. 
 
 " Set off " ; — that is, by indentation, or indention. 
 This word means, " a biting in," or, more properly, 
 " a biting out." Where a new division of the theme 
 begins, the first line does not come up plumb to 
 the straight edge at the left ; it is bitten into ; it 
 begins farther to the right than do the other lines. 
 In the printed book, the indentation is small — usu- 
 ally the width of a letter m. But in a manuscript 
 it is important for the indentation to be absolutely 
 unmistakable. Some persons keep so ragged an 
 edge at the left hand that it is impossible to know 
 whether or not they should be credited with under- 
 standing what a paragraph is. Indent each new 
 paragraph one or two inches. Bring every line of 
 the paragraph, except the last, up even with the 
 right-hand margin; the last line may be stopped 
 
 K
 
 130 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 anywhere, if the paragraph is complete in sense; 
 often this line has but a word or two. If at any 
 time yon inadvertently omit the indentation, and 
 have not time to copy, place a paragraph mark 
 where the new paragraph should begin; thus, If. 
 A rough outline for Dr. Wood's new paragraphs 
 could now be made. The topics being known, the 
 number of sentences under each could be guessed 
 at. There is nothing in the original paragraph to 
 show that Dr. Wood ascribed especial importance 
 to some one of the three topics. The third is 
 perhaps the least important. It may be estimated 
 that in the completed theme he would give about 
 80 words to each of the first two, and about 50 to the 
 third. The outline would be something like this, 
 the full stops representing those of the future 
 theme. 
 
 The Crustacea 
 
 If Crustacea are aquatic. No skeleton, but crust, which 
 protects and strengthens. Framework of rings ; part de- 
 velops into limbs. Articulated animals. 
 
 H Curious way of growth, other animals not inconven- 
 ienced as they grow. Not so Crustacea. Mail unyielding. 
 Is cast off annually and larger coat grows. Eye-covering, 
 tendons, stomach-membrane are also shed. 
 
 T Curious reproduction of lost or injured limb. New one 
 grows if old lost ; animal shakes off injured joint. Lobsters 
 do, when alarmed. 
 
 As a matter of fact, Dr. Wood did write a short 
 chapter on the Crustacea, and here it is.
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME lol 
 
 The Crustacea 
 
 The Crustacea are almost all aquatic animals. They have 
 no internal skeleton, but their body is covered with a strong 
 crust, which serves for protection as well as for strength. 
 Their whole framework consists of a series of rings fitted to, 
 and working in each other ; some forming limbs, and others 
 developing into the framework supporting the different 
 organs. From this reason, they and the remaining animals, 
 as far as the star-fishes, who have no limbs at all, are called 
 "articulated" animals. 
 
 Their method of growth is very curious. Other animals, 
 as they increase in size, experience no particular inconven- 
 ience. Not so the Crustacea. Their bodies are closely en- 
 veloped in a strong, unyielding mail, which cannot grow 
 with them. Their armor is therefore cast off every year, 
 and a fresh coat formed to suit their increased dimensions. 
 Not only is the armor cast off, but even the covering of the 
 eyes, the tendons of the claws, and the lining membrane of 
 the stomach, with its teeth. 
 
 They all also possess the curious power of reproducing a 
 lost or injured limb. In the former case, a fresh limb sup- 
 plies the place of that lost ; and in the latter case, the ani- 
 mal itself shakes off the injured joint, and a new one soon 
 takes its place. Lobsters, when alarmed, frequently throw 
 off their claws. 
 
 Theme. — Choose one of the following para- 
 graphs and expand it into a theme. Each 
 sentence should grow into a paragraph. The 
 proportions to be observed are suggested by the 
 number of amplifying sentences prescribed for 
 the different paragraphs. Write a title above the 
 theme. 
 
 1. (a) I like winter for its outdoor sports. [Four
 
 132 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 or five sentences.] (b) I like it no less for its in- 
 door sports. [Four or five sentences.] 
 
 2. (a) Wearing birds is foolish, for it is a rem- 
 nant of savagery, like tattooing. [Two or three 
 sentences.] (b) It is less artistic than is often 
 supposed. [Two or three sentences.] (c) It is 
 unwise, because it threatens the extinction of cer- 
 tain species of flycatchers and warblers. [Two or 
 three sentences.] (d) It is cruel, necessitating 
 slaughter of innocent life, and producing callous- 
 ness to suffering. [Five or six sentences.] 
 
 3. (a) A contrast between faces. [Two sen- 
 tences.] (b) The face of Napoleon is intellectual, 
 firm, and cruel. [Three sentences, giving details of 
 the face.] (c) The face of Lincoln is intellectual, 
 firm, and kind. [Three sentences, giving details.] 
 
 4. (a) There are two kinds of people, — those 
 who know what they want life to do for them, and 
 those who do not. [This introductory sentence 
 may be made apart of the first paragraph.] The 
 people who know what they want are few. [Three 
 or four sentences.] (6) The people who do not 
 know what they want are partly young people, 
 who have not had training enough to know ; partly 
 older people. [Three or four sentences.] 
 
 5. (a) Some dinners I like, some I do not. [Part of 
 first paragraph.] The kinds I like ; food ; company. 
 [Three or four sentences.] The kinds 1 do not like ; 
 food; company. [Three or four sentences.]
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 133 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Discuss with the instructor and 
 the class the best way of paragraphing each of 
 the following topics. Form first an idea as to 
 how many paragraphs each should have and what 
 should be the paragraph subjects. 1. This recita- 
 tion room. 2. How Lincoln looked. 3. A paint- 
 ing I like. 4. What I do in a day. 5. My plans. 
 6. The walk to school. 7. My past education. 
 8. The elm. 9. The construction of the steam 
 engine. 10. An ocean steamer. 11. Evening in 
 the country. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Bead carefully the following 
 speech and state the paragraph subjects. Estimate 
 the number of words in each paragraph, and say 
 whether you think the proportion of parts is bad 
 or good. The speech will be recognized as that 
 delivei*ed by Lincoln at the dedication of the 
 Gettysburg National Cemetery. It was written 
 first as one paragraph ; but a year later, in making 
 a copy, the President divided it as you see. 
 
 " Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers 
 brought forth on this continent a new nation, con- 
 ceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition 
 that all men are created equal. 
 
 "Now we are engaged in a great civil war, test- 
 ing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 
 and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met 
 on a great battlefield of that war. We have come
 
 134 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting- 
 place for those who here gave their lives that that 
 nation might live. It is altogether fitting and 
 proper that we should do this. 
 
 " But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — 
 we cannot consecrate — Ave cannot hallow this 
 ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
 struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
 poor power to add or detract. The world Avill 
 little note, nor long remember, what we say here, 
 but it can never forget what they did here. It is 
 for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to 
 the unfinished work which they who fought here 
 have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for 
 us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining 
 before us — that from these honored dead we take 
 increased devotion to that cause for which they 
 gave the last full measure of devotion, — that we 
 here highly resolve that these dead shall not have 
 died iii vain, — that this nation, under God, shall 
 have a new birth of freedom, — and that govern- 
 ment of the people, by the people, for the people, 
 shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The importance of modelling 
 all work on the right scale is illustrated in the 
 task of the editor of an encyclopaedia. His prob- 
 lem is to give each subject space and prominence 
 according to its importance. Opening Johnson's
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 135 
 
 Encyclopaedia, I find seven columns devoted to 
 Shakespeare. Of these, two and a half are given to 
 the poet's life, four and a half to his works. Is the 
 proportion about right ? If you were editing an 
 encyclopaedia of geography, how much space should 
 you give to Africa as compared with Europe ? How 
 much, if the encyclopaedia dealt with civilization ? 
 
 Oral Exercise in Proportioning. — In treating each 
 of the following subjects, (a) what paragraph topics 
 might be chosen ? (J)) which paragraph ought to 
 be the longest, dealing with the most important 
 phase of the subject? 1. Living statesmen. 2. Ad- 
 vantages of country life. 3. The life of Lincoln. 
 4. The uses of gold. 5. A railway accident. G. A 
 cyclone. 7. A visit to an art-gallery. 8. A week 
 of camping. 
 
 Exercise in Varying the Scale. — Head one of the 
 following poems. Then write two papers, the first 
 retelling (not closely paraphrasing) the story of the 
 poem in one paragraph of about 100 words, the 
 second retelling the same story in a theme of 300 
 words, properly paragraphed. In each theme give 
 space to every part according to its relative impor- 
 tance. 
 
 Browning : Tray — about vivisection ; Clive — 
 story of courage; Incident of the French camp — 
 story of heroism ; How we brought the good news 
 from Ghent to Aix — story of endurance ; The Pied
 
 136 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Piper of Ham el in — story of pathos; Muleykeh — 
 owner's pride in a horse; The Bean Feast — a 
 Pope's humility. Longfellow: The Bell of Atri ; 
 Paul Revere's Ride; Evangeline; The Legend 
 Beautiful ; Robert of Sicily. Lowell : The Vision 
 of Sir Lannfal. Drayton : The Ballad of Agincourt 
 (Heart of Oak Books, Vol. V.). Thackeray : Chron- 
 icle of the Drum (Ibid.). Tennyson : The Revenge 
 (Ibid.). Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient 
 Mariner (Ibid.). Whittier : Skipper Ireson's Ride 
 (Ibid.). 
 
 Choice of Topic; Method of Work. — It is easier 
 to choose among definite theme subjects, printed in 
 the book, than to choose from an unlimited number 
 of topics. Left free, a person may be attracted to 
 a subject that is either too large, or else mechani- 
 cally limited. The latter kind is the easier to 
 manage. " The parts of a certain city," is a topic 
 easily paragraphed. To choose no subjects but 
 such as this would lead a person into making his 
 theme in water-tight compartments. On the other 
 hand, what can any one write in half an hour that 
 will interest a reasonable being in such a subject 
 as Water, or Clouds, or Steam, or Electricity, or 
 the Rise and Fall of Nations ? 
 
 If the student is given free choice of a subject, 
 he should select something that he really cares 
 about, and that he wishes sonic definite audience
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 137 
 
 to care about. Different modes of treatment are 
 necessary to interest different audiences. 
 
 Very often the attractive subject will not be 
 capable of easy analysis. In such a case, choose 
 only a few paragraph topics, thus narrowing the 
 treatment; pick out the most attractive phases of 
 the subject. 
 
 This done, invent a theme title that will give an 
 adequate hint of ichat is coming. The actor, Mr. 
 Joseph Jefferson, once made a charming talk to 
 some college men about the " starring system," 
 concluding with remarks about the fancy of some 
 people that Bacon wrote Shakespeare and put a 
 cryptogram into the plays. A college periodical, 
 wanting to give some hint of both topics, reported 
 the speech under the heading " Stars and Crypto- 
 grams." It was not a very good title, for it was 
 meaningless. But it was designed to rouse curi- 
 osity, and, taken in connection with Jefferson's 
 name, it did as well, I dare say, as a less vague 
 and fanciful title. 
 
 Let it be supposed that a person is to choose 
 a subject for a simple theme, — any subject he 
 pleases. He is to select one that will interest high 
 school students as well as himself. His window 
 looks out on a lake. How will Lakes do, for a 
 topic ? It is too large ; one would never have done. 
 Nobody enjoys reading a small theme on a large 
 matter. The window affords a glimpse of the lake;
 
 138 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 perhaps this Glimpse of the Lake would serve for 
 a theme. There would be no difficulty in para- 
 graphing; one section would go to the water, one 
 to the boats, one to the sky. But the water would 
 have to be described exactly as it now looks, though 
 looking its worst. The boats are all absent ex- 
 cept one, and perhaps there are other kinds that 
 he would like to tell about. Besides, the lad in 
 the boat is fishing, and the writer may be glad to 
 tell about the fishing on this lake. If however 
 memories of the past few days must be dragged in 
 to make the theme interesting to us all, why, the 
 name must be changed. The writer may call it, 
 A Glimpse of the Luke and Some Memories; the 
 title can then be interpreted with some elasticity. 
 
 What, now, are the chief things to say ? A brief 
 paragraph of introduction, perhaps, though that is 
 by no means necessary. Then something about the 
 look of the lake. Then a word about the boats. 
 Then something about the fishing. Here is enough: 
 water, boats, fishing. 
 
 Now for the outline. IF Sprained ankle, arm- 
 chair. Must study landscape. Window shows 
 lake. H Lake has moods. Dull now. Glare this 
 morning, colors last night. Sometimes calm; crys- 
 tal depths. Ripples. Wind makes it blossom; 
 raises undercurrents. Rain quiets it. Freckled 
 look. Queer way water fits land. If Steamer seen. 
 Variety of boats. Red-stack boats. Swarms of pas-
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 139 
 
 sengers. Boats gay at night. Launches. Pulse of 
 engines. Sailboat. It upset, the other day. Row- 
 boats. Fisherman. H Casting for bass. Amateur. 
 Wish him luck ! I tried for pike. Tried for bass. 
 No luck. Tried for perch. Caught a bass. [Six 
 or eight sentences.] 
 
 In the last paragraph it perhaps occurs to the 
 writer that the bullheads bite when the water is 
 muddy ; and this muddiness suggests the first para- 
 graph ; the muddiness should be described back 
 there with the changing look of the water. 
 
 Next, the composition. It is not offered as a 
 model of style, but to suggest a possible way of 
 organizing any simple theme. 
 
 A Glimpse of the Lake, and Some Memories 
 
 Here I am, planted in an armchair before the window, 
 my sprained ankle reposing, or trying to repose, on a smaller 
 chair. In such a position one must be thankful for his 
 mercies ; he must take the exceptional chance to study the 
 landscape. Fortunately, the window cuts off a goodly sec- 
 tion of the lake which lies down there below. 
 
 An exquisite thing is the lake, with as many moods as a 
 baby. Just now it is dull in color, for the sky is overcast 
 and there is mist in the air. But early this morning it 
 blazed with light, and last night at sunset it was awake 
 with every fashion of color. Sometimes, when the heavens 
 are bare and windless, the water takes on an indescribable 
 calm ; and then if you look down from this height there 
 seems to be no surface at all — only depths of blue, such as 
 the poets are always likening to crystal or to sapphire. At 
 other times clouds and a breeze move over it, and the sur- 
 face ruffles till one's mind is tired with fancying the million
 
 140 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 lines of ripples. If the wind stiffens and stays by, there 
 soon are waves ; the water breaks white and springs up in 
 blossoms over the whole dark field ; then the under streams 
 are roused out of their quiet and the whole mass thunders 
 in upon the shore, muddy but grand. Now it begins to 
 rain ; and rain is the witch that charms the savage waters 
 into rest. Presently the surface is dull again, but for the 
 freckled look made by the plunging drops. One notes 
 through the gathering mist an odd thing — the way the 
 water seems to settle into place, fitting into the curves and 
 nooks of the shore ; the edge of the lake seems to grow 
 white and distinct, and to cling to the land in a sharp 
 outline. 
 
 Breaking through that white streak of water near the 
 shore comes a dark something, which soon takes form and 
 is seen to be a steamer. What a variety of craft haunt the 
 lake ! The largest are these tall steamers, taller still for 
 their red stacks. At night, with their colored lights, they 
 look like jewelled slippers. By day they carry crowds, 
 which seem to rim each deck with a black band. Then 
 there are the launches, slipping here anrl there straight 
 across the bow of the bigger craft. They have a curiously 
 trim and self-satisfied look; and their naphtha engines, beat- 
 ing no louder than some great, fast pulse, seem to make fun 
 of the slow-puffing monsters that stain the air with smoke. 
 A sailboat — a little sloop — slips across the picture. It is 
 the one that upset the other day and gave my friend the 
 Doctor a thorough snaking. Two rowboats are standing to 
 the south. In the bow of one there's a lone fisherman. 
 
 That lad is casting for bass. He is an amateur — from 
 his dress. Better luck to him than has thus far befallen the 
 amateur who sits watching him from this window! I trolled 
 in the lake for silver pike, but with never a rise to break the 
 monotony. Then I tried thrice in the early morning for 
 yellow bass, using first minnows for bait, afterward grass- 
 hoppers, and lastly frogs. No luck ! Disgusted, I stole out 
 one afternoon to catch perch, hoping to be seen by no one.
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 141 
 
 The perch bit languidly, and the few that were taken seemed 
 to have a supercilious look. "Here's my last worm!" I 
 cried; "then for the hotel and farewell to these fishing 
 grounds where no fish are." A bite ! a competent, masterly, 
 vicious bite ! It's a bass, strayed away from home, and too 
 hungry to ask for delicate diet ! Pull him in — seize the line, 
 for the pole is light and the hook is small. Safely landed, 
 and not less in weight than two pounds ! Let them brag of 
 six-pounders ; this gleaming, muscular fellow, smelling of 
 fresh water and mint, is good enough game for me. As I 
 gaze and remember, the amateur in his boat moves out of 
 the picture frame and the lake is a blank again. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Why are the following sub- 
 jects unfit for short themes? Suggest two or 
 three theme topics that might be derived from 
 each. 1. George Washington. 2. Snow. 3. War. 
 4. Evening. 5. Light. 6. Politeness. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Name several limited subjects 
 that would be available if you were trying to in- 
 terest legitimately (a) an audience of college men, 
 (&) an audience of high school boys, (c) an audi- 
 ence of high school girls, (d) an audience of busi- 
 ness men. 
 
 Theme. — Choose one of the following subjects, 
 and think how to secure for it the interest of 
 persons three or four years younger than your- 
 self. Think of some intelligent boy or girl, one 
 who, though considerably your junior, distinctly 
 commands your respect, and explain to him high 
 school ways of studying either (a) physiography,
 
 142 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 or (6) history, or (c) Latin, or ((/) manual training, 
 or (e) English, or some other subject. The theme 
 should consist of one paragraph, of about 200 words. 
 
 Oral and "Written Exercise. — Choose three of 
 the following subjects, and think what illustra- 
 tions you would use to make them clear to differ- 
 ent audiences. Draw upon your knowledge of the 
 things that are most familiar to the experience of 
 each audience. Jot down memoranda of the illus- 
 trations that you suggest, and afterward compare 
 notes in the oral discussion. For example, 
 Explain, by illustration : — 
 A gentleman, to a gamin. 
 Ice, to a native of the tropics. 
 TJie charm of foot-ball, to a girl. 
 The pleasure of work, to a shirk. 
 Wagner's music, to a deaf painter. 
 The charm of foot-ball, to a soldier. 
 The solar system, to a child of eight. 
 Oranges, to a native of the polar regions. 
 The charm of a true lady, to an awkward lad. 
 The Jungle Book, to a North American Indian. 
 A newsboy's life, to an earl's son or a million- 
 
 naire's son. 
 A sleepless night, to a person who sleeps like a 
 
 top. 
 A headache, to a person who never had a head- 
 ache.
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE Til EM E 143 
 
 TJie charm of Stevenson, to a reader of dime 
 
 novels. 
 Taking gas at the dentist's, to a person who never 
 
 lost a tooth. 
 An encyclopaedia, to a man who never heard of 
 
 such a book. 
 Paragraph construction, to a youth who cares 
 
 only for the shop. 
 The danger of open windows, to a child who 
 
 never heard of death. 
 Some good monthly, to a bright boy or girl who 
 
 had never seen a magazine. 
 
 Transitions between Paragraphs. — Suppose that 
 a given theme is a unit, no idea being admitted 
 that does not bear on the topic ; suppose, further, 
 that the paragraphs are units, each treating a dis- 
 tinct part of the theme idea ; it remains to be sure 
 that the reader gets easily from paragraph to para- 
 graph. Sometimes the writer is so anxious to 
 make each paragraph a unit in itself that the 
 reader does not feel at once that the new section 
 has anything to do with the preceding. 
 
 Look back to the theme on the Glimpse of the 
 Lake. There were three things to talk about: 
 water, boats, fishing. At the end of the paragraph 
 on the water the attention must be led over without 
 any jar to the subject of boats. The last idea of 
 the icater paragraph was that the edge of the lake
 
 144 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 grew white and distinct. In beginning the new 
 paragraph, we may refer to that idea. ' " Break- 
 ing through that white streak of water near the 
 shore conies a dark something," etc. 
 
 Now look at the paragraph on fishing. How 
 does the writer try to get over to the fishing from 
 the boats ? Explain in recitation. 
 
 The joints of the theme should be smooth and 
 strong, like the joints of bamboo — not a rude joint 
 made by chisel and hammer. 
 
 Written Exercise. — The instructor will hand you 
 in class your themes thus far written. Go over 
 them carefully, trying by revision to make the 
 thought connection closer between the paragraphs. 
 For the future, always read carefully the whole 
 paragraph before beginning the next. 
 
 Transitions between Sentences. — Within the 
 paragraph each sentence should grow vitally out 
 of the preceding. "Connection is the soul of 
 good writing," said the great translator, Jowett 
 of Balliol. Plan sentences ahead ; and read each 
 sentence before you write the next. Make it impos- 
 sible for people to say of you as they used to say 
 of Emerson, " His sentences read equally well in 
 any order." Make it impossible to pick a sentence 
 out and set it down elsewhere, without tearing the 
 theme as JSneas rent young Folydore. 
 
 Frecpiently the sentences can be bound tighter
 
 ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 145 
 
 together by beginning the next with a reference 
 to some idea contained in the preceding. Burke, 
 pleading in Parliament for America, said: "But 
 with regard to her own internal establishment, she 
 may, I doubt not she will, contribute in modera- 
 tion. I say in moderation, for she ought not to be 
 permitted to exhaust herself. She ought to be re- 
 served to a war, the weight of which, with the 
 enemies that we are most likely to have, must be 
 considerable in her quarter of the globe. There 
 she may serve you, and serve you essentially."' 
 Here the last words of each sentence suggest the 
 first words of the next. Of course this way of 
 getting coherence is easily overdone ; but it is very 
 valuable, nevertheless. 
 
 It is easy to discover the order in which Buskin 
 wrote the following sentences, here printed in 
 wrong order. Find the true arrangement, and tell 
 how it was found. 
 
 Well, whatever bit of a wise man's work is honestly and 
 benevolently done, that bit is his book, or his piece of art. 
 But, again, I ask you, do you at all believe in honesty 
 or at all in kindness, or do you think there is never any 
 honesty or benevolence in wise people ? If you read rightly, 
 you will easily discover the true bits, and those are the book. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Change either the grammatical 
 construction or the order of words wherever you 
 think such change will increase the coherence of 
 the following paragraph.
 
 146 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 " We were coasting down chapel hill. In western 
 New York, this is one of many similar long hills. 
 This state is indeed a coaster's paradise in many 
 parts. The particular paradise I speak of, saw, 
 however, a disastrous fall of a brave young Adam 
 and a gentle young Eve. Williams, I mean by 
 this, who was coming like a meteor down the hill, 
 
 with Miss in front of him on the " bob-sled," 
 
 as he reached the bridge, was thrown out of the 
 track. Luckless bridge ! it ought to have been 
 guarded by stout rails. There were no rails, how- 
 ever, and across the narrow canyon, Williams, with 
 his precious charge, took a flying leap. On the 
 other side of it, five feet below, was a wooden abut- 
 ment. The lives of the young people were saved 
 by this; for the sled shot across the gulf and 
 landed on the projection. We picked the adven- 
 turers up from this perilous perch. They were 
 more surprised than hurt. But after he had time 
 to think, Williams confessed that he was never 
 more frightened in his life ; for he thought of the 
 thirty feet of space below that wooden ledge."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ON CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 
 
 Authority. — If the art of writing is the art of 
 saying what we mean, we must use words that the 
 reader will understand. Of course the word reader 
 is rather general : there are readers and readers. 
 An article written for adults would show different 
 words from one written for children. For the pur- 
 poses of this chapter, our typical reader is the 
 American or the Englishman who has a good pub- 
 lic school training. This "average man" may in 
 theory happen to live in London, or in Maine, 
 or, again, in Texas. Now, there are certain 
 words used in Texas that are not used in Lon- 
 don or in Maine. In parts of New Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania a small pail is called a "blickey." 
 Most natives of Chicago never heard the word. 
 Such words as " blickey " are called provincialisms 
 or localisms, and are ruled out. Our words must 
 be national. This needs not mean international; 
 many words are used in England that need not 
 be used in America, and vice versd. The Ameri- 
 can speaks of switching a train ; the Englishman 
 
 147
 
 148 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 speaks of shunting it. With the former the train 
 goes up a steep grade; with the latter it goes 
 up a gradient. The Englishman calls baggage, lug- 
 gage, a word that Americans are more likely to 
 use of those pieces only that can be carried in the 
 hand. It is to be presumed that national differ- 
 ences of this sort are known to American and 
 Englishman alike; therefore there is no reason 
 why either should change from the usage of his 
 country. Good English is essentially the same in 
 all English-speaking countries. 
 
 One other matter is suggested by the words na- 
 tional usage. A nation is composed of all sorts 
 and conditions of men. Each class, each trade and 
 profession, has its own pet expressions and con- 
 tractions. Good usage does not recognize these. 
 The dialect of the college, or the ball-ground, or 
 the counting-room, or the law-courts, is racy enough 
 and proper enough in its place ; but it has no place 
 in standard English. A student may flunk, but 
 only in school. A book of accounts can be posted, 
 but not a man. 
 
 Again, our words must not be so old-fashioned or 
 obsolete that they are unintelligible. They must 
 be present. Let once meant "to hinder."' Natu- 
 rally no one would use it in this sense to-day. 
 
 ■Many words that are both national and pres- 
 ent are not permitted, since they are not reputable. 
 They are used, but wrongly so; used by the care-
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 149 
 
 less and the uneducated. A great number of 
 such expressions are perfectly well understood 
 wherever English is spoken, but if one employs 
 them one will be set down as careless or ignorant ; 
 for example, ain't is intelligible to all, but its use 
 is known to be a mark of vulgarity ; such a word 
 is called a vulgarism. Most slang consists of vulgar- 
 isms, though some slang finally becomes reputable 
 English. Reputable words are those employed by 
 the best writers. By best is meant writers who 
 have literary distinction, and who know and regard 
 the structure and history of English literary words. 
 In this day, when everybody scribbles and prints, 
 there are countless writers whose usage is not 
 really reputable. The newspapers, though they 
 have done much to free modern English from ped- 
 antry, are not usually reputable in usage. The 
 English of very many novelists is in bad repute. 
 Even certain writers of eminence, such as Dickens 
 and Thomas Hughes, are guilty of using unrepu- 
 table words and senses of words. Such essayists 
 as Matthew Arnold and John Fiske ; such writers 
 of fiction as Thackeray, Hawthorne, Stevenson, 
 and Henry James ; such historians as Green and 
 Park man — these men are in general safe models 
 in matters of usage. 
 
 To sum up, then ; if we would be understood, and 
 would be reckoned as educated persons, we must 
 use words that are reputable, national, and present.
 
 150 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Good usage is the employment of such words and 
 senses of words as the body of reputable writers sanc- 
 tion by their own 'practice to-day. Notice that the 
 body of reputable writers is specified. No one 
 author makes good use, any more than one swallow 
 makes a summer. When a critic wishes to prove 
 by authority that a given expression is English, he 
 must be able to quote it from many authors. 
 
 The Dictionary. — A dictionary is a codification 
 of good usage. Indeed, a large dictionary codi- 
 fies also much bad usage, explaining in the 
 case of the latter the particular form of badness, 
 whether local usage, or colloquial usage, or vulgar 
 usage. Such a dictionary also outlines the history 
 of each word, so far as this is known ; it can here 
 be learned what was standard English yesterday, 
 what three centuries ago. A dictionary habit is 
 indispensable to every one. When in doubt about 
 the present meaning or pronunciation of a word, 
 or curious as to its history, look it up. Have an 
 abridged dictionary of your own, — the less abridged 
 the better, — but consult also the unabridged books 
 frequently. Every author rediscovers the charm 
 that lies in the dictionary. To find that charm, 
 every word of the given explanations should be 
 read, and the system of diacritical marks, which 
 show syllabification, accent, vowel, and consonant 
 sounds, should be studied.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 151 
 
 Barbarisms. — Lord Chesterfield writes to his son : 
 " The first thing you should attend to is, to speak 
 whatever language you do speak, in its greatest 
 purity, and according to the rules of grammar ; for 
 we must never offend against grammar, nor make 
 use of words which are not really words." 
 
 A word that is not in a good dictionary, or is 
 there branded as provincial or as vulgar, is not 
 really a word, and should not be used. An ex- 
 pression that has not been recognized by good 
 use is called a barbarism. Often such terms are 
 incorrectly formed, as when they are coined by 
 ignorant persons ; often they are corruptions of 
 words. Motorneer is wrongly coined ; slick is cor- 
 rupted from sleek. Motorneer is made up of motor 
 plus the ending er. The ne is left over from the 
 discarded steam engine, for motorneer is made by 
 false analogy from engineer. The proper word is 
 motorman. If there is need for a new word in the 
 language, — and the need often arises in these days 
 of invention, — its component parts should be from 
 the same tongue, and it should be formed by strict 
 analogy, on the model of some correct, accepted 
 word. Examine such a word as shadowgraph, 
 which the more careless newspapers began to use 
 as soon as the " Roentgen rays " were discovered. 
 Shadoio is English; graph is Greek, — a termina- 
 tion that should be added only to a Greek word. 
 Various correct formations have been proposed for
 
 152 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 the ray -picture — scotograph, radiograph, skiagraph, 
 etc. It remains to be seen which one of these 
 words will become established. Examine the word 
 electrocution. It is formed on the false analogy of 
 execution. Execution is from the Latin ex + sequor, 
 meaning "to follow up," or, so to speak, "to chase 
 down." The man who invented electrocution could 
 not have known that sequor was a part of execution. 
 He merely tied together electro and cmio,,, thinking 
 perhaps that cution meant cutting or killing. Elec- 
 tro is from the Greek (meaning " amber," the 
 substance by rubbing which some one discovered 
 electricity), and in strictness should not be joined 
 to a Latin termination, even if that be correct. We 
 might easily have had a good English word for 
 death in the electrical chair ; but as matters stand, 
 there is no one recognized word for this idea. 
 
 Other barbarisms are: burglarize, to enthuse (a 
 bad coinage from enthusiasm), an incite, double 
 entendre and nom de illume (two expressions which 
 are neither accepted French nor accepted English), 
 walkist, a combine, preventative (for preventive), rep- 
 ortorial, managerial, to suicide, gent, pants (the trade 
 name, but not the literary), pJioto, prof., spoonsful. 
 AVords brought into the English from other lan- 
 guages, and not yet recognized by good use, are 
 also barbarisms. Such words are said to be not 
 jet Anglicized. They are referred to as alienisms, 
 and most may be classified as Latinisms, Hellen-
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 153 
 
 isms (or Greek words), Teutonisms (chiefly German 
 words), Gallicisms (French words). A word pecul- 
 iar to America is an Americanism ; one peculiar to 
 England is a Briticism. Some Americanisms and 
 Briticisms are not really barbarisms, but are war- 
 ranted by the canon of national use. 
 
 The following words are as yet alienisms : artiste, 
 sobriquet, beau monde, faux p> as > entre nous, etc. 
 Certain other words are Anglicized : amateur, ome- 
 lette, etiquette, litterateur, etc. The temptation to 
 sprinkle foreign words unnecessarily into one's 
 English reaches most persons sooner or later. It 
 should be withstood. The English language is rich 
 enough to furnish forth any man's vocabulary. 
 
 Many words that may finally become good 
 English are not yet accepted. To be on the 
 safe side one should say : point of vieiv, not stand- 
 point; upon, not onto; written permission, not a 
 permit; he doesn't, not he don't. 1 
 
 In the list given above it is remarked of pants 
 that it is a trade name (for what are ordinarily 
 known as trousers or pantaloons). Commercial 
 English and literary English are two different 
 things ; and while a careful novelist would hardly 
 write about v-heatena, or flexibone, or autoharp, he 
 might talk about them in the shops. Yet these 
 words are not correctly formed; and the same 
 thing is unhappily true of other trade names. 
 1 See however do, does, in the Oxford English Dictionary.
 
 154 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Improprieties. — Suppose, now, that a writer uses 
 a good English word, but uses it in a sense not 
 found in the best authors. In this case he uses 
 the word improperly; he commits an impropriety. 
 
 Sometimes two words sound so much alike that 
 they are mistaken one for the other; for instance, 
 accept and except. Sometimes the two words mean 
 nearly the same thing, and so come to be confused ; 
 for example, continual and continuous. The follow- 
 ing list gives the words that are most frequently 
 mistaken for each other. In the illustrative sen- 
 tences each such word is correctly used, and in all 
 cases the other word would be incorrect or at least 
 less desirable if substituted for it. 
 
 Nouns 
 Ability, capacity. 
 
 1. The capacity of man's memory is great. 
 
 2. Capacity for learning and ability for doing are 
 secrets of success. 
 
 What, idea, do these words share? 
 
 Acceptance, acceptation. 
 
 1. His acceptance was graceful. 
 
 2. You use the word iii its usual acceptation. 
 Each of these words contains the idea to take. 
 
 In what sense may this be said? 
 
 Access, accession. 
 
 1. Access to the director is easy.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 155 
 
 2. The library has received an accession of books. 
 
 3. She was seized with an access of grief. 
 
 4. The Tsar celebrated his accession to the 
 throne. 
 
 Each of these words contains the idea of entrance. 
 Access means the entrance of a person into a room 
 or into the presence of another; also the entrance 
 of a flood of emotion into the mind. Accession 
 means the entrance of a person into the rights of 
 a position ; also the entrance of books or other ob- 
 jects to a collection, — an addition to the collection. 
 
 Act, action. 
 
 1. Character is developed by action. 
 
 2. Oar own acts for good or ill speak for us. 
 Explain how both these words hold the idea 
 
 of do. 
 
 Advance, advancement. 
 
 1. The swallow comes with the advance of the 
 season. 
 
 2. He has received advancement. 
 
 3. Each advance of Napoleon was swift. 
 
 What idea have these two words in common ? 
 Explain how they differ. 
 
 Alternative, choice. 
 
 1. There is no alternative; he must go. 
 
 2. There are only three choices. 
 Alternative is a choice between things.
 
 156 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Avocation, vocation. 
 
 1. My regular calling, or rural ion, is teaching; 
 but for an avocation I spend my holidays in pho- 
 tography. 
 
 2. Dr. Weir Mitchell is a physician ; but his 
 regular vocation of medicine doesn't prevent him 
 from following the delightful avocation of letters. 
 
 Both these words have the idea of calling. Ex- 
 plain how they differ. (What does ab mean in 
 Latin ?) 
 
 Balance, remainder. 
 
 1. The balance of the sum is due. 
 
 2. The remainder of the day is spent. 
 
 What relation exists between balancing (a book) 
 and remainder? 
 
 Character, reputation. 
 
 1. His reputation for integrity is good. 
 
 2. His character is beyond reproach. 
 
 3. A man cannot always control his reputation, 
 but he can control his character. 
 
 Character is what a man ; reputation is 
 
 what people of him. 
 
 Compliment, complement. 
 
 1. Woman's mind is by many considered the 
 complement of man's, supplying certain things that 
 the masculine mind has not. 
 
 2. His compliments are really flatteries.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 157 
 
 3. The secretary supplied the army with its 
 complement of stores. 
 
 Council, counsel. 
 
 1. His counsel defended him in the trial. 
 
 2. Let good counsel prevail. 
 
 3. The council of ten gave good counsel. 
 
 Define these two words. What idea have they 
 in common ? 
 
 Falseness, falsity. 
 
 Arnold was a traitor; and the falseness of his 
 character was proved by the falsity of his statements. 
 
 What idea do these words share ? Frame defi- 
 nitions. 
 
 Invention, discovery. 
 
 Edison discovered certain laws of sound and 
 by them invented the phonograph. This invention 
 is not as yet very useful ; but the discovery of the 
 laws was important. 
 
 What idea do these words share ? Frame defi- 
 nitions. 
 
 Limit, limitation. 
 
 1. There should be no limitation of the com- 
 mander's authority. 
 
 2. There were no limits to his delight. 
 
 What common idea have these words ? Define 
 each.
 
 158 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Majority, plurality. 
 
 A majority is more than half the whole num- 
 ber. A plurality is the excess of votes received 
 by one candidate above another. When there are 
 several candidates, the one who receives more votes 
 than any other has a plurality. 
 
 In what respect are these words alike in mean- 
 ing '.' in what unlike ? 
 
 Observation, observance. 
 
 1. His observation of the habits of birds was keen. 
 
 2. His observance of the Sabbath was strict. 
 
 Is tcatch the best word for the idea shared by 
 these words ? Discuss. 
 
 Observation, remark. 
 
 1. Johnson's observations of men were keen. 
 
 2. Johnson's observations were made with his 
 eyes ; his remarks, with his tongue ; and Boswell, 
 by recording the remarks, recorded the observations. 
 
 What relation has a remark to an observation? 
 
 Party, person. 
 
 1. A party in a silk hat must be a party of Lili- 
 putians. 
 
 2. The party of the first part was two jwsons. 
 
 3. A seedy person joined the party. 
 
 4. I refuse to be a •party to the deed. 
 
 Is the idea of a part always contained in the 
 word party ? Discuss.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 159 
 
 Part, portion. 
 
 1. Esau sold his portion, the part allotted him. 
 
 2. The human body has many parts. 
 
 3. Waiter, one portion of roast beef will do ! 
 What is a portion? 
 
 Prominent, predominant. 
 
 There were many prominent men in Lincoln's 
 cabinet, but the President was always predominant 
 among them. 
 
 Consult the unabridged as to the origin of these 
 words. 
 
 Recipe, receipt. 
 
 If receipt comes from the Latin meaning " taken," 
 it is easy to see why when money is taken a receipt 
 is given. Recipe is a Latin imperative, meaning 
 "take"; naturally it is the right word for a formula 
 in cooking; "take" so much salt, so much meal, 
 so much water — and lo ! a johnny cake. 
 
 Relative, relation. 
 
 One may have many relatives with whom he 
 does not keep up close relations. 
 
 Is relation preferably an abstract noun, or a con- 
 crete ? 
 
 Residence, house. 
 
 1. Do not say residence when you mean house ; 
 the simpler word is the better.
 
 100 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 2. He lias his residence in his house. 
 
 3. His residence, or place of residence, is Montreal. 
 
 Sewage, sewerage. 
 
 The sewage flows through the system of sewerage. 
 
 Site, situation. 
 
 1. Lovely is Zion for situation. 
 
 2. The site of Troy was repeatedly built upon, 
 each new Troy being in turn destroyed by fire or 
 by some enemy. 
 
 3. The situation of Chicago by the lake gives the 
 city fresh breezes. 
 
 What kind of place is a site? What is a situa- 
 tion > 
 
 Verbs 
 Accept, except. 
 
 1. All Cretans are liars, runs the proverb: the 
 proverb excepts none. 
 
 2. He accepted the invitation. 
 
 Both words have the idea of take. How is this 
 true of except? 
 
 Affect, effect. 
 
 1. Even the rumor affected his belief, changing 
 it slightly. 
 
 2. He effected a junction with the other army. 
 Which of these words could properly govern 
 
 reconciliation? mind? health? release? conduct after
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 161 
 
 release? destruction? conscience? peace of mind f 
 Which one of the two words requires for an object 
 a noun expressing an action ? 
 
 Aggravate, irritate, tantalize. 
 
 1. Tantalus was tantalized by the sight of inac- 
 cessible fruit. 
 
 2. He aggravates the difficulty by trying to ex- 
 cuse his act. « 
 
 3. He is aggravating his cold by going out. 
 
 4. He irritates me by his teasing. 
 
 5. The gravity of our case is but aggravated by 
 delay. 
 
 Allude, mention. 
 
 1. Nobody would allude to an experience so un- 
 pleasant to all that party. 
 
 2. He alluded to Washington as the Father of 
 his Country. 
 
 3. He mentioned several ways of accomplishing 
 the work ; then he went back to his duties, not 
 alluding to the subject again. 
 
 Can a person allude to a thing without assuming 
 knowledge of it on the part of an audience ? Can 
 a thing be alluded to for the first time ? if so, would 
 it be the first time it was spoken of ? Make allu- 
 sions to several great men without mentioning their 
 names. 
 
 M
 
 1G2 FIB8T BOOK IX WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Antagonize, alienate. 
 
 1. By antagonizing the views of his friends, he 
 alienated their sympathies from him. 
 
 2. He alienated his friends by antagonizing them. 
 
 Begin, commence. 
 
 These words are often interchangeable, but com- 
 mence is the more formal. Begin is the better word 
 
 ordinarily. 
 
 Bring, fetch. 
 
 1. Come here and bring the book. 
 
 2. Go and fetch the book. 
 
 Define these two words. What is their common 
 idea ? 
 
 Claim, assert, etc. 
 
 1. Claim means to assert a right to a thing as 
 one's own. It means neither to say, to assert, to 
 declare, in maintain, to hold, to allege, nor to contend. 
 
 2. He claims the right to be heard. 
 
 3. He maintains that he ought to be heard. 
 
 4. He asserts that such is the fact. 
 
 N 0TE . — it is better not to use claim with the 
 conjunction that. 
 
 Degrade, demean, debase. 
 
 1. Being in disgrace, the captain was degraded 
 from his rank. 
 
 2. He demeans himself sometimes well, some- 
 times ill.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 163 
 
 3. He debases [or degrades] himself by his 
 profanity. 
 
 Give a synonym for demean. 
 
 Drive, ride. 
 
 In England one rides only when one is on horse- 
 back ; one is said to drive if in a carriage. h\ 
 America one drives when one holds the reins ; but 
 we go driving even when the coachman drives. 
 There is also excellent authority for take a ride, 
 and go riding, when conveyance in a carriage is 
 meant. 
 
 Endorse, approve, second. 
 
 1. He seconded all his friend's propositions. 
 
 2. He endorsed the check across the top. 
 
 3. He approved his colleague's act. 
 
 What is a dorsal fin ? What does endorse mean, 
 by etymology ? 
 
 Got, gotten, have. 
 
 1. Got is perhaps preferable to gotten. 
 
 2. Don't say you've got a thing when you merely 
 have it, without having secured it. 
 
 What idea is common to get and have ? 
 
 Guess, think, reckon. 
 
 1. I think I shall go. 
 
 2. He reckoned the cost before he started.
 
 164 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 3. I guess there are a hundred. 
 
 [The habitual misuse of guess is an American 
 fault.] 
 
 Intend, calculate. 
 
 1. She received his apologies with a resentment 
 they were likely, but were not intended, to inspire. 1 
 
 2. He aimed at the animal a blow calculated to 
 kill it. 
 
 3. I fully intend to go, but cannot calculate how 
 soon. 
 
 Let, leave. 
 
 1. Let me be ! Don't bother me when I want to 
 study. 
 
 2. Let me alone ! 
 
 3. Leave me alone here. 
 
 4. Let go ! Unhand me. 
 
 Let ouce meant " to hinder." Now it means the 
 opposite — " permit." 
 
 Lie, lay. 
 
 The chief trouble with the first of these two 
 words seems to concern the past tense : " He laid 
 down on the sofa." 
 
 Locate, settle. 
 
 1. He located his house there (not located there). 
 
 2. He setthd in Chicago. 
 
 1 A. S. Hill: Fouwlutions of Rhetoric, p. 110 (Harper's).
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 165 
 
 Loan, lend. 
 
 It is not incorrect to use loan in the sense of lend, 
 but lend is the less formal and the preferable word. 
 
 May, can. 
 
 May it not be said that any person who has not 
 learned the difference between these two words, 
 can hardly be permitted to call himself a user of 
 good English ? 
 
 It is not hard to see why people confuse these 
 two words. Often the questioner feels that, for all 
 practicable purposes, the refusal of his request will 
 make a barrier over which he cannot go. When he 
 says "Can I go," he is feeling, " Will you make it 
 possible for me to go ? for unless you consent I 
 cannot go — I cannot afford to, or I cannot con- 
 scientiously, or I cannot and remain on right terms 
 with you." Nevertheless, may is the only right 
 word to use in asking permission. 
 
 Proved, proven. 
 
 1. The point was not 2^'oved. 
 
 2. Verdict: "Not proven." Proven is a Scotch 
 legal term, wrongly supposed by some persons to 
 be preferable to proved out of the court-room. 
 
 Purpose, propose. 
 
 1. One can't propose unless he proposes some- 
 thing to somebody.
 
 166 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 2. One can purpose to do a thing, without pro- 
 posing it to any one. 
 
 How do both these words contain the idea of 
 placing ? 
 
 Sit, set. 
 
 The chief errors in the use of sit and set are 
 two. Some people insist on saying "setting hen" 
 for "sitting hen," and "the coat sets well" for " sits 
 well." A few say, " Sit yourself down," for the 
 somewhat old-fashioned "sit you down" (where 
 the you is nominative) or for "set yourself down." 
 Similarly this error has been known to occur — " he 
 sat the basket of eggs down." 
 
 Stay, stop. 
 
 1. He stopped at Albany ; he went no farther. 
 
 2. At what hotel are you staying, these days ? 
 
 Transpire, happen. 
 
 A good many things happened that dark night 
 when the boys were out for a lark; but it never 
 transpired what really did happen ; nothing leaked 
 out or got to the light. 
 
 Spiro means "to breathe." Trans (across) when 
 in composition means through, out. Is it not clear 
 how the present use of the word comes about? 
 Explain. Compare the words expire, conspire, in- 
 spire. How does each get its present meaning?
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 167 
 
 Wish, want, desire. 
 
 1. It is sometimes correct enough to say ivant in 
 the place of wish. 
 
 2. You shall want nothing ; all shall be supplied. 
 
 3. You shall not want anything you may desire. 
 Which idea springs out of the other — want from 
 
 ivish, or wish from ivant? 
 
 Adjectives and Adverbs 
 Apt, likely, liable. 
 
 1. He is apt at languages. 
 
 2. He is likely to fail if he does not properly 
 prepare himself. [Here apt was possible, but not 
 so good as likely.'] 
 
 Apt means "fitted," "fit." How could such an 
 idea as " It is apt to rain this month " spring from 
 the idea of fit ? 
 
 3. He is likely to succeed if only he tries. 
 
 4. He is liable to arrest and quarantine, — though 
 not likely to be arrested, — merely because he is 
 liable to come down with a contagious disease. 
 
 With what kind of feeling does a person look 
 forward to a thing to which he is liable ? 
 
 Continual, continuous. 
 
 1. A continual dropping is a Biblical phrase. 
 
 2. A continuous dropping would not be a drop- 
 ping at all. It would be a stream. 
 
 What idea have these words in common ?
 
 168 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Funny, odd. 
 
 1. It is odd that I haven't heard of this before. 
 
 2. It is a funny sight to see Fido trying des- 
 perately to catch his own tail. 
 
 Can you explain something of the mental process 
 by which a child comes to say funny so frequently, 
 and strange so rarely? Is it all a matter of imi- 
 tation, or is there some other reason? Are there 
 not more of strange things in a child's experience 
 than of funny things ? 
 
 Healthy, healthful. 
 
 Healthful food makes a healthy man. 
 Give a synonym for healthful as applied to 
 food. 
 
 Imminent, eminent, immanent. 
 
 1. The eminent Latin writer, Livy, speaks of 
 Hannibal's elephants as looming up — eminentes — 
 through the mist. 
 
 2. That God is immanent in all the world was 
 a doctrine of the Greek fathers ; they meant that 
 he pervades and is diffused throughout it. 
 
 3. The sword of Damocles hung imminent, sus- 
 pended by a hair. 
 
 4. He is in imminent danger of disgrace. 
 
 With which two of these words is the idea of 
 threaten connected? Which has the idea of re- 
 main, or stay, in it ?
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 169 
 
 In, into. 
 
 1. Bruno looked up into his master's face. 
 
 2. He got into the chariot. 
 
 3. He sprang into the lake, while I stayed in 
 the boat. 
 
 4. Once in the lake, he swam round. 
 What difference in the use of these words ? 
 
 Last, latest. 
 
 1. The last page of the book is done. 
 
 2. The latest news from the patient is bad. 
 Does latest imply anything as to the future ? 
 
 Last, preceding. 
 
 1. Let each paragraph be joined smoothly with 
 the preceding. 
 
 2. The last paragraph ends the theme. 
 
 Mad, angry. 
 
 1. There is no reason for being angry. 
 
 2. Much learning hath made thee mad. 
 
 3. He was mad with rage — fairly insane. 
 
 Most, almost. 
 
 1. Most men are optimists. 
 
 2. Almost every man loves praise. 
 Parse the words italicized above. 
 
 Mutual, common. 
 
 1. Our common friend is the better expression, 
 though Dickens has made famous the correspond- 
 ing worse usage.
 
 170 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 2. Friendship may be mutual; a friend cannot. 
 .'!. Separated by mountains and by mutual fear. 
 What is meant by reciprocal ? Which word is 
 a synonym of reciprocal ? 
 
 Oral, verbal. 
 
 1. Miles Standish's act of sending the Indians 
 a snake-skin filled with powder and ball, was a 
 message, but not a verba/ message. 
 
 2. If you are to see John, let me send him this 
 oral message : Never say die. 
 
 3. The corrections did not affect the truth of 
 the statements, but only the manner : they were 
 verbal corrections. 
 
 4. The telegraph operator translates into verbal 
 form the message that he hears in the ticking of 
 his receiver. 
 
 The Latin word os means month ; the Latin 
 word verbum means a word. Do oral and verbal 
 keep the sense of the Latin words ? Can a verbal 
 message be oral ? Can an oral message be verbal ? 
 Is an oral message ordinarily verbal ? Can you 
 imagine an oral message that is not verbal ? 
 
 Posted, informed. 
 
 1. The ledger is well posted. 
 
 2. The editor is well informed. 
 
 Can you see the slightest reasonable advantage in 
 speaking of a person as well posted ? In other words, 
 does this commercial slang lend any real force?
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 171 
 
 Practicable, practical. 
 
 His scheme won't work ; it isn't practicable. I'm 
 afraid he isn't so practical a schemer as we thought. 
 
 Quite, somewhat, very, rather, entirely, wholly. 
 
 1. Quite never means " very," " rather," or 
 "somewhat." It means "wholly." 
 
 2. Harry is quite well ; he is never sick. 
 
 3. Yes, I like him rather well. 
 
 4. Thank yon ; I'm quite myself again. 
 
 Curtail quite, and you get another good English 
 adjective from the same root. How is this shorter 
 word related in sense to the longer ? With which 
 of the following expressions can quite be used ? 
 Well (adj.), sick, recovered, pretty, finished, settled, 
 nice, good, assured, patient, used up, satisfied, a 
 good deal, fine, a hero, a way, a mile, a noise, 
 a failure, a lot, a hundred, a few, a good many, a 
 million, a dozen, some, well (adv.), a while, an hour, 
 your debtor, every one, all, around, through, under, 
 o'erthrown, down, elated, in a rage, underestimate, 
 vanquished, quarrelsome, lovely, everywhere, crest- 
 fallen. 
 
 Real, really, extremely. 
 
 1. I think he's a real Count. 
 
 2. I think he's extremely mean. 
 
 3. He's really a very fine fellow. 
 Parse the words italicized above.
 
 172 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Some, somewhat. 
 
 1. The sick man is somewhat better tins morning. 
 
 2. Some men have greatness thrust upon them. 
 Parse the words italicized above. 
 
 Without, unless. 
 
 1. I can't go unless there is a holiday. 
 
 2. I can't go without getting permission. 
 Parse the words italicized above. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The following sentences are from 
 John Ruskin. No improprieties occur in the origi- 
 nals. Within each pair of brackets a word is given, 
 sometimes the right word, sometimes the wrong 
 word. Study the meaning of each sentence, and 
 satisfy yourself as to what is the best expression 
 for each place in question. 
 
 1. The ennobling difference between one man 
 and another — between one animal and another — 
 is precisely in this, that one feels more than an- 
 other. If we were sponges, perhaps sensation 
 might not be easily [gotten] for us ; if we were 
 earth-worms, [apt] at every instant to be cut in 
 two by the spade, perhaps too much sensation 
 might not be good for us. 
 
 2. But chiefly of all, she is taught to extend 
 the [limitations] of her sympathy. 
 
 3. Very ready we are to say of a book, " How 
 good this is — that's exactly what I think!" But
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF )VORDS 173 
 
 the right feeling is, " How [odd] that is ! I never 
 thought of that before, and yet I see it is true; 
 or if I do not now, I hope I shall some day." 
 
 4. I believe, then, with this exception, that a 
 girl's education should be nearly, in its course and 
 material of study, the same as a boy's ; but [en- 
 tirely] differently directed. A woman in any rank 
 of life ought to know whatever her husband is 
 [liable] to know, but to know it in a different way. 
 
 5. I do not blame them for this, but only for 
 their narrow motive in this. I would have them 
 [want] and [assert] the title of " lady " provided 
 they [allege] not merely the title, but the office 
 and duty signified by it. 
 
 6. And not less wrong — perhaps even more 
 foolishly wrong (for I will [expect] thus far what 
 I hope to prove) — is the idea that woman is only 
 the shadow and attendant image of her lord. 
 
 7. But now, having no true [avocation], we pour 
 our whole masculine energy into the false business 
 of money-making. 
 
 8. Having then faithfully listened to the great 
 teachers, that you may enter into their thoughts, 
 you have yet this higher [advancement] to make, 
 — you have to enter into their hearts. 
 
 9. And, lastly, a great nation does not mock 
 Heaven and its Powers by pretending belief in 
 a revelation which [asserts] the love of money 
 to be the root of all evil, and [claiming], at the
 
 174 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 same time that it is actuated, and [proposes] to be 
 actuated, in all chief national deeds and measures, 
 by no other love. 
 
 10. But an education " which shall keep a good 
 coat on my son's back ; which shall [capacitate] 
 him to ring with confidence the visitors' bell at 
 double-belled doors ; which shall result ultimately 
 in the establishment of a double-belled door to 
 his own [residence] — in a word, which shall lead 
 to [advance] in life — this we pray for on bent 
 knees; and this is all we pray for." It never 
 seems to occur to the parents that there may be 
 an education which in itself is [advance] in Life ; 
 that any other than that may perhaps be [advance- 
 ment] in Death; and that this essential education 
 might be more easily [gotten] or given, than they 
 [guess], if they set about it in the right way, while 
 it is for no price and by no favor to be [got], if 
 they set about it in the wrong. 
 
 11. The chance and scattered evil that may here 
 and there haunt, or hide itself in, a powerful book, 
 never does any harm to a noble girl; but the empti- 
 ness of an author oppresses her, and his amiable 
 folly [degrades] her. And if she can have [ac- 
 cess] to a good library of old and classical books, 
 there need be no choosing at all. Keep the modern 
 magazine and novel out of your girl's way ; turn 
 her loose into the old library every day, and [let] 
 her alone.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 175 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the italicized words in 
 the following sentences, taken from a newspaper. 
 According to a good dictionary, which are barba- 
 risms? What ones are here incorrectly used? 
 AVhich ones are colloquial — permitted in talking 
 familiarly, but not in writing ? Suggest better 
 expressions. 
 
 1. Her prospects for a long career on this earth 
 are quite favorable. 
 
 2. The galvanic battery was applied every 
 hour without producing any more satisfactory 
 results, but hope did not abandon the resurrec- 
 tionists. 
 
 3. When the police arrived they discovered that 
 Burdick was wearing a bogus police star and he was 
 arrested. 
 
 4. "If you'll throw that gun away and put up 
 your dukes like a gentleman, I'll come down there 
 and sew a button onto you ! " 
 
 5. Mr. Hanna was decidedly late in shouting up 
 at headquarters. 
 
 6. It buttons down the front with the finest 
 Avhite pearl buttons of quite large size. 
 
 7. Makers of sporting goods say there are a lot 
 of bicyclists who are ready and waiting to take up 
 every new thing. 
 
 8. I spotted two of my countrywomen at once. 
 
 9. It has been thus far an exceptionably busy 
 campaign.
 
 176 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The following sentences are 
 from Stevenson's volume, Virginibus Puerisque. 
 As in the preceding exercise, decide on the best 
 word for each place in question. 
 
 1. Think of the heroism of Johnson, think of 
 that superb indifference to mortal [limit] that set 
 him upon his dictionary, and carried him through 
 triumphantly to the end ! 
 
 2. [Most] everybody in our land . . . can under- 
 stand and sympathize with an admiral or a prize- 
 fighter. 
 
 3. When he comes to ride with the king's par- 
 don, he must bestride a chair, which he will so 
 hurry and belabor and on which he will so furi- 
 ously [demean] himself, that the messenger will 
 arrive, if not bloody with spurring, at least fiery 
 red with haste. If his romance involves an acci- 
 dent upon a cliff, he must clamber in person about 
 the chest of drawers and fall bodily [onto] the 
 carpet, before his imagination is satisfied. 
 
 4. Surely all these are [practicable] questions to 
 a neophyte entering upon life with a view to play. 
 
 5. A sedentary population . . . can [noways, 
 in no wise] explain to itself the gaiety of these 
 passers-by. 
 
 6. To borrow and [demean] an image, all the 
 evening street-lamps burst into song. 
 
 7. But the conservative, while lauding progress, 
 is ever timid of innovation ; his is the hand upheld
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 177 
 
 to [council] pause ; his is the signal advising slow 
 [advance]. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The following sentences are 
 from Mrs. Gaskell's Cranford. As before, decide 
 on the best word for each place in question. 
 
 1. There were rules and regulations for visiting 
 and calls ; and they were announced to any young 
 people, who might be [stopping] in the town. 
 
 2. He must have been upwards of sixty at the 
 time of the first visit I paid to Cranford after I 
 had left it as a [residence]. 
 
 3. She was evidently nervous from having [ex- 
 pected] my call. 
 
 4. My request evidently pleased the old gentle- 
 man, who took me all [round, around 1 ] the place, 
 and showed me his six and twenty cows, named 
 after the different letters of the alphabet. 
 
 5. I can't [wholly] remember the date, but I 
 think it was in 1805 that Miss Jenkyns wrote the 
 longest [series, succession] of letters. 
 
 6. She never laughed at his jokes . . . ; and 
 that [aggravated] him. 
 
 7. He was very, very [mad] indeed, and before 
 all the people he lifted up his cane and flogged 
 Peter ! 
 
 8. " Shell-fish are sometimes thought not very 
 [healthy]." 
 
 1 Round is more frequently used than around with verbs of 
 motion. 
 
 N
 
 178 FIBST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 9. The writer of the letter . . . was dead long 
 ago; and I, a stranger, not born at the time 
 when this occurrence [took place], was the one 
 to open it. 
 
 10. I seized the opportunity, and wrote and de- 
 spatched an [acceptation] in her name. 
 
 11. He thought each shawl more beautiful than 
 the [last]. 
 
 11'. I could not see that the little event in the 
 shop below had in the least damped Miss Matty's 
 curiosity as to the make of sleeves or the [set, sit] 
 of skirts. [If neither sit nor set is right here, how 
 recast the sentence ?] 
 
 13. Miss Matty [anticipated] the sight of the 
 glossy folds. 
 
 14. The Gordons . . . were now [expected] to 
 return very soon; and Miss Matty, in her sisterly 
 pride, [expected] great delight in the joy of show- 
 ing them Mr. Peter. 
 
 15. However, we all sat eyes right, square front, 
 gazing at the [tantalizing] curtain. 
 
 16. We (at least I) had doubts as to whether she 
 really would enjoy the little adventure of having 
 her house [burglarized], as she [protested] she 
 would. 
 
 17. Miss Jenkyns . . . never got over what she 
 called Captain Brown's disparaging [observations] 
 upon Dr. Johnson as a writer of light and agree- 
 able hetion.
 
 CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 179 
 
 18. It (Death) was a word not to be [alluded to] 
 to ears polite. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — The following sentences are from 
 Lord Chesterfield's letters to his son. As in the 
 preceding exercise, choose the best word for each 
 place in question. 
 
 1. Your own [remarks] upon mankind, when 
 compared with those which you will find in books, 
 will help you fix the true point. 
 
 2. There is nothing which I more wish that you 
 should know, and which [less] people do know, 
 than the true use and value of time. 
 
 3. Your [neglect] of dress, while you were a 
 schoolboy, was pardonable, but would not be so now. 
 
 4. The [reputations] of kings and great men 
 are only to be learned in conversation ; for they 
 are never fairly written during their lives. 
 
 5. What does Chesterfield mean by " in a good 
 sense," in the following ? " Another, speaking in 
 defence of a gentleman upon whom a censure was 
 moved, happily said that he thought the gentleman 
 was more liable to be thanked and rewarded, than 
 censured. You know, I presume, that liable can 
 never be used in a good sense." 
 
 Review Exercise. — Let each word of the follow- 
 ing list be taken up by itself. Each member of the 
 class should give a sentence of his own, using the 
 given word correctly.
 
 180 FIIiST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Access, acceptance, alternative, avocation, obser- 
 vation, ability, capacity, character, discovery, limi- 
 tation, party, portion, predominance, residence, 
 except (verb), affect, effect, allude, claim, purpose, 
 transpire, liable, apt, somewhat, quite, mad, prac- 
 ticable.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY 
 
 The English Vocabulary. — The enormous treas- 
 ure of English speech contains something like 200,- 
 000 words. 1 Most of these were once foreigners 
 to the language. To tell how each came to be 
 English would be like telling the personal ro- 
 mances of all the foreign-born citizens of these 
 United States. 
 
 England was once inhabited by Celts, the an- 
 cestors of the Scotch, Welsh, and Irish. The 
 Romans under Caesar possessed the island, and for 
 five hundred years held the country, but they left 
 us, from this period of their occupation, only half 
 a dozen words : the names of the camp (castra), 
 the paved road (strata), the settlement (colonia), 
 the trench (fossa), the harbor (portus), the rampart 
 (vallum). These words remain chiefly in the names 
 of places. A sharp eye sees them in Lancaster, 
 
 1 Probably three-fourths of these words are not in literary- 
 use to-day. Many are obsolete, many are colloquial, many are 
 scientific or technical. Thousands of other scientific terms 
 (names of genera and species) are not included in the 200,000 
 estimate. 
 
 181
 
 182 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISII 
 
 Leicester, Manchester, etc.; Si rat lord, street, etc.; 
 Lincoln, etc.; Fossway, etc.; Portsmouth, etc.; 
 wall, bailey, bailiff (these three words being de- 
 rived from rail inn). 
 
 In the fifth century, however, Teutonic tribes 
 began to cross the sea and invade the land. The 
 Celts were driven north and west into the moun- 
 tains, and the newcomers stayed permanently. 
 Although these Teutons — the Anglo-Saxons — 
 called the Celts Welsh, that is, strangers, they took 
 up a good many of the strangers' words. They 
 called many a river of the land Avon, water, as the 
 Celts had done, — there are fourteen Avons to-day, 
 
 — and they kept many such words as inch, an 
 island (in Incheape), and kill, a church (in Kildare). 
 Indeed, for centuries the Celts kept on lending 
 words to the English: bargain, bodkin, brogue, clan, 
 crag, dagger, glen, goivn, mitten, rogue, whiskey, are 
 familiar examples of these permanent loans. 
 
 The Old English language itself was a Germanic 
 dialect. Like Latin and German, it was inflected, 
 
 — a fact that we see to-day in the presence of such 
 forms as him, the old dative case for he. The in- 
 flectional endings nearly all disappeared before 
 Shakespeare's time. The vocabulary of this Old 
 English has given us most of the words that we 
 use as children. For example, household names — 
 /mmr, friewls, father, mother, etc.; names of many 
 emotions — gladness, sorroiv, love, hate, fear, etc. ;
 
 SOURCES OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY 183 
 
 names of most objects in the landscape — tree, bush, 
 stone, hill, woods, stream, sun, moon, etc. ; common 
 names of animals — horse, cow, dog, cat, etc. ; parts 
 of the body — head, eye, etc. Our household prov- 
 erbs are in these Anglo-Saxon words. " Fast bind, 
 fast find," is an example of a thousand similar saws 
 that embody the practical common sense of the 
 people. The loves and hates, the hopes and fears, 
 the wit and rude wisdom of our forefathers, have 
 gone into Saxon words. These are not merely 
 the words of childhood ; in hours of deep feeling, 
 in moments when the natural disposition demands 
 expression, the grown man speaks in Saxon. These 
 strong, forcible old words are to be prized and 
 cherished as carefully as are those of less emotional 
 suggestion, — the exact, discriminative Latin words. 
 In the ninth and tenth centuries the Norse 
 vikings, who sailed everywhere, sailed also to Eng- 
 land, and for a time got the upper hand of the 
 Saxons. From 1013 to 1042 there were Scandina- 
 vian kings on the English throne. But these Norse 
 were not able to impose much of their own lan- 
 guage upon the country. Their settlements were 
 named in Norse, and the word by, a town, remains 
 in hundreds of such places, as Whitby, the white 
 town (from the white cliffs). From these great 
 seamen our Saxon ancestors learned some new 
 nautical dialect — words like boio, bowline, crew, 
 harbor, hawser, lee, stern.
 
 184 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 In 1066 the Normans conquered the land. These 
 were Frenchmen whose fathers had been Norse. 
 They brought the French language into their Eng- 
 lish court, and for two or three hundred years 
 there were two languages in England, — French 
 on the lips of the nobles, Saxon on the lips of 
 the peasants. But the Saxon race was too strong 
 to remain an underling. Gradually it mingled 
 with the Norman race, picking up hundreds, even 
 thousands of French words from the latter, but 
 keeping its own ways of putting words together. 
 
 J5y 1400, when Chaucer died, there was a new 
 English language, almost as much French as Saxon 
 in vocabulary, but far less French than Saxon in 
 grammar. Since French is largely derived from 
 Latin, it is clear that the total Latin element in 
 the vocabulary was already very great. 
 
 After Chaucer there came a general awakening 
 of interest in ancient civilization ; and in the 
 Revival of Learning a great many words were 
 adopted directly from Latin and Greek. In the 
 sixteenth century followed the Renaissance of lit- 
 erature, art, and the sciences. This made its way 
 to England from Italy, and naturally English- 
 men caught up many new words from Italians. 
 For example: alert, bankrupt, brigade, bust, cameo, 
 caricature, cascade, domino, fresco, granite, influenza, 
 iindnriii, niche, oratorio, pianoforte, ruffian, studio, 
 tirade, umbrella, vista. The Spaniards, too, whom
 
 SOURCES OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY 185 
 
 Englishmen met in those days on the sea and at 
 courts, have lent our language such words as bar- 
 ricade, bravado, cigar, desperado, flotilla, guerilla, 
 merino, mosquito, mulatto, renegade, sherry, tornado, 
 vanilla. 
 
 The bold English seamen of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury sailed back even from America with new 
 things and new names — like tobacco. In the next 
 century the commerce which followed hard upon 
 the voyages of discovery was the means of bring- 
 ing to the British island many new words. Here 
 it may be said that the Dutch, who have rivalled 
 the English in commerce, and who have taught the 
 English some tricks of seamanship, — as did the 
 vikings before them, — are represented in English 
 by words like ballast, boom, boor, stepper, sloop, 
 smack, trigger, yacht. English merchantmen of the 
 seventeenth and eighteenth centuries sailed to 
 ports Oriental and Occidental. Returning, they 
 brought from Africa canaries and gorillas, with 
 the words canary and gorilla, and told of oases; 
 from Arabia they fetched such names as ad- 
 miral, alcohol, alcove, alkali, arsenal, azure, chem- 
 istry, coffee, cotton, lute, magazine, nabob, naphtha, 
 sherbet, sofa, syrup, zenith; indeed, some of these 
 words had got into English through earlier Eng- 
 lish travellers — chiefly crusaders. English sailors 
 and travellers have brought from China silk, tea, 
 etc. ; from India, banyan, calico, mullagatawny ,
 
 18G FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 musk, punch, sugar, thug, etc.; from Malayan ports, 
 !i<nii(<in, cockatoo, gong, rattan, sago, etc.; from 
 Persia, awning, caravan, chess, hazard, horde, lemon, 
 
 orange, paradise, sash, shawl, etc. Few are the 
 languages from which a British ear has not caught 
 and kept a new term. 
 
 In America Ave have many Indian names of 
 places and things. We have hominy, moose, opos- 
 sum, raccoon, toboggan, and other words from North 
 American tribes. Mexico gave us chocolate, tomato, 
 etc.; the AVest Indies, potato, canoe, hurricane; 
 South America, alpaca, quinine, tapioca, etc. 
 
 In the present century, science, both practical 
 and pure, has discovered thousands of facts and 
 invented thousands of contrivances. Consequently 
 thousands of words have been coined, mostly from 
 Greek, to name modern inventions and the facts of 
 science. A recent dictionary found it necessary to 
 codify 4000 technical terms that had sprung up 
 within the last few years. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Prefixes and Suffixes. — The fol- 
 lowing prefixes are Anglo-Saxon. Think of words 
 made with each. 
 
 1. A- — in, on. 
 
 2. Be-. What grammatical effect has this prefix on 
 moan, daub, friend .' 
 
 3. For-. What effect has this on bid, lorn f Compare 
 Latin per, in perfect. 
 
 4. Fore-. ■>. Gain- = against. 
 
 6. Mis- (A.-S. mis = wrong). What effect on deed,
 
 SOURCES OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY 187 
 
 lead ? A French prefix from Latin minus occurs in mis- 
 chief, etc. 
 
 7. Th-. 8. Un-. 
 
 9. With- (A.-S. wither = back). 
 
 Similarly think of words made with each of the 
 following noun suffixes and explain the force of 
 each suffix. 
 
 I. -ard = habitual. 2. -craft. 
 3. -dom. 4. -en. 
 
 5. -cr. 6. -hood. 
 
 7. -ing = son of, part. Meaning of Browning ? lord- 
 ing ? tithing ? There is an older suffix which appears in the 
 gerund — taking, hunting. 
 
 8. -kin. 9. -ling. 
 10. -ness. 11. -ock. 
 12. -ne = power. 13. -ship. 
 14. -s^ead" = place. 15. -ster. 
 10. -wright. 17. -ward. 
 
 Think of words made with the following adjective 
 suffixes. 
 
 1. -ed. 2. -en. 
 
 3. -em. 4. -/as?. 
 5. -fold. 0. -/uZ. 
 7. -ish. 8. -Zess. 
 
 9. -like (lie = body, form). 10. -Wa/t«. 
 
 II. -some = same. 12. -?/. 
 
 Think of words made with the following adverb 
 suffixes. 
 
 1. -es (the old genitive ending). 
 
 2. -hj (lie = body, form). 3. -ling, -long. 
 
 4. -meal. 5. -om (old dative plural) . 
 0. -ward. 7. -wise = manner.
 
 188 FIRST BOOK TN WRITING KSULISII 
 
 The Latin Element. — The Latin element is nu- 
 merically the larger part of the language. It is 
 therefore impossible to know •well the English 
 vocabulary except by knowing a considerable part 
 of the Latin language. Whether our Latin words 
 come directly through the ancient classics, or 
 through the Romance tongues, such as French, 
 Italian, and Spanish, to know their full force one 
 must know the original meaning of them, as used 
 by the ancient race of world-conquerors. Every 
 instructor in English watches with keen interest 
 the progress made by his students in their Latin 
 studies. Of course, the mere knowledge that a 
 given word is derived from a given Latin word 
 does not necessarily give the student practical 
 command of it in his writing ; but usually such 
 knowledge does help to a better understanding of 
 the meaning the word has to-day, and so tends 
 both to fix it in memory and to insure exact use 
 of it. 
 
 Latin Words transferred to English. — Some Latin 
 words have been transferred bodily into English. 
 Discuss with the instructor the derivation of the 
 present meanings of the following : — 
 
 Alias = otherwise ; album = white ; amanuensis = hand- 
 writer; animus = mind; arena = sand; boa = great serpent ; 
 camera = chamber ; cornucopia = horn of plenty; extra = 
 beyond ; focus = hearth ; gratis = for nothing ; item = also ; 
 memento — remember (imperative) ; nostrum = our own ;
 
 SOURCES OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY 189 
 
 omnibus = for all ; posse = to be able ; quorum = of whom ; 
 rebus = by things ; rostrum — beak ; torpedo = numbness ; 
 vagary = to wander ; videlicet = it can be seen ; virago — a 
 mannish woman. 
 
 Latin Prefixes and Suffixes. — Recall English 
 words having the following prefixes, and explain 
 the effect of the prefix on each. 
 
 A-, ab-, abs- = from ; ad- = to ; amb- — about ; ante- = 
 before ; bis-, bi- = twice ; cireum- = around ; cum- (found 
 in French col-, com-, cor-, coun-) = with ; contra- = against ; 
 de- — down, from ; dis- (Fr. des-, de-) = asunder ; ex- (Fr. 
 es-, e-)=from; extra- = beyond ; in- (Fr. en-, em-)— in, 
 into ; in- (il-, im-, ir-, ig-) = not ; inter- = between, among ; 
 non- = not ; ob- = against ; pene- — almost ; per- = through ; 
 post- = after ; praz-, pre- — before ; proeter- = beyond ; pro- 
 (Fr. pour — pol-, por-, pur-) = for ; re- — back ; retro- = 
 backwards ; se- = apart ; sub- (smc-, suf-, sum-, sup-, sur-, 
 sus-) = under ; super- — above ; trans- = across ; vice- = in 
 place of. 
 
 Recall words having the following Latin or 
 Latin-French suffixes, and explain each in terms 
 of the meaning of the suffix. 
 
 -Aceous (Lat. -aceus) = made of ; -al (Latin -alis)= per- 
 taining to; -able (-ible), Lat. (h)abilis = capable of being; 
 -pie, -ble (Latin -plex) — fold ; -plex — fold ; -lent (Lat. 
 -lentus) — full of ; -ose (Lat. -osus) — full of ; und (Lat. 
 -undus)= full of ; -ulous (Lat. -ulus)= full of. 
 
 Latin Roots in English. — Below are listed a few 
 of the many Latin words that have given us Eng- 
 lish words. Recall as many as possible of their 
 derivatives, and define each in terms of the original
 
 190 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 meaning. Thus acer, sharp, gives us acrimony, 
 sharpness, acrid, sour. Some member of the class 
 may know that through the French it gives us 
 rimijiir, sharp wine. Make notes in your note-book 
 of any derivatives that are new to you. JEdes, a 
 building; azquus, equal; ager, afield; agere, to do; 
 alere, to nourish — perfect participle altus, nour- 
 ished, therefore high; amare, to love; anima, life; 
 animus, mind; annus, a year; aqua, water; arcus, 
 a bow; ardere (pf. ptc. arsus), to burn; audi re, to 
 hear; augere (pf. ptc. ductus), to increase; brevis, 
 brief; cadere (pf. ptc. casus), to fall; candere, to 
 shine ; capere, to take ; caput, a head ; cavus, hollow ; 
 cernere (pf . ptc. cretus), to distinguish ; clarus, clear ; 
 cor, heart; corona, crown; credere, to believe; cre- 
 scere (pf. ptc. cretus), to grow; crudus, raw; cura, 
 care ; deus, god ; dicere, to say ; docere, to teach ; 
 dominus, lord (Fr. damsel, dame, madame) ; domus, 
 a house ; ducere, to lead ; errarc, to wander ; facere, 
 to make; Jilum, a thread; ^m/.s, the end; ^/fos, a 
 flower ; frangere (stems, frag, fract), to break ; 
 fortis, strong; fundere, to pour; gradus, a step; 
 gravis, heavy; homo, a man; imperare, to com- 
 mand; jus, right; legere (led), to read; ligo, to bind; 
 litera, a letter; loqui, to speak; lumen, light; /una, 
 the moon; wa<7»ws, great; iinmus, a hand; maftt- 
 r»s, ripe; mittere (missere), to send; wiors, death; 
 imrus, new; ?io.r, night; omnis, all; n/Wr>, order; 
 pascere (pf. ptc. pns/us), to feed; paid (pf. ptc.
 
 SOURCES OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY 191 
 
 passus), to suffer ; petere, to seek ; portare, to carry ; 
 radix, a root ; regere (pf . ptc. rectus), to rule ; scire, 
 to know; sequi (pf. ptc. secutus), to follow; socius, 
 a companion ; spirare, to breathe ; tangere, to touch ; 
 texere, to weave; vanus, empty; videre, to see; 
 vincere (pf. ptc. victus), to conquer ; valgus, the 
 crowd. 
 
 Greek Roots in English. — Recall English words 
 made from the following Greek roots, and explain 
 each. Make notes in your note-book of those de- 
 rivatives that are new to you. Anthropos, a man 
 aster, astron, a star; autos, self; biblos, a book 
 bios, life ; deka, ten ; dokein, to think ; dunamis 
 power ; eu, well ; ge, the earth ; graphein, to write 
 hemi, half; hijyos, a horse; homos, the same 
 Jcuklos, a circle; monos, alone; orthos, right; pan 
 all ; petra, a rock ; philein, to love ; pjhone, a sound 
 p>oiein, to make; 1 skopein, to see; sophia, wisdom 
 teZe, distant ; Meos, a god. 
 
 Curious Words. — Look up and copy into your 
 note-book the origin of the following words. -4s- 
 sassin, august, dahlia, dunce, epicure, galvanic, guil- 
 lotine, hermetically, January, jovial, July, lynch, 
 March, mentor, p>anic, phaeton, quixotic, stentorian, 
 tantalize, tawdry. Bayonet, bedlam, copper, damasJc, 
 dollar, gasconade, gipsy, laconic, lumber, meander, 
 
 1 A maker of noble verse is called what ?
 
 192 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 milliner, palace, utopiao. Abominate adieu, ame- 
 thyst, apothecary, beldam, capricious, cemetery, cheap, 
 checkmate, cobalt, curmudgeon, dainty, dais;/, dismal, 
 emolument, salary, fanatic, gentleman, heretic, incul- 
 cate, infant, intoxicated, maidenhair (fern), maxim, 
 nausea, onyx, parlor, Porte (the Sublime Porte), 
 •pupil, silly, sincere, tariff, trump (card). Atonement, 
 belfry, brimstone, carouse, counterpane, coward, cray- 
 fish, dandelion, dirge, drawing-room, easel, gospel- 
 grove, harbinger, Jerusalem artichoke, line (gar- 
 ments), licorice, nostril, porpoise, quinsy, squirrel, 
 summerset, surgeon, thorough, treacle, trifle, wassail, 
 whole. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Examine the following pas- 
 sages separately. Classify all the words in two 
 columns, one giving those of Saxon derivation, 
 the other those of Latin derivation. Consult the 
 dictionary in case of doubt. Then compare the 
 English of Dr. Johnson with that of Dr. Black- 
 more. The former is writing in his own person as 
 an eighteenth century scholar ; the latter in the 
 person of the stout John Ridd, a seventeenth cen- 
 tury youth. 
 
 No degree of knowledge attainable by man is able to set 
 him above the want of hourly assistance, or to extinguish 
 the desire of fond endearments, and tender officiousness ; 
 and therefore, no one should think it unnecessary to learn 
 those arts by which friendship may be gained. Kindness is 
 preserved by a constant reciprocation of benefits or inter-
 
 SOURCES OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY 193 
 
 change of pleasures ; but such benefits only can be bestowed, 
 as others are capable to receive, and such pleasures only 
 imparted, as others are qualified to enjoy. — Dr. Johnson, 
 B ambler for July 9, 1751. 
 
 When I had travelled two miles or so, conquered now and 
 then with cold, and coming out to rub my legs into a lively 
 friction, and only fishing here and there because of the 
 tumbling water, suddenly, in an open space, where meadows 
 spread about it, I found a good stream flowing softly into 
 the body of our brook. And it brought, so far as I could, 
 guess by the sweep of it under my knee-caps, a larger power 
 of clear water than the Lynn itself had ; only it came more 
 quietly down, not being troubled with stairs and steps, as 
 the fortune of the Lynn is, but gliding smoothly and forci- 
 bly, as if upon some set purpose. — R. D. Blackmoke, 
 Lorna Doone.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 
 
 Ideas without Words. — It is possible to have 
 ideas without having words in which to express 
 them. Miss Helen Keller 1 had plenty of ideas 
 before any one taught her the words for them. 
 The painter trains himself to express ideas in 
 paint; the sculptor, in stone. The inventor ex- 
 presses ideas in machinery. Because words how- 
 ever are the commonest means of expression, it 
 is desirable that one should know as many as 
 possible. A person who has ideas will indeed be 
 able to communicate them in some rough-and-ready 
 form of speech; will use a poor word, if he cannot 
 think of a good one, and by hook or crook will 
 manage to be understood. But an unread, un- 
 trained man trying to communicate some fine shade 
 of thought is commonly a sorry sight, no matter 
 how bright his mind may be. 
 
 Words without Ideas. — On the other hand, it is 
 possible to know words without knowing what they 
 
 i See The Century Magazine for November, 18%, for an 
 English theme by Miss Helen. 
 
 1<J4
 
 MASTERY OF A WHITING VOCABULARY 195 
 
 stand for. Some persons of quick verbal memory 
 pick up phrases readily, and utter them glibly, 
 with little sense of their meaning. Gratiano, of 
 Shakespeare's drama, " spoke an infinite deal of 
 nothing, more than any man in Venice." Such 
 persons as he have given ground for the sarcastic 
 remark that language is the art of concealing 
 thought. The use of meaningless phrases, and 
 the use of words without a care to their exact 
 meaning, is one danger that besets the student of 
 composition. The boy who fluently remarks that 
 he recently lost his little saturnine (meaning canine, 
 i.e. dog) ; the lady, Mrs. Malaprop, who walks 
 through Sheridan's play, saying, " You go first, 
 and we'll precede you"; the man, Launcelot Gobbo, 
 who enlivens The Merchant of Venice with such re- 
 marks as that " his suit is impertinent to himself," — 
 these people need a book of synonyms. Unless a 
 writer is sure that he knows definitely the mean- 
 ing of the word that his pen is about to trace, he 
 would much better stay his hand. 
 
 Ideas and "Words. — Though one mind may have 
 ideas but lack their names, and though another 
 may have the names but lack the notions for which 
 they stand, yet both ideas and words are indis- 
 pensable to the writer. A general recipe for get- 
 ting ideas is hardly easier to give than a recipe 
 for being great, or for having blue eyes, or for
 
 196 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 being liked by every one. Ideas are had through 
 new experiences, new acquaintanceships, new sights; 
 through hard thinking, through hard reading, — in 
 short, through living. Mr. Henry James, the emi- 
 nent novelist, gives a direction for being a good 
 novelist: Try to be one of those people on whom 
 nothing is lost. The student who is eager to know 
 as much as possible of what is worth knowing in 
 life, and is devoured with curiosity to learn the 
 name of everything, is sure to acquire both new 
 ideas and new words. 1 
 
 It is nevertheless not to be denied that to some 
 extent ideas can be bred by the study of the mere 
 words. How true this is appears when it is remem- 
 bered that words are the embalmed ideas of men. 
 A study of such a list as the Curious Words given 
 in the preceding chapter cannot but add to the 
 student's mental stores. Thackeray, it is said, 
 used to read the dictionary before he composed. 
 It may be presumed that the habit used not merely 
 to acquaint him with new words, but to arouse his 
 mind and set it to fashioning new thoughts. The 
 attempt to discriminate between words that mean 
 nearly, not quite, the same thing, results in a dis- 
 tinct gain in thought, and in power of thought. 
 It is probable that no two words have exactly the 
 same sense ; to discover the difference enriches the 
 
 1 Emerson's words, quoted on page 121, will occur to every 
 reader.
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 197 
 
 discoverer's store of knowledge, and develops one 
 of the highest mental powers. A command of 
 words not merely affords relief from the pain of 
 dumbness, not merely loosens the tongue ; it aids 
 reasoning. Thinking proceeds more securely the 
 moment a hazy notion is given definite shape in 
 the right word. Indeed, the mere search for the 
 right word is always a means of clearing up the 
 thought. To be tortured in mind by inability to 
 find the unique phrase, sometimes means a mere 
 fault in verbal memory ; as often, or of tener, it is 
 due to a vagueness of thinking. 
 
 By way of summary, then, acquisition of ideas 
 furthers acquisition of words, and vice versd. To 
 be poor in ideas, or to be poor in language, — 
 either means failure for a writer. 
 
 The Two Vocabularies. — Of all the 200,000 
 words in our language, probably no one man would 
 understand one-half if he saw them, undefined, in 
 a dictionary. Just how large a man's reading 
 vocabulary can be is not known. Professor Holden, 
 the astronomer, found that his own was about 
 33,000 words. It is therefore likely that 25,000 
 is not an unusual number for an educated person 
 to understand. But the reading or passive vocabu- 
 lary is very different in size from the writing or 
 active vocabulary. To remember the sense of a 
 word when it is seen is far less difficult than to re-
 
 198 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 call the word whenever its meaning rises dimly in 
 the mind. A little child has but one set of words 
 — an active vocabulary; it makes oral use of all the 
 expressions it knows. But the older person reads so 
 much that he comes to recognize myriads of words 
 fehat rarely rise to his lips or find their way to his 
 pen. There is inevitably therefore a widening gap 
 between the expressions he can recognize and those 
 he can employ. That this should be so is in part de- 
 sirable. A person of fourteen or sixteen or eigh- 
 teen must, if he reads carefully, learn to understand 
 many expressions that are too bookish for his own 
 uses. The word temerarious, for instance, is needed 
 once where its unpretentious cousin, rash, is needed 
 a score of times. With some words the young 
 writer needs only a speaking acquaintance; others 
 are good friends that, in Hamlet's phrase, he should 
 buckle to his soul with hoops of steel. But it is 
 safe to say that if a person can transfer some part 
 of his reading vocabulary into his writing vocab- 
 ulary, he will be much benefited by so doing. 
 There is probably no reason why a freshman should 
 not enter college master of a writing vocabulary 
 of .Mini > words, and a reading vocabulary of 15,000. 
 Shakespeare's works contain about 15,000 different 
 words, the King James version of the Bible fewer 
 than 0000. Again, each person uses the same 
 words with many different meanings. Every great 
 writer employs the same words in many figurative
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 199 
 
 senses ; the fact is perhaps the most striking proof 
 of his literary power. If Shakespeare's vocabulary 
 were reckoned as including these figurative mean- 
 ings, it would shoot up to a wonderful figure. 
 
 "It would be absurd," says Professor A. S. Hill, 
 with characteristic good sense, " for a boy to have 
 the desirableness of enlarging his vocabulary con- 
 stantly on his mind ; but if he avails himself of 
 his opportunities, in the school-room or out of it, 
 he will be surprised to find how rapidly his vocabu- 
 lary grows." Doubtless however the matter must 
 receive some definite attention, if the best results 
 are to be secured. In the rest of this chapter par- 
 ticular methods of acquiring new words and senses 
 of words will be considered. 
 
 A Vocabulary Book. — It will be found helpful 
 to buy a strong blank-book of convenient size, and 
 to copy into this every new word that seems to the 
 student available for his writing; not every new 
 word he meets, for some will impress him as too 
 bookish or pedantic, but those which appear to ex- 
 press happily some idea that has lain unnamed in 
 his mind. 
 
 Figurative Uses of Common Words. — A writer 
 owes it to himself and to the reader to get all the 
 service he legitimately can out of common words, 
 because in the end so doing spares both persons a 
 vast deal of unnecessary labor. Examine a handful
 
 •JIM) FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 of the well-worn counters of speech, — such words 
 as poor, heavy, thin, best, full, manner, sense, deep, 
 sweet. They arc like dull pebbles brought home 
 from the beach. But dip them back into the brine 
 of a good book, and they become gems. The words 
 specified above appear in a paragraph of Mr. \Y. I). 
 Howells : " I followed Irving, too, in my later read- 
 ing, but at haphazard, and with other authors at the 
 same time. I did my poor best to be amused by 
 his Knickerbocker History of New York, because my 
 father liked it so much, but secretly I found it 
 heavy ; and a few years ago when I went care- 
 fully through it again, I could not laugh. Even 
 as a boy I found some other things of his up-hill 
 work. There was the beautiful manner, but the 
 thought seemed thin ; and I do not remember 
 having been much amused by Bracebridge Hull. 
 though I read it devoutly, and with a full sense 
 that it woidd be very comme il faut to like it. But 
 I did like the life of Goldsmith ; T liked it a great 
 deal better than the more authoritative life by 
 Forster, and I think there is a deeper and sweeter 
 sense of Goldsmith in it." l 
 
 Observe the various duties that the plainest 
 words were persuaded into doing for Shakespeare. 
 With him the word old applies to widely different 
 things: Old onus. <>ld heard, old limbs, old eyes. "Id 
 bones, old feet, old heart, old wririkUs, old fit, old 
 
 1 My Literary Passions, p. 32 (Harper & Bros.).
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 201 
 
 care, old woe, old hate, old custom, old days. What 
 does each of these phrases mean? He is fond of 
 contrasting simple words ; thus, " He'll take his 
 old course in a country new." 
 
 Note how many abstract ideas in Shakespeare are 
 contented with the word heavy, which ordinary 
 people apply merely to coal, lead, and such unin- 
 spiring commodities. Heavy accent, heavy neivs, 
 heavy sin, heavy act, heavy task, heavy day, heavy 
 hour, heavy gait, heavy leave, heavy message, heavy 
 summons. Explain what each means. 1 
 
 Similarly there are light gifts, light behavior, light 
 heart, light loss, light of foot, light icings, light foam. 
 Another drudge of a word, thick, learns new and 
 pleasanter tasks of the great poet. Thick sight, 
 thick perils, thick in their thoughts, thick sighs, thick 
 slumber. Explain each of these phrases. Opposed 
 to thick is thin : thin air, thin drink, thin and slen- 
 der pittance. These are the things that Shakespeare 
 calls high: high deeds, high descent, high desert, high 
 designs, high disgrace, high exploits, high feats, high 
 good trim, high heaven, high hope, high perfection, 
 high resolve, high reward. One more word, golden. 
 Lesser poets would apply it to physical objects. 
 Shakespeare, too, speaks of the sun " Kissing with 
 golden face the meadows green," and of " This ma- 
 jestical roof fretted with golden fire." But else- 
 
 1 In case of doubt, consult Bartlett's Shakspere Concordance 
 (Macniillan Co.).
 
 202 FIIiST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 where he manages to apply the adjective to things 
 that cannot so directly be culled golden. Tims: 
 "A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross." 
 ". . . wear a golden sorrow." "Golden lads and 
 girls all must. As chimney sweepers, come to dust." 
 "Nestor's golden words.'' Explain each of these 
 uses. 
 
 Of course many of these figurative expressions 
 are too poetical by far for the prose of high school 
 students. Nevertheless, many others would be ap- 
 propriate in the manuscript of any person, — for 
 instance, high designs, high deeds, high exploits, high 
 resolve. Such uses as these can be cultivated to 
 the enrichment of the vocabulary. 
 
 Written Exercise. 1 — Each of the following adjec- 
 tives applies primarily to physical objects, that 
 can be seen, or heard, or touched, or tasted. But 
 each is often raised to a higher use, being made to 
 name some quality of character, or some other 
 abstract idea. Take the adjectives one by one, 
 and under each write in class as many abstract 
 words as you think can properly be modified by 
 the given adjective. Thus the adjective fine, which 
 is used of such physical objects as sand, cloth, par- 
 ticles, may also apply to courage, sense of honor, 
 presence, phrases, words, deeds. 
 
 1 It may be found desirable to assign only a part of t tie words 
 to eacb studeut, the results to be read before the class and dis- 
 cussed.
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 203 
 
 1. Sweet. 2. Sour. 3. Bitter. 4. Soft. 5. Hard. 
 6. Smooth. 7. Rough. 8. Delicious. 9. Insipid. 
 10. Cold. 11. Freezing. 12. Icy. 13. Burning. 
 
 14. Chilly. 15. Blue. 16. White. 17. Black. 
 
 15. Gray. 19. Brown. 20. Green. 21. Dark. 
 22. Shadowy. 23. Misty. 24. Cloudy. 25. Windy. 
 26. Stormy. 27. Transparent. 28. Blunt. 29. Sharp. 
 30. Keen. 31. Dull. 32. Fragrant. 33. Malodor- 
 ous. 34. Shining. 35. Beaming. 36. Glowing. 
 37. Glittering. 38. Blazing. 39. Hazy. 40. Brill- 
 iant. 41. Muddy. 42. Rippling. 
 
 The Value of Careful Reading. — A writer must 
 perhaps be as dependent on books for his vocabu- 
 lary as on any other one source. Yet it is possible 
 to read a great deal without absorbing many new 
 expressions. To gain new words and new ideas, 
 the student must compel himself to read slowly. 
 Impatient to hurry on and learn how the tale or 
 poem ends, many a youth is accustomed to read so 
 rapidly as to miss the best part of what the author 
 is trying to say. Thoughts cannot be read so 
 rapidly as words. To get at the thoughts and 
 really to retain the valuable expressions, the stu- 
 dent must scrutinize and ponder as he reads. Each 
 word must be thoroughly understood; its exact 
 value in the given sentence must be grasped. It 
 will not do to draft off a long list of new expres- 
 sions into the note-book, and then investigate the
 
 •204 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 meaning of each after the connection in which each 
 was used has been forgotten. Usually the best 
 way is to look up the meaning when the word is 
 come upon. This is always the best way when a 
 passage is being read with a view to increasing 
 one's vocabulary. When a tale or poem or essay is 
 being read for its general theme, or for its literary 
 construction, it is often desirable to underline each 
 new word, leaving the meaning to be investigated 
 a little later. In finding the value of the word in 
 its sentence, the student is often little aided by 
 the dictionary. Imagination and reasoning must 
 sometimes be called into play before the definition 
 can be made to apply. The dictionary — particu- 
 larly the abridged dictionary — is not a magic 
 book, ready to explain every delicate shading 
 that a great author gives a word in a particular 
 connection. 
 
 In reading silently it is due the author to read 
 with as much expression as if one were pronouncing 
 the words aloud. One should mentally give every 
 word and phrase its proper accent, should feel the 
 value of every punctuation mark. The force of 
 such a passage as the following, from Carlyle, will 
 be lost unless the reader puts the emphasis in 
 exactly the right places. 
 
 Manhood begins when we have in any way made truce 
 with Necessity ; begins, at all events, when we have surren- 
 dered to Necessity, as the most part only do ; but begins
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 205 
 
 joyfully and hopefully only when we have reconciled our- 
 selves to Necessity ; and thus, in reality, triumphed over it, 
 and felt that in Necessity we are free. 
 
 Literature is full of words descriptive of things 
 that all have seeu or heard. We render a ser- 
 vice to the memory if in reading we linger long 
 enough to call up the colors, shapes, motions, 
 sounds, that are suggested by the text. Some per- 
 sons recall sights more easily than sounds, some 
 recall sounds more easily than sights ; some can 
 remember motions more easily than either colors, 
 shapes, or sounds. It is therefore good training 
 for the word-memory if we endeavor to recall all 
 kinds of sense impressions. Eead the following 
 passage slowly, imagining the sights, motions, and 
 sensations of touch, that are suggested. 
 
 A long way down that limpid water, chill and bright as 
 an iceberg, went my little self that day on man's choice 
 errand — destruction. All the young fish seemed to know 
 that I was one who had taken out God's certificate, and 
 meant to have the value of it ; every one of them was aware 
 that we desolate more than replenish the earth. For a cow 
 might come and look into the water, and put her yellow lips 
 down ; a kingfisher, like a blue arrow, might shoot through 
 the dark alleys over the channel, or sit on a dipping withy- 
 bough with his beak sunk into his breast-feathers ; even an 
 otter might float down stream, likening himself to a log of 
 wood, with his flat head flush with the water-top, and his 
 oily eyes peering quietly ; and yet no panic would seize other 
 life, as it does when a sample of man comes. — R. D. Black- 
 more, Lornu Doone.
 
 206 FIliST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Imagine as vividly as possible each sound and 
 other physical sensation suggested by the following 
 selection, from the book just quoted : — 
 
 The volumes of the mist came rolling at me (like great 
 logs of wood, pillowed out with sleepiness), and between 
 them there was nothing more than waiting for the next one. 
 Then everything went out of sight, and glad was I of the 
 stone behind me, and view of mine own shoes. Then a 
 distant noise went by me, as of many horses galloping, and 
 in my fright, I set my gun and said, "God send something 
 to shoot at." Yet nothing came, and my gun fell back, 
 without my will to lower it. 
 
 But presently, while I was thinking "What a fool I 
 am!" arose as if from below my feet, so that the greal 
 stone trembled, that long lamenting, lonesome sound, as of 
 an evil spirit not knowing what to do with it. For the 
 moment I stood like a root, without either hand or foot to 
 help me, and the hair of my head began to crawl, lifting 
 my hat, as a snail lifts his house, and my heart like a shuttle 
 went to and fro. But finding no harm to come of it, neither 
 visible form approaching, I wiped my forehead and hoped 
 for the best, and resolved to run every step of the way till 
 I drew our own latch behind me. 
 
 Yet here again I was disappointed, for no sooner was I 
 come to the cross-ways by the black pool in the hole, but 
 1 heard through the patter of my own feet a rough low 
 sound very close in the fog, as of a hobbled sheep a-COUghing. 
 I listened, and feared, and yet listened again, though 1 
 wanted not to hear it. For being in haste of the homeward 
 road, and all my heart having heels to it, loath I was to 
 stop in the dusk for the sake of an aged wether. Yet partly 
 my love of all animals, and partly my fear of the farmer's 
 disgrace, compelled me to go to the succor, and the noise 
 was coming nearer. A dry, short, wheezing sound it was, 
 barred with coughs and want of breath ; but thus I made 
 the meaning of it : —
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 207 
 
 What do you see mentally, when you read the 
 following ? 
 
 Sweet are the uses of adversity, 
 
 Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
 
 Wears yet a precious jewel in its head. 
 
 The value of minute and thoughtful reading has 
 been set forth by John Buskin, in his Sesame and 
 Lilies, a book well worth reading, if one is willing 
 to take in good part the earnest, somewhat dog- 
 matic tone which Buskin so often uses. The oft- 
 quoted passage in which he illustrates his idea of 
 how a poem should be read, is given below. The 
 student who every day reads a few pages as con- 
 scientiously as Buskin would have him, will find 
 his command of words rapidly increasing, and his 
 power of thought increasing likewise. 
 
 And now, merely for example's sake, I will, with your 
 permission, read a few lines of a true book with you care- 
 fully, and see what will come out of them. I will take a 
 book perfectly known to you all. No English words are 
 more familiar to us, yet few perhaps have been read with less 
 sincerity. I will take these few following lines of Lycidas : — 
 
 " Last came, ami last did go, 
 The pilot of the Galilean lake. 
 Two massy keys he bore of metals twain 
 (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain) : 
 He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake : 
 'How well could I have spared for thee, young swain, 
 Enow of such as for their bellies' sake 
 Creep and intrude and climb into the fold ! 
 Of other care they little reckoning make 
 Than how to scramble at the shearers' feast, 
 And shove away the worthy bidden guest ; 
 Blind mouths! that scarce themselves kuuw how to hold
 
 208 FIRST BOOK IN UlUTI.Xd EyilLlsil 
 
 A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least 
 
 That to the faithful herdsman's art belongs! 
 
 What recks it them? What need they? They are sped ; 
 
 And when they list, their lean and flashy songs 
 
 (irate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw. 
 
 The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, 
 
 But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw, 
 
 Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread, 
 
 Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw 
 
 Daily devours apaee, and nothing said.' " 
 
 I.i t us think over this passage, and examine its words. 
 
 First, is it not singular to find Milton assigning to St. 
 Peter, not only his full episcopal function, but the very 
 types of it which Protestants usually refuse most passion- 
 ately ? His "mitred" locks ! Milton was no Bishop-lover; 
 how comes St. Peter to be " mitred " ? " Two massy keys 
 he bore." Is this, then, the power of the keys claimed by 
 the bishops of Rome, and is it acknowledged here by Milton 
 only in a poetical license, for the sake of its picturesqueness, 
 that he may get the gleam of the golden keys to help his 
 effect? Do not think it. Great men do not play stage 
 tricks with doctrines of life and death: only little men do 
 that. Milton means what he says ; and means it with his 
 might too — is going to put the whole strength of his spirit 
 presently into the saying of it. For though not a lover of 
 false bishops, he was a lover of true ones ; and the Lake- 
 pilot is here, in his thoughts, the type and head of true 
 episcopal power. For Milton reads that text, "I will give 
 unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven" quite honestly. 
 Puritan though he be, he would not blot it out of the book 
 because there have been bad bishops; nay, in order to 
 understand him, we must understand that verse first; it 
 will not do to eye it askance, or whisper it under our breath, 
 as if it were a weapon of an adverse sect. It is a solemn, 
 universal assertion, deeply to be kept in mind by all sects. 
 But perhaps we shall he better able to reason on it if we go 
 on a little farther, and come hack to it. Tor clearly, this
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 209 
 
 marked insistence on the power of the true episcopate is 
 to make us feel more weightily what is to be charged against 
 the false claimants of episcopate ; or generally, against false 
 claimants of power and rank in the body of the clergy ; they 
 who, "for their bellies' sake, creep, and intrude, and climb 
 into the fold." 
 
 Do not think Milton uses those three words to fill up his 
 verse, as a loose writer would. He needs all the three ; 
 specially those three, and no more than those — "creep," 
 and "intrude," and "climb"; no other words would or 
 could serve the turn, and no more could be added. For 
 they exhaustively comprehend the three classes, correspond- 
 ent to the three characters, of men who dishonestly seek 
 ecclesiastical power. First, those who "creep" into the 
 fold, who do not care for office, nor name, but for secret 
 influence, and do all things occultly and cunningly, consent- 
 ing to any servility of office or conduct, so only that they 
 may intimately discern, and unawares direct, the minds of 
 men. Then those who "intrude" (thrust, that is) them- 
 selves into the fold, who by natural insolence of heart and 
 stout eloquence of tongue and fearlessly perseverant self- 
 assertion obtain hearing and authority with the common 
 crowd. Lastly, those who "climb," who, by labor and 
 learning both stout and sound, but selfishly exerted in the 
 cause of their own ambition, gain high dignities and au- 
 thorities, and become "lords over the heritage," though 
 not "ensamples to the flock." 
 
 Now go on : — 
 
 "Of other care they little reckoning make 
 Than how to scramble at the shearers' feast. 
 Blind mouths — " 
 
 I pause again, for this is a strange expression, — a broken 
 metaphor, one might think, careless and unscholarly. 
 
 Not so ; its very audacity and pithiness are intended to 
 make us look close at the phrase and remember it. Those 
 two monosyllables express the precisely accurate contraries 
 p
 
 210 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 of right character, in the two great offices of the Church — 
 those of bishop and pastor. 
 
 A Bishop means a person who sees. 
 
 A Pastor means one who fen Is. 
 
 The most unbishoply character a man can have is there- 
 fore to he Blind. 
 
 The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be 
 fed, — to be a Mouth. 
 
 Take the two reverses together, and you have "blind 
 mouths." We may advisably follow out this idea a little. 
 Nearly all the evils in the Church have arisen from bishops 
 desiring power more than light. They want authority, not 
 outlook. Whereas their real office is not to rule ; though 
 it may be vigorously to exhort and rebuke ; it is the king's 
 office to ride; the bishop's office is to oversee the flock; to 
 number it, sheep by sheep; to be ready always to give full 
 account of it. Now it is clear he cannot give account of 
 the souls, if he has not so much as numbered the bodies 
 of his flock. The first thing, therefore, that a bishop has 
 to do is at least to put himself in a position in which, at any 
 moment, he can obtain the history from childhood of every 
 living soul in his diocese, and of its present state. Down 
 in that back street, Bill, and Nancy, knocking each other's 
 teeth out ! — Does the bishop know all about it? Has he his 
 eye upon them ? Has he had his eye upon them ? Can he 
 circumstantially explain to us how Bill got into the habit of 
 beating Nancy about the head ? If he cannot, he is no 
 bishop, though he had a mitre as high as Salisbury steeple, 
 lie is no bishop, — he has sought to be at the helm instead 
 of the masthead; hi' has no sight, of things. "Nay," you 
 say, "it is not his duty to look after Hill in the back street." 
 What ! the fat sheep that have full fleeces, —you think it 
 is only those he should look after, while (go back to your 
 Milton) "the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, besides 
 what the grim wolf, with privy paw" (bishops knowing 
 nothing about it) "daily devours apace, and nothing said" ? 
 "But that's not our idea of a bishop." Perhaps not;
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 211 
 
 but it was St. Paul's, and it was Milton's. They may be 
 right, or we may be ; but we must not think we are reading 
 either one or the other by putting our meaning into their words. 
 
 [Puskin goes on to discuss other expressions 
 with the same minuteness.] 
 
 Contributions from Other Studies. — In acquiring 
 any new science or art one learns many new terms, 
 some of which are not too technical for use in themes. 
 For that matter, every exercise written in any sub- 
 ject cannot help being to some extent an exercise in 
 English. The vocabulary book should receive con- 
 tributions from every line of the student's work. 
 
 Translation. — There is no better means of mak- 
 ing the memory yield up the words which it has 
 formerly caught, than translation. Professor A. S. 
 Hill quotes the reported .words of Pufus Choate: 
 "Translation should be pursued to bring to mind 
 and to employ all the words you already own, and 
 to tax and torment invention and discovery and the 
 very deepest memory for additional, rich, and ad- 
 mirably expressive words." J Every lesson in trans- 
 lating is a lesson in self-expression. Professor 
 Carpenter testifies 2 that the Latin-trained boys 
 entering scientific schools are remarkably superior 
 in power of expression to those not so trained ; and 
 his testimony is confirmed by the experience of 
 many other teachers. 
 
 1 Foundations of Rhetoric, p. 171. 
 
 2 Advanced Exercises, p. 41.
 
 212 FIRST BOOK IX WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Memorizing of Literature. — To the habit of mem- 
 orizing, many a person is indebted not merely for 
 high thoughts that cheer hours of solitude and that 
 stimulate his own thinking, but for com maud of 
 words. The degree to which the language of 
 modern writers is derived from a few great au- 
 thors is startling. Shakespeare's phrases are a part 
 of the tissue of every man's speech to-day. Such 
 writers as Charles Lamb bear Shakespeare's mark 
 on every page. The language of the King James 
 version of the Bible is echoed in modern English 
 prose and poetry. It formed styles so unlike as 
 those of Bunyan, Kuskin, and Abraham Lincoln. 
 Most teachers would declare that a habit of learn- 
 ing Scripture by heart is of incalculable value to a 
 student's English. In the Authorized Version, and 
 to almost as great an extent in the Revised Version, 
 the Anglo-Saxon clement and the Latin are both 
 present in marvellous effectiveness. 1 
 
 it is clear that whatever help one's writing is 
 to receive from memorizing will come naturally 
 through one's study of literature. But so many 
 of the strongest words in the language, particu- 
 larly the Saxon words, have been treasured up in 
 the homely sayings of the people, that I have vent- 
 ured to suggest a list of proverbs for memorizing. 
 Just how many of these it may be advisable for a 
 
 1 For particular passages, etc.. sir I'm lessor A. S. Cook's The 
 Bible und English Prose Style (Giun & Co.).
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 213 
 
 given pupil to retain in mind is a matter to be 
 decided by the instructor. Certainly each student 
 will do well to learn a score of those that seem to 
 him best worth remembering. Each saying pre- 
 serves some fine word in some natural context, a 
 fact that will- make the word far easier to recall 
 than it would be if learned as an isolated term. 
 Not more than ten or fifteen minutes a day ought 
 to be given to the memorizing. 
 
 ENGLISH PROVERBS 1 
 
 A brave retreat is a brave exploit. 
 A carper can cavil at anything. 
 A carrion kite will never make a good hawk. 
 A child is better unborn than untaught. 
 A custom more honored in the breach than in the 
 observance. 
 
 A dogmatical tone, a pragmatical pate. 
 
 A diligent scholar, and the master's paid. 
 
 A dog's life, hunger and ease. 
 
 A dwarf on a giant's shoulders sees farther of the two. 
 
 A fair field and no favor. 
 
 A fault confessed is half redressed. 
 
 A fine new nothing. 
 
 A fool always comes short of his reckoning. 
 
 A fool will not be foiled. 
 
 A forced kindness deserves no thanks. 
 
 A good cause makes a stout heart and a strong arm. 
 
 A good name keeps its lustre in the dark. 
 
 A grain of prudence is worth a pound of craft. 
 
 A great city, a great solitude. 
 
 i Hundreds of others will be found in Hazlitt's English 
 Proverbs.
 
 214 FIRST BOOK IX UNITING ENGLISH 
 
 A honey tongue, a heart of gall. 
 
 A man may buy gold t lear. 
 
 A man must sell his ware at the rates of the market. 
 
 A man never surfeits of ton much honesty. 
 
 A nod for a wise man, and a rod lor a fool. 
 
 A penny saved is a penny got. 
 
 A wicked book is the wickeder because it cannot repent. 
 
 A wager is a fool's argument. 
 
 All complain of want of memory, but none of want of 
 judgment. 
 
 All the craft is in the catching. 
 
 An unpeaceable man hath no neighbor. 
 
 Antiquity is not always a mark of verity. 
 
 As wily as a fox. 
 
 Better lose a jest than a friend. 
 
 Better to go away longing than loathing. 
 
 By ignorance we mistake, and by mistakes we learn. 
 
 Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts. 
 
 Clowns are best in their own company, but gentlemen are 
 best everywhere. 
 
 Conscience cannot be compelled. 
 
 Cutting out well is better than sewing up well. 
 
 Danger and delight grow on one stock. 
 
 Decency and decorum are not pride. 
 
 Different sores must have different salves. 
 
 Dexterity comes by experience. 
 
 Do not spur a free horse. 
 
 liven reckoning makes long friends. 
 
 Every age confutes old errors and begets new. 
 
 Every man hath a fool in his sleeve. 
 
 Faint praise is disparagement. 
 
 Force without forecast is of little avail. 
 
 From fame to infamy is a beaten road. 
 
 Great businesses turn on a little pin. 
 
 Great spenders are bad lenders. 
 
 lie is lifeless that is faultless. 
 
 Heaven will make amends for all.
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 215 
 
 Let your purse be your master. 
 
 Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world. 
 
 Ignorance is a voluntary misfortune. 
 
 It is a wicked thing to make a dearth one's garner. 
 
 Lean liberty is better than fat slavery. 
 
 Self-love is a mote in every man's eye. 
 
 Sloth is the key to poverty. 
 
 Some sport is sauce to pains. 
 
 Subtility set a trap and caught itself. 
 
 Temporizing is sometimes great wisdom. 
 
 The goat must browse where he is tied. 
 
 The poet, of all sorts of artificers, is the fondest of his 
 works. 
 
 The prick of a pin is enough to make an empire insipid. 
 
 The purest gold is the most ductile. 
 
 There's a craft in daubing. 
 
 Thrift is good revenue. 
 
 Too much consulting confounds. 
 
 Truth needs not many words, but a false tale a large 
 preamble. 
 
 Truths too fine-spun are subtle fooleries. 
 
 Upbraiding turns a benefit into an injury. 
 
 Use your wit as a buckler, not as a sword. 
 
 What God made, he never mars. 
 
 When honor grew mercenary, money grew honorable. 
 
 Where vice is, vengeance follows. 
 
 Synonyms. — A synonym is a word that means 
 the same or nearly the same thing as some other 
 word. Our language, from its composite nature, 
 is peculiarly rich in synonyms. In hundreds of 
 cases English has absorbed both the Saxon and 
 the French or Latin word for a given idea. 
 Nearly always, in such cases, one of the words 
 has acquired a distinctly different shade of mean-
 
 216 FIRST BOOK IN WlilTING ENGLISH 
 
 ing from the other. Indeed, one of the words 
 is sure to acquire a slightly different value, whether 
 from its associations or its sound. While it may 
 roughly be said that there are words which mean 
 the same thing, yet for the really careful writer 
 there are no synonyms. 
 
 Synonyms for Adjectives of Praise. — In another 
 sense there are many people who seem to have 
 no synonyms. You have doubtless known persons 
 who lacked all means of differentiating praise, — 
 persons who applied the same adjective to every- 
 thing, from a pin to the solar system. There are 
 the people who find everything either nice or not 
 nice; the people who eat elegant soups and sigh 
 at elegant sunsets; the people who have jolly times, 
 jolly canes, jolly excuses. To the nice group, the 
 elegant group, and the jolly group, may be added 
 the lovely group, and many others. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Apply several proper adjectives 
 of praise to each of the following: soup, sunset, 
 poodle, lady, moon, time (e.g. meaning an excur- 
 sion), silk, opera, book-binding, gown, face, moun- 
 tain, box of sweets, ice-cream, disposition, story, 
 manner, soul, fan, perfume, roses, piano-playing, 
 sermon, editorial or leader, critique. 
 
 A Danger. — The study of synonyms cultivates 
 discrimination. But as a study for the purpose of
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 217 
 
 widening the active vocabulary it must be judi- 
 ciously limited. If one turns to a book of syno- 
 nyms, one finds on many a page some score of 
 words meaning nearly the same thing. Many of 
 these words are unusual, out-of-the-way expressions, 
 to use which would make a man sound like a prig. 
 Simplicity is a cardinal virtue in writing. If this 
 fact is kept in mind, and the student does not af- 
 fect too elaborate and bookish words, the study of 
 synonyms will be of the utmost service to him. 
 
 A Method of Study. — Below are listed a good 
 many groups of synonyms. They are to be studied 
 now and to be used hereafter for reference in the 
 work of writing. Each group contains only a few 
 of the words that might demand a place if the ques- 
 tion were merely one of meaning. The words here 
 chosen are such as may properly appear in the work 
 of any high school student, if there is need of them 
 to express the student's meaning. 
 
 Even in these groups some words are simpler, 
 and therefore in general more desirable. The class 
 should first examine the entire list, underlining care- 
 fully the simpler words in each (/roup. These simpler 
 words are regularly to be preferred when their mean- 
 ing is exact enoxtgh for the idea in mind. The 
 others are to be mastered for the sake of the dis- 
 tinctions they express, and for their occasional use- 
 fulness as a means of avoiding repetitions.
 
 218 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 The underlining finished, the groups may further 
 be studied with a view to discriminating the various 
 terms. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to devote 
 to this work, and in some cases it may be best to 
 examine minutely only a part of the list, leaving 
 the rest to be used for reference. 
 
 Written Exercise. — It will be found useful to 
 spend five minutes a day in copying off several 
 times each unfamiliar word. Unless the hand is 
 accustomed to tracing the word, the mind will not 
 be likely to demand this act of the hand in the 
 moment of composition. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Each student may be asked to 
 pronounce every word that he has not been in the 
 habit of using orally. Since the same term is 
 likely to have been neglected by many of the class, 
 a considerable amount of ear-training will be re- 
 ceived by all. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — One of the best, because most 
 natural, ways of studying synonyms, is to examine 
 
 a page of g 1 prose with a view in seeing whether 
 
 synonyms could have been used as effectively as 
 the actual words in tin- text. Choose such a page, 
 underline the important words, and examine the 
 list to find the group to which each belongs. Then 
 substitute for the word in the text the other words 
 of the group, and see whether the author's choice 
 was wise.
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 219 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Each group should be taken up 
 in turn and discussed by the class after the mean- 
 ings of unfamiliar words have been looked up in 
 the dictionary. The force of each word as a syno- 
 nym of the others in its group should be brought out 
 by illustrative senteuces. The differences in mean- 
 ing should be talked about until they are thoroughly 
 understood. Fernald's Synonyms, Antonyms, and 
 Prepositions, and Smith's Synonyms Discriminated, 
 are good books of reference if any doubtful ques- 
 tion arises. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Study an assigned number 
 of groups, and pick out the word which seems to 
 have the most general meaning, the word which, 
 more than any other, includes the remaining mem- 
 bers of the group. Thus, in the series Actual, au- 
 thentic, genuine, real, the last is the most general 
 term. Real applies to a larger number of things 
 than any of its synonyms. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Study an assigned number of 
 groups, and say what idea the members of each 
 have in common, and, if possible, what additional 
 idea each member has. Thus, Adept, adroit, deft, 
 dexterous, handy, skilful, each have the idea skilful. 
 Adept means skilful in some art or occupation. 
 Adroit means skilful with the hand, or with the 
 mind, — i.e. tactful. Deft, dexterous usually mean 
 skilful with the hand; deft refers to movements of
 
 220 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 the fingers, dexterous to quick motions, as of the 
 hand. ILiiiiIij means skilful at manual exercises. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — One member of each group 
 should be pronounced, and the student asked to 
 give from memory the other members. 
 
 Oral or Written Exercise. — Only one part of 
 speech is represented in each group. The student 
 should be asked to give corresponding parts of 
 speech. Thus, the adjective series Actual, authertr 
 ti<\ genuine, reed, yields the adverbs actually, authen- 
 tically, genuinely, really, and the nouns actuality, 
 authenticity, genuineness, reality. 
 
 Gkoups of Synonyms 1 • 
 
 Abandon, cast off, desert, forswear, quit, renounce, with- 
 draw from. 
 
 Abate, decrease, diminish, mitigate, moderate. 
 
 Abhor, abominate, detest, dislike, loathe. 
 
 Abiding, enduring, lasting, permanent, perpetual. 
 
 Ability, capability, capacity, competency, efficacy, power. 
 
 Abolish, annul, eradicate, exterminate, obliterate, root 
 out, wipe out. 
 
 Abomination, curse, evil, iniquity, nuisance, shame. 
 
 Absent, absent-minded, absorbed, abstracted, oblivious, 
 preoccupied. 
 
 Absolve, acquit, clear. 
 
 Abstemiousness, abstinence, frugality, moderation, sobri- 
 ety, temperance. 
 
 1 For reference: Fallows, 700,000 Synonyms mid Antonyms 
 (Fleming H. Revell Co.); Rojjet, Thesaurus; Fernald, Syno- 
 nyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions (Funk and Wagnalls).
 
 MA S TER Y OF A WRITING VOCA B ULA RY 221 
 
 Absurd, ill-advised, ill-considered, ludicrous, monstrous, 
 paradoxical, preposterous, unreasonable, wild. 
 
 Abundant, adequate, ample, enough, generous, lavish, 
 plentiful. 
 
 Accomplice, ally, colleague, helper, partner. 
 
 Active, agile, alert, brisk, bustling, energetic, lively, 
 supple. 
 
 Actual, authentic, genuine, real. 
 
 Adept, adroit, deft, dexterous, handy, skilful. 
 . Address, adroitness, courtesy, readiness, tact. 
 
 Adequate, competent, equal, fitted, suitable. 
 
 Adjacent, adjoining, bordering, near, neighboring. 
 
 Admire, adore, respect, revere, venerate. 
 
 Admit, allow, concede, grant, suffer, tolerate. 
 
 • Admixture, alloy. 
 
 Adverse, disinclined, indisposed, loath, reluctant, slow, 
 unwilling. 
 
 Aerial, airy, animated, ethereal, frolicsome. 
 
 Affectation, cant, hypocrisy, pretence, sham. 
 
 Affirm, assert, avow, declare, maintain, state. 
 
 Aged, ancient, antiquated, antique, immemorial, old, ven- 
 erable. 
 
 Air, bearing, carriage, demeanor. 
 
 Akin, alike, identical. 
 
 Alert, on the alert, sleepless, wary, watchful. 
 
 Allay, appease, calm, pacify. 
 
 Alliance, coalition, compact, federation, union, fusion. 
 
 Allude, hint, imply, insinuate, intimate, suggest. 
 
 Allure, attract, cajole, coax, inveigle, lure. 
 
 Amateur, connoisseur, novice, tyro. 
 
 Amend, better, mend, reform, repair. 
 
 Amplify, develop, expand, extend, unfold, widen. 
 
 Amusement, diversion, entertainment, pastime. 
 
 Anger, exasperation, petulance, rage, resentment. 
 
 Animal, beast, brute, living creature, living organism. 
 
 Answer, rejoinder, repartee, reply, response, retort. 
 
 Anticipate, forestall, preclude, prevent.
 
 222 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Apiece, individually, severally, separately. 
 
 Apparent, clear, evident, obvious, tangible, unmistakable. 
 
 Apprehend, comprehend, conceive, perceive, understand. 
 
 Arraign, charge, cite, impeach, Indict, prosecute, summon. 
 
 Arrogance, haughtiness, presumption, pride, self-compla- 
 cency, superciliousness, vanity. 
 
 Artist, artificer, artisan, mechanic, operative, workman. 
 
 Artless, boorish, clownish, hoidenish, rude, uncouth, un- 
 sophisticated. 
 
 Assent, agree, comply. 
 
 Assurance, effrontery, hardihood, impertinence, impu- 
 dence, incivility, insolence, officiousness, rudeness. 
 
 Atom, grain, scrap, particle, shred, whit. 
 
 Atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, brutal, merciless. 
 
 Attack, assault, infringement, intrusion, onslaught. 
 
 Attain, accomplish, achieve, arrive at, compass, reach, se- 
 cure. 
 
 Attempt, endeavor, essay, strive, try, undertake. 
 
 Attitude, pose, position, posture. 
 
 Attribute, ascribe, assign, charge, impute. 
 
 Axiom, truism. 
 
 Baffle, balk, bar, check, embarrass, foil, frustrate, hamper, 
 hinder, impede, retard, thwart. 
 
 Banter, burlesque, drollery, humor, jest, raillery, wit, 
 witticism. 
 
 Beg, plead, press, urge. 
 
 Beguile, divert, enliven, entertain, occupy. 
 
 Bewilderment, confusion, distraction, embarrassment, per- 
 plexity. 
 
 Bind, fetter, oblige, restrain, restrict. 
 
 Blaze, flame, flare, flash, flicker, glare, gleam, gleaming, 
 glimmer, glitter, light, lustre, shimmer, sparkle. 
 
 Blessed, hallowed, holy, sacred, saintly. 
 
 Boasting, display, ostentation, pomp, pompousness, show. 
 
 Brave, adventurous, bold, courageous, daring, dauntless, 
 fearless, gallant, heroic, undismayed. 
 
 Bravery, coolness, courage, gallantry, heroism.
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 223 
 
 Brief, concise, pithy, sententious, terse. 
 
 Bring over, convince, induce, influence, persuade, prevail 
 upon, win over. 
 
 Calamity, disaster, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, 
 mishap. 
 
 Candid, impartial, open, straightforward, transparent, un- 
 biassed, unprejudiced, unreserved. 
 
 Caprice, humor, vagary, whim. 
 
 Candor, frankness, truth, veracity. 
 
 Caricature, burlesque, parody, travesty. 
 
 Catch, capture, clasp, clutch, grip, secure. 
 
 Cause, consideration, design, end, ground, motive, object, 
 reason, purpose. 
 
 Caution, discretion, prudence. 
 
 Censure, criticism, rebuke, reproof, reprimand, reproach. 
 
 Character, constitution, disposition, reputation, temper, 
 temperament. 
 
 Characteristic, peculiarity, property, singularity, trait. 
 
 Chattering, garrulous, loquacious, talkative. 
 
 Cheer, comfort, delight, ecstasy, gaiety, gladness, gratifi- 
 cation, happiness, jollity, satisfaction. 
 
 Churlish, crusty, gloomy, gruff, ill-natured, morose, sour, 
 sullen, surly. 
 
 Class, circle, clique, coterie. 
 
 Cloak, cover, gloss over, mitigate, palliate, screen. 
 
 Cloy, sate, satiate, satisfy, surfeit. 
 
 Commit, confide, consign, entrust, relegate. 
 
 Compassion; forbearance, lenience, mercy. 
 
 Compassionate, gracious, humane. 
 
 Complete, consummate, faultless, flawless, perfect. 
 
 Confirm, corroborate. 
 
 Conflicting, discordant, discrepant, incongruous, mismated. 
 
 Confused, discordant, miscellaneous, various. 
 
 Conjecture, guess, suppose, surmise. 
 
 Conscious, aware, certain. 
 
 Consequence, issue, outcome, outgrowth, result, sequel, 
 upshot.
 
 224 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Continual, continuous, incessant, unbroken, uninterrupted. 
 
 Credible, conceivable, likely, presumable, probable, rea- 
 sonable. 
 
 Customary, habitual, normal, prevailing, usual, wonted. 
 
 Damage, detriment, disadvantage, barm, hurt, injury, 
 prejudice. 
 
 Dangerous, formidable, terrible. 
 
 Defame, deprecate, disparage, slander, vilify. 
 
 Defile, infect, soil, stain, sully, taint, tarnish. 
 
 Deleterious, detrimental, hurtful, harmful, mischievous, 
 pernicious, ruinous. 
 
 Delicate, fine, minute, refined, slender. 
 
 Delightful, grateful, gratifying, refreshing, satisfying. 
 
 Difficult, laborious, toilsome, trying. 
 
 Digress, diverge, stray, swerve, wander. 
 
 Disavow, disclaim, disown, recall, renounce, repudiate, 
 retract. 
 
 Dispose, draw, incline, induce, influence, move, prompt, 
 stir. 
 
 Earlier, foregoing, previous, preliminary. 
 
 Effeminate, feminine, womanish, womanly. 
 
 Emergency, extremity, necessity. 
 
 Empty, fruitless, futile, idle, trifling, unavailing, useless, 
 vain, visionary. 
 
 Erudition, knowledge, profundity, sagacity, sense, wisdom. 
 
 Eternal, imperishable, interminable, perennial, perpetual, 
 unfailing. 
 
 Excuse, pretence, pretext, subterfuge. 
 
 Exemption, immunity, liberty, license, privilege. 
 
 Explicit, express. 
 
 Faint, taint-hearted, faltering, half-hearted, irresolute, 
 languid, listless, purposeless. 
 
 Faithful, loyal, stanch, trustworthy, trusty. 
 
 Fanciful, fantastic, grotesque, imaginative, visionary. 
 
 Folly, imbecility, senselessness, stupidity. 
 
 Fling, gibe, jeer, mock, scoff, sneer, taunt. 
 
 Flock, bevy, brood, covey, drove, herd, litter, pack.
 
 MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 225 
 
 Fluctuate, hesitate, oscillate, vacillate, waver. 
 
 Grief, melancholy, regret, sadness, sorrow. 
 
 Hale, healthful, healthy, salutary, sound, vigorous. 
 
 Ignorant, illiterate, uninformed, u'nmstructed, unlettered, 
 untaught. 
 
 Impulsive, involuntary, spontaneous, unhidden, voluntary, 
 willing. 
 
 Indispensable, inevitable,, necessary, requisite, unavoid- 
 able. 
 
 Inquisitive, inquiring, 'intrusive, meddlesome, peeping, 
 prying. 
 
 Intractable, perverse, petulant, ungovernable, wayward, 
 wilful. 
 
 Irritation, offence, pique, resentment. 
 
 Probably, presumably. 
 
 Reliable, trustworthy, trusty. 
 
 Remnant, trace, token, vestige. 
 
 Requite, repay, retaliate, satisfy. 
 
 Oral or Written Exercise. — In the following, 
 vary the overworked words as much as possible. 
 Permit repetition only when it is necessary for 
 clearness. 
 
 1. I think the committee selected to select theme 
 topics for the class to write upon, should be care- 
 ful not to select too many topics on one subject, 
 since the nature of one student differs from that of 
 another. I think that the few who are not satisfied 
 with the topics the committee have selected, should 
 be required to select and hand in a list of topics on 
 which they would like to write. 
 
 2. There are two distinct stories running through 
 the Merchant of Venice : the story of the pound of 
 
 Q
 
 226 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 flesh and the story of the caskets. These stories 
 run parallel to each other through the play, as far 
 as the third act, where the story of the caskets is 
 ended by the lucky choice of Bassanio. But from 
 here a new story, the story of the rings, com- 
 mences, and continues through the rest of the 
 play, crossing the story of the pound of flesh and 
 finally taking the place of this story. 
 
 Future Revision. — Henceforth one distinct ob- 
 ject for which every theme should be revised is 
 variety of loords. It soon becomes a keen satisfac- 
 tion to read one's own work aloud to detect over- 
 worked expressions. In the pursuit of variety, the 
 scholar not merely grows sensitive to the ugly 
 recurrence of the same sound; he grows bold to 
 repeat words if the repetition is demanded for 
 clearness or force. Some things seem to have but 
 one name in English; more's the pity; but we 
 must make the best of the case.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 RIGHT NUMBER AND SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 
 
 Let it be supposed that a person has learned to 
 plan a composition logically and to write with 
 grammatical correctness; that further he has ac- 
 quired a noble unrest which keeps him searching 
 for new words and fine distinctions ; what should 
 be his next care ? 
 
 After the power of thinking coherently, the 
 ability most important to a writer is that of pick- 
 ing out from the wide world of words the one 
 expression that mates his un worded idea. His 
 choice of words — i.e. his diction — must meet 
 three requirements. If it is to be clear, it must 
 mean the same to the reader's intellect that it does 
 to the writer's. If it is to he forcible, it must move 
 the reader's feelings as it moved the writer's. 
 Furthermore, if it is to be beautiful, it must please 
 a reader who has good taste. 
 
 Clearness. — Clearness, the intellectual quality of 
 style, has already been referred to (p. 43), for it is 
 the quality aimed at in making sentences coherent. 
 
 227
 
 228 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 That the idea should be made unmistakably clear 
 is the first requisite of good writing. The think- 
 ing must be clear; the division of the theme into 
 paragraphs, and of paragraphs into sentences must 
 be clear; and the words must be clear. We have 
 presently to ask what effect number and choice of 
 words have upon clearness. 
 
 Force. — Force is the emotional quality of style. 
 It may occur in a very moderate degree, just 
 enough to interest the reader slightly, or it may be 
 present to such an extent as to move the deepest 
 springs of feeling. It is hard to give sugges- 
 tions for securing force, because language is better 
 adapted to communicating ideas than emotions. 
 We find that language furnishes very few names 
 for feelings. Furthermore, these names, even such 
 as love, fear, anger, do not in themselves move us. 
 What a marvellous variety of emotion each of us 
 feels in a day ! how many delicate tints of pleas- 
 ure ! how many shades of regret or fear, of painful 
 memory or suggestion ! The psychologists tell us 
 that we do no act which does not bring with it 
 some touch of pleasure or of pain. And yet most 
 of these shades and tints and touches of feeling 
 neither have names nor can be communicated by 
 words. Nevertheless, though language cannot di- 
 rectly convey feeling, it can sometimes suggest 
 feeling. If your reader has experienced a given
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 229 
 
 emotion, some word of yours may recall that to his 
 mind. One secret of being forcible lies in choos- 
 ing theme subjects that interest the reader; sub- 
 jects that set up a train of feeling and memory in 
 his mind. Other secrets are, to choose suggestive 
 words and figures of speech, and to refrain from 
 wearing out interest by too many words. We shall 
 presently inquire, what words and figures are most 
 suggestive. 
 
 Something may be done to secure force by so 
 arranging words as to attract the reader's atten- 
 tion. It will be noted that emphasis (p. 110) and 
 climax (p. 112) are means of force. 
 
 Beauty. — Beauty is the quality of style which 
 satisfies what is called, for lack of a better word,, 
 the aesthetic sense ; this is little else but saying, 
 beauty of style satisfies the sense for beauty. One 
 element of beauty is simplicity, a quality closely 
 allied to clearness, yet not the same. Euphony, or 
 absence of ugly sounds, is another element of 
 beauty. Variety is another element of beauty. It 
 is clear that the last exercise in Chapter X is as 
 much an exercise in beauty as in vocabulary. In 
 the present chapter we shall have space to consider 
 only one element of beauty, — that of simplicity. 
 
 Pro lixi ty. — If a writer descends into tedious de- 
 tails, or if he repeats the same idea over and over 
 in slightly different words, without developing or
 
 '2-)Q FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 adding to the thought, lie is said to be prolix. 
 Prolixity offends chiefly against force, for it kills 
 interest. This fault may affect merely a single 
 sentence or paragraph, or it may infest a whole 
 composition. It does not much beset the writer 
 who plans his work ahead. It can be corrected 
 only by rewriting. 
 
 Written Exercise. — The following prolix passage 
 should be rewritten, only the essential thoughts 
 being kept. Any mistakes and crudities of style 
 should be corrected. 
 
 " My friend the doctor was a collector of ancient 
 coins and was always roaming about the ruins of 
 old cities in search of coins. He would want lei' 
 around and pick up valuable relics like the Venus 
 he, wore in his seal ring. He was always finding 
 something worth keeping. lie would pick up a 
 precious bit of antiquity and put it in his pocket, 
 and so he always carried with him a regular collec- 
 tion of relics. One afternoon he was out among 
 the mountains picking up relics and not looking 
 up to see whether any one was near. When he 
 looked around he saw five or perhaps six rough 
 fellows who were standing there behind him. He 
 fell to quivering with fright and stood trembling 
 and shaking, but managed to greet them. After 
 he had greeted the five or six men they all walked 
 along down the road until they came to an inn thai
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 231 
 
 was there on the mountain-side. It was an inn and 
 not a cave there in the mountains, as was incor- 
 rectly said by one member of the class." 
 
 Surplusage. — Surplusage consists of words that 
 can be excised without hurting the sense of the 
 passage. In tyros it is perhaps less of a fault than 
 the opposite one of deficiency, — the absence of 
 needed words; for fulness of expression is essen- 
 tial to clearness, and surplusage often results from 
 the desire to be clear. Verbosity, however, dulls 
 the edge of the keenest thought. Like prolixity, it 
 weakens. Just as many a prolix speaker could 
 make a brilliant oration if he knew when to stop, 
 so many a wordy writer could make an effective 
 sentence if he knew what to prune away. As Mr. 
 Lowell would say : l Thoughts are never draped in 
 long skirts like babies, if they are strong enough to 
 go alone. 
 
 The redundant use of the following common 
 words should be avoided : — 
 
 1. From, in the phrases from thence, from whence. 
 
 2. Of, especially in the expressions off of, remem- 
 ber of, treat of " Keep off [not off of] the grass." 
 "This book treats [better than treats of] chemis- 
 try." 
 
 3. On, with the words the next morning. " He 
 was rebellious on the seventh of July, but the next 
 
 1 Among My Books, II. 259.
 
 232 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 morning [not on the next morning'] lie reappeared 
 in a more submissive frame of mind." 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Prune away every word that 
 can be spared ; note the increase in force. Slight 
 changes may be made in the wording. 
 
 1. All of the ships were lost; no kind of a one 
 was saved. 
 
 2. I know from my own personal knowledge 
 that a man who stands upright in his own man- 
 hood, honest and conscious of the rectitude of his 
 purposes, is safe against calumny and slander. 
 
 3. I don't think it a good precedent to set in 
 this house for any man to vote for a bill in which 
 he has a personal interest, and I don't remember of 
 ever having done so of myself. I shall, therefore, 
 for this reason, refrain from voting, but I want to 
 say a word on this bill, and I want to talk to the 
 democrats. 
 
 4. Keal-estate dealer is knocked down by an 
 accident and is run over by a cab. 
 
 5. Commencing on Monday, March 29, supported 
 by the New York Garrick Theatre Stock Company, 
 Mr. Mansfield will commence an engagement of 
 two weeks at the Grand Opera House. 
 
 Written or Oral Exercise. — In the following 
 sentences some of the underscored expressions 
 should be expressed more briefly by changing 
 clauses to phrases or phrases to single words.
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 233 
 
 Thus : men icho deserved and icon renown may 
 shorten to men of deserved renown. 
 
 1. Men who deserved and won renown, and women 
 who were peerless, have lived upon what we should 
 now call the coarsest fare, and paced the rushes 
 which were strewn in their rooms with as high, or as 
 contented thoughts, as their descendants, persons 
 who are fed better and clothed better than they, can 
 boast of. 
 
 2. If children are able to make us wiser, it is 
 sure that they can also make us better. There is no 
 one ivho is more to be envied than a good-natured 
 man when he is watching how children's minds per- 
 form their workings, or when he is overlooking the 
 play they engage in. 
 
 Deficiency of Words. — It was said in a former 
 paragraph that in young writers surplusage is per- 
 haps less of a fault than is the lack of needed 
 Avorcls. Verbosity robs a theme of force; deficiency 
 robs it of force and clearness. It is human nature 
 to try to say a thing more briefly than is possible. 
 Forgetting that pitch, stress, and gesture do much 
 to make spoken words intelligible, the easy-going 
 writer does not tax himself to attain full and lucid 
 expression. He forgets that a piece of writing 
 may be so condensed as to be dense. 
 
 Ambiguity often springs from the omission of 
 merely a word or two. Reading such a phrase as
 
 234 FIHST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 " the secretary and treasurer," we are vexed with 
 doubt whether one person is meant, or two; the 
 omission of the article seems to imply that the two 
 offices are vested in a single officer. The lack of a 
 few words may turn force into weakness. A Ger- 
 man newspaper thus burlesques the compression to 
 which editors sometimes feel impelled: "Ottokar 
 took a small brandy, then his hat, his departure, 
 besides no notice of his pursuers, meantime a 
 revolver out of his pocket, and lastly his own life." 
 The following common words should not be 
 omitted : — 
 
 1. The main part of an infinitive at the end of a 
 sentence. Wrong: " He did what he wished to." 
 Right: "He did what he wished to do." 
 
 2. The adverb much before certain adjectives. 
 II 'mmj: "He was very pleased to comply." Right: 
 •• He was very much pleased to comply." 
 
 3. (a) The preposition at with home. Wrong: 
 "I stayed home and slept home." Right: "I 
 stayed at home and slept at home." (b) The 
 preposition oh with days of the month. Wmiuj : 
 "The seventh of July he rebelled." Right: "On 
 the seventh of duly he rebelled." Compare page 
 231. 3. 
 
 4. A. demonstrative used for clearness. Wrong: 
 "He chose between the lot of the rich and of the 
 poor." Right: "He chose between the lot of the 
 rich and that of the poor."
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 235 
 
 5. The conjunction that when needed for clear- 
 ness. Wrong : " I wish such a beefsteak as that 
 one over there may never be served on this table." 
 What is the ambiguity here, at the beginning ? 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Indicate how by the addition of 
 words each sentence may be corrected : — 
 
 1. Altogether it was a day like unto which the 
 memory of the oldest inhabitant could not recall. 
 
 2. He received his early education at Browns- 
 ville and Whitesville academy, remaining about a 
 year at each place. 
 
 3. There was a minister who, being informed by 
 the church officials that they had raised his salary 
 $100, declined to accept it. 
 
 4. The following great reductions indicate the 
 heavy losses we are taking closing out the balance 
 of our stock. 
 
 5. This mutual esteem was shown by their cor- 
 dial welcome of the guests as well as the uniform 
 courtesy shown by the latter. 
 
 6. Poor Evelina was obliged to choose between 
 a blue and green dress. 
 
 7. Streaks of lightning and claps of thunder 
 rattled through the narrow streets of Paris. 
 
 8. I am an historical painter by profession, and 
 living for some time at a villa near Pome. 
 
 'S 
 
 Specific "Words. — Suppose it were desired to 
 make clear to a friend how the sunset looked — a
 
 236 FIIiST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 difficult task. One would hardly succeed if one 
 had no better words to offer than the general 
 terms clouds, beautiful, lovely, bright. The friend, 
 if he cared to know, would insist on specific 
 words : What kind of beauty ? was it quiet beauty, 
 or awful beauty, or picturesque beauty ? What 
 kind of brightness? was it redness? If so, was 
 the sky blood-red, or merely pink ? What kind of 
 clouds? — great masses of storm cloud, or high 
 frozen clouds, or mottled " mackerel " clouds ? To 
 be clear, then, words must be specific enough to 
 give the idea intended. Just how specific they 
 should be depends on the audience. They must 
 be familiar to the hearer or reader, if they are to 
 be understood without explanation. All audiences 
 would understand the general term tool; all would 
 understand the genus name saw, which specifies a 
 kind of tool. But many would not understand the 
 species name rip-saw; for to most people rip-saw 
 is unfortunately a technical term. In choosing 
 specific words the line should therefore be drawn 
 between common terms and technical terms, the 
 latter not to be employed without explanation, 
 except in addressing special audiences. 
 
 Specific words are usually as forcible as they are 
 clear. Most people's feelings are roused by the 
 thought of a particular object, not of a class name. 
 Flower is a class name; it does not move one. 
 Clover is a specific name ; it calls back the old
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 237 
 
 farm, the old friends, the old joys and sorrows. 
 No word will really interest the reader unless he 
 has previously used it or heard it in association 
 with his feelings. Take the word contusion; it 
 means something forcible to a doctor, but not to a 
 boy, for the latter never used it. But say bruise — 
 which means exactly the same thing. That's forci- 
 ble. It feelingly reminds us of the hour in which 
 that dead branch broke and delivered us over to 
 the law of gravitation. 
 
 Pick out from these words those that are in 
 themselves forcible to most people : paternal so- 
 licitude, fatherly care ; home, domicile ; altruism, 
 unselfishness. You see at once that certain of 
 these words get their force from the long associa- 
 tions of childhood. In childhood we use the 
 simpler words of the language, those that are 
 derived from the Anglo-Saxon mother-tongue. 
 Anglo-Saxon words, therefore, are usually forci- 
 ble. Compare page 183. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Reduce the following names 
 step by step to a particular genus and a particular 
 species. Thus : animal, mammal, quadruped, 
 graminivorous animal, cow, Alderney. 
 
 1. Reduce machine step by step till you reach 
 
 stop-ivatch. 
 
 2. Reduce machine to revolver. 
 
 3. Reduce living organism to moss-rose.
 
 238 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 4. Reduce living organism to oyster. 
 Similarly, extend the following species names 
 step by step to family names. 
 
 1. Extend pen-knife to instrument. 
 
 2. Extend Longfellow to man of letters. 
 
 General "Words. — We found that most specific 
 words are of Anglo-Saxon origin. Most general 
 words are of Latin origin. Both these statements 
 are only roughly true, of course; but the distinc- 
 tion is worth making. The language of science is 
 mostly of Latin origin, because it consists so largely 
 of class names. Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers had 
 fewer class names, for they had not progressed far 
 enough to care to classify everything. When, later, 
 the English came to study history, and philosophy, 
 and science, they had either to invent new Anglo- 
 Saxon words for class names, or else use Latin 
 words. They chose the latter course. Conse- 
 quently we have such Latin class names as animal, 
 and such individual names as cat, dog, horse, pig. 
 We speak of white, blue, green, red ; but when we 
 want a class name for these, we say color, a Latin 
 word. From all this it may be seen that any great 
 number of general words gives a scientific, abstract 
 tone to writing. General words are absolutely 
 necessary for the exact purposes of science and 
 philosophy. They are adapted, as Professor Car- 
 penter puts it, to "precise and elaborate distinc-
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 239 
 
 tions of thought." They do not give a clear mental 
 image ; that is, you cannot see beauty, or smallness, 
 or animal, or color — you can see only a beautiful 
 object, a small object, a particular animal, a par- 
 ticular color. But, still, general words mean exactly 
 what they say. Animal means exactly this: a 
 summing up of all the qualities that are common 
 to all individual animals. All the things called 
 animal have in common powers of sensation and 
 voluntary movement. When such a distinction is 
 wanted, it is wanted badly, as we say. There is 
 no better mark of literary mastery than knowing 
 just when to use a general word, just when a spe- 
 cific one. Examine a few pages from Eobert Louis 
 Stevenson, to see with what exquisite fitness words 
 of Latin origin may be used in the midst of Anglo- 
 Saxon words when the appeal turns from the feel- 
 insrs to the intellect. 
 
 There are many reasons why a writer may not 
 wish to be too specific. In the sentence, " I picked 
 up my traps and left," the colloquialism traps 
 answers every essential purpose. The reader does 
 not care to have tooth-brush and books and papers 
 all specified. People are not to be blamed for re- 
 ferring vaguely to death as a passing away, for the 
 specific word is harsh at best. Such expressions 
 as p>ass away are called euphemisms. Many eu- 
 phemisms are legitimate ; but whether a given one 
 should be employed is a question of taste, a ques-
 
 240 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 tion of beauty. It seems a beautiful expression 
 when Keats says, "to cease upon the midnight 
 with no pain," instead of, "to die painlessly at 
 twelve o'clock ; " but it is a mark of false modesty 
 and bad taste to insist on saying rose for got up, 
 retire for go to bed, lower limbs for legs. 
 
 Again, one should not always hesitate to set 
 down an idea because one has not the sharpest, 
 clearest possible notion of it. Vague ideas are 
 sometimes valuable ones. They should receive 
 earnest thought that they may take definite shape. 
 But if they seem to defy definite form, they cer- 
 tainly should not In' thrown away merely for that. 
 Catching one's exact idea is often as difficult as 
 catching a trout. But a glimpse of the fine fish 
 that gets away is worth something, — there are 
 few of us who can resist the temptation to tell 
 about it when we get home. Speaking of the 
 mind, Emerson says, " It is wholesome to angle in 
 i hose profound pools, though one be rewarded with 
 in 'thing more than the leap of a fish that flashes 
 his freckled side in the sun and as suddenly ab- 
 sconds in the dark and dreamy waters again." l 
 In "Wordsworth's poem, The Solitary Reaper, we 
 hear of a song about old, unliappy, far-off things. 
 That was exactly Wordsworth's own vague notion, 
 and down he set it — in words that make it clear 
 
 1 Quoted in a different connection by E. E. Hale, Jr., Con- 
 structive Rhetoric, ]>. 288 (Henry Unit vV Co.).
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WOEDS 241 
 
 (so to speak) that his idea was sweet and vague. 
 Ruskin, describing the fagade of St. Mark's in 
 Venice, tries to give a sense of the bewildering 
 multiplicity of beautiful things on that wonderful 
 front by saying, a confusion of delight. If he had 
 used more definite words we should have missed 
 the effect. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the passages from John- 
 son and Blackmore (pp. 192-3). Which passage 
 contains more of general words than of specific ? 
 Which is more forcible in subject-matter ? Which 
 in diction. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — In the following passage, choose 
 the better expression from each pair of brackets. 
 Each pair contains one general aud one specific 
 term ; choose the term which gives greater force or 
 greater clearness than the other. 
 
 1. And therefore, first of all, I tell you earnestly 
 and authoritatively (I know I am right in this) you 
 must get into the [way, habit] of looking [rightly, 
 intensely] at words, and [telling, assuring] yourself 
 of their meaning, syllable by syllable — nay, letter 
 by letter. Eor . . . you might read all the books 
 in [a great library, the British Museum] (if you 
 could live long enough) and remain an utterly " il- 
 literate," uneducated person ; but if you read [some 
 part, ten pages] of [a good, an instructive] book, 
 letter by letter — that is to say, with real [care,
 
 242 FIIiST BOOK IN WBITING ENGLISH 
 
 accuracy] — you are forevermore in some [way, 
 measure] an educated [man, person]. The entire 
 difference between education and non-education (as 
 regards the merely [mental, intellectual] part of 
 it) consists in this [exactitude, accuracy]. A well- 
 educated gentleman may not [read, know] many 
 languages, may not be able to speak any but his 
 own, may have read very few books. But what- 
 ever language he knows, he knows [well, pre- 
 cisely] ; whatever word he [says, pronounces] he 
 [says, pronounces] rightly. Above all, he is learned 
 in the peerage of words, knows the words of [true, 
 veritable] descent, and [old, ancient] blood, at a 
 glance, from the words of [new, modern] canaille, 
 remembers all their ancestry, their intermarriages, 
 distant relationships, and the extent to which they 
 were admitted, and offices they held, among the 
 national noblesse of words at any time and in any 
 [place, country]. But an uneducated person may 
 know, by [heart, memory], many languages, and 
 [use, talk] them all, and yet truly [know, appre- 
 hend] not a word of any — not a word even of his 
 own. An ordinarily [clever, good] and sensible 
 seaman will be able to make his way ashore at 
 most [ports, places], yet he has only to speak [a 
 little, a sentence] of [Spanish or French, any lan- 
 guage] to be [known, recognized] for an illiterate 
 person; so also the accent, or turn of expression of 
 a single sentence, will at once mark a scholar.
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 243 
 
 And this is so [well, strongly] felt, so [conclu- 
 sively, well] admitted, by educated persons, that a 
 false accent or a [bad, mistaken] syllable is enough 
 in the parliament of any civilized nation, to [assign, 
 send] man to a certain degree of [lower, inferior] 
 standing forever. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Which words in the following 
 are general, which specific ? Does each seem ap- 
 propriate in its place, or ought some words to have 
 been more specific, others more general ? 
 
 1. Her dress was dark and rich ; she had pearls 
 round her neck, and an old rococo fan in her hand. 
 
 — Henry James. 
 
 2. When gratitude has become a matter of rea- 
 soning, there are many ways of escaping from its 
 bonds. — George Eliot. 
 
 3. Friendships begin with liking or gratitude 
 
 — roots that can be pulled up. — George Eliot. 
 
 4. What scene was ever commonplace in the 
 descending sunlight, when color has awakened from 
 its noonday sleep, and the long shadows awe us like 
 a disclosed presence ? Above all, what scene is 
 commonplace to the eye that is filled with serene 
 gladness, and brightens all things with its own 
 joy? — George Eliot. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Is there danger of misconcep- 
 tion from the use of the following words ? If so, 
 how can the danger be avoided ? Discuss in class.
 
 244 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Fair, fine, certain, charity, democratic, republican, 
 nature. 
 
 Simple Words. — Several years ago a gentleman l 
 secured from a large, number of successful authors 
 brief pieces of advice to young writers. In one 
 particular there was an extraordinary unanimity 
 among these authors. Nearly all agreed that a 
 young writer should try to express himself simply. 
 They agreed on other matters too, — for example, 
 on the need of clear thinking and an inclination to 
 take much pains in expression. But it was notice- 
 able that even writers whose own work is not 
 characterized by simplicity seemed to admire this 
 quality. 
 
 The greatest men are simple. Affectation, strain- 
 ing for effect, is a mark of a little mind. The 
 greatest art is simple, — governed by a noble 
 restraint. Over-decoration, whether in a picture, 
 a piece of music, in dress, in the furnishing of 
 a room, or in a theme, is always a mark of bad 
 taste. 
 
 What is called fine writing — the use of over- 
 ambitious words to express simple thoughts — 
 grows up in various ways. Sometimes it springs 
 from a desire to be funny. Exaggerat ion has always 
 been a favorite device of the humorist — especially 
 
 i Mr. George Bainton, The Art of Authorship (D. Apple- 
 ton & Co.).
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 245 
 
 of the American humorist. There are students who 
 learn to use this kind of humor so well that an 
 unconscious habit of bombast pursues them into 
 their more serious work. Most of us can force a 
 smile at such writing as the passage given below, 
 or even laugh at it when there are enough people 
 present to help us : — 
 
 " It was in the sixth that Captain Anson, aided 
 and abetted by sundry young men generally called 
 ' Colts,' waded in to snatch laurel, trailing arbu- 
 tus, and other vegetables from the coy hand of 
 fame. He did it, too, and he now has laurels to 
 throw to the birds. Ryan went first to the bat, 
 and pasted a warm one through short that turned 
 the grass black along its path." 
 
 But when a young fellow has read so much of 
 this sort that he drags similar diction into his 
 themes, the fun becomes vulgarity. 
 
 In general, use always the simplest word that 
 will express your meaning exactly. Compare 
 pages 216, 217. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Write in simple English the 
 equivalents of the following passages. Some are 
 from students' themes ; others from newspapers. 
 
 1. The svelte 1 young debutante received a perfect 
 ovation. 
 
 2. In my estimation it is far more to be desired 
 
 1 Consult a French dictionary.
 
 2IG FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 that a tyro in the art of composition should select 
 those subjects with which his acquaintance is the 
 most extensive. 
 
 3. In all my experience I have never enjoyed 
 the acquaintance of two youths of more superior 
 ability. 
 
 4. It is impossible for me to disassociate from 
 my mind the conception that such a course would 
 be disastrous to the ambitions of the team. 
 
 5. Public sentiment would not permit an indi- 
 vidual or an infinitesimally small minority to clog 
 the wheels of progress in order to prevent the es- 
 cape of a few dollars from the individuals compos- 
 ing the obstructive element. 
 
 6. Let us indeed refrain from any course of ac- 
 tion which will militate against the onward march 
 of the civilizing power of the public schools of this 
 great ami growing nation. 
 
 7. While the birds were carolling their sweetest 
 strains and the grass hung heavy with water-pearls, 
 Peter Brant was taking his life. A more seductive 
 place to die in than the little garden back of 7000 
 Congress street is inconceivable. 
 
 Literal and Figurative "Words. — Before it can be 
 
 decided how far the young writer should use fig- 
 ures of speech, it is necessary to find out the real 
 difference between a literal word or statement and 
 a figurative word or statement. If figures are
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WOBDS 247 
 
 always mere embellishments of language, the jour- 
 neyman had better shun them anxiously ; for his 
 true object is to express his thought, not to deco- 
 rate it. If, however, some figures are not embel- 
 lishments but ordinary building-material, the case 
 is different. 
 
 When, on seeing biscuits for the first time, a 
 child refers to them as moons, he is not making an 
 effort to adorn his language. He is unconsciously 
 using a figure of speech because he does not know 
 the literal, proper, conventional name, biscuit. If 
 the child had formerly lived in a country where 
 apples grew but potatoes did not, the first time he 
 saw a potato he would probably call it a ground-ap- 
 ple. As a matter of fact there are people that have 
 gone through some such experience with potatoes. 
 The French word pomme de terre indicates this. 
 
 Most words were once figures of speech, that is, 
 tropes. A trope, from the Greek word TpeVw, to 
 turn, is merely the turning away of a word from 
 its ordinary meaning to give a name to some new 
 idea. The root of many a word shows the figure 
 that was used to express a given new idea. The 
 root spir- means to breathe. Since the inability to 
 breathe is one part of the process of death, the ex- 
 pression to breathe out became a figurative expres- 
 sion for the whole idea of "to die." In expire, 
 applied to death, the idea of breathe is usually not 
 felt. The figure is forgotten, and we therefore call
 
 248 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 it a root-figure, or radical figure. As may be seen 
 from the roots of the Curious Words on page 191, 
 language is figurative through and through. 
 
 This is true not only of language already made, 
 but of that which is daily making. In every mind 
 shades of thought are constantly occurring for 
 which there are either no names, or none which 
 the mind can learn in the interval before expres- 
 sion is necessary. If the exact word is not at 
 hand, a comparison must be made. The shade of 
 thought must be named by telling what thing in 
 the reader's experience it is like. 
 
 Does the attempt at comparison result in a 
 vague, inexact phrase, or in an exact one ? The 
 youth who declares that his lesson is as " hard as 
 thunder," has expressed himself but vaguely. The 
 same is true of the young lady who declares that 
 it rained- "like anything." Let us examine briefly 
 the chief kinds of tropes, and note whether they 
 are necessarily less clear and exact than literal 
 statements. 
 
 A person sees an accident, and reports that " a 
 score of hands " picked up the injured boy. Here 
 is synecdoche. The " hands " stand for the per- 
 sons — a part for the whole; a "score" probably 
 stands for a dozen, — the whole number of hands in 
 the group of people, for the smaller number that 
 actually touched the boy. Or, the "score." may 
 be called hyperbole, that is, exaggeration. A critic
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 249 
 
 might say that either figure is inexact here. True, 
 in a way. But if the writer had reported that he 
 seemed to see a score of hands, the phrase would be 
 faithful to his thought. We may take the seemed 
 for granted, and reply to the critic that for exact 
 purposes in a law court, " seemed to see a score of 
 hands " might be nearer the truth than an attempt 
 at greater precision. 
 
 Suppose, now, that the writer who reported the 
 accident said that the boy was in great pain, so 
 that his face was " as white as ivory." Here is a 
 simile, — an explicit statement of likeness in two 
 things which are different in most respects. This 
 particular simile is certainly more exact than the 
 literal word white would be. 
 
 If now the writer had said, " I caught a glimpse 
 of compressed lips and ivory face," the comparison 
 would have been not explicit, but implied. An im- 
 plied comparison is called metaphor. Metaphor is 
 from the Greek for carrying over, because it carries 
 over bodily the name of one thing to another. To 
 speak of a man as " bold as a lion," is simile ; to 
 call him a " lion " outright, is metaphor. It is 
 less clear to call a man a lion than to say in 
 what respect he is like a lion ; it is less clear 
 to say, " ivory face " than to say " face white as 
 ivory." 
 
 The case of the boy who was injured may have 
 got into the newspapers. To speak more figura-
 
 250 FIIiST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 tively, the press may have taken up the matter. 
 Press stands here for the editors of the various 
 journals. This last figure is metonymy. In me- 
 tonymy one thing is put for another that is often 
 associated with it. In the sentence given, me- 
 tonymy does not seem to detract from clearness; 
 at all events it saves a roundabout expression. 
 
 Metaphor and metonymy, by ascribing life to 
 inanimate things, often become personification. So 
 above, where the press takes up a matter. It is 
 evident that personification need not make a sen- 
 tence less intelligible. 
 
 Once more, let us suppose that the reporter who 
 first learned of the boy's accident remarked, on 
 handing in his account of it, "The early bird 
 catches the worm." The remark is pure allegory 
 — describing some act or thing indirectly by de- 
 scribing something else. If the hearer knows 
 enough of the situation to understand the allegory, 
 he undoubtedly receives a forcible impression, and 
 may be helped to a clearer view. Allegory is a 
 kind of expanded metaphor. It is more liable to 
 misinterpretation than most figures; but the alle- 
 gorical proverbs of our language, and the popular- 
 ity of such books as the Pilgrim's Progress, show- 
 that it is a favorite form of expression. Like 
 general words, allegory can be used to say things 
 which policy may forbid being said more directly. 
 
 From the discussion it appears that tropes can
 
 SKILFUL CUOICE OF WORDS 251 
 
 often be made to yield a clear and sufficiently 
 exact phrase. Often however a trope lends force 
 or beauty rather than clearness. It is forcible 
 rather than clear to call a man a lion. It is beau- 
 tiful rather than clear to speak of the Pleiades as 
 "a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid." 
 Such a phrase as this is legitimate enough in poe- 
 try ; it would be legitimate in highly imaginative 
 prose. But the fact cannot be dodged that it 
 would be out of place in the midst of plain prose 
 description. 
 
 The practical conclusion is obvious. Use tropes 
 without hesitation when they are really needed to 
 give clearness and force. Never use a trope for 
 decorative purposes only. The ability to write 
 plain, bare English is absolutely indispensable. 
 The ability to write figuratively is an enviable, but 
 not a necessary, possession. 
 
 When the need of a figure is actually felt, the 
 choice should be made with scrupulous care. If 
 tropes occur to you in numbers, " like flocks of 
 pigeons," choose only the pigeon that can carry 
 a message. To secure lucidity, employ a figure 
 which makes use of something already clear to the 
 reader. Every-day life and common things are the 
 best sources for both similes and metaphors. To 
 secure force, select such figures as appeal to the 
 emotional experiences of everybody. If you wish 
 to hold attention and move your reader, appeal to
 
 252 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 such primal feelings as love, hate, fear, eourage, 
 joy, sorrow, aspiration, hope Note how Shake- 
 speare appeals to the human animal's dread of deep 
 water: he makes Cardinal Wolsey say, "I have 
 ventured, like wanton hoys that swim on Madders, 
 this many summers in a sea of glory." In Mac- 
 beth he appeals to the joy of release from pain : he 
 calls sleep the balm of each day's hurt. 
 
 A good figure of speech must be consistent. 
 Although a lively imagination changes its meta- 
 phors from minute to minute, it must not change 
 them so fast as to suggest ridiculous things. If 
 the metaphor gets mixed, clearness and force go 
 to the winds. The other day the writer heard a 
 young man earnestly exclaim: "Now I shall have 
 to toe the bee-line ! " The thought of that j-outh, 
 lifted to a perilous position where his toes sought 
 vainly in the trackless air for a " bee-line," was 
 quite too much for the gravity of his hearers. 
 This trope that failed to be a trope was about as 
 effective as the famous lightning-change series of 
 metaphors uttered by Sir Boyle Roche: "Mr. 
 Speaker, I smell a rat. I see him floating in the 
 air. But I will nip him in the hud.*" Mixed meta- 
 phors may arise from mere liveliness of imagina- 
 tion, — a good fault sometimes. More frequently 
 it arises from vague thinking or from grandilo- 
 quence. The examples on page 246 show how 
 liable fine writing is to this fault. A figure that
 
 SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 253 
 
 is not in good taste is incomparably worse than 
 no figure at all. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Name each trope, and explain 
 how each gets its force ; what emotion each touches. 
 
 (a) " Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart.'' 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 (b) " What is hope ? — a smiling rainbow chil- 
 dren follow through the wet." — Carlyle. 
 
 (c) " She speaks poniards, and every word 
 stabs." — Shakespeare. 
 
 (VZ) " Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive ; but 
 to be young was very heaven." — Wordsworth. 
 
 (e) " Prayer is the key of the morning and the 
 bolt of the night." — Beecher. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Examine the phrases that you 
 made by finding adjectives to fit abstract qualities 
 (p. 202), and decide in each case whether clearness 
 or force is the chief resulting characteristic. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Restore force to the following 
 figures by changing whatever is incongruous in 
 them. Reject any that are irretrievably bad in 
 taste, or hackneyed. 
 
 1. The singing was led by the organ assisted by 
 four violins. 
 
 2. In graceful and figurative language he pointed 
 the finger of scorn at the defendant.
 
 254 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 3. It was 8 o'clock when the guests attacked 
 the following menu. 
 
 4. The trailer struck the car amidships. 
 
 5. The colonies were not yet ripe to bid adieu 
 to British connection. 
 
 6. Let us cast off the shackles of doubt and 
 bind ourselves with the bonds of faith. 
 
 7. No human happiness is so serene as not to 
 contain some alloy. 
 
 8. Boyle was the father of chemistry, and 
 brother of the Earl of Cork. 
 
 9. The marble-hearted marauder might seize 
 the throne of civil authority, and hurl into thraldom 
 the votaries of rational liberty. 
 
 10. It is to be hoped, now that lovely woman dis- 
 countenances the flowing bowl, that the rising gen- 
 eration will abjure it, and follow the weaker sex in 
 taking nothing stronger than the cup which cheers 
 but not inebriates.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 LETTER-WRITING 
 
 Why Important. — There are two general classes 
 of letters : informal or personal, and formal or im- 
 personal. Each kind is governed by the general 
 principles of clearness and courtesy. Mischief is 
 sure to follow if either of these principles is dis- 
 regarded. A writer may indulge in extravagance 
 of statement when he writes for the public, and 
 " there is no harm done, for the speaker is one and 
 the listener is another." l But it is quite a dif- 
 ferent matter when one is making business prom- 
 ises, or trying to pacify a distant friend with whom 
 there is a misunderstanding. A shrewd politician 
 knows enough not to write too many letters, and 
 not to write anything that he cannot stand by. A 
 woman of tact knows that the success of her social 
 plans may turn upon the choice of a single word 
 in the leave-taking of a note. 
 
 Business Letters. — These are formal, impersonal. 
 A good business letter is (1) clear, (2) courteous, 
 
 1 The Turkish Cadi to the English Traveller. See James, 
 
 Psychology, II. 640. 
 
 255
 
 256 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 (3) brief. It shows unmistakably (a) who is writ- 
 ing, (b) to whom, (<■) where, (d) when. It is defi- 
 nite in its Language, so that there need be no return 
 letter of inquiry as to any part of its meaning. It 
 observes the best conventions of address and sig- 
 nature. It refrains from brusque remarks, even in 
 reply to a rude letter. It is appreciative. A good 
 business man always takes into account that a 
 handful of trade is a handful of gold; if he is 
 favored with orders, he goes to the trouble of 
 thanking his customers. It does not curtly abbre- 
 viate sentences and signatures. Life is not so short 
 but that we may avoid writing such insults as this : 
 "Y'rs rec'd and contents noted. Have ordered 
 Jones to push the deal through. Shall see you 
 soon. Y'rs respy." 
 
 Headings and Signatures in Business Letters. — A 
 
 business letter should show where it was written, 
 and where the answer should be sent. If these 
 places are the same, the one address may be indi- 
 cated either at the beginning or at the end, prefer- 
 ably the former. Street and number should always 
 be given in the case of city addresses. The date of 
 writing should be placed at the beginning, the month 
 being written or abbreviated, not indicated by a 
 figure. The heading ought also to indicate to whom 
 the letter is sent. Since in theory or in fact there 
 may be other persons of the same name, the corre-
 
 LETTER- WRITING 25 7 
 
 spondent's address should usually be placed beneath 
 his name. The most common signatures in business 
 letters are Yours truly, Yours very truly, and Yours 
 respectfully. In writing a business letter, a girl 
 signs her full name. Then at the left she writes 
 her name, preceded by Miss, and followed by her 
 address. 
 
 Titles in Business Letters. — Firm names need not 
 be preceded by Messrs., although this form certainly 
 adds to the courtesy of the communication. Names 
 of individuals should regularly be preceded by Mr. 
 Whether a person should be addressed by his pro- 
 fessional title depends somewhat upon the character 
 of the business. In the United States a commercial 
 letter is sufficiently courteous if Mr. precedes the name 
 of the person addressed. This title is in better 
 taste, as applied to business men, than Esq. But 
 there is no objection to the use of certain titles, 
 and they are desirable if the business be one which 
 pertains to the profession of the person addressed. 
 Initials should always be given. "Rev. Brown," 
 " Hon. Jones," are inexcusable forms. 
 
 The Envelope. — The address on the envelope 
 should be as legible as possible. Karnes of states 
 should not be contracted. As Professor J. M. Hart 
 remarks, " The only current abbreviations that seem 
 to be safe are Penna., Conn., and D. C." 1 New 
 
 1 Handbook of English Composition, p. 348 (EMredge & Bro.)- 
 
 s
 
 258 FIUST BOOK IX WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 York City may be written for New York, N. Y. 
 The same rules for titles apply to the envelope 
 as to the heading. If the comma is placed after 
 one line of the address, it must be placed after the 
 others. It is needed after none. 
 
 "Written Exercise. — Write a business letter, re- 
 plying clearly and courteously to the following 
 imaginary communication. 
 
 14 Grasmere Street, 
 Boston, Mass., 
 
 Dec. 4, 1897. 
 Miss Helen Roe, 
 
 Graysville, Penna. 
 Dear Madam : — 
 
 We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 older of Dec. 2. Since you mention the fact that 
 the goods are intended as a Christmas surprise, 
 we .have taken the liberty of holding them, and 
 writing for orders as to desired date of shipment 
 to the address you specify. We remain, 
 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 Weaver and Weaver. 
 
 "Written Exercise. — Write a petition to some 
 person or persons in authority, following in general 
 the form given below : — 
 
 The Faculty of Lewis Institute. 
 
 Gentlemen: We, the undersigned, respectfully 
 ask the privilege of organizing a new literary
 
 LETTER-WRITING 259 
 
 society, to be called the Parnassian. We enclose a 
 copy of the proposed constitution, which we are 
 ready to sign. If further information is desired, 
 we shall be glad to appoint a committee to wait 
 upon you at any time you may designate. 
 
 L. Gustafson, 
 H. Bulkley, etc. 
 
 Formal Social Letters. — Formal correspondence 
 indicates by its style the mere acquaintance of the 
 correspondents, or, in the words of Miss Morton, 1 
 " the bounds of distance which for any reason it is 
 desirable to maintain." A formal letter should 
 actually be formal. If one attempts to do an 
 elaborate thing, one ought to do it thoroughly and 
 properly. A letter that begins with formal brevity 
 and runs off into colloquial prolixity is a burlesque. 
 A letter that begins in the third person and ends 
 in the first is a farce. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Following in general the 
 models given below, write (1) a formal invitation 
 to dinner ; , (2) an acceptance of this invitation ; 
 (3) regrets at inability to accept. 
 
 1. Mr. Frederick Estoff, Jr., requests the pleasure 
 of Mr. Edward Edwards' company at dinner on 
 Tuesday, June fourth, at seven o'clock, to meet 
 Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Estoff. 
 12 Pear Street, June twenty-eighth. 
 
 i Letter-Writing, p. 121 (Penn. Pub. Co.).
 
 2G0 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 2. Mr. Edward Edwards accepts with inucli pleas- 
 ure the kind invitation of Mr. Frederick Estoff, 
 Jr., to dinner for June fourth, to meet Mr. and 
 .Mrs. Frederick Estoff. 
 
 14 Sycamore Street, June twenty-eighth. 
 
 3. Mr. Edward Edwards regrets extremely that a 
 previous engagement prevents his acceptance 
 of Mr. Frederick Estoff, Jr.'s kind invitation 
 to dinner for June fourth, to meet Mr. and 
 Mrs. Frederick Estoff. 
 
 14 Sycamore Street, June twenty-eighth. 
 
 Personal or Informal Letters. — The letter one 
 writes informally to an acquaintance, a friend, or 
 a relative, should be in tone pretty nearly what 
 one's conversation with the given person would 
 be. To give such a letter the tone which repre- 
 sents exactly the relation between the two people 
 is a hard task. The nicest sense of tact is required 
 in order not to be too stiff and not too familiar. 
 Personal letters demand the art of colloquial com- 
 I K isition. Those unperceptive persons who have but 
 one style of composition, — that of a book, or that 
 of a clerk, — make sorry work of personal letters. 
 Suppose that you have always known one of these 
 persons. You have played with him, read with 
 him, perhaps fought with him. When you meet, 
 he calls you by your first name. When he writes to
 
 LETTER-WRITING 261 
 
 ask you to visit him, he addresses you as Dear Sir, 
 and signs himself Respectfully! His letter gives 
 you a chill. There is too little of the personal 
 letter-writting of the better sort, the leisurely, 
 careful, courteous, old-fashioned kind of written 
 talk, — writing that, like Thomas Cholmondeley's, 
 could be signed, " Ever yours and not in haste." 
 
 Written Exercise. — Write a note inviting a friend 
 of your own age to dinner, to an informal party, or 
 to an excursion. Such a note usually begins on 
 this wise, — My Dear Tom, or Dear Tom, rather 
 than on this, — Dear Friend. A similar note to 
 
 an acquaintance would begin: My dear Mr. , 
 
 My dear Miss , etc. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Write a personal letter to 
 the instructor, concerning some matter in which 
 you would like to interest him. This letter will 
 not be read to the class. 
 
 Written Exercise. — Write to some friend a long 
 letter, observing the ordinary rules for paragraph- 
 ing. Suggested subjects : an account of your life 
 since last meeting your friend ; a comparison of 
 the town you now live in with that in which you 
 and the friend formerly lived ; an explanation of 
 some scheme in which you wish the friend's co- 
 operation.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 REPRODUCTION, ABSTRACT, SUMMARY, ABRIDG- 
 MENT 
 
 Literal Reproduction. — The word reproduction 
 is often used in Rhetoric in a somewhat general 
 sense, to mean any version of another composition. 
 As we shall use it, the term means literal reproduc- 
 tion; in other words, a version that folloAvs the 
 phrasing of the original as nearly as the time given 
 for study will permit. Writing of reproductions 
 trains the memory and adds immensely to one's 
 command of words. 
 
 Below are given lists of brief selections, most of 
 them requiring not more than ten minutes to repro- 
 duce. It is suggested that a given paragraph or 
 page be slowly read aloud to the class, two or three 
 times, and that the class afterward write the piece 
 as nearly as possible in the author's words. Each 
 student should then insert in his vocabulary book any 
 neio ivords or jihrases that seem to him particularly 
 serviceable. These memoranda trill prove invaluable. 
 later on, when similar topics {not the same ones) are 
 to be written about by the student himself. To illus- 
 
 262
 
 EEPRODUCTION, ETC. 263 
 
 trate : a student after reading two or three per- 
 sonal descriptions might jot down for future use 
 such phrases as the following : Eyes. — Laughing, 
 startled, heavy-lidded, hazel, vacant, protruding, 
 lustrous, expressive, liquid, dreamy, speaking, glad. 
 JSfose. — Aquiline, Roman, beak-like, shapely, snub, 
 sharp, insignificant. Hair. — Grizzled, frowsy, 
 shaggy, glossy, dishevelled, unkempt, tumbled. 
 Manner. — Alert, jaunty, affable, sprightly, haughty, 
 pretentious, modest, diffident, reserved, ostentatious, 
 demure, animated. Figure. — Gaunt, emaciated, 
 lank, vigorous, robust, grotesque, massive, insignifi- 
 cant, thick-set, portly, sturdy, stalwart, erect, 
 decrepit, fragile. Expression. — Rueful, crafty, 
 frank, wistful, stolid. 
 
 Material for Literal Reproduction 
 
 Narration 
 
 Miles, One Thousand and Oue Anecdotes : p. 30, 
 Garcia ; 33, Handel ; 36, Mozart ; 43, Paganini ; 74, 
 A dull witness; 96, Mrs. Siddons; 105, 110, Wel- 
 lington ; 106, Coolness ; 132, Bad handwriting ; 142, 
 Dickens and Thackeray ; 218, Hill ; 231, Newton ; 
 231, Sidney Smith ; 251, Scott ; 253, Lessing ; 254, 
 Geological; 255, Blackie; 268, Be'ranger; 273, A 
 toast ; 304, A careful reader ; 312, Webster ; 316, 
 Johnson ; 318, Poetry and Pattypans ; 322, Marryat ; 
 323, Turner; 324, Danuecker; 328, Hugo and
 
 2G1 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Copper; 368, Heroism of a workman; 370, Eoche- 
 jaquelin ; 371, Washington ; 374, Lefevre; 378, Vir- 
 chow; 378, Cham and Grille. 
 
 Description 
 
 Persons. — Hawthorne: American Note Books. 
 See Index, p. 448, for paragraphs on characters, 
 mostly men. 
 
 Scenery. — 1. Sunrise. Hawthorne : American 
 Note Books, 75, 121, 315. Thorean : Spring, 99. 
 
 2. Morning. Hawthorne: American Note Books, 
 75, 177. Thorean : Winter, 128, 137, 258. 
 
 3. Afternoon. Hawthorne: American Note 
 Books, 90. Thoreau: Autumn, 21, 28, 182. 
 
 4. Sunset. Hawthorne : American Note Books, 
 112. Thoreau: Autumn, 3, 17, 90, 112, 152, 214, 
 259, 311, 327, 330, 345, 388, 429, 433. Winter, 23, 
 38, 40, 127, 155. Summer, 47, 246, 313, 332, 362. 
 
 5. Sunlight. Burroughs: Winter Sunshine, 102. 
 Thoreau : Autumn, 289. Winter, 114, 249. 
 
 6. Moonlight. Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter 
 (Custom House). Kuskin: Prseterita, vol. ii., 166. 
 Thoreau: Spring, 78. Summer, 95, 97, 117, 120, 
 176, 233, 239, 333. Winter, 215, 320, 322. Bur- 
 roughs: Winter Sunshine, 43. 
 
 7. Water. Blackmore: Lorna Doone, vii. Tho- 
 reau : Spring, 87, 96, 101, 109, 154. Summer, 30, 
 117, 240,243. Autumn, 111. 160, 182, 370, 400, 
 434. Buskin : Prseterita, vol. ii., 159 (The Bhone).
 
 REPRODUCTION, ETC. 265 
 
 8. Mountains. Buskin: Pneterita, vol. L, 288. 
 Bolles: At the North of Bearcamp Water. See 
 Index, p. 296, for many views of more than a score 
 of mountains. 
 
 9. Landscapes. Buskin: Prseterita, vol. ii., 78 
 (Borne). Hawthorne : American Note Books, 441 
 (Gosport). Blackmore: Lorna Doone, iv. (Doone 
 Gate). Hugo : Les Miserables (Field of Waterloo). 
 
 Birds, An inials, and Insects. — See indexes of the 
 following-: Thoreau : Spring; Summer; Autumn; 
 Winter ; Walden. Burroughs : Wake Bobin ; Win- 
 ter Sunshine ; Birds and Bees. Miller : Bird-Ways; 
 A Bird-Lover in the West. Torrey : A Rambler's 
 Lease ; Birds in the Bush. Merriam : A-Birding on 
 a Broncho. Bolles : From Blomidon to Smoky ; The 
 Land of the Lingering Snow; At the North of 
 Bearcamp Water. Gibson : Sharp Eyes. 
 
 Buildings and Rooms. — Ruskin : Praeterita, vol. 
 i., 232 (chapel); vol. iii., 5 (monastery). Scott: 
 Ivanhoe, iii. (Saxon hall). Stevenson : An Inland 
 Voyage (Noyon Cathedral) ; The Amateur Emi- 
 grant (the second cabin). Hawthorne: House of 
 the Seven Gables, i. ; Howe's Masquerade (the 
 Province House). Irving: The Alhambra. (Pal- 
 ace of the Alhambra) ; Sketch Book (Westminster 
 Abbey). Lamb : The East India Office.
 
 266 FIRST JiOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Exposition 
 
 Helps: Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd. 
 14, 27, 32, 33, 40, 42, 54, 61, 72. Brevia, 5, 14, 15, 
 22, 37, 91, 92, 94, 105, 113, 115, 161, 163. 
 
 Blake: Thoreau's Thoughts, 4, 9, 21,46,89,98, 
 100, 103, 108, 118, 123. 
 
 Summary, Abstract, Abridgment. — The ability 
 in arrive at the substance of an article or book and 
 write it down, is demanded constantly in almost 
 every business and in every profession. An ex- 
 tremely brief statement of the substance is called 
 a sum ni <ir ii. A longer statement, couched in lan- 
 guage independent of that used by the author, is 
 an abstract. If the article or book is shortened by 
 the omission of the less important parts, the lan- 
 guage of the original being in general retained, the 
 result is an abridgment. 
 
 Almost any well-constructed composition lends 
 itself to summary, abstract, or abridgment. A 
 story of Irving or Hawthorne, a chapter of Park- 
 man or John Fiske, an article in the Forum or the 
 Nation, furnishes excellent material. Below are 
 given typical pieces that may be used, the shorter 
 ones for summary, the longer for abstract or 
 abridgment. Stories can better be abstracted than 
 abridged. 
 
 It is well to plan the proportions of your ver- 
 sion. The scale of 1 : 6 (one paragraph to six) will
 
 REPRODUCTION, ETC. 267 
 
 be found a good proportion on which to reduce the 
 longer pieces. Burke's Speech On Conciliation 
 would thus reduce to an abstract or an abridg- 
 ment of about twenty paragraphs. But this speech 
 can be reduced on a scale of 1 : 10 or even 1 : 20. 
 
 Material for Summary, Abstract, Abridgment 
 
 Narration 
 
 1. Personal Contests: — Spartacus and Hermann, 
 A. J. Church : Two Thousand Years Ago, p. 31 ff. 
 Christian and Apollyon, Bunyan : Pilgrim's Prog- 
 ress, Fourth Stage. Archery, Scott: Ivanhoe, xiii. 
 David and Goliath, I Samuel xvii. Nickleby and 
 Squeers, Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby, xiii. The 
 Boat liace, Hughes : Tom Brown at Oxford. Siege 
 of the Round House, Stevenson : Kidnapped, x. 
 The Three-Handed Duel, Marry at : Midshipman 
 Easy. The Tournament, Scott : Ivanhoe, xii. 
 
 2. Narrative chapters from : Aldrich : Story of a 
 Bad Boy. Burnett : The One I Knew the Best of 
 All. Hale: A New England Boyhood. Larcom: 
 A New England Girlhood. Howells : My Year in 
 a Log Cabin. Warner : Being a Boy. 
 
 o. Stories. — Hawthorne: The Snow Image ; The 
 Great Stone Face; Ethan Brand; Legends of the 
 Province House ; The Great Carbuncle ; David 
 Swan; The Vision of the Fountain; Dr. Hei- 
 degger's Experiment; The Artist of the Beautiful.
 
 268 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 Wilkins: A Humble Romance; The I Jar Light- 
 house; A Lover of Flowers; Gentian; A Conflict 
 Ended; A Village Singer; Sister Liddy; A Gala 
 Dress; A Village Lear ; The Revolt of Mother. 
 
 Sir Roger de Coverley Papers : Spectators No. 
 IK), 112, 113, 11G, 118, 122, 123, 132, 269, 329, 335, 
 359, 383, 517. 
 
 4. History. — Green : History of the English 
 People. Bceda, vol. i., ch. 2, pp. 64-67. Hastings, 
 vol. i., ch. 4, pp. 113-114. Rising of baronage, B. 
 in., ch. 1, pp. 240-214. Calais, \\. iv., ch. 2, pp. 
 422-425. Armada, B. vi., eh. 6, pp. 444-416. Return 
 of Napoleon; Waterloo, B. ix., ch. 5, pp. 385-389. 
 
 McMasters : History of the People of the United 
 States. Marietta, vol. i., 513-515. Death of Ham- 
 ilton, vol. iii., 52-53. Leopard and Chesapeake, vol. 
 iii., 258-259. Monroe's journey, vol. iv., 377-380. 
 
 Fiske : Critical Period of American History. 
 The Continental Congress, vol. i., ch. 3. Valley 
 Forge, vol. ii., ch. 9. 
 
 Rolfe, W. J. : Tales from English History in 
 Prose and Verse. 
 
 Yonge: Rook of Golden Deeds. 
 
 Description 
 
 1. Schools. — See The Schoolmaster in Literature. 
 (American Book Co.) 
 
 2. Towns. — Hale: Seven Spanish Cities. How- 
 ells : Three Villages ; A Boy's Town. Stedman :
 
 REPRODUCTION, ETC. 269 
 
 New York City (St. Nicholas, 20 : 403, '93). Stock- 
 ton : St. Augustine (Ibid., 21 : 206, '94). 
 
 Exposition. — 1. Nordhoff: Politics for Young 
 Americans. 2. Van Dyke: How to judge a pic- 
 ture. 3. Krehbiel : How to understand music. 
 4. "Wagner : Courage. 5. Camp : American Foot- 
 ball. 6. Stagg and Williams : American Football. 
 7. Bassett: Machinist's trade (Harper 's Young 
 People, 64 : 682, '91). The Printing Trade (Ibid,, 
 64:624, '91). The following articles from The 
 Youth'' s Compan ion : 8. Journalism for girls (64 : 657, 
 '91). 9. Civil Service (64 : 245, '91). 10. Why men 
 must die (67:426, '94). 11. Medicine as a profes- 
 sion (64:258, '91). 12. Success in railway life 
 (65:505, '92). 13. Wholesome lunches (67:83, 
 '94). 14-18. Advice to young musicians (64 : 310, 
 418, 321, 362). 19. Separate functions of the 
 Senate and House of Eepresentatives (63 : 633, '90). 
 20. Self-Education (65 : 494, '92). 21-23. The girl 
 who thinks she can write (64:447; 65:458,734). 
 24. Trusts (67 : 538, '94). 25. Uses of the census 
 (63:89, '90). 26. Monroe Doctrine (67:388, '94). 
 27. Arbitration (67 : 48, '94). 28. Good government 
 clubs (67:448, '94). 
 
 Argument 1 
 
 1. A property qualification for municipal suf- 
 frage is desirable. 
 
 1 The first four subjects are taken from Brookings and 
 Ringwalt: Briefs for Debate (Longmans), which see for further 
 articles on the same topics.
 
 270 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Affirmative. White: Form,,, x . 357 (Dec. L890). 
 
 Eliot: Forum, xii. L53 (Oct. L891). 
 Negative. l'>ryce : American Commonwealth, i., 
 
 chaps, l.j iii. 
 
 2. An eight-hour working day .should be adopted 
 by law. 
 
 Affirmative. Welti) and Cox: The Eight Hours 
 
 Day. 
 Negative. Walker: Atlantic Monthly, lxv. 800 
 
 (June, 1890). 
 
 3. Municipalities should sometimes give work 
 to the unemployed. 
 
 Affirmative. Forum, xvi. 655 (Feb. 1894). Coil 
 
 Forum, xvii. 276 (May, 1894). 
 Negative. Nation, lvii. IS1 (Dec. 28, 1893). 
 
 4. The housing of the poor should be improved 
 by municipalities. 
 
 Affirmative. Riis: How the Other Half Lives. 
 Negative. White : Improved Dwellings for the 
 Laboring Classes. 
 
 5. Burke: On Conciliation with the American 
 ( lolonies. 
 
 6. Chatham: On Removing Troops from Boston. 1 
 
 7. Beecher: Liverpool Speech. 1 
 
 1 See Baker: Specimens of Modern Artjumrntufmn (Henry 
 Holt & Co.).
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION 
 
 Narration, or narrative, relates a series of events. 
 Description gives an account of tire look of persons 
 or things. Character description gives both physi- 
 cal and mental traits. Recall to memory various, 
 stories you have read, and say whether narratives 
 of considerable length do or do not have to give 
 description as they proceed. 
 
 Narration 
 
 Two Kinds. — If a series of events actually 
 happened, they are historical, and the story of 
 them may be called historical narrative. If they 
 did not happen, but owe their existence to the 
 imagination, they are fictional, and the narrative 
 is fiction. If we are writing a story, let the fact 
 be understood; if a sober rehearsal of facts, let 
 it be made an exercise in the rare and difficult 
 art of truth-telling. 
 
 Exercises in Choice of Subject. — (1) Examine a 
 daily paper and pick out several narratives which 
 seem to you to have a general human interest, 
 
 271
 
 272 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 and several that have not. (2) Write a list of 
 twenty subjeets for narrative and submit them to 
 the class for a vote as to which are the most inter- 
 esting. Choose events which you have witnessed 
 or taken part in. (3) Write a list of what are 
 to you the most interesting events of ancient, medi- 
 aeval, and modern history. 
 
 Choice of Details. — In writing an account of a 
 simple incident it is possible to tell every detail 
 of what happened. But evidently no such thing 
 is practicable in narrating the events of a day, 
 a week, a lifetime. What to omit will depend 
 much upon the length of the composition. A 
 clear-headed writer will not put pen to paper be- 
 ll ire he has decided just what points he is going 
 to bring out. 
 
 Written Exercise. — (1) Jot down on paper memo- 
 randa of the important things, the turning events, 
 in your own past life. (2) Make memoranda to 
 show what events ought to stand out most dis- 
 tinctly in a history of the United States. 
 
 Plot. — Read the following : — 
 
 Ichabod Crane was ridiculously frightened one dark night 
 by a bey who played ghost. The lad took the part of a 
 traditional spectre that rode a black horse. The joker hail 
 a cloak over his head, ami before him on the saddle a pump- 
 kin, to represent the head winch the headless horseman was 
 tallied to carry.
 
 NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION 273 
 
 Read now the following : — 
 
 One dark night Ichabod Crane started homeward on horse- 
 back. He approached the oak on which Andr£, the spy, 
 was hanged. Ichabod' s heart quaked. He passed the haunted 
 tree in safety, but his heart almost stood still when, a little 
 farther on, he saw a strange rider on a gigantic horse. Horse 
 and rider kept pace with him. Ichabod however saw that 
 the latter was headless, nay, carried his head before him on 
 the saddle. The figure raised itself and hurled its head 
 at Ichabod. When the schoolmaster found himself on the 
 ground, did he realize that the grewsome missile was only 
 a pumpkin ? 
 
 Which of these accounts begets suspense as to the 
 outcome ? In other words, in which is there plot f 
 Recall some novel you have read, and explain how 
 the reader's interest is held through to the end. 
 
 Oral Exercise. — Recall some anecdote, and pre- 
 sent it orally with plot interest. 
 
 Theme. — Write a simple historical narrative of 
 about two hundred words, giving without plot all 
 the details of some brief incident in your own 
 experience. The following may suggest a topic : 
 1. My first day at the lathe. 2. Examination 
 memories. 3. How I earned some money and how 
 I spent it. 4. Spearing fish by night. 5. A per- 
 sonal adventure with a window. 6. How I spent 
 this morning. 
 
 Theme. — Write one or more imaginary news- 
 paper items, without plot, each detailing some
 
 274 FIRST BOOK IN WHITING ENGLISH 
 
 simple incident. Choose a subject of local interest 
 if possible. For example : 1. A runaway. 2. Fire 
 on Seventh Street. 3. Trolley-car accident. 4. Curi- 
 ous act of a bird. 5. April 23 at the Brown School. 
 0. Brave deed of a child. 7. He returned $500. 
 S. Au old building demolished. 9. The new library 
 is opened. 10. Arrested for " scorching." 
 
 Themes. — Select several topics for five hundred 
 word themes, and write outlines showing what de- 
 tails you would emphasize in composing. Then 
 write historical narratives from the outlines, making 
 them as interesting as you can without deviating 
 from facts. Sample subjects : 1. My struggles 
 with cooking. 2. A day in the berry patch. 3. The 
 first time I saw a play. 4. An adventure of my 
 father. 5. A few days with a doctor. G. How a 
 certain town was named. 7. Misfortunes of our 
 circus. 8. The tribulations of a truant. 9. My first 
 ocean voyage. 10. An uncomfortable call. 11. My 
 career as an actor. 12. A visit to the World's Fair. 
 13. In a graveyard after dark. 14. How Smith 
 looked me up. 15. A week in the woods. 16. The 
 fall I had. 17. My experience as a clerk. 18. A 
 glimpse of college life. 19. What 1 saw some bees 
 do. 20. An unwilling swim. 21. That Fourth of 
 July. 22. Experiences with a pony. 23. Haying. 
 24. How the vacation passed. 25. When I was a 
 book-a< r ent. 20. Crossing a swollen stream.
 
 NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION 275 
 
 Complex Incident. — Many a narrative must be 
 composed of several threads, telling different events 
 that were going on at the same time. If you were 
 giving an account of how two hunters after being 
 separated in the woods finally reached home again, 
 you would relate first how one got home, then how 
 the other got home ; or, having narrated the wander- 
 ings of the first, you would let the second tell his 
 own story on rejoining his companion. 
 
 Theme. — Relate a complex incident, either his- 
 torical or fictional, in a theme about five hundred 
 words long. Two or three threads are enough. 
 The following may suggest a subject : 1. Two roads 
 to town. 2. How our party reached the top of the 
 mountain. 3. Adventures of a lost child and its 
 parents. 4. The rescue of an amateur sailor from 
 a wreck. 5. What happened at our club meeting. 
 G. Three boys and a boat. 7. An overheard dis- 
 cussion. 
 
 Description 
 
 Language is better adapted to narrate than to 
 describe, for words follow each other, just as events 
 do; they cannot flash the whole picture, with all 
 the details, upon the reader. Consequently writers 
 often combine narrative and description in order to 
 dwell on details. Homer 1 describes the shield of 
 Achilles by telling the story of its forging — how 
 
 i Iliad, xviii. G01, Bryant's translation.
 
 27G FIRST BOOK IN WETTING ENGLISH 
 
 Vulcan wrought each part in turn. What is called 
 the traveller's view is description from successive 
 ] K lints of view. There is a good example of this 
 kind of description in Hawthorne's American \<>tr 
 Books, p. 181. 
 
 In some descriptions the writer is willing to 
 sacrifice the general look of the object, in order 
 to secure accuracy of detail. (Jiving each detail is 
 called description by inventory. This is often useful, 
 particularly in business or in science. Turn to any 
 book of natural history and read the inventory 
 description of some bird or animal. But ordinarily 
 a description should give a general impression 
 whether it afterward gives details or not. The 
 most common way of doing this is to tell what in 
 general the object to be described makes you think 
 of. If the object is a river, it may remind you of 
 a snake or a letter S ; if a village, it may recall to 
 your mind a flat-iron; if a little old lady, it may 
 appear to you, as to Dickens, in Hard Times, "a 
 bundle of shawls." The main impression thus re- 
 ceived is called the fundamental image. 
 
 Not every object will furnish a fundamental 
 image, but every object is sure to be remembered 
 for a few chief details. If of a given landscape 
 there lingers in the memory only a dim sense of 
 green woods, with here and there a patch of white, 
 it is as much description to record this dim image 
 as it would be to detail kinds of trees, distances,
 
 NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION Til 
 
 etc. Indeed, it is a mistake often made to re- 
 port in a description things that could not possibly 
 have been seen from the given point of view. To 
 keep the point of view is vital. It is a good practice 
 to describe a photograph — such as those published 
 by the Soule Company, of Boston — in order to 
 learn the art of proportion in these matters of 
 living details. 
 
 It must not, however, be thought that details 
 have no place in description. In studying an 
 object with a view to writing about it, one should 
 have the eye of a hawk for every visible detail, in 
 order that what he writes may be truthful. There 
 is no better training for the powers of observation 
 than description. Send a careless person to the 
 lake to describe it. He reports " myriads of ripples 
 dancing in glee," things that every wretched poet- 
 aster has seen before him. Send a careful observer, 
 and he will report wonderful shades of color, and 
 curious surface effects, like corrugation and damas- 
 cene. 
 
 Suggested Topics for Description 
 
 By Inventory. — 1. The bluebird. 2. A jelly- 
 fish. 3. A luna moth. 4. Kinds of clouds. 5. In 
 a museum. 6. Flags of different nations. 7. A 
 bottle of ink. 8. A small boy's pocket. 9. What 
 my room contains. 10. A shop window. 11. The 
 old swimming-hole. 12. A bit of old silver.
 
 278 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 By Narrative.- — 1. A day in Boston. 2. An oil 
 well. 3. A crowd. I. A quaint tea party. 5. A 
 country fair. G. A fire. 7. A dream. 8. The mati- 
 nee. 9. A masquerade. 10. How the farm looked 
 when I went back. 11. The dynamo I made 
 
 12. My tent-making. 13. Our hut. 14. Decorat- 
 ing a church for Christmas. 15. My baking. 
 Id. Op Pike's Peak. 
 
 By Fundamental Image and Details. — 1. Kinds 
 of noses. 2. A bit of old architecture. 3. A church 
 altar. 4. Famous deltas. 5. The shop. 6. The 
 lunch-room. 7. A little old man. 8. This town 
 in A.D. 2000. 0. An old fhvplace. 10. A wreck. 
 11. Profile .Mountain. 12. The football field. 
 
 13. The baseball ground described for an English- 
 man. 14. The capitol. 15. An old horse. 
 
 By Chief Details. — 1. Uncle Billy. 2. A hermit. 
 3. Our postmaster. 4. Our mail-carrier. 5. An 
 Indian. 6. A southern girl. 7. My chum. 8. The 
 procession of the pines. 9. A moonlight scene, 
 lo. A wood interior. 11. An American boy of 
 1925. 12. Houses I have lived in. 13. Two 
 generals. II. The boy who grins. 15. Queer 
 street characters. 10. A cat. 17. The fortune- 
 oiler. 18. Curious advertisements. 19. Betty in 
 her best dress. 20. A sunset. 21. A wave.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 EXPOSITION AND ARGUMENT 
 
 Exposition 
 
 Exposition is explanation. It may either explain 
 a general principle by illustrations and examples, 
 as the preacher's sermon expounds a statement of 
 scripture, or it may explain a group of facts by 
 getting at their underlying principle, as a scientific 
 treatise does. Exposition, it is clear, deals with 
 ideas rather than with particular objects. We 
 describe a department store ; we expound the prin- 
 ciples by which it is conducted. We describe an 
 electric motor ; we expound the laws of electricity. 
 We describe a beautiful statue ; we expound beauty. 
 
 Below are given various subjects for exposition. 
 In writing about them, do not drift into argument. 
 If you write on " dangers of exercise," do not 
 argue against over-exercise ; calmly explain the 
 matter. 
 
 Subjects for Exposition 
 
 1. Golf. 2. Cannibalism. 3. The bear family. 
 4. Principles of diet. 5. Credulity. 6. Nostalgia. 
 7. How to sail a boat. 8. Drowned rivers. 9. On 
 
 279
 
 280 FIRST BOOK IX WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 eating candy. 1<>. The formation of ravines. 
 11. Dangers of over-exercise. 12. Dangers of 
 too little exercise. 13. Why the earth quakes. 
 14. How men become criminals. 15. How the 
 will may be trained in the classroom. 16. An 
 ideal classroom. 17. What makes np an ideal 
 camping ground. 18. Advantages and disadvan- 
 tages of classroom study. 19. Effects of climate 
 on man. 20. The conduct of a great business. 
 21. "What are home missions? 22. How to be- 
 come famous. 23. How to plan a dinner. 24. How 
 to furnish a sitting-room. 25. Advantages of small 
 • lasses. 20. Possibilities of electricity. 27. What 
 constitutes a great man ? 28. The art of fly-easting. 
 29. The construction of a roof. 30. AYhat good 
 does an examination do the student? 31. Spiritu- 
 alism. 32. Ghosts. 33. My choice of a profession. 
 34. The banking system. 35. Practical values of 
 good manners. 36. The interpretation of any of 
 the proverbs given on pages 213-215. 
 
 Argument 
 
 There are various ways of bringing people to our 
 way of thinking. One way, by appealing to their 
 reason, is called argument. Can you suggest other 
 ways? 
 
 Every argument must have a j)ropositio)t, which 
 is laid down to be proved. If this proposition is 
 not staled in the title of the argument, it should be
 
 EXPOSITION AND ARGUMENT 281 
 
 stated early in the discussion. It cannot be too 
 definitely formulated. Every word of it should 
 be made clear ; there should be full exposition of 
 terms. Half the quarrels in the world disappear 
 after a thorough definition of terms. The question 
 of whether Aaron Burr was guilty of treason de- 
 pends on how treason is defined. In law a man, 
 however traitorous, is not guilty of treason unless 
 his treason had been witnessed by two persons. 
 Burr's treason was not witnessed ; he escaped con- 
 viction. 1 
 
 In argument (a) depend upon a few weighty 
 arguments rather than upon many weak ones ; (b) 
 remember that examples are but weak arguments ; 
 (c) if in debate, be perfectly fair to your opponent, 
 admitting all that is true on his side; (d) know 
 your case thoroughly in every detail. 
 
 Subjects for Argument or Debate 
 
 1. Examinations are usually a fair test of scholar- 
 ship. 2. Labor-saving machinery is a permanent 
 advantage to mankind. 3. The world owes every 
 man a living. 4. A truthful person will be a 
 better writer than a liar. 5. The Gulf of Mexico 
 will one day have a greater port than New York 
 now has. 6. High school students should read the 
 newspapers. 7. Observation helps us more than 
 
 1 Carpenter and Fletcher, Introduction to Theme -Writing, 
 p. 117.
 
 282 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 reading. 8. Examinations should be abolished. 
 9. Sunday observance should be compulsory. 10. A 
 
 high school is guilty of injustice to its students 
 if it does not train them in public speaking. 
 11. People possessing no property should not be 
 allowed to vote. 12. Is it right to break a friend- 
 ship ? 13. Ought department stores to be permit- 
 ted ? 14. Are there good excuses for being a 
 tramp? 15. Is it wrong to bet? 16. How far is 
 it right in politics that to the victors should belong 
 the spoils ? 17. Should a parent forbid his son to 
 take part in football ? 18. Should a man ever shoot 
 a robber ? 19. Is suicide ever justifiable ? 20. Is it 
 right to evade custom house duties? 21. Is it 
 wrong to go to the theatre often ? 22. Is it ever 
 best to give money on the street ? 23. Is it right 
 for women to wear birds on their hats? 24. How 
 far is it right for students to study together ? 
 25. Is a curfew law desirable? 2G. Is it right to 
 discard old friends for new ? 27. Should one bear 
 witness against a friend ? 28. Does paying a fare 
 entitle one to a seat ? 29. Is it right to let people 
 deceive themselves ? 30. Are there any customary 
 lies which are right? 31. Is capital punishment 
 defensible as punishment? 32. Is capital pun- 
 ishment defensible as a protection to society ? 
 
 33. Should Latin be a compulsory study '.' 
 
 34. Which is rougher, football or pugilism ?
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 Abbreviations, 41-42. 
 
 ability, capacity, 154. 
 
 abominate, 192. 
 
 Abridgment, 266-270. 
 
 Abstract, 266-270. 
 
 accept, except, 160. 
 
 acceptance, acceptation, 154. 
 
 access, accession, 154. 
 
 act, action, 155. 
 
 Adjective and noun, concord 
 of, 48-49. 
 
 Adjective, singular, with plural 
 noun, 40. 
 
 advance, advancement, 155. 
 
 affect, effect, 1G0. 
 
 African words, 185. 
 
 aggravate, irritate, tantalize, 
 161. 
 
 Agreement. See Concord. 
 
 ain't, 149. 
 
 alienate, antagonize, 1G2. 
 
 Alienism, 152, 153. 
 
 Allegory, 250. 
 
 allude, mention, 161. 
 
 alternative, choice, 155. 
 
 amateur, 152. 
 
 Ambiguity, 43'; 233-234. 
 
 Americanisms, 153. 
 
 and, 97, 100. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suf- 
 fixes, 186-187. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon words, 182-183, 
 235-238. 
 
 antagonize, alienate, 162. 
 
 Apostropbe, the, 37. 
 
 apt, likely, liable, 167. 
 
 Arabic words, 185. 
 
 Argument, 280-282: proposi- 
 tion, 280 ; exposition of terms, 
 281; subjects for, 126-127, 
 281-282. 
 
 Arnold, M., 149. 
 
 around, round, 177, foot-note. 
 
 artiste, 153. 
 
 as . . . as, 55. 
 
 Asterisks, 37. 
 
 Audience, necessity of, 10, 136- 
 137, 141-142. 
 
 Authority, in choice of words, 
 147. 
 
 Authors, the best, 149. 
 
 autoharp, 153. 
 
 avocation, vocation, 156. 
 
 bad or badly, 57. 
 baggage, luggage, 148. 
 balance, remainder, 156. 
 Barbarisms, 151-153. 
 beau monde, 153. 
 Beauty of style, 229. 
 begin, commence, 162. 
 Bible, 212. 
 blickey, 147. 
 bogus, 175. 
 Brackets, 35. 
 bring, fetch, 162. 
 Briticisms, 153. 
 Bunyan, J., 212. 
 
 283
 
 284 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 burglarize, 152. 
 but, 100. 
 
 c doubled in word, 17. 
 
 calculate, intend, 164. 
 
 can, may, 165. 
 
 capacity, ability, 154. 
 
 Capitals, rules for, 21-23. 
 
 Case, government of, 53-54. 
 
 Cases, concord of, 52. 
 
 Chapter, 75. 
 
 character, reputation, 156. 
 
 Chinese words, 185. 
 
 Choice of words. See under 
 
 Words. 
 claim, asst rt, etc., T>2. 
 Clauses, subordination of, 96- 
 
 101. 
 Clearness, 43, 227-228, 251, 255. 
 Cleft infinitive, 46-47. 
 Climax, 112-113, 229. 
 Coherence, 44, 101-102. 
 Collective noun, 47. 
 Colon, 30-31. 
 combine (noun), 152. 
 Comma, 24-28; with aiid, 84. 
 Comma-fault, 81. 
 commence, beat i, 162. 
 Communication. See under 
 
 English, writing of. 
 complimi ni , comph ment, 156". 
 Composition. See English, 
 
 writing of. 
 Composition, whole. See 
 
 Theme. 
 Cinip cm 1 w mis, 14-15. 
 
 C mi • 1. 17 53: of subject and 
 
 predicate, 17-48; of adjective 
 and noun, 48 49; of pronoun 
 and antecedent, 49 52; of 
 cases, 52 : of tenses. 52-n53. 
 Conjunction, 55, 56, 97, 99, 100. 
 continual, continuous, 167. 
 Correspondence, forms of. Sec 
 Letter-writing. 
 
 council, counsel, 157. 
 
 • 'ourtesy in tetters, 255-256. 
 
 Criticism : by the instructor, 
 
 2 I : by the class, 10. 
 Curious words, 191-192. 
 
 Hash, 31-32. 
 
 Deficiency of words, 233. 
 
 <i< mean, 40, foot-note ; demean, 
 
 dt grade, dt base, 162-163. 
 Description, 275-278: traveller's 
 
 \ iew, 27ii : by inventory, '_'7ii : 
 
 fundamental image, 27(1: 
 
 point of view, 277; topics for 
 
 themes, 277-278. 
 di tin . " ant, wish, 167. 
 Diacritical marks, 150. 
 Dialogue, punctuation of, 34- 
 
 35. 
 Dickens, C, 149. 
 Diction, 227. See also under 
 
 Words. 
 Dictionary, use of , 13-14, 150. 
 different than for different 
 
 from, 56. 
 different to for different from, 
 
 56. 
 Digression: in the sentence, 
 90-91 : in the paragraph or 
 
 theme, 116-117. 
 discovt ry, invi n ion, 157. 
 don't, 153. 
 
 double entendre, 152. 
 drank and drunk, 63. 
 drive, ride, 163. 
 Dutch words, 185. 
 
 . as pronoun, 48. 
 
 effect, affect, 160. 
 
 either: as distributive conjunc- 
 tion, 48; as pronoun, 4s ; 
 either . . . or, 48. 
 
 electrocution 152. 
 
 else, a part of the noun, 63-64. 
 Emerson, It. W., 144.
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 285 
 
 eminent, imminent, immanent, 
 168. 
 
 Emotions, 228-229. 
 
 Emphasis, in the sentence, 110- 
 112, 229. 
 
 Emphasis, punctuation for, SC- 
 SI. 
 
 endorse, approve, second, 163. 
 
 Endorsement, of theme, 2. 
 
 English, writing of, 5-11 : as an 
 art of communication, 5-G ; 
 as a useful art, 7 ; as a tine 
 art, 7-9; limitations, 9-10; 
 writing for an audience, 
 10-11. ' 
 
 enthuse (verb), 152. 
 
 entre nous, 153. 
 
 Errors, in themes, 1, 3. 
 
 Essay. See Theme. 
 
 Etymology. See under Gram- 
 mar. 
 
 Euphony, 229. 
 
 every (pronoun), 48. 
 
 except, accept, 100. 
 
 exceptionably, 175. 
 
 Exclamation point, 35. 
 
 Exercises. See under Sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Exposition, 279-2S0: explained, 
 279: subjects for, 120, 127, 
 279-280. 
 
 falseness, falsity, 157. 
 
 faux pas, 15.';. 
 
 fetch, bring, 102. 
 
 Figures : figurative uses of 
 
 common words, 199-203 ; 
 
 240-253. 
 Fiske, J., 149, 206. 
 flexibone, 153. 
 flunk, 148. 
 Force, 228. 
 
 Formal letters, 255, 259-260. 
 French words, 184. 
 funny, odd, 1"8. 
 
 Gallicisms, 152. 
 
 General words, 238-243. 
 
 gent, 152. 
 
 Good usage, 150. 
 
 got, gotten, have, 163. 
 
 grade, gradient, 148. 
 
 Grammar, 43-73: to secure 
 clearness, 43; solecisms, 44; 
 coherence, 44-47; concord, 
 47-53; government, 53-54; 
 reference of pronouns, 51-55 ; 
 conjunctions and preposi- 
 tions, 55-50; use of adverb 
 or adjective with verbs of 
 sensation, etc., 50-58; shall 
 or will, 58-02; matters of 
 etymology, 63-64 ; exercises, 
 oral, 45-46, 53, 58, 61-62, 
 64-73. 
 
 Grammar. See also under 
 Punctuation. 
 
 Greek roots in English, 191. 
 
 Green, J. R., 149. 
 
 Growth : of paragraph from 
 root, 75; of thought, 114. 
 
 guess, think, reckon, 163. 
 
 guillotine, 191. 
 
 Hawthorne, N., 149. 
 healthy, healthful, 168. 
 Hellenism, 152. 
 Holden, E. S., 197. 
 Hughes, '!'., 149. 
 Hyperbole, 24S. 
 Hyphen, 14-15. 
 
 Ideas and words, 195-197 ; ideas 
 
 without words, 194. 
 ill (adjective or adverb), 57. 
 imminent, eminent, immanent, 
 
 168. 
 Improprieties, 154. 
 in, into, 169. 
 Indentation, 1, 129-130. 
 I'idia, words from, lS51Si ; .
 
 286 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Indian words (North Ameri- 
 can), 186. 
 
 infant, derivation of, 6. 
 
 Infinitive, cleft. See Cleft in- 
 finitive. 
 
 Informal letters, 255, 260-261. 
 
 Interrogation jioint, 36. 
 
 invention, discovery, 157. 
 
 Inverted order, 104, loot-note, 
 11(1. 
 
 invite (noun), 152. 
 
 Italian words, 184. 
 
 Italics, 36-37. 
 
 James, H., 149. 
 Janus-clause, 46. 
 Jefferson, J., 137. 
 
 Keller, H., 194. 
 
 Language, English, formation 
 of. See under Vocabulary, 
 sources of. 
 
 Language, study of, 5-7. 
 
 Language, written. See under 
 Rhetoric. 
 
 last, latest, 169; last, prececl- 
 ing, 169. 
 
 Latin constructions. See Latin- 
 isnis. 
 
 Latin element, 188-191 : words 
 transferred to English, 188- 
 189; prefixes and suffixes, 
 189; roots, 189-191. 
 
 Latin words, 181, 188-189, 190- 
 191. 
 
 Latinisms, 50-51, 152. 
 
 lay, lie, Hid. 
 
 let, 1 is ; let, leave, 164. 
 
 Letter-writing, 255-261 : use of 
 capitals, 22; why important, 
 255; business letters, 255- 
 258; petition, 258-259; for- 
 mal social letters, 259-260 ; 
 personal or informal letters, 
 
 260-261; exercises, 258-259, 
 
 25! 1-260, 261. 
 liable, likely, apt, 167. 
 lie, lay, 164. 
 like, 56. 
 
 limit, limitation, 157. 
 litterateur, 153. 
 loan, lend, 165. 
 Localisms, 147. 
 locate, settle, 164. 
 Loose senteuce, 102-103, 10G, 
 
 10!). 
 lot, 175. 
 luggage, baggage, 148. 
 
 mad, angry, 169. 
 majority, plurality, 158. 
 Malaprop, Mrs., 195. 
 .Malayan words, 186. 
 managerial, 152. 
 Manuscript: preparation of, 
 
 1-2; once written "solid, "23. 
 may, run, 165. 
 .Memorizing of literature, 212 ; 
 
 of proverbs, 213. 
 mention, allude, 161. 
 Metaphor, 249. 
 Metonymy, 250. 
 Mexican words, 1S6. 
 most, almost, 169. 
 motorneer, 151. 
 mutual, common, 169. 
 
 Narration, 271-275: historical 
 narrative, 271 ; fiction, 271 ; 
 choice of details, 272; plot, 
 272-27:;; complex incident, 
 
 275; exercises, 272-273; 
 themes, 27:; 274, 275. 
 
 Nation, The, 266. 
 
 National usage, 1 18. 
 
 neither, as distributive con- 
 junction's; as pronoun, 48; 
 neither . . . nor, 48. 
 
 nom de plume, 152.
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 287 
 
 none, 48. 
 
 Norman genitive, 63. 
 
 Norman-French words, 184. 
 
 Norse words, 183. 
 
 Note-book, need of, 4, 14, 199, 
 
 262-263. 
 Noun and adjective, concord 
 
 of, 48-49. 
 Number of words. See Words, 
 
 right number aud skilful 
 
 choice of. 
 
 O, in apostrophe, 35. 
 
 Observation, how sharpened, 
 277. 
 
 observation, observance, re- 
 mark, 158. 
 
 Oh, punctuation of, 35. 
 
 Omission of words. See Words, 
 omission of. 
 
 one's self, 14. 
 
 only, and not only, 45-40. 
 
 onto, 175; onto, upon, 153. 
 
 oral, verbal, 170. 
 
 Orthoepy. See Pronunciation. 
 
 Orthography. See Spelling. 
 
 Outline of theme, 130, 138-139. 
 
 pants, 152. 
 
 Paragraph, division of. See 
 under Sentence. 
 
 Paragraph : indented, 1 ; growth 
 of, from root, 75 ; History of 
 the English paragraph, 114, 
 foot-note ; nebulae of, 11(5 ; 
 planning of, 117 ; kinds of, 
 120-124; expanding of one 
 into several, 128-131. 
 
 Parkmau, F. W., 149, 260. 
 
 part, portion, 159. 
 
 Participle: unrelated, 49; mis- 
 related, 49 ; in place of verbal 
 noun, 49. 
 
 party, person, 158. 
 
 Periodic sentence, 103-106, 109- 
 
 110 : defined, 104 ; use of, 104 ; 
 abuse of, 104, 106. 
 
 permit, permission, 153. 
 
 Persian words, 186. 
 
 person, party, 158. 
 
 Personification, 250. 
 
 Petition, form of, 258-259. 
 
 photo, 152. 
 
 Planning, of theme, 114, 133- 
 136 ; of paragraph, 117. 
 
 plurality, majority, 158. 
 
 Plurals and singulars, 15. 
 
 point of view, 153. 
 
 Possessive, how formed, 15, 63. 
 
 posted, informed, 170. 
 
 practicable, practical, 171. 
 
 Predicate and subject, concord 
 of, 47-48. 
 
 predominant, prominent, 159. 
 
 Prefixes and sutlixes: Anglo- 
 Saxon, 186-187; Latin, 189. 
 
 Preposition, 55-56. 
 
 Present usage, 148. 
 
 preventative , 152. 
 
 Prof., 152. 
 
 Prolixity, 229-231. 
 
 Pronoun: neutral, 50; indefi- 
 nite, 50; reference of, 54; 
 concord of, with antecedent, 
 49-52. 
 
 Pronunciation: importance of, 
 18; list of words mispro- 
 nounced, 19-20. 
 
 propose, purpose, 105. 
 
 proved, proven, 165. 
 
 Proverbs, 213-215. 
 
 Provincialisms, 147. 
 
 Punctuation, 21^2: disjunc- 
 tive, 21, 84 ; capitals, 21-23; 
 reasons for punctuation, 23- 
 24 ; comma, 24-28 ; semicolon, 
 29-30 ; colon, 30-31 ; dash, 31- 
 32 ; quotation marks, 33-35 ; 
 brackets, 35 ; exclamation 
 point, 35; interrogation point,
 
 288 FIRST HOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 "0; italics, 36-37 ; apostrophe, 
 37; asterisks, '■'•': abbrevia- 
 tions, 41-42 : puncl ual ion for 
 
 empbasis, 80-87 ; exercises, 
 oral, 29-30, 38-39; exercises, 
 written, 2;:, 27-28, 32 33, 30, 
 39-41. 
 
 quite, somewhat, very, rathe?', 
 
 entirely, wholly, 171. 
 Quotation marks, 33-35. 
 Quotation, rhetorical, 22. 
 
 radiograph, 152. 
 
 Reading: oral, 12-13; care in, 
 203-211. 
 
 real, really, extr mely, 171. 
 
 recipe, receipt, L59. 
 
 reckon, guess, think, 103. 
 
 Relative clause, restrictive and 
 non-restrictive, 26, 27. 
 
 relative, relation, 159. 
 
 reportorial, 1">2. 
 
 Reproduction, 202, 270: literal 
 reproduction, 262-266; sum- 
 mary, abstract, abridgment, 
 200-207 ; material for, 207- 
 270. 
 
 reputation, character, 150. 
 
 n sidence, house, 159. 
 
 resurrectionist.*, 175. 
 
 Rhetoric, defined, 0. See also 
 under English, writing of. 
 
 ride, drive, L63. 
 
 "Roentgen rays," names for, 
 151. 
 
 round, around, 177. foot-note. 
 
 Ruskin, J., 212, 241. 
 
 Saxon genitive, 03. 
 scotograph, 152. 
 Self-expression, 5, 11. 
 Semicolon, 29-30,84-85. 
 
 Sensation, verbs of, use with 
 adjective or adverb, 50-57. 
 
 Sense impressions, 205. 
 
 Sentence, 74-95: part of the 
 paragraph, 74-78; long and 
 short sentence, 78, 85 ; sen- 
 tence unity, 79-93; unity of 
 form, 79 (see also under Sen- 
 tence, well-knit) ; unity of 
 substance, by excluding irrel- 
 evant ideas, 79-82; by inclu- 
 sion of all parts of an idea, 
 82-80, S8; unity sacrificed for 
 emphasis, S(>-87 ; seventeenth 
 century paragraph, 88-90; 
 unity by keeping to the point, 
 90-91 ; by supplying sup- 
 pressed clauses, 92; exer- 
 cises, oral, 81, 85-86, 87, 90,92- 
 95; exercises, written, 88 90. 
 
 Sentence, well-knit, 96-113: 
 unity of form, 96-102; com- 
 plex. 97-98; loose and peri- 
 odic sentence. 103-110; em- 
 phasis, lit) 112: climax, 112- 
 113; exercises, oral, 98, 100, 
 102, 104-106, 107-109, 111-112. 
 
 set, sit, 166. 
 
 sewage, sewerage, 100. 
 
 shadowgraph, 152. 
 
 Shakespeare, 200-201, 212, 253. 
 
 shall and will: in direct dis- 
 course, 58-60 : in indirect dis- 
 course, 60-61; in questions, 
 61. 
 
 showing up, 175. 
 
 shunting, switching, 1 17. 
 
 sideways for *id< wise, i\>. 
 
 Signs, for marking themes, 3-4. 
 
 Simile. 219. 
 
 Simplicity, 229. 244-246. 
 
 Singulars and plurals, 15. 
 
 site, situation, 100. 
 
 skiagraph, 152. 
 
 slick, 151. 
 
 so . . . as, 55. 
 
 So construction, 99-100.
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 289 
 
 Solecism, 44. 
 
 some, somewhat, 172. 
 
 South American words, 186. 
 
 Spanish words, 184-185. 
 
 Specific words, 235-238. 
 
 Spelling, 13-20 : practice in, 13- 
 14; of compound words, 14- 
 15; possessive, 15; singulars 
 and plurals, 15; common 
 errors, 10-17 ; word-breaking, 
 17 ; exercises, 16-18, 19-20. 
 
 spoonsful, 152. 
 
 spotted. 175. 
 
 standpoint, 153. 
 
 Stevenson, R. L., 149, 239. 
 
 stop, stay, 166. 
 
 Style, 227-229. 
 
 Subject and predicate, concord 
 of, 47-18. 
 
 Subject, choice of, 136. 
 
 Subjects for themes. See 
 Theme. 
 
 Suffixes. See Prefixes and suf- 
 fixes. 
 
 Suggestive words, 229. 
 
 suicide (verb) , 152. 
 
 Summary, 200-270. 
 
 Suppressed clause, 92. 
 
 Surplusage, 231-233. 
 
 switching, shunting, 147. 
 
 Syllables, joining of, 15. 
 
 Synecdoche, 248. 
 
 Synonyms, 215-225: a method 
 of study, 217-220; groups of, 
 220-225: books of, 219, 220, 
 foot-note. (See also 154-180.) 
 
 Syntax. See under Grammar. 
 
 Tenses, concord of, 52-53. 
 
 Teutonisms, 153. 
 
 Thackeray, W. M., 149, 196. 
 
 Theme : errors in, 1,3; title, 2 ; 
 endorsement, 2; revision and 
 rewriting, 2, 13 ; signs in cor- 
 recting, 3-4. 
 u 
 
 Theme, organizing of, 114-146: 
 different ways of planning, 
 114; growth of thought, 114- 
 110; unity, 110-117; planning 
 paragraph, 117; topic sen- 
 tence, 117-120, 123-124 ; kinds 
 of paragraphs, 120-123, 120, 
 127-128; expansion, 128-133; 
 proportioning, 133-136; choice 
 of subject," 136-138, 141- 
 143; outline, 130, 138-139; 
 specimen theme, 139-141 ; 
 transitions between para- 
 graphs, 143-144; transitions 
 between sentences, 144-146 ; 
 exercises, oral, 123-126, 133- 
 135, 141-142, 145-146; ex- 
 ercises written, 131,135, 141, 
 142-143, 144 ; themes, 126-128, 
 141-142. 
 
 Theme, subjects for, 34, 81-82, 
 88, 120-128, 129, 131-133, 135- 
 130, 141-14:;. 263-266, 267-270, 
 277-27H.281-2S2. 
 
 those kind, 48. 
 
 Thought, growth of, 114. 
 
 Threads of narrative, 275. 
 
 Topic sentence, 117. 
 
 Transitions, between para- 
 graphs, 143-144 ; between sen- 
 tences, 144-145. 
 
 Translation, 211. 
 
 transpire, happen, 166. 
 
 Trope, 247. 
 
 Uniformity of sentence struct- 
 ure, 101-102. 
 
 Unity of form, in sentence, 79, 
 90-102. 
 
 Unity of substance: in sen- 
 tence, 74-95; in theme, 110. 
 
 unless, without, 172. 
 
 Usage: national, 147-148; rep- 
 utable, 148; present, 148; 
 good, 150.
 
 290 FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH 
 
 Variety: of words, 226; as an 
 
 element of beauty, 229. 
 r rbal, oral, 170. 
 Verbosity, 2:;:;. 
 
 Vocabulary, mastery of a writ- 
 ing, 194-226: ideas without 
 wmds, 194; words without 
 ideas, 194-195 ; ideas and 
 words, 195-197; the two vo- 
 cabularies, 197-199; vocabu- 
 lary book, 199; figurative use 
 of common words, 199-203; 
 value of careful reading, 20o- 
 211 ; contributions from other 
 studies, 211 ; translation, 211 ; 
 memorizing of literal are, 212- 
 213; English proverbs, 213- 
 215; synonyms for adjectives 
 of praise, 216; danger of 
 bookish words, 216-217; a 
 method of study, 217-220; 
 groups of synonyms, 220-225 : 
 variety, 226; exercises, oral, 
 216, 218-219, 220: written, 
 202-2(>:;, 218, 219-220, 225-226. 
 Vocabulary note-hook, 4, 199, 
 
 262. 
 Vocabulary, sources of the 
 English, 181-193: historical 
 sketch, 181-186; Anglo-Saxon 
 prefixes and suffixes, 186-187 ; 
 Latin element, 188 : Latin 
 words transferred to Eng- 
 lish, 188-189; Latin prefixes 
 and suffixes, 189; Latin routs 
 in English, L89-191 ; Greek 
 roots in English, 191 ; curi- 
 ous words, 191-192; written 
 exercise, 192-193. 
 Vocative words, punctuation 
 
 Of, 25. 
 Vulgarisms, 149. 
 
 walkist, 152. 
 
 ivant, wish, desire, 167. 
 
 well (adjective or adverb), 57. 
 
 Wesl India words, 186. 
 
 ir/i, atena, 153. 
 
 will and shall. See Shall and 
 
 will, 
 wish, want, desire, H>7. 
 with, introducing parenthetical 
 
 clause, 47. 
 without, uiih-SS, 172. 
 
 Word-breaking, 17. 
 
 Words, correctness in choice of, 
 147-180: authority. 147-150; 
 provincialisms or localisms, 
 147; national usage, 147-148; 
 present usage, 148 ; reputable 
 usage, 148-149; vulgarisms, 
 14!>; good usage, 150; diction- 
 ary, 150; barbarisms, 151-153 ; 
 alienisms, 152 153; impropri- 
 eties, 154 : choice of nouns, 
 i:,l L60; verbs, 160-167 ; ad- 
 jectives and adverbs, 167-172 ; 
 exercises, oral, 172-174, 175- 
 177, 178-180. 
 Words, figurative use of com- 
 mon. See Vocabulary. 
 Words, lists of : incorrectly 
 spelled, 16-17 ; compound, 
 14-15; mispronounced, 18-19; 
 Latin, 181-182, 188-189, 190- 
 191 ; Celtic, 182; Anglo-Saxon, 
 182-183; Norse, 183; Italian, 
 184: Spanish, 185; Dutch, 
 is:,; African, 185; Arabian, 
 L85; Chinese 185; India, 
 words from. L85-186; -Ma- 
 layan. 186 ; Persian, 186 ; 
 North American Indian. 186; 
 Mexican, 186; West Indian. 
 186; South American, 186; 
 Greek. 191 ; curious, 191-192 ; 
 adjectives, 203; synonyms, 
 220-2^5. 
 Words, omission of, 55, 92, 234- 
 235.
 
 SUBJECT INDEX 
 
 291 
 
 Words, right number and skil- 
 ful choice of, 227-253: as 
 affecting clearness, 227-228; 
 force, 228-229; beauty, 229; 
 prolixity, 229-231; surplus 
 of, 231-232 ; deficiency of, 
 233-235 ; specific words, 235- 
 238 ; general words, 238-245 ; 
 ambiguous words, 243-244 ; 
 
 simple words, 244-24G ; literal 
 and figurative words, 24fi- 
 253; exercises, 232-233, 235, 
 237-238, 241-243, 243-244, 245- 
 241 !, 253-254. 
 
 Words without ideas, 194-195. 
 
 Writing vocabulary. See Vo- 
 cabulary.
 
 INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED 
 
 Aiken, C, 18. 
 
 Bainton, G., 244, foot-note. 
 
 Baker, G. P., '270, foot-uote. 
 
 Bardeen, ( '. YV.. 44. 
 
 Bartlett, J., 201, foot-note. 
 
 Beecher, II. W., 7."., 253. 
 
 Bible, 107. 
 
 Bigelow, N. T., 15. 
 
 Blackmore, R. I)., 15)3, 205, 
 206. 
 
 Brookings, W. I>., and Ring- 
 wait, R. C, 209, foot-uote. 
 
 Browning, li., 135. 
 
 Bryant, YV. ('., 275, foot-note. 
 
 Buck, G., 114. foot-note. 
 
 Burke, E., 145, 267. 
 
 Carlyle, T., 201-205, 253. 
 Carpenter, G. R., '■'>, foot-note; 
 
 48, 211, foot-note; 238 239; 
 
 ami Fletcher, J. B., 281, foot- 
 
 Dote. 
 Chesterfield, P. D. S. (4th earl), 
 
 151, 179. 
 Choate, R., 211. 
 Cholmondeley, T., 261. 
 Clarendon, E. H. (1st lord), 
 
 89 '."I. 
 Coleridge, S. T., 76-77, 130. 
 Cook, A. S., 212, foot-note. 
 
 Defoe, D., 89. 
 
 De Quincey, T., 78. 
 
 Dickens, C, 276. 
 Drayton, M., 136. 
 
 Eliot, George, 243. 
 
 Emerson, R. W., 34, 77, 121- 
 
 122, 210. 
 
 Fallows, S., 220, foot-note. 
 Fernald, J. C, 211), 220, foot- 
 note. 
 Fiske, J., 101. 
 
 Gaskell, Mrs., 177-179. 
 Genung, J. F., 109, foot-note. 
 Goethe, ."'5. 
 
 Hale, E. E., Jr., 240, foot-note. 
 Hall. S., ix., foot-note. 
 Hart. .1. M., 257, foot-note. 
 Hawthorne, N., 105-106,276. 
 Hazlitt, VV., 213, foot-note. 
 Hill, A. S., 104, foot-uote; 199. 
 
 211. 
 Holmes. O. W., 75-7(5. 
 Homer, 275, foot-note. 
 Howells, W. !>.. 2(H). 
 Hughes, T., 64-71. 
 Huxley, T. II., 108. 
 
 Irving, W., 124-12G. 
 
 James, II., 196, 213. 
 .lames, YV., 255, foot-note. 
 Johnson, S., 122-123, 192-193. 
 Jowett, B., 114. 
 
 292
 
 INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED 
 
 293 
 
 Keats, J., 240. 
 Keller, 191, foot-note. 
 
 Lamb, C, 39-41. 
 
 Lanier, S., 107. 
 
 Lewis, E. H., 114, foot-note. 
 
 Lincoln, A., 133-134. 
 
 Longfellow, H. W., 22, 136. 
 
 Lowell, J. R., 13G, 231. 
 
 Macaulay, T. B., 107, 118-119. 
 Mandeville, Sir J., 94-95, 96-97. 
 Mevnell, A., ix. 
 Miles, A. H., 263, 264. 
 Milton, J., 117, 207-208. 
 Moliere, 43. 
 Morse, E. S., 120. 
 
 Newman, J. IL, 91, 108-109. 
 
 Outlook, The, 118. 
 Oxford English Dictionary, 153, 
 foot-note. 
 
 P hyfe, W. H. P., 18. 
 
 Roche, Sir B., 252. 
 
 Roget, P. M., 220, foot-note. 
 Rousseau, J. J., 13. 
 Ruskin, J.. 100-101, 111, 145, 
 172-174, 207-211. 
 
 Scott, F. N., and Denney, J. V„ 
 114, foot-note; 123, foot-note. 
 
 Shakespeare, 30, 93, 94, 201, 
 252, 253. 
 
 Sheridan, P. B., 195. 
 
 Smith, C. J., 219. 
 
 Southey, R., 112-113. 
 
 Spalding, E. IL, 8, foot-note. 
 
 Stevenson, R. L., 27-28, 32-33, 
 36, 176-177. 
 
 Tennyson, A., 136. 
 Thackeray, W. M., 136. 
 
 Webster, D., 107-108. 
 Wendell, B., Ill, foot-note. 
 Whittier, J. G., 136. 
 Wood, J. G., 119, 128, 131. 
 Wordsworth, W., 240, 253. 
 
 See also bibliography, 263- 
 270.
 
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