XX A COMPOSITION GRAMMAR HOOPER HO SIC \ ££ W W. «.-^«|^« JUL, Digitized by the Internet Arcinive in 2008 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation iittpV/www.archive.org/detaiis/compositionforeiOOjamerich COMPOSITION FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS A COMPOSITION GRAMMAR By CYRUS LAURON HOOPER Principal of the John McLaren School, Chicago and JAMES FLEMING HOSIC Head of the Department- of English, Chicago Normal College Illustrations by MAUD HUNT SQUIRE RAND McNALLY & COMPANY CHICAGO ^ NEW YORK Copyright, 1916, By Rand McNally & Company ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to Dr. WilHam Bishop Owen, principal of the Chicago Normal College ; Miss Lucy Marian Doyle, of the Parker Practice School, Chicago; Miss Mary E. Tobin, principal of the Marquette School, Chicago; and Miss Ada C. Dyson, of the same school. For the examples of lettering and the accompanying explanation, thanks are due to Mr. Ernst F. Detterer, of the Chicago Normal College. EDUCATION DEPT. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Acknowledgments ii To Teachers ix PART I. THE SENTENCE AS A WHOLE: COMPOSITION Preparing FOR Oral Composition i Some Svbjects Suggested 3 Criticism of the Oral Compositions 4 Written Compositions 5 Form of a Manuscript 6 Criticism of the Written Compositions 7 The Sentence 8 The Kinds of Thought Expressed in Sentences ... 9 Affirmative or Negative Thought 9 Declarative or Interrogative Thought 10 Exclamatory or Non-exclamatory Thought ... id Review 10 Punctuation 11 The Nature of a Sentence 11 Study of a Composition: The Lion in a Circus .... 12 Sentence Study 13 Paragraphs and Quotation Marks: The Golden Apples . 13 Sentence Study 14 A School Paper 15 The Study of Lettering 15 The Alphabet 19 Instructions 21 A Pupil's Paragraph 24 Criticism of the Paragraph 25 Composition Exercise 26 Exercise in Criticism 27 Sentence Study and Rewriting a Story: Three Fables of Msop; The Cricket on the Hearth ....... 29 Discussion of a Picture 32 Writing about the Picture 32 Criticism 33 Collecting Pictures 34 Exercise in Criticism 34 The Apostrophe 36 M69906 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Some Subjects for Composition 39 Blackboard and Seat Work 39 Further Subjects for Composition 41 Why the Study of Grammar is Necessary 41 PART II. THE MAIN PARTS OF THE • SENTENCE: COMPOSITION Complete Predicates and Complete Subjects ... 42 Predicate Verb, Subject Substantive, and Modifiers . 43 There 44 Predicates and Subjects Continued 45 Mistakes in the Use of Verbs: May and Can ... 47 Compound Predicate Verbs and Subject Substantives: Connective Words 48 Modifiers 50 Mistakes in the Use of Modifiers 50 Study of Compound Verbs and Subjects: The Cat, the Squirrel, the Panther, and the Bear 51 Study of a Picture 51 Writing and Reading a Story 52 A Grammar Lesson 52 Compositions by Pupils 53 Exercise in Criticism 54 Spelling: Doubling the Final Consonant .... 55 Every Pupil's Own Spelling Book 57 Outline for an Oral Composition . 58 Some Subjects Suggested 61 Exercise in Criticism 61 Correct Predicates and Subjects ....... 62 Grammar Exercise 64 Speaking from an Outline 65 Exercise in Criticism 66 Objects 67 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 68 Modifiers 69 Compound Objects 69 Group Objects . 70 vSoME Difficult Words 72 A Pupil's Composition 74 Exercise in Criticism 76 Exercise in Grammar 77 A Spelling Lesson 77 Group Work 78 Some Subjects for Group-work Compositions ... 80 Two Exercises in Criticism 81 Exercise in Grammar 82 Exercise in Oral Composition 83 TABLE OF CONTENTS V PAGE Some Difficult Words 83 Spelling: ei and ie . . . 84 A Business Letter 85 Form of a Business Letter 87 Punctuation of the Letter 88 Another Form for a Business Letter 89 Some Typical Business Letters 90 Writing Business Letters 92 Exercise in Criticism 94 The Envelope 94 A Reply to a Letter 95 Exercise in Criticism 96 Group Work 97 Indirect Objects 97 Exercise in Grammar: The Lion and the Dolphin ... 98 Punctuation 99 Exercise in Grammar: The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was 99 Punctuation: Quotation Marks 100 Exercise in Grammar 100 Substantive with a Connective Word 102 Exercise in Grammar: Sir Roger de Coverley 103 Mistakes in the Use of Objects and Substantives with Connectives 105 Composition: A Character Sketch . 108 A Common Misiake in Grammar no Class Criticism of a Composition in Two Compositions BY Pupils in Exercise in Criticism 113 Spelling: A Study of Homonyms 116 Subjects for Oral Compositions 117 Exercise in Criticism 119 Review in Grammar: Why Beans Have a Black Seam . . 120 A Pupil's Letter . 126 Exercise in Grammar . 127 Another Letter 128 Exercise in Grammar and Spelling 128 Some Subjects for Letters 129 Business Letters 130 Social Letters, or Letters of Friendship .... 132 A Spelling Lesson 134 Exercise in Criticism 135 Predicate Words 136 Exercise in Grammar: The Great Stone Face .... 136 Predicate Words Continued 137 Linking Verbs 138 Exercise in Grammar: Beauty and the Beast .... 139 Criticism and Rewriting of a Composition .... 140 Appositives . '. 141 Nominative of Address 143 VI TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Punctuation of Yes and No 144 A Story: Thor Borrows a Kettle 145 Study in Paragraphing and Punctuation .... 149 Some Conversations Written by Pupils 150 Exercise in Criticism 152 Two Misused Words 153 All Right 154 Reporting a Conversation 154 Exercise in Criticism 155 Group Work 156 Study of a Picture 156 Writing and Reading Stories 157 Some Plays Written by Pupils . 158 Criticism of the Plays 167 Instructions for Writing Plays 168 Criticism of the Plays 169 Clauses 169 Exercise in Grammar: Cinderella 171 Two Mistakes in the Use of Subordinate Clauses . 172 Exercise in Grammar: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 175 A Pupil's Composition 176 A Difficult Word 177 Group Work 178 Exercise in Grammar 179 Phrases 179 Exercise in Grammar: The Odyssey; Gulliver's Travels . 181 A Pupil's Composition 183 Punctuation of Clauses and Phrases 184 Study of Punctuation and the Function of Connectives 186 Group Work 187 Exercise in Criticism 187 Subjects for Oral Compositions 188 Study of a Picture 190 Writing and Reading a Story or Play 191 Exercise in Self-Criticism 192 Some Verses Written by Pupils 193 A Study of the Verses 196 Writing Verses 197 Study of a Picture 197 Writing and Reading a Story or Play 198 Simple Sentences 198 Complex Sentences 199 Compound and Complex-Compound Sentences 202 Punctuation 204 Exercise in Grammar and Punctuation: Herr Korhes . 207 Equivalents of Sentences 208 Pupils' Compositions 209 Some Advertisements 211 Anfwering an Advertisement 213 Exercise in Criticism 213 TABLE OP CONTENTS vii PAGE A Caution about Capital Letters .215 Group Work 215 Two Incorrect Phrases 216 Slang 216 Some Difficult Words 217 Some More Letters of Friendship 218 Rewording Sentences . 219 Exercise in Combining Short Sentences: Bre'er Rabbit and Bre'er Lion 222 Exercise in Combining Short Sentences: The Fox and the Horse 225 Group Work 227 Study in Sentence Structure: Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp. The King of the Golden River 227 Analyzing and Writing Sentences 230 A Study of Old Compositions 231 Written Composition 233 Discussion of a Picture 233 Writing and Reading Stories 234 Exercises in Criticism 235 Writing a Composition from an Outline 250 Outlines from Other People's Compositions . . . 251 How to Get a History Lesson 252 The Care of School Property 253 Writing 255 Some Subjects to Analyze 255 Debates 257 PART III. THE PARTS OF SPEECH Function 259 The Conjunction 260 Coordinating Conjunctions 260 Subordinating Conjunctions 261 The Preposition 263 The Verb 265 Tense 265 Number • 266 Person 266 Illustration of a Present Tense 267 The Future Tense 267 Unreasonable Change of Tense 268 Voice 268 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 269 Linking Verbs 269 A Study of Verbs 269 The Noun 271 Number 272 Case 272 VlU TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Common and Proper Nouns 273 The Pronoun 274 Person 275 Case 275 Relative Pronouns 277 Interrogative Pronouns 278 Demonstrative Pronouns 278 Indefinite Pronouns 278 Correct Use of Pronouns . 279 A Study of Pronouns . . ' 279 The Adjective 281 Common and Proper Adjectives 282 Articles 282 Relative, Interrogative, Demonstrative, and Indef- inite Adjectives 283 Numerals 283 Comparison 284 Punctuation of Adjective Clauses 284 A Study of Adjectives 286 The Adverb 287 Comparison 288 Caution 288 A Study of Adverbs 289 Spelling 290 The Interjection 290 Punctuation of Interjections 290 The Index 292 TO TEACHERS TWO widely different methods of teaching composition are found in the schools. One, the strictly technical method, makes constant use of the principles of rhetoric and grammar, and ignores the gain in power that may come to the pupil from the frequent and tmfcttered expression of his thoughts and experiences. The other reverses the process, trusting to the frequency of the act of composition to bring the pupil to a state of accuracy in his use of English. It is not Hkcly that a great number of teachers rely wholly upon either one of these methods of instruction; but very few have been able to make a rational combination of the two, so that principles learned at any time may be used at once and thus become fixed as habit. More progress has been made in the case of rhetoric than in that of grammar, for while unity and the accompanying qualities of a theme have been taught to pupils as guiding principles of composition, a thorough and effective knowledge of syntax has often not been deemed necessary, or, perhaps, has been sought in the isolated study of grammar. Something may indeed be accomplished by such study, but it is the least economical method, and the one least likely to have an effect on oral and written language. This means of teaching the technique of the sentence has had its trial. While it may be true that the country was never so grammar-mad as it was once spelling-mad, it is yet true that grammar as an isolated study had, for a long time, its due share of attention in the curriculum, and that it failed to influence our use of language in a degree proportional to the time spent upon it. A reaction X .TO TEACHERS followed, and writers of grammars began to maintain that the main object of the study of the science was not the improvement of our English, but mental discipline and the acquisition of one of the principal bodies of knowledge. This change of opinion seems to have been followed not only by a decrease in the amount of time devoted to the subject, but also by sporadic and unsystematic attempts to apply grammar to the composition of the pupil. This has been productive of some good; but still, in many schools, the old process has gone on : pupils study grammar from a book, and their conception of grammar is a book — a book in which the subject is carefully analyzed and its principles illustrated by isolated sentences, all of which is easily forgotten, as language teachers in first-year high-school classes well know. Any method of instruc- tion, therefore, that will not only give boys and girls a knowledge of grammar but will cause them to think of this knowledge as something constantly applicable to their own language for the purpose of gaining more accurate, more forcible, and more rhythmical expression, will do something toward realizing the old idea that we improve our English by the study of grammar. The method begun in A Child's Composition Book and continued in this Composition-Grammar is intended as a means of working out this idea. In the first book, along with an abundance of composition there is an untechnical study of the sentence as a whole, which is followed by instruction and drill in some of the verb forms that children habitually misuse, and by exposition of the nature of subject, predicate, and a few other fundamental matters of grammar, together with some practice in the recognition and use of them. The second book advances materially in these particulars, though at TO TEACHERS xi all times the puzzles of grammar are avoided, and atten- tion is given only to those parts of the science which are most serviceable in composition. In order to make the serviceability of grammar to composition available, the authors have employed several devices — example sentences accompanied by exposition, the writing of illustrative sentences, the study of quoted passages em- bodying principles that have been explained, the criticism of pupils' composition for the purpose of detecting and correcting errors, and writing in groups. For the sake of simplicity and gradual approach this book is divided into three parts. The first concerns the sentence as a whole. The second deals with predicates and subjects, makes clear the nature of connectives and modifiers, explains the difference between phrases and clauses, and treats of several other of the more common matters of EngHsh syntax. Throughout both parts there are frequent demands for composition, both oral and written, for analysis of illustrative sentences, for gram- matical study of sentences as they stand in the paragraph, and for exercise in criticism, in which is included group work. The third part is a very brief analysis of the parts of speech ; it amounts to a review of what has already been studied, and may be an introduction to a more mature study of the subject of grammar. The same principles of grammar are sometimes treated in both books, but on different levels. This difference of level is of itself sufficient explanation of the repetitions, but there remains another reason — the positive need of doing the same thing again and again in order to fix it in the pupil's inteUigence and to make it automatic in his use of language. Grammar, however, constitutes only one part of the xn TO TEACHERS books: the other is composition. This, too, has been treated on the principle that useful knowledge of technique is to be gained only through actual practice in expression accompanied by criticism and development of principles. The authors have endeavored at all times to select such subjects as will interest and stimulate pupils of the elementary-school age, and to give liberty for individual choice. Constant effort has been made also, in a simple and imtechnical way, to make pupils realize that they know something to write about; their minds are full, if we teachers can only lead them to organize their mental content; for to organize thought is not only to put in order the ideas already possessed, but it is also to get new ideas to fill in the gaps. Therefore such simple devices as making notes before writing, preparing simple outlines, reproducing stories according to suggested outlines, criticizing the themes of other pupils for lack of fullness, and discussing subjects in such a way as to reveal their organization are constantfy used, especially in this book. Attention is directed also to the frequent use of composi- tions written by pupils in elementary schools. They are generally given for the purpose of emphasizing some particular point, but, in the case of the best ones, they may serve the further purpose of gradually fixing in the minds of the young students a sort of standard of what they ought to be able to do ; and for this purpose they are better than examples from the classics, whose excellence is unattain- able by children. The manner of conducting the recitation is always a matter of importance. The authors beHeve that in the case of this text it will usually be best to allow pupils to keep books open in the class. It is a common psychological truth that both yoimg people and old find it easier to grasp TO TEACHERS Xlil the meaning of what they read if they attack the page with the purpose of finding out some particular thing. If the teacher, therefore, says to the class, "Read this section and find out what we are to do," or "Read this section and find out what there is in it that is new," and if she then gives a few moments for silent reading, and afterwards quizzes the children until she gets a reply that all recognize as correct, she is not only beginning well the work of the day, but she is giving her pupils the habit of concentration in reading. In order to render this method of conducting the recitation an easy one, the authors have addressed the book to the pupils, and so persistently so that the teacher may seem to be eliminated. This, however, is in appear- ance only; the teacher can easily see that she is indispen- sable as a guide in the actual work of the class, as a judge of what the class accomplishes, and even as an adjuster, by her own originality and scholarship, of the book to the class. The amount of revision and rewriting to be done is left mainly to the teacher. If she herself corrects every theme and then rereads it after it has been rewritten, she is tasked almost beyond endurance. But if she reads a few from each bundle of compositions in order to discover in what particulars the class have failed, and afterwards gives a study of a theme that has the typical blunders, and follows this by an exchange of papers, accompanied by criticism and practice, she will both save herself much labor and, in all probability, get better results. From time to time, however, all the compositions should be read with care, and all that do not come up to a reasonable standard should be rewritten. It is recommended that there be no diagramming. If XIV TO TEACHERS pupils are taught to indicate relationships by this method, questions of syntax will thereafter call into their minds the ingeniously contrived scheme that was their method of study; thus something false is introduced into the situation, which will intrude when there is need to think of grammar for the practical purposes of expression. Syntax is a science of pure relationship; to attempt to make it a science of space relationship is a mistake. Teachers are advised also to avoid routine parsing. There is no other phase of the teaching of grammar in which there is so much saying the same thing over and over again, until the exercise becomes a formula. The main thing in grammar is Junction, and this should be stated in good ordinary English, without the monotonous repetition which the use of a set form entails. Except in two cases, the terminology recommended by the National Education Association committee appointed to revise the terms of grammar is employed in this book. First, the term complex-compound is plainly needed, and is therefore used. Second, while the committee advised that such words as my, your, his, her, their, be all called adjectives or all called genitives of pronouns (since it would be confusing to attempt to divide them historically) , the authors of this book call these words genitives of pronouns, from the standpoint of form, but possessive adjectives to indicate their function. This makes a perfect analogy with the noun, whose genitive form is for the adjective function. C. L. H. J. F. H. A COMPOSITION-GR,AMMAR: Part J : '"• . ;"" ;•. ; I y, THE SENTENCE AS A WHOLE: COMPOSITION PREPARING FOR ORAL COMPOSITION I. Some pupils in an elementary school were asked to write paragraphs beginning with this sentence: It is often difficult to amuse the baby. They were asked (a) to think the subject over care- fully before beginning to write, (b) to consider what other people might want to know about it, and (c) to draw on their own personal experience for mate- rial. The following were two of the paragraphs : Quieting a Baby It is often difficult to amuse the baby. I know this because I had an experience with one. One day as I was sleeping I was awakened by a loud cry. Looking around I espied the baby sitting on the bed, crying. I took her in my arms and tried to stop her, but she kept on. I did all the funny things I knew of, but all in vain. At last just as I was about to put her down in disgust, my mother came, much to my relief. Difficult to Amuse the Baby It is often difficult to amuse the baby, because it will cry no matter what you give it. If you give it the doll it will cry, if you give it a book to tear up it will play with it until there are no pages left, and then it will begin to 2 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR cry again. When you become angry with it for crying and not letting you alone, and you begin to say, "Bad baby, .go to sleep and don't cry," it will become still crostier and .not >,et you alone at all. When once it begins it will. nevQr .stoi9 until it realizes that crying is not doing aL'riy 'goo'd?; ' SomG»lii'ght when mother tells you to put baby to sleep and then you may go out and play, you willingly do it, but when baby won't go to sleep then the trouble begins. You wheel him up and down, thinking that in a minute he will be asleep, but j&fteen minutes go by and Mr. Baby is still wide awake. Then all of a sudden he is asleep, you think; but the minute you stop wheeling he begins to cry again. You never have any play because it's always baby. And just think — I have a sister seven years older than I, and I was a baby once myself. Answer the following questions about these paragraphs : a. Which is the more interesting ? Why? b. Which of the writers probably thought the subject over the more carefully before beginning to write ? Which more carefully considered what other people would like to know about the subject? Which drew more on his personal experience? c. The writer of the first paragraph says that he did all the "funny things" he knew of to amuse the baby. Would not the paragraph have been better if he had told in detail the "funny things" he did? Mention some of the things he probably did do. d. Which of the two paragraphs ends in the more inter- esting way? Now that you have judged of the success or failure of these compositions, prepare to do some PREPARING FOR ORAL COMPOSITION 3 similar work yourselves, first by thinking over what you are to say, second by giving orally what you have prepared, and afterward by writing. The following hints will be helpful to you: a. Be sure that you select a subject about which you have a great deal of information. b. Consider carefully what questions might be asked by any person seeking information on the subject. c. Consider whether or not you have had any personal experience that throws any light upon the subject. d. Make brief notes of all that you have thought of. When you have done these things, think all the points over in order and be prepared to tell about them from beginning to end. Before beginning, read the following section. Some Subjects Suggested 2. You know better than any one else what sub- ject will suit you best, but for some reason or other you often find it difficult to select one. Every one of you, however, knows how to do some particular thing, and it ought to be easy to tell how. For the first few lessons, then, explain how something is done. If you cannot think of a good subject at once, take one of the following: How to Go to Hongkong How to Care for a Garden How to Plow a Field How to Save a Person from Drowning How to Shoe a Horse How to Make Butter How to Make Fudge 4 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR How to Keep the Kitchen Clean and in Order How to Get to School on Time How to Study a History Lesson How to Find a Book in a Library How to Care for the Sick How to Prepare for Hallowe'en How to Go to Manila How to Manage an Incubator How to Harvest Wheat How to Revive a Half-drowned Person How to Train a Dog How to Cook a Roast How to Make Mincemeat How to Make a Layer Cake How to Lay out a Tennis Court How to Study an Arithmetic Lesson How to Make a Baseball Diamond How to Be Happy on a Rainy Day How to Have Fun in a Garret How to Prepare for Christmas Each of you should select one of these or some other subject, think it over carefully, and tell all you know of it, standing before the class as you do so. This work may go on for several days if you desire. There is no hurry; take your time. Criticism of the Oral Compositions 3. After each of the speakers has finished, you should offer him your judgment upon what he has said; that is, you should tell him what you liked about his composition and what you did not like, and why. Each of you should try to profit by the criticism made upon the others; that is, you should WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 5 try to do well in the same ways that they have done well, and try to avoid falling into their mistakes. In criticizing, discuss questions like the following: a. Did the speaker tell 3^011 all that you would want to know if you were going to do the thing he talked about ? 6. Did he make his speech in good order, or did he, at some time while he was talking, go back and tell something he should have told before? c. Did he enliven his speech by telling some of his personal experiences in doing the thing, or some- thing he had read about doing the thing, or some- thing he had been told about doing the thing? d. Was he at all times right in what he said, or are you inclined to differ with him about some of the things he said? e. Did he stand out boldly before the room, or did he lean on a desk or in some other way appear ill at ease? f. Did he speak loud enough to be heard all over the room? g. Did he pronounce his words distinctly, and not too rapidly? h. Did he run most of his sentences together by saying and-uh, bttt-uh. so-uh, then-uh, and why-uhf i. Did he use any English that you know to be poor? WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS 4. After every one has spoken, it is time to write. Take the subject that you chose for oral composi- tion, or, if you prefer, some other, and write upon it as fully as time permits. If you are at a loss to know how to spell some word, go to the dictionary. 6 A COMPOSITION -GRAMMAR The full English period may be used for writing. Before beginning, however, read the next section. Form of a Manuscript 5. In order that every one who reads your com- positions may do so with ease, you should observe the following rules: a. Write your name and the number of your room in the upper left-hand corner of the page. If. you write more than one page, do not repeat the name; number the pages in the upper right-hand corner. b. A little lower than your name — on the first line if you use ruled paper — write the title. Do not repeat the title on successive pages. c. Draw a line under the title. d. In order to make the title stand out even more distinctly, leave a blank space between it and the first line of the composition. e. Leave a margin of about one inch at the left and the right of each page, and at the bottom. /. Indent the first line of each paragraph. g. Write on only one side of the sheet. h. Make your penmanship as good as possible. Somewhat fuller instructions about margins are necessary. It is best to use unruled paper and to become accustomed to managing margins without drawing guide hnes. Inspect the diagram on page 7. The outer lines represent the edges of your paper. The inner lines represent the margins; they are not to be drawn, but are only to be imagined. What- ever size of paper you use, you should have about the proportion of margins indicated by the lines. WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS Criticism of the Written Compositions 6. Exchange compositions, and read critically in order to help one another as much as possible. Consider the following questions : 8 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR a. Did the writer follow the rules for the form of manuscript given in the preceding section? b. Did he tell all you would like to know about the subject, did he tell it in good order, and was he right in all he said? c. Do you discover any mistakes in the English? After you have studied one another's compositions in this manner, you are ready for conferences ; you are to tell one another what is good in the compo- sitions, and what might be improved. This is to be done in class time, with perfect freedom for talk- ing. Be careful, however, not to waste time, and do not find fault merely for the purpose of finding fault; your purpose should be to help each one in the class to write better next time. THE SENTENCE 7. In the compositions you have just read, there were probably some mistakes in the writing and the punctuating of sentences. For example, young people, and sometimes older ones, do not seem to know when they reach the end of a sentence ; and in place of using a period or a question mark or an exclamation point at such a place and beginning the next sentence with a capital letter, they place only a comma there, or no point at all, and begin the next word with a small letter. You have had your attention called to this matter before. In order to help you to avoid this fault, it is necessary to give you a careful study of the sentence — to let you know clearly what a sentence is, what kinds of KINDS OF THOUGHT EXPRESSED IN SENTENCES 9 sentences there are with respect to the kind of thought they express, and what punctuation marks are used at the end of them. This is the first les- son in grammar that you are to get from this book. THE KINDS OF THOUGHT EXPRESSED IN SENTENCES 8. Read the following sentences: 1. "This is the house that Jack built." 2. Do you know that this is the house that Jack built? 3. Go find the house that Jack built. 4. What a fine house Jack built! 5. If you owned the house that Jack built, you would be very fortunate. 6. Have you heard that there was malt in the house that Jack built ? 7. How strange it was that Jack had malt in his house ! 8. After all, this is not the house that Jack built. 9. Yes, it is the house that Jack built. 10. I know it is not! 1 1 . I am sure it is ! 12. Why do you think so? 13. I am sure of it because there is malt in it. 14. However, I do not see a rat eating the malt. Affirmative or Negative Thought The first of these sentences affirms a thing to be true, and is called affirmative. If the word not were in it, it would be called negative, because it would then negate, or deny. Go over the sentences one by one, and determine which are affirmative and which are negative. lo A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Declarative or Interrogative Thought The first of the example sentences is also called declarative, because it declares a thing to be true instead of asking whether or not it is true. If it read, Is this the house that Jack built? the sentence would then be interrogative. Take up the example sentences one by one, and determine which are declarative and which are interrogative. Exclamatory or Non-exclamatory Thought You may look at this first example sentence in still another way. Sometimes, when you are talking, you become excited about what you say; you exclaim your words; that is, you speak with a sort of outcry. When you do so, you are said to use an exclamatory sentence; when you do not do so, you are said to use a non-exclamatory sentence.^ Thus, the sentence we are discussing is non-exclamatory, while there are four other sentences in the list that are exclamatory. Take up the example sentences one by one, and determine whether they are exclamatory 'or non- exclamatory. Review It is now clear that the sentence, ''This is the house that Jack built,'' is an affirmative, declarative, non-exclamatory sentence. Consider again each one of the sentences in the 1 Declarative sentences may be exclamatory. So also may interrogative sen- tences, as in "Why in the world did you do that! " See Report of the Joint Com- I mitlee on Crammalical Nomenclature, National Education Association. THE NATURE OF A SENTENCE ii list, and tell three things about the kind of thought it expresses. Punctuation 9. There are three different kinds of punctuation marks used at the ends of these sentences. What kind is at the end of the interrogative sentence? of the exclamatory ? What kind appears at the end of the others ? If you have not formed the habit of us- ing the right punctuation marks at the ends of your sentences when you write, now is the time to begin. You have doubtless noticed that the first example sentence in section 8 is inclosed within quotation marks. Why? Why are not the other sentences inclosed within quotation marks? If they were short speeches by characters in a story, would they be so inclosed? Write some of them on the black- board with He said, or He asked, or He exclaimed before them, and be careful to use quotation marks properly. THE NATURE OF A SENTENCE 10. After all, what is a sentence? Consider the following groups of words : 1. in the house 2. when Washington was a boy 3. My brother is in the house. 4. if I were you 5. across the river 6. When Washington was a boy, he was very strong and manly. 7. seven cents a pound 8. under the greenwood tree 12 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Some of these groups of words do not seem to be complete in themselves; and if you should utter one of these to some friend of yours he would probably ask you what you meant. It is true that they would be understood if they were given in answer to questions, but of themselves they would lack something. On the other hand, some of these groups of words are perfectly clear, and would be understood even if not given in answer to questions. Which groups are sentences, and which are not? STUDY OF A COMPOSITION II. In this section there is a short composition which should be read aloud, slowly, expressively. "Have you ever seen a lion in a circus? Have you noticed how he walks to and fro in the cage as if he were seeking a loosened bar? He hardly sees the people who crowd up to the rope that is stretched before the line of wagons. He seems to look beyond this curious throng. Is it the jungle he sees, with its tangle of tropical vege- tation, its serpents winding through the damp weeds, its monkeys jumping among the trees, its gazelle, with wary look, feeding where the grass is richest? Stand still, and observe him closely. How deep his eyes are! They look like two fierce yellow pools in a tangle of yellow grass. And they are sad eyes — very sad! For they gaze beyond the people, and the cages, and the tent walls, to the old free life— the night hunt, the deep draft at the river, and the long sleep when the sun is hot. If you should meet him there, you would not look upon him so calmly. Those jaws would make short work of you. PARAGRAPHS AND QUOTATION MARKS 13 "Suddenly a monkey in a cage near at hand utters a loud and angry screech. A panther answers from across, the tent. An elephant trumpets in alarm. There is a screaming of parrots and cockatoos. Then our lion opens his great mouth, and the whole captive jungle is in one long, resentful, rebelHous uproar." Answer the following questions : a. Do you like this description or not? Tell why. b. If you had written it, what title would you have given it ? c. Can you tell why it is divided into two paragraphs? d. Make a rule for dividing a composition into para- graphs. e. Have you noticed that each of the paragraphs has quotation marks before it, but that only the second one has quotation marks after it? Ex- plain why this is. Sentence Study 12. Now study the composition about the lion in a different way. Take up each sentence in order, and determine whether it is affirmative or negative, declarative or interrogative, exclamatory or non-exclamatory. What have you to say about capitals and end punctuation ? PARAGRAPHS AND QUOTATION MARKS 13. In this section there appears a passage about some golden apples. You will probably recognize it as from A Wonder Book, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, 14 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR an American author. One of you should read it aloud to the class, slowly, expressively. Can you tell why the passage is divided into two paragraphs ? In a quotation of more than one paragraph, quotation marks are used at the beginning of each paragraph but after the last one only. Why? "Did you ever hear of the golden apples that grew in the garden of the Hesperides? Ah, those were such apples as would bring a great price, by the bushel, if any one of them could be found growing in the orchards of nowadays! But there is not, I suppose, a graft of that wonderful fruit on a single tree in the wide world. Not so much as a seed of those apples exists any longer. "And even in the old, old, half -forgotten times, before the garden of the Hesperides was overrun with weeds, a great many people doubted whether there could be real trees that bore apples of solid gold upon their branches. All had heard of them, but nobody remembered to have seen any. Children, nevertheless, used to listen, open- mouthed, to stories of the golden apple tree, and resolved to discover it, when they should be big enough. Adven- turous young men, who desired to do a braver thing than any of their fellows, set out in quest of this fruit. Many of them returned no more; none of them brought back the apples. No wonder that they found it impossible to gather them! It is said that there was a dragon beneath the tree, with a hundred heads, fifty of which were always on the watch, while the other fifty slept." Sentence Study 14. Study this passage as you did the one in section 1 1 ; that is, tell whether each sentence is THE STUDY OF LETTERING 1$ affirmative or negative, declarative or interrogative exclamatory or non-exclamatory. Be sure to observe the end punctuation. A SCHOOL PAPER 15. In some schools the pupils have a school paper. They select editors — one set for each month — who read a great many of the compositions written by their schoolmates, choose what they consider best, correct it, have it neatly copied, bind it together in a cover made by some pupil who has skill in designing and lettering, and on an appointed day read it before the class. It may contain essays, stories, poems, jokes, and editorials. After a num- ber of the paper has been read, it is given to the teacher to be preserved in her desk. Of course it is clear that the last number in any given year should be much better written than the first. You will find it a very interesting thing to have such a paper yourselves. It will enable you to pre- serve the best things written in your room, and will always be a pleasure to you. THE STUDY OF LETTERING 16. It is likely that some of you take pleasure in lettering with a pen or a pencil. If so, you probably realize that the letters you make are not so pleasing to the eye as those done with type. There was a time when there were many men, called scribes, who were especially skillful in the making of letters; in fact, before the invention of printing all the THE JOHN M9LAREN SCHOOL RECORDEP^ Q Chicago ed V)Lume I SeptEmber j igi^ Number 1 CONTENTS Story : A RinisKment I Didn't Deserve, JoKn Ashton R)em="rVie Man in the Moon, Mary Wood Story : Herolsn\ cf a Doq, Thomas Dodpe- EssayTKe InteLLi^nce of Animals, Helen Moore R>em» Says the Gup to the Saucer, Jane Andrews Editotials The Editors^ ^)0^y We Have A School fepen HelplnQ toKeepthe Building Clean. SchooLroom Jokes and Happenings, Variious Contrlbuctors □ EdilorsiHeniy Lyon and MabeLGrtwriaKt □ THE STUDY OF LETTERING i? books people had were slowly written with a pen, and many of these are preserved to this day as examples of the beautiful art of hand-lettering. If you could do something of this sort yourselves, what uses could you put it to? Some answers to this question are given below. a. Lettering Christmas cards. Cards are easily obtained ; and as for thoughts to letter, you could either draw on your own ideas about Christmas, or get quotations from such books as you may have at home or in the school library. b. Lettering cards to accompany Christmas gifts. On these should be lettered the names of the persons to whom the gifts are made, your own names, and any message that you may choose to add. c. Lettering New Year's cards. It is an old and happy custom to wish our friends all the happiness and prosperity possible at the beginning of the new year. d. Lettering valentines. But it is to be hoped that you will not send the " comic " kind. Such anonymous messages, that is, messages without names signed to them, are rather cowardly. Besides, the beautiful letters that are given farther on in this book are too good to be used for unworthy pur- poses. e. Lettering your names in your hooks. When you have once lettered your names, and perhaps your addresses, in the books, do not disfigure them with scribbling; keep them clean and beautiful. f. Lettering the titles beneath your drawings. Also your names. g. Lettering the program on the school blackboard. You "■AMERFY- PHRISTMAS iTOYOU^: ituiiiiiiiumiimiiim iiminiiniiiiiimmiH llllllllHMIillMIHil lD annmiiD A MERRYJJ CHRISTMAS TO YOU Planiir6ttKe size of the-^ card- Then plan the mar- 'olnsThe — » space left: in the center of thecatxllsthe Utter-block- Into this the letters must be pauckedl so astofilliJr entirely- tf thijsisnotr' posslbliithe shape of the block maybe changed ter^ make botK sides c& iir atike-Here are some-^ other plans ft>r cards •:• PLANNING A CHRISTMAS CARD THE STUDY OF LETTERING 19 will have to use crayon for this, and you must try to make all the strokes of a letter of the same width. The best workman in the room should be selected to do this. h. Lettering school annoimcements. These should be made on the blackboard, or perhaps on sheets of paper to be hung somewhere in the room. i. Lettering cover-sheets }or your compositions. You should take a piece of manila paper a little more than twice the size of the paper you use for com- positions, fold it once, so that it will contain the composition sheets and protect their edges, and on the outside letter your names and the list of compositions within. The top line of one would be, perhaps, "John Ashton's Compositions," or perhaps "Mary Wood's Works," or perhaps "The Writings of Thomas Dodge," or perhaps "Helen Moore: Her Compositions." Under such a title should appear, in smaller letters, the names of the compositions inside. /. Lettering the cover for your school paper. You will be able to see what such a cover would look like by examining the cut on page 16. The Alphabet 17. One of the cuts that accompany this explana- tion shows all the characters that you are to use — capital letters, small letters, numerals, and punctua- tion marks. The capital letters are grouped accord- ing to their width. Some letters, like the T and those before it, are wide; others are narrow, like the B and those that follow it. You should try to make them just like those given as models. In OQ.CGDM WHNUVA tbprsefl kxyzij:;^?! abcdefgKijk Imnopqrstu rGySa o -^ 6- THE STUDY OF LETTERING 21 the small-letter alphabet you will see that the t is of an unusual size. It is just a little taller than the o or the m, and shorter than the / or the d. The letters in this alphabet are like those which the ancient Romans placed on their buildings and arches. Those old letters have always been thought to be the easiest to read and the most beautiful in appearance of any letters that have ever been made. If your letters are to be readable and beau- tiful, you must be very careful to make each letter the proper width for its height, and each part the proper size for the whole letter. Instructions 1 8. Here are some instructions that you should follow carefully : 1. Make a stylus from a piece of soft wood. This piece of wood should be about five inches long, one half an inch wide, and about one quarter of an inch thick. Whittle the end to the shape of the one in the drawing. Smooth it with a piece of very fine sandpaper. Be sure that it has a fiat circular surface like the unsharpened end of a lead pencil, or smaller, so that when you dip it into the ink and press it down on the paper it will make a round dot. When you make the strokes of the letter with it you must hold the stick vertical to the paper. The end may be made as small as you wish. 2. Before beginning to letter, rule straight lines into the paper with the back of a knife blade or some other dull edge. These lines should be very £ iJIJlBUxu*****^* • £ -nipy|jp|iiiiitiiiB ^ I A st>^lus may be tnadfi of a piece of soft wood wKlttiedL down at. one- end TKlS is made smooth and rou.nd with fine sandpaper untiL it is \jl<& — » theunsharpened end of a lead- pencil or smaller, having a flat circuJLar end For wrttinQ it Is dipped tnto the ink and held in a vertical position The Unes drawn with tJ^ts stylus in an^ directijon will be of the same widtki HOW TO KAAKE A LETTERING STYIUS- THE STUDY OF LETTERING 23 faint, and there should be two of them for every row of letters — one for the bottom line and one for the top line when you are writing a line that is all capitals. When you are lettering a line that is part capitals and part small letters, the small letters rest on the lower line of the ruling for capitals, but there is no line for the tops of the small letters (such as n, m, c, x). The small 6, h, I, and the other letters that have ascenders, run to the top line; that is, they are just as tall as the capitals. The small p, q, r, and the other letters that have de- scenders, run below the line a space the height of the small 0, but there should not be any line to indicate this distance. 3. If you can get the India drawing ink (not the waterproof kind), you will find it much better than common ink. 4. You should practice a great deal before attempt- ing to letter anything that you are going to keep or exhibit. Be sure that your letters are packed tightly together into words, and that they are evenly spaced in the words. When you are writing capital letters, the space between words is about the width of the letter 0; and when you are writing small letters, the space between words is about the width of the letter 0. 5. When you plan a piece of lettering you should arrange the words together in a rectangle or another mass of a very simple shape, so that it will be easy to read them. This mass of lettering should be sur- rounded by a margin on all sides. The lower margin 24 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR may be a little wider than the upper and side mar- gins. The cut on page i8 will show you how a Christmas card may be planned. Do not spoil the appearance of a letter by trying to correct it or to "touch it up" after it has once been made. In the letters that are given as models all of the lines are of the same width. This makes them different from our printed type letters which have thick and thin lines, and also from the letters that were used in the written books before the invention of printing. Perhaps some day you will be able to find in the school library a book called Writing and Illuminating and Lettering, by Edward Johnston. In it you will see pictures of the pens with broad, flat ends instead of points, which were used by the old scribes, and which gave the thick and thin strokes to the letters. This book will tell you how to make and to use these pens, and many other things as well about fine lettering. In it there are also some reproductions of photographs taken from the old hand-written books. A PUPIL'S PARAGRAPH 19. The paragraph that appears in this section was written by a pupil in an elementary school, and it is printed as it was written except for the spelling, which has been corrected. Read it aloud, making full pauses only where periods appear, and you will see that the writer ended sentences where he should not have ended them, and that at one A PUPIL'S PARAGRAPH 25 place he forgot to finish a sentence. After the oral reading rewrite the paragraph, being careful (a) to use periods only where sentences end, (b) to use capitals only where sentences begin, except in the case of the word /, (c) to finish the unfinished sentence, and (d) to correct any other mistakes you can find. The rewritten paragraphs should be com- pared and corrected in class. Do not make any corrections in the book, either here or elsewhere. "One day when I was riding my bicycle. I had on a pair of long trousers. I was going very fast when one of the legs of the trousers got caught in the gear, the thing which the chain is on. The leg of my trousers caught between the chain and the gear. The chain goes around the gear and is attached to a small round wheel in the back wheel of a bicycle. So with the aid of pedals. You can make the back wheel turn around. I kept a going but when I went to cross the road I saw an old woman coming the opposite way. And if it had not been for the coaster a thing which stops the back wheel from going round. This little piece of iron cost five dollars. It is a handy thing to have." Criticism of the Paragraph 20. If this story had been more correctly written, do you think it would be good enough for your school paper? Has it enough in it to interest the whole class for a few minutes? Are you satisfied with it as an account of an incident? Answer the three questions that follow: a. What more might the writer have told about what 26 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR he did and what he thought, and about what the old woman did and how she looked ? b. The writer interrupts his narration with an expla- nation. Do 3^ou like the interruption ? How would you ha^^e arranged the composition if you had written it? c. The writer tells the cost of the coaster brake. Do you think this was necessary? How would you have handled this matter if you had written the composition? COMPOSITION EXERCISE 21. Write a story of some adventure or experience that you have had, and try to write a better story than the one quoted in section 19. Choose any experience that you remember fully; perhaps you will choose a theme somewhat like one of the following : How I Took Care of the House and Stable when Father was Away How I Kept House when Mother was Away My First Day in a New Town My First Visit to the City My First Baking Day The Story of a Ball Game My Troublesome Brother My Experience in Husking Corn Taking Care of the Harvesters City Boys in the Country Country Boys in the City A New Boy at School A New Girl at School One Rainy Day on the Farm COMPOSITION-EXERCISE 27 The First Fish I Ever Caught Making Clothes for Dolls The Trials of Moving Day A Quarrel and a Making-up How I Acted at the Party Fun on Snowy Days After you have made your choice of a subject for composition, think it over carefully, making notes of all that comes to mind, then arrange the notes so that the ideas will be in good order. Now write your composition. After you have written, the next day perhaps, read the work over with close attention to spelling, grammar, and punctua- tion. Above all, see to it that you have said just what you intended to say. When you have made all necessary corrections, copy the whole composi- tion with care. By correcting and rewriting compositions you will make it possible for other people to read them with ease. As this is very desirable, you should make second drafts of many of your themes. Form the habit of doing your work in the very best manner possible. Exercise in Criticism 22. After your compositions have been written — either in class or at home — you should give one another the benefit of your criticism; that is, you should exchange papers and tell one another what is good and what is bad about the work. The following suggestions will be helpful: 28 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR a. Is the manuscript neat and correct? b. Has the writer told you all you would like to know about his subject? c. Has he told his story in good order; that is, has he put each event and each explanation in its proper place ? d. Have you any fault to find with the paragraph- ing? For it is plain that some compositions are correctly written in one paragraph, but that others have several steps or divisions, each one of which should be a paragraph by itself. e. Determine whether or not the writer knows what a sentence is, and that it should begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. After you have read and criticized the composi- tions, each of you should have a conversation with the writer of the composition assigned to you, so that you may tell him in detail what you think of it — why it is good and why it is not. Also, the person who criticized your composition will talk it over with you in the same way. The purpose of this is to enable you to improve your own writing by noting the good and bad points in the work of others. If you have any differences of opinion, you should keep in good humor. If a composition one of you has read and criticized is good, let it be read before the class. Then the class should be allowed to offer criticisms upon it. Or, if you think it is exceptionally good, offer it to the editor of the school paper, in case you have one. If it should be rejected, it should afterwards be read to the class and criticized. SENTENCE STUDY AND REWRITING A STORY 29 SENTENCE STUDY AND REWRITING A STORY 23. The stories given below are three fables of ^sop. They are printed here without capitals and without punctuation. Read each one aloud in order to get the story and to see where the sentences begin and end. After you have read one of the fables, consider each sentence by itself, and tell what kind of thought it expresses. Then rewrite the whole for a class exercise, being careful to break it up into sentences (a) by beginning the first word in each sentence with a capital, and (h) by ending each sentence with the proper punctuation mark. When- ever you feel sure that there is a decided pause or break in the sense, use a comma. You should also begin the first word and other important words of the title with capitals. In two of the fables you will find such words as "cried," ''inquired," and ''replied." After each comes a short speech by one of the characters of the story. Begin each speech with a capital, set it off from the rest of the sentence with a comma, and inclose the quoted words within quotation marks. When all have finished rewriting the first story, some one will read his work, sentence by sentence, to the class. Determine whether or not he , has done well. The same is to be done with the other stories. You cannot do all this in one class period; take your time, and do the work well. 30 A COMPOSITION -GRAMMAR the bear and the two travelers two merx were traveling together when a bear suddenly met them on their path one of them climbed up quickly into a tree and concealed himself in the branches the other seeing that he must be attacked fell flat on the ground and when the bear came up and felt him with his snout and smelt him all over he held his breath and feigned the appearance of death as much as he could the bear soon left him for it is said he will not touch a dead body when he was quite gone the other traveler descended from the tree and accosting his friend inquired what was it the bear whispered in your ear he replied he gave me this advice never travel with a friend who deserts you at the approach of danger Jupiter and the frogs the frogs were sorry because they had no king after consulting among themselves they sent a messenger to Jupiter to ask for some one to rule over them seeing what simple creatures they were he cast down a huge log into the pond the frogs terrified by the splash of it hid themselves in the depth of the pool but as soon as they saw that it was motionless they were no longer afraid of it and even squatted upon it after a time they thought themselves ill treated by jupiter and sent a messenger to him to ask for another king he then gave them an eel to govern them when the frogs found that it was too good natured they sent a third time to jupiter to ask that he would choose for them still another king jupiter being displeased at their complaints sent a heron who preyed upon the frogs day by day till there were none left to croak in the pond the shepherd boy and the wolf a shepherd boy who tended his flock not far from a village used to amuse himself at times by crying out SENTENCE STUDY AND REWRITING A STORY 31 wolf two or three times his trick succeeded the whole village came running out to his assistance but all the return they got was to be laughed at for their pains at last one day the wolf came indeed and the boy cried out in earnest but the neighbors supposing him to be at his old sport paid no heed to his cries and the wolf devoured the sheep so the boy learned when it was too late that liars are not believed even when they tell the truth 24. Study the following passage as you did the fables of ^sop, and afterwards rewrite it. After the rewriting, some one will read his work for criti- cism. the kettle had had the last of its solo performance it persevered with undiminished ardor but the cricket took first fiddle and kept it its sharp shrill piercing voice resounded through the house and seemed to twinkle in the outer darkness like a star there was an indescribable little thrill and tremble in it at its loudest v/hich suggested its being carried off its legs and made to leap again by its own intense enthusiasm yet they went very well together the cricket and the kettle the burden of the song was still the same and louder louder louder still they sang it in their emulation the fair little listener for she was fair and young lighted a candle glanced at the haymaker on the top of the clock who was getting in a pretty average crop of minutes and looked out of the window where she saw nothing owing to the darkness but her own face imaged in the glass and she might have looked a long way and seen nothing half so agreeable when she came back and sat down in her former seat the cricket and the kettle were still keeping it up with a perfect fury of competition . DICKENS the cricket on the hearth 32 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR DISCUSSION OF A PICTURE 25. Examine the first picture in this book and talk about it in class. Consider the following points : a. What do you see in the picture? Describe it in detail. What do you think it means? b. What do you know of the lite of the Indian before the coming of the white man? How did he get his food? How did he dress? In what kind of houses did he live? What kind of government did he have? Why did he fight against the white man? c. Who was victorious in the fight? How does the Indian live now? Does he still hunt and fish? Does he engage in farming and industry? What does the United States government do for him? Is his race increasing or diminishing? Do you think he is happier now than when there were no white men here ? Perhaps you will use a whole recitation period for this discussion. Writing about the Picture 26. You talked about the picture from three different points of view. First, you described it. Second, you talked about the Indian as he was before the coming of the white man. Third, you talked about his condition after the coming of the white man. Now when you write on this subject your composition will have to be written in three paragraphs, one for each topic. DISCUSSION OF A PICTURE 33 What title will you give the composition? You cannot call it merely "The Indian," for this would lead the reader to expect that you were going to tell all you could possibly find out about the subject, which is not true ; you are going to tell only a little about the picture to make its meaning clear. You will have to select some title that will indicate the decline of the red race. Perhaps you can think of several suitable titles. Take a recitation period to write the composition. Be careful about the way you write your title. Be careful, too, about the margins. Criticism 27. Exchange papers, and give one another the benefit of your judgment. Consider the following particulars : a. Does the title stand out prominently? h. Are the margins even and of sufficient width? c. Does each of the three paragraphs sound as if it were one topic? d. Is each sentence brought to its proper end, and does each sentence begin with a capital letter? e. Are there any mistakes in spelling? in grammar? If so, correct them. /. Is the composition interesting? Why? After you have carefully considered one another's compositions, have conferences in class, and try to remember the criticisms that will be of benefit to you. This conference, too, may very well take a full recitation period. 34 ^1 COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Collecting Pictures 28. It is likely that each of you sometimes finds an interesting picture on the back of a magazine or in an advertisement. It is worth while to bring such pictures to school, to give them into the care of some one appointed to keep them, and to select one occasionally for the kind of writing exercise you have just had. The picture you select for any day's work should be hung up before the room where everybody can examine it at his leisure; it should afterwards be discussed in class, and then be made the subject of a composition. You may want to make a composition of one paragraph about such a picture, or perhaps of two or three paragraphs; but you should not attempt to make your theme long. The person who is appointed to care for the col- lection of pictures should make a portfolio to contain them. Refer to section 16, i, for instructions. EXERCISE IN CRITICISM 29. Here are two themes written by two boys. Read them carefully, so that you may pass judgment on them afterward. I Once last siirnnier we had a swimming race. The boys were Frank Williams, Bob McCarthy, Glenn Martin, and I. We were to race from Manhattan Beach to Windsor Beach. We started, and Bob McCarthy had the lead next came Glenn Martin, I came next and Frank Williams came last. When we got to the goal, Frank Williams came in first EXERCISE IN CRITICISM 35 I came third Bob McCarthy came second and Glenn Martin came last We made it in five minutes and three seconds. II The first thing I can clearly remember was my father's lumber camp. We spent the summer up there when I was about five years old. It was a large forest, sur- rounded by saw-tooth mountains, on the shore of Lake Superior, in Canada. We stayed in a little log cabin right on the lake shore. We could hear the waves break on the rocks at night. The country was very wild and big game was plentiful. One night when we were coming home from the lumber camp, which was about two miles away, we were very much frightened by the scream of a panther right above our heads. He had followed us quite a way, springing from tree to tree. Something frightened him because he got away very quickly. One time when I was up at the camp for dinner, I saw two lumber-jacks eating. One used his knife for a fork, and the other used his fork like a dagger, that is he held it that way every time he took a bite I thought he would swallow his fork. After I had watched them I had no appetite for dinner. 30. These compositions are a good subject for conversation in class. Consider the following points : a. Is it not clear that one of the boys had thought more and felt more about what he had experienced than had the other? Which one was it? Give good reasons for your answer. b. Consider the composition that you have judged to be inferior in this respect. What more could the 36 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR boy have told that you would like to know? In discussing this question, take up the composition paragraph by paragraph, and tell what you would like to have added to each. c. Could the author of the other composition have added anything of interest to it ? What ? d. Has your consideration of these questions made you see that you could have added something of interest to some composition that you have written in the past? What is it? e. Every main division of a short composition should be written in a paragraph by itself. Can you see any reason for believing that the first sentence of the second paragraph of the first composition should be in the first paragraph? /. Make a title for each composition; be sure that it fits. g. Read both compositions aloud in class and determine whether the writers brought all their sentences to an end by the use of. the period, and began the next by the use of the capital letter. If they failed to do so, determine where changes should be made. Perhaps, in some places, you will prefer to use a comma rather than a period; the comma stands for a slighter break in the sentence than the periods THE APOSTROPHE 31. The two compositions we have been con- sidering were not printed precisely as they were written. It must be admitted that both writers made a few mistakes. For example, the boy who wrote the second composition omitted the apostrophe from the word father's. He doubtless knew, as you THE APOSTROPHE 37 know, that the apostrophe is used when a word that is a name indicates possession; but, like you, he was occasionally careless. Sometimes the apos- trophe comes before the final 5 of such words, and sometimes after it. When it comes before the 5 the word is singular; that is, it denotes only one thing. When it comes after the s the word is plural; that is, it denotes more than one thing. There are a few exceptions to this rule, however, for we write children's and men's and women's. In these plural words the apostrophe comes before the s. In the following groups of words, tell which words that indicate possession are singular and which are plural : my father's liimber camp their fathers' lumber camp my sisters' work the city's streets Bums's poems Dickens's works the ocean's tides the moon's phases the senators' privilege a mothers' meeting the children's games the women's meeting Some people prefer to write Burns' poems, Dickens' novels, Jones' house because they don't like the sound of Bums's poems, Dickens's novels, Jones's house. The latter are nevertheless correct. The apostrophe is also used to indicate the omission of a letter in certain shortened, or con- tracted, words. Examples are given below: does n't {does not) don't {do not) shan't {shall not) . won't {will not) was n't {was not) were n't {were not) is n't {is not) are n't {are not) it 's {it is) I 'm (/ am) 38 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR These contractions are said to be colloquial, that is, used in familiar writing and speaking; but they are not much used in the more dignified kinds of composition. The apostrophe is used also in poetry when the poet wishes to shorten words, as in caWd for called and ne'er for never. Example, — "His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd; On burnish 'd hooves his war-horse trode." Tennyson, The Lady of Shalott In writing these lines Tennyson wished to make sure that the last word in the first line would not be pronounced glow-ed (as final ed is sometimes pro- nounced in poetry), for in that case the word would not have rimed with trode. Again, he wrote hurn- isKd, in the second line, so that the word might not be pronounced burnish-ed, for that would have spoiled the meter of the line. A rather rare use for the apostrophe is in the following : two lo's two a's Examples: There are two lo's in 20. There are two a's and two n's in Anna. You are especially likely to make a mistake in the case of its and it's. The first indicates possession, as in the sentence Our clock has lost one of its hands; and, strange to say, there the apostrophe is not used. But in the sentence It's ten o'clock, the apostrophe is used because it's is a contraction for it is. Write some sentences containing words in which the apostrophe must be used. SOME SUBJECTS FOR COMPOSITION 39 SOME SUBJECTS FOR COMPOSITION 32. The first composition that you read in section 29 was not very good; the second was better. Can you not write more fully and more interestingly on some of your own experiences? You are probably enjoying your own lives, and if you can tell what you have done at some time or other, and if you can tell what you thought and what you felt, you can interest others. You can talk glibly enough on the play- ground, and you can learn to write just as fully in the schoolroom if you will only let yourselves out. Select some experience that you have had — a journey, a visit, an adventure, a game that you have played, something that you have seen — and write about it fully. If possible, use some conversation in what you write. But before you begin, read the next section and follow instructions given there. Blackboard and Seat Work 33. When you are ready to write, some arrange- ment should be made for at least one of the compo- sitions to be written on the blackboard, so that everybody can see it and criticize it. Perhaps one pupil will be willing to copy his work on the black- board after school so that it can be used in the English period the next day ; or, better still, perhaps at least one of the class may be asked to write on the blackboard while the others are writing at their seats, and the work can be left until the next day. Still another possibility is that, if the English period is long enough, both the writing and 40 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR the criticism may be accomplished the same day. At all events, a composition should be written in the class, and the work of at least one pupil should be on the blackboard. When the time for criticism has come, this pupil should read his composition aloud, so that it can be judged for its interest ; that is, the class should say whether or not the writer has said enough important and interesting things about his subject, and whether or not he has well arranged and paragraphed it. Then he should read the composition aloud again, sentence by sentence, telling what kind each sentence is, and why he has used the punctuation marks and capitals as he did. The class should criticize him carefully, compelling him to give satisfactory reasons for his work or to make the necessary changes. Whenever he has written a sentence that is incomplete, or does not sound well, he should be required to rewrite it, making the necessary corrections. When the blackboard work has been completed, the pupils who wrote at their seats should exchange papers and be allowed a sufficient time to consider them carefully, noting the same points as those indicated above. After this, a short time should be given for free conferences between writers and critics. This exercise should be continued a number of weeks if necessary, to give you practice in writ- ing and to fix the habit of beginning and ending sentences properly. Do not be content with mod- erate success. WHY THE STUD V OF GRA MM A R IS NEC ESS A RY 4^ Further Subjects for Composition 34. The subjects that you write on should always be subjects about which you know something, and in which you are interested. For further composi- tion choose from those that follow unless you are sure you can choose better subjects. Why My Father's Business Is a Good One The Business I Should Prefer My Experience in Marketing My First Earnings Why Farm Life Is Better than City Life Why City Life Is Better than Farm Life Why I Prefer a Trade to a Profession Why I Prefer a Profession to a Trade When you have chosen subjects, reread section 32. WHY THE STUDY OF GRAMMAR IS NECESSARY 35. By this time you should have made im- provement in recognizing the sentence, — that is, in knowing where your sentences begin and where they end. If you have all done this, you have done something worth while. But this is not enough. As long as you use the English language, the question Is my sentence correct f will arise in your minds, and you will not be able to answer it unless you know more about grammar than you do now. It will be necessary, then, for you to study the parts of the sentence, subject, predicate, and so on, so that you may finally understand their relation to one another. Some of this study will be review, but most of it will be advance work. Part II THE MAIN PARTS OF THE SEN- TENCE: COMPOSITION COMPLETE PREDICATES AND COMPLETE SUBJECTS 36. Read the following sentences very carefully: 1. "A boy was stung by a nettle." 2. "Her two sisters jeered at her." 3. "An astronomer used to go out of a night to observe the stars." 4. "A hare once ridiculed the short legs and slow pace of the tortoise." 5. "The bridge became more than ever an object of superstitious awe." 6. "Hans Van Ripper now began to feel some uneasi- ness about the fate of poor Ichabod and the saddle." 7. "The Mock Turtle sighed deeply, and drew the back of one flapper across his eyes." In each of these sentences there is a word or a group of words that asserts, or predicates, something. Such a word or group of words is called a complete predicate. Besides the predicate, there is in each of these sentences a word or a group of words about which this same '* something" is asserted, or predicated. Such a word or group of words is called a complete subject. 42 PREDICATES AND SUBJECTS 43 In the first sentence the predicate is ''was stung by a nettle," since this group of words predicates, that is, tells what was done. If you ask Who (or what) was stung? you get the reply, "A boy." The complete subject is therefore ''A boy." In the second sentence the words that predicate are "jeered at her." If you ask, Who (or what) jeered ? you get the reply, ' ' Her two sisters. " ' * Her two sisters" is therefore the complete subject. What are the complete predicates and the complete subjects of the other sentences? 37. Let a member of the class copy one of his compositions on the blackboard, and tell what is the complete predicate and the complete subject of each sentence. PREDICATE VERB, SUBJECT SUBSTANTIVE, AND MODIFIERS 38. Reconsider the example sentences in section 36. In the first sentence "was stung by a nettle" is the complete predicate; but there are two words that tell simply what was done, and three others tell, in this case, how it was done. The words that tell what was done are "was stung"; and these words are called the predicate verb. The words that tell how the thing was done are "by a nettle." Because you think of these words as belonging to the verb, that is, because they narrow its meaning, or modify it, they are called modifiers of the verb. In like manner the subject is often composed partly of modifiers; the simple subject itself is called the 44 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR subject substantive. In the sentence we are con- sidering, '*boy" is the subject substantive, and "A" is a modifier. In the second sentence "jeered at her" is the complete predicate, while ''jeered" is the predicate verb and "at her" the modifier. Also, "Her two sisters" is the complete subject, while "sisters" is the subject substantive and "Her" and "two" are the modifiers. The predicate verb, then, is the word or group of words that asserts. Run, go, am, be, have, have been, and had been seen are predicate verbs. When the predicate verb is a group of words, like the last three in the list, it is called a verb phrase. The subject substantive is that part of the sentence about which something is asserted by the predicate verb. Subject substantives are usually nouns, as man, beast, duty, courage, audience; or pronouns, as J, you, we, and they. Consider again the sentences given in section 36, and determine in each case what is the complete predicate, the predicate verb, the complete subject, and the subject substantive. 39. After a composition has been written on the blackboard, determine the complete predicate, the predicate verb, the complete subject, and the subject substantive of each sentence. THERE 40. In the sentence There is a cloud in the sky, you may think that "there" is the subject, but it is PREDICATES AND SUBJECTS 45 not; the subject is ** cloud," for it is the cloud that is in the sky. And if you will think the matter over carefully, you will see that "there" really means nothing; it is simply a word that we use at the beginning of the sentence, where the subject usually comes, so that the subject may follow the predicate verb. This is an idiom, that is, an expression pe- culiar to a language. In a question the word has a different position, as in Is there a cloud in the sky? There is also used as in the sentence No clouds are in the sky; the sun is shining there. Here the word has a distinct meaning, which is in that place; it prevents the repetition of "in the sky." Their, which is pronounced nearly the same as the other word but has a different spelling, is a very different word; it expresses possession, as in the ex- ample sentence, The clouds have lost their color. The spelling of these words must be attended to carefully: their gives the idea of belonging to, while there either means nothing at all or it means in that place, 41. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing the words there and their. PREDICATES AND SUBJECTS CONTINUED 42. Read the following sentences with care: 1. **A monkey, perched upon a lofty tree, saw some fishermen casting their nets into a river." 2. **If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." 3. "This is the house that Jack built." 46 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 4. "A horse, an ox, and a dog, sought shelter and protection from man." 5. "A fisherman, engaged in his calUng, made a very successful cast, and captured a great haul of fish." 6. "Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed." 7. "Is not this man worthy to resemble thee?" 8. **A wolf, having a bone stuck in his throat, hired a crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his throat and draw out the bone." 9. "These sails we lowered, in terror of our lives." 10. "Some dogs, who had found the skin of a Hon, began to tear it in pieces with their teeth." 11. "Bind up my wounds!" The sentences above are to be treated like those in section 36, but they are rather more difficult. In the first one the complete predicate is "saw some fishermen casting their nets into a river," and the predicate verb is "saw," the rest being a modifier. The complete subject is "A monkey, perched upon a lofty tree," while "monkey" is the subject sub- stantive and "A" and "perched upon a lofty tree" are modifiers. The second sentence is particularly difficult because you will have to determine whether * ' If you would only spare my life" is a modifier of the predicate or of the subject. To which do you more closely attach it? The sentence is difficult, too, because this group of words has its own predicate verb, "would spare," and its own subject, "you"; and yet this verb is not the verb of the whole sentence, nor is the subject the subject of the whole MISTAKES IN THE USE OF VERBS 47 sentence. In fact, a group of words having its own verb and subject is very commonly used as a modifier, as in this case. The fourth sentence is difficult because it has more than one subject. The seventh sentence is difficult because it is interrogative; the predicate verb is before the com- plete subject ; or, to put it differently, the complete subject comes between different parts of the com- plete predicate. The last sentence is difficult because it has no ex- pressed subject; that is, the sentence is all predicate. It resembles an example sentence in section 8. 43. Write a short composition on the blackboard, or consider a paragraph in your geography or history, and determine what words or groups of words are subject substantives and predicate verbs, and what are modifiers. Sometimes you may find a sentence that has two or more sets of subjects and predicates. Do not be puzzled by this; such sentences will be studied later. MISTAKES IN THE USE OF VERBS: MAY AND CAN 44. Do you ever say to the teacher, Can I speak f And if you do, does it occur to you, or does the teacher tell you, that the question is nonsense? Of course you can speak. Are you not speaking when you ask the question? What you mean is May I speak f For Can I speak? means Have I the power to speak f and May I speak f means Have 48 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR I your permission to speak f Remember, too, that could expresses past time for can, and might expresses past time for may. Tell why the following sentences contain correct uses of these words. 1. May I raise the window? 2. I asked the teacher if I might raise the window. 3. Do you think I can raise the window? 4. You may try, if you like. 5. He wanted to know if I thought I could lift him. 6. I asked him if I might try. 7. Can a fish speak? 8. May we study together? 45. Write on the blackboard sentences containing the words may, can, might, and could. COMPOUND PREDICATE VERBS AND SUBJECT SUBSTANTIVES: CONNECTIVE WORDS 46. Sometimes predicate verbs or subject sub- stantives occur in pairs; or there may be several subject substantives for one predicate verb, or several predicate verbs for one subject substantive. Such predicate verbs and such subject substantives are called compound predicate verbs and compound subject substantives. Or, when there are three or more words in the compound predicate verb or sub- ject, we say that the words are in series. In this case commas are used between them. When there are two verbs or subjects, they are likely to be joined by and, or, or but. If there are several verbs or several subjects, one of these little words is usually used be- tween the last two. Because they join, or connect, COMPOUND PREDICATE VERBS 49 they are called, for the present, connective words. There are others besides those mentioned; they will be considered later. The following sentences contain examples : 1. "A serpent and an eagle were struggling with each other." 2. "A thief hired a room in a tavern, and stayed there some days." 3. "A horse, an ox, and a dog sought shelter and pro- tection from man." 4. "Then Cinderella put her hand into her pocket, and drew forth the other glass slipper." 5. "Something had been originally left out, or had de- parted." 6. "He, likewise, was a native of the valley, but had spent the greater part of his life at a distance from that romantic region." 7. "They stood, or sat, or reclined upon the grass." In the first sentence the predicate verb is ''were struggling." Since it was both the serpent and the eagle that were struggling, "serpent" and "eagle" are the compound subject substantive. The con- nective word is "and." Has the second sentence a compound predicate verb or a compound subject substantive? What is the connective word? Answer the same question with regard to the other sentences. What compound predicate verb and what com- pound subject substantive are in series? What do you notice about the connective in these cases? What about the punctuation? 50 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR MODIFIERS 47. Compound predicate verbs and subject sub- stantives may also have modifiers. For example, each of the subject substantives of the first sentence in section 46 has a short modifier of its own ; and in the second sentence the two predicate verbs have modifiers. Determine what are the modifiers of all predicate verbs and subject substantives in the example sentences. 48. Write some sentences that have compound predicate verbs and compound subject substantives. If the compound parts are in series, be sure to use commas between them, and even before the con- nective word that joins the last two. Determine what are the modifiers of each verb and each subject. Mistakes in the Use of Modifiers 49. You use the word this to mean a single thing, as in the expression this man; and you use these to mean more than one thing, as in the expression these men. So also you say that man and those men. This, these, that, and those are very often modifiers, and they should be used as already indicated. 9 But many people make a mistake when one of these words modifies the word kind. Do you say this kind oj man and that kind of man? That is, do you use the modifier that means one thing before the word that means one thing? If you don't, you should. Another very bad mistake is seen in expressions STUDY OF A PICTURE S'l such as them boys. Them is never a modifier. Say those boys or these boys. 50. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing this, these, that, and those as modifiers. STUDY OF COMPOUND VERBS AND SUBJECTS 51. In the following passage determine what are the compound predicate verbs and subject sub- stantives, and what are their modifiers: The cat, the squirrel, the panther, and the bear are all animals that climb trees. Pussy herself is often seen crawling along a big limb, endeavoring to capture a sparrow or a robin. The nimble little squirrel can jump from branch to branch, or even leap from tree to tree, and never fail to grip the bark with its sharp claws. The strong, lithe panther can often reach a low branch with one quick bound, but cannot climb so high as the cat and the squirrel because of his greater weight. The bear, the heaviest of all these animals, climbs more slowly than the others, remains close to the trunk of the tree, and loves to rest in a fork of the larger branches, where he contemplates all below him with security and calm- ness. The short legs, the strong claws, and the powerful muscles of these four animals make it possible for them to be climbers. STUDY OF A PICTURE 52. Opposite page 52 there is a picture which you are to study and talk about in class. Answer the following questions about it: a. What do you regard as the most important thing in the picture? Why? b. What things are of secondary importance? Why? 52 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR c. Do you see any similarity between the big house outside and the little house in the workshop? Did the boy have anything to do with bringing this about? d. If he did, which was built first — the real house or the model ? e. How did it all happen ? Can you see a story here ? /. What is the boy preparing to be when he becomes a man? g. There must be a story in this picture. What title do you think it ought to have? Writing and Reading a Story 53. Take a lesson period to write the story of the picture. The following day some one who has suc- ceeded in finishing the work, will read to the class what he has written. After he has read, ask your- selves the following questions : a.' Has the writer described the picture in an interesting way? h. Has he made you interested in the boy and his work? c. Has he given some interesting events that come to an end that is pleasing and is all you want to know? Ask two or three other boys and girls to read their stories and determine who has done best, and why. Try to find out what makes a good story. A Grammar Lesson 54. After this work has been accomplished, the pupil who wrote the best story will copy it, or much of it, on the blackboard after school so that it may be used the next day for a grammar lesson. Then « * e *> -• • »«» o « COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 53 in class time study it, sentence by sentence, and determine a. What is the predicate and the subject of each sen- tence, whether they are simple or compound, and whether there are connective words. b. Whether the predicate and the subject have modi- fiers. c. Whether the writer has made any of the mistakes mentioned in sections 44 and 49. COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 55. Two compositions written by school girls are given below. Read them with care. About eight years ago my little cousin, who was a fair- haired, blue-eyed, chubby little boy, came to visit me from St. Louis. Myself a little girl about four. My cousin's mother being quite ill and in care of a doctor, and with my mother as a nurse, we were left to amuse ourselves in the front yard. We were playing only a few minutes when the laundry man appeared and stopped at the side gate. While he delivered the laundry we proceeded to take a drive in the wagon. My little cousin helped me in and then jumped in himself. Before he was comfortably seated I whipped up the horse and we were off at a gallop, going several blocks before we were captured by an officer. We were taken home and left again in the yard. About half an hour later we disappeared and went scampering down the street. We wandered into the police station. The officers of the station amused us, laughed and played with us, and fed us candy. Then put us in the matron's charge, while mother and aunty, ill as she was, searched 54 A 'COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR the whole neighborhood for us and had a dozen or more children hunting us. At last they went in aid of the police, and mother with tears streaming down her face entered the station, She was greeted by the sergeant, He said, "I know you have lost your babies, come on in." Mother was breathless and could hardly speak. When she entered the station there we two were with our hands full of sticky candy, and trying to sHde down the raiHng of the winding stairway, laughing and having the best time. Mother hugged us both, and taking our hands led us home We were down town in one of the large stores when suddenly I missed my mother. Then the terrifying idea occurred that I was lost! Suddenly an idea occurred to me. There was the moving stairs I could stand on it and look around and so I carried this idea into execution. I looked around over their heads and it was like a vast number of hats. Soon I detected my mother searching around here and there. And so the search was ended. Exercise in Criticism 56. These two stories must be thought over very carefully and discussed in class. Use the following list of particulars: a. Which composition is the better? Why? b. One writer has, told more than the other. Is this because one story was in itself better than the other, or because one writer was better than the other, or do you have to give both reasons? COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 55 c. When you are choosing a theme for composition, do you stop to consider whether the first thing you think of is worth writing about? That is, do you take care to choose some subject that you are full of ? d. Very short paragraphs are usually to be avoided. Sometimes paragraphs are short because the writer had very little to say about that division of his composition, and sometimes because he made too many paragraph divisions ; that is, he made two or more paragraphs out of what should have been one. Do you think that either one of these mistakes occurred in the longer of the two themes ? Be sure to come to a conclusion about this matter. e. Are there any apostrophes in either of the composi- tions? If so, why are they used? /. Have both writers ended all the sentences with periods? It is very easy to make a comma when you intend to make a period. Young writers should use a great deal of care in this matter. g. Do you discover that some of the sentences are very impleasant — that they hardly express what the writer intended to say? Rewrite some of these sentences on paper so that they may be written on the blackboard when you come to class; make them sound better, and make them mean just what the writer intended to say. 57. Take up the two compositions, sentence by- sentence, and determine what are the predicate verbs and subject substantives, and the modifiers, of both. Spelling: Doubling the Final Consonant 58. The compositions in section 55, like some others already given, were corrected a little in 56 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR spelling before they were printed. One of the mis- spelled words was occurred; the pupil wrote it with only one r. There is a very simple explanation about the spelling of such words, and it is given below. The letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes w and y, are spoken of as vowels, and the other letters of the alphabet as consonants. Now consider the word oc- cur and the suffix ed. Note four things about them : 1. Occur is accented on the final syllable. 2. It ends in a single consonant. 3. This single consonant is preceded by a single vowel. 4. The suffix begins with a vowel. Under these circumstances, when you add ed to occur you must double the final consonant r, and the word is spelled occurred. Also, since ing begins with a vowel, when you add this suffix you write the word occurring. And since ence also begins with a vowel, when you add this suffix to occur the word must be written occurrence. The rule applies to words of one syllable. Thus, from rob are formed robbed and robbing; and from fan are formed fanning and fanned. There are a few exceptions to the rule, such as taxed, taxing, gaseous, gaseity, gasify, inferable, transferable, and chagrined. Words containing qu are not exceptions, since qu equals qw; thus, acquitted. If the accent of the word is thrown back when the suffix is added, as the accent of infer is thrown back when ence is added, making in'ference, the rule does not apply. An exercise for study follows. The rule applies to COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 57 some of the words because they are Hke occur in the four particulars mentioned. There are other words that do not come under the rule because in one or more of the four particulars the word is not like occur. Thus, redeem does not come under the rule, because the final consonant is preceded by two vowels, and the consonant is therefore not doubled in redeemed. Write each word with the suffixes given, doubling the final consonant or not according to whether the rule applies or not. WORD SUFFIXES WORD SUFFIXES prefer ed, ing, ence, able abet ed, ing, or confer ed, ing, ence squat ed, ing, er travel ed, ing, er squab ish begin ing spurn ed, ing sin ed, ing heat ed, ing infer ed, ing. ence quit ed, ing enter ed, ing din ed, ing acquit ed, ing pilfer ed, ing plan ed, ing transfer ed, ing, able hot er, est run ing wit y gun ing get ing forget ing This is a very useful rule if you master it thor- oughly, and if you use it when you are writing. Every Pupil's Own Spelling Book 59. Different persons misspell different words. One person may find it difficult to spell separate, while another may find it difficult to spell occurred or privilege. Write down in some special place the 58 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR correct spelling of the -words that you habitually misspell, and study the list occasionally. This is the best way to improve your spelling. Try it. Make a little book of your own for this purpose, and letter your name on it. OUTLINE FOR AN ORAL COMPOSITION 60. Every composition that is easily understood when it is spoken or written is made on a definite plan. Such a plan, whether written or not, is called an outline. Let us try to make an outline on some easy subject, for example, ''An Old Farm I Know." It is plain that at the very beginning we should try to say something of interest so that those who listen to the speaker, and those who read when the composition is written, may be interested at once. One thing that is likely to be of interest is how the farm was first seen by the speaker or the writer. Then should follow a description of the farm and the expe- riences the speaker or writer had there, all given in logical order. The following will illustrate: An Old Farm I Know 1. How I first saw the farm. a. Our decision to spend our summer vacation there. b. Our tiresome ride on the train. c. The ride from the railroad station. d. First view of the farm; its restful look. 2. The first night. a. Greeting of the farmer's wife and children. b. Putting the horses in the stable. OUTLINE FOR AN ORAL COMPOSITION 59 c. Supper ; how it was different from suppers at home. d. A good night's rest; lulled to sleep by crickets. 3. Morning. a. The momentary surprise at the strange sur- roundings on awakening. h. A hurried dressing, and a wash at the pump. c. Breakfast. 4. Explorations. a. Description of the house and immediate sur- roundings. , h. The barns, corn cribs, and chicken houses. c. The fields — what kind of crops planted; rivers or creeks, hills, woods; animals — horses, cows, pigs, chickens. 5. Fun on the farm. a. Feeding the horses; riding horseback. h. Going for the cows. c. Gathering eggs. d. Picking berries. e. Swimming. /. Setting traps for rabbits. g. Games. 6. Departure. a. Vacation time over; looking forward to school again. b. Regrets at leaving. c. Good-by. d. Home again. It is quite possible that more than one of you have had a vacation very much like that indicated in this outline. If so, some one will stand before the class and tell about the farm and his experiences there, using the outline for a guide. 6o A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Whoever does this will probably make one bad mistake — he will not tell you enough. In that case, the class should tell him what else he might have said. He will then realize that each little title in the outline was merely a suggestion. He will know, for example, that he might have told more of what part the farmer's children took in all that he did, more of what part the farmer and the farmer's wife and his own parents and brothers and sisters took in all that he did, and more of what he himself thought and felt throughout his whole expe- rience on the farm. When the speaker has been instructed on these matters he should be allowed to give the same speech again, or some one else should speak from the same outline. If no one can speak from the outline as it stands, some person in the class will revise it for his own use by striking out some titles and adding others, and will be ready the next day. The revised outline should then be written on the blackboard, and the pupil who revised it will speak from it. If it should happen that no one in the class has had such an experience as that outlined, which is pretty sure to be the case if your school is in the country or in a small town, perhaps some one has had the very reverse experience — that of making a visit to a big city. If so, help him make an outline on the blackboard, and give him your careful atten- tion when he speaks from the outHne. Don't be in a hurry about this work; take several days for it. With this experience as a guide, each member of OUTLINE FOR AN ORAL COMPOSITION 6i the class will make an outline and speak from it. Some possible subjects are given below; but it will be better for each to select his own subject. Some Subjects Suggested 6i. The following list may help you to choose subjects of your own: My First Railroad Journey My First Ride in a Boat The First Christmas I Remember My First Party My Experience in the Country My Experience in the City My Visit to a Factory My Experience with Horses How I Was Broken of a Bad Habit Exercise in Criticism 62. The class should talk over each speech, using questions like the following: a. Was the speech interesting? What part did you like best? h. If it was not interesting, what could have made it so? c. Was it well arranged? d. Did the speaker make any mistakes in his English? e. Did he string his sentences together with and-uh, then-uh, and similar connectives? /. Did he stand out boldly before the class, without leaning on a desk? g. Did he speak loud enough to be heard all over the room? h. Did he pronounce his words correctly? 62 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR i. Should you like to have him speak aj^ain on another subject ? CORRECT PREDICATES AND SUBJECTS 63. It is quite likely that you have heard people use such sentences as Him and me are good friends, or Him and I are good friends; and it is important that you know why they are wrong. The reason is that he and I are the correct forms of these words when they are subjects. Therefore the compound subject of the first sentence is wrong, and half of the compound subject of the second sentence is wrong. Don't think, however, that it is never correct to say him and me and her and me; these forms are correct in their proper place, and will be explained later. The sentences given below illus- trate the correct forms of these words and some others when they are subjects. He and I arc good friends. She and I are good friends. We and they are good friends. It is I. It is he. It is she. \ It is we. It is they. Some students of language assert that the expression It is me is gradually being recognized as good English. Nevertheless you are advised to say It is I; this is the established form. You must be careful to use the forms given above CORRECT PREDICATES AND SUBJECTS 6^ when they arc parts of longer sentences, as in the following : It was I who gave you the book. It was she who came with us. It was they who befriended me. Some people carelessly use you as the subject of was, as in You was here and Was you here? The correct forms are You were here. Were you here ? There are certain words that give the idea of a whole body of people or things, such as committee, class, jury, and crowd. Perhaps you are sometimes puzzled about such words, not knowing whether to use is or are with them. It is correct to use is and has and other verbs in the singular; but if you are thinking of the individuals of the class or of the crowd separately, then it is proper to use are and have and other verbs in the plural. The following sentences will illustrate: The committee is adopting the resolutions. The committee has adjourned. The crowd has gone away. The crowd are taking off their hats. The class enjoys the work. All the class have spoken. It is incorrect to say He don't or She don't. Don't is a contraction of do not; surely no one would say He do not or She do^ not. The correct forms are He does n't. She does n't. 64 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Ain't is a, contraction of am not; no one would say He am not; how absurd, then, to say He aint! Even when its subject is I, ain't is a vulgarism, and should never be used. Very ignorant or very careless persons use such expressions as He aint here, I seen him, He done it, and / have went. The correct sentences are He is n't here. He did it. I saw him. I have gone. Another error is hadn't ought for ought not or should not. Correct use of these words appears in the following sentences: He ought not to play so roughly. They ought not to be tardy so often. She ought not to talk in such a low tone. We should not tease them. Both ought and should express the idea of duty, but ought expresses it more strongly than should. These are the most common errors in the use of predicates and subjects. If you use any of them, correct yourselves at once, and don't be content until you have made the right forms a habit. 64. Write on the blackboard sentences containing He and 7, She and J, // is /, It is he, It is she, You were, Were you, He doesn't. She doesn't, They don't, I am not. He is not. GRAMMAR EXERCISE 65. In many places in this book you have found explanations of incorrect grammar and have been advised to avoid it. Do you avoid it ? Or are you SPEAKING FROM AN OUTLINE 65 usually so much interested in what you are saying that it is difficult to pay attention to how you are saying it ? As this is probably the case some of the time, it will be a good thing to have an exercise once in a while in which you pay more attention to how you express yourselves than to what you say. First, have a quick review of sections 44, 49, and 63. Next, let some one of your number tell you a story. It may be some experience of his own, or something he has read or heard. It may even be something he has used before either as a spoken or a written exercise. As he speaks, notice all the mistakes he makes in grammar, all the words he mispronounces, and all the words he misuses. After he has sat down tell him all the errors he has made, and some one else will tell you a story, so that you may tell him also all the mistakes he makes. This is a good exercise to come back to occasionally. Every one in the class should have the experience of being thus criticized from time to time. It will make you all more careful. SPEAKING FROM AN OUTLINE 66. Choose one of the following subjects for composition, or, if you like, select a subject of your own, and make an outline for another experience in speaking. My Own Home My First Year at School My Summer in a Garden Fun in the Parks 66 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR The Best Books I Have Read Dogs I Have Owned Our Window Decorations Spring Plowing and Sowing Going to Town on Saturdays Circus Days Newspapers I Read Dolls I 've Loved and Lost When you have finished, one of you will write his outline on the blackboard and speak from it. It need not be a very long outline, but the speaker must say enough about each topic. This is a good exercise to keep up for several days, until all in the class have spoken. After each speech the class should offer criticism according to the suggestions in the next section. Exercise in Criticism 67. Answer the following questions: a. Is the outline in good order? b. Did the speaker tell all you would like to know about his subject? c. Did he make any such errors in English as the use of ain't, he don't, It is me, or Him and me did so and so f d. Did he string his sentences together with and-iih, but-uh, and so-uh f e. Did he speak distinctly, so that those in the back part of the room could hear easily ? /. Did he stand up boldly before the class, or did he le^n on a desk? g. Can you give him any hints that will help him to do better next time? OBJECTS 67 OBJECTS 68. Read the following sentences: 1. "The dolphins and the whales waged a fierce war- fare with each other." 2. **A boy stole a lesson book from one of his school fellows." 3. "A fisherman, engaged in his calling, made a very- successful cast, and captured a great haul of fish." 4. "But he too had a Cricket on his Hearth." 5. "Thackleton had brought his leg of mutton." 6. "For this purpose, he had led Httle Marygold into the garden." The verbs in the sentences above express action. At some place after each one of these verbs is a word that tells what the action falls on, or what receives the action. Thus the first sentence would not be complete if you should say, "The dolphins and the whales waged." It is necessary to say that they waged ''warfare." This word and words used in this way are called objects. The object, then, is a word upon which the action of the verb falls; in other words, the object is the receiver of the action. Two cautions are necessary. First, all verbs that have objects are action verbs, like waged, saw, built; or indicate possession, like have and had. Such verbs as am, is, are, and seems express being, not action, as in I am angry. She is kind. They are good people, and He seems ill, and cannot have objects. Second, all action verbs do not have objects; for example, such verbs as go and come express action, but they can- not have objects. Objects are usually nouns or pronouns. 68 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR TRANSITIVE AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS 69. You learned in the preceding section that some action verbs, Hke go and come, cannot have objects. It is possible to wage warfare, or to see a ship or to build a house; but it is not possible to go anything or to come anything. These latter verbs do not express the kind of action that falls upon or can be received by objects named by other words. Verbs that have objects are called transitive verbs. Verbs that express action but cannot have objects are called intransitive verbs. The verbs in the following sentences are intransitive: The organ grinder has gone. Summer will come again. The rain went away. The children are running. Some verbs are sometimes transitive and some- times intransitive. Read is such a verb. You may say Mother is reading, and you may say Mother is reading the morning paper. The first sentence is complete, yet "is reading" has no object and is therefore intransitive. In the second sentence "is reading" has an object and is therefore transitive. There are many such verbs. 70. You should now understand very well what objects are and be able to recognize them in sentences. Go back to section 68 and determine the objects. One of the sentences has two verbs, each of which has an object. Which one is it? Write some sentences containing objects. Write some sentences containing the verbs run, sweepy read, call, play, and grow, and notice that they are transitive or intransitive, that is, that COMPOUND OBJECTS 69 they have objects or not, according to the way you use them. Remember, too, that each of the verbs has several forms, any of which you may use. Thus run has the following forms : run, to run, ran, has run, is running, has been running, and others. MODIFIERS 71. Objects, like verbs and subjects, may have modifiers. Hence there are complete objects and object substantives. Thus in the first sentence in section 68 the words "a fierce" modify the object ** warfare." "Warfare" is the object substantive, and "a fierce warfare" is the complete object. Notice the words "with each other." When you read the sentence, do you associate these words with * ' warfare" or with * ' waged" ? That is, does this little group of words modify the object or the verb ? 72. Write a short composition, or study one you have written before, and determine whether any of the verbs have objects. Also, distinguish between complete objects and object substantives. After you have each studied a composition of your own in this way, some one will write his own on the blackboard. As he writes, study each sentence ; and when he has finished, tell him what sentences have objects in them and what sentences have not. Dis- tinguish between complete objects and object sub- stantives. COMPOUND OBJECTS 73. Objects, like verbs and subjects, may be compound. If there are three or more, they are 70 .1 COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR said to be in series, and commas are used between them. What are the compound objects in the following sentences, and what are their modifiers? That is, what are the object substantives and what are the complete objects? Also, what connective words join the objects? 1. "This man has a daughter and two sons." 2. "From this mountain top one sees rivers, forests, and towns." 3. "Here you behold not a traitor, but a hero." 4. "She has neither father nor mother." 5. "He wore a linen blouse, a cloth cap, and a pair of green spectacles." 6. "I shall never repeat a conversation, but an idea often." 7. "A hare once ridiculed the short legs and slow pace of the tortoise." 8. "Poor Tom; that eats the swimming frog, the toad, the tadpole, the wall-newt, and the water." 9. "Wine loved I deeply, dice dearly." 74. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing compound objects. Be sure to punctuate correctly. GROUP OBJECTS 75. Read the following sentences carefully: 1. "I know that she will not cease from grief and weep- ing until she sees me." 2. "They promised that they would carry me to dis- tant Ithaca." 3. "A stag asked a sheep to lend him a measure of wheat," GROUP OBJECTS 71 4. " 'Sit down, then, on this stone, and recover your breath,' said Quentin." 5. "The fallen man continued to exclaim, 'I am stifled here, in mine own armor.' " 6. "I advise you to tell us a story here." . 7. "A crab said to her son, 'Why do you walk so one- sided, my child?' " In section 68 you saw that an object might be one word. In section 73 you saw that an object might be two or more words either joined by a connective, like and, or separated by commas, or both. Con- sider again the first sentence in section 68. The simple object is "warfare"; that is, you can think of the one word ''warfare" and its modifiers sep- arately. But in the first of the sentences given as examples in this section you can do nothing of the sort. The verb is ''know"; the subject is "I." As "know" is an action verb, you know that perhaps it may have an object. If you ask yourselves. What receives the action f you get as answer, not one word, or two words joined by a connective, for it is plain that "I" did not "know" "that," or "she," or an idea expressed by any other one word among those that follow. You get as answer, rather, the whole group of words, ' ' that she will not cease from grief and weeping until she sees me." This group of words is the object, and for the present it is called a group object. Group objects have no modifiers, although they usually are composed of parts that have modifiers. Determine what the group objects are in the other example sentences in this section. 72 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR When do group objects have quotation marks about them? When do they have commas before them, and when not? In three of the example sentences both quotation marks and half-quotation marks are used. Why ? 76. Write sentences containing group objects; or, study an old composition to see if it has any group objects. Some of these objects probably begin with that; others may be preceded or followed by such words as said, remarked, asked, or exclaimed; others may begin with the name of some person or thing, or words like him and her and them, which will be followed by to and a verb, as in the third example sentence in section 75. SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 77. It is altogether likely that some of the speakers had occasion to use the words lie, lay, sit, set, leave, and let; and if they did it is likely that some of the words were misused. Lie means to recline, while lay means to place a thing in position. Sit means to take a sitting position, while set means to cause to sit. Leave means to go away from, while let usually means to give permission. The first four of these words are difficult to use when they express other than present time. In the following sentences tell why they are correctly used. Present Time: I lie on the couch. He lies on the couch. I lay the plate on the table. SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 73 She lai^s the plate on the table. I sit in the big chair. He sits in the big chair. The hen sits on the eggs. I set the plates on the table. She sets the plates on the table. Past Time: I lay on the couch yesterday. He lay on the couch yesterday. I laid the plates on the table yesterday. She laid the plates on the table yesterday. I sat in the big chair yesterday. He sat in the big chair yesterday. The hen sat on the eggs three weeks. I set the plates on the table yesterday. She set the plates on the table yesterday. Time Just Completed or Time Long Continued: I have lain on the couch two hours. He has just lain down on the couch. I have often laid the plates on the table. She has just laid the plates on the table. She has just sat down in the big chair. He has frequently sat in the big chair. She has just set the plates on the table. They have set the plates on the table many a time. Mother has set three hens this week. Howeveri there are cases of idioms, that is, expressions peculiar to a language, where the defi- nitions given seem to be violated. For example, it is correct to say. The sun sets, and We set out for town at ten o'clock. Leave and let are often confused. The following sentences are correct: 74 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 1 . Leave me alone (go away) . 2. Let me alone (don't bother me). 3. We usually leave school at half-past three. 4. Our teacher lets us go home at half -past three. 5. We left school at half -past three. 6. Our teacher let us leave school at half -past three. 7. We have often left school at half-past three. 8. Our teacher has sometimes let us leave school at three. Do not use leave meaning to give permission. It is not easy to see how the definition given of let applies in the sentence Let me alone, but the expression is idiomatic and correct. Have you discovered that some of these words are transitive and some intransitive? Explain. When you write and speak, take great care to use these words correctly. 78. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing the words lie, lay, sit, set, leave, and let. In each case tell whether the verbs are transitive or intransitive. A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION 79. As you have already discovered, it is rather difficult for you to write a long composition. When you are talking to your friends about the things you are interested in, you can talk enough, to be sure. Even when you speak from an outline, you can probably tell your experiences and your ideas with some degree of fullness, especially if your classmates ask you suggestive questions. But when you attempt to put your thoughts on paper, the very labor of writing appals you, and your thoughts A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION 75 refuse to flow. As you grow older and have more experience in writing, you will improve in this respect. Doubtless it will help you to read a compo- sition written by a girl who has treated her subject rather fully. One day when I was about four years old I remember one day I was naughty from about eight o'clock in the morning till I was put to bed. I got up very early and ran out in the sand pile. It was very uninteresting, so I thought I would take a walk as my father often did before breakfast. I walked about a block till I passed the little store we traded at. I remembered that when I walked with papa he always went in and got a news- paper, so I attempted to do the same. I asked Mr. Storeman for a paper. It happened that papa had got one before this, so the man said, "Did your ma send you?" I said, "No, I was just out walking and thought I would drop in." When I was out walking I saw Maggie hurrying down the street calling me. I tried to run from her, but she caught mc. When we reached home they were eating breakfast, and nothing was said about my little walk. I played quite a while in the sand pile and was just starting for a walk when mamma called to come and get dressed t^ go away with her. She dressed me and put my little blue coat on, and told me to sit on the porch. I, however, saw the gardener cutting the grass, and thought I would see him, as he was a great friend of mine. He had a little can of something which he squirted out of a little hole at the top, and while he was out in the other side of the yard I experimented with it, thus spilling it all over my clothes. When mamma came out, such a sight as she saw. My hair ribbon was hanging over my ear and oil all over my clothes. She said, "Shame on 76 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR you. Maggie will have to dress you over because Miss Ludlow wishes to see you." This time Maggie dressed me without mishap, and went down stairs to get my silk coat. I went to get my doll, and saw the cake of soap floating around on the water in the bathtub. I made a dive to get it, and fell headlong into the tub. When Maggie came back I was standing dripping in the middle of the floor, with the cake of soap in one hand. That was the last straw, and you may be sure I got what I deserved. Exercise in Criticism 80. As usual after reading a composition written by a pupil, we must consider it very carefully. Discuss it with the following points as guides: a. Contrast it with the composition about the swim- ming race in section 29, and note how much more interesting it is than that. Why? b. This composition has the quality called humor. Do you know what humor is? c. The writer told something about her own life. Do you think she was able to treat her subject so fully because she chose to write about herself rather than about some one else? d. Can you make a title for the composition? e. Just as a sentence must be a complete thing, so also must a composition be a complete thing. The writer of this one has succeeded very well in this respect. The first sentence tells you at once what she is going to write about, and the last sentence lets you know that she has finished. Between the first and the last sentence she has told you all, or nearly all, that you would like to know about that one day in her life. Are your own compositions always so well finished? A SPELLING LESSON 77 /. The whole story is written in one paragraph. Can you find any places where new paragraphs might have been begun? Could the writer, by changing the wording of a sentence here and there, have made two or three distinct paragraphs of the story ? g. Reread the first sentence carefully. Do you notice that one little group of words is used twice? The effect is certainly bad. Can you take out one of the repeated groups of words and thereby improve the sound of the sentence without changing the meaning ? h. There are two sentences in the story that should have been ended with exclamation points, but the writer used periods instead. Which sentences are they? Exercise in Grammar 8i. Now let us study this story in another way. Many of the sentences have objects, some of them being group objects. Go through the composition, sentence by sentence, and pick out the objects. Watch carefully for the following errors: a. In one sentence the writer omitted the object. b. In another sentence she omitted the predicate verb. These mistakes were made by accident, of course. Perhaps you will be less liable to such accidents if you find where this writer blundered. A SPELLING LESSON 82. One of your difficulties in spelling is probably in adding 5 to words that end in y. There are two kinds of these words. One kind has a consonant before the y, as cry; and in this case you should 7S A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR change the y to i and ^ add cs, making cries. The other kind has a vowel before the y; and in this case the s is added without any other change, as in the case of monkey and monkeys. Another difficulty is in adding ness to words, as in the case of stubbornness. This word simply is stubborn + ness; nothing could be simpler; there is no change either in stubborn or in ness when the two are put together. The same is true when ly is added to such words as beautiful, making beautifully. Add s to the following words, following the rule carefully : try pry spy valley attorney key lady hurry study alloy baby army day pity money Add ness to the following words: mean green Add ly to the following words: merciful plentiful grateful sinful GROUP WORK 83. Sometimes when you have failed to bring a sentence to an end by the use of the proper punctua- tion mark, or when you have misspelled a word, your teacher tells you that you knew better, and asks you why you did it. You probably reply that you forgot, or that you don't know. The truth is that you are sometimes careless; you think so GROUP WORK 79 intently about what you are writing that you fail to be attentive to how you are writing it. Now, it is as necessary to write accurately as it is to have something worth saying; and the pupil who is care- less about his sentence structure, his punctuation, and his spelling cannot write an acceptable letter or composition. Some of your work in school should therefore be planned to make you careful, so that when you leave school you will have formed the habit of writing precisely what you mean and of taking great care in all the details of composition. In order to form such a habit you will frequently work in groups. A liberal space at the blackboard will be assigned to each of several pupils, and a sub- ject given to each, probably one of those that follow in section 85. For each pupil who writes, there will be two or three others who are to be critics. The critics will sit near the writers, and give them all the help needed. If a writer misspells a word, the critics should call his attention to it and have him correct it at once. If he. does not end a sentence and begin a new one when he should, they should request him to do so. If he writes a sentence that does not sound well, they should show him why, and ask him to rewrite it. If the critics think the writer is not writing just what he intends to write, they should ask him to explain what he means, and then ask him to make his writing more clear, if that is possible. 84. You will observe that this exercise will compel the writer to be very careful. He will probably not 8o A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR write so much as if he worked alone ; but if you let him write to the end and then tell him what his mistakes are, he will be likely to make the very same mistakes the next time he writes. After a few months or a year of this sort of experience, he will be able to write more and better than when he began; that is, each one of the group will gradually acquire some of the power of the whole group. This group work should be carried on in a spirit of helpfulness. The critics should not find fault for the pleasure of finding fault, but should endeavor to give the writer just the aid he needs. You will be just as free to talk as you would if you were working in a laboratory, or a manual-training room, or a domestic-science room. It is desirable that all the pupils work at the same time either as writers or critics. If there is not enough blackboard space for this, those who are neither critics nor writers at the blackboard should write at their desks. As the months go by, every one will have, as often as possible, this experience of writing with help from others. Some subjects for compositions are given in the next section. Some Subjects for Group-work Compositions 85. Your own experiences are always of interest to you, and are likely to be of interest to others if you tell them well. This involves telling what you did and what you thought and what you felt; perhaps, also, what the other persons of the narrative GROUP WORK 8 1 did and thought and felt. Keep these things in mind as you write. In all likelihood you will not finish what you begin, but that will make little difference ; the imme- diate purpose of this kind of work is to make you take great care in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and exact expression. If you do a little very well, that little will be acceptable. Choose, therefore, some subject that you can treat briefly. Perhaps one of the following will suggest something to you: My Experiences as a Runaway How I Dug a Hole through to China My Explorations in an Attic My Discoveries in a Country Bam How We Played Indian A Great Battle in the Snow My Earliest Ambitions A Punishment I Deserved My Experience with a Pot of Paint How I Was the Victim of a Joke Strange Things I Used to Think Practicing on Saturday The Pleasures of Housework Dressing up in Mother's Clothes Two Exercises in Criticism 86. If it is not possible to do the group work and to criticize, as a class, on the same day, preserve until the next day at least one of the compositions that have been written on the blackboard. The person who wrote the composition, or each composition 82 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR preserved, will be asked to read aloud what he wrote, to give an account of the criticisms that were offered by his critics, and to state whether or not he accepted their judgment, and why. If compositions were written at the seats while the group work was going on, the pupils who wrote them will now exchange papers, read them carefully, and then have conferences in which every pupil gives a criticism on some one else's work and receives criticism on his own. Particular attention " should be given to the kind of errors made by the pupil or pupils who wrote at the blackboard. And always you should use all the knowledge you have to make clear to one another what is good and what is bad in the compositions. Exercise in Grammar 87. If it is possible, leave one of the themes on the blackboard until it can be used as a basis for a grammar exercise. If this is not possible, one of you will copy on the blackboard one of your own compositions — it makes no difference what one. Then take it up, sentence by sentence, and determine a. What the complete predicates are. b. What the predicate verbs are. c. What the complete subjects are. d. What the subject substantives are. e. What the complete objects are. /. What the object substantives are. g. Whether the writer has run on from one sentence to' another without ending the one with the proper SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 85 punctuation mark and beginning the other with a capital. Exercise in Oral Composition 88. A few who did not finish their compositions while working in groups will speak before the class. They should say all they wrote at the blackboard and all they would have written if they had had time to finish. SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 89. Some words are so much alike that young people, and sometimes older people, have difficulty in using them properly. For* example, accept and except are much alike in sound when pronounced rapidly, and are somewhat similar in spelling. Other examples are afect and effect. But these two pairs of words are different in meaning. To accept a thing is "to receive it with a consenting mind," as Webster puts it. To except a thing is to leave it out. Thus it is correct to say I accepted all his gifts except the money. Afect has several meanings; it means to influence, as in Her daughter's death affected her seriously; and it means to put on, to assume, as in She affects the airs of a grand lady. Effect means to accomplish, to bring about a result; or it means the result itself. These are very common words, and are often used in letters. As you will have much use for them in this kind of writing, it is necessary to know them well. Study their meanings in the following sentences : 84 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 1. It will give me great pleasure to accept your invitation. 2. The effect of the injury he suffered last year still remains with him. 3. After a long discussion the lawyers effected a compromise. 4. We accept all your proposals except the third one. 5. Business does not seem to be much affected by the tariff law. 6. That man's manner is not natural; he is affected. 7. We had an unusually good trade this week except on Monday. 8. What will be the effect of the short harvest on the cost of living? 9. It seems necessary to effect a definite agreement before we can transact business. 10. The agreement effected by the directors of the road with the stockholders has been observed except for about a month. SPELLING; EI AND IE 90. One of your greatest difficulties, no doubt, is the spelling of such words as receive and believe, in which the e but not the i is pronounced. Which comes first — the e or the if A man from India who once lectured in this country said he had learned to do as the Americans do — he made the i and the e just alike and put the dot over the middle. That is a convenient way, but it will not please your teachers, your parents, nor the business men with whom you may be associated hereafter; nor, in the end, will it please you. Besides, you can't do it on a typewriter. There is no rule for determining, A BUSINESS LETTER 85 in every word, whether the e or the i comes first, but there is an old rule that will help. I before e, Except after c, Or when sounded like a, As in neighbor and weigh. For example, in believe the i comes before the e; but when these letters follow c, the e comes first, as in receive. And when the e has the sound of a, the e comes first. Exceptions to the rule are seize, nei- ther, either, weird, financier, and leisure. Inspect the following words, and show that the rule applies: gneve conceive veil sleigh relieve field relieve believe deceive neigh perceive reprieve siege liege lief lien niece reign Hereafter when you write words of the kind we have been considering, stop to recall this rule, and be sure to spell correctly. After a time you will do so from force of habit. A BUSINESS LETTER 91. A business letter is usually very short, but it is sometimes not an easy thing to write. For a business man is a person who is very exact in his habits; he keeps on file all the important letters and orders he receives, so that he can refer to them ^t a moment's notice; and when he has anything to 86 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR do, he wants to do it quickly. Therefore when you write to such a person, you must be sure to tell him precisely what he wants to know. Suppose, for example, that you have ordered a set of Hawthorne's works from a firm in Chicago, and that the books have failed to come as early as you have a right to expect. Wishing to make inquiries, you will write a letter somewhat like the following : 3208 Western Avenue Mattoon, 111. October 10, 19 13 Castleman, Rhodes and Co. 123 Wabash Avenue Chicago, 111. Dear Sirs: On September 20th I sent you an order for a set of Hawthorne's works, and inclosed a money order for eight dollars and thirty cents ($8.30), the listed price of the books. The package has not been delivered at my house; and I find on inquiry at the American Express Company office that it has not been received there. Will you kindly investigate the matter and send on my purchase at once? Very truly yours, James Strong When this letter arrived it would be opened with hundreds of others, perhaps, by a clerk whose duty it is to sort the mail and to give each pile to the person who has a particular part of the day's business to attend to. The letter printed above would prob- ably go to the order department. The clerk there A BUSINESS LETTER 87 would examine the files to see if the letter mentioned had been received. If it had, he would then exam- ine the record stamped on the back of it. If the record indicated that the order had been filled, he would then look for the receipt from the driver of the express wagon that carried away the packages on that day. In case he found it, he would send a messenger or a letter, called a ''tracer," to the express company's office, asking that the package be traced at once. But if, on the other hand, he found that the mistake had been made by himself or any of his associates, he would correct it himself and ship the books. Now, if you will read the letter again, you will discover that the clerk who investigated the matter would have precisely the information he needed. Just enough and no more: that is the rule in writing business letters. In this case the clerk would have your name and address, the nature of your purchase and the price, the day on which the letter was written, the name of the express company, and the fact that you had sent a money order. But if any of these details had been omitted, further corres- pondence would be necessary. Question: Was the word received correctly spelled in the letter? Form of a Business Letter 92. Business houses often receive letters so poorly arranged that it is difficult to read them. For this reason it is wise to follow a set form, such as that 88 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR given in the example letter. This form comprises the following particulars: a. The heading, which consists of the number of the writer's house, the name of the street, and the name of the city and the state. b. The address, which consists of the name of the person, firm, or company to whom the letter is sent, the number of the building, the name of the street, and the name of the city and the state. c. The salutation, which may be Dear Sirs, Gentlemen, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, or Dear Miss. d. The body, which should contain just enough and no more. e. The complimentary close, which is usually Yours truly or Very truly yours. J. The signature, which is your name as you sign it. And you should be careful to sign it always the same way. For example, if your name is John Henry Jones you may sign it in full, or John H. Jones, or J. H. Jones, or J. Henry Jones. But always sign it the same way. Punctuation of the Letter 93. Custom varies a little in the punctuation of the heading, the address, and the salutation of a letter; but the style of punctuation in the example letter is good, and you are advised to follow it. In the heading a comma comes after the name of the town to separate it from the name of the state. The period comes after the "111." because III. is an abbreviation. The comma after ''10" is used to separate the day of the month from the year. In the address of the company to which the letter A BUSINESS LETTER 89 is sent, the first comma is used to separate the name of the first member of the company from the name of the second member. The period after "Co." is used because this group of letters is an abbreviation. The comma is used after ''Chicago" to separate the name of the city from that of the state. The period is used after "111." to indicate the abbreviation. The colon is used after the salutation because the voice falls as the salutation is read, and because the salutation is a kind of introduction to the letter. The comma after the complimentary close shows that something else, the signature, is to follow. Another Form for a Business Letter 94. Another style of letter now very common is called the ' ' block style. ' ' An example is given below : 136 Meridian Street Indianapolis, Ind. December 27, 19 14 The Acme Company 26 N. Jefferson St. Detroit, Mich. Dear Sirs: In response to your inquiry of the twenty-third of this month, we take pleasure in informing you that we carry the goods you are in need of, and that we are sending you printed information which should reach you in this mail. We shall be glad to receive an order from you and to consider you among our constant patrons. Yours very truly, A. J. Reeves Company 90 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Some Typical Business Letters 95. Business letters cover a great variety of subjects; one of the most common is the letter in which is giyen an order for goods, of which an example appears below: Athens, Ohio March 9, 19 14 Door and Dockett 124-126 West Lake Street Chicago, 111. Dear Sirs: The catalogue of your goods which you very kindly mailed me at my request has reached me, and I am glad to give you the following order: Block plane. No. loi $0.25 Rabbet plane, No. 92 1. 6s Smooth plane, No. 3 ■ 1.50 Jointer, No. 7 2.70 Try square, No. 20, 12 -inch .36 Ratchet brace, No. 30 1.90 Total $8.36 I inclose a money order for $8.36, the amount of the purchase. Will you please send the goods by American Express? Yours very truly, John D. Roque There are two things to be specially noted about this letter. The first is that the writer has not written his street and his number. Street and number are unnecessary when the town from which the letter is written is small, or when the writer A BUSINESS LETTER 91 and his place of residence or business are well known. The second is that the catalogue number, the name, and the price of each item of the purchase are given in column^ Two more letters are given below — one a letter of inquiry and the other a reply. McHenry, 111. R.F.D. 3 March 13, 1914 The Charles H. Haines Co. St. Joseph, Mich. Dear Sirs: From time to time I have seen your advertisements in the magazines, and I venture to inquire whether you make a small gasoline motor boat that will run in very shallow water. I do a great deal of hunting, and need a boat that can be used in a stream of varying depth, and even dragged over riffles and into swamps without danger of injiuring the pro- peller. If you manufacture such a boat, kindly send me an illustrated catalogue with price list, and let me know whether or not you could fill an order as soon as received. Yours truly, George Gaylord The thing that must be specially noted about this letter is that it is sent from the country. R.F.D. means Rural Free Delivery, and the 3 means that the writer of the letter lives in the Route 3 district for mail delivered from McHenry, Illinois. There is something requiring special attention in the reply. Business houses usually have what are called letter heads; that is, at the top of each sheet 92 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR of their correspondence paper are printed their name, their business, and their address. It is therefore unnecessary to write the address in the heading of the letter according to the form already given; the date is sufficient. THE CHARLES H. HAINES COMPANY MANUFACTURERS OF GASOLINE MOTOR BOATS St. Joseph, Michigan March 15, 1914 Mr. George Gaylord McHenry, 111. R.F.D. 3 Dear Sir: In reply to your letter of March 13' we take pleasure in saying that we manufacture precisely the boat you are looking for. Our "Hidden Propeller Hunting Boat" has now been on the market for two years, and is rapidly gaining in popularity. For details concerning its construction we refer you to the illustrated catalogue and price list which we are mail- ing you to-day. As we are careful to keep a small number of boats on hand, we could in all probability fill your order on the day it is received. We trust that we shall have the pleasure of receiv- ing your patronage. Yours very truly. The Charles H. Haines Company Writing Business Letters 96. A business letter, like a letter of friendship, should be written in a spirit of politeness. If you have a complaint to make, being courteous is to A BUSINESS LETTER 93 have the battle half won. A discourteous letter angers the recipient, and perhaps makes him want to displease you as much as you have displeased him. Some cautions as to form: a. Be sure to indent the second and third lines of the heading as they are indented in the heading of the example letters, unless you use the block style. b. Do the same in the case of the address, unless you use the block style. c. Be sure that the first line of the address, the salu- tation, and the body of the letter are in the same vertical line. d. The complimentary close should begin a little to the right of the middle of the page when the sig- nature is short; otherwise it should be written as in the last example in section 95. The signature should be indented, unless you use the block style. e. Be sure to write the first line of the address a linq lower than the last line of the heading. /. Leave a good margin, say an inch, on each side of the sheet. g. Write only on one side of the paper. Now let us suppose that you have sent a money order to a company in a distant city as the purchase price of a bicycle, and that when the bicycle comes you find that some part of it, perhaps a pedal, is missing. Write a letter to the company stating your case, giving all information you may think necessary, and asking that the missing part be sent without expense to you. At least one of the letters should be written on the blackboard and carefully criticized by the class. 04 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Exercise in Criticism 97. Make a study of the letter in the following manner : a. Explain the punctuation in the heading, the address, and the complimentary close of the letter written on the blackboard. h. Do you find that the writer has written two or more sentences as if they were one? c. Do you find any of the mistakes in grammar and spelling already studied? If so, have the writer correct them. d. Has the writer succeeded in saying just enough and no more? THE ENVELOPE 98. Use an envelope if you have one; otherwise fold a piece of paper the right size and write the address on it after the following models: Castleman, Rhodes and Co. 123 Wabash Avenue Chicago Illinois A REPLY TO A LETTER 95 Mr. George Gaylord R. F. D. 3 McHenry Illinois The Acme Company 26 N. Jefferson St. Detroit, Michigan A REPLY TO A LETTER 99. Suppose, on the other hand, that you are the manufacturers of the bicycle and that you have received one of the letters that you have just 96 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR written. Write a reply and explain how the mistake probably occurred, and say that an extra pedal is being sent by express. Be careful how you begin your letters. Some business men begin in this style : ' ' Yours of the jrd inst. rec'd and in reply would beg to advise you, etc.'' This is exceedingly awkward; no one talks in such a manner. Why, for example, should the words has been and / (or we) be omitted, and why should the writer *'beg to advise"? You may beg leave to advise, or beg leave to inform, if you wish to be so formal; but *'beg to advise" is nonsense. Write your letters in a plain, straightforward way, using such language as you would use in conversation. Also, avoid abbreviations; there is no reason why received, for example, should be abbreviated. Some people object to beginning a letter with the word I, on the ground that it is egotistical. For the same reason would it not be necessary to leave that word out of our conversation? When you speak to one of your friends, do you take care not to begin with I, lest you be considered an egotist? The cases are the same. If it is easy and natural for you to begin a letter with I, do so. The same caution is necessary about this word, however, as about others — don't use it too often. Exercise in Criticism 100. Have two or three of the letters written on the blackboard, and criticize them in detail as to substance and form. INDIRECT OBJECTS 97 Group Work loi. For several days, work in groups at the blackboard : some will write orders for goods, inqui- ries, and complaints ; others will answer the letters. INDIRECT OBJECTS 102. Read the following sentences: 1. "He gave me this advice," 2. "He gave them an eel to govern them." 3. "What pledge can I give them of your fidelity?" 4. Her mother bought her a pony. 5.1 have granted you too many favors already. 6. Nurse told us children a ghost story. 7. Give me the book. 8. My father made us a sled. 9. This' watch was given me by my father. In the first sentence given above, the object is "advice." There is also the word "me," which looks like an object, as indeed it is, but of a different kind. It is called the indirect object, or, to use the full term, the dative of indirect object. The direct object names the thing upon which the action falls ; the indirect object indicates the person or thing to or for which the action was performed. Thus * ' advice" is the direct object in the sentence we are discussing, and "me" is the indirect object. What are the direct and the indirect objects in the other example sentences? What objects have modi- fiers ? In what sentence is there no direct object ? 103. Write a few sentences containing objects and indirect objects. gS A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR 104. There follows another fable of ^^sop, called "The Lion and the Dolphin." It should be studied for the sake of determining (a) what the predicate verbs and modifiers are, (b) what the subjects and modifiers are, and (c) what the direct objects, the indirect objects, and their modifiers are. You should also be able to detect the group objects, which may of themselves contain objects. You will need some help, however, because some of the sentences have more than one set of verbs and subjects. The first sentence, for example, has five verbs — "was roaming," "saw," "lift," "pro- posed, "and" form . " The sub j ect of " was roaming ' ' is "that"; the subject of "saw" is "lion"; the subject of "lift" is "dolphin"; the subject of "proposed" is "lion"; and the subject of "form" is "they." One of the subjects, therefore, has two verbs, which are joined by "and"; that is, "A lion . . . saw . . . and proposed ..." This may look some- what difficult ; but if you will first carefully determine what are the verbs in each sentence, and then carefully consider what are the subjects of them, you will have made a good beginning, and the difficulty will be less than by any other method. "A lion that was roaming by the seashore saw a dolphin lift up its head out of the water, and proposed that they form a partnership. 'For,' said he, *I am the king of beasts on the earth, and you are the king of beasts in the water; and we ought, therefore, to be the best of friends.' The dolphin gladly consented. Not long afterward the EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR 99 lion had a combat with a wild bull, and called on the dolphin to help him. The dolphin, though quite willing to help him, was unable to do so, as he could in no way reach the land. The lion abused him, and called him a traitor. The dolphin replied, 'Nay, my friend, blame not me, but Nature, which gave me the sover- eignty of the sea, but quite denied me the power of living upon the land!' " Punctuation 105. In the first sentence the verbs "saw" and "proposed" are joined by "and," but several words intervene between the two verbs. In such a case you make a slight pause or jog of the voice before the connective word "and." Therefore when the sentence is written a comma is used in that place. Can you tell why, in terms of grammar, there is a comma after "bull" in the fourth sentence? What other punctuation marks can you explain the use of? Why are both quotation marks and half-quotation marks used? EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR 106. The passage given below is the beginning of a story called "The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was." Study it as you did the fable in section 104. "A certain father had two sons, the elder of whom was sharp and sensible, and could do everything; but the younger was stupid, and could neither learn nor under- stand anything; and when people saw him they said, 'There's a fellow who will give his father some trouble.' 100 A COMPOSITION- GRAMMAR When anything had to be done, it was always the elder who was forced to do it ; but if his father bade him fetch anything when it was late, or in the night time, and the way led through the churchyard, or any other dismal place, he answered, *0h, no, father, I'll not go there; it makes me shudder ! ' for he was afraid. Or when stories were told by the fire at night which made the flesh creep, the listeners often said, *0h, it makes us shudder!' The younger sat in the corner and listened with the rest of them, and could not imagine what they could mean. 'They are always saying, " It makes me shudder, it makes me shudder!" It does not make me shudder,' thought he. 'That, too, must be an art of which I understand nothing.' " Grimm, Household Tales Punctuation: Quotation Marks 107. You have already learned that when the exact words of a speaker are given they are inclosed within quotation marks, and that when a quotation within a quotation occurs, half-quotation marks are used. The paragraph in the preceding section is even more complicated, for it contains a quotation within a quotation within a quotation, and here quotation marks are used again. Reconsider the paragraph and study this matter. How is a quotation separated from such expres- sions as smd he or he remarked? EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR 108. There follows a theme written by a pupil in an elementary school. . Study it to determine (a) whether the writer began and ended each EXERCISE IN GRAMUAk lo'i sentence properly, {h) what are the'v^fbsVsubjects,* objects, indirect objects, and their modifiers, {c) what are the group objects, if any, {d) whether the quotation marks are correctly used, {e) whether the words are correctly spelled, and (/) whether all the sentences have an agreeable sound. Consider also whether the story seems complete in all par- ticulars. It would be a good exercise to rewrite the story after it has been considered in class. I Have a Search I read the interesting letter of Grandfather's again and again as I walked thro' the wood but still I found no clew to the mystery. It ran like this : It is true that Indians once lived upon the same grounds where the old home now stands, in fact they were the only playmates I ever knew. As you are so interested, I will tell you where you may find something that will be of valuable information to you. Go to Oak Grove and following the trail till you come to the woodland, turn and walk ahead till you come to the two massive oaks on the left of the path. One of the oaks has the bark stripped off and Indian designs cut in the trunk. Beneath the tree is a mound of black earth. Take your shovel and uncovering the mound you will find something of interest unless in these many years they have fallen to dust. "Oh! how jolly! the search is over I hope it hasn't been in vain." My brother being with me we worked steady till our eyes fall upon the warped and rather decayed looking arrows and arrow heads with strings of mettle coins in the midst of dust and bones. 102 " " A^'COMPpSITION-GRAMMAR How 'iMerestirrgT" to think we had not been disap- pointed. Spying a sort of slate affair, we thrust our shovel in again and read this: "Chieftain of Tippecanoe Tribe." To think we had found the grave of a real chieftain ! We filled the hole up, our hunt being accomplished so that those who came after might have the same pleasure and running home told the story to the eager home folks who declared the search indeed worth while. • SUBSTANTIVE WITH A CONNECTIVE WORD 109. Read the following sentences: 1 . Give the book and the pencil to me. 2. They came with their friends. 3. He bought the ball for fifty cents. 4. After a long sleep he had his dinner. 5. They passed by our house at seven o'clock. 6. The farmer plowed and harrowed that field in three days. 7. Either Tom or Nell will come for us. 8. For a long time he would not speak to us. 9. The dog is under the table. In the first of these sentences "and" is a con- nective v^^ord joining the two objects "book" and * * pencil. ' ' The word "to" is also a connective word, but it is not the kind that joins two objects, or two subjects, or two verbs. Its duty is to add to the idea of the sentence the word "me," which stands for the person to whom the book and the pencil are to be given. "Me" is therefore of ,a different rank in the sentence from that of "book" and "pencil"; that is, it is not an object of the verb. EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR 103 It must be clear, then, that there are at least two kinds of words whose sole duty it is to connect. They will be studied later, but for the present we shall call them all connective words. Examples of one kind are and, hut, and or; and these all join words or groups of words that have the same rank in the sentence. Examples of the other kind are with, for, to, in, by, at, under, over, and from; and their use is to add a word or group of words to another word or group of words that has a different rank in the sentence. The word or group of words that follows such a connective is said to be a sub- stantive with a connective word. Consider carefully the example sentences and determine what connectives are followed by sub- stantives. Write on the blackboard several sentences con- taining connectives that are followed by substan- tives, and explain them for a class exercise. EXERCISE IN GRAMMAR no. Read the following passage aloud. in class and discuss it until you are sure that you know something of the peculiarities of the old Englishman called Sir Roger. "As Sir Roger is landlord of the whole congregation, he keeps them in very good order, and will suffer nobody to sleep in it besides himself ; for if by chance he has been surprised into a short nap at sermon, upon recovering out of it he stands up and looks about him, and if he sees anybody else nodding, either wakes them himself, or sends his servant to them. Several other of the old I04 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR knight's particularities break out upon these occasions; sometimes he will be lengthening out a verse in the singing Psalms, half a minute after the rest of the congregation have done with it; sometimes when he is pleased with the matter of his devotion, he pronounces 'Amen' three of four times to the same prayer; and sometimes stands up when everybody else is upon their knees, to count the congregation, or see if any of his tenants are missing. "I was yesterday very much surprised to hear my old friend, in the midst of the service, calling out to one John Matthews to mind what he was about, and not disturb the congregation. This John Matthews it seems is remarkable for being an idle fellow, and at that time was kicking his heels for his diversion. This authority of the knight, though exerted in that odd manner which accom- panies him in all circumstances of life, has a very good effect upon the parish, who are not polite enough to see anything ridiculous in his behavior; besides that the general good sense and worthiness of his character makes his friends observe these little singularities as foils that rather set off than blemish his good qualities." Addison, in the Spectator In this selection there are many little groups of words each of which consists of a connective word and a substantive, perhaps with modifiers. The following are examples from the first sentence. * ' of the whole congregation ' ' " in very good order " "in it" "besides hiinself " a. Take up the passage, sentence by sentence, and read aloud all such groups of words. Note that they do not contain a predicate and a subject. MISTAKES IN THE USE OF OBJECTS lO^ b. In the first sentence the word "and" joins "keeps" and "will suffer," between which come several other words. You observe that there is a punc- tuation mark before the "and," in this case a comma. Do you find any other cases in the pass- age where there is a comma, or perhaps a semi- colon, before and or or when one of these words joins two words or groups of words that are rather far apart? c. In the first sentence there occurs the word "con- gregation," which conveys the idea of a group of people. Afterwards, in the same sentence, the author refers to "congregation" by the word "they," which means many persons, and later by "it," which means only one thing. Can you explain this ? Perhaps it will be necessary for you to refer to section 63. MISTAKES IN THE USE OF OBJECTS AND SUBSTANTIVES WITH CONNECTIVES III. Some people have the inclination to speak correctly, but have not enough knowledge of the language to do so. The result is that they make very absurd errors. One case occurs in the following sentence: He gave the book to him and I. A person who uses such a sentence would not say He gave the book to I, for that would be instantly recognized as absurd; it is only when two words joined by and are used after to that the error occurs. You may be sure that persons who make these mistakes have been warned against using such sentences as Him and me are good friends, and that they think it is never correct to use him and me. Now him and io6 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR me and her and me are both correct when they occur after the kind of connective words we have been studying about, and when they occur as ob- jects of verbs. The following sentences contain correct illustrations : 1. They gave the book to him and me. 2. They gave the book to her and me. 3. The gift pleased him and me. 4. The gift pleased her and me. An incorrect use of a connective word appears in the sentence, Where was I atf It is incorrect because "at" connects nothing. The following sen- tences are correct: Where was I ? I was at home. You will observe that at is not used in the first of these sentences, and that in the second sentence it is followed by a substantive. Between should be used when it is followed by a word or words meaning two persons or things, as in between us (two persons), and as in between you and me; and among should be used when it is followed by a word or words meaning more than two persons, as in among us (more than two persons) and among them (more than two persons). It is often difficult to know what connective word to use after differ. To difer with is to express dis- agreement with a person; to difer from is to be unlike. Never say different than; always say different from, as in This rose is different from that one. MISTAKES IN THE USE OF OBJECTS 107 It is correct to say hack of and in front of, but not to say in hack of. Study the use of these connective words in the following sentences: 1. Between you and mc, something surprising is going to happen to-morrow. 2. It is just among us, of course, but something sur- prising will happen to-morrow. 3. In what respects are the Rockies different from the Alleghenies? 4. My chum and I differ with each other constantly, but we never quarrel. 5. The weather to-day differed from that of yesterday. 6. To differ with that fellow is to make an enemy of him. 7. The orchard is just back of the bam. The word to, a connective, and two and too differ from one another in spelling but are alike in sound. This makes them difficult to spell. But as you have already learned that to is a connective, you should no longer misspell it. Two is a word expressing number, as when you speak of two crows, or two cows. Too either expresses degree, as in too much and too far, or it has the sense of also, as in My brother reads a great deal; my sister, too, is a great reader. Study the meaning and the spelling of these words in the following sentences: 1. You are walking too slow to get to school on time. 2. "There were two crows sat on a tree." 3. We are going to the woods on Saturday. Are you going too? io8 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 4. Being ill on Saturday is too great a misfortune. 5. We saw two crows on a tree; two hawks were there too. ' 6. The Mississippi is a great river; th^ Amazon, too, is one of the largest in the world. Like is another troublesome word. Every day you hear people use such sentences as He does n't do that like I do. The sentence should be He does n't do that as I do. Like should never be followed by a group of words that has a subject and a predicate. Remember this, and watch yourselves carefully. On the other hand, like is properly used before a word or group of words that has not a subject and a predicate; that is, it may be followed by a sub- stantive. In one of his poems Tennyson says, ''Like a dog he hunts in dreams.'* The sentence would be correct also if one said He hunts in dreams, like a dog. In this sentence the man and the dog are compared; but if one should say He hunts as a dog hunts, the hunting of the dog and the hunting of the man would be compared. COMPOSITION: A CHARACTER SKETCH 112. Not long since, you read two paragraphs about Sir Roger de Coverley, a character in a book called the Spectator. Perhaps you know more about him than appears in those two paragraphs. If so, you know that he was a very admirable old man — one who was loved by all about him for his kindness of heart, his unfailing courtesy, and his generosity. Yet his childlike simplicity sometimes made him laughable. It certainly must have been COMPOSITION: A CHARACTER SKETCH 109 funny to see him wake out of a sound nap at church and suddenly rise and awaken some other sleeper. His good qualities and his laughable ones made him a very interesting person to read about. Now if he is an interesting kind of person to read about, he is also a very interesting kind of person to write about. Do you know any people who are very lovable and yet who are so funny in their ways and their speech that their friends smile at them secretly? It is probable that you do, and that you can write very interesting compositions about them. Some cautions are necessary: 1. Try to choose some one who is not known to the other pupils in the room, for otherwise you will be too personal. 6. Choose a fictitious name for the person, for not to do so would also be to make your composition too personal. c. Be sure to tell the qualities that make the person lovable and the qualities or the habits that make him laughable. d. If you can, tell some little story about the person, some incident that will show his qualities, espe- cially the laughable ones. e. Try to do just what you are asked to do, and not something else. Compositions about supremely perfect persons are likely to be tiresome. /. Above all, do not so far fail to obey instructions as to write about some person whom you dislike. g. Be careful about paragraphing, spelling, complete- ness of sentences, and punctuation so far as you have learned it, and do not make any mistakes in grammar. no A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR h. Before you begin to write, make an outline of what you intend to say; but if you find, as you write, that you can improve your outHne, do so. • A COMMON MISTAKE IN GRAMMAR 113. If you will turn back to the passage about Sir Roger de Coverley, you will find a sentence or two after this style : If anybody is asleep, wake them up. It is plain that ''anybody" means one person and that "is" is the proper predicate verb to go with a subject that means one person or thing; yet in this sentence the word "them," which means more than one person, is used to refer to "anybody." This was good English when the Sir Roger de Coverley Papers were written, but it is no longer so regarded. Our example sentence should be. If anybody is asleep, wake him up. Study the following sentences and show that they are correct: 1. If anybody has my book, he had better return it. 2. Let every pupil take his book and turn to page 78. 3. Each one of you should attend to his own affairs. 4. Whenever a person has anything to do, he should do it promptly. 5. Somebody has borrowed my eraser, and I want him to return it. It is likely that you have been making mistakes in this kind of sentence, and unless you take great care you will continue to do so. In order to correct your own bad habits of speech, you should listen carefully to the speech of others, and listen even more carefully to your own. Only care and atten- tion will improve your use of English. TWO COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS tii CLASS CRITICISM OF A COMPOSITION 114. At least one of the character sketches you were asked to write has been written on the black- board while the others were being written at the seats, or, if the writing was done at home, one will now be copied on the blackboard. The author will be asked to read it aloud, and the class will then decide a. Whether the writer succeeded in writing the kind of character sketch that was asked for. Did- he make you like the person he described, and did he make you laugh at him? If not, ask him to give an oral account of something he has thought of since writing. b. Whether he made any errors in composition and grammar. If he did, try to ask him some ques- tions that will make him see what his errors are. After this public criticism, exchange papers and give individual criticism. TWO COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 115. In this section there are two compositions — one by a boy and one by a girl. Part of My Life I am a Haviland china cup. I live on the mantlepiece. My companions are the Haviland china saucer and the silver candlestick. One evening the cat jumped upon the mantlepiece and began to walk around. About the time that she reached me she was discovered by my mistress, who came rushing into the room and cried out, "Get off that mantlepiece, you old cat; you will ruin all my ornaments." As she 112 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Spoke, she struck at the cat with the dust cloth that she had in her hand. Now, the cat while trying to dodge the blow knocked me off the mantlepiece. Crash! I hit the mantlepiece a blow that knocked me all to pieces. "Oh," cried my mistress, ringing her hands, "What shall I do? My beautiful Haviland cup is broken." The maid picked me up with a dustpan and whisk- broom, and threw me into the ashes. The next day the ashman came and put me into his cart with a shovel, only to dump me out into a big pile of ashes. That is where I am still living, and you can well imagine that I am a nervous wreck. My Autobiography I am a desk in a schoolroom. I am just crammed full of secrets of all sorts. I am just like the thousand other desks in the school, grew in the same forest, was made the same way, am just the same age. I probably know just as many secrets as the other desks. But I think I know more than most of them. Why? Because I am a back seat and naturally When I was first put in the schoolroom I was very innocent and pretty. I thought all children were cherubs. But my opinion slightly changed when the boy that sat in my seat made a picture of his pet dog across my top, and what a picture ! I got revenge when he said that the capital of Russia was Paris. I laughed so hard that my ink well nearly broke. I know why the teacher asked Billy Jenkins if he had a cold because he did n't speak plainly. No, it was n't a cold; the rest of the candy was in my desk at the time. I also know why Miss Grey was so forgiving and let the children out of staying after school the other night. I heard Miss Reed ask her to dinner with her, and to come right after school. Well, I have been in this school a TWO COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 113 long time and am not exactly an ornament, and I suppose the "School Beautiful Club" will insist on my being used for kindling wood, but I have one consolation, and that is that I know their Johnnies and Annies and Fannies aren't such angels after all. Exercise in Criticism 116. You have already become accustomed to asking yourselves two questions about a composition : First, did the writer succeed in doing what he intended to do? Second, was what he tried to do worth doing? Let us consider these questions with respect to these autobiographies. An autobiography is a life of a person written by himself. Hence there is no difference in meaning between such titles as "My Autobiography" and "Part of My Life," except that one writer's title leads you to expect all the life story and the other only part of it. Now in each of these cases the writer attempted to imagine himself an inanimate thing, and to tell its story. Was the effort a success? Consider the following points: a. One title leads you to expect only a part of the story, while the other leads you to expect it all. Did both writers choose their titles accurately? Isn't it true that one of the writers told less than you have a right to expect? If you think so, how would you revise the title? b. Did both writers make you believe that Haviland cups and school desks, if they had life, would speak as this particular cup and this particular desk are made to talk? That is, do you think the writers 114 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR have cleverly imagined themselves in the places of these two inanimate things? Show in detail why you think so. c. Do you think the two compositions are in good order ? That is, does the writer in each case let you know what he is going to write about, does he tell you the events in right order as he goes along, and does he end with an idea that cleverly finishes the story ? d. Are there any clever touches here and there that you particularly like? For example, in the story about the school desk there is a long dash at one place. What does it mean? Are there any other places in either story where you see that the writer really meant more than was said? And are there any ideas in either story that a dull boy or girl would not have thought of? e. There remains the second question to consider. Was the thing these two pupils did worth doing? It is clear that there is nothing in either story that will make it easier for you to earn your bread and butter when you have that to do; but there may be some other benefit in reading such stories, namely, the mere pleasure you get out of them. Do you consider that a benefit worth while ? And if you do, was it worth while for the authors of these two autobiographies to write them? Besides these two general criticisms, there are some minor matters to consider. The boy who wrote the first story began the word Haviland with a small letter, and this error was corrected before the story was printed. Haviland is the name of two brothers in France who established a business for the manu- facture of chinaware; and as you very well know. TWO COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS 115 the name of a person should be begun with a capital letter. He also wrote ''candlestick holder," when it is clear that candlestick or candle holder is enough ; and this too had to be corrected before the story was printed. If he had had time before the teacher took his paper, he might have corrected his errors; but as he did not, some of them have been corrected for him. Others, however, have been left uncor- rected so that you may correct them. The same is true of the girl's story. For example, • a. Have you discovered that the boy, in ending his story, wrote something not quite, in harmony with what he had written in the beginning ? And have you noticed that he once wrote " mantlepiece " when he meant something else? How can you correct his error? b. In the girl's story occurs this sentence: "When I was first put in the schoolroom I was very inno- cent and pretty." Then she goes on to say that she thought all children were cherubs, that is, very good indeed, but that she afterwards learned that some children are not very good. Her thinking that all children were cherubs could undoubtedly be due to her being "innocent," that is, ignorant of the ways of the world, but how could it be due to her being "pretty"? Are pretty people necessarily ignorant of the ways of the world? One might as well say, "I had blue eyes; therefore I was ignorant of the ways of the world." It must be clear, then,that being pretty had nothing to do with the case. How may the error be corrected ? c. The boy's story contains the expression, "ringing her hands." When a bell or a drinking glass is ii6 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR struck, it rings; but did you ever hear of a hand ringing? There certainly must be some error here. How can you correct it ? Can you discover any other errors in the compositions ? SPELLING: A STUDY OF HOMONYMS 117. You have doubtless discovered that the boy wrote "ring" when he should have written wring. The spelling of the words of our language is certainly strange; for here are two words that sound aHke but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Such words are called hom- onyms. This word comes from the Greek language, and means the same name. Words that are the same in sound and perhaps in spelling, but have different meanings, are homonyms. The term is often applied also to words that are spelled alike but have different pronunciation and different meanings, like bow, meaning to bend, and bow, meaning a weapon. The following words are homonyms. If you do not know their meanings, consult the dictionary. mete ring wring rung wrung meet meat bear bare great grate die dye feet feat faint feint sight site gait gate right write rite SUBJECTS FOR ORAL COMPOSITIONS 117 road rowed rode tail tale vain vane vein These are only a few of the homonyms that you use nearly every day. If you find that you misspell some of them, you should refer to section 59 and take the advice given there. And if you find such words misspelled in the compositions your friends write, you should ask them to take the same advice. SUBJECTS FOR ORAL COMPOSITIONS 118. Perhaps it is well to remind you again that you can think of a good deal more to say when you are speaking than when you are writing. This is probably because you are more accustomed to express your thoughts orally than with a pen. Ever since you were small children you have been talking, and sometimes talking a great deal ; indeed, it is likely that your parents sometimes think you talk too much. And it is easier to talk with sorhe one, exi^hanging- experiences and opinions in con- versation, than it is to stand before a schoolroom and do all the talking yourself for a number of minutes at a time. Experience, however, is a wonderful teacher. Eventually you will be able to do this with ease if you have practice enough, and if you organize your thoughts before you begin to speak. The outline of a composition given in section 60 was an exercise in the organization of thought. Perhaps you have not discovered it, but you really do not know how much you know about a subject until you organize the subject ii8 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR matter. Let us select a subject that you are sure to know a good deal about — how you have made something, for example. A list of possible topics is given below, but, as usual, you must consider them suggestive rather than binding; if you can select some other subject, do so, provided only that you give an account of how you made something. How I Made a Summer Dress How I Made a Batch of Bread How I Made a Cake How I Made a Hat How I Made a Telegraph Key and Sounder How I Made a Dry Battery How I Made a Workbench and Vise How I Made a Table How I Made a Chair Having chosen your subject, you should think over the matter of outline. In section 60 a rather full outline was given; now you should be able to do this part of the work with less help. The fol- lowing should be sufficient; and remember that it is a suggestion to you as to how you may do it - not how you must do it. How I happened to make the thing Making the design Selecting the material The place where I did the work Doing the work The help I received Finishing the work The use to which it was put The pleasure it gave me SUBJECTS FOR ORAL COMPOSITIONS 119 Each of these topics, or whatever topics you choose, should be fully dwelt upon until you have told everything that directly pertains to it, so that when the class offers criticism no one will have to say that you left any important thing untold. When you have prepared your outlines, speak from them, until every one in the room has spoken. This will take several class periods, no doubt; but it is good practice and may be continued for a long time with interest and profit. Exercise in Criticism 119. After each speech, members of the class will offer their opinions to the speaker. The following points may be of assistance: a. After listening to the speaker's account of his work, could you make the thing he made ? If not, why not? b. Did he speak more fully on some topic of his theme than seemed necessary? c. Did he speak less fully on some topic of his theme than he should have spoken? d. Both these questions may be summed up in this one : Did every topic have as much attention as its importance made it deserve? For it must be clear that all the topics of a composition are not of equal importance. One, for example, of the titles given as help in making an outline in the preceding section is more important than any other, and should have more emphasis than any other. This is a very important master, and should receive your careful attention. 120 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR e. Was the speaker's manner good? Did he stand well, speak in an audible tone, and enunciate his words well? /. Possibly the speaker used the blackboard to draw figures with which to illustrate what he was speaking of. If so, was this a help to you? g. If the speaker did draw on the blackboard, ask him if this was a help to him in speaking. If he replies in the affirmative, you may well follow his example. h. What mistakes did the speaker make in grammar? Look over sections 44, 49, 63, 77, 89, and 11 1 in order to refresh your minds, and offer criticisms if they are needed. And when you speak, be careful not to make the same mistakes. i. It would be well to ask a speaker now and then whether he would have spoken more fully and more accurately if he had spoken more slowly. For it is undoubtedly true that many people forget what they intend to say and blunder in their expression merely because they do not compel themselves to speak deliberately. REVIEW IN GRAMMAR 120. Along with your composition you have now learned several important matters of grammar, and it is time for a review. In order that grammar may be of the greatest service to you, you should put more study upon sentences as they stand in the paragraph than as they stand alone as example sentences, for when you have a question of grammar to decide in your own composition, it will be when you are writing a composition, not when you are writing single sentences, for you seldom do that. In order REVIEW IN GRAMMAR 121 to enable you to have such a study a story is given below, which you will recognize as from Grimm's Household Tales. Read it over first to enjoy it, for it is a very good story; the grammar study, in all probability, will employ your class time for a week or two. Some of the sentences have been broken up into shorter sentences in order to simplify them. Why Beans Have a Black Seam A poor old woman lived in a certain village. She once collected a mess of beans, and was going to cook them. So she made a fire on her hearth, and in order to make it bum better she put in a handful of straw. When the beans began to bubble in the pot, one of them fell out and lay near a Straw which was already there. Soon a red-hot Coal jumped out of the fire and joined the pair. The Straw began first, and said, ''Dear friends, how do you come here?" The Coal answered, "I jumped out of the fire by great good luck, or I certainly should have met my death. I should have been burned to ashes." The Bean said, " I too have come out with a whole skin. But if the old woman had kept me in the pot, I should have been cooked into a soft mass, like my comrades." "Nor should I have met with a better fate," said the Straw. "The old woman has turned my brothers into fire and smoke. Sixty of them she took up at once and deprived of life. Very luckily I managed to slip through her fingers." "What had we better do now?" asked the Coal. "I think," answered the Bean, "that we have been lucky to escape with our lives. We had better join in good-fellowship together. In order to avoid bad luck here, we had better go into foreign lands." 122 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR The proposal pleased the two others, and forthwith they started on their travels. Soon they came to a little brook. As there was no stepping-stone and no bridge, they could not tell how they were going to get across. The Straw was struck with a good idea, and said, "I will lay myself across, so that you can go over me as if I were a bridge." So the Straw stretched himself from one bank to the other; and the Coal, who was of an ardent nature, quickly trotted up to go over the new-made bridge. When, however, she reached the middle and heard the water rushing past beneath her, she was struck with terror and stopped, and could get no farther. So the Straw began to get burned, broke into two pieces, and fell into the brook. The Coal slipped down, hissing as she touched the water, and gave up the ghost. The Bean, who had prudently remained behind on the bank, could not help laughing at the sight. Not being able to contain herself, she went on laughing so exces- sively that she burst. Now she would have been undone forever if a tailor on his travels had not stopped to rest himself by the brook. As he had a compassionate heart, he took out a needle and thread, and stitched her together again. • The Bean thanked him in her most elegant manner; but as he had sewn her up with black thread, all beans since then have had a black seam. 121. First, go over every sentence in the story and decide whether it is affirmative or negative, declarative or interrogative, exclamatory or non-exclamatory. REVIEW IN GRAMMAR 123 Truth to tell, the sentences in the story are pretty much alike in these respects; you must discover why. There is one peculiar thing, however, that must be explained. It concerns such sentences as the one that makes the second paragraph. You can see plainly that here is a sentence within a sentence, for the part in quotation marks is complete in itself, and would stand alone. But here it is a group object of ''said." Now this quoted sentence is affirmative, interrogative, and non-exclamatory. But the whole sentence, of which *'said" is the predicate verb, is affirmative, declarative, non- exclamatory. This raises the question of end punctuation. Since the quoted sentence is inter- rogative, an interrogation point is used, and it is placed before the quotation marks; that is, it is a part of the quotation. ' You expect a period after a declarative sentence, but this is not the case when a declarative sentence ends with a quotation that is a question. If the quoted part is declarative, the sentence ends with a period. There are several cases of this latter sort in the story, but only two of the former. You should explain both kinds carefully. 122. It will now be necessary to go over the story, sentence by sentence, and determine what the predicates and the subjects are. In short sentences like the first one, this will be very simple; but the longer sentences offer more difficulties, because some of them will seem to be several sentences together. This should not bother you; such sentences will be 124 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR explained later: for the present you should pick out the main predicates and subjects, and also the predicates and subjects of what appear to be sen- tences within sentences. For example, take the sentence "When the beans began to bubble in the pot, one of them fell out and lay near a Straw which was already there." The principal statement in this sentence is "one of them fell out and lay near a Straw." The complete subject of this is "one of them," and the subject substantive is "one." The complete predicate is "fell out and lay near a Straw," and the predicate verbs are "fell" and "lay," which are joined by "and." If you want to go further, you may say that "out" modifies "fell" and "near a Straw" modifies "lay." There are still two other groups of words that look like sentences; these are "When the beans began to bubble in the pot" and "which was already there." What are the subjects and the predicates of these two groups of words? In the same way take up each sentence by itself, and wherever you find a predicate, determine what its subject is. You must be prepared to find compound predicates, that is, predicates joined by and, but, and so. Sometimes these words join a group of words containing subject and predicate to another containing subject and predicate; but it is not important that you take notice of these at present. You must be prepared also to find that sometimes the subject follows the predicate, as in REVIEW IN GRAMMAR 125 "As there was no stepping-stone and no bridge," in which the subjects "stepping-stone" and "bridge" follow the predicate verb "was." 123. Go through the sentences again and deter- mine what the objects are. This is often very simple, as in the second sentence, in which "a mess of beans" is the complete object and "mess" the object substantive. The group objects are more difficult. One kind, the quoted sentences, is more difficult, but the quotation marks will help you. Another kind is in the seventh paragraph. Here "that we have been lucky to escape with our lives" is the object of "think." You will notice that in this sentence all the quoted words are the object of "answered" and that "answered the Bean" comes between different parts of the quotation. Do not expect to find objects for all the predicate verbs. Only transitive verbs have objects. 124. Again, go over the sentences and determine what object substantives accompany such connective words as in, of, and on. If you can, determine what such groups of words, as, for example, "in a certain village," modify. This particular group of words modifies "lived," because it tells where the woman lived. In the next sentence "of beans" is such a group of words, and it modifies "mess." Remember that in all such cases the object substantive follow- ing a connective word is not of the same rank as the word to which it is joined. 125. The author seems to have violated our rule for the use of capital letters by beginning Coal, 126 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Straw, and Bean with capitals. But there is a reason for this. What is it? A PUPIL'S LETTER 126. In this section is given a letter written by a boy in an elementary school. The author has been more successful in expressing his joy in receiving the gift of a fox terrier than he has in writing his sen- tences accurately. His uncle will therefore be more pleased with the spirit than with the form of the letter. You will notice two or three differences between the form of this letter and that of the business letter in section 91. First, this boy evidently lives in a small town, where there is no free delivery of mail, for the street and the number are not given. Second, the address is not given, for this is a letter of friendship, not a letter of business, and only the salutation is necessary. Third, since this is a letter of friendship and people like to get long letters from their friends as much as business men like to get short ones from their correspondents, the boy has written a rather long letter — that is, for a boy. Doubtless the uncle would have been pleased with a much longer communication. Lawrenceburg, Ky. September 29, 19 13 Dear Uncle Jack, Last Saturday morning I woke up and looked out of the window out into the yard and what do you think I saw it was a little fox terrier puppy and believe A PUPIVS LETTER 127 me I got into my clothes so fast that my mother was surprised to see me get dressed so quickly. Then I ran out in the yard and saw in the "pup's " collar and I read it and saw that it was from you, Uncle Jack and I was so full of joy that mother thought some one had left me a gold mine and I am so glad that I dont know how to thank you. Affectionately Arthur Henson Exercise in Grammar 127. This letter may be used for a study in grammar. Consider the following points: a. Do you notice that all. the first paragraph appears to be one sentence? The second paragraph also is written as one sentence. Read the para- graphs aloud and determine whether they should be broken up into two or three sentences each. Do you not think that the second paragraph has rather more and's than are necessary? What will you do about it? h. In the first sentence the word "out" appears twice. In which case can it be spared ? c. There is one place in the letter where the writer should have used an apostrophe. Find it. d. What does "saw in the 'pup's' collar" mean? It sounds bad. Correct the expression. e. What do you think of the punctuation of the com- plimentary close? /. If you will look back to the story by Grimm in section 120, you will find in the second paragraph the words "Dear friends." 'These words are an address. Now when words are used as an address 10 128 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR in a sentence, they are to be set off with commas. The boy who wrote the letter in the previous section has used a name as an address; has he punctuated it correctly? ANOTHER LETTER 128. Here is another letter that is more apprecia- tive than correct. When you read it, you will probably think that dogs are the only presents that boys ever receive. Bloomington, Ind. October 27, 19 13 Dear Edward, I am dropping you these few lines to let you know that I received your birthday present and I thank you very cordially, for that was just the kind of dog I want bully for you. Before that dog is very old I will have him trained so well you won't know him from a circus dog. I suppose you remember the dog that use to pull the cart. Well, I will have this dog train far better than that. Well, I guess I will close for this time, I remain Very sincerely yours Robert Moore Exercise in Grammar and Spelling 129. Make the following study of the letter: a. Read the letter aloud and determine whether or not the writer ended the sentences where he should have ended them. Did he do better or worse than the other boy in this respect ? Deter- mine what the end punctuation should be. SOME SUBJECTS FOR LETTERS 129 h. Have you discovered that the writer failed to finish two words? Which are they? c. This writer used an apostrophe in one of his words. Why? d. It must be confessed that the speUing of "received" had to be corrected before this letter was printed. Can you tell when the e comes before the if e. What do you notice about the punctuation of the - compHmentary close ? /". The last sentence of the letter begins with the word "Well," and there is a comma after it. When this word begins a sentence, it means that the writer is leaving one topic of his discourse and is passing on to the next, as in this case the writer leaves the topic of training the dog and goes on to say that he will close. In reading such a sen- tence the reader makes a little pause; that is why the comma is used. You should remember this, and always use a comma after well when it is the first word in a sentence, unless, indeed, it modifies something, as in ''Well done,'" remarked my uncle. In this case there is no pause after "Well." g. The letter begins with the statement, "I am dropping you these few lines, etc." This, like "I take my pen in hand," is a very absurd way of beginning a letter. The other boy began in a much better way. SOME SUBJECTS FOR LETTERS 130. You have now had examples of both business and social letters, and you know that a business letter should be short and to the point, and that a 130 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR social letter may be rather long and should be so written as to be a pleasure to the person who receives it. You will now write letters for a number of days, taking great care to say just what should be said and to say it with accuracy. You have been reminded frequently that one of your besetting sins is the failure to bring a sentence to an end and to begin again with a capital. Nothing will help you to overcome this fault so well as the group work. Some of the letters, therefore, should be written as you work in groups at the blackboard. All of them should not be written in groups, for you must gradually acquire the habit of writing correctly without any help at all. The subjects given below are so selected that whether you live in the country, a small town, or a city you will probably be able to choose one that you will like, or at least will find some that will suggest suitable subjects to you. In the course of several days you will write several letters of both business and friendship. It is, of course, better if you write letters that you can send, for then the writing of the letter is more than a school exercise. However, that is not always possible, and most of your letters will doubtless be merely for school practice. . ^ Business Letters 131. a. Suppose that you are interested in gard- ening, or in growing corn, or in raising mushrooms, or in keeping bees. Write to the Secretary of SOME SUBJECTS FOR LETTERS 13 1 Agriculture, Washington, D.C., asking him to send you some of the pamphlets treating of the subject that you are interested in. No charge is made ; thanks are the only payment you need make. If you are actually interested in one or more of these subjects, and intend to study them, send the letter, and when the pamphlets come, study them and, if possible, put into practice what you learn from them. h. If your school does not receive the weather reports from Washington, write letters to the Chief of the Weather Bureau, Washington, D.C., and request that daily reports be sent to you. In this case only one of the letters — the best one — should be sent. c. Suppose that you are interested in woodwork. Find in a magazine the advertisement of a firm or a company that sells tools for such work, and write a request for a catalogue. It is clear that you should not send the letter unless you intend to buy tools or unless you really want the catalogue. And if you send the letter, you should inclose two or three stamps for postage. When you get the catalogue, write an order for goods — such as is found in section 95. d. It may be that your father or your mother has need of the catalogue of a mail-order house and is willing to let you write the letter. If so, write it as a school exercise and send it after your father or mother has inspected it. e. Suppose that you have what you believe to be good reason for wanting to attend some other school than the one which you are now attending. Write a letter to the principal of your school, or 132 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR perhaps to the superintendent, asking that you be transferred. /. Suppose that you and some of your friends wish to estabHsh a school paper. Write to the principal of your school, asking for permission to do so, and for his assistance in arranging matters with the printer or in getting money to buy a printing outfit. g. Suppose that you wish to play a match game of baseball, football, or basket ball with the pupils of some other school. Write a challenge to the principal of that school, or to the captain of the team. h. Suppose that you wish, in company with other schools in your town or countryside, to have a joint exhibit of the things you have made in your school work — chairs, tables, bookcases, dresses, aprons, and other articles. Write to the principals of the schools, asking that a committee of teachers and pupils be appointed to meet a committee of teachers and pupils from your school in order to make the necessary arrangements. i. Suppose that you wish to have a joint exhibi- tion with other schools showing what you have done in the matter of gardening or farming. Write the same kind of letter as that called for under h. j. Suppose that you want to attend a boarding school. Write to the principal, asking what class he will admit you to and what the expenses are. Social Letters, or Letters of Friendship 132. a. Suppose that you have been paying a visit to one of your friends at a distance. Write SOME SUBJECTS FOR LETTERS 133 a letter showing your appreciation of the good times you had. Remember that such a letter should be rather long, for people like to get letters from their friends. Remember, too, that such letters should not be stiff and formal; they should not sound as if you had to write them; you should write, rather, in the free and easy way in which you would talk if you were face to face with the person to whom you are writing. h. Suppose that you want some good friend of yours to make you a visit and to have all the fun two chums can have after they have not seen each other for a long time. Write a letter of invitation. c. Suppose that you are away on a long journey or a camping trip. .Write a letter to father or mother, giving an account of your travels and adventures. d. Suppose that you have been very successful in making something at home or at school, and that you are eager to have some friend of yours at a distance become interested in the same or a similar kind of work. Write a letter showing what you have done and encouraging your friend to try something of the same sort. e. Suppose that you once went to school in some other town or county. Write to some friend there, comparing your present home, school, and life in general with that which you have left. /. One of your number might write to the superintendent of schools in some distant town or city, and ask him to choose some one of his schoolrooms whose pupils will correspond with you 134 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR about your school life, your home life, and the life and industries of your own community. This would afford each of you an opportunity to cor- respond with some boy or girl at a distance, and will perhaps be a help to you in the study of geography. A SPELLING LESSON 133. Some of the business letters which you have written probably involved your writing the word principal. If so, some of you were probably corrected for misspelling it, for it sounds precisely like principle, which has a very different meaning. Now principal means chief. Thus, the principal of a school is the chief of the school ; the principal man of a town is the chief man of the town ; and when you write of principal and interest in a problem in arithmetic involving the lending of money, the principal is the chief sum of money, while the interest is a smaller sum which is paid for the use of the principal. It is not so easy to define principle; but it generally means a law of action or of conduct. Thus, if you should write of a man who was honest, you would say that he was a man of prir^ciple or of good principles. . The following sentences illustrate : 1. The principal of our school is a man of good principles. 2. I make six per cent on my principal. 3. That boy does not understand the principles of arithmetic. A SPELLING LESSON 13 5 4. My principal food is bread and butter. 5. The principles of composition are not easily under- stood. 6. The principal principle of life should be honesty. 7. Wheat is our principal export. Write sentences on the blackboard, using both of these words. Be careful hereafter to spell them correctly. Exercise in Criticism 134. Criticize the letters in the following manner : a. Read your letters in turn before the class. If a letter is one of business, you should consider whether tne writer said just what the recipient would need to know, and whether he said it in a polite and agreeable way, so that the recipient would want to give a favorable reply. If the letter is one of friendship, you should consider whether the writer said what the recipient would like to know, whether he said all the recipient would like to know, and whether everything was said in a free and easy way, much as the writer would talk if he were face to face with his friend. b. As it is necessary to criticize the form and accuracy of a letter as well as the subject matter, some one will copy his letter on the blackboard. Or perhaps one of the letters written by a group has been left there. In either case, the writer will read his letter aloud to the class and give them an opportunity to see whether the form is correct, whether the sentences are properly ended and begun, whether the grammar is good, and whether the spelling is correct, 136 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR PREDICATE WORDS 135. Read the following sentences: 1. **I am Hercules." 2. "Hercules, as you must be careful to remember, was a remarkably strong man." 3. "My name is Hercules." 4. "Brom Bones, however, was the hero of the scene." 5. "Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed." 6. "Two frogs were neighbors." 7. "Necessity is the mother of invention." What is the verb in the first of these sentences? What is the subject ? What word is asserted of the subject? That is, what word represents the same person or thing as the subject? Answer the same question in regard to the other sentences. These words are called predicate words, because they are predicated of, that is, asserted of, the subject. Like verbs, subjects, and objects, they may have modifiers. For example, in He was a long, slim man, "man" is the predicate word, and '*a," "long," and "slim" are modifiers. Predicate words may also be in series, as in That man is a soldier, a lawyer, and a statesman. 136. Write sentences containing predicate words. Exercise in Grammar 137. Predicate words are not so numerous as verbs and subjects, or even so numerous as objects. Several, however, are to be found in the passage on the opposite page. Study it for verbs, subjects, objects, and predicate words. Modifiers must always be determined. PREDICATE WORDS 137 "His tongue, indeed, was a magic instrument; some- times it rumbled like the thunder; sometimes it warbled like the sweetest music. It was the blast of war, the song of peace; and it seemed to have a heart in it, when there was no such matter. In good truth, he was a wondrous man; and when his tongue had acquired him all other imaginable success, — when it had been heard in the halls of state, and in the courts of princes and potentates, — after it had made him known all over the world, even as a voice crying from shore to shore, — it finally persuaded his countrymen to select him for the presidency. Before this time, indeed as soon as he began to grow celebrated, — his admirers had found out the resemblance between him and the Great Stone Face; and so much were they struck by it, that throughout the country this distinguished gentleman was known by the name of Old Stony Phiz. The phrase was considered as giving a highly favorable aspect to his political prospects." Hawthorne, The Great Stone Face PREDICATE WORDS CONTINUED 138. Read the following sentences: 1. "She was small and slight in person." 2. "They say all Indian nabobs are enormously rich." 3. "Joseph Sedley was twelve years older than his sister Amelia." 4. "But he was as lonely here as in his jungle at Bogley Wollah." 5. "He was lazy, peevish, and a bon-vivant." 6. " 'I must be very quiet,' thought Rebecca, 'and very much interested about India.' " 7. "You will soon be old." 8. "Is not this man worthy to resemble thee?" 9 . " Wherefore are you sad ? ' ' 13 S A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR What is the verb in the first sentence given above ? What is the subject? What words are asserted of the subject ? These are also called predicate words, but they are of a different kind from those studied in section 135, because they give a quality of the sub- ject rather than assert identity with it. In some of the sentences there is more than one predicate word. In such a case the sentence is said to have com- pound predicate words. Where there are only two, they are likely to be connected by and or or; where there are three or more — that is, where the predicate words are in series — the last two are Hkely to be joined by and or or, and commas are used to separate them. This kind of predicate word also has modifiers. Thus, "in person" modifies the predicate words of the first example sentence; and "enormously" modifies the predicate word of the second example sentence. Write some sentences containing both kinds of predicate words. LINKING VERBS 139. In the first example sentence of section 135 "Hercules" is asserted of "I" by the verb "am"; * * Hercules ' ' and " I " are identical. In other words, "I" and "Hercules" are linked by "am." Also, in the first example sentence in section 138, "small and slight" is linked to "She" by "was." Now a yerb that links, or joins, two words or groups of words is called a linking verb. In the following LINKING VERBS 139 sentences are further examples of linking verbs : The apples taste good. The rose smells sweet. I feel had. She seems well. He appeared to he a soldier. He was called an orator. Some people think it is correct to say I feel badly. It would be just as correct to say The apple tastes sweetly or The apple tastes sourly. In I feel had, "bad" is a predicate word and is the correct form. Badly is not a predicate word. Exercise in Grammar 140. In the following passage consider sentence after sentence, and determine whether there are predicate words of the kinds described in the pre- ceding sections. Or, determine whether the verbs are linking verbs or otherwise. For example, in the first sentence ''was" links ''rich" to "who." "There was once a merchant who was very rich. He had six children — three boys and three girls; and as he was a man of sense, and was anxious about the education of his children, he employed all sorts of teachers for them. The daughters were all handsome; but the youngest was so very beautiful that when she was a child people called her Little Beauty, and when she became a young woman the name remained with her. On this account her sisters were very jealous. And this daughter was not only more beautiful than the others; she was also better than they. The two older ones were very haughty because they were rich; they assumed the airs of grand ladies, and would not receive visits from the daughters of other merchants, but sought the society of the nobility. Every day. they went to balls, to plays, to public promenades, and made I40 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR fun of their young sister who was always busy reading good books. As every one knew how rich these young women were, many wealthy merchants wished to marry them. The older ones always replied that they never wotild marry any one who was lower in rank than a duke, or a count at least. But Little Beauty thanked the men who wished to marry her, and said that she was very young and that she wished to stay at home with her father for a number of years." Perrault, Beauty and the Beast CRITICISM AND REWRITING OF A COMPOSITION 141. The theme given below was written by a pupil, and it has a number of such mistakes as boys and girls are likely to make. Criticize it in as many particulars as possible, and afterwards rewrite it. "All that was needed to complete a grand thanksgiving dinner was chestnuts. Dora had made up her mind that it would not be thanksgiving without them. There was no use for not having them for just a short distance away from the house was a large spreading chestnut tree which was loaded. Dora's mother had tried to explained that boys were too busy gathering pumpkins and and shelling com and that father was in town, but that before milking time they would get her more chestnuts that she could eat in a week. It seemed to Dora that milking time would never come and she sat down in a chair feeling tired and cross just stopping long enough to look back and see that mother was not near. Over the field she went, stumbling and falling but never stopping to rest. At last the tree was in sight and with glee she climbed the last fence but oh, what was the matter with her ankle. She sat down on the grass, the tears gathering in her eyes as she looked ,APP0SITIVE3 141 back at the little cottage. She could never get home and the next day was thanksgiving. With a cry she covered her face with her hands and wept bitterly. All of a sudden she opened her eyes and found her father, mother and her brothers all gathered around her and all laughing, while beside her was an immense dish of chestnuts. It was a dream and with a cry of joy and many a hearty laugh she promised to tell them all on thanksgiving while sitting by the fire and eating chestnuts, of that dreadful, dreadful dream." This is a good place to tell Thanksgiving and other holiday experiences before the class, and to write them if they prove interesting. Your work should be better than the composition you have just read. APPOSITIVES 142. Read the following sentences carefully: 1. "Nell . . . read aloud, in enormous black letters, the inscription, 'Jarley's Wax- Works.' " 2. "The first of our society is a gentleman of Worces- tershire, of ancient descent, a baronet, his name Sir Roger de Coverley." 3. "The person of next consideration is Sir Andrew Freeport, a merchant of great eminence in the city of London." 4. "We have among us Will Honeycomb, a gentleman who, according to his years, should be in the decline of his life." 5. "A jaunty looking person, who had come in with the young fellow they call John, — evidently a stranger, — said there was one more wise man's saying that he had heard." 142 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Each of these sentences contains what is called an appositive. Thus in the first sentence, "Jarley's Wax- Works'* is an example. An appositive is a word or group of words that means the same as another word and is not joined to that word by a linking verb. Since "Jarley's Wax- Works" means the same as "inscription" in this sentence, and is not joined to it by a linking verb, it is said to be in apposition with, or an appositive of, ''inscription." But if the sentence read The inscription was " Jarley's Wax-Works,'' ''Jarley's Wax- Works" would be a predicate group of words. You must be careful about this matter, for it is one in which students of grammar sometimes make mistakes. To use another illustration, in Mr. Wilson, the president of the United States, was formerly governor of New Jersey, "the president of the United States" is in apposition with "Mr. Wilson"; but if the sentence read Mr. Wilson is president of the United States, "president of the United States" would be a predicate group of words, since it is joined to "Mr. Wilson" by the linking verb "is." The appositive is usually near the word or group of words with which it is in apposition. In fact, appositive means placed near. But in some cases it is rather far away, as in two of the example sentences given above. Study all the sentences carefully and determine what the appositives are. 143. Appositives are usually set off by commas, but not always. For example, the sentence about NOMINATIVE OF ADDRESS 143 President Wilson has an appositive construction that is set off by commas. But there is a Mr. Wilson who is a member of the cabinet ; and if any one had occasion to say of him, Mr. Wilson the cabinet officer has gone to New York, it would not be correct to set off the appositive by commas, because the appositive here distinguishes the cabinet officer from the pres- ident and we do not pause when reading the sentence. That is, if the appositive enables you to tell which one of two or more persons or things is meant, the commas are not used. 144. Write some sentences containing appositives. Be careful about the punctuation. NOMINATIVE OF ADDRESS 145. Read the following sentences: 1. " 'I bless thee for it, Nell!'" 2. ** 'For what, dear grandfather?' " 3. " 'Now, my men,' said the single gentleman, 'you have done very well.' " 4. " *I fear thee, ancient Mariner!' " 5. " 'Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!' " 6. " 'No, sir,' I said, 'you need not trouble yourself.' " 7. " 'Precisely so, my dear sir,' I replied." Each of the sentences given above, or some part of each sentence, is addressed to some one. When the name of the person addressed, or some word or group of words designating the person, is used in such a sentence, the name, or word, or group of words is said to be the nominative of address. In the first sentence ''Nell" is such a word. 11 144 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR When you read such a sentence you make a pause or a Httle jog of the voice before and after the nominative of address if it is within the . sentence, after it if it is at the beginning of the sentence, and before it if it is at the end of the sentence ; therefore commas must be used at these places. Study the example sentences and determine what words and groups of words are nominatives of address. Explain the punctuation in each case. 146. Write on the blackboard some sentences containing nominatives of address. Be sure to punctuate them correctly. PUNCTUATION OF YES AND NO 147. Yes and no are words used as answers to questions, and they stand for whole sentences. Thus if you say to one of your friends, "Are you coming to school early to-morrow?" he will answer, "Yes," or perhaps, "No." If we did not have the word yes in our language, your friend would have to reply, "I am coming to school early to-morrow," or perhaps merely "I am." So also with no. Since these words are so important, and stand out so distinctly from the rest of the sentence in which they appear, they are always set off by commas, just as appositives and nominatives of address are set off. The following sentences illustrate the punctua- tion of all three of these constructions: Mr. Jones, the principal of our school, said to me the other day, "George, aren't you studying too hard this year?" A STORY 145 "No," I answered, looking down, for I had hardly studied at all. He smiled a little, and said, "I thought so." A STORY 148. You have perhaps read some of the stories of Thor, the great god of thunder, whom the ancient Scandinavians worshiped. Our word Thursday means Thor's day. Another one of the gods was Tyr, or Tiu, from whose name we get our word Tuesday. Odin, or Woden, was the king of them all. Wednesday comes from his name. These gods and all their kin lived in a place called Asgard, from which they occasionally went forth on adventure. One of their thrilling experiences is given below. Some one of you will read it aloud to the class ; and if he does not read it slowly, expressively, giving each word its true value, some one else will try. Thor Borrows a Kettle The old god Mgir, who lived with his wife apd their nine beautiful daughters in the waves of the sea, once went to Asgard to visit Odin and the other divinities who lived there. As he was very well entertained, he felt it necessary to invite them to dine with him and his family in the depths of the ocean. "Yes, we shall be glad to come, friend ^gir," said one of the ^sir, or gods, "but you must know that we are rather particular about our eating." ^gir was not offended by this very plain speech, but replied in good humor, " Oh, I have the very best food that the sea affords, and you shall be very well entertained! But then," he added, after a moment of hesitation, "I 146 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR am not so sure about the drink. I should have to brew a great deal, and my kettle is rather small." Now Thor was not to be cheated out of a good dinner by any such excuse as this, so he said in his big thundering voice, "Don't worry about that. I will go to Hymir the Giant, and borrow the biggest kettle he has." So he set out at once, taking with him Tyr, the god of war. They rode along over the mountains and valleys in Thor's goat chariot, making the fire fly from the rocks wherever they touched them. They were soon in the giant's country; but not wishing to be recognized, they left the chariot at a hut and proceeded on foot until they arrived at the house itself, beside a great cold sea. When the door opened at their knock, they beheld an old woman with nine hundred heads. "Don't be afraid, my friend," whispered Tyr to Thor; "it is only my grandmother." "What do you want?" snapped the old woman with all of her mouths. "We want to borrow a kettle," said Thor. Just behind the old woman appeared a young and very beautiful one. "Come in," she said. "But you will have to hide under the kettles that hang on the beam in the hall ; for my husband is a terrible fellow, and he may kill you with the look of his eye." Almost as soon as they were hid, Hymir came in, shooting baleful glances into all the comers. "We have visitors," said his beautiful wife timidly. "They want to borrow a kettle." Then the rafters began to split, for Hymir's eyes were flashing wrath, and the hidden ones quailed as the kettles were dashed to pieces all around them. But the young wife was crafty, and managed to persuade her husband to slay three oxen for supper. A STORY 147 "Who can these people be?" asked Hymir of his wife when supper was over. "Did you notice that the big one ate two oxen himself? I shall have to go fishing before breakfast." And he fell asleep. In the morning when he went down to the sea, Thor followed and said to him, "I am going to help you fish, my friend ; for I am a great fisherman when the fishing 's good." "Get your own bait, then," growled the giant. So Thor cut off the head of the giant's biggest ox, put it on his hook, and rowed far out to sea. "Don't go so far," pleaded the giant. "The great Midgard snake lies in the sea out here somewhere, and if you get him on your hook, what will happen to us?" "Don't be afraid," said Thor; "I am not afraid of him." And he rowed for a long time, but finally put up his oars and began to fish. The giant fished too, and in a little while had caught two whales, which flopped around noisily in the boat. Suddenly Thor felt a mighty tug. He braced himself and began to pull. The sea was lashed into blood and foam. "Don't you think we'd better go back?" shouted Hymir. "Two whales are enough for breakfast." "No, I don't," said Thor. He braced himself and pulled and pulled and pulled. Suddenly his feet went through the bottom of the boat and rested on the bottom of the sea. A great slimy head with slimy eyes rose out of the red and white waves. "It's the Midgard serpent," shouted the giant. "He reaches around the world. He holds his tail in his mouth. If you pull him out, the world will fall to pieces. Let go the line!" Thor had no thought of letting go. It was his way to 148 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR keep on fighting. But as the serpent's jaws were about to engulf them, the giant pulled out his knife and cut the fishing line, and the great snake sank back into the depths of the sea. "Take that, you meddler!" shouted Thor in violent rage, as he struck Hymir with Miolnir, his hammer, and knocked him into the seething waves. But that finished the fishing sure enough. The giant waded to shore carrying his two whales, while Thor rowed back; and when he reached the beach, he shouldered boat, oars, and fishing tackle, and carried them home to the giant's dwelling. They ate the whales for breakfast. Feeling refreshed and not quite so much afraid of Thor as he had been on the sea, Hymir threw down his goblet before Thor and challenged him to break it. Thor threw it against floors and pillars and walls, but he could not even dent it. Then the old woman slyly whispered to him out of her nine hundred mouths, "Throw it against Hymir 's head." Crash went the goblet against the giant's head, and broke into a thousand pieces! For the giant's head was the only substance that was harder than the goblet itself. "Well, I don't know who you are," said Hymir, rubbing the sore spot, "but I will lend you my kettle. There it is. It is my biggest one, and it is the only one that did not break when the beam fell. Take it and go, strangers." Tyr sprang to the kettle and tried to lift it. It would not budge. Then Thor tried, but could not move it. "Wait," said Thor. "I will tighten my magic belt, Megin-giord. That doubles my strength." Again he strained at the kettle, lifted it, and put it over his head like a hat. It was so big that it almost A STORY 149 hid him as he went rushing over mountains and valleys; it was a mile deep and nearly as wide. Tyr followed. But the giant was angry again, for when Thor had lifted the kettle the house had cracked and the floor had been splintered. Calling some of his fellow giants from all about, Hymir pursued Thor and Tyr, intending to kill them. Thor, however, was not dismayed. Taking off the kettle, he drew again his famous red-hot hammer, which would always strike what he aimed at and would always return to his hand. He threw it, and killed the giants one by one. It must have been a great feast that the gods had with ^gir! Study in Paragraphing and Punctuation 149. Some of the story in the preceding section is conversation. If you will examine the second paragraph, you will see that it consists of a quoted sentence and the explanation that accompanies it. This is true of all the paragraphs that con- tain conversation. Conversation is not always paragraphed in this manner, but it is usually done so in stories and in the writing of long conversations, and you are advised to follow the custom. Study the story paragraph by paragraph, and point out what is quotation and what is explanation. Yes and no are both found in the story, with commas after them. The word well at the beginning of a sentence is also found in the story, where the speaker means that he is going on to another topic from that which has been occupying the attention ISO A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR of others and himself. The comma is used here also. A few appositives also appear, as well as nominatives of address and words in series. Find them and note the punctuation. 150. Examine some story book or a story in your readers, and determine whether or not these matters of paragraphing and punctuating are observed in it. Do the work thoroughly. SOME CONVERSATIONS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 151. In this section are three conversations written in an elementary school. The pupils en- deavored to recall something they had heard or read, and to record it accurately. Also, they had instructions to put each speech and its accompanying explanation into one paragraph, and to punctuate with commas all cases of yes and no, and well when it meant that the speaker was going on to a different topic. What Puzzled Martha In class the children were learning the names of impor- tant rivers. "We have a very important river in the United States," said the teacher. "What is it?" "Mississippi," cried all the class. "Yes the Mississippi is called Father of Waters." Little Martha was puzzled by this statement. Presently she said, "Well if the Mississippi River is called the Father of Waters, why don't they call it Mister Sippi?" Martha's parents had this remark put into the Sunday paper under the "Bright Sayings of Little Children." SOME CONVERSATIONS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 151 Seeking Help at Home "Tell me some humorous conversation," said I to my mother. "Something funny that you've heard." "Oh, I'm sick of this nonsense," was the aggravated reply. "You always have to write about something, and there 's a thousand and one things said and done here every minute. You've conversed enough this afternoon to write a book while you could have been practicing." "Well I can't think of anything," I whined. "Well," conscientiously, "you can write about Lena Brown when Janette told her to come in and get cleaned up and she said impudently, ' I will if I want to and if I don't I won't.' " "Yes, but that is n't conversation and I can't make up any." "Well," in the same manner of tone,' "you can write about the time her mother went away and Janette made a pudding, and when she came from the store the pudding was half gone, and Lena declared it was the rats, and that she had n't been in the house. "Well," complainingly, "that isn't what I have to have. It 's got to be more — er — well I can't just explain it, but that is n't just what our teacher wants." "Well," angrily, "I can't think of anything else for you to write. Everything I do tell you, you whine out, 'Well, that is n't what we have to write.' You can write about that.'* And so I did. What I Overheard When going home from school last Friday I overheard two girls talking about their lesson. "I think Miss D was awfully cross to-day, don't you, Edna?" said Laura in an injured tone. 152 ' A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR "Rather, but then I think the class got no more than they deserved." "But I don't see why she gets so out of patience over the fact that we are doing poor work." " Now just look here Laura, don't you think Miss D is unusually patient with us? I am sure I never would be quite so patient. How many times has she told us and told us how to correct those mistakes and how to improve our work?" "Yes, that's so. Maybe it takes a good stiff scolding to wake us up to the fact that we are lazy," replied Laura thoughtfully. (Miss D , I am sure once in a while we need just such a lecture as we received to-day.) Exercise in Criticism 152. Discuss the following points in class: a. Which of these conversations do you think has the most humor? Why? b. You observe that each one of the conversations is about something definite — that each has a point at the end. Is it fair to say that each of the reporters wrote just enough to make the point , clear, and no more? c. One of the conversations ends with a sentence which the reporter did not intend to be humorous, but which is the more humorous on that account. Which one is it ? d. Consider them carefully and determine whether they are properly paragraphed. e. As you have already been told, the writers were cautioned to put a comma after yes and no, and after well when the word indicated that the speaker SOME CONVERSATIONS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 153 was going on to a somewhat different thought. Read the conversations through and determine whether the writers always obeyed instructions. If not, why not? /. Run your eyes over the sentences rapidly, and find words which have the apostrophe because two words have been contracted by the omission of a letter. Which conversation has the greatest number of these contractions? g. Are there any nominatives of address in the con- versations, and are they set off by commas? h. Study the use of quotation marks and half quotation marks. Be careful to explain precisely why the latter are used. Did all the writers always use quotation marks when they should have done so? Two Misused Words 153. In these conversations there are two mis- used words — two very frequently misused words. They are awfully and aggravated. Awful means inspiring awe, and awe, according to Webster, means "Dread; great fear mingled with respect." The pupil who wrote ** awfully cross" did n't mean precisely that, but she was nearer right in the use of the word than are those people who say "awful pretty" or "awfully good," for perhaps a little dread had been aroused by the teacher's reproof, and it is certain that the pupil respected the teacher. People who frequently say "awful" simply mean very. Hereafter when you mean very, say very. You will seldom need the word awful. 154 . A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Aggravate means to make worse. Thus you may say, "My mother's anger was aggravated by my reply," or "My father's illness was aggravated by worry over his business" ; but the pupil who wrote "aggravated reply," meant angry reply. She did not mean a reply that had been made worse; that certainly would be nonsense. The two words^ are used correctly in the following sentences : 1 . The awful effect of war is known only to those who have seen a battle field. 2. We had not been two days at sea when an awful storm overtook us. 3. The king's annoyance was aggravated by the queen's unruly temper. 4. My little brother's unpleasant moods are aggravated by the petting he receives. All Right 154. Some of the compositions in this book orig- inally contained "alright," which many people think is a word. If you think there is such a word, try to find it in the dictionary; and when you have convinced yourselves that no such word exists, resolve never to write it again. In the next compo- sition exercise you may have occasion to use the expression all right; if you do, be sure to make two words of it. REPORTING A CONVERSATION 155. Very often in your talks with your friends you report a conversation which you have heard. It REPORTING A CONVERSATION 155 may be a talk at the breakfast table; it may be a talk on the playground; or it may be a talk with your teacher. Try to recall some such conversation, just as the pupils did whose conversations are given in section 151. Then write it down with care, paragraphing and punctuating as you go. This is a good place to say again that you should do your best to finish all your composition, including punctuation, as you write. Some people write first and punctuate afterwards. This is not a good thing to do. One reason is that if you let the punctuation go until you have finished writing, you will end by neglecting it altogether. Another reason is that if you ever learn to use a typewriter, you then must punctuate as you write, for to put the marks in afterwards would be a waste of time and would be very difficult besides. So it is best to form the habit of finishing your work as you write. Exercise in Criticism 156. Some of you will read before the class the conversations you have written, so that the class may judge them. You will in all probability find that some of them are mere fragments, that is, con- versations that do not seem to be about anything in particular. Others will seem to be complete, like stories. Perhaps they will be little stories; they will have some definite point and leave you in a satisfied state of mind when you have heard them read. Again, let some of the conversations be copied on 156 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR the blackboard, so that the class may pass judgment upon them in the following particulars : a. The end punctuation of the sentences. b. Writing each speech and its explanation in one para- graph. c. The use of quotation marks. d. The use of the comma after yes and no. e. The use of the comma after well when it means that the writer is passing on to a somewhat different topic. f. The use of the apostrophe in such contractions as don't. g. The punctuation of nominatives of address, and of appositives when they are read with slight pauses. h. SpelHng. i. Indentation of first lines of paragraphs. /. Good grammar. Group Work 157. For several days write conversations at the blackboard according to instructions given in section 155. Incidents that have fun in them are always enjoyable. Learn to select subjects for yourselves. STUDY OF A PICTURE 158. On the opposite page is a picture of some children and a donkey. Answer the following questions about it: a. Something of interest is going on; which one of the children is the ringleader? How do you know? b. The scene is in the country. Do all of the children live in the country? «*oo# 1 STUDY OF A PICTURE IS7 c. Which of the children are enjoying the situation? Which ones are not? d. Does it seem likely that one of those who disapprove is going to do something about it? What? e. Can you guess what may be the outcome of the adventure ? /. If a story were made from the picture, what title might it have? Of course you may not all have the same idea about the outcome; and it follows that you may not all choose the same title. A title, of course, should fit the story. Writing and Reading Stories 159. Take a class period to write the story of the picture. The next day find out who has done the work well. Several of you will read before the class what you have written, and the rest will answer the following questions: a. Who gave the best description of the scene? b. Who made you feel the most interest in the char- acters of the story? c. Who wrote the best train of events that brought the story to a satisfying end? It is quite possible that no one in the class suc- ceeded in making a real story, such as you read in books. For such stories come to an end that satisfies everybody who reads them. To do this requires practice and skill. You can learn to do better next time by helping some one now. Select one of the stories that were read and have a conver- sation in class about it ; try to suggest to the author a chain of events leading up to an outcome that 15S A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR will be surprising. If you succeed pretty well, it will be a good exercise to write the story over again, and afterwards to read the stories aloud to see who has done best. SOME PLAYS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 160. This section contains several little plays written by pupils in an elementary school. One of the plays is a girl's understanding of what she saw^ at a moving-picture show. She did n't know it was one of Shakespeare's plays. You can find it, if you look, in Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, and can judge whether the girl did her work well or ill. Another one of the plays was written from memory, the pupil who wrote it having seen it acted by amateurs at a settlement house. The others are written from pictures. The different parts are to be assigned to different members of the class, who are to read them expres- sively; and after all are read you are to try to determine which one came from the moving-picture show, which one came from an amateur play, and which ones were written from pictures. Father Puts the Children to Bed Characters Henry and Henrietta, twins, aged six Fred and Frieda, twins, aged four Millie, aged two Father Father Come children! time to go to bed. It's seven o'clock. SOME PLAYS WRITTEN BY PUPILS i^g Frieda Who's going to put us to bed? Mother's at the suffragette meeting. Father I am. Who do you think? Come here girls and let me help you put your night-clothes on. {Gets the girls ready for bed.) Now you girls go into the room and get into bed. Come here boys, your turn next. {Fred begins to cry.) What is the matter? Fred You don't do it the way mother does. She does it this way. {Shows him how.) Millie Oh, father! It is so dark in here. I'm coming out there. {Comes out.) Father Now if you children don't go to bed I '11 spank you. I don't see why mother could n't stay home where she belongs. Frieda comes running out of the bedroom. / Frieda Oh, I saw something move under the bed. Fred It was only me. Father Fred you come here. You children are enough to drive a person crazy. {Gives Fred a spanking. Children to bed.) Half an hour later. Father Well, thank goodness! They are in bed and asleep 12 i6o A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR at last. Don't sec why mother could n't stay home and do it herself. The Bright Little Squirrels On an Autumn day two little squirrels Nimble and Quickfoot run up and down the big nut tree. It is late in the season and they are laying up their store of nuts for winter. Nimble Come Quickfoot. You know this Saturday and the boys will be sure to come nutting. We shall have to be very busy to get our share of nuts. Quickfoot {Has his cheeks full of nuts, so he nods his head and shakes his busy tale as he runs up and down the tree carrying nuts.) Hurry Nimble! I saw some boys coming with bags. We know what that means. Nimble Ha, ha! The boys won't find any nuts on this tree. We have just cleaned this tree. When the boys reach the tree there are no nuts. John I do believe the squirrels have carried off all the nuts. It 's a shame. Both squirrels run up the tree. They hear what the boys say. Nimble I dont think its a shame. We are getting nuts for winter. Jack I will set a trap and catch the squirrels that take away the nuts. SOME PLAYS WRITTEN BY PUPILS i6i QUICKFOOT {Feeling a little frightened.) We shall have to keep our eyes open when they bring the trap. We shall know enough not to be caught. Both run to another tree. The hoys set the trap. John Now is a good time to set it. The squirrels are not here. Nimble (Running down the tree.) Look! What is that. A box! Come lets see what is inside. They both look in and get caught. QuiCKFOOT Oh, dear! This is the trap the boys were talking about. We said we should not get caught, yet here we are. They hear a noise outside. A man walks up and examines the trap. Man Why! Here is Jack's trap. I shall tell him not to set it again. I hear something inside. I will look in and see. {He lifts the door and both squirrels run out.) I will have the boys burn up the trap. They shall not use it again. {Man goes away with the trap.) QuiCKFOOT I think we have enough nuts for winter. Let the boys have the rest. Nimble All right. The man was so kind to us, I think we ought to thank him. Let them have the rest of the nuts. They run to their hole in the tree. i62 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR King Lear Characters: A king and his three daughters ACT I King I am growing old. I would like to know how each of you loves me, so that I may share my kingdom among you. Oldest Daughter Oh, father! I love you. There isnt another thing I love so much. Second Daughter Oh, father! I love you. There isnt another thing that I love and honor as I do you. Youngest Daughter I love you as a daughter loves a father, not more, not less. King (Angry with this daughter for her answer.) I will give my kingdom to my two oldest daughters. To you I shall give nothing. I never want to see your face again. ACT II King at palace of eldest daughter King I can't stay here any longer for the wicked deeds you do to my servants and me. (To servant.) Go and tell my second daughter I am coming to live with her. (They go.) Oldest Daughter I am glad he's gone. My sister will treat him still worse. SOME PLAYS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 163 ACT III At the second daughter's palace. The king and his servants have arrived. King Come all ! We will find refuge here. She is very kind. {To servant.) Go tell my daughter that her father the king is here. The daughter comes to the gate to meet him. Second Daughter (Aside.) Oh, I dont want him here. He shall stay only a few days. I have no room for him and his servants. He is old and will be a trouble to me. I will put him out and lock the gates. ACT IV Out in the storm King Yes, now I see! My youngest daughter would not be cruel. She could not chase me out into the storm. Oh, how cold it is! Servant Come! Look at the storm! How it thunders! Get into the carriage, quick! Let us go to your youngest daughter. Perhaps she will give us shelter from the storm. King Then let us go. ACT V At the youngest daughter's house Youngest Daughter {To servant.) Ah, my father! My heart is aching to see my father. {She runs quickly down the steps.) Welcome, father! Welcome! At last you have come i64 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR to see nie. Come in out of the storm. I wish you would come and live with me always. My dear father! How glad I am to see your face once more. King And how glad I am to see yours ! I know you love me best. I made a mistake in judging your answers. Now I see you love me as a daughter should. Never shall we part again, {They embrace.) The Conversation over Nothing Characters: Mr. and Mrs. White and son Willie Mrs. White {To Mr. White, who has just entered.) Well! I am certainly glad you got home. I've been in such a condition. Upset ever since three o'clock. I've almost gone out of my mind. Mr. White Now stop that driveling and get down to facts. What is the matter. Mrs. White {Clasping her hands.) Oh, isn't that just like you! Not a spark of feeling. Just "facts"! Well, well! What happened to him can be laid to your door. {Mr. White angrily approaches eight year old Willie.) Don't come near him! The child is in a serious condition. He has been through enough to-day. But just let me say this — you were the one who made him go to the public school, weren't you? I wanted to send him to private school, did n't I? And you said, "No! My son is going to be educated with the people." Did n't you? Mr. White {Gravely.) I certainly did. SOME PLAYS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 165 Mrs. White Ha! Thats all I wanted you to acknowledge. Now, Willie darling, tell your father what happened to you in public school to-day. Willie The doctor came around. Mr. White The doctor ! Oh yes ! Well ? Willie {Angrily.) And he examined me. Mr. White That's nice. Mrs. White What! Have a doctor who examines hundreds of other children examine our Willie? Mr. White If he confined his examinations to our Willie, his opinions would n't be worth much. Besides — Mrs. White Willie darling, tell father just how the doctor examined you, dear. Willie He came in and he stood by the window, and we all had to march round in a line and walk in front of him, and he examined us, and he pulled our eyelids off our eyes and looked — Mr. White Pulled your eyelids off your eyes ! Mrs. White Oh, dont be so particular! He meant — pulled them i66 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR down, of course. (Kissing Willie to give him courage.) Go on darling. Willie And then he gives our necks a fierce pinch and that made our mouths fly open, an he shoved a stick all covered with cracked glass down our mouths and exam- ined our tongues. Mrs. White Now what do you think of that? Theres your public school for you! Mr. White Oh, whats he talking about? How could a stick be covered with glass? Willie Well, it was something that scratches. And he said I got to be vaccinated and may be I got to wear eyeglasses some day. Mrs. White There, now! What do you thing of that? A public school doctor telHng our child to be vaccinated and wear eyeglasses ! Willie He says when I get old, ma. From the looks of my eyes now I c'n go without them till I am ninety or one hundred. Mr. White (Breaking into uproarious laughter.) And this is what all the fuss was about? As far as I can see he is taken care of better than ever in his life in public school. Mrs. White Of course you'd turn everything so that it seems right from your point of view. SOME PLAYS WRITTEN BY PUPILS 167 Mr. White {To stop the argument.) Willie, go wash your face and hands before we go to dinner. Mrs. White {Hastily.) He cant. I've got him all sterilized, and I don't want him to wash in such plain water. Mr. White {Astonished.) SteriHzed? What for? Mrs. White Well, if you think I 'm not going to steriHze my child after a public school doctor has handled him, youre very much mistaken? Mr. White {Throwing up his hands in despair.) And we send missionaries to Africa. Criticism of the Plays i6r. After reading the plays aloud and judging where they came from, you will do well to devote some time to criticizing them. The following particulars should be considered: a. Is each one of the plays a complete thing? That is, has each one a beginning, a middle, and an end? Or, to put the question another way, has each one an interesting point at the end to which the .whole story tends? h. If you find that any one of the plays that you are discussing has such an interesting point at the end, determine whether the writer has said enough to make the point very clear and forcible. Which play is the best in this respect? c. Here and there, along with the speeches, you will find i68 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR stage directions, as they are called, printed in italics. "Gets the girls ready for bed,'' in the first play, is an example. Consider whether there are enough of these in each play to make the story per- fectly clear. If not, where would you insert others ? d. In addition, study the plays sentence by sentence to determine whether the writers have always (i) used the correct end punctuation, (2) put the apostrophe in contracted words, and (3) set off appositives, names of persons addressed, and well with commas. Are any words omitted? What other mistakes do you discover? e. In which respect do you think these plays are better — in substance or in form? That is, in the actual stories themselves or in the accuracy with which they are written? INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING PLAYS 162. Having read and criticized some plays, you should now write plays for yourselves. The question is, where to get the stories? Some hints follow: a. Use some story you have read or heard. b. Make a play from one of the pictures in the book. c. Make a play from some picture you have seen in a book or on the cover of a magazine. d. Think of some incident in your own experiences, and change it enough to make a play with a sur- prising outcome. You will need some help in determining the form of your manuscript. Follow the instructions given below : a. Underline the title. b. Write the list of characters below the title. CLAUSES 169 c. Write a brief description of the scene, below the list of characters. d. Write the name of the speaker in the middle of the page; give each name a whole line to itself and draw two lines under it. e. Do not use quotation marks unless one of the speakers quotes somebody else. A play is different from a story in this respect. /. The stage directions must be underlined once. If they occur within a speech rather than before it or after it, they must be underlined once and inclosed within parentheses. g. If a play has more than one scene, such headings as Scene I and Scene II must be used, and a descrip- tion must be given under each. If the second and other scenes are in the same place as the first, write The Same instead of repeating the description. Criticism of the Plays 163. Exchange plays and judge them as you did those printed in the book. At least one should be copied on the blackboard and criticized carefully. Perhaps you will find one or two that will be suitable for the school paper. Perhaps one will be so good that some of you would like to learn the words and act the play before the class. CLAUSES 164. Read the following groups of words: 1. "if you would only spare my life" 2. "that the lion was caught by some hunters" 3. "when the mouse piteously entreated" 4. "of whom he earnestly besought his life" 170 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Each one of these groups of words has a verb. What is it? Each has a subject. What is it? Do you not see that ahhough each group has a verb and a subject, not one is complete, that is, not one expresses a complete thought? Each one, indeed, must become a part of a sentence in order to have any meaning. Thus 1. "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." 2. "It happened shortly after this that the lion was caught by some hunters." 3. "He caught him and was about to kill him, when the mouse piteously entreated." 4. "A bat falling upon the ground was caught by a weasel, of whom he earnestly besought his life." The meaning of these groups of words is now clear and certain. It is seen that each of them depends upon the rest of the sentence for its meaning. Such groups of words are called subordinate clauses, or, sometimes, dependent clauses. The main parts of the sentences, that is, *'I would be sure to repay your kindness," "It happened shortly after this," "He caught him and was about to kill him," and "A bat falling upon the ground was caught by a weasel," are called principal clauses. Sometimes there are two subordinate clauses that are joined by connective words, as in the following sentence: If the water is warm enough, and if the other boys will go, I will go swimming to-morrow. Again, there may be three or more subordinate clauses, thus: // the water is warm enough, if the CLAUSES 171 other boys will go, and if mother does nH object, I will go swimming to-morrow. In these cases the subordinate clauses are separated by commas; they are in series. 165. What do you notice about the punctuation of the example sentences in section 164? Are all the subordinate clauses separated by commas from the principal clauses ? How do you account for the dif- ference ? Read the sentences aloud in a very natural manner, and determine whether your manner of reading explains anything. 166. Reconsider a composition previously written, and determine what sentences -have subordinate clauses. Read some of them aloud in class. Exercise in Grammar 167. In the passage that follows, consider whether the principal clauses are accompanied by sub- ordinate clauses, and if so, by how many. Tell what are the predicates and subjects of both kinds of clauses. Note, however, that subordinate clauses may begin with other words than those that begin the subordinate clauses in the example sentences of section 164. Some of these connective words are if, as, where, why, while, after, though, although, so that, who, and which. "There was once a gentleman who married for his second wife the proudest and haughtiest woman that was ever seen. She had two daughters who were of her temper, and who were, in fact, just like her in every way. The husband also had a daughter, who was sweet and good beyond example. . She inherited her disposition 172 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR from her mother, who had been the very best woman in all the world. "The wedding was hardly over when the stepmother flew into a violent passion : she could not endure the good qualities of the young girl, because they made her own daughters appear the more detestable. So there were put upon the child the most unpleasant duties of the house: it was she who washed the dishes and scrubbed the stairs, and who cleaned the bedrooms of the mother and her two daughters. And when night came, she had to sleep in the garret upon a miserable bed of straw, while her stepsisters had decorated bedrooms, beds of the very latest fashion, and mirrors in which they could see them- selves from head to foot." Perrault, Cinderella Two Mistakes in the Use of Subordinate Clauses i68. The second sentence in the quoted passage is, ' ' She had two daughters who were of her temper, and who were, in fact, just like her in every way." If you will consider the two subordinate clauses that begin with ' ' who" you will see that they are joined by the connective word "and," which always joins two words or groups of words that have the same func- tion, or use, in the sentence. The two subordinate clauses in the sentence given are therefore correctly used. But the sentence might have been written thus: She had two ill-tempered daughters, and who were, in fact, like her in every way. In this sentence "and" does not join two subordinate clauses, for there is only one clause there. The sentence is therefore incorrect. Many people make this mistake, CLAUSES 173 and you will have to exercise great care in order to avoid it. Some correct sentences are given below; show that they each contain two subordinate clauses joined by and. 1 . He is a boy who recites well in school and who plays well on the playground. 2. The house which stands close to the street and which looks rather old and weatherbeaten, is my old home. 3. The book which I like best and which I read when- ever I can, is Robinson Crusoe. Consider this sentence: When we got to the top of the hill, a rabbit ran out of a bush. It is clear that "a rabbit ran out of a bush" is the principal idea, and that it is properly placed in the principal clause. Some very careless people arrange the sentence thus : We got to the top of the hill, when a rabbit ran out of a bush. That is to say, they put the principal idea in the subordinate clause and the subordinate idea in the principal clause. You must take care to avoid this mistake also, especially when you are criticizing your own compositions and those of your classmates. Some sentences in which principal ideas appear in principal clauses and subordinate ideas appear in subordinate clauses are given below : 1. When we reached the harbor, we saw that the ship was going out to sea. 2. When the train had come round the curve, the engineer saw that the switch was open. 3. Just as I finished studying my lessons, my brother came in. Failure to express the subordinate idea in a 174 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR subordinate clause is a very frequent error with people who are fond of using the word so. They join their ideas with this word, making a succession of principal clauses, when they should use sub- ordinate clauses for the subordinate ideas. For example, It was a very cold day, so I took my skates and went to the pond. As the coldness of the day is a subordinate idea (since it gives a reason for going to the pond), it should be expj-essed in a subordinate clause, thus: ^45 the day was very cold, I took my skates and went to the pond. Show why the following sentences are correct in this respect: 1. As the day was warm, I did not wear my overcoat. 2. As it was Saturday, there was no school. 3. I did not recite very well, since I had not studied my lessons. 4. Since geography is easy for me, I do not have to study it very much. 169. If you are in the habit of stringing your sentences together with so, reread some of the compositions that you have written and determine whether you can change some of the sentences containing this word to sentences like those in the preceding section. It would be a good exercise to write the correct forms of the sentences on the blackboard. • If you find any mistakes in the use of and who or and which, or if you find cases where the subordinate idea is in the principal clause and the principal idea 'is in the subordinate clause, write the correct forms of the sentences on the blackboard with the others. CLAUSES 17s Exercise in Grammar 170. Study the following passage as you did the one from Cinderella (section 167). Look also for mistakes in the use of principal and subordinate clauses. "This seemed to Alice a good opportunity for making her escape; so she set off at once, and ran till she was quite tired and out of breath, and till the puppy's bark sounded quite faint in the distance. " 'And yet what a dear little puppy it was!' said Alice, as she leant against a buttercup to rest herself, and fanned herself with one of the leaves. ' I should have liked teach- ing it tricks very much, if — if I 'd only been the right size to do it ! Oh, dear ! I 'd nearly forgotten that I 've got to grow up again! Let me see — how is it managed? I suppose I ought to eat or drink something or other; but the great question is "What?" ' "The great question certainly was 'What?' Alice looked all round her at the flowers and the blades of grass, but she could not see anything that looked like the right thing to eat or drink under the circumstances. There was a large mushroom growing near her, about the same height as herself; and, when she had looked under it, and on both sides of it, and behind it, it occurred to her that she might as well look and see what was on the top of it. "She stretched herself up on tiptoe, and peeped over the edge of the mushroom, and her eyes immediately met those of a large blue caterpillar, that was sitting on the top, with its arms folded, quietly smoking a long hookah, and not taking the smallest notice of her or of anything else." Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 13 176 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR The third sentence of the third paragraph of this passage begins with the word "There." Do not mistake this word for the subject ; it is used in order to let the subject, "mushroom," come after the verb "was." This is a very common manner of expression in EngHsh. There is, indeed, another example in the same sentence — ^the word "it" that precedes "occurred"; the subject of "occurred" is a clause. What is it? Preview section 40. Do not fail to make a study of quotation marks in the passage quoted above. A PUPIL^S COMPOSITION 171. There follows a composition by an element- ary-school pupil. Read it aloud, and then study it as you did the passage in section 170. Be careful to note the connective words. In addition, criticize the paragraph as to completeness of sen- tences, accuracy of expression, the punctuation as far as you are able, the use of capitals, and any other particulars that occur to you. It would be a good exercise to rewrite the paragraph, making as many changes as you think necessary in order to avoid all kinds of errors. "The hardest thing to make at home is Macaroni Italian Style. It was so hard because there are so many things to prepare. First you have to break the Macaroni in one inch pieces then put it on to boil with boiling hot salted water. Get a smaller pot ready for the white sauce by using flour, milk, salt and Paprica. While you are doing that you got to grate the cheese in the white A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION I77 sauce and watch it so it don't burn and till the cheese is melted. You got to use two hands one for stirring the white sauce and the other for stirring the Macaroni. Then when the Macaroni is finished you take the white sauce off the fire and drain the water off the Macaroni. Then pour the white sauce in the large pot with the Macaroni and cook it till it is done. While you are doing that you can grate the boiled Ham. Then when every- thing is done you put the Macaroni on a large platter with the boiled ham sprinkled over it. It looks good when it's served on the table but oh the work. The recipe is for two people but when it comes to making a whole package, its so much by watching one thing and fixing another. I love to cook but when it comes to cooking a package full at home thats too much." A Difficult Word 172. The pupil who wrote the composition quoted in section 171 used the clause, *'you got to grate the cheese." She should have said, You have to grate the cheese, or simply Grate the cheese. You often hear people use such sentences as I've got a cold or I've got a motor car, when the meaning is merely / have a cold or I have a motor car. Get and got do not signify possession. You must not use these words unless you "are trying to express the idea of getting, that is, of obtaining. If you should go to a store to buy a lead pencil and when you returned one of your friends should ask you if you had got it, you would be correct in saying, Yes, I got it. But if your friend should ask you whether you have a lead pencil, you should say, 178 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Yes, I have one. The following sentences illustrate the correct use of the word: 1. When I was in the city last week, I got a new suit. 2 . I am going to get a new suit when I go to the city. 3. After I had got my new suit, I went to call on my aunt. However, there are some idioms, that is, cus- tomary expressions, in our language in which get is used but not in the sense of obtain. A few of them are to get up, to get the better of, to get together, to get in, to get one's back up, and to get out. These are all correct, though not always dignified. You are not likely to make any serious mistakes in the use of the word unless you use it to indicate possession. Group Work 173. Work in groups at the blackboard with the special purpose of studying principal and sub- ordinate clauses as they are written. Those of you who write should choose some subject in which you are interested, perhaps one already written upon, and endeavor to say something interesting upon it, taking care to make your composition as accurate as possible. Those who act as critics should study the grammar of what is being written, asking themselves constantly, (a) What are the principal clauses and what are the subordinate clauses? (6) What clauses, either principal or subordinate, are joined by connective words? (c) What subordi- nate clauses are joined to principal clauses, and by what connectives? (d) What are the predicates PHRASES 179 and subjects of both principal and subordinate clauses? and (e) Is the writer making any mistakes that you can detect? In case he makes errors of any sort, you are at Hberty to call his attention to them and ask him to correct them. In case you disagree, the writer's work must stand until the class or the teacher can decide upon the question in dispute. At all times you are allowed to talk about the composition as it is being written, but you should do so in low tones in order not to disturb the writer. Remember at all times that you are to aid the writer when he needs aid, but that you are not to find fault for the sake of finding fault. Exercise in Grammar 174. Allow one or more of the compositions to remain on the blackboard until the next day, and let the writers take them up sentence by sentence, stating what are principal and what are subordinate clauses, what ones are joined by connectiye words, and so on. PHRASES 175. Read the following groups of words: I. "having a bone stuck in his throat" "to put her head" "for a large sum" '.'into his throat" "in a cozy little den ' ' laden with books ' * "with one hand" "the old sea tub" i8o A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 9. " clothed in silk thread lace " 10. " of studying law " 11. * ' being warm and pleasant ' ' Each one of these groups of words presents an idea to your mind, but not one of them makes complete sense; hence they cannot be sentences. Neither can they be even subordinate clauses, since they have not subjects and predicates. You cannot help feeling that they are parts of sentences. Consider the first three as placed in this sentence : *'A wolf, having a bone stuck in his throat, hired a crane, for a large sum, to put her head into his throat and draw out the bone." The meaning of these little groups of words is now perfectly clear; they depend upon the rest of the sentence for their mean- ing. In this respect they are like subordinate clauses; but they are different from subordinate clauses in that they have no verbs and subjects. Such groups of words are called phrases. Many phrases begin with connective words, such as at, of, from, with, by, upon, over, under, besides, or beside; or with two or three connective words, such as according to, in place of, or instead of. All these you recognize as consisting of connective words followed by substantives. Other phrases begin with words ending in ing, as having, going, being, or with words ending in ed, or en, as in killed by a train and ''laden with books.'' Others begin with the part of the verb that has to before it, as to put in one of the examples given above. Still others begin with a, an, or the, as the long, straight PHRASES i8i way. Thus a complete subject or object is often a phrase. Phrases may be compound; thus, in the wind, in the cold, and in the rain. Phrases beginning with words ending in ing or ed should usually modify the subject, but careless writers and speakers do not always make it appear so. For example, in Going along the road, the river suddenly came into view, the phrase beginning with ** going" has nothing to modify, and the sentence is certainly very absurd. But change it to Going along the road, we suddenly saw the river before us, and the phrase beginning with ''going" modifies "we," and since it was we who were going along the road, the sentence is correct. 176. Make a list of eight or ten phrases, and then incorporate each one in a good English sentence. Determine whether these sentences contain any subordinate clauses. Perhaps you will find that in some cases the phrases are parts of the subordinate clauses. If you prefer, take all but the first four example phrases in section 175, and incorporate them in sentences. Exercise in Grammar 177. In the passages given below, analyze the sentences in the usual way, giving particular atten- tion to phrases, and to principal and subordinate clauses. You will observe that phrases may be parts of either principal or subordinate clauses. You will observe also that one sentence may have 1 82 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR more than one principal clause and more than one subordinate clause. "After saying this, he sank into the surging sea. With my godlike comrades I returned to our ships; and as I went my heart was very dark and troubled within me. But when we reached the ships and the sea, and had eaten our supper, and the immortal night drew near, we lay down upon the beach. Then when the early rosy-fingered dawn arose, we first of all drew off our ships into the divine sea, and put up the masts and sails. The men then took their places in the trim ships, and sitting in order at the oar-pins, struck the gray sea with their oars. Then once more to the Heaven-descended river of Egypt I brought my ships, and made a sacrifice of a hundred cattle. As soon as I had appeased the anger of the immortal gods, I raised a mound to Agamemnon, so that his fame might never perish. This being accom- plished, I sailed away; the immortal gods gave me a wind, and brought me swiftly to my fatherland. But come, tarry in my hall for eleven or twelve days. Then I will send you forth with honor, giving you splendid gifts, three horses, and a well-polished car. Besides, I will give you a beautiful chalice, so that as you pour libations to the immortal gods you may be mindful of me all your days." Homer, The Odyssey "My gentleness and good behavior had gained so far on the emperor and the court, and indeed upon the army and people in general, that I began to conceive hopes of getting my liberty in a short time. I took all possible methods to cultivate this favorable disposition. The natives came by degrees to be less apprehensive of any danger from me. I would sometimes lie down, and let A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION 183 five or six of them dance on my hand. And at last the boys and girls would venture to play hide and seek in my hair. I had now made a good progress in understanding and speaking their language. The emperor had a mind one day to entertain me with several of the country shows, wherein they exceed all nations I have known, both for dexterity and magnificence. I was diverted with none so much as that of the rope-dancers, performed upon a slender white thread, extended about two feet, and twelve inches from the ground." Swift, Gulliver's Travels \ A PUPIL'S COMPOSITION 178. There follows another composition written by a pupil. Study it as you did the passages in the preceding section, and in addition correct the punctuation. You can do this best by first reading the composition aloud. In three places the writer has forgotten to use end punctuation. In one or two other places he has failed to use a comma between a principal and a subordinate, clause when one is plainly required, because the clause is long and you make a decided stop in the reading at that place. " One day a friend of mine came over to my house. He brought his donkey with him. When he got off I asked him for a ride. He assented so I got on. Away I went. When the donkey and I got about halfway around the woods he came to a sudden stop. As he was on a fast trot he lifted me a few feet high. " 'Bang!' I came down on the saddle. When he felt me come down he got frightened and started off on a gallop down the road. We had got very near around the road when he would go no farther. He wanted to turn i84 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR around I was just as determent as he and would not let him go back "He became very angry and started kicking. The harder I held on the harder he kicked. Then he made a quick turn and threw me off of his back He seemed satisfied with this and when I got on again he went the way I wanted him to." Have you discovered that the writer did not have a clear idea about the pronunciation and spelling of a certain word? PUNCTUATION OF CLAUSES AND PHRASES 179. It has already been said that clauses and phrases are sometimes set off from the rest of the sentence by commas. It is often difficult to know when to do this, and it must be admitted that custom differs in regard to it. How^ever, we shall observe the following simple rules: I. When a sentence begins with a subordinate clause or a long phrase, such clause or phrase should be followed by a comma. The following sentences illustrate : 1. If there should be much more rain this season, the crops will be ruined. 2. When you reach the place where three roads meet, take the middle one. 3. In the very beginning of the game that afternoon, luck went against us. 4. Being very eager to win the game, the boys defied ill luck. 2 . A clause or a phrase that follows what it modi- fies and is essential to the thought of the sentence PUNCTUATION OF CLAUSES AND PHRASES 185 is not usually punctuated, but one that may be left out without destroying the sense is set off with commas. Thus, in This is the house that Jack built, no comma is used because ''that Jack built" shows what house is meant, and could not be left out. But in Jack's house, which was small and mean, had a quantity of malt in it, the clause gives an additional fact about the house, and could be left out without destroying the sense; hence it is read with pauses before and after, and should be punc- tuated. Again, in My mother scolds when I am had, the subordinate clause could hardly be spared without affecting the sense, and no punctuation is used. On the other hand, in I left the house in a hurry, because I did nt want to be scolded, the sub- ordinate clause should have a comma before it if a pause or jog of the voice occurs there. Study the following sentences in order to see why commas are used or not used to set off phrases and clauses. 1. My father's house, which is now very old- fashioned, was once much admired. 2. A house which is much admired now may be old-fashioned a few years hence. 3. In front of an old house halfway down the street, stands a big tree. 4. This man does not work hard because he is in- dustrious, but because he must. 5. This man works hard, as he has a family to support. 6. A big tree stands in front of an old house halfway down the street. 7. We did not take our umbrellas, since there was no sign of rain. i86 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 8. Let us speak, for a little while, of old times. 9. People are usually happiest when they are busy. 10. We will help you if you will help us. 11. Our great river is the Mississippi, which drains a great valley. 12. The river which drains our great valley is the Mississippi. 180. Write on the blackboard several sentences containing phrases and clauses, punctuating them or not according to the needs of the individual case. Remember that it will help you to read the sentences aloud, if you will do so naturally without attempting to use special emphasis ; it is the rather rapid utter- ance whose little jogs or pauses help you to determine where commas should be used. Write a paragraph about what you see on the way to school each day. Some of the work will be done at the blackboard. Study the phrases and clauses. STUDY OF PUNCTUATION AND THE FUNCTION OF CONNECTIVES 181. Go back now to the passages quoted in section 177, take each one up sentence by sentence, and consider it in the following particulars: a. Has the sentence an introductory clause or phrase, and is it set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma ? It is well to remember here as elsewhere that usage differs; some people set off even the short introductory phrase, aad some do not. You are safe in forming the habit of punctuating intro- ductory phrases only when they are long, or when STUDY OF PUNCTUATION 187 the sentences would be misunderstood without commas. h. Has the sentence a subordinate clause or phrase that comes, not at the beginning, but within the sentence or at its end? If so, notice whether or not it is set off by commas, and why. c. Some sentences have two or more principal clauses; some, two or more subordinate clauses. In such cases determine how many such clauses there are, and whether or not they are separated by com- mas. Determine also whether the principal clauses are joined by such connective words as and, hut, and or; and whether subordinate clauses are so joined. Again, determine whether or not subordinate clauses are joined to principal clauses by such connective words as when, as, if, and wherein. d. Some sentences contain connective words which join words that are rather far apart. You have already studied the function, or use, of such words. Are there any cases in the sentences you are studying, and are they preceded by commas? Group Work 182. Take again the task of reporting a conver- sation that you have heard or have taken a part in, and work in groups at the blackboard, trying to write correctly and fully as you go. If any of your sentences begin with long phrases or with clauses, separate them with commas from what follows. Exercise in Criticism 183. Two or three of the conversations will be left on the blackboard until the whole class can listen to 1 88 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR a reading of them. After they have been read and you have determined whether or not they are interesting, consider the grammar in the following particulars : a. Are there any incomplete sentences? If so, com- plete them. h. Do any of the sentences contain subordinate clauses ? If so, do these contain subordinate ideas and are they properly punctuated ? c. Do any of the sentences begin with phrases long enough to require commas after them? d. What do the connective words connect? This is very important, and should be considered carefully. SUBJECTS FOR ORAL COMPOSITIONS 184. Put yourselves in the place of a teacher who is instructing a class, and give a lecture or a demon- stration. In some schools the girls in the domestic- science work demonstrate the making of a cake, or the boys demonstrate the making of a chair much as a teacher would do, and the demonstration is made a lesson in English. The speaker in such cases has at hand some of the articles that are used in doing the thing under discussion, such as the gas stove, the pans, and the food to be cooked ; or perhaps, in the case of boys, the planes, saws, and wood. After the lecture, or demonstration, the class should consider whether or not the thing was done clearly and effectively. Some subjects, accompanied, by hints, are given below. If they are such subjects as you can use, take them; if not, choose some of your own. You can do it, for you have done things yourselves and SUBJECTS FOR ORAL COMPOSITIONS 189 have seen your parents do things which can be explained. Or perhaps you have visited a factory and have seen something made, or a farm and have seen the sowing and harvesting of grain or the preparation of milk for the city market; or perhaps you have read in a book or a magazine an interesting account of something that has been done in science or mechanics. Perhaps, again, you have actually done some farm work, or scientific or mechanical work yourselves, and can give your own experience. In some cases you may not find it possible to have any sort of implements in the schoolroom, but you can probably draw pictures on the blackboard. No matter what subject you choose, you should make an outline before you begin to speak, so that you will be more likely to speak fully and in an orderly manner. a. The Purposes of Different Planes. To demonstrate this matter, you should have a smoothing plane, a jack plane, and a jointer tb show to the class, as well as pieces of wood, and should explain the purpose of each plane. It would be interesting, too, to take one of the planes apart and explain its mechanism. If you have a manual- training department, it would be well to take the class to it, and do a piece of work before them. h. How to Sharpen Tools. In this case you would need several tools, say a chisel, a plane, and a saw, as well as whetstone and file. The grindstone could not very well be displayed unless you have a manual-training department. igo A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR c. How to Make a Mortise. This requires the use of plane, knife or pencil, square, chisel, and mallet. d. How Aeroplanes are Made. If you have made a small aeroplane (pronounced {a'er o plane) , you can use it for demonstrations ; if not, you will have to use pictures. e. From Home to Panama in an Airship. Probably a good map, a picture of an airship, your knowledge of geography, and your imagination would be your sole aids here. /. The Making of an Apron. The cutting of the apron and the finishing might all be illustrated on the blackboard; but it would be well to have at hand the piece of cloth, the pattern, tailor's chalk, scissors, pins, and needle and thread. g. Cake Making. Have a mixing bowl, a measuring cup for liquids and one for dry ingredients, a sieve, and two spoons. h. Making Beds. Bring a doll bed to the class i. Making Fudge. Have a saucepan, two spoons, two cups, and another pan. STUDY OF A PICTURE 185. 'What story is told by the picture on the oppo- site page ? Answer the following questions about it : a. What kind of little girl is the one you see in the picture ? Has she a good disposition or a bad one ? Do you know any little girls like her ? STUDY OF A PICTURE 191 6. What kind of boy do you see in the picture ? Some- thing unpleasant has happened. Can it be his fault? Do you know any boys like him? c. What has happened? What brought it about? Was it the fault of one, or both? d. Does the mother take sides with either child? e. The father has evidently just come in. What is being said to him ? /. It appears that the father has to decide what is to be done about the difficulty. How do you think he will decide it? Will he make a just decision? g. How will the children act under the punishment — if both are guilty of misconduct? And if only one, how will he or she act ? Will he or she or both do better next time ? h. If you have thought out good answers to these questions, you have a story to tell, or perhaps a play to write. What title should it have? Don't forget that a title must fit the story. Writing and Reading a Story or Play 186. Decide which you are going to write — a story or a play. Some of you may write the one; some of you the other. Take a class period for the writing. The next day some of your number will read their work to the class so that you can decide who has done best. The chief question to ask yourselves is, — Have we made any improvement in writing plays and stories? That is, have we learned how to arrange a series of events so that they will have a beginning, a middle, and an end? Have we learned to give the story or the play an inter- esting end? 14 192 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR EXERCISE IN SELF-CRITICISM 187. This is a good time to ask yourselves if you have made any improvement since you began to study grammar and composition together. Consider the following points, and have a general. conversation about them in class: a. Are you able to speak or write more of what is in your mind than you could at first ? If so what has helped you? b. Have you gained any ability to learn more of a given subject than you could at first, in order to write or speak of it? If so, mention some cases. c. Have you at any time been able to write or speak better on your subject because other members of ^ the class have expressed themselves fully and correctly, or because you have profited by their mistakes? Mention cases. d. You have read in this book a number of compositions, both good and bad, that were written by pupils in your own grades. Have you gained any ability from the criticism of these? e. In your writing and speaking are you now able to avoid mistakes in grammar that you once made? For example, have you corrected yourselves of using ain't, he don't, to him and I, it is me, and similar cases of bad grammar? /. If, in speaking, you were ever in the habit of joining all your sentences together by and-uh, then-uh, but-uh, and so-uh, have you cured yourselves of the habit? g. In your writing have you learned to know when you reach the end of a sentence, and do you always end the sentence with the proper punctuation mark? SOME VERSES WRITTEN BY PUPILS I93 h. Have you learned to think of the sentence as a complete thing, composed of parts that are related to each other? i. Have you gained a little knowledge of punctuation within the sentence so that you can use it ? y. Have you gained any sureness of spelling certain words? k. Have you been able to correct your mistakes in the use of certain words — got, for instance? /. Do you reahze that by writing slowly and speaking slowly, and at the same time paying attention to both what you say and how you say it, you will gradually gain the ability to express yourselves fully and grammatically? m. Have you discovered that the assistance your critics give you in group work causes you to be careful both in what you say and how you say it? SOME VERSES WRITTEN BY PUPILS 1 88. In this section are some verses written by pupils in an elementary school in a big city on the day before their graduation. The teacher told them to write about one another, and, if they could, to make the verses like poems they had read. Read them aloud and try to determine of what poems they are imitations. Some of them are called Limericks — the first one, for example — and are not imitations of any particular verses of this type. There is a young maiden named Frances Who reads of knights with long lances She dreamed that Prince Charming With boldness alarming Would appear on a black horse that prances. 194 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR There is a young girl named Gladys. I know you will think she's a faddist. She 's a bold suffragette And yet, and yet ^- ^ Of mice she's afraid, is Gladys, n Oh young Johnny Jones is come out of the west, Through all the big room his lessons are best. And save his good pen he weapons had none. He stayed not for "G's," he stopped not at "E's" He answered all questions with greatest of ease. So faithful in lessons, so dauntless in game Have you ever heard of pupil so well known to fame? Edwin thought he was a scholar bold, His deeds, though great and manifold. No skald in song has told. No saga e'er has sung them. Take heed that in thy high school course, Thou dost thy tale with pride rehearse. Else dread, O Edwin, dread the curse Of high school exams to down thee. Johnny Jones could eat no fat; Jenny Jones could eat no lean; And so betwixt them both, you see, The lunch room platters were clean. Do you know our little Jeanette, She 's a wild militant suffragette. She never will marry Because she will Carry our votes for the next president. SOME VERSES WRITTEN BY PUPILS IQS Helen is a suffragette, Her works of great renown, And plans for social betterment Are heard through the town. Half a day Half a day Half a day longer Into the valley of hope Strode the half hundred Forward the graduates bright Charge with your main and mi^ht Into the valley of hope Strode the half hundred. There is a girl named Huyler, Of books she was certainly a piler, But never a look Did she e'er give a book As for marks they never could rile her. There are three hundred sixty-five days in a year, As I have heard many say, But the merriest one in all the year Is graduation day. Sing a song of sixpence A report card full of "E's" This meant graduation For Vera and Louise. Through eight long years of education Ada ends with graduation Then into high school she will go For yet there 's many things to know. 196 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR A dillar, a dollar, A bright looking scholar Is our little maid named Grace, In basket ball she can beat them all, And she wins in every race. The subject of my sketch is Raymond Pingo You are all well acquainted with his lingo, His abode is mainly in the third floor hall. He knows the place, ceiling. floor and wall. His choice is not the hall as you may see, He is sent there by his teacher L. M. D. "Go your own way" she says to Ray. "You '11 see my way is best some day." A Study of the Verses 189. After reading the verses for the pleasure they give, you must study them in detail to see how well they are written. Consider the following points: a. In some of the verses there are lines that do not sound right. This may be because the words do not flow naturally, or because the meter is not good. Try to find these faulty lines and to reword them on the blackboard, so that they will sound better. STUDY OF A PICTURE IQ? b. One of the little poems has a rime word in the wrong line. Which one is it? c. Is n't it rather strange that hardly one of these Httle compositions in rime is correctly punctuated ? The pupils punctuated well when they wrote prose, but in poetry they failed. Read aloud again, and use your sense of the pause and your knowledge of grammar to determine where punctua- tion marks should be used. Writing Verses 190. What these pupils did, you also can do. Select some poem that you are fond of, one that you have read in your readers or in other books, and write verses about one another, using the selected poems as models. Longfellow's Hiawatha is easy to imitate, as it has no rime; but some of you should certainly attempt rime. It is not so difficult as you may think. After you have written your verses, read them aloud and offer criticism. STUDY OF A PICTURE 191. Study the picture opposite page 198. The following questions will help you: a. Is the scene laid in modem or ancient times? How do you know? b. Some knights were good; some were bad. Which do you take these to be? c. Do you know in what kind of houses knights and ladies lived? d. Do you know what kind of vow a man took when he became a knight? igS A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR e. What is the boy in the picture about to do ? /. Do you take him to be a child of the rich or the poor? g. Can you think of any good reason he may have for wanting to keep the kitten from harm? h. When he did what 3^ou see him about to do, what did the knights and ladies do? i. Can you think of any influence the incident may have had on the after life of the boy? ./. There is a story or a play here. What will you call it ? Writing and Reading a Story or Play 192. By this time you have had a good deal of practice in writing stories and a little in writing plays. Choose w^hich you will write, and use a class period for the w^ork. When you have finished, exchange papers and keep them until the next day. In the meantime read them over very carefully and be able to give advice in the class period. You should have conferences in which you tell one another all that will be helpful in rewriting. Some of the work will be read before the class and criticized freely. After this, rewTite the work for the following day. Exchange papers again, giving both the first and the second drafts to one another, so that you may see how much improvement has been made. SIMPLE SENTENCES 193. Read the following sentences: 1. "A boy was stung by a nettle." 2. "A boy stole a lesson book from one of his school fellows." 3. "Her two sisters jeered at her." * t 1 COMPLEX SENTENCES 199 4. "A hare one day ridiculed the short legs and slow pace of the tortoise." 5. "Then Cinderella put her hand into her pocket, and drew forth the other glass slipper." 6. "A serpent and an eagle were one day struggling with each other." 7. "She was small and slight in person." 8. "I am Hercules." Each of the sentences given above is called a simple sentence, because it has but one clause. That, of course, is a principal clause. A simple sentence may have a compound verb, a compound subject, a compound object, or compound predicate words. It may also have phrases. Thus, the first sentence has the phrase "by a nettle." What is the complete predicate of the first exam- ple sentence? the predicate vejb? the complete subject? the subject substantive? Answer the same questions in regard to the other sentences. What sentences have compound parts? What are the connective words? What sentences have phrases? Do they belong to the predicates or to the subjects? What sentences have predicate words? 194. Write some simple sentences, and determine whether any of them have parts that are compound. COMPLEX SENTENCES 195. Read the following sentences carefully: 1. "This is the house that Jack built." 2. Go find the house that Jack built. 200 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 3 . " They promised that they would carry me to distant Ithaca." 4. *'I know that she will not cease from grief and weeping until she sees me." 5. "They say all Indian nabobs are enormously rich." 6. "If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness." 7. "He caught him and was about to kill him, when the mouse piteously entreated." 8. "A bat, falling upon the ground, was caught by a weasel, of whom he earnestly sought his life." 9. "When at last they awoke, it was already dark night." 10. "Just wait a little, until the moon has arisen." 11. "It was not three mornings since they had left their father's house." 12. "After he had worked for a long time, he came to the courtyard of a royal palace." 13. "In the forest roams a unicorn which does great harm." 14. "A fox who had never yet seen a lion, when he fell in with him by chance in the forest was so frightened that he was near dying with fear." The sentences given as examples are complex sentences. A complex sentence is one that has one principal clause and at least one subordinate clause. Thus, the first sentence is composed of two parts — a principal clause, "This is the house," and a subordinate clause, "that Jack built." The subordinate clause may modify the verb, the subject, the object, a predicate word, or a substan- tive preceded by a connective word. It may, indeed, even be the subject itself, as in the sentence, That COMPLEX SENTENCES 20 1 he was afraid was very plain. There are several sen- tences above in which it is the object. A clause that is an object is, of course, a Group Object. You can determine which is the subordinate and which is the principal clause by asking yourselves which clause depends upon — that is, belongs to, or modifies — some part of the other; or which clause is subject or object of the other. Thus, "that Jack built" plainly belongs to "house"; this clause is therefore subordinate. You have already had a hint of another means of determining which is the subordinate clause, but it is not a certain means. Nevertheless it is usually helpful. It is that most subordinate clauses begin with a connective word — not and, but, or or, but such words as that, who, which, when, until, till, after, before, if, unless, and many others. The subordinate clause may either precede or lollow the principal clause. It may even be between the subject and the verb of the principal clause, as in the following example : Washington, after he had retired from the presidency, went back to Mount Vernon. In the sentences given as examples, what are the principal clauses, and what are the subordinate clauses ? That is, show each sentence to be complex. Determine whether the subordinate clauses are parts of the predicates or of the subjects. What sentences contain phrases beginning with connective words? And do they belong to, or mod- ify, the predicates or the subjects? 202 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR In one or two cases a sentence has more than one subordinate clause. Determine whether each of these belongs to the principal clause or to another subordinate clause. 196. Write some complex sentences. Read them aloud in a natural manner, without special emphasis, and use commas wherever there are necessary pauses, or slight jogs of the voice. Or, reconsider some composition previously writ- ten, determine what sentences are complex, and note whether you have used commas where they are necessary to set off the subordinate clauses. COMPOUND AND COMPLEX-COMPOUND SENTENCES 197. Read the following sentences carefully: 1. "They came into a great hall, and there they found a feast spread." 2. "A certain tailor had a son who happened to be small, and no bigger than a thumb; and on this account he was always called Thumbling." 3. "Puss bade the men in the fields call the Marquis of Carabas their lord, or it would go hard with them." 4. "He dragged himself to the side of a pond; there he meant to drink some water and rest a while." 5. "Not long afterward, in the evening, the seven dwarfs came home; but how shocked they were when they saw their dear little Snow White lying on the ground, and that she neither stirred nor moved, and seemed to be dead!" 6. "Betimes next morning the forester got up and went out hunting; and when he was gone, the children were still in bed." COMPLEX-COMPOUND SENTENCES 203 7. "We just now heard some pleasant music in thine abode; but when we came up, it ceased; and we would that we knew whether she who was performing it is a white or a black slave girl, or a lady." 8. "In a crimson sash this singular horseman wore a dagger on the right side, and on the left a short, crooked, Moorish sword; and by a tarnished baldric over the shoulder hung the horn which announced his approach." . You have learned that certain words — and, for instance — connect verbs, subjects, objects, predicate words, subordinate clauses, and phrases. They also connect principal clauses. The first sentence above is an example. It is, in fact, two simple sentences written as one. It might be written thus: They came into a great hall. There they found a feast spread. But as it stands above, it is called a com- pound sentence. A compound sentence is one that contains at least two principal clauses. The second sentence might be written thus: A certain tailor had a son who happened to he small, and no bigger than a thumb. On this account he was always called Thumbling. That is, the sentence as given in the list is really two sentences joined because they are closely related in thought. Now, one of the parts into which we have just divided the original sentence is in itself a complex sentence; that is, it has a subordinate as well as a principal clause. The original sentence is therefore a com- plex-compound sentence. A complex-compound sen- tence, then, is one that has at least two principal clauses and at least one subordinate clause. Sometimes there is no connective word between 204 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR the principal clauses of a compound or a complex- compound sentence, as in the case of the fourth of the sentences given as examples. What do you notice about the punctuation? Determine which of the example sentences are compound and which are complex-compound, and why. 198. Write some compound and some complex- compound sentences. In three or four cases do not use a connective word between the two main parts of the sentence; be careful about punctuation. PUNCTUATION 199. Before beginning the study of certain pas- sages that are to follow, it will be necessary to have a little review and a little advance work on punctuation; for punctuation should be studied very carefully in connection with principal and sub- ordinate clauses. The rules that follow should be learned, in substance, so that they may be easily understood when you are analyzing sentences, or referred to if you forget, and above all so that they may be used when you are writing. Indeed, the knowledge of punctuation and that of grammar are very closely related. a. Some sort of punctuation mark should be used between the principal clauses of a compound sen- tence, unless the sentence is very short and the thoughts very closely related. Thus, a punctua- tion mark may be spared, if the writer chooses, in so short a sentence as The clouds gather and the rain falls. PUNCTUATION 205 h. Usually the mark to be used between the parts, or members, of a compound sentence is the comma, as in the following case: The fall of rain that summer was very heavy, and the streams over- flowed their banks. c. The semicolon is often used, however, between the members of a compound sentence (i) if either principal clause has one or more commas in it, or (2) if there is no connective word used to join the principal clauses. An example of the first case is as follows: The fall of rain that summer, as every old farmer will tell you, was very heavy; and the streams overflowed their hanks. An example of the second case is as follows: The fall of rain that summer was heavy; the streams overflowed their hanks. Sometimes both reasons for the use of the semicolon apply to the same sentence, as in the following example: The fall of rain that summer, as every old farmer will tell you, was very heavy; the streams overflowed their hanks. d. A subordinate clause that begins a sentence, that is, an introductory clause, should usually have a comma after it. Example: When the tide comes in, we are going down to the heach. Some writers do not use a comma after so short an introductory clause, but it is usually best to do so. e. An introductory phrase should have a comma after it if it is long, but it need not have one if the phrase is short enough to be seen with one glance of the eye. Examples: After the coming in of the tide, we are going down to the heach. After high tide a ship came into the harhor. Usage differs here too, but you can safely follow the rule given. /. A subordinate clause, in any position, should be 2o6 'A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR set off by one or two commas if the sense, not the emphasis, demands a pause, or a jog of the voice, in reading. Example: We shall go down to the beach when the tide comes in, because a ship will enter the harbor. In this sentence the clause beginning with "when" has no pause, or jog of the voice, before it; therefore no comma is used; but the clause beginning with "because" has a very distinct pause before it, and a comma is therefore used. Another example: Christopher Columbus, who was the discoverer of America, was a man of strong deter- mination. Here commas are used because there are pauses. But in " This is the house that Jack built," there is no pause before the subordinate clause, and therefore no comma is used. g. If there is a series of verbs, subjects, or any other parts of the sentence — that is, if there is a com- pound construction of three parts or more — commas should be used between the parts, and even before the connective word that joins the last two. Examples: France, Germany, and Italy are countries of Europe. The army fled without baggage, without arms, and almost without food. h. There should be a comma before a connective word that joins parts of a compound construction when they are long or are far apart. Example: The sailors landed on an island that they had sighted in the night, and filled their casks with water. The connective "and" joins the verbs "landed" and "filled"; since these words are far apart we pause before the "and" when we read the sentence, and we must use the comma when we write. It is the present tendency to punctuate less than PUNCTUATION 207 formerly. The change is probably traceable to the newspapers, which must be written and printed in great haste. But as punctuation is not only a means of clear writing but also a means of studying gram- mar, you are advised to attend to it carefully. Exercise in Grammar and Punctuation 200. Read the story given below. Then study it, sentence by sentence, (a) to determine whether the sentences are simple, complex, compound, or complex-compound, and why in every case; (h) to determine what the connective words are, and what they connect; and (c) to determine what punctua- tion marks are used in accordance with the rules given in the preceding section. If you cannot remember all the rules, refer to them as you study the sentences. You will notice that the para- graphing does not follow a rule you have learned. Herr Korbes "There were once a cock and a hen who wanted to take a journey together. So the cock built a beautiful carriage, which had four red wheels, and harnessed four mice to it. The hen seated herself in it with the cock, and they drove away together. Not long afterwards they met a cat, who said, 'Where are you going?' The cock replied, 'We are going to the house of Herr Korbes.' 'Take me with you,' said the cat. The cock answered, 'Most willingly; get up behind, lest you fall off in front. Take great care not to dirty my little red wheels. And you, little wheels, roll on; and you, little mice, pipe out, as we go forth on our way to the house of Herr Korbes.' « ^ 2o8 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR "After this came a millstone, then an egg, then a duck, then a pin, and at last a needle, who all seated themselves in the carriage, and drove with them. When, however, they reached the house of Herr Korbes, Herr Korbes was not there. The mice drew the carriage into the barn; the hen flew with the cock upon a perch. The cat sat down by the hearth, the duck on the well pole. The egg rolled itself into a towel ; the pin stuck itself into the chair cushion; the needle jumped on to the bed in the middle of the pillow, and the millstone laid itself over the door. Then Herr Korbes came home, went to the hearth, and was about to light the fire, when the cat threw a quantity of ashes in his face. He ran into the kitchen^ in a great hurry to wash it off, and the duck splashed some water in his face. He wanted to dry it with the towel; but the egg rolled up against him, broke, and glued up his eyes. He wanted to rest, and sat down in the chair; and then the pin pricked him. He fell in a passion, and threw himself on the bed; but as soon as he laid his head on the pillow, the needle pricked him so that he screamed aloud and was just going to run into the wide world in his rage; but when he came to the house door, the millstone leapt down and struck him dead. Herr Korbes must have been a very wicked man." Grimm, Household Tales Equivalents of Sentences 201. You have already learned that sometimes a group of words has the effect of a sentence or of a principal clause without actually being one. Such a case is in the first paragraph of the story of "Herr Korbes." It is the cock's reply, "Most willingly." This has the effect of a principal clause as distinctly as if it read, "Twill do so mpst willingly." There PUNCTUATION 209 are many such cases in composition, especially in conversation. Pupils' Compositions 202. There follow four compositions written by pupils in an elementary school. The last one was written from memory after its author had heard the original form of the story read. Study the four themes as you did the story in section 200, criticiz- ing and correcting every detail. It would be a good exercise to rewrite one of them. "Wednesday, April 18, 1906, was the day of the great San Francisco fire and earthquake. We received a shock at five minutes past five then the big quake came. Soon after the big fire broke out and we were in more danger than ever. "For days and days the fire raged. All the big stores burning up one by one. At night we would go up to the top of a hill and look down at the burning city. "After while when the fire died down the streets were very dark. When the men began to build again, little fires would break out in different places." " Last summer when I was in Seattle we took an excur- sion to the navy yard. When we were waiting on the docks for the boat to come up it was very crowded. Every one thought it was going to stop on the north side of the dock, so they all went on that side. "Pretty soon the boat pulled in on the south side and there was a lot of pushing and crowding to get over to the other side. When they put the gang plank out the men would try to get on first and pushed the women and children away. One man tried to get on another way and as he was doing it he got his hat knocked off into the 2IO A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR water. At the last when the plank was taken off a boy was on the boat and his mother was on shore. ''We were very glad when we got back to Seattle." "When I lived in Cahfornia I used to own a dog whom I considered to be a model of intelligent dogs. "He was an Irish Water Spaniel with a great deal of common sense. He could climb a tree or jump the highest fence with ease. One day I started off in a pony cart to ride to a town about two miles away and I took my dog 'Rex' as that was his name. When we arrived there I visited some friends for a while and after receiving a package from them, for my mother, I started back. I had gone about half a mile when I noticed the door of the cart open and the package gone. "It was easy enough to surmise how the package was lost and with a look of great dismay on my face I turned to my dog who I supposed was watching it, and there he lay fast asleep. Shaking him vigorously I awoke him and pointed to the place where the parcel had been. He uttered a short bark and started back along the road. "About a half hour later he reappeared dusty and panting but with the parcel in his mouth." "A long time ago when none of us were living, the rabbits had short ears. "Well, one day a little rabbit went out into the field next to his home to get his breakfast. This was an ancestor of some rabbit that lives now. Probably if you went out into the woods you would find his descendant. "Anyway, as I said, he was going to get his breakfast in a field near his house. He saw a great many carrots in that field, and because all rabbits just love carrots he ate and ate and ate till he was so full he could not move. SOME ADVERTISEMENTS 211 When his mammy called him he was nowhere to be seen. Then she went out into the field to look for him. She found him lying on the grass, crying with pain. He could not walk home with her because his tummy hurt so awful, so his mother carried him home by the ears, for fear of hurting him if she carried him home by any thing else. His ears then stretched to about three times their size of course, and the little thing screamed. Now no rabbit can be safely carried home by anything but its ears." SOME ADVERTISEMENTS 203. You have already learned that when you write business letters it is very necessary to stop to inquire of yourselves what the persons to whom you write the letters would need to know. This is an exceedingly important matter, as your getting what you want may depend largely, or perhaps altogether, upon what you write and how you write it. For example, suppose you want to apply for positions in answer to advertisements like the following: BOY WANTED. We have an unusually good opening in our correspondence department for a bright young fellow who is looking for a permanent position where there is no limit to the opportunities for advancement. — Dole & McIntyre, 32 S. Franklin St. BOY WANTED. We need several boys, 16 to 19 years of age, as order fillers, stock boys, and wrappers. Real opportunities for live boys. — Williamson & Grubbs, 124 N. State St. OFFICE BOYS. Bright, clean boys for office work. Good future for those energetic enough to merit ad- vancement. Must be graduates of public schools. Bring 212 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR school certificates. — J. B. Allison & Co., 23 Dearborn St. ADDRESSERS WANTED. Girls for addressing cir- culars and catalogues. Must write a plain hand. — Dole & McIntyre, 32 S. Franklin St. WANTED, Billing Clerks. Young women who can figure rapidly and accurately; no previous experience necessary; salary at first, $8 per week. — Williamson & Grubbs, 124 N. State St. GIRLS. We need bright, ambitious young ladies between 16 and 17 years old, with grammar school education. — J. B. Allison & Co., 23 Dearborn St. One of these advertisements plainly requires candidates to call at the ofifice of the advertiser, and ■ it is very likely that personal calls would be better than letters in the other cases. In the personal interview, however, the prospective employer finds out, by questioning, all that the candidate would be likely to say in a letter, and even more, for he then has the opportunity to look the young person in the eye and see what manner of person he is. In many cases the advertiser does not have his name and address printed at the bottom of the advertise- ment, but has merely some such sign as E 186, fol- lowed by the name of the newspaper in which the advertisement appears. Under these circumstances the boy or the girl is compelled to write to the advertiser, knowing that if he makes a good impres- sion he will be asked to call and present his case in person. Much, therefore, depends upon the letter; what you say is important, and how you say it is important. SOME ADVERTISEMENTS 213 If you will read over the advertisements carefully, you will find out sopie of the things employers require in their employees. Make a list of these requirements. In addition to these things, employers often wish to know whether their prospective employees live with their parents or elsewhere, whether they have had any experience in business, and whether they are unusually strong in some particular branch of school work. Finally, the business man wants a letter written by the applicant himself, and he wants it correctly written. Answering an Advertisement 204. Writing letters in answer to such advertise- ments as appear in the preceding section is an exercise that may be kept up for several days in succession. Whether you live in a city or in the country, you will not find it difficult to obtain a copy of a city newspaper. Search the "Help Wanted" columns for advertisements from people who want to employ boys and girls, assume that you are graduates of grammar schools, and write answers as if you your- selves were applying for the positions. Exercise in Criticism 205. After writing the letters each day, or on bringing them to class if they have been written at home, read some of them before the room so that they may be criticized. The main question is, of course, 214 1 COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR to determine as well as you can whether the letters would be likely to make a good impression on busy business men who want capable boys and girls to work for them. The following points should be considered in each case: a. Did the writer say just enough and no more? b. In writing about himself did he seem to be bragging? c. Does the letter seem stiff and formal, or is it written in a free and easy style? In addition to these questions there is one more. It is very difficult for a group of young people to read directions for doing a certain thing without all doing the thing the same way. Most of the letters in this case, for example, are likely to sound very much alike. If there are any letters, however, that are suitable in other respects and yet are some- what different from the others, you should mention this fact and have them written on the blackboard, for they are deserving of praise. After this criticism of the substance of many of the letters, a few will be copied on the black- board and criticized as to form. Consider the following points: a. Are the heading, the address, the salutation, the complimentary close, and the signature properly punctuated and in good form? h. Does the writer know what a sentence is, and has he properly punctuated each one at the end? c. Has the writer used punctuation marks within the sen- tence according to the rules you recently learned? d. Has he correctly used capital letters? SOME ADVERTISEMENTS 215 e. Is the penmanship good? You can determine this by appointing a committee from among your- selves to examine the letters carefully and decide which letters are written in a clear, rapid hand and which are not. A Caution about Capital Letters 206. It is probable that some of you have written sentences like this : I am a graduate oj a Grammar School or of an Elementary School. If so, why did you use capital letters at the beginning of grammar, or elementary, school? These words do not mean any particular school, and therefore they should be begun with .small letters. If, however, you should write / am a graduate of the Third Ward Grammar School or / am a graduate of the Longfellow Grammar School, capital letters are correct, for in these cases you use the name of a particular school. The same rule applies in the case of high schools. Group Woiik 207. Get some more "Help Wanted" advertise- ments, or, if you prefer, advertisements of a different kind, and write answers to them, working at the blackboard in groups as you have done formerly. This work will be kept up for a number of days, so that everybody may have the experience of writing under the supervision of others. Everything that you have learned heretofore about correct grammar, spelling, the meaning of words, and punctuation should be kept in mind and used if necessary. 2i6 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR TWO INCORRECT PHRASES 208. Have you formed the habit of improving your EngHsh whenever you can? It takes constant care. For example, since you have been studying this book you have doubtless used such expressions as I'm kind of tired and I'm sort of tired. Now it is clear that you may speak of a kind of animal or a kind of tree, because there are different kinds of animals and trees; but what can kind of tired, or sort of tired possibly mean? How many kinds of ''tired'' are there? When you use these phrases you mean somewhat tired or rather tired. And if you mean that, why not say it? SLANG 209. Probably you use slang sometimes, too. There are two kinds of slang — the kind that means nothing and the kind that means something. At the time this book was being written, people who did n't have the ability to say what they meant, were always saying, "What do you know about that?" and "I should worry." The objections to these remarks are that they mean nothing, and that they weary the hearer from their frequent repetition — they become mere tiresome rigmaroles. On the other hand, certain slang expressions seem to be used to mean only one thing, and these are dis- tinctly better than the others. ''Ring off" and "Your wires are crossed" are among them; they have definite meaning, and are very effective, though, it must be confessed, by no means polite. It SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 217 is clear, too, that they grow out of our daily lives, for they are telephone slang. In time they may be in better use than at present. If you must use slang, try to use it only when you are sure that it means something. SOME DIFFICULT WORDS 210. Do you ever use such expressions as most always f This is a mistake; you should say almost always. That is, you should use almost in the sense of nearly, but you should never use most in the sense of nearly. It is more than likely that you sometimes use such expressions as a grand dinner or a splendid supper. Or perhaps you say We had a grand time, or We had a splendid time, or We had an elegant time. If you use such expressions, you are misusing words. Grand means hig, imposing. So when you say a grand dinner you are saying a big or imposing dinner, although it is plain that you mean merely a delicious dinner. It is correct to speak of a grand mountain or a grand storm at sea, but to speak of a grand dinner or a grand supper is absurd. Splendid means shining, showy. If you speak of a splendid supper or a splendid arithmetic lesson, do you mean a shining supper or a shining arithmetic- lesson? It is correct to speak of a splendid sunset or a splendid necklace, but some of the common uses of the word splendid are very foolish indeed. Elegant means made beautiful by art, by good taste. Thus you may speak of an elegant costume if you 2i8 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR mean that the dressmaker has beautified it by her skill and taste; but when you say an elegant time, you mean merely an enjoyable or a pleasant time. The following sentences contain correct uses of the forms of these words. Tell why : 1. The capitol at Washington is one of the grandest buildings in the world. 2. Daniel Webster was a grand man. 3. The grandeur of the Rocky Mountains is plain to the dullest minds. 4. The splendid queen took her seat upon the throne. 5. The sky was unusually splendid that night. 6. The ball had all the splendor of an oriental court. 7. He was a person of very elegant manners. 8. Elegance characterized every part of my aunt's home. 9. The writings of some authors are very plain and simple, while those of others are extremely elegant. Grand, splendid, and elegant are not words that you have frequent occasion to use; when you do use them, be sure that you use them correctly. SOME MORE LETTERS OF FRIENDSHIP 211. Since doing your last group work you have learned something of two incorrect phrases, the nature of slang, and how to use certain difficult words. In the future, when you write, you should be very careful to make use of the information you have just gained. Even in writing to your most intimate friends, you should take just as much care as if you were writing compositions in school. This is a good place to write some letters of friend- ship. If you were talking with one of your friends REWORDING SENTENCES 219 you would have no difficulty in finding a great deal to say. You would chatter incessantly about your school life, the studies you like and do not like, the incidents of the schoolroom, and your plans after graduation.. And if you were talking about your home life, you would tell the funny things that happen, the interesting events that occur from time to time ; you would discuss your relations with your brothers and sisters and parents ; and your studying at home, your home duties, and the parties and merrymakings that you go to would receive their share of attention. For a classroom exercise, then, write letters for several days to your friends. It would be well to write such letters as you can send. REWORDING SENTENCES 212. Consider the following groups of sentences: A 1 . The old gray horse was pulling a wagon loaded with pumpkins. 2. The horse, which was old and gray, was pulling a wagon that was loaded with pumpkins. 3. The horse, old and gray, was pulling a wagon loaded with pumpkins. B 1. Jackson's new tug came into the harbor towing a water-logged schooner. 2. Jackson's tug — the new one — came into the harbor towing a schooner that was water-logged. 3. Jackson's new tug came into the harbor with a water-logged schooner in tow. 2 20 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR ■ C 1. During that long, cold winter there was not a day without snow and bitter, piercing winds. . 2. During that winter, which was long and cold, there was not a day when there was no snow and bitter, pierc- ing winds. 3 . During that winter — a long and cold one — there was no snowless day, and the winds were bitter and piercing. 4. During that long, cold winter there was no day that did not have its snow and its bitter, piercing winds. D 1 . Our reckless but fragile friend, Humpty-Dumpty , had a fall, and was broken into so many pieces that he could not be put together again. 2. Humpty-Dumpty, our reckless but fragile friend, had a fall, and was broken into too many pieces to be put together again. 3. Our friend, Humpty-Dumpty, who was both fragile and reckless, had a fall, and was damaged beyond repair. Each of these groups of sentences represents different ways of saying practically the same thing. The question is, How does grammar account for the different forms of expression? In the first sentence there are two words, "old" and "gray," which describe "horse." In the second sentence it is the clause, "which was old and gray," that describes "horse." In the third sentence the phrase, "old and gray," describes "horse." That is to say, there are three ways of describing — with words, with phrases, and with clauses. Again, the phrase "loaded with pumpkins" de- scribes "wagon" in the first and the third sentence; REWORDING SENTENCES 221 but in the second sentence the clause, "that was loaded with pumpkins," is the descriptive element. Such descriptive elements are called adjectives, ad- jective phrases, and adjective clauses. These different ways of describing account for most of the variation in expression that is found in the sentences given. The purpose of such variation of expression is to find the way that sounds best. Sometimes, too, in writing a composition, you will want to reword a sentence simply because it is constructed like the one, or the two, or the three before it, which, of course, would give an unpleasant effect. Study all the four groups of example sentences, determine how grammar accounts for their differ- ences of structure, and consider whether some particular one of each group is better than the others. 213. Write several sentences and put each into different forms by first using words, then phrases, and then clauses as descriptive constructions. If you wish to change the order of the different parts of the sentences, do so. If you find it necessary to change altogether the wording of some parts of the sentences, do so. For an example, see the last sentence of the fourth group of example sentences. Determine which form of each sentence sounds best. Again, take the second line from Grey's ''Elegy in a Country Churchyard," — "The plowman home- ward plods his weary way," — and cast it into as many forms as possible by varying the order of the words and by enlarging "weary" to a clause. 22 2 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Note that this word may modify ' ' plowman " if you choose to make it do so; and if you choose, you can change it to wearily. "Homeward" may be enlarged to the phrase, to his home. EXERCISE IN COMBINING SHORT SENTENCES 214. Here is a story about Bre'er Rabbit and Bre'er Lion: Bre'er Lion had a very fine garden. He had planted carrots in it. He noticed every morning that some of the carrots were gone. All of the tops were chewed off. He thought at last that he would find out the thief. He hid behind a box. He waited for the thief. He saw Bre'er Rabbit approaching. It was about twelve o'clock. Bre'er Rabbit began to eat the carrots. Bre'er Lion went up behind him. He said, "Ha, ha! you will steal my carrots, will you?" Then he put Bre'er Rabbit under the box. He said, "Now you can stay there and starve." But Bre'er Rabbit noticed that there was grass growing under the box. He could live on that. Bre'er Lion thought after a while that Bre'er Rabbit was dead. He peeked into the box. Bre'er Rabbit had heard him coming. He pretended to be dead. Bre'er Lion kicked the box away. This left Bre'er Rabbit lying there. Bre'er Lion went into the house. Then Bre'er Rabbit jumped up. He said, "Good-by, Bre'er Lion! I can live on grass." This is a very good story, but how monotonous and tiresome the sentences sound as you read them ! It was written in this way in order that a pupil's version, written from memory after the teacher had read the original form of the story to the class, might 15 COMBINING SHORT SENTENCES 223 be contrasted with it. The pupil's version is given below, with several slight corrections. "Bre'er Lion had a very fine garden, in which he had planted some carrots. Every morning he noticed that some of his carrots were gone, and that all of the tops were chewed off. At last he thought he would find out who was stealing his carrots, so he hid himself behind a box to wait for the thief. ''About twelve o'clock he saw Bre'er Rabbit approach- ing his garden, and begin eating his carrots. While Bre'er Rabbit was eating the carrots, Bre'er Lion went up behind him and caught him and said, 'Ha, ha! you will steal my carrots, will you?' Then he put Bre'er Rabbit under the box, and said, * Now you can stay there and starve.' But Bre'er Rabbit noticed that there was some grass growing under the box, and he knew he could live on that. "At last, when Bre'er Lion thought Bre'er Rabbit was dead, he peeked into the box. Bre'er Rabbit heard him coming, so he lay down and pretended he was dead. Bre'er Lion kicked away the box, and left Bre'er Rabbit lying there, and he went into the house. As soon as he was in the house, Bre'er Rabbit jumped up and said, 'Good-by, BrC'er Lion! I can live on grass.' " The pupil's own work is much better than the other form of the story. The reason is that in one case the sentences nearly all begin with the subject, and are very short. In order to have smoothly flowing composition it is necessary to begin, some- times at least, with other constructions than the subject, and to vary the length of sentences by combining those ideas that are closely related. Let 16 22'4 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR US see how this is accomplished in the pupil's version of this story. The first two sentences of the first form of the story are "Bre'er Lion had a very fine garden" and "He had planted carrots in it." The first sentence of the second form, the one written by a pupil, is "Bre'er Lion had a very fine garden, in which he had planted some carrots.'' That is to say, the thought expressed in two sentences of the first form, is expressed in one sentence in the second form. The second form, the pupil's, is the better, because the part printed in italics is descriptive of "garden," and should therefore be a subordinate clause depending upon this word. In other words, the two thoughts are closely related, and they should be written in one sentence. The third sentence in the first form is " He noticed every morning that some of the carrots were gone." And the fourth sentence is "All of the tops were chewed off." The second sentence in the second form is "Every morning he noticed that some of his carrots were gone, and that all of the tops were chewed off." This sentence is a combination of the third and the fourth sentences of the first form. This is better (a) because the thoughts are closely related, and (b) because the longer sentence avoids the "choppy" effect. Study the two forms further, and determine, by comparison, (a) what sentences in the second form are combinations of sentences in the first, (b) what sentences are simple, what complex, what compound, COMBINING SHORT SENTENCES 225 and what complex-compound, and {c) what sen- tences begin with the subject and what with some other construction. All these differences are the reasons, in terms of grammar, for the pupil's version being better than the other. Study the punctuation, and determine whether or not it is good. When it is necessary, refer to the rules for punctuation in section 199. EXERCISE IN COMBINING SHORT SENTENCES 215. There appears below, one of Grimm's House- hold Tales, which has been cut up into short sen- tences, so that, as in the case of the story about the lion and the rabbit, it sounds very monotonous. You will observe, by reading it carefully, that some of the sentences should be combined because they are closely related in thought. Rewrite the story, combine those sentences that ought to be combined, and take pains not to begin all the sentences with the subject. You are at liberty to change the order of the words, or even of the thoughts, and to intro- duce new words, especially connectives, whenever you deem it necessary. For example, the first four sentences might be combined as follows : A peasant had a faithful horse, hut it had grown so old that it could do no more work, and its master would no longer give it anything to eat. You may find a few sen- tences that you need not combine with others. The Fox and the Horse A peasant had a faithful horse. It had grown old. It could do no more work. His master would no longer 226 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR give him anything to eat. The master said, "I can cer- tainly make no more use of you. Still I mean well by you. If you prove yourself strong enough to bring me a lion, I will keep you. Now take yourself away out of my stable." With that he chased him into the open country. The horse was sad. He went to the forest. He sought a little protection there from the weather. The fox met him. The fox said, "Why do you hang your head so ? Why do you go about all alone ? ' ' The horse said, ''Alas, avarice and fidelity do not dwell together in one house! My master has forgotten my services. I served him for many years. I can no longer plow well. He will give me no more food. He has driven me out." The fox asked, "Without giving you a chance?" The horse replied, "The chance was a bad one. He said if I were strong enough to bring him a lion, he would keep me. I cannot do that. He well knows it," The fox said, "I will help you. Just lay yourself down. Stretch yourself out. Be as if you were dead. Do not stir." The horse did as the fox desired. The fox went to the lion. The lion had his den not far off. The fox said, "A dead horse is lying outside there. Just come with me. You can have a rich meal." The lion went with him. Soon they were standing 'by the horse. The fox said, "It is not very comfortable for you here. I will tell you what I will do. I will fasten the horse to you by the tail. You can then drag it into your cave. You can devour it there in peace." This advice pleased the lion. He lay down. He kept quiet. This was so the fox might tie the horse to him. But the fox tied the Ron's legs together with the horse's tail. He twisted it. He fastened it all well. No COMBINING SHORT SENTENCES 227 strength could break it. Soon he had finished his work. Then he tapped the horse on the shoulder. He said, "Pull, white horse, pull." The horse sprang up at once. He drew the lion with him. The hon began to roar. All the birds in the forest flew out in terror. The horse let him roar. He dragged him over the country. He drew him to his master's door. The master saw the lion. He was then of a better mind. He said to the horse, "You shall stay with me. You shall fare well." The horse was then taken to the stable. He had plenty to eat as long as he lived. 216. An old composition will be copied on the blackboard. Study it to see whether closely related thoughts are combined, so that the whole sounds very easy and natural when it is read aloud. Group Work 217. Write at the blackboard in groups, and notice especially whether closely related thoughts are combined into one sentence. Subordinate ideas should be expressed in phrases or in subordinate clauses. Where it will give a natural and pleasing effect, shift a phrase or a subordinate clause to the beginning of a sentence. For subjects, choose something from your geog- raphy or history, preferably yesterday's lesson. Study in Sentence Structure '218. The passage given below should be very thoroughly analyzed, and with the constant pur- pose of determining how one sentence differs from 228 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR another in structure. Incidentally, the difference in length may be noticed. The following order is suggested: (a) kind of sentence as to thought ; (b) kind as to structure, with mention of the principal clause or clauses, and of subordinate clause or clauses; (c) mention of the verb, and modifiers, of the principal clause, or of the first principal clause if there are more than one ; (d) mention of the subject, and modifiers, of the principal clause, or of the first principal clause if there are more than one; (e) the same treatment of the subordinate clauses modifying the principal clause if there are any, or of the first principal clause if there are more than one; (/) the same general treatment of subsequent principal and subordinate clauses if there are such. Connectives and punc- tuation should receive constant attention. "When the stone was pulled up, there appeared a stair- case about three or four feet deep, leading to a door. *My son,' said the African magician, 'descend those steps and open that door. It will lead you into a palace divided into three great halls. In each of these you will see four large brass cisterns placed on each side, full of gold and silver; but take care you do not meddle with them. Before you enter the first hall, be sure to tuck up your robe, wrap it about you, and then pass through the second into the third without stopping. Above all things, have a care that you do not touch the walls so much as with your clothes; for if you do, you will die instantly. At the end of the third hall you will find a door which opens into a garden planted with fine trees loaded with fruit. Walk directly across the garden to a terrace, COMBINING SHORT SENTENCES 229 where you will see a niche before you, and in that niche a lighted lamp. Take the lamp down and put it out. When you have thrown away the wick and poured out the Hquor, put it in your waistband and bring it to me. Do not be afraid that the liquor will spoil your clothes, for it is not oil, and the lamp will be dry as soon as it is thrown out.' "After these words the Magician drew a ring off his finger and put it on one of Aladdin's, saying, 'It is a taHsman against all evil, so long as you obey me. Go, therefore, boldly, and we shall both be rich all our lives.' " The Arabian Nights: "Aladdin, or the Wonderful Lamp" 219. The following passage should be studied in the same way as the passage from ** Aladdin": When Gluck found that Schwartz did not come back, he was very sorry, and did not know what to do. He had no money, and was obliged to go and hire himself again to the goldsmith, who worked him very hard, and gave him very little money. So, after a' month or two, Gluck grew tired, and made up his mind to go and try his fortune with the Golden River. "The little king looked very kind, ' ' thought he. "I don't think he will turn me into a black stone." So he went to the priest, and the priest gave him some holy water as soon as he asked for it. Then Gluck took some bread in his basket, and the bottle of water, and set off very early for the mountains. If the glacier had occasioned a great deal of fatigue to his brothers, it was twenty times worse for him, who was neither so strong nor so practiced on the mountains. He had several very bad falls, lost his basket and bread, and was very much frightened at the strange noises under the ice. He lay a long time to rest on the grass, after he had got over, and began to climb the hill just in the 230 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR hottest part of the day. When he had cHmbed for an hour, he got dreadfully thirsty, and was going to drink like his brothers, when he saw an old man coming down the path above him, looking very feeble, and leaning on a staff. "My son," said the old man, "I am' faint with thirst; give me some of that water." Then Gluck looked at him, and when he saw that he was pale and weary, he gave him the water; "Only pray don't drink it all," said Gluck. But the old man drank a great deal, and gave him back the bottle two thirds empty. Then he bade him good speed, and Gluck went on again merrily. And the path became easier to his feet, and two or three blades of grass appeared upon it, and some grasshoppers began singing on the bank beside it; and Gluck thought he had never heard such merry singing. RusKiN, The King of the Golden River ANALYZING AND WRITING SENTENCES 220. When you analyze sentences you are tearing them down, or taking them apart. On the other hand, when you are writing a theme you are building up sentences. One process is the reverse of the other, and knowledge of one is likely to increase your knowledge of the other. When you write hereafter, singly or in groups, you should keep in mind the various points about grammar that you have studied, in order to make your composition more correct and more agreeable to read. All this should become a habit with you. Especially should you take care to vary the structure of your sen- tences, for your tendency may be to begin too many with the subject. It is true that most of them should so begin; but if all or nearly all do so, the A STUDY OF OLD COMPOSITIONS 231 effect is monotonous. A very simple rule, and one that will be of great aid, is to begin an occasional sentence with some connective word, like as, when, if, although, after, under, upon, at, and others, if such connective word would naturally be used at some place in the sentence. This will cause your beginning construction to be a clause or a phrase. You should take great care, however, not to write sentences that do not sound well; your ear should be trusted; it is likely to be a good guide, especially if you read good books and if the people with whom you associate use good English. A STUDY OF OLD COMPOSITIONS 221. You have been studying some of the different ways of organizing sentences, and you have learned that it is often desirable to remodel some that you have written. Especially is this true if all the sentences in a composition, or very many of them, begin with the subject; and if, in addition, they are all about the same length, the effect is very monotonous. In order to test how much you have learned from your recent study, follow the following instructions : a. Take a composition that you wrote some time ago and read it over carefully. b. Note whether or not all the sentences begin with the subject. If they do, or if very many of them do, consider how some of them may be changed to bring some other construction to the beginning. For example, if you find such a sentence as / always look over the headings and the subheadings 232 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR before I begin to study a history lesson, and you find it desirable to change it, you can do so by writing the subordinate clause first, thus: Before I begin to study a history lesson, I always look over the headings and the subheadings. In this particular case the change is a good one even if the preceding sentences did not all begin with the subject, for now the emphatic idea is at the end, which is the more emphatic position. c. Note whether the sentences are all about the same length. If they are, consider how you can com- bine some of them. For example, if you find two such sentences as / like history very well. I do not like arithmetic, you can combine the two simple sentences into one compound sentence, thus: 7 like history very well, but I do not like arithmetic. How- ever, you must be careful not to make any sentence so long that it would be difficult to read. d. Sometimes you can lengthen a sentence some- wha,t and make it sound better by changing a word to a phrase or a clause. For example, / reached the school building late that day, but did not go at once to my room may be changed to Although it was late when I reached the school building that morning, I did not go at once to my room. e. Sometimes you will find it desirable to shorten a sentence. This can often be done by changing a clause to a word or a phrase. For example, A horse, when he is balky, should be treated with patience may be changed to A balky horse should be treated with patience. This kind of change may or may not be desirable; if special emphasis is necessary, the first form of the sentence is better than the second. DISCUSSION OF A PICTURE 233 When you have studied an old composition through carefully in this way, rewrite it, making all the changes you have determined upon, and con- sider whether you have improved it. In order to get the opinion of others upon the matter, exchange compositions, both old and new, and have confer- ences, giving and taking criticisrn. Having rewritten one composition in this manner, take up another in the same way, and continue to do so until you have gained some power to improve your compositions as wholes by improving the sentences of which they are composed. Written Composition 222. Select a subject from one o^ the lists in the book, or choose one of your own, and write a com- position, taking more pains than ever before to make your work sound well. A smoothly flowing piece of writing may be made by varying the length and structure of the sentences in the ways you have been studying. The best hint that can be given you is this: Begin some of your sentences with the subordinate clause. DISCUSSION OF A PICTURE 223. Has the picture opposite page 234 attracted your attention ? It represents one scene in a story — not the very end of the story, but a part very near the end. For a story, you know, is a train of events that has a beginning,* a middle, and an end. In the beginning you should tell all about the persons 234 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR and places that the reader would have to know in order to understand what is to follow. In the middle you should tell all the events that lead up to the end. In the end you must tell the events that finish the story; they must be interesting, and, if possible, unexpected events. If you talk over the questions that follow, you may be able to write a very good story. a. Where is the scene that the picture presents? b. What kinds of sports do the boys and girls of the neighborhood engage in? c. Can you select names for the two boys and the girl in the motor boat? d. Which one of the three do you select for the hero or the heroine of the adventure ? It is not necessary, of course, for all to select the same one. e. How do you account for the fact that the three young people are putting off in a boat? What previous events might account for it? /. Why does the girl wave a telegram? g. What is the man on the steamboat so much excited about ? h. What are the young people going to do? i. When they have accomplished what they want to do, how may that give the story an interesting end? As usual, the stories need not all be alike. In fact, it will be better if they are all different. They may have different titles. Writing and Reading Stories 224. After your discussion* you may want a day or two to think over the story you are going to write, TPAUt EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 235 or you may want to go at it at once while you are in the humor. Do whichever seems best. Write the stories at home if so directed. When the work is all done, some of you will read your stories to the room, and you should answer the following questions about each one: a. Did the writer tell in the beginning all that you needed to know in order to understand and to like what followed? h. Did he make the characters interesting persons? c. Did he give an interesting train of events that led up to the end? d. Was the end interesting? And especially, was it surprising ? e. Did the writer leave anything unexplained in the story? If he did, it was a fault. EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 225. In the following pages are printed many compositions written by pupils in the seventh and eighth grades. Some of them are personal experi- ences and desires, some are conversations written from memory, some are stories written about pictures in the magazines, and some are descriptions and explanations about persons and things the writers had seen or heard of. Before they were printed, the spelling, which was not always what it should have been, was corrected, except in the case of the omission of the apostrophe in contractions. In a very few cases where there were mistakes of an unusual sort in grammar or idiom, the wording was Slightly changed. But in every other particular 236 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR — in wording, in capitalization, in punctuation, and in paragraphing — the compositions stand here just as they were written. It will be your task to criticize them. In each case one of your number will stand before the class and read the composition aloud. He must read with expression, for otherwise it will be difficult for you to answer some of the questions that will be asked, especially in the matter of punctuation. After the reading of a composition, discuss it as you think best, paying special attention to the following points: a. Is the composition a complete thing? Or, to put the matter still another way, does the writer stick to his subject? Does he finish it? b. Do you think it is a personal experience or desire, a conversation written from memory, a story written about a picture, or a description or explana- tion of something the writer has seen or heard of? c. If it is not a story written from a picture, consider whether a good artist could draw a picture illus- trating it. If so, explain in detail what you think the picture would be. d. Is the composition written in a straightforward manner so that it is easy to read, or, on the con- trary, does the writer get "mixed up" in his telling, so that you have a little difficulty in understanding him? If the latter is the case, determine how to correct the difficulty. e. Did the writer tell enough about his subject to make a good effect? /. Do you consider the paragraphing good? If not, how would you change it? EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 237 g. Are capitals well used? h. Consider the punctuation in detail — sentence by- sentence— and determine whether you would make any changes. Remember that too much punctuation is as bad as too little. i. Do you think the wording is good throughout? That is, does it sound right? If not, how would you change it ? /. Are there any mistakes in grammar? Of course mistakes in grammar are among those mistakes that do not sound right. k. Finally, are most of the sentences about the same in length, and do too many of them begin with the subject? For in this case the composition sounds "choppy." If this is the case, consider whether any of the sentences can be combined, or whether any of them can be rearranged, for example, by changing the position of a subordinate clause, or by changing a phrase to a clause or a clause to a phrase. Besides these suggestive questions, you will find a few extra questions after the compositions. Where I Would Choose to Go If I had my choice as to which country or place to go I would choose Panama. The Panama Canal would be the chief object in going there. I would like to see the modern ways of excavating, mixing cement, dredging, and working to its greatest extent. I think that all the machinery in use on the Panama Canal and in the Canal Zone is having a severe test as to usefulness and work. I would like to see the Gatun Dam, spillway and locks. The Greatest of all 238 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR is the work of the locks how the water is let in and out, the great gates lower the boats thirty ft at a time. This would be the most interesting to me. I . Do you approve of abbreviating jeet in the body of a composition? 2. Does the last sentence of the second paragraph meet your approval? A Changed Opinion When I was about four years old, to go to the dentist seemed a very terrible thing to me. When Mamma said that I had to go, all of the stories that I had ever heard about dentists came rushing into my mind. I pictured the dentist as some horrible monster, who gloried in hurt- ing little children. I dreamed of it all night, and when morning came, I had such a bad tooth-ache I simply had to go to that awful dentist. When I got there, and opened the door, a kindly faced man greeted me, "How do you do little girl," he said, and spoke so kindly that all of my imaginations of the day before vanished into thin air, and I rather liked to go to that dentist after that. The word dentist is used so often as to make an unpleasant effect. Can you rewrite at least one sentence in such a way as to avoid using the word ? An Early Morning Cry When I was small I liked rolled oats very much. As soon as I was dressed, I screamed down the back stairs, "Oatgeal ready Emma?" One morning I asked her this question, and instead of her usual, "Yes, Baby," she said, "No." "Why not?" I said pouting. "Now, look here, Miss Baby, the groceryman did not come yes- terday, to bring your rolled oats, and you must see it was not my fault; besides I have fixed you two whole eggies." EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 239 "Nobody wants your old eggies. Me wants my oat- gcal," and by this time I was crying in earnest. Just than my mother came in, and asked what the trouble was. "Bad Emma, got no oatgeal," I sobbed. "Well, Baby, you can eat something else for a change,'' said my mother. "Don't want nothin' else, me wants oatgeal." "Baby you are going to eat eggs, and be a good girl," said my mother sternly. "I won't eat nothin' then." I did n't accept a small piece of bread and some water. At dinner I forgot to be stubborn. Is the end of this composition altogether clear? If not, how can you make it so? The Ninth Inning It was the deciding game between the Reds and Blues. The Reds were ahead in the ninth inning; and the Blues were at bat. The score was five to one. Cross was the first batter. There was silence in the throng when the Blue, heavy hitter stepped up to the plate. He hit a fly to Dick Ross in center field. The next batter was Sanders. He hit past Clay, and was safe at first. Good hit. a long fly to Ross. Bronson was the next batter, and he singled past Lowell. Sanders was on second base and Bronson on first and Archie up to bat. He lined a single over second base; Sanders scoring and Bronson going to second base. Con Wilkins was the next batter, hittifig in a pinch for Lloyd. There was silence in the Grand Stand. Most of the noise came from the Bleachers and Pavillion. The deciding moment of the game had come. Wilkins hit a fast one to Brown at second base, who fumbled the ball 17 240 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR for a while, but snapped it to Watson in time to get Archie at second. It was all over and the Reds won. Were you disappointed when you reached the end of this composition ? How could the end be changed so as to avoid the effect of disappointment? A Country and City Fire Alarm On the fire house door in a country town, there is one small box, with a glass cover. In this box there is a rope, which rings a large bell, in case of fire. You run to this box break the cover and pull the rope. By ringing this bell any one can give the signal to the firemen. In Chicago one may go to the store nearest the fire box and get the key, open the fire box, pull down a lever which rings a bell at the fire department house. A tape comes out of a glass case with a certain number of dashes, indicating where the fire is. Is this composition altogether clear at the end ? - A Game I Have at Home An old bread board was taken and thirteen hooks were screwed in, in various places. Numbers from an old calendar were cut out and pasted under the hooks, with number thirteen in the center. Twelve jar rubbers were used in playing this game which is called "One Hundred and One." The persons playing this game stand about six feet away from this game, which hangs on the wall, and each one, throws each of the twelve rubbers and tries to throw them on the hooks. Each number the rubber catches onto is added up, and if one gets one hundred and one he wins the game. If one gets more than that number, he has to start all over from the beginning again which commences a new game. EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 241 Isn't it clear that the writer of this composition began by telHng how the board was made and the game played on some particular occasion, and then suddenly changed his idea and told, in general, how the game is played? How would you correct this fault of composition? Two Music Teachers I have had experience with two music teachers, Mr. Simmons and Mr. Treat. Both of them are very good teachers, but each has an entirely different method of teaching. The former is very, very cross, and very particular. He keeps a lead pencil in his hand all the time he is giving a lesson; and if one's hands get out of position or the slightest mistake is made, he gives a "whack" across the fingers and not a gentle one either. Mr. Treat does not teach by injuring, but when he says a thing he means it ; and says it in such a way that one knows he means it. From one I learned from fear and from the other I learned from love. I prefer the latter. Woulid not the second part of the second sentence be better if changed to but they have entirely different methods of teaching or hut each has a method oj teaching entirely different from the other's f Why ? A very flighty elderly woman with a polite and patient ticket-agent "The train leaves at eight-thirty a.m. madam," said the ticket agent, in reply to a slightly deaf but very precise elderly woman. "When?" 242 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR "At eight-thirty madam." "Morning or evening?" "In the morning." "Its a wonder they wouldn't have their trains leave a little later, so that a body could have a little sleep. I declare one would have to get up at six o'clock. One could n't get the cobwebs out of ones eyes in that tims, let alone hurrying for a train. Well, how much is th? ticket?" "Thirty eight cents mam." "What do you mean?" "I said thirty eight cents mam," replied the patient ticket agent. "I dont see how that can be, snapped Mrs. Brown, these thieving railroad companies ask enough without a low little ticket agent tacking on a few cents for his own benefit." "I assure you madam" — began the ticket agent. "Tut — tut you need n't tell me anything else, I know all about it. Now give me my ticket, heres your thirty cents." "I said thirty eight cents," corrected the agent. "There you go again! I know perfectly well you did n't say that at first. Well here it is, now pray, may I have my ticket?" The agent politely handed it to her, and took the money in return. Mrs Brown minced out of the ticket office, mumbling something about, "thieving railroad com- panies." I. Has the writer been consistent in the use of the apostrophe, the period for abbreviations, the hyphen in numbers, and in paragraph indentation? 2. Do you notice anything unusual about the title? EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 243 "If he had Only Known" "Excuse me, but will you kindly tell me where to change cars for Salt Lake City," said a gentleman addressing a ticket agent. "Say, what do you think I am, a bureau of information. Heres a time table, look it up for yourself," was the curt reply. "Yes, but the time table doesn't give what I want to know. A new schedule has been put on. Would you be so kind as to answer." " r 11 be so kind as to tell you I have no time to bother with you, and if you want to know go- down to the bureau of information," was the rude answer. " Look here young man, I think you've about gone your limit if this is the way you treat the public. You had better come out from there. We won't need your serv- ices any longer, sir. "Well! who do you think you are," was the cool reply. "I happen to be the president of this road," was the surprising answer. I . Do you think the president of a railroad would not know where to change cars on his own road? 2. Do you think this composition is well punctu- ated? What important mark is most frequently omitted? 3. What do you notice about the title? The Locomotives of 1879 and 19 13 The largest locomotive in 1879 weighed about thirty five tons. It was what we call a common eight wheel engine, whose cylinders were fifteen inches in diameter and the piston has a stroj^e of twenty two inches. It was capable of making thirty-five or forty miles an hour with three or four small coaches. 244 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR The twentieth century engine travels at a rate of sixty to seventy miles an hour. It weighs one hundred fifty tons with cylinders twenty eight inches in diameter and the stroke of the piston is twenty-eight inches. These engines, will carry sixteen coaches three times the size of the coaches of the old models. I . Has the writer been consistent in the use of the hyphen in numbers? 2. Do you find a principal clause which should have been a subordinate clause ? 3 . Do you find a phrase which should have been a principal clause? The Difficulties of the Suez and the Panama Canals The difficulties in the building of the Suez canal were few. The main difficulty was in keeping the sand from caving in after the canal had been dug. The company had a great deal of trouble with this sand. They would dig the bed of the canal out only to have it cave in again in a short time. They finally solved the difficulty by putting a cement wall on either side of the canal to hold back the sand. This plan works very well although steamers cannot go through the canal at full speed for fear of washing the banks. The excavation was very easy because the soil is mostly sand, sandy clay and hard clay. The excavation was done with dredges which float on the surface of the water and extract great quantities of dirt. The Suez canal had its difficulties but they were as nothing as compared with the problems of the engineers in building the Panama. The Panama canal was a series of difficulties which had to be solved before the canal could be made. The canal runs through a rocky mountainous region which must be passed. The mountains in Panama were over- come by means of locks. This difficulty cost the canal ^ EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 245 company millions of dollars. Another great difficulty was the question of what to do with the flood water from the mountain streams. This question was solved by the engineers who knew what they were doing. The two canals are alike in the purpose of connecting ocean with ocean but were built under very different ctrcumstances. I. Does the title express exactly what the writer intended? 2. The word canal is used so often that the effect is unpleasant. Can you think of any ways in which to decrease the number of times the word is used? 3. Was the Panama Canal made by a company? A Modern City and a Modern Country school The new Gary school has a great many different courses. The purpose of this school is to educate the children of the mill workers. The children can take a regular course of English, spelling, arithmetic, and woodwork, or an addi- tion of foundry, iron, or about any kind of work they wish to take. The modem country school has also a regular English course, but instead of trades being taught it teaches farming. Com clubs are organized and prizes awarded for the best specimens. The girls have their chance to win prizes in canning the things the boys produce. In every way possible the country schools are being made as attractive as to keep the pupils as interested as possible in farm life. I . Have you discovered that this writer, like some of the others, has not been consistent in the use of capitals in the title? 2. Have you anything to say about the indentation of first lines of paragraphs? 3 . How do you like the last sentence ? 2 46 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR A Christmas Morning in Cuba and Chicago Christmas morning in Cuba is usually warm and sunny. The children arise early and go out hunting for a young banana tree. When they find one they trans- plant it into a large box. They then set it in the front yard and trim it up with inexpensive presents which contain a number. After a few preparations have been made the children of the neighborhood are invited to attend the party. They play games and dance around the tree for hours. When they have finished playing they are passed a slip of paper with a number on it. The hostess then takes them in turn and whatever number they have on the ticket they get the present which has that number on the tree. Sometimes there are a few presents left over and they have a scramble. But where is Santa? nothing is said of him. No the Cuban children have no Santa Claus. After this they all sit in a circle and they are passed a large piece of black cake with alcohol poured over it. The hostess then comes around with a torch and sets it afire which pours forth a large blue blaze. This is the most fun of the party. The cake is then eaten and they give a Cuban thank you and return to. their homes. On Christmas morning in Chicago almost every one goes to church early in the morning. It is usually a cold snowy day. The children also arise early to see what Santa has brought them. Many of us have Christmas trees trimmed with tinsel and many sparkHng trinkets. The most fun of our Christmas is receiving presents and having a good dinner. I . Does the writer make himself perfectly clear the first time he uses the word number f 2. How do you like the punctuation of this composition? EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 247 An Experience in the Dark One evening as I was walking through one of the dark aisles of a country theater feeling my way for a seat, I put my hand right in the face of someone. Turning around and excusing myself I proceeded down the aisle. I had not gone far when I felt a seat which I thought to be empty. I sat down, but oh dear! what was I sitting on? That very moment a baby began to cry, and then there was a crash of glass. I jumped up, feeling embarrassed, pardoned myself again, and went to look for something to wipe the niilk off the floor. I . Do you think the writer of this short composition would have made a better effect if she had told pre- cisely how she felt when she put her hand on that face in the dark ? Or, on the other hand, do you think the story is better because it is very brief? 2. In the last sentence does the writer say just what she means ? My Favorite Hobby If my favorite hobby were granted you would find me in the Northern woods of Canada where the pines firs and spruces sway to and fro in the cold night air. I can shut my and see myself clad in fur skins squatting beside a roaring fire eating a piece of fresh venison. Then after- ward crawl into a fur sleeping bag and listen to the wolves call to their mates until I fall into sleep and dream of a hot sultry city. When I wake in the morning with the stars still shining to eat a slab of bacon and drink a cup of coffee I wish I could live forever in that way. We then hitch the dogs to the pack sleds and we start for Camp Daly on the river leading to Baker Lake. I hear a foot- step crunching the snow, someone slaps me on the back and I very faintly catch the words it is twelve o'clock and your bed is ready for you ^ir, 2 48 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR I. Is it idiomatic to speak of granting el hobby? Can you improve the expression here? 2. Do you find anything in the second sentence to indicate that the writer did not read his composition over very carefully after he had written it? 3. Answer the same question in regard to the third sentence. 4. Do you find anything in the composition to indicate that it contains a quotation? 5. How do you like the picture the writer presents? 6. Can you improve the punctuation ? The Game I Like Best The game I like and enjoy most is a good well played game of base ball. The reason why I like this game is that it gives the body good exercise and keeps the mind working. For instance if the game had been hard fought and a close score one would most likely try to outwit his opponent as he is fighting for the game as if he were fighting for gold. In this game each one is responsible whether he pitches or plays first base. If a man is on third base and a good batter up the pitcher likely will walk him if he has been hitting the ball very far during the first part of the game. At this the pitcher will work hard to get rid of the man, for a hit might win the game. Do you consider the punctuation of this composi- tion as good as it might be? What Happened over Night "Oh, don't put the window up," Ethel pleaded as we were just ready to get into bed. " It is n't at all healthy to sleep with the window down," I answered in a superior tone. EXERCISES IN CRITICISM 249 So up went the window as high as I could get it. The next morning thie snow was at least two inches deep on the floor. "Now see what happened just because you put the window up," said Ethel much amused. "Now wade out there and get it down before I get up." I lost my superior air as I crept out of my warm bed into the cold wet snow. The paragraphs are very short here. Of course a paragraph is not always poor because it is short, but sometimes it is. Consider whether this composi- tion would be better or worse if the fourth paragraph contained more description of what the girls saw and felt when they awoke in the morning. A Description of a Stone Quarry This quarry is surrounded by desolate prairie lands through which a railroad runs. The opening to the very deep pit is a sloping, deeply rutted road. There may be men making holes for the dynamite or fixing fuses along the edge of the pit. Thirty-five fuses are attached to one long fuse and lighted. The blast blows off great chunks of stone which are broken into smaller pieces and put into the crusher. The limestone is in compact, irregular layers which vary greatly in size. In the quarry there may be two different kinds of stone, the stone from which lime is made and the stone from which crushed stone is made. The difference is that the stone made into lime is much whiter than the more yellow stone made into crushed stone. There is a large building to be seen near the quarry in which are a crusher and a Hme smelting furnace. I. In this short composition several topics are ^5<^ A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR mentioned — the surroundings of the quarry, the pit, the use of dynamite, the different kinds of stone found in the quarry, and the building. If the writer had had several lesson periods in which to write the composition, or if he had written it at his leisure at home, do you not think he could have told a great deal more about each one of these topics? Determine what he might have added. 2 . The word stone is used so much in the last few lines of the com- position that the repetition becomes unpleasant. Can you think of ways to avoid using the word so often? Select some subjects for composition. You have done much and thought much and felt much in your short lives, and these things would be of interest if well told. Spend a few days telling, before the class, things that have interested you, and then, for two or three days, write some of the things you have told. WRITING A COMPOSITION FROM AN OUTLINE 226. While studying this book you have spoken an4 written many times, and you have learned the importance of organizing what you have to say; that is, you have learned the importance of preparing a plan, or outline. Sometimes you have been given help in making the outline, but now you must select a subject and carry all the work through to the end without any help whatever. If one of the subjects given below pleases you, use it; otherwise, choose your own subject. You will probably have to write through several English periods. WRITING A COMPOSITION FROM OUTLINE 251 My Experience in Writing and Speaking in School My Experience in the Manual Training Shop My Experience in the Domestic Science Room My Experience in Farming and Gardening My Experience with Cattle, Chickens, and Other Live Stock My Experience in Mending and Making Dresses My Experience in Making Butter My Experience in Tinkering about the House My Experience in Keeping House How My School Work Has Helped Me in Home Duties Factories I Have Visited Farms I Have Visited Other Schools and Ours People I Have Worked For Pets I Have Owned My Home Reading Outlines from Other People's Compositions. 227. After each of you has prepared an outline and written a composition from it, exchange papers, read them carefully, consider what topics are treated, arrange them in their proper order, and you will have made outlines of what others have written. One of your number will write on the blackboard the outline he has made of some one else's com- position. Then the writer of the composition will write his own outline on the blackboard. Com- pare the two. You will not find them worded the same way, but if both pupils have done their work well the two outlines will be the same in substance. Treat several other pairs of outlines the same way. 252 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR HOW TO GET A HISTORY LESSON 228. If a man wanted to get the very best possible knowledge of the nature of some stretch of country, what would be the best way for him to go about it ? First he would probably try to get a view of the land from some high point, like a hill, a tower, or a church steeple. Then he would go over the whole ground on foot or in a carriage. When on the high point he would get the whole view in one glance ; when walking or riding he would get all the details. Getting a history lesson should be very much the same process. First get a view of the whole lesson; next, learn it in detail. To do the first, look at the chapter heading and ask yourselves what you expect to find under it. Then look at the paragraph headings and ask yourselves what you expect to find under them. After you have made this pre- liminary inspection of the lesson, take up each topic in order and try to fasten it in mind as a part of the whole. Trying to anticipate what you will find under any particular chapter heading or paragraph heading is a very important matter. Can you not learn to ask yourselves different kinds of questions that will fit different lessons? It is impossible for any one to give you questions that will fit your different lessons, but questions like the following will perhaps help you to solve each lesson-problem for yourselves. a. What previous lessons is this lesson a continuation of? b. What great men or women are spoken of in the lesson, and what did they do? THE CARE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY 253 c. Why did they do what they did ? Was it for selfish or unselfish reasons? d. What were the results of what they did? Were they good or bad? e. What is the chief topic of the lesson ? What are the minor topics? What do you know of the minor topics ? These very questions, you must remember, will not fit all your lessons in history; but they will help you make your own questions. Take to-morrow's history lesson and make an English exercise of it. Look first at the main heading and help one another to anticipate what will be found under it. Then treat the minor headings in the same way. After you have done this, ask one of your number to read the lesson aloud to you, or read it silently, and ask yourselves whether or not you find what you expected to find. Do this for many days if you have time. It will help you to study history lessons and all other lessons. If you fix the habit of trying to forecast what is in anything you read, reading and remember- ing will be much easier for you. You will find this kind of training very valuable if you go to high school, for many high-school teachers say that elementary-school graduates can't take a book and get a lesson from it. Try to show them that you can. THE CARE OF SCHOOL PROPERTY 229. Sometimes you have occasion to give your reasons for doing this or that, or for believing this or that, and probably you do not find it easy to do. 2S4 A COMPOSITION- GRAMMAR If, however, you can arrange your thoughts in good order, you find it easier. Let us take for an example the subject of the care of school property, a subject you all know something about. In Maryland, and perhaps in some other states, the school children have a society whose main object is to see that the school buildings and grounds are well cared for, and each pupil wears a badge to signify that he is willing to do his part. The subject is, then, one of interest. Talk over the following points in class: a. Damage is often done to school buildings by writing on the walls, cutting the desks, and in similar ways. Tell all you know of the matter. b. Who does it? You need not mention names, but you can say whether or not the damage was done by school children or by other persons. Why was it done? Would the same persons do such destructive work in their own homes? c. Why are some people fond of destroying public property? Is it because they feel no responsi- bility? What is it to feel responsibility? d. Is it because they feel no danger of punishment? e. Why should people, young and old, not destroy school and other public property? Has the matter of taxes anything to do with the matter? Who pays the taxes ? How are they collected ? Do you know what the tax rate is in your town or county? If school seats are badly damaged, how are new ones procured ? If the walls of a schoolroom are defaced, whose money must be spent in refinishing them ? /. Ought every person, young and old, to have pride in the public buildings of his town or county? SOME SUBJECTS TO ANALYZE 255 If they arc good, ought he not to try to keep them good? If poor, ought he to make them worse? Do you know of any pubhc buildings of which you are proud? g. Ought not every person to have respect for the rights and the property of others? If so, should we not respect public property, which is the prop- erty of us all? If a man should burn down a school building or a court house, would he not be sent to prison? And if a boy or a girl damages school property, is he or she not committing a fault of the same kind? h. How can damage to school property be prevented? Would punishment of the offenders be effective? What kind of punishment would you advise? i. Can public opinion be a punishment? If most of you thought it a serious fault to damage school property, would the few of you who didn't think so do it ? If nine boys and girls out of ten believed in J air play, would the tenth boy or girl play unfairly? Is there any force in this sort of public opinion ? Writing 230. These ideas are not written out in the form of an outline, but you will probably be able to write from them any way. Look over the points again, recalling what was said, then close the book and write, each using the thoughts that impressed him most. Be careful about your paragraphing. SOME SUBJECTS TO ANALYZE 231. To analyze a subject is to divide it into its parts, just as you have divided several subjects into 18 2 56 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR their parts by making outlines and by discussing parts of subjects less formally stated, as in the case of ''The Care of School Property." Below are given some subjects for you to analyze; no hints whatever are given. In order to analyze the subjects one of your number will go to the blackboard and be prepared to write what you tell him. One of you will think of some part of the subject, in the form of a title, perhaps, such as appeared in the outlines you have studied, or in the form of a mere hint, like those given in the discussion of the care of school property. When this is given to the pupil at the blackboard, he will write it. Then another will be given him, then another, and an- other; so that after a while you will have enough for the substance of a theme. Then it may occur to you that the points will have to be arranged in a better order, for it is plain that the strongest point should come last, where it will be most effective, the least important first, and the others arranged between, in the order of their importance. When you have done this, you will have analyzed a subject. Here are the subjects. Choose one and work it out together. Fair Play on the Playground Doing as You Would Be Done By Protecting Smaller Children Being Cross at Home The Person Who Wants Everything His Own Way Mistreating Animals The Person Who Is Always Right DEBATES 257 The Person Who Shirks His Share of the Work The Mischief Maker in School Do they look rather difficult? There is an easy way to begin to think out any subject. It is to think of some illustration, some story, that the subject makes you think of. For example, can you think of some person who has not played fairly on the playground, and what he has done that was unfair? And can you tell whether this was right or wrong, and why? And it is plain that if many of you can think of such examples, and can tell why the actions were right or wrong, you will soon find yourselves making an outline. DEBATES 232. In several places in this book you have made outlines of subjects or studied outlines that were made for you. In the latter cases you have filled out the outlines. By this time, then, you should be able to make a fairly good outline of an easy subject and speak or write from it. In order to follow up this kind of work, you will have some debates. To begin on, look over this list of subjects and select one to use first. Resolved that we have more school hours and no studying at home. Resolved that we have school all the year round, and that each pupil take his vacation when it is most convenient. Resolved that women vote at all elections and for all public officers. Resolved that football be abolished. 258 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Resolved that every school have a garden. Resolved that we have more handwork in school. Resolved that once each week we have a public-speaking exercise in which many pupils shall speak, and that every time a speaker makes a mistake in his English he be interrupted and be compelled to correct the error. When you have selected a subject, analyze it in two ways — for and against. Those of you who are in favor of the subject as stated are said to be on the affirmative; those who are not in favor of it as stated are on the negative. Two pupils will go to the blackboard, and each will record the reasons on his side as they are given him. When you have all the material you can get, each pupil in the room will arrange it into as good an outline as he can make, and write it out in good form. Then appoint two committees, one for the affirmative and one for the negative; each committee will take the outlines prepared on its own side of the subject, decide which two, or three, or four are the best, and appoint the makers of these outlines to speak before the room on some day you determine upon. Before that day comes, select three judges from among you. On the appointed day, the speakers will address the class, first some one for the affirmative, then one for the negative, and so on until all have spoken. The judges will then go out of the room and determine among themselves who spoke the better. When they have made up their minds, they will return to the room and one of their number will announce their decision. Part III THE PARTS OF SPEECH FUNCTION 233. In the preceding pages you have studied the main parts of the sentence — predicate, subject, and so on. Now you are to study single words, and groups of words that are used as single words are used. For example, you know that a single word may be a subject, and you know that a whole 'clause may also be used as a subject; the clause, in such a case, is used as a single word is used. You know, too, that a single word may be an object, and you know that a whole clause may be an object; the clause, in such a case, is used as a single word is used. The itse of words in grammar is usually called function; and it is the use, or function, of words that determines what they shall be called. For example, certain words have the function of connect- ing other words or groups of words; and these, as you have already learned, are called connectives. In the same way, other words have other functions, and are given names that are intended to describe these functions. All these names together are. called the parts of speech. The parts of speech, in the order in which they are discussed in this book, are the conjunction, the 259 26o A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR preposition, the verb, the noun, the pronoun, the adjective, the adverb, and the interjection. THE CONJUNCTION 234. The conjunction is treated first because other parts of speech may be joined by it. If you are able to recognize coordinating conjunctions, for example, and to tell immediately what they join, you are thereby saying what parts of the sentence have the same function and therefore the same name. To illustrate, when you know that and is a conjunction and that it joins two words or groups of words of the same rank, you thereby understand that these two words or groups of words have the same function and are the same part of speech. This will help to make the analysis of the sentence easy. There are two kinds of conjunctions — coordinating and subordinating. Coordinating Conjunctions 235. Conjunction is from two Latin words that mean joining together. Coordinating is also from the Latin, and it implies that the two words joined are of the same rank, that is, that they have the same function. For example, and is a coordinating conjunction, and it may join two subjects, or two verbs, or two objects, or two phrases, or two clauses. Other coordinating conjunctions are but, or, nor, either, neither, however, yet, hence, therefore. You will find that sometimes two of these conjunctions are used together, like either and or, and neither and nor. In the following sentences tell what words are THE CONJUNCTION 261 coordinating conjunctions, and what words or groups of words they join. If possible, explain the punc- tuation as you go along. 1. " The lion and the lamb shall lie down together." 2. The moon and the sun are the cause of the tides. 3. The tides are caused by the moon and the sun. 4. The traveler took up his pack and went out into the night. 5. The captain sent some of the sailors to get up the anchor, and others to set sail. 6. That darkness was coming on and that rain would fall was clear to all. 7. They knew that darkness was coming on and that rain would fall. 8. Did the fox say the grapes were sour because they really were so, or because he could n't get them? 9. The hare was the faster runner, but the tortoise won the race. 10. Not the hare, but the tortoise, won the race. 1 1 . Neither threats nor entreaties moved him. 12. He was moved neither by threats nor by entreaties. 13. Both sun and rain influence the growth of plants. 14. I like to read ; hence my father gets me many books. 15. I like to read; therefore my father gets me many books. 16. It will either rain or snow. Subordinating Conjunctions 236. Subordinating conjunctions join subordinate clauses to the words they modify. Thus, in When the wagon comes, well all take a ride, "when" is a subordinating conjunction joining its clause to "take." Sometimes the subordinate clause is 2 62 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR contracted, as in If necessary, I will go after the wagon. Here "If necessary" is equivalent to // it is necessary, and "if " is a subordinating conjunction. Such words as when, if, although, until, till, because, and unless are subordinating conjunctions. In the following sentences tell what conjunctions are coordinating and what are subordinating. Tell also what each one joins. Determine whether commas are used where pauses are made in the. reading. 1. I will go for the wagon if you desire. 2. After the rain was over, the flowers looked brighter. 3. Although I tended my garden well that summer, my plants did not grow well. 4. I was busy with my bees till the supper bell rang. 5. There will be little honey unless the flowers are plentiful and unless the weather is fair. 6. Bees gather honey in the summer, because there are no flowers in the winter. 7. Since the rain freshened everything, the birds began to sing again. 8. The men did not come home from the fields until the moon rose. 9. When the wheat is harvested and threshed, we'll take a day off and go fishing. 10. When harvested and threshed, the wheat will be taken to town and sold. 11. While going along the bank of the creek, I saw a bass or a perch leap. 12. We have not been fishing since we caught the mud turtle. 13. As I was coming home from school, a rabbit ran across my path, , THE PREPOSITION 263 THE PREPOSITION 237. The preposition is the other kind of con- nective word, and naturally follows the conjunction in this classification. The word preposition is also a Latin derivative, and means placed before. It therefore appears before a substantive that it joins to some other part of the sentence. In The angry hoy went to the house, '*to" is the preposition; it appears before "house," and joins this word to "went." It is different from a coordinating con- junction because it cannot join two words of the same rank; it is different from the subordinating conjunction because it introduces a phrase rather than a clause. Some of the prepositions are to, in, on, of, by, from, for, with, over, under, after, before. Some words are sometimes prepositions and sometimes conjunctions. For example, in After the rain the clouds disappeared, "after" is a preposition because it joins "rain," the substantive that follows it, to another word, "disappeared"; that is, it introduces a phrase. In After the rain ceased, the clouds disappeared, "after" is a subordinating con- junction, because it joins a clause to another part of the sentence, "disappeared." A phrase that begins with a preposition is called a prepositional phrase. Hereafter, instead of say- ing "substantive with a connective word," you are to say substantive with a preposition. In the following sentences determine what words are prepositions and what are conjunctions, and why. In every case determine what they join. In one of 264 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR the sentences a certain word is a preposition, while in another the same word is a conjunction. Be sure to determine which one it is in each case. Note also the spelling of the preposition to. 1. In the afternoon the school went to the woods to hunt flowers. 2. The dog lay before the door in the sun, and did not waken till the sun set. 3. A motor car passed by the house at high speed. 4. When John hit the ball, it went over the fence and into a neighbor's garden. 5. Before Mary was permitted to play tennis, she had to practice an hour on the violin. 6. Mary liked to play tennis; hence she practiced with industry. 7. Arithmetic is a useful study; yet I prefer geography. 8. Manual training is taught in our school; domestic science, too, is taught. 9. Girls like cooking at school; however, they don't always like it at home. 10. These girls always go to and from school together; Mary either calls for Jane, or Jane calls for Mary. 1 1 . George never goes to bed early ; therefore he never wants to get up with the sun. 238. Write some sentences on the blackboard; underline the coordinating conjunctions once, the subordinating conjunctions twice, and the preposi- tions three times. Afterwards change places and determine whether one another's work is correct. If you think there are errors, confer with the pupils who did the work, and argue the question until you agree. Errors of all sorts should be corrected. THE VERB 265 THE VERB 239. The verb is the most important word in the sentence. Indeed, a verb may of itself be a sentence. Example: Run! Usually, of course, a verb is ac- companied by a subject. Verbs are words that make assertions, or predica- tions; that is, they are the important words in the predicates of sentences. For example, in Horses run, "run" is the verb. Verbs are often more than one word. You can easily make sentences in which the following groups of words are the verbs: have run, will go, has been seen, would have gone, would have been hurt. Verbs that consist of more than one word each are called verb phrases. Tense 240. The verb is the part of speech that, by different forms, can indicate differences in time. Thus, to say I look is to assert something that is now taking place; and the verb is here said to be in the present tense. To say I looked is to assert something that took place in the past; and the verb is said to be in the past tense. To say / shall look, or I will look, is to assert something that will take place in the future ^ and the verb is said to be in the future tense. To say I have looked is to assert something that has happened at some in- definite time in the past or has just happened; and the verb is said to be in the present perfect tense. To say / had looked is to assert something that took place before some other thing had happened, 266 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR as in / had merely looked into the pantry when mother came in. Here the verb is in the past perfect tense. To say / shall have looked is to assert something that will happen by the time some other thing happens, as in By the time mother gets home I shall have looked into the oven to see how the meat is cooking. Here the verb is said to be in future perfect tense. Number 241. Verbs have a change of form to indicate whether the subject must stand for one thing or more than one thing. Thus, in The bird flies the verb ''flies" shows that the subject must mean one thing, while in Birds fly the verb '*fiy" indicates that the subject must mean more than one thing. In the first case both subject and verb are said to be in the singular number, and in the second case both subject and verb are said to be in the plural number. However, verbs do not always change form to show change in number. Thus in / run (singular) and They run (plural) the form is the same. Person 242. Verbs have also a change of form to indicate whether the subject represents a person speaking, a person or thing spoken to, or a person or thing spoken of. Thus in I go, the subject is represented as speaking; and both subject and verb are said to be in the first person. In You go, or in the old form Thou goest, the subject is represented as spoken to; and both subject and verb are said to be in the THE VERB 267 second person. In He goes the subject is repre- sented as spoken of; and both subject and verb are said to be in the third person. In the plural the verbs do not change in form, but the subjects do. Thus, first person. We go; second person. You go; third person. They go. Illustration of a Present Tense 243. The following tabulation shows the present tense of a verb, its different persons, and its two numbers. Present Tense singular number plural number 1st person I have a book. We have a book. 2d person You have (or thou hast) You have a book. a book. 3d person He has a book. They have a book. The Future Tense 244. When you have made up your mind to do a thing, you say / wilL When you have made up your mind that some one else shall do a thing, you say You shall or He shall. So also in the plural you say We will and You shall and They shall to express your determination. But if you wish merely to express what will occur in the natural course of events, you say I shall and You will and He will. So also in the plural you say We shall and You will and They will to express future action. The following sentences have long been used to illustrate the differences in question : / will drown; nobody shall help me. I shall drown; nobody will help me. Explain just what they mean. 268 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Unreasonable Change of Tense 245. Careless writers and speakers sometimes change the tense of their verbs when it is very bad taste to do so. For example: As I went along through the woods, I heard the chatter of a squirrel. I get ready to shoot, and just then a rabbit jumped up just ahead of me, and I fire at it instead. There is no reason for changing from the past to the present tense, and from present to past; the whole effect is very absurd. If you begin a narrative in the past tense, continue in that tense. Change tense only when you wish to express a change of time. Voice 246. Some verbs change in form to indicate whether the subject is represented as making or receiving the action expressed in the verb. Thus, in / see the sky the subject is acting, and the verb is said to be in the active voice. In The sky is seen the subject receives the action, and the verb is said to be in the passive voice. 247. Can you write out a tabulation of voice, tense, person, and number of some verb? If you try it, you will have to be careful in choosing your verb, for not all verbs can have a passive voice. For example, go, look, and limp cannot have the passive voice, for it would be absurd to say / am goed, or You were looked, or He has been limped. On the other hand, see, write, believe, and hurt may be written out in the passive form. THE VERB 269 Transitive and Intransitive Verbs 248. You have already learned that only those verbs that can have objects can have a passive form. For example, you may say I see a man, in which the verb "see" has the object "man." Now you can turn the sentence around and say The man is seen, in which the verb "is seen" is passive. Verbs that have objects are called transitive verbs; those that do not have objects are called intransitive verbs. Some verbs are transitive in some senses and intransitive in others. For example, in The man runs the verb "run" has no object and is intransitive; but in The man runs the engine the verb "runs" has an object and is transitiye. Linking Verbs 249. Some verbs link predicate words to the subject. For example, in I am ill, I was afraid, I have been a pupil in that school, and I am he, the verbs link "ill," "afraid," "pupil," and "he" to the subjects. Hence the verbs are called linking verbs, and are, of course, intransitive. Other examples: This is he. This is she. The cream tastes sour. They appeared well. She seems cross. The rose smells sweet. I feel had. You have already had something about this matter in section 139. A Study of Verbs 250. In the following sentences determine the tense, person, and number of the verbs. Determine whether they are transitive or intransitive; and, if 270 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR transitive, if they are in the active or the passive voice. Distinguish between the use of shall and will. 1. We heard the train coming around the curve. 2. The train was heard coming around the curve. 3.1 have never seen the wreck of a train. 4. The wreck of a train has never been seen by any of us. 5. You will soon learn what fast traveling is. 6. The old-fashioned bicycle with a high front wheel is never seen now. 7. Their car will be here before we are ready. 8. She had already got dinner ready when her mother came home. 9. She will have got dinner ready by the time her mother gets home. 10. We could not go out in the car until dinner had been eaten. 11. We shall not reach the station before train time. 12. We will reach the station in time even if we have to run. 13. He shall do just what I command him to do. 14. The car ran as it had never run before. 15. We cannot get to the station unless we go faster. 16. My father drives too slowly at times. 17. And at times he has driven too rapidly. 18. Our horse travels rather fast for an animal of his age. 19. Our carriage has been repainted, but it needs new tires. 20. Mr. Pearson's stable is too near the house, so it will be moved soon. 21. There are four horses in his stable, while we have but two. 22. His gray horse had been shod before the black one. THE NOUN 271 23. You have not yet seen my new pony. 24. We shall have finished our dinner by the time the car is here. 25. I will go whether you are willing or not. 26. She will go if you ask her; but I will not. 27. You shall go whether you want to or not. 28. The apples we got while on our ride taste very sour. 29. I feel too bad to go riding to-day. THE NOUN 251. In the sentence This man is ike soldier who brought the guns to the fort, are several words that are called nouns. The first one is **man," which is the subject of the sentence. The next is "soldier," which is a predicate noun. The next is "guns," which is the object. The last is "fort," which is a substantive with a preposition. Likewise, in the sentence Soldiers, this is George Henderson, the man who brought the guns to the fort, are two nouns in other functions. The first is "soldiers," which is the nominative of address; the second is "man," which is in apposition with "George Henderson." Any one of these words can easily be the subject of a sentence; that is, it is a kind of word that is normally talked about. Words in all these functions are called nouns. Nouns are usually names of things. However, some words that are not names of things become nouns, or substantives, to use the exact term, by being subjects, objects, etc. Thus, in the sentence The teacher wrote ''wenf on the blackboard, "went," which is usually a verb, here becomes a substantive, 19 2 72 A composition-<;rammar because it is an object. In ''Wenf was written on the blackboard, "went" becomes a substantive, because it is a subject. It all depends upon the function, or use, of the word. Again, such words as I, me, you, it, and they are not names of things ; but they may perform the functions of nouns, and, as you will learn later, are called pronouns. Again, a whole clause may be the subject of a sentence, or the object; and is therefore a sub- stantive clause, as in the sentence That he was not at school yesterday is well known, where the clause is the subject of "is." Number 252. Nouns are either singular or plural. Thus, man, woman, horse, army, are singular; that is, they mean one person or thing. Men, women, horses, armies, are plural; that is, they mean more than one person or thing. Case 253. In some languages many nouns have one form for the subject use, another for the object use, and so on. When a noun is a subject, for example, it is said to be in the nominative case; when it is a modifier of another noun, it is said to be in the genitive case; when it is an indirect object, it is said to be in the dative case; when it is an object or is used after a preposition, it is said to be in the accusative case. Each one of these cases has a differ- ent ending, and the hearer or reader knows by the THE NOUN 273 sound or the appearance of the word whether it is a subject, a modifier, an indirect object, or an object. The English language, however, has but two case forms, the common and the genitive. Thus, boy is common form, and boy's is genitive. Boy may be subject, object, etc., while boy's (or boys') is the form used when the word modifies another noun, as in the boy's cap. Little need be said about the case of nouns; determine what the function each of these words is as it appears in a sentence, and be satisfied with that. Common and Proper Nouns 254. Such names as George Henderson, Dorothy Jones, Amazon River, Beacon Street, Washington School, and Trinity Church are called proper nouns, because they are the names of some particular person or thing. Such nouns always begin with capital letters. All other nouns are called common nouns. For example, man, woman, river, street, school, church, are common nouns. These words begin with small letters unless they begin sentences, unless they are in titles, or unless they are first words in lines in poetry. In the following sentences determine what words are nouns, that is, what words are subjects, objects, and so on. If a clause performs one of these func- tions, call it a substantive clause. Determine also what the conjunctions and prepositions join. 1. My caller was Dorothy Jones. 2. Agnes, have you ever skated on the lagoons in the park? 2 74 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 3. One of the greatest attractions of New York is Central Park. 4 . They k new that I had visited the museum in the park. 5. Skating is the best of winter sports. 6. The truth is that skating is hard work for amateurs. 7. Street cars and motor buses, our most numerous conveyances, run by our door. 8. The poHceman saw a motor car that was exceeding the speed Hmit. 9. Trinity Church, a very large building, is in the older part of the city. 10. A great crowd of children was coming out of the Washington School. 11. A great crowd of children was coming out of a public school. 12. The conductor gave the bell rope a vigorous jerk. 13. Conductor, you didn't give me a transfer. 14. This is the conductor who forgot to give me a transfer. 15. Policemen and firemen are servants of the public. 16. When a fire engine comes down the street, every- body gets out of the way. 17. That a fire engine was coming down the street was apparent, for everybody was getting out of the way. THE PRONOUN 255. Pronouns are words that designate persons or things without naming them, and that have the functions of nouns. He, she, it, they, we, all, many, few, others, are pronouns. Some of these words, however, are not always pronouns. For example, in All is lost, ''All" is a pronoun, because it is TUE PRONOUN 275 a subject and therefore a kind of noun. But in All men are mortal, ''All" is not the subject; instead, it modifies *'men," which is the subject and a noun. In this case "All" is an adjective, as you will learn later. Again, in There are no apples on the ground, but I saw a few on the trees, "few" is an object and therefore a pronoun, that is, a kind of noun. But in / saw a few apples on the ground, "few" is not an object, but rather modifies an object, and is therefore an adjective. As in the case of nouns, everything depends upon the function, the use, of the word. Person 256. Some pronouns have person, and are there- fore called personal pronouns. They are so called because they have different forms to indicate first person or the person speaking, second person or the person or thing spoken to, and third person or the person or thing spoken of. Thus, I is first person, because it stands for the person speaking; you is second person because it stands for the person spoken to; and he, she, it, and they are third person because they stand for persons or things spoken of. Personal pronouns do not always stand for persons ; it and they frequently stand for things. You will find more about these words in the following section. Case 257. Any one who speaks of himself uses the form I if the word must be a subject or a predicate 276 A COMPOSITION- GRAMMAR word, and me if the word must be an object, an indirect object, or a substantive with a preposi- tion. Likewise, we, you, he, she, it, and they are the forms for subjects and for predicate words, and they have the forms us, you, him, her, it, and them for the other functions. Most of the personal pronouns, then, have two case forms where nouns have one. The subject case form is called nominative; and the other is called accusative-dative. Besides these cases there is also the genitive, the case that usually expresses possession and is often called the possessive. Such words as my, your, and their are genitives. These forms are modifiers of nouns, and are therefore called possessive adjectives. Examples are in my house, your hook, their farm. The forms mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs, may stand alone, however, and are called possessive pronouns. Example: This is my book'; that is yours, in which "yours" does not modify a noun but performs the function of one, and is therefore a pronoun. His is either a possessive pronoun or a possessive adjective. 258. To give the cases of a pronoun in order is to decline the pronoun. The following is the declen- sion of the personal pronouns: DECLENSION OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS Singular FIRST PERSON SECOND PERSON THIRD PERSON Nominative I you he she it Genitive my, mine your, yours his her, hers its Accusative-Dative me you him her it THE PRONOUN Plural 2 Nominative we Genitive our, ours Accusative-Dative us you your, yours you they their, theirs them 277 You have already learned how these cases are used. For example, you have learned to say It is I, It is we, He and I are friends, She and I are friends, They gave the hook to him and me. They gave the hook to her and me. They told him and me (or her and me) the story. Review these sentences, and tell why they are correct. Relative Pronouns 259. In the sentence That is the man who was elected alderman, **who" is called a relative pronoun because it relates to the noun *'man." ''Man" is called the antecedent. An antecedent is something that goes before. ''Who" is also the subject of the clause "who was elected alderman," and is in the nominative case. In the sentence That is the man whom we elected alderman, "whom" is a relative pronoun, and has "man" as an antecedent. It is also the object in its own clause, and is in the accusative case. In* That is the man to whom we gave the office of alderman, "whom" is a substantive with the preposition "to," and is in the accusative case. "Man" is its antecedent. Whose is the genitive case of who. It is usually a possessive adjective, as in There is the farmer whose horse was stolen and Whose horse is that standing hy the corner of the stable? 278 A COMPOSITION- GRA MM A R DECLENSION OF WHO Singular and Plural Nominative who Genitive whose Accusative-Dative whom That and which are also relative pronouns, as in Here is the house that was sold yesterday and This is the house in which my father lives. These words are not declined. Interrogative Pronouns 260. Who, which, and what are interrogative pronouns. That is, they help to make a sentence interrogative. Examples: Who is that? Whom did you call on yesterday? This is my pencil, hut whose is that? Which of these books is yours? In which of these houses do you live? What did you say? Only who is declined. Demonstrative Pronouns 261. Pronouns that point out some particular thing are called demonstrative pronouns. This and that, with their plurals these and those, are of this class. They are not declined. These words are pronouns, of course, when they stand alone, as in This is Monday and That is my geography. When they stand before nouns they are adjectives. Indefinite Pronouns 262. In Whoever has my hook had hetter return it, "whoever" is an indefinite pronoun, because it means no particular person. Other such pronouns are any one^ some one, anyhody, somehody. THE PRONOUN 279 Correct Use of Pronouns 263. In addition to taking care in the use of / as a nominative, you must take care in the use of who and whom. Who is a nominative, and must be used as a subject and a predicate word, while whom is dative or accusative and must be used as indirect object, object, and substantive with a preposition. Examples: This is the boy who came late. This is the boy whom we saw come in late. You have already learned that such a sentence as // any one has my book, they had better return it is incorrect. Many educated people use this manner of expression, even though they recognize it as incorrect. It is hard to break a habit that is once fixed. You should say, 1/ any one (or anybody) has my book, he had' better return it. A Study of Pronouns 264. Study the following sentences to determine what words are pronouns, and what kind. Be sure to remember that they are not pronouns if they modify nouns^they must of themselves be subjects, objects, and so on. For example, when one of the genitives modifies a noun it must be called a posses- sive adjective. Whenever you find a pronoun that is declined, tell the case. Always tell what the function of the word is. Determine the functions of the conjunc- tions and prepositions. 1. We are very fond of reading at our house. 2. Whoever gets a new book reads it to the others. 28o A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 3 . Those who are fond of reading can spend their leisure with enjoyment. 4. These are my books; whose are those? 5 . Who are those people who are going into the library ? 6. Which of your new books are you going to read first? 7. I will read whatever you bring me. 8. The person whom you see at the desk is the librarian. 9. The attendant to whom I gave my card brought me the wrong book. 10. Whom are you going to ask to go to the library with you? 11. Somebody will bring the books for our class to use. 1 2 . These are the books that I brought for our class to use. 13. What are you going to do after you get your lessons this evening? 14. I have read Treasure Island, and I like it. 15. We have Tom Sawyer in our library, and it interests us very much. 1 6 . Few boys and girls nowadays read Pilgrinis Progress , but many have read Gulliver's Travels. 17. My sister and I are not fond of reading; we prefer to play. 18. She and I like tennis very well. 19. Books are good companions; they entertain us, and we are grateful to them for that. 20. Which of you has a copy of Little Men? It is my favorite book. 2 1 . You borrowed my copy of Little Women . When will you return it? 22. It is a good book for you and me to read. 23. I want to reread it. That is the reason why I want you to return it. THE ADJECTIVE 281 24. The Country of the Dwarfs and My Apingi Kingdom are good books. Have you read them? 25. Some books can be read many times; others only once. 26. All the modern books are in our public library; I have only a few of them. 27. Father and mother gave me a set of history books for a Christmas gift. 28. I gave him and her a set of Dickens. 29. To my sister they gave some stories, which please her better than history. 30. The same books do not always please her and me. 31. A few books are worth buying; many are not worth the price one pays for them. 32. Any one who pays his own money for a book wants to read it at once. 33. The girl to whom I lent my copy of Kidnapped has not returned it. 34. Some one has borrowed my Ivanhoe. I wish he would return it. 35. If any one borrows my books, I want him to return them. 36. There is a boy who reads a great deal, but remicm- bers little. 37. Whenever one reads a book, one should compare it with others. 38. I am willing to lend my books to whoever will take good care of them. 39. I will lend my books to any one whom you recommend. THE ADJECTIVE 265. A word that modifies a noun is called an adjective. A phrase or a clause that modifies a 2 82 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR noun is called an adjective phrase or an adjective clause. In the sentence, The top of the hill that the old house stands on has not a tree on it, "the" modi- fies "top," "old" modifies "house," and "a" modi- fies "tree." These words are adjectives. Also, the phrase "of the hill" modifies "top," and is there- fore an adjective phrase; and the clause "that the old house stands on" modifies "hill," and is therefore an adjective clause. Common and Proper Adjectives 266. Some adjectives are formed from proper nouns, and are therefore called proper adjectives. Thus, from the proper noun America is formed the proper adjective American. Other proper adjec- tives are English, French, Peruvian, Bostonian, Shakespearean. All such words begin with capital letters. Other adjectives are common *>.djectives, and begin with small letters unless they are in titles or are the first words in lines of poetry. Articles 267. The words a, an, and the form one class of adjectives, called articles, and they themselves are divided into two classes. A and an are called indefinite articles. The only difference between them is that a is used before a word beginning with a consonant, as in a tree, and an before a word that begins with a vowel sound, as in an eagle and an honorable man. The, on the other hand, is called the definite article. The indefinite article is so called because it and THE ADJECTIVE 283 the noun that follows mean no particular thing of the class that the noun indicates. Thus in the sentence The man tied his horse to a tree, no particular tree is meant; hence the article is indefinite. But in The man tied his horse to the tree, some particular tree is meant; hence the article is definite. Relative, Interrogative, Demonstrative, AND Indefinite Adjectives 268. You have already learned that certain words are sometimes pronouns and sometimes adjectives; if they stand alone they are pronouns, and if they modify nouns they are adjectives. For example, there are relative adjectives as well as relative pronouns. Whose is such a word. In That is the man whose horse I bought, "whose" modifies "horse" and is therefore an adjective; it relates to "man" and is therefore relative. Whose is also an inter- rogative adjective, as in Whose horse is this? In This is Monday, "this" stands alone as a subject and is therefore a pronoun; but in This day is Monday, the word modifies "day" and is therefore an adjective. In both cases it is demonstrative; that is, it points out. In Whatever you do, do quickly, "whatever" stands alone as object of the first "do," and is therefore a pronoun; but in Whatever thing you do, do quickly, the word modifies "thing," and is therefore an adjective. In both cases it is indefinite. Numerals 269. Words expressing number are sometimes 284 A COMPOSITION- GRA MM A R nouns and sometimes adjectives. In I have two apples, ''two" is an adjective, since it modifies a noun; but in You have three, "three" is a noun, since it stands alone as an object. One, two, three, and so on, are called cardinals. First, second, third, and so on, are called ordinals. Comparison 270. Adjectives have what is called comparison; For example, in Monadnock is a large mountain, Pikes Peak is a larger mountain, and Mount Everest is the largest oj all mountains, "large," "larger," and "largest" express three different degrees of size. The first is called positive degree, the second is called comparative degree, and the third is called superlative degree. Some adjectives form their degrees by prefixing more and most to the positive degree rather than by- adding er and est. Others are very irregular. The following tabulation shows the comparison of several adjectives : POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE DEGREE DEGREE red redder reddest fast faster fastest able V abler ablest sensible more sensible most sensible reasonable more reasonable most reasonable good better best bad worse worst Many adjectives form their degrees in both ways. Punctuation of Adjective Clauses 271. If you were looking at a number of boys THE ADJECTIVE 285 playing, and should say to some one near, ''The boy that has the red jacket on is my brother,'' you would intend the clause ''that has the red jacket on" to indicate what boy you meant. In pronouncing the sentence, you would not make a pause or even the slightest jog of the voice between "boy" and *'that"; and therefore, if you should write the sentence, you should not use a comma there. Suppose again that the boy with the red jacket were coming down the street alone, and you should say, ''The boy who has the red jacket on is my brother.'' In this case also your voice would run on without a pause between "boy" and "who." You would feel that the part about the red jacket was a very necessary piece of description. This is why you would not make a pause. And since you would not make a pause when you speak, you should not use a comma when you write. But, on the other hand, if you should say, ''My brother, who usually wears a red jacket, is a very handsome boy,'' the clause "who usually wears a red jacket" would be an additional piece of information. Indeed, you might leave the clause out, and make the sentence read, ' ' My brother is a very handsome boy." And since this clause contains additional or extra information, it is read parenthetically; ^ that is, you make a pause both before and after it. And since you make pauses when you speak, you should use commas when you write. This is one of the most difficult things in gram- mar, but it is very necessary because a matter of 286 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR punctuation depends upon it. You must, therefore, do your best to learn it thoroughly and to put what you learn into practice. A Study of Adjectives 272. Study the following sentences carefully and determine what words are adjectives, that is, what words modify nouns. Some of them, you will ob- serve, are predicate adjectives. Be sure to note the genitives of nouns and pronouns. Determine also what phrases and clauses modify nouns or pronouns. Pay careful attention to the punctuation of adjective clauses. You will find it helpful to read aloud sentences containing such clauses — not slowly and with emphasis, but rather rapidly, so that you will notice where slight jogs of the voice must be made. Consider also whether such clauses could be left out without disturbing the sense. 1 . A long, heavy, muddy wagon went slowly by, carry- ing a load of girders. 2. We saw the man whose motor car ran into the heavy wagon. 3. Whose house is that that has the Dutch roof? 4. My grandfather's house, which is a very desirable home, is for sale. 5. The farmhouse that my grandfather owns is for sale. 6. Over there across the river is my grandfather's farm- house, which is for sale. 7. My grandfather's house is the one that is across the river. 8. Our orchard has not so many trees in it as yours. 9. Your blossoming trees are more beautiful than ours. THE ADVERB 287 10. The most beautiful tree is the one near the gate. 1 1 . Our currant bushes are loaded with most luscious fruit. 12. .The tree whose branches are dead is an apple tree. 1 3 . The tree that has the fullest blossoming is not always the most fruitful. 14. A good farmer usually has a barn that is bigger than his house. 15. The worst farmer in this neighborhood lives in a mansion. 16. There are three melon fields along the road here. 17. The first one this side of the schoolhouse is my father's. 18. I don't know whose field will bear the best fruit. 19. Whatever fruit we raise is sent to the city. 20. Many carloads go every summer. 21. Any one who raises good fruit makes a great deal of money. 22. "This is the man all tattered and torn that kissed the maiden all forlorn that milked the cow with the crumpled horn that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built." THE ADVERB 273. In the sentence When I was going up the hill, a very large rabbit leaped out of a bush, there are four adverbial constructions. First, ''very" is called an adverb because it modifies "large," which is an adjective. Second, **out of a bush" is an adverbial phrase because it modifies "leaped," which is a verb. Third, "up the hill" is an adverbial phrase because it modifies "was going," which is a verb. 20 288 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Fourth, ''When I was going up the hill" is an adverbial clause because it modifies "leaped," which is a verb. It is clear, then, that any word or group of words that modifies an adjective or a verb is adverbial. It is also true that any word or group of words that modifies an adverb is adverbial. Thus, in George goes hunting more frequently than I, "fre- quently" is an adverb, since it modifies the verb "goes"; but since "more" modifies "frequently," "more" is also an adverb. Adverbial constructions are therefore those that modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Comparison 274. Like adjectives, adverbs have comparison. Illustrations: positive degree, George goes hunting frequently. Comparative degree, George goes hunting more frequently than I. Superlative degree, John goes hunting most frequently of all. The following tabulation will show the different ways in which adverbs are compared: POSITIVE COMPARATIVE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE DEGREE DEGREE fast faster fastest rapidly more rapidly most rapidly sadly more sadly most sadly slowly more slowly most slowly well better best badly worse Caution worst 275, You have probably discovered that some words are sometimes adjectives and sometimes THE ADVERB 289 adverbs. Fast, for example, appears in both lists. This is the case with many words. Everything depends upon what the word does. If it modifies a noun, it is an adjective. If it modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb, it is an adverb. Thus, in Bob is a fast runner "fast" is an adjective because it modifies the noun ''runner"; but in Boh runs fast, ''fast" is an adverb, because it modifies the verb "runs." A Study of Adverbs 276. Study the following sentences to determine what words, phrases, and clauses are adverbial. Wherever you find the comparative or the superla- tive degree, mention it. Consider the punctuation. 1. At this place the mountain was very steep. 2. We did not think the mountain would be so steep at this place. 3 . When we were halfway up, we were exceedingly tired. 4. Our guide, who was an old man, seemed to become fatigued more easily than the others. 5. The view of the valley from the halfway house was a most beautiful sight. 6. As we were pausing for a rest at one place, we saw a mountain goat running rapidly. 7. The snow began to fall fast a little after we had had our lunch. 8. After a time the snow fell so furiously that we could hardly see our way. 9. We concluded to lie in the shelter of a rock in order to escape the storm. 10. About two o'clock the wind and the snow ceased, and the sun came out brilliantly. 290 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR 11. We started upward again, happily and noisily. 12. As soon as the wind ceased to blow and the snow to fall, we started upward again. 13. We climbed rather slowly now, so that we might not become too much wearied. 14. There were far too many rocks in our path, and there was too much stumbling. 15. Although we were too much wearied to stand when we reached the top, we enjoyed the magnificent view more than we had expected. Spelling 277. Has your study of prepositions and adverbs enabled you to be more sure of the spelling of to and too? Again, what part of speech is two, and what does it mean? THE INTERJECTION 278. The interjection is a word so loosely related to the rest of the sentence that it does not modify any one word, but rather helps the whole sentence to express some emotion. Thus, in the sentence Oh, what a rainy day! "Oh" modifies no word, but it helps the other words to express surprise. In Alas, the rain is so heavy that I cannot go out! ''Alas" helps the other words to express regret. Such words as oh, alas, pshaw, Judge, hurrah, are inter- jections. Punctuation of Interjections 279. The exclamation point sometimes follows the interjection, and sometimes is used at the end of the sentence, as in the example sentences in the THE INTERJECTION 291 preceding paragraph. The position of the exclama- tion point is determined by the way the sentence is read: if the voice falls after the interjection, the exclamation point is used there; if there is a pause but no fall of the voice after the interjection, a comma is used there and the exclamation point comes at the end of the sentence. Note. The word O is not properly an inter- jection, but is used by most authors just before a nominative of address and is not separated from it by any mark of punctuation. Example, "O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!'' 280. Each of the following sentences contains an interjection. Read each of them aloud and determine why it is punctuated just as it is. 1. Pshaw! I haven't seen him for a week. 2. Hurrah! we are going to have a holiday. 3. Oh, how awkward you are! - 4. Alas, we shall not have our holiday after all! 5. We shall have no holiday, alas! 6. Ah, who will help me! 7. Hush! Some one is coming. 8. Alack and alas, no one will come THE INDEX {The numbers refer to sections) Accept, meaning of, 89. Accusative case: of nouns, 253; of pronouns, 258,259, 260; correct use of, 263. Accusative-dative, 257; in declension, 258. Action verbs, 68. Active voice, 246, 247, 248. Additional fact, 179. Adjective phrases and clauses, 212, 265; punc- tuation of, 271. Adjectives, 265; adjective phrase and clause, 265; common and proper ad- jectives, 266; articles, 267; relative, interrogative, demonstrative, and in- definite adjectives, 268; numerals, 269; compari- son, 270; predicate ad- j ecti ves , 272; caution about, 275. Adverb, 273; adverbial phrase and clause, 273; comparison of, 274; cau- tion about, 275. Adverbial clauses, 276. Afect, meaning of, 89. Affirmative sentences, 8. Aggravate, meaning of, 153. AinH, 63. All right, 154. Almost, meaning of, 210. Among, use of, iii. Analysis of sentences, 218, 219, 220. And — who and and — which mistake, 168. Antecedent, 259. Anybody — he, 113. Apostrophe, uses of, 31. Appositives, 142. Articles, 267. At, III. Awful and awfully, 153. Back of. III. Being verbs, 68. Between, use of, iii. Can, correct use of, 44. Capital letters, 206, 254. Cardinals, 269. Case: of nouns, 253; of pro- nouns, 257, 258. Clauses, subordinate and principal, 164, 195; ad- jective, 212, 265. Committee, 63. Common adjectives, 266. Common case-form of nouns, 253. Common nouns, 254. Comparative degree of ad- jectives, 270; of adverbs, 274. Comparison, 270. Complete predicate, 36. 292 THE INDEX 293 Complete subject, 36. Complex-compound sen- tences, 197. Complex sentences, 195. Compound predicate verbs, 46. Compound sentences, 197. Compound subject sub- stantives, 46. Conjugation illustrated, 243; exercise in making, 247. Conjunction, 234, 235, 236. Connectives, 46; with sub- stantive, 109; mistakes in the use of, iii. Consonant, doubling the final, 58. Contractions, 31, 63. Coordinating conjunctions, 234, 235. Could, use of, 44. Crowd, 63. Dative case: of nouns, 253; of pronouns, 258, 259. Dative of indirect object, 102. Declarative sentences, 8. Declension of personal pro- noun, 258; of relative pronoun, 259. Definite articles, 267. Demonstrative adjectives, 268. Demonstrative pronoims, 261; adjectives, 268. Dependent clauses, 164. Differ with and differ from, III. Different from, 1 1 1 . Does n't, 63. Don't, 63. Doubling the final conso- nant, 58. Ed, 175. Effect, meaning of, 89. Ei, words having, 90. Elegant, meaning of, 210. En, 175. End punctuation, 9. Equivalents of sentences, 201. Except, meaning of, 89. Exclamatory sentences, 8. Fast, adjective or adverb, 275- Function, 233. Future perfect tense, 240. Future tense, 240, 244. Genitive: of nouns, 253; of personal pronouns, 257: in declension, 258. Get, 172. Get in, 172. Get one's hack up, 172. Get out, 172. Get the better of, 172. Get together, 172. Get up, 172. Got, 172. Grammar, why necessary, 35- Grand, meaning of, 210. Group object, 75, 195. Hadn't ought, 63. Half -quotation marks, 107. Have, 172. 294 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Her and me, 63, iii. Him and I, 63, iii. Him and me, 63, iii. le, words having, 90. In front of, 1 1 1 . Indefinite adjectives, 268. Indefinite articles, 267. Indefinite pronouns, 262. Indirect object, 102. Ing, 175. Interjection, 278; punctua- tion of, 279. Interrogative adjectives, 268. Interrogative pronouns, 260. Interrogative sentences, 8. Intransitive verbs, 69. It is he, she, etc., 63. It is I, etc., 63. It is me, 63. Jury, 63. Kind of tired, 208. Lay, 77. Leave, 77. Let, 77. Lie, 77. Like, use of, iii. Linking verbs, 139, 249. Ly, words ending in, 82. May, correct use of, 44. Might, correct use of, 44. Modifiers: of predicate verb, 38; of subject sub- stantive, 38; with com- pound verbs and sub- jects, 47 ; mistakes in the use of, 49; of objects, 71; of indirect objects, 102; of predicate words, 135, 138. Most, for almost, 210. Negative sentences, 8. Ness, words ending in, 82. No, punctuation of, 147. Nominative case: of nouns, 253; of personal pro- nouns, 257 ; in declension, 258; correct use of who, 263. Nominative of address, 145. Non-exclamatory sentence, 8. Nouns: as subjects, 38; collective, 63; as ob- jects, 68; as substantives with connective word, 109; as predicate words, 135, 138; as appositives, 142; as nominatives of address, 145; general treatment of, 251; pred- icate nouns, 251. Nimiber : apostrophes in singular and plural of nouns, 31; agreement of pronoun with antece- dent, 113; of verbs, 241; of nouns, 252. Numerals, 269. Objects: general treatment of, 68; modifiers of, 71; compoimd, 73; group, 75, 195; mistakes in the use of, III. THE INDEX 295 Ordinals, 269. Ought not, 63. Parts of speech, 233. Passive voice, 246, 247, 248. Past perfect tense, 240. Past tense, 240. Person: of verbs, 242; illus- tration of present tense, 243; of personal pro- nouns, 256. Personal pronouns, 256, 257> 258. Phrases, 175; adjective, 212, 265. Positive degree: of adjec- tives, 270; of adverbs, 274. Possessive pronouns and adjectives, 257. Predicate adjectives, 272. Predicate nouns, 251. Predicate words, 135, 138. Prepositional phrase, 237. Prepositions, 237. Present perfect tense, 240. Present tense, 243; illus- tration of, 243. Principal clause, 164, 195. Principal, spelling of, 133. Principle, spelling of, 133. Pronouns: as subjects, 38; as correct subjects and predicates, 63; as ob- jects, 68; as substantives with connective, 109; mistakes in the use of, 1 1 1 ; general treatment of, 255; correct use of, 263; relative, 259; inter- rogative, 260; demon- strative, 261; indefinite, 262. Proper adjectives, 266. Proper nouns, 254. Punctuation: end of sen- tences, 9; of letters, 95; before and, 105 ; of appos- itives, 143; of nomina- tives of address, 145; of yes and no, 147 ; of clauses and phrases, 179; related to function of connec- tives, 181; general treat- ment of, 199; of adjective clauses, 271; of interjec- tions, 279. Quotation marks, 9; at beginning and end of paragraphs, 13; half- quotation marks, 107. Relative adjectives, 268. Relative pronouns, 259. S added to words ending in y, 82. Sentence : why it should be studied, 7; completeness of, 7; kinds of thought expressed in, 8; nature of, 10; simple, 193; com- plex, 195; compound and complex-compound, 197; equivalents of, 201; anal- ysis of, 218. Set, 77. Shall, 244. Should not, 63. 296 A COMPOSITION-GRAMMAR Simple sentences, 193. Sit, 77- So, 168. ^ Sort of tired, 208. Spelling: doubling the final consonant, 58; words ending in y, 82; words ending in ness, 82 ; words ending in ly, 82; words having ei and ie, 90; principal and principle, 133- Splendid, use of, 210. Subject: complete, 36; sub- stantive, 38; compound, 46 ; correct predicates and subjects, 63. Subordinate clauses, 164, 195; mistakes in the use of, 168. Subordinating conjunc- tions, 234, 236. Subordination of ideas, 168. Substantive clauses, 233, Substantives: with connec- tive word, 109; mistakes in the use of, iii; with preposition, 237; words not names, 251. Superlative degree: of ad- jectives, 270; of adverbs, 274. Tense, 77, 240; unreason- able change of, 245. That kind, 49. Their, 40. Them, never a modifier, 49. There, 40, 170. These, 49. This kind, 49. Those, 49. To, use of, iii; spelling of, 277. Too, use of, iii; spelling of, 277. Transitive verbs, 69. Two, use of. III. Verb: contraction of, with negative, 3 1 ; mistakes in use of may and can, 44, 45 ; correct predicates and subjects, 63 ; expressi^ng action and being, 68; . transitive , and intran- sitive, 69; general treat- ment of, 239, et seq. Verb phrase, 38,' 239. Voice, 246, 247, 248. Will, 244. Y, words ending in, 82. Yes and no, punctuation of, 147- You were, 63. ■^K VB 36459 M69906 EDUC DEPT. THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY nttitli BrotaQn Boot piiefl