I
GOOD ENGLISH
j^^y^
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
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GQDD ENGLISH
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HENRY SEIDEL CANBY
^ AND
JOHN BAKEI\OPDYCKE
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
MAUDANDMISK^ PETERgHAM
THE MA.CMILLAN COMPANY, PUBUSHEI^
NEV YOI^ MCMXX
//
COPTBIGHT, 1918,
bt the macmillan company.
Set up and electrotyped. Published May, 1918,
NortnooD ^xt»9
J. 8. Cashing Co. — Berwick A Smith Co.
Norwood, Maaa., U.S.A.
C 2 ^
PREFACE
Although there has been a deluge of writing upon good
EngUsh, the theory of composition in our language has
been little changed since the days of those good old rhetorics
of the later nineteenth century that every textbook maker
mentions by way of honorable reference in his preface. But
the practice of teaching written and oral English has altered,
and is altering, with startling rapidity ; and this is the suffi-
cient excuse for another book in the field of elementary in-
struction. Rhetoric in the ^nineties was discipline plus in-
struction; rhetoric today is instruction plus stimulation.
We are thinking less of rules and more of writing and speak- <t^
ing; we are working less among abstract principles drawn
from masterpieces, and more in the laboratory of" actual
experience where each and all are busy with experiments
leading toward a prose that may unlock the lips and speed
the pen. For such an endeavor a textbook cannot be too
fresh and apposite, or too closely related to the moving
thought and emotion of the time.
Not a book of the scores of manuals upon English that
have been pubHshed since this new view of rhetoric began,
but will show somewhere, somehow, a response to the call
of the new generation for bread instead of stones. Praise
is due them. Yet the older masters were not so graceless
as our moderns seem to believe. They grasped some essen-
tials of practical teaching that this adventurous age is prone
459884
VI PREFACE
to forget. The books they wrote may have been weighted
with abstractions ; at least they pubhshed no inchoate
encyclopedias of miscellaneous experiment. They were
aware that there are principles underlying expression ; they
knew that a book on composition, like a book on chemistry
or the theory of sin, must have a beginning, a middle, and an
end. This they never forget ; and their students were never
allowed to forget it as they read.
Is it possible to make a book upon composition that gets
somewhere definitely; that is organized — and yet experi-
mental in its method, informal in its treatment, and related
to English as it is written or spoken rather than to rhetoric
as the doctrinaire has devised it in his brain ? It is not only
possible, it is necessary, if, from our teaching of English, we
are to get results.
This textbook on Good English is offered as a labor in
this very field. It is offered to those who believe with the
authors that the teaching of composition may be as informal,
as flexible, as vital as the living speech itself, and yet never
lose sight of a harmonious development and a definite goal.
The plan of the book speaks for itself in the table of con-
tents. We have chosen our categories, not in medieval
fashion from the logical abstractions of the subject, but
from the real needs of the youth of from twelve to fifteen.
Unity, Coherence, and Emphasis, or the Composition, the
Paragraph, the Sentence, — these are not the handles by
which a boy would grasp expression and subdue it to his use.
We have chosen a more sympathetic classification. And
once this change is made, the rest is easy. To be clear, one
must be coherent, one must write good paragraphs; to be
interesting, one must use right words ; to be convincing, one
must be emphatic ; and thus the fundamental principles
and divisions of rhetoric come in when they are needed, and
PREFACE VU
are no longer rules merely, to be learned and quickly for-
gotten.
Again, Narration, Exposition, Argument, Description, —
these are the ''forms of discourse." But who sets out to
write Narration or Exposition at the age of fifteen, unless
commanded ! It is stories we write, or letters, or essays on
this or that. And in such a fashion is this book arranged.
Letters come first in each chapter, because it is usually in
the writing of a letter that the need for good expression is
first brought home to the youth. A letter is something that
needs to be done, not an exercise merely for practice under
command. He feels his deficiencies more sharply then;
sees most clearly what full expression may demand of him.
Indeed, it is one task to teach sentence structure or para-
graph development for its own sake ; it is another, and a far
easier one, to teach them to pupils who have wrestled with
business letters or explanations, and failed in clearness
because these useful tools of composition were not adequately
controlled. •
And finally, we have not been so oblivious of psychology
as to forget that in every process of writing and speaking,
preparation comes first and expression afterward. Some-
times it is not possible, or practicable, to separate them in
teaching; but, whenever expedient, the lessons that follow
are constructed with a view to the natural progression from
a kindhng mind to the written or spoken word.
Such is the idea and such the plan of the book; and its
text falls easily and naturally into lessons with accompany-
ing sets of exercises. To have made, however, all the les-
sons exactly identical in length and difficulty would have
led to a confusion of that very sense of unified development
for which we have striven. Some lessons must be harder
than others because some subjects cannot be divided for
Vlll PREFACE
treatment without evident loss. Some lessons will take
longer for the class as a whole to master, just as any lesson
will be more difficult for a few pupils in each group than for
the rest. It is not possible to lift the responsibility for ad-
justing subject matter to capability from the shoulders of
the teacher, where it belongs; but the division scheme of
this book will make the task easy and profitable.
The aids to expression — grammar, punctuation, capitali-
zation, spelling — which are not composition, and yet must
be mastered before or beside it, have been given due weight
in this text. Sometimes they are inseparable from an ex-
planation of how to write — as with punctuation in letter
writing or common errors in the revision of written work —
and then they will be found in the lessons where they belong.
But often it is for reference chiefly that the student will
need them ; and therefore these appendices, brief but com-
prehensive, have been placed together conveniently at the
end of the book.
The Elements of Composition, by the same authors, where
the art and practice of writing are set forth for students
more mature in years and experience, will prove a good
companion to this volume. The two books have one ideal
in common: clear and interested thinking, accurate and
expressive writing, true and vigorous speaking for the next
generation in America.
The selections from James T. Fields, John G. Saxe, and
Ehzabeth Stuart Phelps are used by permission of, and by
special arrangement with, the Houghton, Mifflin Company,
the authorized publishers; the Lincoln letters are quoted
by permission of the Century Company ; and the Stevenson
letter by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons. The
authors are also under obligation to the following for their
generous response to requests for permission to use illus-
PREFACE IX
trative material: The Boy Scouts of America, The Camp
Fire Girls, Mr. Edgar A. Guest, Mr. John A. Moroso, the
editor of School News, the editor of American Educa-
tion, American Book Company, Funk and Wagnalls Com-
pany, Doubleday, Page- and Company, Russell Sage
Foundation, Reilly-Britton Company, Macmillan Company,
and the New York State Board of Regents.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
A GOOD textbook should not be a machine; it should
have the flexibility and power of adjustment of life itself.
It should be usable in one fashion for a class of backward
students and in still another for a group varied in ability;
it should cap the needs of the boy whose English comes by
descent and yet be valuable for the son of an immigrant.
Specific, mechanical directions designed to encourage the
teaching of the same paragraphs and the same exercises at
the same time and in the same sequence for every student,
everywhere, are not only impertinent, they attack the very
principle of good teaching of English. It is not only me-
chanics that we would teach, but the power of the individual
to express himself.
General directions, however, are possible and may be of
real service. The wise teacher begins a course in English
by searching the minds, the capabilities, and the deficien-
cies of the class. For such a purpose. Chapter V of this
book will prove to be invaluable. Test the class at the
beginning with portions of this chapter. Test them again
more rigidly at the end of the course. Let them discover
for themselves what they have learned and where their
education in English is still incomplete.
Once you know your class, it is possible to determine the
length of lesson and the character of exercise best adapted
to their needs. This done, the book lies before you. It
xi
Xll HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
has been planned with the principle of selection ever in view.
The teacher who knows her class will find, not one exercise
that must be forced upon every mind, but many, from which
she may select those that fit. She will find, not a cut-and-
dried progression of subjects, but an arrangement thoroughly
sound and workable, yet capable of changes in sequence to
fit special needs. She will find, not sliced sections each of
which must constitute a day's work, but lessons which em-
brace topics and may be divided according to the rate of
progress she desires and the class can compass. And the
authors have spared no pains to make these lessons rich in
illustrations and in exercises, because they feel that what the
teacher wants (and should want) most of all from a text-
book is good material, clearly arranged, from which she can
select.
The brief introductions are quite as much for the teacher
as the pupil. They are intended to serve as guideposts,
pointing the way along a logical development of thought.
The poetry is for reading rather than careful study and
analysis. Few exercises are based upon it, but it will be
no less useful for this. Let the pupil feel that some writing,
at least, is done for the joy of it, not merely to illustrate
the theories of good Enghsh.
The instruction in this book, with certain definite ex-
ceptions, is for both oral and written work. Letter-writing,
of course, must be chiefly written, debating, chiefly oral.
But in the planning of sentences, paragraphs, compositions
in general, the tongue is as much concerned as the pen.
Therefore, in the majority of the following lessons, the pupil
is taught to feel that he must know how to torite his thoughts,
with due consideration of spelling, punctuation, and ar-
rangement of parts ; and also how to speak his thoughts, with
all that this involves as to enunciation, pronunciation, and
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK xiil
voice control. To separate oral and written composition,
except in certain special fields and for certain definite pui'
poses, is a dangerous expedient.
The appendix is for reference. It is not to be taught by
lessons. Teach it inductively, when its material is really
needed for work being done elsewhere, or to make clear the
many doubtful points in the customs of writing that will
always trouble the beginner.
In sum, let your own personality and your own best
methods work through and with this book; let the needs
of your class determine the how and the what and the where
and the why in using it. If you do this heartily, you will
find its abundance, its logical development, and its careful
division into topic lessons helpful in the great problem of
teaching many minds good English.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGX
Chapter I. On Writing and Speaking . . . . 1
Chapter II. How to Be Interesting .... 6
Introduction — Lesson 1, Friendly Letters — Lesson 2,
Form in Friendly Letters — Lesson 3, Punctuation and
Placement of Letter Parts — Lesson 4, Interest in Letters
— Lesson 5, The Envelope — Lesson 6, Stories in Prose
Told in the Third Person — Lesson 7, Stories in Prose
Told in the First Person — Lesson 8, Planning a Story —
Lesson 9, Stories in Poetry Told in the Third Person —
Lesson 10, Stories in Poetry Told in the First Person —
Lesson 11, Interest in Story Telling — Lesson 12, Interest
in Words — Lesson 13, The Dictionary — Lesson 14,
Speaking — Lesson 15, The Right Use of Words.
Chapter III. How to Be Clear 113
Introduction — Lesson 16, Business Letters — Lesson
17, Letters of Application — Lesson 18, Special Business
Letter Forms — Lesson 19, Formal Notes — Lesson 20,
The Sentence — Lesson 21, Making Sentences Clear,
Unity — Lesson 22, Making Sentences Clear, Coherence
— Lesson 23, Explanation — Lesson 24, Planning an
Explanation — Lesson 25, Other Methods of Explana-
tion — Lesson 26, The Paragraph — Lesson 27, Making
Paragraphs Clear — Lesson 28, Description — Lesson 29,
Planning a Description — Lesson 30, Description of
People — Lesson 31, Poetry that Explains and Describes
— Lesson 32, Words — Lesson 33, Clearness in Speaking.
XV
XVI TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Chapter IV. How to Be Convincing .... 229
Introduction — Lesson 34, Letters that Convince —
Lesson 35, Special Letters — Lesson 36, Emphasis in the
Sentence — Lesson 37, Ar^ment — Lesson 38, Plan-
ning an Argument — Lesson 39, Poetry that Argues —
Lesson 40, Paragraphs that Convince — Lesson 41,
Speaking to Convince — Lesson 42, Words that Convince.
Chapter V. How to Be Thorough .... 288
Introduction — Lesson 43, Correcting your own Com-
positions — Lesson 44, Testing your Speech — Lesson 45,
Testing your Words — Lesson 46, Testing your Sentences
— Lesson 47, General Tests.
Appendix 341
Capitalization — Punctuation — Word Lists — Re-
view of Grammar.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
*'He held me close and I went to sleep that way" ... 42
" Don't kill him, don't kill him, chief ! " .... 52
'"Now run! run!' she cried" 59
Tobogganing 89
A pass in hockey 112
Making a goal . . . . 144
"What a meal he can prepare!" 167
"Ready!" 179
Such turnips I 189
Surf board riding 196
The caddy 200
"Out!" 207
The trail blazers 220
"Down!" 228
On the skis 246
Owl against robin 266
"But oh, the sweetness, and oh, the light of the high-fastidious
night!" 268
"Votes for women!" 276
Breaking the bronco 287
Around the campfire 836
XVI 1
GOOD e:n^glish
CHAPTER I
ON WRITING AND SPEAKING
Language began when man still lived in caves and fought
for his life with wild beasts of monstrous shape.
At first this language was only grunts and coughs and
birdlike notes, but these strange noises meant something,
and it was this rude meaning that made them language.
In the beginning they signified little more than the purr of
the cat or the squeak of the monkey. But soon there
must have been a sound for hunger ; a sound for terror that
came through the eyes and for terror that came through
the ears ; a sound for pain through touch ; a sound for bad
smells and for good. Each of the five senses had its group
of sounds that carried meaning to woman as she crouched
in the cave listening to her man in the forest without. And
as together they fitted sounds to the feelings of smooth and
rough, and foul and sweet, language began to develop, and
man came to differ more and more from the beasts.
Ever since, language has been growing, always trying to
express by fitter sounds the feelings that touch and taste
and smell and sight and hearing bring to man. It was far
more difficult for savage men to agree upon a sound for the
fire that warmed them on bitter days in their cave, than for
you to learn the hundreds of words that are needed to ex-
B 1
2 GOOD ENGLISH
press the sensations and thoughts that come to you in an
hour of civihzed Ufe. But you are carrying on their task.
Like them, you must find new words.
Long after the birth of language, when civiUzation had
actually begun, came the next step, writing. Writing began
as pictures, hieroglyphics, as we call them when we see them
on Aztec monuments or Egyptian obelisks today. The
thing itself — a man running fast, a basket of corn, a dog,
a lightning flash — was rudely pictured. The difficulty
was that so much even of what could be seen or tasted could
not be drawn. And thought was harder still to put into
pictures.
The problem was solved after centuries. Pictures of
things became letters representing sounds. Letters put to-
gether meant sounds put together into words. The change
in our life that has come from steam and electricity is as
nothing compared to the effects wrought by this simple
invention. But, after all, our task in learning to write is
not utterly different from the iiide barbarian's problem.
His scratches upon stone had to mean the right thing,
or they were worthless. Our writing must name our many
feelings and our complex thoughts accurately, or it is a
waste of time and space.
Fortunately, though language is the most complicated
of all human instruments (far more so than any machine),
it is not so hard for us to master language now as it was
for men to make it in past ages. Man's language is much
like man's automobile. He does not have to build an auto-
mobile ; it is ready built for him. He does not even have
to understand the hundred complexities of valve and shaft
and bore and cylinder that went into its design. All that
he must do, is to run it. All he must know, in order to run
it, are the physical laws that govern the action of his engine
ON WRITING AND SPEAKING 3
and its control ; and the customs that direct how and where
his car shall be run. If he lets his gasoline tank become
empty, or tries to start with his brake on, or changes gears
without slipping out his clutch, the automobile will not run.
He has broken its laws. If he turns to the left instead of
the right when he meets another car, if he runs on the side-
walk instead of on the roadway, if he speeds in a busy street,
he is sure to get into trouble. He has offended against the
customs that govern the traffic of the automobile.
Just so with language. Your object is not to learn its
history so as to be able to create a new one, but to use well
the language that centuries of endeavor have made for you.
To do this you must know the laws of language and the
customs of language ; and by much practice you must learn
to observe both.
The great laws of language are those by which words —
the names of ideas or things — are built up into sentences
and paragraphs and whole compositions. They are really
the laws of clear thinking, and they hold for all languages
and all times. A bad paragraph in English would be bad
in French or Latin or Spanish, because clear thinking is
the same everywhere and always. It is with these laws
that composition, or rhetoric as it is often called, is chiefly
concerned.
The lesser laws of language govern word-building, the
choice and use of sounds by which words are made; and
also grammar, the inflections and other means by which the
relations among words in a sentence are shown. These
lesser laws are really customs that have hardened into laws.
Each one holds good for its especial language only, and
it changes, though very slowly. English grammar has
changed in not a few details since the days of Shakespeare.
The customs of language are arbitrary ; that is, they are
4 GOOD ENGLISH
adopted for the sake of convenience, and depend upon usage.
They change when the customs of the best writers and
speakers change, which happens from generation to gener-
ation. SpelUng, punctuation, capitahzation, and pronun-
ciation are all customs of language. Look into a book
printed in 1600 and you will find the first three very differ- i
ent from our present practice. The Englishman of Queen
Anne's day pronounced tea, tay. Chaucer's EngUsh would
probably have sounded to you like Italian or French.
The dictionary does not, as many think, 7nake the customs
for spelling and pronunciation. It records what the best
usage is today. In the dictionary you will find recorded
this best usage as regards English spelling and pronun-
ciation. But, of course, the fact that these rules are
customs only and change slowly through the ages, gives you
no license to spell and pronounce and capitalize and punctu-
ate as you please. The best usage for the first three varies
now very little and changes only in minor details, and then
slowly. As for punctuation, while it was once merely a
custom, more honored in the breach than in the observance,
it has become almost a science, and is nearly as important
to clear writing as a good arrangement of clauses in a sentence.
Language is a practical instrument. Man has spoken
and written from the earliest savage days until now, not to
make a noise, nor to exhibit his skill in grammar or in words,
but in order to be understood. He has wished to be inter-
esting, to be clear, to be convincing. In order to succeed
he has found it necessary to follow the great laws of language
and the lesser ones also. In order to succeed, he has been
forced to obey the customs that governed the language of
his time. How to be interesting, how to be clear, how to be
convincing are the divisions of this book; with a fourth
one added, how to be thorough in carrying out these inten-
ON WRITING AND SPEAKING 5
tions of all speech. How to be interesting comes first, not
because it is most important, but because, instinctively, we
try to catch our hearer's attention before we think of being
clear or of convincing people.
Shall you speak, or shall you write, in learning good Eng-
lish? You must do both, of course. Letter-writing, it is
true, is a problem for the pen chiefly. Conversation, debat-
ing, and public speaking are mainly for the tongue. But
throughout the lessons that follow you will find constant
employment for each. Thinking comes before expression.
When you have thought, then you may either speak or write.
Usually, in what follows, you will be asked to do both. If
you speak, those customs of language which have to do with
pronunciation and the use of your voice will be important.
If you lurite, those other customs that govern punctuation,
spelling, and the arrangement of the written words upon the
page, must be in mind. But in either case the great laws
of clear thinking apply; and they must control whatever
you do, if you wish to be interesting, to be clear, to be con-
vincing in what you write and what you speak.
In the appendix to this book, you will find the customs
of our language ready for reference as, like primitive man,
but with far more power and a far better instrument of
expression, you practice writing and practice speech.
CHAPTER II
HOW TO BE INTERESTING
Introduction
What is interest f How can you be interesting when
you speak and when you write ? These introductory para-
graphs will tell you. The lessons and the drills that
follow will show you how to be interesting if there is a letter
to be written or a story to be told.
When a boy is interested in a game, his eyes are steady,
his mind is fixed upon the next move, every muscle is ready
to do its share. When a girl is interested in a story, her
thoughts pursue the events as they happen, she feels sad
when the tale is sad, merry when it is merry ; she shares in
the excitement of the story. And that is just what interest
always does; it makes us share in what is being done or
said or written ; it rouses us from the sleepy hollow of just
living along, and makes us pay attention to things that
matter. Indeed, ''interest" comes from a Latin word that
means "it matters" — it is important for you, it makes
some difference to you, you must pay attention or lose some-
thing worth while.
No one needs to be told how useful it would be to get
attention always for whatever is written or said. If your
stories were always listened to, if your letters were always
read with interest, if every one were eager to hear whatever
6
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 7
information you might have to give — well, the world would
seem a very Idndly place. Moreover, what could possibly
be more valuable, when the time came to make a living,
than to know how to get the attention of older men and
women ! But how can you get people to listen to you ?
The easiest way, but unfortunately not a very practical
one, is to be an important person. Ex-Presidents of the
United States, for example, usually write and speak easily,
having had plenty of practice; but even if they talked
badly they would get our attention, just because of their
personal distinction.
You, who are not yet distinguished, can count on no such
easy way of being interesting. You cannot talk badly and
hold the attention of your hearers. Your talk must be
good, your writing must be good. Two people tell a story.
One tells it clearly, simply, effectively, bringing out the
point; the other starts at the wrong place and has to go
back, gives away the plot before he is well started, and
mumbles off finally into awkward silence. They tell the
same story, but with very different results. In short, you
must speak well and write well, if you would be interesting.
Good speaking and good writing, however, will never of
themselves be interesting, or, at least, not for long. Your
thoughts, your observations, your experiences, whatever
you have to tell or to write, must be interesting in them-
selves, or your words, no matter how well chosen, and your
sentences, no matter how clear, will never be interesting.
The old ballads that the English peasants sang are rough
and simple, but they are far more interesting than many
modern poems just because the stories they tell are so full
of life and interest. The speaker at a political meeting
who thinks out a new argument for his party will be listened
to, even if he speaks crudely, while some polished orator,
8 GOOD ENGLISH
who has more words on his tongue than thoughts in his
head, will lose the attention of his audience five minutes
after he has begun to speak.
It is important, then, that subject matter be interesting.
How do you know when it is interesting ? When it interests
you. If it does not interest you, you will never make it
interesting to others. Write when you have something
worth writing about, speak when you have something worth
saying, and your friends will read your letters eagerly and
listen to you with attention. They will be glad to share
in thoughts and experiences that have aroused your atten-
tion. The naturalist, in the old story, sought over half
the world for the rare flower he needed to complete his
collection, and coming home, empty-handed, found it bloom-
ing in his own garden. You will best learn to interest other
people by searching in your mind for the thoughts and memories
that interest you.
LESSON ONE
Friendly Letters
A friendly letter is hardly worth reading unless it is inter-
esting. Furthermore, your first real need for being interesting
in written words comes when you write letters to your family
and your friends. Read the following letters carefully,
decide whether they are interesting and why, and be able
to tell what you have read.
Helen Keller to the Editor of St. Nicholas *
Dear St. Nicholas, — It gives me very great pleasure to
send you my autograph because I want the boys and girls who
read St. Nicholas to know how blind children write. I suppose
* Used by special permission of The Century Company.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 9
some of them wonder how we keep the Hnes so straight so I will
try to tell them how it is done. We have a grooved board which
we put between the pages when we wish to write. The parallel
grooves correspond to Unes, and when we have pressed the paper
into them by means of the blunt end of the pencil, it is very easy
to keep the words even. The small letters are all made in the
grooves, while the long ones extend above and below them. We
guide the pencil with the right hand, and feel carefully with the
forefinger of the left hand to see that we shape and space the
letters correctly. It is very difficult at first to form them plainly,
but if we keep on trying it gradually becomes easier, and after a
great deal of practice we can write legible letters to our friends.
Then we are very, very happy. Some time they may visit a school
for the blind. If they do, I am sure they will wish to see the pupils
write.
Very sincerely your little friend,
Helen Keller.
Lewis Carroll^ to Gertrude
Christ Church, Oxford, October 13, 1875.
My dear Gertrude, — I never give birthday presents, but you
see I do sometimes write a birthday letter : so, as I've just arrived
here, I am writing this to wish you many and many a happy return
of your birthday tomorrow. I will drink your health if only I
can remember, and if you don't mind — but perhaps you object?
You see, if I were to sit by you at breakfast, and to drink your
tea, you wouldn't hke that, would you? You would say, ''Boo!
hoo ! Here's Mr. Dodgson drunk all my tea, and I haven't got any
left!" So I am very much afraid, next time Sybil looks for you,
she'll find you sitting by the sad sea waves and crying "Boo ! hoo !
Here's Mr. Dodgson has drunk my health, and I haven't got any
left!"
And how it will puzzle Mr. Maund, when he is sent for to see you !
"My dear madam, I'm sorry to say your little girl has got no health
* Author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Used by courtesy of The
Century Company.
10 GOOD ENGLISH
at all ! I never saw such a thing in my life ! " " You see she would
go and make friends with a strange gentleman, and yesterday he
drank her health!" "Well, Mrs. Chataway," he .will say, "the
only way to cure her is to wait till his next birthday, and then for
her to drink his health."
And then we shall have changed healths. I wonder how you'll
like mine! Oh, Gertrude, I wish you would not talk such non-
sense ! . . . Your loving friend,
Lewis Carroll.
Charles Dickens to Mrs. James T. Fields
Gad's Hill, Higham, by Rochester, Kent,
May 25, 1868.
My dear Mrs. Fields, — As you ask me about the dogs,
I begin with them. When I came down first, I came to Gravesend,
five miles off. The two Newfoundland dogs, coming to meet me
with the usual carriage and the usual driver, and beholding me
coming in my usual dress out at the usual door, it struck me that
their recollection of my having been absent for any unusual time
was at once canceled. They behaved (they are both young dogs)
exactly in their usual manner ; coming behind the basket phaeton
as we trotted along, and lifting their heads to have their ears
pulled — a special attention which they receive from no one else.
But when I drove into the stable yard, Linda (the St. Bernard) was
greatly excited; weeping profusely, and throwing herself on her
back, that she might caress my foot with her great fore paws.
Mamie's little dog, too, Mrs. Bouncer, barked in the greatest agi-
tation on being called down and asked by Mamie, "Who is this?"
and tore roimd and round me, like the dog in the Faust outlines.
You must know that all the farmers turned out on the road in their
market chaises to say, "Welcome home, sir!" and that all the
houses along the road were dressed with flags ; and that our ser-
vants, to cut the rest, had dressed this house so that every brick
of it was hidden. They had asked Mamie's permission to "ring
the alarm bell" ( ! ) when master drove up, but Mamie, having some
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 11
slight idea that that compUment might awaken master's sense of
the ludicrous, had recommended bell abstinence. But on Sunday
the village choir (which includes the bell ringers) made amends.
After some unusually brief pious reflections in the crowns of their
hats, at the end of the sermon, the ringers bolted ou", and rang
like mad until I got home. There had been a conspiracy among
the villagers to take the horse out, if I had come to our own sta-
tion, and draw me here. Mamie ^ and Georgy ^ had got wind of
it and warned me.
Divers birds sing here all day, and the nightingales all night.
The place is lovely, and in perfect order. I have put five mirrors
in the Swiss chalet (where I write), and they reflect and refract
in all kinds of ways the leaves that are quivering at the windows,
and the great fields of waving corn, and the sail-dotted river. My
room is up among the branches of the trees, and the birds and the
butterflies fly in and out, and the green branches shoot in, at the
open windows, and the lights and shadows of the clouds come and go
with the rest of the company. The scent of the flowers, and indeed
of everything that is growing for miles and miles, is most delicious. . . .
Ever, my dear Mrs. Fields, your most affectionate friend,
Charles Dickens.
Robert Louis Stevenson to a Child ^
Tautira, Island op Tahitl [November, 1888.]
Dear Tomarcher,^ — This is a pretty state of things ! seven
o'clock and no word of breakfast ! And I was awake a good deal
last night, for it was full moon, and they had made a great fire of
cocoanut husks down by the sea, and as we have no bhnds or shut-
ters, this kept my room very bright. And then the rats had a
wedding or a school-feast under my bed. And then I woke early,
and I have nothing to read except Virgil's /Eneid, which is not good
fun on an empty stomach, and a Latin dictionary, which is good
1 His children.
'Used by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.
'Son of William Archer, the English dramatic critic.
12 GOOD ENGLISH
for naught, and by some humorous accident, your dear papa's
article on Skerry vore. And I read the whole of that, and vtry
impudent it is, but you must not tell your dear papa I said so, or
it might come to a battle in which you might lose either a dear
papa or a valued correspondent, or both, which would be prodigal.
And still no breakfast ; so I said "Let's write to Tomarcher."
This is a much better place for children than any I have hitherto
seen in these seas. The girls (and sometimes the boys) play a
very elaborate kind of hopscotch. The boys play horses exactly
as we do in Europe ; and have very good fun on stilts, trying to
knock each other down, in which they do not often succeed. The
children of all ages go to church and are allowed to do what they
please, running about the aisles, roHing balls, steaHng mamma's
bonnet and pubhcly sitting on it, and at last going to sleep in the
middle of the floor. I forgot to say that the whips to play horses,
and the balls to roll about the church, — at least I never saw them
used elsewhere, — grow ready-made on trees ; which is rough on
toy-shops. The whips are so good that I wanted to play horses
myself ; but no such luck ! my hair is grey, and I am a great, big,
ugly man. The balls are rather hard, but very light and quite
round. When you grow up and become offensively rich, you can
charter a ship in the port of London, and have it come back to you
entirely loaded with these balls, when you could satisfy your mind
as to their character, and give them away when done with to your
uncles and aunts. But what I really wanted to tell you was this :
besides the tree-top toys (Hush-a-by, toy-shop, on the tree-top !),
I have seen some real made toys, the first hitherto observed in the
South Seas.
This was how. You are to imagine a four-wheeled gig; one
horse ; in the front seat two Tahiti natives, in their Sunday clothes,
blue coat, white shirt, kilt (a little longer than the Scotch) of a
blue stuff with big white or yellow flowers, legs and feet bare ; in
the back seat me and my wife, who is a friend of yours ; under our
feet, plenty of lunch and things : among us a great deal of fun in
broken Tahitian, one of the natives, the subchief of the village,
being a great ally of mine. Indeed we have exchanged names;
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 13
so that he is now called Rui, the nearest they can come to Louis,
for they have no I and no s in their language. Rui is six feet three
in his stockings, and a magnificent man. We all have straw hats,
for the sun is strong. We drive between the sea, which makes a
great noise, and the mountains; the road is cut through a forest
mostly of fruit trees, the very creepers, which take the place of
our ivy, heavy with a great and delicious fruit, bigger than your
head and far nicer, called Barbedine. Presently we came to a
house in a pretty garden, quite by itself, very nicely kept, the doors
and windows open, no one about, and no noise but that of the sea.
It looked Uke a fairy tale, and just beyond we must ford a river,
and there we saw the inhabitants. Just in the mouth of the river,
where it met the sea waves, they were ducking and bathing and
screaming together like a covey of birds : seven or eight little naked
brown boys and girls as happy as the day was long; and on the
banks of the stream beside them, real toys — toy ships, full rigged,
and with their sails set, though they were lying in the dust on their
beam ends. And then I knew for sure they were all children in a
fairy story, living alone together in that lonely house with the
only toys in all the island ; and that I had myself driven, in my four-
wheeled gig, into a corner of the fairy story, and the question was,
should I get out again ? But it was all right ; I guess only one of
the wheels of the gig had got into the fairy story; and the next
jolt the whole thing vanished, and we drove on in our seaside forest
as before, and I have the honor to be Tomarcher's valued corre-
spondent, Teriitera., which he was previously known as
Robert Louis Stevenson.
Abraham Lincoln to Miss Fanny McCullough
December 23, 1862.
Dear Fanny : It is with deep regret that I learn of the death
of your kind and brave father, and especially that it is affecting
your young heart beyond what is common in such cases. In this
sad world of ours sorrow comes to all, and to the young it comes
with bittered agony because it takes them unawares. The older
14 GOOD ENGLISH
have learned ever to expect it. I am anxious to afford some allevia-
tion of your present distress. Perfect relief is not possible except
with time. You cannot now realize that you will ever feel better.
Is not this so ? And yet it is a mistake. You are sure to be happy
again. To know this, which is certainly true, will make you som>.
less miserable now. I have had experience enough to know what
I say, and you need only to beheve it to feel better at once. The
memory of your dear father, instead of an agony, will be yet a sad,
sweet feeling in your heart, of a purer and holier sort than you have
known before.
Please present my kind regards to your afflicted mother.
Your sincere friend,
A. Lincoln.
Thomas Hood to his Daughter
Halle, October 23, 1837.
My dear Fanny, —
I hope you are as good still as when I went away — a com-
fort to your good mother and a kind playfellow to your Httle
brother. Mind you tell him my horse eats bread out of my hand,
and walks up to the officers who are eating, and pokes his nose
into the women's baskets. I wish I could give you both a ride.
I hope you liked your paints; pray keep them out of Tom's
way, as they are poisonous. I shall have rare stories to tell you
when I come home; but mind, you must be good till then, or I
shall be as mute as a stock-fish. Your mama will show you on the
map where I was when I wrote this ; and when she writes will let
you put in a word. You would have laughed to have seen your
friend Wildegans running after the sausage-boy to buy a wurst}
There was hardly an officer without one in his hand smoking hot.
The men piled their gims on the grass, and sat by the side of the
road, all munching at once like ogres. I had a pocket full of bread
and butter, which soon went into my 'cavities,' as Mrs. Dilke calls
them. I only hope I shall not get so hungry as to eat my horse.
1 Sausage.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 15
I know I need not say, keep school and mind your book, as you
love to learn. You can have Minna sometimes, her papa says.
Now God bless you, my dear little girl, my pet, and think of
Your loving father,
Thomas Hood.
PRACTICE
1. Which of the above letters is the most interesting to you?
What makes it so ?
2. From which of the letters do you get most information? Tell
just what you have learned from it.
3. After reading each of these letters, what can you tell of the
writer? Of the one written to?
4. Explain the words phaeton, chaise, refract, in the Dickens let-
ter.
5. Which of the letters seems to you to have the most interesting
subject matter? Which is the best written one?
6. How do all of these letters differ from letters that are written
to a shop ordering goods or from letters of application?
Why are these called friendly or informal letters and those
on pages 116-120, business letters?
7. Notice carefully how each one of these excellent letter writers
addresses the person to whom he is writing and how he closes
his letter. Point out the differences in both these respects.
LESSON TWO
Form in Friendly Letters
Study the last letter above from the point of view of
form.
The place and time of writing are given first, —
Halle, October 23, 1837.
This is called the heading. It may be written in various
ways, as, —
16 GOOD ENGLISH
Halle,
October 23, 1837.
10 Wabash Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois,
April 12, 1918.
15 Queen's Terrace,
Exeter, England,
February 5, 1918.
14 State Street
Boston, Mass.
May 13, 1918
243 Market Street
Philadelphia, Pa., May 3, 1918
It may occupy one line, two lines, or three lines, and it
may be arranged in still other ways. In the business letter
it is usually placed in the upper right-hand corner; but
in the friendly letter it may be placed either here or in the
lower left-hand corner, below the signature.
My dear Fanny is the salutation. It must be placed
on the left-hand side of the letter on a line below the head-
ing. Other forms of salutation are, —
Dear Fanny, My dear John — Dear Brother, —
Notice that the salutation may consist of either two or
three words. It is preferable not to capitalize dear when
it stands as the middle word in a salutation. In friendly
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 17
letters the salutation is usually followed by a comma. It
may be followed, however, by a dash, or by a comma and a
dash. The colon is rarely used after the salutation in
friendly letters. It is usually placed after the salutation
in business letters, as, —
Dear Sir : Sir : My dear Sir *
Dear Sirs : Madam : Gentlemen :
The semicolon is never used after the salutation.
That part of a letter which follows the salutation is
called the body. It may follow on the same line with the
salutation, or it may start on the line below, immediately
at the end of the salutation. This is the letter proper, —
the part that contains the message of interest. It should
be written neatly and plainly. It should be carefully
paragraphed, particularly if the letter is long. There should
be a liberal and regular left-hand margin; there should
also be a right-hand margin, though it is impossible to keep
this margin quite regular.
The content of the letter should be expressed naturally,
without any affectation whatever. If, when your friend
or relative reads your letter, he exclaims, ''That's just like
the fellow!" he pays you a compliment as a letter writer.
That part of a letter which follows the body is called the
complimentary closing. In the Hood letter above it is, —
Your loving father.
Other forms of complimentary closing are, —
Your son. Cordially yours,
Your friend. Faithfully yours,
Yours sincerely. Very truly yours.
The form of the complimentary closing in friendly letters
depends upon the relation between the writer and the one
18 GOOD ENGLISH
written to. Very truly yours, Sincerely yours, Cordially
yours, are used when the two are not closely related. More
intimate forms are used in writing to members of your own
family and to intimate friends. Very truly yours, or
Yours very truly, is the most common complimentary
closing in business letters. The complimentary closing
is always followed by a comma; the first word only is
capitalized.
The signature follows the complimentary closing and is
set in slightly to the left. It may or may not be followed
by a period. It is better to sign your name in full, so that
the letter may be returned to you in case it is lost. Fre-
quently, however, the first name or a nickname only is
signed here, especially if the letter is to one with whom
you are on intimate terms.
The parts of a letter therefore consist of, —
1. Heading
Place
Date
2. Salutation
Greeting
3. Body
Message or
Letter content
4. Complimentary closing
5. Signature or name
A sixth part is always included in business letters, namely,
the address of the one written to. This is usually placed
just above the salutation on a line below the last line of the
heading, thus, —
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 19
125 Hargrave Ave.,
Los Angeles, Cal.,
October 19, 1917.
James Turner, Esq.,
18 Market Street,
St. Louis, Mo.
My dear Sir :
It is best to include this address in friendly letters also.
When included, it should be placed in the lower left-hand
corner of the letter, on a line directly beneath the signa-
ture, thus, —
Cordially yours,
James Everett.
Miss Sara Everett,
Asheville,
North Carolina.
20
GOOD ENGLISH
The whole letter picture may now be summarized as
follows ; note especially the placement of the various
parts : —
Heading
418 High Street,
Ithaca, New York,
October 20, 1917.
Salutation
My dear Clara,
Body
"■
Compli-
mentary
dosing
Signature
Address
Miss Clara Force,
130 West 80 Street,
New York City.
Yours faithfully,
Mary Brady
Just as we may be informal in the presence of our intimate
friends and in our conversation with them, so we may be
informal in the letters we write them. All the letters above
do not comply with the directions here set down. Liberties
have been taken. It is a good rule, however, never to ignore
accepted standards altogether in friendly letters. If, for
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 21
instance, the full name and address of the writer of a letter
are omitted; the letter, if it is not deUvered, cannot be re-
turned to the sender. The name and address of the writer,
as well as of the one written to, should be given in all letters.
PRACTICE
1. Name the parts of a letter. Tell where each belongs in the
make-up of the letter.
2. Draw a diagram showing, by means of lines, the relative place-
ment and size of the letter parts.
3. Of what items does the heading consist? At what two posi-
tions in a letter may it be placed?
4. Where should the salutation be placed? How should it be
punctuated ?
5. Explain the capitaUzation and the punctuation of the compli-
mentary closing.
6. What is meant by the body of a letter ? Where should it begin ?
7. Is the address used in a friendly letter? Where should it be
placed ?
8. Explain why the foregoing rules about letter writing are im-
portant.
9. You have just returned from a visit to a friend. Write an ap-
propriate letter to her. (A letter such as this, written in
acknowledgment of hospitahty, is sometimes called a "bread-
and-butter" letter.)
10. Your school is to give a special entertainment on a certain date.
Write to a friend asking her to be your guest.
11. Write to her again, telUng her how to reach your house from
hers, or your town from the town in which she Kves.
12. Write your friend's reply to the invitation.
13. Write a friendly request to your teacher asking to be excused
from a recitation and giving reasons therefor.
14. Write the teacher's reply to your request, granting it.
15. Write a letter to your favorite author, telling him what you
enjoy most in his books.
22 GOOD ENGLISH
16. Write an imaginary letter from one well-known character in a
novel or play to another.
17. Nothing interesting has happened for a week. Write a letter
to a friend which will make him beheve it.
18. There is one day above all others most interesting in your life.
Write a letter to a friend that will make it seem so.
LESSON THREE
Punctuation and Placement of Letter Parts
You may mar the interest and the purpose of your letter
if you are not careful to punctuate it accurately. The
comma should be used, —
(1) To denote the omission of words, —
120 Lenox Avenue,
New York City,
May 25, 1918.
Here the comma takes the place of an omitted on or in.
Expanded, the full heading would read, —
120 Lenox Avenue, in
New York City on
Mdiy 2b during \^\%,
(2) To denote apposition, —
Yours sincerely,
James Ferguson.
The name or signature is in apposition with Yours sincerely
and should be separated from it by the comma.
(3) To denote something to follow. The comma may thus
be used after the salutation, which is a form of address in-
dicating that something is to follow, thus, —
Dear Tom,
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 23
As pointed out above, the dash, or the comma and the dash,
the colon, or the colon and the dash, may be used with the
same purpose. The last two are considered more formal
than the first two; they are therefore not so commonly
used in friendly letters. Never make the mistake of plac-
ing a period or a semicolon after the salutation.
The period should be used after abbreviations, such as,
St., Ave., N. Y., Pa., Colo., etc.
There is a growing tendency to omit all punctuation at
the ends of lines in headings and addresses, except after
abbreviations. But if you omit punctuation, omit it con-
sistently at the ends of all lines in the heading, and also in
the address both within the letter and on the envelope.
If you are inconsistent in this, you will be considered care-
less and slovenly.
100 Broadway,
New York City,
May 3, 1918.
or
100 Broadway
New York City
May 3, 1918
not
100 Broadway,
New York City
May 3 1918.
Be consistent also in the arrangement of the letter parts.
If you use a vertical margin for the heading, use it also in
all other parts in the letter and in the address on the en-
velope, thus, —
24 GOOD ENGLISH
100 Broadway,
New York City,
May 3, 1918.
James Ferguson, Esq.,
114 State Street,
Boston, Mass.
My dear Mr. Ferguson :
Very truly yours,
Thomas Everett.
But if you begin with the diagonal arrangement, thus, —
100 Broadway,
New York City,
May 5, 1918.
keep to this arrangement, as in the letter form on page 20.
You should so place the parts of your letter that they will
present a consistent and harmonious picture. Never be
careless about the form of a letter, even when writing to
your most intimate friends. Courtesy demands that you
make your letter pleasant to see as well as to read.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 25
PRACTICE
1. State three rules for the use of the comma that apply particu-
larly to letter writing.
2. State one rule for the use of the period that applies particularly
to letter writing.
3. What caution can you give as to the omission of punctuation
from the parts of a letter?
4. What is meant by the placement of parts in a letter?
5. Correct the following heading : —
215 State St.
Chicago lU.
Oct. 10, 1917.
6. Correct the following salutations : —
Dear Bill.
Dear Mother ;
7. Correct the following letter picture : —
18 Park Place
Brooklyn
New York Jan. 2, 1918.
Dear Father —
Yours truly
BiU
26 GOOD ENGLISH
8. Test the letters in Lesson One for accuracy in punctuation ana
placement.
9. Test the letters you wrote under Lesson Two for accuracy in
punctuation and placement.
10. Is it allowable to take liberties with letter punctuation and
placement in writing to your intimate friends? Explain
in what respects.
LESSON FOUR
Interest in Letters
You should remember from the first chapter of this book
that good writing has its laws and its customs, the first
controlling the way in which thought turns itself into words,
the second having to do merely with the forms of punctua-
tion, spelling, and capitalization, that general usage has
determined for us. In the two preceding lessons you have
been studying the accepted customs of letter writing. They
are important, because if they are not observed it is just
so much the more difficult to be interesting. Indeed, letter
writing is the best of all exercises for acquiring the habit
of good form in composition. But before you can write
interesting letters you must have something interesting to
say.
If you are interested in writing a letter, you will probably
have no difficulty in making your letter interesting to others.
Have something you really wish to say. Say it. Be your-
self. Avoid "filling up space." Do not write because you
have to. There are a hundred things happening to you
every day that your absent friends will be interested in
hearing about. Put these things in a letter and send it off.
Of course, every friendly letter must show some interest
in the person to whom it is written — it must express a
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 27
desire to know about him, what he is doing, how he is getting
along, and so forth. And it must not dwell at length
upon your cares and troubles, for these will not always
interest the reader. But you may bring a reply in the very
next mail (provided your correspondent does not live too
far away) if you will tell him of some interesting happening
— how you were the first to discover a fire, how the dog
brought down a possum, how Bill got caught by the street
sprinkler. Tell him about these matters in your own
natural way, and you will probably make your letter most
interesting. Letters are only written conversations. Don't
search the dictionary for big words. Just use your every-
day, conversational language and tell about the ordinary
happenings of your daily round.
PRACTICE
1. What incidents of particular interest are mentioned in the third
letter in Lesson One ?
2. Do the letters in Lesson One show interest in the affairs of the
one "written to ?
3. How much in these letters in Lesson One deals with the writer
himself ?
4. Write a letter to a friend upon any one of the following
subjects : —
The morning I overslept. The runaways.
The day I failed. Making the beds.
Jim's fine run. Drying the dishes.
5. Write replies from Tomarcher to Robert Louis Stevenson and
from Fanny to Thomas Hood. (See pages 11 and 14.)
'6. Write a letter to your friend Bob in which you tell all about
your friend Charles, whom Bob does not know.
7. Write a letter to Charles telling him all about Bob.
8. Invite both Bob and Charles to visit you on a certain after-
noon when Mary and Alice are to be present.
28 GOOD ENGLISH
9. Write to your sister, who was away at the time of your party,
telling her all about Bob and Charles and Mary and Ahce,
and your pleasant afternoon.
10. Write your sister's reply to your letter in 9. She shows interest
in your affairs and tells you something about her own.
LESSON FIVE
The Envelope
There are other customs observed in letter writing as
important as those explained above. The address on the
envelope is called the outside address or the superscription.
It should be the same as that written in the letter. The
placement of the superscription depends somewhat upon
the shape and the size of the envelope. Usually it should
be placed somewhat lower than the middle, and slightly
to the right. It must give the name, the stre?+ address,
the city, and the state. These four items should stand
alone, prominently, in the order above indicated. Other
data, such as the county, the rural free-delivery direction,
the number of room in a large office building, the "in care
of" notice, are better placed in the lower left-hand corner.
The address of the sender may be put in the upper left-hand
corner. Punctuation (except after abbreviations) may be
omitted from the superscription ; should be, if it has been
omitted in the heading and the address of the letter. If
punctuation is used, a comma is placed at the end of all lines
except the last, which is followed by a period. Note that the
margin of the superscription may be vertical or diagonal.
The tendency at present seems to favor the vertical margin.
Observe the following models : —
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 29
Mr. Willard Quick,
Washington,
D.C.
R. F. D. — Route 4.
Fred Britton, Esq.,
Jonesboro,
Tenn.
% Mrs. Thos. A. Britton.
H. S. Brown
Wilmot
Ohio
Dr. Thomas Conard
260 EucUd Avenue
Cleveland
Ohio
Room 875
30 GOOD ENGLISH
It is needless to say that the envelope should be clearly
and accurately addressed. Be sure that you have it right
side up before you address it. Place the stamp squarely
in the extreme upper right-hand corner. Do not write
City or Town on local letters instead of the actual name
of the city or town.
The following forms of address should be noted : —
Mr. John W. Blank
or
John W. Blank, Esq.
Mr. is more commonly used than Esq. Never use both.
In addressing more than one person, the following forms
are good : —
Messrs. Carlton and Donohue,
or
The Messrs. Carlton and Donohue,
Misses Sears and Barton,
or
The Misses Sears and Barton,
In addressing a married woman, her wishes regarding the
form of address used should be respected. She should
indicate underneath her signature to a letter the form she
prefers, as, —
Yours cordially,
Mary R. Barton
(Mrs. Seth T. Barton)
or
(Mrs. Seth T.)
The form in parentheses is the one to be used in addressing
her. In case she is a widow, or prefers to be addressed by
her own name, she should indicate it as follows : —
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 31
Yours cordially,
(Mrs.) Mary R.Barton
Dr. before a physician's name is preferable to M.D. after
it. Never use both. Do not use Prof, for Professor. Never
abbreviate a name in part, as Kansas C. or K. City, or
N. Y. City. For the proper forms to be used in addressing
ministers, officials, and business men see page 132.
PRACTICE
1. Draw the plan of an envelope properly addressed and stamped.
2. Address an envelope to a friend of yours who lives in St. Paul.
Invent names and details.
3. Address an envelope to a doctor in Chicago, in care of some
hospital.
4. Address an envelope to a girl friend of yours and her sister.
5. Address an envelope to Mary K. Altman (Mrs. C. V.), 130
West End Ave., New York City, in care of R. M. Richardson.
6. Address an envelope to a friend of yours living on a rural free
mail-delivery route in the country.
7. Criticize and correct the following addresses : —
Mr. C. V. Alger, Esq.
No. 2 Curtis Ave,
Brooklyn. ,
N. Y. City.
Dr. Thomas Keller M. D.
No. 12 E. Lancaster St
Albany,
New York
8. Address envelopes for the letters you wrote under Lesson Four,
page 27.
32 GOOD ENGLISH
9. Explain the purpose of the note in the upper left-hand corner
of the envelope.
10. Explain what use should be made of the lower left-hand comer
of the envelope.
LESSON SIX
Stories in Prose Told in the Third Person
Read one of the following stories and be able to tell it
in your own words to your classmates. Note especially
that while these stories are told for the most part in the
third person, yet the first and second persons both figure
in certain parts for the effective handling of the narrative.
Observe the following points in retelling the first story : —
1. Lena's letter. 2. Lena's dream. 3. Hondo Bill's
reproof.
The Chaparral* Prince 2
(By 0. Hmry)
Nine o'clock at last, and the drudging toil of the day was ended.
Lena climbed to her room in the third half-story of the Quarrymen's
Hotel. Since daylight she had slaved, doing the work of a full-
grown woman, scrubbing the floors, washing the heavy ironstone
plates and cups, making the beds, and supplying the insatiate
demands for wood and water in that turbulent and depressing
hostelry.
The din of the day's quarrying was over — the blasting and
drilUng, the creaking of the great cranes, the shouts of the foremen,
the backing and shifting of the flat-cars hauUng the heavy blocks
of limestone. Down in the hotel office three or four of the laborers
were growling and swearing over a belated game of checkers.
1 A hardy shrub covering large tracts of land in Texas.
» Copyright, 1907, by Doubleday, Page and Company. Used by permia-
eion of the publishers.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 33
Heavy odors of stewed meat, hot grease, and cheap coffee hung Uke a
depressing fog about the house.
Lena ht the stump of a candle and sat lunply upon her wooden
chair. She was eleven years old, thin and ill-nourished. Her
back and limbs were sore and aching. But the ache in her heart
made the biggest trouble. The last straw had been added to the
burden upon her small shoulders. They had taken away Grimm. ^
Always at night, however tired she might be, she had turned to
Grimm for comfort and hope. Each time had Grimm whispered
to her that the prince or the fairy would come and deUver her out
of the wicked enchantment. Every night she had taken fresh
courage and strength from Grimm.
To whatever tale she read she found an analogy in her own
conditions. The woodcutter's lost child, the unhappy goose girl,
the persecuted stepdaughter, the little maiden imprisoned in the
witch's hut — all these were but transparent disguises for Lena,
the overworked kitchenmaid in the Quarrymen's Hotel. And
always when the extremity was direst came the good fairy or the
gallant prince to the rescue.
So, here in the ogre's castle, enslaved by a wicked spell, Lena
had leaned upon Grimm and waited, longing for the powers of
goodness to prevail. But on the day before Mrs. Maloney had
found the book in her room and had carried it away, declaring
sharply it would not do for servants to read at night; they lost
sleep and did not work briskly the next day. Can one only eleven
years old, Uving away from one's mamma, and never having any
time to play, Uve entirely deprived of Grimm? Just try it once,
and you will see what a difficult thing it is.
Lena's home was in Texas, away up among the Uttle mountains
on the Pedernales River, in a little town called Fredericksburg,
They are all German people who Uve in Fredericksburg. Of
evenings they sit at httle tables along the sidewalk and drink beer
and play pinochle ^ and scat.^ They are very thrifty people.
Thriftiest among them was Peter Hildesmuller, Lena's father.
And that is why Lena was sent to work in the hotel at the quarries,
1 The Grimm Brothers' Fairy Tales. 2 Card games.
D
34 GOOD ENGLISH
thirty miles away. She earned three dollars every week there,
and Peter added her wages to his well-guarded store. Peter had
an ambition to become as rich as his neighbor, Hugo Heffelbauer,
who smoked a meerschaum pipe three feet long and had wiener
schnitzel ^ and hasenpfeffer ^ for dinner every day in the week. And
now Lena was quite old enough to work and assist in the accumu-
lation of riches. But conjecture, if you can, what it means to be
sentenced at eleven years of age from a home in the pleasant httle
Rhine village to hard labor in the ogre's castle, where you must fly
to serve the ogres, while they devour cattle and sheep, growhng
fiercely as they stamp white limestone dust from their great shoes
for you to sweep and scour with your weak, aching fingers. And
then — to have Grimm taken away from you !
Lena raised the lid of an old empty case that had once contained
canned corn and got out a sheet of paper and a piece of pencil.
She was going to write a letter to her mamma. Tommy Ryan was
going to post it for her at Balhnger's. Tommy was seventeen,
worked in the quarries, went home to Balhnger's every night, and
was now waiting in the shadows under Lena's window for her to
throw the letter out to him. This was the only way she could send
a letter to Fredericksburg. Mrs. Maloney did not Uke for her to
write letters.
The stump of candle was burning low, so Lena hastily bit the
wood from around the lead of her pencil and began. This is the
letter she wrote :
"Dearest Mamma, — I want so much to see you. And Gretel
and Glaus and Heinrich and httle Adolf. I am so tired. I want to
see you. Today I was slapped by Mrs. Maloney and had no supper.
I could not bring in enough wood, for my hand hurt. She took my
book yesterday. I mean 'Grimms's Fairy Tales,' which Uncle
Leo gave me. It did not hurt any one for me to read the book. I
try to work as well as I can, but there is so much to do. I read only
a httle bit every night. Dear mamma, I shall tell you what I
* Vienna veal chops.
* Rabbit meat (or a substitute for it) prepared as a stew.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 35
am going to do. Unless you send for me tomorrow to bring me
home I shall go to a deep place I know in the river and drown. It
is wicked to drown, I suppose, but I wanted to see you, and there is
no one else. I am very tired, and Tommy is waiting for the letter.
You will excuse me, mamma, if I do it.
"Your respectful and loving daughter,
"Lena."
Tommy was still waiting faithfully when the letter was concluded,
and when Lena dropped it out she saw him pick it up and start up
the steep hillside. Without undressing, she blew out the candle
and curled herself upon the mattress on the floor.
At 10 : 30 o'clock old man BaUinger came out of his house in
his stocking feet and leaned over the gate, smoking his pipe. He
looked down the big road, white in the moonshine, and rubbed one
ankle with the toe of his other foot. It was time for the Fredericks-
burg mail to come pattering up the road.
Old man Balhnger had waited only a few minutes when he heard
the lively hoof beats of Fritz's team of little black mules, and very
soon afterward his covered spring wagon stood in front of the gate.
Fritz's big spectacles flashed in the moonhght and his tremendous
voice shouted a greeting to the postmaster of BalUnger's. The
mail carrier jumped out and took the bridles from the mules, for he
always fed them oats at Ballinger's.
While the mules were eating from their feed bags, old man Bal-
linger brought out the mail sack and threw it into the wagon.
"Tell me," said Fritz, when he was ready to start, "contains the
sack a letter to Frau H"ldesmuller from the little Lena at the
quarries ? One came in the last mail to say that she is a little sick,
already. Her mamma is very anxious to hear again."
"Yes," said old man Balhnger, "thar's a letter for Mrs. Helter-
skelter, or some sich name. Tommy Ryan brung it over when he
come. Her little gal workin' over thar, you say?"
"In the hotel," shouted Fritz, as he gathered up the lines;
"eleven years old and not bigger as a frankfurter. The close-fist
of a Peter Hildesmuller ! — some day shall I with a big club pound
36 GOOD ENGLISH
that man's dummkopf ^ — all in and out the town. Perhaps in
this letter Lena will say that she is yet feeling better. So, her
mamma will be glad. Auf wiedersehen,^ Herr Ballinger — your
feets will take cold out in the night air."
''So long, Fritzy," said old man Ballinger. "You got a nice
cool night for your drive."
Up the road went the little black mules at their steady trot, while
Fritz thundered at them occasional words of endearment and cheer.
These fancies occupied the mind of the mail carrier until he
reached the big post oak forest, eight miles from Ballinger 's. Here
his ruminations were scattered by the sudden flash and report of
pistols and a whooping as if from a whole tribe of Indians. A
band of galloping centaurs closed in around the mail wagon.
One of them leaned over the front wheel, covered the driver with
his revolver, and ordered him to stop. Others caught at the bridles
of Bonder and Blitzen.
"Donnerwetter!" 3 shouted Fritz, with all his tremendous voice
— "was ist? Release your hands from dose mules. Ve vas der
United States mail ! "
"Hurry up, Dutch!" drawled a melancholy voice. "Don't
you know when you're in a stick-up? Reverse your mules and
climb out of the cart."
It is due to the breadth of Hondo Bill's demerit and the largeness
of his achievements to state that the holding up of the Fredericks-
burg mail was not perpetrated by way of an exploit. As the lion
while in the pursuit of prey commensurate to his prowess might set
a frivolous foot upon a casual rabbit in his path, so Hondo Bill
and his gang had swooped sportively upon the pacific transport of
Meinherr Fritz.
The real work of their sinister night ride was over. Fritz and
his mail bag and his mules came as a gentle relaxation, grateful
after the arduous duties of their profession. Twenty miles to the
southeast stood a train with a killed engine, hysterical passengers,
* German for blockhead.
* German for Good-by. Literally, "I'll see you again."
* Thunderation !
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 37
and a looted express and mail car. That represented the serious
occupation of Hondo Bill and his gang. With a fairly rich prize of
currency and silver the robbers were making a wide detour to the
west through the less populous country, intending to seek safety
in Mexico by means of some fordable spot on the Rio Grande. The
booty from the train had melted the desperate bushrangers to jovial
and happy skylarkers.
Trembling with outraged dignity and no little personal appre-
hension, Fritz climbed out to the road after replacing his suddenly
removed spectacles. The band had dismounted and were singing,
capering, and whooping, thus expressing their satisfied delight in
the life of a jolly outlaw. Rattlesnake Rogers, who stood at the
heads of the mules, jerked a little too vigorously at the rein of the
tender-mouthed Bonder, who reared and emitted a loud, protesting
snort of pain. Instantly Fritz, with a scream of anger, flew at the
bulky Rogers and began to assiduously pommel that surprised free-
booter with his fists.
''Villain!" shouted Fritz, "dog, bigstiff! Dot mule he has a
soreness by his mouth. I vill knock off your shoulders mit your
head — robbermans ! "
"Yi-yi!" howled Rattlesnake, roaring with laughter and ducking
his head, "somebody git this here sauerkrout off'n me !"
One of the band yanked Fritz back by the coat tail, and the
woods rang with Rattlesnake's vociferous comments.
"The . . . little wienerwurst," ^ he yelled, amiably. "He's not so
much of a skunk, for a Dutchman. Took up for his animile plumb
quick, didn't he ? I like to see a man like his hoss, even if it is a mule.
The dad-blamed little Limburger, he went for me, didn't he ! Whoa,
now, muley — I ain't a-goin' to hurt your mouth agin any more."
Perhaps the mail would not have been tampered with had not
Ben Moody, the lieutenant, possessed certain wisdom that seemed
to promise more spoils.
"Say, Cap," he said, addressing Hondo Bill, "there's liable to
be good pickings in these mail sacks. I've done some hoss tradin'
with these Dutchmen around Fredericksburg, and I know the style
^ Literally Vienna Sausage. Slang for " worthless."
38 GOOD ENGLISH
of the varmints. There's big money goes through the mails to that
town. Them Dutch risk a thousand dollars sent wrapped in a piece
of paper before they'd pay the banks to handle the money."
Hondo Bill, six feet two, gentle of voice and impulsive in action,
was dragging the sacks from the rear of the wagon before Moody
had finished his speech. A knife shone in his hand, and they heard
the ripping sound as it bit through the tough canvas. The outlaws
crowded around and began tearing open letters and packages,
enlivening their labors by swearing affably at the writers, who
seemed to have conspired to confute the prediction of Ben Moody.
Not a dollar was found in the Fredericksburg mail.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself," said Hondo Bill to the
mail carrier in solemn tones, 'Ho be packing around such a lot of
old, trashy paper as this. What d'you mean by it, anyhow?
Where do you Butchers keep your money at?"
The Ballinger mail sack opened like a cocoon under Hondo's
knife. It contained but a handful of mail. Fritz had been fuming
with terror and excitement until this sack was reached. He now
remembered Lena's letter. He addressed the leader of the band,
asking that that particular missive be spared.
"Much obliged, Dutch," he said to the disturbed carrier. "I
guess that's the letter we want. Got spondulicks in it, ain't it?
Here she is. Make a light, boys."
Hondo found and tore open the letter to Mrs. Hildesmuller.
The others stood about, lighting twisted-up letters one from another.
Hondo gazed with mute disapproval at the single sheet of paper
covered with the angular German script.
"Whatever is this you've humbugged us with, Dutchy ? You call
this here a valuable letter ? That's a mighty low-down trick to play
on your friends what come along to help you distribute your mail."
"That's Chiny writin '," said Sandy Grundy, peering over Hondo's
shoulder.
"You're off your kazip," declared another of the gang, an effec-
tive youth, covered with silk handkerchiefs and nickel plating.
"That's shorthand. I seen 'em do it once in court."
"Ach, no, no, no — dot is German," said Fritz. "It is no more
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 39
as a little girl writing a letter to her mamma. One poor little girl,
sick and vorking hard avay from home. Ach! it is a shame.
Good Mr. Robberman, you vill please let me have dot letter?"
"What the devil do you take us for, old Pretzels?" said Hondo
with sudden and surprising severity. ''You ain't presumin' to
insinuate that we gents ain't possessed of sufficient politeness for
to take an interest in the miss's health, are you? Now, you go on,
and you read that scratchin' out loud and in plain United States
language to this here company of educated society."
Hondo twirled his six-shooter by its trigger guard and stood
towering above the little German, who at once began to read the
letter, translating the simple words into English. The gang of
rovers stood in absolute silence, listening intently.
"How old is that kid?" asked Hondo when the letter was done.
"Eleven," said Fritz.
"And where is she at?"
"At dose rock quarries — working. Ach, mein Gott — little
Lena, she speak of drowning. I do not know if she vill do it, but
if she shall I schwear I vill dot Peter Hildesmuller shoot mit a gun."
"You Dutchers," said Hondo Bill, his voice swelling with fine
contempt, "make me plenty tired. Hirin' out your kids to work
when they ought to be playin' dolls in the sand. ... I reckon
we'll fix your clock for a while just to show what we think of your
old cheesy nation. Here, boys ! "
Hondo Bill parleyed aside oriefly with his band, and then they
seized Fritz and conveyed him off the road to one side. Here they
bound him fast to a tree with a couple of lariats. His team they
tied to another tree near by.
"We ain't going to hurt you bad," said Hondo reassuringly.
"'Twon't hurt you to be tied up for a while. We will now pass
you the time of day, as it is up to us to depart. Ausgespielt —
nixcumrous,! Dutchy. Don't get any more impatience."
* Like so many other expressions of the robbers, these are fragments of real
German, nonsensical and humorous imitations of Fritz's speech ; part Ger-
man, part nonsense, equivalent to our slang phrases "All over! Nothing
doing ! "
40 GOOD ENGLISH
Fritz heard a great squeaking of saddles as the men mounted
their horses. Then a loud yell and a great clatter of hoofs as they
galloped pell-mell back along the Fredericksburg road.
For more than two hours Fritz sat against his tree, tightly but
not painfully bound. Then from the reaction after his exciting
adventure he sank into slumber. How long he slept he knew not,
but he was at last awakened by a rough shake. Hands were untying
his ropes. He was lifted to his feet, dazed, confused in mind, and
weary of body. Rubbmg his eyes, he looked and saw that he was
again in the midst of the same band of terrible bandits. They
shoved him up to the seat of his wagon and placed the lines in his
hands.
"Hit it out for home, Dutch," said Hondo Bill's voice com-
mandingly. "You've given us lots of trouble and we're pleased to
see the back of your neck. Spiel ! Zwei bier ! Vamoose ! " ^
Hondo reached out and gave Blitzen a smart cut with his quirt.
The little mules sprang ahead, glad to be moving again. Fritz
urged them along, dizzy and muddled over his fearful adventure.
According to schedule time, he should have reached Fredericks-
burg at daylight. As it was, he drove down the long street of the
town at eleven o'clock a.m. He had to pass Peter Hildesmuller's
house on his way to the post-office. He stopped his team at the
gate and called. But Frau Hildesmuller was watching for him.
Out rushed the whole family of Hildesmullers.
Frau Hildesmuller, fat and flushed, inquired if he had a letter
from Lena, and then Fritz raised his voice and told the tale of his
adventure. He told the contents of the letter that the robber
had made him read, and then Frau Hildesmuller broke into wild
weeping. Her little Lena drown herself ! Why had they sent her
from home? What could be done? Perhaps it would be too late
by the time they could send for her now. Peter Hildesmuller
dropped his meerschaum on the walk and it shivered into pieces.
"Woman!" he roared at his wife, "why did you let that child
go away? It is your fault if she comes home to us no more."
1" Vamoose" means "get out." "Spiel" and "Zwei bier" are good
German words but nonsensical here. Hondo Bill is making fun of Frita.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 41
Every one knew that it was Peter Hildesmuller's fault, so they
paid no attention to his words.
A moment afterward a strange, faint voice was heard to call:
*'Mamma!" Frau HildesmuUer at first thought it was Lena's
spirit calling, and then she rushed to the rear of Fritz's covered
wagon, and, with a loud shriek of joy, caught up Lena herself, cov-
ering her pale little face with kisses and smothering her with hugs.
Lena's eyes were heavy with the deep slumber of exhaustion, but
she smiled and lay close to the one she had longed to see. There
among the mail sacks, covered in a nest of strange blankets and
comforters, she had lain asleep until awakened by the voices around
her.
Fritz stared at her with eyes that bulged behind his spectacles.
"Gott in Himmel!" he shouted. "How did you get in that
wagon ? Am I going crazy as well as to be murdered and hanged
by robbers this day?"
"You brought her to us, Fritz," cried Herr HildesmuUer. "How
can we ever thank you enough?"
"Tell mamma how you came in Fritz's wagon," said Frau
HildesmuUer.
"I don't know," saidXena. "But I know how I got away from
the hotel. The Prince brought me."
"By the Emperor's crown!" shouted Fritz, "we are all going
crazy."
"I always knew he would come," said Lena, sitting down on her
bundle of bedclothes on the sidewalk. "Last night he came with
his armed knights and captured the ogre's castle. They broke
the dishes and kicked down the doors. They pitched Mr. Maloney
into a barrel of rain water and threw flour all over Mrs. Maloney.
The workmen in the hotel jumped out of the windows and ran into
the woods when the knights began firing their guns. They wakened
me up and I peeped down the stair. And then the Prince came up
and wrapped me in the bedclothes and carried me out. He was so
tall and strong and fine. His face was as rough as a scrubbing-
brush, and he talked soft and kind and smelled of schnapps .^ He
1 Holland gin.
HE HELD ME CLOSE AND I WENT TO SLEEP THAT WAY.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 43
took me on his horse before him and we rode away among the
knights. He held me close and I went to sleep that way, and didn't
wake up till I got home."
"Rubbish!" cried Fritz Bergmann. "Fairy tales! How did
you come from the quarries to my wagon?"
"The Prince brought me," said Lena, confidently.
And to this day the good people of Fredericksburg haven't been
able to make her give any other explanation.
Buddy and Waffles^
(By John A. Moroso)
They were two of a kind — Buddy and his dog, Waffles. "That
child," declared Mrs. H. Orrison Finch, president of the Ladies'
Village Improvement Society, when the disreputability of Buddy
was brought up for consideration, "is a disgrace and a hurt to the
community ! The first thing a visitor to the town sees is a bundle
of old clothes piled in the sun on a bench in front of the station.
The bundle stirs on the arrival of a train, gets up, and the visitor
is confronted with that shocking spectacle which has the name of
a human being ! "
"Where did the boy come from, Madam President?" asked
Mrs. Mary Amelia Sitt, chairman of the Committee on the Beau-
tification of Railroad Parks and Stations.
"He looks as if he had escaped from a ragpicker's bag," replied
Mrs. Finch. "But I believe that he was born in the county poor-
house, and that an old widow, now dead, adopted him and left
him, after her demise, to grow up like a rank and noxious weed."
"Who feeds him?" asked another member.
"He feeds himself somehow and also feeds his cur dog, who is as
much a disgrace to the town as his master," the president informed
^ Reprinted by special permission of the author.
44 GOOD ENGLISH
the society. "We should and must get rid of the two of them. It
is high time."
The hour for the bridge game was at hand, and on that afternoon
it was to be played in the very comfortable and even richly appointed
home of the president.
"I move, Madam President," said Mrs. Nales, "that the Com-
mittee on Beautification of Railroad Parks and Stations be in-
structed to take such action as is necessary to have this nuisance
abated. If the dog has no license he may be easily disposed of.
The boy might be placed in some institution."
"Second the motion!" came from all over the meeting room,
and, as it was carried unanimously, a motion to adjourn followed,
and the ladies trooped off to their fun.
Now, they had to cross the railroad tracks to reach the home
of their hostess, and there sat Buddy on his favorite bench in the
sun, making fast a cord to a slender branch of a tree laid across
his knees, with a tin can filled with worms beside him, and, looking
up into his face, his dog and only friend : a gaunt, shaggy cur, dingy
brown in color. Buddy was about twelve years old, and his eyes
shone from a dirty face like two blue patches of summer sky through
shower-promising clouds. One of his shoes was intended for a
male person and the other, from which he had removed the high
heel, had been made for a female. His coat had been cut for a
man, and the bifurcation of his trousers was lost in an amplitude
of cloth. He stopped fixing his fishing tackle to caress the dog —
at the dog's own earnest and caudal beseeching — and the ladies
passed with sniffs of contempt and disgust, and with glances which
said plainly : "We'll take up your case after the bridge ! "
Thinking that his friend was hungry Buddy fished in a cavernous
pocket, pulled out half a loaf of bread and wrenched off a goodly
piece. He emptied his bait from the can and filled it with water
from a near-by rain barrel, placing it beside his pet and putting
the wriggling, protesting worms in his coat pocket, stufl&ng a piece
of newspaper on top of them to hold them captive.
Waffles did not beg often, for he was a good self-provider. By
upsetting a boy and stealing the contents of a tray which he was
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 45
carrying to a neighbor's home one morning Buddy's dog secured
a breakfast that day of a dozen well-browned and buttered waffles,
which not only gave him internal satisfaction, but also caused his
christening by other boys who saw him make the raid.
The dog finishing his repast and quenching his thirst. Buddy
filled his own mouth with bread, rinsed out the bait can, wet his
own throat, and departed whistling, with his rod, line, worms, and
four-footed friend, in the direction of the brook. The heart of
the lad was light within him. The winter had passed ; the robins
had come up from the South to steal all the worms they could
from small boys who would a-fishing go; and the grackles were
flying overhead in countless air squadrons, making a noise like
crackling twigs in a brisk forest fire. Over the untilled fields the
dandelions spread their golden carpets; the trees had well ad-
vanced in leafing, the fish were nibbling, and Buddy would no
longer be compelled to beg a shelter in bams or in the rear of village
shops at the coming of night.
II
It was probably the spirit of pride and responsibility in owner-
ship which early determined Buddy thoroughly to educate his
dumb friend. He knew nothing about praying, but he did Imow
of the posture for praying, so he taught Waffles to kneel down with
his head between his forepaws and not stir until he heard the magic
word ''Amen." This concession having been made to the demands
of a Christian nation Waffles was taught to say "Good morning"
and ''Good night," and his deportment was established. Next,
Buddy taught him to ask for food and water when there were any
with which to accede to his request. Waffles in time also acquired
the art of playing sick, writhing in great pain on the ground and
then lying stark and stiff in death until the magic words "Git up ! "
brought him back to the living.
Buddy further taught his friend to be useful, having him carry
his ragged cap or tattered shoes on hot days, or the fishing pole
or the bait can. It was not necessary to teach him to love his
master: that was born in his puppy soul when Buddy crawled
46 GOOD ENGLISH
under the freight station platform one winter's morning and saved
him from death by cold and starvation.
So the sweetest season of the year began with a well-educated
dog and a thoroughly happy and uneducated boy, neither asking
anything of life save plenty of sunshine and a bite to eat. Nature
offered them both, and a little later in the year Man would offer
the lad the highest and greatest blessing that can come to a boy
— the circus !
Buddy was already coping with the problem of acquiring enough
money to pay his way through the gates of boyhood's heaven. He
lived from circus to circus ; and as each springtime came he planned
to gaze long and lovingly upon every freak in every side show, every
animal in the menagerie; planned for a top seat in the big tent,
where he could rub his back against the beloved canvas and watch
all three rings at once; and laid out appropriations for peanuts,
lemonade,,and the concert that always followed the regular show.
Buddy earned his circus money by fishing. A little piece of red
flannel rag on his line served him for trout, if trout were running,
and if they were not running, the wriggling worm on his hook and
a light sinker brought up perch. He sold his catches to elaborately
equipped fishermen who failed to fill their baskets. This money
he hoarded, burying it and marking the treasure-trove against the
time when the glittering caravans would pass from the dreams of
childhood to the reality of the Fair Grounds in the nearest big town.
"How much ye got now. Buddy?" asked Tom McCue, the
village constable, when circus rumors began to spread.
"Ninety-eight," the boy replied.
"Better'n last year, am't it?" inquired the police arm of the
village law.
"Ten cents better."
"Glad to hear it, Buddy; glad to hear it!" McCue, bearing
a badge that was as a shield to his whole big heart, was the one
person not among the absolutely poverty stricken who would
converse openly with the boy. He was old ; his hands shook with
incipient palsy; his white whiskers twinkled as he constantly
nibbled at a bit of plug tobacco ; in fact he was just the sort of man
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 47
to give all his time to the preservation of law in a village so small
and peaceful that no harm was ever done within its confines beyond
tearing a reputation to tatters or shooting down a defenseless and
harmless dog.
''You going to the circus, too, Chief?" Buddy asked.
''Sure; if everything is quiet and I can git off," replied the
constable. They drew back against the side of the station to
escape the suction of a passing express. "Be you teaching Waffles
any new tricks, Buddy?"
"I guess he knows everything now. Chief," the boy replied, rubbing
his dog's ears. "He can walk on his hands, stand on his head, and
turn the back flipflap."
"Is that so? He can, eh?" cried McCue. "You know you'd
make a barrel of money with him if you joined the circus. Buddy.
I have saw many a trick dog that couldn't tech him; no, sirree,
not for a minute. And think of traveling all over the country,
with a parade every day, the steam planner just hittin' it up all
the time, and feeding the animules every day!"
"Lawsy!" exclaimed Buddy, his eyes like two blue saucers.
"I'd try it when ye got a little bigger. Buddy. Dinged if I
wouldn't, ef I was you."
"Why don't you make that boy and dog keep away from the
station?" sounded a strident voice behind them; and constable
and boy turned to face Mrs.i Sitt and Mrs. Nales, members of the
station committee.
"What they doin', ma'am?" quavered old Tom.
"You'll find out what they're doing," retorted Mrs. Sitt; "and
you'll find it out after the next meeting of the improvement society ! "
Buddy dodged around the comer of the station, with Waffles at
his heels, both feeling that they had unwittingly committed some
crime, or that, perhaps, something had happened in the village for
which they were blamed. Something was certainly wrong some-
where. Buddy was not old enough and not sapient enough to
know that the only crime he and his dog were guilty of was the
crime of being alive, or of being accessories after the fact to having
been born.
48 GOOD ENGLISH
m
At last the morning of the circus came, and Buddy had two
dollars, every cent of which he was prepared to squander. The
circus town was ten miles away across country and nearer a more
profitable railroad line. To reach it on the cars he would have
had to spend one of his two precious dollars in a long and round-
about journey. With better shoes he could have made the ten
miles easily in a little over three hours, for he was stout of legs and
of fine wind. He prepared for the hike across country by having
the village cobbler tack a heel on his "female" shoe.
The day was glorious and he felt very thankful over the prospects,
and was especially kind to Waffles when he chained him to a post
under the freight-station platform, where he would have plenty of
shade. He fed his faithful friend with ten cents' worth of beef
bones, placed a big can of water beside him, and kissed him good-by.
"Chief" McCue was at the station on duty as usual, and he
promised Buddy that if the freight house caught fire he would un-
chain the dog even before he turned in an alarm. "You leave
him to me. Buddy," said the old constable. "When things is
dull, about two o'clock, I'll give him fresh water and take him
for a little walk just to cheer him up. You go ahead and have a
good time. Fm going to the show tonight — if nothing happens."
With a word of gratitude Buddy peeled off his heavy coat, threw
it nonchalantly over his arm and was off down the road. It was
eight o'clock and he counted on covering the ten miles by noon.
He wanted at least an hour for the calm inspection of the circus
encampment and a personal view of each freak in the side shows.
Then he would need an hour for the menagerie and a careful study
of the "Bengal Man-eater" and "Majestic, the Untamable African
Lion, Who Has Devoured Four Keepers." He quickened his
stride as he busied his mind with these details.
Only three times did Buddy stop to rest, and, as he had been
unable to sleep the night before because of excitement, he rested
either standing up or seated on a fallen log for fear that he might
doze off. At the last resting place he found that the newly nailed
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 49
heel on his shoe had been lost. With two rocks he hammered the
tacks flat and was off in the stretch. The sun was directly over-
head when he saw the waving banners above the tented city and
then the softly gleaming white tops of the tents themselves.
When he reached the circus grounds, he found a pump and stuck
his mouth under it, working the handle himself as only a thirsty
boy can. Then he bought a big sandwich, and with this to nibble
on luxuriously he made the preliminary inspection of the tents,
examining every guy rope, flap, and peg, studying the layout of
the kitchen and mess tents, and learning the locations of dressing
rooms for the men and women.
Presently he personally met a Clown! At first it seemed that
he was dreaming, but there stood the Clown, his white face and
egglike head unmistakably real. He was speaking to him — speak-
ing to Buddy Noname !
''Hi, kid ! " Buddy heard him say. "I'd like to buy them clothes
from you. They'd do for a make-up, believe me."
He stood at the entrance of the dressing tent for men, grinning
hideously in his paint and powder.
''I ain't much on clothes, Mister Clown," Buddy finally managed
to say; ''but I'll betcher I got a dog can lay over any dog you got
in this show."
"You* have, eh? And wot might be his name?"
"Waffles."
"Waffles!" cried the Clown. "It's a fine name. Wot's
yours?"
"Buddy."
The Clown roared. "Say," he said, "if you ain't got no family
ties and want to join the circus, come to see me. Ask for Smithy
— Boob Smithy — and I'll take you along. I need a boy clown
and a trick dog." Then he disappeared behind the canvas flap.
For the rest of the afternoon Buddy remained in a dream. Al-
most mechanically he carried out his program of seeing all the
freaks and getting his top seat for the big show; but all the time
the thought of fetching Waffles to that dressing tent and showing
Boob Smithy what that wonderful dog could do filled his mind.
60 GOOD ENGLISH
He cut out the concert and started comparatively early on the
long hike back to base. It was pitch black by the time he had
covered the fifth homeward mile, and he found that, the shoe with
the lost heel having given up trying to keep up with him, his foot
was torn and bleeding. Sitting down in the road he tore off half
his shirt and bandaged the wounded member, starting off with a
limp to do the next five miles. It was well after daybreak when
he crawled into the village.
He dragged himself across the railroad tracks and groped beneath
the freight platform for Waffles.
He was gone !
rv
Nobody bothered about Buddy as he lay on the ground, half
under the freight station, any more than anybody had bothered
about him previously. He lay half-hidden and half-senseless,
certain of only one friend — Waffles ; and he was gone ! Used to
neglect. Buddy soon fell off into a sleep of exhaustion against the
breast of the only mother he had ever known. He was awakened
by a familiar voice, and, lifting himself on an elbow, was rejoiced
to see Waffles tugging at the end of a chain held by McCue.
"Hi, Chief!" he called, scrambling to his feet and limping across
the tracks. "Here I am! Did ye think I was lost?" Waffles
in a paroxysm of joy howled at the top of his voice. "I was late
getting back," continued Buddy as he reached for the leash of his
friend. "Me feet give out on the way."
McCue did not surrender the chain to the boy. His face was a
shade whiter than usual.
"Lemme take him now. Chief," the boy urged. "It's been
mighty kind of you to look out for the old feller for me."
"Ye can't take him. Buddy," the constable replied in a low
voice. "Ten o'clock yestiddy the Mayor serves me with an order
to kill him within twenty-four hours because he ain't got no license
and a lot of ladies signed a complaint against him. I wanted
to—"
"Kill me dawg!" cried Buddy. "Kill Waffles? Wot's he
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 51
done? Did he bite anybody, Chief?" He fell on his knees and
put his arms about his friend's neck.
"He ain't done nuthin'/' replied McCue. "They ain't done
said a thing agin him 'ceptin' he was a nuisance."
A sob broke from Buddy's lips. "Ye can't kill him; ye can't
kill him!" the boy moaned, pressing the cur to his breast. "Kill
me, Chief, won't ye, please? Kill me 'stead of him. Please,
Chief, don't you shoot me dawg."
It was a job to be done with in a hurry, and McCue was sorry
that his ragged friend had come back. In a few minutes the station
would be crowded with people — respectable people — and swift
commission of this duly ordained murder could not be enacted
there. The old constable dragged the dog from the arms of his
little master and started down the hard-beaten track beside the
rails. Waffles struggled in vain, calling on Buddy to come along
too.
The boy rubbed the mud made by his tears clear of his eyes and
started after the constable and his dog. His bandaged left foot
dragged heavily, his sobs broke the quiet of the country air, his
lips writhed in anguish, his poor rags fluttered about him, and his
pitiful little soul within him was dying with crucifying pains.
Because of the struggles of Waffles, Buddy managed to catch
up with them. A quarter mile down the track McCue stopped
and pulled out a big, old-fashioned silver watch.
"In twenty-four hours. Buddy," he said solemnly. "They give
me the order at ten o'clock yestiddy. It's nine-fifty now."
Buddy dropped to the ground, his arms about the neck of his
dog. " Don't km him, don't kill him, Chief ! " he begged.
"He's only got ten minutes. Buddy."
"I ain't never had another friend on earth," moaned Buddy.
The dog whimpered and licked the chin and cheeks of his master.
".Time's up. Buddy; you'd better go away now." The con-
stable dropped his watch into his pocket and heaved forth an old-
fashioned horse pistol. As he did so Waffles yanked himself free,
but only for a moment, for the big foot of McCue came down on
the chain.
DON T KILL HIM, DON T KILL HIM, CHIEF ]
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 53
"You ain't going to shoot him chained up," begged Buddy.
"He won't go away from me and I can't run with a lame foot.
Loosen him, won't you?"
"I don't mind doing that for ye, son," replied McCue. "There
ain't nothing in the order about shooting him chained up. It says
just to shoot and kill him."
McCue unleashed the dog, and, with a word lifted on a sob,
Buddy ordered his friend to stand at attention. Not a muscle,
sinew or hair of the brute moved after the word was spoken. But
in his brown eyes came a message of affection, fidelity, and undying
faith to the eyes of his master.
McCue was aiming his great pistol.
"Sit up!" came the command from the swollen lips of the boy.
Waffles rose to his haunches, his forepaws pointed downward
pathetically. " Take aim !" cried Buddy. "Fire!" As he shouted
the last word he fell against the side of old Tom, the horse pistol
roaring to the clear heavens, spitting a tongue of fire and a cloud of
smoke.
Waffles dropped over on his side and lay stark and still in the
path.
"By gum!" cried McCue. "I done it with one shot. I'm glad
of that, Buddy." He slipped his pistol into its holster under his
coat and turned to the boy, taking his dirty, tear-stained face in
his shaky hands. "Don't blame me, son," he said in a husky
voice. "I had to obey orders. You take him and bury him. I
know how you loved him."
"I'll put him away in the woods over yonder," replied Buddy.
McCue tm-ned and trudged up the path beside the rails toward
the station, shaking his head sadly.
Buddy lifted his stark friend to a shoulder and stole into the
underbrush beside the tracks, burrowing deeper and deeper until
his strength gave out. Now, fully screened from all eyes, he laid
down his precious burden and uttered the one magic word : "Waf-
fles!"
The corpse stirred.
"Sit up!"
54 GOOD ENGLISH
The corpse sat up.
Buddy pointed a finger at him and said slowly: "Take aim'
Fire!''
Wafiles flopped over on his side.
''Git up!"
The corpse got up again.
"Come over and kiss your boss."
Waffles needed no further invitation.
Buddy then cleared a spot in the underbrush and with a grateful
sigh threw himself on the bare ground.
"Now we'll go to sleep," he said; and his dog coiled up close
to the empty stomach of his master, warming it, "When we both
git up we'll start after that circus," added Buddy drowsily. "We'll
— show — them — sumpin' — eeyah ! — won't we ? "
To THE Death 1
(From Jack London's The Call of the Wild, Chapter III)
. . . Spitz, cold and calculating even in his supreme moods, left
the pack and cut across a narrow neck of land where the creek made
a long bend around. Buck did not know of this, and as he rounded
the bend, the frost wraith of a rabbit still flitting before him, he
saw another and larger frost wraith leap from the overhanging bank
into the immediate path of the rabbit. It was Spitz. The rabbit
could not turn, and as the white teeth broke its back in mid air
it shrieked as loudly as a stricken man may shriek. . . .
Buck did not cry out. He did not check himself, but drove in
upon Spitz, shoulder to shoulder, so hard that he missed the throat.
They rolled over and over in the powdery snow. Spitz gained his
feet almost as though he had not been overthrown, slashing Buck
down the shoulder and leaping clear. Twice his teeth clipped
together, Hke the steel jaws of a trap, as he backed away for better
footing, with lean and lifting lips that writhed and snarled.
In a flash Buck knew it. The time had come. It was to the
death. As they circled about, snarling, ears laid back, keenly
^ Used by permission of The Macmillan Company.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 55
watchful for the advantage, the scene came to Buck with a sense of
familiarity. He seemed to remember it all, — the white woods,
and earth, and moonhght, and the thrill of battle. Over the white-
ness and silence brooded a ghostly calm. ... It was as though it
had always been, the wonted way of things.
Spitz was a practised fighter. ... He never rushed till he was
prepared to receive a rush ; never attacked till he had first defended
that attack.
In vain Buck strove to sink his teeth in the neck of the big white
dog. Wherever his fangs struck for the softer flesh, they were
countered by the fangs of Spitz. Fang clashed fang, and lips were
cut and bleeding, but Buck could not penetrate his enemy's guard.
Then he warmed up and enveloped Spitz in a whirlwind of rushes.
Time and time again he tried for the snow-white throat, where life
bubbled near to the surface, and each time and every time Spitz
slashed him and got away. Then Buck took to rushing, as though
for the throat, when, suddenly drawing back his head and curving
in from the side, he would drive his shoulder at the shoulder of
Spitz, as a ram by which to overthrow him. But instead Buck's
shoulder was slashed down each time as Spitz leaped Ughtly away.
Spitz was untouched, while Buck was streaming with blood and
panting hard. The fight was growing desperate. And all the
while the silent and wolfish circle waited to finish off whichever
dog went down. As Buck grew winded. Spitz took to rushing,
and he kept him staggering for footing. Once Buck went over, and
the whole circle of sixty dogs started up ; but he recovered himself,
almost in mid air, and the circle sank down again and waited.
But Buck possessed a quality that made for greatness — imagina-
tion. He fought by instinct, but he could fight by head as well. He
rushed, as though attempting the old shoulder trick, but at the
last instant swept low to the snow and in. His teeth closed on
Spitz's left fore leg. There was a crunch of breaking bone, and the
white dog faced him on three legs. Thrice he tried to knock him
over, then repeated the trick and broke the right fore leg. Despite
the pain and helplessness. Spitz struggled madly to keep up. He
saw the silent circle, with gleaming eyes, loUing tongues and silvery
56 GOOD ENGLISH
breaths drifting upward, closing in upon him as he had seen similar
circles close in upon beaten antagonists in the past. Only this
time he was the one who was beaten.
There was no hope for him. Buck was inexorable. Mercy was
a thing reserved for gentler cUmes. He manoeuvred for the final
rush. The circle had tightened till he could feel the breaths of the
huskies on his flanks. He could see them, beyond Spitz and to
either side, half crouching for the spring, their eyes fixed upon him.
A pause seemed to fall. Every animal was motionless as though
turned to stone. Only Spitz quivered and bristled as he staggered
back and forth, snarhng with horrible menace, as though to frighten
off impending death. Then Buck sprang in and out ; but while he
was in, shoulder had at last squarely met shoulder. The dark
circle became a dot on the moon-flooded snow as Spitz disappeared
from view. Buck stood and looked on, the successful champion,
the dominant primordial beast who had made his kill and found it
good.
The Parable of the Talents
(From the New Testament)
For it is as when a man, going into another country, called his
own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one
he gave five talents, to another two, to another one ; to each accord-
ing to his several ability ; and he went on his journey. Straight-
way he that received the five talents went and traded with them,
and made other five talents. In hke manner he also that received
the two gained other two. But he that received the one went away
and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
Now after a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and
maketh a reckoning with them. And he that received the five
talents came and brought other five talents, saying. Lord, thou
deliveredst unto me five talents: lo, I have gained other five
talents. His lord said unto him. Well done, good and faithful
servant : thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee
over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord. And he
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 57
also that received the two talents came and said, Lord, thou de-
liveredst unto me two talents : lo, I have gained other two talents.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good^and faithful servant : thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many things ;
enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
And he also that had received the one talent came and said,
Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou
didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; and I
was afraid, and went away and hid thy talent in the earth: lo,
thou hast thine own. But his lord answered and said unto him,
Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I
sowed not, and gather where I did not scatter; thou oughtest
therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming
I should have received back mine own with interest. Take ye
away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath
the ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and
he shall have abundance : but from him that hath not, even that
which he hath shall be taken away.
LESSON SEVEN
Stories in Prose Told in the First Person
Read one of the following stories and be able to tell it in
your own words to your classmates. Observe that these
stories are told in the first person. Note especially, in re-
telling the first of the group, these points : 1. Hugh and
his mother. 2. Hugh and his father. 3. Hugh's honesty.
4. David Dove and Hugh's father.
Hugh's School Days^
(From S. Weir MitcheWs Hugh Wynne: Free Quaker, Chapter II)
The day I went to school for the first time is very clear in my
memory. I can see myself, a stout little fellow about eight years
1 Used by permission of The Century Company.
58 GOOD ENGLISH
old, clad in gray homespun, with breeches, low shoes, and a low,
flat beaver hat. I can hear my^mother say, "Here are two big
apples for thy master," it being the custom so to propitiate peda-
gogues. Often afterward I took eggs m a little basket, or flowers,
and others did the like.
''Now run ! run !" she cried, "and be a good boy ; run, or thou
wilt be late." And she clapped her hands as I sped away, now and
then looking back over my shoulder.
I remember as well my return home to this solid house, this first
day of my going to school. One is apt to associate events with
persons, and my mother stood leaning on the half-door as I came
running back. She was some Uttle reassured to see me smil-
ing, for, to tell the truth, I had been mightily scared at my new
venture. . . .
As I came she set those large, childlike eyes on me, and opening
the lower half-door, cried out :
" I could scarce wait for thee ! I wish I could have gone with
thee, Hugh ; and was it dreadful? Come, let us see thy little book.
And did they praise thy reading? Didst thou tell them I taught
thee? There are girls, I hear," and so on — a way she had of ask-
ing many questions without waiting for a reply.
As we chatted we passed through the hall, where tall mahogany
chairs stood dark against the white-washed walls, such as were in
all the rooms. Joyous at escape from school, and its confinement
of three long, weary hours, from eight to eleven, I dropped my
mother's hand, and, running a Uttle, shd down the long entry over
the thinly sanded floor, and then slipping, came down with a rueful
countenance, as nature, foreseeing results, meant that a boy should
descend when his legs fail him. My mother sat down on a settle,
and spread out both palms toward me, laughing, and crying out :
"So near are joy and grief, my friends, in this world of sorrow."
This was said so exactly with the voice and manner of a famous
preacher of our Meeting that even I, a lad then of only eight years,
recognized the imitation. Indeed, she was wonderful at this trick
of mimicry, a thing most odious to Friends. As I smiled, hearing
her, I was aware of my father in the open doorway of the sitting-
NOW RUN 1 EUN I " SHE CRIED.
60 GOOD ENGLISH
room, tall, strong, with much iron-gray hair. Within I saw several
Friends, large rosy men in drab, with horn buttons and straight
collars, their stout legs clad in dark silk hose, without the paste or
silver buckles then in use. All wore broad-brimmed, low beavers,
and their gold-headed canes rested between their knees.
My father said to me, in his sharp way, "Take thy noise out into
the orchard. The child disturbs us, wife. Thou shouldst know
better. A committee of overseers is with me." He disUked the
name Marie, and was never heard to use it, nor even its English
equivalent.
Upon this the dear lady murmured, "Let us fly, Hugh," and she
ran on tiptoe along the hall with me, while my father closed the
door. "Come," she added, "and see the floor. I am proud of it.
We have friends to eat dinner with us at two." . . .
And thus began my Ufe at school, to which I went twice a day,
my father not approving of the plan of three sessions a day, which
was common, nor, for some reason, I know not what, of schools
kept by Friends. So it was that I set out before eight, and went
again from two to four. . . .
I have observed that teachers are often eccentric, and surely
David Dove was no exception, nor do I now know why so odd a
person was chosen by many for the care of youth. I fancy my
mother had to do with the choice in my case, and was influenced by
the fact that Dove rarely used the birch, but had a queer fancy for
setting culprits on a stool, with the birch switch stuck in the back
of the jacket, so as to stand up behind the head. I hated this, and
would rather have been birched secundum artem ^ than to have seen
the girls gigghng at me. I changed my opinion later. . . .
Our school Ufe with Dove ended after four years in an odd fashion.
I was then about twelve, and had become a vigorous, daring boy,
with, as it now seems to me, something of the fortunate gayety of
my mother. Other lads thought it singular that in peril I became
strangely vivacious ; but underneath I had a share of the relentless
firmness of my father, and of his vast disUke of failure, and of his
love of truth. I have often thought that the father in me saved me
* According to the usual method.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 61
from the consequences of so much of my mother's gentler nature
as might have done me harm in the rude conflicts of life.
David Dove, among other odd ways, devised a plan for punishing
the unpunctual which had considerable success. One day, when I
had far overstayed the hour of eight, by reason of having cUmbed
into Friend Pemberton's gardens, where I was tempted by many
green apples, I was met by four older boys. One had a lantern,
which, with much laughter, he tied about my neck, and one, march-
ing before, rang a bell. I had seen this queer punishment fall on
others, and certainly the amusement shown by people in the streets
would not have hurt me compared with the advantage of pockets
full of apples, had I not of a sudden seen my father, who usually
breakfasted at six, and was at his warehouse by seven. He looked
at me composedly, but went past us saying nothing.
On my return about eleven, he miluckily met me in the garden,
for I had gone the back way in order to hide my apples. I had an
unpleasant half-hour, despite my mother's tears, and was sent at
once to confess to Friend James Pemberton. The good man said I
was a naughty boy, but must come later when the apples were red
ripe, and I should take all I wanted, and I might fetch with me
another boy, or even two. I never forgot this, and did him some
good turns in after-years, and right gladly too.
In my own mind I associated David Dove with this painful inter-
view with my father. I disliked him the more because, when the
procession entered the school, a little girl for whom Warder and I
had a boy friendship, in place of laughing, as did the rest, for some
reason began to cry. This angered the master, who had the lack
of self-control often seen in eccentric people. He asked why she
cried, and on her sobbing out that it was because she was sorry for
me, he bade her take off her stays. These being stiff, and worn
outside the gown, would have made the punishment of the birch
on the shoulders of trifling moment.
As it was usual to whip girls at school, the little maid said nothing
but did as she was bid, taking a sharp birching without a cry.
Meanwhile I sat with my head in my hands, and my fingers in my
ears lest I should hear her weeping. After school that evening,
62 GOOD ENGLISH
when all but Warder and I had wandered home, I wrote on the out-
side wall of the school-house with chalk, ''David Dove Is A Cruel
Beast," and went away somewhat better contented.
Now, with all his seeming dislike to use the rod, David had turns
of severity, and then he was far more brutal than any man I have
ever known. Therefore it did not surprise us next morning that
the earlier scholars were looking with wonder and alarm at the
sentence on the wall, when Dove, appearing behind us, ordered us
to enter at once.
Going to his desk, he put on his spectacles, which then were
worn astride of the nose. In a minute he set on below them a
second pair, and this we knew to be a signal of coming violence.
Then he stood up, and asked who had written the opprobrious
epithet on the wall. As no one repHed, he asked several in turn,
but luckily chose the girls, thinking, perhaps, that they would
weakly betray the sinner. Soon he lost patience, and cried out he
would give a king's pound to know.
When he had said this over and over, I began to reflect that, if
he had any idea of doing as he promised, a pound was a great simi,
and to consider what might be done with it in the way of marbles
of Amsterdam, tops, and of certain much-desired books, for now
this latter temptation was upon me, as it has been ever since. As
I sat, and Dove thundered, I remembered how, when one Stacy,
with an oath, assured my father that his word was as good as his
bond, my parent said dryly that this equahty left him free to choose,
and he would prefer his bond. I saw no way to what was for me
the mysterious security of a bond, but I did conceive of some need
to stiffen the promise Dove had made before I faced the penalty.
Upon this I held up a hand, and the master cried, "What is it?"
I said, "Master, if a boy should tell thee wouldst thou surely give
a pound?"
At this a lad called "Shame !" thinking I was a telltale.
When Dove called silence and renewed his pledge, I, overbold,
said, "Master, I did it, and now wilt thou please to give me a pound
— a king's pound?"
"I will give thee a pounding!" he roared; and upon this came
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 63
down from his raised form, and gave me a beating so terrible and
cruel that at last the girls cried aloud, and he let me drop on the
floor, sore and angry. I lay still awhile, and then went to my seat.
As I bent over my desk, it was rather the sense that I had been
wronged, than the pain of the blows, which troubled me.
After school, refusing speech to any, I walked home, and min-
istered to my poor little bruised body as I best could. Now this
being a Saturday, and therefore a half-holiday, I ate at two with my
father and mother.
Presently, my father detecting my uneasy movements, said,
"Hast thou been birched today, and for what badness?"
Upon this my mother said softly, "What is it, my son ? Have no
fear." And this gentleness being too much for me, I fell to tears,
and blurted out all my Uttle tragedy.
As I ended, my father rose, very angry, and cried out, "Come
this way ! " But my mother caught me, saying, "No ! no ! Look,
John ! see his poor neck and his wrist ! What a brute ! I tell thee,
thou shalt not ! it were a sin. Leave him to me," and she thrust
me behind her as if for safety.
To my surprise, he said, "As thou wilt," and my mother hurried
me away. We had a grave, sweet talk, and there it ended for a
time. I learned that, after all, the woman's was the stronger will.
I was put to bed and declared to have a fever, and given sulphur and
treacle, and kept out of the paternal^ paths for a mournful day of
enforced rest.
On the Monday following I went to school as usual, but not
without fear of Dove. When we were all busy, about ten o'clock,
I was amazed to hear my father's voice. He stood before the desk,
and addressed Master Dove in a loud voice, meaning, I suppose, to
be heard by all of us.
"David Dove," he said, "my son has been guilty of disrespect
to thee, and to thy office. I do not say he has hed, for it is my
beUef that thou art truly an unjust and cruel beast. As for his sin,
he has suffered enough [I felt glad of this final opinion] ; but a bar-
gain was made. He, on his part, for a consideration of one pound
sterling, was to tell thee who wrote certain words. He has paid thee
64 GOOD ENGLISH
and thou hast taken interest out of his skin. Indeed, Friend Shy-
lock, I think he weighs less by a pound. Thou wilt give him his
pound, Master David."
Upon this a Httle maid near by smiled at me, and Warder punched
me in the ribs. Master Dove was silent a moment, and then
answered that there was no law to make him pay, and that he had
spoken hghtly, as one might say, "I would give this or that to
know." But my father replied at once :
"The boy trusted thee, and was as good as his word. I advise
thee to pay. As thou art Master to punish boys, so will I, David,
use thy birch on thee at need, and trust to the great Master to
reckon with me if I am wrong."
All this he said so fiercely that I trembled with joy, and hoped
that Dove would deny him ; but, in place of this, he muttered some-
thing about Meeting and Friends, and meanwhile searched his
pockets and brought out a guinea. This my father dropped into
his breeches pocket, saying, "The shilling will be for interest" (a
guinea being a shilling over a king's pound). After this, turning to
me, he said, "Come with me, Hugh," and went out of the school-
house, I following after, very well pleased, and thinking of my
guinea.
The Day of Judgment
(From Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward's Trotty's Wedding Tour)
I am fourteen years old and Jill is twelve and a quarter. Jill
is my brother. That isn't his name, you know ; his name is Timothy
and mine is George Zacharias; but they've always called us Jack
and Jill. . . .
Well, Jill and I had an invitation to Aunt John's this summer, and
that was how we happened to be there. . . .
I'd rather go to Aunt John's than anywhere else in this world.
When I was a little fellow I used to think I'd rather go to Aunt
John's than to go to Heaven. But I never dared to tell. . . .
She'd invited us to come on the 12th of August. It takes all
day to get to Aunt John's. She lives at Little River in New
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 65
Hampshire away up. You have to wait at South Lawrence in a
poky little depot, . . . and you get some played out. At least I
don't but Jill does. So we bought a paper and Jill sat up and read
it. When he'd sat a minute and read along :
"Look here!" said he.
''Look where?" said I.
*'Why, there's going to be a comet tonight," said Jill.
"Who cares?" said I.
Jill laid down the paper, and crimched a pop-corn all up before
he answered that. Then said he, "I don't see why father didn't
tell us. I s'pose he thought we'd be frightened, or something.
Why, s'posing the world did come to an end? That's what this
paper says. 'It is predicted' — where's my place? ! I see —
'predicted by learned men that a comet will come into con — con-
junction with our plant' — no — 'our planet this night. Whether
we shall be plunged into a wild vortex of angry space, or suffocated
with n-o-x — noxious gases, or scorched to a helpless crisp, or
blasted at once into eternal an-ni-hi '"
A gust of wind grabbed the paper out of Jill's hand just then, and
took it out of the window ; so I never heard the rest. . . .
"Father isn't a goose," said L "He didn't think it worth men-
tioning. He isn't going to be afraid of a comet at his time of life ! "
So we didn't think any more about the comet till we got to
Aunt John's. . . . There was company there. ... It wasn't a
relation, only an old schoolmate, and her name was Miss Togy ; so
she'd come without an invitation, and had to have the spare room
because she was a lady. That was how Jill and I came to be put
in the little chimney bedroom. . . .
That little chimney bedroom is the funniest place you ever slept
in. . . . There'd been a chimney once, and it ran up by the window,
and grandfather had it taken away. It was a big, old, oZc^-fashioned
chimney, and it left the funniest little gouge in the room ! So the
bed went in as nice as could be. We couldn't see much but the
ceihng when we got to bed.
"It's pretty dark," said Jill; "I shouldn't wonder if it did blow
up a Uttle. Wouldn't it scare — Miss — Bogy ! "
66 GOOD ENGLISH
"Togy," said I.
"Well, T-o — " said Jill; and right in the middle of it he went
off as sound as a weasel.
The next thing I can remember is a horrible noise — I can't
think of but one thing in this world it was like, and that isn't in
this world so much. I mean the Last Trumpet, with the Angel
blowing as he blows in my old Primer.
But the next thing I remember is hearing Jill sit up in bed, — for
I couldn't see him, it was so dark, — and his piping out the other
half of Miss Togy's name just as he had left it when he went to
sleep :
^'Gy! Bo-gy! Yo-gy! Soa-ky! — 0," said Jill, coming to at last,
''I thought . . . why, what's up?"
I was up, but I couldn't tell what else was, for a little while.
I went to the window. It was as dark as a great rat-hole out-of-
doors, all but a streak of lightning and an awful thunder, as if the
world was cracking all to pieces. . , .
"Come to bed !" shouted Jill, "you'll get struck, and then that'll
kill me."
I went back to bed, for I didn't know what else to do. We
crawled down under the clothes and covered ourselves all up.
"W-ould — you — call Aunt — John?" asked Jill. He was
'most choked. I came up for air.
"No," said I, "I don't think I'd call Aunt John."
I should have liked to call Aunt John by that time ; but then I
should have felt ashamed.
"I s'pose she has got her hands full with Miss Croaky, anyway,"
chattered Jill, bobbing up for a breath, and then bobbing under
again.
By that time the storm was the worst storm I had ever seen in
my life — it grew worse and worse. Thunder, lightning, and wind !
Wind, lightning, and thunder ! Rain and roar and awfulness ! I
don't know how to tell how awful it was. . . .
In the middle of the biggest peal we'd had yet, up jumped Jill.
"Jack!" said he, "that comet!" I'd never thought of the comet
till that minute; I felt an ugly feeling and a little cold all over.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 67
'It is the comet!" said Jill. "It is the Day of Judgment,
Jack." . . .
Then it happened. It happened so fast I didn't even have time
to get my head under the clothes.
First there was a creak. Then a crash. Then we felt a shake as
if a giant pushed his shoulder up through the floor and shoved us.
Then we doubled up. And then we began to fall. The floor opened,
and we went through. I heard the bed-post hit as we went by. . . .
Then I felt another crash. Then we began to fall again. Then
we bumped down hard. After that we stopped falling. I lay
still. My heels were doubled up over my head. I thought my neck
would break. But I never dared to stir. I thought I was dead.
By and by I wondered if Jill were not dead too. So I undoubted
my neck a little and found some air. It seemed to be just as un-
comfortable ... to breathe without air when you were dead as
when you weren't.
I called out softly, "Jill!" No answer. "Jill!" Not a sound.
"O — JILL!"
But he did not speak. So then I knew Jill must be dead, at
any rate. I couldn't help wondering why he was so much deader
than I that he couldn't answer a fellow. Pretty soon I heard a
rustling noise around my feet. Then a weak, sick kind of a noise —
just the noise I always had supposed ghosts would make if they
talked.
"Jack?"
"Is that you, Jill?"
"I — suppose — so. Is it you, Jack?"
"Yes. Are ^ow dead?"
" I don't know. Are you ? "
" I guess I must be if you are. How awfully dark it is ! "
"Awfully dark ! It must have been the comet ! "
"Yes ; did you get much hurt ? "
" Not much — I say — Jack ? "
"What?"
"H it is the Judgment Day — " Jill broke up. So did I. We
lay as still as we could. If it were the Judgment Day
68 GOOD ENGLISH
"Jill!" said I.
"Oh, dear me!" sobbed Jill.
We were both crying by that time. I don't feel ashamed to own
up, as far as I'm concerned.
"If I'd known," said I, "that the Day of Judgment was coming
on the 12th of August, I wouldn't have been so mean about that
jack-knife of yours with the notch in it ! "
"And I wouldn't have eaten up your luncheon that day last
winter when I got mad at you," said Jill.
"Nor we wouldn't have cheated mother about smoking, vaca-
tions," said I.
" I'd never have played with the Bailey boys out behind the bam ! "
said Jill.
"I wonder where the comet went to," said I.
"'Whether we shall be plunged into,'" quoted Jill, in a horrible
whisper, from that dreadful newspaper, "'shall be plunged into a
wild vortex of angry space — or suffocated with noxious gases —
or scorched to a helpless crisp — or blasted ' "
"When do you suppose they'll come after us?" I interrupted Jill.
That very minute somebody came. We heard a step, and then
another. Then a heavy bang. Jill howled out a httle. I didn't,
for I was thinking how the cellar door banged like that.
Then came a voice, an awful, hoarse and trembling voice as
ever you'd want to hear, "George Zacharias!"
Then I knew it must be the Judgment Day and that the Angel
had me up in court to answer him. For you couldn't expect an
angel to call you Jack when you were dead.
"George Zacharias !" said the awful voice again. I didn't know
what else to do, I was so frightened, so I just hollered out, "Here !"
as I do at school.
"Timothy!" came the voice once more.
Now Jill had a bright idea. Up he shouted, "Absent!" at the
top of his lungs.
"George! Jack! Jill! where are you? Are you killed f 0,
wait a minute and I'll bring a light!"
This didn't sound so much like Judgment Day as it did like
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 69
Aunt John. I began to feel better. So did Jill. I sat up. So did
he. It wasn't a minute till the light came into sight and something
that looked Uke the cellar door, the cellar stairs, and Aunt John's
spotted wrapper, and Miss Togy in a night-gown, away behind, as
white as a ghost. Aunt John held the Ught above her head and
looked down. I don't believe I shall ever see an angel that will
make me feel any better to look at than Aunt John did that night.
"0 you blessed boys!" said Aunt John, — she was laughing
and crying together. "To think that you should have fallen
through the old chimney to the cellar floor and be sitting there alive
in such a funny heap as that ! "
That was just what we had done. The old flooring — not very
secure — had given way in the storm ; and we'd gone down through
two stories, where the chimney ought to have been, jam ! into the
cellar on the coal heap, and all as good as ever excepting the bed-
stead !
PRACTICE
(On stories in Lesson Six and Lesson Seven)
1. Make a list of the unfamiliar words in one of the foregoing sto-
ries and look them up in the dictionary.
2. Write a letter from Frau Hildesmuller to her daughter Lena.
Invent the details.
3. Imagine that Mr. Wynne, instead of calhng at David Dove's
school, had written him a letter. Reproduce the letter.
4. Jack writes a letter to a friend about his visit to Aunt John's
and the Day of Judgment. Reproduce the letter.
5. Write a letter to the author of one of the above stories, telling
him why you Uke it.
6. Which of the characters portrayed in the stories you read do
you like best? Give your reasons.
7. Show that the events in the stories you read follow one an-
other naturally ; show that each event grows out of a pre-
ceding one.
8. Imagine David Dove in Jack and Jill's place at Aunt John's.
Tell just how you think he would have behaved.
70 GOOD ENGLISH
9. Tell one of the above first-person stories in the third person.
Is anything lost ? Anything gained by the change ? Explain.
10. Tell the story of The Chaparral Prince in the first person, as
Lena told it in after years to her children.
LESSON EIGHT
Planning a Story
Remember again the two elements that make for interest
in composition — good writing and something to say.
Under good writing, in the lessons on letters, we were chiefly
concerned with forms, the customs that good letter writers
follow in order to make their letters easy to read and to
answer. In story telling, there are not so many customs
to trouble us, or, rather, the customs of story telUng are
those of all good writing, and deal with such things as spell-
ing, punctuation, and capitalization. But story telling
offers an excellent opportunity to begin the consideration
of one of the chief rules for all good writing — the careful
planning of all you propose to say.
Whenever you speak, whenever you write, there are two
steps to take — first the preparation, second the actual
speaking or the writing out. Planning is just getting the
results of your preparation in clear and visible form.
Everything that is worth while doing must be thoroughly
planned. You can see evidence of this truth all about you,
not only in the achievements of men but also in the workings
of nature. Every bolt and screw in a large building is ac-
counted for in the plans for that building before human
hand is permitted to touch the material out of which it is
made. Nature observes the strictest regularity of plan in
the succession of days and nights, of months and years, of
seasons and centuries.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 71
In writing and speaking you must know not only just
what you are going to say but just how you are going to say
it as well. And you must learn to plan so easily and so
naturally, that, as soon as you are given a task to do, you
will, as you prepare, almost unconsciously hit upon a method
for the performance of that task.
Here is a little plan for the story on page 54. Just
below it is a plan for the story on page 56. Study these
two plans in connection with the stories from which they
are taken.
To THE Death
1. Spitz brings down the rabbit
a. A contest with Buck
2. Buck attacks Spitz
a. A close match
b. A fight to the death
3. Spitz gains in the struggle
a. The waiting wolfish circles
b. Spitz's method of rushing
4. Buck fights by head as well as by instinct
a. Sweeps low and in
b. Breaks Spitz's left foreleg
c. Breaks Spitz's right foreleg
5. Spitz is done for
a. A game loser
b. The inclosing circle
c. Spitz's disappearance
6. Buck stands proudly victorious
The Parable of the Talents
Introduction
1. The master
2. The three servants
3. The three gifts
72 GOOD ENGLISH
Discussion
1. The report of the first servant
a. "I have gained other five talents "
2. The report of the second servant
a. " I have gained other two talents "
3. The report of the third servant
a. "I hid thy talent in the earth "
Conclusion
1. The master's reproof
2. The punishment
3. The lesson
In planning a story, you may enumerate the principal
events in the order in which they occur. This is called the
time or chronological order. But it is often better to reserve
the most interesting happening for a place near the end.
It is sometimes necessary, also, at the outset to explain the
situation or to describe the scene of the story or to discuss
certain of the important characters. The following general
plan will be found useful in preparing to write out stories : —
1. Situation
a. Time
b. Place
c. Characters
2. Happenings
The important events, with the most interesting last
3. Result
What follows as the result of the event of greatest interest
Sometimes, however, a story starts in the middle of things.
Such is the case with The Chaparral Prince on page 32.
The story opens with Lena in the midst of a sorry situation.
Thence, by degrees, it is unfolded, until the reader is taken
back to the beginning of Lena's troubles and Lena's hopes.
This plan has the advantage of gripping the interest of the
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 73
reader at once. It is the method of The Odyssey, of Paradise
Lost, and many of the great stories of the world.
You may make your stories more vivid and real by telling
them in the first person. This sometimes presents diffi-
culties, especially when the narrator has to be in one place
and the events of the story occur elsewhere. But the diffi-
culty may be met by various devices, such as a letter or a
diary in which occurrences are reported that took place in
the story teller's absence. You will find it an interesting
exercise to change a story from one person to another, or
to tell a story by means of the conversation of many differ-
ent characters.
PRACTICE
1. Why is a plan necessary to the telling of a story?
2. How should one go about planning a story?
3. Make a plan for The Day of Judgment (page 64), for Hugh's
School Days (page 57), for Buddy and Waffles (page 43).
4. Explain how these plans differ from those given on pages 176,
177, 203.
5. Make a plan and write a short story on one of the following
topics : —
Why Bill left school. The biography of a school boy.
The fish that wouldn't bite. Late — and then ! — .
When the canoe upset. Grandma's Wedge wood platter.
A day I shall never forget. Finding the treasure.
6. Tell the story of To the Death according to Buck ; that is, use
the first person throughout and let Buck do the telling.
7. Imagine that Aunt John was observing Jack and Jill during
their frightful night. Tell the story of The Day of Judgment
in her words.
8. Plan and write a story in which you show the superior character
of some animal by what he does. The following topics may
be suggestive : —
Toby, the truck horse. Tabby, the patient heroine.
Rex, the rescuer. King, the trusty knight of the harness.
74 GOOD ENGLISH
9. Plan and write a story suggested by one of the following : —
Pluck Slacker Downed Stuck
Nerve Game Cornered Sand
10. Plan and write a story suggested by one of the following : —
My first real work. My last penny.
My first failure. My first party.
My best lesson. My first whipping.
My pleasantest surprise. My oldest trick.
11. Tell the story of what happened to Hugh Wynne at school, by
means of conversation between Hugh's father and mother.
12. Tell the story of some school contest by means of conversation
(1) Among the teachers, or
(2) Among the pupils, or
(3) Among the parents of the pupils who took part.
LESSON NINE
Stories in Poetry Told in the Third Person
Read some or all of the poems that follow. Which do you
like best? Draw up a brief plan for it. Look up the mean-
ings of any unfamiliar words.
The Old Man and Jim^
(By James Whitcomb Riley)
Old man never had much to say —
'Ceptin' to Jim, —
And Jim was the wildest boy he had,
And the old man jes' wrapped up in him !
Never heerd him speak but once
Er twice in my life, — and first time was
When the army broke out, and Jim he went,
^ From the Biographical Edition of the Complete Works of James Whit-
comb Riley, copyright 1913. Used by special permission of the publishers.
The Bobbs-Merrill Company.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 75
The old man backin' him fer three months ;
And all 'at I heerd the old man say
Was, jes' as we turned to start away, —
" Well, good-by, Jim :
Take keer of yourse'f !"
Teared like he was more satisfied
Jes' lookin' at Jim
And likin' him all to hisse'f-like, see ?
'Cause he was jes' wrapped up in him !
And over and over I mind the day
The old man come and stood round in the way
While we was drillin', a-watchin' Jim ;
And down at the deepot a-heerin' him say, —
"Well, good-by, Jim :
Take keer of yourse'f !"
Never was nothin' about the farm
Disting'ished Jim ;
Neighbors all ust to wonder why
The old man 'peared wrapped up in him :
But when Cap. Biggler, he writ back
'At Jim was the bravest boy we had
In the whole dern rigiment, white er black,
And his fightin' good as his farmin' bad, —
'At he had led, with a bullet clean
Bored through his thigh, and carried the flag
Through the bloodiest battle you ever seen, —
The old man wound up a letter to him
'At Cap. read to us, 'at said, — " Tell Jim
Good-by ;
And take keer of hisse'f !"
Jim come home jes' long enough
To take the whim
'At he'd like to go back in the calvery —
And the old man jes' wrapped up in him !
76 GOOD ENGLISH
Jim 'lowed 'at he'd had sich luck afore,
Guessed he'd tackle her three years more.
And the old man give him a colt he'd raised,
And foUered him over to Camp Ben Wade,
And laid around fer a week er so,
Watchin' Jim on dress-parade ;
'Tel finally he rid away.
And last he heerd was the old man say, —
"Well, good-by, Jim :
Take keer of yourse'f !"
Tuk the papers, the old man did,
A-watchin' fer Jim,
Fully believin' he'd make his mark
Some way — jes' wrapped up in him I
And many a time the word 'ud come
'At stirred him up like a tap of a drum :
At Petersburg, fer instunce, where
Jim rid right into their cannons there.
And tuk 'em, and p'inted 'em t'other way,
And socked it home to the boys in gray,
As they skooted fer timber, and on and on —
Jim a lieutenant, — and one arm gone, —
And the old man's words in his mind all day, -
"Well, good-by, Jim :
Take keer of yourse'f!"
Think of a private, now, perhaps,
We'll say like Jim,
'At's clum clean up to the shoulder-straps —
And the old man jes' wrapped up in liim !
Think of him — with the war plum' through
And the glorious old Red-White-and-Blue
A-laughin' the news down over Jim,
And the old man, bendin' over him —
The surgeon turnin' away with tears
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 77
'At hadn't leaked fer years and years,
As the hand of the dyin' boy clung to
His Father's, the old voice in his ears, —
"Well, good-by, Jim :
Take keer of yourse'f !"
First Appearance at the Odeon
(By James T. Fields)
" I am Nicholas Tacchinardi, — hunchbacked, look you, and a
fright ;
Caliban himself might never interpose so foul a sight.
Granted ; but I come not, masters, to exhibit form or size.
Gaze not on my Umbs, good people ; lend your ears and not your
eyes.
I'm a singer, not a dancer, — spare me for a while your din ;
Let me try my voice tonight here, — keep your jests till I begin.
Have the kindness but to hsten, — this is all I dare to ask.
See, I stand beside the foothghts, waiting to begin my task.
If I fail to please you, curse me, — not before my voice you hear,
Thrust me not from the Odeon. Hearken, and I've naught to fear."
Then the crowd in pit and boxes jeered the dwarf, and mocked his
shape ;
Called him "monster," "thing abhorrent," crying "off, presump-
tuous ape !
Off, unsightly, baleful creature ! off, and quit the insulted stage !
Move aside, repulsive figure, or deplore our gathering rage."
Bowing low, pale Tacchinardi, long accustomed to such threats,
Burst into a grand bravura, showering notes like diamond jets, j—
Sang until the ringing plaudits through the wide Odeon rang, —
Sang as never soaring tenor ere behind those foothghts sang ;
And the hunchback, ever after, like a god was hailed with cries, —
"Eling of minstrels, live forever! Shame on fools who have but
eyes!"
78 GOOD ENGLISH
The Ballad of the Oysterman
(By Oliver Wendell Holmes)
It was a tall young oysterman lived by the river-side,
His shop was just upon the bank, his boat was on the tide;
The daughter of a fisherman, that was so straight and slim,
Lived over on the other bank, right opposite to him.
It was the pensive oysterman that saw a lovely maid.
Upon the moonlight evening, a sitting in the shade ;
He saw her wave her handkerchief, as much as if to say,
"I'm wide awake, young oysterman, and all the folks away."
Then up arose the oysterman, and to himself said he,
" I guess I'll leave the skiff at home, for fear that folks should see ;
I read it in the story book, that, for to kiss his dear,
Leander swam the Hellespont, — and I will swim this here."
And he has leaped into the waves, and crossed the shining stream,
And he has clambered up the bank, all in the moonlight gleam ;
O there were kisses sweet as dew, and words as soft as rain, —
But they have heard her father's step, and in he leaps again !
Out spoke the ancient fisherman, — "0 what was that, my
daughter?"
'"Twas nothing but a pebble, sir, I threw into the water;"
"And what is that, pray tell me, love, that paddles off so fast?"
"It's nothing but a porpoise, sir, that's been a swimming past.'*
Out spoke the ancient fisherman, — "Now bring me my harpoon !
I'll get into my fishing-boat, and fix the fellow soon ; "
Down fell that pretty innocent, as falls a snow-white lamb,
Hor hair drooped round her pallid cheeks, like sea- weed on a clam.
Alas for those two loving ones ! she waked not from her s wound.
And he was taken with the cramp, and in the waves was drowned ;
But Fate has metamorphosed them, in pity of their woe.
And now they keep an oyster-shop for mermaids down below.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 79
The Highwayman^
(By Alfred Noyes)
Part One
The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees,
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And. the highwayman came riding —
Riding — riding —
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn door.
He'd a French cocked hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,
A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doeskin ;
They fitted with never a wrinkle : his boots were up to the thigh !
And he rode with a jeweled twinkle.
His pistol butts a-twinkle.
His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jeweled sky.
Ill
Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn yard,
And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and
barred ;
He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting
there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter.
Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long black hair.
IV
And dark in the dark old inn yard a stable-wicket creaked
Where Tim the ostler listened ; his face was white and peaked ;
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like moldy hay,
* Used by permission of The Macmillan Company.
80 GOOD ENGLISH
But he loved the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's red-lipped daughter,
Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say —
"One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I'm after a prize tonight,
But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light ;
Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day.
Then look for me by moonhght.
Watch for me by moonhght,
I'll come to thee by moonhght, though hell should bar the way."
VI
He rose upright in the stirrups ; he scarce could reach her hand,
But she loosened her hair i' the casement ! His face burned Uke a
brand
As the black cascade of perfume came tumbHng over his breast ;
And he kissed its waves in the moonhght,
(Oh, sweet black waves in the moonhght !)
Then he tugged at his rein in the moonhght, and galloped away to
the West.
Part Two
He did not come in the dawning ; he did not come at noon ;
And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon,
Wlien the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor,
A redcoat troop came marching —
Marching — Marching —
King George's men came marching, up to the old inn door.
n
They said no word to the landlord, they drank his ale instead.
But they gagged his daughter and bound her to the foot of her
narrow bed ;
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 81
Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side !
There was death at every window ;
And hell at one dark window ;
For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would
ride.
in
They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest ;
They had boimd a musket beside her, with the barrel beneath her
breast !
"Now keep good watch !" and they kissed her.
She heard the dead man say *
Look for me by moonlight;
Watch for me by moonlight;
I'll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way !
IV
She twisted her hands behind her ; but all the knots held good !
She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood !
They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled
by like years,
Till, now, on the stroke of midnight.
Cold on the stroke of midnight.
The tip of one finger touched it ! The trigger at least was hers !
The tip of one finger touched it ; she strove no more for the rest !
Up, she stood up to attention, with the barrel beneath her breast,
She would not risk their hearing ; she would not strive again ;
For the road lay bare in the moonlight ;
Blank and bare in the moonhght ;
And the blood of her veins in the moonlight throbbed to her love's
refrain.
^ She already thought of her lover as dead.
82 GOOD ENGLISH
VI
Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing
clear ;
TloHlotf tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did
not hear ?
Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,
The highwayman came riding,
Riding, — riding !
The redcoats looked to their priming ! She stood up, straight and
still!
VII
Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence ! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night !
Nearer he came and nearer ! Her face was like a hght !
Her eyes grew wide for a moment ; she drew one last deep breath,
Then her finger moved in the moonUght,
Her musket shattered the moonhght,
Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him — with her
death.
vin
He turned ; he spurred to the Westward ; he did not know who
stood
Bowed, with her head o'er the musket, drenched with her own red
blood !
Not till the dawn he heard it, and slowly blanched to hear
How Bess, the landlord's daughter,
The landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness
there.
DC
Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind him, and his rapier brandished
high!
Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his
velvet coat ;
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 83
When they shot him down on the highway,
Down like a dog on the highway,
And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at
his throat.
And still of a winter's night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,
When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,
When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
A highwayman comes riding —
Riding — riding —
A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn door.
XI
Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn yard;
And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred;
He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there
But the landlord's black-eyed daughter,
Bess, the landlord's daughter,
Plaiting a dark red love knot into her long black hair.
LESSON TEN
Stories in Poetry Told in the First Person
Which of the following poems do you like the better?
Draw up a brief plan for The Yarn of the Nancy Bell. Look
up all unfamiliar words in these poems : —
Bird Thoughts
I lived first. in a little house, and lived there very well,
I thought the world was small and round, and made of pale blue
shell.
I lived next in a little nest, nor needed any other,
I thought the world was made of straw, and brooded to my mother.
84 GOOD ENGLISH
One day I fluttered from the nest to see what I could find,
I said : ''The world is made of leaves ; I have been very blind."
At length I flew beyond the tree, quite fit for grown-up labors,
I don't know how the world is made, and neither do my neighbors !
The Yarn of the "Nancy Bell"
(By W. S. Gilbert)
'Twas on the shores that round our coast
From Deal to Ramsgate span,
That I found alone, on a piece of stone,
An elderly naval man.
His hair was weedy, his beard was long,
And weedy and long was he ;
And I heard this wight on the shore recite,
In a singular minor key :
"Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig.
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig."
And he shook his fists and he tore his hair,
Till I really felt afraid.
For I couldn't help thinking the man had been drinking,
And so I simply said :
"Oh, elderly man, it's little I know
Of the duties of men of the sea.
And I'll eat my hand if I understand
However you can be
"At once a cook, and a captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig."
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 85
Then he gave a hitch to his trousers, which
Is a trick all seamen larn,
And having got rid of a thumping quid,
He spun this painful yarn :
"'Twas in the good ship Nancy Bell
That we sailed to the Indian Sea,
And there on a reef we come to grief,
Which has often occurred to me.
"And pretty nigh all o' the crew was drowned
(There was seventy-seven o' soul),
And only ten of the Nancy^s men
Said ' Here ! ' to the muster-roll.
"There was me, and the cook, and the captain bold,
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And the bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite.
And the crew of the captain's gig.
"For a month we'd neither wittles nor drink,
Till a-hungry we did feel,
So we drawed a lot, and, accordin' shot
The captain for our meal.
"The next lot fell to the Nancy's mate,
And a delicate dish he made ;
Then our appetite with the midshipmite
We seven survivors stayed.
"And then we murdered the bo'sun tight.
And he much resembled pig ;
'Then we wittled free, did the cook and me,
On the crew of the captain's gig.
"Then only the cook and me was left,
And the deUcate question, ' Which
Of us two goes to the kettle ? ' arose.
And we argued it out as sich.
86 GOOD ENGLISH
" For I loved that cook as a brother, I did,
And the cook he worshipped me ;
But we'd both be blowed if we'd either be stowed
In the other chap's hold, you see.
'"I'll be eat if you dines off me,' says Tom.
'Yes, that,' says I, 'you'll be, —
I'm boiled if I die, my friend,' quoth I ;
And 'Exactly so,' quoth he.
" Says he : ' Dear James, to murder me
Were a fooUsh thing to do.
For don't you see that you can't cook me.
While I can — and will — cook you ! '
" So he boils the water, and takes the salt
And the pepper in portions true
(Which he never forgot), and some chopped shalot,
And some sage and parsley too.
"'Come here,' says he, with a proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell,
* 'Twill soothing be if I let you see
How extremely nice you'll smell.'
"And he stirred it round and round and roimd,
And he sniffed at the foaming froth ;
When I ups with his heels, and smothers his squeals
In the scum of the boiling broth.
"And I eat that cook in a week or less,
And — as I eating be
The last of his chops, why, I almost drops,
For a wessel in sight I see.
*******
"And I never larf, and I never smile,
And I never lark nor play ;
But sit and croak, and a single joke
I have — which is to say :
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 87
" Oh, I am a cook and a captain bold
And the mate of the Nancy brig,
And a bo'sun tight, and a midshipmite,
And the crew of the captain's gig !"
PRACTICE
(On poems in Lesson Nine and Lesson Ten)
1. In which of the above poems are the most unusual events set
forth ? Explain.
2. Which of these poems portrays the most lovable human char-
acter? Tell something about this character.
3. Reproduce Captain Biggler's letter (mentioned in the second
stanza on page 75) . Follow good letter form and add to the
contents of the letter from your imagination.
4. Which of the above poems is most interesting because of its
characters ? Which is the most interesting because of its
events? Which has the most interesting scene or setting?
5. Tell the story of The Ballad of the Oysterman or of The Highway-
man or of Bird Thoughts, in a letter to a friend.
LESSON ELEVEN
Interest in Story Telling
A well-planned story will always be interesting, if its
subject matter is interesting. The best-planned story
about the tiresome events of a dull hour waiting for a train
in a country station would probably not awake attention.
On the other hand, a story badly told of the wild ride of a
plunging, driverless automobile down the main street of a
village would be interesting, — though it would be much
more interesting if told well.
What makes interesting subject matter for stories? The
answer is the same as to the questions, "What interests you
88 GOOD ENGLISH
in your life? What arouses your attention? " First of all,
perhaps, events a little out of the ordinary, events that
stir your imagination because you enjoy them; or that
leave a vivid impression because, even if unpleasant, they
are so different from the ordinary run of experience. No
one is, or should be, content with the dull routine of doing
just the same things day after day. It is human nature to
follow one's impulses occasionally and seek for something
new; or if novelty comes of itself, to enjoy it. Men and
women who have been condemned by hard circumstances
to labor for many years at monotonous tasks, with few
holidays and no break in routine, become cramped in mind,
and incapable of enjoyment when the opportunity arrives.
Now, many stories deal with events that are different
from everyday experience, and it is this that makes them
so interesting. Indeed, stories have comforted the human
race in the midst of monotonous toil since the beginning
of recorded time. And it is precisely the unusual events
that you yourself have seen, or imagined, which will make
interesting subject matter for stories. Plan the telling of
these events and they will be more interesting still.
But events do not constitute the only interesting elements
in a story. Some one must act and think and speak in the
events of which you are going to tell. There must be, as
the old books put it, a "hero" or a ''heroine" ; and he or
she must usually have companions. We are interested
ordinarily in the people in our stories quite as much as in
the events ; sometimes we are interested more. And we
are especially interested in what we call their "character"
or their "personality."
Sometimes this character is humorous (events, of course,
can be humorous, too). Sometimes it is pathetic; some-
times it is strong; sometimes weak. But as long as it
^^^^^^^^^m
^ }' ^ fc 'P > ^ SJri^^ ''^-^ '^ %
/
90 GOOD ENGLISH
bears some resemblance (even a humorous one) to human
nature, we are interested. Indeed, it does not have to be
human in order to be like human nature. In The Jungle
Books, Kipling gives the traits of men to animals, and so
does Ernest Seton-Thompson in Wild Animals I Have Known.
In Kipling's .007 a locomotive is the hero ; a bowlder in the
field, a house, an ant, a day, the moon, can be given a char-
acter and made the hero or the heroine of a story.
And there is still one other element in a story that makes
for interest. This is the scene, the background, the " setting '*
as it is often called. Every scene is interesting if you study it
closely and sympathetically, even the slum backyard with
its piles of refuse, even the stretch of desert with its monoto-
nous sage brush and sand. However, other scenes will
probably be much more interesting for you than these. It
is the scene that interests you — your own town, the
country you see in the summer, the wild mountains you
saw from the train window — that should go into your
stories.
PRACTICE
1. Select the incidents from an unusually exciting school day
that might be interesting enough to use in a story.
2. Look over the stories you have written in earlier lessons and
decide whether you have always selected the most interesting
of possible events.
3. Make a list of interesting characters you have known that
might be used in stories. Write a story about one of them,
planning it first.
4. Make a list of possible "heroes" for stories, drawn from the
animal or the inanimate world. Write a story about one of
them, planning it first.
6. Study the picture on the preceding page. Plan and write a
little story suggested by it.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 91
LESSON TWELVE
Interest in Words
Suppose that what you have to say, whether in a letter
or a story, is worth the saying. Suppose that, if it is in a
letter, you have comphed with all the customs of good
letter writing. Suppose that, if it is in a story, you have
planned it well, selected the most interesting episodes,
chosen the best form of telling. Suppose that you have
seen and felt truly, thought well, and carefully expressed
what lies in your mind. Nevertheless, you may still fail
to be interesting (or clear or convincing) unless you have
found the right words. And if the compositions you have
written for the previous lessons are not nearly so interesting
as the subjects seemed to be when you chose them, the
trouble probably lies in your choice of words.
A word is a name. Call John, Joseph, and he will not
answer. Call a sluggish horse a slow one and your reader
will not get the truth. The thing, the thought, the action,
the color, the smell, the feeling, — all in the world about
us or the mind within us that can be named by words, must
be exactly named before we can write accurately and well.
Only by an exact knowledge of words and by precision
in their use is it possible to make speaking and writing
interesting. Words themselves are interesting. A little
study of them reveals in many cases an origin and a history
that make absorbing reading. And there is perhaps no
study that pays so well in the end as the study of words.
You cannot express yourself with accuracy and fineness
unless you have a large vocabulary that is ready at hand
when you need it. The ignorant person who is obliged to
depend upon but few words for the expression of his ideas
92 GOOD ENGLISH
is at a decided loss to make his wants known with any degree
of nicety. A Milton or a Shakespeare, with thousands of
words at his command, can secure the finest shades of mean-
ing in his expression, and thus insure his work against time.
You yourself, as you add new words to your vocabulary in
order to express the new things you are learning and think-
ing, will feel your power over expression grow. You will
not only write better, you will also think better.
The most interesting study of words is not of their classi-
fications, but of the use to be made of them. There are
a few definitions and classifications of words, however, that
should be learned first. Study carefully those that follow : —
A STANDARD WORD is oue that is used by the best speakers
and writers. You will invariably find it in any good dic-
tionary.
A TECHNICAL WORD is One that applies to some narrow range
or field of activity. Every trade, every profession, every
pursuit, has a vocabulary peculiar to itself. Piston is a
technical engineering term; tee belongs to golf; riveting
to construction work; parboil to domestic science, and so
forth.
A COLLOQUIAL WORD or phrase is used in ordinary conversa-
tion, but not, as a rule, in formal writing or speaking. The
folks, All right, Hold on (in the sense of "Wait for me")
are colloquial expressions.
A COINED WORD is a word invention made for the purpose of
meeting a new need of expression. When the cinematograph
came into general use, there was no simple word at hand to
name the pictures. The movies was coined from ''moving
pictures," and has been widely adopted. Marconigram is
another coinage, this time from the name of the inventor
of wireless telegraphy. Coinages are usually made by com-
bination rather than by outright invention. Motor was
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 93
originally a noun only. Since the gasoline engine has be-
come so common, it is used not only as a verb, motored^
motoring, but has also been placed in more than one com-
bination, motor car, motor boat, etc.
Slang is made up of coined and colloquial words that are
not in good usage. It is often language in the making ; it
is quite as often language breaking down, losing its fine
shades of meaning, and therefore its expressiveness. Do'pe,
rooky, get on the hand wagon are examples. The first and
last are too vague or too local in their meanings to be valu-
able. The second, as a name for a new recruit, is really
expressive, and may survive. Slang is dangerous because
it tends to limit the vocabulary, one slang expression serv-
ing for many meanings ; and because it is never generally
understood. New York slang is often meaningless to a
Texan.
Synonyms are words that mean almost the same thing,
as, — like and similar; system and method; fun and sport.
Homonyms are words that are pronounced alike but have
different meanings, as, — in and inn; hart and heart; mantel
and mantle.
Antonyms are words directly opposed to one another in
meaning, as, — short and long ; praise and scorn ; anxiety and
apathy. Antonyms are frequently formed by the use of a
negative prefix, as, — regular and irregular ; resistance and
non-resistance.
There are other, less important classifications of words
that it is well, at least, to know about. An obsolete word
is one that was once in good standing in the language but
has passed out of use, as favour for appearance. An archaic
WORD is obsolete as far as general usage is concerned, but has
been revived for poetry, or for writing that aims to create
an old-time atmosphere, as y-clept for called, or an for if. A
94
GOOD ENGLISH
PROVINCIAL WORD is used only in a limited section of the
country, as reckon in the South, and guess in New England
and elsewhere, for think. A dialectic word belongs to some
dialect that differs somewhat from the standard language,
as bonny in Scottish for comely or satisfactory. Foreign
WORDS or PHRASES are often borrowed from another language
to express meanings not easily or exactly conveyed in Eng-
lish, as tete a tete, au revoir, status quo. Be moderate in their
use. Use English where Enghsh will serve.
PRACTICE
1. Explain the meaning of the following words
2.
3.
footballing
aviation
you-all
chores
sware
pedal
right (in "he is right good")
lot (in **a lot of dogs")
aeroplane
alderney
shunt
audit
carburetor
auld lang syne
binder
label
hoof
passport
Classify the words above according as they are archaic, techni-
cal, colloquial, provincial, (
iialectical, slang, or coined.
Look up the following words
in the dictionary. What do they
mean? What does the dictionary tell you of their interesting
origin?
alphabet derrick
lynch quixotic
babel dunce
macadamize shrapnel
bloomer fad
mackintosh sophomore
boycott galvanic
namby-pamby volt
daily gerrymander
pompadour zeppelin
One pupil asked another, "Have you Csesared yet?" He
meant, "Have you studied the lesson in Csesar yet?" In-
vent similar coinages that pertain to your work. Which,
if any, do you think possible of permanent adoption in the
language? Why?
HOW TO BE INTERESTING
95
5. Give homonyms for the following : —
fain greave heard medal seen
flue hair heir our sere
fur hale bear raise tail
gait hart limb rap you
6. Give antonjrms for the following : —
advance clear fierce good rapid
aid dull genius irregular run
beneficial earn get learned save
certain end give neglect work
7. Give synonyms for the following : —
able aged balk check hard
above argument beauty claim obstinate
accurate art belief coldness prepare
acquire avenge calmness game queer
8. What is your own opinion of the following words? How did
they come into use, do you suppose ? Tell as nearly as you
can, without looking them up, what they mean : —
bang clatter hark swish twitter
buzz cUck hiss tinkle whew
chatter fizz jingle titter whiz
clang growl mew turnpike wow
9. Make lists of words that bear upon your father's work ; upon
your mother's work ; upon some game you like to play ; upon
some work you have to do every day ; upon the subjects you
have studied or are now studying.
10. Write five sentences, each containing a slang word or phrase,
or a colloquial word or phrase. Rewrite them in standard
English.
LESSON THIRTEEN
The Dictionary^
If you would be expert in the use of words, acquire the
dictionary habit. A good dictionary registers the best
1 The major part of this lesson is taken from E. W. Gavins' Teaching the
Use of the Dictionary in the School News for September, 1917.
96 GOOD ENGLISH
usage of the best speakers and writers of the time. It will
correct your misuse of words, your misspelUngs of words,
and your mispronunciation of words. It will do more than
this, — it will help you to increase your vocabulary. You
must have a large number of words that are your own.
Milton, you know, *' owned ^' 8000 words ; Shakespeare, twice
that many. The modern dictionary hsts upwards of 500,000
words that are now in use in one place or another, in one
form or another. Many children on entering school have
a vocabulary of about 3000 words. A child of twelve is
not infrequently acquainted with from 7000 to 10,000 words.
The number of words in the speaking vocabulary of a scholar
is often 30,000.
It is a good plan to have a small pocket dictionary with
you all the time, in order to look up an unknown or doubtful
word when you encounter it. To delay, as a rule, means
to forget. Once you have found the word in a dictionary,
be sure that you know the signs and directions that help
explain it. These are the symbols that should be kept in
mind, —
' means the primary or chief accent, — heart'y.
" means the secondary or less heavy accent, — in"sig'nif'i'€ant.
- is used to separate syllables when accent marks do not.
* is used by the Standard Dictionary to denote hyphen ; and the
heavy dash(-) is used by Webster for the same purpose, thus
fire-escape, or driving-wheel.
< means that a word is derived from another one.
t means that a word is obsolete.
II means that a word is archaic.
§ means that a word is rare.
X means that a word is variant ; that is, a slightly different form
of another word meaning almost the same thing. Fuze is
a variant of fuse.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING
97
Here are some of the more important abbreviations used
in the dictionary. If you famiharize yourself with them
you will be greatly helped in looking up words. A complete
list will be found in any good dictionary, —
a.
adjective
i. e.
that is (id est)
abbr.
abbreviate
inter j .
interjection
A. D.
Anno Domini
L.
Latin
adv.
adverb
myth.
mythology
ant.
antonym
n.
noun
AS.
Anglo-Saxon
obs.
obsolete
B.C.
Before Christ
pert.
pertaining
Bib.
Bible
pi.
plural
cap.
capital
poet.
poetry
of.
compare (confer)
p.
page
colloq.
colloquial
pp.
pages
conj.
conjunction
pop.
population
contr.
contraction
p. p.
past participle
deriv.
derivation
p. pr.
present participle
dial.
dialectic
prep.
preposition
dim.
diminutive
pres.
present
Eng.
English
prob.
probably
esp.
especially
prov.
provincial
etal.
and others
r.
rare
etc.
and so forth
rhet.
rhetoric
etym.
etymology
Rom.
Roman
fig.
figurative
sp.
spelUng
F.
French
syn.
synonym
fr.
from
U.S.
United States
Gr.
Greek
V. i.
verb intransitive
gram.
grammar
V. t.
verb transitive
There are certain signs used to indicate the sound and
quantity of letters, particularly of vowels. Two dots over a,
for instance, (a), means that it is to be sounded ah as in art.
H
98 GOOD ENGLISH
A dash over c, (e), means that it is to be pronounced Uke a, as
in prey. Other such modifications are hsted and explained
in the dictionary, usually on the page preceding the first
page of words, under the title Key to Pronunciation. This
key should of course be consulted whenever you are in doubt
about the sound of a letter.
The correct pronunciation of a word is given immediately
after the word itself. If more than one pronunciation is
allowable, the preferred one is given first. The same is
true when two spellings are permitted.
Next, the part of speech is indicated by means of an
abbreviation written in italics or small capitals. The parts
of verbs are given in parentheses, as is also the comparison
of adjectives.
The source from which a word comes is given in paren-
theses, usually after the definition.
If a word is technical, the trade or profession or
science to which it belongs is indicated also. Brigade,
for example, is a technical word that belongs to military
science.
If a word is used as two parts of speech, it is defined in
two ways, and the definitions are separated. Similarly,
if the word has two or more separate and distinct uses or
meanings, these are given in numbered order.
Words that are used in making up compound words are
compounded, usually in heavy type, below the definition
proper.
These are the principal ''means of identification" that
you should be familiar with, if you are to look up words
intelhgently. All of them are not to be found in the small
pocket dictionary, for the little book has to be too closely
printed to admit of elaborate word analysis. It must be
remembered, too, that the different dictionaries — the Cen-
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 99
tury, the Oxford, the Standard, the Webster, the Worcester
— disagree to some extent in the use of these marks. All
dictionaries do not use all of them ; some dictionaries use
additional ones. While the majority of the marks are
used in the ordinary desk dictionary, a much fuller word
analysis is of course to be found in the large unabridged
dictionary.
Learn to find words quickly, and to employ the vast re-
sources of the dictionary in your everyday work. Time
spent in learning to use the dictionary is time well spent,
for more than one reason. It will mean a saving of time
later on, not only in using the dictionary itself, but in con-
sulting encyclopedias, city and telephone directories, and
alphabetical lists of all kinds. Make use of the ** Guide
Words,'' the words in large type at the top of each page
of the dictionary. There is no need of running down col-
umns. "Pounce" on words, do not hunt. Use judgment;
open the dictionary not more than twice for each word.
While the middle of the alphabet is between m and n, the
middle of the dictionary is between k and L The end of
the first quarter is in the d's ; of the third quarter, in the r's.
Many words begin with s, c, and p ; few with j, k, q, x, y, z;
five times as many begin with s as with k, q, x, y, or z.
If you use respectively when you mean respectfully, if you
pay pos-i-tive'ly for pos'i-tive-ly, if you spell coming with an
e, thus, comeing, you will quite properly be called an illiter-
ate person. The diligent use of the dictionary will save
you from these pitfalls. Regard it as an old friend. Con-
sult it freely for advice. Have you noticed that you nearly
always hesitate when you are about to use a word that you
are not quite certain of? This is a warning. Heed it as
you would heed orders from your physician in case of
illness.
100 GOOD ENGLISH
PRACTICE
1. The following excerpts are taken from the Standard Dictionary,
by permission of Funk & Wagnalls Company. Study the
signs used and the form of word analysis : —
ac-com'pIishS 1 a-kem'pli^; 2 a-cSm'plIsh, vt. t. To
bring to pass; perform; effect. . 2. To bring to comple-
tion; finish. [ < L.*" ad, to, + compleo; see complete, v.]
Synj achieve, complete, consummate, discharge, do.
effect, execute, finish, fulfil, perform, realize. Perform and
accomplish both Imply working toward the end: but perform
always allows a possibility of not attaining, while accomplish
carries the thought of full completion. In Longfellow's
lines, "'Patience; auomplis h thy lahor," etc. .perform could
not be substituted without great loss. As between complete
and accomplish, complete conaiderarsither the thing as done;
accomplish, the whole process of doing it. Achieve— to do
something worthy of a chief — signifies always to perform
some great and generally some worthy exploit. See attain;
BFF?CT.
fcour'te-sy, 1 k'Or'ti-si; 2 cOr'te-sy, n. [-sies^, pi] 1.
Genuine and habitual politeness ; courtliness. 2. A cour-
teous favor or act. 3. Common consent. [ < F. cour-
toisie.] cur'tc-syt. Syn.: see address. Compare polite.
—courtesy (or curtesy) of England, the tenure by
which a man holds for life the estates of his deceased wife
Inheritable by their children.
8yn'o-nym, 1 sin'o-nim; 2 si^n'o-n^m, n. 1. A word
having the same or almost the same meaning as some
other; oftener, one of a number of words that have one
or more meanings in common. 2. The equivalent of a
word in another language. ( < Gr.^"*"*" syn, together, +
onoma, name.] syn'o-nymej. — sy-non'y-mist, n. A col-
lector and expounder of synonyms.— syn''o-nym'i-ty, n.
— sy-non'y-mlzc, vt. [-mized; -miz'ing.) To give the
synonyms of; express by words of different meaning.
2. There is much confusion about the use of the hyphen in certain
Enghsh words. Even the dictionaries do not agree as to the
compounding of certain words.
Some words are usually written with the hyphen, — horse-
power, nickle-plated, sheet-iron.
The following are better written as single words : — meantime,
maybe, meanwhile, anyway, awhile.
Any one and every one are usually written as two words, but
the following should be written as single words : — anybody,
everybody, anything, nothing, nobody, everything, forever.
Usage varies as to the hyphen in tonight, today, and tomorrow ;
there is a growing tendency to regard them as single words.
HOW TO BE INTERESl'II^
ibi
Which of the following should be written as compound words
with hyphen, which as single words, and which as two or more in-
dependent words? Look up each one in the dictionary : —
5.
base ball
foot ball
rail road
bird's eye view
frame work
shoe maker '
black smith shop
ginger cake
sitting room
book keeping
head ache
steam boat
business like
ice house
stomach ache
canal boat
Jew's harp
store room
class room
lumber yard
tooth ache
composing room
mid way
type writing
cook book
note book
ware house
dining car
per cent
wheat field
death's head
printing press
work shop
dress maker
rabbit's foot
every day
Syllabize and accent properly the following words. Use the
dictionary : —
absolutely
anxiety familiar
predecessor
accountant
athletics governor
prejudice
adjective
beneficial legislature
punctuation
administration
colonel laboratory
regular
admittance
convenient operator
representative
agriculture
disability persuasion
reversible
antagonistic
embroidery precedent
yesterday
Look up the following words and tell how the dictionary explains
them : —
a-gley
hustle nonne
pub
bungalow
ilk nonesuch
pucka
fere
kern pseudo
shack
Ex-
Look up the following words for definition particularly,
plain what you find out about each one : —
chief judge part rare sober
endeavor note prediction sample transit
6. Study the signs indicating the pronunciation of letters, as found
in your dictionary. Write ten words and indicate their pro-
nunciation by means of certain signs.
102
GOOD ENGLISH
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Examine the appendix of an unabridged dictionary. What infor-
mation is contained there ? Should a dictionary be a word book
only, do you think, or a book of general information? Why?
As you glance through an unabridged dictionary, you see certain
illustrations. Why are some words illustrated and others
not ? Explain.
Use all the diacritical marks you know for the letter a.
What are guide words ? Where are they found and what does
each indicate ?
What is the key hne in the dictionary ? Where is it and how is
it used?
How does the dictionary help you to pronounce a word?
In what way is syllabication indicated in the dictionary ?
How are compound or hyphenated words distinguished in the
dictionary from other words written with a hyphen between
certain syllables?
Compete with your classmates in finding the following words
in the dictionary. Look them up in the order given : —
dis course
ly ce um
ro bust
re com-se
com pa ra ble
mus tache
ad dress
har ass
gon do la
vi Un
a dult
op po nent
ho ri zon
for mid a ble
hos pit a ble
i de a
pre tense
re cess
ex qui site
in ven to ry
lam en ta ble
ro mance
des sert
des pi ca ble
ally
Compete with your
classmates in arranging the following words
alphabetically : —
-
observe
construction
measurement
measure
hollyhock
tennis
material
obsolete
following
tenant
proposition
constitution
foolscap
thermometer
proposal
observation
theory
penman
pennant
whether
obstacle
metric
cucumber
hoUowness
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 103
LESSON FOURTEEN
Speaking
When a good story is well written, that is, well planned,
and well worded, it will be interesting, unless it is badly
read. And if your stories are to be told and not written,
bad speaking can ruin the very best of material. Further-
more, just as your choice of words will often indicate your
brain power, so your manner of speaking will usually indi-
cate the degree of refinement and true cultivation that
you have attained. To speak well is an accomplishment
as valuable as good writing ; and it must be acquired, if ever,
when you are young.
Here are just a few general rules for speaking, —
1. Breathe long, deep breaths. Feel your body contract
and expand all the way from your diaphragm to your head,
as you exhale and inhale.
2. Look the person or the people to whom you are speak-
ing straight in the eyes when you speak.
3. Be sure to pronounce your words correctly and clearly
and distinctly. Be equally sure that your sentences, even
though far looser and more informal than in writing, are
complete.
No mere statement of such rules as these will be of much
use to you unless you wish to speak well. In a very large
measure you must be your own teacher. Do not be afraid
to speak as well as you can. It is not affectation to speak
good EngUsh, for good English well spoken is the simplest,
clearest, and most natural expression for your thoughts. Use
good words rather than big ones. Do not assume "airs and
graces," in your speech, but aim to pronounce simple words
clearly and correctly. Americans have a national habit of
104 GOOD ENGLISH
" slurring '^ their words, even when they pronounce them
correctly. It is a bad habit, for it makes speech difficult
to understand and unpleasant to the ear. They have an
equally bad habit of talking through the nose, so that in a
group of mixed races an American can be distinguished by
the unpleasant qualities of his voice, and the difficulty of
understanding the words he slurs or nasalizes. This genera-
tion will never be rid of these faults. They have become
second-nature and will stick. But you, the new generation,
can restore good speaking in America, if you will take
seriously your voices and your words. Good speech habits
are no harder to acquire than bad ones.
PRACTICE
Perhaps the most dangerous errors to be guarded against are the
two indicated in the third rule above, — mispronunciation and faulty
construction. In this exercise you are asked to give most of your
attention to the correction of mispronunciation. In the practice on
pages 149 and 160 bad constructions are treated.
Practice the proper pronunciation of the words in the lists below.
They are by no means exhaustive. Add to them for practice your
own special word troubles. Know also how to spell these words
and how to use them ; in short, make them your own. And above
all remember that a word correctly pronounced is not well spoken
until it is said clearly and distinctly, with due expression for each of
the syllables, — until, in other words, it is properly enunciated.
1. The pronunciation of n^, —
Do not pronounce ng as nk\ do not pronounce nfc as ng, —
bring, not brink; king, not kink; ring, not rink; sink, not sing;
think, not thing.
Do not sUght ng in the middle of a word, — length, not lenHh;
strength, not strength.
Do not repeat the g in the combination ng, — bringing, not bring-
ging; figure, not Jigger ; flinging, not flingging ; singing, not singging.
Do not missyllabize words in which ng occurs, — an-ger, not
ang-er; fin-ger, not fing-er; lin-ger, not ling-er; sin-gle, not sing-le.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 105
Do not omit g from the syllable ing, — coming, not comin' ; cuu'
ning, not cunnin' ; going, not goin' ; playing, not playin\
2. The pronunciation oi th, —
Do not slight or mispronounce th when it occurs at the end of a
word, — depth, eighth, twelfth, with.
Do not pronounce th as if it were t, — think, not Vink ; thirst, not
first; thought, not fot; thousand, not thousand; throat, not froat;
through, not tru; throw, not tWow.
Do not pronounce th (voiced) as if it were d, — that, not dat;
the, not de; then, not den; there, not dere; this, not dis.
Do not pronounce ^^ as if it were p in the word something, —
something, not sumpi?i\
3. The pronunciation of wh, —
Do not pronounce wh as if it were w, — what not wat ; when, not wen ;
which, not wich; whisper, not wisper; white, not lyiie; why, not lyy.
4. The pronunciation of r, —
Do not pronounce r as if it were w, — red, not wed; rise, not
wise; rough, not wough.
Do not omit r when it occurs at the end of a word, — bar, not
hah; butter, not buttah; car, not cah.
But do not roll r when it occurs at the end of a word, — bar, not
barr ; car, not carr.
Do not add or insert or misplace r in the following words : —
children, not childern; drawing, not drawring; hurrah, not hurroar ;
idea, not idear ; law, not /!ore; row;, not roar; saw, not soar; <o, not
ter; you, not yer.
Do not pronounce ir or ur as if it were oi, — first, not /ois^ ; Ger-
man, not Goiman; girl, not groiZ; journal, not joinal; third, not
thoid; Thursday, not Thoisday ; turn, not ^ow; lyor/:, not lyoiA;.
On the other hand, do not pronounce oi as if it were er, — join,
not jern ; oil, not erZ ; oyster, not erster.
5. The prontmciation of u, —
Do not pronounce u as if it were oo in such words as avenue,
duty, educate, figure, institute, picture, student, stupid, Tuesday, tune.
6. The pronunciation of s and sh, —
Do not confuse the sounds of s and sh with z, — assure, not
azhure; cease, not ceaze; classify, not clazzify; guess, not guez;
gust, not guzt; similar, not zimilar; soften, not zoften; yes, not yez.
106
GOOD ENGLISH
On the other hand, do not pronounce hard s soft, — please, not
pleass; msible, not vissible; was, not wass; whereas, not whereass.
7. The pronunciation of J and ch, —
Do not confuse the sounds of j with ch, — German, not Cherman;
John, not Chon; joined, not chained; rejoice, not rechoice.
8. The pronunciation of d and /, —
Do not pronounce d as if it were t, — had, not hat; had, not hat;
readily, not reatily ; saddle, not sa^fZe.
Do not pronounce t Hke d, — battle, not baddle; bottle, not hoddle;
butter, not budder ; eighteen, not eideen; gate, not gfade; Saturday,
not Sadder day ; water, not wader.
9. The pronunciation of the vowels a, e, i, o, u, —
Do not sUght or mispronounce these letters, — audience, not
audyence; catch, not cetch; detective, not detectuve; difference, not
diffrunce ; for, not /er ; February, not Febrary ; get, not g'i< ; judg-
ment, not jedgment; just, not ^ts^; library, not libry ; of, not wy;
officer, not ufficer ; oral, not aral ; object, not objict ; parent, not pur-
ent; program, not progrum; was, not lywz; i/e^, not ^^
10. The addition and subtraction of syllables, —
Do not omit syllables in the pronunciation of
accompanying
hurrying
poem
carrying
incidentally
popular
convenience
interesting
perhaps
curiosity
laboratory
regular
deUvery
memory
sarsaparilla
famiUar
miserable
superintendent
general
Niagara
singular
governor
original
vulnerable
history
poetry
particularly
not add syllables
in the pronunciation of
athletics
lightning
probably
boisterous
memorable
several
decorous
mischievous
similar
drowned
mountainous
stupendous
Elizabethan
parliament
tremendous
familiar
preposterous
work
HOW TO BE INTERESTING
107
11.
12.
13.
The following words are frequently mispronounced,
them up and be sure of their pronunciation : —
Look
administrative
data
joust
almond
deaf
juvenile
amateur
debris
Niagara
apron
docile
odious
bouquet
elite
patriotism
bronchitis
exigency
precedent
casualty
fiane6
recognize
cement
financier
reptile
censor
gape
reservoir
censure
garage
salve
champion
hearth
suite
chauffeur
hundred
tedious
creek
immediate
victuals
tie following words i
are frequently accented
on the wrong syl-
lable. Look them
up and be sure of their pronunciation : —
acclimate
detail
inquiry
address
discourse
interesting
adult
entire
mustache
alias
essay
positively
alternately
estimate
preferable
applicable
express
produce
champion
exquisite
protest
comparable
formidable
pumpkin
deference
hospitable
recess
deficit
illustrate
resource
demonstrate
influence
romance
Make a speech to your classmates on one or more of the follow-
ing subjects. Stand erect, speak with a clear voice, form
your words so well that your audience will be helped in hear-
ing you by watching your lips : —
How the dictionary teaches pronunciation.
Special troubles in pronunciation.
Do I mumble, or are you deaf?
Suiting the voice to the size of the room.
Rules for correcting faulty speech.
My pet mispronunciations and how I am correcting them.
108 GOOD ENGLISH
Mistakes heard in school.
How good speech afifects my marks in subjects other than
English.
The influence of correct and of incorrect speech.
Incorrect speech and — getting a job.
Too lazy to speak well.
Let me hear a man speak and I'll tell you what sort of man he is.
English on the football field.
English in the gymnasium.
14. Practice the correct pronunciation of the following. Under
which of the above groups is each incorrect word Usted ?
Wistle a toon.
The luv of the govermint.
Witch yer goin' ter do ?
The kink is ringging de bell.
He's readin' de Joinal.
He's doin' dis drawrin' wurruk.
Dey jist went over ter Thoid Avener.
De wader is berlin'.
Bode uv de gades were oben.
Pleass pazz me de budder.
Once upon a roar and guzty day.
15. List the mispronunciations of words that you hear every day
in home and street and school. Present them to your class-
mates for correction.
LESSON FIFTEEN
The Right Use of Words
The lessons on the word that have gone before have been
designed to make you familiar with the various classes of
words, a ready user of the dictionary, and a good speaker.
Whatever you have learned is just so much more power
added to tongue or pen. The real test of this power, how-
ever, comes not in answering questions about word-classes,
but in finding just the right word for whatever you wish
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 109
to say, and using it correctly. Your thoughts, your feehngs,
your observations, whatever you know, may be tremen-
dously interesting and yet valueless for others unless you can
express them well. And you can never express them fittingly
without the right words.
The highly trained human mind is more skilful, just as
it is more complex, than the most ingenious machine. When
it comes to the choice of words, indeed, it is a kind of super-
machine that performs (sometimes almost mechanically) the
most remarkable tasks. You are writing a letter. Your
mood is sorrowful. Automatically the mind reaches for
words that express grief, pathos, sympathy, comfort. You
are telhng the story of a fire in a tenement. Names of color,
sight, odor, words that convey terror, pain, despair, rescue,
thankfulness, come flocking. You are describing an animal,
a motor car, a flower, a building new to you. Adjectives,
technical and untechnical, adverbs that clinch your mean-
ing, verbs that name the exact action, nouns that fit like
the hat on the head, are at your command. Or rather,
they will be when you have mastered a good vocabulary.
Indeed, if you wish to test your classmates' knowledge
and brain power, one of the best ways is to try them with
words. If they have really learned about airplanes or
chemistry or cooking or government or football, they will
have the technical words required. If they can think
clearly, reason soundly, see truly, they will show their
power by the well-rounded vocabulary without which
thinking, reasoning, and seeing cannot be expressed.
If you are " short on words," you may be sure that the lack
is a serious one. And it is a lack that the general education
you are getting in school may really increase ; for school
is feeding ideas, facts, knowledge into your mind, just as
life is feeding . experience. All this new material craves
110 GOOD ENGLISH
to be expressed, and needs new words. Help your brain
to catch up by making an especial study of words. Get
new words to fit your new ideas; use the old words more
accurately. Do not say you had a ''good time" yesterday,
when you mean an "exciting time" or a ''merry time" or
an "interesting time." Do not say that the tree in front
of the school is "big" or "beautiful" when you can discover
what kind it is, note the color of its leaves, the curve of its
branches, and the grace of its swaying in the wind. Do not
be content with "sort of" and "kind of" — "he is sort of
rough to me," or "she is kind of nice" — when you can get
the right word for your thought. Be very particular in
your choice of words. This does not mean to be affected,
or to use a big word when a small word will do, or a rare
word instead of a common one. It means one thing only,
to use the right word.
PRACTICE
1. In the following passage fill the blanks with the most fitting
words : —
The English sparrow was brought to America years ago and now
has become our commonest bird. He is a noisy little fellow, and
all day long. His wings are ; his bill is ; the breast
of the male is ; that of the female is . They their
nests wherever a crevice can be found that is high and safe. The
nests are in appearance, and made of . At night they
upon ivied walls, or in dense shrubbery. Frequently they
birds of other and drive them away.
2. Collect all the words you can find to express motion on the
earth ; noises made by the mouth ; actions or sounds of the
wind; anger.
3. Describe your schoolroom, fitting every object and customary
sight or sound with its word or phrase.
4. Describe accurately the front of your schoolhouse, or its door-
way.
HOW TO BE INTERESTING 111
5. A fly, a grain of corn, a piece of coarse paper, a fragment of
stone, a cat's eye, a flower petal, all are interesting if carefully
observed. Make them so by describing them in accurate
words.
6. Read for the criticism of your classmates any one of the letters
or short stories written in earlier lessons. Let the criticism
be directed solely upon words.
7. Compare these two descriptions of the same spot. Why is
the second better than the first ?
On one side of the canon, beginning at the edge of the pool, was
a small meadow, a stretch of green that extended to the bottom of
the rock wall. Beyond the pool a little slant of dirt ran up to meet
the other wall. Grass covered the slope — grass that was spotted
with flowers. Below, the canon was shut in. The walls were closer
and the canon ended in a number of rocks, moss-covered and
hidden by a screen of vines and limbs of trees.
On one side of the canon, beginning at the very lip of the pool,
was a tiny meadow, a cool, resiUent surface of green that extended
to the base of the frowning wall. Beyond the pool a gentle slope of
earth ran up and up to meet the opposing wall. Fine grass covered
the slope — grass that was spangled with flowers. Below, the canon
was shut in. The walls leaned together abruptly and the canon
ended in a chaos of rocks, moss-covered and hidden by a green
screen of vines and boughs of trees.
8. Make interesting the following by getting just the right
words : —
The cat is less reliable than the dog because
Happiness differs from pleasure in that
While every one wishes to study, few enjoy it because
A sound mind makes a sound body because
9. Write a frank letter to a friend pointing out the qualities you
like or dislike in his character. Get the right words.
10. Write six sentences telling exactly what you see in the picture
on the next page. Use as many words as you can that belong
strictly to hockey. After you have done this, explain to your
father or mother, or to some one else who is not familiar with
the game, what is taking place in the picture.
kS U\m' I'rt I III - i\ I M rki nil 1 1 fv tti
A PASS IN UOCKBT.
CHAPTER III
HOW TO BE CLEAR
Introduction
You are living in a time that makes exacting demands
upon men and women. Never before in the history of the
world have such clear-cut action and such definite statement
been required of individuals as at present. It is some-
times called the age of efficiency. Clearness and accuracy in
writing and speaking have always been desirable and impor-
tant ; of you, they will be required, no matter what your
station in life may be.
It was right, in a book like this one, to take up interest
first. You very naturally wish to be interesting, to hold
attention, to be Hstened to, before any other desire connects
itself with the writing and speaking that you may have to
do. And you must wish to speak well and write well, before
you can begin to make progress. But very quickly another
motive enters. You desire not merely to get attention;
you desire to be understood, you desire to be effective with
your words. This means that you wish to be clear. As
your experience broadens, and the things you have to say
become more and more important, the value of clearness in-
creases, until no writing or speaking will satisfy you, no
matter how beautiful or authoritative it may be, if it is not
clear. The French have a saying about their language, *'If
I 113
114 GOOD ENGLISH
it is not clear, it is not French," by which they mean that no
French is good that is not clear. It is an excellent motto
to borrow for your own EngUsh.
Why you must be clear is evident ; the question remains,
how?
Think clearly. This is the great thing to be desired for
clearness. As was explained in the first chapter of this
book, you cannot write or speak effectively about anything
unless you have seen truly and accurately, unless you have
the facts. But it is quite possible to know the facts about
the appearance of an object or a feehng or a situation or
a man's character, and yet be entirely unable to think them
out and explain them clearly.
In order to be clear, you must assort and arrange your
knowledge. Indeed, your thoughts change knowledge and
feeling into clear, explanatory words very much as a machine
turns pulp into fine sheets of paper or rough wool into cloth.
This chapter, therefore, is first of all a chapter on thinking.
In the first chapter of this book you were told that language
in its growth had followed certain inevitable laws. Words
developed as names for ideas, sentences developed in order
to express complete thoughts, paragraph structure was
gradually worked out to develop these thoughts, and para-
graphs were grouped together into a whole that covered
the subject which man wished to lay before his fellow man.
The need for clearness was the force behind these laws. It
was because men had to make themselves understood that
sentence structure had to be worked out and paragraph
structure developed. You, when you try consciously to
be clear, as you must in the following lessons, will feel the
need of good sentences, good paragraphs, a good plan for
the whole, as never before.
You cannot (except with childishly easy things to say)
HOW TO BE CLEAR 115
be clear without good sentences, good paragraphs, and a
good plan. Learning the names of sentence parts is dull
work by itself. Learning how to develop a paragraph is a
mechanical affair in itself. Learning how to plan coherently
and with unity and emphasis is a dry task when regarded
merely as a lesson. But if you wish to master the sentence
because the interesting things you have to say cannot be
said effectively without strong sentences, then you will
not be bored. If you wish to understand the structure of
a paragraph because those editorials for your school paper
or that explanation of the construction of your summer
camp, or of the making of your garden, cannot be made
clear without good paragraphs, then the work, no matter
how hard, will never seem tedious.
The order then for this chapter is Be Clear. Every
lesson in it is valuable because it will put the tools you
need into your hands and will help you to grasp, in this way
or in that, the means that have been developed, through
so many centuries, for making language clear.
LESSON SIXTEEN
Business Letters
Nowhere is clearness more necessary than in the busi-
ness letter. A business letter differs from a friendly or
famihar letter chiefly in this, — it is not written merely to
interest, or to convey news of the writer ; rather, it asks for
definite information or gives definite information. It may
have very little to do with business in the sense in which
we ordinarily use that word, but it is always business-like,
that is, simple, straightforward, and above all, clear.
Make a study of the following business letters. Write
116 GOOD ENGLISH
others similar to them. Perhaps you can be helpful to
your father and mother by writing real order letters : —
(1)
Order Letter
20 State Street, Chicago,
November 18, 1917.
Messrs. Brown and Gable,
18 Wabash Avenue,
Chicago, 111
Gentlemen :
Enclosed you will find a money order for four
dollars and sixty cents ($4.60) for which please deliver
to me at the above address the dictionary that you
are now selling at this special price.
Very truly yours,
Antonio Dalba
HOW TO BE CLEAR 117
(2)
Order Letter
120 F Street
Washington, D.C.
April 2, 1918
A. G. Spalding & Brothers
523 Fifth Avenue
New York City
Dear Sirs :
Please send me the following articles, as listed
in your spring catalog : —
Vo.
Article
Catalog No.
Price
Total
1
Sweat Band
SB-No. 1
$ .75
$ .75
1
Pair Tennis
Shoes, size 8
No. CD
4.00
4.00
2
Racket Presses
No. 2R
1.00
2.00
3
Tennis Rackets
No. 6 ("Nas-
sau")
3.50
10.50
Total $17.25
Check is enclosed for total amount.
As the merchandise is required for immediate
use, your prompt attention to this order will be ap-
preciated.
Yours very truly,
James Forester
118 GOOD ENGLISH
(3)
Receipt Letter
623 FlfTM aVCNUB
NEW YORK
April 4
19 18
James Forester, Esq.,
120 F Street, Washington, D.C.,
Dear Sir :
Thank you for your order of April 2,
and for the check accompanying it . The
goods were sent out this morning by
Adams Express, charges prepaid. We
trust they will be received in good con-
dition and in time for your purpose.
Receipted bill is enclosed.
Yours truly,
Thomas Carter
For A, G. Spalding & Bros.
TC/AAR
Enc.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 119
(4)
Letter of Complaint
120 Lenox Avenue, New York,
December 2, 1917.
Thomas Carston & Company,
Broadway & 20 Street,
New York.
My dear Sirs :
Please note the following error in the filling of my
order of November 30, and have proper adjustment
made : —
Ordered Received
60 yds. black taffeta (sample enc.) 40 yds.
20 spools black silk, grade A (spool
enc.) 12 spools
20 yds. silk braid (sample enc.) 30 yds. different
quality
I have been delayed in my work by the mistake
and I shall appreciate promptness in making the
adjustment.
EG/CV
Very truly,
(Miss) Emma Grant
For The Grant Gown Co.
120 GOOD ENGLISH
(8)
Letter of Adjustment
December 3, 1917
Miss Emma Grant
120 Lenox Avenue
New York
Dear Madam :
¥e regret that error was made in fill-
ing your order of November 30 and that
you were caused inconvenience thereby.
We make correction at once. The bearer
of, this letter brings to you the re-
mainder of your order for taffeta and
spool silk. If you will give him the
braid of different quality from the
sample, along with the sample, we shall
despatch him to you again immediately
on his return, with the grade desired.
Very truly yours ,
Thomas Carston & Company
by C.L.V.
CLV/JA
HOW TO BE CLEAR 121
PRACTICE
1. Point out differences in form and content between these letters
and those on pages 8 to 15.
2. Note order letter (2). Is it a good plan to itemize an order,
that is, to place each item ordered on a separate line ? Why ?
Why should the total amount be stated in an order for several
different items ?
3. Note letter (3). How does the heading in this letter differ
from the heading in (2) ? Why this difference ?
4. Compare the salutations in these letters with one another and
with those in the friendly letters on pages 8 to 15. Note the
punctuation used after the salutations in both groups.
Would "Dear Miss Grant:" be better in (5) than "Dear
Madam : " ? Explain.
["Thomas Carston & Company" is the name of a firm and the
salutation Dear Sirs : or Gentlemen : is therefore perfectly allowable.
When the firm name consists of two or more names, it is not neces-
sary to prefix Messrs. in addressing the firm, —
Lord and Taylor
A. G. Spalding & Bros.
Brown and Gable Company.
The last one may be written The Brown and Gable Company.]
5. Note that such expressions as, — Yours reed., Replying to yours
of, In reply would say. Permit me to say, are not used in
business letters that are concise, clear, and to the point.
Why?
Note also that Hoping to hear from you soon. Trusting that I
may receive an early reply, and other such participial closings
are not used. Why ?
6. Why are Cordially yours, Gratefully yours, Lovingly yours,
Faithfully yours, not used as complimentary closings in the
above letters ?
7. Note the reference data given in the lower left-hand corner of
Nos. (3), (4), (5). The first initials are those of the one
who dictated the letter; the second are those of the one
122 GOOD ENGLISH
who typed it. Enc. means enclosure, that is, something is
enclosed in the letter. Observe the letter-head in (3). What
information does it give about the firm? Secure other busi-
ness letter-heads and compare them with this one. Make a
list of the items contained in those letter-heads that you
consider best. Gaudy and excessively elaborate letter-heads
should be avoided.
8. In referring to money enclosed in a business letter, the reference
should be made by means of both writing and figures, thus,
forty dollars ($40), or forty (40) dollars, or Forty (40) Dollars.
The words may or may not be capitahzed. Correct the
following: — Sixty {$60) Dollars; sixty dollars (60); Sixty
(60) dollars.
9. If you have studied the foregoing letters and solved the prob-
lems, you will have learned these things about writing busi-
ness letters, —
(1) They must be brief and to the point.
(2) They must be stripped of all superfluous phrasing, such as, —
*' Yours of 18 ult. received and in reply would say — "
"Hoping to receive a favorable reply, I am — "
(3) The forms Mr. and Messrs., Madam and Mesdames, need
be used only when you are addressing definite individuals.
They are not necessary when you are addressing firms.
(4) Letter-heads should be brief and dignified. The name of
the firm, the address, the name of the business, the tele-
phone number, and the branch offices (if any) are all
that may be included in the letter-heads of the best firms.
(5) Punctuation may or may not be omitted and margins of
headings and addresses may be vertical or diagonal.
You should be consistent in both of these matters in the
letter proper as well as on the envelope. (See page 23.)
(6) The letter must be placed on the paper so that there will be
about an equal amount of unused space on all four sides.
You may not be able to place your letter quite accurately,
but you can easily avoid placing a very brief letter in an
absurdly awkward position on the sheet.
(7) Reference data may be placed either in the letter-head or
in the lower left-hand corner of the letter.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 123
(8) Such abbreviations as th. (4th), si. (1st), rd. (3rd), inst.
(present), prox. (next), ulL (last), yrs. (yours) are going
out of use.
(9) You must be courteous always in your business letters.
Yrs. for Yours in Yours truly is a type of discourtesy as
is any other form of ciu't abbreviation.
10. With these points clearly in mind, comply with the following : —
(1) Write to The Macmillan Company, 64 Fifth Avenue,
New York, ordering two copies of this book.
(2) Write The Macmillan Company's letter to you in reply.
(3) Write to John Wanamaker, Broadway & Ninth Street,
New York, asking for the correction of an error made in
their bill on your monthly account.
(4) Write to the manager of a team in some other school re-
questing arrangements for a match.
(5) Reproduce the reply from the manager mentioned in (4).
(6) Write to A. G. Spalding & Bros., 623 Fifth Avenue, New
York, ordering baseballs, bats, catcher's glove, breast
protectors, and shoes. Write the order in itemized form
and state prices.
(7) Reproduce the reply to the above letter.
(8) Write to Lord & Taylor, 38 Street and Fifth Avenue, New
York, requesting samples of dress goods.
(9) Reproduce the reply of Lord & Taylor to the above.
LESSON SEVENTEEN
Letters of Application
Which of the five following letters of application do you
consider the best? Point out all the differences in form
and content among these letters. Remember that a letter
of application is really a letter of sale, — a letter in which
the writer is marketing his abilities. Which of these do you
think is most successful, from this point of view ?
124 GOOD ENGLISH
(1)
18 Feliciana Street,
New Orleans, La.,
May 2, 1918.
Help Wanted -
-Male
1
BOY
— Handy boy in office
$6 to start. Not 1
over
15. Chance for advancement.
Answer in
own
landwriting, stating age,
education
, and refer-
ence.
Times. 4. L. P.
My dear Sirs :
I write in answer to your advertisement in the
morning Times for an office boy.
I am fifteen years of age, a graduate of elementary
school, and have had one year in high school with an
average standing of 93%. Owing to the fact that my
father has recently died I am obliged to assist my
mother. My purpose is to work in the day time and
to attend school in the evening.
I can call to see you at any time and can present
recommendation from the principal of the high school
I attended.
Yours truly,
John Talmadge
HOW TO BE CLEAR 125
(2)
13 Sheridan Street,
San Francisco, Calif.,
February 11, 1918.
P.X. — Cal.
Dear Sir :
Please consider the following in answer to your
advertisement in the Call this morning for a handy
girl in a dressmaker's establishment :
1. I am 16 years of age.
2. I am a graduate of elementary school.
3. I have had a half year at high school.
4. I have worked for six months in the office of
the Tupper MiUinery Company.
5. My present salary is $5 a week.
6. I desire to make a change because I prefer
training in the dressmaking business to train-
ing in the miUinefy business.
7. I enclose letters of recommendation from my
elementary and high school principals.
Very truly yours,
Mary Swart
126 GOOD ENGLISH
(3)
605 Pitcher Street,
Baltimore, Md.,
May 10, 1918.
BOY WANTED. — 16 yrs. of age in real estate
olBce. Grammar school graduate. Good penman.
Answer in own handwriting, stating nationality,
age, education, experience. American, Box 24,
Gentlemen :
In reply to the above advertisement in today's
American, I submit the accompanying statement as
to my qualifications for the position.
I am at Hberty to call upon you at your conven-
ience, should you care to see me.
Very truly yours,
Alfred Brush
The statement — Nationality — American
Age — Sixteen
Education — Graduate of granmiar
school
— One year in high school
Experience — Two summers as gen-
eral assistant in the
real estate office of the
A. H. Crosby Co.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 127
(4)
18 West Avenue,
Pittsburgh, Pa.,
May 12, 1917.
My dear Mr. McCorkle :
On my graduation from grammar school you told
me that you would like to have me write you when
I felt like going to work. Well, I am ready for work
now and I shall appreciate any opportunity you msy
have to offer me.
I have been in high school almost a year. I likb xi.,
and am getting on very well, as my enclosed report
cards will show you. But father's business has been
getting worse because of the war and mother's health is
faiUng quite rapidly. 1 cannot help feeUng, therefore,
that I ought to go to work and earn at least my own
shoes ! (I'm pretty hard on shoes, mother says.)
I do not know how much I could be worth to you. I
do not even know what I can do for you. Figures
come easy for me, and I beheve I could develop as
an advertiser if I were given a chance. During the
past year at high school I have had charge of all collec-
tions for the school paper, a very unusual job for a
first-year boy, they say. I have also written a great
many notices for various games, which must have had
some "punch" in them, for tickets were sold out al-
most every time.
Please do not say anything to father and mother
about my writing you. I don't want them to know.
They insist upon my staying in high school. And I
128 GOOD ENGLISH
don't want you to give me a position just because
you know my parents. No, sir! — I want to " make
good " on my own account. Thisis just an inquiry. If
you have anything that you think I can do, why, I'll
try it like a regular employee, forgetting that you
ever spoke to me about the matter at that grammar
school commencement.
Sincerely yours,
Frank Shaner
Ogden McCorkle, Esq.,
c/o The McCorkle Iron and Coal Co.,
189 Carson Street,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
HOW TO BE CLEAR
(5)
129
18 Spruce Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.,
March 20, 1918.
Dear Sir :
Replying to this advertisement
Help Wanted — Female
GIRL. — City, 15 or 16, one who will appreciate
good country home and plenty of wholesome food,
to help farmer's wife with housework during siun-
mer. $1.50 a week with board. Press, Box 8.
I submit the following : —
I am fifteen and a half, just graduated from grammar
school, and shall appreciate an opportunity to spend
the summer on a farm at the terms mentioned. My
mother can recommend me as a careful assistant in
doing housework. I can wash dishes, make beds,
sweep, scrub, and sew. Mother will be glad to have
you call at the above address at any time.
Very truly yours,
Janet Hayes
PRACTICE
Note in four of the above letters that the advertisement answered
is referred to or enclosed. Note also the direct and exphcit answer
to the advertisement. Everything that an advertisement asks for
should be answered, preferably in the same order.
K
130 GOOD ENGLISH
1. Have each member of your class apply for some position.
Let the class determine which appUcations may be rejected,
and why.
2. Write letters of application for various positions, such as office
helper, store clerk, delivery man, and show just how they
would differ in form.
3. Conduct interclass correspondence, regarding one class as em-
ployers and one as appUcants.
4. Write replies to the letters on pages 124 to 129. If any of
these require a series of letters, invent the correspondence.
5. Write answers to one or more of the following advertise-
ments : —
BOY who has left school permanently wanted in
publishing house, to run errands at first ; excellent
chance for intelligent boy to learn good business;
hours 8 :30 to 5 P.M., noon Saturday all year around ;
$6 to start. Address in own handwriting, stating
age, education, and experience, if any, A 223 Times
Downtown.
Boys. — Bright boys 15-17 years; oflSce, stock,
apprentice salesmen; permanent positions; ex-
cellent opportunities for advancement; apply per-
sonally or letter. Revillon Frdres, 26 West 35.
BOYS, several, over 16, in a large office near Grand
Central ; excellent opportunity for advancement ;
must be of neat appearance ; give full particulars,
including salary desired. T 171 Call.
BOY, bright, industrious, one living in Greenpoint
g referred; we have an opening for such a lad;
right future; references. X 18, Bulletin.
BOY for general office work ; chance to advance ;
state age, experience, and salary expected. M 123
Times.
GIRL. — PERMANENT CLERICAL POSI-
TION WITH (;(K)D SALARY, FOR YOUNG
GIRL WHO IS WILLING TO WORK; NO
EXPERIENCE NECESSARY. LUDWIG
BAUMANN & CO., 144 WEST 125 ST.
Girls
Bright and neat girls to fold and inclose circu-
lars ; $7 per week ; hours 8 : 30 to 5 : 30, 1 o'clock
Saturdays. Apply to Miss Ahearn, 10 floor,
The Butterick Publishing Co., Spring and Mac-
dougal Sis.. N. Y.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 131
GIRL to do office boy's work; $6 to start, with
advancement ; good opportunity ; permanent posi-
tion ; state age and references. J 100 Times.
GIRL by wholesale dry goods house, to do filing
and attend to mail ; state age, references, and
salary wanted. O 302 Post-Dispatch.
OFFICE. — Young lady to assist generally in
office manufacturing concern; good p)enman and
figurer ; would break in bright girl to start ; state
salary, experience, if any ; steady. F 274 Record-
Herald.
OFFICE WORK. — Young lady for clerical work
in mercantile house; experience unnecessary;
salary $8-$9. F 282 Constitution.
6. Write to an influential friend asking him to write in your behalf
to an employer who has a position open.
7. Write to a farmer asking him to permit you to work on the farm
during the summer for board and clothing.
8. Write to a business friend of your family asking him if he is
hkely to have an opening for you on your graduation from
school, — a semi-business letter.
9. Your parents are displeased when they learn that you have
written the letter under No. 8- One of them writes to the
employer. Reproduce the letter. Reproduce the replies
written by the employer to you and to your father.
LESSON EIGHTEEN
Special Business Letter Forms
Consult page 28 for general directions about the en-
velope. The business envelope differs from the envelope
of the friendly letter in that the name and address of the
firm are usually printed in the upper left-hand corner.
Sometimes they are printed on the flap on the back of the
envelope rather than on the face of it. Observe the follow-
ing model : —
132 GOOD ENGLISH
The Elm City Nursery Co.,
Office and Sales-Nurseries,
Edoewood, New Haven, Conn.
Mr. James B. Dugan,
517 Woodward Ave.,
Detroit,
Michigan.
Consult page 30 for different forms of address. It is
especially important that the address on the envelope of a
business letter shall be an exact copy of the address in the
letter. Observe the following in connection with addressing
high officials : —
(1) The President of the United States,
Executive Mansion,
Washington, D.C.
(2) The Hon. Peter Murphy,
Senate Chamber,
The Capitol,
Washington, D.C.
(3) The Hon. James Ferguson,
United States House of Representatives,
Washington, D.C.
(4) The Hon. John F. Hylan,
Mayor's Office,
City Hall,
New York.
(5) President Nicholas Murray Butler,
Columbia University,
Broadway and 116 Street,
New York.
HOW TO BE CLEAR ' 133
(6) The Hon. James Corrigan,
Appellate Court Building,
Madison Square,
New York.
(7) Rabbi Stephen Wise,
23 West 90 Street,
New York City.
(8) The Rev. James Stimson,
Pastor of the Congregational Temple, ,
60 Street and Kent Ave.,
St. Louis, Mo.
Salutations in letters to officials vary in form and depend,
in some measure, upon your acquaintance with the one
addressed. To the President and the Mayor you may
use, —
Sir:
Dear Sir :
Dear Mr. President :
Dear Mr. Mayor :
To another official, such as a senator or a judge, —
Dear Judge Anderson :
Dear Senator Murphy :
or
Dear Sir :
Sir:
The proper complimentary closings in business letters are
the simple ones indicated on page 18. Americans are not
given to elaborate complimentary closings. In European
countries the following elaborate closing to an official letter
is by no means uncommon : —
I beg to remain, Sir,
Your humble and obedient servant,
(Signature)
134 GOOD ENGLISH
PRACTICE
1. Address envelopes to the prominent officials and citizens in your
community.
2. Address envelopes to several business houses in youj* community.
3. Compose printed matter to be printed on the envelopes used by
various school organizations.
4. Write a letter to the mayor of your town, to your state senator,
or to the President of the United States, asking for approval
• or indorsement of some reform movement in connection with
your community.
5. Write a letter to your minister, priest, or rabbi, asking him to
address your class or your school on a certain date.
6. Write a letter to your member of the House of Representatives
at Washington, D.C., asking him to send you certain informa-
tion that you need for preparing a speech.
LESSON NINETEEN
Formal Notes
This is an informal invitation, —
•
30 West Ave.,
Norwalk, Conn.,
June 12, 1918.
Dear Bill,
Comp over
Friday at 2
1 o'clock. The fellows are
go-
ing to be here and we're
going
to have a game —
you
know ! Weai
' your old clothes
or you'll be sorry ! I
As ever.
Tom
HOW TO BE CLEAR 135
But formal invitations and announcements are not written
in this free fashion. An engraver does the work and he has
certain estabhshed forms which he follows. He uses the
third person throughout, ignores the customary usage as to
letter parts, and places the whole form on a card. Observe
the following : —
C^/^ ^/^^^ <./McJ2^^/^ ^^
€1
'ie-'O^ued^ ^A-e ■/i^'cuut^e. -aj: ^-a-ud. ^yted^eypi-c-e -tz-t -a.
cf.^
-^ ^e. -^^-ue^Pt -a-C -lAe- ^^-A^iA-^-e^. <::^-(U€<Pe
oyyi. CyAi^yid-cUz/M, ■c^yte4/j^<3.<i/7^ Cy^'U-t'CKc^y, ^l^-e dt
^/
j^O/!^^ j:04^^ -(^l^^-lU^ de.^tt.£y»^ -a -C-i^-cA.
64^4^ ^i^/^-Zcf^'^^^^/
136 GOOD ENGLISH
request tfje f^onov of
's
presence at tje marrtafle of tfjeir trausllter
Bba i»arie
to
^v. STijomas JE, <9:larfte
on STueslras morninfl, Xobetnter tje ttoelft^
at ten o'clock
©ijurclj Saint fiflnatius 3Lo3?oIa
' !Nfine J^unlrrelr anlr lEiQijtw 3Parfe ^benue
l^eto ¥orfe ettfi
You will rarely be called upon to construct such dignified
and formal compositions as these, but certainly you will
receive some like them before you are very much older.
You should know what they are like and how to write them.
Note the omission of salutation and complimentary closing
and signature, the placement of the heading, when used, in
the lower left-hand corner, the use of the third person, and
the brevity and directness.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 137
In answering formal invitations, bearing the letters
R. S. V. P. (an abbreviation from the French ^^Repondez
sHl vous plait, ^^ meaning ''Please answer"), the third per-
son should again be used, and the response arranged as
follows : —
Mr. George Bronson accepts with pleasure (or re-
grets that he cannot accept) the kind invitation of
Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Brown for Friday, December
the third.
27 Guilford Avenue,
New Haven, Connecticut.
PRACTICE
1. Write an announcement of a school exhibition.
2. Write a formal dinner invitation from your parents to your
teacher.
3. Write your teacher's formal note of acceptance.
4. Write an announcement of the marriage of your sister or of a
friend.
5. Write an invitation to a party to be given by yom: sister.
6. Write two or three different acceptances of your sister's invita-
tion.
7. Write a formal request for excuse of absence from school.
8. Write a teacher's formal acceptance of excuse for absence.
9. Write a formal regret for being unable to accept an invitation.
10. Write a formal card of thanks for sympathy extended to you.
138 GOOD ENGLISH
LESSON TWENTY
The Sentence
Unless you have a "gift" for writing, you must have
bitten your pen or pencil more than once in following out
the suggestions of previous lessons. In business letters
especially, it was necessary to put your ideas into sentences
that said all that you wished and said it clearly. If you
failed, it was often because you did not know how to make
your sentences work.
A sentence, with its subject and predicate and its various
clauses, is hke a trout line with its group of flies. When
a skillful fisherman casts his line, the leader straightens,
each fly stretches above the water and settles upon the
surface in due relation to every other. But a bad cast
tangles them in hopeless confusion. The thought of the
writer in sentence writing is like the twist of the wrist that
makes the successful cast. If it is a good thought and a
clear one, the clauses will fly into place. If it is a con-
fused thought, then the parts of the sentence tangle and
do not show their relations. If it is a feeble thought, then
the sentence sprawls ineffectively, or "dies" before it is
really finished.
In actual writing, it is the thought that comes first. But
let us study the kinds of sentences, their parts and relations,
precisely as before fly fishing one would examine the line
and its flies. An intimate knowledge of the sentence will
make your composition work less perplexing for you and
will give a range and power of expression that will
surprise you. It is not true that if you take care of
the sentences, the paragraphs will take care of themselves.
But it is true that the boy or girl who masters sen-
HOW TO BE CLEAR 139
tences is much more than half way on the road to clear
English.
A sentence, then, is a thought expressed in words. The
important words in a sentence are pictures of ideas. These
ideas or word pictures are Unked together by means of less
important words called connectives and relation words,
which show the connections and the relations among the
ideas of a sentence. The word that names what the sentence
is about is called the subject, although sometimes it takes a
group of words, as in a noun clause, to state a subject. That
part of the sentence that says something about the subject
is called the predicate.
Sentences are classified in three general divisions accord-
ing to Purpose, Grammatical Form, and Arrangement.
Under Purpose there are four kinds, —
(1) Declarative : a sentence that makes a complete state-
ment, as, — Philadelphia is ninety miles from New York.
(2) Interrogative : a sentence that asks a question, as, —
How far is New Orleans from Winnipeg ?
(3) Imperative : a sentence that commands, entreats,
directs, or forbids, as, — Sit down. Close the door. Leave
him alone.
(4) Exclamatory : a sentence that expresses strong feeling,
as, — Where, oh where has he gone! Alas, it is too late!
Hurrah, we won the game!
An exclamatory sentence may be declarative or interrogative
or imperative in form. It is the feeling used in expressing it
that makes it an exclamatory sentence or an exclamation.
There are four kinds of sentences considered from the
point of view of Grammatical Form, —
(1) Simple : a sentence that contains one subject and
one predicate, as, — Alice sews. Either of these parts, or
both, may be compound, as, — Alice and Mary sew and knit.
140 GOOD ENGLISH
(2) Compound : a sentence that consists of two or more
independent subject and predicate groups, each of which
may stand alone as a simple sentence, as, — The river
flows hut the cataract leaps. If hut were omitted from this
sentence, each part could stand alone as a separate simple
sentence. Such subject and predicate groups coming within
a sentence are called clauses. If they are independent, that
is, if they make complete sense when standing alone, they
are called independent clauses. If they do not make com-
plete sense standing alone, they are called dependent clauses.
(3) Complex : a sentence that contains one independent
subject and predicate group or clause, called here the prin-
cipal clause, and one or more dependent subject and predi-
cate groups or clauses, as, — When war was declared, many
Americans were in Europe. The clause When war wa^
declared does not make complete sense if separated from the
rest of the sentence. It is therefore the dependent clause,
for it depends upon the independent clause to give it meaning.
(4) Compound-complex : a sentence that contains two or
more independent clauses and one or more dependent
clauses, as, — When June arrived, work ended and play
hegan. The independent clauses are work ended, play hegan.
When June arrived is a dependent clause depending (in this
instance) upon both of the independent clauses for its meaning.
Some books classify a sentence of this kind as complex and thus
have but three kinds of sentences under the second division.
There are three kinds of sentences from the point of view
of Arrangement, —
(1) Loose : a sentence that is so loosely put together that
it may be concluded at one or many points before the end
is reached, as, — A mocking-hird is called Boh just as a goat
is called Billy or Nan, as a parrot is called Poll, a^ a squirrel
18 called Bunny, or as a cat is called Pussy or Tom.
HOW TO BE CLEAR
141
(2) Periodic : a sentence in which the thought is not com-
pleted until the end. It will not make complete sense if
closed before the end is reached, thus, — Just as a cat is
called Pussy or Tom, just as a squirrel is called Bunny, just
as a parrot is called Poll, just as a goat is called Billy or Nan,
so a mocking-bird is called Boh. You could not place a
period where these commas are, for the part so marked off
would not make complete sense.
(3) Balanced : a sentence whose parts match or balance
one another. Subjects and predicates may balance, or
phrases and clauses, thus, — Train up a child in the way he
should go and when he is old he will not depart from it. Note
also the following: Had you rather Caesar were living
and die all slaves, than that Ccesar were dead, to live all free-
men?
It must be remembered that the terms loose, periodic, and
balanced are relative. There are varying degrees of loose-
ness, of periodicity, and of balance. Some sentences are
more loose, more periodic, or more balanced than others.
The following diagram summarizes the sentence classi-
fication as given above : —
Sentences
Purpose
Grammatical
Form
Arrangement
f declarative
interrogative
imperative
. exclamatory
simple
compound
complex
compound-complex
loose
periodic
, parallel or balanced
142 GOOD ENGLISH
There should be little difficulty in expressing yourself clearly
in a variety of ways in view of the fact that all these kinds
of sentences are at your command.
PRACTICE
1. Select sentences of different kinds from the stories on pages 32
to 69.
2. Compose sentences of different kinds on some topic of current
interest in your community, or on the following : —
Work at school Entertainments Friends
Work at home Athletics Flowers
Examinations Books Success
Report cards Travel Choosing a life work
3. Compose the following kinds of sentences about the town or
city in which you live : —
A declarative complex periodic sentence
An imperative compound loose sentence
A simple interrogative sentence
A balanced compound-complex sentence ~
An exclamatory complex sentence
4. Write a brief comparative description of your father and
mother or of some other real people. Use all the different
kinds of sentences in it. Begin the sentences with different
words. Make use of transitional words and phrases ; that is,
words or phrases that serve to connect the thought of one
sentence with that of another.
5. Classify each of the following sentences according to. the divi-
sions pointed out in this chapter : —
(1) The flag of the United States consists of thirteen stripes
alternating red and white, and a blue field in the upper
left-hand corner, set with forty-eight white stars.
(2) The stripes represent the original thirteen colonies and the
stars the forty-eight states now in the Union.
(3) The resolution, authorizing the making of the flag, was
passed by Congress on June 14, 1777.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 143
(4) George Washington requested Congress to appoint a com-
mittee to design a flag by means of which American
vessels could recognize each other.
(5) Mrs. Betsy Ross, an expert needlewoman, conducting an
upholstery business at her home, 239 Arch Street, Phila-
delphia, was visited by the committee and requested
to make a flag from a design shown her.
(6) She suggested to Washington, who was a member of the
committee, that he redraw it.
(7) "May I suggest also," she said, "that the stars be made
five-pointed?"
(8) Her suggestions were well received ; the flag was redrawn,
and Mrs. Ross made the first Star Spangled Banner.
(9) The flag was probably first carried in battle at Brandy-
wine, September 11, 1777.
(10) On the admission of Kentucky and Vermont into the
Union in 1794, it was ordered by Congress that after
May 1, 1795, there should be fifteen stars and fifteen
stripes in the flag.
(11) Not until April 14,- 1818, was the permanent form of the
flag decided upon.
(12) On this date Congress ordered that the flag should contain
thirteen stripes permanently, and that there should be
as many stars in the blue field as there are states in the
Union, the addition of each new star to be made on the
Fourth of July following the admission of the new state.
(13) There are now forty-eight stars in the flag, — six rows of
eight stars each.
(14) At the time of the Revolution there were 13 stars in
the flag ; at the War of 1812, 15 ; at the Mexican War,
29 ; at the Civil War, 35 ; at the Spanish War, 45 ; and
at the World War, 48.
(15) Speaking of the flag, Washington said, "We take the
star from Heaven, the red from our mother country,
separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we
have separated from her, and the white stripes shall
go down to posterity representing liberty."
6. Write a short conversation between two i)eople who are sup-
posedly watching the game illustrated on the next page.
U1.KINO A QOXU
HOW TO BE CLEAR 145
Use as many of the different kinds of sentences enumerated
on page 141 as you can.
7. Add independent clauses to the following dependent ones so
that each completed sentence will be periodic : —
After a hard day's work was done
When the tide goes out
If it rains
Where he went
Since the bell has rung
Although he failed
Who he was
Which of the two came
Why he laughed
How it is made
Add dependent clauses to the following independent ones so
that the completed sentences will be complex :, —
Take your hat off to the flag
The white in the flag means purity
The blue in the flag means truth —
The red in the flag means courage -
Every school should have a flag flying over it
One of our most inspiring hoHdays is flag day
The flag is a sacred symbol
The history of our flag is thrilling
Never forget the flag, boys,
9. Construct sentences in which clauses, phrases, or words are
balanced, using the following suggestions : —
Black and white Summer and winter Atlantic and Pacific
Strong and weak On and off North and south
In and out China and Japan East and west
LESSON TWENTY ONE
Making Sentences Clear — Unity
A sentence must have unity ; that is, all its parts must
unite to form a single thought. If a sentence contains more
ideas than should be squeezed into a single statement, or if
146 GOOD ENGLISH
it contains ideas unrelated to the remainder of the sentence,
then it lacks unity. A sentence must also have coherence,
that is, its parts must be so arranged as to make their
relations, and the meaning of the whole, clear. A sentence
that lacks unity will often, as a result, lack coherence also.
The ideas that offend against unity may interfere with the
coherence of the thought.
Cautions 1, 2, and 3 below belong almost exclusively to
the study of unity. Numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 apply to co-
herence as well as to unity.
1. Do not put too much in a sentence. Cultivate the habit
of writing brief, concise sentences rather than long, involved
ones.
The game was held at the park and on the way to it we sang and
whistled popular airs, and when we at last arrived we were told
that we were an hour ahead of time.
Such a sentence as this is sometimes called a rambling
sentence. There are too many unrelated ideas contained in it.
It should be broken up into three sentences, as follows : —
The game was held at the park. On the way we sang and whistled
popular airs. When we arrived there we were told that we were
an hour ahead of time. (See exercise 1 under Practice, page 149.)
2. On the other hand, do not put too little in your sentences.
A series of extremely short sentences may be perfectly
correct in form, but if each represents a part only of the
sentence thought, the series should be combined into a
whole.
The flag has thirteen stripes. The flag has forty-eight stars.
The stripes stand for the original thirteen colonies. The stars
stand for the present forty-eight states.
These fragments should be combined into one unified
statement as follows : —
HOW TO BE CLEAR 147
The flag has thirteen stripes, symboUzing the original thirteen
colonies, and forty-eight stars, symboUzing the forty-eight states
in the .Union. (See exercise 2 under Practice, page 150.)
3. Do not place in the same sentence ideas that have little or
no relation to each other.
Alice makes good cake and goes to school regularly.
The two ideas contained in this sentence are so totally
unrelated as to seem ridiculous when placed together. They
are two separate and independent thoughts and should
not be related in sentence construction. (See exercise 3,
under Practice, page 151.)
4. Do not make a sentence compound in form when one or
more of its parts are clearly dependent in meaning.
Washington is the capital of the United States and it was named
for our first President.
This sentence lacks unity because the two ideas contained
in it are not properly related. The subordinate idea is not
made subordinate. Instead of being a compound sentence,
it should be complex, and the less important idea should
be given a subordinate place, thus, —
Washington, which is the capital of the United States, was named
for our first President. (See exercise 4 under Practice, page 151.)
5. Keep verbs in different clauses in the same voice, mood,
and tense.
As the game started Bill said to Jim, "I suppose we shall be
beaten."
Not As the game started Bill says to Jim, "I suppose we shall be
beaten."
If, however, two different periods of time are to be repre-
sented by the verbs in a sentence, then one verb may be in
one tense, and one in another, —
148 GOOD ENGLISH
He told us that Albany is the capital of New York. (See exercise
5 under Practice, page 152.)
6. Keep person, number, and gender uniform.
On entering the room she saw a picture that impressed her
as being weird.
Not On entering the room she saw a picture that impressed one
as being weird.
Every one said he was going.
Not Every one said they were going. (See exercise 6 under Prac-
tice, pages 152-153.)
7. Keep the parallel parts of a sentence as nearly alike
in construction as possible. This is chiefly a question of
thinking out your grammar correctly.
The new teacher was kindly received by the pupils and was
welcomed with special exercises.
Not The new teacher was kindly received by the pupils and they
welcomed him with special exercises.
He is only five feet in height but he tips the scales at two
hundred pounds.
Not He is only five feet in height and tipping the scales at two
hundred pounds.
On account of absence and illness he cannot be promoted.
Not On account of his absence and because he has been ill he can-
not be promoted.
I hate solving problems in algebra and performing experi-
ments in biology.
Not I hate solving problems in algebra and to perform experiments
in biology.
His good qualities are honesty, frankness, generosity, and
kindness.
Not His good qualities are honesty, frankness, generous, and kind.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 149
Baseball is wholesome for three reasons : it is played in the
open ; it requires mental alertness ; it is good exercise.
Or Baseball is wholesome for three reasons : first, fresh air ; sec-
ond, mental alertness; third, good exercise. (See exer-
cises 7, 8, 9 under Practice, pages 153-154.)
Not Baseball is wholesome for three reasons : it is played in the
open ; for the mental alertness required ; and good exercise.
PRACTICE
1. The following sentences are overloaded. Rewrite them : —
(1) At last lunch was ready and we were all ready for it but while
we were eating a storm came up and our pretty little
lawn party was disturbed.
(2) I wrote to him and asked him to arrange a date but his
reply said they refused to play us because of our reckless
playing in the last game.
(3) AUce says that Mary told her they were not going and they
are going to Hampton instead but I think we shall go
anyhow for the weather is fine.
(4) During the day there were numerous showers and then in
the evening the stars came out and everything was
lovely but Mary lost her jeweled purse and every one was
obliged to help find it.
(5) The race was now on and it looked as if John would win for
he was well in advance of the others but going round a
corner Bill forged ahead and he kept first place to the end.
(6) Tennyson was born in 1809 and he hved in England all his
hfe and he was made Poet Laureate in 1850 but some of
his greatest work had been done before that date.
(7) They arrived at Cape Honduras which is the most northern
point of Honduras, on June 25, on their way to visit
this interesting republic of Central America which covers
46,250 square miles.
(8) Washington Augustus Roebling was an American engineer
who was born in 1806 and died in 1869, and who built
the great Brooklyn bridge, the first bridge to unite
Brooklyn with Manhattan.
150 GOOD ENGLISH
(9) Casimir Pulaski was born in 1748 and died in 1789, served
as a Polish soldier and as a general in the American
Revolution, and he w^as killed at the siege of Savannah.
(10) Speaking of heroes, I said that Sir Roderick is the greatest
hero I ever read of but sister said, "No, you are wrong :
he was not a hero but an adventurer, and anyway Wallace
is the greatest hero that ever was."
2. Combine the short sentences in each of the following groups into
a single sentence or two : —
(1) Barley is a grain. It is somewhat hke buckwheat. It is
used as food. It is used to make malt.
(2) Buckwheat is a plant. Its blossoms are white. It grows
in poor soil. Its seeds are queer looking things. They
are black. They are triangular. Flour is made from
them.
(3) Oats is harvested in August. It is an edible grain. Oat-
meal is made from oats, tlorses love oats. The word
oats is plural in form but singular in construction.
(4) Wheat is the most valuable grain there is. The ear or
head is a flowered spikelet. The grain is hammered out
by machinery. Flour is made from the grains. Wheat
is used also for making cereals.
(5) Rye is a grain. It is very much like wheat. In the field
it is taller than wheat. The rye grain is larger and
sharper than the wheat grain. Whisky is made from rye.
(6) Wheat, rye, barley, oats are called corn in England. In
America Indian maize is called corn. It grows to a
height of seven to ten feet. The grain grows in clusters
called ears. They are yellow and hard. The central
part of the ear is the cob. Horses love corn. A variety
called sweet corn is eaten by men.
(7) Grass is a common green plant. It has hollow stems. Its
stems are sometimes jointed. Its leaves are long and
narrow. Its leaves are spire-shaped. It grows in all
countries. It requires much moisture.
(8) Clover blossoms in both red and white. There are several
species of clover. Clover belongs to the bean family.
It is a three-leaved plant. It is the best pasture for
cattle.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 151
(9) Timothy is a grass. It is used for hay. It is a winter
fodder for cattle. It has a long, serrated head. It takes
its name from Timothy Hanson. He introduced the
seed about 1720.
(10) Alfalfa is a clover-like plant. It grows in Europe. It
grows in the United States. It belongs to the bean fam-
ily. It is the best kind of fodder for cows.
3. The ideas in each of the following sentences have little or no
relation to each other. Point out the lack of harmony in each
one and rewrite correctly : —
(1) China has a population of 407,253,030 people and most of
our camphor comes from there.
(2) Silk is the leading export of Japan, although the country
covers 260,000 square miles.
(3) Java belongs to the Dutch but we get much coffee from
there.
(4) In Rangoon, the capital of Burma, there is a large EngHsh
high school for boys and the country belongs to Great
Britain.
(5) Tea is the chief export of Ceylon and the island has a de-
lightful climate.
(6) The antiquity of Egypt is fascinating in interest though the
country is now a British province.
(7) The waters of the Mediterranean are sky-blue and the
vessels that voyage through it to the west are laden with
precious cargoes from the east.
(8) Adelaide is one of the most beautiful cities in South
Australia and there is a large teachers' college located
there.
(9) The population of Sydney, AustraHa, is 725,000 and when
it is winter in New York it is summer there.
(10) Hobart is the capital of Tasmania and when I was there
ten years ago I was ill for two weeks.
4. In the following sentences the principal thoughts do not stand
out prominently because the subordinate thoughts are not
made dependent. Rewrite them correctly : —
(1) America is the richest country in the world and has been
called the Western El Dorado. ^
152 GOOD ENGLISH
(2) The first act is explanatory and shows the relations existing
between the two classes of people.
(3) Sohrab was a spirited fighter and he was determined to find
his heroic father.
(4) Philadelphia is called the Quaker City and it is the home
of many Quaker families even today.
(5) It was a beautiful picture of a farmhouse and I bought it
for my mother.
(6) The three sat up in the lighthouse towers and they watched
for their loved ones at sea.
(7) It was a wide stream and it flowed rapidly and there was a
picturesque old bridge over it.
(8) New Haven is the largest city in Connecticut and Yale
University is located there.
(9) Antonio was a rich merchant and he borrowed money from
Shylock.
(10) James was a good king and he mingled with his people
freely.
5. Rewrite the following sentences making the verbs agree in mood
or voice or tense, or in all three : —
(1) Every once in a while he would reenter and was greeted
by the same reception.
(2) If he is accepted, he would be very happy.
(3) As they were sailing along, suddenly the wind rises and the
boat was turned upside down.
(4) He was struck on reaching the top of the hill by the view
that lies before him.
(5) He fears he might be hurt if he ventured too far afield.
(6) The war concerned us all, especially those who have large
fortunes.
(7) No sooner had we arrived than John begins to feel ill.
(8) "Well, if it isn't you!" she cried, and then they run off
together to talk.
(9) If the suffix began with a vowel, the final consonant is
doubled.
(10) I would go if I had known in time.
6. Rewrite the following sentences, making corrections in person,
number, and gender as required : —
HOW TO BE CLEAR 153
(1) Each fellow has a chance if they make an application.
(2) The crowd chases the thief until he was out of sight and
then he in wait for him to reappear.
(3) He saw the snake as it coiled around the post and then
leveled his gun and fired at him.
(4) If one does not care for jewelry, why should you
wear it ?
(5) Miss Doan accepts Mrs. Smith's kind invitation to dinner
on June 20, at seven o'clock. Yours truly.
(6) School gives every boy an opportunity to make a man
of yourself and to see what is best for him in the
world.
(7) When a girl is going to school she should accompany
her school work with a certain amount of work in
the home, so that when they are grown up they
may make good housekeepers as well as intelligent
citizens.
(8) The committee decide that it is not responsible for the con-
dition of the room after school hours.
(9) Every report is recorded in the ofi&ce and they blandly
stare a pupil in the face when they come up for gradua-
tion.
(10) Miss Everett regrets extremely that she cannot accept Miss
Brown's kind invitation owing to the fact that I have
another engagement. Cordially yours.
7. Rewrite each of the following sentences so that the subjects of
the clauses will be more nearly parallel in construction : —
(1) They accepted the invitation and a warm reception was given
them.
(2) I shall appreciate it if you will send me a check or the money
may be left with my clerk.
(3) I heard an alarm and rushed to the window and the ambu-
lance was just going past.
(4) I met the man at the entrance and he showed me over the
building.
(5) They accepted my gift most graciously and today I received
a note of appreciation from them.
(6) They arrived in Venice at sunset and the lagoons were
resplendent with color and gaiety.
154 GOOD ENGLISH
(7) Running is good exercise but which must not be overdone
by any fellow.
8. In the following sentences participial and infinitive phrases are
not made properly parallel in construction. Correct them : —
(1) He likes swimming or to splash about in the pool.
(2) Studying soUdly for five hours or to listen closely for that
length of time, is an exhausting task.
(3) Leaving the bridge at the lower end they began entering the
estate and to marvel at its beauties.
(4) Hurrying is not the same as to make haste.
(5) I hate to be caught in the rain and running for shelter.
(6) He never thought of carrying her bundles of to carry her
umbrella.
(7) To listen to music inteUigently is more difficult than hearing
speech understandingly.
(8) Being, or not to be, — that is the question.
(9) To shout, to whistle, behaving boisterously in any way, is
not proper indoors.
9. There are certain terms in each of the following sentences that
should be similar or parallel in form. Rewrite the sentences,
making them so : —
(1) He has had the honor of holding the office of mayor, the
governorship, and president.
(2) We supply travel information, railway tickets, and also at-
tend to your luggage.
(3) Mary's best traits are kindness, sweetness, honest, and
good.
(4) You will never be sorry that you bought this suit, for it is
excellent quality, wears well, and stylish.
(5) He won the medal because he is clever, his record is a good
one, and in efficient competition.
(6) He has traveled in England, all over France, and he has been
in Africa.
(7) These things are positively essential for graduation, — you
must work hard, deny yourself certain pleasures, good
attendance.
(8) Tell who wrote the story, why, at what time it appeared,
your opinion.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 155
LESSON TWENTY TWO
Making Sentences Clear — Coherence
Read again the first part of Lesson Twenty One and be
sure that you understand the meaning of unity and co-
herence as apphed to sentences. Study the five cautions
below regarding coherence. Numbers 1 and 2 belong almost
exclusively to coherence. Numbers 3, 4, and 5 have to do
with both coherence and unity.
1. Be sure that word, phrase, and clause modifiers stand as
close as possible to the words, phrases, and clauses they modify.
This is a most important rule in English expression and it
is one that is often violated.
Here is a sentence showing the wrong placement of a word
modifier, —
I only have three apples.
Only does not modify have. It modifies three and should be
placed as near as possible to it, thus, —
I have only three apples.
Here is a sentence showing the wrong placement of a
phrase, —
The manager returned home after a hard fought game with his
team.
With his team modifies returned not game. The sentence
should read as follows : —
The manager returned home with his team after a hard fought game.
Here is a sentence showing the wrong placement of a
clause, —
The monument of Henry "v is one of the most interesting in West-
minster Abbey, who died in 11^22.
156 GOOD ENGLISH
The clause in italics modifies Henry V and should, of course,
be placed as near as possible to the name, as, —
The monument of Henry V, who died in 1422, is one of the most
interesting in the Abbey.
(See exercise 1 under Practice, page 160.)
2. Be sure that the antecedent of every pronoun you use is
clearly and easily found. Both personal and relative pro-
nouns are often confused in reference, even by good writers.
It and he are particularly troublesome.
The antecedent of he, for instance, in this sentence is in
doubt, —
Before the sailor could reach his soa he drowned.
It should read, —
Before the sailor could reach his son the boy drowned,
or
Before the sailor could reach his son, the sailor drowned,
according to the meaning intended.
The pronouns it and they are, however, frequently used
without any definite antecedent, although their meaning is
perfectly clear. They are sometimes called idiomatic pro-
nouns because custom has made their use in this way an
idiom, and therefore allowable ; for example, — It rains.
It snows. They say it is going to rain. They play hall on that
field.
The relative pronouns which and that are frequently used
to refer to a group of words or to a clause. Careful writers,
however, will make them refer to one definite word in a sen-
tence. Thus in, —
They upset in the snow which was most unexpected,
which refers to the clause preceaii^g it. Indeed, it refers
principally to the action indicated in that clause, or to the
HOW TO BE CLEAR 157
action word. Pronouns should refer to nouns or pronouns,
never to verbs. In nearly all cases where this construction
occurs, the which or that clause can be combined with the
principal clause to make a simpler statement of the whole
sentence, as, —
They upset unexpectedly in the snow.
(See exercise 2 under Practice, page 161.)
3. Be sure that the conjunctions and, but, therefore, as,
either — or, neither — nor are used in sentences for the re-
lationship that their meanings indicate.
And is an additive conjunction. It means addition.
Other connecting words that may be used with or in place
of it are also, likewise, moreover, similarly, furthermore, too,
more than this, again. When any of these words are used,
therefore, either separately or in groups, they should be
used in such a way as to imply addition. The following
sentence illustrates this : —
He received 90 in English and 100 in algebra ; his marks in other
subjects were likewise high.
But is an adversative conjunction. It means on the other
hand, on the contrary, yet, still, however, nevertheless, at the
some time, and should be used with or in place of these
words, thus, —
Bill is not a good student, but he made a good showing,
or
Bill is not a good student, still he made a good showing.
It would be absurd to use and or any one of its equivalents
to show the connection here, as, —
Bill is not a good student and he made a good showing.
Therefore means for that reason. Words that mean about
the same as therefore and that may oftentimes be used with
158 GOOD ENGLISH
it or for it, are so, thus, hence, consequently, as a result, ac-
cordingly. Note how many of these words may be used in
the following sentence : —
Thej^ decided to play the game rain or shine; therefore (accord-
ingly, hence, consequently, so) the tickets were placed on sale.
As, used as a connective, expresses degree or manner. The
following sentences illustrate these usages : —
He plays as well as I.
Do as you like.
Used with so, as may indicate result, as in, — Be so good
as to come. As should not be used in place of that. I don't
know as he can is wrong.
Either — or, neither — nor, not only — hut also, though —
yet, whether — or, as — as, or so — as, (so is used with as in
negative statements), both — and, are called correlative con-
junctions. This means that they correspond and are ordi-
narily used together. But great care must be exercised in
getting them in the proper positions in sentences, that is, as
near as possible to the words, phrases, or clauses that they
connect. The following sentences are incorrect : —
I neither like him nor his father.
He not only asked him to go but also to take his luggage with him.
Here they are corrected, —
I like neither him nor his father.
He asked him not only to go but also to take his luggage with him.
(See exercises 3 and 4 under Practice, pages 162 to 163.)
4. Be sure that there is a correct subject for participles and
infinitives to modify or refer to. In the sentence, —
Wheeling to the right a good view of the ruin could be had,
HOW TO BE CLEAR 159
wheeling is called a dangling participle. There is no word
in the sentence for it to modify. The sentence should be
rewritten as follows : —
Wheeling to the right we had a good view of the ruin.
Similarly in the following sentence : —
To be thoroughly prepared for the lesson a good outhne of it
must be made,
the infinitive to be prepared seems to refer to outline. This
is absurd of course. The sentence should read, —
To be thoroughly prepared for the lesson you must make a
good outline of it.
(See exercise 5 under Practice, page 163.)
5. Be careful not to omit necessary words from your sen-
tences. Omissions are frequently made in both speech and
writing, and this is permissible when the meaning is clear.
The omission of that, for instance, in He said he would go
does not make the sentence at all vague or incoherent. But
the omission of words in such constructions as the following
is serious : —
(1) Today^s lesson is as easy, if not easier, than yesterday^ s.
The comparative easier is quite properly followed by than.
But as easy or so easy must always be followed by as, for
as — as and so — as are correlatives. Thus the corrected
sentence should read, —
Today's lesson is as easy as, if not easier than, yesterday's,
or
Today's lesson is as easy as yesterday's, if not easier.
The word than will be readily understood at the end.
(2) Her explanation was clearer than the other teacher we had.
The intention is not to make the comparison between her
160 GOOD ENGLISH
explanation and other teacher , but between her explanation
and the explanation made by the other teacher. The sentence
should read, —
Her explanation was clearer than that made by the other teacher
we had.
(3) / like Scott better than any author I have read. The word
other should always be used with any in statements of com-
parison such as this. Used without other, any includes
Scott, of course, and thus gives the sentence a contradictory
meaning.
I like Scott better than any other author I have read,
is correct.
These indicate some of the omissions that are made in
everyday speech and writing. It would, of course, be im-
possible to mention here all omissions that cause incoherence,
for individuals are hkely to have "pet omissions." But a
careful study of those given here and in exercise 6 (pages
163 to 164) of the Practice will be of great benefit to you.
PRACTICE
1. Word, phrase, or clause modifiers are out of place in the following
sentences. Rewrite them, placing the modifiers as near as
possible to the words modified : —
(1) Compositions should be only written on one side of the
paper.
(2) He was detained after school for missing his lesson almost an
hour.
(3) They thought that he would make a home run several times
before the game was over.
(4) I am only afraid in the dark.
(5) The teacher was hit in the third inning.
(6) He had only recited one minute when the bell rang.
(7) It was dark and dangerous but Tom started out to meet
the outlaw with a club-
HOW TO BE CLEAR 161
(8) All is not gold that glitters.
(9) The tent was raised by men on long sharp-pointed
poles.
(10) Take two of the pills on retiring in a wineglassful of cold
water.
(11) They erected a building large enough to accommodate one
thousand business men twelve stories high.
(12) John did his lesson while going to school this morning on a
piece of Mary's paper.
(13) I cannot see why address is not a noun but I was told that
it is a verb yesterday.
(14) For Rent : Neat ballroom by tidy modern lady with elec-
tric Ughts.
(15) Wanted : Board and room by bachelor with steam heat and
electricity.
The following sentences are incoherent because the antecedents
of the pronouns are not clear. Rewrite them coherently : —
(1) He looked everywhere for him and had no doubts as to
what he would do when he was found.
(2) While Billy Jones was playing with his dog one day last
week he got angry and bit him and at present writing he
is seriously ill.
(3) Fannie's mother died when she was twenty five and she
has never forgotten her.
(4) I hope to be present which will give me much pleasure.
(5) Mary and James work in the shops during Christmas week
because they are in need of help.
(6) He was an excellent swimmer and runner and he accom-
plished this by constant practice.
(7) Tom's colt died when he was but five years old.
(8) The baby fell down stairs which hurt him very much.
(9) The firemen slide down a pole when the signal is given to
the engine floor which connects with the second floor in
one corner.
(10) They gave my sister passes who thanked them for them.
(11) We sat before the fire telUng stories which was the most
cheerful place in the house.
(12) They took off their hats and threw them aside and for the
rest of the day they were happy.
M
162 GOOD ENGLISH
(13) I received your kind invitation to attend your party which
it gives me much pleasure to accept with thanks.
(14) Typhoid is sometimes caused by drinking water at the time
of a flood unless it is boiled.
(15) It looked hke snow this morning which led John to get his
sled ready for some winter sport.
3. Insert and, but, thus, hence, moreover, therefore, or hke connectives
in the sentences below. Explain each insertion : —
(1) They guaranteed gate receipts the best position on the
field ; they agreed to play us annually hereafter.
(2) He failed of graduation he had made an excellent show-
ing in all subjects except one.
(3) He tried private school awhile ; he went to high school ;
he had private tutors.
(4) The oppression became unendurable; the President
declared war and prices soared.
(5) It was a difficult task he was not well ; he was
extremely busy with other things.
(6) You are not to be blamed you should be cheerful ;
you know best how you feel.
(7) On their arrival they found their father mother ill ;
they planned to remain for several days.
(8) ** Any " means one ; it is singular number ; "Any-
one is at liberty to go" is correct.
(9) Grant was a great leader he struggled against great
disadvantages, in spite of these he immortalized his
name in the cause of his country.
(10) Friendly relations were discontinued; war was de-
clared ; actual fighting was begun.
4. Insert as — as, so — as, neither — nor, either — or, whether — or,
though — yet, or not only — hut also in the sentences below.
Give reason for each insertion made : —
(1) He threw the ball far I.
(2) He does not look well he did.
(3) the war will end tliis year next is difficult to say.
(4) Mary Alice knows her lesson.
(5) he has returned sorely wounded the doctor says
he will recover.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 163
(6) I believe in the public school system of the United
States, in education, as the corrective for all
social ills.
(7) he did not stand high his brother, his
marks were the best he had ever received.
(8) one the other is certain to take the prize but
it will be Jim Joe is a question.
(9) did he go to war himself he made five
of his sons go.
(10) far I can see there is clear blue sky.
5. In the following sentences it is not clear on first reading what the
infinitives and participles modify. Rewrite the sentences,
making their construction clear in each case : —
(1) The button should be sewed on with fine silk, using care
to have the stitches even.
(2) StrolUng through the woods last night, locusts could be
heard here and there.
(3) Answering all the questions correctly, the marks given him
were good.
(4) Turning to the right, a beautiful vista greeted our eyes.
(5) Whether to run or to walk slowly by, the boy hesitated for
a time.
(6) To be fully understood, he must study the subject for many
hours.
(7) The utensils were brought back, having decided not to make
candy after all.
(8) To be thoroughly equipped for the trip, a package of goodies
must be included in your luggage.
6. Supply the omitted words or phrases in each of the following
sentences. May some of them stand as they are and be
perfectly clear without supplying omitted parts? Which
ones?
(1) Let me know where to send the books when ready.
(2) Remember, absolute quiet.
(3) I like English better than any study I have.
(4) He never has and he never will pass.
(5) Very well, sir, as you say.
(6) She sings as well, if not better, than Clara.
164 GOOD ENGLISH
(7) His work was more satisfactory than any other boy's I ever
taught.
(8) They trusted their housekeeper who had been doing it for
thirty years.
(9) If you find the book before the summer is over, please re-
turn.
(10) If the wool in your new underwear pricks you, turn inside
out.
(11) Gone but not forgotten.
(12) School work is more important to the individual than so-
ciety.
(13) We had the greatest difficulty driving the car from the rear
seat.
(14) Newspapers are often read while waiting for a train.
(15) Stir it until it is thick and then turn over.
(16) Whatever he will or has done makes no difference to me.
(17) He described the various countries visited.
(18) I promised I wouldn't tell but I am.
7. Compose sentences to illustrate the proper use of the connectives
and, but, thus, therefore, as, either, though, and their related words.
8. Examine each of the following sentences, asking yourself these
questions : —
Is it declarative, interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory ?
Is it simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex ?
Is it loose, periodic, or balanced?
Does it meet the requirements of unity and coherence ?
(1) The flag should not be hoisted before sunrise and it should
be lowered at sunset.
(2) In wartime, however, the flag may be kept flying all night,
although army posts do not fly the flag at night except
when a battle is in progress.
(3) The flag is placed at half mast as a sign of mourning.
(4) The proper method of half-masting the flag is to raise it to
the top of the staff and then lower it.
(5) At the conclusion of funeral ceremonies the half-masted
flag is raised to full staff, unless a longer period of mourn-
ing has been ordered.
(6) If the flag is displayed with the stripes running horizontally
the stars should be in the upper left-hand corner; if.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 165
however, it is hung with the stripes running up and down,
the stars should be in the upper right-hand corner.
(7) When the flag is draped upon a coffin, the stars should be
at the head.
(8) When the flag is passed in parade, men should halt if walk-
ing, or rise if sitting, stand at attention, and uncover.
(9) The American flag is older than the present British Union
Jack, the French Tricolor, and the flags of Spain, Ger-
many, and Italy.
(10) The young American's pledge to the flag is, "I pledge alle-
giance to my flag and to the repubUc for which it stands,
— one nation indivisible, with Uberty and justice for all.'!
9. Write three sentences, each of thirty words or more. Read them
to the class for criticism of sentence structure.
LESSON TWENTY THREE
Explanation
The real test of the power to be clear comes when you try
to explain a process or a thing or a situation or anything
that must be explained in order to be understood. Exposi-
tion, as the rhetorics call it, lies behind most attempts at
clearness, whether in letters, stories, or essays. If you can
conduct a clear, logical explanation of a difficult subject or
action or thought, you have gained a power that no one can
take away from you, and that will be useful in a hundred
ways. There is nothing mechanical about learning to ex-
plain. You cannot "cram up" on it; you cannot learn a
few rules and let it go at that ; for the power to explain is
the power to think, and that comes slowly. Nevertheless,
it helps enormously to understand the processes of thought
involved.
Preparation for explaining consists of three parts. First,
you must learn all you can of your subject, and think out
166 GOOD ENGLISH
as clearly as possible what you know. Second, you must
consider the point of view and the knowledge of the reader ;
in other words, you must decide how much and what kind
of explanation he needs. Third, you must make a plan.
Bad thinking is corrected by a plan. The writing out or the
speaking that follows preparation is made easy by a plan.
Read some or all of the following explanations and be able
to tell exactly what they mean. Are they clear? Do they
give all the explanation that you need in order to under-
stand the subjects discussed ?
What is a Boy Scout?
(From The Boy Scouts of America.)
A scout! He enjoys a hike through the woods more than he
does a walk over the city's streets. He can tell north or south or
east or west by the "signs." He can tie a knot that will hold,
he can climb a tree which seems impossible to others, he can swim a
river, he can pitch a tent, he can mend a tear in his trousers, he can
tell you which fruits and seeds are poisonous and which are not, he
can sight nut-bearing trees from a distance ; if living near ocean or
lake he can reef a sail or take his trick at the wheel, and if near
any body of water at all he can pull an oar or use paddles and sculls ;
in the woods he knows the names of birds and animals ; in the water
he tells you the different varieties of fish.
A scout walks through the woods with silent tread. No dry
twigs snap under his feet and no loose stones turn over and throw
him off his balance. His eyes are keen and he sees many things
that others do not see. He sees tracks and signs which reveal to
him the nature and habits of the creatures that made them. He
knows how to stalk birds and animals and study them in their
natural haunts. He sees much, but is little seen.
A scout, like an old frontiersman, does not shout his wisdom
from the housetops. He possesses the quiet power that comes
from knowledge. He speaks softly and answers questions
HOW TO BE CLEAR
167
modestly. He knows a
braggart but he does not
challenge him, allowing the
boaster to expose his ignor-
ance by his own loose-
wagging tongue.
A scout can kindle a fire
in the forest on the wettest
day and he seldom uses
more than one match.
When no matches can be
had he can still have a fire,
for he knows the secret of
the rubbing sticks used by
the Indians, and he knows
how to start a blaze with
only his knife blade and a
piece of flint. He knows,
also, the danger of forest
fires, and he kindles a blaze
that will not spread. The
fire once started, what a
meal he can prepare out
there in the open! Just
watch him and compare his
appetite with that of a boy
who lounges at a lunch
counter in a crowded city.
He knows the unwritten
rules of the campfire and
he contributes his share to
the pleasures of the council.
He also knows when to sit
silent before the ruddy
embers and give his mind
free play.
WHAT A MEAL HE CAN PREPARE
168 GOOD ENGLISH
A scout practises self-control, for he knows that men who master
problems in the world must first master themselves. He keeps a
close guard on his temper and never makes a silly spectacle of
himself by losing his head. He keeps a close guard on his tongue
for he knows that loud speech is often a cloak to ignorance, that
swearing is a sign of weakness, and that untruthfulness shatters
the confidence of others. He keeps a close guard on his appetite
and eats moderately of food that will make him strong ; he never
uses alcohoUc hquors because he does not wish to poison his body ;
he desires a clear, active brain, so he avoids tobacco.
A scout never flinches in the face of danger, for he knows that
at such a time every faculty must be alert to preserve his safety
and that of others. He knows what to do in case of fire, or panic,
or shipwreck ; he trains his mind to direct and his body to act. In
all emergencies he sets an example of resourcefulness, coolness, and
courage, and considers the safety of others before that of himself.
He is especially considerate of the helpless and the weak.
A scout does not run away or call for help when an accident
occurs. If a person is cut, he knows how to stop the flow of blood
and gently and carefully bind up the wound. If a person is burned,
his knowledge tells him how to alleviate the suffering. If any one
is dragged from the water unconscious, a scout at once sets to work
to restore respiration and circulation. He knows that not a minute
can be lost.
A scout knows that people expect more of him than they do of
other boys ahd he governs his conduct so that no word of reproach
can truthfully be brought against the great brotherhood to which
he has pledged his loyalty. He seeks always to make the word
"Scout" worthy of the respect of people whose opinions have value.
He wears his uniform worthily.
A scout knows his city as well as he knows the trails in the forest.
He can guide a stranger wherever he desires to go, and this knowl-
edge of short-cuts saves him many needless steps. He knows where
the poHce stations are located, where the fire-alarm boxes are placed,
where the nearest doctor lives, where the hospitals are, and which is
the quickest way to reach them. He knows the names of the city
HOW TO BE CLEAR 169
officials and the nature of their duties. A scout is proud of his city
and freely ojBfers his services when he can help.
A scout is a patriot and is always ready to serve his country at
a minute's notice. He loves Old Glory and knows the proper
forms of offering it respect. He never permits its folds to touch
the ground. He knows how his country is governed and who are
the men in high authority. He desires a strong body, an alert
mind, and an unconquerable spirit, so that he may serve his country
in any need. He patterns his life after those of great Americans
who have had a high sense of duty and who have served the nation
well.
A scout chooses as his motto "Be Prepared," and he seeks to
prepare himself for anything — to rescue a companion, to ford a
stream, to gather firewood, to help strangers, to distinguish right
from wrong, to serve his fellowmen, his country, and his God —
always to "Be Prepared."
The Seeing Hand^
(From Helen Keller's The World I Live In, Chapter T)
I have just touched my dog. He was roUing on the grass, with
pleasure in every muscle and Umb. I wanted to catch a picture of
him in my fingers, and I touched him as Ughtly as I would cobwebs ;
but lo, his fat body revolved, stiffened, and solidified into an upright
position, and his tongue gave my hand a lick ! He pressed close
to me, as if he were fain to crowd himself into my hand. He loved
it with his tail, with his paw, with his tongue. If he could speak, I
beheve he would say with me that paradise is attained by touch ;
for in touch is all love and intelligence.
This small incident started me on a chat about hands, and if my
chat is fortunate I have to thank my dog-star. In any case it is
pleasant to have something to talk about that no one else has
monopoUzed ; it is like making a new path in the trackless woods,
1 Used by permission of The Century Company.
The author has been blind since childhood.
170 GOOD ENGLISH
blazing the trail where no foot has pressed before. I am glad to take
you by the hand and lead you along an untrodden way into a world
where the hand is supreme. But at the very outset we encounter a
difficulty. You are so accustomed to light, I fear you will stumble
when I try to guide you through the land of darkness and silence.
The bhnd are not supposed to be the best of guides. Still, though I
cannot warrant not to lose you, I promise that you shall not be led
into fire or water, or fall into a deep pit. If you will follow me
patiently, you will find that ''there's a sound so fine, nothing lives
'twixt it and silence," and that there is more meant in things than
meets the eye.
My hand is to me what your hearing and sight together are to
you. In large measure we travel the same highways, read the same
books, speak the same language, yet our experiences are different.
All my comings and goings turn on the hand as on a pivot. It is
the hand that binds me to the world of men and women. The hand
is my feeler with which I reach through isolation and darkness and
seize every pleasure, every activity that my fingers encounter.
With the dropping of a little word from another's ^ hand into mine,
a slight flutter of the fingers, began the intelligence, the joy, the
fullness of my life. Like Job, I feel as if a hand had made me,
fashioned me together round about, and molded my very soul.
In all my experiences and thoughts I am conscious of a hand.
Whatever moves me, whatever thrills me, is as a hand that touches
me in the dark, and that touch is my reahty. You might as well
say that a sight which makes you glad, or a blow which brings the
stinging tears to your eyes, is unreal as to say that those impressions
arc unreal which I have accumulated by means of touch. The
delicate tremble of a butterfly's wings in my hand, the soft petals of
violets curling in the cool folds of their leaves or lifting sweetly out
of the meadow grass, the clear, firm outline of face and limb, the
smooth arch of a horse's neck and the velvety touch of his nose —
all these, and a thousand resultant combinations, which take shape
in my mind, constitute my world.
Ideas make the world we live in, and impressions furnish ideas.
* Miss Sullivan's (now Mrs. Macy), when she began teaching Helen Keller.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 171
My world is built of touch-sensations, devoid of physical color and
sound; but without color and sound it breathes and throbs with
life. Every object is associated in my mind with tactual ^ qualities
which, combined in countless ways, give me a sense of power, of
beauty, or of incongruity : for with my hands I can feel the comic
as well as the beautiful in the outward appearance of things. Re-
member that you, dependent on your sight, do not reahze how
many things are tangible. All palpable things are mobile or rigid,
solid or Uquid, big or small, warm or cold, and these quaUties are
variously modified. The coolness of a water Uly rounding into
bloom is different from the coolness of an evening wind in summer,
and different again from the coolness of the rain that soaks into the
hearts of growing things and gives them life and body. The velvet
of a rose is not that of a ripe peach or of a baby's dimpled cheek.
The hardness of the rock is to the hardness of the wood what a
man's deep bass is to a woman's voice when it is low. What I
call beauty I find in certain combinations of all these quaUties,
and is largely derived from the flow of curved and straight hues
which is over all things. . . .
Wlien I think of hills, I think of the upward strength I tread upon.
When water is the object of my thought, I feel the cool shock of the
plunge and the quick yielding of the waves that crisp and curl and
ripple about my body. The pleasing changes of rough and smooth,
pHant and rigid, curved and straight, in the bark and branches of a
tree give the truth to my hand. The immovable rock, with all its
juts and warped surface, bends beneath my fingers into all manner of
grooves and hollows. The bulge of a watermelon and the puffed-up
rotundities of squashes that sprout, bud, and ripen in that strange
garden planted somewhere behind my fingertips are the ludicrous
in my tactual memory and imagination. My fingers are tickled
to deUght by the soft ripple of a baby's laugh, and find amusement
in the lusty crow of the barnyard autocrat. Once I had a pet
rooster that used to perch on my knee and stretch his neck and crow.
A bird in my hand was then worth two in the — barnyard.
My fingers cannot, of course, get the impression of a large whole
^ Relating to touch.
172 GOOD ENGLISH
at a glance ; but I feel the parts and my mind puts them together.
I move around my house, touching object after object in order,
before I can form an idea of the entire house. In other people's
houses I can touch only what is shown me — the chief objects of
interest, carvings on the wall, or a curious architectural feature,
exhibited Uke the family album. Therefore a house with which I
am not famiUar has for me, at first, no general effect or harmony of
detail. It is not a complete conception, but a collection of object-
impressions which, as they come to me, are disconnected and
isolated. But my mind is full of associations,, sensations, theories,
and with them it constructs the house. The process reminds me
of the building of Solomon's Temple, where was neither saw, nor
hammer, nor any tool heard while the stones were being laid one
upon another. The silent worker is imagination which decrees
reality out of chaos.
Back-sword
(From Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's School Days, Chapter II)
I think I must tell you, as shortly as I can, how the noble old
game of back-sword is played ; for it is sadly gone out of late, even
in the Vale, and maybe you have never seen it.
The weapon is a good stout ash stick with a large basket handle,
heavier and somewhat shorter than a common single-stick. The
players are called "old gamesters" — why, I can't tell you — and
their object is simply to break one another's heads ; for the moment
that blood nms an inch anywhere above the eyebrow, the old
gamester to whom it belongs is beaten, and has to stop. A very
slight blow with the sticks will fetch blood, so that it is by no
means a punishing pastime, if the men don't play on purpose and
savagely at the body and arms of their adversaries. The old
gamester going into action only takes off his hat and coat, and arms
himself with a stick ; he then loops the fingers of his left hand in a
handkerchief or strap, which he fastens round his left leg, measuring
the length, so that when he draws it tight with his left elbow in
the air, that elbow shall just reach as high as his crown. Thus
HOW TO BE CLEAR 173
you see, so long as he chooses to keep his left elbow up, regardless
of cuts, he has a perfect guard for the left side of his head. Then
he advances his right hand above and in front of his head, holding
his stick across, so that its point projects an inch or two over his
left elbow ; and thus his whole head is completely guarded, and he
faces his man armed in like manner; and they stand some three
feet apart, often nearer, and feint and strike and return at one
another's heads, until one cries "hold," or blood flows. In the first
case they are allowed a minute's time, and go on again ; in the latter
another pair of gamesters is called on. If good men are playing,
the quickness of the returns is marvelous ; you hear the rattle like
that a boy makes drawing his stick along palings, only heavier;
and the closeness of the men in action to one another gives it a
strange interest, and makes a spell at back-swording a very noble
sight.
La Fitte's Treasure Hunt
(From The Boy Scouts of America)
La Fitte was a famous American pirate of the Gulf of Mexico.
Like all pirates, he buried his treasure and made a map of it.
La Fitte's actual notes have been found and read as follows :
"Start at the rock in Dead Man's Gulch, near the skull of the
Spaniard, travel northwest 70 paces to a cache, where you will
find a cask o' rum, from thence, due west 30 paces, where you
will find the finger bones of Don Piedro Fiesto. Thence northeast
50 paces, where you will find a cache of coffin nails, thence north
20 paces, where you will find a cache of bullets, thence northeast
40 paces, where you will find a cache of copper coins, thence west
60 paces, where you will find a cache of brass coins, thence southeast
26 paces, where you will find a cache of silver coins, thence southwest
30 paces, where you will find a cache with the keys to the treasure
chest, then northwest 30 paces, where you will find a cache contain-
ing a brass-bound chest full of bars of gold, bags of doubloons, and
pieces of 'eight.'"
The scoutmaster must carefully lay out the course. At each
174 GOOD ENGLISH
cache he is supposed to bury the things enumerated, but in reality
only marks the spot with a small peg. The treasure may be a
pocket compass, scout whistle, knife, ax, cooking outfit, book, or
other suitable prize.
The first contestant takes his place at peg "A" with a pocket
compass in his hand. "A" is supposed to be the "rock in Dead
Man's Gulch." The scout, remembering that the black end of the
needle is the north end, adjusts his compass until the needle points
exactly north, then he sights along the northwest point, gets his
line of direction, steps off 70 paces, and hunts for the cask o' rum.
He is allowed only a certain time to find each cache, two, three, or
five minutes, according to the difficulty of the undertaking. The
scoutmaster starts him with a whistle.
When played as a game, each cache counts one, and the one
finding the treasure makes the biggest score, of course. The
scoutmaster can hand the pathfinder bits of paper or pebbles,
one for each peg found. The pebbles serve as counters for the
score.
The distances may be any number of paces you choose, but each
direction should be one of the four points of the compass ; that is,
the four quarters of the compass, north, south, east, and west, or
the four eighths of the compass, that is, northeast, northwest,
southeast, and southwest. To go any further into the subdivisions
of the compass makes the game too difficult. You will find it hard
enough to find the treasure if you stick to quarters and eighths,
and you had better practise first simply on quarters; that is, go
east so many paces, north so many, south so many, and west so
many.
It is allowable for the scout to place his compass on the peg and
lie prone on the ground to sight his directions. A number of boys
may play this game at once by laying out several courses from the
rock in Dead Man's Gulch, the prize being given to the one who
reaches the treasure chest first.
The beauty of La Fitte's Treasure Hunt is that it gives one prac-
tice and experience in the use of the compass which may serve one
to advantage on an occasion of dire necessity.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 175
Ordering a Uniform
Age-size : In ordering a Boy Scout uniform it is not the actual
age of the boy which should be mentioned, but the age-size of each
garment. Ascertain from a local clothing dealer, or from the tables
of measurements given on this blank, the age-size of the shirt,
breeches, coat, or other garment, which the size and development
of the boy requires. Often a twelve-year-old boy requires a fourteen-
year age-size, or a fourteen-year-old boy requires a twelve-year
age-size. In other words, it does not matter how long the boy has
lived, but we must know how large he has grown.
Should it be impossible to determine the proper age-size in this
way, give measurements for each garment.
LESSON TWENTY FOUR
Planning an Explanation
You must know your subject before you begin to explain
it. Next you must consider the reader or the hearer. Is
he an expert in your subject? Then you can use technical
words in writing to him. Is he older or younger than you?
His age will make a great difference in the way you explain.
A letter describing wireless telegraphy written to a boy of
ten, would be very different from the explanation you might
give a college graduate. And the account of your school
life written for your cousin in New York would have to be
different from the letter on the same subject you might write
to a Japanese schoolboy. After you have mastered your
subject then, consider the point of view of your readers or
hearers. Next comes the making of a plan.
The word plan is included in the longer word explanation,
and both are derived from the same Latin term. This is
significant. Clearness is so necessary to explanation that
an accurate plan must be kept constantly in view.
176 GOOD ENGLISH
Here is the plan of the brief explanation on page 175, —
1. Give age-size, not actual age.
2. Consult dealer or tables.
3. Tell how large boy is, not how old.
Now suppose that instead of making an outline of an
extract you have just read, you have to plan an explanation
that you wish to write yourself. There are three steps to be
taken. The first is to decide upon the principal points to
be made in your explanation. There can never be more
than a few principal ones, unless it is a very long explanation.
This is much Uke choosing the important events in planning
stories, as discussed on page 70. The second step is to
arrange the principal points or headings, in the best order.
The third step is to tuck away the details of your explana-
tion, each under the principal heading to which it belongs.
Of course, if there are lesser, subordinate points, they will
come under the principal headings, and the details under
them.
What are the principal points in any explanation? This
question your own brain must answer, for until you can
answer it, you cannot explain the subject. Many subjects
have to be defined before you can begin to explain them.
If you are writing of coal or flour or liberty or baseball or
Chow dogs or Ford cars, this will be true, and your fii*st
main point will be a definition. That done, you can divide
your subject into parts, taking care to divide all of it, and
being sure that none of your divisions overlap. These
two simple processes will carry you far on your road toward
clear explanation.
Next comes the order of points. Any order that is clear
will be coherent. Definition would scarcely come at the
end. Nor if the explanation followed a time order, such
as first, second, third, (as in baking a cake, for instance) ,
HOW TO BE CLEAR 177
would you put the second step after the fourth. Nor if
the subject were difficult, hke the flight of an airplane,
would you begin with the thing hard to understand, such
as the effect of wind pressure, and end with something
easy, like the comparison of an airplane with a floating
sheet of paper. Follow, then, a natural order. And as
far as you are able, put a really important point last for
emphasis.
Third, arrange all of the details beneath each main head-
ing. If you will think of your main points as boxes, then
each detail fits into its own box. Of course, you may have
subheadings, as here, —
I. A principal use of milk is for butter
A. Butter may be either fresh or salted
a. Fresh butter is simply the fat of milk
h. Salt butter has salt added as a preservative, and
often coloring matter to make it more yellow
In such instances the heading A fits into heading I and
the details a and b fit into A .
Study the following general plan in which definition and
division are provided for : —
1. Definition
5. Uses
2. Source or origin
a.
a.
b.
b.
c.
3. Kinds
d.
a.
6. Values and influences
b.
a.
c.
b.
L Manufacture or
process
c.
a.
d.
b.
c.
N
178 GOOD ENGLISH
PRACTICE
1. Make a plan for one of the explanations on pages 166 to 174.
2. Plan and write brief explanations of some of the following : —
Kites Carpets Ribbons Clocks Quilts
Marbles Desks Books Sling shots Pies
Needles Horses Coffee Stoves Apples
Stars Caps Tea Bats Rings
How I prepare my lessons. Darning stockings.
Sweeping a room. Building a canoe.
Learning to swim. Making coffee.
Washing the dishes. .Managing a wild west show.
Helping get dinner. Taking out stains.
Laying out a diamond. Looking up a word.
Sewing on a button. Stopping a leak.
Polishing the silver. Taking out a book.
Looking after the furnace. Driving a horse.
3. Plan and write an explanation of the differences between your
English recitations and your recitations in some other sub-
ject.
4. Plan and write an explanation on the value of your hands in
daily life at school.
5. Plan and write a Uttle comparison of life with a game. Write
this (a) for an American child, (6) for a foreign child.
6. Tell the story of a certain game you saw, or in which you took
part, so that one who does not understand the game will be
informed as to how to play it.
7. Answer by means of a brief plan as many of the following
questions as you can : —
Why is school spirit a good thing?
What is the cause of thunder?
Of what value are trees ?
What causes winter and summer?
Why do so many people prefer to live in cities?
Of what uses to the farmer are sparrows?
What is baking powder for ?
Why does silk cost more than muslin?
HOW TO BE CLEAR
179
Why are mosquitoes dangerous?
Why are slates no longer used in school ?
& Explain one or more of the following. First, define it ; then
tell what caused it ; then explain its effect : —
9.
10.
The Boston Tea Party.
The Continental Congress.
The French and Indian War.
The Civil War.
The Stamp Act.
The Klondike Rush.
The Abolition of Slavery.
The Spanish War.
Explain by as many illustrations as you can why it pays for
a boy or a girl to remain in school until graduation. Give
many instances of boys and girls that you know who regretted
leaving school before they had completed the course.
Imagine it to be your task to explain the game of tennis to
some one who does not understand it. Compose a series of
questions that he would probably ask, based upon the draw-
ing below. Then answer these questions fully, making sure
to cover any points that the questions may have overlooked.
Show, among other things, how the picture will be changed
immediately after the ball is served.
180 GOOD ENGLISH
LESSON TWENTY FIVE
Other Methods of Explanation
When you define a word, you explain.
When you solve a problem in mathematics, you explain.
When you tell somebody how to do something, how to
make something, how to go somewhere, you explain.
When you answer questions, particularly the questions
how and why, where and who, you explain.
When you perform an experiment, you explain.
When you make a drawing or a design on the board, you
explain.
When you tell a story that gives information, you explain.
It appears, then, that a very large part of your written
and oral expression consists of explanation. Most work
depends entirely for its efficient results upon the clearness
of the directions given regarding its processes. If the direc-
tions or explanations are confused or ''mixed up," then the
workmen will not understand and the product they turn out
will be accordingly inferior.
Whenever possible add to the clearness of your explanation
by means of drawings.
In the same way enrich your explanations with an abun-
dance of appropriate examples.
An excellent method of preparing for explanation, is by
the use of the six queries, —
1. Who
2. What
3. How
4. Why
5. When
6. Where
HOW TO BE CLEAR 181
These do not all make equal demands for explanation.
When and where may often be answered briefly. Who may
require much more than either of these. Most biographies
and autobiographies are explanatory answers to this word
who. What usually requires a definition of one kind or
another. How and why are the really important words in
explanation. These two test your ability sharply and
therefore require the most careful attention.
These six queries applied to your subject will invariably
give you the material for your main headings. The only
difficulty is that unless you handle them intelligently they
may give you too much. If a query — who or when or
where — is unimportant for your subject, throw it aside
and press on. Notice particularly the place of these interrog-
ative words in the following drill. Which are most useful ?
Which do you most often pass over? Do you ever apply
all six with useful results ?
PRACTICE
1. Answer each of the following in complete sentence form : —
Where is San Francisco located? How is it reached from At-
lanta ? For whom is San Francisco named ? When was it estab-
lished? Why is it an important American city? What are its
principal commercial activities? What is the meaning of Sanf
When did the great earthquake in San Francisco take place?
How many hves were lost? Why was the city able to recover
from the disaster so rapidly ?
2. Define the following words. First, define them without looking
them up. Then look them up and compare your first defini-
tion with the one in the dictionary : —
quorum submarine fabric smuggler
hockey zeppelin fossil aviation
waste protection gossip tenderfoot
prefix ambassador pollen scout
182 GOOD ENGLISH
3. Explain by means of a diagram at the board how to go from
your school to your home; how to go from your school to
some place in the state. Point to your diagram while you are
making the explanation.
4. Explain before the class how to do some of the following things.
They appear to be very simple, but as a matter of fact it is
very difficult to explain accurately how to perform these
everyday operations : —
How to fold a letter. How to row a boat.
How to tie a bow. How to lay a carpet.
How to cover a book. How to put on a collar.
How to open a door. How to put on a coat.
How to drive a nail. How to hang a picture.
5. Explain the following problems to your class by means of a
board diagram : —
(1) i + 5 = i
(2) How many feet did John run per second, if he covered 200
yards in half a minute?
(3) James bought a house for $2000. He sold it for $2200.
He had paid $100 for taxes on it, $73.50 for repairs,
and lost 5% interest for three months on his original
investment. What was his profit or loss on the trans-
action?
6. A proverb is a brief saying that means much more than is at
first apparent. The following proverbs are well known to
you. Explain what each one means. Make your ex-
planation so clear that one who was just learning your
language might understand you. Perhaps you can give
an example or two that will make each one clearer : —
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
A stitch in time saves nine.
All that glitters is not gold.
Don't cry over spilled milk.
Pride goeth before a fall.
Do not look a gift horse in the mouth.
A penny saved is a penny earned.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 183
A bad book is the worst robber.
A poor workman blames his tools.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
7. Plan and write a full explanation of one of the following. Select
one that you can write about with feeling : —
What it means to be an American,
What a good school does for a child.
What it means to be patriotic.
What honesty can do for a person.
What too much money can lead to.
What good books mean to me.
What music means in a home.
What a good game does for a boy.
8. Tell how one of the following occurred and then draw a little
lesson from the event : —
John's failure. Harry's discovery.
Bill's fall. Ethel's surprise.
9. Enumerate as many household operations as you can think of,
such as, washing, ironing, sewing, and explain orally, —
(1) The purpose of each.
(2) How each is done.
(3) The value of each to the home.
10. Look up in the encyclopedia or elsewhere something in which
you are interested, and write a long theme in explanation of
it. Make a plan first and follow it closely in your composi-
tion. When you are done, select those points that you would
use in making a five-minute talk on the subject before the
class. The following are suggestions merely. Each pupil
should if possible select something with which his future life
will probably be connected : —
plumbing driving medicine
bookkeeping mining law
selling banking preaching
designing teaching millinery
dressmaking buying home management
nursing writing acting
184
GOOD ENGLISH
secretarial work
cooking
missions
lecturing
moving pictures
commerce
manufacture
coral
pineapples
oranges
ranching
steel
lead
machine work
coaching
advertising
authorship
telephone operator
messenger
telegraphy-
filing
LESSON TWENTY SIX
The Paragraph
Stories move ahead by events, explanations by points
made clear. All writing or speaking, indeed, must neces-
sarily proceed by moments of progress, followed by brief
pauses. In questions and answers, and in much conversa-
tion, these moments of progress are expressed by sentences
merely. But in a story or a long letter, and especially in
an explanation, a group of sentences marks one complete
section of the narrative or the thought, and marks the period
of progress. This group of sentences is the paragraph, a
unit of composition that comes as naturally as breathing,
but is much harder to do well.
When the preparation for an explanation has resulted in
a good plan, the next step is writing out ; and this brings
one instantly to the question of the paragraph. Each main
head will, as a rule, require one or more paragraphs; and
unless these paragraphs are good, the clearness of the whole
will suffer, no matter how good the plan.
A paragraph, then, is a group of sentences all related to
one principal thought. Suppose you were to write or speak
about a party that you had attended. There would be
many things to tell. You would have to mention the people
present, the things you did, the refreshments, the pleasure
HOW TO BE CLEAR 185
that you experienced. There would be a few sentences
about the first topic, a few about the second, and so on.
Now, if you separate these sentence groups, instead of
placing them together in a solid mass, you will make your-
self more easily understood.
You must do this in two ways. First, you must begin
each new group of related sentences on a separate margin,
indenting the first Une further to the right than those that
follow; or, if you are speaking, you must pause in such a
way as to denote by the voice that you are making a transi-
tion from one part of your story to another. Second, you
must have one sentence in each sentence group that will
serve as a title or key to the whole group. This should
usually come at the beginning, but it may be placed in the
middle or at the end of each group.
Paragraphs may be long or short. In dividing most
subjects you will find that many more sentences must be
used in teUing about one part than about another.
Do not aim to make all of your paragraphs the same
length, but avoid making them excessively long or too
short. Very long paragraphs tire the reader or listener.
Very short ones are likely to disturb and disconnect his
thinking.
Observe how this lesson, and the lessons on pages 165
and 175, are divided into paragraphs. Note the division of
the extracts on pages 166 and 169, into paragraphs. Is
each paragraph made up of a connected group of sentences?
What relation does each paragraph bear to the plan?
PRACTICE
1. Select one of the following topics and indicate just how many
paragraphs you would divide your subject into and just what
you would aim to accomplish in each one : —
Our school.
Horses.
My home.
Boys.
The game.
Girls.
Cats.
Teachers.
Dogs.
Desks.
186 GOOD ENGLISH
Tom's birthday party.
Dinner at Bill's.
At the swimming hole.
Reading a composition.
Arranging a vacation.
2. Here is a composition that is not paragraphed at all. Indicate
the places where you think it should be paragraphed, giving
your reasons in each case : —
Climbing a mountain is not a difficult business, provided the
mountain is neither too wild nor too steep nor too high. First
get a good map of the district which will show you the best approach
to the base, and perhaps the general direction of the trail that leads
to the top. With your map in hand ask questions of any natives
who have climbed the mountain before. If your map is in contours,
that is, marked with lines that show decreasing and increasing ele-
vations, so much the better. The real work will begin when your
road (which will probably be a trail or an old lumber road) enters
the forest at the base of the mountain. Few trails and fewer wood
roads are without numerous forks, and you can be sure that some-
where or everywhere guide posts will be lacking. When you come
to such a branching of the road, decide from your general knowledge
of the appearance of the mountain, and a study of your map, whether
to turn right or left. When you have decided, turn boldly, and
proceed. If the road or trail ends in a squirrel track you are prob-
ably wrong and must turn back. But even if the road keeps open,
you may still be mistaken. This is the time when your contour
lines become useful. By studying them you can tell whether your
road should go up steeply or gently ; and if there are brooks indi-
cated on your map, you can also tell whether and where your path
should cross them. Use your map, use your memory of how the
mountain looked before you entered the forest, use any information
earlier climbers may have given you ; but above all use your eyes.
Climb rocks, or a tree if necessary, for a glimpse of the distant peak.
Watch the sun or a compass so as to keep tab on your direction.
And if you find yourself hopelessly confused, don't plunge ahead
blindly, but go back to some lower level and get a fresh start.
3. Here is a composition that is over-paragraphed. Indicate which
sentence groups should be combined into paragraphs, giving
your reasons for each paragraph combination : —
HOW TO BE CLEAR 187
The origin of conscription, which has led in our day to whole
nations in arms, is very interesting.
In studying its history one learns much about the cause of modern
war.
At the time of the French Revolution, all Europe united to put
down the radicals of France and restore the Bourbon kings.
The French Republic, assailed on all sides, called every man
capable of bearing arms to the defense of his country. As a result,
the invaders were driven back, and, under Napoleon, France became
mistress of the continent of Europe.
Later on Napoleon crushed the kingdom of Prussia and com-
manded that her standing army should be limited to a small number
of men.
Prussia, in self-defense, arranged that all her able-bodied male
population should take turns in serving in this small army.
In this she was really copying France ; and sure enough, when the
next war came, she was able to put "a nation in arms" with extreme
rapidity.
One result was the fall of Napoleon.
Another was the adoption by all powerful European nations of
the conscription system.
The one exception was England, which was protected by the
English channel and her navy.
But the Great War has brought conscription to England also.
4. Here are two paragraphs that are suitable as beginnings or in-
troductions to compositions. Why are they good introductory
paragraphs? Can you tell what should follow each in the
completed composition ?
In discussing the growing of potatoes I must leave aside the
question of varying price from year to year and the proper acreage
to plant. Nor need I give the history of the potato, interesting as
that is. But in this brief paper I may at least follow the potato
from the time it enters the ground until it is harvested and sent to
market.
EquaUty is not the same thing as liberty, although many Ameri-
can boys are inclined to think so. Liberty means freedom to do
what one pleases. But equality means not only an equal oppor-
tunity for all to do what may be done rightly, but also an equal
188 GOOD ENGLISH
duty to the state not to do what may injure others. Equality means
equality in service and in responsibility, as well as equality in enjoy-
ing rights and liberties, and in the pursuit of happiness.
5. Here are two paragraphs that are suitable as endings or con-
cluding paragraphs to a composition. Why are they good
concluding paragraphs ? Can you tell what has preceded each
in the complete composition?
And thus the chief requisite for catching trout is caution in ap-
proaching his lurking place. Your line and rod may be right, your
bait or flies may be right, the day may be favorable, the stream
well adapted for trout, and yet you may fail if you fish for the wily
trout as if he were a stupid bullhead.
Perhaps I have said enough to make you understand the true
nature of education. It is what a man learns to do, not what he
knows. And he must get it himself. It cannot be given to him.
6. Here are two paragraphs that indicate in each case that the
writer is making a change from one part of his subject to
another. They are called transition paragraphs and are
usually short, frequently consisting of but a single sentence.
Can you tell from examining these paragraphs what has pre-
ceded and what is to follow?
And thus by the efforts of one man Russia was changed. Under
this Peter the Great she ceased being an Oriental nation, and en-
tered upon her education as a Western power.
After this crude beginning of the airplane industry, came a
period of slow development, which ended only with the beginning of
the Great War.
7. Suppose that you were going to write a composition on one of
the following. What would you say in the introductory para
graph? What would you say in the concluding paragraph?
What transitional paragraphs would you introduce?
Bill and Harry, a contrast. Athletics, indoors and out.
Mary and Ann, a contrast. Rex, the king of horses.
Summer and winter. Going into camp.
Day and night. The closing of school.
Baseball and football. The day's work.
HOW TO BE CLEAR
189
8. It must not be supposed that all compositions should have in-
troductory and concluding paragraphs. Frequently it is
better to begin and conclude your composition abruptly-
Never waste the time of a reader or listener by unimportant
details at the beginning of a composition. Never tack on at
the end any tiresome moral or explanation that your audience
can as well do without. Study the excerpts on pages 172 and
173, with regard to methods of ending and beginning.
9. The rivalry between the boys and the girls in war gardening
was a very wholesome thing for the beans, and onions, and
cabbages. The young gardeners cultivated and weeded and
watered tirelessly. In the picture, Mary is showing some of
the fruits — or, rather, the vegetables — of her labors. Jim,
looking up from his spade, is pledging himself to go right ahead
with peace gardens until he beats the girls. Tell the story of
this war garden. TeU why war gardens should be made a
permanent activity among young people.
SUCH TURNIPS
190 GOOD ENGLISH
LESSON TWENTY SEVEN
Making Paragraphs Clear
If you were writing a paragraph picture of the old swim-
ming hole you would not think of saying anything about a
steam engine. If you were to do so you would spoil the
unity of the paragraph sentence group. In order to make
the paragraph on the old swimming hole clear, it is necessary
to make every sentence in it say something about the pool
and about nothing else.
Again, it is necessary to have the sentences in a paragraph
follow each other in natural order. The second sentence
must grow naturally out of the first, may be suggested by it
perhaps ; the third out of the second, and so forth. If you
are describing the old swimming hole, the successive sentences
must give details as they are successively seen by the eye.
If you are explaining how an operation is performed, you
must tell the various steps in successive sentences exactly
in the order in which they should be taken. If you are
narrating an event, you must unfold the happenings, sen-
tence by sentence, as they actually occurred. This principle
of developing one sentence out of another and, in the whole
composition, one paragraph out of another, is called co-
herence. We have already studied coherence in the sen-
tence (see page 155). Look the word up in the dictionary.
Find out what verb corresponds to this noun and apply it
to general use.
You will be helped a great deal in welding the sentences
of a paragraph together and making clear its unity and
especially its coherence, if you will use such connective
expressions as on the other hand, therefore, finally, nevertheless^
to the right, later, still later, again, and so forth. The parts
HOW TO BE CLEAR 191
of a whole composition may be similarly welded together by
the use of such transitional paragraphs as are illustrated on
page 188, exercise 6. But these connectives will not help
unless the thought of the paragraph is coherent.
One of the best rules for securing unity and coherence in
the thought of the paragraph is this, — Proceed regularly
in one direction in your thought development.
If you begin with a general statement proceed to particular
ones, or vice versa. If you begin with a cause, continue
toward the effect. If you begin with the first thing that
happened, proceed to the second and third. If with a
simple, well-known fact, go on to the complex and the un-
known. If with a comparison between two people, carry
it out to the end. Most of these directions of thought can,
of course, be reversed.
But the best method of securing unity and coherence in
a paragraph is by the title or topic sentence. A paragraph,
after all, is only a developed topic sentence. Such a sentence,
usually stated at the beginning of a paragraph, gives in
general terms what the paragraph is about. It contains the
central idea of the whole sentence group. It may be
stated at the end of the paragraph, in which case it is called
a summary sentence. But its function is the same whether
it stands at the beginning, at the end, or somewhere between
these two points. Stated first, it is a promise to pay. Stated
last, it is receipt for payment in full. Note the topic sen-
tences in the paragraphs in the selection on page 169.
If you expand such a topic sentence in one direction of
thought development, the chances are excellent that your
paragraph will be good. It cannot be spoiled, indeed, except
by a lack of anything worth saying. Of nothing, nothing
can be developed. But with a meaty topic sentence there
are several means worth noting by which paragraphs may
192 GOOD ENGLISH
be developed. Which you choose depends entirely upon
what you wish to say in your paragraph. Sometimes two or
more methods can be easily combined. In the list that
follows, each means of development is illustrated by the
paragraph beneath : —
(1) Give examples and illustrations of your topic. Tell a
story perhaps.
A little discipline is sometimes the best kind of medicine. I
knew a boy who in '98 was the slackest, most unmannerly of youths.
He would loll in his seat in the classroom, with his feet up on the
back of the next seat. He was always late to class, usually forgot
his books, seldom knew where the lesson was to be found. He
enlisted and went into training for the Spanish war. His company
never got farther than the training camp, and next year he was
back with us again. But what a change ! Now he sat at attention
and came to class on the minute ; and what was more important, his
mind seemed to have been put to drill . It was at attention too . Th e
result was that he graduated well, instead of badly or not at all.
(2) Give details and particulars. Paint a word picture
perhaps.
The Connecticut type of farmhouse is unmistakable, once you
have seen it. Low-lying under a vast elm, a long straight roof
covers a neat white frame with green shutters. It is all perfectly
simple, perfectly plain, except the door, where columns or ornamen-
tal mouldings break monotony. Why is it so beautiful then?
Because the proportions are so invariably good.
(3) Give reasons or explanations. Tell why or how.
Running a Ford is quite different from running what some people
call a "real car." You have only two speeds, high and low, and
these are controlled by a pedal instead of the lever with which you
may be familiar. Push the pedal all the way down, and it is low
speed. Half-way down throws you into neutral, where the engine
runs free of the transmission. All the way up is high speed, and
it is on this that you bowl away most of the time up hill and down.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 193
We must learn that we have duties as well as rights. If we spend
all our time talking about our rights as citizens of this country, the
country may perish because we have forgotten the service we owe.
It is a fine thing to have the right to vote, but it is still finer to have
the duty to serve a country, your own country, in time of need.
(4) Give comparisons. Point out differences or similarities,
or both. Balance one part of a paragraph with another, or alter-
nate the sentences.
Jim studies in the living room where the members of the family
sit and talk. Mary takes a book and goes upstairs where she can
be alone to prepare her lessons. Jim permits a thousand interrup-
tions during his home study period. He reads awhile, then he
pats the head of Browser, his pet Newfoundland. He writes a line
or two, then fancies he hears the bell ring. He figures a bit, then
he wants a drink of water. Mary locks her door and allows nothing
to disturb her. She reads and writes and figures steadily and
methodically. When both are ready for school next morning, Jim
''has an idea" what his lessons are about. Mary knows hers.
And, of course, in class Jim fails and Mary passes.
PRACTICE
1. Write a paragraph on each of the following sentences, by the
method indicated in parentheses after each one : —
Mary always requires encouragement. (Tell a story.)
The old house is very homelike. (Give details.)
The word buxom is used in more than one sense. (Explain.)
There is no place like home. (Give reasons.)
2. Following are several topic sentences. Tell by which of the
above methods each could be most appropriately developed.
Select two or three topics and write the paragraphs sug-
gested : —
John is studious and hard-working, but his brother George is
free and easy and trusts to luck.
We had a great time on Saturday.
There is a difiference between character and reputation,
o
194 . GOOD ENGLISH
A stitch in time saves nine.
It is a difficult task to write a perfect letter.
Poetry is more difficult to understand than prose.
I have many reasons for loving America.
Agriculture thrives in the valleys of large rivers.
I must tell you, with all the emphasis I can summon, that
hard work is a tonic for any boy or girl.
Suddenly our horses came to a stand and we were confronted
with a huge boa constrictor set for fight.
This view reminds me of a little story I once heard about the place.
Care must be exercised in removing the cake from the pan.
On entering the auditorium a thrilling scene greeted my eyes.
This little episode shows exactly what sort of fellow John is.
I repeat, over and over again, that the only true and tested
way to success is by hard work.
3. Write short paragraph descriptions suggested by the following.
Start each with a topic sentence. Appeal to as many senses
as possible in writing about each one, — smell, taste, sight,
touch, and hearing : —
The haymaker. School out ! In the elevator.
At the wharf. In the kitchen. At the well.
In the barn. In the woods. In the study room.
4. Each of the following exclamations suggests an incident of
importance. Imagine what it is in each case. Then write
a brief paragraph account of one or more : —
Help ! Look out ! Forget it !
Ouch ! Wait a minute ! They're off I
Hark! No sir, I'm done! Of all things!
Late! I told you sol The very idea!
Hurry ! Never again ! Served him right !
Broke ! What's the use ! Some fight !
5. Prove two or three of the following by means of well con-
structed paragraphs : —
English is the most important subject in school.
Every elementary school graduate should be able to write a
correct letter.
Club work in school is as important as classroom work.
Every pupil should be obliged to spend some time in athletics.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 195
A little work outside of school is good for a boy or a girl.
Too much study makes Jack a dull boy.
A person who is disloyal to the flag of his adopted country should
be deported.
Every boy should have some knowledge of miHtary tactics.
6. The following are topic sentences, each indicating the contents
of a paragraph, the group giving a fair idea of what the whole
composition is about. Construct other groups of topic sen-
tences that suggest clearlj^ a whole composition : —
Par. 1. He was a loyal fellow to his school.
Par. 2. Pupils and teachers aUke were his friends.
Par. 3. He stood extremely well in classwork.
Par. 4. He was an accomplished athlete.
Par. 5. We were consequently not surprised when we heard
of his excellent record in McKinley High School.
7. The sentences in the following paragraph have been purposely
placed out of order. Place them in their proper order, mak-
ing any slight changes necessary in phrasing, and thus give
the paragraph coherence : —
Sir Walter Scott, for example, has used those fragments of truth
which historians have scornfuUj^ thrown behind them. At Lincoln
Cathedral there is a beautiful painted window, which was made by
an apprentice out of the pieces of glass which had been rejected by
his master. He has constructed out of these fragments novels
which, even considered as histories, are scarcely less valuable than
theirs. If a man were to write the history of England, he would not
omit the sieges, the rebellions, the political changes. But with
these he would mingle the interesting details which are the charm
of historical romances.
8. Write a paragraph from one or more of the following, giving
incidents or examples to prove the truth of the topic sen-
tences : —
He laughs best who laughs last.
Pride goeth before a fall.
Silence is golden.
Who wastes time wastes life.
Money makes the mare go.
In the bright lexicon of youth there is no such word as fail.
196
GOOD ENGLISH
Success is bred of a tonic called failure.
To try is better than the thing you try for.
Genius is nothing but capacity for hard work.
9. Supply an appropriate word for the dash in one of the follow-
ing topic sentences. Then write the paragraph suggested : —
He told a story to illustrate the influence that had over men.
The boy who does not Uke loses a great deal in life.
Mary's new dress made her look like .
Jim's work on the team won for him in every quarter.
10. Surf board riding is a popular sport with the bathers on the
beautiful beach at Waikiki near Honolulu. It is also in-
dulged in at sea beach resorts nearer home. The picture below
shows what the board is like and how the *' riding " is done.
Explain what each one in the picture is doing. From your
study of the pictm-e tell some one else how to enjoy the sport.
Make each paragraph count for a definite point in each ex-
planation.
BUllF BOARD RIDING.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 197
I
LESSON TWENTY EIGHT
Description
Very few stories or explanations can be made clear with-
out picturing the scene or describing the subject in words.
Long descriptions are tedious. If you cannot describe
briefly, you will never describe successfully at all, for people
will not listen to you. But a brief description that vividly
reports the effect made upon you by something (how it
looked or felt or tasted or smelt or sounded), is invalu-
able. In a story it renders the whole action more vivid.
In an explanation it may make all the difference between
understanding and not understanding. You know how a
picture often makes a story or a chapter in history in-
finitely more interesting because so much more real. So
it is with word pictures or descriptions, which can be used
where illustrations are out of the question. For with words
you can describe a dream, a thought, a smell, a taste, or a
feeling. The word is indeed the important element in
describing. You cannot describe well without the best use
of words.
Examine the following word pictures and descriptive ex-
planations. Do you get a complete and accurate picture in
each case ? Could you make a figure or a plan of the things
described ?
The Van Tassel Farm
(From Washington Irving^ s Legend of Sleepy Hollow)
Old Baltus Van Tassel was a perfect picture of a thriving, con-
tented, liberal-hearted fanner. He seldom, it is true, sent either
his eyes or his thoughts beyond the boundaries of his own farm;
198 GOOD ENGLISH
but within those everything was snug, happy, and well-conditioned.
He was satisfied with his wealth, but not proud of it ; and piqued
himself upon the hearty abundance, rather than the style in which
he lived. His stronghold was situated on the banks of the Hud-
son, in one of those green, sheltered, fertile nooks, in which the
Dutch farmers are so fond of nestling. A great elm-tree spread
its broad branches over it, at the foot of which bubbled up a spring
of the softest and sweetest water, in a little well, formed of a barrel,
and then stole sparkling away through the grass, to a neighboring
brook, that babbled along among alders and dwarf willows. Hard
by the farmhouse was a vast barn, that might have served for a
church, every window and crevice of which seemed bursting forth
with the treasures of the farm : the flail was busily resounding
within it from morning to night ; swallows and martins skimmed
twittering about the eaves; and rows of pigeons, some with one
eye turned up, as if watching the weather, some with their heads
under their wings or buried in'^their bosoms, and others swelling
and cooing and bowing about their dames, were enjoying the sun-
shine on the roof. Sleek, unwieldy porkers were grunting in the
repose and abundance of their pens, from whence salUed forth
now and then troops of sucking-pigs, as if to snuff the air. A stately
squadron of snowy geese was riding in an adjoining pond, convoy-
ing whole fleets of ducks; regiments of turkeys were gobbhng
through the farm-yard; and guinea fowls fretting about it, like
ill-tempered housewives, with their peevish, discontented cry.
Before the barn door strutted the gallant cock, that pattern of a
husband, a warrior, and a fine gentleman, clapping his burnished
wings, and crowing in the pride and gladness of his heart — some-
times tearing up the earth with his feet, and then generously call-
ing his ever-hungry family of wives and children to enjoy the rich
morsel which he had discovered.
The pedagogue's mouth watered as he looked upon this sump-
tuous promise of luxurious winter fare. In his devouring mind's
eye he pictured to himself every roasting-pig running about with
a pudding in its belly and an apple in its mouth ; the pigeons were
snugly put to bed in a comfortable pie and tucked in with a coverlet
HOW TO BE CLEAR 199
of crust; the geese were summing in their own gravy; and the
ducks pairing cosily in dishes, like snug married couples, with a
decent competency of onion sauce. In the porkers he saw carved
out the future sleek side of bacon and juicy, reUshing ham ; not a
turkey but he beheld daintily trussed up with its gizzard under
its wing, and, perad venture, a necklace of savory sausages ; and
even bright chanticleer himself lay sprawUng on his back in a side
dish, with uplifted claws, as if craving that quarter which his chival-
rous spirit disdained to ask while living.
Havana
(By Amos J. Cummings)
The view was enlivening. The Prado was bathed in the efful-
gence of electric hghts, and the statue of Isabella adorning the
oblong park fronting the hotel looked like an alabaster figure.
All was life and activity. A cool breeze came from the ocean.
A stream of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen poured along the
Prado — dark-eyed seiioras and seiioritas with coquettish veils,
volunteers, regulars, and civil guards, in tasty uniforms, and a
cosmopoUtan sprinkhng of Enghshmen, Germans, French, Itahans,
and other nationalities, Americans being conspicuous. Low-
wheeled carriages rattled over the pavements in scores, many filled
with ladies en masque, on their way to the ball. Occasionally
the notes of a bugle were heard, and anon the cries of negro news-
boys, shouting "La Lucha!"
The Hyena's Howl
(By T. DeWitt Talmage)
In our tent in Palestine tonight I hear something I have
never heard before and hope never to hear again. It is the voice
of a hyena amid the rocks nearby. When you may have seen this
monster putting his mouth between the iron bars of a menagerie,
he is a captive and he gives a humiliated and suppressed cry. But
yonder, in the midnight, on a throne of rocks, he utters himself in
200
GOOD ENGLISH
a loud, resounding, terrific,
almost supernatural sound,
splitting up the dark into a
deeper midnight. It be-
gins in a howl and ends
with a sound something like
a horse's whinnying. In
the hyena's voice are de-
fiance and strength and
bloodthirstiness and crunch-
ing of broken bones and
death.
PRACTICE
1. Select from the news-
paper and from
poster advertise-
ments descriptive
words and passages.
Tell what they add
in each case.
2. Point out descriptive
passages in the stories
on pages 32 to 69,
and in the poems on
pages74to87. Tell
what they add in
each case.
3. Write descriptions of
one or more of the
following for the
"Lost Column" in
the newspaper. Be
sure to point out the
particular marks by
which each may be
recognized and be as
brief as you can : —
THE CADDY.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 201
A dog A piece of clothing A pocket book
A cat A piece of jewelry A horse
A hat An automobile A walking stick
4. Imagine that you have found something. Write a description
of it to be inserted in the "Found Column" of the news-
paper.
5. Jim Blank is suspected of a bank robbery. You know him well.
Write a brief description of him that will enable those who
do not know him to identify him on sight.
6. Write brief word pictures of certain members of your class
without giving their names. See if the ones you have in mind
are recognized from your description.
7. Make a Ust of the important things you see when you look out
of your window.
8. Make a list of words that describe accurately different sounds
you have heard; different odors; different tastes; differ-
ent feelings.
9. Word pictures are frequently made particularly clear by means
of comparisons, — "the table was shaped like a T," "the
field looked like an A," "the bay was shaped like a fish-hook,"
"the base ball diamond." Let us imagine that you have
a friend who has never seen an automobile. Describe one
to him, using as many comparisons as you possibly can.
10. Write a description of the caddy portrayed in the picture
opposite.
LESSON TWENTY NINE
Planning a Description
Whether a description be long or short it must be presented
in an orderly way, if it is to be clear. What order you choose
for your plan depends a great deal upon what you are pro-
posing to describe, whether view or person or object. But
there are several general principles that are applicable.
202 GOOD ENGLISH
There is the point of view from which the writer looks as he
describes; there is the general appearance of the whole;
there are the particular details; and there is frequently the
impression made upon the writer. Most descriptions follow
this order, though not always closely. Read the two below
and note the plans made from them : —
From My Study Window
(From Nathaniel Hawthorne's Mosses from an Old Manse)
There could not be a more somber aspect of external nature
than as then seen from the windows of my study. The great wil-
low tree had caught and retained among its leaves a whole cataract
of water, to be shaken down at intervals by the frequent gusts of
wind. All day long, and for a week together, the rain was drip-
drip-dripping and splash-splash-splashing from the eaves and bub-
bhng and foaming into the tubs beneath the spouts. The old,
unpainted shingles of the house and outbuildings were black with
moisture, and the mosses of ancient growth upon the walls looked
green and fresh, as if they were the newest things and afterthought
of Time. The usually mirrored surface of the river was blurred
by an infinity of raindrops. The whole landscape had a completely
water-soaked appearance, conveying the impression that the earth
was wet through hke a sponge ; while the summit of a wooded hill,
about a mile distant, was enveloped in a dense mist, where the de-
mon of the tempest seemed to have his abiding-place, and to be
plotting still direr inclemencies.
The Schoolroom
(From Charles Dickens' David Copperfleld)
I gazed upon the schoolroom into which he took me, as the most
forlorn and desolate place I had ever seen. I see it now. A long
room, with three long rows of desks, and six of forms, and bristling
HOW TO BE CLEAR 203
all around with pegs for hats and slates. Scraps of old copy-books
and exercises litter the dirty floor. Two miserable little white
mice, left behind by their owner, are running up and down in a
fusty castle made of pasteboard and wire, looking in all the corners
with their red eyes for anything to eat. A bird, in a cage very
little bigger than himself, makes a mournful rattle now and then
in hopping on his perch, two inches high, or dropping from it ; but
neither sings nor chirps. There is a strange unwholesome smell
upon the room, like mildewed corduroys, sweet apples wanting air,
and rotten books. There could not be more ink splashed about it,
if it had been roofless from its first construction, and the skies
had rained, snowed, hailed, and blown ink through the varying
seasons of the year.
From My Study Window
I. General view
1. Somber aspect
II. Particular view
1. The willow tree cataract
2. The splash and the drip
3. The buildings made black
4. The mosses made green
5. The blurred river
III. Impression
1. Water-soaked landscape
2. As if there were a demon of the tempest
The Schoolroom
I. General appearance
1. Forlorn and desolate
2. Size and furnishing
II. Details
1. The scraps of copy-books
2. The dirty floor
3. The mice
204 GOOD ENGLISH
4. The bird
5. The smell
6. The splashes of ink
In the very first sentence, Hawthorne tells whence he is
viewing the scene. He gives, in other words, his point o/
view and states in his word picture only what can be seen
from that place. This limits the picture. It serves as a
frame beyond which nothing can be seen. The camera
takes in a picture from a certain point of view. The eye is
a kind of camera, but it may glance from place to place and
take in bits here and there. The person viewing a scene
may walk about and take in the view from many angles.
If this is done, it should be indicated in the word picture
by such words or phrases of transition as, — to the right,
looking now, here, on that side, above, below, across. By the
use of such terms as these it is possible, for instance, to lead
a person through a rambling old house and give an accurate
interior picture of it.
This human camera, the eye, is able to put feeling and
imagination into a view. It has the power to select from a
scene those things that interest it. The camera, on the
other hand, must picture everything that comes before it.
Both the eye and the camera, however, are able to picture
motion, to present moving pictures. The action in a parade,
a race, a fight, may be pictured both by means of words and
by means of the screen. The ordinary photographer's
camera pictures only "still life," such as a landscape.
It can only suggest reports from the other senses, such as
sound, smell, taste, and touch. The moving-picture camera
pictures both still life and life in action. The word picture
does more than this, — it describes moods, manners, emo-
tions, interests, as well as the merely external things caught
by the camera.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 205
PRACTICE
1. Plan and write brief descriptions of some of the following : —
My room. A news-stand.
The view from my window. A barn.
A snowstorm. A house.
A heavy rain. A high building.
A store window. The playground.
A' cellar. An old country road.
2. Write brief descriptions of some of the following. Make your
pictures as appealing as possible by means of little touches
that a camera could not get : —
A huckster's cart. A dinner table.
A street organ. A swimming pool.
A plow. A busy man's desk.
A disorderly room. A dark alley.
3. Write a little description of the interior of your school building,
or of a trip through your town, or of something else in which a
moving picture or view is necessary. Indicate changes in
youi* point of view as you pass along. Make each change of
position have a definite purpose in the picture as a whole.
4. Write a description of an automobile or of a horse and wagon,
first, standing still, then, in motion. What words, used in
your first picture, are valueless as aids in your second ? Ex-
plain.
5. Suppose you were explaining to a carpenter how you want your
room or your house or your school remodeled. Could you
make your plans clearer to him by inserting description here
and there? Just where and how? Write your instructions
for him.
6. Explain all the ways in which a word picture differs from a
photograph. Explain how a moving picture of a Fourth of
July parade differs from your impression of the same parade
as you watched it from a window.
7. Select pictures in this book in which appeal is made to the five
senses, — smell, taste, hearing, touch, sight. In each case
express the appeal in the best words you can think of.
206 GOOD ENGLISH
8. A tableau is a picture-like scene represented by motionless
persons in a suitable setting. Perhaps you have seen a group
of ball players come to a standstill in a momentary dispute.
They formed a tableau, — the batter's hand was raised ; the
catcher was on guard ; the umpire was defending his decision.
Then, after the difference was settled, the game went on.
With this in mind imagine yourself a word photographer.
Picture one or more of the following in tableau, as "still life."
Then picture the scene that follows "the click of the camera."
The drawing opposite may be suggestive : —
In our classroom. At dismissal time.
In swimming. In trouble, and out.
The delayed procession. A balky horse.
"A painted ship upon a painted ocean."
Jim's dose of medicine, before and after taking.
When the car suddenly stops.
9. Describe one of the following so that a person who has never
seen it will have a good idea of it. Perhaps it may be well
to put your description in the form of a letter to be sent to
some one in a foreign place. Remember what was said
about the use of comparison on page 210, exercise 9 : —
Our new baby grand. An elevator.
The three-cent stamp. A milk can.
The pay-as-you-enter car. Our automobile.
A delivery wagon. Our house.
My bicycle.
10. Imagine yourself in -one of the following situations. Describe
what you see and what your feelings are. A little study of
geography or some other subject in connection with the topic
you select may be helpful : —
On a desert island. Under the sea.
Wrecked in mid-ocean. From Mont Blanc.
From an airplane. Thirty stories above the street.
On a cotton plantation. In Iceland.
Living in a wigwam. In Mammoth Cave.
"out!
208 GOOD ENGLISH]
LESSON THIRTY
Description of People
When you are describing a banjo or an automobile to
someone who is unacquainted with the appearance of it,
your effort is to describe a typical banjo or automobile.
You picture all banjos or all automobiles in that description.
In describing animals or people your task is more difl&cult,
for you must describe, not an imaginary horse, not an
imaginary man, but a real one. You are not describing a
typical horse or man, but a special and individual one.
Descriptions of people or animals usually contain or sug-
gest characteristics. It is often possible to tell what a
person is by telling what he looks Hke. Descriptions of per-
sons are presented in two ways : sometimes there is a single,
long description ; sometimes the person is described by httle
descriptive touches inserted here and there throughout the
story. Dickens and Scott make use of both methods, and
so do many modern novelists. In short stories, personal
pictures are more frequently presented by means of pointed
descriptive phrases that are rich in suggestion. Such quick
descriptions as the following are worth more both as descrip-
tion and characterization than whole pages could be : —
A queen with a fair face and a king with a large jaw.
There ranged themselves in front of the schoolmaster's desk half
a dozen scarecrows ovi at the knees and elbows.
Good examples of quick description, both of individual ap-
pearance and of scene, are to be found in Tennyson's Eagle :
He clasps the crag with crooked hands ;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 209
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.
In a long personal description, plan your work much as
if you were describing a scene. In a quick description,
however, it is the fortunate particular detail chosen by the
writer, rather than the plan, that counts.
PRACTICE
1. Tell in not more than five or six sentences the appearance of one
of the following. Suggest characteristics by your word pic-
tures : —
Your mother. Your sister. Your teacher. Your dog.
Your father. Yom* friend. Yourself. Your cat.
2. Write, in not more than five or six sentences, a descriptive
impression of one of the following : —
A tramp. A hen protecting her chickens.
A newsboy. A duck in water.
A wet dog. A duck out of water.
A lost child. A girl crying over a failure.
An organ grinder. A frightened horse.
3. Describe by means of a short phrase the face of each one of the
following : —
A clerk just making a sale.
A fisherman just hauling in a fish. '
A boy just notified of 100 per cent.
A girl just notified of 100 per cent.
A thief just caught by a pohceman.
A man just before sneezing.
A fat man just after sneezing.
A boy about to play a trick.
A dog that has just heard an interesting noise.
4. Describe the interior of a room or a house so that the reader
can tell what sort of person the occupant is.
p
210 GOOD ENGLISH
5. From your reading about some character in history or literature
write a brief picture of him. Perhaps it is Shylock or Caesar
or Roderick Dhu, or Washington or Lincoln or Grant.
6. Write brief pictures of several of the following. Make each
picture reveal character : —
Sister, playing the piano. Mother, sewing.
Teacher, taking the roll. Father, reading.
Tom, driving. Conductor, collecting fares.
Brother, at dinner. Mary, doing her hair.
7. Write a brief description of an old person. Then write a
description of this person as you imagine he or she must have
been many years ago.
8. Write a brief description of a fox, a rabbit, or a squirrel, so that
the animal will appear to have human understanding and
emotions.
9. Select from the stories (pages 32 to 69) and poems (pages 74
to 87) phrases and sentences that both picture and charac-
terize persons.
10. Write a still-life picture of a person in a mood suggested by the
following. Then write a picture of the same person in mo-
tion : —
lonely disturbed disagreeable disgusted blue
gay nervous courageous hurt calm
LESSON THIRTY ONE
Poetry that Explains and Describes
Read the following poems and be able to talk about each
one before the class. Note the use of description and ex-
planation.
It Couldn't Be Done^
(From Edgar A. Guest's Breakfast Table Chat)
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
^ Used by permisaion of the author and of the Reilly-Britton CJompany.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 211
That maybe " it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried, he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed : " Oh, you^ll never do that ;
At least no one ever has done it."
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin.
Without any doubting or quiddit.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done ;
There are thousands to prophesy failure ;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin ;
Just take off your coat and go to it ;
Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing
That " cannot be done," and you'll do it.
The Blind Men and the Elephant. A Hindoo Fable
(By John Godfrey Saxe)
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.
212 GOOD ENGLISH
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl :
"God bless me ! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall ! "
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho ! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very Uke a spear !"
The Third approached the animal.
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands.
Thus boldly up and spake :
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very lilce a snake !"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand.
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"
The Fifth who chanced to touch the ear
Said : "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most ;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
HOW TO BE CLEAR 213
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope !"
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong.
Though each was partly in the right
And all were in the wrong !
Going Downhill on a Bicycle
(By Henry Charles Beeching)
With lifted feet, hands still,
I am poised, and down the hill
Dart, with heedful mind ;
The air goes by in a wind.
Swifter and yet more swift.
Till the heart with a mighty lift
Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry
"O bird, see; see, bird, I fly.
"Is this, is this your joy?
O bird, then I, though a boy,
For a golden moment share
Your feathery life in air ! "
Say, heart, is there aught like this
In a world that is full of bliss?
'Tis more than skating, bound
Steel-shod to the level ground.
214 GOOD ENGLISH
Speed slackens now, I float
Awhile in my airy boat ;
Till, when the wheels scarce crawl,
My feet to the treadles fall.
Alas, that the longest hill
Must end in a vale ; but still,
Who climbs with toil, wheresoe'er,
Shall find wings waiting there.
Mr. Nobody
(Author Unknown)
I know a funny little man.
As quiet as a mouse,
Who does the mischief that is done
In everybody's house !
There's no one ever sees his face.
And yet we all agree
That every plate we break was cracked
By Mr. Nobody.
'Tis he who always tears our books,
Who leaves the door ajar.
He pulls the buttons from our shirts.
And scatters pins afar ;
That squeaking door will always squeak
For, prithee, don't you see,
We leave the oihng to be done
By Mr. Nobody.
He puts damp wood upon the fire.
That kettles cannot boil ;
His are the feet that bring in mud,
And all the carpets soil.
HOW TO BE CLEAR 215
The papers always are mislaid,
Who had them last but he ?
There's no one tosses them about
But Mr. Nobody.
The finger-marks upon the door
By none of us are made ;
We never leave the bUnds unclosed,
To let the curtains fade.
The ink we never spill, the boots
That lying round you see
Are not our boots ; they all belong
To Mr. Nobody.
LESSON THIRTY TWO
Words
In the chapter on Interest (see page 6) you have al-
ready learned how important the choice of words must
always be if you intend to be interesting. But now it must
be apparent that for clearness the choice of the right word is
even more important. Thanks to your studies, your read-
ing, and your conversation, you are furnished with a good
vocabulary. But, in endeavoring to explain or to describe,
you must have felt how difficult is the pen's path for the
writer who is not possessed of the right words. With the
importance of words brought home to you by experience,
consider, then, their nature and services a little more closely.
To be clear, you must, whenever possible, use simple words.
It is a good rule to avoid a long or a high-sounding word,
when a modest little one will do. ''The fire heroes extin-
guished the conflagration " is not nearly so clear or so effective
as "The firemen put out the fire."
216 GOOD ENGLISH
Words should be exact and precise in the meanings they
convey. If they are not, they will leave a confused impres-
sion upon the one who hears or reads them. To some girls
and boys nearly everything that happens is nice or awful.
Both these words are proper only when used in proper rela-
tions. There is no such thing as an awful lesson or a nice
game. These expressions are not exact for the reason that
awful and nice do not mean what they are intended to con-
vey. By the ''awful lesson" is probably meant a long or a
difficult lesson, but awful does not mean either long or difficult.
Nice does not mean interesting or successful, yet such a mean-
ing is evidently implied by the above expression. Study
word meanings exactly. However small your vocabulary may
be, see to it that you can use the words you own with exact-
ness and precision.
Some words are general in meaning; others are special.
Athletics, for instance, is a general word. It includes a great
many different kinds or classifications; baseball, football,
handball, tennis, running, swimming, hockey, and so forth
are all names of special games belonging to the general
word athletics. Now, the general word athletics is valuable.
You could not get along without it in talking about school
sports. But whenever possible use special words, for they
convey a far clearer and far more definite meaning than
general terms. You may have heard the expressions, "Give
me the particulars," "Give me the details." These are
simple, everyday requests for special rather than general
words.
It is important to remember that special words can be
drawn out of general ones very much as the links of a tele-
scope are drawn out from one another. The word structure,
for instance, is a general word. Building is a little more
special. House is still more special; the word picture is
HOW TO BE CLEAR 217
beginning to gain definite shape in our minds. Dwelling
is more special than house. Home and cottage are more
special still. These last are genuine picture words. In-
deed, most special words have a power to picture that general
words do not possess.
And this suggests another useful distinction in words.
All words name something definite — honor, machine, fire-
side, home, appendicitis, crawling, blue. Each of these names
a thing or a quahty or an action. But many words not only
name, they carry associations with them and so stir the
feelings. In the list above, fireside, honor, home, all are
charged with associations and stir our emotions. Appendi-
citis, blue, machine, crawling, do little more than name.
Compare home with residence, or fireside with vestibule, and
the difference will be apparent. The first are rich in as-
sociation, the second are names merely. Words that carry
associations with them are very much more pictorial than
words that merely name.
The distinction between general words and special words,
and between name words and association words is most
valuable in descriptions, in stories, and in poetry, where
writing must be vivid if it is to depict clearly the scene, the
'^.vents, or the emotions that are revealed.
PRACTICE
1. Select six association words from some poem in this book. Ex-
plain why they are association words. Give other words foi
them meaning almost the same thing and conveying no as-
sociation at all.
2. Select six special words from some story in this book. Make
each one more special. Give the most general word you can
think of for each one.
3. Examine the following word groups. What is the difference
in meaning among the words in each group? After yor
218 GOOD ENGLISH
have thought about them and discussed them with your
classmates, consult the dictionary : —
(1) Love, affection, esteem, regard, devotion.
(2) Think, reason, calculate, guess, imagine, suppose, fancy.
(3) Good, kind, wholesome, generous.
(4) Honest, trustful, frank, candid, genuine.
(5) Awful, dreadful, terrible, fearful, frightful, horrible.
(6) Pretty, lovely, handsome, beautiful, attractive.
(7) Rattle, chatter, blurt, gabble, gossip, tattle, prattle.
(8) Fierce, ferocious, furious, impetuous, dangerous.
(9) Fraud, cheat, deceit, trick, imposture.
(10) Free, clear, exempt, independent, unchecked, at liberty.
4. Compose sentences illustrating the correct use of the words in
each of the following groups : —
(1) Ancient, antique, old-fashioned.
(2) Answer, reply, retort.
(3) Defeat, loss, ruin.
(4) Neglect, default, carelessness.
(5) Politeness, courtesy, manners.
(6) Postponement, adjournment, delay.
(7) Remain, stop, stay.
(8) Spectator, auditor, participant.
(9) Success, victory, achievement.
(10) Trade, employment, profession.
5. Supply special words for the following general ones : —
animal literature stone word
exercise sound water work
6. Select as many special words as possible, principally verbs, ad-
verbs, or adjectives, to describe each of the following : —
brook dancing morning store
crying darkness music storm
7. Perhaps you know some one who has a peculiarity in manner
or dress or action. Describe him in a few brief sentences,
using as many special words as you can. Make them as
pictorial as possible.
8. The following phrases suggest pictures. Express each one in
general terms carrying no special association with them : —
HOW TO BE CLEAR 219
A romantic moonlight night.
A meadow bedded with buttercups.
A rambling, scrambling river.
A roaring, rushing, swirling, swishing cataract.
A hobbling, hampered cripple.
A shambUng, staggering drunkard.
A tiny, tiptoeing maiden.
9. Explain in general terms, to your father or mother perhaps,
just how your school program is arranged. Then explain
it in particular terms to a young person of your own age who
is attending another school. Point out the differences be-
tween the two explanations.
10. Explain why the following expressions are not exact and pre-
cise. Convert each one into an exact and precise form : —
I am awfully tired.
I am starved to death.
This cake is perfectly lovely.
Isn't she just too perfectly dear?
It's a terribly hot day.
What a horrible time I had !
The concert was colossally excellent.
Scott's novels fascinate me.
11. Are the following words special or general? Explain each
one : —
artifice clenched lull seraggly
broncho guttural lilt tremolo
bristling gringo quivering whimpering
12. Point out the especially appropriate words in the following
selection. Tell why you think each one appropriate : —
The Smpi
(From John Masefield's The Dauber)
They stood there by the rail while the swift ship
Tore on out of the tropics, straining her sheets,
Whitening her trackway to a milky strip,
1 Used by permission of The Macmillan Company.
220 GOOD ENGLISH
Dim with green bubbles and twisted water meets,
Her clacking tackle tugged at pins and cleats,
Her great sails bellied stiff, her great masts leaned :
They watched how the seas struck and burst and greened.
•• THE TRAIL BLAZERS.
13. The scouts are having a fine time blazing a trail. Tell your
classmates just what you see in the above picture. Have
them note the special words you are obliged to use. It may
be interesting to connect this picture with the one on page
167. Perhaps the selection on page 173 may also be related
LESSON THIRTY THREE
Clearness in Speaking
Most of what has been said in the previous lessons applies
to speech as well as to writing. But there are certain
HOW TO BE CLEAR 221
hindrances to clearness that belong particularly to speech.
Mispronunciations, as pointed out in Lesson 14, page 103,
may often interfere with the attention of an audience, but
a single mispronounced word in a sentence is by no means
so serious an obstacle to clearness as are frequent miscon-
structions. Furthermore, the ear is not so sensitive, as a
rule, to mispronunciation as it is to bungling construction
and common errors. Cultivate an ear for correct English.
To listen well almost invariably means to speak well. See
to it that your spoken sentences are clear in form and con-
struction. Do not confuse your listeners by keeping them
in doubt as to the connection and the relation of your ideas.
1. Do not string all of your ideas together by means of
and or hut, or and-a and hut-a, and thus make extremely
long sentences. This is a common mistake in the speech
of young people and there is none that is more confusing to
an audience. Let those to whom you are speaking hear
your periods ; make them conscious of the beginning of new
sentences in your speech. Make your sentences short and
keep them distinct from one another.
2. Do not begin to talk with well or well-a, why, now, say,
listen. They are signs of hesitation but they* do not cure
hesitation. If your words do not flow rapidly, allow yourself
brief silences. There is no harm in occasional silences in
conversation. Indeed, they are to be cultivated, for they
give your hearers time to digest what you have said, and
they give you time to form clearly what you wish to say.
3. When you are asked why, do not answer because. In
ordinary conversation oftentimes a word or a phrase is all
that may be required for complete answering. But when
you wish to convey information, it is better to put youi
answers, however brief, in complete sentence form.
4. Do not insert a superfluous he or she or they or then
222 GOOD ENGLISH
in your spoken sentence. The word they in The girls they
went is unnecessary and therefore confusing. The person
who makes use of this misconstruction in speech rarely
makes the same mistake in writing.
Then used between the subject and predicate may quite
properly indicate time. But some speakers overuse it, as,
— He then went home and they then talked about him. It is
likewise frequently overused at the beginning of sentences,
as, — Then he went and then they began to talk about him.
Then father left. Use this word only when it is required.
5. Guard against the following common errors. They are
more likely to occur in speech because the ear very frequently
passes what the eye would hold up. ''It doesn't sound right "
should be as important a guide as "It doesn't look right" : —
(1) Do not use here or there after this or that, as, — This
here book, That there desk. Here and there are adverbs and
cannot modify nouns.
(2) Do not use ainH, or its worse form, hainH. They are
contractions for am not, are not, is not, have not, that have
never been accepted by good speakers.
(3) Do not use donH with a singular subject, as, — He
donH. She donH. It donH. DonH is a contraction of do not.
He do not sounds absurd, yet this is just what is said when
he don't is used. Doesn't is the proper form to use with a
singular subject, as, — He doesn't. She doesn't. It doesn't.
This is one of the most common errors in English speech.
It does not occur so frequently in writing.
(4) Do not use the double negative, that is, do not use
the word not or its equivalent twice in the same sentence.
In / haven't none, for instance, none expresses a negative as
also does n't in haven't. The sentence therefore does not
express the meaning intended. / haven't any or / have none
is the correct form for the meaning to be conveyed. This
HOW TO BE CLEAR 223
error is likely to be made with the contractions havenH,
hasnH, hadnH, isnH, aren't, can't, don't, doesn't, won't.
(5) Do not use the present tense of come for the past
came, and do not use the past participle of verbs for the
past tense, as begun for began, sung for sang, done for did,
drunk for drank, swum for swam. She came home last night
not She come home last night. I did it this morning not / done
it this morning. Make a list of your troublesome verbs and
study the proper use of each in this respect.
(6) Do not use a singular subject with a plural verb or a
plural verb with a singular subject. Each, every, any, none,
either alone or in combination, are always singular and re-
quire a singular construction. In a sentence having a
singular subject there may be a plural noun just before the
predicate that will mislead a speaker into using a plural
verb. In, — One of the fellows was going, one is the singular
subject of the predicate was. But the plural noun fellows,
coming directly before was, may easily cause such a mistake
as, — One of the fellows were going.
PRACTICE
1. It is not pleasant to criticize unfavorably, yet such criticism
is oftentimes most helpful. Moreover, it may be offered in
a kindly spirit. Select from the speech of your classmates
such errors as you can note, and correct them.
2. Favorable criticism is quite as valuable as unfavorable and it
is certainly pleasanter to make. Select from the speech of
your classmates and teachers specimens of speech that stand
out as being excellent models to follow.
3. Tell what is wrong with each of the following sentences, ihen
express it correctly. Depend upon your ear as far as possible
both in noting the error and in correcting it : —
(1) This here book ain't no good.
(2) He don't study hard enough.
224 GOOD ENGLISH
(3) When we arrived the music had began.
(4) Every one of the girls have passed.
(5) His mother rushed to meet him when he come in.
(6) I haven't seen nothing of him all day.
(7) John together with Sam and George are going to the picnic.
(8) They have came with your trunk.
(9) She don't think that he sung well.
(10) None were there to do nothing for him when the accident
occurred.
4. Use some of the following subjects for brief talks before the
class. Criticize one another helpfully as to the faults in speech
discussed in this chapter : —
Making a frock. Tending to the furnace.
Marks. Nervous !
Being kept in. She forgot !
My speech troubles. Teacher's English.
Your speech troubles. Home English.
Speaking and writing. Pupils' English.
Bluffing. Hearing mistakes.
Doing the dishes. Seeing mistakes.
Explanation of a problem in mathematics.
Explanation of an experiment.
Explanation of dorCt and doesn't.
, 5. The ideas in the following sentence groups are strung together
by ands and other connectives. Read them aloud to your
class, omitting needless conjunctions, and indicating by your
voice where sentences should begin and end : —
(1) Minnetonka means Happy Laughter and the Law of the
Fire says "Be Happy" and I have tried to earn my right
to this name by washing the dishes every morning for
two weeks and being happy while I was doing it, and so
as my symbol, I have chosen the Black-Eyed Susan be-
cause I have brown eyes and because the yellow of the
petals stands for sunshine and I want sunshine in my eyes
for every one.
(2) A group of school girls took up national service as the basis
for their weekly program and one meeting was given over
to the study of conservation, each girl bringing in brief
HOW TO BE CLEAR 225
reports on the conservation of streams, birds, and trees,
and then another evening was spent in learning genuine
Indian songs which were sung at every meeting and a
third evening was planned for the telling of Indian legends
which the girls had read during the week.
(3) The scout's badge is not specifically intended to represent
either the fleiu'-de-Hs or an arrowhead, although it re-
sembles both, but it is a modified form of the sign of the
north on the mariner's compass which is as old as the
history of navigation for the Chinese claim its use among
them as early as 2634 b.c. and we have definite informa-
tion that it was used at sea by them as early as 300 a.d.
and-a Marco Polo brought the compass to Europe on
his return from Cathay and the sign of the north on the
compass gradually came to represent the north and
pioneers, trappers, woodsmen, and scouts, because of
this, adopted it as their emblem but through centuries
of use it has undergone modification and-a so now then
we have taken its shape as that of our badge which is
further distinguished by a shield and the American
eagle superimposed.
6. Imagine yourself a manager or a salesman. Talk to yoiu* class-
mates in clear-cut English upon some of the following sub-
jects, trying to prevail upon them : —
(a)
To attend a certain game.
To give money for a worthy cause.
To enter a contest.
To join a school club.
To contribute money for a gift.
(h)
To buy the school paper.
To buy a certain kind of sweater.
To buy a school pennant.
To buy a school cap.
To buy a certain emblem, such as pin or buckle.
7. Read the following story to your classmates in two ways : first,
in one even monotonous tone ; second, with expression. Ask
them to tell you what was gained by your second reading : -^
Q
226 GOOD ENGLISH
The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully : and
he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have
not where to bestow my fruits ? And he said, This will I do : I will
pull down my barns, and build greater ; and there will I bestow all
my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease, — eat, drink,
be merry.
But God said unto him. Thou fooUsh one, this night is thy soul
required of thee ; and the things which thou hast prepared, whose
shalt they be ? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is
not rich toward God.
8. The following are answers to questions. State them more
clearly. Construct the question for which each is an answer : —
(1) Why, it flows southward practically the whole length of the
country, and then it forms a delta, and then flows into
the Gulf of Mexico.
(2) Well, if you haven't any rudder don't turn yoiu- head around
all the time to see where you are rowing, but fix your
eye upon some definite object ahead and-a keep your boat
moving in that relation to it that will take you where
you want to go.
(3) Say, when you scull a boat you propel it by a single oar
at the stern and you should have a rowlock or a semi-
circular scoop at the stern and you propel the boat by
working the oars at the stern obUquely from side to side.
(4) Listen, if your clothing should catch fire do not run for help
as this will fan the flames but he down and roll up as
tightly as possible in an overcoat, blanket, rug, or any
woolen article but if nothing can be obtained in which to
wrap up, he down and roll over slowly at the same time
beating the fire with the hands.
9. Answer each of the following questions in two or three clear
sentences. Start with a definite, complete statement, not
with because, why, well, or any other superfluous word : —
What would you do if fire broke out in school ?
Why is New Orleans an important city commercially?
What different routes could you take to go from New
York to Seattle?
HOW TO BE CLEAR 227
10. Read the following conversational poem to your classmates in
such a way as to make the meaning of it quite clear : —
A small group of words got together one day,
And lamented their fate in the following way, —
"If ox," said box, "is in plural called oxen,
I'm sure I don't see why I shouldn't be boxen."
"And if tooth,'' said booth, "is in plural form teeth,
Then why in the world shouldn't I be called beelhf*
"If mouse,'" said house, "must be pluralized mice,
'T would be simple and easy to change me to Mce."
"And Ukewise," said grouse, "if louse be called lice,
'T would be nice, 'twould suffice, to call me plain grice."
"Yes, yes," laughed lie^ "and if die is made dice,
Why, of course, I'm the one to be turned into lice!'*
"If man," pined pan, "is converted to men,
I really should change, not to pans, but to pen"
"Quite so," approved /an, ban, and can, with a shout,
"And we should he fen, ben, and cen, without doubt."
''It foot," said boot, "meaning two, becomes /ee^
Then I should think two of me ought to be beet"
"U a he," sulked she, "is he, his, and him,
I should really prefer to be she, shis, and shim."
"If that," growled hat, "is sometimes writ those,
'Tis a very good reason for writing me hose."
"You're right!" said the cat, bat, and rat. "We propose
That we follow the rule and be cose, bose, and rose."
"Very good," echoed bliss, "and if this may be these.
It naturally happens that I should be blese."
And so they went on till their mother came in
To quell, if she could, the deafening din :
"Be proud to be different," she urged them, quite cool,
"You can't be distinctive if patterned to rule, —
My brothers, for instance, are often called brethren.
But I never could bear to be mentioned as methren."
11. The fleet-footed end on the high school team has the ball and
is making a straightaway dart for goal. In and among his opponents
he goes, now dodging, now stooping, now springing like a deer.
His zigzag course is guarded as well as may be by his eager
228
GOOD ENGLISH
colleagues . . . "Down!" Then, higgledy, piggledy, there !s a
sudden piling-up of entangled arms and legs and bodies.
(1) Explain just how this brilliant sprint was brought to an end,
what followed immediately after the tackle, and what it
meant to the game.
(2) The mother and the sister of the player who was making the
run, saw the game from the grandstand. Explain their
feelings and actions at this juncture of the game.
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CHAPTER IV
HOW TO BE CONVINCING
Introduction
If you are clear, if you are interesting in your letters,
your stories, and your explanations, you will probably be
convincing. But "probably" is not a safe word in so im-
portant a matter as good writing and good speaking. You
must be reasonably interesting in order to convince your
friend, in order to make him believe as you do. You must
be absolutely clear in order to accomplish that aim. But
to be certain of convincing him, you must go beyond interest
and clearness to other simple principles that belong par-
ticularly to the art of persuasion.
The first of these principles is useful everywhere, but
especially in argument. It is emphasis. Unity means stick-
ing to the subject. Coherence means the clearest and most
logical order of arrangement. Emphasis means laying stress
upon the ideas that are most important in what you have
to say.
The other principle of the art of persuasion is the prin-
ciple that governs argument. If you intend to convince,
your facts and your reasons must be so planned as to lead
to conviction. You must put your writing or your speak-
ing in the form of an argument. This principle means that
planning an argument must be different from planning a
story or explanation. The lessons that follow will explain how.
229
230 GOOD ENGLISH
LESSON THIRTY FOUR
Letters That Convince
Read the following letters and discuss them with your
classmates. Make a little plan stating in order the reasons
advanced in each one of these letters for doing or for not
doing a certain thin"^.
Letter (1). Is Jane Austen serious in this letter? Is
she arguing for Scott or against him? Letter (2). What
three definite reasons does Lincoln give for not wanting a
bodyguard, the Adjutant General, to attend him wherever
he goes? Letter (3). If you were an employer would you
feel like employing Miss Evelyn Saunders? Why? Letter
(4). If you were an employer would you give Master James
Doan a chance? Why? Letters (5) and (6). If you were
moving to St. Joseph which of the two schools, '' Davis " or
"Garfield," would you attend? Reasons. Letter (7). How
do the reasons stated in this letter differ from those stated
in the previous letters? Which is the most affecting ques-
tion in this letter ? Reasons.
(1)
Chawton, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 1814.
My dear Anna, —
I hope you do not depend on having your book again immediately.
I kept it that your grandmamma may hear it. . . .
Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones.
It is not fair. He has fame and profit enough as a poet, and should
not be taking the bread out of the mouths of other people. I do
not like him, and do not mean to like "Waverley" if I can help it;
but I fear I must ... I have made up my mind to like no novels
really but Miss Edgeworth's, yours, and my own. . . .
Your affectionate aunt,
Jane Austen.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 231
Executive Mansion, January 22, 1862.
My dear Sir : On reflection I think it will not do, as a rule, for
the adjutant general to attend me where I go : not that I have any
objection to his presence, but that it would be an uncompensating
encumbrance both to him and me. When it shall occur to me to go
anywhere, I wish to be free to go at once, and not to have to notify
the adjutant general and wait till he can get ready.
It is better, too, for the pubhc service that he shall give his time
to the business of his office, and not to personal attendance on me.
While I thank you for the kindness of the suggestion, my view of
the matter is as I have stated.
Yours truly,
A. Lincoln.
(3)
130 Grayson Avenue,
Cleveland, Ohio,
March 30, 1918.
To whom it may concern :
The bearer, Miss Evelyn Saunders, has been employed in my office
as general assistant for the past three years. The service rendered
by her has been superior in every way. The office has never been
so well looked after as since Miss Saunders has been in charge. I
regret extremely that she is obhged to make a change now, owing to
the fact that she is moving to another city, but I am happy to
recommend her as a young woman of unusual excellence and attain-
ment in her line.
Jay S. Kemer.
1 Lincoln preferred to go about unguarded by an adjutant. He could not
be made to realize that he thus exposed himself to assassination. He was
much criticized for his attitude.
232 GOOD ENGLISH
(4)
140 Temple Avenue,
Louisville, Kentucky,
April 30, 1918.
To whom it may concern :
The bearer, Master James Doan, has just graduated from Public
School 18 with marks above 90 in all -subjects. His record in the
school has been superior in every respect. It gives me great pleasure
to recommend him as an excellent young man and to assist him in
getting a position that will offer him opportunity for further develop-
ment. He is sixteen years of age, but he possesses the steadiness
of character and the alertness of mind of one of maturer years.
Samuel Arbuthnot,
Principal, P. S. 18.
(5)
21 Howard Avenue,
St. Joseph, Mo.,
June 30, 1918.
Dear Tom,
Mother tells me that your folks are going to move to St. Joseph
this summer. This means that you will go to school here in Sei>-
tember. Well, as soon as I heard the good news I thought to
myself, "Tom certainly must attend the Davis School."
I'm in my second year at "Davis" now, and I like it better all
the time. It's a brand new building with a large gymnasium and
a dandy swimming pool. It has the best athletic field in the city.
The other schools are all the time wanting to use it. And the
principal of "Davis" is a good fellow. He believes the boys should
have some fun along with their work. He backs up the teams with
his whole heart, goes to every game, and roots along with the rest
of us. You'll like the teachers, too. They're fair, and I tell you
that's a great thing. Don't you think so? They take a special
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 233
interest in a fellow and follow him up after he leaves. This means
a lot to a chap who wants to get on, you know.
Your friend Jaclc Thompson goes to a school at the other end
of the city, the Garfield School, but I hope you won't let him in-
fluence you to go there. It will be too far for you to go, for I
understand that you are going to Uve on our block. We beat
"Garfield" 40 — last year at football, but the school has no
athletic field and the team couldn't get the right kind of practice.
Of course, I'm not knocking "Garfield," but "Davis" really is a
better school.
Think this over, Tom, and let me hear from you. I hope to
see you soon. Give my regards to your father and mother, and to
Ahce.
Your friend,
James AUison.
P. S. I bet Jack Thompson will write you about " Garfield."
(6)-
18 De Kalb Avenue,
St. Joseph, Mo.,
July 3, 1918.
Dear Tom,
Hurrah ! You're going to move to St. Joseph, I hear. This is
fine. I have already told the fellows at our school about you and
we're all ready to welcome you in September.
You're just the boy for the Garfield School, Tom, and "Garfield"
is just the school for you. You'll like the fellows and the teachers
both. Everybody at "Garfield" knows how to be a good pal.
We've got the best course of study, father says, of any school in
this part of the country. I've often heard you say that you want to
be a mechanic. Well, here at "Garfield" they find out, as soon as
he enters, what a fellow wants to be, and then they make every-
thing he studies tell in that direction. We've got immense manual-
234 GOOD ENGLISH
training classrooms. Every boy has to know how to make things.
I made a table for Mother last winter which is a crackerjack, if I
do say it myself. Our school auditorium is the biggest in the city.
When a visitor comes here from any other place, why, he always
visits "Garfield."
You've heard of Turner, the Minnesota fullback, haven't you?
Well, he's an old "Garfield " boy. So is Brooks of Yale, and Watkins
of Pennsylvania. You see we go in for athletics a bit too at "Gar-
field."
Of course our building isn't much to brag about. It's old, but
it's still strong, and all right. Besides, it isn't the building that
counts : it's what is in the building. "Garfield" is the oldest prep
school in this part of the country and it has the best reputation
with the big colleges, so what more could you want ? You've heard
of "Davis," of course. They have a brand new building and a big
athletic field, but all they think about at "Davis" is sport. When
it comes to real school work, "Garfield" is the place.
Let me know exactly when you are coming and I'll bring the
fellows of our club to the station to meet you. Give my best to
Sis and all the others. Ask any questions about school you want
to. I'll answer.
Yours for September,
Jack Thompson.
(7)
To the Editor of The Intelligencer :
The stairs in our school building are so old and shaky that it is
dangerous to use them. Five hundred pupils are required to pass
up and down them every day, some many times a day. We have
on many previous occasions requested our Board of Education to
build new stairs in the school. Our parents have protested to the
Mayor about the condition. We students are now appealing to the
people of the city through such newspapers as The Intelligencer.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 235
Is it fair to house us in a school building that is unsafe? Is it a
credit to the citizens of this city to have their children go to school
in a building that the small neighboring town of Furlong scoffs at?
Is it a worthy thing for this rich city to do ? Won't you help us,
please, to make the officials take action ?
Pupils of the Morgan Street School.
March 12, 1918.
LESSON THIRTY FIVE
Special Letters
Letters (3) and (4) on pages 231 and 232 are letters of gen-
eral recommendation. Letter (7) above is a letter to a
newspaper. These letters differ in form somewhat from
ordinary letters. To whom it may concern is used in a letter
of general recommendation instead of the regular form of
salutation. The words may all be capitalized, but it is
better form to capitalize only the first one. To the Editor
of The Herald is used in a letter to a newspaper instead of
the regular form of salutation, and the words should be capi-
talized as indicated. The complimentary closing is omitted
from such letters as these. The date in the newspaper
letter is always placed in the lower left-hand corner. The
signature to a newspaper letter may be genuine, it may
be a group signature, as in (7) above, or it may be a fanci-
ful or an assumed name, such as, Justice, Interested, Julius,
at. The writer of a newspaper letter must always state
his full name and address, preferably in parentheses, at the
end of the letter. These will not be published against
his wish, but they are required as an evidence of good
faith.
The regular letter form is followed in a letter of special
236 GOOD ENGLISH
recommendation. If in letter (3), for instance, a certain
employer were to desire more facts about Miss Saunders,
he would write to Mr. Jay S. Kerner for them. In reply,
Mr. Kerner would write a letter of special or personal recom-
mendation. He would state the facts of his general recom-
mendation more in detail and would answer fully any
questions that were asked of him by the employer.
The writer of a letter of recommendation or of any letter
that calls for a statement of reasons, should be sure to state
exact facts. Any over-statement or under-statement of the
truth in such letters as those in Lesson Thirty Four is unfair
to the one who reads them and to the subject about whom
they are written. It is necessary, too, that such letters
be definite and to the point. General statements are of no
use. It is not sufficient to say that Davis is a better school
than Garfield. The respects in which it is better must be
indicated. Similarly, every important point at issue be-
tween the schools must be mentioned. To omit one just
because it may not be favorable to your side is to dodge
the argument. Note that Jack Thompson in letter (6)
dodges the subject of the athletic field. He might have
mentioned it very effectively, thus, — ^'Although we have
no field at 'Garfield,' yet our athletes lead when they get
to college." He could thus have avoided weakening his
position.
In any letter that sets forth reasons for or against a certain
course of action, the writer should of course be careful to
state his reason in an emphatic fashion. The strongest
reason should be reserved for the last, which in argument
is nearly always the position of emphasis, and the reasons
preceding it should build up to this last one. Notice the
arrangement in the letters above, particularly in letters (2)
and (5).
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 237
PRACTICE •
Using the letters in Lesson Thirty Four as models and keeping
in mind the above explanation, write some of the letters caUed for
below: —
1. There is a very good speaker in your school who has taken many
honors. There is a friend of yours who is ambitious but who
has never taken any honors at all. In a speaking contest
the good speaker is chosen to represent your school. Your
friend could not qualify. You are both glad and sorry.
Write a letter to some one about it, giving all the details of
the situation.
2. Your father insists on taking you to school every morning.
He feels it is safer to do so. But you object. You prefer to
go alone. Write a letter to some one about this matter,
setting forth a number of reasons why your father should not
accompany you.
3. Write a letter of general recommendation for one of your class-
mates.
4. Write the above recommendation in special or personal form.
Address it to some individual and make it fuller than the
general recommendation.
5. Write letters to friends urging them to buy one or more of the
following from you : —
candy soap bats gloves
magazines dresses Liberty Bonds buttons
6. Write a letter to a friend in a distant place, to which you expect
to move, asking him questions about his school. Make
your questions cover all phases of school life.
7. Write a letter to a friend urging her to join your Red Cross
unit.
8. Write a letter to your principal setting forth a number of
reasons why he should permit your debating team to be ex-
cused from the last two recitations on a certain day.
9. Reproduce the principal's reply to your letter, in which he
gives reasons for not complying with your request.
238 GOOD ENGLISH
10. Write a letter for publication in your school paper in which
you set forth reasons why the student body as a whole should
attend the last game of the season.
11. Write a letter to a newspaper in your community complaining
about the noise outside the school building during school
hours.
12. Write a letter to a newspaper in your community thanking it for
giving such a full account of your commencement exercises,
but calling its attention to the fact that the name of the head
boy in the school is James T. McCorkle, not James T.
Marklee.
13. Imagine that you are in camp. Write a letter home telling
about your camp life. The picture on page 167 may help you
in writing this letter.
LESSON THIRTY SIX
Emphasis in the Sentence
The success of the letters in Lesson Thirty Four depends
very largely upon their emphasis. Much of their excellence
is due to emphatic sentences. Coherence in a sentence helps
to make it forceful. Unity in a sentence also helps to make
it forceful. There can be no forceful expression without
these qualities. But once you have secured them in your
sentences, you may emphasize your thought even more by
means of certain devices.
1. Repetition. You may, for instance, stress or accent
an idea by repeating it. Here are three illustrations show-
ing how emphasis may be secured in a sentence by means
of repetition. In the first, words are repeated; in the
second, phrases ; in the third, clauses. If you wish to get
the full force of the repetition, read the sentences aloud.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 239
If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign
troop were landed in my country, I would never lay down my arms,
— never ! never ! never !
That the government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.
So, too, the character, the counsels, the example of our Wash-
ington, of which you bid me speak : they guided our fathers through
the storms of the Revolution ; they will guide us through the doubts
and difficulties that beset us ; they will guide our children and our
children's children in the paths of prosperity and peace.
Be sure that your repetitions count for emphasis. Do
not permit a needless repetition in a sentence, for that delays
or confuses the thought. Such expressions as the following
lose in force rather than gain by the repetition : —
We lost and failed to win. Go immediately and at once.
Do not repeat such terms as / think, I believe, it is said
in your sentences. Avoid such aimless repetitions as, —
John, he wept.
She was universally liked by all.
It resulted in this result.
Never use more words than are necessary, for they in-
variably mean useless and ineffective repetition.
He looks as if he were ill.
The coat that he wears is torn.
She wore a pair of white gloves on her hands.
These sentences contain useless repetition and are therefore
extravagant of words. A series of such bungled sentences
placed in close succession would give anything but a force-
ful and emphatic impression. They should read, —
He looks ill. His coat is torn. She wore white gloves.
2. Variety. You may also make your writing more vivid
by varying sentences in form and length, by making use of
240 GOOD ENGLISH
all the different kinds pointed out on page 141. Some sen-
tences should begin with the subject ; some with modifying
phrases, and so forth. Again, the customary connectives,
and, hut, for, because, may very often be understood rather
than expressed. We become so accustomed to hearing cer-
tain connectives in certain word relations that their omis-
sion is welcome and adds emphasis. Note how this is done
in the following sentences. The connectives are omitted,
and this results in a surprise construction that adds force
to the whole expression : —
Alice is afraid he is going to come tonight. She needn't worry.
He isn't.
Much is lost by combining these sentences as follows : —
Alice is afraid he is going to come tonight, but she needn't worry
for he isn't.
Brief and pointed statements are frequently more em-
phatic than long and complete ones. But judgment must
be exercised in their use, just as it must be exercised in any
other attempt to secure variety. Do not try to use in
regular succession long and short sentences ; loose, periodic,
and balanced sentences;, simple, complex, and compound
sentences ; declarative, interrogative, imperative, and ex-
clamatory sentences. If you do, your writing will be arti-
ficial and there will be no emphasis in your expression.
Read your sentences aloud after you have written them.
Hear the variety. Hear the monotony. Hear and feel the
force in them.
3. Position. You may make your sentences forceful by
being careful to place important words in important posi-
tions. The first part and the last part of a sentence, a
paragraph, a speech, are the emphatic parts. The latter
part is the stronger position of the two, but both are im-
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 241
portant. Whenever possible, place the important words in
these places. Note in the following sentences how this rule
is carried out with especial effect : —
(1) Dead rides the warrior on his steed. (2) Hard and fierce and
long they struggled. (3) Sweet are the uses of adversity.
(4) To the average girl a new dress is an event.
The important words in each of these sentences are placed
at the beginning, or at the end, or in both positions. In
order to place them thus the order has to be transposed or
inverted. The natural order in (4), for instance, is, — A new
dress is an event to the average girl. Here the important word
event comes in the middle of the sentence, a weak position.
Turn sentences (1), (2), and (3) around, and see how much
is lost by using the natural rather than the inverted order.
It is equally important for emphasis to place the important
idea of a sentence in the principal clause, for it is there that
emphasis falls. Note this pair of sentences, —
(1) I was hurrying through a field when I saw a dead body
on the ground.
(2) As I was hurrying through a field I saw on the ground a
dead body.
Seeing the dead body is the important idea. If, as in (1),
it is put in the subordinate clause, there is a distinct failure
of emphasis.
4. Special kinds of sentences. Interrogative, imperative,
and exclamatory sentences are usually more emphatic than
declarative. Notice the sentences that follow, and com-
pare them with their declarative forms : —
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?
How like a fawning pubhcan he looks!
Let there be Ught.
242 GOOD ENGLISH
Balanced and periodic sentences may also be used for
emphasis. The first presents a contrast emphatically ; the
second automatically holds the attention of the reader until
the end, the best position for emphasis. (See pages 138
and 141.) The first sentence below is forceful because it is
balanced ; the second, because it is periodic. Rewrite
each in a different form and see what is lost in force, —
(1) We must accept defeat but we need not feel disgrace.
(2) Until I see my mother I will not leave this house.
5. Brevity. If a word can do the full work of a phrase
or a clause it should by all means be used instead of the
phrase or the clause. Strip your sentences of everything
that is not actually necessary to convey the central idea.
Observe in (1) and (2) below how the principal thought is
weakened by too many needless words. Note how much is
gained by the revision in (3) and (4) respectively, —
(1) Quietly and noiselessly they went onward, followed by their
able guides, into the jungle.
(2) His speech was delivered, on the whole, in a forceful manner
and at the same time was convincing.
(3) Followed by their guides, they went quietly into the jungle.
(4) His speech was delivered with convincing force.
Some writers seem to feel that every noun or verb they use
must have a modifier. Such ''padded" writing can never
be emphatic.
Finally, repeat words, phrases, and clauses, if necessary,
in order to secure emphasis, but do not repeat uselessly
or awkwardly. Vary sentence forms and sentence con-
structions. Do not modify every noun with an adjective,
every verb with an adverb. Occasionally omit obvious
connectives. Resort to unusual constructions sometimes,
and cultivate brevity wherever possible.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 243
Keep constantly in mind that the first part and the last
part of a sentence are the forceful positions. Make use of
periodic and balanced sentences and of interrogative, im-
perative, and exclamatory sentences. Be ready to alter the
natural order of sentences so that the important ideas may
be easily placed at the emphatic points. Be concise.
PRACTICE
1. Point out the useless repetition in each of the following and
rewrite : —
(1) I wonder whence he came from.
(2) They have added another new addition to the school build-
ing.
(3) He wore a pair of brand new shoes on his feet.
(4) They arrived Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.
(5) I am going on about the third of June.
(6) The boys each had an apple apiece.
(7) He looks as if he were very tired.
(8) The policy that they follow is not a good pohcy.
(9) One of the best games that Jim ever played was the game
he played against Tompkins on Saturday.
(10) Thus, I should think, therefore, that what he says is fact
and truth.
(11) This is the station from which we are going from.
(12) He was quite rich and well-to-do, and so was his brother
also.
(13) He approached toward me silently and without a word.
(14) A girl whose name is Clara brings the mail when it comes
at ten o'clock.
(15) She wore a long train at least three feet long.
(16) He likes books, music, painting, and etc.
(17) Opposite to me sat a boy whose name was Edgar.
(18) The disease with which he is diseased is one of the incurable
diseases.
(19) Our class of twenty, including myself, started in the morn-
ing at eight a.m.
(20) Two elderly old maids entered but not one of them spoke
a word.
244 GOOD ENGLISH
2. Combine each of the following groups into one good sentence,
containing no repetition : —
(1) Russia occupies more land than any other country in the
world. Russia is more than twice the size of the United
States. Russia occupies one sixth of the total land area
of the earth.
(2) The population of Russia is about one hundred eighty
millions. Seventy-five per cent of the Russian people
are engaged in agriculture. Fifteen per cent of the
Russian people live in cities.
(3) There are 1231 cities in Russia. The streets of 1068 Rus-
sian cities are lighted at night. One hundred sixty-
two Russian cities have electric lights. One hundred
twenty-eight Russian cities have gas light. Over seven
hundred Russian cities are lighted by kerosene.
(4) The five largest cities in Russia are Petrograd, Moscow,
Warsaw, Odessa, Kiev. The population of Petrograd
is 2,100,000. The population of Moscow is 1,800,000.
The population of Warsaw is 700,000. The population
of Odessa and of Kiev is 600,000 each.
(5) Russia has the longest coast line of any country in the
world. Most of the Russian coast line is locked by ice
a good part of the year. Shipping is not a leading Rus-
sian industry.
(6) Russia, United States, and British India are the three great-
est tobacco-growing countries in the world. Russia
raises one hundred ninety-eight millions of pounds a
year. British India raises four hundred thirty-three
millions of pounds a year. United States raises seven
hundred twenty-two millions of pounds a year.
(7) Russia conducts much of her business at fairs. Russia
conducts both wholesale and retail business at fairs.
There are over three thousand fairs held annually in
Russia. The most famous Russian fair is the one held
annually at Nijni-Novgorod.
(8) Russian horses are famous the world over. The most
beautiful Russian horses come from the Caucasus
districts. Russia raises more horses than any other
country.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 245
(9) The fur industry is the most important industry in Russia.
Russia supplies about one third of the furs of the world.
Russia's long Arctic coast line makes fur raising an im-
portant industry.
(10) Russia is the second petroleum producing country in the
world. The United States is the first petroleum produc-
ing country in the world. The Russian petroleum centers
are on the Black and Caspian Seas.
3. Combine the above sentences on Russia into a good paragraph.
Vary sentence beginning, sentence length, and sentence form.
4. Tell in six short, similarly constructed sentences just what you
see in the picture on the next page. Then combine them
into one good periodic sentence. What is lost or gained by
the change?
5. Explain why each of the following is forceful : —
(1) Alone, alone, all, all alone.
Alone on a wide, wide sea !
(2) Everywhere the unworthy boon was rejected with scorn.
(3) Who would not fight for his country?
(4) Still was his hand, and clear his eye.
As the leader said, "Thou too must die!"
(5) A horse ! a horse ! my kingdom for a horse 1
(6) Now is the accepted time.
(7) To try is better than the thing you try for.
(8) that I had the wings of a bird !
(9) Fallen are the mighty !
(10) Beaten, and only by an inch!
(11) Cannon to right of them.
Cannon to left of them.
Cannon in front of them
Volleyed and thundered.
(12) You cannot, my lords, you cannot conquer America.
(13) And the king was much moved, and went up to the cham-
ber over the gate and wept ; and as he went, thus he said :
O my son Absalom ! would God I had died for thee,
Absalom, my son, my son !
(14) And his chief beside,
Smiling the boy fell dead.
^^m^^^^^^^mwm^m^m.
k^^i^
ON THE 8KI6.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 247
(15) "We're all that's left of the Band, and we'll be cut up as
sure as death," said Jakin.
"I'll die game, then," said Lew.
6. Rewrite each of the following sentences in interrogative, impera-
tive, or exclamatory form. Explain what is gained by the
revision : —
(1) We are all willing to have one hundred per cent.
(2) It is poiu-ing rain.
(3) Life is not so dear, peace is not so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of slavery.
(4) He told him to stop and asked who went there.
(5) I do not fear death.
(6) There is no one here so base that would be a bondman;
there is no one here so rude that would not be a Roman ;
there is no one here so vile that would not love his
country.
(7) We wish our daily bread this day.
(8) He said that we are not to judge that we be not judged.
(9) He asked what they were going to do about it and whether
he should prepare for the worst.
(10) He shouted to them that they must run for their lives.
7. Make the following sentences more emphatic by changing the
order of phrases or clauses, or by placing the principal idea
in the principal clause : —
(1) Birds are of practical interest to man in several ways.
(2) There were noise and tumult everywhere.
(3) Commencement is a great occasion in the hfe of every boy
and girl.
(4) Giving myself up to the police, I hoped for pardon.
(5) He came in exhausted when the race was done.
(6) It is dangerous to allow your car to stand in the middle of
the street.
(7) Every boy and girl should cultivate at least one hobby.
(8) The world would have far more healthy boys and girls if
the rules for muscular activity were more often applied
both in work and in play.
(9) I do not know what in the world made him do it.
(10) We retraced our steps to the house when it began to rain.
248 GOOD ENGLISH
8. Convert each of the following sentences into the balanced or the
periodic form and explain what is gained thereby : —
(1) Our feet are held to this planet on which we live, by nature's
laws, but there is no law to prevent our eyes and our
thoughts from looking and soaring up and away.
(2) The astronomers tell us that some day the sun must burn
itself out, but that will not be until you and I have
passed beyond the need of its warmth and Ught, so we
will not borrow trouble about so dire an event.
(3) As to the real size of the sun, we are told that if one hun-
dred and nine earths were laid side by side, they would
just reach across the face of the sun ; or if you place a
football and a bird-shot side by side, you will have some
idea of the comparative sizes of the earth and the sun.
(4) The telescope has given us a very good idea of the surface of
one side of the moon, but of the other side we know ab-
solutely nothing.
(5) As there are only six planets which can be seen with the
naked eye, and those at certain times of the year only,
while there are thousands of stars in the sky, you will
see that it is not easy to find the planets unless you know
where to look for them.
(6) We speak of things going up when they move toward the
sky, but as this immense space surrounds the earth on all
sides there is in reality no up, it is properly speaking out
and away from the earth.
(7) Venus is the most provoking of planets, because when she is
nearest to us she turns her dark side to us, just as a rude
boy or girl would turn the back on some one disliked.
(8) Lord Kelvin shows that if the earth were a fluid sur-
rounded by a crust, the action of the moon would not
cause tides in the ocean, but would merely tend to stretch
out the entire earth in the direction of the moon, leaving the
relative positions of the crust and the water unchanged.
(9) Our earth is favored in many ways beyond any known
planet, but perhaps nothing is more remarkable than our
atmosphere, which surrounds the earth like a grea,t trans-
• parent rim, reaching out to a distance variously estimated
from forty-five miles to more than two hundred miles.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 249
(10) This atmosphere, which is a sort of gas, presses upon every
part of the earth's surface, and the pressure upon a hu-
man body of average size is fourteen tons, but as it
presses equally upon all parts of the body, it causes no
inconvenience.
9. Select from the speech or writing of teachers and classmates,
examples of emphatic sentences. Point out in each the quah-
ties that produce emphasis. Tell whether it is due to repeti-
tion, to variety, to position, or to all three.
LESSON THIRTY SEVEN
Argument
When you attempt to persuade others that a certain
statement or proposition is true or false, you use a form of
composition called argument. You may succeed by means
of reasoning or explanation or a story or a word picture,
or a combination of some or all of them. Anything that
will convince your opponents that you are right is good in
argument.
Argument is one of the most common as well as one of
the most important forms of composition. If you disagree
with your classmates about the merits of a team or about
the method of working an example, an argument probably
ensues. If you pick up a newspaper or look at a bulletin
board, you see an argument for bu3dng this or that. An
advertisement is an argument in favor of the merits of
something that is for sale. When the salesman in a store
tries to persuade you to buy a certain article he makes use
of argument. Lawyers in the courtroom argue cases before
judge and jury to see which of two litigants is in the right.
In Congress, legislators argue the merits and demerits of
proposed reforms before laws are made. So you see
250 GOOD ENGLISH
that argument may be a very simple form of composition
or a very complex one, — simple, when a boy tries to show
his mother that he should be allowed to go to the circus ;
complex, when ambassadors from many countries gather
around a table to settle disputes among nations.
Pupils have a way sometimes of answering questions
briefly, with yes or no merely. And then teachers have a
way of saying, '' Reasons, please." They desire that pupils
should prove what they know or beheve. Mere statement
of facts is not argument. Mere assertion never convinces.
Because is not a reason. In order to argue, you must back
up your opinions with facts, with reasoning, with anything
that will serve to convince. In order to argue well, you
must make your writing as emphatic as possible, and you
must plan your speech and your writing so as to proceed
clearly to the final point that carries conviction with it.
There will be more about this principle later, page 259.
Finally, do not lose your temper when you are arguing.
To be caustic or discourteous in an argument usually means
failure. Attack the argument, not the man who argues
against you. You cannot reason when you are angry, and
your case will seem to be weak even if it is not. To keep
your mind cool by self-control is half the battle in argument.
Read the following brief arguments, make plans of them,
and notice how the assertions contained in them are backed
up by reasons : —
The frequent use of cigars or cigarettes by the young seriously
affects the quality of the blood. The red blood corpuscles are not
fully developed and charged with their normal supply of life-gi\ing
oxygen. This causes paleness of the skin, often noticed in the face
of the young smoker. Palpitation of the heart is also a common
result, followed by permanent weakness, so that the whole system
is enfeebled, and mental vigor is impaired as well as physical
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 251
strength. Observant teachers can usually tell which of the boys
under their care are addicted to smoking, simply by the compara-
tive inferiority of their appearance, and by their intellectual and
bodily indolence and feebleness. After full maturity is attained
the evil effects of commencing the use of tobacco are less apparent ;
but competent physicians assert that it cannot be safely used by
persons under the age of forty .^
Suppose it were perfectly certain that the life and fortune of
every one of us would, one day or other, depend upon his winning
or losing a game of chess. Don't you think that we should all
consider it to be a primary duty to learn at least the names and
the moves of the pieces ; to have a notion of a gambit, and a keen
eye for all the means of giving and getting out of check? Do you
not think that we should look with a disapprobation amoimting
to scorn, upon the father who allowed his son, or the state which
allowed its members, to grow up without knowing a pawn from a
knight?
Yet it is very plain and elementaiy truth, that the Hfe, the for-
tune, and the happiness of every one of us, and, more or less, of
those who are connected with us, do depend upon our knowing
something of the rules of a game infinitely more difficult and com-
pKcated than chess. It is a game which has been played for untold
ages, every man and woman of us being one of the two players in
a game of his or her own. The chessboard is the world, the pieces
are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what
we call the laws of nature. The player on the other side is hidden
from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient.
But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake,
or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who
plays well, the highest stakes are paid, with that sort of overflowing
generosity with which the strong shows dehght in strength. And
one who plays ill is checkmated — without haste, but without
remorse.
My metaphor will remind some of you of the famous picture in
1 From Macy and Norris's Physiology for High Schools. Copyright by
M. L. Macy. American Book Company, Publishers.
252 GOOD ENGLISH
which Retzsch has depicted Satan playing at chess with man for
his soul. Substitute for that mocking fiend in that picture a calm,
strong angel who is playing for love, as we say, and would rather
lose than win — and I should accept it as an image of human hfe.
Well, what I mean by education is learning the rules of this
mighty game. In other words, education is the instruction of the
intellect in the laws of nature, under which name I include not
merely things and their forces, but men and their ways ; and the
fashioning of the affections and of the will into an earnest and
loving desire to move in harmony with those laws. For me, edu-
cation means neither more nor less than this. Anything which
professes to call itself education must be tried by this standard,
and if it fails to stand the test, I will not call it education, whatever
may be the force of authority, or of numbers, upon the other side.
— From Thomas Henry Huxley's A Liberal Education and Where to
Find It.
PRACTICE
1. Answer some of the following questions briefly. State reasons
for each answer given and reply to questions and disagree-
ments as politely as you can : —
(1) Do you think it is right for you to stand up for another
when you know he is wrong ?
(2) Do you think it is right that a boy should tell on another
in order to save himself?
(3) Do you think your whole class should be kept in until that
member of it who broke a window at recess confesses?
(4) Do you think it is right for you to keep quiet when you
see two of your classmates cheating in examinations?
(5) Do you think it is right to ride on a car without paying
your fare, just because the conductor overlooks you?
(6) Tom and Bill watch for the policeman while Harry takes
some apples from a fruit stand. When they are caught,
is it right to punish Harry and let Tom and Bill go?
(7) Three boys are in disorder. Jim and Sam begin it.
Bobby simply looks on and enjoys it. But when the
teacher enters Bobby is the one she catches and pun-
ishes. What would you do if you were in Bobby's place ?
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 253
(8) Just before the school speaking contest begins, the principal
announces that one contestant has been ill and has con-
sequently not been able to prepare as thoroughly as he
should have. Is this fair, do you think?
(9) Is it fair, in a fight of any sort, for one to combat another
with dissimilar weapons ; that is, is it fair for one boy to
use fists and his opponent sticks or stones? Is it fair
for one man to use a sword and another to use a pistol ?
(10) Discuss with your classmates the fairness or the unfairness
of some situation in literature : —
Was Brutus justified in joining the conspiracy?
Was Rustum justified in nursing his pride ?
Was Portia justified in appearing against Shylock?
2. Write three or four paragraphs setting forth your ideas on one
of the following : — ^
School should be open the year round.
There should be no rule against tardiness.
Commencement exercises are a waste of time and money.
Boys and girls should be privileged to take part in athletics
regardless of their marks.
Report cards should be issued every week.
School clubs are a waste of time and should be discontinued.
3. Write the argumentative conversation suggested by one of the
following : —
Mary and AHce are discussing Elizabeth's new dress.
Bill and Joe are discussing Howard's marks.
Your father and mother are discussing your monthly report
card.
Jean^nd Ann are discussing their English teacher.
Dave and Jack are discussing Ted's fumble of the ball and the
consequent loss of the game.
4. A good story is oftentimes the most convincing sort of argu-
ment. Tell a little argumentative story suggested by one of
the following : —
He stole food because he was hungry.
She lied to save her child.
Demanding higher wages, they mobbed the offices of the
company.
254 GOOD ENGLISH
5. A good word picture may be made a most convincing sort of
argument. Suppose each one of the following words to be a
description of a person. Enlarge one of the word pictures
and make it an argument for help : —
crippled cold alone bewildered hungry
nervous old lost shunned penniless
6. A complete and accurate statement of all the facts in a case is
frequently sufficient to win an argument. Imagine that an argu-
ment takes place regarding one of the following. State all the
facts connected with it and thereby prove your position : —
Bob's failure was not due to lack of study.
Mary's fall from the car was not her fault.
The accident was not the result of my carelessness.
Brown was not to blame for the runaway.
Thompson was not responsible for the fire.
7. Mrs. English, Mrs. Arithmetic, Miss Geography, Mr. Spelling,
Mr. History, Mr. Athletics, and other persons of prominence
representing still other school subjects, are discussing their
relative value to pupils. Each one states his particular
merits fully and forcefully. Reproduce the argument each
one gives to show his superiority over the others. Compare
the arguments with one another and vote for the strongest.
8. You cannot present one side of an argument fully unless you
are familiar with the arguments to be presented on the other
side. You must know all sides of a case before you can be
fair in deciding upon its merits. Make a Ust of all that you
can say on both sides of one of the following topics. Arrange
the points in your list so that the more important ones
come last. (The abbreviation vs. stands for versus, meaning
contrary to or against) : —
Examinations. Spending vs. saving.
Being kept in. Athletics.
Home study. Dogs in the house.
Raising hands. Reading.
Tardiness. Relations vs. friends.
Country vs. city. Home vs. schools.
Baseball vs. football. Marks vs. knowledge.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 255
9. Answer the following questions in regard to school clubs. Give
definite reasons for each answer. Arrange your reasons in
order of importance : —
Do school clubs waste pupils' time?
Are they more valuable than class work?
Has club work ever done much for boys and girls whom you
know?
Should time be taken out of school for club work?
Is club work more interesting than class work ?
Does every student get as great an opportunity for individual
development in club work as in class work?
10. Write a brief advertisement for your school in which you state
reasons why pupils have better opportunity for progress there
than in other schools.
11. Write an advertisement in which you state reasons why the
pupils of your school should attend one game rather than
another that is held on the same day.
12. The following letter was written by Lincoln to his stepbrother,
John D. Johnston. Make a list of the points in Lincoln's
argument against the loan. Write a letter such as Johnston
might have written to Lincoln, for the loan : —
January 2, 1851.
Dear Johnston: Your request for eighty dollars I do not
think it best to comply with now. At the various times when I
have helped you a httle you have said to me, "We can get along
very well now" ; but in a very short time I find you in the same
difficulty again. Now, this can only happen by some defect in your
conduct. What that defect is, I think I know. You are not lazy,
and «till you are an idler. I doubt whether, since I saw you, you
have done a good whole day's work in any one day. You do not
very much dislike to work, and still you do not work much, merely
because it does not seem to you that you could get much for it.
This habit of uselessly wasting time is the whole difficulty; it is
vastly important to you, and still more so to your children, that you
should break the habit. It is more important to them, because
they have longer to live, and can keep out of an idle habit before
they are in it, easier than they can get out after they are in.
256 GOOD ENGLISH
You are now in need of some money; and what I propose is,
that you shall go to work, "tooth and nail," for somebody who will
give you money for it. Let father and your boys take charge of
your things at home, prepare for a crop, and make a crop, and you
go to work for the best money wages, or in discharge of any debt
you owe, that you can get ; and, to secure you a fair reward for your
labor, I now promise you, that for every dollar you will, between
this and the first of May, get for your own labor, either in money or
as your own indebtedness, I will then give you one other dollar.
By this, if you hire yourself at ten dollars a month, from me you
will get ten more, making twenty dollars a month for your work.
In this I do not mean you shall go off to St. Louis, or the lead mines,
or the gold mines in CaUf ornia, but I mean for you to go at it for the
best wages you can get close to home in Coles County. Now, if
you will do this, you will be soon out of debt, and, what is better,
you will have a habit that will keep you from getting in debt again.
But, if I should now clear you out of debt, next year you would be
just as deep in as ever. You say you would almost give your place
in heaven for seventy or eighty dollars. Then you value your place
in heaven very cheap, for I am sure you can, with the offer I make,
get the seventy or eighty dollars for four or five months' work.
You say if I will furnish you the money you will deed me the land,
and, if you don't pay the money back, you will deliver possession.
Nonsense I If you can't now live with the land, how will you then
live without it? You have always been kind to me, and I do not
mean to be unkind to you. On the contrary, if you will but follow
my advice, you will find it worth more than eighty times eighty
dollars to you.
Affectionately your brother,
A. Lincoln.
LESSON THIRTY EIGHT
Planning an Argument
An argument that is formal, that is conducted in strict
order by chosen sides, is called a debate. Argumentative
discussion is free and easy and conversational. Formal
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 257
debate is regulated by certain rules and is more like military
action. There are two sides to a debate : those on the
affirmative side argue in favor of the question as stated.
Those on the negative side argue against the question as
stated. The head of each side is called the captain. He
directs and apportions the work of his team, which may
consist of two, or more.
The question in debate is written as a statement or proposi-
tion. It is usually stated with the word Resolved before it,
and begins with the word That, written with a capital, —
Resolved : That the school day should be lengthened.
If this were a question for debate, the affirmative side would
argue for the lengthening of the school day. The negative
side would insert not in the question, so that it would read
as follows : —
Resolved : That the school day should not be lengthened.
The negative debaters would therefore argue, against the
lengthening of the school day.
Propositions for debate must, of course, be clearly stated,
otherwise misunderstandings will be created that no end
of argument can remedy. Moreover, a proposition for
debate must be about equally arguable on both sides. A
one-sided question is unfair. There are certain questions
that cannot be argued at all and it is foolish, therefore, to
waste time considering them.
The following question is not clear : —
Resolved: That the study of manual training is good.
It is vague and indefinite, — *Hhe study of manual train-
ing" where? In elementary school? In high school? In
college ? " Good ' ' — for what ?
The following question is one-sided : —
Resolved : That every boy of fifteen should be in school,
s
258 GOOD ENGLISH
There are many reasons to be given for the affirmative of
this proposition. There are few, if any, to be given for the
negative.
The following questions are not arguable at all. They
are accepted as facts : —
Resolved : That respect should be paid to age.
Resolved : That food is a necessity of life.
The captain and all the members of the debating teams
must of course have a definite plan in presenting their
material. Their first task is to get thoroughly acquainted
with the question. They must know why it is important,
how it arises, what every word in it means, what considera-
tions come under it, what considerations do not belong to
it at all. This last is very important. It is sometimes
called *' boiling down the question" or "weeding out the
question." No good debater is willing to spend his time
on arguing points that do not belong to the question. He
insists upon narrowing it down to its proper scope.
After the members of a debating team have studied their
question so well that they know not only everything that
may be said on their side of it, but also everything that may
be said on the opposite side of it, they are ready to plan
their chief arguments. They will not write them out solidly
but will plan them in great detail. The speakers use their
plans as guides but they do not memorize their speeches.
The captain and his aides will decide what must be proved
in order to win the debate, which of their points are strongest,
which points will make the greatest appeal to their audience,
which arguments of their opponents need to be particularly
guarded against, which points are best to leave in the minds
of the auditors at the close of the debate, and how their
arguments shall be arranged. All along the line they will
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 259
insert word pictures or little stories or important facts that
bear directly upon the proposition.
The plan, then, will. stand somewhat as follows : —
I. Explanation of the proposition.
Why it is important, how it arises, what it means, what it
does not mean, into what divisions does it fall?
* II. Presentation of arguments.
Statement of all the facts that bear upon the proposition.
A good story or a telling word picture that will win the at-
tention of the audience at once.
A complete disarming of opponents by stating what they
may say in opposition, and then refuting it.
Statements from prominent people who are on your side.
Quotations from books that bear out your arguments.
Experiences of your own or others that prove your side of
the proposition.
III. Summary of the principal pomts you have offered, and a
brief statement of the things your opponents have failed
to prove.
Arguments are settled and facts estabUshed by drawing
conclusions from a certain course of reasoning. Therefore
every assertion made must be based on facts and proved by
your reasoning; and furthermore, this reasoning must be
sound. If arguments are sound, then conclusions are safe.
If they are not sound, conclusions will be unsafe or absurd,
or both.*
A false argument is called a fallacy. As a rule it cannot
be disguised. Sometimes, however, a fallacy can be made
to seem so like the truth that it is accepted as such. Sup-
pose we state an argument briefly in three parts, thus, —
(1) Everybody should take exercise.
(2) Football is an exercise.
(3) Therefore, everybody should play football.
260 GOOD ENGLISH
This may be used, perhaps, in an effort to persuade a large
number of pupils to become candidates for the team. But
it is a false argument. Premise (1) is sound. Premise (2)
is sound. The fallacy exists in the concluding proposition.
It does not follow that everybody should play football
simply because everybody should exercise and football is
an exercise. There are many other kinds of exercise omitted
entirely from the argument. Football is only one.
And again there may be weaknesses in other forms of
argument that you will often use. If you trust to the state-
ment of some prominent person to prove your point, you
must be sure that he is really an authority on the subject,
and that he is not prejudiced in your favor. Otherwise his
testimony will be unreliable. If you try to prove, say, that
bad ventilation leads to restlessness in the schoolroom, you
must be sure that there is no other possible cause for this
effect. If there is, your argument is fallacious. If you try
to prove that John will be able to succeed in business be-
cause he was a good captain of the football team, your
comparison, and therefore your argument, may be again
fallacious. The conditions of business life are very different
from those that John encountered on the football field.
After you have made a complete plan for your argument
it is well to test each part of its reasoning for unreliable
testimony, and for fallacies in the premises, in cause and
effect, or in comparison. If you do not, your opponents will,
later, do it for you.
Finally, you must not forget that each and every debate
has conditions peculiar to itself that must be respected.
The occasion of the debate and the kind of proposition
must decide finally just what line of development your argu-
ments shall take. A vivid word picture may be necessary
for a certain proposition. A good, appropriate story may
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 261
do more with a certain type of audience than any amount
of reasoning. And again, the emphatic and dehberate
presentation and explanation of facts may be the only
winning cards you can play. Whatever may be the char-
acter of the debate, the plan on page 259 holds good in two
important respects, — the question must be explained at
the outset and the arguments of opponents must be met.
Refutation or rebuttal is the name given to meeting the
arguments of an opponent and upsetting or offsetting them.
Rebuttal should be made, indirectly, all along the line of
presentation, as indicated in the above plan. If you know
both sides of the question, you will be able to anticipate
all opposing arguments. But it is customary to assign to
a speaker on each side of the debate a few minutes at the
close to refute directly the arguments of his opponents.
This needs to be done in brief and concise fashion for the
time is very hmited and the last impression made upon an
audience is a valuable one. The refutation should, —
(1) Answer your opponents' questions.
(2) State your opponents' weakness in the debate.
(3) Summarize the strongest arguments you have made.
Here again, however, much depends upon the demands
of the occasion and the type of proposition debated.
There are a few cautions or suggestions that it is well to
bear in mind in connection with planning a debate, —
(1) Do not deal with all the arguments presented by an oppo-
nent. Take one or two salient ones and hit them hard. All of his
arguments are not equally important and it is therefore a waste
of time to try to refute them all.
(2) Do not overburden an audience with figures and authorities.
These are valuable assets in a debate and should be used. But
sometimes a little story or a clear-cut word picture will do much more
for a debate than laborious quotations.
262 GOOD ENGLISH
(3) Do not be afraid of making admissions. If your opponent
has a good point, admit it freely. Then follow it up with a better
one on your side.
(4) Do not dodge questions asked by your opponent and do not
dodge points on your side of the argument that may seem weak.
Always take a weak point and try to turn it into a strong one.
(5) Do not fail in debating to be earnest and dignified and
courteous and square.
Now all this may seem to be a good deal to keep in mind
in connection with planning for debate. But after all, it is
only the natural order of thinking and speaking that is
required of you. A little practice will develop a natural
tendency to argue clearly and soundly almost without
being aware of it.
PRACTICE
1. Explain what is wrong with each of the following arguments : —
(1) Horses are animals with four feet. Men are animals;
hence, men have four feet.
(2) Tom Ferguson, a boy in om* school, was killed in a foot-
ball game ; therefore, boys should not be allowed to
play football.
(3) Andrew Carnegie was a poor boy but he made millions
of dollars. I am a poor boy and shall therefore make
millions of dollars.
(4) When I asked John where he was going he said, "To the
store." A httle later I met him going in the opposite
direction ; therefore, he intended to deceive me.
•(5) It always snows on Washington's Birthday. Tomorrow
is Washington's Birthday; therefore, it will snow
tomorrow.
(6) It is the lightning that makes the air cool after a thunder
storm.
(7) The elephant has a trunk. I have a trunk ; therefore, I
am an elephant.
(8) The price of milk is too low. The milkman told me so.
(9) The doctor is at home. I see his overcoat on the hook.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 263
(10) The Eskimos eat raw fat in cold weather ; and so should
we.
2. The following questions are not good ones as they stand. Exam-
ine each one briefly and tell why it is not a good proposi-
tion for debate. Then restate it so that it becomes a good
question : —
(1) Air is necessary for life.
(2)' Going to the movies too much is a waste of time.
(3) The wanton killing of birds is wrong.
(4) Everybody should go to church on Sunday.
(5) Biting the nails is a bad habit.
(6) Too much time should not be spent in swimming.
(7) Good books should be supplied by every library.
(8) Much money is wasted in the world.
3. Plan an argument for either the affirmative or the negative of
one of the following propositions : —
Resolved : That tennis is better exercise than baseball.
Resolved : That girls are more studious than boys.
Resolved : That girls and boys should attend separate schools.
Resolved: That school buildings should be but one story in
height.
Resolved : That men are more influential for good than women.
Resolved : That it is better to be born poor than to be born
rich.
Resolved : That seeing a good play does one more good than
reading a good story.
Resolved : That contests between school teams foster rowdy-
ism.
Resolved : That dogs and horses can reason.
Resolved : That every boy in this country should receive in-
struction in military tactics.
4. Use one of the following sentences as the topic of a paragraph.
Follow it up with sentences that emphasize the idea con-
tained in it : —
(1) Every school should publish a weekly or a monthly paper.
(2) Street cars should not be permitted to carry more passen-
gers than can be seated.
(3) Pupils should be notified of their class standing in each
subject at the end of every week.
264 GOOD ENGLISH
(4) Libraries should be required to have copies of textbooks that
are used in the schools in their vicinity.
(5) Girls should not be asked to contribute to the support of
athletics in which they take no part.
5. Plan the argument for each side of one of the following cases.
Imagine yourself a lawyer. Remember that the jury is
going to decide the case on the basis of the arguments pre-
sented and that the judge is going to render verdict accord-
ingly : —
(1) Brown fell and broke his leg on the icy pavement in front
of Green's house. He sued Green for damages. Green
resisted because he was away at the time the accident
occurred and his house was closed.
(2) Brown's horse, frightened by Green's automobile, dashed
into Green's garden, broke down the fence, and did
much damage to the vegetables. Green demands
damages. But Brown enters counter-suit for damage
to his carriage and to himself.
(3) Brown advertised a horse, sound and all right, for sale.
Green bought the horse. Two weeks after purchase
the horse died suddenly, not having been sick a day.
Green sued. Brown resisted.
(4) Brown's boy was caught in Green's cellar, stealing apples.
He got away, however, and ran home. Green ran after
him and threw a stone at him. The stone hit Brown,
the boy's father, who sued Green for damages. Green
resisted.
(5) Brown left the street door of his cellar open and Green fell
into the cellar. Green sued Brown for criminal neglect.
Brown resisted, however, saying that the cellar door had
been left open by the owner of the building who was
having coal stored in the cellar.
6. Select two members of your class ta act as captains on affirma-
tive and negative sides respectively of a debate on, —
Resolved: That every pupil in the last year of elementary
school and first year of high school should be re-
quired to study a foreign language.
Suppose each captain is to have two assistants. Have the
arguments on each side stated, and assigned.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 265
7. Defend by means of argumentative plans some preference,
such as, —
My reasons for liking Scott better than Shakespeare.
My reasons for liking Jim better than John.
My reasons for preferring swimming to rowing.
My reasons for preferring travel by land to travel by sea.
My reasons for advocating a shorter rather than a longer school
day.
8. Study some event in history or some problem in arithmetic and
draw up a plan for the argument contained in it.
9. List all the arguments for and against the following. Then
make plans for the rebuttal on both sides : —
Mother should vote if Father does.
The navy is more important than the army.
The horse is a more valuable animal than the cow.
Automobile traffic should be confined to certain streets.
The only way to become a debater is by membership in a club.
10. Write two paragraphs on one of the following. In the first
state the advantages and in the second the disadvantages of
the proposition selected : —
Every school should have a library.
All lessons assigned for the morrow should be prepared in
school today.
School should be in session from eight until two, instead of from
nine until three.
Newspapers should not carry advertisements.
Monday would be a better school holiday than Saturday.
LESSON THIRTY NINE
Poetry That Argues
The poems in this lesson may be used as an interesting
review of the principles of argument.
Study the two poems below. State the formal proposition
for each poetic argument. Make a plan of the argument in
each. Make a plan for the other side of each question.
266
GOOD ENGLISH
Owl Against Robin ^
(By Sidney Lanier)
Frowning, the owl in the oak complained him
Sore, that the song of the robin restrained him
Wrongly of slumber, rudely of rest.
''From the north, from the east, from the. south and the west,
Woodland, wheat-field, corn-field, clover,
Over and over and over and over,
Five o'clock, ten o'clock, twelve, or seven.
Nothing but robin-songs heard under heaven :
How can we sleep?
Peey ! you whistle, and cheep ! cheep ! cheep !
Oh, peep, if you will, and buy, if 'tis cheap.
And have done ; for an owl must sleep.
Are ye singing for fame, and who shall be first?
Each day's the same, yet the last is worst.
And the summer is cursed with the silly outburst
Of idiot red-breasts peeping and cheeping
By day, when all honest birds ought to be sleeping.
Lord, what a din ! And so out of all reason.
Have ye not heard that each thing hath its season ?
Night is to work in, night is for play-time ;
Good heavens, not day-time !
* Used by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 267
A vulgar flaunt is the flaring day,
The impudent, hot, unsparing day.
That leaves not a stain nor a secret untold, —
Day the reporter, — the gossip of old, —
Deformity's tease, — man's common scold —
Poh ! Shut the eyes, let the sense go numb
When day down the eastern way has come.
'Tis clear as the moon (by the argument drawn
From Design) that the world should retire at dawn.
Day kills. The leaf and the laborer breathe
Death in the sun, the cities seethe,
The mortal black marshes bubble with heat
And puff up pestilence ; nothing is sweet
Has to do with the sun : even virtue will taint
(Philosophers say) and manhood grow faint
In the lands where the villainous sun has sway
Through the livelong drag of the dreadful day.
What Eden but noon-light stares it tame.
Shadowless, brazen, forsaken of shame ?
For the sun tells lies on the landscape, — now
Reports me the what, unrelieved with the how, —
As messengers lie, with the facts alone,
Delivering the word and withholding the tone.
But oh, the sweetness, and oh, the light
Of the high-fastidious night !
Oh, to awake with the wise old stars —
The cultured, the careful, the Chesterfield stars,
That wink at the work-a-day fact of crime
And shine so rich through the ruins of time
That Baalbec is finer than London ; oh,
To sit on the bough that zigzags low
By the woodland pool.
And loudly laugh at man, the fool
That vows to the vulgar sun ; oh, rare,
To wheel from the wood to the window where
268
GOOD ENGLISH
A day-worn sleeper is dreaming of care,
And perch on the sill and straightly stare
Through his visions ; rare, to sail
Aslant with the hill and a-curve with the vale,
To flit down the shadow-shot-with-gleam.
Betwixt hanging leaves and starlit stream,
Hither, thither, to and fro.
Silent, aimless, dayless, slow
BUT OH, THE SWEETNESS, AND OH, THB LIGHT
OP THB HIGH-FASTIDIOUS NIGHT I "
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 269
(Aimless f Field-mice f True, they're slain,
But the night-philosophy hoots at pain,
Grips, eats quick, and drops the bones
In the water beneath the bough, nor moans
At the death life feeds on). Robin, pray
Come away, come away
To the cultus of night. Abandon the day.
Have more to think and have less to say.
And cannot you walk now? Bah ! don't hop !
Stop!
Look at the owl, scarce seen, scarce heard,
O ii-ritant, iterant, maddening bird ! "
The Owl Critic
(By James T. Fields)
"Who stuffed that white owl?" No one spoke in the shop
The barber was busy, and he couldn't stop ;
The customers, waiting their turns, were all reading
The Daily, the Herald, the Post, little heeding
The young man who blurted out such a blunt question ;
Not one raised a head, or even made a suggestion ;
And the barber kept on shaving.
"Don't you see. Mister Brown,"
Cried the youth with a frown,
"How wrong the whole thing is,
How preposterous each wing is.
How flattened the head is, how jammed down the neck is —
In short, the whole owl, what an ignorant wreck 'tis !
"I make no apology;
I've learned owl-eology.
I've passed days and nights in a hundred collections,
And cannot be blinded to any deflections
270 GOOD ENGLISH
Arising from unskilful fingers that fail
To stuff a bird right, from his beak to his tail.
Mister Brown ! Mister Brown !
Do take that bird down,
Or you'll soon be the laughing-stock all over town ! "
And the barber kept on shaving.
*'I've studied owls
And other night fowls,
And I tell you
What I know to be true :
An owl cannot roost
With his limbs so unloosed ;
No owl in this world
Ever had his claws curled,
Ever had his legs slanted,
Ever had his bill canted.
Ever had his neck screwed
Into that attitude.
" He can't do it, because
'Tis against all bird-laws.
Anatomy teaches.
Ornithology preaches
An owl has a toe
That canH turn out so !
I've made the white owl my study for years,
And to see such a job ahnost moves me to tears I
Mister Brown, I'm amazed
You should be so gone crazed
As to put up a bird
In that posture absurd !
To look at that owl really brings on a dizziness ;
The man who stuffed him doesn't half know the business !"
And the barber kept on shaving.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 271
"Examine those eyes.
I'm filled with sm^prise
Taxidermists should pass
Off on you such poor glass ;
So unnatural they seem
They'd make Audubon scream,
And John Burroughs laugh
To encounter such chaff.
Do take that bird down ;
Have him stuffed again, Brown !"
And the barber kept on shaving.
"With some sawdust and bark
I could stuff in the dark
An owl better than that.
I could make an old hat
Look more like an owl
Than that horrid fowl.
Stuck up there so stiff like a side of coarse leather.
In fact, about him there's not one natural feather."
Just then, with a wink and a sly normal lurch.
The owl, very gravely, got down from his perch.
Walked round, and regarded his fault-finding critic
(Who thought he was stuffed) with a glance analytic,
And then fairly hooted, as if he would say :
"Your learning's at fault this time, anyway;
Don't waste it again on a five bird, I pray.
I'm an owl ; you're another. Sir Critic, good-day ! "
And the barber kept on shaving.
LESSON FORTY
Paragraphs That Convince
If your attempts to convince readers and hearers still
"hang fire" after the preceding lessons, the trouble is prob-
272 GOOD ENGLISH
ably to be found in your paragraphs. No matter how good
your outline, if your topics do not unroll neatly into good
paragraphs, you will neither write nor speak convincingly.
Paragraphs as well as sentences must be emphatic.
Now a paragraph that is clearly and logically developed
from a topic sentence, as explained on page 191, is usually
emphatic. Compare the two following paragraphs. The
first is emphatic, the second is not, because the first is clearly
and coherently developed from the topic sentence, while
the second is confused and disorderly in its arrangement of
sentences : —
A young man should not claim exemption from service to his
government unless the reasons are compelling. Children that will
starve without his support, a mother dependent upon him, a physical
weakness that will render him useless in the field, all these are reasons
for exemption. But without such excuses, he should offer to "do
his bit" and do it gladly.
Some men have children who must be fed. Others must work
for a dependent mother. With such reasons as these a man may
claim exemption from service to his government. Otherwise he
should "do his bit" and do it gladly. Physical weakness, which
would render him useless in the field, is also a cause for exemption.
Develop every topic in your speech or your letter, open it
outward like a fan, and you will be emphatic in your writ-
ing and therefore convincing.
There are, however, other lesser aids for making para-
graphs emphatic thdt may be studied briefly.
1. Position. The first and the last parts in a paragraph
are the emphatic places, just as they are in a sentence or in
a whole composition. But, as has been said above, if you
develop your topic sentence properly, the important ideas
will go almost automatically into the emphatic places.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 273 ^.
However, in paragraphs, as in sentences, an unusual para-
graph beginning or ending may be a forceful device. Any
departure from the ordinary that will get the reader's atten-
tion, any shock or challenge, may be employed with good
effect. Good literature abounds with paragraphs that open
or close with such arresting words and phrases as, — It
did not ! Bang ! Done for I The colonel winced.
2. Variety. The paragraphs in a long composition bear
very much the same relation to one another as sentences
do within a paragraph. It follows, therefore, that the rules
for variety among sentences in a paragraph may be applied
to paragraphs in a composition. Some should be long, some
short. They should not all be developed in one monotonous
fashion by putting the topic, for instance, in the first sen-
tence, and then expanding it. A series of such paragraphs,
all constructed exactly alike, would scarcely be emphatic.
See pages 190 to 193 for the different methods of paragraph
development that are at your command.
Read your paragraphs aloud after you have written them.
You may be able to develop an ear and a feeling for para-
graphs, just as you do for words and sentences. A very
good criticism was recently given in a classroom after the
members of a class had listened to one of their number
read a composition. When the teacher asked for comment
one pupil said, ''It doesn't sound 'paragraphy' enough.'^
The new word he used was expressive, if not authorized.
With a little thoughtful study of paragraphing you will
soon find that the paragraphs in a composition sound very
much the same as the stanzas in a poem. They should
proceed with the same smoothness, and should indicate
definite and emphatic changes or partitions in the thought.
Do not be satisfied with your compositions until they sound
''paragraphy." Others will not.
274 GOOD ENGLISH
PRACTICE
1. Examine the paragraphs in the extract on page 169 for empha-
sis by position, and for variety.
2. Write a convincing paragraph on one of the following topic
sentences. Use repetition : —
It would be a mistake to lengthen the school day.
Marks do not give a just estimate of a pupil's work.
Elementary schools and high schools should be housed in the
same buildings.
The movies do more harm than good.
3. Write three paragraphs, — the first in favor of your candidate
for the presidency of your club ; the third, against the rival
candidate ; the second, a brief transitional paragraph between
the two.
4. In a single paragraph contrast one of your friends with another.
Alternate the sentences, so that the first will tell about one
friend, the second about the other, and so forth.
5. In a single paragraph contrast one of your friends with another.
Let the first half of the paragraph deal with one friend, the
latter half with the other.
6. Write two paragraphs to prove that the decision in some con-
test was unfair. In the first one explain why it was unfair.
In the second express your indignation at the unfairness.
Perhaps these topics may be suggestive : —
Unfair Judges. Winning to Lose.
"Game" Losers. What's the Use!
7. Plan a composition of five or six paragraphs on one of the fol-
lowing topics. Indicate just what part of the subject each
paragraph is to deal with. Point out transitional paragraphs.
Write topic and summary sentences for each paragraph : —
Clubs — Good and Bad. Fighting for Marks.
Athletics — Good and Bad. Teachers — Fair and Unfair.
Records — in School and Out. Wasted Saturdays.
Betting is Wrong. Arithmetic vs. English.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 275
8. Study the means of securing emphasis employed in the follow-
ing paragraphs : —
If one person should say to another that he acted or carried on
like a goat, he might be guilty of a discourtesy ; to say he is "capri-
cious" sounds a little more genteel. It means the same, though
it is neither as forcible nor as figurative a term. It is not so much
a faded metaphor as a condensed one. The word comes from the
Italian capriccio, "the skipping movements of a goat" ; it in turn
comes from the Latin caper, a "he-goat." And so capricious means
goat-hke, to act Uke a goat, to be unsteady, fickle, changeable, apt
to change one's opinions suddenly. Whoever has seen a goat
feeding on some vacant lot can readily see the similarity between
the actions of a goat and a capricious person ; the goat will take a
nibble of grass at this place and suddenly jump to another place
for another nibble ; a capricious person will change his opinions
just as suddenly and as arbitrarily. There is no telling what either
will do the next moment. — E. Schultz Gerhard in American Educa-
tion.
Just as many of the terms designating the different kinds of ani-
mals whether wild or domesticated, are indicative of the place from
which they come, so many of the words designating the countless
varieties of dress goods and fabrics take their origin from the place
where they were first manufactured. There is wiapped up in them
a great deal of the history of the textile industry of the world. The
commonest names of dress goods have an ancient and interesting
history back of them. "CaUco" receives its name from Calicut
(Calcutta, according to French) ; "muslin" is named after Moussul,
a city in Turkey ; "madras" comes from Madras in India ; "cash-
mere" is from Kashmir, a state north of India ; and "lawn" is from
Laon, a town near Rheims. "Cambric," another cloth as important
as common, was first made in Cambray, France. "Lisle," whether
thread or hose made of Hsle silk, came first from the city of Lisle
in French Flanders ; and "worsted" is so called because it was first
manufactured in Worsted, England. — Ibid.
9. The class debate was interrupted by the luncheon beU. Alice
had by no means finished speaking. She would rather " have
her say " than her luncheon. So here she is, standing on a
soap box in the school yard, finishing her argument. Write
276
GOOD ENGLISH
two paragraphs about the picture. In the first tell what she
is saying. In the second tell what impression she is making
on those gathered around her.
"votes fob women!
LESSON FORTY ONE
Speaking to Convince
If you are a member of a little club you know how neces-
sary it is that order be maintained at meetings. Unless
order is maintained all the members will talk at once, con-
fusion will result, and no business will be completed. It is
necessary, therefore, that strict rules be observed, that things
run with precision and clocklike regularity. For the pur-
pose, therefore, of getting the most out of club meetings of
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 277
all kinds, a certain definite procedure has to be observed.
This is called parliamentary order, so named because it is
based upon the rules of order of the English Parliament and
of other governmental bodies. After all, these bodies are
nothing but extremely large and important clubs for the
conduct of national business. The business of your little
club is not so important, but it should be conducted with
dignity and seriousness.
The officers of your club are president, vice-president,
secretary, treasurer. Perhaps you also have a corresponding
secretary. If so, then he will look after the letter writing.
He will send out invitations, notices, challenges, and so
forth. The other secretary will simply record the happen-
ings at meetings and keep his reports, called minutes, in a
book for reference. His special name is recording secretary.
These are the customary club officers. The names them-
selves make little difference. No matter whether you call
your club a council or a camp fire, no matter whether you
call your president a chief or a guardian, the organization
is the same, and the necessity for orderly behavior is just as
important.
The general conduct of a meeting of your club should be
about as follows : —
1. Call to order.
2. Roll call.
3. Secretary's report.
4. Left-over business.
5. New business.
(Under 4 and 5 may come reports of officers and of
special committees appointed by the president.)
6. Announcement of program for next meeting.
(This may be a regular entertainment by the members
of the club, or it may be a challenge debate, a con-
278 GOOD ENGLISH
test of another sort, or a speech by a distinguished
visitor, and so forth.)
7. The program.
(Songs, stories, speeches, dances, demonstrations,
debating, and so forth.)
8. Adjom-nment.
In speaking either from the platform or from the floor in a
club meeting, a speaker should address the leader as *'Mr.
President" or "Mr. Chairman," and wait until he is recog-
nized by the presiding officer before he proceeds to speak.
Not to do this is to speak out of order, a very confusing and
discourteous action. After a speaker is recognized by the
chair, he "has the floor," and he may not be interrupted
if he is making a formal speech. If he is speaking in some
general discussion he may be interrupted only by the chair-
man or by some one who wishes information about certain
points that are being discussed. Some clubs fine members
who interrupt or who talk from the floor without recognition
by the speaker.
In debating it is necessary to address, not only the
president of the club or the presiding officer of the
debate, but the judges of the debate, and the audience;
thus, — " Mr. Chairman, Honorable Judges, Ladies and
Gentlemen."
It is better form for the presiding officer at a club meet-
ing to stand in recognizing speakers, except in the case of
rapid, heated discussion in which speakers address the
chair in quick succession. He should remain standing
until the speaker addresses him in return.
A chairman, in introducing a speaker, should be brief
and definite in his remarks. He may state whence the
speaker comes, what his interests are, what he is going to
speak about, why he comes to speak, and so forth. At the
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 279
conclusion of his introductory remarks, he should give the
full name of the speaker. This is the speaker's signal to
stand and recognize the chairman, either by nod of the
head or by the words, ''Mr. Chairman." The speaker
should not stand until he hears his name announced by the
presiding officer.
When opportunities to speak present themselves do not
shrink from them. Ability to meet a situation that calls
for speaking, especially informal or unprepared speaking,
should be zealously cultivated. Join a club. Be an active
member. If you are called upon to prepare a speech
in the club, do so gladly and eagerly. Be more eager,
however, to enter into the informal discussions that take
place. It is in unprepared speaking that your club will
be of greatest service to you, if you will permit it. Poise,
readiness, and alertness to meet opposition in speaking
are all three to be attained through activity in club
work.
The principal types of unprepared speaking are, —
Announcements Introductions
Presentations Acceptances
Criticisms Story telUng
After-dinner speeches
Some of these may be prepared, wholly or in part. As
a rule, however, the necessity for any one of them is likely
to arise without notification, and it must be met with readi-
ness. You cannot write or memorize in advance, though
you may ponder for a Httle while and make up your mind
as to the general line of your remarks.
Detailed rules cannot therefore be laid down for any of
these types of speeches because they depend upon the oc-
casion on which they are given for form and content. Brev-
280 GOOD ENGLISH
ity and point, force and clearness, are essential to all. Have
a brief but definite plan and hold to it. If you are making
an announcement, —
(1) Tell what you are announcing.
(2) Explain the circumstances.
(3) Urge support.
Do not give (3) before (1) and (2). Similarly, in the
other types, follow some regular order and strip your speech
of all unnecessary material. Explain tersely the circum-
stances. Conclude definitely with a person's name, if you are
introducing ; with the gift, if you are presenting something ;
with an expression of gratitude, if you are accepting some-
thing. Observe keenly the method of other speakers in
meeting demands made upon them for informal speeches.
In your school career you have many opportunities not only
to make informal speeches yourself, but to hear good ones
made by others.
PRACTICE
1. Make an announcement to your classmates. Have some one
reproduce it in order to see whether you have made yourself
perfectly clear. Perhaps it is an announcement of some
game, some club meeting, a special exercise in school, or the
postponement of an entertainment.
2. Imagine that your class is giving a present to a teacher. Make
an appropriate little speech of presentation.
3. Reproduce the teacher's speech of acceptance of the gift.
4. Make a connected criticism of a speech. Remember that
criticism is of two kinds, destructive and constructive, discour-
aging and helpful. Make yours helpful and coiu*teous.
Start by commending the good points. Reserve unfavor-
able criticism for the middle of your criticism. Conclude, if
possible, with favorable criticism.
HOW TO BE CONVINCING 281
5. Tell to your class a story or a bit of news that you have read.
Invite criticism and repeat your talk in accordance with criti-
cism received.
6. A former teacher of yours from another school has come, upon
your invitation, to address your school club. Introduce him.
7. You have been asked to make excuses to your club for the
absence of one of the most prominent speakers on the
program. Make a speech in which you explain his absence
sympathetically.
8. One of your colleagues on a debating team is mysteriously ab-
sent when the debate is called. Make inquiry in open meet-
ing as to his absence. Ask the chairman to postpone the
debate until he can be found or until his absence can be ac-
counted for.
9. Suppose that you are chairman at a debate. Announce the
question to the audience; explain who the debaters are;
name the judges ; explain the conditions of the debate, that
is, the number of speakers on each side, the length of time
each may speak, the conditions of refutation.
10. Conduct a class discussion on some subject of vital school in-
terest. Appoint some one to act as chairman. Talk from
your seats rather than from the front of the room. Insist
upon parliamentary order in every respect.
LESSON FORTY TWO
Words That Convince
Words are to writing and speaking what the bullet is to
the gun. At the end of every new study of construction or
thought development you must reconsider your choice of
words, the little bullets that carry your thought. You
cannot be thoroughly interesting without vivid words, no
matter how interesting your thought is. You cannot be
clear without accurate words, no matter how clear your
thought is. You cannot convince without the right words.
Words come into our language from numerous sources.
282 GOOD ENGLISH
Many of our common words were immigrants that have
become naturalized. Latin has contributed many words
to our language, so many that some people insist upon a
knowledge of that language for those who would know
English thoroughly. Many of our Latin words have come
to us through French, Spanish, or Italian, all of which lan-
guages are themselves chiefly Latin in origin. Anglo-
Saxon was the language spoken in England before the
Norman Conquest. The simplest words in the EngUsh
language today are usually of Anglo-Saxon origin, — most
words of one syllable and words that apply to the simpler
pursuits and activities of men. Greek has contributed
many words that have to do with science. The Greek
language offers unusual opportunities for the formation of
compound words. When a new word is needed to meet
some new invention, Greek is oftentimes the language that
supplies it. Gram, for instance, is Greek for writing ; added
to Marconi, marconigram, it means wireless writing, or writing
according to Marconi, the inventor of wireless telegraphy.
But words come into the language from many sources
other than these three principal ones. From Italian come
stiletto, macaroni, piano; from Russian, steppe, knouty
samovar; from Spanish, negro, tornado, renegade; from
Malay, bamboo; from Hindu, chintz; from Arabic, tariff;
from German, noodle; from American Indian, tobacco,
tomato, and many of our place names. English is a world
language. It draws words from all quarters of the earth
and uses them as it finds them or adapts them to use through
convenient modification. The customary method of in-
dicating origin in the dictionary is by means of brackets
and the sign <, thus, — old [<AS, eald, old]', home [<AS,
ham, home]. AS stands for Anglo-Saxon; L for Latin;
F for French ; G for Greek, etc. (See page 97.)
HOW TO BE CONVINCING
283
Words are built up from combinations. Most words of
more than one syllable have been constructed by making
additions at one end or the other. An addition made at
the beginning of a word, modifying its meaning, is called a
prefix. An addition made at the end of a word, modifying
its meaning, is called a suffix. The central part of a word,
or the original part to which prefixes and suffixes are added,
is called the root. In the word subjection, for instance, sub
is the prefix, ject the root, tion the suffix. The root ject is
from the Latin jacere, meaning to throw; sub is a Latin
word, meaning under; tion is a French suffix derived from
Latin, meaning state of. The word subjection therefore means
"state of being thrown under or placed under authority."
When the last letter of the prefix is the same as the first
letter of a root, one of the letters may be dropped, or the
prefix may be modified in order to make pronunciation
easier. The prefix sub may thus become sue in success
{sub and cedo, to go) for subcess would be an awkward com-
bination. For the same reason it becomes suf in suffer
{sub and /ero, to bear), sug in suggest {sub and gero, to bring),
sup in support {sub and porto, to carry). Likewise, the last
letter of the root of a word or the first of a suffix may be
dropped when they are the same, as in subjection above.
PRACTICE
1. Look up the following words in the dictionary. Tell from what
language each one is taken : —
abacus
coffer
mezzotint
silk
albatross
cruise
moccasin
slaughter
alligator
divan
nankeen
sofa
bazaar
epaulette
orange
tam o'shanter
boor
gingham
pastel
tea
bouquet
gong
poodle
waltz
canto
jubilee
rattine
wigwam
carnival
lilac
sabbath
yacht
284
GOOD ENGLISH
2. Be able to spell the following words. Point out the prefix and
the root of each. Explain any modifications of prefixes that
you find. State the exact meaning of each word : —
absolute
elapse
persevere
semiannual
accept
evince
perspire
semicolon
anteroom
extreme
persuade
substance
antitheses
forehead
postgraduate
substitute
avert
forestall
preamble
suburbs
beseem
forewarn
prefix
superb
bestir
illuminate
prelude
superintendent
circumnavigation impute
preposition
superlative
circumspect
insight
prologue
superstition
collect
insult
promote
symmetry
commission
interfere
pronoun
transfer
confess
interval
reflect
transpose
consume
interrupt
resign
traverse
decrease
miscalculate
retract
tricolor
degrade
misprint
retroact
undo
demerit
mispronounce
retrocede
unfortunate
dialect
nonentity
retrospect
unkempt
dialogue
obUterate
revenge
unnerve
difiference
obUvion
seclude
uplift
disease
observe
secrete
upstart
dissemble
perpetual
secure
ultra-studious
3. Be able to i
spell the following words. Point out the suffix and
the root of each. Explain i
any modification of suffixes that
you find.
State the exact meaning of each word : —
capable
elegance
celebrate
independence
culpable
hesitancy
congregate
independent
enable
accountant
fluctuate
bribery
profitable
attendant
nominate
finery
confederacy
blatant
fluency
stationery
frontal
calendar
politician
janitress
gradual
similar
guessed
negress
African
contrary
traded
beautify
American
necessary
nominee
gratify
appearance
stationary
conference
magnify
countenance
associate
difiference
blissful
HOW TO BE CONVINCING
285
cupful
immortalize
idleness
attitude
impossible
memorize
advisor
latitude
responsible
respectfully
creator
promptitude
politics
respectively
suitor
solitude
puerile
sincerely
cinematograph
casualty
supplying
truly
biography
guaranty
delicious
argument
occasion
ambiguous
glorious
augment
omission
vestibule
pugilist
blandishment
attention
southward
curiosity
greatness
consecutive
westward
4. It is clear from what is said at the beginning of this lesson, that
words are formed in various ways. Sometimes they are in-
vented outright. Sometimes nouns and adjectives and verbs
and adverbs are joined together to form new combinations,
as in runaway. Sometimes proper names are used so com-
monly that they become common nouns. Explain each of the
following words, — its meaning and its origin : —
chipper makeshift downfall
sizzle clodhopper railroad
tobogganing garage smart
hoodlum cackle bronco
dairymaid caw rumble
gospel whirr bedlam
holiday •
cheep
ragamuffin
booni
giggle
breakfast
Christmas
steamboat
camouflage
runaway
fiddlesticks
copperhead
5. Look up the ten following "home words,
guage does each come ? —
From what Ian-
home
mother
father
sister
brother
son
daughter
child
hearth
love
6.
Look up the ten following school words,
does each come ? —
school study pupil
book teacher desks
From what language
class
mate
boy
girl
7. Following are some common word roots. Add prefixes or
suffixes, or both, to them, and tell the meaning of each word
you build : —
form tract junct jeet feet
tend fleet rupt miss fer
286 GOOD ENGLISH
8. Give a simpler and shorter word for each of the following long
ones. Point out the origin of both the long word and its
shorter equivalent. Tell from what language each word is
taken : —
abominable redundant ' excruciating
stupendous emphatically leviathan
despicable colossally interminable
9. From your knowledge of prefixes, show that each of the follow-
ing expressions contains a repetition. Write each one prop-
erly : —
divide up. precede before.
descend down. retrograde backward.
connect with. subject under.
explain about. three-cornered triangle.
retreated back. circumnavigate around the world.
10. Look up the terms bronco and bronco busting in the dictionary.
In the light of the information found tell just what is happen-
ing in the picture opposite. Use as many words as you can
that are special to the situation, — rear, whoa, wild, break,
fiery, and so forth. Then tell what is happening, in the lan-
guage of one who is watching the sport supposedly for the first
time. This person's vocabulary will probably contain many
words having prefixes and suffixes such as, unbroken, defiant,
dangerous, unmanageable, and so forth. List as many as you
think applicable to the picture.
CHAPTER V
HOW TO BE THOROUGH
Introduction
No one needs to be told that thoroughness is the first
rule for doing anything well. The question is not '^Why
be thorough?'' — that answers itself. It is "How to be
thorough in writing and speaking." Care in preparation,
care in expression, care in revision — these are the three
guideposts for thoroughly good writing and good speaking.
Care in preparation and care in expression have been em-
phasized in every lesson in this book. Careful revision will
be the chief subject of this Chapter.
LESSON FORTY THREE
Correcting Your Own Compositions
Learn to criticize yourself. You know your faults and
your weaknesses. Correct them before anybody else has a
chance to do so. Self-criticism is a valuable attainment.
Criticism that others make of your work may be helpful
and encouraging. Criticism made by yourself of your own
work is a good deal more likely to be corrective. It is a
sign of real ability to be able to educate yourself. Learn,
therefore, to correct your own speech and writing. Be un-
288
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 289
sparing in criticism of your own work before you pass it on
to another for criticism. In education, as in all other things,
you can be helped by others only provided you help yourself.
Everything that you write for others should be carefully
read over before it is passed on. Read your compositions
through first of all to see whether or not you have carried
out the plan you had in mind before you began. If the
composition or the letter does not read clearly, then one of
two things has happened. Either you did not carry out
your plan ; or it was not a good plan. In either case there
is only one thing to be done, — rewrite. The meaning of
the word revision is re-seeing. You see as a whole the piece
of work that you planned part by part. It is this second
sight that enables you to judge, before it is too late, whether
you have failed or succeeded.
If you are satisfied with your plan and the way it is carried
out, then read through again to detect misspelled words.
Read through a third time to detect faulty punctuation.
Read through a fourth time to detect your ''pet" error in
grammar, and so forth. You know from former work and
from former correction what errors you are likely to make.
Every one has his own special difficulties. In speaking, be
equally unsparing. Keep in mind the errors in speech for
which you have been criticized on former occasions. It may
be well to have them on a piece of paper before you, as sign-
posts telling you what directions not to take. You should
keep a little notebook for the listing of special errors and
their correction.
There are many ways of calUng attention to error in
written composition. Certain signs are sometimes placed
in the margin opposite the line in which an error occurs. A
misspelled word, for instance, may be indicated by a check,
y/, or by the abbreviation sp. If something has been
290 GOOD ENGLISH
omitted, the caret, A , may be used to call attention to the fact.
The sign H means that paragraph indention should be made ;
no If means that no such indention is required. Faulty punc-
tuation may be pointed out by the letter p or by the abbre-
viation punc, or the proper punctuation mark maybe placed
in a caret, thus, A . The abbreviation cap. may be used to
indicate required capitalization; the abbreviation I.e., to in-
dicate that small letters should be used instead of capitals.
It is better not to have a too elaborate scheme for marking
errors in composition work, for the machinery of correction
is of course far less important than the correction itself.
Below are two letters containing errors. Following these is
a composition that also has certain errors in it. Both the
letters and the composition are well planned, but the errors
in them are serious and should not be permitted to occur.
Suppose you read the letters and the composition through
three times or more. The first reading (in this instance) is for
misspelled words, which are indicated by a circle. The second
reading is for faulty punctuation, which is indicated by a
triangle. The third and subsequent readings are for faulty
grammar, including omissions, repetitions, incomplete sen-
tences, lack of unity and coherence or clearness, and so forth.
These errors are indicated by a square. Sometimes these
marks are connected by a line, to show some inconsistent
relation among errors. If, for instance, a word is spelled in
two ways, the circles marking the words are connected. Each
of these three signs is usually at the very place where error
occurs. Opposite, on the margin nearest to the error, is
reference to the lesson, the page, and sometimes the section
where a particular kind of error is treated in this book.
Study these corrected pieces of work carefully. Point out
merits in them. Look up every reference given. Rewrite
correctly.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 291
•Mytvf xXuJ/ aJLwvJ AJkAAX/ jCU AYdtAn/JU^/ y<rv xXu/
/yyiaJcu/ aW X^ XAxaP M^ AA/vxcld/ .^fUAAuaJfu/
<:;AuAJtXAA4i,,
292 GOOD ENGLISH
Pa*/-^ Y)M/ CWu^ Q/- liA^AMir^/m^A/yiA^Au/ Art xlu/ rijt/r\MjJXf
P^rvutAAAxXlffyy 'V/rvy^^UA^, ^SfS ryUAMlt' d/AJuX/, (^'fuJU/..
MJyXJk/ /wu/ xoW/ ajA^ A/w/ jtJfjuJk/ ■{cA\/n4A/A>ajOu, mZt^
/y^Mj/ At<HAnydA/nay A/yJ Jru^U^tO^M/ ^(^■i£tu/. (JU/ /tint/ At/€Al/
/JM/ip AAiU^AjUaX9\/ M*AAAUh )Ul£/ jtAvtiAt/ y^lMAurd/^ .t^fu/Kt'
''\ieJJL J J AifU/ AAm/ yaAA/(/ -yU^ Ay\AAy XlttJ/ .AJiK^AM/
iWiX^AMXb, AifW aaaM/ JfjiAroJ^AJ/ ul^i^ "hA/^ ajajuzLl
IPaJ* U/y[/ AAy^^X^vCj/ Xf AH/ A^r^^AjLuA/n^ AjULOAaLI^ /mt/.Jl AMaM/
s^i^A ""yio^xJU f^AJtU/ czSx>ja(f
=>>VH4/
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 293
GRANNY GRAMMAR'S PARTY
Granny Grammar one day gave a party to all
her children. However, not a single one of
them behaved altogether to Granny's liking.
i»3^ Master NouiV^or instance, ^ho[ Granny has al- f*^'\%
ways been partial to, did nothing but call out
names all the time. Names of people/^ames of R544
places, names of things, he screamed at the
top of his voice. Little Master Pronoun helped
vzsz him along with the noisy bu^^ss, and sulked a
good deal because he wasn't given greater
opportunity to act as his substitute. Master
Adjective huddled close to Masters Noun and
Pronoun throughout the party. He was ever and
anon describing them to the others present and
accounting for their weird behavior. But
Master Verb was the life of the party, though
he was the most unruly of Granny Grammar's
Tioff child^r^. He simply would not be still a
moment, but danced and frolicked all over the
place. I never saw any one so active as he
was. He dominated everybody and everything.
294 GOOD ENGLISH
and was quite the most Important person
present. Master Adverb traipsed around after
him, or tried to, all the time, doing his
best to account for Master Ver^s] astonishing ?.3t5
maneuvers. Master Preposition made it his
particular business to go about and strike up
relations among the rest, much to their annoy-
ance sometimes; and Master Conjunction busied
himself connecting this one with that one,
trying to arrange them in some sort of con-
sistent grouping. Master Interjection was so
overcome with emotion at the sight of so great
disorder and confusion that he cried one minute
and laughed the next, blubbering and ejaculating
continuously.
By and by, the noise and hubbub made by her
"Rioj" unruly ohild^rn) began to tell on Granny Gram-
mar's nerves. /After a good many attempts at
discipline shk found herself actually obliged
to impose sentence upon them. With great
sternness am dignity of manner she arranged
them in a r*w and resolutely said, "Hush! my
Pwi- dear child(^en) should behave quietly and
politely in my presence."
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 295
PRACTICE
1. Select a subject for a composition from the lists on page 183 or
224. Make a careful plan for a composition of about four
himdred words. Let one of your classmates write the com-
position, using your plan. Then criticize the development of
the whole composition from the plan, and the construction of
each paragraph. Was the original plan at fault? If it has
been changed in the writing out, was the change a good one ?
Should the composition be reconstructed and rewritten, or
merely corrected?
2. Revise by replanning and then rewriting the following para-
graph : —
The negroes working upon the foundations of the great hotels
in St. Augustine, Florida, sang songs as they labored. A play song
is different. As the natives carry sacks of coal to the steamers in
the port of Curasao, they sing a chorus, to the rhythm of which each
step is taken. As the chorus ends a bag of coal is dumped into the
hold ; and then the song goes on. A play song may be a lullaby,
or a love song, or a humorous song. The chief difference between
a work song and a play song is that the former is sung by a group
of laborers to accompany some task that they work upon together ;
while the latter is sung by an individual and expresses some personal
emotion, or tells a story. In Charleston, South Carolina, you can
hear the negroes at night thrumming on banjos as they sit on the
curbstones of the streets, and singing songs or hymns just to amuse
themselves. The chorus is the important part of a work song ; in
the play song the chorus is less important than the narrative or
whatever it is makes up the body of the song. There are harvest
songs, spinning songs, hunting songs, planting songs, building songs,
and, among savages, war songs ; but, with savages, war is part of
the day's work.
3. Mark a letter or a composition of your own for correction.
Place on the margin exact references to the lessons in this book
that should be consulted for the principles involved.
4. Have one of your classmates rewrite a composition of your
own that you have marked for correction. Be sure that he
296 GOOD ENGLISH
makes every correction in accordance with the references you
have pointed out.
5. Correct and rewrite a composition written by one of your class-
mates. Compare his errors with those you make yourself.
Do you both have the same kind of difficulty, that is, do both
of you make the same kind of errors ?
6. Write a short composition on one of the following topics, and
submit it to your classmates for correction: —
Criticism of Myself by Myself.
Criticism of Myself by Others.
The Kind of Criticism I Like.
The Kind of Criticism that I Heed.
The Kind of Criticism that Discourages.
Listening to Criticism, and Profiting.
Listening to Criticism, and Forgetting.
Criticizing Others.
Criticism and Ridicule.
Criticism and Sympathy.
Errors Caused by Lack of Training.
Errors Caused by Carelessness.
Errors Caused by Inattention.
Errors I Was Born With.
Errors I Have Learned from my Companions.
7. What kinds of errors are likely to be made as the result of care-
lessness? Enumerate them. Point out errors of this kind
in the letters and the composition above, or in your own work.
8. On the other hand, what errors in the letters and the composition
above are due entirely to lack of knowledge or training?
Which sort of errors do you consider the more serious, those
that result from carelessness or those that result from igno-
rance and lack of skill ? Why?
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 297
LESSON FORTY FOUR
Testing Your Speech
It is more difficult to correct speech than it is to correct
writing. Words when spoken pass away. Words when
written remain. However, you can and must do much to
make your speech clear and correct. Cultivate an accurate
eye and an accurate ear. Mispronunciation is due often-
times to mis-hearing, just as misspelling is due to mis-seeing.
It takes more than a glance to see a word exactly. The eye
must dwell upon a word until the letters and their positions
are fixed. In the same way, words must be pronounced so
that every syllable can be heard. Words that are spelled
and pronounced nearly alike are frequently mistaken one for
another, and results may be serious if the words are widely
different in meaning. It is easy to see augment for argument,
infantry for infancy, peace for please, affect for effect, if your
habits of seeing are careless. It is still easier to hear one of
these words instead of the other, unless they are pronounced
accurately.
When one word ends with the same or nearly the same
sound as that which begins the next word, it is easy to pro-
nounce the two sounds as one. Make certain that both
y's are heard in the name Dolly Young, that both k's are
distinctly pronounced in bookkeeper, that such words as the
following are kept clearly apart by distinct pronunciation : —
canceled date, beautiful landscape, Mary's smile, silent
treachery, great deal.
Check up such errors as these, both in your own speech
and in the speech of your classmates. Be a sincere critic
of yourself, a kind but firm one of your friends, in the cor-
rection of such mispronunciations as, —
298 GOOD ENGLISH
an for and et for ate futher for further
git for get haf for have hunderd for hundred
kin for can nuther for another ond for once
perty for pref^?/ ?/owse for you yit for !/ei
It may not be necessary to interrupt a classmate when
he has mispronounced a word. But while he is speaking
you may jot down his mispronunciations and politely call
his attention to them afterward. This will be a help to
him and will also put you on guard in your own speechmaking.
Study particularly the mispronunciations listed on pages
104 to 106. Make a list of your *'pet" mispronunciations
and practise unceasingly to correct them.
It is not only mispronunciation of words that needs to be
checked up by rigid criticism. Misconstructions or un-
grammatical expressions need equal attention. Below,
some of the most common misconstructions in English are
listed under certain parts of speech. This list should be of
great service in the criticism of class speeches. One pupil
may act as pronoun critic ; another as verb critic ; and so
on. The one criticized may thus be enabled to connect
his special troubles with certain parts of speech and may
direct his study accordingly. Some overlapping is made
necessary in the list by the fact that some frequently mis-
used words may be employed as more than one part of
speech ; yet, for instance, being both an adverb and a con-
junction, is listed under both headings.
Fix 'in your mind the correct form of the examples in the
following list by sheer repetition. Train your ear to English
sensitiveness, just as the musician's ear is trained to music.
Learn to carry good English by ear, very much as you carry a
tune. To study deeply into the cause of error in each case
will not always be of great benefit, just as to study indi-
vidual notes in a piece of music will not always help you to
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 299
appreciate a tune. But it may be a helpful satisfaction to
establish a reason for the correct form by consulting page 104
and also the brief grammatical review in the appendix of this
book.
Pronouns
1. Himself. Not Hisself.
2. His. Not Ris'n.
3. Themselves. Not Theirselves.
4. Those books or these books. Not Them books.
5. It was I. Not It was me.
6. My sister and I went. Not I and my sister went. Not
Me and my sister went.
7. He stood between John and me. Not He stood between
John and I.
8. There are two books on my desk. Not They is two books
on my desk.
9. We girls are knitting. Not Us girls are knitting.
10. He is taller than I. Not He is taller than me.
11. Whom did you speak to? Not Who did you speak to?
12. Who do you think I am? Not Whom do you think I am? '
13. Each of them should do his work. Not Each of them should
do their work.
14. The man who is ill. Not The man which is ill. •
15. A heart and a soul with love in them. Not A heart and a
soul with love in it.
16. I am afraid of his falling. Not I am afraid of him falling.
Adjectives and Adverbs
1. This kind or that kind. iVo^ These kind. A^o^ Those kind.
2. This sort or that sort. Not These sort. Not Those sort.
3. Better. Not More better.
4. Loveliest. Not Most loveliest.
5. An apple. Not A apple.
6. This book or that man or those balls. Not This here book.
Not That there man. Not Them there balls.
300 GOOD ENGLISH
7. Lose. Not Lose out.
8. End. Not End up.
9. Join. Not Join together.
10. Explain. Not Explain about.
IL Divide. Not Divide up.
12. Start. iVoi Start in. Not Start out Not Start oS.
13. Keep off. iVoi Keep ofif of .
14. First. Not First ofi.
15. This is the better of the two. Not This is the best of the
two.
16. I want a glass of cold water. Not I want a cold glass of
water.
17. The secretary and the treasixrer were present. Not The
secretary and treasurer were present.
18. I have seen him twice. Not I have seen him already twice
yet.
19. It is rather cool. Not It is kind of cool.
20. I like this sort of book. Not I like this sort of a book.
21. The music soimds sweet. Not The music sounds sweetly.
22. She plays well. Not She plays good.
23. He went quickly. Not He went quick.
24. I have none or I haven't any. Not I haven't none.
25. He did it again. Not He did it over again.
Prepositions and Conjunctions
1. At my Uncle's. Not By my uncle's.
2. Back of or behind. Not In back of.
3. To keep. Not For to keep.
4. How are you? iVo< How is it by you?
5. He lives near us. Not He lives by us.
6. I won't go unless you go. Not I won't go without you go.
7. He plays as I do or He plays like me. Not He plays like I
do.
8. He would have gone. Not He would of gone.
9. He had to go. Not He had a go.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 301
10. He is at school. Not He is to school.
11. Get some books of her. Not Get some books off her.
12. There is a noise in the room. Not There is a noise inside of
the room.
13. He put it on the shelf. Not He put it onto the shelf.
14. I am going on Monday. Not I am going upon Monday.
15. They find fault with her. Not They find fault of her.
16. He is different from me. Not He is different than me.
17. He jimiped into the water. Not He jumped in the water.
18. I shall try to go. Not I shall try and go.
19. There was a dispute among the three boys. Not There was
a dispute between the three boys.
20. Where is he ? Not Where is he at?
21. She has been here twice. Not She has been here twice yet.
22. He took it from me. Not He took it on me.
Verbs
1. Have not or has not or are not or is not or am not. Never
" ain't " for any of these.
2. He doesn't. Not He don't.
3. Proved. Not Proven.
4. Got. iVo^ Gotten.
5. Bought. Not Boughten.
6. Taken. A^o^ Tooken.
7. Sneaked. Not Snuck.
8. CUmbed. iVo^ Clumb.
9. Fought. A^o^Fit. Not Font.
10. Attacked. Not Attacted.
11. Burst. iVo« Busted.
12. Have seen. Not Have saw.
13. Have gone. Not Have went.
14. Have come. Not Have came.
15. Have done. Not Have did.
16. Have simg. Not Have sang.
17. To go quickly. Not To quickly go.
302 GOOD ENGLISH
18. I have broken. Not I have broke.
19. I have spoken. Not I have spoke.
20. He received an honor. Not He got an honor.
21. I have an apple. Not I got an apple.
22. She became angry. Not She got angry.
23. You ought to go. Not You had ought to go.
24. I saw the play. Not I seen the play.
25. I said I would go. Not I says I would go.
26. You shall obey me. Not You will obey me.
27. Either Mary or John is going. Not Either Mary or John
are going.
28. These things are true. Not These things is true.
29. If I were you. Not If I was you.
30. That doesn't make any difference. Not That don't hurt.
31. Mother is preparing dinner. Not Mother is making dinner.
32. There isn't any one present. Not There aren't any one
present.
33. There are a man with a large hat and a woman with a small
bonnet in the room. Not There is a man with a large hat and a
woman with a small bonnet in the room.
34. Shall I take this to the office for you? Not Shall I bring
this to the office for you?
35. Let me look into that drawer. Not Let me get into that
drawer.
36. Let me go. Not Leave me go.
37. It is raining; therefore I cannot go. Not It is raining;
therefore, I could not go.
38. May I go with you ? Not Can I go with you ?
An expression that is overused and that has become more
or less meaningless as the result of overuse, is called a hack-
neyed expression. The dictionary defines hackney as to
exhaust hy continued use; to make stale by repetition. It is
from a French word meaning an ambling horse. Speech
that would move along with ease and vigor should not
therefore contain words and phrases that "amble." Have
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 303
a classmate critic inform you at the close of a speech how
many times you have used hackneyed expressions, and you
will be surprised perhaps. Nearly every one has some
expression that he overuses. It becomes a characteristic
of his language. He uses it unconsciously. Following are
a few of the commoner hackneyed phrases that sometimes
make speech but an ambling and stumbling affair. Add
others to them. Every locality has certain ones of its
own : — cold as ice, he that as it may, proceeded on our way,
still at the same time, deem it advisable, as I was saying, look
here, listen to me, well then, as I was going to say.
Do not forget in the criticism of speeches that you owe it
to the speaker to commend, to criticize favorably as well as
unfavorably. If he makes noticeable effort to avoid certain
types of error that he himself is inclined to make or that are
characteristic of the school, praise him for it. If he catches
his own errors and corrects himself, again commend him.
If he omits slang, if he compares adjectives properly, if he
always avoids the double negative, if he keeps his subjects
and predicates always in agreement, you cannot be too
generous in your commendation of his speech. It is well
to state such merits at the outset of your criticism, and to
refer to them again at the close. If you thus place your
adverse criticism between favorable comments, you will be
constructive and encouraging rather than destructive and
discouraging.
PRACTICE
1. Pronounce the following words correctly. Tell what error is
likely to be made in the pronunciation of each : —
children fought hurt nothing such
farther her just scared yesterday
2. Pronounce each of the following pairs of words distinctly. Tell
what error is likely to be made in their pronunciation : —
304 GOOD ENGLISH
John's suit. Dreadful lonesomeness.
For goodness' sake. Never repeat.
Shakespeare's sonnets. Failed daily.
Rainy yesterdays. Going galloping gaily.
Contentment tells. Different thought today.
3. Make groups of words in daily use, each group consisting of words
that are similar in sound and appearance. Point out clearly
differences in sound and pronunciation. Those given below
illustrate what is meant. Write each word on the board and
erase it quickly. Find out how many of your classmates saw
accurately : —
class — glass. repay — relay.
past — fast. convert — concert.
truly — duly. enemy — enmity.
accent — ascent. first rate — frustrate.
decent — descent. intermediate — immediate.
4. In the following sentences pronouns are wrongly used. Re-
write each sentence correctly. As far as possible refer to some
section of this book for the explanation of your correction : —
(1) They went theirselves.
(2) I and my friend went to church.
(3) He is going with brother and I.
(4) I like them caps very much.
(5) It was her who did it.
(6) They are three boys in that room.
(7) Us fellows had a good time yesterday.
(8) Tom is stronger than me.
(9) Who did you go to the party with?
(10) Who do you think I saw at the game?
(11) Every girl in the class must do their own work.
(12) The girl which was ill has returned to school.
(13) There aren't any of us going.
(14) I saw a hand and an arm with a sword in it.
(15) I object to him answering questions intended for me.
5. In the following sentences adjectives and adverbs are wrongly
used. Read each sentence correctly. As far as possible refer
to some section in this book for the explanation of your cor-
rection : —
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 305
(1) These kind of apple is the best.
(2) Of the two John is the strongest.
(3) The United States is the most richest country in the world.
(4) This is the sort of a place I mean.
(5) He only has twenty per cent in algebra.
(6) There is a answer to this question on page nine.
(7) He studied considerable.
(8) I kind of Uke Jane.
(9) Jim is generouser than John.
(10) I think he speaks good.
(11) The train moves very rapid.
(12) He hasn't got none.
(13) These here pencils are dull.
(14) 'Keep off of the grass.
(15) They started in to do their work.
(16) Let's divide the apple up.
(17) We joined hands together and danced.
(18) We're going to end up now.
(19) You are the only fellow who lost out.
(20) I have done it three times already.
(21) We told him over again.
6. In the following sentences prepositions and conjunctions are
wrongly used. Read each sentence correctly. As far as pos-
sible refer to some section in this book for the explanation of
your correction : —
(1) Tom lives by his aunt's.
(2) How is everything by you today ?
(3) Mary refuses to answer without we listen.
(4) Sam talks like Jim does.
(5) I placed my shoes in back of the chair.
(6) I would of gone if I had known.
(7) He has went because he had a.
(8) John is to home.
(9) I went to get a pencil off him.
(10) Please let me get into that bag a moment.
(11) There was a sound of merry-making inside of the tent.
(12) I failed in English upon Thursday.
(13) I do not find fault of your work.
(14) The United States is different than other countries.
X
306 GOOD ENGLISH
(15) He went in the room to get his coat.
(16) He is going to try and win.
(17) Between this, that, and the other, I have no peace.
(18) Father gave me his knife for to keep.
(19) Where in the world is Mary at?
(20) They have been here three times yet.
(21) She took my paper on me,
(22) Neither Tom or AUce has the lesson.
7. In the following sentences verbs are wrongly used. Read each
sentence correctly. As far as possible refer to some section in
this book for the explanation of your correction : —
(1) He don't go until tomorrow.
(2) The problem has been proven.
(3) I have gotten my books. —
(4) I come over yesterday.
(5) You shouldn't have boughten that candy.
(6) I have broke my pencil.
(7) He has spoke to me three times.
(8) I dumb the ladder, snuck over the roof, and fit like a Trojan.
(9) The bag has busted.
(10) I got ninety for that recitation.
(11) I haven't got your hat.
(12) It has got to be done.
(13) I have never saw such a boy.
(14) He has got to be a big boy.
(15) They have went to Camden.
(16) The books have came at last.
(17) You hadn't ought to do that.
(18) He seen you throw the paper.
(19) So I says to him that he had better go quickly.
(20) He urged me to hastily return.
(21) Shall you help me carry this bundle?
(22) Neither Bill nor Harry are present.
(23) His words, spoken at our commencement, is true.
(24) If he was you, he would not pass.
(25) I shall have to do the lesson over, but that doesn't hurt,
I suppose.
(26) Mary is busy making supper for company.
(27) Everybody present were delighted.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 307
(28) There is an apple with a luscious red appearance and a dish
of peaches in the pantry.
(29) Will I bring this letter to the post-office for you?
(30) He answered when she calls upon him.
(31) Can we go to the party tonight, mother?
8. Examine the following paragraph. Read it aloud as it stands.
Then read it omitting all the hackneyed expressions contained
in it. Tell what is gained in the second reading : —
They did not deem it advisable to take their coats with them.
But before they arrived at their destination, it began to rain.
"Just our luck!" said Emma. However, be that as it may, they
were able to borrow an umbrella, and proceeded on their way. They
finally reached the house where the party was held, and an enjoyable
time was had by all, notwithstanding the fact that they were mussed
up by the shower. Still, at the same time, they could have had a
pleasanter afternoon had it not rained. As Emma often says,
"Though I'm wet as a duck I can nevertheless make the best of
things and have a good time."
LESSON FORTY FIVE
Testing Your Words
Your choice of words must be as careful as your pro-
nunciation. What has been said previously about word
study (see pages 108, 215, 281) should be used as a basis
for the criticism. Are your words exact and appropriate,
or have you said a nice lesson and a pretty house? Do you
say allow when you mean declare, observation when you
mean observance, differ with when you mean differ from?
Does your writing show that you have observed the rules
of word-building (see page 283), or have you written pre-
haps for perhaps, entermission for intermission? Are your
words specific, or have you used noise when you meant
rustle, red when you meant maroon ? Are all your changes
in thought indicated by and and but, or have you stated
308 GOOD ENGLISH
your thought transitions nicely by means of such words as
likewise, moreover, nevertheless, furthermore? Is there evi-
dence in your composition, both oral and written, that you
have a usable knowledge of synonyms, so that you are able
to convey deUcate shadings in meaning and to avoid monoto-
nous repetitions?
These are a few of the points upon which criticism of
words may be based. Here again the work of criticism
may be divided, so that one member of a class may specialize
in the criticism of new words, another in good words used
in the wrong places, another in homonyms, another in
hackneyed words, and so on. Whatever errors are pointed
out in the use of words you should note well in a book kept
for the purpose. Be on your guard not to misuse the same
word twice. Your own special vocabulary book will help
you to avoid this. If you study a foreign language, you
probably keep Usts of words that trouble you. Why not
also in the study of your own language ?
Below is a list of fifty word groups that are commonly confused
or misused in English speech and writing. You are certain to use
some of these words in your own speech or writing. Be sure to use
them correctly. Be unwilling that your classmates should use
them incorrectly. Of course no such list can be exhaustive, for
every locality has its own special misusages. Add to the list such
words as are commonly confused in your own community. (The
following definitions are in general taken from the Standard
Dictionary) : —
1
Admittance, Admission. — Admittance refers to place. AdmiS"
sion refers also to place but more frequently to privilege, favor,
position, rate, etc. " Admission, — fifty cents. No admittance
without tickets." " You may gain admittance to the entertainment
of our club without admission to membership."
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 309
Angry, Mad. — Angry means sharp and sudden displeasure or
indignation; temporarily disordered in feeling. Mad means dis-
ordered in mind. " You are angry because he copied from your
paper." " He became mad at the loss of his fortune." Not, —
" I am mad at you for going without me."
Around, About. — Around means to encircle on all sides. About,
as an adverb, means around. As a preposition about means
approximate or in the neighborhood of. " What are you about? "
" I have about twenty dollars." " He walked around the block."
Not, — "I have around twenty dollars."
Beside, Besides. — Beside means by the side of, close to. Besides
means in addition to. " He sat beside me." " He has my hat and
his own besides." Not, — '' Beside, I think him a very earnest
feUow."
5
Between, Among. — Between refers to two objects. Among
refers to more than two. " Divide the money between the two,
among the three." " Between us two, among us three."
6
By, Near, At. — By means alongside, next to. Near means not
distant, close at hand. At jneans at the place of. " He is sitting
by me." " He lives near me." " He is at his aunt's." Not, —
" He is by his aunt's." " How is it by you ? " (Look up also m,
into, upon, and on and explain their use in relation to by, near,
and at.)
7
Calculate, Reckon. — Calculate means to compute, to estimate,
by more or less complicated processes. Reckon means to look upon
or consider in a more general sense than calculation. " He calcu-
310 GOOD ENGLISH
lated his time to a fraction of a second." " I reckon him wise."
Not, — "I calculate it's going to rain.'* " I reckon I'll go."
(Look up also guess, think, believe, intend, suppose.)
8
Can, May. — Can denotes capability. May denotes possibility,
desire, permission. "May I go? " "I can do this problem."
Not, — " Can I go? " " You can." (See page 367.)
9
Character, Reputation. — Character is what one is. Repviation
is what one is thought to be. "In spite of his excellent character
his reputation is bad."
10
Compare, Contrast. — Compare means to place together in order
to point out likeness and unlikeness. Contrast means to set in
opposition in order to point out unlikeness. " She compared her
results with mine." " We contrasted Rebecca and Rowena."
11
Contemptible, Contemptuous. — Contemptible means to deserve
disdain or disregard. Contemptuous means to show disdain or
disregard. " His behavior was contemptible." " He was con-
temptuous in his attitude toward her."
12
Coimsel, Council, Consul. — Counsel is advice or opinion. It
refers also to a lawj'-er or other person who gives advice. Council
is a meeting. Consul is an officer appointed to reside in a foreign
port or city. " The consul gave wise counsel at the council of
merchants."
13
•Distance, Way. — Distance means separation in space, remoteness.
Way means path or road, a short distance. " They traveled some
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 31 K Z
distance." " He walked a little way with me." Not, — " They
went a little ways with her."
14
Effect, Affect. — Effect (as verb) means to bring about, to
accompHsh. Affect means to move, to influence, to make an effect.
As a noun, effect means result. Affect is a verb only. Affect, meaning
to pretend, is another word. " He effected the desired end."
" He had a strange effect on me." " The heart was not affected."
Not, — " How did it effect you? "
15
Esteem, Estimate. — Esteem means to value or to regard.
Estimate means to calculate in more definite terms. " We esteem
a precious jewel, but we estimate it to be worth so much money."
16
Except, Accept. — Except means to leave out, with the exception
of, but. Accept means to take or receive. " Every one accepted
the offer." " Everybody went except me."
17
Few, Less. — Few refers to number. Less refers to quantity or
quaUty. " There are few books in the closet." " There is less
water in this bucket than in that." " He is less worthy than you."
Not, — "I have less apples and fewer bread than you."
18
Funny, Curious. — Funny means comical, humorous, laughable.
Curious means strange, odd, queer. " His mannerisms were funny."
" What a curious person George is ! " (Look up also odd, queer,
singular, peculiar, eccentric, ridiculous, droll.)
19
Habit, Custom. — Habit means tendency to act in a certain way,
as the result of repetition, until such action becomes spontaneous
312 GOOD ENGLISH
and unconscious. Habit is the action of one. CiLstom means
deliberately doing the same thing repeatedly under the same condi-
tions. Custom is the action of many. " He has the habit of
eating with his knife." "It is the custom to open the shops at
nine o'clock a.m."
20
Hupian, Humane. — Human relates to mankind, with no sugges-
tion as to good or evil. Humane relates to what may properly be
expected of mankind by way of consideration for others. " Though
he is a human being, his treatment of that horse is not humane."
21
Illusion, Allusion. — Illusion means a false or unreal image,
something that deceives. Allusion means a reference to or sugges-
tion of. "I have no illusions about my standing in mathematics."
" He made appropriate allusions to Shakespeare."
22
Immigrant, Emigrant. — Immigrant is one who comes into a
country. Emigrant is one who goes out of a country. " Annual
reports show that America has many more immigrants than
emigrants."
23
Invent, Discover. — Invent means to originate something never
before existing. Discover means to find out something that has
previously existed but has never before been known. " Morse
invented the electric telegraph." "Peary discovered the North
Pole."
24
Lay, Lie, Lie. — Lay means to place or put. Lie means to re-
cline or to rest. Lie means also to tell a falsehood. " I laid the
hat on the table." " I lay on the couch three hours." " He lied to
me." (See principal parts of these three verbs on page 372.)
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 313
25
Learn, Teach. — Learn means to acquire knowledge or skill.
Teach means to impart knowledge or skill. " He learns very easily
because they teach him well." Not, — ''He learned me how to
swim." (Look up also study, train, educate, instruct, inform.)
26
Leave, Let. — Leave means to go away from. Let means to
permit. " Leave me immediately." " Let me go." Not, —
" Leave me have it."
27
Lend, Loan, Borrow. — Lend means to grant the temporary
use of. It is not a noun. Loan is also used in the sense of lend.
Its better use, however, is as a noun in reference to the amount or
the thing granted for temporary use. Borrow means to obtain on
promise of return. '' Please lend me your pencil? " ''He secured a
loan from the bank." " May I borrow your book? " Not, —
" He loaned me ten cents." " Give me the lend of your pencil."
28
Like, As. — Like means similar to. It usually is a preposition
but it may also be an adjective, a verb, or a noun. It is never a
conjunction. As is usually a conjunction or an adverb. (See
page 300.) " He dances like me." " He dances as I do." Not, —
" He dances like I do." " He dances as me."
29
Likely, Liable. — Likely means probable and usually refers to
an event as favorable. Liable means responsible and usually refers
to an event as unfavorable. "He is likely to pass." "He is
liable for damages." Not, — " He is liable to succeed."
30
Loose, Lose. — Loose means to free from anything that binds or
restrains ; not fastened. Lose means to fail to keep through acci-
314 GOOD ENGLISH
dent, to miss, or be deprived of. " The dog is loose." " They
will lose the game." Not, — "I may loose my hat."
31
Many, Much. — Many means a large number, numerous, various.
Much means a large quantity. " I have many tickets." " I have
much paper."
32
Most, Almost. — Most means the greatest number, size, rank,
or age. Almost means nearly, approximately. " We had the
most to do." " We are almost done." Not, — " We are most
done."
33
Neither, None. — Neither (not either) refers to two ; but is
always singular itself. None (no one) refers to more than two ; it
is usually singular, though many writers use it as plural. " Neither
he nor his brother was here." ''None of the men is going." Not,
— " Neither of the three was there." " None of the two was
there."
34
Number, Quantity, Amount. — Number refers to a collection
of units. Quantity refers to a certain estimated mass. Amount
refers to total or aggregate. " There is a large number of apples
in a bushel." " There is a large quantity of wheat in the granary."
" What amount of corn did you raise this year? "
35
Its, It's. — Its is a possessive pronoun, neuter gender. It's is
the contraction for it is. " The statue fell from its pedestal."
" It's not so hard as you think." Not, — " It's front was scarred by
lightning."
36
Part, Portion. — Part means a certain amount or number of
anything. Portion means an allotment or a share. " The father
divided the land into parts and gave the eldest son his portion."
HOW TO BE THOROUGH ^ 315
37
Party, Person. — Party means a number of persons. It may be
used to refer to one person only in the terms of a contract, —
" Party of the first part." Person means one individual. '' How
many are there in our party? " ''I like that jolly old person in
the corner." Not, — "I like that jolly old party in the corner."
38
Raise, Rise. — Raise means to cause to move upward. Raise is
always transitive, and is never a noun. Rise means to move
upward, to gain, to lift. " He raised his hand." " He raised
his book." " He raised the child to a seat." " He rose to
a sitting position." " Fog rises." " Tide rises." Not, — " He
got a raise." " He was so weak that he could not raise." " The
sun raises."
39
Real, Very. — Real means genuine, pure, authentic. Very
means degree or measure of genuineness. '' This is a real diamond
and it is very expensive." Not, — " The diamond is real expen-
sive."
40
Regard, Respect. — Regard refers to special kindliness or esteem
toward equals, without consideration as to rank or position. Re-
spect refers to esteem felt toward one of lofty station. Regard is
more likely to be mutual. " I do not regard him highly as a man,
but I respect him as governor." " They had a high regard for
one another."
41
Relative, Relation. — Relative is one related to another by blood.
Relation is also one related to another by blood, but its nicer use
indicates a more remote connection. " Jim is a relative of mine."
" The teacher's relation with her pupils is very pleasant." Not, —
" Relations and friends are requested to return to the house."
316 GOOD ENGLISH
42
Remainder, Balance. — Remainder means that which remains
after a part has been taken away. Balance means an equaUty
between credit and debit in an account. " Since I have a balance
of fifty dollars to my credit in the bank I shall stay for the remainder
of the week." Not, — " He is going to play quarterback for the
balance of the season."
43
Remember, Recollect. — Remember means to retain in the
memory. Recollect means to recall from the memory. " He
remembered the event and recollected the names of all the people
present."
44
Remit, Send. — Remit means to send in return for something
sent. Send means to cause or direct to go or pass. " Please send
me the following articles. I shall remit amount due immediately
upon notification of total charges." Not, — " Remit me the
following articles." (See also transmit, discharge, dispatch, emit.)
45
Repair, Fix. — Repair means to restore to a former state, or to
mend. Fix means to make secure, to fasten or attach. " He will
repair the broken desk." " He will fix the desk in position."
Not, — " Mother will fix my torn sleeve."
46
Sit, Set. — Sit means to seat, to rest as in a chair, to take or
occupy a seat. Set means to place in position, to cause to sit.
" He sits erect." " They're sitting together." '^ I sat there for
two hours." " Set the jar on the table." " The dress sets well."
" The sun sets." " The sun is setting." Not, — "I have been
setting on the couch." " It sits well around the neck." (See
principal parts of these verbs on page 372.)
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 317
47
Stop, Stay. — Stop means to bring from motion to rest, to check,
to prevent exit or entrance. Stay means to stop, but more com-
monly to remain. " He stopped at the inn and stayed there
three days." Not, — " She has been stopping here a week."
48
Suspect, Suspicion. — Suspect means to imagine, usually un-
favorably; to mistrust. Suspect is a verb. Suspicion means
doubt, mistrust, conjecture. Suspicion is a noun. '' I suspect
him." " I have a suspicion." Not, — ''I suspicion him." (See
also expect.)
49
When, While. — When refers usually to time as definite and
completed. While refers to time as in progress, during. " When
I said that, he turned and left the room." " While we were talking,
John entered." Not, — " When we were talking, John entered."
50
Without, Unless. — Without as a preposition means lacking ;
as an adverb, on the outside of. Unless is a conjunction, meaning
supposing that, except, save. Do not make the mistake of using
the preposition without for the conjunction unless. " I shall not
go unless you accompany me." "I shall not go without you."
Not, — "I shall not go without you accompany me."
PRACTICE
The italicized words in the following sentences are improperly
used. Discuss each word ; tell why it is not properly used ; replace
it with the correct word ; use it correctly in a sentence of your own
composing : —
1. They charged twenty-five cents admittance to the game.
2. She is mad because I received a higher mark than she.
3. My mark was around ninety.
318 GOOD ENGLISH
4. She sets besides me every day.
5. I have three books and two pads beside.
6. Between the members of this class I think there ought to be an
agreement.
7. "Hello, John, how is it by you?" called Fred.
8. He is stopping by his sister's.
9. I calculate we shall lose that game.
10. I guess I shaU go.
11. I suppose that kind of play will win.
12. Every boy can play or not, as he chooses.
13. How may a fellow pass if he never has a chance to recite ?
14. A good reputation should give a man a good character.
15. We found seven points of difference in comparing them.
16. Our contrast revealed several points of difference and several
likenesses between them.
17. A new counsel to Madras has just been appointed.
18. We held our consul at 8.15.
19. He gave me wise council.
20. He was proud and contemptible.
21. They walked a long ways together.
22. What affect did the medicine have upon you?
23. His character in the community is excellent.
24. We all excepted our marks in silence, John accepted,
25. There are less pupils absent today than yesterday.
26. You should form the custom of getting up promptly.
27. His treatment of his dog is not human.
28. His illusion was to Lowell's poem The Vision of Sir Launfal.
29. Marconi discovered wireless telegraphy.
30. He immigrated from Austria to America.
31. Lay down, Fido, and go to sleep.
32. I laid down for an hour.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 319
33. He learned me three times as much as any other teacher 1 ever
had.
34. Please leave me go to the circus.
35. Can I have a lend of ten dollars?
36. He will loan you fifty cents.
37. He did his work as me.
38. They walk like we do.
39. I think it is liable to rain today.
40. You will loose your purse if you are not careful.
41. We are most there now.
42. Either of the five boys can go.
43. None of the two sisters is coming.
44. What amount of marbles have you in your hand? •
45. Cut the cake into portions and take your part.
46. He is a congenial party to have around.
47. The sun raised at six o'clock this morning.
48. The child raised quickly and hurried home.
49. We had a real good time at the party.
50. He does not regard the truth.
51. The relations set and wept aloud.
52. The balance of the season is liable to be rainy.
53. I recollect the affair fully but I can't remember the name of the
person who presided.
54. They remitted the goods and I sent the money by return mail.
55. Please fix my shoes as soon as possible.
56. Set on the floor, if you are not comfortable there.
57. She stopped there three months last season.
58. I always suspicioned him of being dishonest.
59. When we were playing it began to rain real hard.
60. I'm not going without you do.
320 GOOD ENGLISH
LESSON FORTY SIX
Testing Your Sentences
Criticism of sentences in your own composition work and
in that of your classmates is likewise essential. Sentences
should be tested for unity, for coherence, for emphasis,
according to the rules laid down on pages 145, 155, and 238.
In addition, you should keep constant watch upon sen-
tences to see whether they are concise and accurate. There
is more than one way of expressing every thought. One
form may do quite as well as another for the expression
of certain ideas. It does not matter very much whether
you say, — That house is beautiful or There is a beautiful
house. The thought is so simple and direct that one form of
sentence is as good as another. But if you wish to be fluent
and skillful in expression, you must drill yourself in the
many different forms of clause and phrase combination.
Know how to say the same thing in a variety of ways.
Once there was a poet who expressed a great thought in
these words, — A beautiful thing is an eternal joy. He liked
the thought. It gave him a thrill when he pondered it.
But the expression appeared to him flat and colorless. It
did not thrill him. So he studied the sentence, to see how
he could make it match the thought in greatness. And
then he evolved, A thing of beauty is a joy forever. With
this he felt satisfied. It has a pleasant rhythm, which the
other form lacks. The central idea is expressed by the
noun beauty instead of the adjective beautiful. The Anglo-
Saxon word forever is more pictorial than the Latin word
eternal; it seems to signify a longer period, and it comes
last and thus falls in the emphatic place in the sentence.
Everybody could understand the thought as first expressed.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH ^ 321
Everybody can both understand snidfeel it as now expressed.
It is now great poetry. Formerly, it was merely a line of
prose.
Following are a few of the ways by which sentence expres-
sion may be changed. Study them carefully, deciding where
the sentence has been improved by alteration. In general,
the most concise form is the best, provided it is clear and
complete : —
1. You may reduce phrases to words, —
(1) She was a girl of great talent.
(2) She was a ver\^ talented girl.
2. You may reduce clauses to words or phrases, —
(1) There is a girl who is very talented.
(1) There is a girl of great talent.
(2) There is a very talented girl.
3. You may reduce clauses to participial, prepositional,
or infinitive phrases, —
(1) When he had finished his work, he decided that he
would read a story.
(2) Finishing his work, he decided to read a story.
(1) While the game was in progress, it began to rain.
(2) During the progress of the game, it began to rain.
(1) The best way by which one can make money is to
save it.
(2) The best way to make money is to save.
4. You may convert prepositional phrases into participial
or infinitive phrases, —
(1) On his arrival home, John was taken ill.
(2) Arriving home, John was taken ill.
(1) Tom borrowed a horse for riding.
(2) Tom borrowed a horse to ride.
322 GOOD ENGLISH
5. You may expand words into phrases or clauses, —
(1) The ambitious boy succeeds.
(1) A boy with ambition succeeds.
(2) The boy who is ambitious succeeds.
6. You may expand prepositional, infinitive, and parti-
cipial phrases into clauses, —
(1) He hoped to be able to go.
(2) He hoped that he would be able to go.
(1) On reaching the station, she was exhausted.
(2) When she reached the station, she was exhausted.
(1) He is serious at work.
(2) He is serious when he works.
7. You may reduce many sentences to one, —
(1) John went. Mary went. I went.
(2) John, Mary, and I went.
8. You may use direct for indirect discourse, or vice
versa, see page 349, —
(1) He asked me where I was going.
(2) He asked, ''Where are you going?"
9. You may omit words, phrases, or clauses in order to
avoid monotonous repetition, —
(1) It resulted in a disastrous result.
(1) It resulted disastrously.
(2) The result was disastrous.
10 You may convert independent clauses into words or
phrases or dependent clauses, in order to establish
proper relationships among ideas, —
(1) I entered the room, and I saw mother.
(1) Entering the room, I saw mother.
(2) On entering the room, I saw mother.
(3) When I entered the room, I saw mother.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 323
PRACTICE
In the following exercises you are asked to change the form of
sentences in accordance with the ten foregoing illustrations. The
number of the exercise corresponds to the number of the illustration.
Tell what is lost or gained in the sentence as an expression of thought
by the change you make.
1. Reduce a phrase in each of the following sentences to a single
word : — -
(1) He behaved with politeness.
(2) She was a girl of faithfulness.
(3) He told me to go at once.
(4) He passed the lodge in safety.
(5) In the meantime John acted with discretion.
(6) The fight of Sohrab with Rustum was tragic.
(7) As a result she failed in English,
(8) The love of Ivanhoe for Rebecca was one of constancy.
(9) He had the courage of a lion and the lightness of spirit
of a bird.
(10) He left the room in a quiet manner and behaved with con-
sideration in every way.
2. Reduce a clause in each of the following sentences to a word
or a phrase : —
(1) The boy who works hard is certain to get on well.
(2) When the sun rose, the sky was covered with clouds.
(3) The girl who knows how to sew is independent when mis-
fortune comes.
(4) Dogs that are raised in the country are more intelligent
than those that are kept in the city.
(5) The games that we played were well supervised by those
who instruct us.
(6) I do not know where his home is.
(7) There is a young man who has a future.
(8) The man who commits crime may be as good a man at
heart as the man who is innocent of crime.
(9) He made up his mind after he had studied the question
for a long time, that it could not possibly be solved.
(10) Lowell was admired not only by those who belonged to
the literary circle in which he moved, but also by those
324 GOOD ENGLISH
who belonged to political circles at the time in which he
lived.
3. Reduce a clause in each of the following sentences to a par-
ticipial, a prepositional, or an infinitive phrase : —
(1) While we were playing our duet, the lamp fell from the
piano.
(2) If you go up to the top of the hill, you will get a beautiful
view of the surrounding country.
(3) Students who wish to buy tickets should apply at the office
. at noon recess.
(4) The pupils who doubt their success are without exception
the pupils who fail.
(5) She studied night and day, for she had made up her mind
that she would pass.
(6) When Rustum recognized his son in Sohrab, he no longer
had the heart to fight.
(7) Pupils who want to cheer the team on to victory should
be among those who sit in the first rows.
(8) While we were discussing the appropriateness of the ques-
tion, Tom suddenly decided that he did not care to be a
member of the debating team.
(9) Learn that you must labor and that you must wait.
(10) They hoped that they would beat the opposing team and
that they could take home a great big wonderful score.
(11) A bird that is in the hand is worth two that are in the
bush.
(12) A stitch that is taken in time is worth nine.
4. Convert a prepositional phrase in each of the following sen-
tences into a participial or an infinitive phrase : —
(1) On his departure from the house he called back to us,
"Good luck!"
(2) During practice on the field he was taken ill.
(3) They decided upon a trip to Niagara.
(4) They hoped and prayed for victory.
(5) On his arrival at the office he found the door locked.
(6) In going from one place to another they found many i>oint8
of great interest to them.
(7) He was caught in the act of cheating.
(8) At sight of her wounded son, she fell prostrate.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 325
(9) They ran madly into the hall at the sound of the bell.
(10) On his entrance into the room, he saw a beautiful picture.
5. Expand a word (or words) in each of the following sentences
into a phrase or a clause : —
(1) O that I had the dove's wings!
(2) She has a lily brow and a rosy cheek.
(3) A working man is an earning man.
(4) She told him to go to the store immediately.
('(5) Slowly, gradually, deliberately they stole upon the enemy.
(6) The conceited boy was defeated by his own vanity.
(7) She has golden hair and hazel brown eyes.
(8) The boy refusing an opportunity to appear in public is
denying himself the best, educationally.
(9) He spoke clearly and emphatically.
(10) Those having tickets to sell should stand here.
6. Expand a prepositional, a participial, or an infinitive phrase in
each of the following sentences into a clause : —
(1) They hope to sail today.
(2) On standing up to recite, he forgot the question asked of
him.
(3) At school he is earnest and industrious; at home he is
idle and mischievous.
(4) They decided to fight with swords only.
(5) After seeing him off they went to the movies.
(6) Studying day and night you will injure your health.
(7) On the umpire's decision against them, our boys were
crestfallen.
(8) He told the boys to sit together and not to talk.
(9) Arriving home late at night, they were surprised to find
Fido lying on the doorstep waiting to greet them.
(10) Seeing me on his entrance he went upstairs directly in
order to avoid the stormy scene.
7. Reduce the short sentences in each of the following groups to
one good sentence : —
(1) John's heart is true. John's head is clear. John's spirit
is loyal.
(2) He is an excellent player. He also speaks well. He
owes his musical and oratorical ability to hard work.
326 GOOD ENGLISH
(3) There was an Ancient Mariner. He stopped one of three
men. The men were going to a wedding. He told
him his story.
(4) He looked up. He looked down. He looked forward.
He looked backward. He could not tell where the noise
came from.
(5) He was old. She was young. They called him Decem-
ber. They called her May. He married her.
(6) The sun rose. The dew disappeared. The workmen
went out to the fields. She had died. The daily round
of labor lost all interest for him.
(7) They ran in. They ran out. They whistled. They
shouted. Auntie lived in constant terror of them.
(8) They pitched their tent. They set their lines. They
equipped their boats. They were ready for a royal
summer.
(9) The king reviews his troops. The soldiers appear at their
best. A surprise attack is made. King and soldiers
fall in defeat.
(10) Brian loved Rebecca. Rebecca did not love Brian.
Ivanhoe fought to rescue her from him.
8. Write each of the following sentences in a different form of dis-
course : —
(1) The poet said that it is better to have loved and lost than
never to have loved at all.
(2) "To do a great good," said Portia to Shylock, "do a little
wrong."
(3) Marc Antony said in his great oration that the evil men do
lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones.
(4) "By thy long beard and glittering eye, now wherefore
stopp'st thou me?" asked the wedding guest of the
Ancient Mariner.
(5) John said that his father used to say that sparing the rod
means spoiling the child.
(6) "Ah-a, my good man," shouted the knight, "now will I
run thee through before thou hast time to utter thy
prayers!"
(7) They were told, they said, to take the first turning on the
left and then to follow the wooded path.
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 327
(8) "Whatever I do, whatever I say, Grandmother tells me
that isn't the way," sobbed Alice.
(9) The orator said that if he could not have liberty he wanted
to die.
(10) "I, sir, I am Roderick Dhu," said the warrior with much
importance.
9. Rewrite each of the following sentences, correcting the repeti-
tion : —
(1) One does not have to go if one does not care to, but really,
every one should want to have one good time before
one dies.
(2) The effect of the music upon her was very affecting.
(3) There were thirteen there but there wasn't the slightest
superstition expressed by any one there.
(4) It is not the big things but the little things in life that
bring out the things worth while in your character.
(5) All the time he kept quiet and presently all of them began
to notice that he was altogether almost uncomfortable.
(6) John said he thought he would go to the game, but Mary
said she preferred to go to the theater.
(7) Quite a little distance from the house there is quite a his-
torical old tree that is quite interesting.
(8) None of them knew what the result of such a decision would
be, but they knew that whatever resulted the result
could not be worse than what had been resulting right
along.
(9) They were all ready and all went altogether, so the affair
promised to be all right after all.
(10) I love the city because the city is always so interesting.
10. Establish the proper relationship among the ideas in each of
the following sentences by converting independent clauses
into words, phrases, or dependent clauses : —
(1) I got up this morning and I had a severe headache.
(2) I looked out of the window and I saw it was raining very
hard.
(3) He jumped up from his chair and shouted "Who's there ? "
(4) He played football all season and he passed in all his sub-
jects.
328 GOOD ENGLISH
(5) The journey was made by boat and I enjoyed every bit
of it.
(6) We studied our algebra and then we studied our English
and then we sang popular songs till eleven o'clock.
(7) I thought of John out there alone in the trenches and I
wrote him a good long letter.
(8) Lowell was a poet and he was the author of The Biglow
Papers.
(9) I hke poetry and I read all the good poetry I can find.
(10) The storm cleared away in a little while and then we could
see the path and we made our way home without trouble.
LESSON FORTY SEVEN
General Tests
It is a good thing to test yourself, not only in certain
special divisions of your work, but along general lines as
well. The notebook in which you keep troublesome cases
of spelling, troublesome cases of punctuation, troublesome
cases of sentence construction, and so forth, should some-
times be used for the purpose of testing your all-round
standing in English. You may thus establish standards
for yourself. Can you at the end of a certain week or
month pass a test on the work of that week or month?
Do you lead or lag behind your classmates in meeting the
requirements of the work in a certain period? Have you
at the end of this very week, let us say, mastered some
definite thing in your work in English? Are you able to
cross out a page in the notebook and let it go forever, be-
cause you have fixed its contents permanently in your mind ?
If you have studied all the lessons in this book, you should
be able to meet the sixteen tests enumerated below. If you
have studied only part of the lessons in this book, you
should be able to meet those that have been covered in the
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 329
lessons studied. Measure yourself by these requirements.
Cheek yourself up by them unsparingly.
1. You should be able to write a correct letter, that is, to plan
and punctuate the letter parts correctly.
2. You should be able to write the following kinds of letters ; —
(1) Letter ordering goods
(2) Letter of receipt
(3) Letter of complaint
(4) Letter of adjustment
(5) Letter of application
(6) Letter of excuse
(7) Letter of request
(8) Letter of recommendation
(9) Letter of invitation
(10) Letter of thanks
(11) Letter to a friend
(12) Brief letter to a newspaper
(13) Brief letter to sell or to advertise
3. You should be able to plan and write a composition of three
or four paragraphs, — a composition that interests, that makes
clear, that convinces.
4. You should be able to plan and write single paragraphs having
unity, coherence, and emphasis.
5. You should be able to write clear, coherent, and emphatic
sentences of many different kinds.
6. You should be able to use at least one thousand words ac-
curately and to study words from the dictionary inteUigently.
7. You should be able to use the different parts of speech
correctly, to know their classifications, inflections, and con-
structions.
8. You should be able to construct sentences to show the various
uses of the parts of speech, of phrases, and of clauses.
9. You should be able to analyze complex and compound sen-
tences of two or three clauses.
330
GOOD ENGLISH
^ 10. You should be able to conjugate verbs, especially the com-
mon irregula? ones.
11. You should be able to capitalize and to punctuate accurately
any sentences that you can construct correctly.
12. You should be able to pronounce the following words and
other words of the class each represents, with accuracy and dis-
tinction : —
alms
diamond
letter
soon
wist
am
dog
lists
star
why
ask
facts
man
then
did you
assure
history
new
third
let me
bird
huge
raw
veil
one and all
catch
idea
recognize
was
two suits
city
join
revive
whereas
cold
just
ringing
widths
13. You should be able to speak in public, — debate, make
announcements, and so forth, with precision and effectiveness.
14. You should be able to read prose and poetry, such as you find
in the preceding pages, with that intelligence and enjoyment which
come from quick and clear understanding of their structure.
15. You should be able (and this is perhaps most important
of all) to prepare by planning what you have to say, and to express
it in such a manner that it will be forcible, interesting, and clear.
16. You should, finally, be able to criticize both yourself and
others kindly and helpfully; that is, you should be able to "help
yourself" to become a user of good English.
These sixteen points represent by no means all that you
should be able to do, if you have studied this book carefully.
They are average standards. Be able to do at least these
things. No two members of a class are exactly equal in
standing. They cannot be, for no two individuals are
exactly equal in capability and attainment. But the mem-
bers of a class approximate a uniform standard. Suppose
the following lines indicate the individuals in a class of ten : —
HOW TO BE THOROUGH
331
John Bill Tom Dick Harry Rob Tim Jim Fred George
Harry stands highest; Tom lowest; Rob is average.
Harry could easily meet all of the above sixteen require-
ments and more, after he had studied this book. Tom
could probably meet eight or ten of them. Rob could just
meet all of them.
You will find it both interesting and helpful to draw lines
of this kind for the members of your class. Find your own
line among the twenty or thirty or forty others. Is it
Harry's? Is it Tom's? Is it Rob's? If it is Harry's, are
you going to lie down and rest until the others catch up?
If it is Tom's, are you going to be discouraged? If it is
Rob's, are you going to be satisfied?
Following are a few general tests in English. Perhaps
they are familiar. Every pupil in the class should be able
to pass each test, though of course all will not receive the
same mark. Harry will probably make 100% on each;
Tom, probably 70%; Rob, probably 80% or 85%. Study
each question thoroughly before you attempt to answer it.
Be sure that you understand exactly for what it asks. Note
the value attached to each question and apportion your
time and space accordingly in answering. Refer to lessons
332 GOOD ENGLISH
in this book for as many of the answers as possible. Books
other than those mentioned may of course be substituted in
the questions deaUng with hterature.
Test I
1. Name in topical form and in order of occurrence five of
the most important events in Ivanhoe or Quentin Durward
or Treasure Island. Under each event named state at
least two subordinate topics. (15)
2. Imagine yourself one of the characters in Ivanhoe or
Quentin Durward or Treasure Island. As that char-
acter, plan and write a letter of four or five good
paragraphs to another character in the story in which
you tell about your most interesting experience.
(Plan, 10. Form, 5. Content, 10. Structure, 15.
Total — 40)
3. On March 15, 1915, you wrote to John Wanamaker, Broad-
way and Tenth Street, New York, ordering material for
a garment and inclosing money for the same. Up to date
you have received neither the material nor an answer.
Write a second letter. (Form, 5. Content, 15.
Total— 20)
4. (a) Arrange the words of the following sentence in columns
so as to show what parts of speech they are : —
When the pupils were asked to name the most important
day of the year, they said with much spirit, "June SO, the
day school closes." (20)
(6) What kind of sentence is the above? Reason. (5)
Test II
1. Make an outline for a composition of four or five para-
graphs on Greek life as set forth by Homer. Write the
topic sentence for each paragraph. (20)
2. Develop one of the paragraphs outlined in answer to
question 1. (10)
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 333
3. Select a character from the Iliad or the Odyssey and
tell a short story to illustrate his or her principal
characteristics. (15)
4. Write to Marshall Field and Company, Chicago, Illinois,
ordering a certain number of yards of dress goods at so
much a yard. Inclose check or money order and
sample of goods to be matched. (20)
5. (a) Write the following conversation correctly : —
By the way you are Scotch I think. Yes said Rob.
I asked explained the editor only because of the shall
and will difficulty. Have you got over that yet. No
said Rob sadly and I never will. (10)
(6) Explain in a few words the humor in the above extract . (5)
(c) Write the third sentence in indirect discourse. (5)
6. (a) What kind of sentence is the following? — (5)
(6) Classify the clauses in it. (5)
(c) Give the syntax of dispute and about. (5)
There has been some dispute about who wrote the
Iliad and the Odyssey.
Test III
1. (a) You have employed for some time in your real estate
office a girl whose work has been entirely satisfac-
tory. She now has an opportunity to secure a much
better position than you can offer her. Make a plan
for a letter of recommendation to be sent by you in
her behalf to the firm that offers the better place. (5)
(6) Write the letter. (10)
2. (a) Make a plan for a theme of three or four paragraphs
on the following : — (10)
Improving my Own Speech
(6) Write the theme. (20)
3. Write a good paragraph on one of the following : —
(a) What interest in foreign lands might one gain from
reading Scott's Quentln Durwardf
334 GOOD ENGLISH
(b) What interest in foreign lands might one gain from
reading Stevenson's Kidnapped ?
(c) Discuss Scott's manner of telUng a story.
(d) Discuss Kidnapped in such a way as to make a person
wish to read it. (20)
4. Outline and write two good paragraphs on one of the fol-
lowing : —
(a) A play that you have seen or a book that you have
read that you care to recommend to others.
{b) Some work that is being done in your community
to make people better and happier.
(c) Getting ready for a school party.
(d) Trimming a new spring hat.
(e) Making a cake.
(/) How a certain dress was made. (20)
(g) Laying out a diamond.
(h) Preparing for a hike.
(i) Features of a Wild West show.
5. Write three complex sentences, giving in each a brief ex-
planation of some current topic you have studied during
the past ten weeks. (15)
Test IV
(The following seven questions are used by permission of
the New York State Board of Regents.)
1. Answer either a or b: — [20]
a. Write a letter to any person you may select, describing
the community, the town, or the city in which you live,
and mentioning points of advantage or interest that
might attract strangers to settle there.
b. One of your friends who is about to graduate from the
grammar school has decided not to go to the high school.
Write a letter urging this friend to continue through the
high school. \
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 335
2. Write a composition about a person or, if you wish, a bird
or an animal mentioned in one of the following [Include such
points as (a) appearance, (6) habits, (c) characteristics] :
T'/ie Lad?/ of the Lake, The Man without a Country, A Watcher
in the Woods, In the Wilderness, Horatius, To a Skylark. [20]
3. Answer either a or 6 : — [10]
a. Give in complete sentences the following information
about a book, not named in question 2, that you have
read in the past year : (1) author, (2, 3) time and place
indicated in its contents, (4) your opinion of it, (5) what
induced you to read the book.
b. Select five words from the following list and write five
sentences each of which shall illustrate a different one
of the words selected : theme, vindictive, hamlet, spied,
eagerly, fiHal, fearfully, armor, lofty, twinkUng, fleecy,
season, realm, mystic, trembling.
4. Write an outhne on one of the following topics : — [10]
a. A possible experience of a fire engine horse or an army
officer's horse or sl farm horse.
h. A recent invention or a household convenience.
c. Any recent event of current interest.
5. Answer either a or h:— [20]
a. Imagine that you are a Boy Scout or a Camp Fire girl and
have just gone into camp for a fortnight or a month.
Write three or four paragraphs on one of the following : —
Our Daily Routine in Camp, Safety First in Camp, A Hike
in the Dark, Around the Campfire, Keeping Things in Order.
The picture on the next page may be suggestive. See
also the pictures on pages 167 and 220.
b. Write about 100 words on one of the following : —
(1) Your own biography.
(2) The biography of the character in history that you
like best.
(3) The biography of Sir Walter Scott.
AROUND THE CAMPFIRB,
HOW TO BE THOROUGH 337
6. Imagining that you are to give an oral composition on one
of the following topics before your classmates as audience,
think what you would wish to say to them on the topic
chosen, arrange your material in natural order, and
then write on your answer paper an outline for use as a
guide while speaking : — [10]
(1) The play of Shakespeare that I like best.
(2) What my favorite historic character did for his (or
her) country.
(3) The mining of coal or metal or the process of manu-
facture of some article or the raising of a crop.
(4) A hobby or pastime in which I am interested.
7. Quote at least 10 lines of prose or poetry that you have
memorized this year. [The lines quoted need not all be
selected from the same work.] [10]
APPENDIX
CAPITALIZATION
PUNCTUATION
WORD LISTS
GRAMMAR
APPENDIX
CAPITALIZATION
1. The first word of every sentence should be capitalized.
2. The first word of every line of poetry should be capitalized.
3. The pronoun I and the interjection should be capitahzed.
(The interjection oh should not be capitalized, however, except
when it stands first in a sentence or in a fine of poetry.)
4. Proper nouns should be capitalized, that is, the names of
persons, places, days, months, special documents, special bodies
of men, etc.
The names of the seasons should not be capitalized unless
they are used figuratively or stand first in a sentence or a line of
poetry.
5. Proper adjectives and other words formed from proper nouns
should be capitalized.
6. Abbreviations of proper nouns and adjectives should be
capitalized.
7. Titles u^ed with proper nouns should be capitalized.
(Used alone, titles are sometimes capitahzed, sometimes not.)
8. Nouns usually common but frequently used with proper nouns
should be capitalized when so used.
Park Street Lincoln Park Manchester College
Ohio River Aunt Mary Colonel Newcome
(In connection with rules 4 and 8 it may be well to remember
that, generally speaking, a word is capitalized according to the
341
342 APPENDIX
company it keeps. The word falls is a common noun, but used
in company with Niagara it becomes a proper noun and is written
with a capital, as, — Niagara Falls. The following also come
under this rule, — Tariff Bill, Euclid Avenue, Leland Stanford
University. The words north, south, east, west, and their compounds,
are capitalized only when they refer to special locality, as, — The
East and the West stand together. The Northwest was developed by
James J. Hill. Fargo is north of St. Louis.)
9. The first word of every direct quotation should be capi-
talized.
10. The first word and every important word in the title of a
book or composition should be capitalized.
11. Personified words are sometimes capitalized.
Still is the toiling hand of Care.
12. Capitals are frequently used in order to make words emphatic.
(One should use caution in resorting to this device for
emphasis.)
The most important rule is thai for Unity.
13. Words referring to the Deity should be capitalized.
Supreme Power Infinite One
PUNCTUATION
The punctuation marks are as follows : —
Period . Dash —
Comma , Quotation Marks " " * '
Semicolon ; Apostrophe • '
Colon : Parentheses ( )
Question Mark ? Brackets [ ]
Exclamation Mark ! Hyphen
The Use of Punctuation Marks
The Period (.)
1. The period is used after imperative and declarative sentences.
Its purpose here is to distinguish sentences from clauses.
It is also used after abbreviations, after numbers and letters
that point out the divisions of a piece of writing, and after whole
numbers to set off decimals.
The Comma (,)
" The comma is a point used to indicate the smallest interruption
in continuity of thought or grammatical construction, the marking
of which contributes to clearness." — The Century Dictionary.
1. The comma is used to facilitate the reading of numbers of
more than four digits.
11,189,211.
2. The comma is used to separate two or more numbers in suc-
cession.
In 1917, 6283 'prisoners were set free.
The reasons are stated on pages 4, 6, 8, 10, and 16.
343
344 APPENDIX
3. The comma is used to mark off a series of words, phrases, or
clauses having the same construction, except when they are con-
nected by conjunctions. If the last two in the series are connected
by a conjunction, the better usage requires the comma before it.
In Europe, in America, even in the Far East, men and women are
now concerned with the problems of war.
She was a little, thin, nervous, hard-working woman.
He has drowned our people, ravaged our property, and insulted our
diplomats.
He was tall and grave and silent.
4. The comma is used to mark off words or phrases that are
contrasted by pairs.
Back and forth, up and down, to and fro, the poor fellow kept pac-
ing through the night.
5. The comma is used to mark off a short direct quotation.
In case the quotation is broken, commas are placed at the points
where the breaks occur.
" TTeW," said he, "what are you going to dof
He replied, ''I do not know,'' and left the room.
6. The comma is used to mark off words and phrases that are
explanatory or in apposition.
Abraham Lincoln, the liberator of the slaves, was president from
1861 to 1865.
The largest book on the shelf is a compilation, or encyclopedia, of
historical facts.
Major Southy, of Indianapolis, has been sent abroad.
7. The conmia is used to separate words, phrases, and clauses
that would run together to make an absurd or ambiguous reading,
if they were not so separated.
To Mary, Conrad replied with politeness.
The man ate his dinner, and his daughter cleared the table.
8. The comma is used to mark off words and phrases of direct
address.
/ trust, gentlemen, that I make myself clear.
APPENDIX 345
9. The comma is used to separate the names of different divisions
of time and place, where they appear in succession.
Saturday, February 12, 1918.
Indianapolis, Indiana, U. S. A.
10. The comma is sometimes used to denote the omission of one
or more words in a sentence.
John went today; George, yesterday.
11. The comma is used to mark off relative clauses that are not
restrictive. A non-restrictive clause is not grammatically neces-
sary to the sentence. It represents a statement added, and does
not unite with what it modifies to form a single idea. In, —
''The moon, which seemed brighter here than in the North, lit our
path," the non-restrictive clause, which seemed brighter here than in
the North, can be separated from the noun it modifies without
affecting the sense of the remainder of the sentence, — " The
moon Ut our path." Therefore it is marked off by commas.
A restrictive clause is grammatically necessary to the sentence.
It unites with what it modifies and the two parts are intended to
be taken together as one. In, — "I saw the man whom you
know'' — the restrictive clause, whom you know, cannot be sepa-
rated from the word it modifies without leaving the sense in-
complete. It was not the man but the man whom you know that
I saw. Therefore such a clause should not be marked off by a
comma.
12. The comma is used, on exactly the same principle, to mark
off parenthetical expressions, that is, words, phrases, or clauses,
which are not necessary to complete the syntax of the sentence.
These expressions may be "thrown-in" words, hke however, as in,
— "You must not believe, however, that I am deserting you."
Or they may be phrases or clauses, as, — "The cat, springing
from the table, caught the mouse." "I saw George, as he was ew-
tering the door, totter and fall."
13. The comma is used to separate a preceding clause, long
phrase, or absolute construction from the main clause.
346 APPENDIX
If the weather is favorable, the pier will be completed by June.
In spite of every assistance from the authorities, he failed to catch
the thief.
The fox having been caught, we went home.
14. The comma is xised to mark off the members of coordinate
clauses in a compound sentence when the ideas expressed in them
are contrasted, or when there is a separation in thought that seems
to require some punctuation. If the separation in thought is
great, or if there is no conjunction connecting the clauses, or if
there are commas within the clauses, use the semicolon. (See Rule
1 under the Semicolon and the examples there given.)
/ shall return, but I should prefer to stay away.
George likes to skate on thin ice, and some day he will get an unex-
pected cold bath.
I like New York; but this does not mean that I should be happy
nowhere else.
I went to New Jersey; George, to Oregon.
Some cats, so they say, have been known to find their way home from
another country; but my cat, I am sure, would be lost if I dropped
her in the next street.
The Semicolon (;)
1. The semicolon is used to mark off the coordinate clauses in
a compound sentence' if the separation of thought is great, or if
there is no conjunction connecting the clauses, or if there are
commas within the clauses. (See Rule 14 under the Comma.)
/ like New York; but this does not mean that I should be happy
nowhere else.
I went to New Jersey; George went to Oregon.
Some cats, so they say, have been known to find their way home from
another country; but my cat, I am sure, would be lost if I dropped
her in the next street.
2. The semicolon is used to mark off a series of long or short
clauses that are not closely connected in thought.
APPENDIX 347
The captain was inflexible; the troops were paraded in the square;
the drums beat; the bells tolled.
3. The semicolon is used to mark off a series of clauses or phrases
that are all dependent upon the same word, phrase, or clause.
The salmon migrates from sea to river ; the bird makes its nest or
migrates from one zone to another by an unvarying route, even leaving
its young behind to perish; the bee builds its six-sided cell; the spider
spins its web; the chick breaks its way through the shell, balances
itself, and picks up grains of corn, — all in virtue of like acts on the
part of their ancestors.
The Colon (;)
1. The colon is used before a long quotation, and before the
statement of a proposition for debate.
He very appropriately quoted that popular couplet:
**J?e to her faults a little blind;
Be to her virtues very kind."
Resolved : That all pupils should be obliged to study Latin.
2. The colon is ordinarily used after the salutation in business
letters.
My dear Sir :
Gentlemen :
3. The colon is used to precede explanatory or illustrative
matter.
He provided himself with the following tools: a hammer, a plane,
a wrench, and a saw.
4. The colon is used to separate two clauses when the latter
of the two explains or defines or repeats the content of the former.
I am no reader : it is years since I have read a book through.
The candle stood on the counter, its flame solemnly wagging in a
draught; and by that inconsiderable movement, the whole room was
filled with noiseless bustle and kept heaving like a sea : the tall shadows
nodding, the gross blots of darkness swelling and dwindling as with
respiration, the faces of the portraits and the china gods changing and
wavering like images in water.
348 APPENDIX
The Question Mark (?)
1. The question mark is used after direct questions.
Where have you been today ?
He asked, ** Where have you been today?**
It is not used after indirect questions, however.
He asked where I had been today.
When a series of short questions occur in succession, it is better
to place a question mark after each member of the series than to
separate the parts by commas or semicolons and place the ques-
tion mark at the end of the series only.
In what state is Albuquerque ? Helena f Boise City ?
2. The question mark is sometimes used in parentheses to indi-
cate doubt or indecision.
Shakespeare was born on April 23 ( ?) 1664*
The Exclamation Mark (!)
1 . The exclamation mark is ordinarily used after interjections and
after other words and phrases that show strong feeling. But when
an interjection stands at the beginning of an exclamatory sentence, a
conrnia may be placed after it, and the exclamation point may be
placed at the end of the sentence. The interjection is used, as a
rule, in direct address only.
Ouch !
Away with you!
Hear my plea, O God!
Oh, how you have spoiled things!
The Dash (— )
1. The dash is used to denote a sudden change or interruption
in thought.
Well, yes, Vll go — but, no — Vm really needed here.
APPENDIX 349
2. The dash is used in place of parentheses to set off extra or
explanatory matter, or to indicate the expansion of an idea.
Bvi I saw at once that he was just my height — five feet four and a
half.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — we cannot consecrate —
we cannot hallow — this ground.
3. The dash is occasionally used with and sometimes without
the comma or the colon after the salutation in letters and before
illustrations and explanations.
Dear Sir : —
Dear Mary, —
Dear Uncle —
Quotation Marks (" ")
1. Quotation marks are of two kinds, double and single.
Double quotation marks are used to set off direct quotation or
direct discourse, that is, the exact expression of a writer or
speaker. Single quotation marks are used to set off a direct quota-
tion within a quotation. A quotation within this quotation should
be set off by double marks. When words spoken or written by one
person are expressed indirectly by another, quotation marks are not
necessary. In John said, " I will go," the discourse is direct and
quotation marks are necessary. In John said that he would go, the
discourse is indirect and no quotation marks are needed.
When a quotation is interrupted by words that do not belong to
the quotation, each part of it should be placed in quotation marks.
Quotations are usually preceded by the comma or by the colon.
The second part of a broken quotation should be preceded by that
mark of punctuation which would be used were there no interrup-
tion.
When a series of paragraphs is quoted, quotation marks are
placed at the beginning of each paragraph, but at the end of the
last one only.
350 APPENDIX
^^' Stand!* cried Alan, and pointed his sword at him.
^' The captain stood, indeed; but he neither winced nor drew hack
a foot.
"'A naked sword?' says he. * This is a strange return for hos-
pitality.'''
2. Quotation marks, double or single, are sometimes used to call
special attention to a word or a phrase or a particular passage, and
to indicate names and titles.
In the bright lexicon of youth there is no such word as 'fail.'
What is the syntax of ''in the room" ?
Instead of quotation marks, a special kind of type is sometimes
used for the purpose of calling attention to a word or a phrase, or
for denoting titles; thus, italics. Itahcs are preferable to quota-
tion marks for indicating emphasis, for printing words from a for-
eign language, and for titles of books, magazines, newspapers.
A Une drawn underneath a word in a manuscript indicates to
the printer that the word is to be italicized.
The Apostrophe (')
1. The apostrophe is used to denote the omission of a letter or
letters. , ^,. ^, ^ ^,.
don t er ace t
2. The apostrophe is used to denote the possessive case.
John's men's horses'
3. The apostrophe is used to denote the plural of letters, figures,
signs, and so forth.
abc's 4's *'s <fc's
Parentheses ( )
1. Parentheses are used to mark off signs, figures, letters, and
dates, inserted in a piece of writing.
APPENDIX 351
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) was an active antislavery
reformer.
2. Parentheses are used to mark off or inclose explanatory matter
that has little or no grammatical connection with the rest of a
sentence.
/ saw George {he is an old friend of mine) on the street yesterday.
Brackets [ ]
1. Brackets are used to inclose matter less closely connected
with the rest of the sentence than that inclosed in parentheses.
They are especially used to inclose corrections or explanations and
additions made by some one in the work of another.
It was at that very moment [10 A.M.] that he entered the room.
''He came that day [the writer means September 23] to my house
for dinner.**
The Hyphen (-)
1. The hyphen is used to separate the parts of a compound
word.
mother-in-law sergeant-at-arms
2. The hyphen is used to separate two vowels that come together
but are pronounced separately.
co-operation pre-eminent
The diaeresis (•) placed above the latter vowel in such words
may take the place of the hyphen.
cooperation preeminent
3. The hyphen is used to indicate the division of a word at the
end of a Une. It must be remembered that words of one syllable
cannot be divided. If there is doubt as to the division of a word
of more than one syllable, the dictionary should be consulted.
con-so-la-tion dis-re-gard
352
APPENDIX
WORD LISTS
The first word list below is made up of those words, difficult
to spell, that sift through the lower grades into the last year of
elementary school and the first year of high school.
The second word list is made up from personal and business
letters and is used here by permission of the Russell Sage Founda-
tion.
TWO HUNDRED
SPELLING "TERRORS"
accept
breathe
dining
friend
accommodate
built
dinner
garage
accompany
business
disappear
government
accumulate
busy
disappoint
grammar
ache
buy
dissatisfy
guess
affect
calendar
divide
half
again
can't
doctor
having
all right
careless
does
hoarse
already
carrying
done
hoping
always
choose
don't
hopping
among
coming
early
hour
angel
committee
easy
immediately
angle
complement
effect
interest
answer
comphment
eighth
judgment
any
convenience
enough
just
argument
cough
equal
knew
athletic
could
equation
know
barber
country
every
laboratory
bathe
dear
excel
laid
been
debater
excitable
lead
beginning
describe
famihar
led
believe
destroy
February
letter
benefit
different
field
loose
blue
din
finally
lose
break
dine
forty
losing
breath
diner
fourth
making
APPENDIX
many
precede
shoes
truly
meant
prejudice
siege
two
minute
preparation
similar
untie
misspell
prepare
similarly
until
much
pretty
since
village
necessary
principal
some
villain
niece
principle
stationary
weak
ninety
privilege
stationery
weather
occasion
proceed
stopped
Wednesday
occurred
professor
straight
weird
odor
quiet
studying
were
often
quite
sugar
where
once
raise
sure
whether
parallel
read
tear
which
parliament
receive
their
whole
parlor
recommend
there
whose
pawn
refer
thorough
women
peace
referred
though
won't
perform
said
through
would
piece
says
tired
write
plain
seems
together
writer
plane
seize
to
writing
planed
separate
too
written
planned
shepherd
toward
wrote
353
THE RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION LIST
Compiled by Dr. Leonard P.~ Ayres
The Russell Sage Foundation List consists of the words which
with their repetitions constitute seven eighths of the 23,629 words
tabulated from 2000 business and personal letters. The figure
after each word indicates the relative frequency with which it was
used.
and
697
311
as,
at,
241
138
are,
am.
130
65
2a
354
APPENDIX
an 48
also 46
about 45
all 41
ask 23
absence 22
appoint 22.
another 21
afternoon 19
allow 19
again 19
attend... 19
arrange 18
article 18
away 17
association 17
ago 14
appreciate 14
August 14
accept 14
anything 14
attention 14
April 14
account 10
alone 8
appear 8
await 8
application 7
arrive 7
assistance 7
assure 7
always 6
among 6
be 148
by 101
before 17
because 12
beg 12
boy 10
business 10
baby 9
back 9
become 8
bed 8
box 8
bad 7
believe 7
both 7
building 7
begin 6
busy 6
can 76
could 38
children 27
call 20
copy 20
cent 19
city 18
cordially 15
cover 14
child 14
check 14
case 12
class 12
catalogue 12
course 11
certain 10
convenient 10
cold 9
company 9
contain 9
center 8
claim 8
change 8
cost 8
country 8
card 7
cause 7
Christmas 7
consider 7
chain 6
committee 6
convenience .... 6
dear 380
do 53
day 39
during 26
doctor 24
date 23
did 22
don't 20
desire 18
distribute 11
December 10
department .... 10
does 9
different 8
done 8
decide 7
direction 7
down 7
develop 6
direct 6
enclose 82
experience 17
APPENDIX
355
enough 15
expect 15
education 14
evening 14
each 12
early .12
either 12
earhest 11
entitle 8
else 8
especially 8
expense 8
ever 7
effort 6
enjoy 6
examination .... 6
from 107
find 58
feel 26
follow 25
first 23
friend 21
Friday 17
four 14
favor 13
forward 12
February 11
few 11
fine 11
felt 10
factory 10
fill 9
father 9
further 8
fuUy 7
form 6
finally 6
found 6
gentleman 55
good 47
get 37
go 34
give 31
great 29
glass 23
girl 20
glad 20
given 11
general 10
gold 9
gave 7
have 216
has 65
hope 56
he 51
had 41
his 33
her 31
home 31
him 21
house 18
how 18
hear 17
help 13
hour 10
hand 9
hat 7
hard 7
heard 7
hold 7
half 6
honor 6
hospital 6
1 1080
it 197
is 144
interest 24
information .... 22
intend 15
inform 13
investigate 13
iU 12
importance 9
inspect 8
issue 7
illustrate 6
impossible 6
instead 6
just 30
January 18
July 15
June 10
kindly 58
know 52
kind 20
keep 17
kindness 11
letter 61
like 37
let 36
last 25
356
APPENDIX
little 21
list 20
look 19
love 17
lady 12
line 12
leave 10
late 8
left 7
lesson 7
labor 6
land 6
least 6
my 258
me 203
Miss 66
may 52
mail 44
Mr 37
madam 36
make 29
much 28
money 24
morning 24
made 23
most 23
many 21
Monday 21
month 19
matter 17
medical 17
meeting 17
mother 15
March 12
May 10
member 10
mention 10
measure 9
must 9
material 8
move 8
man 7
mean 7
meet 7
mark 6
men 6
number 69
now 37
next 29
no 24
need 22
new 21
name 14
necessary 12
November 12
night 11
never 9
nice 8
nothing 7
note 7
news 6
none 6
of 511
on 150
once 105
one 99
or 59
our 56
oblige 52
other 43
order 40
out 27
over 19
only 18
office 17
o'clock 13
off 11
October 10
offer 9
old 8
out 7
open 6
please 182
possible 36
premium 25
present 24
picture 21
people 18
public 16
paper 15
plan 14
pamphlet 12
particular 11
personal 11
part 9
pleasure 9
place 9
position 9
post 9
promise 8
prompt 8
publish 8
panel 7
pair 7
APPENDIX
357
pass 7
probably 7
pretty 7
paid 6
person 6
plain 6
pleasant 6
practical 6
prefer 6
president 6
print 6
private 6
question 14
quite 7
receive 67
respectfully .... 63
return 38
report 25
reply 23
room 16
remain 14
reason 13
request 12
receipt 10
reach 9
read 9
recent 9
representative . . 9
rain 7
ready 7
remember 7
right 7
recommend .... 6
red 6
reference 6
relative 6
send 176
sir 113
so 82
some 61
sent 53
school 51
she 46
soon 32
see 31
soap 27
same 24
size 24
since 22
stamp 22
show 20
state 19
separate 18
shaU 17
subject 17
say 16
such 16
Sunday 16
sure 16
September 13
start 13
study 13
secretary 12
shipment 12
speak 12
Saturday 11
secure 11
service 11
sorry 11
something 10
small 9
summer 9
salary 8
several 8
street 8
success 8
second 8
set 7
short 7
signature 7
shde 7
special 7
stand 7
still 7
stop 7
surprise 7
saw 6
select 6
silver 6
song 6
splendid 6
statement 6
supply 6
the .918
to 627
that 207
this.... ....172
truly 166
thank 113
they 53
two 36
teU 27
think 27
trust 27
358
APPENDIX
thought 20
Thursday 15
Tuesday 13
teacher 12
today 10
table 9
talk 9
though 9
took 9
ticket 7
trouble 7
towards 7
try 7
us 40
under 37
up 29
use 23
understand 18
until 17
used 10
unfortunate .... 7
upon 6
very 246
visit 7
volume 7
will 297
with 255
which 143
was 79
work 65
what 53
when 53
who 53
wish 43
week 36
were 34
want 29
where 24
write 18
well 16
why 16
way 14
while 14
willing 12
written 12
without 11
Wednesday. ... 10
wear 8
woman 8
wrote 8
weather 7
wonder 7
wait 6
watch 6
went 6
west 6
while 6
whom 6
world 6
worth 6
you 635
your 585
year 40
REVIEW OF GRAMMAR
THE PARTS OF SPEECH — DEFINITIONS
In the dictionary words are considered as single units. The
spelling, the meaning, and the pronunciation are given for each
word, but little can be learned from the dictionary regarding the
relation that words bear to one another. It is the province of
grammar to treat of words in relation. For the convenience of
this study and in order that errors in word relationships may be
easily detected, words are classed according to their use into eight
divisions, called parts of speech.
APPENDIX 359
A word used as the name of a person, a place, a thing, or a quality
is called a noun. A word that is used in place of, or as a substitute
for, a noun is called a pronoun. A word that modifies a noun or a
pronoun, that is, explains its meaning, is called an adjective. A
word that makes an assertion, usually indicating action, is called
a verb. A word that modifies a verb is called an adverb. Adverbs
also modify adjectives and other adverbs. A word that connects
and shows the relation between one part of speech and another is
called a preposition. A word that joins or groups or connects
words or phrases or larger units of expression is called a con-
junction. A word used to express strong feeling is called an
interjection.
Nouns and pronouns, and any other part of speech or word groups
used like them, are called substantives. Adjectives and adverbs
are called modifiers. Prepositions and conjunctions are called
CONNECTIVES. Nouns and verbs are the most important parts of
speech. The other parts are dependent upon them. Children
first learning to talk depend almost entirely upon nouns and verbs
to express their ideas. Then, as the power of speech develops,
they are able to define the meaning of their language more closely
by the use of modifiers. A very learned person is able to indicate
extraordinary shades and niceties of meaning by the exact and
skillful use of modifiers with his nouns and verbs.
THE PARTS OF SPEECH — KINDS
There are two groups ^r classifications of nouns : proper and
COMMON ; COLLECTIVE and ABSTRACT. A proper noun is the name
of some particular person, place, or thing, as, Thomas, Denver,
Latin. A common noun is the name of a class, as, — man, city,
study. Thomas is the name of some particular person ; man applies
to many persons. A collective noun is the name of a group or a
collection, as, — army, crowd, flock, herd. An abstract noun is the
name of a quality, as, — curiosity, happiness, virtue.
There are four general classifications of pronouns: personal,
RELATIVE, INTERROGATIVE, ADJECTIVE. A personal pronoun is
360 APPENDIX
one that stands for a person, as, — he, I, it, she, they, we, you. A
relative pronoun is one that establishes a relation between the name
of a person, a place, or a thing and the name of some other person,
place, or thing. It also sometimes connects and sometimes in-
troduces. The word or words to which a relative pronoun refers
is called its antecedent. The principal relative pronouns are
who, which, what, and that. The first three may be compounded
with ever or with soever. In the sentence "John is the boy who
took my book," who is a relative pronoun ; its antecedent is boy; it
introduces the thought who took my hook ; it connects this thought
with the first, John is the hoy. An interrogative pronoun is a pro-
noun used to ask a question. The principal interrogatives are
who, which, and what. An adjective pronoun is one that may some-
times serve as an adjective, sometimes as a pronoun. It possesses
the qualities of both a pronoun and an adjective, — it may stand
for a person, a place, or a thing, or it may modify the meaning of
a noun. There are two classes of adjective pronouns: Definite
and Indefinite. This and that, these and those are the definite
adjective pronouns. They point out definitely; they are some-
times called demonstrative pronouns. The indefinite adjective
pronouns do not point out particular persons, places, or things.
They are as frequently adjectives as pronouns. The principal
ones are all, another, any one, hoth, each, either, every, many, neither,
none, one, other, several, some, such.
There are two classes of adjectives: desckiptive and limiting.
A descriptive adjective denotes some particular quality of the
noun or pronoun modified, as, — heautiful, gracious, smooth, weak.
A limiting adjective indicates some limitation of the noun or pro-
noun modified. A limiting adjective may be numeral, as, — one,
two, three, etc. ; first, second, third, etc. It may be definite, like
the definite adjective pronouns, as, — former, latter, same, that, this.
It may be indefinite, like the indefinite adjective pronouns, as, —
any, every, few, some. It may be interrogative, as, — whose, which,
what, — Whose hat? What news? A, an, and the are sometimes
grouped together as a separate part of speech and called articles.
The is a definite article; a and an are indefinite articles. A is
APPENDIX 361
used before consonant sounds, an before vowel sounds. Adjectives
are frequently derived from nouns, as, — A manly fellow. When
derived from proper nouns they are called proper adjectives, as, —
A Roman law.
There are three classes of verbs: transitive and intransitive,
and COPULATIVE. A transitive verb is one whose action passes
over to a receiver of the action. An intransitive verb is one whose
action does not pass over to a receiver of the action. In the sen-
tence " John struck Bill," struck is a transitive verb because the
action it denotes passes over to a receiver of the action, Bill. But
in " The cricket chirps," chirps is an intransitive verb, because
the action does not pass over to a receiver of the action. A copu-
lative verb is a verb that connects a word or a group of words with
another word or group of words that means the same or that is
explanatory. Its office is one of connection as well as assertion.
It requires the same case after it as before it. The principal copu-
latives are am, appear, are, be, become, can be, have been, is, may
be, must be, seem, was, were. In He is the man, man means the same
as He, and is is a connective or copulative verb. It is sometimes
called copula or verb of incomplete predication.
Adverbs are classified, first, according as they indicate place,
TIME, MANNER, DEGREE, REASON, that is, accordiug as they tell
where, when, how, to what extent, why. The following adverbs
illustrate these various kinds in order : — there, today, cleverly,
very, because. Adverbs are classified, again, according to their
form : a simple adverb is one that consists of but one word, as, —
suddenly, happily. A phrasal adverb is one that consists of two or
more words used as one adverb, as, — arm in arm, by and large, now-
adays, now and again. Adverbs are frequently used to connect
while indicating at the same time place, time, manner, degree,
or reason. So used, they are called conjunctive adverbs or adver-
bial conjunctions. The principal adverbs of connection are as,
because, for, how, if, since, though, when, whenever, where, wherever,
while. In "He came in while I was playing the piano," while
indicates time ; it also connects the first thought of the sentence,
He came in, with the second, / was playing the piano. It is there^
362 APPENDIX
fore used both as an adverb and a conjunction. A negative adverb
is one that denotes negation or opposition. The principal nega-
tive adverbs are not and never. There is sometimes called an
expletive or an introductory adverb. Yes and no are sometimes
called responsive adverbs.
There are two general classes of conjunctions: coordinate
and SUBORDINATE. A coordinate conjunction is one that con-
nects words or groups of words of equal rank. The principal co-
ordinates are and, hut, either — or, neither — nor, not only — hut also.
The last three named are called correlatives because they usually
occur in pairs. A subordinate conjimction is one that connects
word groups of unequal rank. The principal subordinates are
hecause, except, if, since, than, though, unless, while, when, where,
and the other conjunctive adverbs named above. Subordinate
conjunctions that consist of more than one word are called phrasal
subordinates, as, — in order that, as soon as, as though.
There are three general classes of prepositions: simple, com-
pound or DERIVED, and phrasal. A simple preposition consists of
but a single word, as, — after, against, at, by, for, from, in, of, on, over,
through, to, with. A compound or derived preposition is one that
consists of two or more words long used as one or made up from
other parts of speech, as, — across, concerning, into, notwithstanding,
underneath, without. A phrasal preposition is one that consists
of two or more separate words used to establish one relation, as, —
for the sake of, in spite of, instead of, on account of, out of.
There are two classes of interjections: simple and phrasal.
A simple interjection consists of but a single word, as, — Alas !
Hush! Ugh! A phrasal interjection consists of more than one
word, as, — At last ! Dear 7ne ! Forgive me !
THE PARTS OF SPEECH — FORMS
The parts of speech undergo changes or inflections in order that
ideas and the relations among them may be expressed more accu-
rately. The changes or inflections of nouns and pronouns are called
person, number, gender, case. The inflections of verbs are called
APPENDIX 363
voice, mood, tense, number, person. The inflection of adjec-
tives or adverbs is called comparison, — the positive, comparative,
and superlative degrees of comparison. Prepositions, conjunctions,
and interjections are not inflected. English words used to be
much more highly inflected than now. As language grows and
develops it tends to simplify its forms. Nouns, for instance, were
formerly inflected to indicate person, but they have outgrown this
inflection. They used to have four different case forms; now
they have but two.
The Inflection of Nouns and Pronouns
Person indicates whether the person speaking, the person spoken
to, or the person spoken of, is indicated by a noun or a pronoun, —
the first person, the second person, and the third person, respec-
tively.
Number indicates one or more than one. The singular number
means one ; the plural number, more than one. Most nouns form
their plurals by adding s to the singular, as, — boy, boys; view, views.
Nouns ending in a soft sound, such as ch, j, s, sh, x, z, form their
plurals by adding es to the singular, as, — church, churches; fish,
fishes; annex, annexes.
Most nouns ending in o preceded by a consonant form their
plurals by adding es to the singular, as, — potato, potatoes; cargo,
cargoes; grotto, grottoes; echo, echoes. Most nouns ending in o
preceded by a vowel form their plurals by adding s to the singular,
as, — folio, folios; cameo, cameos. It must be remembered that
there are many exceptions to the final o rule, as, — solos, autos,
halos, pianos, Eskimos, sopranos.
Nouns ending in y preceded by a consonant form their plurals
by changing the y toi and adding es, as, — country, countries; cry,
cries; enemy, enemies. Nouns ending in y preceded by a vowel
form their plurals in the regular way, by the addition of s, as, —
days, plays, monkeys, turkeys.
Some nouns ending in / or fe form their plurals by changing / to
V and adding es, as, — calf, calves; leaf, leaves; loaf, loaves; half,
halves ; staff, staves (sticks) ; wife, wives. It must be remembered. that
364 APPENDIX
there are certain exceptions to this rule, as, — hoofs, scarfs, staffs
(officers) .
The plural of certain nouns is indicated by an internal change, or
by other changes, not easily classified, as, — foot, feet; goose, geese;
man, men; mouse, mice; child, children; ox, oxen; woman, women.
Certain foreign nouns retain their foreign plurals, others adopt
the English plural formation, still others form their plurals in either
way, as, — focus, foci; ultimatum, ultimata; medium, mediums {media
is going out of use) ; memorandum, memorandums {memoranda is
going out of use) ; index, indexes or indices; vortex, vortexes or vor-
tices.
The plural of compound words is formed regularly, as, — cupful^
cupfuls; handful, handfuls. The plural of hyphenated words is
usually formed by adding s to the most important member of the
combination, as, — sons-in-law, waste-baskets, courts-martial, ser-
geants-at-arms.
Gender indicates sex. Masculine gender means male ; feminine
gender, female ; neuter gender, no sex, as, — book, tool; common
gender, either male or female, as, — child, flock, herd.
Certain nouns indicate masculine and feminine gender by differ-
ent words, as, — man, woman; boy, girl; beau, belle; drake, duck;
son-in-law, daughter-in-law. Certain other nouns indicate the
feminine gender by means of making a terminal change in the mas-
culine form, as, — count, countess; patron, patroness; waiter, waitress;
hero, heroine; executor, executrix.
Case indicates the relation of a noun or a pronoun in regard to
verbs and prepositions. The nominative case denotes that a noun
or a pronoun may be used as subject of a sentence, as predicate
nominative, as nominative of exclamation, as nominative absolute,
as nominative by direct address, and as appositive or in apposition
with a noun or a pronoun in the nominative case.
The objective case denotes that a noun or a pronoun may be
used as object of a verb, as indirect object, as objective comple-
ment, as object of a preposition, as adverbial objective, as subject
of an infinitive, and as appositive or in apposition with a noun or
pronoun in the objective case.
APPENDIX
365
The possessive case denotes possession. The possessive oi
singular nouns is formed by adding 's, as, — The boy's hat. The
possessive of plural nouns ending in s is formed by adding the apos-
trophe only, as, — The girls' hats. The possessive of plural nouns
not ending in s is formed by adding the 's, as, — Men's suits.
Women's dresses. The people's vote.
If the singular form of a noun ends 'in s or a; it is permissible to use
the apostrophe without the s in indicating the possessive case, in
order to avoid an awkward hissing sound, as, — Dickens' works.
For goodness" sake. The Earl of Sussex' death.
The sign of possession is always placed nearest to the name of
the thing possessed. In a series of words and in hyphenated words
it is indicated on the last, as, — My father-in-law's business. My
brother and sister's marks.
A pronoun must agree with its antecedent in person, number,
and gender. All of the inflections of personal pronouns are indi-
cated in the following table. Such an arrangement or table is
called a declension. When you give in order all the inflections of
a noun or a pronoun, you are said to decline it.
First Person
NOMINATIVE CASE *. I
my or
mine
me
POSSESSIVE CASE :
OBJECTIVE CASE
SINGULAR
Second Person
you thou
your or
yours
you
thy or
thine
thee
Third Person
he, she,' it
his, her, or hers,
its
him, her, it
PLURAL
NOMINATIVE CASE:
POSSESSIVE case:
OBJECTIVE case:
First Person
we
our or ours
us
Second Person
you
your or yours
you
Third Person
they
their or theirs
them
The relative pronoun who is declined as follows in both numbers
for all persons : —
366 APPENDIX
NOMINATIVE CASE: who
POSSESSIVE case: whose
OBJECTIVE case: whom
That and which are not inflected. Whose is sometimes given as
the possessive of which, but it should be used rarely. The phrase
of which should be used to denote possession in relation to animals
and things, unless they are personified, in which case who may be
used.
The Inflection of Adjectives and Adverbs
The positive degree denotes the simple, uncompared form of
an adjective and an adverb. The comparative degree denotes
the comparison of two persons, places, or things. The superlative
degree denotes the comparison of three or more persons, places,
or things. The simpler adjectives and adverbs, those of one or
two syllables, form the comparative degree by adding r or er to
the positive, and the superlative by adding st or est to the positive.
Longer adjectives and adverbs, those of three syllables or more,
to which these suffixes cannot be added easily, form the compara-
tive by using the word more, the superlative by using the word most.
Positive
Comparative
Superlative
beautiful
more beautiful
most beautiful
happy
happier
happiest
sincerely
more sincerely
most sincerely
soon
sooner
soonest
Certain adjectives and adverbs do not admit of comparison, as, —
dead, octagonal, squarely, unique, universally. The following irreg-
ular comparisons should be studied : —
Superlaiive
worst
farthest
Positive
Comparative
bad
evil
worse
ill
far
farther
APPENDIX
367
Positive
fore
forth
hind
in
late
little
many
much
near
nigh
old
out
up
Comparative
former
further
hinder
inner
J later
\ latter
• less
more
nearer
nigher
r older
I elder
j outer
\ utter
upper
Superlative
j foremost
I first
furthest
r hindmost
1 hindermost
( inmost
I innermost
j latest
I last
least
most
nearest
j nighest
Inext
r oldest
I eldest
j outmost or outermost
I utmost or uttermost
j upmost
1 uppermost
The Inflection of Verbs
Voice denotes whether the subject of a verb is acting or acted
upon. Active voice represents the subject as acting, as, — He
struck the man. Passive voice represents the subject as acted
upon, as, — He was struck by the man.
Mood denotes the manner of assertion made by a verb. The
indicative mood is used for simple declarative or interrogative
expressions, as, — I go. Is he well f The subjunctive mood is used
for the expression of a wish, a doubt, a fear, a supposition, a condi-
tion. It is usually preceded by if, as, — If I were you I would go.
The potential mood is used for the expression of probability,
possibility, ability, obligation, necessity. May, can, must, might,
368 APPENDIX
could, would, should are signs of the potential, as, — I may go.
He must come. I could do it. When these words are used to ex-
press desire, doubt, fear, supposition, condition, they are signs of sub-
junctive mood. The imperative mood is used for the expression
of command or entreaty. The subject of an imperative verb is
in the second person and it is usually understood.
Tense denotes the time of action expressed by a verb. The
present tense denotes present time, as, — / walk. He runs. The
past or imperfect tense denotes past time, as, — / walked. He ran.
(A verb that forms its past tense by the addition of dor edis called
regular or weak, as, — walked. A verb that forms its past tense by
means of some internal change is called irregular or strong, as, —
ran.) The future tense denotes future time, as, — / shall walk. He
will run. (To denote simple future time, shall is used in the first
person, and will in the second and third. To denote determination,
resolution, threatening, or consenting, willis used in the first person,
and shall in the second and third. In asking a question shall is
always used with the first person. With the second and third
persons, shall should be used in asking a question if shall is expected
in the answer ; mil, if will is expected in the answer, as, — Will you
go? I will. Shall they be admitted f They shall. Should and
would follow the rules for shall and will.) The perfect or present
perfect tense denotes action as completed at the present time,
as, — / have walked. He has walked. Tht pluperfect or past
perfect tense denotes action as completed in past time, as, —
/ had walked. He had run. The future perfect tense denotes
action that is to be completed at some future time, as, — / shall
have walked. He will have run. Note that in forming the future,
perfect, pluperfect, and future perfect tenses, more than one verb is
necessary to indicate the time of the action definitely. The last
verb in the combination is called the principal or notional verb;
the verb (or verbs) preceding it, the auxiliary or helping verb.
Shall and will are the auxiliaries of the future tense; have, of the
present perfect; had, of the past perfect; shall and will and have of
the future perfect.
The infinitive is a verbal form that names or denotes action but
APPENDIX 369
does not assert it. It may be used as a noun, as an adjective, or
as an adverb. The infinitive form of the verb is always preceded
by to, as, — to walk, to run, to see. The infinitive should not be split
by placing a word between to and the verb. To sit quietly is correct;
to quietly sit, incorrect. To is sometimes understood before the
infinitive when used after the verbs make, please, let, bid, need, dare,
feel, have, keep, see, as, — help him {to) do it. See them (to) play.
Please (to) close the door. The infinitive thus formed is called
elliptical. The infinitive has two tenses only, the present and the
perfect, as, —
Active Passive
PRESENT : to love to be loved
PERFECT : to have loved to have been loved
The gerund is a verbal form ending in ing, that names or denotes
action but does not assert it. It is therefore similar to the infini-
tive, the suffix ing taking the place of to. The gerund is used as
a noun, as, — Running is good exercise. I like walking. It is some-
times, though rarely, used as an adjective or an adverb, as, — Prac-
ticing hours are precious. They went picnicking. It may be modi-
fied by an adverb, as, — Eating too rapidly is dangerous. It may
take an object, as, — They enjoy studying their lessons. The gerund
is sometimes used as an almost pure noun. As such it may not
take an object and it may be modified by an adjective or a pronoun.
In this use it is called a verbal noun, — His wonderful playing moved
them. I liked his reading.
The participle is a verbal form ending in ing that names or de-
notes action but does not assert it. It is similar to both the infini-
tive and the gerund. It is used, like an adjective, to modify a
noun or a pronoun, as, — Running through the passage, John fell.
The car, decorated with flowers, began to move. The voices and
tenses of gerunds and participles are as follows : —
Active
Passive
PRESENT :
PAST :
loving
loved
being loved
loved
PERFECT :
2b
having loved
having been loved
370
APPENDIX
The person and number of a verb are the same as the person and
number of its subject. It should be noted that verbs in the third
person singular of the present and perfect tenses have a special
inflection. This special inflection for verbs ending in y follows the
rule for the formation of the plural of nouns ending in y (page 363).
Infinitives, gerunds, and participles have no person and number.
The conjugation of the verb is the orderly statement of all its
forms to show voice, mood, tense, number, and person.
A synopsis of the verb is the statement of one person and number,
or of one person and both numbers, in every tense of the conjuga-
tion. There are three conjugations of the English verb: Simple,
Emphatic, Progressive. The simple conjugation asserts action
as complete. It can be formed in all moods and tenses, in both
voices. The following is a synopsis in the simple conjugation, third
person, singular, active of the verb love: —
Indicative Mood
Svhjunctive Mood
PRESENT :
He loves
If he love
past:
He loved
If he loved
FUTURE :
He will love
If he will love
PERFECT :
He has loved
If he have loved
PAST perfect:
He had loved
If he had loved
FUTURE PERFECT : He will have loved
If he will have loved
Potential Mood
Imperative Mood
PRESENT :
He may love
None in third person
past:
He might love
Second person ^ present
PERFECT :
He may have loved
would be — Love (you)
PAST perfect:
He might have loved
Infinitives
Participles
PRESENT :
to love
present: loving
PERFECT :
to have loved
PAST : loved
perfect : having loved
The passive voice of the simple conjugation is formed by adding
the past participle to every form of the verb 6e, —
APPENDIX
371-
PRESENT :
past:
FUTURE :
PERFECT :
PLUPERFECT :
FUTURE perfect:
Indicative Mood
I am loved
I was loved
I shall be loved
I have been loved
I had been loved
I shall have been loved
The emphatic conjugation emphasizes the assertion of action
by means of the auxiUary verb do. The emphatic conjugation
occurs only in the present and past tenses, indicative mood, active
voice, —
Present
I do walk We do walk
You do walk You do walk
He does walk They do walk
Past
I did walk We did walk
You did walk You did walk
He did walk They did walk
The progressive conjugation asserts action as continuing or pro-
gressing. It is formed by adding the present participle to every
form of the verb be, —
Indicative Mood
present : I am walking
PAST : I was walking
perfect: I have been
walking
pluperfect : I had been walk-
ing
FUTURE : I shall be walking future perfect : I shall have been
walking
The parts of a verb are the present and past tenses indicative,
and the present and past participles, —
Present Indicative Past Indicative Present Participle Past Participle
awake
awoke
awaking
awaked
begin
began
beginning
begun
break
broke
breaking
broken
burst
burst
bursting
burst
choose
chose
choosing
chosen
come
came
coming
come
372 APPENDIX
Present Indicative Past Indicative Present Participle PastPartici
destroy destroyed
destroying
destroyed
dive dived
diving
dived
do did
doing
done
drink drank
drinking
drunk
eat ate
eating
eaten
fly flew;
flying
flown
get got
getting
got
go went
going
gone
lay laid
laying
laid
lie lay
lying
lain
lie lied
lying
lied
prove proved
proving
proved
ride rode
riding
ridden
raise raised
raising
raised
rise rose
rising
risen
see saw
seeing
seen
shake shook
shaking
shaken
sing sang
suiging
sung
sit sat
sitting
sat
speak spoke
speaking
spoken
steal stole
stealing
stolen
swim swam
swimming
swum
take took
taking
taken
wake woke
waking
waked
write wrote
writing
written
A defective verb is one for which all these parts cannot be given,
Present Indicative Past Itidicative Present Participle Past Participle
beware
can
may
must
ought
shall
wiU
could
might
APPENDIX 373
A redundant verb is one that has more than one form for any-
one of these parts, —
Pres. Ind.
Past Ind.
Pres. Part. Past Part
light
flighted
\lit
lighting
lighted
lit
sUp
1 sUpped
[slipt
sHpping
slipped
slipt
stay
1 stayed
{ staid
staying
' stayed
staid
speak
spoke
spake
speaking
spoken
SYNTAX, ANALYSIS, PARSING
When the parts of speech — all or some of them — are so grouped
and related as to express a complete thought, they make a sentence.
(The different kinds of sentences are defined and classified on pages
138-141.) The principal parts of a sentence are the subject and the
predicate. The subject of a sentence is that about which something
is asserted. The predicate of a sentence is that which asserts some-
thing about the subject. The subject is always a noun or a pro-
noun or a word group used as a noun or a pronoun, and it is always
in the nominative case. The predicate is always a verb. The
simple svbject is the word that is used as subject; the complete
subject is this word with all of its modifiers. The simple predicate
is the verb that asserts the action; the complete predicate is this
verb with all its modifiers and complements.
A phrase is a group of words having neither subject nor predi-
cate, denoting but a single idea, and not making complete sense.
A clause is a group of words having a subject and a predicate
and forming a part of a sentence. If it makes complete sense, it is
called an independent clause. If it does not make complete sense
but depends upon another clause for completeness, it is called a
dependent clause. Phrases and dependent clauses may be used as
nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.
Syntax means the grammatical relation of a word, a phrase, or
a clause to another word or other words in a sentence. The word
374 APPENDIX
construction is sometimes used in the same sense. There are cer-
tain relations among words, phrases, and clauses as they are used in
sentences, that need to be understood before the syntax can be given.
A complement is a word, a phrase, or a clause that completes
the combined meanings of the subject and the predicate. The
object of a verb, sometimes called the object complement and also
the direct object, completes the predicate and receives the action
from it. It is always in the objective case. It may be a noun or
a pronoun, a phrase or a clause. The object of a verb in the passive
voice is called the retained object, as, — " He was given the position
of secretary." The indirect object, sometimes called dative object
or object of a preposition understood, points out to or for whom or
what an act is done. It may be a noun or a pronoun, it is always
in the objective case, and the preposition to or for is always under-
stood before it. It occurs most frequently after the verbs asked,
bring, build, give, go, lend, let, make, offer, pay, please, sell, teach, win.
The predicate nominative or predicate adjective, sometimes
called subjective or attribute complement, completes the predicate
and describes or explains the subject. It may be a noun, a pro-
noun, an adjective, or a phrase or a clause. It may be called predi-
cate noun, predicate pronoun, or predicate adjective. The predicate
noun or pronoun is always in the nominative case. The objective
complement, sometimes called factitive object, completes the predi-
cate and describes or explains the object. It is always in the ob-
jective case. It may be a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a phrase
or a clause. A noun or a pronoun used as objective complement
is always in the objective case, as, — " They made John president.^'
A modifier in a sentence is a subordinate word, phrase, or clause
that describes, defines, or limits other parts, such as the simple
subject, the simple predicate, the simple object, and so forth.
Word modifiers consist of adjectives, adverbs, pronouns in the
possessive case, and participles. Phrasal modifiers consist of prep-
ositional, infinitive, and participial phrases. Clausal modifiers
consist of adjective and adverbial clauses. A noun, a pronoun,
a gerund, a phrase, or a clause may be used as object of a preposi-
tion, and, so used, may be a phrasal modifier.
APPENDIX 375
A noun indicating measure, distance, direction, space, time, value
is called adverbial objective or a noun used adverbially. It is in
the objective case, with a preposition understood before it, and
modifies a verb, as, — " He walked a mile." *' I went home.''
A noun modified by a participle and not connected with any other
part of a sentence is called a nominative absolute or absolute
nominative, as, — " The train having come, they departed."
A word used for direct address is called nominative by direct
address or independent by direct address or vocative, as, — " John^
where are you going? "
A word used in an exclamatory way is called nominative of ex-
clamation or nominative independent, as, — ''A horse! A horse!
My kingdom for a horse! "
A noun meaning the same as another noun and used with it, is
called a noim in apposition or appositive noun, as, — " Larkins, the
lecturer, has just arrived." A noun or pronoun in apposition is
always in the same case as the noun or pronoun it explains.
In giving the syntax of a noun or a pronoun, the case and the
reason for the case should be given. In giving the syntax of an
adjective or an adverb, the word modified should be stated. In
giving the syntax of a verb, the subject (noun, pronoun, phrase, or
clause), the complement (if any), and the number and person should
be stated. In giving the syntax of a phrase or a clause, the state-
ment should follow the form for the noun, the adjective, or the
adverb whose office it fills. In giving the syntax of a preposition,
the words between which the relation is shown should be pointed
out. In giving the syntax of a conjunction, the kind of connection
the conjunction makes should be stated.
Sentence analysis means the examination of the various parts
of which a sentence is composed and the explanation of the
grammatical connection among those parts. In analyzing a
sentence, —
1. Tell what kind it is: simple, compound, complex; declara-
tive, interrogative, exclamatory, imperative.
2. Separate, define, and relate the various clauses in it (pro-
vided it is not a simple sentence).
376
APPENDIX
3. Point out subject, predicate, complements, simple and
complete. If the sentence contains clauses, point out subject,
predicate, and complements of each.
4. Explain and relate the various word modifiers in the sen-
tence.
5. Separate, define, and relate the various phrasal modifiers
in it.
Parsing means the statement in tabulated order of the classi-
fication and the forms of the part of speech parsed. In parsing
nouns and pronouns, state kind, person, number, gender. In
parsing adjectives and adverbs, state kind and degrees of compari-
son. In parsing verbs, state voice, mood, tense, number, person,
and tell whether regular or irregular, principal or auxiliary, transi-
tive or intransitive.
In the study of the common errors listed on pages 299 to 302,
Chapter V, it will be helpful for the pupil to identify each error with
the grammatical rule that covers it.
The following diagrams may be helpful in reviewing the rules
and explanations given above : —
Nouns
Kinds
Forms
Uses
Proper
Number
Subject
Common
Singular
Predicate nominative
Collective
Plural
Nominative absolute
Abstract
Gender
Nominative by direct address
Masculine
Nominative of exclamation
Feminine
Noun in apposition
Neuter
Object of verb
Common
Objective complement
Case
Indirect object
Nominative
Adverbial objective
Objective
Object of preposition
Possessive
Subject of infinitive
Modifier in possessive case
APPENDIX
377
Pronouns
Kinds
Forms Uses
Personal
Person Subject
Relative
First Predicate nominative
Interrogative
Second Nominative absolute
Adjective
Third Nominative by direct address
Definite
Number Nominative of exclamation
Indefinite
Singular Noun i
n apposition
Plural Object of verb
Gender Objective complement
Masculine Indirect object
Feminine Object of preposition
Neuter Subject of infinitive
Common Modifier in possessive case
Case
Nominative
Objective
Possessive
Adjectives
Kinds
Forms
Uses
Descriptive
Comparison
Modifier of noun
Limiting
Positive degree
Modifier of pronoun
Numeral
Comparative degree
Modifier of word group
Definite
Superlative degree
used as a noun or
Indefinite
pronoun
(Articles)
Certain definite
Predicate adjective
Proper
and indefinite
Person
Number
Gender
adjectives,
sometimes used
as pronouns, are
inflected for per-
*
son, number,
and gender.
378
APPENDIX
Verbs
Kinds
Transitive
Intransitive
Copulative
Forms
Voice
Active
Passive
Mood
Indicative
Subjunctive
Potential
Imperative
Tense
Present
Past
Regular
Irregular
Future
Perfect
Past perfect
Future perfect
Auxiliary
Principal
Person
First
Second
Third
Number
Singular
Plural
Infinitives
Gerunds
Participles
Conjugation
Simple
Emphatic
Progressive
Defective
Redundant
Uses
Formation of predicate
Infinitive, as noun, adjective,
adverb
Gerund, as noun, adjective,
adverb
Participle, as adjective
APPENDIX 379
Adverbs
Kinds
Forms
Uses
Place
Comparison Modifier of verb
Time
Positive degree Modifier of adverb
Maimer
Comparative degree Modifier of adjective
Degree
Superlative degree To connect and introduce
Reason
clauses
Simple
Phrasal
Conjunctive
Negative
Expletive
Conjunctions
Kinds
Uses
Coordinate
To connect words, phrases,
Correlative
and clauses
Subordinate
Adverbial
Phrasal
Prepositions
Kinds
Uses
Simple
To establish relations among
Compound
words, phrases, and clauses
or Derived
»
Phrasal
Interjections
Kinds
Uses
Simple
To express strong feeling
Phrasal
380 APPENDIX
PRACTICE
(The following ten questions are used by permission of the New
York State Board of Regents.)
1. Write the following sentences correctly punctuated and capi-
talized : [5]
a. i dont expect to get the position he said but im going to
apply for it
b. we have read the following books little women grand-
fathers chair
2. Illustrate in sentences the correct use of the following.
(a) doesn't, (6) shall, (c) will, (d) done, (e) whom. [5]
3. Answer all parts of this question :
Martha Winthrop, a girl of fourteen, and her younger brother
kad been sent to look for the cows, which had gone far into the woods
extending behind the house.
The following are based on the foregoing selection :
a. Select [2] the clauses, classify [2] each clause as principal
(independent) or subordinate (dependent), and give
the syntax of the subordinate (dependent) clause. [2]
b. Classify the sentence as simple, complex, or compound. [1]
c. Give the syntax of girl, her, which. [3]
d. Select the adverbial phrases [4] and give the syntax of
each. [4]
e. Select an adverb [1], a present participle [1], a verb in the
passive voice [1], an adjective in the comparative de-
gree. [1]
/. Give the principal parts of sent, been, gone. [3]
4. Write five sentences, each of which shall illustrate a different
one of the following : (a) an infinitive phrase used as sub-
ject, (6) an adverbial clause, (c) a relative pronoun in the
objective case, (d) a substantive (noun) clause, (e) a prep-
ositional phrase used as an adjective. [10]
APPENDIX 381
5. Give the syntax of each italicized word in the following : [10]
Mr. James J. HiU, the noted railroad man, became an empire builder.
The northwest owes its development along certain lines to him. His
railroad was well known.
6. Rewrite the following in the past tense : (a) The kitten lies
in the sun, (6) The Httle bird sits on the branch of the
tree, (c) The car goes swiftly down the street, (d) The
spring rains do much good, (e) He lays the package on the
table. [15]
7. Analyze by diagram or otherwise the following sentence : [10]
After running another mile at high speed to get away from the
hounds, the doe thought that it would be safe to seek her fawn.
8. Answer a, b, and c :
a. As we approached the house we heard strains of gay music.
Contract the dependent clause in the foregoing sentence
into a participial phrase. [2]
6. The settlers organized a new form of government. Re-
write the foregoing sentence, changing the verb to the
passive voice. [2]
c. Use in a sentence the possessive plural of woman. [1]
9. Answer both a and 6 :
a. Illustrate in sentences the nominative, possessive, and
objective cases of the relative pronoun who. [5]
b. Write the plural of each of the following nouns : radius,
trout, solo, hero. [4]
10. Answer the following questions, using complete statements : —
(a) When did you see John? (b) Why did you do it?
(c) Who is it ? [Answer in the first person.] [6]
INDEX
A Pass in Hockey, illustration, 112.
About, 309.
Absolute nominative, 375.
Abstract noun, 359.
Accept, 311.
Active voice, 367.
Address, business letters, 132-133 ;
friendly letters, 18 ; on envelopes,
30-31.
Adjective, predicate, 374.
Adjective pronoun, 360.
Adjectives, classified, 360 ; defined,
359; errors in, 299 ; inflected, 366-
367 ; summarj' of, 377.
Adjustment letter, 120.
Admission, 308.
Admittance, 308.
Adverbial conjunction, 361.
Adverbial objective, 375.
Adverbs, classified, 361 ; defined,
359 ; errors in, 299 ; inflected, 366-
367 ; summary of, 379.
Affect, 311.
Allusion, 312.
Almost, 314.
American Education, quoted, 275.
Amount, 314.
Analysis, 373 ; of sentences, 375.
Angry, 309.
Antonym, 93.
Apostrophe, 350.
Application letters, 124-129.
Apposition, 375.
Archaic words, 93.
Argument (Lesson 37), 249.
Argument, planning of, 256-262.
Around, 309.
Around the Campfire, illustration,
336.
Articles, 360.
As, 313.
At, 309.
Austen, Jane, letter by, 230.
Auxiliary verb, 368.
Ayres, Leonard P., word list, 353-
358.
Back-sword, 172-173.
Balance, 316.
Balanced sentence, 141.
Ballad of the Oyster man, 78.
Beecking, Henry Charles, quoted,
213.
Beside, 309.
Besides, 309.
Bird Thoughts, 83.
Blind Men and the Elephant, 211.
Body, in letters, 17.
Borrow, 313.
Boy Scouts of America, quoted, 166,
173.
Brackets, 351.
Breaking the Bronco, illustration,
287.
Buddy and Waffles, 43.
Business letters (Lesson 16), 115.
Business letters, 115-134; address in,
132-133; closing, 18, 132; en-
velope, 132; forms in, 131-134;
salutation, 133.
"But Oh, the Sweetness, and Oh,
THE Light of the High-Fastidious
Night!" illustration, 268.
By, 309.
Calculate, 309.
Call of the Wild, story from, 54.
Can, 310.
Capitalization, 341-342.
Carroll, Lewis, letter by, 9.
383
384
INDEX
Case, 364.
Chaparral Prince, 32.
Character, 310.
Class grading, 330-331.
Clausal modifiers, 374.
Clause, 373.
Clear, How to be, 113.
Clearness in paragraphs, 190-193 ;
in sentences, 145-160 ; in speak-
ing, 220.
Clearness in speaking (Lesson 33),
220.
Closing, in letters, 17-18.
Coherence in sentences, 155-160.
Coined words, 92.
Collective noun, 359.
Colloquial words, 92.
Colon, 347.
Comma, 343-346 ; in letter parts, 22.
Common errors (see Errors),
Common gender, 364.
Common mispronunciations, 297-
298.
Common noun, 359.
Compare, 310.
Comparison, of adjectives and ad-
verbs, 366-367 ; in paragraphs,
193.
Complaint letter, 119.
Complements, 374.
Complete predicate, 373.
Complete subject, 373.
Complex sentence, 140.
Composition, corrected, 293-294.
Composition correction, 288-294.
Compound-complex sentence, 140.
Compound preposition, 362.
Compound sentence, 140.
Conjugation, 370.
Conjunctions, classified, 362 ; de-
fined, 359 ; errors in, 300 ; sum-
mary of, 379.
Conjunctive adverb, 361.
Connectives, 359.
Construction, in sentence, 374.
Consul, 310.
Contemptible, 310.
Contemptuous, 310.
Contrast, 310.
Contrast, in paragraph, 193.
Coordinate conjunction, 362.
Copula, 361.
Copulative verb, 361.
Corrected composition, 293-294.
Corrected letters, 291-292.
Correcting your own compositions
(Lesson 43), 288.
Correlative conjunction, 362.
Council, 310.
Counsel, 310.
Cummings, Amos J., quoted, 199.
Curious, 311.
Custom, 311.
Dash, 348.
David Copper field, quotation from,
202.
Day of Judgment, 64.
Declarative sentence, 139.
Declension, of pronouns, 365.
Defective verb, 372.
Degrees of comparison, 366.
Demonstrative pronoun, 360.
Dependent clause, 373.
Derived preposition, 362.
Description (Lesson 28), 197.
Description of people (Lesson 30),
208.
Description, planning, 201.
Descriptive adjective, 360.
Details, in paragraph, 192.
Diacritical marks, 96-98.
Dialectic words, 94.
Dickens, Charles, quoted, 10, 202.
Dictionary (Lesson 13), 95.
Dictionary, abbreviations in, 97 ;
diacritical marks, 96.
Direct address, nominative, 375.
Discover, 312.
Distance, 310.
"Don't Kill. Him, Don't Kill
Him, Chief I " illustration, 52.
Effect, 311.
Elliptical infinitive, 369.
Emigrant, 312.
Emphasis in the sentence (Lesson
36), 238.
INDEX
385
Emphasis; brevity, 242 ; position,
240; repetition, 238; special sen-
tences, 241 ; variety, 239.
Emphatic conjugation, 370, 371.
Envelope (Lesson 5), 28.
Envelope, 28-29, 132.
Errors, common, adjectives, 299 ;
adverbs, 299 ; conjunctions, 300 ;
prepositions, 300 ; pronouns, 299 ;
pronunciation, 104-106 ; sentences,
145-165; speech, 220-223, 297;
verbs, 301 ; use of words, 308-319.
Esteem, 311.
Estimate, 311.
Examinations, New York Regents,
334, 379.
Example, in paragraph, 192.
Except, 311.
Exclamation, nominative of, 375.
Exclamation mark, 348.
Exclamatory sentence, 139.
Explanation (Lesson 23), 165.
Explanation in paragraphs, 192 ;
methods of, 180 ; planning of,
175.
Expletive, 362.
Fallacy, in argument, 259.
Feminine gender, 364.
Few, 311.
Fields, James T., quoted, 77 ; poem
by, 269.
Fifty groups of words, commonly
misused, 308-317.
First appearance at the Odeon, 77.
First person stories, poetry, 83-84 ;
prose, 57-64.
Fix, 316.
Foreign words, 94.
Form in friendly letters (Lesson 2),
15.
Formal notes (Lesson 19), 134.
Forms, business letter, 131-134.
Friendly letters (Lesson 1), 8.
From My Study Window, 202 ; plan
of, 203.
Funny, 311.
Future perfect tense, 368.
Future tense, 368.
2c
Gender, 364.
General tests (Lesson 47), 328-337.
Gerund, 369.
Gilbert, W. S., poem by, 84.
Going Down Hill on a Bicycle, 213.
Grading, class, 330-331.
Grammar, review of, 358-381.
Granny Grammar's Party, 293-294.
Guest, Edgar A., poem by, 210.
Hahit, 311.
Hackneyed expressions, 302-303.
"Halt!" illustration, 228.
Havana, 199.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, quoted, 202.
"He Held Me Close and I Went
TO Sleep That Way, "illustration,
42.
Heading, in letters, 16.
Helping verb, 368.
Henry, O., story by, 32.
Her First Day at School, illus-
tration, 179.
Highwayman, 79.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, poem by,
78.
Homonym, 93.
Hood, Thomas, letter by, 14.
How to be clear (Chapter III), 113.
How to be convincing (Chapter IV),
229.
How to be interesting (Chapter II),
6.
How to be thorough (Chapter V),
288. .
Hxigh Wynne, story from, 57.
Hugh's School Days, 57.
Hughes, Thomas, quoted, 172.
Human, 312.
Humane, 312.
Huxley, Thomas Henry, quoted, 251.
Hyena's Howl, 199.
Hyphen, 351.
Illusion, 312.
Illustration, in paragraphs, 192.
Illustrations, A Pass in Hockey, 112
Around the Campfire, 336
Breaking the Bronco, 287
386
INDEX
"But Oh, the Sweetness and Oh,
THE Light of the High-Fastidi-
ous Night!" 268; "Don't Kill
Him, Don't Kill Him, Chief!"
52; "Halt!" 228; "He Held
Me Close and I Went to Sleep
That Way," 42 ; Her First Day
AT School, 179 ; Making a Goal,
144; "'Now Run, Run,' She
Cried," 59 ; On the Skis, 246 ;
"Out!" 207; Owl Against Robin,
266; Surf Board Riding, 196;
Tea for Five, 189 ; The Caddy,
200; The Tr.ul Blazers, 220;
Tobogganing, 89; "What a
Meal He Can Prepare!" 167;
"Votes FOR Women!" 276.
Immigrant, 312.
Imperative mood, 368.
Imperative sentence, 139.
Imperfect tense, 368.
Independent clause, 373.
Indicative mood, 367.
Indirect object, 374.
Infinitive, 368-369.
Interest in letters (Lesson 4), 26.
Interest in story telling (Lesson 11),
87.
Interest in words (Lesson 12), 91.
Interesting, How to be, 6.
Interjections, classified, 362 ; defined,
359 ; summary of, 379.
Interrogative pronoun, 360, 366.
Interrogative sentence, 139.
Intransitive verb, 361.
Introductory adverb, 362.
Invent, 312.
Irregular verb, 368.
Irving, Washington, quoted, 197.
It Couldn't Be Done, 210.
Its (It's), 314.
Johnston, Lincoln's letter to, 255.
Keller, Helen, quoted, 8, 169-172.
La Fitters Treasure Hunt, 173-174.
Language, customs of, 3 ; evolution
of, 1 ; laws of, 3.
Lanier, Sidney, poem by, 266.
Lay, 312.
Learn, 313.
Leave, 313.
Legend of Sleepy Hollow, quotation
from, 197.
Lend, 313.
Less, 311.
Let, 313.
Letter, address, 30-31 ; adjustment,
120; application, 124-129; Aus-
ten, Jane, 230 ; body of, 17 ; busi-
ness, 115-134; Carroll, Lewis, 9;
closing, 17-18 ; comma in, 22 ;
complaint, 119; convincing, 230-
235 ; corrected, 291-292 ; diagram
of parts, 20 ; Dickens, Charles, 10
friendly, 8-28 ; form in, 15 ; head
ing, 15-16; Hood, Thomas, 14
interest in, 26; Keller, Helen, 8
kinds of, 329 ; Lincoln, Abraham
13, 231, 255; newspaper, 234
order, 116-117; parts of, 18; pic-
ture, 19-20, 24 ; placement, 22-25
punctuation, 22-25; receipt, 118
recommendation, 231-234; salu-
tation, 16-17 ; signature, 18
special, 235 ; Stevenson, R. L., 11
Letters of application (Lesson 17), 123
Letters that convince (Lesson 34) , 230
Liable, 313.
Liberal Education and Where to Find
It, quotation, 251.
Lie, 312.
Like, 313.
Likely, 313.
Limiting adjective, 360.
Lincoln, Abraham, letters by, 13,
231, 255.
Lists, word, 352-358.
Loan, 313.
London, Jack, story by, 64.
Loose, 313.
Loose sentence, 140.
Lose, 313.
Macy-Norris, quoted, 250.
Mad, 309.
Making a Goal, illustration. I- -f.
INDEX
387
Making paragraphs clear (Lesson 27) ,
190.
Making sentences clear — unity (Les-
son 21), 145.
Making sentences clear — coherence
(Lesson 22), 155.
Many, 314.
Marks, diacritical, 96-98.
Masculine gender, 364.
Masefield, John, quoted, 219.
May, 310.
Methods of explanation, 180.
Mispronunciations, common, 297-
298.
Mitchell, S. Weir, story by, 57.
Modifier, 374.
Modifiers, 359.
Mood, 367-368.
Moroso, John A., story by, 43.
Mosses from an Old Manse, quota-
tion from, 202.
Most, 314.
Mr. Nobody, 214.
Much, 314.
Near, 309.
Negative adverb, 361.
Neuter, 31.
Neuter gender, 364.
New Testament, story from, 56.
New York Regents examination, 334,
379.
Nominative absolute, 375.
Nominative case, 364.
Nominative by direct address, 375.
Nominative independent, 375.
Nominative of exclamation, 375.
Nominative, predicate, 374.
None, 314.
Notional verb, 368.
Noun in apposition, 375.
Nouns, classified, 359 ; defined, 359 ;
inflected, 363-364 ; summary of,
376.
'"Now Run, Run,' She Cried,"
illustration, 59.
Noyes, Alfred, poem by, 79.
Number, 314.
Number, 363.
Object, of verb, 374.
Objective case, 364.
Objective complement, 374.
Obsolete words, 93.
Old Man and Jim, 74.
On the Skis, illustration, 246.
On writing and speaking (Chapter 1),
1.
Order, in club meetings, 277.
Order letters, 116-117.
Ordering a Uniform, 175.
Other methods of explanation (Les-
son 25), 180.
"Out!" illustration, 207.
Owl Against Robin, illustration,
266.
Owl Against Robin, 266.
Parable of Talents, 56 ; plan of, 71.
Paragraph (Lesson 26), 184.
Paragraph, clearness in, 190-193 ;
development of, 191-193.
Paragraphs that convince (Lesson
40), 271.
Parentheses, 350.
Parliamentary order, 277.
Parsing, 373 ; of different parts of
speech, 376.
Part, 314.
Participle, 369.
Particulars, in paragraph, 192.
Parts of letter, 18-20.
Parts of speech, definitions, 358;
forms, 362 ; kinds, 359 ; summary
of, 376-379.
Parts of verb, 371-372.
Party, 315.
Passive voice, 367, 370-371.
Past tense, 308.
People, description of, 208.
Perfect tense, 368.
Period, 343.
Periodic sentence, 141.
Person, 315.
Person, 363.
Personal pronoun, 359, 365.
Phrasal adverb, 361.
Phrasal conjunction, 362.
Phrasal interjection, 362.
388
INDEX
Phrasal modifiers, 374.
Phrasal preposition, 362.
Phrase, 373.
Picture, in letters, 19-20, 24.
Placement of letter parts, 22-25.
Planning, argument, 256 ; descrip-
tion, 201; explanation, 175-177;
speaking, 280 ; story, 70.
Planning a description (Lesson 29),
201.
Planning a story (Lesson 8), 70.
Planning an argument (Lesson 38),
256.
Planning an explanation (Lesson 24) ,
175.
Pluperfect tense, 368.
Plural number, 363 ; poem about,
227.
Poetry that argues (Lesson 39), 265.
Poetry, that argues, 265-271 ; Owl
Against Robin, 266 ; The Owl Critic,
269 ; that explains and describes,
210-215 ; Going Down Hill on a
Bicycle, 213 ; It Couldn't Be Done,
210 ; Mr. Nobody, 214 ; The Blind
Men and the Elephant, 211 ; that
tells stories (first person) , 83-84 ;
Bird Thoughts, 83 ; Yam of the
'Nancy Bell,' 84; (third person),
74-83 ; Ballad of the Oysterman,
78 ; First Appearance at the Odeon,
77 ; Highwayman, 79 ; Old Man
and Jim, 74.
Poetry that explains and describes
(Lesson 31), 210.
Portion, 314.
Position, in paragraphs, 272.
Possessive case, 365.
Potential mood, 367.
Predicate, 373.
Predicate adjective, 374.
Predicate nominative, 374.
Prefix, 283.
Prepositions, classified, 362 ; defined,
359 ; errors in, 300 ; summary of,
379.
Present perfect tense, 368.
Present tense, 368.
Principal verb, 368.
Progressive conjugation, 370, 371.
Pronouns, classified, 359-360; de-
fined, 359 ; errors in, 299 ; inflected,
36.3-366 ; summary of, 377.
Pronunciation of troublesome vowels
and consonants, 104-106.
Proper adjective, 361.
Proper noun, 359.
Prose stories, first person, 57-64 ;
third person, 32-56.
Provincial words, 94.
Punctuation, 343-351 ; in letter
parts, 22-25.
Punctuation and placement of letter
parts (Lesson 3), 22.
Quantity, 314.
Question mark, 348.
Quotation mark, 349.
Raise, 315.
Real, 315.
Reasons, in paragraph, 192.
Rebuttal, 261.
Receipt letter, 118.
Reckon, 309.
Recollect, 316.
Recommendation, letters of, 231-232.
Redundant verb, 373.
Regard, 315.
Regents examinations. New York,
334.
Regular verb, 368.
Relation, 315.
Relative, 315.
Relative pronoun, 360, 366.
Remainder, 316.
Remember, 316.
Remit, 316.
Repair, 316.
Reputation, 261.
Reputation, 310.
Respect, 315.
Responsive adverb, 362.
Retained object, 374.
Review of grammar, 358-381.
Right use of words (Lesson 15), 108.
Riley, James Whitcomb, poem by,
74.
INDEX
389
Rise, 315.
Russell Sage Foundation word list,
353-358.
Sage Foundation word list, 353-358,
Salutation, in letters, 16-17.
Saxe, John Godfrey, poem by, 211.
Schoolroom, 202-203 ; plan of, 203.
Schultz-Gerhard, E., quoted, 275.
Semicolon, 346.
Send, 316.
Sentence (Lesson 20), 138.
Sentence, emphasis in, 238 ; kinds of,
139-141 ; topic, 191.
Sentences, testing of, 320-322.
Set, 316.
Shall, 368.
Signature, in letters, 18.
Simple adverb, 361.
Simple interjection, 362.
Simple predicate, 373.
Simple preposition, 362.
Simple sentence, 139.
Simple subject, 373.
Singular number, 363.
Sit, 316.
Slang, 93.
Speaking, 1, 103-104; clearness in,
220 ; to convince, 276 ; unpre-
pared, 279.
Speaking (Lesson 14), 103.
Speaking to convince (Lesson 41),
276.
Special business letter forms (Lesson
18), 131.
Special letters (Lesson 35), 235.
Speech, parts of, definitions, 358 ;
forms, 362 ; kinds, 359 ; summary
of, 376-379.
Speech, testing of, 297.
Spelling terrors, two hundred, 352-
353.
Standard words, 92.
Stay, 317.
Stevenson, R. L., letter by, 11.
Stop, 317.
Stories, first person (poetry) , 83 ;
Bird Thoughts, 83; Yarn of the
''Nancy Bell,'' 84; (prose) Day of
Judgment, 64 ; Hugh's School Days,
57 ; third person (poetry) ; Ballad
■of the Oysterman, 78 ; First Ap-
pearance at the Odeon, 78 ; High-
wayman, 79 ; Old Man and Jim,
74 ; (prose) Buddy and Waffles, 43 ;
Chaparral Prince, 32 ; Parable of
the Talents, 56 ; To the Death, 54.
Stories in poetry told in the first
person (Lesson 10), 83.
Stories in poetry told in the third
person (Lesson 9), 74.
Stories in prose told in the first person
(Lesson 7), 57.
Stories in prose told in the third per-
son (Lesson 6), 32.
Story plans, 71.
Story telling, interest in, 87.
Strong verb, 368.
Subject, of sentence, 373.
Subjunctive mood, 367.
Subordinate conjunction, 362.
Substantives, 359.
Sufiix, 283.
SuBF Board Riding, illustration, 196.
Suspect, 317.
Suspicion, 317.
Synonym, 93.
Synopsis, of verb, 370.
Syntax, 373 ; of members of sentence,
375.
Talmage, T. De Witt, quoted, 199.
Tea for Five, illustration, 189.
Teach, 313.
Technical words, 92.
Tennyson, quoted, 208.
Tense, 368.
Testing your sentences (Lesson 46),
320.
Testing your speech (Lesson 44) , 297.
Testing your words (Lesson 45), 307.
Tests, general, 328-337.
The Caddy, illustration, 200.
The Owl Critic, 269.
The Seeing Hand, 169-172.
The Ship, quotation from, 219.
The Trail Blazers, illustration,
220.
390
INDEX
Third person stories, poetry, 74-79 ;
prose, 32-56.
Thorough, How to be, 288.
To the Death, 54; plan of, 71.
Tobogganing, illustration, 89.
Tom Brown's School Days, quotation
from, 172.
Topic sentence, 191.
Transitive verb, 361.
Trotty's Wedding Tour, story from, 64.
Two hundred spelling terrors, 352-
353.
Unity in sentences, 145-149.
Unless, 317.
Unprepared speaking, types of, 279.
Van Tassel Farm, 197.
Variety, in paragraphs, 273.
Verbal noun, 369.
Verbs, classified, 361 ; defined, 359 ;
errors in, 301 ; inflected, 367-373 ;
summary of, 378.
Very, 315.
Voice, 367.
Votes for Women, illustration, 276.
Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, story
by, 64.
Way, 310.
Weak verb, 368.
" What a Meal He Can Prepare ! '
illustration, 167.
What Is a Boy Scout? 166-169.
When, 317.
While, 317.
Will, 368.
Without, 317.
Word lists, 352-358.
Word modifiers, 374.
Words (Lesson 32), 215.
Words, antonym, 93 ; obsolete, 93 ;
archaic, 93 ; provincial, 94 ; coined,
92; right use of, 108-110; col-
loquial, 92 ; slang, 93 ; commonly
confused, 308 ; sources of, 282 ;
dialectic, 94 ; special, 217 ; foreign,
94; standard, 92; general, 217:
synonym, 93 ; homonym, 93 .
technical, 92; interest in, 91
testing, 307-317; that convince
281.
Words that convince (Lesson 42),
281.
World I Live In, quotation from, 169.
Writing, 1.
Yarn of the ''Nancy Bell,'* 84.
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