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ENGLISH COMPOSITION
BY
CHARLES LANE HANSON
Mechanic Arts High School, Bosk in
Editor of Carlyle's "Essay on Burns," "Representative
Poems of Robert Burns," and Macaulay's
"Life of Samuel Johnson 1 '
2. 3 2. 2-6
GINN & COMPANY
BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON
Copyright, 1908
By CHARLES LANE HANSON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
611.6
3E fte gtftenceum ^restg
CINN & COMPANY • PRO-
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A.
TO
MY MOTHER
ANNIE LANE HANSON
IN RECOGNITION OF
APPRECIATIVE AND INSPIRING
CRITICISMS
PREFACE
The purpose of this book is to present the main princi-
ples of English composition in so simple and practical a
form that the pupil will grasp them easily and will apply
them naturally in his daily work. Models that have stood
the test of the class room — some of them written by
pupils — -are furnished to stimulate him to do his best. He
is encouraged to make good use of the equipment he brings
from the lower schools, and, in a careful review, to appre-
ciate the practical value of the essentials of grammar.
Special stress is laid on the fact that the pupil who wishes
to acquire skill in the use of the mother tongue must not
rest satisfied with doing assigned tasks, — that in school
and out of school he must strive constantly to improve his
speech and his writing.
The plan of the book is determined by the purpose. The
first three chapters are introductory. They show that com-
position is inevitable, yet attractive ; that the pupil's world
is so full of interesting subjects that he should have little
difficulty in finding something to say — his concern should
be rather to choose a limited subject ; that the writer
should constantly keep in mind the needs and the pleasure
of the reader.
The next four chapters deal in a preliminary way with
the whole composition, the paragraph, and the sentence,
and call attention to the importance of spelling and letter
writing. Some of the work in this last chapter may be
vi PREFACE
postponed until the pupil has studied with more care the
paragraph and the sentence.
The pupil is now ready for a more careful study of the
whole composition and the paragraph ; and in the chapters
on sentences and words he not only learns much that is new
to him, but also reviews grammar from a new point of view.
Finally he is encouraged to follow carefully arranged plans
in the construction of more ambitious compositions. From
the outset he writes narratives, descriptions, and exposi-
tions, but it does not seem wise to classify these papers un-
til the comprehensive treatment of the subject in Part Two
is reached. Here the three principal forms of prose compo-
sition are studied in detail, and sufficient attention is paid to
the preparation of an argument to meet the needs of debat-
ing societies or of those schools in which debating is taught.
For the convenience of those teachers who wish to give
their pupils the training which comes from correcting as
well as from writing themes, the author has included some
practical suggestions on the revision of written work.
Since, like the rest of us, the pupil is a better judge of
another's work than of his own, he may be taught to exam-
ine with fairness and discrimination the themes of his class-
mates. He may also learn, to revise his own careless writing
so that the result is satisfactory to the critic. The exercises
for this purpose are based on the fact that it is better to
fix the attention on a few matters rather than to divide it
among many. The pupil is asked, therefore, to apply one
new principle at a time, but he is also asked to apply the
old principles again and again, and through the combination
of old and new he accumulates, by the end of a year's work,
sufficient critical ability to enable him to make a reasonably
PRE* vii
thorough examination of a composition. In the course of
the first nine chapters the pupil is asked to enter in a note-
book twelve themes which have been criticised by other
pupils. The author's conviction is that it is not necessary
for the teacher to criticise all of these themes, but that it is
desirable to have the pupils use them as the basis of study.
If the pupil continues to add to his collection throughout
the course, he will have a considerable amount of written
work to which he and his classmates can turn from time to
time as they learn new principles and need to test them or
to apply them. Nothing stimulates the pupils more than
the certainty that they are making progress, and as they
scrutinize this store of material — on a spelling crusade,
on a search for sentences that are grammatically incom-
plete, on a hunt for paragraphs that need improving — there
comes, with their increased ability to recognize faults and to
correct them, a realization of their own growth.
The exercises are intended to relieve the busy teacher
at just those points where relief is most needed. Perhaps
in no one way will they be more serviceable than in secur-
ing the frank expression of the pupil's own thoughts and
feelings.
It is a pleasure to add that the author appreciates his
indebtedness to experienced teachers from all parts of the
country for valuable suggestions. The courtesy of pub-
lishers in giving him permission to reprint copyrighted
material is acknowledged in footnotes. In particular, he
is sincerely grateful to Dr. D. O. S. Lowell of the Roxbury
Latin School for reading the proof, and to Mr. Frank W. C.
11-rsey, instructor in English in Harvard University, for
his untiring assistance in various ways. C T H
PRE
CONTENTS
PART ONE
Chapter Page
I. Introduction to Composition i
II. The Choice of a Subject 8
III. The Manuscript ig
IV. The Paragraph as a Unit 27
V. The Sentence and its Punctuation .... 36
VI. Spelling 55
VII. Letter Writing 64
VIII. The Coherent Paragraph 87
IX. The Emphatic Paragraph 91
X. The Correct Sentence 98
XI. The Effective Sentence 131
XII. The Exact Word 142
XIII. The Forcible Word 152
XIV. Longer Compositions 167
PART TWO
XV. Narration 177
XVI. Description 192
XVII. Exposition 206
XVIII. Argument 217
Appendix: The Musical Reading ok Verse 231
Index 237
IX
ENGLISH COMPOSITION
PART ONE
<JnAPTLR I
23 2.2-6
INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION
1. The Meaning of Composition. If a friend says to you,
" I have enjoyed the vacation," he composes a sentence. He
puts words together in such a way that they express one
thought. If he spends ten minutes in telling you how he
has enjoyed the vacation, his talk, like his sentence, is a
composition; for he has put sentences together in such away
that they express one thought, — that is, how he has enjoyed
the vacation. Composition, then, as we have used the word,
means "putting things together so as to make one thing out
of them, the nature and goodness of which they all have a
share in producing. Thus a musician composes an air by
putting notes together in certain relations ; a poet composes
a poem by putting words and thoughts in pleasant order;
and a painter, a picture, by putting thoughts, forms, and
colors in pleasant order." 1
2. Oral Composition. On the street, in our homes, in the
history recitation, from morning till night, we are compos-
ing sentences. Each of these sentences may be called an
1 Ruskin, " The Elements of Drawing," letter iii.
I
2 INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION
oral composition. So any talk on one subject with the pur-
pose of calling attention to one thought — whether the talk
consists of a single sentence or of a thousand sentences — is
an oral composition. Every part of it contributes its share
toward making one thing, whether that one thing be sen-
tence or oration ; and it is of great importance that we
should so put our words together that our hearers shall get
the one thought or the one feeling which we try to give them.
3. Written Composition. At the same time we must be
able to compose in writing. As by talking a man learns to
talk readily, so by writing he learns to express himself with
accuracy. For all of us, moreover, some form of writing is a
part of the day's work, and it is for the sake of gaining the
ability to write well such notes and letters and reports and
other papers as we shall be called on to compose from time
to time, as well as for the sake of improving our speech,
that we study written composition.
EXERCISE
Answer the following questions orally :
i. For what reasons should the study of both oral and written
composition be interesting as well as valuable ?
2. Which of these two kinds of composition offers the better
opportunities for your teacher to help you ?
3. Which offers the better opportunities for you pupils to
help one another ?
4. Which are you likely to remember better, criticisms of your
speech or criticisms of your writing ?
If you would learn to write, there are just three steps to
take, — the ABC of writing: Open your eyes and your ears;
Think for yourself; Write.
(
WRITTEN COMPOSITION 3
I. Open your Eyes and your Ears
See and hear what is going on about you. How are you
to have something to say? You cannot possibly help it.
Tiny children use their eyes and their ears and then tell us
what they see and hear. If you cannot make a long story
out of a short one, tell the short one. If you have no im-
agination, or think you have none, do not for the present
undertake imaginative writing, but confine yourself to what
you see and hear. Open your eyes and your ears and then
share your experiences with others.
Read with open eyes. When we are very young, we
read merely for the sake of the story, or plot ; as we grow
more mature, we crave something more than excitement, —
we begin to appreciate little touches that make the differ-
ence between the commonplace and the beautiful. This
development of taste means everything to one who would
write well.
Read with open ears. One good test of a book is to
see whether it will bear reading aloud. The same test is
a capital one to apply to our own work. It is likely to call
attention to tiresome repetition of words or sounds, to
unnecessary words, and to awkward constructions. If we
would learn to write in a pleasing style, we should form
the habit of reading aloud and reciting prose which satisfies
the ear.
Your reading should be smooth. Much reading is jerky
and uncertain because we do not take pains to send the eye
ahead of the voice. If you will increase day by day the
number of words that you can retain with one glance, you
will make steady progress. Get a whole sentence if you can.
4 INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION
At any rate look through the sentence so carefully that you
can discriminate in your reading between the main thought
and the subordinate thought. If the sentence has a main
thought, it is your business to bring out that main thought
in your reading.
Your reading should be sympathetic. No matter how well
the author of your selection has clone his part of the work,
you still have an important part to do. You may have the
knowledge of an encyclopedia, but without the power to feel
you may not hope to interest your listeners. You must see
what the author saw, feel what he felt, and then get your
hearers to feel as you feel. '
Your reading should be musical. In order to please sen-
sitive ears the voice must adapt itself to the thought and
its expression. Like the perfect adjustment of words to
thoughts, the harmonious rendering of prose or verse is
something to strive for — an object all the more interest-
ing and fascinating because it is difficult to attain. We
are not so likely to connect musical reading with prose as
with verse,- — poetical composition, — but there is no reason
why we should not do so. In reading verse we must note
the regularity of the accent. In prose the ebb and flow is
neither so regular nor so noticeable. 1
To recite good English is no less important than to read
aloud. When you commit passages to memory, learn only
such selections as you are willing to live with for weeks,
to say over scores of times, to make your own. They will
become a part of you — therefore they should be valuable
in themselves ; they will help form your style of speaking,
and so of writing — therefore they should be illustrations of
1 For suggestions on the musical reading of verse see Appendix.
WRITTEN COMPOSITION 5
English that is clear, direct, simple; you are to make them
interesting — therefore you should make them your own
sentiments as really as if you had written them.
Having made such a choice, you will be almost sure to
make your delivery clear, interesting, and pleasing. First
of all you must have a thorough understanding of your
selection. Then you should read it aloud so many times
that you find yourself entering heartily into the spirit of it
— until it almost seems as if you had written it. Finally
you should rehearse it to some critic till he is satisfied that
the delivery is reasonably smooth and finished.
II. TJiink for Yourself
Whatever your subject, think for yourself. Then, and
then only, will your writing be your own ; it will have indi-
viduality ; it will be different from the work of anybody
else. Honest attempts to give the best expression to your
own thoughts will call out the most helpful criticisms from
your teacher. It is always a pleasure and often an inspira-
tion to work with a young writer who is eager to be himself
— not an echo of another person. Know a few things and
learn how to write about them so clearly that it will be
evident that you know them. Do a deal of vigorous think-
ing about other things, and if you write frankly, your work
will be likely to show that you have been thinking.
III. Write
A friend of yours can tell stories by the hour, but it
may be that he cannot easily write them. You gladly
tell your experiences to your brother, but you would be
6 INTRODUCTION TO COMPOSITION
slow about putting" on paper the material that you use so
freely in talking with him. Writing is largely a matter of
habit. Some of you who talk readily have not been accus-
tomed to writing. The words that come so eagerly when
you let the story tell itself halt on their way down the pen-
holder, lag behind, and fail to put in an appearance. This
you must not allow. Forget that you ever saw a grammar,
a rhetoric, or any other book about English, good or bad.
Write. Write for the sake of forming the habit of writing,
and don't let your pencil interfere with the torrent of words.
EXERCISES
1. Prepare to read to the class the selection from "The
Voyage," page 28. First read it aloud to yourself. Send
the eye ahead of the voice. If you stumble over a word, or
pause in the wrong place, read the sentence till you can read
it smoothly.
2. After preparing in a similar way the selection entitled
f Thackeray and the Oyster," page 180, read it to some
member of your family, or some friend who is likely to be
interested, and see whether you read it so as to please the
listener. Give the class an oral account of your experiment.
3. Read to the class the following selections :
1. "Baby's First Shoes," page 30.
2. Selection from " The Jungle Book," page 139.
3. " Nehushta," page 199.
4. "A Football Player," page 15.
5. Selection from "Enoch Arden," page 197.
6. "Incident of the French Camp," page 184.
4. Commit to memory that one of the selections men-
tioned in the preceding exercise which you consider best
ORAL AND WRITTEN 7
worth remembering. Recite it to the class as you would
if you had written it yourself.
5. Give the substance of what this chapter contains
under the three directions for learning to write. Make
careful preparation, so that you can speak without hesita-
tion. Feel free to express yourself in your own way. Do
not think that you must reproduce the language of the book.
Keep in mind the following plan :
I. Open your eyes and your ears.
i. See and hear what is going on about you.
2. Read
a. with open eyes.
b. to open ears,
(i) smoothly.
(2) sympathetically.
(3) musically.
3. Recite good English.
II. Think for yourself.
III. Write.
In preparing a composition, whether oral or written, it is
wise (1) to plan your work, and (2) to talk the subject over
with other persons. The more you talk about it, the more
likely you are to know just what you wish to say, and to
compose in a style that is smooth and agreeable.
CHAPTER II
THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT
The question is not " What shall I say?" but "What do I know?
What am I thinking about?"
4. Subjects based on Experience. In the course of time
you will have opportunities for investigating unfamiliar sub-
jects, but at first you will do well to tell what you have
seen and heard and done and been thinking about. Gradu-
ally you will learn how to make the most of good material.
EXERCISE
Discuss the possibilities of the following subjects. Make
a list of ten so revised that you can talk or write on them
to advantage. Keep the list, and add to it others suggested
by them.
i. A Walk.
2. The Cooking of Starchy Foods.
3. A Fallen Live Wire.
4. The Soldier in the Spanish War.
5. A Practical Joke.
6. An Accident.
7. The X Ray.
8. Things seen from the Train.
9. Daily Work at Home.
10. Work in School.
11. My Favorite Game.
12. A Runaway Steam Car.
13. Strange Things heard on a Fishing Trip.
s
BOOKS THAT SUGGEST GOOD SUBJECTS n
Pilgrim's Progress, The John Bunyan
Plutarch's Lives
Poor Richard's Almanac Benjamin Franklin
Prince and the Pauper, The .... Mark Twain
Quentin Durward Walter Scott
Ramona Helen Hunt Jackson
Rob Roy Walter Scott
Scott, Life of John G. Lockhart
Scottish Chiefs Jane Porter
Sharp Eyes W. H. Gibson
Standish of Standish Jane G. Austin
Tales from Shakespeare Charles Lamb
Tales of a Grandfather Walter Scott
Tales of a Traveler Washington Irving
Talisman, The Walter Scott
Tom Brown's School Days .... Thomas Hughes
Treasure Island Robert Louis Stevenson
Wake Robin John Burroughs
Wilderness Ways W. J. Long
Woodstock ' Walter Scott
EXERCISES
1. As you read the foregoing titles of books and the
names of the authors, you will think of subjects — books,
incidents, or characters — on which you have something to
say. For example, you may not have read "The Abbot,"
but the sight of Scott's name may remind you that you
have read "Quentin Durward" or " Ivanhoe " or "Kenil-
worth," and you may have some opinion not only of one of
these books as a whole, but of several incidents or char-
acters in it. Make a list of all such subjects.
2. Write the titles of all the books in the list that
you remember reading. Underscore once those which you
12 THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT
disliked, twice those which you liked fairly well, and three
times those which you are very glad you read. 1
6. Limited Subjects. After we have chosen a subject
which seems suitable, we may find that we lack both time
and space for a treatment of it which shall be satisfac-
tory either to ourselves or to our readers. Then it is that
we should consider whether we can make the whole sub-
ject as interesting as we can make a portion of it. We may
adopt either of two plans : we may discuss the^whole sub-
ject brietlv, or we may discuss a small part of the subject
fully. Let us examine both methods.
i. We may discuss the whole subject briefly. A pupil
who read "The President's Message" gave in his notebook
a summary of the whole message.
The President's Message
(December 7, 1S98)
The annual report of President McKinley was made public
last Monday. It is very long and every point is enlarged upon
too much. Still it is interesting reading.
He occupies half the report in telling about the late war, from
the time of the Cuban insurrection in 1895 to the signing of the
peace treaty in Paris.
He writes about the blowing up of the Maine, Dewey's victory,
Hobson's bravery, and the Sampson-Schley affair.
He then considers other subjects, such as our relations with
other countries, especially the South American republics.
The annexation of Hawaii is a subject to which he devotes
considerable space. The seizing of the Samoan group of islands,
on the death of the Samoan king, by the U.S.S. Adams, — which
1 If time serves, it will be interesting and suggestive to have some of these lists
read to the class.
LIMITED SUBJECTS 1 3
was only a wooden gunboat, — and the holding of it against a fleet
of German armorclads, is a feat worthy of notice.
He writes about our trade with China and India, and the want
of a large squadron of powerful war ships on the Pacific.
2. We may discuss a small part of the subject fully. In
the same notebook the writer, instead of reporting a lecture
on Japan as a whole, limited himself to a small part of the
subject, as follows :
Last evening I attended a lecture on Japan given by Miss
Mary A. Robinson, a missionary. She told some very entertain-
ing stories about the Japanese and their customs. I was par-
ticularly interested in her account of New Year's week. It is
proper to go visiting and to enjoy life at that time, but no work
should be done. In entertaining the visitors the host brings out
ten trays, each divided into partitions and each partition full of
food. It is customary merely to taste the food, but Miss Robin-
son, not knowing this, once ate until she could eat no more.
Still there were three full trays left. She thanked her host and
returned home, but judge of her astonishment on being told that
she had eaten the food which the servant had expected to last for
a whole week.
The Time Limit. In choosing a small part of the sub-
ject we can sometimes tell about something that happened
in a brief interval of time — perhaps something that hap-
pened in less time than it takes to tell it.
An Exciting Moment
Tust before the war of 1861 1 came as cabin boy from Liver-
pool to New York. One day as I stood on deck, looking in the
direction of my far-off home, I saw a speck in the distance, right
in our path. I watched it intently ; it grew larger and larger as
we neared it, and I soon saw that it was a man-of-war. At the
same time my curiosity was aroused by the general confusion on
14 THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT
our boat, so different from the quiet of a moment before. When
1 asked my friend, the second mate, what it all meant, he said,
" We are pursued by a hostile cruiser, and if you care for your life
you had better go to the cabin." Several women on deck heard
this remark, which was evidently meant for them as well as for
me, and hastened downstairs. I followed them. If* it was confu-
sion on deck, it was panic in the cabin. Every face was pale with
fear ; some talked, others wept.
Suddenly the cabin door opened and the burly captain walked
slowly in. He uttered the word "silence" so harshly that no one
dared do otherwise than obey. Then he called the men and
began to give orders. Every one was willing to do his part. Some
covered the name of the ship at the stern with canvas ; others
took the names off the bow. Each man seized the first thing he
saw which resembled a gun. Three men emptied a hogshead,
pulled it on deck, and beat it loudly. Across the water this
sounded much like a drum. All was bustle and hurry ; every one
was eagerly fulfilling the orders of the captain.
My curiosity got the better of my fear and I crept up on deck
again. The vessel was very near now, and the soldiers, standing
with guns pointed at me, sent a shiver through my whole body.
The vessel passed us several times, but as we kept some
distance from them, they could find no clew to our identity,
and finally, deciding that we were a man-of-war, left us un-
harmed.
The cabin boy's daughter wrote the incident as- her father
told it to her. The paper has been rewritten. The first
copy, entitled " From Liverpool to New York," tried to
tell of the entire trip on four pages of composition paper.
The recasting shows the value of a subject so limited that
the treatment may be full. Another pupil, who told in six
pages of her aunt's journey through Europe, vastly improved
her work by writing of the visit to a corner of Westminster
Abbey.
LIMITED SUBJECTS 15
In "An Exciting Moment " the title, as well as the sub-
ject, shows that the time is limited. In the following verses
note how limited the subject is — not the title. The author
does not attempt to describe the game ; he singles out one
man and admires him as he stands ready for the opponent
and then rushes to the attack. If you are interested in
football and will read the lines aloud with the vigor they
demand, you can hardly fail to enjoy them.
A Football Player
If I could paint you, friend, as you stand there,
Guard of the goal, defensive, open-eyed,
Watching the tortured bladder slide and glide
Under the twinkling feet ; arms bare, head bare,
The breeze a-tremble through crow-tufts of hair ;
Red-brown in face, and ruddier having spied
A wily foeman breaking from the side ;
Aware of him, — of all else unaware :
If I could limn you, as you leap and fling
Your weight against his passage, like a wall ;
Clutch him, and collar him, and rudely cling
For one brief moment till he falls — you fall :
My sketch would have what Art can never give —
Sinew and breath and body ; it would live.
E. C. Lefroy
If you were to make a piece of sculpture, how much of
this material could you use ? How much, if you were to
paint the picture ? Does the writer have any advantages
over the painter and the sculptor ?
It is probably evident that, as a rule, a composition is
more likely to be interesting if the subject is so limited
that the treatment may be full. Now and then a brief
1 6 THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT
outline of a large subject may be valuable, but usually the
narrower the subject the more likely are we to make our
account of it readable. The following list, which is taken
from a pupil's notebook, shows how easy it is to find such
subjects : The Race Riot in Wilmington, N.C., The Use of
the T Square, On the Way to School, Signing the Peace
Treaty, The Six Days' Race, The Fire Department on
the Way to the Fire, The Eclipse of the Moon, A Steam
Shovel, A Free Ride, The Police Ambulance, Senator
Hoar's Speech, Three Chapters of "Ivanhoe," In a Grocery
Store, Another Chapter of "Ivanhoe," Down Broadway
Hill, Three Chapters of " Ivanhoe," In the Carpenter Shop,
A Newsboy, A Horseless Carriage, Absent from School,
Shoveling Snow, Delay on the Bridge, A Glimpse of Presi-
dent McKinley, A Minstrel Show, The Store in which
I work on Saturdays, Our Hut, Chickens, A Horse, A
Hard Task, Two Happy Boys.
EXERCISES
1. Limit five of the subjects under section 4, page 8, so
that a small part of the subject may be discussed fully.
2. Apply the time limit to five of the subjects.
3. Make a list of prominent buildings, and in discussing
them show how subjects multiply if you take pains to make
the most of your material. If, for example, you consider
the possibilities of the public library, you may describe the
entrance, a room, a picture, a bookcase, or the librarian.
4. Make a list of all the indoor and outdoor games you
enjoy playing. 1
1 Most of the class will be able to add to their lists, if some of the longest lists are
written on the blackboard.
LIMITED SUBJECTS 1 7
5. Make a list of all the indoor and outdoor games you
enjoy watching.
6. Keeping in mind the suggestion about limited subjects,
cull from the foregoing lists those on which you have some-
thing to say. Arrange them so that they will be convenient
for reference.
7. Be prepared to write a secretary's report of the next
recitation in English. It is the duty of such a reporter to
pick out the important points and to give information about
them in a clear, concise way. Some matters he may pass
over, some he should merely mention, and others he should
treat fully. The following record, by the class secretary
for the day, explains itself.
Report of the English Class
(February 2S, 1905)
After Miss had read the secretary's report, Mr.
showed us a picture, " The Angelus," about which we had a little
talk the other day. Then he distributed some papers to be cor-
rected by the class.
Master read his account of Macaulay's early life and sev-
eral pupils criticised it.
To-day the following are to speak : Misses , , ,
, , and ; and Masters , , , ,
and . For to-day's lesson we are to write in our notebooks
what we know of the early life of Macaulay.
After giving out the lesson, the teacher asked how many of us
were familiar with several of Longfellow's poems, especially
" Evangeline " and "Hiawatha." He suggested that it would be
well for us to read some of the earlier poems, and asked us to
write in our notebooks what we could find about the poet's early
life. We are to look up the connection between "The Skeleton
in Armor " and the city of Fall River, and the difference between
1 8 THE CHOICE OF A SUBJECT
a ballad and a song. If we like, we may try our hand at a little
verse, just to see what we can do.
Respectfully submitted,
Annie M. Williams. 1
i Some teachers of English find it convenient to have such a report written in
connection with each recitation. An arrangement which has proved very satisfactory
is to set apart a notebook for such reports. In this notebook A writes his report of
to-day's recitation, reads it at the next recitation, and passes the book to B, who in
turn is secretary for the day and hands the book to C. Not only is the exercise a
good one, but the secretary's book is convenient both for calling attention to the
business of the day and for enabling a pupil who has been absent to find out just
what work he must make up.
CHAPTER III
THE MANUSCRIPT
"Manuscript, we believe, takes precedence of print. Most of us will
read a letter before we will read a book." — N. P. Willis.
7. Neatness. What cleanliness is to the man, neatness
is to the manuscript. Whether a paper has ten words or
ten thousand, whether it be a note to a friend or a petition
to the President of the United States, it should be neat and
attractive.
8. The Margin. There should be a margin about three
fourths of an inch wide on the left-hand side of every page.
Of course the width of the margin varies with the width of
the paper.
9. The Heading. Whatever the teacher wishes the head-
ing to include, — say the date, the pupil's name and class,
and the title, — should be separated from what follows
by a blank line. An important part of the heading is the
title. Three suggestions should be kept in mind in choos-
ing a title :
i. It should be brief. As a substitute for the long and
cumbrous statement of the subject, "A Picture that I saw at
the Art Museum," one writer chose the brief title, ''Friends."
Better than "How we spent a Pleasant Evening" is "A
Pleasant Evening."
2. It should be to the point. Instead of using 'such a
general title as "An Incident,", it is always well to pick
out something that applies to the particular incident in
tg
20 THE MANUSCRIPT
question. You might label each one of a hundred papers
"An Incident," but you should try to find for each of them
a title so decidedly to the point that it would not fit any
of the others.
3. It should be an attractive announcement of the sub-
ject. "On the River" is neater and more attractive than
" A Three Hours' Row on the River." The subject treated
in scores of books is " English Grammar "; the title of one
such book is "The Mother Tongue." "English Grammar"
may suggest various difficulties and numerous dry chapters.
'The Mother Tongue " sounds as if the book would appeal
to all who speak the English language. Your title, like a
nutshell, should give a correct impression of the kind of
meat it offers you, and it should be so attractive that the
wayfaring man will be eager to devour what it has in store.
Note. A composition should be complete without a title. If you
are writing about Fred Brown, do not try to avoid repetition by be-
ginning " He is a boy of my age," but use your title — or as much as
you need of it — in your opening sentence. You could, for example,
say, "Fred Brown is a boy of my age."
EXERCISES
l. The following incident appeared in a magazine under
the title "What it was They Heard." Tell why or why
not that is a better title for it than "The Indian and the
Phonograph." Can you think of one that you like better
than either ?
On a recent visit to Baltimore, Bishop Rowe of Alaska told
the following good story : " I had recently to make a visit to a
tribe of Indians far from the places where the white men go.
Only a very few of the tribe had ever seen white men. One of
the members of our party had a phonograph. He thought it
THE TITLE 21
would amuse the Indians, and so brought it out. They gathered
round it in wonder, and spent some time looking at it from every
direction. At last the old chief got down on his knees and
peered into it. He raised himself, threw his arm out with a
sweeping gesture, and said, ' Ugh ! canned white man.' "
2. Discuss the titles of six books, magazines, or news-
papers. Are they effective? misleading? attractive? neat?
easy to remember ?
10. The Sentence and its Punctuation. Ancient manu-
scripts were written continuously, thus :
ONEWORDFOLLOWEDANOTHERCLOSELY
Afterwards the words were separated by spaces, and some-
times by dots and other marks. The marks now employed
have come to be used with so much definiteness that they
are a great help in enabling the writer to express his mean-
ing exactly. The way to accomplish this result is (i) to
express one thought at a time ; (2) to keep by themselves
words which express that thought ; and (3) to let the marks
help indicate the relation of the words.
11. Spelling. Five hundred years ago readers and writers
were not particular about spelling. Chaucer spelled the
same word in several ways ; but in our time it is very im-
portant to spell with accuracy. If you have any doubt what-
ever about the spelling of a word, consult a dictionary.
Syllabication. Never divide a word at the end of a line
unless you can divide it by syllables. Use a hyphen to mark
the division, and put the hyphen at the end of the line.
12. The Paragraph. We can often help the reader catch
our meaning quickly by arranging our sentences in groups.
A group of sentences which relate to a single division of the
2 2 THE MANUSCRIPT
subject is called a paragraph. Every paragraph should be
indented ; that is, the first word should be written about an
inch farther to the right than the first word of any other
line in the paragraph.
Neatness should be conspicuous in all our work. The
margin is a matter of form, and the heading is largely so.
It is obvious, however, that the paragraph and the sentence
are much more than matters of form relating to the appear-
ance of the manuscript. If one is to know how much to
include in a paragraph and in a sentence, he must be famil-
iar with the construction of paragraphs and sentences. This
familiarity we shall at once begin to acquire.
13. The Two Copies of the Manuscript. Although it is
important to acquire facility in writing good papers without
copying them, for some time you will do well to make two
copies of the papers you write outside the class room.
In preparing the first copy there are two steps :
i. Write rapidly.
2. Revise slowly.
a. See that every paragraph is indented.
b. See that every sentence hasasubject and a predicate.
c. See that every sentence is punctuated (i) at the
end ; (2) throughout.
d. See that every word is correctly spelled.
In making the second copy there are three things to
remember: (1) neatness; (2) margin ; (3) heading.
EXERCISES
l. Write a brief account of something that you saw
happen. Follow closely the above directions in preparing
the two copies of the manuscript.
CRITICISM 23
2. (For the class room.) Exchange papers 1 and, as ex-
aminer of the paper of one of your classmates, criticise the
work under the following heads: (1) neatness, (2) margin,
(3) heading (including title), (4) indenting of paragraphs, (5)
sentence structure, (6) punctuation, (7) spelling. Write your
report and see that each of your sentences has a subject
and a predicate. For example :
Criticism of " A Runaway," by A. F. Brown
1 . The page is neat and attractive.
2. The margin is straight and of the right width.
3. The heading is complete and the title appropriate. No space is
left between the title and the opening sentence.
4. Three paragraphs are indented, but I see no reason why there
should be more than one paragraph.
5. The fourth sentence has no predicate.
6. There is no punctuation mark at the end of the first sentence.
7. The words "Tuesday" and "village" are misspelled.
Mary A. Taft, Examiner.
3. Taking advantage of all the suggestions given by your
classmate, revise your paper. If you think best, rewrite it.
4. Write about another incident which you have seen. Fol-
low the directions given for preparing the preceding paper.
5. (For the class room.) Exchange papers and act as
examiner as before.
6. Revise your paper, and if there is sufficient reason,
rewrite it ; that is to say, if, in the judgment of either
teacher or pupil, interlinear corrections of the original paper
are not sufficient.
1 By examining each other's papers — one day passing them forward, another
day passing them backward, then to the left, to the right, to the second pupil in
front, etc. — the members of the class can be of great service in pointing out certain
improvements to each other.
24 THE MANUSCRIPT
7. Write a short paper on any subject based on expe-
rience. Follow the directions given above, and in revising
take special pains to see that each sentence has a subject
ami a predicate.
8. (For the class room.) Exchange papers and, as exam-
ine]', write your criticisms in the margin and at the end of
the paper. For example, against poor penmanship write
"Pen."; against an incomplete sentence, "S"; against a
line containing a misspelled word, " Sp." Note the list of
abbreviations given below, and in particular, the suggestion
about using section numbers.
When you find a "^|"in one of your margins, do not
pass it by until you understand why it is there ; if a "G '
confronts you, be sure that you see just what is wrong
before you try to right it ; and should a " K " appear, work
away until the phrase is natural and smooth. It is most
encouraging to know that great writers have had to do
their work over and over again before it was satisfactory.
We find Stevenson saying, " Yesterday I was a living half
hour upon a single clause and have a gallery of variants
that would surprise you "; and in March, 1891, he wrote:
" I had breakfasted and read (with indescribable sinkings)
the whole of yesterday's work before the sun had risen.
Then I sat and thought, and sat and better thought. It was
not good enough, nor good ; it was as slack as journalism,
but not so inspired ; it was excellent stuff misused, and the
defects stood gross on it like humps upon a camel." Happy
is he who can see his defects ; happier he who, with stout
heart and infinite patience, toils incessantly to overcome
them.
KEY TO CRITICISMS 25
Key to Examiner's Criticisms
A. Ambiguous.
C. Wants connection with subject or context (coherence).
Cap. Use a capital.
I.e. Use a small letter (lower case).
8 Omit.
F. Force. Make the sentence more forcible.
G. Grammar faulty.
K. Awkward, clumsy, stiff.
M. Margin.
P. Punctuation.
Pen. Penmanship.
Poss. Possessive case.
IF Paragraph.
" " Quotation marks.
R. Repetition of word or thought.
Sp. Spelling.
S. Sentence.
T. Tense.
U. Wants unity.
V. Vague.
W. Word.
X. Fault obvious.
? Error? Meaning?
A Something should be inserted.
1, 2, 3, etc. Rearrange words, clauses, or sentences in the
order indicated by the numbers.
] Omit the passage within brackets.
Means that the criticism refers to as many lines of the
writing as this mark stands against.
One of the foregoing signs placed at the beginning of a com-
position indicates that the fault is a prevailing one.
The heavy-faced section numbers in this book may be used to
call the pupil's attention to the discussion of a particular fault.
Thus, 9 would refer him to The Heading, page 19.
26 THE MANUSCRIPT
Directions for Revising and Rewriting
Every composition is to be revised carefully and returned to
the teacher. If there is need of rewriting, return the revised
copy with a rewritten copy ; but always show by corrections made
on the original paper that you understand the criticisms. Never
erase any of these criticisms.
There may not be room to recast whole sentences on the origi-
nal copy, but it is important to make such corrections there as
space allows. In a matter like spelling, for example, if the right
form is written above the wrong form, the teacher can see at a
glance that the correction has been made ; whereas it would take
much longer to find the corrected word in the rewritten copy.
CHAPTER IV
THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT
14. Independent Paragraphs. We have thought of the
paragraph as a group of sentences that refer to one topic,
or to one division of the subject. It often happens that a
short composition on a limited subject forms a single para-
graph, and it will be well to write several independent para-
graphs. Practice with them will aid us in managing the
paragraphs in longer papers, and it should correct once for
all the prevailing tendency among young writers to indent
every second or third sentence.
15. Length of the Paragraph. A paragraph of a hundred
words is short ; one of two hundred ' and fifty is not very
long. If you discover more than two paragraphs on a page
of your manuscript, ask yourself whether you can give a
good reason for the division.
16. Unity. It is not enough that all the sentences in
the paragraph shall refer to a single topic ; these sentences
must present a central thought. For example, the topic
of the following paragraph is the voyage from America to
Europe. The sentences composing the paragraph might all
have a bearing on that topic and yet the paragraph might
by no means be a unit. One sentence might speak of the
storms, another of the boat, another of the passengers,
another of the crew, etc., with a most confusing result.
But Irving's paragraph presents one view of the subject.
We are told that the inactivity of the voyage is an excellent
27
28 THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT
preparation for the bustle of another world, and each sen-
tence contributes something toward this main thought.
To an American visiting Europe, the long voyage he has to
make is an excellent preparative. The temporary absence of
worldly scenes and employments produces a state of mind pecul-
iarly fitted to receive new and vivid impressions. The vast space
of waters that separates the hemispheres is like a blank page in
existence. There is no gradual transition, by which, as in Europe,
the features and population of one country blend almost imper-
ceptibly with those of another. From the moment you lose sight
of the land you have left, all is vacancy until you step on the oppo-
site shore, and are launched at once into the bustle and novelties
of another world. — "The Voyage," in "The Sketch-Book."
17. The Plan of the Paragraph. In order that we may
include everything that belongs in a paragraph — and nothing
else — it is wise to have in mind, if not on paper, the plan
of the details. In a straightforward account of a single
happening this is usually a simple matter. When, however,
we have a considerable choice of details, the making of the
plan needs more attention.
The plan of "A Short Cut," which follows, is :
i . The leader's proposal.
2. The start.
3. The leader's landing.
4. The landing of the others.
A Short Cut
One day while I was watching a fire from the top of a high
bank, a little fellow near me proposed to several of his com-
panions that they take a short cut to the fire by running down
the bank. They all seemed willing and they started with a long
jump. The moment the leader landed in the soft sand he tripped
THE PLAN OF THE PARAGRAPH 29
and fell headlong. The others, who were close behind him, re-
peated the performance with the same result. It was amusing to
see them roll over one another in the dirt and stones all the
way down, but somehow they landed on their feet and ran to
the fire.
The plan of "A Young Protector," which follows, is :
1. The father and the child.
2. The separation.
3. The child's concern.
4. The reunion.
A Young Protector
f
One day while I was riding in an electric car a man got in
with a little child. He placed him on the seat opposite me and
went out on the platform. The child sat there a few minutes
with a'troubled look on his face, and then called out, "Papa !"
Looking out of the window, he noticed the father standing there
and seemed satisfied for a while. Soon, however, a new thought
came into his mind, and, looking anxiously toward his father, he
said, "Papa, i^'ou falling?" The father shook his head. Put
the little one was not quite contented and called out again,
"Ain't 'ou, ain't 'ou falling, papa? " Again the father shook his
head. By this time everybody in the car was interested. Soon
reaching his destination, the father lifted the child out, and the
little fellow, happy now, trudged down the street grasping his
father's hand.
EXERCISE
1. In studying the two following paragraphs, answer
these questions :
1. What is the writer's one purpose?
2. Show whether the choice of details serves the purpose.
3. What is his plan ?
4. Which paragraph is the better example of unity?
30 THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT
An Old Friend
I saw an old friend this morning — that is, if a locomotive may
be called an old friend. 1 first saw the locomotive last spring at
the Braintree freight yards. There were two of these engines,
Nos. 431 and 432, belonging to a class called Moguls. They
had just been completed at Schenectady, New York, and at that
time one of them brought a long string of freight cars from
Taunton to South Braintree every day. As the largest engines
on the division, they attracted considerable attention. They
were very high and had to have short headlights and smoke-
stacks, which gave them a squatty, unnatural appearance. Each
had six-foot driving wheels, three on a side. These, together
with their enormous boilers, enabled them to draw a large num-
ber of cars. When necessary they could go about sixty miles an
hour". I was much interested in them, but they were taken off the
division after a few weeks' service. To-day as I saw this large
engine approaching I was quite sure I had seen it before, and as
it drew nearer my conviction proved correct, for I soon made out
the number, 431, on the front of the boiler.
Baby's First Shoes
They x were lovely, bright, red shoes, — just the kind to please
a baby. They stood there on the floor quietly waiting to be
claimed. Baby spied the two bits of red and at once decided to
go and feel. He edged quickly along the floor and fearlessly
grasped one bit of red. It didn't scratch like " Kitty." He
pinched it; it didn't squeal like his rubber doll. He shook it;
it didn't jingle like his bells. Evidently there must be some
further mystery about this last prize. He stuck one red tip into
his mouth, but took it out very quickly, making a wry face. He
stuck in the other, too, but it tasted just exactly as bad. He
threw them down in disgust, and babbled some earnest babyland
prattle to them. Then mamma came to the assistance of the
1 Note that " they " does not refer to the title, although it may seem to.
THE PLAN OF THE PARAGRAPH 3 1
tiny puzzler. She drew baby's two mysteries on over his ten little
toes./ Baby sat very quiet and looked very thoughtfully at his
newly shod feet. They had never been housed before. Baby
rather doubtfully wriggled his toes in their pens. But, oh, how
bewitching that red was ! He leaned over, caught hold of one
little foot with each little hand, rolled over on his back, and
kicked those red shoes back and forth, up and down, " every-
which-wav," watching the flashes of red come and go, and cooing
in a baby's own happy way. When mamma came later to find
him, baby was cuddled down in a little heap fast asleep, with one
little red shoe clasped tightly in each chubby hand.
EXERCISES
1. (1) Make 'a list of the reasons why you like your
school life. (2) Write a paragraph based on this list of
reasons.
2. Exchange papers and, as examiner, answer these ques-
tions in writing :
1. Is the form satisfactory ? (Consider neatness, margin, head-
ing, indentation.)
2. Is the paragraph interesting?
3. Is it adequate?
4. What is the plan of it?
3. In a similar way write another paragraph, say on one
of the subjects chosen in Exercise 1, page 16.
4. Exchange papers and examine as in Exercise 2.
5. Write another paragraph, say on one of the subjects
chosen in Exercise 2, page 16.
6. Write a paragraph on one of these subjects :
1. The reasons why I came to this school.
2. The reasons why a boy likes to smoke.
3. The reasons why a boy's father does not like to have him
smoke.
32 THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT
4. The reasons why some parents are particular to have their
sons and daughters keep early hours.
5. The reasons why I dislike my school life.
18. Connected Paragraphs. We write a good man)- themes
and letters in which we must make several paragraphs. In
the following selection the first paragraph describes a forest
which was reached after an hour's climbing, and the second
a pond, so far beyond that it was not discovered till "about
noon." These two topics are separated both by space and
by time.
In the Mountains
Our journey commenced in a steep and rugged ascent, which
brought us, after an hour's heavy climbing, to an elevated region
of pine forest, years before ravished by lumbermen, and pre-
senting all manner of obstacles to our awkward and encumbered
pedestrian ism. The woods were largely pine, though yellow
birch, beech, and maple were common. The satisfaction of hav-
ing a gun, should any game show itself, was the chief compensa-
tion to those of us who were thus burdened. A partridge would
occasionally whir up before us, or a red squirrel snicker and
hasten to his den ; else, the woods appeared quite tenantless.
The most noted object was a mammoth pine, apparently the last
of a great race, which presided over a cluster of yellow birches,
on the side of the mountain.
About noon we came out upon a long, shallow sheet of water
which the guide called Bloody-Moose Pond, from the tradition
that a moose had been slaughtered there many years before.
Looking out over the silent and lonely scene, his eye was the
first to detect an object apparently feeding upon lily pads, which
our willing fancies readily shaped into a deer. As we were eagerly
waiting some movement to confirm this impression, it lifted up
its head, and lo ! a great blue heron. Seeing us approach, it
spread its long wings and flew solemnly across to a dead tree on
the other side of the lake, enhancing, rather than relieving, the
CONNECTED PARAGRAPHS 33
loneliness and desolation that brooded over the scene. — John
Burroughs, "Adirondac" in "Wake Robin."
If you are asked to give a brief account of the first
appearance of Gurth and Wamba in " Ivanhoe," you will
probably find these three topics useful :
1. The setting.
2. The dress.
3. The conversation.
If familiar with the subject, you will not wish to crowd all
you have to say into a single paragraph, but will prefer to
give a separate paragraph to each topic. In this case each
of the three groups of details will mark one stage of the
narrative. This is true of "In the Mountains"; and in
both these instances, as in others we have seen, — "A Short
Cut," "A Young Protector," "An Old Friend," "Baby's
First Shoes," — each paragraph contains the details which
illustrate one point.
EXERCISES
1. After using your " Ivanhoe " 1 in making the prepara-
tions just indicated, write in class, without reference to book
or papers, on The First Appearance of Gurth and Wamba.
2. Write paragraph topics for themes on the following
subjects : The Tournament, Locksley's Shooting before
Prince John, The Knight and the Friar, Cedric and Athel-
stane at John's Banquet, The Storming of the Castle, The
Trial of Rebecca at Templestowe.
3. Write in class, without reference to book or paper,
on one of the preceding subjects.
1 If the class dues not happen to be reading this lx>ok, the teacher will probably
prefer to substitute other subjects in this exercise and in some of the exercises that
follow.
34 THE PARAGRAPH AS A UNIT
4. Explain the construction of something you have made,
— of paper, cloth, pasteboard, wood, iron, or steel, — or the
preparation of some dish from such materials as sugar, milk,
and eggs. Before beginning to write, consider the steps in-
volved in the process, and in writing give each step the
consideration it deserves.
19. The Topic Sentence. In the illustration under sec-
tion 1 6, the words in italics practically give in a sentence
the main thought of the paragraph. Such a sentence .is
often called a topic sentence. It always helps a writer to
secure unity if he has a topic sentence before him as he
writes the paragraph. The topic sentence frequently ap-
pears in the paragraph — sometimes at the beginning, some-
times near the middle, sometimes at the end.
EXERCISES
1. Can you find topic sentences in the following para-
graphs ? If not, make lists of the subjects discussed, and
in a carefully worded sentence write the main thought
of each paragraph.
You are, I think, too fond of reading as it is. As one means
of avoiding excess in this way, I would wish you to make it a
rule never to read at meal-times, nor in company when there is
any (even the most trivial) conversation going on, nor even to let
your eagerness to learn encroach upon your play-hours. Books
are but one inlet of knowledge ; and the pores of the mind, like
those of the body, should be left open to all impressions. I
applied too close to my studies, soon after I was of your age,
and hurt myself irreparably by it. ^'hatever may be the value
of learning, health and good spirits are of more.
3fc * ^F
THE TOPIC SENTENCE 35
As to the books you will have to read by choice or for amuse-
ment, the best are the commonest. The names of many of them
are already familiar to you. Read them as you grow up with all
the satisfaction in your power, and make much of them. It is
perhaps the greatest pleasure you will have in life, the one you
will think of longest, and repent of least. If my life had been
more full of calamity than it has been (much more than I hope
yours will be) I would live it over again, my poor little boy, to
have read the books I did in my youth. — Hazlitt, "On the
Conduct of Life."
2. Write a paragraph explaining why is your favor-
ite outdoor game. First prepare a topic sentence and keep
it before you as- you write.
3. With the aid of a topic sentence write a paragraph on
a subject of your own choosing. If you wish, turn to the
list prepared in Exercise 4, page 16.
4. Exchange papers and write in a single sentence what
you consider the main thought of your classmate's paragraph.
5. Write a paragraph beginning with a sentence in which
you name several traits that you like in one of your friends.
Use as many paragraphs as the subject demands.
CHAPTER V
THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
Punctuation is a matter of courtesy; if we arc polite,
we shall take care that the reader has all the aid that
the most careful punctuation can give. It is also a matter
of great practical value ; failure to insert a comma or a
semicolon in a will may make a difference of thousands of
dollars to an heir. Defective punctuation may make a law
of no effect.
THE SENTENCE
The first two facts to fix in mind about the sentence
are these :
i. A sentence is the expression in words of a complete
thought — whether a statement, command, question, or
exclamation.
2. Every sentence should have a subject and a predicate.
20. Three Forms of Sentences. We should also keep in
mind what we learned from the grammars about the three
forms of sentences :
i. A simple sentence contains but one subject and one
predicate.
The boy caught the ball.
A distinguished visitor is in our country.
2. A compound sentence consists of two or more main
clauses. (It will be remembered that a clause is a group of
36
THREE FORMS OF SENTENCES 37
words which contains a subject and a predicate. A main,
or independent, clause is defined on pages 126-127.)
Mary came early, but she did not stay long.
A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heavi-
ness of his mother.
Note i. The subject of a sentence may be compound.
John and Mary came early.
Note 2. The predicate may be compound.
The boy has caught the, ball and is throwing it.
Note 3. Both subject and predicate may be compound.
Harvard and Yale are rivals, but have a wholesome respect
for each other.
3. A complex sentence consists of a main clause and one
or more subordinate clauses. 1
If you go, I shall go.
Since he is here, you may ask him.
He came because he wished to see you.
Note i. Parts of a compound sentence may be complex.
He is here, but he is so busy that he cannot see you. (One
part simple.)
You cannot have what you like, but you can like what you
have. (Both parts complex.)
NOTE 2. The subordinate clause of a complex sentence may be
compound.
His employers recommend him because they know his worth
and because they will be glad to see him promoted.
EXERCISES
1. Find in this book three complex sentences.
2. Write three complex sentences. 2
1 For a more detailed study of the parts of sentences see Chapter X.
2 Exercise 2 and many that follow are good blackboard exercises.
38 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
3. Write (i) a compound sentence in which one part
is complex ; (2) a compound sentence in which two parts are
complex; (3) a complex sentence in which the subordinate
clause is compound.
MARKS AT THE END OF THE SENTENCE
As soon as we express a complete thought, we are to let
the reader know that he has reached the end of the sen-
tence. In talking we show by a pause when we come to
the end of a thought, but in writing we are liable to leave
one thought unfinished in our haste to say something else.
In our writing, then, we must take pains to set off by them-
selves the words which compose each sentence. The first
\v< >rd of every sentence should begin with a capital, and the
sentence should end with the proper punctuation mark.
Every complete sentence should end with a period, an inter-
rogation point, or an exclamation point.
21. The Period. A period should stand at the end of
every declarative or imperative sentence. If, however, a
declarative or imperative sentence is exclamatory, an excla-
mation point may be used instead of a period.
Note. A period should follow every abbreviation ; as, Cal., Me.,
Mr., Rev., Oct.
EXERCISES
1. In copying the following selections, complete the punc-
tuation by inserting periods wherever they belong.
1 . To-day I went to the circus the tents were all up, and in one
of them I saw some elephants the cooks were getting supper ready.
2. My cousin sent me a letter from the Philippines, where he
is with his company he told me that on his way to the islands
THE PERIOD 39
they encountered a heavy storm which carried them nearly to
Japan the ship was wrecked, and they lost all their food, clothing,
and personal property.
3. Years afterwards, the knowledge gained stood me in good
stead in clearing up another mystery it was in a lumber camp —
always a superstitious place — in the heart of a Canada forest I
had followed a wandering herd of caribou too far one day, and late
in the afternoon found myself alone at a river, some twenty miles
from my camp, on the edge of the barren grounds somewhere
above me I knew that a crew of lumbermen were at work ; so I
headed up river to find their camp, if possible, and avoid sleep-
ing out in the snow and bitter cold it was long after dark, and
the moon was flooding forest and river with a wonderful light,
when I at last caught sight of the camp the click of my snow-
shoes brought a dozen big men to the door at that moment I felt,
rather than saw, that they seemed troubled and alarmed at seeing
me alone ; but I was too tired to notice, and no words save those
of welcome were spoken until I had eaten heartily then, as I
started out for another look at the wild beauty of the place under
the moonlight, a lumberman followed and touched me on the
shoulder.
2. (1) Write about something you saw happen. Do your
writing as rapidly as you please. (2) Before copying your
work, revise it to see that (a) every sentence has a subject
and a predicate, and that (b) every sentence begins with a
capital, and, if declarative, ends with a period.
Note. Since some young writers run on breathlessly from one sen-
tence to another without thought of periods, every pupil should be
sure that he does not crowd too much into one sentence. It is well
at first to have one's sentences short rather than long.
*&•
3. In a paragraph of a hundred words tell why you
like or do not like the literature that the class is now
reading.
40 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
22. The Interrogation Point. An interrogation point
should follow every direct question.
Did you recognize me ?
You could not see ?
Note. An interrogation point should not follow an indirect ques-
tion ; for example, He asked who was ready to go.
EXERCISES
1. Ask a favor of your teacher in a declarative sentence.
2. Ask the same favor in an interrogative sentence.
3. Turn your interrogative sentence into an indirect
question.
23. The Exclamation Point, i. The exclamation point
stands at the end of a sentence to strengthen the expres-
sion of strong feeling.
Let not a traitor live !
God pity her !
Begone !
2. It is also used within the sentence. It follows words,
phrases, and clauses.
What nonsense !
" The fool ! " he muttered.
" That bullet was better aimed than common ! " exclaimed
Duncan, involuntarily shrinking from a shot which struck the
rock at his side with a smart rebound.
EXERCISES
l. (i) Write a paragraph about some exciting experience
of yours. (2) Before copying your work, see that every
sentence (a) has a subject and a predicate, and (b) begins
with a capital and ends with the proper punctuation mark.
THE INTERROGATION POINT 4 1
(Remember the caution not to crowd too much into one
sentence.)
2. Exchange papers and, as critics, consider the following
questions :
1. Does every sentence end where it should? If not, put a
neat S in the margin.
2. Is every declarative sentence followed by a period? If not,
put a Pin the margin unless the sentence is exclamatory.
3. Are interrogative or exclamatory sentences followed by the
proper marks?
If you question the use of any mark of punctuation, put a " ? "
in the margin.
3. Revise your paper, and if there is sufficient reason,
rewrite it.
MARKS WITHIN THE SENTENCE
We are not only to keep our sentences apart, but we are
also to make use of whatever marks will help us group the
words within a sentence so that they will be most readily
understood. 1 Of such marks the most important are the
colon, the semicolon, and the comma.
We shall consider first the colon and the semicolon be-
cause they separate complete clauses which are too closely
connected to be separated by a period. In other words, the
colon and the semicolon mark main divisions of a sentence ;
the comma marks lesser divisions. At the same time it
will be convenient to study all three side by side, and refer-
ences from one to the other may be more readily under-
stood if we remember two facts :
1 The plan of marking the end of the sentence first is only a temporary device.
As soon as we can trust ourselves to mark the end of the sentence, we should form
the habit of inserting these other marks while writing the sentence.
42 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
i. The colon sometimes separates clauses which are
subdivided by semicolons.
A clause is either independent or dependent : independent, if
it forms an assertion by itself; dependent, if it enters into some
other clause with the value of a part of speech.
2. The semicolon sometimes separates clauses which are
subdivided by commas.
So if a man's wit be wandering, let him study the mathe-
matics; for in demonstrations, if his wit be called away never so
little, he must begin again.
24. The Colon. The colon not only separates clauses
which are subdivided by semicolons but also introduces
explanation or specification.
i . It introduces a second clause which explains the first
clause.
One thing I know : she is a lady.
Frequently the second clause is a direct quotation, intro-
duced formally.
These were his words : " Say what you may, I care not for
the consequences."
2. It introduces a series of clauses to explain the first
clause.
The battle of Actium was one of the most important in ancient
history : it saved European civilization from undue Oriental influ-
ence ; it ended the long anarchy which followed the murder of
Caesar; and it placed the destiny of the empire in the hands of
an able statesman.
The lesson for to-day is as follows : ( i ) we are to know the
uses of the colon ; (2) we are to write an incident ; (3) we are to
pick out and copy in the notebooks twenty-four of the best lines
from "The Vision of Sir Launfal."
Note. If the matter that follows the colon opens a new paragraph,
or begins on a new line, a dash is often used after the colon.
THE COLON 43
3. It introduces a series of words to explain the first clause.
Four boys deserve particular attention : John, James, Charles,
and Henry.
Note. In this instance the writer specifics the boys he has in mind.
4. It is used in addressing a person in a letter.
a. In a formal way, as in a business letter.
Mr. J. W. Brown,
Boston, Mass.
Dear Sir:
b. In a less formal way, as in a letter to some one with
whom you are well acquainted.
Dear Mr. Brown :
EXERCISES
1. Complete the punctuation of the following sentences
and show why the marks you use are better than others
which might be used.
1. The contrast between the Greeks and the Orientals was at
its height at Thermopylae on the one side the Persian officers
scourged their men to battle on the other the Spartans voluntarily
faced certain death in obedience to law.
2. On the base of his statue his countrymen placed this epi-
taph " Had your strength equaled your will Demosthenes the
Macedonian War God would never have conquered Greece."
3. They had one virtue under the whip they could whirl a
sledge over the snow farther and faster than a horse could trot
in a day.
4. There are fines imposed for tardiness at rehearsals five
dollars for a period not exceeding fifteen minutes ten dollars for
a longer one and ten dollars for absence unless there is sufficient
excuse.
2. Call your teacher's attention to one of the best sen-
tences in the first chapter <>f whatever book you happen to
44 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
be reading. Write the sentence in full, and introduce it
with a brief statement of what you think of it.
3. Give in a single sentence the reason or reasons why
you came to this school. (In this exercise and the next the
colon may be convenient.)
4. Write in a single sentence the reasons why a boy should
(or should not) smoke before he is twenty-one years of age.
5. Using any one of the sentences written under the last
three exercises as the first sentence of a paragraph, write
all you have to say about the subject. Copy this paper in
your notebook as Theme I. Date the work and make the
penmanship as attractive as possible. 1
6. Write in a paragraph of not more than a hundred
words your opinion of Walter Scott as a story-teller.
Copy this paragraph in your notebook as Theme II.
7. Exchange notebooks in order to examine Themes I
and II. Criticise (i) form, (2) sentence structure, (3) punc-
tuation at the end of the sentence, (4) the use of the colon.
Keep in mind this question : Has the colon been used cor-
rectly, or might it be used to advantage ?
8. Revise Themes I and II as neatly as possible. 2
25. The Semicolon. 1. The semicolon separates short
clauses which, though grammatically independent, are so
closely connected in meaning that they naturally form a
single sentence.
1 By keeping much of the written work in a notebook, the pupil can attend to
certain matters at once and. as he continues his study of composition, can come
back to his early work again and again for the sake of making one improvement
after another. The word " composition " is rather long to apply to these bits of
writing. It will be easier to use the shorter word " theme," which includes all kinds
of composition, long or short.
2 Hereafter let it be understood that every composition is to be revised after it
has been criticised. No rewriting is to be done unless either the teacher or the pupil
thinks best.
THE SEMICOLON 45
Those whose backs were turned wheeled round ; all the others
raised their heads ; three waiters whirled about on their heels like
tops ; the two women at the desk gave a jump, then turned com-
pletely round, like automata obedient to the same crank.
2. The semicolon separates two or more phrases or
clauses which depend upon another clause.
For illustrations see section 24, 2.
3. The semicolon is frequently used to separate the
clauses of a compound sentence, when such clauses con-
tain commas.
At high tide, and at high tide only, the sailing is delightful,
as there are a great many square miles of sheltered water to
cruise upon ; but at low tide, except in three small channels,
there is no sailing.
EXERCISES
l. In copying the following sentences insert semicolons
wherever they are useful, and point out their value.
1. He was courteous, not cringing, to superiors affable, not
familiar, to equals and kind, but not condescending or supercilious,
to inferiors.
2. In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy but in
passing it over, he is superior.
3. Some said that Dolph Heyliger watched in the haunted
house with pistols loaded with silver bullets others, that he had a
long talk with a specter without a head others, that Doctor Kip-
perhausen and the sexton had been hunted down the Bowery lane,
and quite into town, by a legion of ghosts of their customers.
2. Write in a single sentence the reasons why some man
or woman whom you know is justl) admired.
3. Using the sentence as the first sentence of a paragraph,
write all you have to say about the subject.
40 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
4. Copy this paper in your notebook as Theme III.
5. Exchange notebooks and examine as in the case of
Themes I and II. Consider too the use of the semicolon.
26. The Comma. The comma is the slightest mark of
separation that may be put between words. Its common
uses are as follows :
i. The comma sets off expressions obviously parenthet-
ical, including words, phrases, or clauses used in apposition.
i. You can see, I think, and we can hear perfectly.
2. I caught a glimpse of Edith, his sister.
NOTE. The appositive words, "his sister," have no close gram-
matical connection with the rest of the sentence. If, however, we say,
" His sister Edith came yesterday," the connection between the noun
ami its appositive is too close for a comma to come between them.
2. The comma sets off a dependent clause, unless the clause
is short and closely connected with the rest of the sentence.
1. If you knew him, you would like him.
2. The pupil who studies faithfully, even if he is not brilliant,
is likely to succeed.
3. I will come when you say.
This rule includes a relative clause which is explanatory,
or which gives an additional thought.
The older brother, whom you have met, was here.
But a relative clause which is restrictive, which limits the
meaning of the antecedent, is too closely connected with it
to be thus separated.
The brother whom you have met was here yesterday.
3. The comma sets apart words used in direct address.
lohn, your mother is calling you.
Hearken, Phreacian captains and councilors, and let me tell
you what the heart within me bids.
THE COMMA 47
4. The comma sets apart introductory expressions which
are not closely related to the rest of the sentence.
1 . Well, you may be right.
2. In the first place, a student is not necessarily a scholar
3. By the way, I hear that William has been promoted.
4. On the one hand, . . . ; on the other, . . .
5. The comma sets apart the case absolute.
The time having come, he called the meeting to order.
6. The comma sets apart words, phrases, or clauses in
the same construction in a series.
He sells dry goods, groceries, hardware, and drugs.
In a sentence 'like this last example it is sometimes safe
to omit the comma before the and, but such an omission
might cause an awkward sentence if not a misunderstanding.
Her dresses were black, white, red, and blue.
Note. An omission of the last comma would mean that the same
dress was partly red and partly blue.
7. The comma sets apart words or phrases in pairs.
Sink or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and
my heart to this vote.
8. The comma takes the place of omitted words.
(1) It frequently takes the place of an omitted verb.
1. The first train was an hour late ; the second, thirty minutes ;
and the third, ten minutes.
2. John is the elder son ; Charles, the younger.
(2) The comma sets apart the items in the date and the
address of a letter.
Exeter, N.H.,
April 5, 1905.
Mr. J. A. Walker,
Mel ruse, Mass.
48 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
Note. The commas take the place of in the state of in the month
of in the year, in the city of in the state of.
9. The comma sets apart (1) a short quotation or (2) an
expression similar to a quotation.
1. I heard him say, "A soft answer turneth away wrath."
2. " I hope you will come soon," was his reply.
3. What I wish to know is, When did you see him ?
Note i. Of course the comma is not used with an exclamation
point or an interrogation point.
" Follow me ! " he shouted.
" Are you coming ? " was all he said.
Note 2. Commas set apart words that come between the parts of
a quotation.
" Come early," he said, " or not at all."
EXERCISES
1. Account for every punctuation mark in the follow-
ing passage.
A college stands for learning, for culture, and for power ; in
particular, it stands for the recognition of an aim higher than
money getting. It is a place where our young men shall see
visions ; where even the idlest and lowest man of all must catch
glimpses of ideals which, if he could see them steadily, would
transfigure life. The Bachelor of Arts is seldom, on his Com-
mencement Day, a scholar either polished or profound ; but he
may be in the full sense of the word a man.
2. In copying the following sentences, insert commas
wherever they are useful.
1. Wild sorrel has an agreeable sour shivery flavor.
2. Do you remember in "The Compleat Angler" a remark
which Isaak Walton quotes from a certain "Doctor Boteler "
about strawberries? "Doubtless" said that wise old man " God
could have made a better berry but doubtless God never did."
THE DASH 49
3. I made a little journey into the Doone Country once just to
see that brook and to fish in it. The stream looked smaller and
the water-slide less terrible than they seemed in the book.
4. "Our first essay" says he "was along a mountain brook
among the highlands of the Hudson. . . . Sometimes it would
brawl and fret along a ravine in the matted shade of a forest fill-
ing it with murmurs ; and after this termagant career would steal
forth into open day with the most placid demure face imaginable ;
as I have seen some pestilent shrew of a housewife after filling
her home with uproar and ill-humour."
3. Write Theme IV on any subject you please. If you
like, you may tell what happened while you were waiting
for something to' begin — say a game, concert, or lecture.
Revise and copy as before. Pay special attention to the
uses of the comma.
4. Exchange notebooks, examine as before, and consider
in addition the use of the comma.
27. The Dash. 1. The dash is an interruption — some-
times sudden and abrupt. It suspends the construction in
order to change it, or to give an unexpected turn to the end
of the sentence.
But there was no unusual sound — nothing but the low wash of
the ripple and the croaking of the crows in the wood.
Here are these beautiful fields — I will show you the way
through them.
2. A dash, usually following a comma, often introduces
an explanation.
Uncas enjoyed his victory, but was content with merely exhibit-
ing his triumph by ;i quiet smile, — an emblem of scorn which
belongs to all time and to every nation.
3. We use dashes to set off a parenthetical expression
which is too closely connected with the rest of the sentence
5<D THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
to be inclosed in marks of parenthesis, and yet needs to be
distinctly separated from the rest of the sentence. Commas
should precede the clashes, if commas would be necessary
provided the words between the dashes were omitted.
Thomas Hughes, too, is gone, — Tom Hughes would still seem
the more accustomed name, — one of the many men who illustrate
the somewhat painful truth that the heights of philanthropy and
self-devotion do not yield so sure a fame as a spark of genius.
Note i. Marks of parenthesis are used to inclose expressions that
do not form an essential part of the sentence.
Know then this truth (enough for man to know),
'' Virtue alone is happiness below."
Note 2. Brackets inclose insertions whose connection with the
text is even slighter. Often the words included have been added to
what the original author wrote.
It [a great university] is resorted to in most countries, notably
in our own country, alike by rich and poor, by the children of the
educated and the uneducated — in short, by the children of fam-
ilies of all sorts and conditions.
EXERCISES
1. Write Theme V on any subject you please. If you
like, you may choose a subject from the list made under
Exercise 2, page 33.
Revise and copy as before. See whether the clash is of
service to you in any of your sentences.
2. Exchange notebooks, examine as before, and consider
in addition whether the dash has been used correctly, or
might be used to advantage.
28. The Apostrophe. 1. The apostrophe marks the omis-
sion of a letter or letters : as, 'tis, I'm, don't, man's. (For
the possessive case see section 61.)
QUOTATION MARKS 5 I
2. The apostrophe marks the omission of figures in dates.
• The boys of '61.
The class of '09.
3. The apostrophe sometimes marks the plural of figures
and letters.
Cross your / s and dot your rs.
His 7's look like his 9's.
29. Quotation Marks. 1. Double quotation marks (" ")
inclose a direct quotation.
We heard him say, "All is well."
2. Single quotation marks ( ') inclose a quotation
within a quotation.
This was his answer: " I agree with Falstaff that ' the better
part of valor is discretion.' "
" Being asked by a young nobleman what was become of
the gallantry and military spirit of the old English nobility, he
[Samuel Johnson] replied, 'Why, my Lord, I'll tell you what has
become of it : it is gone into the city to look for a fortune.' '
" One of the first aims of college life is increase of power :
be he scholar or athlete, the sound undergraduate learns to meet
difficulties; 'stumbling blocks,' in the words of an admirable
preacher, 'become stepping stones.'"
3. When paragraphs are quoted, the quotation marks are
placed at the beginning of each paragraph and at the end
of the last paragraph.
4. The title of a book or paper ma)- be quoted or italicized,
as the writer prefers. Some prefer "The House of the Seven
Gables"; others, The House of the Seven Gables.
EXERCISES
l. Copy from dictation the three sentences quoted above
under 2. Explain the brackets in the second sentence.
52 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
2. Write (i) a portion of a conversation at breakfast or
dinner, or (2) a short conversation between two girls about
a skating party, or (3) a short conversation between two
boys about a game of football. Put what each person says,
together with whatever you say in connection with each
speech, in a paragraph by itself.
3. Write Theme VI. Give your opinion of some book or
of a portion of it. Introduce an interesting quotation from
the book. Revise and copy as before.
4. Exchange notebooks, examine as before, and consider
in addition the use of quotation marks.
30. The Hyphen. 1. The hyphen (-) is used to divide a
word at the end of a line. It separates syllables. A word
of one syllable is never split. We may write com-mittee or
commit-tee, but not comm-ittee or committ-ee. The hyphen
comes at the end of the line, never at the beginning of a line.
2. The hyphen separates compound words (a) which have
not yet become single words : as, grcat-grandfatlicr, twenty-
five, tzvo-foot rule ; (a) in which it is convenient to keep the
prefix distinct from the rest of the word ; as, re-creation, pre-
Shakspcrean.
31. Asterisks and Leaders. Asterisks (* * *) or leaders
(. . .) denote omissions.
1. She . . . began a song. . . . The hand failed on the strings,
the tune halted, checked, and at a low note turned off to the poor
little nursery rhyme about the wicked crow —
" And the wild plums grow in the jungle, only a penny a pound,
Only a penny a pound, baba — only . . ."
2. Then came the tears . . . till she slept.
Note. Leaders are used for omissions in the middle or at the end
of a paragraph. Asterisks are convenient for separating complete
paragraphs. .See page 34.
THE HYPHEN 53
EXERCISES
1. Exchange notebooks and examine Themes I-VI to
see whether the hyphen has been used correctly.
2. Take from your own writing or from your reading as
many illustrations of the uses of the comma as you can
find before the next recitation.
3. (1) Write briefly but comprehensively what you think
you need to keep in mind with reference to each of the
marks of punctuation. (2) As you examine the punctu-
ation of your own written work, what are your most serious
faults ?
4. Copy and punctuate the following passages :
1. Cultivate decision of character in everything the ability to
say yes or to say no and to do it on the spot the man who takes
too much time in deciding things fearing that he may decide
wrong will get ahead slowly if at all.
2. What you been shootin Corlick asked his wife as she placed
the roast pork and potatoes on the table
Oh nothin of any account he replied with affected indifference
only Laban Wing's bull
Why Corlick Evans she cried
3. I asked him what he thought would become of them there
and if they had formed no design of making any escape he said
they had many consultations about it but that having neither vessel
nor tools to build one nor provisions of any kind their councils
always ended in tears and despair I asked him how he thought
they would receive a proposal from me which might tend towards
an escape and whether if they were all here it might not be done.
4. In despair I went to a great merchant on the island and asked
him to employ me my dear young friend said he I understand
that you have some singular secret some charm or spell or amulet
omething I don't know what of which people are afraid now
you know my dear said the merchant swelling up and apparently
54 THE SENTENCE AND ITS PUNCTUATION
prouder of his great stomach than of his large fortune I am not
of that kind 1 am not easily frightened you may spare yourself the
pain of trying to impose upon me people who propose to come
to time before I arrive are accustomed to arise very early in the
morning said he thrusting his thumbs in the armholes of his waist-
coat and spreading the fingers like two fans upon his bosom I
think I have heard something of your secret you have a pair of
spectacles I believe that you value very much because your grand-
mother brought them as a marriage portion to your grandfather
now if you think fit to sell me those spectacles I will pay you the
largest market price for them what do you say I told him I had
not the slightest idea of selling my spectacles my young friend
means to eat them I suppose said he with a contemptuous smile I
made no reply but was turning to leave the office when the mer-
chant called after me my young friend poor people should never
suffer themselves to get into pets anger is an expensive luxury in
which only men of a certain income can indulge a pair of spec-
tacles and a hot temper are not the most promising capital for
success in life Master Titbottom [six paragraphs].
5. Exchange notebooks and examine Themes I -VI. Criti-
cise the use of the following marks: (i) colon; (2) semi-
colon ; (3) comma ; (4) clash ; (5) apostrophe ; (6) quotation
marks ; (7) hyphen.
CHAPTER VI
SPELLING
32. Ways of Learning to Spell. It is probably true that
many persons remember a word as they remember a face.
For them the ideal way to learn to spell would seem to be
to take a good look at the words as they read. But some
of us do not master spelling in that way. There are scores
of words that we see day after day and yet misspell. In
many instances we must make a special effort in order to
spell accurately.
If one who has unusual difficulty with spelling will keep
a list of the words that puzzle him, and review this list
from day to day, he will find himself making steady improve-
ment. One who masters five words a day for a year will
be able to spell a snug little vocabulary at the end of that
time. Fifteen hundred everyday words make a tolerably
comfortable outfit for a poor speller.
Sometimes the mere writing of a word will determine the
spelling. The moment we write receive we know that it is
correct. But if we are likely to have further trouble with
that word, suppose we write it thus, to call extra attention
to the letters that puzzle :
recEIve.
This method may help us remember such words as beliEve,
decEive, siEge, seizc, villAin, and many another word ;
for example, \ill.\ge, grammAr, superintendEnt. Or, if we
55
56 SPELLING
prefer, we may underscore such letters, thus : receive,
believe, siege, grammar, villain; or receive, believe, siege,
etc. With or without increasing the size of the doubtful
letters, it will be an aid in fixing the spelling of any word
to write it out plainly several times.
33. Rules for Spelling. Many persons, on the other hand,
.find rules convenient. For them the following are included :
i . Monosyllables, and words accented on the last syllable, end-
ing in a single consonant following a single vowel, double the final
consonant before a suffix beginning with a vowel : as, beg, beggar;
regret, regretted.
Note. If the accent falls on a different syllable in the derivative,
the rule does not apply : as, refer, reference.
2. Final r following a consonant changes to i before a suffix : as,
busy, business ; library, libraries ; spy, spies.
Exceptions: i. Before ing and ish the y is kept to avoid
doubling the i: as, carry, carrying; baby, babyish.
2. y is not changed in derivatives of wry, sky, sky, sly,
spry.
Note. Words ending \n y following a vowel are regular, except
lay, laid j pay, paid; say, said; stay, stayed or staid.
3. Words ending in an unaccented e drop the e before a
suffix beginning with a vowel : as, force, forcible ; invite, invited ;
desire, desirable.
Exceptions: 1. Hoeing, mileage, skoeing, toeing.
2. Dyeing, singeing, and tingeing keep the e to distinguish
these words from dying, singing, and tinging.
3. Words ending in ce and ge keep the e before able and 01/s
in order to retain the soft sound of c and g: as, courage,
courageous j peace, peaceable.
4. Words ending in ie drop the e and change the i to y before
adding ing (to avoid doubling the i) : as, die, dying j lie, lying;
tie, tying.
RULES FOR SPELLING 57
4. In words in which the diphthongs ei and ie are pronounced
e, as in he, c is followed by ei, all other letters by ie : as, ceiling,
receive, piece, siege, niece. Seize and weird are exceptions.
34. The Formation of Plurals. The plural of most nouns
is formed by adding s to the singular. When, however, the
sound of s makes an extra syllable, es is added : as, lunch,
lunches.
Exceptions : 1. Nouns ending in y following a consonant
change y to i and add es : as, ally, allies ; cry, cries.
2. Nouns ending in o following a consonant generally add
es : as, potato, pototoes ; but the s alone is added to piano,
solo, halo, and some others.
Note. These rules apply to the formation of the third person
singular of the present indicative active of the verb : as, read, reads j
hush, hushes j carry, carries ; veto, vetoes.
3. There is no rule for the formation of such irregular
plurals as teeth, mice, oxen, men, women, children, deer.
4. Certain nouns ending in f or fe — beef, calf, elf, half,
knife, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, wife, wolf — form the
plural by changing forfe into ves: &s,calves, knives, loaves, etc.
35. Syllabication. It is difficult to give definite rules for
syllabication, but it seems wise to offer certain suggestions
and to point out a few possible errors.
1 . The division of a word into syllables may be determined to
some extent by its etymology ; for example, prefixes and suffixes
form natural separate syllables : as, ex-tol, lov-ing. The root itself
of the word should be divided into such combinations of con-
sonants and vowels as are easily and naturally pronounced
together : as, gon-do-la, not go-ndol-a.
2. When there is a doubled consonant, the division usually
comes between the two letters : as, drop-ping, rub-bing.
3. A word of one syllable should never be divided.
58 SPELLING
4. A syllable of one letter should never be separated from
the rest of the word : as, a-way. If there is not room for the
whole word at the end of a line, the word should be written on
the next line.
5. Final h in words like sample, little, and trifle should be
joined with the preceding consonant to form the last syllable : as,
fid-die, mid-die, etc.
EXERCISES
1. Make a list of all the words you have misspelled
in the writing you have done during the last month. In
preparing the list, look in the dictionary for every word
about the spelling of which you have any doubt whatever.
Each pupil should add to this list the correct form of every
zvord he misspells during the year.
2. Write out carefully ten times every one of these words
which you have misspelled ; write twenty times every word
you have misspelled more than once.
3. (1) Look over all the writing you do before the next
recitation, — whether it be a letter written at home or a
school exercise in history, — to see whether your work
includes any words which you do not know how to spell.
Look up all such words and bring a list of them to the
English recitation. (2) Make a list of several common
words used in connection with each of your studies.
4. During the coming month bring to every recitation a
threefold list of words, collected as follows. (1) Make a list
as in Exercise 3 (1). (2) Choose two or three words each
clay from each of your other studies. Include all words
which you have misspelled in connection with these studies.
(3) Select from four pages of the reading lesson all words
which you are most likely to misspell.
SPELLING
59
5. Be prepared to spell, orally or in writing", any word in
the first chapter of this book.
6. Write sentences containing the following words. If
you wish to exercise your ingenuity, perhaps you can com-
bine the sentences of either I or II in a connected paragraph.
yield
siege
besiege
believe
relieve
till
until
view
grieve
friend
fiend
precede
proceed
II
deceive
receive
perceive
respectively
respectfully
describe
seize
beginning
planning
descent
referred
occurred
accommodate
7. Be sure that you can spell all the words in the follow-
ing list, and use as many of them as is feasible in writing
a paper on a subject suggested by one or more of them.
II
III
benefit
finally
knight
chief
forfeit
night
custom
goddess
led
decision
grammar
literary
different
independent
loose
disappear
infinite
lose
disappoint
intellectual
noticeable
exaggerate
judgment
possess
6o
)
SPELLING
prejudice
prophesy
there
principal
rhythm
to
principle
sentence
too
privilege
separate
village
profession
shepherd
villain
promise
surprise
writer
prophecy
their
writing
8. Bo prepared to spoil the names of the following
authors :
Holmes
Coleridge
George Eliot
Irving
Goldsmith
Shakspere
Addison
Steele
Tennyson
Lowell
Burke
Jane Austen
Macaulay
Samuel Johnson
Hawthorne
Burns
Carlyle
Wordsworth
De Quincey
Cooper
Spenser
Chaucer
Shelley
Thackeray
9. Write the names of all the characters in the book
you are now reading in class.
10. Be prepared to spell any word in this chapter up to
this point. Include the list prepared under the preceding
exercise. 1
36. The Use of Capitals. In studying spelling we must
give careful attention to the use of capitals. Capitalization
is a great help to us in indicating important words and in
making our meaning clear.
i. The pronoun /and the interjection O should always
be written as capitals.
2. Every independent sentence, every line of poetry, and
every direct quotation formally introduced, should begin
with a capital.
1 Perhaps your teacher will allow you to have a spelling match.
THE USE OF CAPITALS 6 1
3. In general, a capital calls attention to a word of special
importance. The following are examples :
a. Proper names, and words which are used as proper
names.
(1) Names of Deity, such as God, the Father, the
Almighty.
(2) The names of the months, the days of the week, and
any word which is used to designate a special thing.
Denver, the Missouri River, Mount Washington, the Melrose
High School, the National Biscuit Company, Patriots' Day, the
Declaration of Independence, the Reformation, the Renaissance,
the American Revolution, the Ware Grammar School.
Note. We must include adjectives formed from proper names,
such as Englisli and German, unless the adjectives are used merely
to express a quality, as in the case of stoical and quixotic.
b. In titles of newspapers, essays, and books, all impor-
tant words — including the first.
" The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," " Young People and Old
Pictures."
c. Titles of honor or office, wheji applied to a particu-
lar person.
The President of the United States, the Governor of California,
Mayor Brown, Captain lames, his Honor, her Majesty.
d. Personification.
Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
Jest, and youthful Jollity,
Quips and Cranks and wanton Wiles,
Nods and Becks and wreathed Smiles,
Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,
And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter holding both his sides.
62 SPELLING
EXERCISES
1. Write a sentence in which you name every month
in the year, all the clays of the week, and the seasons.
(Remember that the names of the seasons do not begin
with capitals.)
2. Write a sentence in which you mention all the schools
which you have ever attended.
3. Write a complex sentence in which you mention a
higher institution of learning that you think you may like
to enter in the future, and a firm for whom you may wish
to work.
4. Explain the use of the capitals in these sentences :
The North and the South are trying to understand each other.
When I lived in the West, I had a study that faced the west.
5. Copy from this book (i) four lines of poetry, and (2)
four direct quotations, at least two of which are introduced
formally.
6. Write a sentence in which you mention all of your
studies. Why should algebra begin with a small letter
and English with a capital ?
7. Make a list of five proper adjectives.
8. Write the titles "mayor," "king," "president," and
"governor," in connection with names of persons.
9. Write the titles of three books and two newspapers
or essays.
10. In a paragraph give your opinion of a newspaper with
which you are familiar. Capitalize every important word in
the title of your composition.
11. In a paragraph give your opinion of the magazine
which you know best.
SPELLING 6
o
12. Copy the better of these last two papers in your
notebook as Theme VII.
13. Exchange notebooks and examine the capitalization
of the titles of Themes I-VII.
14. Exchange notebooks and call attention to all mis-
spelled words in Themes I-VII.
15. Copy twenty -five times all the words you misspelled
in Themes I— VII.
Note. If you ever forget how to spell a word you have copied
twenty-five times, it certainly seems as if the appearance of the word
would suggest the use of a dictionary.
16. Spelling match. Be prepared to spell by syllables
any word in this chapter.
CHAPTER VII
LETTER WRITING
37. Value of Letter Writing. We naturally wish to prac-
tise writing which has a practical value. A matter of such
general interest and such great importance that every one
should be impatient to master it, is letter writing.
It is a favorite form of recreation for some persons, after
a hard day's work, to write a letter to a friend. They like
to focus their attention on this friend for an hour, to get
his point of view, to tell him what he would like to know. It
appeals to them as an investment, for it promises an enter-
taining reply. Soon the friend will give them a glimpse of
his little world. Now this corresponding is a recreation in
so far as we write without restraint. If a friend is inter-
ested in whatever interests us, we let our pen run pretty
freely ; we give expression to what is uppermost in our
minds. If some of the attempts to make our meaning clear
are bungling, we know he will try to understand us. At
the same time, the finer the friendship the more it prizes
courtesy, and we must not expect any one else to solve puz-
zles that are due to our indifference or laziness. From our
own point of view, too, we cannot afford, even in the most
familiar letters, to lapse into uncouth, slovenly ways, any
more than in conversation we can afford to descend to
vulgar expressions.
It is only to the two or three friends with whom we
" think aloud," that we write with perfect freedom. Most
6 4
VALUE OF LETTER WRITING 65
of our correspondence must be limited ; and the limitations
make it, as a form of training, most valuable. We gener-
ally have a definite object in writing — a particular errand
to put on paper. There is one thing which a business
man wishes us to tell him ; he cannot stop to read any-
thing else. Our writing must have unity and brevity. Our
success, therefore, often depends largely on our ability
to understand the wishes of the person whom we are
addressing.
At another time we have a favor to ask. Again we
study our man. He may be easy to antagonize. We must
at any rate expect him to be busy; we have no right to
waste his time. Hence the need of making him understand
us readily and fully — of expressing ourselves so clearly
that he may not misunderstand us.
There is an advantage in having to interest only one
man. Our problem seems much more specific when we
have a definite explanation to make to a definite reader.
We can easily see, however, on further reflection, that when
we have learned to satisfy one man we have learned to
satisfy many others. Whereas a talk to nobody in particu-
lar may interest nobody, a speaker who talks to one man
in his audience may give most of his audience the impres-
sion that he is talking to each one of them. It was said
of the late Dr. Babcock, pastor of the famous old Brick
Church in New York, that " there is the feeling during his
preaching that Dr. Babcock has you individually by the arm
and is talking to you earnestly, quietly, and impressively."
38. The Paper. With the numerous kinds and sizes of
paper at our disposal in these days, we have no excuse
for not choosing paper suited to our various needs. White
66 LETTER WRITING
unruled paper is always in good taste for all forms of cor-
respondence. Four-page paper looks better for letters of
friendship than the two-page form used in business. Natu-
rally we should try to adapt the size of the paper to the
length of the communication, with a view to making the
letter pleasing in appearance, and easy to read. Little
thought is necessary to decide whether to use ordinary
business paper, some eight inches by ten in size, or note
paper, for inviting a friend to lunch.
39. The Beginning of a Letter. In beginning a letter we
should consider (i) the heading, (2) the address, (3) the
salutation. Study the following illustrations :
1. 36 Allen Street,
Cambridge, Mass.,
May 1, 1905.
Messrs. Horn & Company,
52 Bond Street, Portland, Me.
Dear Sirs :
2. 10 Bond Street,
Nashua, N.H.,
February 5, 1906.
Miss Olivia E. Long,
Stratham, N.H.
Dear Madam :
3. Center Lovell,
Oxford Co., Me.,
March 6, 1906.
Mrs. James E. Williams,
Pinehurst, N.C.
Dear Madam :
TJie Heading. As the foregoing illustrations show, the
heading includes (1) the writer's address, and (2) the date.
None of the details given above should ever be omitted
unless the writer is sure they are so well known as to be
THE BEGINNING OF A LETTER 67
unnecessary. In illustration (3), in the case of the village
of Center Lovell, the name of the county is useful.
The heading is usually placed an inch or more from
the top of the page and near the right-hand corner. The
first line should begin far enough toward the left to
allow each succeeding line to begin a little farther toward
the right.
Such words as street and a venu e and the names of the
months may be abbreviated, but the year should always be
written in full, as 1906, not '06.
The Address. In business letters the address of the per-
son to whom the correspondence is sent should begin on
the line below the date, and well to the left. As in the
heading, the second line should begin a little to the right
of the first line. Sometimes the address is placed at the
close of the letter, but it is more convenient to have it pre-
cede the letter. Naturally, many informal letters do not
require the address.
The Salutation. Just below the address, when there is
one, comes the salutation. If there is no address, the salu-
tation takes its place. In choosing a form of salutation the
writer has an opportunity to show the relations that exist
between him and his correspondent. He should make his
choice with care. The following salutations are used in
formal business letters :
Dear Sir: or. My dear Sir:
Dear Madam: or My dear Madam (applies to a married or
to an unmarried woman) :
Dear Sirs : or Gentlemen :
Note. Too formal for common use, but suitable for persons of
note, — for example, officials in high position, — are Sir: and Madam :
°J-
68 LETTER WRITING
In informal letters we write :
Dear Mr. Browne : or My dear Mr. Browne:
Dear Miss Davis: or My dear Miss Davis:
or, with more informality, we use the comma instead of
the colon :
Dear Mr. Browne, or My dear Mr. Browne,
Dear Miss Davis, or My dear Miss Davis,
or, most informally,
Dear Father, My dear Cousin,
Dear Fred, My dear Brother,
Dear Alice, My dear Annie.
Although the punctuation of the salutation varies a good
deal, it is a safe rule to use the comma as the informal, and
the colon as the formal, mark of punctuation.
40. The Body of the Letter. The main part of the letter,
or the body, should begin on the line below the salutation.
The following arrangement is a good one :
Bucksport, Maine,
July 15, 1904.
Messrs. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.,
46 East 14th St.,
New York City.
Dear Sirs :
Kindly mail me a copy of " Self-Cultivation in Eng-
lish," by Professor George H. Palmer. I inclose thirty-five cents
in stam P s - Very truly yours,
Wendell R. Barrow.
If it is true that " there is nothing in which the character
of the superior man or woman expresses itself more than
in letter writing," we should be at our best when we write
letters. We should remember that we can never tell who
THE BODY OF THE LETTER 69
may read our letters, or how long they may be preserved.
Apologies in letters are tedious if not exasperating. These
we may avoid in two ways : by replying to letters promptly,
and by making our reply as good as we possibly can. A
business letter should be answered at once. If we feel hur-
ried, let us save time by using few words, not by writing
rapidly. A letter should be easily legible. An attractive
manuscript is a good beginning of the courtesy that is
indispensable in correspondence.
A letter, like a talk, may be one composition or it may
consist of several compositions. If it deals with one sub-
ject only, it should, like any other composition, have an
orderly arrangement of thought and grow in interest to the
end. If, like most conversations, it consists of several com-
positions, the writer should attend to each of them in turn ;
it is also desirable that such a letter should grow in interest.
In all letters there is need of careful paragraphing.
Every letter, too, should have an appropriate beginning
and an appropriate ending. The writer who thinks for him-
self does not need to. begin a letter exactly as some one else
has begun one ; and the writer who wishes to do finished
work will not stop awkwardly or abruptly with the announce-
ment that "the dinner bell has rung." Such writers will
avoid these expressions :
1. I take my pen in hand to inform you.
2. I thought I would drop you a line.
3. It is late, so I must close.
4. Yours received and in reply will say.
41. The Conclusion of a Letter. In the conclusion of a
letter there are (1) the complimentary close, and (2) the
signature.
70 LETTER WRITING
The complimentary close, like the salutation, should show
the relation that exists between the writer and his corre-
spondent.
The most common business forms are :
Yours truly, or Truly yours,
Yours very truly, or Very truly yours.
A form especially appropriate in addressing an honorable
body, or a person older than the writer, though used also
as a regular business form, is :
Yours respectfully, or Respectfully yours.
Specimens of forms which serve as appropriate endings
for letters of friendship, and sometimes for letters of busi-
ness, are :
Sincerely yours, Faithfully yours, Cordially yours, Fraternally
yours, or Yours sincerely, Yours faithfully, etc.
s
As the letter in section 40 shows, the place for the com-
plimentary close is on the line below the last words of the
body of the letter. It should be noted, too, that in the
forms given above, the first word begins with a capital, and
the last word is followed by a comma.
The signature goes on the line below the complimentary
close, and a little to the right. It should give the reader all
the information he needs fot-making a suitable reply. As a
rule it is well to write the first name in full. A stranger
may be puzzled to know whether J. D. Brown is a man or a
woman ; whereas he could tell at a glance, if it were Jennie
THE CONCLUSION OF A LETTER 71
D. Brown ox John D. Brown. In writing to a stranger a lady
should sign her name thus :
(1) Emma L. Brown (Mrs. James A. Brown)
or (2) (Miss) Sarah E. Lathrop
or (3) S. E. Lathrop
Miss Sarah E. Lathrop,
Macon, Ga.
or (4) (Mrs.) Mary W. Bliss
EXERCISES
1. Write a subscription for The Youth's Companion.
2. As examiner give especial attention to the arrange-
ment of the letter.
3. Give headings, salutations, and conclusions that you
might use in writing to (1) a teacher;- (2) a physician;
(3) an intimate friend ; (4) the city council ; (5) the chair-
man of the board of selectmen ; (6) the mayor ; l (7) the
superintendent of schools ; (8) a member of your family ;
(9) an unmarried woman whom you have not met ; (10) an
unmarried woman whom you know slightly; (11) a man
much older than yourself.
42. The Folding of a Letter. A letter should be folded
with the first page inside.
If the paper is of the ordinary business letter size, fold
it first from the bottom toward the top. Then make a fold
from right to left a little narrower than the width of the en-
velope, and finally make a third told from left to right. The
letter is now ready to go into the envelope right side up.
l For example, Hon. James T. Clark, Mayor of Wilmington, Delaware. Sir:
[or Your Honor :].
72 LETTER WRITING
EXERCISES
1. Answer for Messrs. T. Y. Crowd] & Co. the letter
from Mr. Barrow (page 68). Fold your letter.
2. Exchange the letters just written. Criticise in writing:
(i) the appearance of the letter, including the kind of paper
used and the size ; (2) the beginning, including the heading,
the address, and the salutation; (3) the body — whether
it is a complete answer to the request ; (4) the conclu-
sion, including the complimentary close and the signature;
(5) the folding.
43. The Direction of the Envelope. It is customary to
arrange the name and the address of the recipient of the
letter in three or four lines. The name is written across
the middle of the envelope, and so placed as to leave about
the same amount of space on each side. If the envelope is
long, there should be more space on the left of the name
than on the right. As in the case of the heading, each
succeeding line begins a little to the right.
Note carefully the content, the arrangement, and the
punctuation of the following envelope addresses :
1. Mr. William H. Roberts
10 Perry Street
Toledo
Ohio
2. Dr. Samuel West
Farmville
North Carolina
Care of Mr. T. H. Taft
3. Messrs. R. H. Brown & Co.
512 Bonding St.
New York City
THE DIRECTION OF THE ENVELOPE 73
The punctuation marks are of no value unless they mark
abbreviations. Does not their omission add to the attract-
iveness of the envelope ?
Either Mr. or Esq. — but not both — is used in address-
ing men. Some reserve Esq. for lawyers, for whom it is
always appropriate ; some, for men who have achieved dis-
tinction. Others use it freely instead of Mr.
It is not in good taste to use the husband's title in ad-
dressing the wife, as Mrs. Dr. Davis.
Address the principal of a school as Walter A. Davis, Esq.,
Principal of the Central High School. In addressing a pro-
fessor, write Professor William H. White. Prin. and Prof.
are unattractive abbreviations.
Instead of Rev. Dr. John B. Luce, write The Rev. John
B. Luce, D.D.
Hon. is a title given to persons " who hold or have held
any considerable office under the national or State govern-
ment, particularly to members and ex-members of Congress
and of State legislatures, to judges, justices, and some other
judicial officers, as well as to certain executive officers," : as
mayors.
EXERCISE
On slips of paper cut three and one-half inches by six,
four by nine, or four by five, write suitable envelope ad-
dresses to the following persons and firms. Choose in each
instance the size which you consider the most appropriate.
1 . One of your teachers.
2. A well-known business house in your town.
3. The wife of a physician, in care of a doctor of divinity.
4. A lawyer (the inclosure to be a legal document).
1 The Century Dictionary.
74 LETTER WRITING
5. A member of Congress in care of a man whose post-office
box is 25.
6. A prominent firm in a neighboring city.
44. Suggestions. 1. A good letter shows clearly where,
when, to whom, and by whom it was written.
2. A careful letter writer keeps in mind his relations
with the person to whom he writes.
3. Abbreviations are in general to be avoided. The men
who do the most business usually find time to spell the full
word. ' Y'rs ree'd " and " Resp'y " are unnecessary.
4. The order of the pages should be perfectly clear to
the reader.
5. When sent by a friend, a note should not be sealed
unless the bearer chooses to seal it. On the envelope in-
closing such a note we write :
Mr. James A. Wilbur
Kindness of Mr. Howard
6. It is a good rule to inclose a stamp whenever we ask
a favor which calls for the use of a stamp.
7. It is wise to write your name and address in the upper
left-hand corner of an envelope which incloses a letter of
special importance.
8. Such a little thing as placing the stamp in the upper
right-hand corner, right side up, adds to the attractiveness of
the envelope.
SPECIMENS OF LETTERS
45. Business Letters. Having mastered the forms, the
writer of a business letter should take pains to be ( 1 ) clear, and
(2) concise. He should tell the busy man whom he is address-
ing precisely what that man needs to know and nothing more.
BUSINESS LETTERS 75
The reply to a business letter should be prompt and
definite.
Examine carefully the following letter to The Outlook
Company, to see whether it contains all needful information
and no more.
190 Bowdoin Street,
Worcester, Mass.,
August 16, 1905.
The Outlook Company,
287 Fourth Avenue,
New York City.
Gentlemen :
Inclosed you will find a money order for three
dollars, for which please send "The Outlook" to my address
during the coming year.
Yours truly,
Walter H. Bigelow.
EXERCISES
1. Write one of your teachers a letter requesting him to
recommend you for a position you would like to fill. Tell
him as definitely as possible what your work will be, give
him the name and address of the firm or man to whom he
is to write, and show that you will appreciate any favor he
can see his way clear to do for you.
As a way of closing such a letter, which of the two forms
that follow do you prefer ? Which is the more modest and
unassuming
r ?
Thanking yon in advance for your favor, I am
Yours respectfully,
A. B. Brown.
Hoping that I am not asking too much of you, I am
Yours respectfully,
A. B. Brown.
76 LETTER WRITING
Insert your letter right side up in a properly addressed
envelope.
2. (i) Apply for a situation. First get the correct name
and address of the person or persons to whom you write.
Then tell why you are applying, mention any experience or
training which would tend to make your Services of value,
and give the name and address of some one who may be
asked about your character and ability. Read your letter
aloud slowly and cut out all unnecessary words.
(2) Answer your letter. You will now have a good
opportunity to test the clearness and completeness of the
application.
3. Write an order for six kinds of groceries. Give a line
to each kind, thus :
1 lb. Mocha Coffee
1 gal. Molasses
4. Write a business letter from dictation. This letter is
to be dictated by one of the pupils. The teacher will fur-
nish the subject at the time. The pupil is to have no oppor-
tunity for preparation. For example, the teacher might say,
r You may order one hundred copies of the algebra you are
studying," and the pupil would be expected to dictate to the
class a letter with all the necessary information about title,
edition, etc.
5. Goods ordered ten days ago have not come. In a tele-
gram of ten words ask why, and when you can have them.
6. Write (1) a receipt for money paid you on account;
(2) a receipt in full ; (3) a promissory note. (For a defini-
tion see a large dictionary.)
7. Does the writer of the following give the real estate
firm enough information ? If not, supply whatever is needed.
BUSINESS LETTERS J J
Then answer the letter for Messrs. Brown & Thompson.
Thank Mr. Rand for the favor and write briefly about two
houses which you think will suit him. Assure him that you
will be glad to show him these houses, and others that may
interest him, at his convenience. Call attention to the fact
that there is considerable demand for such houses.
2 Ward St.,
Chicago, Illinois,
July 2, 1905.
Messrs. Brown & Thompson,
9 Main St.,
Cambridge, Mass.
Dear Sirs :
During the next four years, while my daughter is to
study at Radcliffe, I shall wish to live in Cambridge. My family
will need a house with five chambers, — four of which must be
roomy, — a good bathroom, and convenient kitchen and pantry
arrangements. I prefer a location within half a mile of the college
and shall insist on settling in a quiet community. The house
must be ready for us by September 1. If you know of any
houses that would be likely to suit us, please send me word at
your earliest convenience, giving the lowest prices for which they
may be rented by the year or leased for four years.
Yours truly,
A. K. Rand.
46. Letters of Friendship. We have access to a good
many friendly letters that are interesting and inspiring.
Some of the best have been written by Eugene Field, Scott,
Lowell, Cowper, Thackeray, Thomas Jefferson, Washington
Irving, Longfellow, Thoreau, Cromwell, and Cray. Let us
study a few of them in order that we may, if possible, dis-
cover in each case the writer's secret, — find out how he
succeeded in making his letter attractive.
78 LETTER WRITING
The first letter that we shall examine was written by
Stevenson, in reply to a boy who had asked him for his
autograph. Point out whatever pleases you in the answer. 1
Vailima, Upolu, Samoa,
November 28, 1891.
Dear Sir, — Your obliging communication is to hand. I am glad
to find that you have read some of my books, and to see that you
spell my name right. This is a point (for some reason) of great
difficulty ; and I believe that a gentleman who can spell Stevenson
with a 7' at sixteen should have a show for the Presidency before
fifty. By that time
" I, nearer to the wayside inn,"
predict that you will have outgrown your taste for autographs,
hut perhaps your son may have inherited the collection, and on
the morning of the great day will recall my prophecy to your
mind. And in the papers of 192 1 (say) this letter may arouse
a smile.
Whatever you do, read something else besides novels and
newspapers ; the first are good enough when they are good ; the
second, at their best, are worth nothing. Read great books of
literature and history ; try to understand the Roman Empire and
the Middle Ages ; be sure you do not understand when you dislike
them ; condemnation is non-comprehension. And if you know
something of these two periods, you will know a little more about
to-day, and may be a good President.
I send you my best wishes, and am yours,
Robert Louis Stevenson.
Author of a vast quantity of little books.
Our friends prize highly the letters into which we put
much of ourselves. In each of the two following letters
what does the writer tell of his character ?
1 From " The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson," Vol. II, by permission of
Charles Scribner's Sons.
LETTERS OF FRIENDSHIP 79
Phillips Brooks to his Niece *
Munich, September 2, 1883.
Dear Gertie, — When I came away, the first man that wrote me
a letter only two days after the Servia had steamed out of New
York bay was you. And now that I am coming home, the last
letter which I write from the Old World to any man in America
shall be to you. For I want to tell you myself that I shall see you
on September 22. I suppose you will not be quite able to run
over to the wharf at East Boston when the Cephalonia gets in,
but I shall come up to see you just as soon as the customhouse
people let me out of prison, after I have paid the duties upon all
the heaps of presents I have got for you !
Wasn't it good that the baths at Sharon helped you so much?
I was at a place the other day where the people take baths for
rheumatism. It is called Bad Gastein, but it isn't bad at all ; it is
very good. It is away back in the hills, and there is a tremendous
waterfall which runs right through the house, and keeps up such a
racket you can't get any sleep. But that does no great harm, be-
cause you have to take your bath so early that, if it were not for
the waterfall in the next room, you would sleep over and never get
any bath at all, and so some time you might have the rheumatism
all your life. I didn't have any rheumatism, so I went and took
a bath for yours, and I rather think that is what made you feel so
much better. You thought it was the baths you were taking at
Sharon, but it was really the bath I was taking at Bad Gastein !
I wonder how soon you will come and see me when I get back.
Everybody here eats his breakfast, and luncheon, and dinner out-
doors. I like it, and think I shall do so myself when I get home ;
so when you come to breakfast, we will have our table out on the
grass plot in Newbury Street, and Katie shall bring us our beef-
steak there. Will it not make the children stare as they go by to
school? We'll toss the crumbs to them and the robins. But you
must hurry and get well, or we cannot do all this. My love to
Agnes and Tood. Your affectionate uncle, P.
1 Phillips Brooks: "Letters "l Travel."
8o LETTER WRITING
From Edward Fitzgerald
Geldestone Hall,
September 9 [1834].
Dear Allen,
. . . [Your letter] has indeed been a long time
coming, but it is all the more delicious. Perhaps you can't imagine
how wistfully I have looked for it; how, after a walk, my eyes
have turned to the table, on coming into the room, to see it.
Sometimes I have been tempted to be angry with you ; but then
I have thought that I was sure you would come a hundred miles
to serve me, though you were too lazy to sit down to a letter.
I suppose that people who are engaged in serious ways of life,
and are of well-filled minds, don't think much about the inter-
change of letters with any anxiety ; but I am an idle fellow, of a
very ladylike turn of sentiment, and my friendships are more like
loves, I think. . . .
Farewell, my dearest fellow ; you have made me very happy to
hear from you, and to know that all is so well with you. Believe
me to be your ever affectionate friend,
E. Fitzgerald.
There are times when a few words of sympathy are
more welcome than anything else we can send a friend.
If we are to help a friend bear grief*, we must first under-
stand his suffering partly, if not wholly. Then, in our ex-
pression of sympathy, instead of making him feel worse, we
should try to call his attention to some one thing which
will give him real comfort.
What can we learn from the following letter of Abraham
Lincoln's : ? To what extent did he seem to understand the
mother's grief ? To what extent did he probably comfort her?
What words seem to you particularly well chosen ?
1 From " The Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln," Vol. II, by permission of
The Century Co.
LETTERS OF FRIENDSHIP 8 1
Executive Mansion,
Washington, November 21,1 864.
Mrs. Bixby,
Boston, Massachusetts.
Dear Madam :
I have been shown in the files of the War Depart-
ment a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that
you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the
field of battle. 1 feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of
mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss
so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you
the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic
they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage
the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished
memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be
yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln.
EXERCISES
1. Write the opening paragraph of a letter to a friend in
as sprightly a style as that used by Madame de Sevigne in
beginning a letter to Madame de Grignan :
Tin: Rocks, Monday, February 3, 1676.
Guess, my dear child, what it is that comes the quickest, and
goes off the slowest ; that brings you nearest to health, and
removes you the furthest from it ; that throws you into the most
agreeable situation imaginable, and, at the same time, hinders you
from enjoying it ; that flatters you with the most pleasing hopes,
and keeps you the longest from the accomplishment of them.
Can not you guess? Do you give it up? Why. it is the rheu-
matism. I have had it these three and twenty days; since the
fourteenth day I have been free from fever and pain, and in this
delightful situation, thinking myself strong enough to walk, which
is the summit of my wishes, I find myself swelled all over — feet,
legs, hands, arms ; and this swelling, which they call my cure, and
82 LETTER WRITING
in'reality is so, is the sole occasion of my present vexation ; were
I good for anything, I might gain myself some credit by it. How-
ever, I believe the enemy is conquered, and that in two days I
shall be able to walk.
2. Write a letter to a friend whom you are not likely to
see for a long time. Try to be as entertaining as "Gail Ham-
ilton " was in this portion of a letter of hers to Whittier :
You don't want me to write you a letter, I know, but I will,
and you cannot help yourself. . . .
Why don't you come and help me kill caterpillars? There are
eighty-five thousand millions on our trees. I burn them up first,
then I bathe them in kerosene oil, and then I wash it off in soap-
suds. I think they rather like it. How they cuddle up together,
don't they ? But they are nasty little beasts — that's all you can
say about it ; and there's a man and a boy coming, who are going
to exterminate them, horse, foot, and dragoons. We have four-
teen chickens that we have taken " to halves." I don't mean that
we split them open every morning, but we are going to nurse and
nourish them all summer and own one-half of the whole number
in fee simple. Behold, says the Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, the
shifts which honest poverty will make rather than beg or steal !
Besides, we have eight little chickens of our own — all born, and
ever so many more that are going to be, if Fate and the other
hens do not nip them in the shell. Hitherto Destiny has set her
face against them. Their mother has been in a state of constant
trepidation. I put fifteen eggs under her, and the number has
gradually risen to twenty-three ! I should not care if they would
all turn into chickens, but that nest has been the scene of so many
sharp conflicts that I fear the poor little yolks have not had peace
enough to enable them to shape themselves into fuss and feathers.
But I am going to keep Mother Hen on it until all hope is aban-
doned, and we shall see what we shall see. . . .
I suspect by this time you are pretty tired, but I am not half
done yet. Anybody that is as wise as I am knows what a relief it
is to sit down sometimes and be silly.
LETTERS OF FRIENDSHIP 83
3. Write (1) a letter of congratulation; (2) a letter of
condolence.
4. [Take either a or /;].
a. Write a friend about an interesting book you are read-
ing. Tell him enough to excite his interest without satisfy-
ing his curiosity.
/;. In a letter to a friend write all you have learned from
this chapter about letters of friendship.
5. In a letter to the principal of the school, tell what you
have accomplished so far this year in each of your studies.
Pay attention to {a) paragraphing, (b) sentence structure,
(r) punctuation.
Use correspondence paper and inclose your letter in a
properly directed envelope.
6. [Take either a or /;].
a. (1) Write for a letter of introduction to a man whom
you wish to meet on business. (2) Answer your letter.
b. (1) Write a letter of introduction. Your friend -
is to be in , a distant city, for a fortnight, and you wish
her to meet a friend of yours in that city. (2) Answer your
letter.
7. [Take either a or b\
a. To a cousin whom you have never seen, write a faith-
ful account of the town or city in which you live. Give a
paragraph to each of the following subjects : location, indus-
tries, educational opportunities, character of the inhabitants.
/;. Write a friend who runs a bookstore whether you
think there is a good opening for him in your town or city,
or in some town near by. He will be interested in much of
the matter in the letter you have just written, and in addi-
tion will wish to know about the healthfulness of the city,
84 LETTER WRITING
the value of property, rents, taxes, the cost of living, rail-
road facilities, the growth of the city, and the opportunity
to build up the book trade.
47. Formal Notes. A note that is written in the third
person is called a formal note. An invitation sent out by a
school, a class in the school, a club, or any group of per-
sons is likely to be in the third person ; and we must re-
member to answer it in the third person.
Consider every detail of the forms given below; for ex-
ample, the writing of the full word instead of using a figure.
i. Mr. and Mrs. William Walker request the pleasure of Mr.
Henry Green's company at dinner on Thursday evening, May the
third, at seven o'clock.
1017 Avon Street,
April twenty-seventh.
2. Mr. Green accepts with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. William
Walker's kind invitation to dinner on Thursday evening, May the
third, at seven o'clock.
5 Williams Street,
April twenty-eighth.
3. Mr. Green regrets that he cannot accept Mr. and Mrs.
William Walker's kind invitation to dinner on Thursday evening,
May the third.
5 Williams Street,
April twenty-eighth.
4. The Class of Nineteen Hundred and Six
Bristol Conservatory of Music
requests the honor of your presence at the
Commencement Exercises
Wednesday, June the twentieth
at two o'clock
Tremont Temple
Bristol
FORMAL NOTES 85
5. Mr. William H. Brown accepts with pleasure the kind invita-
tion of the Class of Nineteen Hundred and Six, Bristol Conserva-
tory of Music, to attend the Commencement Exercises, Wednesday,
June the twentieth, at two o'clock, in Tremont Temple.
You will find there is a reason for every bit of informa-
tion given in both invitations and replies. Why is it desir-
able in 3 to repeat the words dinner, Thursday evening, May
the third, and seven o'clock? In answering this question,
take the point of view of the hostess.
Do not say, " A previous engagement will prevent." One
accepts or sends regrets at the time of writing.
Your is used in 4 for the reason that it would cost
too much to engrave the name of each person on his
invitation.
EXERCISES
1. Write a formal invitation to an entertainment.
2. Accept the invitation orally.
3. Decline it in writing.
48. Informal Notes. Most of us seldom have occasion to
write a note in the third person. We prefer to write in-
formal notes — those in which we use the first person. Then
instead of sending the message in a ready-made form, each
one' can express himself in his own way ; he can be him-
self. For example :
Dear Miss Hall,
Mother and I are hoping that you can spend
Thursday evening with us. Of course we shall expect you to dinner.
You have not forgotten that our dinner hour is half past six ?
Cordially yours,
Ella W. Parker.
25 Gray Street, Dorchester,
Tuesday, November fifth.
86 LETTER WRITING
EXERCISES
1. Accept the invitation and decline it in writing.
2. What characteristics of the writer come out in the
following" invitation ? How many indications are there that
she wished her guests to come and to come with the ut-
most ease ? Consider the note addressed to you, and write
a reply.
My dear Mr. Brown,
We should be happy to have you and your
brother come down next Wednesday and stay with us over Sunday.
A train that leaves Boston at three o'clock in the afternoon reaches
Providence about four and gives ample time to take the train for
Woodville in the same station at twenty minutes past four. Wood-
ville is the terminus of the road, and our cottage is close to the
station.
The best way is to buy a five-trip ticket to Providence, — we
can easily take the extra ticket, — then a round-trip ticket from
Providence to Woodville. You will need your tennis racquets,
and the bicycles will not come amiss. We have at least one extra
bathing suit. . . . You may be sure of a hearty welcome.
Very sincerely yours,
Mary Davis Leighton.
Woodville, Rhode Island,
July fifteenth.
3. Invite your English teacher to dine with you and
spend the evening at your home. Make it clear in your
note that you have consulted your mother in regard to the
invitation.
4. Write a friend in order to show him that you appre-
ciate the good time he gave you during your visit at his
home.
%
CHAPTER VIII
THE COHERENT PARAGRAPH
49. Coherence. When a paragraph has a single main
thought, we say that the paragraph has unity, or that it is
a unit. When thoughts take their places in a natural order,
so that the sentences fit together closely, we say that the
paragraph has coherence. A step toward unity is to include
no details except those which have a bearing on the para-
graph topic. A step toward coherence is to arrange the
details in a natural or logical order. Sometimes a carefully
worded topic sentence is the best guide through a para-
graph. Sometimes connectives help us show the relation
of one sentence to another.
50. Connectives. Whether a writer uses topic sentences
or not, he will often need conjunctions and conjunctive
phrases, such as : however, yet, then, too, hence, moreover,
accordingly, in short, also, further, nor, but, and, on the con-
trary, while, on the other hand, still, indeed, therefore, first,
secondly, and finally.
A connective liable to be overworked is and. It is often
used to fill gaps, as and-cr is used by hesitant pupils in
reciting. We should think twice before allowing it to stand
at the beginning of a sentence or a paragraph, and in revis-
ing a manuscript we should cut out every and we do not
absolutely need.
A demonstrative adjective, used with a noun, frequently
makes a good connecting link. It enables the writer to
87
88 THE COHERENT PARAGRAPH
repeat a word or an idea that he wishes to keep before
the reader.
EXERCISES
l. In the following selections, does each sentence lead up
to the next ? Make a list of the connectives. Underscore
all demonstrative adjectives used with nouns.
In Franklin Park
I was in Franklin Park this morning [February 25] about ten
minutes before sunrise. The somewhat pale moon was still shin-
ing in the west, while the eastern horizon and the clouds above it
were suffused with pink. This pink grew brighter and brighter
until it became golden. Just then I heard a single half-suppressed
caw, and turning toward the westward beheld a long dark line of
crows, at least fifty, pursuing a northerly course. The loud cries
of a pair of blue jays resounded from a group of cedar trees a few
minutes after the sun rose. The chickadees, too, were early risers
and three hairy woodpeckers put in an appearance in good season.
Squirrels, both red and gray, were numerous and at one time I
noticed five gray fellows in a single pine tree. In passing a low
hedge of evergreens, I heard a chirp, and looking carefully, I saw
a song sparrow perched in the hedge. I tried by various whistles
and bird notes to get him to sing his spring song to me, but the
only response he would give was a melancholy chirp which seemed
to mean the spring had not yet come.
Our Language
At court, and in the castles of the great nobles, where the
pomp and state of a court was emulated, Norman-French was
the only language employed ; in courts of law, the pleadings and
judgments were delivered in the same tongue. In short, French
was the language of honor, of chivalry, and even of justice ;
while the far more manly and expressive Anglo-Saxon was aban-
doned to the use of rustics and hinds, who knew no other. Still,
CONNECTIVES 89
however, the necessary intercourse between the lords of the
soil, and those oppressed inferior beings by whom that soil was
cultivated, occasioned the gradual formation of a dialect, com-
pounded betwixt the French and the Anglo-Saxon, in which they
could render themselves mutually intelligible to each other ; and
from this necessity arose by degrees the structure of our present
English language, in which the speech of the victors and x the
vanquished have been so happily blended together ; and which
has since been so richly improved by importations from the
classical languages, and from those spoken by the southern
nations of Europe. — Scott, " Ivanhoe."
The Lingering Daylight
By this time the sun had gone down, and was tinting the
clouds towards the zenith with those bright hues which are not
seen there until some time after sunset, and when the horizon
has quite lost its richer brilliancy. The moon, too, . . . These
silvery beams . . . They softened . . . With the lapse of every
moment, the garden grew more picturesque . . . The common-
place characteristics . . . were now transfigured by a charm of
romance. A hundred mysterious years were whispering among
the leaves. . . . Through the foliage that roofed the little sum-
mer-house the moonlight flickered to and fro, and fell silvery
white on the dark floor, the table, and the circular bench, with
a continual shift and play, according as the chinks and wayward
crevices among the twigs admitted or shut out the glimmer. —
Hawthorne, "The House of the Seven Gables."
2. Insert these connectives in their proper places in the
following paragraph : in short, and lastly, for one thing,
for another.
People had no fancy for amateur explosions . it did
not clearly appear that it was legal. it seemed a somewhat
1 The sentence would be improved by the insertion of "that of."
90 THE COHERENT PARAGRAPH
advanced example of civilization to set before barbarians. The
matter became a storm.
3. Write a paragraph in which you use one of the follow-
ing sentences as an opening sentence :
i. He had plenty to do through the next hour.
2. I sauntered to the window and stood gazing at the people
picking their way to church.
3. All was now bustle and hubbub in the late quiet schoolroom.
4. Dinner time came.
5. His heart opened wide to real distress.
4. Exchange papers and test their coherence. Mark
O opposite any sentence which should be omitted, and C
against any lack of connection.
5. Explain the working of some machine or instrument,
or the process of doing something. First prepare a list of
topics. As you revise, test the coherence of your paragraph,
or paragraphs.
6. Give an account of some recent experience. Write
rapidly. Think of your subject, not of how you are writing.
Revise in order to secure coherence.
7. Exchange papers and criticise as before.
CHAPTER IX
THE EMPHATIC PARAGRAPH
51. Emphasis through Position. When a man makes a
speech, he naturally begins in a way that will attract and
hold the attention of his audience. If in the course of his
talk he at times grows less interesting, when he comes to
the conclusion he rouses himself to leave a lasting impres-
sion. As the closing words naturally linger longest in the
ears of the listeners, we may say that the most important
part of the speech is the end. The part of next importance
is the beginning. So it is with a book, a chapter, a para-
graph, and a sentence. What first strikes the eye of the
reader will repel or attract ; the image that is last to leave
his eye he will be most likely to remember. We may say,
therefore, that the last sentence in a paragraph is in the
most conspicuous position, and that the first sentence is in
the position of second importance ; that the last words in a
sentence are by position the most emphatic, and that the
opening words are only less emphatic.
Let us, then, look to the beginning and the ending of
our paragraphs. In self-defense we need to attend to this
matter of emphasis ; otherwise the reader will lay stress on
what we consider of slight importance.
EXERCISES
l. Point out the importance of the opening and the closing
sentence of the following paragraph. What is the purpose
of each ?
QI
92 THE EMPHATIC PARAGRAPH
Our Most Precious Resources
If I were to name the three most precious resources of life, 1
should say books, friends, and nature ; and the greatest of these,
at least the most constant and always at hand, is nature. Nature
we have always with us, an inexhaustible storehouse of that which
moves the heart, appeals to the mind, and fires the imagination
— health to the body and joy to the soul. To the scientist nature
is a storehouse of facts, laws, processes ; to the artist she is a
storehouse of pictures ; to the poet she is a storehouse of images,
fancies, a source of inspiration ; to the moralist she is a store-
house of precepts and parables ; to all she may be a source of
knowledge and joy. — Burroughs, "The Art of Seeing Things."
2. Construct a paragraph of your own in a similar way.
You may write on the three most desirable traits in a boy
or a girl, on the three most attractive ways of spending
leisure time, or on any other subject.
3. Arrange the following sentences so that they shall
make a paragraph which has unity, coherence, and em-
phasis.
But there was both luster and depth in her eyes.
Neither did her face — with the brown ringlets on either side,
and the slightly piquant nose, and the wholesome bloom, and the
clear shade of tan, and the half a dozen freckles, friendly remem-
brances of the April sun and breeze — precisely give us a right to
call her beautiful.
She shocked no canon of taste ; she was admirably in keeping
with herself, and never jarred against surrounding circumstances.
She was very pretty ; as graceful as a bird, and graceful much
in the same way ; as pleasant about the house as a gleam of sun-
shine falling on the floor through a shadow of twinkling leaves,
or as a ray of firelight that dances on the wall while evening is
drawing nigh.
POSITION AND PROPORTION 93
Her figure, to be sure, — so small as to be almost childlike,
and so elastic that motion seemed as easy or easier to it than
rest, — would hardly have suited one's idea of a countess.
52. Emphasis through Proportion. If you were to talk
for ten minutes to thirty younger boys and girls, you would
probably spend most of your time on what you considered
the most important or most interesting topic. In the same
way, to give proper emphasis to the more important details
of a paragraph, you give them sufficient space.
EXERCISES
1. In the following extract from a journal, what detail
did the writer wish to emphasize most ? Did he secure the
emphasis by giving this suggestion the most space, or the
best position, or both ?
Timely Suggestions on Bird Study
If one is going to study birds this year, he should begin at
once [February 23], so as to know all the species that are now
here, for within two weeks new birds will begin to arrive and in
six weeks we shall have thirty more species. There are many
important things which are much easier to learn now than later
in the season. Get between the sun and your bird; otherwise
you will not be able to tell a scarlet tanagcr from a robin. Do
not puzzle over shy, small, sober-colored birds at first; confine
yourself to those having marked characteristics. Learn the songs
of as many birds as you can. Make notes on everything you
observe; you cannot make too many, provided they are accurate.
Above all things never hurry. Identify your birds with caution;
be sure you are right. Never raise even your glasses hurriedly,
for many shy birds will be frightened away by the flash of the
sun upon the lens. When in search of birds pause frequently
94 THE EMPHATIC PARAGRAPH
and yon will see and hear much that would otherwise escape you.
Therefore the motto of the successful ornithologist should be,
" Slow and sure."
2. Write a paragraph in which you try to secure empha-
sis both by proportion and by position. First make a list
of topics. You may give suggestions in regard to doing
something which you know very well how to do.
3. Prepare lists of topics on the following subjects from
" The Last of the Mohicans " :
i. The Night in the Cave. 2. A Character Sketch of
Hawkeye. 3. The Basest Character. 4. The Weakest
Character. (Compare at least two characters.) 5. David
Gamut's Good Qualities.
4. Write on one of these five subjects.
5. Exchange papers, and write in a single sentence the
thought which you consider the most important in each
paragraph you examine.
6. Write Theme VIII (in the notebook) on one of the
following subjects : Caring for Plants ; Setting the Table
for Dinner ; Managing a Canoe ; Enjoying a Boat ; Learn-
ing to Swim.
7. Exchange themes and write on paper what you
consider the main thought of each paragraph and of the
theme as a whole. Point out any good connectives, and
any lack of connection. How, if at all, is emphasis
secured ?
8. Give an account of one of your recent experiences.
Write in a simple, straightforward way as rapidly as you
can. In revising, test the unity, coherence, and emphasis
of the paragraph or paragraphs. Copy in the notebook as
Theme IX.
POSITION AND PROPORTION 95
9. Exchange themes and criticise (1) form, (2) sentence
structure, (3) punctuation, (4) spelling, (5) emphasis (as in
Exercise 7).
10. Write Theme X on any subject you please.
11. Exchange notebooks and, as examiner of Theme X,
answer these questions :
1 . Is the theme interesting ? adequate ? to the point ?
2. Is the subject sufficiently limited ?
3. Can you suggest a more suitable title ?
4. Criticise as in Exercise 7.
12. Write as Theme XI an account of to-day's recitation in
English. See that your report is (1) adequate and (2) to the
point. Make it a valuable record to any pupil who is absent
to-day, or to a pupil who may enter the school after to-day.
13. Exchange notebooks and, as examiner of Theme XI,
answer the following questions :
1. Is it interesting? Point out what you like best in
the work.
2. Is it adequate? Make a note of any topics which in
your opinion should be included.
3. Is it to the point ? Make an O in the margin against
any sentence which had better be omitted.
4. Can you suggest any improvements in (1) form, (2)
sentence structure, (3) punctuation, (4) spelling, (5) unity,
(6) coherence, or (7) emphasis ?
14. Write as Theme XII the substance of what you
have learned about writing themes.
15. Write in your notebook at least twice a week for a
fortnight. Bring your notebook to every English recitation,
so that you can get and give help in finding subjects and in
writing about them.
96 THE EMPHATIC PARAGRAPH
16. Discuss the emphasis of the following paragraph :
The mammy was the zealous, faithful, and efficient assistant
of the mistress in all that pertained to the training of the chil-
dren. Her authority was recognized in all that related to them
directly or indirectly, second only to that of the mistress and
master. She regulated them, disciplined them, having authority
indeed in cases to administer correction. Her regime extended
frequently through two generations, occasionally through three.
From their infancy she was the careful and faithful nurse, the
affection between her and the children she nursed being often
more marked than that between her and her own children. She
may have been harsh to the latter ; she was never anything but
tender with the others. Her authority was, in a measure, recog-
nized through life, for her devotion was unquestionable. The
young masters and mistresses were her " children " long after
they had children of their own. They embraced her, when they
parted from her or met with her again after separation, with the
same affection as when in childhood she " led them smiling into
sleep." She was worthy of the affection. At all times she was
their faithful ally, shielding them, excusing them, petting them,
aiding them, yet holding them up to a certain high accountability.
Her influence was always for good. She received, as she gave,
an unqualified affection ; if she was a slave, she at least was not
a servant, but was an honored member of the family, universally
beloved, universally cared for — "the Mammy." — Thomas Nel-
son Page, "The Old South."
17. Test the unity, coherence, and emphasis of the two
paragraphs quoted in the following note ; and if they are
imperfect, rewrite them.
Note. If the class makes such good progress that the teacher
thinks best to call for more than two themes a week, you will have so
much more material to which to apply the principles of composition
as you criticise your own work and that of others. The criticisms you
get from your classmates, supplemented by whatever suggestions the
POSITION AND PROPORTION 97
teacher has time to give, should be very valuable. Whether your
critics read your work, or you read it to them, they will look for the
good features as well as for the faults ; but by pointing out your most
conspicuous faults they will do you a great service.
Remember that your world is full of subjects. Two boys have given
the following suggestions about finding something on which to write :
1. In going to and from school I try to notice every little
thing I see. When I get home at night I sum up what I have
seen through the day and write it. If I am reading some book,
I express my opinion on it. I think boys living in the country
have an equal chance with the boys who live in the city, as they
see more things which God created ; for instance, the woods,
birds, and animals.
2. I think that if a person keeps his eyes wide open and
listens to all he hears, he is very sure of finding at least one
subject to write about each day. For instance, Monday I saw
a cab in a predicament ; Tuesday I saw a train blocked by
snow ; Wednesday I wrote about my reading ; Thursday I saw
a freight car put on the track ; Friday I saw a boy fall and
hurt himself; Saturday I saw a woman have a narrow escape
from being run over. It is like that. I come to school on a train
and watch all around for incidents. Sometimes I ride home on
the electric cars and have a good opportunity to see things.
Everybody has time and must use it in some way.
If nothing of interest happens on your way to or from school,
remember that you are always at liberty to write a secretary's re-
port of a recitation. Remember, too, that the number of enjoyable
books is legion — books on which you may write freely and fully,
noting details that you like, judging the work as a whole, and mak-
ing such comparisons and contrasts as naturally occur to you. In
handling such materials be sure that you give your honest opinions
with absolute frankness. Think for yourself; don't be a prig.
As for what goes on about you, whether the thoughts suggested by
the call of a street hawker, or by the sound of a hurdy-gurdy under
the window, are interesting or not, nobody else will have the same
thoughts. Your notebook is to be a record of your experiences, your
impressions, your opinions.
CHAPTER X
THE CORRECT SENTENCE
" It is not so much a merit to know English as it is a shame not to
know it."
Why is it that a boy enjoys taking a bicycle apart ?
Possibly one reason is that some day it may be convenient
to know how the parts go together. Now a boy's sen-
tences, like his bicycle, sometimes need repairs ; and if he
is to do his own repairing, he must know how the parts
of the sentence go together. Should he have occasion to
make bicycles, he would need to study with the utmost
patience the construction of such machines. He is bound
to make sentences, and the sensible way to learn how to
make them is to see how the best writers have made them.
The parts of which sentences are composed are words, —
called the parts of speech, — phrases, and clauses.
53. The Parts of Speech. The parts of speech, eight in
number, are the following :
Noun. A noun is a word used as a name of a person,
place, or thing.
Pronoun. A pro-noun is a word which stands for a noun. 1
Adjective. An ad-jective is a word used to describe or
limit a noun or pronoun --a description added to a
noun or pronoun.
Verb. A verb is a word used to assert something of a
person, place, or thing.
1 Your teacher will explain how the etymology reveals the meaning of these words.
98
THE PARTS OF SPEECH 99
Adverb. An ad-verb is a word used to modify the mean-
ing of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Preposition. A pre-position is a word placed before a
noun or pronoun to show the relation between it
and some other word or words in the sentence.
Conjunction. A con-junction is a word used to join sen-
tences or parts of sentences.
Interjection. An inter-jection is a word used to express
surprise, anger, pleasure, or some other feeling or
emotion. It is thrown into the midst of other words,
but has little connection with them.
54. The Flexibility of Parts of Speech. In our study of
the relation between words we must not forget that a word
is sometimes one part of speech, sometimes another. For
example, in the sentences that follow notice the part of
speech of each word in italics.
1. We heard the dinner bell. (Noun used as adjective.)
2. The race is not always to the swift. (Adjective used as noun.)
3. In the expression "between you and me," me is the object
of the preposition. (Pronoun used as noun.)
4. Was is not is. (Verbs used as nouns.)
5. Less usually refers to quantity in general; fewer to number.
6. Walking is good exercise. (Noun formed from verb.)
7. It is difficult to understand him. (Infinitive used as noun.)
8. He knows all the ins and outs of the business.
EXERCISES
1. Use the following words as (1) nouns and '(2) verbs :
breakfast, work, hope, fear. .
2. Use the words run, pull, flock, in, up, down, and any
others you please, to illustrate the principle that, in order
to determine what part of speech a word is, we must know
its relation to other words in the sentence.
ioo THE CORRECT SENTENCE
NOUNS
55. Kinds of Nouns. A noun is either proper (one's own
name, Fred) or common (a name common to a class of
objects, tabh-). Three varieties of common nouns deserve
special mention :
collective nouns, — names of groups (school, class, family,
group, company) ;
abstract nouns, — names of qualities, or attributes, sepa-
rated from the objects that possess them (kindness,
honesty, distance, truth) ; and
verbal nouns, — names of actions. They are formed from
verbs (walking, seeing, to walk, to see).
56. Declension of Nouns. A word that undergoes a
slight change of form in order to show a change in its
meaning, or to enable it to be used with other words, is
said to be inflected. Nouns are inflected to show differ-
ences in number and case. Such an inflection of a noun is
called a declension.
57. Number. Nouns change their form in order to show
whether they indicate one person or thing (singular num-
ber), or more than one (plural number). To this rule a
few nouns are exceptions. In deciding whether to use one
of these nouns as singular or as plural, we must go by the
meaning.
Athletics, used to include several sports or exercises, is
frequently plural. Polities, as the name of a profession, is
singular. Mathematics, as the name of a science, is singular.
Some nouns, however, are always plural ; for example,
assets, bellows, dregs, eaves, pincers, scissors, tidings.
(News is singular.)
NOUNS
IOI
In forming the plurals of proper names, we say the
Messrs. Johnson, the Misses Walker.
The fundamental part of a compound word takes the
plural ending ; for example, mothers-in-law ', men-of-war.
Two spoons full calls attention to the spoons ; two spoon-
fuls, to the measure.
Plurals of Foreign Nouns. There is a tendency to form
the plurals of foreign nouns as if they were English.
Most nouns that retain foreign plurals are from the Greek
or the Latin. The following, which are confusing to per-
sons who have not studied these languages, are worth
remembering. Some of them have two plurals.
Singular
Plural
I.
nouns in a
alumna
alumnae (feminine)
nebula
nebulae
2,
nouns in us
alumnus
alumni (masculine)
fungus
focus
fungi or funguses
foci
radius
radii
genius
f geniuses (talented persons)
\ genii (spirits)
3-
nouns in um
datum
data
stratum
strata
curriculum
curricula
•
bacterium
bacteria
4-
nouns in is
analysis
basis
analyses
bases
crisis
crises
oasis
oases
parenthesis
parentheses
5-
nouns in ex or ix
appendix
index
pendices or appendixes
( indexes (in books)
j indices (in algebra)
102 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
EXERCISES
1. Compose sentences in which these words are used
with verbs in the singular number : athletics, politics,
mathematics, news.
2. Compose sentences in which these words are used
with verbs in the plural number : assets, bellows, dregs,
eaves, pincers, scissors, tidings.
58. Case. Case is the form of a noun (or pronoun) which
shows its relation to other words in the sentence, — its con-
struction. Nouns have the same-form in the nominative and
the objective case, but a different form for the possessive.
59. The Nominative Case. Nouns in the nominative case
have several constructions :
i. The subject of a verb. (The boat moves.)
2. Predicate nominative. (It is a box.)
3. In apposition with another noun in the nominative
case. (Bob, my dog, is coming.)
4. In direct address. (Mary, where are you?)
5. Nominative absolute. (Dinner being ready, we sat
down.)
60. The Objective Case. Nouns in the objective case
have several constructions :
1. The object of a verb. (He broke the cJiimiiey.)
2. The indirect object of a verb. (He gave the dog a
lesson.)
3. The objective complement. (They chose him president.)
4. In apposition with another noun in the objective case.
(He saw Edward, the king of England.)
5. The object of a preposition. (We go to school)
6. The adverbial noun. (He walked a long distance.)
NOUNS 103
7. The subject of an infinitive. (He got the boy to go.)
61. The Possessive Case. The Anglo-Saxons had inflec-
tions which we lack. For example, the noun man, which
they spelled maun, had the following case endings in the
ingular number :
Xo»ii>tative,
mann.
Genitive,
marines.
Dative,
menn.
L
Instead of writing the genitive, or possessive, mannes,
we have long been in the habit of dropping the e and sub-
stituting an apostrophe. The point is that we are to think
of the ' s as a case ending that belongs to the nouns in the
possessive case. Hence our best way is to write the entire
word and then add the 's ; for example, John 's, Charles's,
Dickens 's, Burns 's.
If, however, it pleases the ear to drop the second s, we
may do so. Many, although perhaps not the most careful
writers, prefer James', Dickens', Bums' . All would agree,
probably, in saying for old acquaintance sake, for con-
science' sake.
So much for the possessive singular. To form the pos-
sessive plural we add merely the apostrophe to the regular
plural in s ; for example, the boys' hats, the girls' drawings.
When, however, the plural does not end in s, we add 's :
as, sheep's, oxen's.
We form the possessive case of a compound noun by
adding the 's or the apostrophe at the end ; for example,
mother-in-law's.
The same principle applies to groups of nouns ; for
example, Lincoln and Davis's goods, the New Hampshire
Fire Insurance Company's record, Weeks and Potter's store.
104 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
But it is often smoother to use of; for example, the state-
ment of the governor of Massachusetts, rather than the gov-
ernor of Massachusetts' statement.
This case denotes ownership, or possession, and is al-
most always used with reference to persons or animals.
We say the President's message, but the President of the
United States, not the United States' President. In connec-
tion with nouns that denote inanimate things, we use of.
Note. Anybody else's vote seems to have better authority than
anybody's else vote. We often think of the adjective else as a part of
the noun anybody. If, however, our ear prompts us to say anybody's
else at the end of a clause or sentence, we should feel free to do so.
EXERCISES
1. Write the possessive case, singular and plural, of :
man, sheep, deer, ox ; the possessive case of : Holmes,
Jones, man-of-war, James the First.
2. In the following instances tell whether you prefer
the possessive case or the possessive phrase, and why :
The ocean's roar, the whistle of the engine, the woman's
shriek, the bicycle's gear, Roosevelt's administration, the admin-
istration of the war department.
3. Point out the difference in meaning between the fol-
lowing. May any of them be interpreted in two ways ?
i. Taylor and Reed's goods. Taylor's and Reed's goods.
2. Washington's memory. The memory of Washington.
3. The governor's welcome. The welcome of the governor.
4. My friend's entertaining is The entertaining of my friend
always successful. is a pleasure to me.
62. Gender. Gender is distinction of sex. The gender
of a noun or pronoun denoting a male being is masculine ;
PRONOUNS 105
that of a noun or pronoun denoting a female being, fem-
inine ; and that of a noun or pronoun denoting an inani-
mate object, neuter ("neither").
Some nouns, as god, goddess, hero, heroine, host, hostess,
master, mistress, priest, priestess, prince, princess, change
their form to show gender ; but such nouns as author, 'poet,
doctor, editor, and instructor answer for women as well as
for men.
PRONOUNS
63. Antecedent. A pronoun must agree with its ante-
cedent, the noun or pronoun that goes before it and for
which it stands, in person, number, and gender. Its case
depends upon the clause in which it stands.
Jo/i/i, whom you know well, is coming to-day.
Mary, who has such a fine voice, is due to-morrow.
We sometimes need to consider carefully which word is
antecedent. For example, in the sentence, "This is one
of the things that feed the night fears of the natives,"
there may be several things that feed the fears. Things is
the antecedent. From the group of things that feed we con-
sider one. Compare " He is one of the men who admire
you." Change the order and you will see more clearly :
r ' Of the men who admire you, he is one."
EXERCISES
1. Discuss the pronouns in the following sentences :
1. If one should make a col- If one should put in a book
lection of all the stories that he all the stories that they hear in
hears in the cars, he would the cars, they would soon have
soon have an entertaining book an entertaining book when they
when he has the blues. have the blues.
106 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
2. If any one wishes to go with me, let him [them] say so
at once.
3. I wish everybody would attend to own affairs.
4. Neither of them knows [know] what he is talking about.
5. Every member of the (lass gives [give] his [their] opinion
without hesitation.
t
2. Find or write sentences in which every one, everybody,
and man after man (all singular, grammatically) are used
as antecedents.
3. Discuss the following sentences :
1. A plant stood on the table which looked as if it needed water.
2. A plant which looked as if it needed water stood on the table.
3. A plant which stood on the table looked as if it needed water.
4. A tin can was tied to the dog's tail, which made a racket
every time it struck the ground.
5. It is one of those fanciful tales that have their [has its]
own little world.
6. Jessica is one of the few characters in literature who forsake
their [forsakes her] Jewish faith.
7. He married one of those women who [always says] always
say the right thing at the right time.
64. Ambiguity. Sometimes a careless use of pronouns
leads to ambiguity or absurdity ; for example, fr He told
us he would see him in the afternoon if he thought best."
We must make it absolutely clear to whom the pronoun
refers.
EXERCISE
1
Discuss the pronouns in the following sentences :
1. Michael Banim survived his brother many years, but wrote
nothing of value after his death.
2. They murder Cnesar and the people remain on their side
until Antony wins them over by a wonderful speech at his funeral.
PRONOUNS 107
3. Brutus kills himself and Antony shows his generous nature
by bringing out his good qualities as he lies dead.
4. His brother asked him to bring him his racket.
65. The Case of a Pronoun. It is sometimes difficult to
determine the case of a pronoun, especially when a paren-
thetical expression follows a relative pronoun. A pupil
wrote, " We should vote for the person whom we think is
best fitted for the position," but clearly he should have
said, (1) "who we think is best fitted" or (2) "whom we
think best fitted." In (1) "who" is the subject of "is
fitted." '(2) is equivalent to "whom we think to be best
fitted"; therefore "whom" is in the objective case, the
subject of the infinitive "to be fitted." (So, "We think
him to be fitted"; "I asked him to speak to me.") The
pupil would have avoided the error had he put the par-
enthetical expression elsewhere in the sentence.
66. Possessives. It is to be noted that the possessive
endings of pronouns are complete without the apostrophe ;
for example, my, mine, our, ours, her, hers, its, their, theirs,
whose. We must not confuse it's (it is) with the pronoun its.
67. Pronouns in -self. Pronouns in -self are emphatic or
reflexive. We say, " I prefer to attend to that myself," "Let
him fight it out for himself," " Know thyself"; but we ought
not to say, "Another girl and myself took a walk this after-
•noon." We never think of saying, " Myself took a walk."
VERBS
68. Conjugation of Verbs. No part of speech is more
important than the verb. Like nouns and pronouns, verbs
change their form in order to express different meanings,
and in addition have the help of auxiliaries, such as shall.
IOS THE CORRECT SENTENCE
may, can, etc. This inflection of a verb is called its conju-
gation. The declension of nouns includes changes in num-
ber and case ; the conjugation of verbs includes changes in
voice, mood, tense, person, and number.
69. Transitive and Intransitive Verbs. According to their
use in a sentence, verbs are either transitive or intransitive.
Transitive means going over. If the verb is transitive, the
action goes over from the subject to a noun or pronoun called
the object ; for example, in "John hit the ball," the action
goes over to the ball. If the verb is intransitive, there is
nothing X.ogo over; for example, "We started early," " Every-
body laughed." Most verbs are sometimes transitive, some-
times intransitive ; for example, " We began our journey
early," "The day began pleasantly."
EXERCISES
1. Compose sentences in which each of the following
verbs takes an object : write, run, strike, sing, blow, ring,
break.
2. Compose sentences in which each of the foregoing
verbs is used without an object.
70. Principal Parts. The principal parts of a verb are
the present (first person, singular), the past (first person,
singular), and the past participle, — the three parts of
most importance. They may be remembered as the three
which take the places of the blanks in the following
sentences :
Present Past Past Participle
I now I yesterday I have
I write now I if rote yesterday I have written
VERBS 109
71. Voice. In the sentence " James kicked the football,"
the subject, "James," is acting, and the verb "kicked" is
said to be in the active voice. James does the kicking. In
the sentence " James was kicked by the horse," the subject,
"James," is acted upon, and the verb "was kicked" is said
to be in the passive voice. James receives the kicking.
An intransitive verb (sit, lie), since its subject cannot be
acted upon, has no passive voice. If the subject of a transi-
tive verb is acting, the verb is said to be in the active voice ;
if the subject is acted upon, the verb is said to be in the
passive voice. The passive voice of a verb is formed by
adding the past participle to some form^of the verb be.
EXERCISE
Show whether the verbs in the following sentences are
active or passive :
1. She has assigned the lesson.
2. The lesson was assigned by her.
3. The secretary read the report.
4. The report was read by the secretary.
72. Mood. The different manners of expressing the
thought of the verb are called modes, or moods.
1. John works. (A fact, — indicative mood.)
2. I wish John were working. (A wish, an unreality,
not a fact, — subjunctive mood.)
3. Work. (A command, -— imperative mood.)
The indicative mood asserts a fact, or something assumed
to be a fact, or asks questions of fact.
We saw him.
I >oubtless he is here.
Does he study hard ?
IIO THE CORRECT SENTENCE
The subjunctive mood presents doubtful or conditional
assertions, or unrealities.
If you were to ask him, he would grant the request.
If he were here, we could see him.
The imperative mood expresses a command, an entreaty,
or a wish.
Go ! Let us try.
73. Infinitives. Side by side with the moods there are
three other verb forms to consider : infinitives, participles,
and gerunds. A finite verb is "limited"; an infinitive is
" unlimited." In Jo/in walks the action is limited to John,
and to the present time; in To walk is easy the action is not
limited to any subject or to any time. From this example
it is clear that an infinitive is a form of a verb which is used
partly like a verb, partly like a noun. The to which usually
precedes it is not an essential part of it, but is its sign.
He wishes to go. (With sign.)
He will go. (Without sign.)
The infinitive has two tenses, the present and the perfect.
The present tense shows that the action is incomplete at the
time of the principal verb : as, "He wishes to eat " ; "He
wished to eat." The perfect tense shows that the action
was complete at the time of the principal verb : as, " It is a
pleasure to have finished it." On "tense" see section j6.
EXERCISE
Justify or correct the tenses of the following infinitives :
i. He was eager to have met Edith.
2. I am glad to have seen you.
3. He hoped to come early.
PARTICIPLES 1 1 1
74. Participles. The participle is a form of a verb which
is used partly like a verb, partly like an adjective,- — a verbal
adjective. In the sentence "The boy standing in the corner
is Fred," standing is partly verb, partly adjective.
The present participle always ends in -ing\ the past par-
ticiple is one of the principal parts of a verb ; the perfect
participle is having joined with a past participle, as having
studied, having eaten.
The wise writer is exceedingly careful about his parti-
ciples. Confusion, and sometimes absurdity, results from
failure to construct the sentence so that it shows clearly
just what word the participle modifies.
EXERCISES
1. Discuss the following sentences :
While I was coming to school While coming to school this
this morning, a woman entered morning, a woman entered the
the car at K Street. car at K Street.
Note. The writer does not mean that the woman was on her way
to school.
2. Discuss the following sentences :
i. Last Sunday, while walking down Bates Street, a large crowd
had gathered on the bridge.
2. While crossing a street the other day, a car stopped in
front of me.
3. While standing in my yard, a strange dog strolled in.
4. After taking our seats, the secretary read the report.
3. See whether you can find in your writing any parti-
ciples which do not clearly modify some noun or pronoun.
If you cannot, read to the class five of your sentences
which contain participles.
112 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
75. Gerunds. Ending ' in -ing like the present parti-
ciple, — but not to be confused with it, — is the gerund,
which is partly verb, partly noun. It is sometimes called
the verbal noun in -ing.
Seeing us, the dog ran away. (Participle.)
Seeing is believing. (Gerunds.)
The noun or pronoun which precedes the gerund must
be in the possessive case.
Joint's jumping was heartily applauded.
Your playing is good.
EXERCISES
1. In each of the following sentences what part of speech
is the word ending in -ing} What is the meaning of each
sentence ?
i. I wish to see them painting.
2. I wish to see their painting.
3. I heard them singing.
4. I know about their singing.
5. The recitation opened by his reading from Webster.
2. Write five sentences containing" verbal nouns.
3. Point out the verbal nouns and the verbal adjectives
in the following sentences :
1. The brook running through the meadow is clear.
2. Which do you prefer, running or playing tennis?
3. He is a rolling stone.
76. Tense. A verb has different forms to point out the
time of action. These forms are called tenses ("times ").
I see you. (Present tense, marking present action.)
I saw you. (Past tense, or preterit, marking past action.)
I shall see you. (Future tense, marking future action.)
SHALL AND WILL 113
In order to show the completeness of an action at the time
of speaking, we use perfect tenses.
Now I have caught you. (Present perfect, or perfect, marking
action completed at the present time.)
We spoke to him after he had spoken to us. (Past perfect, or
pluperfect, marking action completed in past time.)
We shall have climbed the mountain before you reach the
spring. (Future perfect, marking action that will be completed
in future time.)
Of the six tense forms only two are simple, the present
and the past. The others are combinations of the auxiliary-
verbs (will, shall, have, be, or do) with parts of the verb
called infinitives and participles.
77. The Future Tense — Shall and Will. The future
tense is a combination of the auxiliary verb shall or will
with the infinitive without to. It is worth while to note
carefully the exact meanings of shall and will.
1 . In Independent Statements. Shall, which comes from
the old infinitive sen/an, meaning to owe, now denotes what
is to happen. Hence the meaning of / shall is / am destined
to, I am going to.
If, without expressing his own determination, a person
tells what you are going to do, or what some one else is
going to do, the speaker uses will. He does not profess to
control any one's future but his own.
These forms, then, express the simple future:
I shall. We shall.
You will. You will.
He will. They will.
Will has different shades of meaning. / will means (1 ) /
am willing, (2) / wish, (3) / am determined, so strong is
114 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
my wish. Again, I may declare my will or determination
in a promise or a threat. If in a position to control your
will, to determine your conduct, I may say what you shall
do, are destined to do. If I can control the will or conduct
of my neighbor, I may tell him what he shall do, is destined
to do. A general term which includes all these shades of
meaning is volition.
These forms express volition :
I will. We will.
You shall. You shall.
He shall. They shall.
Examples for discussion :
i. I shall go to school to-morrow if I am able. (It is not a
question of will, but of what is to happen' — of simple futurity.)
So, " I shall study till nine o'clock."
2. You will doubtless meet my father.
3. He will return to-night.
4. We shall leave in the morning.
5. They will be at the station.
C. I will see him to-morrow if I can. (" It is my wish," or the
sentence may imply promise.)
7. I will second any motion you choose to make. (It may
mean merely " I am willing to," or it may imply promise.)
8 . I will not stay another minute. (Determination.)
9. You shall start at once ; I am bound you shall. ( rr I have
both the determination and the authority necessary to start you,"
is the implication.) Compare the meaning of " You will start at
once."
10. He shall go with you. (Just like "You shall start at
once.")
11. We will join your party if you have room for us. ("We
are willing.")
12. We will go, room or no room. ("We are determined.")
13. We will meet you at one o'clock. (Promise.)
14. You shall all go. (Promise or determination or threat.)
SHALL AND WILL 115
15. You shall go this minute. (Determination or promise.)
16. My boys shall be prompt. (Determination or promise.)
2. /// Questions. In asking a question we should use
the same auxiliary that is expected in the answer. Shall is
naturally the word in the first person. We should not ask,
"Will I run ? " Will is correct, however, when the verb is,
as it were, quoted from a preceding statement ; for example,
" Will you meet me ? " " Why, what a question ! Will I ?
Of course I will."
In the second person shall is the proper auxiliary to
express futurity: as, "Shall you vote for Henry?" Will
denotes volition.
Examples for discussion :
1. Shall I speak? I shall (not).
2. Shall you read? I shall (not). (Simple future.)
3. Shall he obey? He shall (not).
4. Will you listen? I will (not).
5. Will he obey? He will (not).
6. Shall I help you ?
7. Will he go to-day ?
8. Shall we read " The Merchant of Venice " aloud ?
9. Will they care to listen ?
3. Should and Would. In general, we use should and
would as we use their present tenses, shall and will. For
example, James says, "Will John come?" So we say,
"James asked if John ivould come."
Study the following :
1. Will he care to see me if he Do you think he would care to
comes ? -see me if he came ?
2. He sees that I shall go. (I am He saw that I should go.
going.)
3. He sees that I will go. (I wish lie saw that I would go.
or am determined to go.)
Il6 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
We should take pains not to use will for shall or would
for should, as they are used in the following sentences :
i. I will be drowned : nobody shall help me.
2. I was obliged to stop playing baseball or I would have
ruined myself, as I played so much.
Note i. Should sometimes keeps its original meaning, "ought":
as, "We should do right."
Note 2. Would sometimes expresses habitual action : as, " We
would talk by the hour."
4. In Indirect Discourse. In a dependent clause of indi-
rect discourse, when the subject is the same as that of the
principal clause, we use the auxiliary which we should use
in direct discourse.
Direct Indirect
1. I will read "Ivanhoe." (I am He says he will read " Ivanhoe."
willing, or I promise.)
2. I shall read "Ivanhoe." (I am He says he shall read " Ivanhoe."
going to.)
3. I shall be beaten. You fear that you shall be beaten.
In all other cases of indirect discourse we use the same
auxiliary in dependent clauses that we use in independent
sentences.
Direct Indirect
1. John will come. Henry savs that John will come.
2. We shall be happy. They say we shall be happy.
5 . In Conditional Clauses. In conditional clauses we use
shall or should in all persons to express simple futurity ;
will or would in all persons to express volition. In the
SHALL AND WILL 117
conclusions to the conditions we use the same auxiliary
that we use in independent sentences.
1. If I should do it, he would not thank me.
2. If you should ask him, you would get his honest opinion.
3. If he should come, we should be glad to see him.
4. If you will joui us, we will give you a cordial welcome.
EXERCISES
I. Explain shall or will in the following sentences :
1 . Thou shalt not steal.
2. It shall rain.
3. He fears he shall not meet yon in London.
4. They know they shall win the prize.
5. Will I eat my dinner?
6. Into what room should I go ?
7. Should you help him if you were in my place?
8. Would you help him if you could ?
9. Should he be elected?
10. Would John come if I should invite him?
II. He said he should be here by noon.
12. He said he would be here.
13. He said his parents would be here by noon.
14. He said his parents should be here.
15. There is a rumor about that a strong force will come down
from Crown Point and we shall be attacked.
16. You shall hear from point to point how we are faring.
17. Rise and go forth, for the law of the Lord is upon thee,
and no man can hinder that thou doest. Thou shalt look upon
the sun and shalt delight in him ; and again thou shalt look and
the light of the air shall be as darkness. Thou shalt boast in thy
strength and in thine armor that there is none like thee, and
again thou shalt cast thy glory from thee and say, "This also is
vanity." The king delighteth in thee, and thou shalt stand before
the queen in armor of gold and in fine raiment ; and the end is
n8 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
near, for the hand of the Lord is upon thee. If the Lord will
work great things by thee, what is that to me? . . .
Go forth and do thy part, for thou art in the hand of the Lord,
and some things thou wilt do shall be good, and some things evil.
. . . But because there is some good in thee, it shall endure,
and thy name also, for generations ; and though the evil that
besetteth thee shall undo thee, yet at last thy soul shall live.
F. Marion Crawford, "Zoroaster."
2. Write a theme on the subject My Ambitions.
78. Person and Number. In highly inflected languages
like Latin and Greek the verb changes its form to agree
with its subject in person and number, as the verb be
does :
I am. I iv as.
You ar-e (thou art). You were.
He is. He was.
But in English, with two or three exceptions, the only change
in form for person and number in common use is -s in the
third person singular.
We should always be especially careful to have the verb
agree with the subject when other words come between
them ; for example,
Every one of us knows this to be true.
EXERCISE
Point out the subject and the proper form of the predi-
cate in the following sentences :
i. Since his death the popularity of his books [have? has?]
greatly decreased.
2. The way of transgressors [is? are?] hard.
3. His collection of words [are? is?] very good.
CONJUGATION 119
4. Each of the boys [are? is?] ready.
5. A superior tone of education, manners, and habits [prevails?
prevail?]
6. One of the most important of this sort of colonies [is ? are?]
our own.
7. The principle of free governments [adheres? adhere?] to
the American soil.
8. The temporary absence of worldly scenes and employments
[produce? produces?] a state of mind peculiarly fitted to receive
new and vivid impressions.
9. The vast space of waters that [separates? separate?] the
hemispheres [is? are?] like a blank page in existence.
79. Conjugation. The changes in voice, mood, tense,
person, and number which constitute the conjugation of
verbs we should remember from our previous study of
grammar. To those who do not remember clearly the
usual arrangement of the forms the following partial con-
jugation may be useful :
THE VERB "GIVE"
Active Voice, Indicative Mood
Present Tense
I give (do give, am giving). We give (do give, are giving).
You give. You give.
He gives. They give.
Past Tense
I gave (did give, was giving). We gave.
You gave. You gave.
He gave. They gave.
Future Tense
I shall give (he giving). We shall give.
You will <<ive. You will give.
He will give. They will give.
120
I Hi: CORRECT SENTENCE
Perfect Tense
I have given (been giving).
You have given.
He has given.
Pluperfect Tc use
I had given (been giving).
You had given.
He had given.
We have given.
You have given.
They have given.
We had given.
You had given.
They had given.
Future Per fed Tense
I shall have given (been giving). We shall have given.
You will have given. You will have given.
He will have given. They will have given.
EXERCISE
Recite synopses of give in both the active and the pas-
sive voice, taking each person in turn and each number.
80. Strong Verbs. The so-called strong verbs, which form
the past tense by changing the vowel of the present, need
special attention. Weak verbs, which form the past tense
by adding -ed, -d, or -t to the present, give us little trouble.
The following list contains several strong verbs that are
often ill treated.
Present
Past
Past Participle
awake
awoke,
awaked
awaked
bear
bore
borne (carried)
born (brought into
the world)
beat
beat
beaten
begin
began
begun
beseech
besoug
ht
besought
bid (command, or
bade (<
i as
in at)
bidden
" bid good-by,"
etc.)
bid (at auction)
bid
bid
break
broke
broken
STRONG VERBS
121
bring
brought
brought
burst
burst
burst
choose
chose
chosen
come
came
come
dive
dived, dove
dived
do
did
done
draw
drew
drawn
drink
drank
drunk
drive
drove
driven
eat
ate
eaten
fly
flew
flown
forbid
forbade
forbidden
forget
forgot
forgotten
freeze
froze
frozen
get
got
got
g°
went
gone
lay
laid
laid
lead
led
led
lie (to recline)
lay
lain
ride
rode
ridden
ring
rang
rung
rise
rose
risen
run
ran
run
see
saw
seen
shake
shook
shaken
shoe
shod
shod
show-
showed
shown
shrink
shrank
shrunk
sing
sang
sung
sit
sat
sat
slay
slew-
slain
speak
spoke
spoken
spring
sprang
sprung
steal
stole
stolen
strive
strove
striven
take
took
taken
tear
tore
torn
throw-
threw
thrown
write
wrote
written
122 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
EXERCISE
Stud)' the principal parts of every one of these verbs
until you know them thoroughly and can use them me-
chanically. Be prepared to write as well as to recite them.
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
81. Adjectives. This and That. Although most adjec-
tives change their form only in comparison, this (plural,
these) and that (plural, those) are inflected for number. We
must therefore take pains to use the singular forms with
the collective nouns kind, class, and sort, which are gram-
matically singular. For example,
i. Do you like this kind of apples?
2. I prefer that kind of pens.
3. We all enjoy that sort of man.
82. Articles. Articles limit nouns as really as do other
adjectives, and it is important to remember that the omis-
sion or addition of one of these little words will change the
meaning.
'' I know a poet and novelist " means that the same man
is both poet and novelist. "I know a poet and a novelist "
means that I know two men, the one a poet and the other
a novelist.
EXERCISE
Explain the following :
1. The red and white flag.
2. The red and white flags.
3. The red and the white flags.
4. The red, white, and blue flags.
5. The red, the white, and the blue flags.
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS 123
6. The red and white, and the blue flags.
7. The red, and the white and blue flags.
8. I saw a black and a white boy.
9. I saw a black and white boy.
83. Adjective or Adverb. Sometimes you may be uncer-
tain whether you need an adjective or an adverb. If you are
describing the subject, use an adjective ; if you are modifying
the verb, use an adverb. In "He looks happy" and "He is
happy" the adjective goes with the subject. In "He speaks
happily" we learn about his manner of speaking. In gen-
eral, use an adjective whenever you can substitute some
form of be for the verb ; in other cases use an adverb.
First is both adjective and adverb. Avoid firstly.
Most is sometimes carelessly used for almost, which is
an adverb.
EXERCISE
Discuss these examples :
1. The sun shines hot. 2. She flushed hotly. 3. The moon
shines bright. 4. The flowers smell sweet. 5. She smiled so
sweetly that Mary soon forgave her. 6. We reached home safe
(safely). 7. He fell unconscious (unconsciously). 8. I found my
opponent quick (quickly). 9. My pictures came out fine and the
first sunny day I shall print some. 10. The father looked gravely
at the son. 11. The boy looked grave. 12. Our fathers came
here to enjoy their religion free and unmolested. 13. He is
almost ready. 14. Most children are happy. 15. Almost all
children are happy.
PREPOSITIONS
84. The Proper Preposition. Although prepositions do
not change their form, it is important to choose the preposi-
tion required in any given instance.
124 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
There are special prepositions that go with certain words.
For example, we should say different from (not different tJian).
rt His hat is better than mine and different from yours."
EXERCISES
1. Compose sentences to illustrate the meaning of the
following prepositions :
beside (by the side of), besides (in addition to).
between (when the reference is to two objects), among (when
the reference is to more than two objects).
in, into. {Into implies motion or direction inward. Compare
"He is walking in the room " and "He is walking into the room.")
2. Compose sentences for the sake of using correctly
each of the following expressions :
agree with (a person)
agree to (a proposal)
confide in (= trust in)
confide to (= intrust to)
conform to
correspond to or with (a thing)
correspond with (a person)
differ from (a person or thing)
differ from or with (in opinion)
different from-
need of
part from or with
taste of (food)
taste for (art)
CONJUNCTIONS
Like prepositions, conjunctions do not change their form,
but they are sometimes used incorrectly. They are either
coordinate or subordinate.
CONJUNCTIONS 1 25
85. Coordinate Conjunctions. Coordinate conjunctions
connect parts of a sentence that have the same "order,"
or rank: as, "He is bright and he knows it." They take the
same construction after them as before them. The simple
coordinate conjunctions are and, but, and or.
1. This is the man who came yesterday and who says he knows
you. (A nd connects dependent clauses.)
2. He read some rules concerning pronouns and which were
to be looked over carefully for the next lesson. (An incorrect
sentence : an attempt to make and connect a phrase with a
dependent clause.)
Certain coordinate conjunctions go in pairs : not only —
but also (but); not merely — but ; both — and ; as well
— as; either — or; neither — nor.
Their position should show at once what words they com-
pare or contrast.
1. Not only is he trying, but he is succeeding.
2. I am eager to own not only " The Pathfinder " and " The
Spy " but also " Rob Roy " and " Quentin Durward."
3. I am eager not only to own those books but also to read
them.
4. They recognized neither the horse nor the carriage.
EXERCISES
1. Write sentences in which you let each of the simple
coordinate conjunctions connect (1) independent clauses,
(2) dependent clauses, (3) phrases.
2. Write sentences in which you use each of the fore-
going pairs of conjunctions.
86. Subordinate Conjunctions. Subordinate conjunctions
introduce subordinate clauses : as, " We knew that he was
a sailor" ; " If you prefer, I will remain."
126 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
Like must not be used as an equivalent for the subor-
dinate conjunction as. Say "He walks as Fred does," not
" He walks like Fred does." When the verb is not ex-
pressed, as in "He walks like Fred," like is correct ; in
this case it has the force of a preposition.
Nor should like be used for as if in such a sentence
as "He looked as if he were angry." Never say, "He
looked like he was angry."
PHRASES AND CLAUSES
87. Phrases. A group of connected words is often used
as a single part of speech. If such a group is without a
subject and a predicate, it is called a phrase. Phrases are
used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs.
Noun phrases are frequently infinitive phrases.
To err is human. (Subject.)
He likes to read Scott. (Object.)
They urged us to join the party.
Adjective phrases may be prepositional, participial, or
infinitive phrases.
I know the captain of the eleven. (Prepositional.)
We saw John resting in the shade. (Participial.)
Have you patience to wait? (Infinitive.)
Adverbial phrases are frequently prepositional.
He is in the ho" use.
They went at once.
88. Clauses. A clause is a group of words which con-
tains a subject and a predicate. If a clause cannot stand
by itself as a complete sentence, — in other words, if it is
PHRASES AND CLAUSES
127
used as a single part of speech, — it is said to be depend-
ent; other clauses are independent.
that yon are honest.
(Dependent or subordi-
nate clause, used as a
noun ; equivalent to
your honesty.}
they took our seats.
(Independent clause.)
is well known.
/ do not doubt
(Independent
or principal clause.)
Noun
clauses
We stood up and
(Independent clause.)
That he is able
(Subject, equiva-
lent to his ability .)
Do you know
This
is
The report that he is coming
(In apposition with the
subject.)
I do not believe the report
who he is ?
(Object, equivalent to
him.)
where I live.
(Predicate nominative,
equivalent to my home.)
surprises me.
Adjective J
clauses
Adverbial
clauses
that he is coming.
(In apposition with the
object.)
There is a horse that is kind. (Equivalent to kind.)
My brother, who is older than I, knows him better. (Equiv-
alent to older.)
I shall study when you study. (Time.)
where you study. (Place.)
if you study. (Condition.)
because you study. (Cause.)
as you study. (Manner.)
I shall go in order that you may study. (Purpose.)
I shall study as hard as you do. (Degree.)
I shall study although you do not. (Concession.)
He lias studied birds so much that he knows something
about them. (Result.)
128 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
89. Analysis. In analyzing a simple sentence we sepa-
rate it in this way :
Subject and Predicate and Object and
modifiers modifiers modifiers
Modifiers of the subject are adjectives, adjective phrases,
or adjective clauses. Modifiers of the predicate are adverbs,
adverb phrases, or adverb clauses. Modifiers of the object
are adjectives, adjective phrases, or adjective clauses.
If the sentence is complex, separate the main from the
subordinate clause and analyze each in turn. Be ready
to tell the relation between the main and the subordinate
clause.
Separate a compound sentence into its clauses, and ana-
lyze each as you would a simple sentence.
Let us arrange the following sentences so that the eye
can see instantly the relation of the parts.
On a soft sunny morning in the genial month of May I made
an excursion to Windsor Castle. It is a place full of storied and
poetical associations.
Subject Predicate
Object
Predicate
and and
and
nominative or
modifiers modifiers
modifiers
predicate
adjective
I made
an excursion
on a soft summer morning
in the genial month of May
to Windsor Castle
-
It is
a
place (predicate
nominative) full
of storied and
poetical associa-
tions
ANALYSIS 129
EXERCISES
l. Analyze the following sentences :
1. The black cow is in the pasture near the road.
2. We will all go with you if you are willing.
3. We know whom you mean.
4. I said, "Dick, you are right."
5. When they learned that it was I, they were very happy.
6. They were surprised to find it was I.
7. Man can neither drink steam nor eat stone.
2. Analyze the following sentences :
1. John Gilpin was a citizen
Of credit and renown.
2. Tell me not in mournful numbers
Life is but an empty dream.
3. The very external aspect of the proud old pile is enough to
inspire high thought.
4. It rears its irregular walls and massive towers, like a mural
crown, round the brow of a lofty ridge, waves its royal banner in
the clouds, and looks down, with a lordly air, upon the surround-
ing world.
5. It was upon a delicious summer morning, before the sun
had assumed its scorching power, and while the dews yet cooled
and perfumed the air, that a youth, coming from the northeast-
ward, approached the ford of a small river, or rather a large
brook, tributary to the Cher, near to the royal Castle of Plessis-
les-Tours, whose dark and multiplied battlements rose in the
background over the extensive forest with which they were
surrounded.
6. On the bank of the above-mentioned brook, opposite to
that which the traveler was approaching, two men, who appeared
in deep conversation, seemed, from time to time, to watch his
motions ; for, as their station was much more elevated, they could
remark him at considerable distance.
130 THE CORRECT SENTENCE
We should practise analyzing sentences until we can do it
easily. In reading, ability to analyze will help us understand
a puzzling sentence ; in revising our writing, this ability
will help us manage a sentence that seems awkward or un-
tractable. A thorough knowledge of sentence structure will
mean that as we talk and write, words will slip into their
proper places.
CHAPTER XI
THE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE
90. Unity in the Sentence. We have seen that the ideal
paragraph is a unit, and the very definition of a sentence
shows that the sentence, too, should be a unit. One of the
hardest things for many young writers to learn is to stop
when they have finished this sentence unit. Like fluent
but careless letter writers, they ramble on from one sub-
ject to another without a period. Sometimes this dividing
paragraphs into sentences is a very simple matter; at other
times it is somewhat puzzling.
91. Value of Simple and Complex Sentences. You re-
member from your study of grammar that a simple sentence
consists of a single statement, command, question, or ex-
clamation. Such a sentence seldom lacks unity. If your
sentence is complex, — that is to say, if it consists of one
main clause and one or more subordinate clauses, — you
have a good chance to put the important statement in a
prominent position ; but if your sentence is compound, —
if it consists of two or more clauses of equal rank, — you
will need to give especial attention to unity. A sentence
may include two or more separate thoughts provided they
merge in one greater thought. Several such thoughts may
form a scries or may constitute a group of details in a
single picture. For example :
i. The smith, with the horse's heel in his lap, pauses as the
vehicle whirls by ; the cyclops round the anvil suspend their
132 THE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE
ringing hammers, and suffer the iron to grow cool; and the sooty
specter in brown paper cap, laboring at the bellows, leans on the
handle for a moment and permits the asthmatic engine to heave
a long-drawn sigh, while he glares through the mirky smoke and
sulphurous gleams of the smithy.
2. At this point I cannot keep out of mind the story of the
preacher who divided his discourse into three heads. He declared
it to be his intention, under his first head, to speak of some
things that he knew all about, and of which his congregation knew
nothing ; under his second head, he proposed to deal with mat-
ters that both he and his hearers fully understood ; and under
the third head, he promised to discuss topics concerning which
neither he nor they had any knowledge.
It is a good habit, however, in revising your work to see
whether you cannot improve sentences by making com-
pound sentences either simple or complex.
EXERCISES
1. Make each of the following sentences either simple or
complex. Emphasize the main thought. When it seems
best, substitute a phrase for a clause.
i. I called this morning before school and he was still asleep.
2. He rounded the corner and recognized his old master.
3. The bell rang and the room became quiet.
4. We went into the kitchen and found Fred putting up the
luncheon.
5. Night came on and we hurried out of the wood.
6. We reached the mooring about five o'clock and we took the
party ashore in the tender.
7. We returned to the boat and cleaned her deck and sides
and then went ashore.
8. 1 was skating on Jamaica Pond a few nights ago and saw
a novel way of gliding over the ice.
UNIFORM CONSTRUCTION 133
2. Find in your writing three compound sentences. Turn
them into complex sentences by using subordinate clauses,
and point out any improvement or lack of improvement.
92. Uniform Construction. If possible, keep the con-
struction of a sentence uniform. One way to do this is to
keep the same subject and the same voice throughout the
sentence. For example :
CJiange of Construction I 'ni/'onu Construction
1. I looked down on the river 2. I looked down on the river
and twenty small boys could be and could sec twenty small boys
seen swimming merrily about. swimming merrily about.
As we read 1, we may naturally inquire, "By whom
could the boys be seen?"
EXERCISES
1. Improve these sentences :
1. As we looked eagerly toward the opening in the wood, the
familiar face of our favorite horse was seen.
2. Many people take great pleasure in photography and in
taking long drives, and even reading is often enjoyed by people.
2. Examine ten pages of your own work to see whether
you have any similar changes in the construction. Write
your report.
3. (1) In sentences to send to pupils in another high
school, write what you consider the most important thing
to say about each of five of the following subjects : " The
Vision of Sir Launfal," 'The Rime of the Ancient Mari-
ner," Rebecca (in "Ivanhoe"), Locksley, "Treasure Island,"
134 T HE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE
'The Pilgrim's Progress," Abraham Lincoln's Boyhood,
Napoleon, England and America, International Peace,
Our School Paper, The Good Effects of War, Our Liter-
ary Society, Extempore Speaking. (2) Examine each sen-
tence carefully to see whether it is a unit. If there is any
doubt about the unity of a sentence, rewrite. See that the
construction is uniform.
93. Long or Short Sentences. If you indulge in a long
sentence, be sure that you keep it well in hand. The longer
you allow a sentence to run, the greater is the danger that
it will run away with you. A short sentence is easier to
manage, and is more likely to be a unit.
EXERCISES
1. Turn this runaway compound sentence into two com-
plex sentences :
When school began we made new acquaintances, but "our
friend in need " became a chum to me, but he was rather old
for my brother who made friends for himself among the mem-
bers of his class.
2. Copy from your writing five of the longest sentences
you can find, and rewrite any into which you have crowded
ideas which have no close connection.
Occasionally short sentences need to be combined. A
glance shows that for the following material one sentence
is better than three :
On my way home I saw two On my way home I saw two
wagons broken down : one had wagons broken down. One
the rear axle broken ; the other had the rear axle broken. The
had the shafts broken. other had the shafts broken.
UNITY 135
EXERCISE
See whether, in the last piece of writing you have
clone, there are any such scrappy sentences as these.
What suggestions might help the pupil who wrote them ?
The lady Rowena was tall and had a fair complexion. Her
eyes were blue. She loved to wear rich clothes. She was well
built and of a noble family. She had a fine set of teeth. She
had no parents and was under the care of Cedric.
94. Ways of Securing Unity. It will be helpful to keep
in mind these ways of securing unity :
1. A sentence is likely to be a unit if it is simple or
complex rather than compound.
2. We need to give special attention to a compound
sentence in order to keep out ideas which are not closely
connected.
3. We should keep the construction of the sentence
uniform.
4. A short sentence is more likely to be a unit than a
long sentence.
95. Coherence in the Sentence. Clear thinking leads to
clear writing. If we think of one thing at a time, we shall
naturally write of one thing at a time ; but even then it is
not always easy to express the thought so that it plainly
forms a whole. This means that the exact relation which
any part of the sentence bears to any other part must be
evident. As all the sentences in a paragraph should cling
together, so should all the words in a sentence cling to-
gether ; words closely connected in meaning should be
closely connected in position, and there should be no doubt
about the relation of the words to one another.
136 THE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE
96. Ways of securing Coherence. We should keep in
mind these ways of securing coherence :
1. In general, put together words that belong together.
Try to place every word, phrase, or clause close to the word
or words it modifies.
1. I asked before breakfast where you were. (Before breakfast
modifies asked.)
2. I asked where you were before breakfast. (Before breakfast
modifies were.)
3. School began only yesterday. ( Only modifies yesterday?)
4. Only one of us can go. (Only modifies one.)
Note. A good rule is to place only just before or just after the
word or words it limits. Words that need similar attention are
also and even.
For the position of not only — but also and other pairs of
coordinate conjunctions, see section 85.
2. In particular, see that the relation of the participle to
the noun or pronoun it modifies is unmistakable. See sec-
tion 74, and note the following examples :
1. Looking backward, the mistake seems inexcusable. (Obvi-
ously the mistake cannot look backward. We may say, " As we
look backward," or " As one looks backward," etc.)
2. While coming home from school the other day, the sidewalks
were very slippery. (The sidewalks, while coming?)
3. Be equally careful to see that the relation between a
pronoun and its antecedent is clear. See sections 64-65.
EXERCISES
1. Explain the meaning of each of the following sentences:
1 . He came only yesterday.
2. Only you need study to-day.
3. You only need study to-day.
COHERENCE 137
4. You need study only to-day.
5. You need study to-day only.
6. You need only study to-day.
2. Compose four sentences to show the proper use of
only, also, and even.
3. Subject the following sentences to your keenest criti-
cism. Remembering that to criticise means ' r to judge,"
be just as eager to see the good as to find fault. Discuss
thoroughly the meaning of each sentence as it stands.
Whenever you think the meaning should be clearer, or
the expression different, suggest changes.
1. The value of the property has been reduced to a vast
extent.
2. Do you receive The Outlook 1 send you regularly?
3. So he had to leave the hills among which he grew up
for a time.
4. I shall keep the last horse I bought for my own use.
5. He was elected by a majority of only one.
6. He does not live ; he only exists.
7. I shall speak only a few minutes.
8. There are prizes for the three first pupils in the class.
9. Others appreciate the book as well as the author.
10. Others, as well as the author, appreciate the book.
11. He not only saw you and me but all the others in the
party.
12. I can only come during my vacation.
13. He not only brought bread but berries.
14. He not only read the book but learned much of it by
heart.
15. Not to overrate him 1 only mentioned a few of his
characteristics.
16. His efforts at all events were praiseworthy.
17. If Eliot is not the best captain, he is the best pitcher at
least that ever played on our campus.
138 THE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE
18. The charge he brings against me I shall neither try to
answer nor deny.
19. Most of my friends like athletics like myself , and we spend
most of our time playing baseball, football, hockey, or other games.
20. Either you must work hard or fall behind.
21. He was also fond of Jim Hawkins, which always shows
there is some good in a person if he is fond of children.
22. Jim Hawkins, also a leading character in "Treasure Island,"
was unlike the other person whom we have written of in many
respects.
23. We are to make a list of words from the rest of Act I of
the play which need explaining.
24. It not only educates the mind but the hand also.
25. I either go to see a professional game or play in a game
myself on the common.
26. A few boys and I, every Saturday, would go out early in
the morning and stay out all day.
97. Life in the Sentence. Unity and coherence are
matters for us to consider carefully as we revise our work.
While writing we should not think of them, but should try
to express ourselves simply and clearly. If we are energetic
ourselves, we shall probably put life into our sentences.
The active voice makes our sentences move easily and
rapidly. The passive voice, although indispensable, is some-
times clumsy and sluggish. These two versions show the
value of the active voice :
1. Engines were arriving 2. Engines were arriving
every minute ; firemen were every minute, lines of hose were
laying hose, putting up ladders, being laid, ladders were being
and pouring water into the fire. put up, and water was being
poured into the fire.
One who reads only the second version is tempted to ask
who did all the work.
LIFE 139
EXERCISES
1. Find in your own work clumsy examples of the pas-
sive voice, and note the improvement made by changing
them to the active voice.
2. In the following extract point out all expressions that
have life :
The sun had risen higher while they talked, and his rays were
growing hot in the clear air. The mist had lifted from the city
below, and all the streets and open places were alive with noisy
buvers and sellers, whose loud talking and disputing came up in a
continuous hum to the palace on the hill, like the drone of a
swarm of bees.
3. Make a careful study of the sentences in the follow-
ing paragraph. Read them aloud. Point out all expressions
that have life.
Rikki-tikki
Rikki-tikki was bounding all around Nagaina, keeping just out
of reach of her stroke, his little eyes like hot coals. Nagaina
gathered herself together, and flung out at him. Rikki-tikki
jumped up and backward. Again and again she struck, and each
time her head came with a whack on the matting of the veranda
and she gathered herself together like a watch-spring. Then
Rikki-tikki danced in a circle to get behind her, and Nagaina spun
round to keep her head to his head, so that the rustle of her tail
on the matting sounded like dry leaves blown along by the wind.
He had forgotten the egg. It still lay on the veranda, and
Nagaina came nearer and nearer to it, till at last, while Rikki-tikki
was drawing breath, she caught it in her mouth, turned to the
veranda steps, and flew like an arrow down the path, with
Rikki-tikki behind her. When the cobra runs for her life, she
goes like a whiplash flicked across a horse's neck. — Kipling,
" Rikki-Tikki-Tavi " in "The Jungle Book."
140 THE EFFECTIVE SENTENCE
4. Write a paragraph in order to give a picture of the
grace and agility of a squirrel, or, if you prefer, of some
other animal.
5. After reading carefully a full account of the appear-
ance of some person, describe the person in your own
words. You may use as many of the words of the book as
you remember, but you are not to refer to it while writing.
6. In a similar way write an account of the appearance
of some character in a story. Make your picture as lifelike
as possible.
By this time every one must see that it is important in
the treatment of any subject (i) to limit the subject ; (2) to
deal separately with each division of the subject, — each
topic ; and (3) in developing a topic to say only one thing
at a time.
In saying this one thing we should try to think so clearly
that the words will fit together properly. If we fail to
secure the best order, however, we should recast the sen-
tence until we are confident that the relations of the words
to one another will be readily understood. At the same
time let us make it easy for the reader to distinguish the
main thought from subordinate thoughts.
Sentences must not seem studied. Just because you do
not always know precisely how you are to express what
you wish to say, it is not wise to stop and wonder whether
you can express it at all. As soon as your thought comes,
begin to write. Begin as naturally as you can — with the
subject of the sentence, with the expression that will
emphasize the main thought, or with whatever will best
connect the sentence with what goes before. Do not worry
LIFE 141
about the middle or the end. With your goal clearly in
mind, press steadily toward it. A good beginning and per-
severance ought to bring a good ending. Above all, think
vigorously and write rapidly, so that your sentences may
have smoothness and life.
CHAPTER XII
THE EXACT WORD
" The learner does not want to be made a receptacle of other men's words
and thoughts, but to be made a thinker of thoughts and awielderof words
himself."
98. A Ready Vocabulary. Some of us little realize how
rapidly we think. With the swiftness of lightning; our
minds turn from man to man, from America to China,
from our own planet to the most distant star and the in-
finite space beyond. Thoughts we need not lack, if we are
awake. The difficulty is to put the thoughts on paper
before they fly away from us. It takes time to do the
manual part of the work. Or, it may be that some of us,
even with good minds, do little thinking. We may not
have a large number of words at our disposal. If we have
an abundant vocabulary, let us draw from it freely and
continually. If we are without this means of expression,
let us make haste to acquire it.
If life is merely eating and drinking and sleeping, to be
sure we need but few words, and no matter what our native
tongue, we can soon make our wants felt in any country ;
but if we care to be mentally alive, --to take an intelligent
interest in this kaleidoscopic world of ours, — we must
have at our command a large vocabulary. Our reading will
introduce us to every form of life ; our conversation will
bring us in touch with many types of men ; and when it
comes to writing, we need words without stint, not only
14-
A READY VOCABULARY I 43
that we may be able to express clearly any experience
whatever, but also that we may write easily and rapidly.
When our thoughts begin to come, they come with a rush,
and then is the time for the words to fix them.
EXERCISE
A careful examination of the following extract will show
the value of a copious and ready vocabulary. Make (i) a
list of the words which seem to you particularly appropri-
ate; (2) a list of the words for which it is difficult to find an
equivalent.
Sunset Colors
Nature has a thousand ways and means of rising above herself,
but incomparably the noblest manifestations of her capability of
color are in the sunsets among the high clouds. I speak especially
of the moment before the sun sinks, when his light turns pure
rose color, and when this light falls upon a zenith covered with
countless cloud forms of inconceivable delicacy, threads and flakes
of vapor, which would in common daylight be pure snow-white,
and which give, therefore, fair field to the tone of light. There is
then no limit to the multitude, and no check to the intensity, of
the hues assumed. The whole sky, from the zenith to the horizon,
becomes one molten, mantling sea of color and fire; every black
bar turns into massy gold, every ripple and wave into unsullied,
shadowless crimson, and purple, and scarlet, and colors for which
there are no words in language and no ideas in the mind, — things
which can only be conceived while they are visible, — the intense
hollow blue of the upper sky melting through it all, showing
here deep and pure and lightless, there modulated by the filmy,
formless body of the transparent vapor, till it is lost imperceptibly
in its crimson and gold. — Ri skin.
99. Exact Meanings of Words. If we would be under-
stood, we must decide as definitely as we can what the
144 THE EXACT WORD
words we are using name and suggest to us ; then we must
know whether the same naming and the same suggestions
will go through the words to those who read. At this point
an exercise may serve two purposes : first, to determine
how clear are our own ideas ; second, to show how difficult
it is to be certain of transferring them and the accompany-
ing suggestions to others.
EXERCISES
1. What picture do you see the instant you read the
word dog} Tell just how the dog looks; whether he is
standing or lying down ; what color he is, etc.
In the same way describe the picture that is painted by
each of the following words : horse, man, cow, meadow,
alley, river, mountain. In these cases point out the differ-
ence between naming and suggesting.
2. Write carefully and fully (i) what the following words
name, and (2) what they suggest : vacation, work, play,
recreation.
3. Exchange the papers you have just written, and under-
score every word which apparently does not mean to you
what it meant to the writer.
100. Words in Good Use. If we wish to choose the most
useful words, we shall select those which are in good use.
We shall use (1) words as they are understood throughout
the nation, (2) words as they are understood at the present
time, (3) words as they are understood by the best writers
and speakers.
1. Words as they are understood throughout the nation.
We must use words which are understood in the same sense
in all sections of the country. In some parts of the country
GOOD USE 145
a man "reckons " that his friend will have a "right " good
time, and the friend "allows" that he "reckons" so too.
But reckon in the sense of "think," right in the sense of
"very," and allow in the sense of "admit," are not in
national use.
Ask persons who have come from a section of the coun-
try with which you are not familiar, if they recall words
whose local meaning is not national. Your father and
mother may think of some. Make a list of all such words
and any other " local " words of which you know.
2. Words as they are understood at the present time.
In North Carolina a young man from a neighboring state
was enjoying the hospitality of three attractive young
women. Imagine the indignation with which they turned
from him as he innocently burst out with the remark,
r You are the homeliest girls I ever met." The poor fel-
low meant well. To him the word still retained its original
meaning, "homelike." He was behind the times. Now the
old meaning of this word is finer than the new — there
is no doubt about that ; but it will not be wise for us to
try to apply it to young women as long as the majority
of those who use good English at once think of the
derived meaning.
If we call a pudding "nice," or speak of a "nice" day,
one can hardly call us nice about our English. We should
not use the word in the original sense of " foolish," although
five hundred years ago it repeatedly had that meaning ;
but we are supposed to know that the later meaning, "dis-
criminating," or "particular," is the one current among the
best speakers and writers ; and further, it is our business
to know that the loose meaning first referred to is not in
146 THE EXACT WORD
vogue among those who use the host English. Examples
oi the proper use of this much-abused word are:
The lawyer made a nice point, — that is, he showed delicate
discrimination.
The carving on that chair is unusually nice, — in other words,
it is wrought with skill.
3. Words as they are understood by the best writers and
speakers. Sometimes I am tempted to tell a friend that
he is a "brick." Perhaps my meaning is that his friends
may always depend upon him to do his part. Many New
Englanders would understand the expression, even if they
frowned on it. But if I were to apply this word to an
Ohio acquaintance, he might be as much disturbed as the
"homely " young women ; he certainly would not feel com-
plimented. Rough and ready and expressive as it is, at
times, it has not yet gained the recognition of those who
use good English. It is slang.
There is the verb "jolly," an uncouth bit of slang. One
who is really fond of "jollying " others is tempted to think
he can find no English equivalent. The lazier he is, the
more indifferent he is about his reputation as a linguist, the
less he will try. If he is with careless speakers, he does not
mind ; but when the word slips out in the presence of per-
sons of culture, he takes himself to task for such laziness.
No matter how eager we may be to increase our vocabu-
lary, we must always look well to the quality of our acqui-
sitions. Innumerable words we may well crave for our own
variety of experience and thought, but we should choose
those that are current among persons who use words as
they are understood and approved by the body of repu-
table speakers and writers in our nation at the present
HELPS IN CHOOSING WORDS 147
time. Briefly, we should choose words that are in reputable,
national, and present use.
101. Helps in choosing Our Words. Here are several
suggestions which should be helpful in choosing words.
1. Use the dictionaries. Dictionaries help us to determine
whether a word is in good use. They are misleading unless
we use them carefully ; for if unabridged, they give the
various meanings of a word, some so old that they are no
longer in good use, some so new that they are not yet in
good use, and may never be. We must notice whether
the dictionary labels certain words as obsolete (' r gone out
of use"), obsolescent ("going out of use "), local, colloquial
("used in conversation"), or slang. We go to a dictionary
for definite information about words, just as we go to a
directory to get definite information about people. We are
no more justified in using a word because it is in the dic-
tionary than we should be in calling upon a person because
his name is in the directory.
One of the best habits young writers can form is to use
the dictionary continually. An abridged dictionary, good
as far as it goes, is by no means sufficient for a pupil of
high-school attainments and ambitions. In some way secure
Webster's International, or one equally good, and keep it
on your table or within arm's reach.
2. Read reputable writers. A man is known by the com-
pany he keeps. Good communications inspire good man-
ners. Aside from the value of the thoughts of our best
writers, there is a charm due to their language. Through
the works that we read again and again, long after the
subject-matter is familiar, we unconsciously come to appre-
ciate and to use choice English. These writers achieved
148 THE EXACT WORD
distinction. Let us try to do likewise; happy at least in
this, that we may use their tools.
3. Hear reputable speakers. We may learn much from
. men and women who use words that no educated person
need misunderstand or be ashamed of. Now and then we
hear some one whose very speech is charming, no matter
what he says, just as we occasionally meet a person whose
every movement is graceful, or another whose every act is
tactful. Whenever we meet such a speaker, we should seize
the opportunity to listen.
4. Be thoroughly alive. By this time it must be clear
that one who is to become a good writer must be thor-
oughly alive. He must con his dictionary and absorb his
grammar, but he should also enter with his whole soul into
life. He should love life; he should steadily enrich his life;
and as he records his own experiences and thoughts, he will
always be eager to learn by eye and ear from others who
are giving expression to their best thoughts.
5 . Fix tJie exact meanings of ivords. An exact vocabu-
lary is just as necessary as a large one. Dictionaries and
other books give lists of synonyms not because one of
these words is as good as another, but because each, though
somewhat like the rest, is in some respect different ; and
this very difference serves to point out a delicate distinc-
tion which none of the other words would suggest. Many
of us use lie or lay, teach or learn, may or can, bring or
carry, without discrimination. Sometimes we come pretty
near saying what we mean ; at other times we entirely miss
the mark. It should be our habit, upon meeting a new
word, to discover its proper meaning and to limit ourselves
to that meaning.
WORDS WORTH STUDYING 149
102. Words Worth Studying. In order to gain practice
in determining the precise meanings, let us study certain
words that are used carelessly, or with hesitation, and others
that offer opportunity for nice distinction.
EXERCISES
l. Write sentences to illustrate the correct use of each
noun in the following list 1 :
Adherence, adhesion {adherence to a party, or to rules ; the
adhesion of mortar to brick).
Character ("what a man is "), reputation ("what others think
of him ").
Council {a. family council, the common council), counsel ("It
was ill counsel had misled the girl").
Custom, habit. ("Custom is a frequent repetition of the same
act; habit, the effect of such repetition." The custom of early
rising may become a good habit. "A custom is followed ; a habit
is acquired.")
Discovery (an "uncovering" of something already in existence,
as a star).
Invention ("the contrivance and production of something that
did not before exist," as the telephone).
Emigration (e, "out," + migrare, "to move"), immigration
(in, "in," + migrare).
Majority ("more than half the whole number"), plurality.
("When there are more than two candidates, the one who re-
ceives the plu rah 7v of votes may have less than a majority.' 1 '')
If A receives 50 votes, B 40, and C 30, A has a plurality of 10
over B. Does A have a majority?
Middle, center. (Center is often more precise than middle;
compare the center and the middle of a room.)
1 For further information consult dictionaries and books of synonyms. In this
list, and in others that follow, th is to point out the fundamental meaning
of a word.
150 THE EXACT WORD
Person, party. (A party is a company of persons, unless a per-
son be a party to a contract.)
Plenty ("a full supply "), abundance ("a great plenty, as much
as can be wanted, or more").
Vocation, avocation. {Avocation is "that which calls one away
from one's proper business — from one's vocation.'' 1 )
2. In order to fix the meanings of the verbs in the follow-
ing list, use each of them in a sentence of your own :
Begin (enter upon something new), start (as an intransitive
verb, suggests motion). (As he began to write, the train started.)
Bring (take along in coming), fetch (go and bring), carry (take
along with one).
Can (ability), may (liberty, probability).
Effect (accomplish), affect (act upon, or influence). (Some
persons are affected by the weather. He effected his purpose.)
Happen (come to pass), transpire (come to light).
Lay (transitive), lie (intransitive).
Learn (intransitive), teach (transitive).
Raise' (transitive), rise (intransitive).
Set (transitive), sit (intransitive).
Stop (cease to move), stay (remain).
3. Illustrate in sentences of your own the meaning of
each word in this Diiscellaneoas group:
Apparently (seemingly), evidently (clearly), manifestly (in a
manner very distinctly evident).
Apt, likely, liable. {Apt indicates physical or natural inclination :
as, apt to work faithfully ; apt to mold. "Likely may suggest the
same idea, or it may express mere external probability or chance :
as, he is likely to come at any moment. Liable in this connection
is properly used only of exposure to evil : as, liable to accident ;
liable to be hurt, that is, exposed to the danger of being hurt.")
Awful (awe-inspiring).
Each ("all of any number, considered one by one"), every
("differs from each in giving less prominence to the selection of
WORDS WORTH STUDYING I 5 I
the individual "). " Father gave each of the children something"
calls attention to every child separately. 'There was a gift for
every child" means that all the children were remembered with
a gift, — no child was forgotten.
Grand (used in connection with something which really has
grandeur).
Splendid (used in connection with something which has splendor).
Healthy (in good health, as a healthy child), healthful
(health giving, as healthful exercise, healthful climate), whole-
some (tending to promote health of body or mind, as whole-
some food, wholesome truths).
Oral (spoken), verbal (in words, whether spoken or written).
New, novel {novel means "strange" as well as "new").
Real (as adjective, "She is real"); really (as adverb, "It is
really good ").
Quite (wholly).
Some (as an adjective), something (as a noun), somewhat (as
an adverb).
We have considered the value of an unstinted supply of
words. We can see that it is of prime importance to have
such command of them that they will come to the front
spontaneously ; and we know it will encourage us if we can
see that we are adding to our vocabulary day by day. We
realize, however, the value of making these additions care-
fully, for the words that will prove helpful are those that
are in good use. It should be our habit, therefore, to find
out just what words mean to reputable speakers and writers
in our nation at the present time. While adding to our
store we must remember that the way to make our new
possessions permanent is to use them. It goes without
saying that we can use them best as we talk and write
about some subject that interests us ; but use them we
must, and use them accurately.
CHAPTER XIII
THE FORCIBLE WORD
Just the right way of saying the thing that is to be said is an art more
to be desired than much knowledge, and one that goes farther in making
life agreeable." — The Century.
103. The Choice of Forcible Words. A correct speaker
makes himself understood. A forcible speaker not only
makes himself understood, but expresses himself in such a
way that his hearers are interested and are likely to remem-
ber what he says. A correct speaker may put his audience
to sleep ; a forcible speaker keeps them wide-awake. It is
worth our while, then, to try to use language which is both
clear and forcible. Hence we should choose (i) simple
words and (2) specific words.
104. Simple Words. The Reverend Robert Collyer has
told us how he grew fond of simple words. He says :
" Do you want to know how I manage to talk to you in
this simple Saxon ? I will tell you. I read Bunyan, Crusoe,
and Goldsmith when I was a boy, morning, noon, and night.
All the rest was task work. These were my delight, with
the stories in the Bible and in Shakespeare, when at last the
mighty master came within our doors. ... I took to these
as I took to milk, and, without the least idea what I was
doing, got the taste for simple words into the very fiber of
my nature. . . . I could not' go home for Christmas, 1839,
and was feeling sad about it all, for I was only a boy ; . . .
an old farmer came in and said, 'I notice thou'rt fond of
152
SIMPLE WORDS 153
reading, so I brought thee summat to read.' It was Irving's
' Sketch-Book.' I had never heard of it. I went at it and
was as ' them that dream.' No such delight had touched
me since the old days of Crusoe. I saw the Hudson and
the Catskills, took poor Rip at once into my heart, as every-
body does, pitied Ichabod while I laughed at him, thought
the old Dutch feast a most admirable thing, and long be-
fore I was through, all regret at my lost Christmas had gone
down the wind, and I had found out there are books and
books. That vast hunger never left me."
EXERCISES
1. Let us see what we can learn from Bunyan. As you
read aloud the following selection, dwell on those simple,
telling words and phrases which please you most.
From "The Pilgrim's Progress"
Neither could they, with all the skill they had, get again to the
stile that night. Wherefore, at last, lighting under a little shelter,
they sat down there until the day brake ; but, being weary, they
fell asleep. Now there was not far from the place where they
lay, a castle called Doubting Castle, the owner whereof was
Giant Despair ; and it was in his grounds they now were sleep-
ing. Wherefore he, getting up in the morning early, and walking
up and down in his fields, caught Christian and Hopeful asleep
in his grounds. Then, with a grim and surly voice, he bid them
awake ; and asked them whence they were, and what they did in
his grounds. They told him they were pilgrims, and that they
had lost their way. Then said the Giant, You have this night
trespassed on me, by trampling in and lying on my grounds, and
therefore you must go along with me. So they were forced to
go, because he was stronger than they. They also had but little
to say, for they knew themselves in a fault. The Giant, therefore,
i 54 THE FORCIBLE WORD
drove them before him, and put them into his castle, into a very
dark, dungeon, nasty and stinking to the spirits of these two men.
Here, then, they lay from Wednesday morning till Saturday night,
without one bit of bread, or drop of drink, or light, or any to ask
how they did. They were, therefore, here in evil case, and were
far from friends and acquaintance. Now in this place Christian
had double sorrow, because it was through his unadvised counsel
they were brought into this distress.
Now Giant Despair had a wife, and her name was Diffidence.
So when he was gone to bed, he told his wife what he had done ;
to wk, that he had taken a couple of prisoners and cast them into
his dungeon, for trespassing on his grounds. Then he asked her
also what he had best to do further to them. _ So she asked him
what they were, whence they came, and whither they were bound ;
and he told her. Then she counseled him that when he arose in
the morning he should beat them without any mercy. So, when
he arose, he getteth him a grievous crab-tree cudgel, and goes
down into the dungeon to them, and there first falls to rating of
them as if they were dogs, although they never gave him a word
of distaste. Then he falls upon them, and beats them fearfully,
in such sort that they were not able to help themselves, or to
turn them upon the floor. This done, he withdraws and leaves
them there to condole their misery, and to mourn under their
distress. So all that day they spent the time in nothing but sighs
and bitter lamentations. The next night, she, talking with her
husband about them further, and understanding they were yet
alive, did advise him to counsel them to make away with them-
selves. So when morning was come, he goes to them in a surly
manner as before, and perceiving them to be very sore with the
stripes that he had given them the day before, he told them that,
since they were never like to come out of that place, their only
way would be forthwith to make an end of themselves, either
with knife, halter, or poison ; for why, said he, should you choose
life, seeing it is attended with so much bitterness ? But they
desired him to let them go. With that he looked ugly upon
them, and, rushing to them, had doubtless made an end of them
SPECIFIC WORDS 155
himself, but that he fell into one of his fits (for he sometimes, in
sunshiny weather, fell into fits), and lost for a time the use of his
hand ; wherefore he withdrew, and left them as before, to con-
sider what to do. Then did the prisoners consult between them-
selves, whether it was best to take his counsel or no ; and thus
they began to discourse.
2. Make a list of the words and expressions that seem to
you simple and forcible, and discuss them. Probably you
will include some of the following : grim, surly, whence
they were, in evil case, what they were, whither they were
bound, beat, grievous crab-tree cudgel, falls to rating, a
word of distaste, to turn them upon the floor, never like to
come out of that place, make an end of themselves, they
desired him to let them go.
Note. If you really like this simple Saxon, — whether you care
for the story is another matter, — you will find it worth while to read
several pages of "The Pilgrim's Progress" merely for the style.
3. Take from one of the six sources mentioned by
Mr. Collyer an interesting page, and study the choice of
words. Write your report.
105. Specific Words. We have words that are general and
words that are specific. A general word includes a large
number of ideas ; a specific word names one idea. A gen-
eral word names a class of objects ; a specific word singles-
out from the class an individual. It is interesting, as far as
it goes, to know that you have heard a bird singing, but
one who cares for birds would know more definitely what
you had in mind if you used the word thrush, -- still more
definitely if you spoke of the robin or of the wood thrush.
On many occasions it serves our purpose to use the
words man, woman, child, look, paper, but we oftener wish
156 THE FORCIBLE WORD
to know the particular name that distinguishes an individual
from the rest of his class. If I say, "I met an animal this
morning," the word "animal " names something, — although
with considerable vagueness. The substitution of "dog"
would give my hearers information more definite. If I say,
-r I met a collie," I share with them much more of my ex-
perience. And if I say, "I met Jack," provided they know
Jack, they appreciate to some extent the feelings of delight
with which I saw my pet bounding toward me. Now " dog "
names the idea I have to communicate ; but I have an an-
nouncement less tame and prosaic than the meeting of a
dog. I wish them to share with me the emotions that were
mine as I met my dog. Therefore I use a word that arouses
in them some such feelings. This word "Jack" not only
points out the idea, but in addition it gives the suggestions
I wish to put into the picture.
In calling a piece of writing "good," we may cover a
multitude of excellent qualities. If we choose to be more
definite, we may use some such words as the following :
clear, suggestive, vigorous, careful, earnest, humorous, to
the point, specific, smooth, comprehensive, easy, compact,
coherent, straightforward, simple, direct, timely. Instead of
the general terms "bad" or "poor" or "uninteresting," we
can use such words as these: abrupt, dry, general, careless,
confusing, vague, incoherent, wordy, tame, weak, bookish.
EXERCISES
l. Study the choice of words in the following extracts.
Are the most suggestive words general or specific ? Com-
ment on the following : picturesque, morning, strolled,
venders, trinkets, tackeys ("bony nags"), steeds.
SPECIFIC WORDS 157
1. The old city of St. Augustine had never been more pic-
turesque and full of color than it was that morning. Its narrow
thoroughfares, with the wide, overhanging upper balconies that
shaded them, were busy and gay. Strangers strolled along, stop-
ping in groups before the open fronts of the fruit shops, or were
detained by eager venders of flowers and orange-wood walking
sticks. There were shining shop windows full of photographs and
trinkets of pink shell-work and palmetto. There were pink feather
fans, and birds in cages, and strange shapes and colors of flowers
and fruits, and stuffed alligators. The narrow street was full of
laughter and the sound of voices. Lumbering carriages clattered
along the palmetto pavement, and boys and men rode by on
quick, wild little horses as if for dear life, and to the frequent
peril of persons on foot. Sometimes these small dun cream-
colored marsh tackeys needed only a cropped mane to prove
their suspected descent from the little steeds of the Northmen,
or their cousinship to those of the Greek friezes ; they were, in-
deed, a part of the picturesqueness of the city.
2. The ship was talking, as the sailors say, loudly, treading the
innumerable ripples with an incessant weltering splash.
3. Down I sat to wait for darkness, and made a hearty meal
of biscuit. It was a night out of ten thousand for my purpose.
The fog had now buried all heaven. As the last rays of day-
light dwindled and disappeared, absolute blackness settled down
on Treasure Island. And when, at last, I shouldered the coracle
and groped my way stumblingly out of the hollow where I had
supped, there were but two points visible on the whole anchorage.
2. Find less specific words for these : buried, dwindled,
blackness, shouldered, coracle, groped, stumblingly, hollow,
anchorage.
3. In the first extract substitute general words for spe-
cific and rewrite the paragraph.
Your study of these few passages leads you to con-
clude, does it not, that the specific word has great power of
158 THE FORCIBLE WORD
suggestion ? Since it is often your purpose to suggest
more than you say, you will frequently feel the need of
specific words. General words will come to you; for spe-
cific words you should always be on the hunt.
106. Figurative Words. In talking to a companion, you
would be more likely to speak of "the red sun " and "the
hot sky," than to use such language as Coleridge's :
All in a hot and copper sky
The bloody sun at noon
Right up above the mast did stand
No bigger than the moon.
Again, we oftener say, " The sun was shining bright upon
the mountain tops," than "The early sunshine was already
pouring its gold upon the mountain tops." Yet Hawthorne's
expression is beautiful.
Now what have these words done ? "Hot" is literal ; we
all understand it. " Copper " tells us what the sky looked like.
Everybody has seen the sun look red, but -it is striking to
call it as red as blood. Again, we generally think of the
sun as yellow, but to say it is so much gold is to remind
us sharply of the metal it resembles. These writers have
not used "copper," "blood," and "gold" to say precisely
what they meant, but to suggest resemblances. Words
used for what they suggest, in a sense not exactly literal,
we call figurative.
107. Similes and Metaphors. We are continually mak-
ing comparisons between objects of the same kind ; for
example, "The library is more beautiful than the church,"
'This stone is like granite," 'Lincoln may have been as
great a man as Washington "; but these are mere com-
parisons. Perhaps nearly as often we allude to similarities
FIGURATIVE WORDS 1 59
between objects of different kinds. We do this in two
ways. Sometimes we say that one tiling is like another ;
for example, "The army stood like a wall," " For he that
wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind
and tossed." Holmes has been likened to a fountain, con-
stantly bubbling over with sweet feeling and bright thought.
Such figures of speech are called similes.
Sometimes we do not express resemblance ; we imply it.
We call one thing by the name of another ; for example,
"Bread is the staff of life," 'The general was a tower of
strength," "He is a dynamo in breeches," "Adversity is
the grindstone of life." These figures are called metaphors,
a Greek word which means carrying over. A metaphor car-
ries over the name of one thing to another.
EXERCISES
1. Study carefully the following examples of simile :
i. How far that little candle throws his beams !
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
2. Good nature is the most precious gift of Heaven, spread-
ing itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping
the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.
3. Men whose lives glided on, like rivers that water the wood-
lands,
Darkened by shadows of earth, but reflecting an image of
heaven.
2. Make a careful study of the following examples of
metaphor :
1. Antony is but a limb of Caesar.
2. And the tongue is a fire.
160 THE FORCIBLE WORD
3. Sometimes it was simply smooth and clear
For the gladness of heaven to shine
through, and here
He had caught the nodding bulrush-tops
And hung them thickly with diamond-drops,
That crystalled the beams of moon and sun,
And made a star of every one.
4. Sir Launfal's raiment thin and spare
Was idle mail 'gainst the barbed air.
5. Nor would 1 fight with iron laws, in the end
Found golden.
6. When clocks
Throbb'd thunder thro' the palace floors, or call'd
On flying Time from all their silver tongues.
7. Tubal. Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, in one
night fourscore ducats.
Shylock. Thou stickest a dagger in me.
The Point of Resemblance. When we say a man is a fox,
we have in mind the characteristic common to both, — cun-
ning. It is by fixing the attention on the point of resem-
blance that a figure makes an idea specific.
EXERCISE
In the following metaphors and similes, what is the point
of resemblance that suggests the comparison ?
1 . A fiery temper ; a rippling laugh ; glassy eyes ; golden hair ;
silvery waves ; red-hot " liner " ; iron muscle ; catlike step ; a ray
of hope; growling thunder; mackerel sky; a sea of upturned
faces ; the snakelike caravan ; crawling centuries ; a striking
thought ; life's fitful fever ; Stonewall Jackson ; a hard heart ; the
silver moon.
2. The tongue of the just is as choice silver.
3. Boston is sometimes called the hub of Massachusetts, and
Worcester the heart of the commonwealth.
SIMILES AND METAPHORS 161
Mixed Metaphors. In using figurative language we must
be careful not to allow any confusion or mixing of meta-
phors. For example :
i. This world with all its trials is the furnace through which
the soul must pass and be developed before it is ripe for the
next world.
2. He was unable to steer his ship over the rough road of
public sentiment.
3. Every one thought the rebellion had been rooted out ; but it
was soon rekindled with renewed vigor.
4. The chariot of Revolution is rolling, and gnashing its teeth
as it rolls.
It is also quite as important not to use metaphorical and
literal language in the same sentence ; for example, " Is
it the voice of thunder or of my father ? "
EXERCISES
l. Discuss the following :
1. Boyle was the father of chemistry and brother to the Earl
of Cork.
2. An orator at one of the university unions bore off the palm
of merit when he declared that " the British lion, whether it is
roaming in the deserts of India or climbing the forests of Canada,
will not draw in its horns or retire into its shell."
3. "Brethren," said an earnest exhorter to a body of religious
workers, "brethren, remember that there is nothing which will
kindle the fires of religion in the human heart like water from the
fountains of life."
2. Discuss these two versions :
1. The cares and responsibilities of a sovereign often dis-
turb sleep.
2. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.
162 THE FORCIBLE WORD
3. Change the following figurative expressions to literal
and discuss the difference in effect :
i. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.
2. At one stride comes the dark.
3. He has spent all his life in letting down empty buckets into
empty wells ; and he is frittering away his age in trying to draw
them up again.
4. Figures that come to us without seeking are likely to
be the most simple and natural. Do any of these we hav^
been examining lack naturalness and spontaneity ?
5. A figure often surprises us. Sometimes its purpose
is not to add beauty, but merely to afford amusement.
Are there any examples of amusing figurative language in
this chapter ?
108. Metonymy. In choosing the specific rather than
the general, we sometimes put one thing for another that is
frequently associated with it. This figure is metonymy.
For example :
1. The ballot is more powerful than the bullet.
2. Who steals my purse steals trash.
EXERCISE
Turn the following figurative language into literal state-
ments. In each instance which version do you prefer, and
why ?
1 . Bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave.
2. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.
3. They always set a good table.
4. Three cheers for the red, white, and blue !
5. The lamp is burning.
6. The chair called the house to order.
7. Is the kettle boiling?
OTHER FIGURES OF SPEECH 163
109. Personification. When metaphor and metonymy
ascribe personality to things inanimate, they become per-
sonification ; for example, "The storm rages," ' The ship
has found herself," " Must I thus leave thee, Paradise ? "
110. Apostrophe. Furthermore, addressing inanimate
things, or persons not present, as if they could answer, is
sometimes called apostrophe. The word suggests the turn-
ing from the natural course of the thought in order to do
this. For example :
1. Ye principalities and powers,
That never tasted death !
Witness from off your heavenly towers
Our act of Christian faith.
2. Milton ! thou should'st be living at this hour:
England hath need of thee.
EXERCISE
Are the following examples of personification or of
apostrophe ?
1. Farewell, happy fields,
Where joy forever dwells ! Hail, horrors, hail !
And thou, profoundest hell !
2. Fair Science frowned not on his humble birth
And Melancholy marked him for her own.
3. Advance, then, ye future generations ! We would hail you,
as you rise in your long succession, to fill the places which we
now fill, and to taste the blessings of existence where we are
passing, and soon shall have passed, our own human duration.
We bid you welcome to this pleasant land of the fathers.
111. The Transferred Epithet. We have an effective
way of transferring epithets, of extending the attributes
of one subject to another with which it is connected.
164 THE FORCIBLE WORD
r The expression of such a thought," says one writer,
" must be considered as a figure, because the attribute is
not applicable to the subject in any proper sense." He
gives as examples :
Casting a dim, religious light.
He drew his coward sword.
The high-climbing hill.
He steers the fearless ship.
And the merry bells ring round.
And the jot it ml rebecks sound.
In all our study of figures we shall find that the most
simple and natural are the most telling. Unconsciously we
shall cull from common experiences figures that will illus-
trate and give point to our thoughts. A reasonable amount
of care should keep us from mixing metaphors and from
using figures as mere ornament. If it is not perfectly clear
to you that we use figures as naturally as we breathe, notice
the language of the people whom you hear talk from day
to day.
EXERCISES
l. In the two following extracts, how is force secured ?
In the second, note the use of the following words : clump-
ing, twittering, commanding, casting, nick, bleak, closure,
burn, torn, tinged, swim, massacre.
1. The schoolboy whips his taxed top; the beardless youth
manages his taxed horse with a taxed bridle on a taxed road ;
and the dying Englishman, pouring his medicine, which has paid
seven per cent, into a spoon that has paid fifteen per cent, flings
himself back upon his chintz bed which has paid twenty-two per
cent, and expires in the arms of an apothecary who has paid a
license of a hundred pounds for the privilege of putting him to
death. — Sydney Smith.
THE FORCIBLE WORD 165
2. Now I write you from my mosquito curtain, to the song of
saws and planes and hammers, and wood clumping on the floor
above ; in a day of heavenly brightness ; a bird twittering near
by ; my eye, through the open door, commanding green meads,
two or three forest trees casting their boughs against the sky, a
forest-clad mountain-side beyond, and close in by the door-jamb
a nick of the blue Pacific. It is March in England, bleak March,
and I lie here with the great sliding doors open in an undershirt
and p'jama trousers, and melt in the closure of mosquito bars,
and burn to be out in the breeze. A few torn clouds — not white,
the sun has tinged them a warm pink — swim in heaven. In
which blessed and fair day, I have to make faces and speak bitter
words to a man — who has deceived me, it is true — but who is
poor, and older than I, and a kind of a gentleman too. On the
whole, I prefer the massacre of weeds. — Stevenson, " Vailima
Letters," Vol. I.
2. Read the following passage carefully and make a list
of the words that seem particularly well chosen :
The prospectus of the Dictionary he [Samuel Johnson] ad-
dressed to the Earl of Chesterfield. Chesterfield had long been
celebrated for the politeness of his manners, the brilliancy of his
wit, and the delicacy of his taste. He was acknowledged to be
the finest speaker in the House of Lords. He had recently g( >\ -
erned Ireland, at a momentous conjuncture, with eminent firm-
ness, wisdom, and humanity; and he had since become Secretary
of State. He received Johnson's homage with the most winning
affability, and requited it with a few guineas, bestowed doubtless
in a very graceful manner, but was by no means desirous to see
all his carpets blackened with the London mud, and his soups and
wines thrown to right and left over the gowns of fine ladies and
the waistcoats of fine gentlemen, by an absent, awkward scholar,
who gave strange starts and uttered strange growls, who dressed like
a scarecrow and ate like a cormorant. During some time Johnson
continued to call on his patron, but, after being repeatedly told
[66 THE FORCIBLE WORD
by the porter that his lordship was not at home, took the hint,
and (-cased to present himself at die inhospitable door. —
Macaulay, " Life of Samuel Johnson."
3. With this list before you, see how closely you can
reproduce the paragraph orally.
4. In a similar way reproduce the passage from Bunyan
(PP- 153-155)-
CHAPTER XIV
LONGER COMPOSITIONS
" A skeleton is not a thing of beauty : but it is the thing which, more than
any other, makes the body erect and strong and swift." — Austin Phelps.
112. Larger Units. In our short compositions we have
given considerable attention to unity — whether in a sen-
tence, a paragraph, or a group of paragraphs. Hereafter
many of our papers will be longer, but whether paragraph,
chapter, or book, every composition should be a unit.
Individuals constitute the family, families make the town,
towns the state, and states the nation ; and each — whether
family, town, state, or nation — is a whole, composed of
smaller parts. In a similar way sentences, in themselves
units, form a larger unit, the paragraph ; paragraphs, the
chapter ; and chapters, the book.
113. Means of securing Unity. As you know, in order
to secure unity you should choose your subject carefully.
You must decide upon your point of view, you must have
in mind a definite goal, and you must advance with your
eyes on that goal. Suppose, for example, that you are in-
vited to speak ten minutes to a group of grammar-school
pupils on the merits of your high school. Their object in
giving you the invitation is to get information which shall
help them to decide whether to attend the high school.
That object gives you a limited subject. You will try to
interest them so much in the doings of your school that
they will be eager to enter it, and you will select from the
167
1 68 LONGER COMPOSITIONS
topics which occur to you only those that serve your pur-
pose. In brief, to secure unity you must (i) keep in mind
one main thought, and (2) present that thought from a care-
fully fixed point of view.
EXERCISES
1. State in a single sentence the main thought that you
would naturally bring out in writing on one of the subjects
mentioned in Exercise 10, page 173.
2. State in another sentence the point of view you would
take in presenting that thought.
114. Means of securing Coherence. Every talk, or paper,
should be coherent. It may be easy to frame a coherent
sentence or a coherent paragraph, but to hold the attention
of an audience for ten minutes, or for three minutes, makes
a more serious demand of a speaker. He must arrange
whole groups of thoughts so that the transition from one
group to another shall be easy and natural.
Let us suppose that in your ten minutes' talk you wish
to emphasize four matters : the caliber of the pupils they
will find in the school ; the good condition of athletics; the
large number of available studies ; and the unusually strong
body of teachers. In whatever way you arrange these
divisions of your subject, you must make it plain that one
leads up to another, and that each contributes its part to
the main thought. As you pass from topic to topic, and
from paragraph to paragraph, you should show in some way
that you are moving toward your destination.
To secure coherence, then, you must see that each division
of the subject leads up to the next, and that each contributes
its part to the main thought.
COHERENCE 169
EXERCISES
1. Outline the life of an author whose work the class is
now reading. Get any help you can from the arrangement
that follows :
1. Parents. 4. College life.
a. Father. a. Faithful student.
b. Mother. (1) Favorite studies.
2. Childhood. (2) Debating club.
a. Nurse. b. Athlete.
(1) Stories. (1) Football.
(2) Affection. (2) Rowing.
b. Playmates. c. Ambitions.
3. Boyhood. 5. Career as a business man.
a. School. a. Industry.
b. Recreations. b. Promotion.
(1) Reading. c. Independence.
(2) Sailing. 6. Position in the community.
2. Make a detailed outline of one period of the life of
the author.
3. Make a detailed outline of one period of the life of a
favorite character.
4. Give the class a talk based on one of your outlines.
Use no notes while speaking.
115. Means of securing Emphasis. Everything in your
paper may have a bearing on the subject, your para-
graphs may all fit together, but there is still an impor-
tant question to answer: Will your hearer sift from all
the details you give him the one or two points you wish
him to note with especial care ? In other words, how
can you secure emphasis? We shall proceed to examine
two ways.
170 LONGER COMPOSITIONS
116. Emphasis through Position. We have already seen
in our study of paragraphs that what we put first attracts
attention, and that we may expect people to remember
longest what comes last. In other words, emphasis may
be secured by position.
Fixing the Order of the Topics. Let us return to the
ten minutes' talk you began to prepare. The topics may
be arranged in many ways.
I
2
3
4
Pupils.
Teachers.
Athletics.
Pupils.
Athletics.
Pupils.
Studies.
Teachers
Studies.
Athletics.
Teachers.
Studies.
Teachers.
Studies.
Pupils.
Athletics.
If you wish to call more attention to teachers than to
pupils, athletics, or studies, you would prefer i to 2, 3,
or 4. Having decided which topic shall have the place of
honor, the end, you must then see that the remaining topics
are so arranged as to lead up naturally to that topic.
EXERCISES
1. If you were to use the following topics in writing an
autobiography, in what order would you arrange them,
and why ?
Birth. Plans for the future.
Early boyhood. Tastes.
2. If you were to write a paper on your interest in the
following games, in what order would you arrange them,
and why ?
Football. Tennis.
Baseball. Golf.
EMPHASIS 171
117. Emphasis through Proportion. If in the talk on
your school you give half of your space to athletics, one
naturally infers that you consider athletics of most impor-
tance. If you dismiss studies with two or three sentences,
it is an equally natural inference that you consider that
part of the school life of little interest — at least to your
audience. /;/ the long composition, then, as we// as in the
paragraph, emphasis is a matter of proportion.
EXERCISES
1. Choose a limited subject with which you are familiar,
and- which you consider suitable for a three minutes' talk.
By way of preparing the talk,
1. Fix the point of view.
2. Fix the order of the topics.
3. Allot to each topic the proportion of time it deserves.
2. After all the help you can get at home or from your
friends, give the talk to the class.
3. Bring to class a plan and use it in writing the story
of some novel you have recently read.
4. A pupil just back from a two weeks' vacation in
Marblehead wrote an account which was planned as follows :
1. My visit to Marblehead.
2. The historic Marblehead.
a. The war of 1812.
(1) Marblehead's defensive work.
(2) Marblehead's offensive work.
3. The present Marblehead.
a. Population.
(i ) Number, compared with early times.
(2) Kind.
172 LONGER COMPOSITIONS
In this theme, 2 received emphasis by proportion and 3
emphasis by position. If the pupil were asked to write a
letter about Marblehead to a man who is thinking of mak-
ing his home there, how much of the above plan would he
probably use ? How much of it would he find useful in
talking to an historical society ?
5. Keeping in mind the suggestions derived from this
study of the above plan, make a similar plan, for a theme
addressed to your mates.
6. Revise your plan so that it will be adapted to an
entirely different audience.
7. The following outline was written in preparing a theme
to show what a pupil had accomplished during his first
year in the high school. You may be able to suggest im-
provements in it — perhaps in the order of topics.
The First Year in the High School
1. English. 4. Drawing.
a. Reading. a. Free-hand.
b. Writing. b. Mechanical.
2. Shop work. 5. Algebra.
a. Carving. a. Factoring.
b. Carpentry. b. Equations.
3. History.
a. Roman.
b. Greek.
c. English.
8. Make an outline of the school work you have done
this year. Tell what each study has meant to you. Arrange
your work so as to end with what has interested you most.
Indicate carefully the main and the subordinate divisions
of the subject.
THE- INTRODUCTION 173
9. (1) Make an outline of an account of your own life.
(2) Test your outline thoroughly. (3) Write the account.
10. Prepare an outline of a subject on which you would
like to write, and for which you need several paragraphs.
These subjects may be suggestive : Lincoln's Boyhood,
Scott's Boyhood, The Preservation of the Forests, The
Italians of To-day, Ought Football to be played in Schools
and Colleges ? The Autobiography of a Public Carriage,
Rome at Her Greatest, The Persecution of the Jews,
A Letter to an Editor on a Matter of General Interest.
11. After testing the outline as thoroughly as you know
how, write the composition. Then apply the same tests to
the composition.
118. The Introduction. Just because a boy wishes to
tell us about a day's tramping, it does not follow that
he is compelled to mention the precise moment of his
waking or the difficulties and the rapidity of his dressing.
If he is to interest us in his trip, the sooner he gets under
way the better. It is safe to make introductions brief
and informal.
Irving begins his " Oliver Goldsmith " in this way :
There are few writers for whom the reader feels such personal
kindness as for Oliver Goldsmith, for few have so eminently
possessed the magic gift of identifying themselves with their
writings.
Hawthorne opens ,f The House of the Seven Gables"
with these words :
Half-way down a by-street of one of our New England towns
stands a rusty wooden house, with seven acutely peaked gables,
facing towards various points of the compass, and a huge, clustered
chimney in the midst.
174 LONGER COMPOSITIONS
EXERCISES
1. Examine the introductions of five chapters and five
books and stories. You may include " Ivanhoe," r The Last
of the Mohicans,"" The Vicar of Wakefield," " Silas Marner,"
and "The Alhambra." Take notes and give an oral report
based on them.
2. Write an introductory paragraph of an account of a
visit you once made.
3. Write introductory paragraphs of papers on two of
the following subjects :
i. A Long Day.
2. A Delightful Ride.
3. A Morning's Drive.
4. An Old Friend (a person).
• 5. An Old Friend (an animal).
6. In the Train.
7. An Excursion.
4. Exchange papers. Condense and simplify the intro-
ductions as much as possible.
119. The Conclusion. You should think twice about your
concluding paragraph. At times it should include a careful
summary of your whole composition. Now and then you
may think of an anecdote that will give point to all you
have said. If one topic has led up to another naturally,
you may need no other conclusion than a forcible ending of
your last topic. A good story-teller, with his fondness for
dwelling on the parts that please him most, is apt to be a
long time reaching the end of his journey, but once there
he knows enough to stop. As you hear lectures and ser-
mons, you will probably make up your mind that both
introductions and conclusions are better for beine: brief.
THE CONCLUSION 1 75
EXERCISES
1. Examine ten endings of chapters, magazine articles,
books, and stories. Take notes, and give an oral report
based on them.
2. Write the concluding paragraph of each of the papers
for which you wrote introductory paragraphs.
3. Exchange the conclusions and do all you can to
make those you examine as brief and as comprehensive
as possible.
120. The Value of a Plan. In short, then, the composi-
tion — whatever its length — should have unity, coherence,
and emphasis. If you would secure these characteristics,
do all you can to form the ha,bit of simple, straightforward,
vigorous thinking. You will find a plan helpful in deter-
mining the goal you are to reach, in keeping your path,
and in spending your time along the way to best advan-
tage. In making your plan, consider carefully (1) your
point of view, and (2) the choice and order of the topics.
Finally, remember that a careful revision of the plan may
save hours of rewriting.
EXERCISE
Give the class a three minutes' talk. Whatever your
subject, show the audience that you are prepared to speak
on it. If you wish, you may choose some subject on which
you have already written with great care. At any rate know
just what you wish to say, so that you can speak fluently.
Give your best attention to the preparation of your plan.
Consider carefully the introduction and the conclusion ;
and if you wish, write them. Choose an appropriate title.
PART TWO
CHAPTER XV
NARRATION
Hear as many good stories as yon can. and tell one whenever yon find
a listener.
121. The Study of Common Forms of Prose. In study-
ing literature with a view to learning how to write, it has
proved convenient to examine each of the four common
forms of prose by itself. Now as a matter of fact we do
not find a great many pure narratives, or pure descriptions,
or pure expositions, or pure arguments ; almost every com-
position is a combination of two or more of these forms.
It is important, however, to acquire some skill in the use of
each kind, for all are practical ways of using our mother
tongue. If we tell a story, we wish to tell it so that it will
make a definite impression ; if we paint a word picture, we
wish the picture to affect the reader as it affects us ; if we
give an explanation, we wish it to be so clear and orderly
that every listener will follow step by step ; if we cham-
pion one side of a question, we wish to present that side
in such a straightforward, logical way that we shall be
convincing.
122. The Incident. First we shall study narration.
Whether we are trying to tell something that has hap-
pened to us, something we have heard, or something we
'77
iy8 NARRATION
have read, we are continually thinking, " I wish I knew
how to tell a story." Probably the easiest way to become
a good story-teller is to begin with incidents. We all note
many occurrences which are worth recording, and in order
to write them in good form we should study the way in
which others have done the same kind of writing. We
should remember, too, that practice in telling incidents
from the lives of others will help us in telling those that
come within our own experience.
EXERCISES
1. In criticising the following incidents, answer these
questions :
i. Is the introduction sufficiently brief?
2. Are the events told in a natural order?
3. Does the narrative end in a way that brings out clearly the
main point?
Franklin's Famous Toast
Franklin was dining with a small party of distinguished gentle-
men, when one of them said : " Here are three nationalities
represented. I am French, and my friend here is English, and
Mr. Franklin is an American. Let each one propose a toast."
It was agreed to, and the Englishman's turn came first. He
arose, and, in the tone of a Briton bold, said, " Here's to Great
Britain, the sun that gives light to all nations of the earth."
The Frenchman was rather taken aback at this ; but he pro-
posed, " Here's to France, the moon whose magic rays move the
tides of the world."
Franklin then arose, with an air of quaint modesty, and said,
" Here's to our beloved George Washington, the Joshua of Amer-
ica, who commanded the sun and moon to stand still — and they
obeyed."
THE INCIDENT 179
Lamb's Salt Dips
Lamb had been medically advised to take a course of sea--
bathing; and accordingly, at the door of his bathing machine,
whilst he stood shivering with the cold, two stout fellows laid
hold of him, one at each shoulder, like heraldic supporters ; they
waited for the word of command from their principal, who began
the following oration to them :
"Hear me, men ! Take notice of this — I am to be dipped."
What more he would have said is unknown, for having reached
the word "dipped," he commenced such a rolling fire of di-di-
di-di, that when at length he descended a plomb upon the full
word dipped, the two men, rather tired of the long suspense, be-
came satisfied that they had reached what lawyers call the "oper 1
ative clause " of the sentence, and both exclaiming, "Oh yes, sir,
we are quite aware of that," down they plunged him into the sea.
On emerging, Lamb sobbed so much from the cold that he
found no voice suitable to his indignation ; from necessity he
seemed tranquil; and again addressing the men, who stood re-
spectfully listening, he began thus :
" Men ! is it possible to obtain your attention? "
"Oh, surely, sir, by all means."
' Then listen ; once more I tell you I am to be di-di-di-di-,"
and then, with a burst of indignation, "dipped, I tell you."
" Oh, decidedly, sir," rejoined the men, "decidedly," and down
the stammerer went for a second time.
Petrified with cold and wrath, once more Lamb made a feeble
attempt at explanation :
"Grant me pa-pa-patience! Is it mum-um-murder you me-
me-ean? Again, and again I tell you I'm to be di-di-di-dipped,"
now speaking furiously, with the tone of an injured man.
"Oh yes, sir," the men replied, "we know that ; we fully under-
T it" ; and, for the third time, down went Lamb into the sea.
" O limbs of Satan ! " he said, on coming up for the third time,
" it's now too late; I tell you that 1 am — no, that I was — by
medical direction to be di-di-di-dipped only once."
ISO NARRATION
Thackeray and the Oyster 1
. Thackeray announced to me by letter . . . that he . . . would
sail for Boston by the Canada on the 30th of October. All the
necessary arrangements for his lecturing tour had been made
without troubling him with any of the details. He arrived on
a frosty November evening, and went directly to the Tremont
House, where rooms had been engaged for him. I remember
his delight in getting off the sea, and the enthusiasm with which
he hailed the announcement that dinner would be ready shortly.
A few friends were ready to sit down with him, and he seemed
greatly to enjoy the novelty of an American repast. In London
he had been very curious in his inquiries about American oysters,
as marvellous stories, which he did not believe, had been told
him of their great size, We apologized — although we had taken
care that the largest specimens to be procured should startle his
unwonted vision when he came to the table — for what we called
the extreme smallness of the oysters, promising that we would do
better next time. Six bloated Falstaffian bivalves lay before him
in their shells. I noticed that he gazed at them anxiously with
fork upraised ; then he whispered to me, with a look of anguish,
"How shall I do it?" I described to him the simple process
by which the free-born citizens of America were accustomed to
accomplish such a task. He seemed satisfied that the thing was
feasible, selected the smallest one in the half-dozen (rejecting a
large one, "because," he said, "it resembled the High Priest's
servant's ear that Peter cut off "), and then bowed his head as if
he were saying grace. All eyes were upon him to watch the effect
of a new sensation in the person of a great British author. Open-
ing his mouth very wide, he struggled for a moment, and then all
was over. I shall never forget the comic look of despair he cast
upon the other five over-occupied shells. I broke the perfect
stillness by asking him how he felt. " Profoundly grateful," he
gasped, "and as if I had swallowed a little baby."
J. T. Fields, "Yesterdays with Authors."
1 Reprinted by permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company.
THE INCIDENT l8l
My Father's Friend
While my father was an officer of the English army in South
Africa, we occupied a large cabin, which, unlike the other bun-
galows, had two stories. One evening when my father and sister
and I were sitting together, I noticed that father, who was sitting
facing the window, turned very pale. Being a soldier's daughter
and fearing to alarm my invalid sister, I sat quiet waiting for my
father's orders. Soon he said in a steady voice : " Edith and
Florence, a friend of mine is coming here to see me this evening,
and I wish to be alone with him. Therefore I wish you to go up
to your own room." We obeyed immediately; and going to our
room, closed the door.
Soon I heard a sound like that of a door bursting in, and then
a scramble of feet. They were hurrying up the narrow stairs.
Fearing that there was some danger near, I seized the pistol which
my father always obliged me to keep loaded in my room. Then I
heard my father cry out, " For mercy's sake, child, open the door."
I did so ; and to my horror I saw, not a friend of his, but the
worst enemy of the soldier in Africa, the gorilla. He was over-
taking my father ; and recovering my sense just in time, I raised
the pistol and fired. For once I had aimed well, and the animal
fell backward with an angry scream. Father quickly took the still
smoking pistol from my hand, and fired another shot, which dis-
patched the brute.
Father then told us that when he saw the dreaded animal
at the window, he had sent us upstairs ; and he hoped to be
able to shut and bar the door — which always stood open —
before the creature noticed it. The gorilla had, however, been
too quick for him ; and this was the cause of the hurried flight
up the stairs.
2. Tell the foregoing incident. Re sure to keep your
audience in suspense as well as the writer docs.
3. Tell the first anecdote without allowing any of the
gentlemen to speak for themselves and state whether it
[82 NARRATION
seems wise to allow the persons, or characters, to speak
for themselves as much as possible.
4. Tell an incident from " Ivanhoe " that is suggested
by one of the following topics. See that you have a good
beginning, an orderly sequence of events, and a dignified
conclusion.
i. An Evening at Cedric's Home.
2. The Persecution of Isaac.
3. A Test of Skill in Archery.
5. Tell an incident based on your own experience.
6. Write one incident a week during the coming month.
7. Does the following narrative begin promptly ? Is the
order of events a natural one ? Does the story end well ?
A Sad Story
My next-door neighbor has a rooster which set up to be the
rival of mine. It is a strange thing that creatures living side by
side, instead of cultivating friendship and good feelings, should
become envious, jealous, and quarrelsome.
Well, at first the rival roosters were satisfied with trying to see
which could crow the louder, and it really seemed as if they would
split their throats in the contest. Then they began to try which
should wake up and crow first in the morning, and in this strife they
would often begin at two o'clock at night ; and lest one should
get advantage over the other, they kept crowing away till sunrise.
So long as things were confined to crowing, no serious evil fol-
lowed, but from crows the rivals at last came to blows. One day,
as they chanced to be pretty near together, they began crowing at
each other. By and by my rooster got angry ; so he mounted the
fence which divides my yard from my neighbor's, flapped his
wings, and crowed a most tremendous crow. Upon this the other
gave him a regular challenge to fight. There was no police to
stop them, and they went at it. It was no boy's play ; wings,
THE INCIDENT 1 83
spurs, and beaks, all were put in action. They fought like tigers,
and when neither could stand, they held on to each other's combs
and lay panting on the ground. At last they got up. One marched
one way and the other another.
My rooster was so nearly blind that he could not find the way
to the henhouse. The best he could do was to get under a small
cedar tree, and there he took lodgings for the night. But, alas !
the weather was bitter cold, and the poor thing was found stiff
as an icicle, his feathers torn, his comb destroyed, and the air
of pride and triumph which once distinguished him, departed
forever. My neighbor's rooster saw the poor fellow lying in the
snow, so over the fence he flew and began a most furious assault
upon the lifeless body. After beating it soundly for about five
minutes the creature paused, looked contemptuously at the object
of his wrath, drew himself up to his full height, and crowed. Then,
with proud strides, he marched off to his flock of hens, who received
him with three cheers, as the hero of all outdoors.
8. Read aloud the following bit of narrative until you
can read it well. Then tell just why you like or dislike it.
The bear was coming on ; he had, in fact, come on. I judged
that he could see the whites of my eyes. All my subsequent
reflections were confused. I raised the gun, covered the bear's
breast with the sight, and let drive. Then I turned, and ran like
a deer. I did not hear the bear pursuing. I looked back. The
bear had stopped. He was lying down. I then remembered that
the best thing to do after having fired your gun is to reload it.
I slipped in a charge, keeping my eyes on the bear. He never
stirred. I walked back suspiciously. There was a quiver in the
hind-legs, but no other motion. Still he might be shamming:
bears often sham. To make sure, I approached, and put a ball
into his head. He didn't mind it now : he minded nothing. 1 )eath
had come to him with a merciful suddenness. He was calm in
death. In order that he might remain so, I blew his brains out,
and then started for home. 1 had killed a bear ! — C. D. Warner.
1 84 NARRATION
9. Read the following narratives aloud and criticise
(i) the introduction, (2) the order of events, (3) the ending.
Incident of the French Camp
You know, we French stormed Ratisbon :
A mile or so away,
On a little mound, Napoleon
Stood on our storm ing-day ;
With neck out-thrust, you fancy how,
Legs wide, arms locked behind,
As if to balance the prone brow
Oppressive with its mind.
Just as perhaps he mused, " My plans
That soar, to earth may fall,
Let once my army-leader Lannes
Waver at yonder wall," —
Out 'twixt the battery-smokes there flew
A rider, bound on bound
Full-galloping ; nor bridle drew
Until he reached the mound.
Then off there flung in smiling joy,
And held himself erect
By just his horse's mane, a boy :
You hardly could suspect —
(So tight he kept his lips compressed,
Scarce any blood came through)
You looked twice ere you saw his breast
Was all but shot in two.
" Well," cried he, " Emperor, by God's grace
We've got you Ratisbon !
The Marshal's in the market-place,
And you'll be there anon
THE INCIDENT • 185
To see your flag-bird flap his vans
Where [, to heart's desire,
Perched him ! " The chief's eye flashed ; his plans
Soared up again like fire.
The chief's eve flashed ; but presently
Softened itself, as sheathes
A film the mother-eagle's eve
When her bruised eaglet breathes;
' You're wounded ! " " Nay," the soldier's pride
Touched to the quick, he said :
" I'm killed, Sire ! " And his chief beside,
Smiling the boy fell dead.
Browning.
Quite So
" 1 say there, drop that ! " cried Strong. "All right, sir, didn't
know it was you," he added hastily, seeing it was Lieutenant
Haines who had thrown back the flap of the tent, and let in a
gust of wind and rain that threatened the most serious bronchial
consequences to our discontented tallow dip.
" You're to bunk in here," said the lieutenant, speaking to
some one outside. The some one stepped in, and Haines van-
ished in the darkness.
When Strong had succeeded in restoring the candle to con-
sciousness, the light fell upon a tall, shy-looking man of about
thirty-five, with long, hay-colored beard and mustache, upon
which the rain-drops stood in clusters, like the night-dew on
] latches of cobweb in a meadow. It was an honest face, with
unworldly blue eyes, that looked out from under the broad visor
of the infantry cap. With a deferential glance towards us, the
new-comer unstrapped his knapsack, spread his blanket over it,
and sat down unobtrusively.
rt Rather damp night out," remarked lllakely, whose strong
hand was suppo ed to be conversation.
1 86 NARRATION
"Quite so," replied the stranger, not curtly, but pleasantly, and
with an air as if he had said all there was to be said about it.
"Come from the Nortli recently?" inquired Blakely, after a
pause.
'•Yes."
" From any place in particular? "
" Maine."
''People considerably stirred up down there?" continued
Blakely, determined not to give up.
" Quite so."
Blakely threw a puzzled look over the tent, and seeing Ned
Strong on the broad grin, frowned severely. Strong instantly
assumed an abstracted air, and began humming softly,
" I wish I was in Dixie."
'The State of Maine," observed Blakely, with a certain defi-
ance of manner not at all necessary in discussing a geographical
question, " is a pleasant State."
" In summer," suggested the stranger.
"In summer, 1 mean," returned Blakely with animation,
thinking he had broken the ice. " Cold as blazes in winter,
though — isn't it? "
The new recruit merely nodded.
Blakely eyed the man homicidally for a moment, and then,
smiling one of those smiles of simulated gayety which the novel-
ists inform us are more tragic than tears, turned upon him with
withering irony.
"Trust you left the old folks pretty comfortable? "
" Dead."
"The old folks dead!"
" Quite so."
T. B. Aldrich, " Quite So " in " Marjorie Daw."
Note. In this combination of narrative and description notice
what an important part the conversation plays. Does the natural way
in which the writer approaches the climax remind you of the telling
of one of the anecdotes in this chapter ?
LONGER NARRATIVES 187
123. Longer Narratives. Whatever skill we acquire in the
telling of incidents we can turn to good account when we
tell stories which include several events. Of these longer
narratives there are two common forms, the short story
and the novel.
The short story, like the incident, is constructed to bring
out clearly a single point, or to produce a single effect.
The plot — or action of the story — should be original and
striking. Whereas in the incident the characters may be
mere names, in the good short story they not only talk but
they live.
Compared with the short story, — which generally deals
with one chief character, or one situation, — the novel is
intricate. It gives a picture of the real life of the char-
acters it presents. Sometimes interest centers in the in-
cidents, sometimes in the characters. Among novels of
incident are "Treasure Island," "The Last of the Mo-
hicans," and "Ivanhoe"; among novels of character are
"Vanity Fair" and " Silas Marner." Pupils who wish to ex-
amine a novel as a work of art will find in the introduc-
tions and notes of editions prepared for schools such aids
as an analysis of the author's plot and a study of his
method and of his characters.
EXERCISES
1. Make a list of your favorite novels under two heads :
first, those that were evidently written for the sake of tell-
ing the story ; second, those that tell a story for the sake
of developing characters.
2. Write a theme telling which of these two kinds you
prefer, and why. Give illustrations.
lS8 NARRATION
Although the stud)' of both forms of fiction is valuable,
in learning how to write such stories as most of us are
likely to produce, we naturally turn to the short story. The
following volumes contain many interesting short stories :
Gallegher and Other Stories " Richard Harding Uavis.
" Old Chester Tales " Margaret Deland.
'Tales of a Traveller" Washington Irving.
'The Other Fellow" F. Hopkinson Smith.
' The jungle Books" ) r , ■, , T ^- ,.
J 6 , TT - Rudyard Kiphng.
' Plain Tales from the Hills " j y F 5
'A Humble Romance" Mary Wilkins Freeman.
' In the Wilderness " Charles Dudley Warner.
' In Ole Virginia" Thomas Nelson Page.
' Marjorie Daw " Thomas Bailey Aldrich.
'Wanted : A Match-Maker " Paul Leicester Ford.
Other good stories are mentioned in Exercise i, below,
and others in the book review under Exercise 9, page 215.
124. Directions for telling a Story. As we read, as well
as when we write, we may profitably keep in mind the fol-
lowing directions for telling a story :
1. Secure unity of effect. Choose material that will bring
out the poi7it you wish to emphasize. Reject whatever does
not make some contribution to the end in view.
2. Secure coherence. Be sure that one part leads up to
another ; that the various parts are as closely connected as
so many links in a chain.
3. Secure emphasis and force, a. The beginning should
arouse an intelligent interest in what is to come. Such
interest may be gained in two ways : (1) by giving an ex-
planation that will prepare the reader for subsequent narra-
tion ; or (2) by fixing his attention on something decidedly
suggestive of what is in store.
DIRECTIONS FOR TELLING A STORY 189
b. See that your narrative has proportion. Condense the
unimportant in order that you may have sufficient space for
whatever you wish to emphasize.
c. The good story-teller knows how to keep his listeners in
suspense. A study of " Ivanhoe " and other novels of Scott's,
and careful listening to men whose audiences seldom weary,
will help us to a wise use of this means of emphasis.
J. The skillful introduction of conversation often in-
creases the interest.
e. The ending must count. A story should not only
make continual progress ; it should grow in interest up to
the very end. We should tell it so that when we have
reached the "climax" — -when the interest is at its height
— there will be little or nothing more to say. Sometimes
the climax comes after a gradual preparation ; sometimes
it is all the more effective because it comes unexpectedly.
EXERCISES
1. Tell the story of . one of the following narratives:
f The Vision of Sir Launfal," a canto of "The Lady of the
Lake," " The Man Without a Country," " Rip Van Winkle,"
"The Fall of the House of Usher," "The King of the
Golden River," or one of these stories in "The Sketch-
Book": (1) the Captain's story in "The Voyage "; (2) "Rip
Van Winkle"; (3) the adventures of Ichabod Crane in "The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow." First write a brief plan.
2. Write (1) the opening paragraph of the story you
have just told ; (2) the closing paragraph.
3. Write the story. Consider the value of conversation,
and if you use any, see that it is to the point and neatly
introduced.
190 NARRATION
4. Make a plan of one of the four stories suggested by
these words :
i. "One or two strokes of a spade upturned the blade of a
large Spanish knife, and, as we dug farther, three or four loose
pieces of gold and silver coin came to light. . . .
" We now worked in earnest, and never did I pass ten minutes
of more intense excitement."
2. "It was done. Whether right or wrong, it was done."
3. " I want my happiness ! " at last he murmured, hoarsely and'
indistinctly, hardly shaping out the words. " Many, many years
have I waited for it ! It is late ! It is late ! I want my happiness ! "
4. " What was I to do to pass away the long-lived day? "
5. Write the story in full.
6. Write whatever any one of the following extracts
suggests :
.1 . "Do you," she said, " believe in dreams? " " That is a ques-
tion I can't answer truthfully," I replied, laughing. " I don't really
know whether I believe in dreams or not."
2. The voice of Mrs. Peters, her next-door neighbor, came back
in response : "It's me. What's the matter, Marthy? "
"I'm kinder used up; don't know how you'll git in ; I can't
git to the door to unlock it to save my life."
3. On drawing it to the surface, we were much surprised to find
it a long pistol of very curious and outlandish fashion, which, from
its rusted condition, and its stock being worm-eaten and covered
with barnacles, appeared to have lain a long time under water.
4. " Nephew," said he, after several efforts, and in a low, gasp-
ing voice, "I am glad you are come. I shall now die with satis-
faction. Look," said he, raising his withered hand, and pointing
" look in that box on the table : you will find that I have not
forgotten you."
5. To make assurance surer, I got upon my hands and knees,
and crawled, without a sound, towards the corner of the house.
As I drew nearer, my heart was suddenly and greatly lightened.
EXERCISES 191
6. He had plenty to do the next hour. [Rapid movement.]
7. "I love anything that's old: old friends, old times, old
manners, old books, old wine ; and, I believe, Dorothy (taking
her hand), you'll own 1 have been pretty fond of an old wife."
[Slow movement.]
7. Get one of the best story-tellers you know to tell
you a story. Write as well as you can what you learned
from the way in which it was told. Keep in mind such
questions as these : Was the narrator hurried? deliberate?
Did he make the most of his material ? Did he omit un-
important details ? Did he keep you guessing about the
outcome of the story ? If so, how ? Was the ending one
that is easy to remember ?
8. Write an original story (five hundred to one thousand
words). It may be based on fact, but you are to furnish
the plot and the details. See that it is true to life.
CHAPTER XVI
DESCRIPTION
" Description was the principal field of my exercise ; for to any one with
senses there is always something worth describing, and town and country
are but one continuous subject." — Stevenson.
125. Material for Pictures. The story-teller frequently
pauses in his narrative of events to give his hearers bits of
description, and all of us have occasion again and again to
describe as accurately as possible something we wish to
bring before a listener. If we could only open our eyes and
see the wealth of material all about us, we should find
ourselves continually enriching our conversation through
descriptions. " The fact is," says Ruskin, "that there is
hardly a roadside pond or pool which has not as much land-
scape in it as above it. It is not the brown, muddy, dull
thing we suppose it to be ; it has a heart like ourselves,
and in the bottom of that there are the boughs of the tall
trees, and the blades of the shaking grass, and all manner
of hues, of variable, pleasant light out of the sky ; nay, the
ugly gutter, that stagnates over the drain bars, in the heart
of the foul city, is not altogether base ; down in that, if
you will look deep enough, you may see the dark, serious
blue of far-off sky, and the passing of pure clouds. It is at
your own will that you see in that despised stream, either
the refuse of the street, or the image of the sky — so it
is with almost all other things that we unkindly despise." x
1 " Modern Painters," Vol. I, Part II, sec. v, chap. i.
192
A LIMITED SUBJECT 1 93
It is not enough to tellwhat we have seen. Our object
should be to paint a picture that shall affect our listener as
the original observation affected us. To do this skillfully
requires study and practice.
126. A Limited Subject. If we are wise, we shall choose
a subject so limited that our description will naturally have
unity.
EXERCISES
1. In studying Burroughs' s description of the walk of a
crow, answer these questions : Has everything a bearing
on the subject? Is the opening sentence a good introduc-
tion ? Is the closing sentence an emphatic ending ? Read
these two sentences together, and then write what you con-
sider the main thought of the paragraph.
I have seen no bird walk the ground with just the same air the
crow does. It is not exactly pride ; there is no strut or swagger in
it, though perhaps just a little condescension ; it is the contented,
complacent, and self-possessed gait of a lord over his domains.
All these acres are mine, he says, and all these crops ; men plow
and sow for me, and I stay here or go there, and find life sweet
and good wherever I am. The hawk looks awkward and out of
place on the ground ; the game birds hurry and skulk, but the
crow is at home and treads the earth as if there were none to
molest or make him afraid. — "An Idyl of the Honey- Bee."
2. (1) Make a list of five subjects suitable for description
and so limited that it will be easy to secure unity. (2) Write
on one of the subjects that you like best.
3. As you read Hawthorne's description of a room, put
yourself in the writer's place. Think of the numerous de-
tails he might have included in his picture. From them all
he selected a few. Presenting these in an order in which
194 DESCRIPTION
a visitor would naturally sec them, he took pains to point
out a chair that he wished us to notice particularly.
It was a low-studded room, with a beam across the ceiling,
panelled with dark wood, and having a large chimney-piece, set
round with pictured tiles, but now closed by an iron fire-board,
through which ran the funnel of a modern stove. There was a
carpet on the floor, originally of rich texture, but so worn and
faded in these latter years that its once brilliant figure had quite
vanished into one indistinguishable hue. In the way of furni-
ture, there were two tables : one, constructed with perplexing
intricacy and exhibiting as many feet as a centipede ; the other,
most delicately wrought, with four long and slender legs, so
apparently frail that it was almost incredible what a length of
time the ancient tea-table had stood upon them. Half a dozen
chairs stood about the room, straight and stiff, and so ingen-
iously contrived for the discomfort of the human person that
they were irksome even to sight, and conveyed the ugliest pos-
sible idea of the state of society to which they could have been
adapted. One exception there was, however, in a very antique
elbow-chair, with a high back, carved elaborately in oak, and a
roomy depth within its arms, that made up, by its spacious
comprehensiveness, for the lack of any of those artistic curves
which abound in a modern chair. — :< The House of the Seven
Gables," chap. ii.
4. With the above description in mind, describe the in-
terior of a room which interests you.
5. Note the simplicity of Scott's plan in this description
from " Rob Roy," and with this example in mind describe
orally some bit of scenery that has pleased you.
The glorious beams of the rising sun, which poured from a
tabernacle of purple and golden clouds, were darted full on such
a scene of natural romance and beauty as had never before greeted
my eyes. To the left lay the valley, down which the Forth wan-
dered on its easterly course, surrounding the beautiful detached
THE POINT OF VIEW 195
hill, with all its garland of woods. On the right, amid a profusion
of thickets, knolls, and crags, lay the head of a broad mountain
lake, lightly curled into tiny waves by the breath of the morn-
ing breeze, each glittering into its course under the influence of
the sunbeams. High hills, rocks, and banks waving with natural
forests of birch and oak formed the borders of this enchant-
ing sheet of water ; and, as their leaves rustled to the wind and
twinkled in the sun, gave to the depth of solitude a sort of life
and vivacity.
127. The Point of View. After choosing the subject, the
first step is to decide upon the point of view. Having once
fixed this, the writer should not change it without giving
the reader notice. If he moves forward or backward, to
the right or to the left, he must inform the reader. After
describing the view . from an east window, he must not
call attention to something on the west side of the house
without showing how he is enabled to command a view in
that direction.
In a single paragraph of " The Legend of Sleepy Hollow ' :
Irving describes the outside of a house, the piazza, the hall,
the parlor, and even gives us a peep into a china closet.
Yet he is so careful to inform us of every movement of the
wondering Ichabod that we follow with the utmost ease.
It is to be noted that Ichabod went no farther than the
hall ; then he stood and looked around.
It was one of those spacious farmhouses, with high-ridged, but
lowly-sloping roofs, built in the style handed down from the first
Dutch settlers; the low projecting eaves forming a piazza along
the front, capable of being closed up in bad weather. Under this
were hung Hails, harness, various utensils of husbandry, and nets
for fishing in the neighboring river. Benches were built along
the sides for summer use ; and a great spinning-wheel at one
196 DESCRIPTION
end, and a churn at the other, showed the various uses to which
this important porch might be devoted. From this piazza the won-
dering Ichabod entered the hall, which formed the centre of the
mansion and the place of usual residence. Here, rows of resplen-
dent pewter, ranged on a long dresser, dazzled his eyes. In one
corner stood a huge bag of wool ready to be spun ; in another a
quantity of linsey-woolsey just from the loom ; ears of Indian
corn, and strings of dried apples and peaches, hung in gay fes-
toons along the walls, mingled with the gaud of red peppers ; and
a door left ajar gave him a peep into the best parlor, where
the claw-footed chairs, and dark mahogany tables, shone like
mirrors ; and irons, with their accompanying shovel and tongs,
glistened from their covert of asparagus tops ; mock-oranges and
conch-shells decorated the mantelpiece ; strings of various colored
birds' eggs were suspended above it : a great ostrich egg was
hung from the centre of the room, and a corner cupboard, know-
ingly left open, displayed immense treasures of old silver and
well-mended china. — Irving, "The Sketch- Book."
These words show how the point of view changes : From
this piazza 'ichabod entered the hall . . . a door left ajar gave
him a peep into the best parlor . . . a cupboard, left open.
EXERCISES
1. Criticise, with reference to the point of view, the
selections under section 126. (1) Does the writer change
his point of view ? (2) If so, does he inform the reader of
every such change ?
2. Describe (1) the outside of a building from one posi-
tion, and (2) the inside from at least two positions.
128. Choice of Details and Plan. Nothing is of greater
importance than the choosing of significant details. That
choice made, your problem is one of arrangement.
CHOICE OF DETAILS AND PLAN 1 97
In the following lines note the choice of significant details
and the skillful management of them :
For cups and silver on the burnish'd board
Sparkled and shone ; so genial was the hearth :
And on the right hand of the hearth he saw-
Philip, the slighted suitor of old times,
Stout, rosy, with his babe across his knees ;
And o'er her second father stoopt a girl,
A later but a loftier Annie Lee,
Fair-hair'd and tall, and from her lifted hand
Dangled a length of ribbon and a ring
To tempt the babe, who rear'd his creasy arms,
Caught at and ever miss'd it, and they laugh 'd :
And on the left hand of the hearth he saw
The mother glancing often toward her babe,
But turning now and then to speak with him,
Her son, who stood beside her tall and strong,
And saying that which pleased' him, for he smiled.
Tennyson, " Enoch Arden."
Sometimes a writer brings his plan to the front. Victor
Hugo, in describing the field of Waterloo, says :
Those who would get a clear idea of the battle of Waterloo
have only to lay down upon the ground in their mind a capital A.
The left stroke of the A is the road from Nivelles, the right stroke
is the road from Genappe, the cross of the A is the sunken road
from Ohain to Braine l'Alleud.
Newman's description of Attica begins :
A confined triangle, perhaps fifty miles its greatest length, and
thirty its .greatest breadth.
It is a help to clearness to say that a church takes the
form of a cross or of an amphitheater. You may know of
a peninsula that might be likened to a finger, of a road
19S DESCRIPTION
that resembles an S, of a river that may be compared to
a horseshoe or an oxbow. Do you ?
EXERCISE
After making a plan which will be sure to come to the
front, describe some view that has made a great impression
on you. Choose important details.
DESCRIPTION BY SUGGESTION
We frecpuently try to write so that another person shall
see just what we see, but in many instances the wiser
course is to make the reader feel as we feel. Thomas
Bailey Aldrich says, " I like to have a thing suggested
rather than told in full. When every detail is .given, the
mind rests satisfied, and the imagination loses all desire
to use its own wings." .Sometimes a word or a phrase is
more suggestive than a page of details. You will find the
following worth study:
1. The smiler, with the knife under the cloak.
'This verse," says Lowell, "makes us glance over our shoulders,
as if we heard a stealthy tread behind us."
2. Next stood Hypocrisy with holy leer,
Soft smiling and demurely looking down,
But hid the dagger underneath the gown.
3. Look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under't.
EXERCISES
l. See in how many effective ways you can bring out
the thought of the following :
1. Mutiny, it was plain, hung over us like a thundercloud.
2. In came Mrs. Fezziwig, one vast substantial smile.
DESCRIPTION BY SUGGESTION 199
Suggesting how things influence the spectator or the
actor is called description by effect.
2. Read the following paragraph aloud until you can
read it well. Is it an example of description by effect ?
How did Nehushtafeel in the atmosphere described ? How
does the description make you feel ?
The peace of the evening descended upon her [Nehushta] ;
the birds of the day ceased singing with the growing darkness;
and slowly, out of the plain, the yellow moon soared up and
touched the river and the meadows with mystic light ; while far
off, in the rose-thickets of the gardens, the first notes of a single
nightingale floated upon the scented breeze, swelling and trilling,
quivering and falling again, in a glory of angelic song. The faint
air fanned her cheek, the odours of the box and the myrtle and
the roses intoxicated her senses, and as the splendid shield of the
rising moon cast its broad light into her dreaming eyes, her heart
overflowed, and Nehushta the princess lifted up her voice and
sang an ancient song of love, in the tongue of her people, to a
soft minor melody, that sounded like a sigh from the southern
desert. — F. Marion Crawford, "Zoroaster," chap. ii.
3. Describe some peaceful scene in such a way that the
reader will feel calm.
4. Describe some exciting scene in such a way that you
will excite your reader.
5. Describe a happy scene in such a way that the reader
cannot help feeling happy.
129. Reproduction of Sensations. We are so dependent
on our eyesight that it is well to remind ourselves occasion-
ally that we have other senses. Obviously one will not
often sit down and say, " In writing to-day I will use words
that describe taste, touch, smell, and sound." We use the
words that the subject demands. On the other hand, if we
200 DESCRIPTION
are well developed, if we are in the habit of using the five
senses, we are much more likely to recognize and respond
to the demands of the subject.
The man of rich and varied experience is the man whom
we expect to be most interesting as a talker or as a writer.
The man whose senses are constantly contributing to his
appreciation and enjoyment of life naturally speaks and
writes in a vigorous, hearty style. If we study men like
Stevenson and Kipling, we shall find that they make fre-
quent use of the five senses. They could not have written
with such accuracy, completeness, and point unless they
had acquired the habit of being alert. Like them we must
learn our trade. Not satisfied with hazy notions about
things, we must take pains repeatedly to put into words
just what we see or hear or taste or smell or touch. By
using our senses in this way we shall gain real enjoyment,
and we shall become much more interesting to those with
whom we associate ; for whether we write or talk, we shall
have an inexhaustible fund to draw from in making our
meaning clear both in statement and in illustrations. Rich
indeed is the writer who has at his command illustrative
material that he has gathered from a vigorous use of keen '
senses, in doors and out.
EXERCISES
l. How many of the five senses did the writer use in
connection with the following paragraphs ? Note all indica-
tions of activity. Read the selections aloud until you can
enter into the spirit of each of them.
It was one January morning, very early — a pinching, frosty
morning — the cove all grey with hoar-frost, the ripple lapping
DESCRIPTION BY SUGGESTION 201
softly on the stones, the sun still low and only touching the hill-
tops and shining far to seaward. The captain had risen earlier
than usual, and set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under
the broad skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope under
his arm, his hat tilted back upon his head. *\. remember his breath
hanging like smoke in his wake as he strode off, and the last sound
I heard of him, as he turned the big rock, was a loud snort of
indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr.Livesey.
— Stevenson, "Treasure Island," chap. ii.
There is one day when all things are tired, and the very smells,
as they drift on the heavy air, are old and used. One cannot
explain this, but it feels so. Then there is another day — to the
eye nothing whatever has changed — when all the smells are
new and delightful, and the whiskers of the Jungle People quiver
to their roots and the winter hair comes away from their sides in
long, draggled locks. Then, perhaps, a little rain falls, and all the
trees and the bushes and the bamboos and the mosses and the
juicy-leaved plants wake with a noise of growing that you can
almost hear, and under this noise runs, day and night, a deep
hum. That is the noise of the spring — a vibrating boom which
is neither bees, nor falling water, nor the wind in the tree-tops,
but the purring of the warm, happy world. — Rudyard Kipling,
'The Spring Running" in "The Second Jungle Book."
2. Make a list of a few instances in which an appeal to
the sense of smell might add to your description. Discuss
the following expressions and put any of them on your list :
fresh lumber, fresh-cut hay, burning leaves, lilacs, mignon-
ette, summer dust in the country, the earth in spring, a
rank low-tide odor, pine trees, moist meadow, musty meadow,
porgy factory, barn.
3. Make a similar list of sounds. In the city we have a
continual roar, made up of the rattle of carts, the banging
of cars, the calling of children, etc.; in the country we
202 DESCRIPTION
hear the meadow lark, the song sparrow, the frog, the flut-
hi of the wings of a bird, etc.; in a factory town at noon,
the whistles, bells, talking and laughing; at the seaside, the
roar of the sea, etc.; on the Fourth of July, the boom of
cannon, etc.
4. Describe in a single word the atmosphere of (i) a
room, (2) a home, (3) a school building, (4) a town or vil-
lage, (5) a city.
130. Directions for Writing Descriptions. We shall find
it helpful in writing descriptions to keep in mind the follow-
ing directions, based on what we have seen to be desirable
in a good description.
1. We must indicate clearly our point of view. If it
changes, we must notify the reader.
2. We should choose significant details and have a defi-
nite plan in presenting these details.
3. We should try to make the reader see what we see or
feel as we feel.
4. We should be fully alive as we write --ready to use
any of the senses, and even more alert to secure the closest
attention than we should be in telling a story.
EXERCISES
1. Choose one of the following subjects :
t. Indicate what a man who has no sense of smell cannot
appreciate as he walks through the woods in spring.
2. (1) Write out fully what a man with only one sense — hear-
ing — might easily get from a five minutes' walk in the woods.
Choose whichever season you prefer. (2) Point out what, in
addition, a watchful eve may discover under these circumstances.
DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING DESCRIPTIONS 203
3. Imagining that you have only two senses,- — hearing and
touch, — describe (1) a walk in the woods or in a village or city,
or (2) a meeting with a pet animal, say a dog.
4. In writing a brief account of the catching of a fish, take ad-
vantage of all the opportunities you may have to make use of
sound, smell, and touch. See that your description is lively.
5. In describing the broiling and serving of a fish, give especial
attention to smell and taste.
2. Write on a subject in connection with which you can
advantageously use the five senses. Consider from this
point of view the following: My Pet Dog; Climbing Mount
; An Hour's Swimming ; Coasting (whether on a sled
or on a bicycle. Describe the taste and touch of the
air) ; A Clam Bake ; In a Gymnasium ; Playing the Piano ;
A Rain Storm ; A Football Game ; Making Candy ; A Fire
in the Woods ; A Day's Sailing ; A Snowball Fight ; Skat-
ing in the Morning.
3. Describe the appearance of some character in a story.
Make your picture as lifelike as possible.
4. Describe one of the following : (1) a typical farmyard
scene; (2) a rare coin; (3) an artistic postage stamp; (4) a
typical evening in your home, or an ideal evening; (5) an
entertainment you have attended recently.
5. (1) Describe some small boys at play. (2) Criticise
in writing under the heads of (1) point of view, (2) life, the
description written by one of your classmates.
6. Write the description suggested by any one of the
following :
t. lie was a comely, handsome fellow, perfectly well made,
with straight strong limbs, not too large ; tall and well-shaped,
and, as I reckon, about twenty-six years of age . . . countenance
. . . smile . . . hair . . . forehead . . . eyes.
204 DESCRIPTION
2. By this time the sun had gone down, and was tinting the
clouds towards the zenith with those bright hues which are not
seen there until some time after sunset, when the horizon has
(|uite lost its richer brilliancy. The moon . . . the old house . . .
the garden. . . .
3. About a quarter of an hour before the second ringing of
the bell, members of the congregation begin to appear.
4. I built a cottage for Susan and myself, and made a gate-
way in the form of a Gothic arch, by setting up a whale's jaw-
bones . . . heifer . . . garden . . . parlor.
5. The fog had now lifted, so that I could form a better idea
of the lay of the land.
6. After nightfall we went out and walked up and down the
grass-grown streets.
7. The Baltimore oriole loves to attach its nest to the sway-
ing branches of the tallest elms.
8. At length the shadows began to lengthen, the wind . . .
calm . . . the sun . . . Sabbath stillness . . . valley . . . the
farmer . . . the ox . . . the school urchin. . . .
9. He was meanly dressed.
10. The town appeared to be waking up. A baker's cart had
already rattled through the street, chasing away the latest vestige
of night's sanctity with the jingle-jangle of its dissonant bells.
A milkman. . . .
7. Choose one of the following subjects for a short
theme :
1. Describe the view from a window. If you like, you may
read Irving's account of a view from a window in " Christmas
Day" (in "The Sketch-Book"). Seethe third paragraph, begin-
ning, "Everything conspired," etc. Is the plan clear? Note the
force of the active verbs.
2. Describe the house in which you live so that a stranger will
get a clear picture. Be careful about your point of view.
3. Describe a cottage sheltered by a large elm.
EXERCISES 205
8. In writing a criticism of a description written by one
of your classmates, answer these questions :
1. Does the writer indicate clearly his point of view?
2 . Has he chosen significant details ?
3. Has he a definite plan in presenting the details?
4. ^Yhat words are particularly well chosen ? Why ?
CHAPTER XVII
EXPOSITION
" Learn to see and to hear. Seeing and hearing are more matters of the
brain than of eye and ear. . . . Exposition demands . . . the exercise of
reason as well as of observation, but the two are closely bound together;
and the mind which is trained to see is as sure to reason about what it
sees as the plant which thrusts its rootlets into the rich soil is to grow."
Arlo Bates.
131. The Meaning of Exposition. Every boy who knows
how to sail a boat enjoys telling how he does it. A good
swimmer likes to let a beginner into the secret of his skill.
The tennis player sometimes tries to give his friends some
notion of what he means by " thirty-love." In each of these
cases there is a demand for explanation, or, as we some-
times call it, exposition.
You may know how the town in which you live came to
have a high-school building. If you were to give this his-
tory, you would call your work narration. Should you by
the use of words make a picture of the schoolhouse, you
would produce a description. But if you explain the uses
of the building, the result is an exposition.
In describing a thing we tell of its appearance ; in ex-
plaining it we expose, or " set forth," its meaning. One who
has attended a typical " town meeting " can give an enter-
taining account of what he saw there, but it is another
matter to make a foreigner comprehend what " town meet-
ing " really means. It is one thing to describe a friend so
that a stranger can pick him out in a crowd ; it is a very
206
THE MEANING OF EXPOSITION 207
different undertaking to explain the secret of your friend's
cheerful countenance.
In reading a biography we are not satisfied with a
description of a man's appearance ; we wish to know what
sort of man he was. We turn year after year to Lockhart's
"Life of Scott," Southey's "Life of Nelson," and Plutarch's
"Lives," because these authors enable us to understand how
their heroes accomplished what they accomplished.
EXERCISES
1. Give directions for playing quoits, duck on a rock, or
hop-scotch. If your subject is quoits, you may use this plan :
1. The outfit.
a. Horseshoes.
b. The "hub" (stake).
2. Position of the players.
3. Object of the players.
4. Keeping the score.
2. Give directions for making soup, bread, or cake ; or
for freezing ice cream ; or for building a coal fire, cleaning
a bicycle, or harnessing a horse.
3. Show to what extent an account of the battle of
Thermopylae might be an exposition ; or, show to what
extent the account in the history you study is an exposition.
4. Write a theme "setting forth " the main character-
istics of the hero of a story, or of one of the principal per-
sons in the story.
132. Unity. Having chosen a limited subject, think it
through and write the substance of what you wish to say
in a single sentence. If you keep this sentence summary
constantly in mind, your work will probably be a unit. If,
20S EXPOSITION
for example, you are explaining baseball, your sentence
summary might be : " Baseball is a field game, played with
bat and ball, by eighteen men, nine on a side." In explain-
ing a steam engine, you might say that " a steam engine
may be defined as an apparatus for doing work by means
of heat applied to water." 1 Does that seem to you a good
sentence summary ?
EXERCISES
1. Explain in a single sentence the main difference be-
tween an adjective and an adverb, or between work and play.
2. Sum up in a written sentence the main features, as
you understand them, of one of the following games : foot-
ball, tennis, golf, cricket, checkers, chess.
3. (i) Select a subject on which you can write an exposi-
tion. After thinking of practically everything you are to
include in your theme, and before beginning the theme,
write in one sentence the main thought you are to bring
out. (2) Write your paper. (3) If you have not succeeded
in "setting forth " the thought of your summary sentence,
revise either the sentence or the theme.
133. Arrangement of Material. In connection with unity
we must have coherence, — an orderly arrangement of our
material, — and in order to secure it we can well afford to
take great pains in making a definite plan.
Suppose our subject is baseball. The first question is,
What do we need in order to play the game ? And in the
first division of our paper we naturally tell about (1) the
field, (2) the bat, and (3) the ball. Then we explain the
positions of the players and point out how the game is
played.
l Hammond Lamont, " Specimens of Exposition,'" p. xi.
ARRANGEMENT OF MATERIAL 209
EXERCISES
1. Make a plan for the above subject. Use the vertical
arrangement (see Chapter XIV).
2. Make a plan of the following paragraph :
When we ask for more time for schools, we are always met by
this objection : The children can hardly stand the stress to which
they are now subjected. Are we to overtax them still more? I
believe there are three good answers to this objection. The first
is ventilation. If you will take the excess of carbonic acid out of
the schoolroom, you can keep the children in it longer, without
hurting them as much as you do now. The same may be said
of the teachers. The strain upon teachers is greatly increased by
the badness of the air in which they habitually work. Secondly,
the stress upon the children can be greatly diminished by the
systematic use of gymnastic movements during school hours and
in the schoolrooms. I submit that the American people ought to
learn from the experience of European nations in this respect. It
has been conclusively demonstrated that brief intervals for gym-
nastic exercises throughout the public schools of Scandinavia and
Germany do keep the children in good condition, and do enable
them to sustain without injury a greater amount of mental work
than I have just suggested for American children. Thirdly, the
stress or strain upon children can be much diminished by making
the work interesting to them, instead of dull, as much of it now
is. It is extraordinary how fatigue is prevented or diminished by
mental interest. As I have lately read the readers used in my
sample grammar school, worked its sums, and read its geography
and its book on manners, it has seemed to me that the main
characteristic of the instruction, as developed through those
books, — unless lightened by the personality of the teacher, — is
dullness, a complete lack of human interest, and a consequent
lack in the child of the sense of increasing power. Nothing is so
fatiguing as dull, hopeless effort, with the feeling that, do one's
best, one cannot succeed. That is the condition of too many
2IO IMPOSITION
children in American schools — not the condition for half an
hour, but the chronic condition day after day and month after
month. Make the work interesting, and give the children the
sense of success, and the stress which is now felt by them will
be greatly diminished. - Charles William Eliot, "An Aver-
age Massachusetts Grammar School" in "Educational Reform,"
pp. i S 3 - i 85.
3. (1) Profiting by whatever suggestions you can get
from paragraph and plan, write in a similar way about
some one whom you know well, say an aunt. (2) After
your writing is done, put at the end of it what you con-
sider the main thought.
4. Make an outline of the character (1) of a book hero
of yours ; (2) of an acquaintance.
Sometimes the subject determines the order of the main
divisions of an outline. When you are free to choose the
order, do not try to give the most difficult part of your ex-
planation at once, but begin with something which is com-
paratively easy, — if possible, with something about which
the reader is not entirely ignorant, — and lead from that
to the parts which are harder to understand. In other
words, begin with the simple and work toward the complex.
If, for instance, you were to explain the game of tennis,
you surely would not call attention at once to the meaning
of deuce set. What method did you adopt in the case of
your baseball outline ?
If you can be clear and at the same time secure climax,
by all means do so ; but remember that no matter how in-
teresting you make your explanation, it is a failure if it is
not clear.
ILLUSTRATION BY EXAMPLES 21 1
5. (i) Write out the main divisions of a plan of one of
the following subjects : croquet, diabolo, tennis, checkers,
hockey, basket-ball, chess, or some other game. (2) Insert
subdivisions in your plan. (3) Write the theme. (4) See
that theme and plan agree.
134. Illustration by Examples. Let us suppose a younger
brother of yours discovers that you are puzzling your brains
over exposition, and that he asks you to tell him what that
big word means. It is not a difficult task. Suppose you
should tell him that in explaining the use of a tool in his
carpenter's chest, the working of some machinery he has
constructed, and in dozens of similar ways every clay of
his life he is making use of exposition. See if he does not
catch your meaning quickly if you give him several illus-
trations. People crave the example just as they jump at
the specific word.
EXERCISES
1. Add to your outlines of characters (Exercise 4) illus-
trations by examples.
2. Mention five subjects in the explanation of which you
would naturally give examples. Use some of the following,
or others of your own selection :
1. "The way of transgressors is hard." 2. "Forbearance
ceases to be a virtue." 3. " 111 blows the wind that profits
nobody." 4. "A little learning is a dangerous thing." 5. "All
that glisters is not gold." 6. " 'Tis distance lends enchantment
to the view."
135. Illustration by Comparison. One of the simplest
frays to explain a tiling is to begin by telling what it is
not, or to compare and contrast it with something else.
212 EXPOSITION
EXERCISES
1. In this connection discuss the following subjects :
(i) A Home (compare a house)) (2) A Village (compare
a city).
2. Make a plan of the following selection :
Once in the span of a generation of men comes a chess genius,
who, submitting to be blindfolded, carries on successfully against
twenty antagonists twenty simultaneous games of chess ... he
works only at certain hours and under conditions of his own
choosing. . . .
Yet the work of this marvel ... is only the work of the train-
despatcher, who, blindfolded by four white walls, his right hand
on the key and his eye fastened on the figures of a train-sheet,
forces his mind, when other men are asleep, to visualize the long,
winding miles of his division- — its trains, its passing tracks and
curves, its towers and stations, its semaphores and switches. At
twenty points in the darkness of his night . . . are swiftly mov-
ing trains of Pullman cars. . . . This man is no genius ; he is
the plain, every-day American ... he plays every day. . . . He
cannot play twenty games and rest ; he must for eight hours be
ready steadily for every game that comes over the wires against
him, whether of storms, blockades, breakdowns, or wrecks. —
Frank Spearman, "The Nerves of the Road," The Outlook.
3. With the preceding selection and plan in mind, write
a comparison of two persons whom you know well, or of
whom you have read widely.
4. What characters seem as real to you as persons with
whom you are acquainted ? Tell briefly but definitely of
two. Show how well you know them ; and if you can, tell
why it almost seems as if you had met them.
5. Arrange your time so that you can have at least three
hours during the coming week to spend on a book approved
by the teacher. At the end of the week write briefly what
DIRECTIONS FOR WRITING EXPOSITION 213
you think of the book as far as you have read. At the end
of the second week write another report of your reading,
*
and so on until you finish the book.
136. Directions for Writing Exposition. In general, the
most important aids in securing clear and forcible expo-
sition are :
1 . Unity.
2. Logical arrangement.
3. Illustration 'by examples or by comparison.
EXERCISES
1. Explain briefly, with as many illustrations as you
choose to add, the correct use of the following words :
awful, funny, cunning, lovely.
2. Explain one : (1) how to broil steak ; (2) some system
of ventilation ; (3) a method of sharpening a lead pencil ;
(4) some patent ; (5) bread making; (6) how to make a
Welsh rarebit ; (7) the block system (in connection with
a railway) ; (8) some system of heating.
3. Explain one : some technical term taken from (1) music ;
(2) the carpenter shop ; (3) mechanical drawing ; (4) free-
hand drawing; or (5) mathematics.
4. Write on one of the following subjects :
1. Honesty is the best policy. (Illustration by examples.)
2. It was clearly a time for discretion.
3. Explain how you made some such article as these : pencil
tray, book rack, picture frame, stamp box, jewel case, flower trellis,
napkin ring, goblet, wallet, rolling pin, gavel, dumb-bells.
5. Write on one of the following subjects :
i. A Ballad. 2. A Touchdown. 3. A Hazard (golf). 4. Uses
of Public Libraries. 5. Reforms suggested in "Oliver Twist." 6. A
214 EXPOSITION
Summer Sport in the Country. 7. A Winter Amusement in Cities.
8. The Industry of Walter Scott. 9. The Humble Origin of Great
Men. 10. Nelsoifs Courage. 11. The Care of Potted Plants
in Winter. 12. How to raise Celery. 13. Setting the Table for
Dinner. 14. How to tell a Fir Tree from a Spruce. 15. How to
make a Kite. 16. The Making of Turpentine. 17. The Making of
Cider. 18. Handball. 19. A Sun Dial. 20. A Simple Steam En-
gine. 21. Ice Cutting. 22. The Force Pump. 23. How to row a
Boat. 24. How to keep a Lawn. 25. The Air Brake. 26. How
to make a Pair of Skees.
6. (1) Choose from the subjects just given that one which
appeals to you as the best for an essay of some six hundred
words. (2) In preparing a plan, consider (a) unity, (b) ar-
rangement, {c) the advantage of illustration by examples or
by comparison. (3) Write the essay.
7. Explain your methods of writing. In doing so, answer
the following questions :
1. Do you write rapidly?
2. Do you alter the first draft much?
3. Do you find composition hard ? Under what conditions is
it most difficult? least difficult?
4. To what extent have you found outlines, or plans, useful?
5. Do you keep an audience or a reader in mind as you write?
6. Do you read your work aloud slowly, sentence by sentence?
If so, has this method helped you in revising the sentences, the
spelling, or the punctuation?
8. In a similar way tell the class about your reading
habits. First prepare a plan. In addition to the topics
that will be suggested by the above questions, consider
the use of the dictionary and other helps.
9. Bearing in mind that a book review should give us a
brief account of the subject-matter and its treatment, tell
EXERCISES 215
whether the following review of " Specimens of the Short
Story," by George Henry Nettleton, Ph.D., is satisfactory.
Does the book seem worth your reading ?
Dr. Nettleton's selections are interesting. For what may be
termed a sketch — the study of narrative in its lowest terms — he
chooses Lamb's "Superannuated Man"; for the tele, pure and
simple, Irving's " Rip Van Winkle,"- — that first great creation of
American fiction ; for an allegory, Hawthorne's " Great Stone
Face"; for a detective story, Poe's "Purloined Letter"; for a
burlesque, Thackeray's " Phil Fogarty "; for a story of incident,
Dickens's "Doctor Manette's Manuscript"; for a psychological
story, Stevenson's "Markheim"; and for a local-color story,
Mr. Bret Harte's "Outcasts of Poker Flat." These are not only
good specimens of the best narration ; they also present pecul-
iarly profitable material for the study of the art of narrative
composition. The introductions prefixed to the separate stories
include a short biography of the particular story-teller, a bibliog-
raphy of his representative works, a review of his special literary
qualities, and a discussion of the circumstances attending the
composition selected, together with the points which aid in its
interpretation. Sundry notes at the end of the volume helpfully
explain certain difficulties of the text ; these notes would have
been more directly helpful, however, had they been printed at the
bottom of the pages. — The Outlook.
10. Criticise fully the following account of " float in
One of the most picturesque methods of hunting the poor deer
is called " floating." The person, with murder in his heart, chooses
a cloudy night, seats himself, rifle in hand, in a canoe, which is
noiselessly paddled by the guide, and explores the shore of the
lake or the dark inlet. In the bow of the boat is a light in a
" jack," the rays of which are shielded from the boat and its occu-
pants. A deer comes down to feed upon the lily-pads. The boat
approaches him. He looks up, and stands a moment, terrified or
216 EXPOSITION
fascinated by the bright flames. In that moment the sportsman
is supposed to shoot the deer. As an historical fact, his hand usu-
ally shakes, so that he misses the animal, or only wounds him ; and
the stag limps away to die after days of suffering. Usually, how-
ever, the hunters remain out all night, get stiff from cold and the
cramped position in the boat, and, when they return in the morn-
ing to camp, cloud their future existence by the assertion that
they "heard a big buck " moving along the shore, but the people
in camp made so much noise that he was frightened off. — C. I).
Warner, "A-Hunting of the Deer " in " In the Wilderness."
At times we are content merely to explain, but frequently,
like Mr. Warner in the extract given above, we color the
explanation in order to make the reader think as we do.
In this way we fall into a persuasive or argumentative style
of writing, which we shall study in the next chapter. g
• CHAPTER XVIII
ARGUMENT
" Truth is worth more than victory."
137. The Difference between Exposition and Argument.
Some people like to argue for the sake of arguing, — there
is no doubt of it, — and which one of us does not enjoy
a lively discussion ? From morning till night, at the break-
fast table, on the way to school, in recitations, at recess, on
the athletic field, over our indoor work and play, — on all
occasions we are trying to make somebody else see as we
see and think as we think. In many cases argument is
simple exposition ; as soon as we can explain our meaning
to a friend, he agrees with us. Suppose you say, "A college
graduate is not an educated person." Your friend naturally
replies that boys and girls go to college to get an education.
But when you explain that it takes a lifetime to get what
you consider an education, that a college course merely goes
a step beyond the grammar school and the high school in
showing one how to become educated, how to grow, your
friend will probably agree to your first statement. Even if
he thinks you give a broad meaning to the word "educa-
tion," clearly the first thing for you and him to do is to
agree upon a definition of that word. To be sure, this agree-
ment may leave nothing to discuss, but in the course of
coming to the agreement you may find a fair field for
argument.
217
2i8 ARGUMENT
In writing expositions we try to secure :
i. Unity.
2. Logical arrangement.
3. Illustration by example or by comparison.
In argumentative writing,
1. The necessity of stating just what we are to prove
will aid us in securing unity.
2. The logical arrangement is of great importance.
3. The value of our work frequently depends on the skill
with which we use illustrations by example, but we must not
attach undue importance to a single illustration by example.
In exposition we set forth one view of a subject. In
argument our purpose is to show that one view is better
than another. Hence
4. We need to be particularly careful about the choice of
evidence. In selecting evidence which is really nothing but
opinion we must remember, for example, that one man's
opinion is of no great value unless that man is an expert ;
and that the substantial agreement of several experts is
naturally considered to be more valuable than the opinion
of any one of them.
138. Debates. The form of argumentation which is of
most practical value to young persons is debating. As an
exercise in self-control it is as good as football. The neces-
sity of getting our opponent's point of view is the best
possible preparation for dealing with men and women; and
if this last advantage were the only one to gain from debat-
ing, it alone would be worth all the cost. The acquirement
of this ability is itself an education.
139. The Statement of the Question. In a debate much
depends on the wording of the question. In every case the
THE STATEMENT OF THE QUESTION 219
statement should be perfectly clear, and so framed that
no advantage shall be given to either side. Suppose, for
example, we are to try to determine whether freshmen
should be excluded from high-school teams. We may state
the proposition formally in this way :
Resolved, That freshmen should not be excluded from all high-
school teams.
To prevent confusion, however, it will be better to avoid
the negative form, and say :
Resolved, That freshmen should be excluded from all high-
school teams.
Then the affirmative side will have something to build up,
and the work of the negative side will be to tear down this
structure, whatever it may be. The affirmative undertakes
to prove something. All the negative needs to do is to
show that the affirmative has failed to prove what it has
undertaken. If the affirmative presents a chain of argu-
ments, the negative has merely to show that one link in
the chain will not hold. If, at the close of the debate, the
judges feel that the affirmative has said nothing, and that
the negative has said nothing, they award the debate
to the negative.
In order that the time set for debate may not be spent
in deciding what the debate is to be about, any doubtful
term — that is, any ambiguous word or expression — should
be carefully defined. If possible, the speakers should meet
and agree on the meaning of terms beforehand; but if that
is impossible, they must fight it out in the debate. When-
ever a speaker uses an ambiguous term, he should state
what he understands it to mean.
220 ARGUMENT
140. The Finding of Material. As soon as we know just
what we are to prove, we shall be ready to look for mate-
rial. Aside from all the aid we may be fortunate enough to
get from friends, we shall need practice in handling library
catalogues and tables of contents. We should know where
to find and how to use records of public debates. We
should have access to The Congressional Record, standard
histories, periodicals, and some of the best daily papers.
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature is invaluable in con-
sulting magazines. If we are to have weight as speakers,
we must not only quote recognized authorities but we must
be careful to take references and quotations at first hand,
if possible, and to quote them accurately. Our audience
has a right to expect us to tell definitely the origin of our
citation. It is not enough, for example, to attribute some-
thing to Webster; we should add the name of the speech.
In general, we are to give information enough to enable
any one to verify our quotations with ease. If, as we take
notes, we jot down the references to our sources, we shall
not be embarrassed afterward by wondering who our au-
thority was.
141. The Brief. In preparing an argument, you need
something more than a plan, or topical outline; you need
complete statements of all the thoughts that are essential
to the argument. These statements compose the brief.
The brief has three important parts : (i) the introduction,
(2) the brief proper, and (3) the conclusion.
In the introduction state clearly :
1. How the question arose.
2. What facts both sides admit.
3. What is the exact point at issue.
THE BRIEF 22 1
In the brief proper show the growth of the argument :
1. Separate the main arguments from the subordinate.
2. Arrange the main arguments in logical order.
3. Group under them the subordinate arguments, and
see that each subdivision is a reason for the truth of the
division under which it comes.
In the conclusion give a concise summing up of the
argument.
Refutation. Under the heading refutation we are to
point out just what arguments are to be answered. When
to bring in the refutation depends upon the question. On
one occasion it will seem best to make it very conspicuous
— perhaps to put it first, so as to remove opposition or
prejudice. On another occasion it may be introduced inci-
dentally from time to time as a matter of little conse-
quence. Another time we may not dare mention it till we
have advanced most of our arguments ; then we shall seek
with one strong sweep to remove all obstacles.
Assertion and Proof. We must be particularly careful
to draw a sharp line between assertion and proof. Asser-
tion is an expression of opinion ; proof must be supported
by facts. Assertions amount to nothing ; every bit of evi-
dence, on the other hand, is one round in the ladder that
leads to the conclusion.
Not only do we need a brief for each side of the debate,
but we should be as familiar with the opponent's ground
as we are with our own territory, for we are to give and
take, to be answered and to answer ; and after the contest
ins, we have no time for hunting up information.
The following brief for the negative shows the proper
arrangement of material :
222 ARGUMENT
BRIEF
The Housing of the Boor
Question : Resolved, That the housing of the poor should be
improved by municipalities.
Introduction
I. In many of the larger cities the poorest inhabitants live in
such wretched quarters that public benefactors have raised
the question whether these conditions of life cannot be
improved by the cities.
IE Definitions.
A. The " housing " of the poor refers to tenements.
B. Improved "by municipalities" means at the expense of
the city.
III. Both sides admit that
A. The present tenement-house system is disgraceful.
B. The necessity for improvement is urgent.
IV. The question, then, is whether improvements should be made
by municipalities. There are three issues.
A. Is the plan wise in theory?
B. Does it work?
C. Is there no better plan?
Brief Proper
I. Municipal housing is not wise in theory.
A. It is charity of a wrong kind.
i. It weakens self-dependence.
B. It is unjust to the taxpayer.
i. The thrifty furnish homes for the improvident.
IE Municipal housing does not work in practice.
A. The Glasgow experiments helped only a few families.
B. Experiments in Naples were unsatisfactory. 1
C. Experiments in Eondon failed. 2
l Nation. LII, 134. 2 Fortnightly Review, XXXVIII, 425 (October, 1882).
SPECIMEN BRIEF 223
III. There are better ways of solving the problem.
A. Private citizens are keeping old buildings in good repair.
1. In London. 1
2. In Boston.
3. In New York.
B. Private citizens are building model tenements.
1. In London.
2. In Brooklyn.
C. Cooperative associations are building cottages in suburbs.
1. In Philadelphia.
Conclusion
Because municipal housing is not wise in theory, because it
does not work in practice, and because there are better ways of
solving the proble'm, the housing of the poor should not be im-
proved by municipalities.
142. The Speaking. After securing an orderly arrange-
ment of his material, the debater should talk over the whole
subject by himself or to a friend so many times that there
shall be no hesitation for words when he appears in public.
He is not to commit a speech to memory, but rather to
deliver so many speeches before the debate that he can
speak readily on any phase of the question. As soon as
his turn comes he will begin, eager to make the most of the
time allowed him, as his object is to speak so earnestly
and in such a straightforward way that he shall at once
win the attention of his hearers and hold it steadily till at
the end he has accomplished his purpose — till he has
compelled them to agree with him.
If we would carry our point, it may be a good plan to
appear not to argue. As long as the listener takes our con-
versation to be merely explanation, he will follow. If we
1 Definiti Id accompany each of these subdivisions.
224 ARGUMENT
can make the hearer think he is drawing his own conclu-
sions, or if we can join him in working out the solution of
the problem, we are much more likely to convince him than
wc should be by giving him the impression that we are
doing all his thinking for him.
In Webster's closing paragraph of his "Defense of the
Kennistons " he does not tell the jury what they ought to
do, what he expects them to do, or what all right-thinking
men would do ; he appeals to them as men who are to de-
cide for themselves :
If the jury are satisfied that there is the highest improbability
that these persons could have had any previous knowledge of
Goodridge, or been concerned in any previous concert to rob
him ; if their conduct that evening and the next day was marked
hy no circumstances of suspicion ; if from that moment until
their arrest nothing appeared against them ; if they neither passed
money, nor are found to have had money ; if the manner of the
search of their house, and the circumstances attending it, excite
strong suspicions of unfair and fraudulent practices ; if, in the hour
of their utmost peril, no promises of safety could draw from the
defendants any confession affecting themselves or others, it will
be for the jury to say whether they can pronounce them guilty.
Probably the wisest of us can learn something from
Franklin's method of expressing himself :
I . . . [retained] the habit of expressing myself in terms of
modest diffidence ; never using, when I advanced anything that
may possibly be disputed, the words certainly, undoubtedly, or any
others that give the air of positiveness to an opinion ; but rather
say, I conceive or apprehend a thing to be so and so ; it appears
to me, or / should think it so and so, for such and such reasons ;
or I imagine it to be so ; or it is so, if I am not mistaken. This
habit, I believe, has been of great advantage to me when I have
had occasion to inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into
THE SPEAKING 225
measures that I have been from time to time engaged in promot-
ing; and, as the chief ends of conversation are to inform or to be
informed, to please or to persuade, 1 wish well-meaning, sensible
men would not lessen their power of doing good by a positive, as-
suming manner, that seldom fails to disgust, tends to create oppo-
sition, and to defeat every one of those purposes for which speech
was given us, to wit, giving or receiving information or pleasure.
For, if you would inform, a positive and dogmatical manner in
advancing your sentiments may provoke contradiction and pre-
vent a candid attention. If you wish information and improve-
ment from the knowledge of others, and yet at the same time
express yourself as firmly fixed in your present opinions, modest,
sensible men, who do not love disputation, will probably leave
you undisturbed in the possession of your error. And by such a
manner, you can seldom hope to recommend yourself in pleas-
ing your hearers, or to persuade those whose concurrence you
desire. — "Autobiography."
EXERCISES
1. The list of propositions given below may help you
choose a subject for an argument. Pick out one on which
you can be prepared to speak with authority, and make
a brief.
2. After profiting by whatever suggestions come from
the teacher and the class about the statement of the propo-
sition, the order of the divisions of the brief, etc., write
your argument.
3. After careful preparation, with the brief well fixed in
your mind, give your argument to the class orally.
You should now be in a position to prepare for a debate.
At first you should choose a subject on which you can argue
largely from observation and experience ; afterward you may
rely more on material that you get from books and magazines.
226 ARGUMENT
143. Subjects for Debates. The following subjects may
suggest others that will prove more satisfactory than many
on this list :
1. A four years' high-school course is better than a three
years' course.
2. Canada should he annexed to the United States.
3. The is a better bicycle than the .
4. Interscholastic football promotes the best interests of
schools.
5. The United States should build a larger navy.
6. The standing army of the United States should be
increased.
7. The coast defenses of the United States should be
strengthened.
8. Private citizens should feed tramps.
9. Asphalt is the best kind of paving for Street.
10. Strikes help the cause of labor.
11. A trust is necessarily a benefit.
12. The treatment of Shy lock was unjust.
13. High-school pupils should read the newspapers.
14. The is a better automobile than the .
1 5 . Pupils of high-school age should receive training in debating.
1 6. The public library should be open on Sunday.
17. Manual training should be taught in all high schools.
18. Freshmen should be excluded from all high-school teams.
1 9. Every high school should give instruction in military tactics.
20. Monday is a more suitable day than Saturday for the weekly
school holiday.
144. The Management of a Debate. 1 In undertaking a
debate the members of the class or club should under-
stand that one of the first objects is to encourage a large
number of speakers to say something to the point. There
1 See also "Rules of Proceeding and Debate in Deliberative Assemblies," by
Luther S. Cushing. New edition. Philadelphia, Porter & Coates.
SUBJECTS FOR DEBATES 227
is always danger that three or four of the best speakers
will get the lion's share of the advantages. To prevent this
result every encouragement should be given to the beginner
who finds it almost impossible to say anything. It may be
that the fluent speaker, who astonishes his timid hearers
into silence, decorates himself with borrowed finery ; and
it must always be borne in mind that one good argument,
the result of an honest piece of thinking, is worth dozens
of other people's thoughts.
An exercise of this sort should be democratic. If the
making of arrangements is left to a committee of three,
appointed by the teacher or chosen by the class, all should
recognize the importance of doing cheerfully whatever this
committee recommends. Even if one has to take the side
he dislikes, he must do his best with it in order (1) to sup-
port the committee in its attempt to have the machinery
of the debate run smoothly, and (2) to call attention to all
the good points on that side so that the judges may be
enabled to get at the facts.
Preparation. Ample time must be given for preparation.
There should be at least two weeks' notice; and during
the fortnight every one should spend as much as possible
of his spare time in thinking and reading about the sub-
ject. This subject should be one of general interest. It
is wise at first to avoid questions that are too intricate for
most of our statesmen, and, if practicable, to choose one
that gives the pupil a chance to supplement his reading by
drawing from his own experience. If, for example, he is to
argue on the advisability of feeding tramps, in addition
to the indefinite amount of reading he will find available,
he may be able to give point and interest to his speaking
228 ARGUMENT
by telling of what he has seen in his father's dooryard. He
who would bring others to his way of thinking must show
them that he has been working out the subject for himself
and knows what he is talking about.
Principal Speakers and Substitutes. The committee of
arrangements will probably find that as a rule it is a good
plan to appoint two or three principal speakers on each
side of the question, and one substitute on each side. If
the substitutes are not called upon, their careful prepara-
tion will qualify them to strengthen the debate from the
floor. The principal speakers must not be given too much
time, nor arc they to be allowed any extension of the time
allotted. As soon as they have prepared the way for a
general discussion, the chairman should throw the debate
open to all. Then the friends of the principal speakers
may fill in the outlines presented by their leaders.
Division of Work among Speakers. Considerable care
should be exercised in the division of the work among the
leaders, and each of them should attend to the portion as-
signed him. Every one should sum up his own speech, and
the closing speakers need to be especially clever in singling
out the main points that have been proved and in sending
them home to the audience in a clear, concise, emphatic
summary.
If, as frequently happens, there are four leaders, the
work may be divided in this way :
i . The first speaker on the affirmative gives the outline of
the entire affirmative case, shows what he and his associates
are to prove, and presents his own arguments. Incidentally
he may do something to destroy the force of arguments
which may be brought forward by the other side.
THE MANAGEMENT OF A DEBATE 229
2. The first speaker on the negative comes next. He
shows what he and his colleague are to prove, and pre-
sents his part of the proof. He has the advantage of know-
ing what has been said by the opening speaker, and does
what he can to weaken those arguments. He may, if he
sees fit, anticipate some of the points likely to be made by
the second speaker on the affirmative.
3. The second affirmative speaker does the work out-
lined by his colleague and answers the first negative
speaker. He then attacks arguments that may be made
by the second speaker on the negative and sums up the
case for the affirmative.
4. The second negative speaker finishes the defensive
work begun by his colleague and does his best to refute
the arguments of the affirmative. He then sums up the
case for the negative.
Then comes the debating from the floor. In order to
give every one an opportunity to say something, these
speeches must be very brief. If the volunteers do not
use all the time set apart for them, the leaders may be
allowed to speak again.
After the closing of the general debate one representa-
tive from each side is entitled to make a rebuttal speech.
In the rebuttal speeches no new arguments or evidence
can be introduced except for the purpose of answering an
opponent or of making clearer or more emphatic some
argument already advanced by the speaker's side. The
representative of the affirmative comes last. As the burden
of proof rests upon his side, he should have the last word.
Note. In many debating clubs the camp system works well. The
members elect by ballot from their number a president and two leaders.
230 ARGUMENT
These leaders go ahead just as persons do who are selected to choose
sides for a spelling match. Having drawn lots for the first choice, they
pick out the debaters alternately till every member is in one camp or
the other. Then each leader does all he can to enable his camp to
win. He sees that the work is carefully planned, and frequently makes
the opening or the closing speech. One way of bringing good de-
baters into a club is to allow each leader to place in his camp any
new member he can secure.
Judges. Three judges may be appointed to determine
which side has been the more successful in convincing im-
partial listeners. A teacher, or some other competent person
whose suggestions will be carefully followed, should serve as
critic of the substance and the style of presentation, includ-
ing, of co.urse, matters of grammar and pronunciation.
APPENDIX
THE MUSICAL READING OF VERSE
1. Common Feet. In the following stanza ("The Lady
of the Lake," I) the syllables that we naturally accent hi
reading have been printed in italics:
The stag at eve had drunk his _/?//,
Where danced the moon on J/eman's rill,
And deep his midnight lair had made
In lone Glentf/'/ney's /^?zel shade.
Now a single attempt will show the absurdity of empha-
sizing the unaccented syllables. That would give us
The stag at eve had drunk his fill,
Where danced the moon on Monan's rill.
Nobody would read in this way. Why, then, should any-
body make a helter-skelter combination of the right and
the wrong way ? A good ear and a little common sense will
prevent such a blunder.
Letting w stand for an unaccented syllable and — for
an accented syllable, we may indicate the accent of these
lines thus :
KJ | W I W | \y
\y | w I w | \j
In this stanza the poet accents every second syllable. We
say that such verse consists of four feet, and that the regu-
lar foot is composed of a short and a long syllable, w _.
231
232 THE MUSICAL READING OF VERSE
In "Julius Caesar" we have
Good gen
tlemen,
look
fresh
and mer
rily
w
w
w
—
w
w
Let not
our looks
put
on
our pur
poses ;
w .
W
w
—
w
w
But bear
it as
our Ro
man ac
tors do.
w .
w
w
—
w
w
—
Each verse consists of five feet, and the regular foot has
two syllable's, a short and a long.
In
numbers
Tell me
not in
mourn
ful
w
u w
Life is
but an
empty
dre
w
— w
w
the accented syllable comes before the unaccented sylla-
ble, _w.
In
From the spijrits on earth
w w
that adore,
From the souls ! that entreat
w w
In the fer
w w
and implore
w w
vor and pas
sion of prayer,
w w
two unaccented syllables come before the syllable that
takes the accent, ww
And in
This is the
WW
forest pri
w w
meval. The I murmuring
w w w w
pines and the
hemlocks,
w
we recognize the ww_ inverted, _ww.
COMMON FEET
233
2. Names of Feet. The following names have been
given these feet : w_ iambus ; _w trochee ; \j\j—anapest ;
—\j\jdactyl. But for our purposes the names are of little
importance. What we need to do is to strike the accented
syllables hard, and to pass lightly over syllables that are un-
accented. This will not be difficult if we remember that the
poet is expected to retain the accent that belongs to a word.
In the case of old writers, such as Shakspere and Milton,
we sometimes find words with an accent long since changed.
3. Variations. Although most poems have one prevail-
ing meter, the poet finds it desirable to change his meter
from time to time as the thought changes. This substitu-
tion of feet, made of course in accordance with certain rules,
frequently gives the verse an added charm.
In " The Lady of the Lake," II, 41, we find, _^ for ^— :
The antlered monarch of the waste
Sprung from the heathery couch in haste ;
kj
in lines 55 and 73, for ^_ :
Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back
On the lone wood and mighty hill.
We welcome an extra syllable at the end of a line, as in
the third line below :
This was the no blest Ro 1 man of
*^ I ^ . 1^ 1 ^
All the
conspirlators,
save on
ly he,
^
<y \\y .
\y
w
them all.
Did that they did
in en w of great C?e
sar ;
234 THE MUSICAL READING OF VERSE
and the substitution of for ^_ :
Blow, blow,
thou win
ter wind,
w
Thou art not so unkind
As man's ingratitude.
We frequently find a line like this
Harp of the North ! that moul
dering long hast hung,
in which the fourth foot has three syllables. The two very
short syllables have the time that would naturally be given
to one unaccented or short syllable: ^_ = kj —
As you read aloud, notice the effect of the different
kinds of meter, — one may be restful, another stirring,
another stately, — and the variations.
4. Rests. There are rests in verse just as there are in
music. In the following line one must stop after "primeval " :
In
This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the
hemlocks.
On to their morning's rural work they haste,
Among sweet dews and flowers, A where any row
Of fruit-trees, over-woody, reached too far,
the caret indicates the natural place for pausing. If, as in
music, the rest takes the place of a syllable, it may be
marked thus :
A Break,
A break,
A break,
On thy cold
gray stones, I O sea !
And I would that my tongue could utter
The thoughts that arise in me.
KINDS OF VERSE 235
5. Kinds of Verse. If a verse has two feet, it is called
dimeter; if three, trimeter; if four, tetrameter; if five,
pentameter ; if six, hexameter.
Shakspere's line is iambic pentameter {iambic is the
adjective from iambus), and if you are interested you will
have no difficulty in finding many other poems written in
this meter. Nor will you need look far for examples of
trochaic tetrameter and dactylic hexameter. But you must
expect great variety, — even in a single poem, — and you
must learn to adapt yourself to the changes.
6. Scansion. Whether you do it orally or on paper, this
measuring of the lines is called scansion. You should do
enough scanning to become thoroughly familiar with the
method.
EXERCISES
1. Read metrically all the poetry in this book.
2. Separate into feet two lines of every kind of meter
you find.
3. Copy two verses of each of the following kinds :
(1) iambic pentameter; (2) trochaic tetrameter; (3) dac-
tylic hexameter.
4. Write two verses of each of the kinds mentioned in
Exercise 3.
5. Write a few verses on some subject with which you
are thoroughly familiar. Before choosing your subject, look
over the table of contents of one of your favorite volumes
of poems.
7. Rhythm. In all your reading of poetry you should
pay attention to time, as you do in music and dancing.
The voice should show that your ear detects the regular
recurrence of accented syllables that gives the musical
236 THE MUSICAL READING OF VERSE
effect we call rhythm. This measured motion of the verse
is as natural as the ebb and flow of the sea. One may go
so far as to say that a poem is not really a poem until it
is completed by the sympathetic rendering of the human
voice.
EXERCISE
Write out the difference between prose and poetry as
clearly as you can. Use as illustrations a few lines that
are really poetic.
INDEX
The references are to pages.
Abbreviations, in letter writing, 74 ;
punctuation of, 38.
Abstract neuns, 100.
Accent, in reading, 4, 231; in spell-
ing, 56.
Action, 187.
Active voice of a verb, 109; use of,
to give life, 138.
Address of a letter, 66, 67.
Adjective, 98; or adverb, 123; modi-
fiers, 126-128; this and that, 122.
Adverb, 99. See Adjective.
Aldrich, T. B., "Quite So," 185.
Almost, most, 123.
Analysis, 128.
Antecedent of pronouns, 105.
Apostrophe, mark of punctuation,
50, 103,107; figure of speech, 163.
Appositives, 46, 102.
Argument, 2 1 7-230; exposition and,
217 ; evidence, 218. See Debates.
Articles, 122.
As, as if, like, 126.
"Autobiography," Franklin, 224.
"Average Massachusetts Crammar
School, An," Charles W. Eliot,
209.
Baby's First Shoes, pupil's theme,
30.
Bird Study, Timely Suggestions on,
pupil's theme, 93.
Book review, specimen, 215.
Books that suggest subjects for
writing, 9.
Briefs. See Debates.
Brooks, Phillips, letter to his
niece, 79.
Browning, "Incident of the
French Camp," 184.
Bunyan, "The Pilgrim's Progress,"
I.Vv
Burroughs, John, description of
the walk of a crow, 193; In the
Mountains, 32; Our Most Pre-
cious Resources, 92.
Capitals, 38, 60, 70.
Case, 102; nominative, 102; ob-
jective, 102; possessive, 102; of
pronoun, 102, 107.
Clause, 126; adjective, adverbial,
and noun, 127; conditional, [16;
dependent and independent, 127;
subordinate (same as dependent).
Climax, 189, 210.
Coherence, in the paragraph, 87;
in the sentence, 135; in the whole
composition, idS, iSS, 208.
Collective nouns, 100, 122.
Collyer, Robert, on simple
words, 152.
( lolon, 1 1 . 42, 68.
( 'omnia, 46 18, 68, 70.
"■11
^
INDEX
Compositions: conclusion, 174;
introduction, 20 (Note), 173 ; oral
and written, 7; whole, 27-35.
Conjugation of verbs, 107-119.
Conjunctions, 99, 124; coordinate
and subordinate, 125.
( nnnectives, 87.
Crawford, F. Mark in, "Zoroas-
ter," 1 17, 199.
Criticism, 4, 5 ; 96 (Note), 137 ; ex-
aminer's, 23; key to examiner's, 25.
Figurative words, 158-163.
Figures of speech. See Figurative
Words.
Fitzgerald, Edward, letter, 80.
Floating, ('. I). Warner, 215.
Force, 152-166; in story-telling,
188.
Franklin, " Autobiography," 224 ;
Franklin's Famous Toast, 178.
Franklin Park, In, pupil's theme,
88.
Dash, 42, 49.
Daylight, The Lingering, Haw-
thorne, 89.
Debates, 218-230; briefs for, 220-
223; subjects for, 226.
Declension of nouns, 100.
" Defense of the Kennistons," Web-
ster, 224.
Description, 192-205; by effect,
199; by suggestion, 198; details
and plan, 196, 202; directions
for Writing, 202; reproduction of
sensations, 199.
Dictionaries, 147, 148.
Eliot, Charles William, "An
Average Massachusetts Grammar
School," 209.
Emphasis, in the paragraph, 9 1 , 93 ;
in the whole composition, 169.
"Enoch Arden," Tennyson, 197.
Exposition, 206-216; directions for
writing, 213.
Father's Friend, My, an incident,
181.
Fields, J. T., Thackeray and the
Oyster, 180.
Gender, 104.
Genitive. See Possessive Case.
Gerund, 1 12.
Grammar. See chapter on The
Correct Sentence, 98.
Hamilton, Gail, letter, 82.
Hawthorne, description of a
room, 194; The Lingering Day-
light, 89.
IIazlitt, "On the Conduct of
Life," 35.
Heading. See Letter writing.
How I killed a Bear, C. D. Warner,
183.
Hyphen, 21, 52.
"Idyl of the Honey-Bee, An,"
Burroughs, 193.
Imperative mood, 109, no.
In the Mountains, Burroughs, 32.
Incident, the, 177-1S6; and short
story contrasted, 187; "Incident
of the French Camp," Browning,
184.
Indented paragraphs, 22, 23.
Indicative mood, 109.
Infinitive, subject of an, 103.
INDEX
239
Infinitives, no.
Interjection, 99.
Interrogation point, 40.
Intransitive verbs, 108, 109.
Irving, "The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow," 195; "The Voyage," 28.
Key to examiner's criticisms, 25.
Kipling, RuDYARD,"Rikki-Tikki,"
139 ; " The Spring Running," 201.
Narration, 177-191.
Nominative case, 102.
Notebook work, 44 (footnote 1);
96-97 (Note).
Nouns, 98-105; kinds of, 100, 112,
122.
Novel and short story compared,
187.
Number of nouns, 100; of verbs,
108, 118.
Lamb's Salt Dips, an incident, 179.
"Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The,"
Irving, 195.
Letter writing, 64-86 ; address, 67 ;
body of the letter, 68; business
letters, 74-77; complimentary
close, 69, 70; conclusion, 69;
date and address, 47, 48; direc-
tion of envelope, 72; folding of
letter, 71; formak_62_^ letters of
friendship, 77-82; heading, 66;
informal, 68; invitations, 84;
notes, formal and informal, 84,
85; paper, 65,71; salutation, 67 ;
signature, 70; success in, 65 ; sug-
gestions, 74; value of, 64.
"Life of Samuel Johnson," Ma-
caulay, 165.
Lincoln, letter from, 81 ; para-
graph on, 212.
MACAULAY, " Life of Samuel John-
son," 165.
Manuscript, heading and margin,
19, 20, 22, 23.
Metaphors, 158.
Meter, 233.
Metonomy, 162.
Mood or mode, 108, 109.
Object and modifiers, 128.
Objective case, 102.
Old Friend, An, pupil's theme, 30.
" On the Conduct of Life," 35.
Only, 136.
Oral composition, 1, 2, 7.
Our Language, Scott, 88.
Paragraph, the, 21, 22; coherence
of, 87-90; connected paragraphs,
32; details grouped in, 33, 87;
emphasis in, 9 1-97; indenting of,
22, 23; independent, 27; length
of, 27; in letter writing, 69; plan
of, 2S; unity of, 27, 87.
Participles, no, in; past, 108,
109, iii; perfect, in; present,
in; relation to modifiers, 136.
Parts of speech, 98-128; flexibility
of, 99.
Passive voice, 109, 138.
Period, 38, 39.
Person of verbs, 108, 118.
Personification, capitals in, 61.
Phrase, conjunctive, 87; kinds and
uses, 126; modifying, 136; noun,
adjective, adverbial, 128.
" Pilgrim's Progress, The," Bun-
yan, 153.
240
INDEX
Plan, of the paragraph, 28; of the
short composition, 32, 33; of
longer compositions, 171, 196,
207, 20S.
Plot of a story, 187.
Plural, formation of, 57; of com-
pound words, 101 ; of foreign
nouns, 101; of figures and let-
ins, 51; of groups of nouns,
103; of exceptional nouns, 100;
of proper names, 101 ; posses-
sive, 103.
Point of view, 168, 171, 19.5.
Possessive case, 103; with gerund,
1 12.
Predicate. See Subject.
Predicate adjective, 128.
Predicate nominative, 102.
Prepositions, 99, 123-124.
Principal parts, 108.
Pronoun, ambiguity, 106; anteced-
ent, 105, 136; case, 102, 107,
112; demonstrative, as a link, 87,
88; emphatic, reflexive, 107;
modified by participle, 136; pre-
ceding gerunds, 112; possessive,
endings of, 107; relative, 107; in
-self, 107.
Punctuation, 36-52 ; in letter writ-
ing, 68, 70, 72.
" Quite So," T. B. Aldrich, 185.
Quotation, direct, 42, 51.
Quotation marks,5 1 ; of paragraphs,
51; within a quotation, 51; of
titles of books or papers, 51.
Reading, aloud, 3, 4; as introduc-
tion to life, 142; of reputable
writers, 147; of verse, 231-236.
Reflexive pronoun, 107.
Relative pronoun, 107.
Resources, Our Most Precious,
burroughs, 92.
Rests in reading verse, 23 \.
Rhythm, 235.
"Rikki-Tikki," Kipling, 139.
" Rob Roy," Scott, 194.
Ri skin, Sunset Colors, 143.
Scott, "Rob Roy," 194; "Ivan-
hoe," 88
Secretary's report, 17.
Semicolon, 41, 42, 44, 45.
Sentence, the, 36; coherence in,
135; complex, 37, 128, 131, 135;
compound, 36, 45, 128, 131, 135;
construction uniform in, 133; cor-
rect, 98-130; three forms of, 36;
life in, 138; long or short, 134;
short preferred, 39; simple, 36,
I 3 I ) l 3S> smoothness in, 141;
unity in, 131, 135.
Shall and will, 113-117; condi-
tional clauses, 116; indirect dis-
course, 1 16.
Should, 115, 1 16.
Similes, 158.
Spelling, rules for, 56-57.
"Spring Running, The," Kipling,
200.
Stevenson, Robert Louis,
"Treasure Island," 200; "Vai-
lima Letters," 78, 165.
Story, the short, 187, 188.
Style, 3, 7.
Subject and predicate, 23, 24, 36,
27; agreement with verb, 118;
and modifiers, 128; of an infini-
tive, 103.
INDEX
241
Subjects, based on experience, S. 24 ;
the choice of, 8, 96 (Note), 167;
distinguished from titles, 20;
divisions of, 21, 140; limited,
12-16, 140, 193, 207; treatment
of any, 140.
Subjunctive mood, 109, no.
Subordinate conjunctions and
clauses, 125.
Sunset Colors, Ruskin, 143.
Syllabication, 21, 52; in spelling,
56-58.
Tennyson, "Enoch Arden," 197.
Tense, 112, 113, 1 19, 120.
Thackeray and the Oyster, J. T.
Fields, 180.
Theme, 44 (footnote 1).
Title, 19; capitals in. 61.
Toast, Franklin's Famous, 17S.
Topic sentence, 34; in exposition,
207.
Topics, 27; choice of, 17;; in de-
veloping a subject. 140; in sepa-
rate paragraphs. 27, 140; order
for emphasis, 170, 175; separated
by space and time, 32.
Transition, 168.
" Treasure Island," Stevenson, 200.
Unity, in the composition, 167, 188,
193, 207; in letters, 65; in tin:
paragraph, 27, 34, 87 ; in the sen-
tence, 131, 135.
"Vailima Letter-." Stevenson, 78,
165.
Verbal nouns, 100.
Verbs, 98, 107-121; auxiliary, 113;
strong, 120; transitive and intran-
sitive, 108.
Verse, the musical reading of,
231-236; kinds, 235; rests, 234;
scan-ion, 235; variations in
meter, 233.
Vocabulary, 142; growing, 151;
large and exact, 14S; ready, 142.
Voice, 108, 109, 138.
Volition, 1 14-116.
*• Voyage, The," Irving, 28.
Warner, C. D., How I killed a
Bear, 183; Floating, 215.
Webster, "Defense of the Ken-
nistons," 224.
Will and shall, 113-117.
Words, exact meanings of, 143,
148; figurative, 158-163; forcible,
152-156; helps in choosing, 147;
in good use, 144; lists of words
to be used with care: coordinate
conjunctions, 125; miscellaneous
group, 150-151; nouns. 149-150;
prepositions, 124; verbs, 150;
new, 148; simple, 152; specific,
155-
Would, 1 15-117.
Writing, an aid to accurate expres-
sion of thought, 2; a matter of
habit, 6; three directions for, 2.
Young Protector, A, pupil's theme,
29.
" Zoroaster," F. Marion Crawford,
1 I7> 199-
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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