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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3777d2a --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #62265 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62265) diff --git a/old/62265-0.txt b/old/62265-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 443d23d..0000000 --- a/old/62265-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10288 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's A First Book in Writing English, by Edwin Herbert Lewis - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A First Book in Writing English - -Author: Edwin Herbert Lewis - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62265] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - -A FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH - - - - -[Illustration: The MM Co.] - - - - - A FIRST BOOK - IN - WRITING ENGLISH - - BY - EDWIN HERBERT LEWIS, PH.D. - ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN LEWIS INSTITUTE - AND IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - - New York - THE MACMILLAN COMPANY - LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD. - 1897 - - _All rights reserved_ - - COPYRIGHT, 1897, - BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. - - Norwood Press - J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith - Norwood Mass. U.S.A. - - - - -PREFACE - - -It sometimes happens that the study of the principles of composition is -left until the overcrowded last year of the high school, under the plea -that facts ought to precede generalizations. Is it not better to have -the pupil begin two or three years earlier than this to frame simple -generalizations for his own future guidance? The first year student daily -awakes to new experiences and problems. He demands rules and reasons: -“_How_ shall he choose theme topics? _How much_ shall he put into a -sentence? _Why_ is _electrocution_ in bad usage?” If the principle is -asked for, should it not be given—as much of it as can be digested? When -such a course is followed, time enough is left in the high school for -composition to become a habit. The complex process wherein invention, as -it proceeds, is rectified by criticism, involves many delicate reflexes. -The formulated principle, invaluable to the student in revising, in turn -grows to be an unconscious factor in every succeeding act of composition. - -The more essential rules ought not to be mere phantoms to the boy just -completing his first year in the secondary school. In regard to other -matters of living, great principles are taught him from infancy, without -the slightest fear of setting up too analytic a state of mind. If a boy -of three may be told “always to do one thing at a time,” must a boy -be eighteen before he is told “always to write about one thing at a -time”? At three the child is required to control some of his strongest -emotions; must he be eighteen before he is asked to check digressions in -the paragraph? And is it possible to implant a genuine habit of checking -digressions except by leading the student from particular instances -to some generalization which he may keep in mind as a norm for future -self-criticism? Synthesis and analysis cannot safely be separated; -a good prescription for most rhetorical disorders is, more of both. -Indeed, what seems to be needed to-day in teaching composition is not -one thing, but several: on the one hand, more utilization of literature -and more appeal to social interests; on the other hand, more inductions -and generalizations by the student himself; on both hands, more time for -practice and self-criticism. - -In the present book, originally printed privately for my own classes -and now rewritten and enlarged, I have tried to present a large number -of definite situations to be faced for constructive practice both in -organization and in diction; and to give in simple, even colloquial -language, all the larger generalizations which a boy presenting himself -at college might reasonably be expected to have been using for two or -three years as touchstones of his own work. Except in the chapters on -punctuation and grammar, the order of reaching generalizations is meant -to be essentially inductive. In these review-chapters a part of the -principles come before the illustrations in order to get the help of -all past associations. Even here the induction is often gone through -with a second time, leading up to a restatement of the principle. It is -recommended that students should often be asked to frame generalizations -of their own, though the text-book may have led up to similar ones. -In Chapters VII. and X., on words, I have tried to present conditions -favorable to the framing of definitions by the student. By various -devices I have constantly tried to avoid separation between exercise -critical and exercise constructive. Occasionally, after the correct -form has been studied, bad English is offered for correction, for the -sake of the appeal to the student’s personal pride and his sense of the -ridiculous; but in general it is assumed that the student’s correction of -his own bad English will afford plenty of contact with faulty forms. - -The book is primarily intended to be used in close connection with the -literary studies of the first two years of the secondary course. It may -be used later if the arrangement of subjects allows little time for -literature in these earlier years. The order of presentation should,[1] -in the author’s opinion, follow that of the book. Still, Chapter VIII., -on correct choice of words, may be taken at the start if the teacher -prefers. Where a good deal of literary study is carried on in the first -year, the first eight chapters are perhaps enough for this year. But a -rate of progress cannot be prescribed. A text-book is a mere help, and -bad in proportion as it tries to be anything more. Its function seems -to be to supply the supplementary appeal to the eye, since the living -teacher can engage to do this but to a limited extent. It appears obvious -that the book should be read slowly enough to permit two things—much -parallel literary study, and much revision of themes in the light of -preceding chapters. First drafts are sometimes all that are worth -making; but usually a task requiring connected discourse is not finished -until there have been several revisions. If the student writes each new -composition with a view to one particular kind of excellence, and then -revises with reference to the kinds of excellence he has previously -striven for, he will gradually be able to hold several stylistic -principles in mind as he composes. Many themes should be written in -class. A limited period should be set for the first draft; and half as -much time may well be spent in revising before this is handed in. In this -revision the student may profitably read his theme as many times as there -are chapters to be mentally reviewed. - -The remarkable strength of the verbal memory in students of the first two -years of the secondary school is a fact by which every teacher must have -been impressed.[2] Add to this fact the other, that the pupil’s social -interests are now in a perfect renaissance of liveliness, and you have -exactly the conditions for enlarging the working vocabulary. It is now -or never. The boy, though like the man he hates a fine distinction in -conversation, is growing out of the exaggerated reticence which has of -late seemed to him the manly thing. He is no longer determined to employ -what Mrs. Meynell, speaking of the boy of twelve, calls his “carefully -shortened vocabulary.”[3] The girl, even more than the boy, is full of -new ideas which would flower into speech if the words were to be had. -To capture these new interests and satisfy them by literature is of -course the best thing. Study of isolated words, whether for knowledge or -for power, is but supplementary to the study of the vital functions of -words in the living organism. But even the study of synonyms, if pursued -in preparation for an oral debate,—one of the very best exercises -for first-year students,—or in connection with a page of spirited -prose, rapidly becomes constructive and vital. Although the chapters -on vocabulary (IX. and X.) may be given before the student has begun a -foreign language, the best results with them will not be secured until -he has had at least six months in Latin. The study of prefixes and -suffixes (p. 186 ff.) should not be made burdensome. Some general view -of the subject seems desirable, but the detailed study is best given in -connection with an interesting context. - -For kindly criticism or advice I have debts of gratitude to Professor and -Mrs. W. D. McClintock; to Professor F. A. March, Professor John Dewey, -and Professor Robert Herrick; to several of my colleagues, especially -Director George M. Carman, Miss Jane Noble, and Mr. Phil B. Kohlsaat; -to Mr. F. A. Manny, to Mrs. Hufford and Miss Dye, of Indianapolis; to -Superintendent A. F. Nightingale, Miss Jones, and Miss Herrick, of the -Chicago high schools. I have been particularly indebted to Carpenter’s -_Advanced Exercises_, a book made familiar to me by using it with -freshmen in college; and to Scott & Denney’s _Paragraph-Writing_. For -the index I have to thank Miss L. E. W. Benedict, librarian of Lewis -Institute, and Mr. Lewis Gustafson. - - E. H. L. - -CHICAGO, April 15, 1897. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PREFACE v - - INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS 1 - - I. THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH 5 - - II. ON READING ALOUD, AND ON SPELLING 12 - - III. A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION 21 - - IV. GRAMMATICAL PHASES OF WRITING ENGLISH 43 - - V. ON DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH INTO SENTENCES 74 - - VI. ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES 96 - - VII. ON ORGANIZING THE THEME 114 - - VIII. ON CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS 147 - - IX. SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY 181 - - X. THE MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY 194 - - XI. RIGHT NUMBER AND SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS 227 - - XII. LETTER-WRITING 255 - - XIII. REPRODUCTION, ABSTRACT, SUMMARY, ABRIDGMENT 262 - - XIV. NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION 271 - - XV. EXPOSITION AND ARGUMENT 279 - - INDEX 283 - - - - -INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS - - -Our plan provides for a good many short compositions. These, as well -as all other exercises, should be written on uniform theme-paper,[4] -say eight inches by ten, with a broad margin at both sides. There are -advantages in the double margin. First, it is easier for the reader of -the theme to jot down his suggestions at the right, since he need not -turn the paper to do so. Secondly, it is well for the student to learn -the knack of keeping _a straight edge_ at the left hand. Only one side of -the paper should be written on. If a mistake is made, a heavy line may -be drawn through the word. The manuscript ought to present the neatest -possible appearance. Blank spaces are to be avoided at the end of lines, -except where a paragraph ends. The straight edge, referred to above, -is to be scrupulously preserved at the left of the page, except that -when a new paragraph (that is, division of the theme) is to begin, the -first line of it should start about two inches farther to the right than -the other lines. The pages should be carefully numbered in the upper -right-hand corner, and kept in their proper order. Nothing is more -disconcerting to any person who reads a manuscript than to open the paper -and find before him the last page, rather than the first. Every theme -should have a definite title. This should appear in the blank space at -the top of the first page and in the endorsement of the folded paper, on -the back of the last page. The theme should be folded once, lengthwise. -In the blank space at the top should be written the endorsement, which -should follow this model: (1) name; (2) name of course; (3) title; (4) -date. - - Richard Doe. - - First year English. - - A Dialogue on Politics. - - Oct. 1, 189-. - -After the themes have been read, whether by the instructor alone or -by the class and the instructor, they will be returned with marginal -comments, and (just under the endorsement) a summary of these comments. -In many cases the student will be expected to rewrite, and the word -_Rewrite_ will appear with the general comment. Otherwise he will be -expected to _Revise_, that is, to interline corrections and improvements -on the manuscript without copying it. - -Each student’s papers will be filed and kept. He will often be asked to -consult with the instructor concerning his own progress, as shown by his -bundle of themes. - -The following suggestive signs[5] may be used in the margin of themes, -indicating the presence of errors, the actual errors to be discovered -by the pupil for himself. Some teachers will prefer a simpler system of -symbols, some a more elaborate system. The suggested list can easily be -modified or supplanted. - - MS. Bad manuscript. - - ✓. Some obvious fault—a mark which will be used more and more - frequently as the student’s knowledge increases. The - check-mark will frequently indicate bad spelling or - punctuation, or fault in capitalizing. - - SP. Bad spelling (see under check-mark). - - HY. Fault in use of hyphen. - - P. Fault in punctuation (see also under check-mark). - - CAP. Fault in the use of a capital letter (see check-mark). - - L. Too loose; structure rambling. - - S. Solecism. - - C. Structure incoherent. - - E. Lack of emphasis in sentence. - - U. Lack of unity in sentence. - - TR. Transpose order of words. - - V. Vague. - - A. Ambiguous. - - ¶U. Lack of unity in paragraph. - - ¶. Proper place for a paragraph. - - (. Run two paragraphs together. - - []. Passages within brackets to be omitted. - - [Deleatur symbol]. Dele, take out, omit; a mark used in correcting - printer’s proof. - - |. Against a passage requiring to be wholly recast. - - RI. Unnecessary repetition of idea. - - ?. Questions truth of statement. - - B. Barbarism. - - I. Impropriety. - - W. Wordy. - - H. High-flown, inflated, or over-ambitious. - - D. Consult the dictionary. - - HACK. Hackneyed. - - BW. Better word needed—a more exact or appropriate word. - - RW. Unnecessary repetition of a word. - - M. Metaphors mixed, or other fault in the use of figures of speech. - - K. Awkward, ugly, or unpleasing. - - BT. Bad taste. - -A strong notebook of portable size is needed for the work in spelling and -vocabulary. It should be used from the first for noting new words, etc. -See page 199. - - - - -A FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH - - -=An Art of Communication.=—Language may be studied in various ways. -It may be scientifically investigated as a historical growth, or as -a curious revelation of how the human mind works. This kind of study -has pure knowledge for its object; if it learns the laws which govern -language, it is satisfied. Again, language may be studied with a view to -applying its principles to the art of self-expression. The attempt to -find words for one’s ideas has enlivened many a weary hour for many a -person who wrote merely for his own satisfaction. But the chief object -for which language should be studied is that it may be made a means of -communication. - -Most that is good in life comes from men’s ability to make their fellows -share their thoughts and feelings. But it is not always an easy thing -to make others see how we feel or think. The young child is called an -_infant_, a word which means _not-speaking_. Half his miseries arise from -his inability to communicate his notions. “Men are but children of a -larger growth,” and much of their misery results from inability to tell -what they think or feel. In a sense the case is worse for the man than -for the child. The latter makes gestures and grimaces to help his meaning -out; and he depends not in vain on pitch and stress. The grown man is -partly shorn of these helps, in that he has to communicate by letters and -other compositions. How much more work the eye does to-day than the ear! -Before the age of printing, things were different. - -Both in speaking and in writing there are many special laws that must -be observed if there is to be real communication. The special laws of -spoken language are not so numerous as those of written language. Written -language has to be much more careful than spoken; the writer has no -chance of correcting himself on the spot if not understood. Nevertheless -a knowledge of how to communicate by written words is a very great help -in communicating orally. - -The art of communicating by means of written English words is called -English composition, or rhetoric. The latter word once meant the art of -speaking; and it still keeps this sense when a composition is written -to be delivered. Rhetoric is a useful art, like that of curing the -sick, or that of building bridges. A matter of prime importance to each -man is that, in business or in society, he should be able to say or -write exactly what he means; rhetoric helps him to do this. A business -man may lose money by failing to make himself clearly understood; -misunderstandings and quarrels arise between friends because some one -has failed to write just what he meant; a man is liable to be taken for -a boor if he abuses the English language. Rhetoric is an exceedingly -practical art. - -It would not, however, be fair to remove all emphasis from the fact -that rhetoric is a fine art, an art of beauty. As soon as the student -begins to master the use of words, he has a chance to become an artist in -language. In producing a beautiful thing he feels the artist’s pleasure. -Most persons like to play some musical instrument, or experiment in -color, or use a camera. Why should they not come to enjoy the art of -setting down their ideas in words skilfully chosen, and arranged with -delicate precision? The old Greeks enjoyed it—those people who knew how -to extract so much high pleasure from life. Along with their musical -contests and athletic contests, they had trials of skill in poetry and in -public speech. - -There is no more delightful art than that of writing, if the writer -finds words for his own fresh impressions. In order to learn the -mandolin, a new player will train his wrist till it aches. But thrumming -music is doubtless small pleasure compared with writing music; and -writing English is in a way like writing music,—a fine, high, creative -process, which, in the hands of a master, results in a permanent, not a -fleeting, product. - -A teacher of English recently said that, in a certain sense, if a student -likes any study at all he can be brought to like composition also.[6] -She was right. If he cares for mathematics, and the beautiful precision -by which everything in mathematics falls exactly into its place, he will -enjoy showing the exact relations he conceives to exist between the -parts of his sentence. If a girl likes music she will care for the music -that is in prose. She will perceive that a good sentence is free from -ugly sounds, and has furthermore a music of rhythm, a finely modulated -rise and fall that a keen ear readily perceives. A lad declares himself -interested in inventing or in building machinery. If so, why should he -not enjoy building a theme? To think out a new mechanical device requires -much the same kind of ingenuity, sense of proportion, perception of cause -and effect, that are required in thinking out the logical framework of a -composition. - -The student should work steadily toward the point where he may come to -have an abiding love for that which is lucid and beautiful in expression -by words. He will never regret the time he spends in perfecting his -instrument of expression. No matter how practical the life he plans to -lead, the power of writing down his ideas in good English, in a way that -will leave no doubt as to what he meant and how earnestly he meant it, -will always profit him. One meets everywhere men who lament that they -gave so little attention to our language when they were young enough to -master it. - - -=The Limitations of the Art.=—It must never be supposed that, because to -some extent a fine art, rhetoric should be studied as an end in itself. -What was said a moment ago about the primary aim of the study must be -kept steadily in view. We study the art of composition not for the art’s -sake, but to communicate our ideas and feelings. Rhetoric does not -profess to supply the student with ideas, though it assumes that his mind -is stimulated to new thought by trying to express that which he already -has. The more ideas he brings to the study,—ideas he has thought out in -life or in his other studies, like literature, history, civics,—the more -facility he will carry away; for ideas are the very best of material -to make themes of. If composition does only one thing for a given -person,—if, namely, it brings him to a sturdy habit of _finding something -to say_ before he asks other people to listen to him,—it is eminently -worth while. - - -=Write for an Audience.=—Writing is usually good in proportion as the -writer is interested in it. If he cares for it, if he is anxious to find -a worthy thought and make it clear to the eyes of others, he will be very -likely to succeed in doing so. Something of every student’s weekly work -ought to be good enough to come before the eyes of his friends and to -command his friends’ respect. The student will find that his mates are -keen critics; they will not respect poor work. But they are also fair and -sympathetic critics, ready and willing to surrender on sight to really -good work. A class as a whole will judge the compositions of each member -disinterestedly and appreciatively. - -Whatever is most characteristic of you, as different from other people; -whatever gift is yours, of imagination, or reasoning power, or emotion, -or humor,—all will find its fit expression in your writing. Every human -being is particularly interested in something, is peculiarly apt at -something. To find out what most appeals to one’s self in literature or -in life, and to voice one’s ideas about it, is to know a keen pleasure. -It is more. It is to be of some use to one’s fellows. As human beings we -want other human beings to tell us the best that is in them. If a man -has ideas we wish to share them—and wish him to learn how to express -them that we may share them. If he hasn’t ideas, the effort to express -what he considers such will convince both him and us of the fact. But -then!—everybody has ideas. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -ON READING ALOUD, AND ON SPELLING - - -=Reading Aloud.=—One of the quickest ways of learning to know good -English, is oral reading. For him who would write the language it is -therefore a great economy to learn to read it. It is an invaluable habit -to read aloud every day some piece of prose with the finest feeling the -reader can lend to it. In no other way can one so easily learn to notice -and to remember new words. In no other way can one catch the infinitely -varied rhythm of prose, and acquire a sense of how a good sentence rises -gradually from the beginning and then descends in a cadence. This rise -and fall of the sentence is not merely a matter of voice; it is a matter -of thought as well. Similarly, the law of unity in the sentence, a law -which prescribes what shall constitute a complete thought, is curiously -bound up with the laws of the human voice. A clause that is too long to -be pronounced in a single breath is usually clumsy in logic. In the next -place, reading aloud helps one to spell correctly. Furthermore, it is the -best means of detecting those useless repetitions which betray poverty of -vocabulary. - -Rousseau called accent the soul of language. If the student reads -aloud from writers whose work was natural, unforced, original, he will -gradually come to see his own ideas more clearly, feel his own feelings -more keenly. Best of all, however, let him read his own work aloud, -habitually. This will help him to see whether or not it is correct, -natural, effective. - - -=Spelling.=[7]—Bad spelling should practically be a thing of the past -for each student by the end of his first high school year. Every one can -learn to spell, though some more rapidly than others. - -Perhaps the chief reason why persons fail to spell correctly is that they -do not read correctly. They have not trained their eyes to see what is -on the page; they do not notice the syllables. It is a good practice to -read every day a page or two very slowly, examining the words letter by -letter. It is equally helpful to read the page aloud after examining it. -In so doing give every vowel its true value; cut no syllable short that -should be sounded distinctly. - -After writing a theme, go through it, challenging the spelling. Do not -hand in your work without having consulted your own dictionary. A bad -speller may not be able to win in an oral spelling-match; but there is no -reason why every page of his writing should not be perfect in orthography. - -Into a little blank-book copy the correct form of every word you -misspell. Each day read over carefully several words by syllables, and -then write them from memory. The more frequently the hand writes the word -in its correct form, the better; for the hand has a memory of its own, -and the mere act of writing a given form tends to fix it in memory. - -Make good spelling a matter of pride. Habitual bad spelling is a slovenly -thing, a mark of illiteracy. - - -=Spelling of Compound Words.=—It may be well to call attention here to -the use of the hyphen in compound words. - -1. The hyphen is needed in a compound adjective, if there is any doubt -as to the meaning when the hyphen is omitted. “Red-hot iron” may be a -different idea from “red hot iron.” - -2. Numbers like the following take the hyphen: seventy-three, -seventy-third. - -3. Many a word once compounded is now written solid, that is, as a -single word: railroad, steamboat, anybody, anything, raindrop, forever, -schoolboy, schoolhouse, schoolmate, schoolfellow (but school days, -school teacher, school district); myself, yourself (but one’s self); -childlike, lifelike. All these words but two, it will be seen, have a -monosyllable for the first part. When in doubt as to whether or not a -hyphen is needed, consult some special manual like Bigelow’s _Handbook of -Punctuation_. - -In all your writing, join distinctly syllables that you wish to have -go together. Notice the absurd and misleading effect of such careless -writing as this: “He was a glass maker and worked down at the glass -house; his gal lant moust ache and his loud voice trai ned by blow ing -glass mad e him wel come at the harvest home celebrations.” - - -=Possessives.=—The possessive singular of a monosyllable ending in _s_ -is regularly made by adding _’s_, pronounced as an extra syllable. Thus: -Jones’s; Briggs’s. For the polysyllable ending in _s_ or the sound of -_s_, merely the apostrophe is usually required, as in the plural. Thus: -“Moses’ seat”; “conscience’ sake.” - - -=Singulars and Plurals.=—Spell aloud by syllables, and write from -dictation the plurals of the following: Analysis, animalcule, antithesis, -appendix, bandit, cherub, crisis, ellipsis, focus, fungus, genus, -hypothesis, madame, memorandum, monsieur, mother-in-law, mussulman, -nebula, oasis, parenthesis, radius, spoonful, synopsis. - -What are the singulars—if singulars there are—of data, errata, magi, -strata, vertebræ? - - -=Written Exercise.=—Below are given the correct form of certain words -often misspelled by pupils in the first and second years of a secondary -school. Without previous study write each word from dictation. Afterwards -spell aloud by syllables each word that you misspelled in writing from -dictation. Then write at least twenty times the correct form. The object -is to acquire a kind of automatic correctness. In composing, one should -have his mind free for thought; one should not have to think much more -about spelling than about breathing. - -Accompany; advisability; all right; anniversary; appearance; associated; -bargained; buried; carriage; catarrh; cemetery; characteristic; -commander; commotion; conceive; condescension; confidants; confidence; -deceive; describe; descriptions; despair; difficulty; dilapidate; -disappointed; disappeared; ecstasy; enemies; enemy; exaggerate; -excrescence; existence; fascination; fatiguing; finally; further; -grammar; handkerchief; hating; hemorrhage; immature; indispensable; -irresistible; lightning; literary; living; loathsome; lose (the money); -manœuvre; melancholy; minister; ministry; misshapen; necessary; niece; -occurrence; offered; opportunity; outrageous; parallel; paralysis; -peaceable; persuade; planned; poniard; primitive; principal (objection); -principle (of action); privilege; promenading; pursuit; received; -recommend; redoubtable; referred; representatives; rhythm; sacrilegious; -secretary; seize; seized; separate; shoeing; siege; simile; stopped; -striking; studied; superintendent; supposing; tenants; theatre; their -(money); transferred; until; veil (on face); vengeance; very; village; -wasn’t; whether; Roger de Coverley; George Eliot; Lord Macaulay; -Michigan; Thackeray. - - -=Word-Breaking.=—At the end of a line do not divide (_a_) a monosyllable, -(_b_) a short disyllable, such as _real_, _doing_. Divide polysyllables -according to their etymological composition (to be found in the -dictionary). Some authors discountenance beginning a second line with -_-ic_, _-al_, _-ing_, _-ly_. These breakings are perhaps permissible, _if -the hyphen is made very distinct_. - - -=Written and Oral Exercise.=—The instructor should ask each pupil in -turn to recall, spell, and pronounce some word that doubles the letter -_c_. The class should then be given a few minutes to write from memory -as many of those given as they can recall. After this the pronouncing -and spelling should proceed as long as possible, alternately with the -writing. The lists should then be compared, and the pupil who has -reproduced the largest number of words should be asked to spell and -pronounce each one on his list. The other pupils should then be called -upon to read from their own lists words that the first fails to give. -Each should then be asked to add to his paper all words remembered by -other members of the class, but not by him.[8] - - -=Pronunciation.=—A person who regards good usage in pronunciation and -who articulates with unaffected nicety, is received at once as an -educated man. It is interesting to see how often Lord Chesterfield, the -best-mannered of Englishmen, insists that a gentleman is known by his -accent. Chesterfield’s letters to his son are full of this idea. A sense -of ease and security blesses him who knows how to sound every word that -occurs to him as he talks; it is such a sense as a man feels when he -is sure that his clothes fit him and are cut according to the accepted -conventions. It is accordingly worth all the trouble involved, to form a -habit of letting no word pass unchallenged as to its orthoëpy. Look it up -in the dictionary, or in a good manual like Phyfe’s _Seven Thousand Words -often Mispronounced_. - - -=Exercise.=—Below is given a short list of words frequently -mispronounced. The instructor should pronounce the words, and ask the -class to pronounce them. - - Abdomen, - abject, - absinthe, - abstruse, - acacia, - accessory, - acclimate, - acoustics, - actor, - adagio, - adult, - advertisement, - aëronaut, - again, - aged, - aggrandize, - aide-de-camp, - allopathy, - ally, - alma mater, - alternate (noun and adjective), - amenable, - apricot, - arbutus, - aroma, - aspirant, - bade, - bellows, - biography, - bitumen, - boatswain, - bravado, - bronchitis, - canine, - cant, - can’t, - cement (noun), - cemetery, - cerebrum, - clematis, - coadjutor, - daunt, - decade, - devil, - diphtheria, - disdain, - dislike, - drama, - duke, - dynasty, - enervate, - evil, - exhale, - exhaust, - extant, - extempore, - finale, - finance, - financier, - garrulous, - gaunt, - genuine, - gibber, - gibbet, - glacier, - gratis, - grimace, - half, - hegira, - heinous, - impious, - jugular, - lamentable, - learned (adj.), - legend, - lever, - literature, - nape, - nomad, - opponent, - pageant, - patriot, - patron, - petal, - precedence, - precedent, - quay, - revolt, - rise (noun), - sacrifice, - squalor, - subtile, - subtle, - vagary, - water, - wrath, - zoölogy.[9] - - Abélard, - Abernethy, - About (Edmond), - Abydos, - Acheron, - Achitophel, - Adonis, - Ægean, - Æolus, - Æschylus, - Afghanistan, - Agincourt, - Agnes, - Aguilar (Grace), - Aïda, - Aix-la-Chapelle, - Alaric, - Alcantara, - Alcuin, - Aldebaran, - Alighieri, - Amphion, - Andronicus, - Antinous, - Aquinas, - Arab, - Aral, - Arundel, - Athos, - Avon, - Aytoun, - Bajazet, - Balliol (college), - Balmoral, - Czerny, - Latin, - Laocoön, - Medici, - Mivart, (St. George), - Orion, - Paderewski, - Pepys, - Proserpine, - Sienkiewicz, - Southey, - Thalia, - Tschaikowsky, - Volapük, - Wagner, - Ygdrasil. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION - - -Punctuation is a system of disjunctive marks by which the eye and ear are -helped to understand the sense of what is written. It is desirable to -regard the subject as governed to a great extent by a few principles of -common sense. The present chapter reviews those matters of capitalization -and punctuation which seem to give most trouble to secondary school -students. - - -=Capitals.= - -1. Of course all proper nouns should begin with capital letters, and -so should adjectives derived from them: examples, _Russia_, _Russian_, -_Jew_, _Jewish_, _Gentile_, _French_, _German_. But the word _christian_ -is not always capitalized, especially if it is used vaguely as a synonym -for good, righteous, etc. - -2. We capitalize the words _North_, _South_, _East_, _West_, when, -because we mean parts of the country, we use the article _the_ before -them. Thus, “The extreme West favors free silver.” But if we speak -of direction merely, we do not capitalize: “Many people took Horace -Greeley’s advice and went west.” Capitalize sections of the country, but -not points of the compass. - -3. Names of the seasons are not capitalized. Thus, though we write -_June_, _September_, we also write _spring_, _autumn_. - -4. In the salutation of a letter, the word _Sir_ is capitalized, but not -the preceding adjective unless that begins the salutation. Thus: “My dear -Sir.” So in the leave-taking only the first word receives a capital. -Thus: “Yours very truly.” - -5. One valuable device is the use of the capital to introduce the -semblance of a quotation, or what might be called a rhetorical quotation. -Note: “I should answer, No.” Here the quotation _No_ is merely -rhetorical, or pretended, not real. Or this: “Let me give you a short -rule for success: Trust in God and keep your powder dry.” Or this, from -Longfellow: “Perhaps the greatest lesson which the lives of literary men -teach us is told in a single word: Wait!” - -6. In titles of books, essays, etc., the important words are capitalized. -Thus: “My theme-title to-day was, A Description of a Person.” - -7. Names of Deity begin with a capital, and many persons prefer to -capitalize adjectives referring directly to Deity. Thus: “We crave Thy -grace.” But this habit should not be carried so far as the capitalization -of words like _divine_, _omniscient_, when these are not applied to -Deity. Rather: “His goodness was divine.” - - -=Written Exercise.=—Copy the following, capitalizing where necessary:— - -1. After going south last spring I understood better than before what is -meant by the new south. The southerners have taken to manufacturing; the -cotton is no longer all shipped away. Wealth has multiplied. Immigration -has increased—the french are not the only foreigners now. There are -colleges and even universities, that compare favorably with those of the -north. Are the people wide-awake and ambitious? I answer, yes. - - -=The Reasons for Punctuation.=—In early days manuscripts were written -“solid,” thus:— - - MANUSCRIPTSWEREWRITTENSOLID. - -It was found that both eye and ear demanded spaces and punctuation. The -reader’s train of thought goes straight ahead from word to word until the -punctuation mark warns it that there is danger of misunderstanding if it -does not pause. The mark shows that the words which precede it are to -be understood mentally as a group, and to be read orally as a group. If -the thought is kept in mind that a punctuation mark is a sort of danger -signal, many of the difficulties of the subject vanish. “Henry rose, and -I with him laughed at the story we had heard.” If that comma be omitted -between _rose_ and _and_, what happens? - - -=The Comma.= - -1. The comma, even more than other points, shows what the meaning of -the sentence is; it should set off the parts of the thought. Nothing is -easier than to spoil a minor unit of thought by breaking it in two with -a comma. So far as may be, the modified subject of a sentence should not -be cut into by a comma; neither should the modified predicate; nor should -a subject and its predicate be separated any oftener by commas than -is necessary. The following passage, written by a lad of fifteen from -dictation, shows the minor units of thought divided by too many commas:— - - The mean appearance of the houses, in old Boston, was, to - some extent, relieved by the rich display, of painted, and - sculptured signs, which adorned the front of taverns, and - stores.... They served sometimes, as advertisements of the - business, sometimes merely as designations, of the shops which - were indicated popularly, and, in the newspapers, by their - signs. - -If this passage be read aloud, a pause being made wherever a comma is -placed, it will sound unnatural, disconnected. Revised, it will read -somewhat as follows:— - - The mean appearance of the houses in old Boston was, to some - extent, relieved by the rich display of painted and sculptured - signs which adorned the front of taverns and stores.... They - served sometimes as advertisements of the business, sometimes - merely as designations of the shops, which were indicated - popularly and in the newspapers by their signs. - -2. Commas are used to set off matter that is parenthetical, but not -sufficiently so as to need parentheses or dashes. Such words as -_therefore_ are not usually to be considered as parenthetical. A -parenthetical group of words is not to be broken into unnecessarily by -a comma. Incorrect form: “The squire remarked, as all we who live here, -in Smithboro, know, that, so far as the people who lived over there, in -Edinburgh, are concerned, we are as happy as they.” Correct form: “The -squire remarked, as all we who live here in Smithboro’ know, that so far -as the people who live over there in Edinburgh are concerned, we are as -happy as they.” - -3. Vocative words, that is, words used in direct address, are set off by -commas. “Come, men, let’s go!” “Well, sir, how now?” It is curious that -in the expressions “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” in pronouncing which we do not -pause before “_sir_,” we still place a comma here. Probably no rule of -punctuation is more neglected than this of vocative words. Something like -this usage is the placing of a comma after the expletive _Now_. Thus: -“Now, I think that the case is a little different.” - -4. (_a_) Words or phrases forming a series are separated by commas when -conjunctions are omitted; and the comma is used between the last two -members of the series, conjunction or no conjunction. Thus: “Burns, -Barnes of Dorsetshire, and Riley are poets of the people.” If the last -comma were omitted, we should seem not to be considering each man -separately. Exceptions: “little old man,” “fine fat hen,” etc. - -(_b_) A rapid series of independent propositions, very closely related in -sense, may be punctuated by commas. Thus: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” -This is the only structure in which an independent statement, not -introduced by a conjunction, is ever pointed with the comma. If there -is any doubt whether or not the series is rapid enough to admit commas, -semicolons should be used instead. - -5. Relative clauses not restrictive[10] are set off by commas. This is a -rather important rule. If I say, “The moon, which, as everybody is aware, -goes round the earth, is cold,” the _which_ clause does not so restrict -or define the word “moon” that it is necessary to our understanding what -is meant by “the moon”; the relative clause can be picked out bodily, -and the sentence will still be intelligible. “The moon is cold,” is -clear enough to people who live on the earth. They understand that the -earth’s moon is meant. But suppose I say, “The moon which goes round the -earth is smaller than one of Jupiter’s moons”; now the relative clause -identifies, restricts the word “moon”—tells what moon is meant. The -clause forms an integral part of the subject. It is no longer the moon -merely, a thing that everybody knows about; it is one particular moon: -the-moon-which-goes-round-the-earth. Occasionally such a clause can be -identified by _that_, for many writers save this relative for restrictive -clauses. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Copy and punctuate the following sentences, all of -which, except the first, are from Robert Louis Stevenson. Defend orally -your pointing:— - -1. There goes President Harper who is so much interested in everything -that interests students. - -2. Marquis I said if you take another step I fire upon you. - -3. In the midst of these imagine that natural clumsy unintelligent and -mirthful animal John. - -4. The terms and spirit in which he spoke of his political beliefs were -in our eyes suited to religious beliefs and _vice versâ_. - -5. Oh yes I dare say said John. - -6. Moy pronounced Moÿ was a pleasant little village. - -7. We were in a large bare apartment adorned with two allegorical prints -of music and painting and a copy of the law against public drunkenness - -8. Now what I like so much in France is the clear unflinching recognition -by everybody of his own luck - -9. If it ever be a good thing to take such despondency to heart the -Miserere is the right music and a cathedral a fit scene - -10. But the sun was already down the air was chill and we had scarcely a -dry stitch between the pair of us - -11. The inn to which we had been recommended at Quartes was full. - -12. Mme. Gilliard set herself to waken the boy who had come far that day -and was peevish and dazzled by the light. - -13. Do you remember the Frenchman who was put down at Waterloo Station - -14. The children who played together to-day by the Sambre and Oise canal -each at his own father’s threshold when and where might they next meet - -15. I began with a remark upon their dog which had somewhat the look of a -pointer - -16. The only buildings that had any interest for us were the hotel and -the café - -17. Not long after the drums had passed the café [we] began to grow -sleepy and set out for the hotel which was only a door or two away - - -=The Semicolon.= - -1. The semicolon is a kind of weak full-stop, _i.e._ period. Nearly -always it separates clauses that are grammatically able to get along -without each other, but that are closely related in sense. So rare indeed -are the cases in which the semicolon may be used with a dependent clause, -that a high school student may properly ignore them. _For the present, -avoid using the semicolon to point a dependent clause._ - -2. Sometimes the semicolon punctuates a series of mere phrases. This -occurs if some particular emphasis is desired for them, or if they are -too long to be set off by commas. Example:— - -An enormous smoke-stack blocks my view; built of brick, and massive; blue -in the cold winter mist; glowing like a pillar of fire as soon as the -sunlight reaches it; the most changing, the most stable, thing is this -landscape. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Which statements in the following sentences are -independent? which dependent? (It need hardly be suggested that the -necessity of understanding a subject or a predicate does not make a -statement dependent.) - -1. If the sky falls, we shall catch larks. - -2. Faults are thick, where love is thin. - -3. Happy is he that is happy in his children. - -4. Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the mathematics, subtile; -natural philosophy, deep; morals, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to -contend. - -5. O, there be players that I have seen play,—and heard others praise, -and that highly—not to speak it profanely, that neither having the -accent of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so -strutted and bellowed, that I have thought some of nature’s journeymen -had made men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity so -abominably.—_Hamlet_, Act III. Sc. 2. - -The following sentences were written by a pupil in the first year of the -high school. If there are mistakes in punctuation, explain what principle -is violated:— - -1. When the time came to retire; my uncle was shown to the tower-room. - -2. A short time afterward when he was travelling through Normandy; he -came to an old castle standing in the midst of a park. - -3. The postilion was ordered to drive to the castle; where my uncle -received a welcome from the little Marquis. - -4. This seemed the very night for ghosts; with the wind howling outside -and whistling through the ill-fitting casement. - - -=The Colon.= - -1. The colon is usually a mark of specification. Thus, “The old idea of -education was simple: reading, writing, arithmetic.” A fine distinction -of logic can be shown by using it: a general statement may be followed -by a colon, after which the details that explain the statement may be -given. In the following sentence the colon _specifies_ what is meant by -fine character. “He was a fellow of fine character: brave, honorable, -free from false pretense.” Usually the colon separates clauses that are -logically, if not grammatically, in _apposition_ with each other. - -2. The colon introduces a formal or long, the comma an informal or -short, quotation. “He answered, ‘I will work while the day lasts.’” “The -Declaration of Independence begins as follows: ‘When, in the course of -human events.’” - - -=The Dash.= - -1. The dash shows a sudden break in the thought. Thus: “We were hurrying -onward—but first let me tell what happened before that.” - -2. The dash sometimes precedes a _summing up_. Here it usually follows a -comma, since the members of the series are set off by commas: “Chaucer, -Shakespeare, Wordsworth,—very many of our great poets indeed, were at -home in the country.” Sometimes the dash is used when there is no real -summing up, but an appositive phrase is added, as a further explanation. -For an example, see the last sentence of the next paragraph,—and this -sentence also. - -3. The dash, like the comma, is often used to set off a parenthetical -expression. (See 2, under the comma.) Examples: “His father—that iron -gentleman—had long ago dethroned himself.” “He was a man—the reader must -already have perceived—of easy, not to say familiar, manners.” Note that -in these examples no commas are used with the dashes, because if the -parenthetical words were lifted out, the sentence would close up without -punctuation. But suppose the sentence were such that it could not close -up without punctuation; then the comma would be needed. The comma in “His -father being angry, he felt afraid,” remains when the parenthesis is -inserted: “His father being angry,—that iron gentleman,—he felt afraid.” -Note that in such a case a second comma is used,—with the second dash. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Copy and punctuate the following sentences from -Stevenson. In the first is there not a choice of punctuation after -“difficulties”? - -1. All the way down we had our fill of difficulties sometimes it was a -wear which could be shot sometimes one so shallow and full of stakes that -we must withdraw the boats from the water and carry them round - -2. But this is a fashion I love to kiss the hand or wave a handkerchief -to people I shall never see again to play with possibility and knock in -a peg for fancy to hang upon - -3. You see what it is to be a gentleman I beg your pardon what it is to -be a pedler. - -4. Centralization said he but the landlord was at his throat in a minute - -5. There should be some myth but if there is I know it not founded on the -shivering of the reeds there are not many things in nature more striking -to man’s eye - -6. “The fire should have been here at this side” explained the -husband “then one might have a writing table in the middle books and” -comprehensively[11] “all it would be quite coquettish _ça serait -tout-à-fait coquet_.” - - -=Quotation Marks.= - -1. Marks of quotation, or, as the English call them, inverted commas, are -placed around direct quotations. Many students neglect a part of this -little duty: they fail to mark _the end_ of the quotation. - -2. A quotation within a quotation stands between single commas. Thus: -“We were gathered on shore, watching the schooner. Gray spoke up: ‘She’s -certainly going down, and we must let the saving station know it. Maybe -the patrol has already seen her; I saw a sailor walking on the beach not -long since, and singing, “Yeave ho, my lads, the wind blows free.”’” Note -that when there is a quotation _within the second quotation_, it receives -the double marks. - -3. Sometimes a quotation is given in substance, with no attempt at -accuracy; to show this fact it is quoted in single commas. Thus: ‘A -foolish consistency frightens little minds.’ This is the substance of -Emerson’s remark, “A foolish consistency is the bugbear of little minds.” - - -=Theme.=—Write a dialogue a page or two long. Show the change from -speaker to speaker by the use of quotation marks and paragraphing. Each -reply of each interlocutor, with its word or two of introduction, if such -there be, should go by itself as a paragraph. Choose your own topic; -or take one of these, changing the wording: (1) Smith tries to make -Brown see the difference between relative clauses restrictive and those -merely coördinate. (2) Two girls lament the difficulties of punctuation. -(3) Two lads [or, men] talk politics. Do not begin each speech as in -Shakespeare each is begun—with the speaker’s name. Refer occasionally -to the speakers, if you please, _e.g._, “‘Not by any means,’ responded -Bangs, rather tartly”; but do not hesitate to let most of the speeches -stand without comment. Punctuate the dialogue carefully, as you write. -Then revise it carefully for punctuation. - - -=Brackets.= - -Brackets indicate that the included matter is inserted by another person -than the original author; that is, by a person who is quoting or editing -the passage. Thus: “He [Goethe] tells us that character is developed in -the busy world, though intellect is developed in solitude.” - - -=The Exclamation Point.= - -1. There is a tendency to punctuate with the period sentences that are -really exclamatory; it is better to use the exclamation point. Thus: “I -am so delighted to see you!” - -It is better still to avoid an excess of exclamatory sentences, however -correctly punctuated. - -2. The word _oh!_ should be followed by an exclamation point or by a -comma. This is not the word _O_, which is used in direct address— - - “O thou that rollest above, - Round as the shield of my fathers,” - -and to express a wish: - - “O that I had wings like a dove.” - -3. The exclamation point may stand in the midst of a sentence, at the end -of a clause. The mark is then not followed by a capital letter. Thus: “Is -it possible! is it credible!” exclaimed the Bishop. - - -=The Interrogation Point.= - -1. Placed in parentheses the interrogation point questions the accuracy -of a statement. Ex.: “It is in New York (?) that the largest number of -exiled Russians is found.” - -2. Like the exclamation mark, the question mark may stand at the end of -a clause, before a small letter. Thus: “Do you believe it? was the way -he greeted me as I finished reading the letter.” Or, “Shall we lie here -inactive? Shall we plan nothing? attempt nothing? do nothing?” - - -=Written Exercise.=—Copy and punctuate the following sentences from -Stevenson:— - -1. Such a dinner as we were going to eat such beds as we were to sleep in - -2. Where were the boating men of Belgium where the judge and his good -wines and where the graces of Origny - -3. Come back again she cried and all the hills echoed her - -4. All the gold had withered out of the sky and the balloon had -disappeared whither I ask myself; caught up into the seventh heaven or -come safely to land somewhere in that blue uneven distance into which the -roadway dipped and melted before our eyes - - -=Italics.= - -1. A good rule for italics is to shun them—that is, not to use them -freely to denote emphasis. Emphasis can be secured by some other means; -for instance, by putting the emphatic word near the beginning of the -sentence. Thus: “It was such a very _fine_ thing to spin along over the -ice” becomes, “A fine thing it was, to spin along over the ice.” - -2. Use italics to show that a word is foreign. Thus: “Sophronia likes to -interlard her English with such fine phrases as _en passant_, _fin de -siècle_, and _al fresco_.” - -3. It is usual to italicize single words if they are specified,—spoken of -as words. Thus: “A good many words that pass muster with most people are -not really in good use; for example, _burglarize_.” - - -=The Apostrophe.= - -1. One use of the apostrophe is to mark the plural of single letters, or -figures. Ex.: Distinguish between your 8’s and 3’s; dot your _i’s_ and -cross your _t’s_. - -2. The commoner use of the apostrophe is to mark the possessive case. -There is however no apostrophe in the word _its_, which is considered an -adjective, not a personal, pronoun. - - -=Asterisks.= - -A row of asterisks is used to show an omission. Thus, if a writer were -quoting, and wished to skip a page or two, he would insert this sign -* * * * But if he omitted only a few words, he would rather use -“leaders”; thus.... - - -=Oral Exercise, in Review.=—Read this passage over carefully, and -listen to the reading of it aloud by some member of the class or by the -instructor. Then explain how it should be punctuated. - -Mr. Higginbotham Mr. Higginbotham tell us the particulars about old -Mr. Higginbotham bawled the mob what is the coroner’s verdict are the -murderers apprehended is Mr. Higginbotham’s niece come out of her -fainting fits Mr. Higginbotham Mr. Higginbotham - -The coachman said not a word except to swear awfully at the ostler for -not bringing him a fresh team of horses the lawyer inside had generally -his wits about him even when asleep the first thing he did after learning -the cause of the excitement was to produce a large red pocket-book -meantime Dominicus Pike being an extremely polite young man and also -suspecting that a female tongue would tell the story as glibly as a -lawyer’s had handed the lady out of the coach she was a fine smart girl -now wide awake and bright as a button and had such a sweet pretty mouth -that Dominicus would almost as lieves have heard a love tale from it as a -tale of murder - -Gentleman and ladies said the lawyer to the shopkeepers the mill men -and the factory girls I can assure you that some unaccountable mistake -or more probably a wilful falsehood maliciously contrived to injure Mr -Higginbotham’s credit has excited this singular uproar we passed through -Kimballton at three o’clock this morning and most certainly should have -been informed of the murder had any been perpetrated but I have proof -nearly as strong as Mr. Higginbotham’s own oral testimony in the negative -here is a note relating to a suit of his in the Connecticut courts which -was delivered me from that gentleman himself I find it dated at ten -o’clock last evening - -So saying the lawyer exhibited the date and signature of the note which -irrefragably proved either that this perverse Mr. Higginbotham was alive -when he wrote it or as some deemed the more probable case of two doubtful -ones that he was so absorbed in worldly business as to continue to -transact it even after his death but unexpected evidence was forthcoming -the young lady after listening to the pedlers explanation merely seized a -moment to smooth her gown and put her curls in order, and then appeared -at the tavern-door making a modest signal to be heard - -Good people said she I am Mr. Higginbotham’s niece - - -=Written Exercise, in Review.=—Copy, punctuate, and capitalize the -following, from Charles Lamb: - -And first let us remember as first in importance in our childish eyes the -young men as they almost were who under the denomination of _Grecians_ -were waiting the expiration of the period when they should be sent at -the charges of the Hospital to one or other of our Universities but more -frequently to Cambridge these youths from their superior acquirements -their superior age and stature and the fewness of their numbers for -seldom above two or three at a time were inaugurated into that high order -drew the eyes of all and especially of the younger boys into a reverent -observance and admiration how tall they used to seem to us how stately -would they pace along the cloisters while the play of the lesser boys -was absolutely suspended or its boisterousness at least allayed at their -presence not that they ever beat or struck the boys that would have -been to have demeaned[12] themselves the dignity of their persons alone -insured them all respect the task of blows, or corporal chastisement they -left to the common monitors or heads of wards who it must be confessed in -our time had rather too much license allowed them to oppress and misuse -their inferiors and the interference of the Grecian who may be considered -as the spiritual power was not unfrequently called for to mitigate by its -mediation the heavy unrelenting arm of this temporal power or monitor -in fine the Grecians were the solemn Muftis of the school œras[13] were -computed from their time it used to be said such or such a thing was -done when S—— or T—— was Grecian. - - -=Common Abbreviations.= - -The following list of abbreviations should be learned, Latin words and -all. - - A. B., _Artium Baccalaureus_. Bachelor of Arts. In England, B. - A. - - A. D., _Anno Domini_. In the Year of our Lord. - - AD. LIB., or _ad. lib._, _Ad libitum_. At pleasure. - - ÆT., _Ætatis_. Of age; aged. - - A. M., _Ante Meridiem_. Before noon. - - A. M., _Artium Magister_. Master of Arts. In England, M. A. - - A. U. C., _Anno Urbis Conditæ_. In the year from the Building - of the City (Rome). - - D. C. L. Doctor of Civil Law. - - D. D., _Divinitatis Doctor_. Doctor of Divinity. - - D. D. S. Doctor of Dental Surgery. - - Do., _Ditto_. The same. - - E. E. Errors excepted. (Used in book-keeping.) - - E. O. E. Errors and omissions excepted. - - E. G., or _e. g._, _Exempli gratia_. For example. - - ETC., or &C., _Et cætera_. And so forth; literally, And others. - - F. R. S. Fellow of the Royal Society. - - H. M. His _or_ Her Majesty. - - H. M. S. His _or_ Her Majesty’s Ship _or_ Service. - - H. R. H. His _or_ Her Royal Highness. - - IBID., _Ibidem_. In the same place. Used in quoting several - selections from one book, or making several references to one - source. - - I. E., or _i. e._, _Id est_. That is. In reading aloud, one - gives the English words only. - - I. H. S., sometimes explained as _Iesus Hominum Salvator_. - Jesus the Saviour of Men. More properly, this abbreviation - merely means “Jesus.” It is made up of the first three letters - of the Greek word for Jesus—ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. The H, in I. H. S., is - really the Greek letter êta, from which we get our capital E. - - I. N. R. I., _Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudæorum_. Jesus of Nazareth, - King of the Jews. - - L. H. D., _Litterarum Humanarum Doctor_. Doctor of Humane - Letters. - - LL. D., _Legum Doctor_. Doctor of Laws. - - M., _Meridies_. Mid-day. - - M. A. Master of Arts. - - M. D., _Medicinæ Doctor_. Doctor of Medicine. - - MESSRS. Gentlemen. (French, _Messieurs_.) - - MME. Madame. - - MLLE. Mademoiselle. - - MS., or Ms. Manuscript. MSS. Manuscripts. - - N. B., _Nota bene_. Mark well, or take notice. - - N. S. New Style (after 1752). - - OB., _Obiit_. He _or_ she died. - - O. S. Old Style (previous to 1752). - - PH. D., _Philosophiæ Doctor_. Doctor of Philosophy. - - PP. Pages. - - P. P. C., _Pour prendre congé_. To take leave. This is not an - abbreviation for the English words: Paid parting call. - - PRO TEM., _Pro tempore_. For the time being. - - PROX., _Proximo_. Next, _or_ the next month. - - Q. E. D., _Quod erat demonstrandum_. Which was to be - demonstrated. - - R. S. V. P., or R. s. v. p., _Répondez, s’il vous plaît_. - Answer, if you please. - - VIZ., or viz., _Videlicet_. Namely, to wit. _Videlicet_ has - etymologically about the force of “You see,” or “It can be - seen.” - - VS., _Versus_. Against. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -GRAMMATICAL PHASES OF WRITING ENGLISH - - -The present chapter reviews only those grammatical principles that are -sometimes violated by students who have had a year of formal grammar. - - -=Clearness.=—If composition is the art of communicating one’s ideas -in words, it is certain that clearness is the first requisite of good -writing. Clearness, perfect intelligibility, is secured by means -innumerable. One secret however of being clear is to regard grammatical -usages. If a man is to be understood exactly, he must be grammatical. No -one is excepted. “Grammar,” said Molière, “knows how to lord it even over -kings.” - -=Ambiguity.=—When an expression is open to two interpretations, it is -said to be ambiguous. In the sentence, “He is a fair man,” _fair_ is an -ambiguous word. In the sentence, “He was arrested by two officers, who -were about to board a West Madison street car, in possession of a large -amount of stolen property,” the phrase _in possession_, etc., holds an -ambiguous position. Grammatical errors often produce this fault. - -=Solecisms.=—Infringements of grammatical rules are called -_solecisms_.[14] Never losing sight of the fact that writing English is -largely the art of telling some one else just what one means, let us note -a few solecisms that hinder a writer from giving his exact meaning. - -=Coherence by placing Modifiers rightly.=—I. The rhetorics are fond -of quoting droll sentences in which, from being wrongly placed, ideas -fail to _cohere_, stick together. A favorite sentence is that from -an epitaph in an Ulster churchyard: “Erected to the memory of John -Phillips, accidently shot, as a mark of affection by his brother.” Mr. -Bardeen (“Sentence-Making”) quotes the following, which sounds like -a manufactured joke, but is nevertheless to the point. “Is there a -gentleman with one eye named Walker in the club?” “I don’t know; what was -the name of his other eye?” Another much quoted and startling sentence -reads thus: “In one evening I counted twenty-seven meteors sitting on -my back piazza.” Remedy the incoherence of these sentences. _Put close -together on the paper ideas that belong close together in the mind._ Do -not let adverbs and modifying clauses stray from the thought to which -they belong. - -=Oral Exercise.=—The order of words in the following sentences should so -be changed as to increase the logical coherence of the thoughts. - -1. The tops of the French ships were filled with riflemen, like those of -the enemy’s ships. - -2. The killing by Orlando, of the wrestler, was indirectly due to a plot -against his brother, which Oliver invented. - -3. I hardly ever remember to have heard such music. - -4. I never remember to have seen him. [Here it is better to recast the -sentence than to change the position of _never_.] - -5. The lad managed a bronco pony, very vicious and dangerous, when only -thirteen. - -6. Wanted, a hostler to take care of a horse, of a religious turn of mind. - -7. After a brief rest Blondin set out again with “Tom Sayers,” and -accomplished the feat he had undertaken without a hitch. - -This week will see the last times of “The Rogue’s Comedy,” as next season -Mr. Willard will play the new play of Henry Arthur Jones entitled “The -Physician” exclusively. - -II. _Only_, and _not only_, usually belong directly before the word -modified. - -=Oral Exercise.=—Insert _only_ in the proper blank. - -1. Browning —— wrote —— a few poems for boys. - -2. She —— breathed —— the name; but we heard it. - -3. We —— received his letter, —— this morning. - -4. He —— gave —— five cents —— to the church. - -III. Avoid the Janus-clause; the Janus-phrase; the Janus-adverb or -adjective. The Latin god Janus had two faces, one looking back, the other -ahead. Avoid putting a modifier where it becomes double-faced,—where it -may be taken either with the preceding idea or with the following idea. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—So change the position of the double-faced modifiers -that their allegiance will be known. - -1. There is no doubt that Milton gave Dryden permission to paraphrase -Paradise Lost; Dryden did imitate Milton as a matter of fact not very -cleverly. - -2. There can be no doubt that he quarrelled,—that he fought indeed -vigorously. He reappeared at least with a black eye. - -3. She will sing in any case charmingly; her training has been admirable. - -4. As Hazlitt says, in his book of English proverbs, where no fault is, -there needs no pardon. - -IV. Avoid putting an adverb between the parts of an infinitive,—between -the _to_ and the verb. Some reputable writers approve this construction; -still, the better order is to place the modifier before or after the -whole infinitive. “Clearly to see,” or “To see clearly,” is better than -“To clearly see.” This error is called the _cleft infinitive_. - - -=Concord of Subject and Predicate.= - -1. A collective noun takes a singular verb if the group of objects is -thought of as a whole: “The United States is coining gold and silver.” -The collective noun takes a plural verb if each separate member of the -group is thought of: “The United States are firmly bound together in one -union.” - -2. When two subject nouns are so closely related in thought that they -seem to mean one thing, the verb is in the singular: “His courage and -bravery is well approved.” - -3. In writing a long sentence, glance back at the number of the subject -before you write the verb. A plural near the verb often leads one to -forget that the subject is singular. Thus: “The great number of the crows -that settle nightly in the grove and fill the air with their cries, makes -[not _make_] the place a bedlam.” - -4. When a singular subject precedes a parenthetical phrase, the former -reaches over the head of the latter, and makes the verb singular. This -rule holds even when the parenthesis is introduced by _with_. Thus: -“Napoleon, with all his army, was on the march.” - -5. _Either_, _neither_, when used as distributive conjunctions, take -a singular verb. Mr. Carpenter[15] gives this instance of the error: -“Neither Senators Dawes nor Hoar were in their seats to-day.” How shall -the sentence be changed to distribute the senators properly? - -6. If two subjects connected by _either—or_, etc., differ in person, it -is possible to make the verb agree with the subject nearest; as “Neither -she nor you are to blame in this; either I or he is to blame.” But this -construction is awkward. Avoid the difference in person, or else say, -“Neither she is to blame, nor are you; either he is to blame, or I am.” - -7. _Each_, _every_, _either_, _neither_, when used as pronouns, always -take a singular verb. “Each of us knows; neither of us is ignorant.” - -8. _None_ takes either a singular or a plural verb. It is originally _no -one_, and many careful writers prefer to keep the singular with it. - - -=Concord of Adjective (or Participle) and Noun.= - -1. There is an old phrase, _these kind_, which, though permitted a -century ago, was essentially ungrammatical, and is not allowed to-day. -Say, _this kind_, _that kind_, etc. - -2. (_a_) Every participle, like every adjective, must agree with its -noun in person and number. But furthermore, every participle has an -indisputable right to have something to agree with. Too often the poor -word is left dangling in mid air. _Shun the unrelated participle and -the misrelated participle._ The best of us are only too prone to such -slips as this: “Coming up stairs, it was seen that the great window -fell,” instead of, “Coming up stairs, we saw the great window fall.” Or -this: “Coming up stairs, the window fell on him,” where the _coming_ may -belong to the _window_ or to the _him_. In the first of the two incorrect -sentences the participle is unrelated; in the second it is misrelated, or -at least ambiguously related. - -(_b_) Care should be taken not to use a participle when a verbal noun in -_ing_ is needed. “The fact of _Poe being_ intemperate should not blind -us to the fact of his genius,” is wrong for “The fact of _Poe’s being_ -intemperate,” etc. - -3. Particularly avoid a singular adjective with a plural noun, in such -expressions as, “A long way” [not _ways_]. Note here that _sidewise_, not -_sideways_, is correct. - - -=Concord of Pronoun and Antecedent.= - -1. It should be remembered that every singular antecedent takes a -singular pronoun. “Everybody came forward and laid _his_ contribution on -the table”—not “_their_ contribution.” - -2. Before writing the verb of a relative clause, think whether the -antecedent is singular or plural. “Her voice is one of the sweetest that -have [not _has_] been heard in this town.” - -3. When a number of persons, men and women, are spoken of distributively, -the pronouns _he_ and _his_ are proper forms of reference—not _their_, -not _his or her_. “The audience rose and each person waved _his_ -applause” would be correct, even if there were ten ladies to each man. -The _he_ or _his_ may here be called the _neutral_ pronoun. What pronouns -should fill the blanks in the following sentence? “Let every man and -woman who would like to join our picnic betake —— to the pier at three -o’clock, and give —— no anxiety about —— lunch; —— will find plenty of -sandwiches and cake and coffee on the picnic-boat.” - -Such expressions as “every man and woman” are however undesirable -whenever the neutral pronoun is to be used. A neutral antecedent, like -_every person_, _everybody_, _every one_, is preferable. - -4. When the indefinite pronoun _one_ is used, there is often ambiguity -in referring to it later by _he_, _his_, etc. Repeat the _one_. Thus, -“One does not always know one’s own mind.” Better still, use an -expression like the indefinite _you_, or, _a person_, which has its own -representative among the pronouns. Thus, “A person doesn’t always know -his own mind.” - -5. Use sparingly, if at all, the Latin construction—_which fact_, _which -idea_, etc. Say rather, _a fact which_, etc. E.g. “He was slightly deaf, -_a misfortune which_ he bore without whimpering.” - -6. Avoid the Latin construction that makes _which_ refer to the idea -of a whole clause; it is a clumsy fashion. Example, “He said that he -always doted on Shakespeare—_which_ I, for one, didn’t believe, because -I know the fellow.” There is nothing here for _which_ to tie to; it is -a relative without anything to which to relate. Rather a better way is -to discard the relative clause, substituting _and_ with a demonstrative. -Thus, “He bowed politely, _which_ set us all at ease,” becomes, “He bowed -politely, _and this_ set us all at ease.” The _this_ is allowed by our -idiom to refer to the clause, though the construction is still vague. It -is best to hunt up a good synonym for the idea of the preceding clause: -“He bowed politely, and this _courtesy_ set us all at ease.” But it is -not necessary to discard the relative clause. A little ingenuity will -enable one to find and insert just before the relative an appositive to -the clause. Into each of the following sentences slip an appropriate -appositive chosen from the following list: _a fact_, _an idea_, _a task_, -_a statement_, _an assertion_, _a notion_, _an excuse_, _a fancy_, _a -belief_, _a hyperbole_, _a prevarication_, _a remedy_. - -(_a_) Mr. Ignatius Donnelly thinks that Bacon wrote Shakespeare, —— which -ought not to bother the student who likes Romeo and Juliet. - -(_b_) Mame told father that there were a thousand cats in the back yard, -—— which, according to father, meant our cat and another. - -(_c_) He has undertaken to learn two hard lessons in one hour, —— which -will probably prove too much for the lad. - -(_d_) He proposes to cut the hand off, —— which seems rather cruel. - - -=Concord of Cases.= - -Subject and complement of an intransitive verb agree in case. - -1. The complement of an intransitive verb in a finite mode is in the -nominative case. “It’s I” [not _me_]. “I am he.” “I thought it was he.” - -2. If the subject of an infinitive is in the objective case, the -complement is in the same case. “I thought it to be him” [not _he_]. But, -“It was thought to be he.” - - -=Concord of Tenses.= - -1. In writing the verb of a subordinate clause, be sure that its tense -shall show just what you wish it to show—whether the _same_ time as that -of the principal verb, or _earlier_ time, or _later_ time. For example:— - -_The same time._—“He did not think himself to be much of a poet.” - -_Earlier time._—“He did not think that he had been much of a poet.” “He -was sorry not to have been much of a poet.” “Yesterday, when John spoke -of the matter, I should have liked to have had some experience that I -might have used in advising him.” - -_Later time._—“I wanted to go” [not _to have gone_]. “I had intended to -go.” “I should have liked to go.” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Correct the errors in concord of tenses, explaining each -emendation. - -1. Where did you say St. Peter’s was? - -2. Is it warm out of doors? I should say it was. - -3. I fully intended to have met you at the concert. - - -=Government.= - -1. “He invited him and _I_,” is not an unheard-of blunder. People often -needlessly shrink from saying a correct sentence like this—“He invited -him and me”—and will even insert the full names of _him_ and _me_ rather -than out with the right case of the pronoun. - -2. In asking a question, think whether _who_ or _whom_ is required. -“_Whom_ did you see?” but, “_Who_ was it that you saw?” - -3. _Let_ governs the objective case, quite as any other active verb. “Let -John and me go.” - -4. An error often occurs in the case of the relative after a verb of -saying, thinking, telling, and the like. “Franklin’s Autobiography -is the work of a man _whom_ I should think would be known to every -American.” The _whom_ is wrong for _who_. Had the writer set off “I -should think” by commas, he would have seen the mistake. - -5. How should the following newspaper sentence be corrected? “He stated -that the offering was $101,500, an amount upon which he would stake his -honor would all be paid up.” - - -=On the Reference of Pronouns.= - -1. In the use of pronouns one cannot be too careful that each refers -to the right person. “Farmer Jones called on his neighbor and told him -that his cows were in his pasture,” leaves us in doubt whether Farmer -Jones came to make a complaint or an apology. How should the sentence be -constructed to remove the ambiguity? The following delicious error has -been much quoted: “If fresh milk does not seem to agree with the child, -boil it.” How change the sentence to save the child’s life? - -2. Sometimes a demonstrative can be used to better advantage than a -personal pronoun. “They lent us their horses for the afternoon and these -[not _they_] took us a long way out into the country.” - -3. Sometimes it is better to repeat the antecedent, varying it by simple -synonyms, than to use any pronoun. Not, “He gave him his word of honor, -that whenever he should see his brother in London, he would do all for -him that he ought to do for an old comrade’s brother.” Rather thus: -“He gave his friend his word of honor, that whenever he should see the -latter’s brother in London, he would do for the boy all that a man ought -to do for the brother of an old comrade.” - -4. Acquire a habit of writing, “It is he,” or “It’s he,” instead of “He -is the one.” This latter phrase is permissible in colloquial speech, -where its clumsiness is not much felt. The correct expression may -sometimes seem over-precise. But a person of tact ought to be able to -speak correctly without seeming affected. - - -=Conjunctions and Prepositions.= - -1. Shall we say “as large as,” “not as large as,” etc.? The first -expression is right. But after a negative, use _so_ for a correlative to -_as_: “not _so_ large as.” - -2. In general be careful not to omit necessary conjunctions. What should -be supplied in the following sentence? and how should the order be -changed? “Henty is better known but not so interesting to older boys as -Stevenson.” - -3. _And which_, _and who_, etc., are wrong for _which_, _who_, etc., when -no relative has previously been used. Correct the following: “Irving, the -historian, and whom we honor as our first writer of prose tales, is a -prime favorite of us all.” - -4. _Like_ is not a conjunction. It is incorrect to say, “Do like I do.” -This wrong use of _like_ is habitual in many parts of our country, and -a native of any one of these districts has to watch himself narrowly -to acquire the habit of using _as_ for _like_. It is, however, correct -enough to say, “She talks _like him_.” Here _like_ is an adjective -governing what was the dative case, and the phrase _like him_ has the -value of an adverb. - -5. _Different to_ is wrong for _different from_. This error, though -rarely to be found in America, is habitual in England. The commoner -American error is _different than_. This mistake frequently occurs when -the comparative degree has previously been used. _E.g._ “This last kind -of apple is different and sweeter than the first.” The better form is: -“This last kind of apple is different from the first, and sweeter.” _Do -not split the particles_, by saying, “This kind of apple is different -from and sweeter than the first.” - - -=Adverb or Adjective?= - -1. There is a group of words—verbs of sensation and the like, _look_, -_sound_, _feel_, _smell_, _taste_, _appear_, _seem_—which take an -adjective to complete their meaning. “She looks _sweet_,” “It tastes -_sweet_,” “She _seems_ happy,” are common and correct ways of speaking. -_Notice that here something of the same idea can be given by saying_, -“She _is_ sweet,” “It _is_ sweet,” “She _is_ happy.” The _sweet_ idea -or the _happy_ idea describes the subject, the person, not the verb. Of -course, one might write a sentence in which the _sweet_ idea would tell -the way a given act was done. “She looked sweetly” would imply that she -was gazing sweetly at something or somebody. - -But here must be noted an exception or two. (_a_) The word _bad_ has two -senses: moral badness, and badness that is not moral—badness of health, -for instance. If I say “I feel bad,” the bad seems to mean moral badness: -_i.e._ “I _am_ bad.” It is therefore permissible to break the rule and -apply _badly_ to physical feeling. “I feel badly” is a common expression -for “I feel sick”; and by the exception to the rule is correct. Which -is better in the following sentence—_bad_ or _badly_? “It sounds —— to -hear a young man swear.” (_b_) There are a few cases where the adverb is -retained when the verb is not felt as acting. “The report sounds well,” -certainly does not mean that the report is in good health; but it is -certainly good English. Similarly we have: “She appears well in company.” - -It is to be kept in mind that _ill_ and _well_ are not always adverbs. -They are often adjectives; and if one says “I feel ill,” or “I feel -well,” one is using the adjective _ill_ or the adjective _well_. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Which of the italicized words is preferable in the -following sentences? (_a_) “This old stern-wheel boat rides over the -waves quite as _easy_ (_easily_) as any propeller, if not _easier_ -(_more easily_).” (_b_) “This old chaise rides as _easy_ (_easily_) as -any modern one.” (_c_) “An old shoe feels _easy_ (_easily_).” (_d_) “As -Billings read that passage it sounded _different_ (_differently_) from -the way in which the Colonel read it.” (_e_) “Do you feel _good_ (_well_) -after your night’s rest?” (_f_) “I’ve been to church and, for me, really -feel _good_ (_well_).” (_g_) “He voted _independently_ (_independent_).” -(_h_) “Home, sweet home” sounds _well_ (_good_) to the ears of the -American abroad. - - -=Shall or Will.=—Most Americans, like most Scotchmen, use the word _will_ -too frequently, to the neglect of _shall_. - -_Shall_ is from Old English _sceal_ (skayʹ-al) and once meant _owe_, -_be obliged_. It still may mean the same thing, when not used as a mere -auxiliary. That is, _should_ often means _ought_, which was once the -past tense of _owe_. It still can mean “to be obliged.” “You shall,” “he -shall,” are expressions that imply obligation, imposed by the speaker. -“I shall at last die” still has in it the idea of being compelled. But -this phrase illustrates happily one way by which _shall_ with the first -person has come to be felt as a mere future. Nearly always to-day _I -shall_ names a voluntary act; but the volition is usually not emphasized; -the speaker has usually made up his mind before he says _I shall_, and -the words simply foretell the future act. “I shall be there” incidentally -announces the speaker’s intention, but the chief thing it announces is -that the speaker will _be there_. It is probably the future fact that is -of interest to his friends. _Ordinarily, therefore_, shall _in the first -person means futurity more than it means volition._ - -_Will_ is from _wilian_ (wilʹ-yan), meaning _to wish_, _to will_. It -frequently means that to-day, though in the second and third persons it -is also used for the simple future. “I will” always implies volition. I -will _implies either deliberate intention, distinct wish, or distinct -willingness_. “I will go” means “I am determined to go,” or, “I wish to -go,” or, “I am willing to go.” Frequently such a phrase implies that -there is opposition or an obstacle. “You will,” “they will,” usually -lack the volitive idea; they simply foretell that which _you_, _they_, -are about to do. Yet _you will_, _he will_, _they will_ may still mean -_you are determined_, etc., if applied to a being that has the power of -choice. Here one has but to emphasize the _will_, and the old meaning -is brought back. Thus: “He _will_ persist in doing so, though all his -friends deplore it.” - -Our first rule will accordingly be as follows: _To indicate mere -futurity, use shall in the first person, will in the second and third._ -Examples: “I shall be glad to come. You and the others will find me on -hand at the pier.” So far, so good. But note that this rule also applies -when the speaker is made to report his own words in indirect narrative. -“Abner _says_ that he _shall_ be glad to come, and that you and the -others _will_ find him on hand at the pier.” Just so if the indirect -discourse is in the _past_, and it is still the speaker who reports his -own words. “Abner _said_ that he _should_ be glad to come, and that you -and the others _would_ find him at the pier.” All this seems sensible -enough, for the speaker is merely made to foretell his own future act. -The rule is too often broken. “Abner said he was afraid he’d miss the -boat.” Here the contraction _he’d_ stands (as always) for _he would_, a -form that is wrong in this place for _he should_. - -The same rule applies when the indirect narrative is merely implied; that -is, when instead of such a word as _say_ we have _think_, or _fear_, or -_believe_. “Luke thinks he _shall_ miss his boat,” is correct; so is, -“Luke feared he _should_ miss the boat.” - -Suppose, now, it is no longer what Luke said about his own future act, -but what somebody else said about it. “Evarts remarked that Luke was -ready and _would_ hurry to the pier; but Evarts feared that Luke _would_ -miss the boat.” The _shall_ gives place naturally enough to _will_. -_After verbs of saying, thinking, telling, and the like, shall (or -should) is the proper auxiliary if the future act is foretold by the -actor._ - -Now we are ready to ask how these words should be used in questions. A -very simple rule is enough for most purposes: _In the second and third -persons, use in the question the form you expect in the answer._ - -“Shall you be at the pier by three, Abner?” Abner replies, “I certainly -shall.” “Will you kindly bring my lunch with you? the cook has it ready.” -“I will, with great pleasure.” - -The rule holds when applied to indirect discourse. Thus: “Abner’s aunt -asked him whether he _should_ be at the pier by three. Abner replied that -he _should_. Then she wanted to know if he _would_ kindly bring her lunch -along; Abner promised that he _would_.” - -If a question is put in the first person, _shall_ often asks for -instructions. “_Shall_ I go?” But if mere information is asked, _shall_ -is still the form: “_Shall_ I be required to do all this?” “Yes, I fear -you will.” Briefly, then, _for a question in the first person always use_ -shall. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Where blanks appear in the following sentences insert -the right auxiliary. Correct any misuse of auxiliaries. - -1. Sometimes an Irishman, sometimes a Frenchman, is credited with this -remark: “I will be drowned; nobody shall help me.” - -2. I —— be delighted to see you with us. - -3. I —— be obliged if you —— lend me your pencil. - -4. The director thinks he —— be able to speak well of that student, if -the boy —— need a good word. - -5. —— you be content if you get to college? - -6. —— I be permitted to say that you —— see him before anything is done? - -7. Jim Hawkins was mortally afraid that he —— be killed by Long John -Silver; and in turn Long John began to fear that Jim —— be the death of -him. - -8. —— you like some bread? [Here _should_ is the right word; _to like_ is -a word of volition, and it does not need the volitive auxiliary _would_.] - -9. —— you mind my asking where you bought that jersey? - -10. His father insisted that he —— stick to the task; and the son -afterwards seemed glad of the fact, and asked whether he —— do some more -work of the same sort. - -11. If we were better, we —— be happier. - -12. In which sentence can a contraction of _he would_ be used? (_a_) He -said —— be glad to accept. (_b_) Luther declared —— go to a certain city, -though there were as many devils there as tiles on the housetops. - -13. —— I be asked to go? Yes, you will. - -14. Of whom —— I be afraid? - - -=Matters of Etymology.= - -1. Good usage recommends that we say “the schools of Chicago” rather -than “Chicago’s schools”; “the cause of the accident” rather than “the -accident’s cause.” In other words, it recommends that we save the -possessive in _’s_ (or Saxon genitive) for living beings. For things, for -abstract ideas, for cities—everything except beings—the possessive in -_of_ (or Norman genitive) is preferred. Thus we say, “Napoleon’s hat,” -and “the rim of Napoleon’s hat,” instead of “Napoleon’s hat’s rim.” The -newspapers, perhaps to save space, have fallen into the habit of talking -about “Chicago’s interests,” “Evanston’s water-works,” “America’s navy,” -etc.; but it is better not to imitate these expressions.[16] Such matters -are matters, not of right and wrong, but of better and worse. - -2. While _got_ is usually better than _gotten_ as a past participle, the -two words have, in one case, different meanings. “I have got my lesson” -is perhaps preferable to “I have gotten my lesson.” But “I have got to be -a scholar” means, “I must be a scholar”; while, “I have gotten to be a -scholar” is, well,—perhaps a boast. - -3. Good use prescribes _he drank_, but _he has drunk_ [not, _he has -drank_]. - -4. _Anybody else’s_, or _anybody’s else_—which is in better use? For -most places, the former. Thus: “Anybody else’s dog would have been shot -for his sheep-stealing.” But _anybody’s else_ is often preferable at -the end of the clause or sentence. Thus: “If the dog had been anybody -else’s it would have been shot; unfortunately it was nobody’s else.” The -distinction has ceased to be a matter of logic, and become a matter of -euphony. Of course, _else_ is strictly an adjective, and might seem to -be exempt from the possessive case. But adjectives have always had a way -of growing fast to nouns and becoming part of them: _e.g._ sweetbriar, -Redfern, Goodman. Though _else_ is not written as a part of the noun -_anybody_ (which is already long enough), it is often felt as a part of -the noun. What you _think_ is not always _anybody + else_; it is often, -_anybodyelse_. As a matter of fact, the word _anybody_ itself is really -two words grown together till we do not think of them as adjective + noun. - - -=Oral Exercise in Review.=—Below are given a number of sentences from -Hughes’s _Tom Brown’s School Days_, a book which every one likes for -its racy Saxon style, but which is not always beyond reproach in -sentence-structure. Most, however, of the sentences given below were -correctly written. _Examine the passages, and decide as to which of the -bracketed words should be omitted. When several words are italicized, -correct the order of them._ - -1. Tom’s nurse was one who took in her instruction very slowly—she -seemed to have two left hands and no head; and so Mrs. Brown kept her on -longer than usual, that [she, the girl] might expend her awkwardness and -forgetfulness upon those who would not judge and punish [her, the girl] -too strictly for them. - -2. It had been the immemorial habit of the village [either] to [either] -christen children [either] by Bible names or [by] those of the cardinal -and other virtues. - -3. He was a hearty, strong boy from the first, given to fighting [with -and escaping from his nurse, with his nurse and escaping from her] -and fraternizing with all [of] the village boys, with whom he made -expeditions all around the neighborhood. - -4. You shall hear at once what sort of [a] folk the Browns are, [at -least] my branch of them [at least]; and then if you don’t like the sort, -why cut the concern at once, and let you and [I, me] cry quits before -either of us can grumble at the other. - -5. For a short time after a boy has taken up [such] a life [as, like] -Arnold would have urged upon him, he has a hard time of it. He finds his -judgment often at fault, his body and intellect running away with him -into all sorts of pitfalls, and [he, himself] coming down with a crash. - -6. “No, Pompey, I must preach whenever I see a chance of being listened -to, [which, and this] I never did before.” - -7. And now, my boys, you [who, whom] I want to get for readers, have you -had enough? [Will, shall] you give in at once, and say you’re convinced, -and let me begin my story, or will you have more of it? Remember, I’ve -[only] been over [only] a little bit of a hillside yet—what you could -ride round easily on your ponies in an hour. - -8. To-day, however, [being, being the day of] the school-house match, -none of the school-house præpostors [stay, stays] by the door to watch -for truants of their side; there is _carte blanche_ to the school-house -fags to go where they like: “They trust to our honor,” as East proudly -informs Tom; “they know [very well] that no school-house boy would cut -the match [very well]. If he did [we’d, we should] very soon cut him, I -can tell you.” - -9. Passing along the Ridgeway to the west for about a mile, [we come to, -appears] a little clump of young beech and firs, with a growth of thorn -and privet underwood. - -10. I [only] know [only] two English neighborhoods thoroughly, and [in -each] within a circle of five miles, [within each] there is enough of -interest and beauty to last any reasonable man his life. I believe this -to be the case [almost] throughout the country [almost]; but each has -a special attraction, and [neither, none] can be richer than the one I -am speaking of and going to [very particularly] introduce to you [very -particularly]. - -11. It’s very odd [how, that] almost all English boys love danger. - -12. He wore an old full-bottomed wig, the gift of some dandy old Brown -whom he had [in the middle of the last century] valeted [in the middle -of the last century], [which habiliment, a habiliment which] Master Tom -looked upon with considerable respect, not to say fear. - -13. [It was he, He was the one] who bent the first pin with which Tom -extracted his first stickleback out of [“Pebbly Brook,”] the little -stream which ran through the village, [“Pebbly Brook”]. The first -stickleback was a splendid fellow, with fabulous red and blue gills. Tom -kept him in a small basin till the day of [his, the fish’s] death, and -became a fisherman from that day. - -14. His nurse told him that those good-natured looking women were in the -constant habit of enticing children into the barges and taking [them, -these] up to London and selling them, [which, a story which] Tom wouldn’t -believe. - -15. “I say,” said East, as soon as he [got, had gotten] his wind, looking -with much increased respect at Tom, “you [ain’t, you’re not, aren’t, are -not] a bad scud, not by [no, any] means.” - -16. But who [shall, will] tell the joy of the next morning, when the -church bells were ringing a merry peal, and [in the servants’ hall] old -Benjy appeared [in the servants’ hall] resplendent in a long blue coat -and brass buttons [in the servants’ hall], and a pair of old yellow -buckskins and top-boots, which he had cleaned _for and inherited from -Tom’s grandfather_. - -17. So, as we are going [to at any rate, at any rate to] see Tom Brown -through his boyhood, [supposing, if] we never get any further, [which, -though] (if you show a proper sense of the value of this history, there -is no knowing but [that, what] we may), let us have a look at the life -and environments of the child. - -18. He felt [like, as if] he had been severely beaten all down his back, -the natural result of his performance at his first match. - -19. “And now come in and see my study; we [shall, will] have just time -before dinner; and afterwards, before calling over, [we’ll, we shall] do -the close.” - -20. It [certainly] wasn’t very large [certainly], being about six feet -long by four broad. It couldn’t be called light, as there [was, were] -bars and a grating to the window; [which] little precautions [which] were -necessary in the studies on the ground floor looking out into the close, -to prevent the exit of small boys [after locking up], and the entrance of -contraband articles [after locking up.] - -21. And now, [having broken my resolution never to write a Preface,] -there are just two or three things which I [would, should] like to say a -word about [having broken my resolution never to write a Preface]. - -22. My dear boys, old and young, you who have belonged, [or do belong,] -to other schools and other houses, don’t begin throwing my poor little -book about the room, and abusing [me and it] [it and I], and vowing[17] -you’ll read no more when you get to this point. I allow you’ve -provocation for it. But, come now, [would, should] you, any of you, give -a fig for a fellow who _didn’t believe in, and stand up for his own house -and his own school_? You know you [wouldn’t, shouldn’t]. Then don’t -object to my cracking up the old school-house, Rugby. Haven’t I a right -to do it, when I’m taking all the trouble of writing this true history -for all your benefits? If [you’re not, you ain’t] satisfied, go and write -the history [of your own houses] in your own times [of your own houses] -and say all you know for your own schools and houses, [provided it’s -true,] and [I’ll, I shall] read it without abusing you [provided it’s -true]. - -23. All the way up to London he had pondered what he [would, should] say -to Tom [by way of parting advice], something that the boy could keep in -his head ready for use, [by way of parting advice]. - -24. “I say, Green,” Snooks began one night, “[ain’t, isn’t] that new boy, -Harrison, your fag?” - -“Yes; why?” - -“Oh, I know something of him at home, and [would, should] like to excuse -him—will you swap?” - -“[Who, Whom] will you give me?” - -“Well, let’s see; there’s Willis, Johnson—no, that won’t do. Yes, I have -it—there’s young East, I’ll give you him.” - -“Don’t you wish you may get it?” replied Green. “I’ll tell you what I’ll -do—I’ll give you [if you like] two for Willis [if you like].” - -“[Whom, Who] then?” asked Snooks. - -“Hall and Brown.” - -“[Shouldn’t, Wouldn’t] have ’em at a gift.” - -25. By keeping out of bounds [all day], or at all events out of the house -and quadrangle, [all day,] and [carefully] barring themselves [carefully] -in at night, East and Tom managed to hold on without feeling very -[miserably, miserable]; but it was as much as they could do. - -26. His friends at home, [hadn’t put him into tails] having regard, -I suppose, to his age, and not to his size and place in the school, -[hadn’t put him into tails]; and [even] his jackets were always too small -[even]; and he had a talent for destroying clothes, and making himself -look [shabbily, shabby]. - - -=Oral Review-Exercise.=—Correct the following sentences, after naming -each fault. - -1. Belonging to the modern realistic school of novelists, his address was -an able defence of their tenets. - -2. It is not probable that the scholars will yet give him a very lofty -place, and they will be disinclined to call his books literature, but the -division of sentiment as to their exact standing will not detract from -the brilliancy of the future they promise. - -3. “Here you are, a great, hulking fellow, endowed by providence with -magnificent strength, instead of which you go about stealing nuts.” - -4. Cæsar and all his legions was encamped around the city, and the -barbarians knew well enough it was them they had to fight, them the -soldiers of the Roman god-like man. - -5. “It wasn’t us! it wasn’t us! We wasn’t there, we warnt.” - -6. Neither of the adventurers, Olson and Lefevre, saw their native land -again. - -7. He sat the cage down; and the bird cried, between each mouthful, -“Polly wants a cracker.” - -8. Like Lucretius, his pleasure was in watching the sea fight from a -secure place. - -9. Masquerading under the stage name of Viola Violet, there was a gasp of -astonishment when she made her first entrance and was recognized by her -many friends in the audience. - -10. Lacking practice in what might be called the technique of acting, -there was now and then some restraint in pose and gesture, and the -essential element of artistic repose was lacking. - -11. Passengers are warned not to get off the train while in motion. - -12. Without stopping to fully describe the construction of this aural -instrument, suffice it to say, that it is small and compact, and can be -carried in the pocket, weighing about two ounces, constructed mostly of -aluminum. - -13. When I go back to Cuba again I should like to go with 10,000 -interpreters instead of one, all in United States uniforms, and who would -talk fast and to the point and would not expect or wait for an answer. - -14. Passing a field where brother David was sowing rye, several merry -voices called out, “How are you, Mr. Newton?” - -15. Mr. Adams positively declines to hang cards over the edges of the -boxes at the grand opera with the names of those present in large type. - -16. Eva picked up the letter from the hall table, looked quickly round -at the closed hall door, at the closed dining-room door, and at the baize -door that led to the kitchen stairs—and kissed it. - -17. Talking the other day with a friend (the late Mr. Keats) about Dante, -he observed that whenever so great a poet told us anything in addition -or continuation of an ancient story, he had a right to be regarded as -classical authority. - -18. Alcibiades told the Spartan envoys that if they would say to the -Athenians that their power was limited and that they could only listen -and then tell the Spartans what they heard that he would see that the -Athenians did not join the alliance: so when the ambassadors went there -they did as Alcibiades said and Alcibiades got up and said, that they -could not tell two things alike and the Athenians would not have anything -more to do with them and they joined the alliance. - -19. Having given this department-store question much careful thought I -have decided a more dangerous monopoly could not be found, for reasons -as follows: First, they tend to centralize business, which is dangerous, -and should not exist if we wish our city to grow and thereby equalize -taxation. Second, the continuous advertising of the entire stock of an -unfortunate merchant on sale in these stores at 33 cents on the dollar is -not encouraging to strangers who visit us. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -ON DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH INTO SENTENCES - - -=The Sentence not its own Master.=—Everybody learns at an early age some -such definition as this: A sentence is the expression of a complete -thought in words. But many students who have just left the grammar school -are not very clear in their own minds as to what the definition means. -When they come to write sentences they find it hard to decide what -constitutes a complete thought. They know what the test of grammatical -completeness is—the sentence must have a subject and a predicate; but -they are hazy as to when the sentence is logically complete. Frankly, the -most accomplished writers are sometimes troubled to decide this question. -Having two ideas, they are not sure whether these ought to stand in -separate sentences, or in semicolon clauses. There is no magic rule; but -by the right kind of practice one may become perfectly sure, in nine -cases out of ten, of the best course to take. - -Perhaps the easiest way to approach the matter is to remember that the -sentence is only a part of a larger unit,—the paragraph. A paragraph is -either a miniature composition, or a main part of a short composition. -In long works, the _chapter_ is the short composition of which the -paragraphs are the divisions. The sentence, in turn, is a main part of -the paragraph. Whether a sentence should be long or short depends on the -part it plays in the paragraph. - -To make this statement plain, we need consider only the paragraph that -stands alone, a miniature composition. Whatever be the number of its -sentences, each forms a main part or step in the development of the -paragraph-thought. All are concerned with _explaining_ the same thing; -each contributes something to the idea. If there is a topic sentence and -this be likened to a root, the other sentences are like the stalks and -leaves which grow from the root. - -Note how each of the following miniature compositions[18] has a root, -from which the rest of the paragraph springs necessarily. - - 1. Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or - animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some - are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest, and - upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock.—H. - W. BEECHER. - - 2. There are three wicks ... to the lamp of a man’s life; - brain, blood, and breath. Press the brain a little, its - light goes out, followed by both the others. Stop the heart a - minute, and out go all three of the wicks. Choke the air out - of the lungs, and presently the fluid ceases to supply the - other centres of flame, and all is soon stagnation, cold, and - darkness.—DR. HOLMES. - -Consider the parts of the paragraphs just given. Mr. Beecher has two -sentences, the second grouping together the details which explain the -first. But the first sentence is made much shorter than the second, -because, word for word, it is to be more emphatic. The second is the -longer, because no one of the separate clauses seemed to the writer -important enough to stand alone. The clauses of detail taken together -form one main division of the paragraph. The short sentence that states -the gist of the paragraph is another main division. In Dr. Holmes’s brief -parable, there are four sentences. Three of them develop the general idea -stated in the first. Dr. Holmes cannot condense these three into one -explanatory sentence, as Beecher does; he has too much to say. By giving -a sentence to each of the three “wicks,” he shows that he considers them -all approximately equal in importance. - -Study now another paragraph:— - - It is saying less than the truth to affirm that an excellent - book (and the remark holds almost equally good of a Raphael - as of a Milton) is like a well-chosen and well-tended fruit - tree. Its fruits are not of one season only. With the due and - natural intervals, we may recur to it year after year, and it - will supply the same nourishment and the same gratification, - if only we ourselves return to it with the same healthful - appetite.—COLERIDGE. - -In this passage from Coleridge the first sentence is the root of the -paragraph; ‘a book is like a fruit tree.’ But the second sentence is made -shorter than the first, because it is to state the pith of the paragraph -more clearly and emphatically than did the first. The meaning of the -first sentence is a little vague; how a book is like a fruit tree, it -does not say. The second sentence does say how. Note, then, that a short -sentence is always emphatic, and that accordingly it should be used to -state something that is important in the paragraph. - -Study also the following paragraph:— - - Our chief want in life, is somebody who shall make us do what - we can. This is the service of a friend. With him we are easily - great. There is a sublime attraction in him to whatever virtue - is in us. How he flings wide the doors of existence! What - questions we ask of him! what an understanding we have! how few - words are needed! It is the only real society.—EMERSON. - -In this paragraph of Emerson’s, the main ideas are stated in brief -sentences, and the summary of the paragraph comes in a sentence of six -short words. But note that in the last sentence except one, the writer -groups three clauses, because the three constitute parts of one main idea -of the paragraph. - -Read the following rather abstruse paragraphs, and decide as to which -shows the chief divisions of the whole thought. - - There is, first, the literature of knowledge; and, secondly, - the literature of power. The function of the first is, to - teach; the function of the second is, to move; the first is a - rudder, the second an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the - mere discursive understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it - may happen, to the higher understanding or reason, but always - through affections of pleasure and sympathy.—DE QUINCEY. - - There is, first, the literature of knowledge. And, secondly, - the literature of power. The function of the first is, to - teach. The function of the second is, to move. The first is a - rudder. The second, an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the - mere discursive understanding. The second speaks ultimately, it - may happen, to the higher understanding or reason, but always - through affections of pleasure and sympathy. - -From a study of the foregoing selections, it becomes clear that the -sentence is not its own master. It is the servant of the paragraph. The -paragraph, having an idea to give, uses sentences to develop this idea. A -skilful writer is not in haste to crowd into a sentence all of one large, -complex thought. The full expression of that thought is the task of the -paragraph. The sentences are the means by which its parts may be made -clear. The long sentences are for explanatory details; the short ones are -for emphatic summaries or generalizations, and for rapid narrative. - - -=Sentence Unity.=—I. _A sentence that possesses Unity of Substance -constitutes one main step in the development of the paragraph-idea._ A -main step, as thus employed, usually means a sentence giving one of the -following: (1) the general subject of the paragraph; (2) the general -thought or assertion of the paragraph; (3) the repetition of a preceding -idea in new words; (4) an illustration; (5) a group of particulars or -details; (6) one proof, or term, in a chain of reasoning; (7) a brief -contrast; (8) a cause and an effect; (9) an assertion and a very brief -illustration. It would be absurd to hold these principles of unity -anxiously in mind when one is writing. Having thought them over a little, -and taken to heart the general doctrine that the sentence should be one -main step, the scholar should trust his own sense of unity. The chief -value of any such analysis is that it may help the scholar to give -thought to his own sentences. - -II. _A sentence that possesses Unity of Form keeps one coherent structure -throughout, and subordinates unimportant clauses to the important._ Unity -of form does not concern the division of the paragraph into sentences. It -will be considered in Chapter VI., under Well-knit Sentences. - - -=I. Unity of Substance by Excluding Irrelevant Ideas.=—Perhaps the -first thing that is noticed in reading hasty composition, is that some -sentences are too long. Here is one, written by a lad of fourteen. It -will seem to most readers to be a sentence of infantine simplicity, such -as no high school student is in the slightest danger of perpetrating. My -apology for giving it is that it renders every heterogeneous sentence -ridiculous. - - Oliver Orlando’s brother did not like him and when he heard - that Orlando whipped Charles he was very angry and was going - to burn Orlando’s house up with him in it, but Adam, Orlando’s - faithful servant, ran out and told him, so they got all the - money they had and started for the forest of Arden, when they - got pretty near there Adam being so old fainted from hunger. - -The student who wrote this was not thinking of the parts of his -paragraph; he was thinking merely of the story of _As You Like It_. He -plunged ahead after the story, never looking behind him. The result is a -long, rambling sentence, with several chief thoughts in it. These chief -thoughts are four: (1) Oliver hatefully plots to kill Orlando. (2) Adam -foils Oliver. (3) Adam and Orlando flee. (4) Adam at last faints. The -paragraph therefore divides into four decent, though childish, sentences:— - - Oliver, Orlando’s brother, did not like him; and when he heard - that Orlando whipped Charles he was very angry, and was going - to burn Orlando’s house up with him in it. But Adam, Orlando’s - faithful servant, ran out and told him. So they got together - all the money they had, and started for the forest of Arden. - When they got pretty near there, Adam, being so old, fainted - from hunger. - -Periods are now substituted for several of the student’s commas. That -writer had confused these two marks, the comma and the full stop. Such -an error may be called, for mere convenience, _the comma fault_. It is -readily seen that of all possible mistakes in punctuation, the comma -fault is the most serious and elementary. To begin a new sentence after a -comma is an infallible sign of illiteracy. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—In the following passages, correct the comma fault -wherever it appears. Change the sentences in other ways to give a more -mature tone to them. - -1. I don’t know what to do in such a case, it is too hard to decide. -[Change comma to semicolon.] - -2. Romeo fell in love at once, he couldn’t help himself, he had never -seen any person so lovable. - -3. So they also started for the forest of Arden disguised as a countryman -and woman, when they got there they bought a house that was to be sold at -auction, once while wandering around they met Orlando and Rosalind asked -him if it was he that was spoiling the trees by carving love sentences -on them, and he said it was, so she said he could pretend that she was -Rosalind, so he came there every day until one day he was detained by -seeing a lioness just going to spring on Oliver. - - -=Theme.=—Write a paragraph of six to ten short sentences. Let the -first state the whole event in brief. Let the others give the steps -of the action tersely, rapidly, emphatically. Revise for spelling and -punctuation. Suggested topics:— - - 1. Shooting the rapids. - 2. How the water comes down at the falls. - 3. How the accident happened. - 4. How a log-jam is broken. - 5. The way to shoot a glass ball. - 6. Down a hill on a wheel. - 7. Sights from a car window. - 8. A fall on the ice. - 9. Shooting the “Chutes.” - 10. A runaway. - 11. A flash-light photograph. - 12. How the bird (or game) escaped. - 13. Paul Revere’s ride. - 14. An exciting moment. - - -=II. Unity of Substance by Including all the Parts of an Idea.=—It has -already been said that a paragraph may be composed of several very short -sentences, each one a main step of the paragraph, each one a unit. For -example:— - - A great silence made itself felt. Then, on a sudden, a dry - sound cracked in the air. The viscount had slapped his - adversary’s face. Every one rose to interfere. Cards were - exchanged between the two. - -Here, indeed, it may be that the second and third sentences are halves -of one idea, divided to make its parts more emphatic. At all events, -while a sentence may be very short and still constitute a principal -factor of the paragraph, sentences should not be so brief that each is, -so to speak, only half a main thought. A main thought may be composite. -Thus, it is often effective (_a_) to _state_ and to _explain_ an idea -very briefly, within the one sentence; (_b_) to show an extremely -close relation of _cause_ and _effect_, by stating both within the one -sentence; (_c_) to _contrast_ two things very briefly within the one -sentence. - -Now, a child gives his ideas in mere bits; he cannot express the -relations of the bits to each other. For example:— - - My aunt was a very large woman. My uncle was a very thin man. - He was very delicate. He dwindled. I mean, he got thinner and - punier every day. And my aunt thought a great deal of him. She - wished him to get well. She gave him a great deal of medicine. - She gave him so much that he began to get worse. He finally - died. - -This paragraph tells the story of how a woman doctored her husband to -death. The writer has made eight steps in the story, which perhaps has -not really more than four main parts: (1) The _contrast_ between my aunt -and uncle. (2) My uncle “dwindled”—_explained_ by saying he got punier -daily. (3) My aunt’s love, and its _consequence_—her wish for my uncle’s -recovery. (4) The form the wish took,—giving of medicine. (5) The -twofold result,—aggravation of the disease, then death. - -The original sentences may be combined into four. In combining them, -what pointing shall be used instead of so many full stops? We may use -commas, but only if we make one clause dependent or join two clauses or -propositions by a conjunction. We may say, for example, “My aunt was -a very large woman, and my uncle a very thin, delicate man.” We have -inserted an _and_; this permits the use of a comma. The result is a -pretty good sentence, having one complex idea,—the contrast between the -ample lady and her slight husband. - -But another invaluable means of showing the real _factors_ of the -sentence is the semicolon. The semicolon, as was said in Chapter III., -is a kind of weak full stop. Nearly always it connects statements that -are unrelated and independent grammatically, but intimately related in -sense. In a way,[19] the semicolon connects sentences, a period separates -sentences. The former sign is priceless to the writer who, when he comes -to expand each idea of his paragraph, finds the structure growing too -complicated. He has merely to place a semicolon and go ahead with a -miniature new sentence, which every reader will understand to be a part -of the logical unit in hand. - -If we combine the eight sentences by the help of the semicolon, we get -four, somewhat like the following:— - - My aunt was a very large woman; my uncle, on the contrary, - was a very thin delicate man. He dwindled; that is, he got - thinner and punier every day. My aunt thought a good deal of - him, and naturally she wished him to get well. She gave him, - accordingly, a great deal of medicine. She gave him so much - indeed that he began to get worse; and, finally, he died. - -Most students do not use the semicolon enough. Two or three semicolon -clauses, however, are sufficient for a very long sentence. If more are -written there is usually danger of encroaching upon the next main thought -of the paragraph. _It is better to write too many short sentences than -too many long ones._ - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Consider the following paragraph, and decide whether the -main thoughts of it are nine, as here indicated, or four. If four, the -thoughts are: (1) Contrast between light above and dark below. (2) The -growing dark. (3) The faint, weird sights and sounds that come to the -narrator. (4) His retreat from the abbey. If, having given the matter -careful thought, you think there should be but four sentences, or if you -think there is any other fault in the punctuation, explain how you would -repoint. - - The last beams of day were now faintly streaming through the - painted windows in the high vaults above me. The lower parts of - the abbey were already wrapped in the obscurity of twilight. - The chapels and aisles grew darker and darker. The effigies - of the kings faded into shadows. The marble figures of the - monuments assumed strange shapes in the uncertain light. The - evening breeze crept through the aisles like the cold breath - of the grave. And even the distant footfall of a verger, - traversing the Poet’s Corner, had something strange and dreary - in its sound. I slowly retraced my morning’s walk. And as I - passed out at the portal of the cloisters, the door, closing - with a jarring noise behind me, filled the whole building with - echoes. - - -=Punctuation for Emphasis.=—Below are given three ways of punctuating the -same words. We may suppose the same words to be used by three different -generals. - -1. General A. twirled his moustache, and spoke softly, in his calm, -unruffled way, as if he were explaining a mathematical problem to a -cadet; he said to the soldier, “You are a coward: you shrink, you dodge, -you hide, you run away when the danger comes.” He spoke meditatively, and -with a little drawl, letting his voice rise at each pause. - -2. General B. looked at the soldier steadily, and said in a sharp, -decided tone: “You are a coward: you shrink; you dodge; you hide; you run -away when the danger comes.” - -3. General C. sprang up from his camp-stool, angry and indignant. He -spoke explosively and incoherently. “You are a coward! You shrink. You -dodge. You hide. You run away when the danger comes.” - -Evidently the punctuation here is largely dependent on the different -states of mind. A calm, logical attitude is reflected in the nice -distinctions conveyed by the colon and comma. An excited mood -over-emphasizes each detail, and makes it a sentence. There is sometimes -need of indignant emphasis on each detail. Perhaps therefore the strict -unity of the sentence may sometimes be sacrificed for the sake of -emphasis. Such a sacrifice however should very rarely be made. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Consider the following paragraph as a whole, and -decide whether the sentences represent the main factors of the -paragraph-thought. If you agree that “the song of a young girl’s voice” -is as important in the paragraph as several of the other songs put -together, how can this importance be indicated by punctuation? - - The first thing which Tom saw was the black cedars, high and - sharp against the rosy dawn. And St. Brandan’s Isle reflected - double in the still broad silver sea. The wind sung softly in - the cedars, and the water sung among the caves. The sea-birds - sung as they streamed out into the ocean, and the land-birds as - they built among the boughs. And the air was so full of song - that it stirred St. Brandan and his hermits, as they slumbered - in the shade. And they moved their good old lips, and sung - their good old hymn amid their dreams. But among all the songs - one came across the water more sweet and clear than all, for it - was the song of a young girl’s voice. - - -=Theme.=—Write a paragraph of four sentences on one of the following -subjects. Let the first sentence be a general statement. Then let each of -three compound sentences group together details, and so explain the first. - - 1. The three parts of a tree, and their characteristics. - 2. The three parts of my town. - 3. A picture I like: its background, its figures, its coloring. - 4. The lunch-room. - 5. A sleeping-car: the car itself, the travellers, the porter. - 6. Uses of a jack-knife: legitimate, illegitimate, doubtful. - 7. Three men representing three kinds of true Americanism. - 8. Three great men, typically English. - 9. Three great men, typically Roman. - 10. Three types of philanthropist. - 11. Three kinds of coward. - 12. Three kinds of hero. - 13. Three noble American women. - 14. Three women who write stories. - - -=Written Exercise.=—In the seventeenth century there were many authors -whose minds were full of Latin models. These writers tried to build up -in English, an uninflected language, sentences as complex as those of -Cicero. They tried to make the sentence do the work of the paragraph. How -utterly they failed may be seen in the following passages from Defoe and -Lord Clarendon. Considering each selection as a paragraph, rewrite with -reference to unity of substance in the sentence. - - 1. There is one thing more remarkable in this parish, and it - is this: twenty-six sheets of lead, hanging all together, - were blown off from the middle isle of our church, and were - carried over the north isle, which is a very large one, without - touching it; and into the churchyard ten yards’ distance from - the church; and they were took up all joined together as they - were on the roof; the plumber told me that the sheets weighed - each three hundred and a half, one with another. This is what - is most observable in our parish: but I shall give you an - account of one thing (which perhaps you may have from other - hands) that happened in another, called Kingscote, a little - village about three miles from Tedbury, and seven from us: - where William Kingscote, Esq., has many woods; among which was - one grove of very tall trees, being each near eighty foot high; - the which he greatly valued for the tallness and prospect of - them, and therefore resolved never to cut them down: but it - so happened, that six hundred of them, within the compass of - five acres were wholly blown down; (and supposed to be much at - the same time) each tree tearing up the ground with its root; - so that the roots of most of the trees, with the turf and - earth about them, stood up at least fifteen or sixteen foot - high; the lying down of which trees is an amazing sight to all - beholders.—_Defoe._ - - 2. It is true, that as he[20] was of a most incomparable - gentleness, application, and even submission to good and - worthy and entire men, so he was naturally (which could not - be more evident in his place, which objected him to another - conversation and intermixture than his own election would have - done) _adversus malos injucundus_; and was so ill a dissembler - of his dislike and disinclination to ill men, that it was not - possible for such not to discern it. There was once, in the - House of Commons, such a declared acceptation of the good - service an eminent member had done to them, and, as they said, - to the whole kingdom, that it was moved, he being present, - “That the speaker might, in the name of the whole house, give - him thanks, and then that every member might, as a testimony - of his particular acknowledgment, stir or move his hat towards - him;” the which (though not ordered) when very many did, the - lord Falkland (who believed the service itself not to be of - that moment, and that an honourable and generous person could - not have stooped to it for any recompence) instead of moving - his hat, stretched both his arms out, and clasped his hands - together upon the crown of his hat, and held it close down to - his head; that all men might see, how odious that flattery was - to him, and that very approbation of the person, though at the - same time most popular.—_Clarendon._ - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the paragraphs by Hawthorne (p. 106), Macaulay, -Webster, Huxley (pp. 107-8) to see whether the sentences are units in -substance. Note also the different effects produced by long and short -sentences. - - -=III. A. Unity of Substance by Keeping to the Point.=—In a hastily -written manuscript will often be found unlike ideas joined together in -one sentence. Some persons are worse than others in this matter, but -everybody, in composing rapidly, is liable to the fault. It is amusingly -easy to fly off at a tangent, if the parts of the paragraph have not -been properly thought out. The mind often works erratically; it is -pursuing a given idea when some word used suggests a different line of -thinking and the train is switched off its track. - -Cardinal Newman once wrote a burlesque of this scatter-brained kind -of writing. He pretends that the lad is writing a theme on the topic, -“Fortune favors the brave.” In the midst of it the boy says:— - - Napoleon, too, shows us how little we can rely on fortune; - but his faults, great as they were, are being redeemed by his - nephew, Louis Napoleon, who has shown himself very different - from what was expected, though he has never explained how - he came to swear to the constitution, and then mounted the - imperial throne. - -Here the writer has not committed the comma fault; he has not begun an -independent sentence after a comma. But he has set down ideas irrelevant -to the sentence, and, in this case, irrelevant even to the theme. - -This lack of unity often arises from putting down, as the sentence -proceeds, the details that occur parenthetically to the writer; he -empties his mind upon the paper. Thus:— - - My aunt happened to notice, as she stood looking into the glass - and thinking how pretty she was, for she was really pretty for - one so old, that the eyes of a portrait or one of the eyes was - moving, for my aunt had a large picture of my uncle in her room - in her country-house, which was in Derbyshire. - - -=B.= Many a sentence which ends in an irrelevant clause can be made to -show unity by the insertion of some intermediate link that occurred in -the mind but was overlooked in the writing. “Johnson wrote political -articles, and took care that the Whigs did not get the best of it,” -becomes a unit if we supply a few words: “Johnson wrote political -articles, _and in those which referred to parliamentary debates_ took -care that the Whigs did not get the best of it.” In other words, a -sentence must not merely include the _expressed_ parts of a main thought, -as in the second kind of unity of substance; it must _express_ every part -of the main thought. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Trim the following sentences into shape, so that each -shall be a unit. If necessary, divide the sentence. - -1. He was young; but his foolishness stood him in good stead. - -2. The cholera in Egypt is assuming a more loathsome form, among the dead -being Major Roddy Owen, the famous Uganda explorer. - -3. The delegates, wearied by the excitement of the past week, have -hurried to their homes, a few remaining for all the business men have -been making unusual displays in spite of the hard times. - -4. The new light is placed upon a gas-jet, which supplies the gas to a -curious film, which is made of some chemically prepared substance that -becomes incandescent, not having to be changed oftener than twice a year, -if you are careful with it. - -5. The electric lights, which are of the Edison pattern, are not burned -later than six o’clock. They are more convenient than gas, and they come -packed in straw. - - -=Oral Exercise, in Review.=—Decide whether the following sentences are -units or not. Indicate which form of sentence unity each has or lacks. -Suggest improvements. - -1. In the midst of life we are in death, and it has been said that the -tariff is a tax. - -2. Jesu! Jesu! Dead!—he drew a good bow;—and dead!—he shot a fine -shoot:—John of Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on his -head.—_2 Henry IV._, Act III., Sc. 2, l. 48. - -3. He had one claw knobbed and the other jagged; and Tom delighted in -watching him hold on to the sea-weed with his knobbed claw, while he cut -up salads with his jagged one, and then put them into his mouth, after -smelling at them, like a monkey, and always the little barnacles threw -out their casting nets and swept the water, and came in for their share -of whatever there was for dinner. - -4. We were now thoroughly broken down, but the intense excitement of the -time denied us repose, and after a unique slumber of some three or four -hours’ duration, we arose, as if by preconcert, to make examination of -our treasure. - -5. Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt [partly-gilt] goblet, -sitting in my Dolphin-chamber, at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, -upon Wednesday in Whitsun week, when the prince broke thy head for -likening his father to a singing man of Windsor; thou didst swear to me -then, as I was washing thy wound, to marry me, and make me my lady thy -wife.—_2 Henry IV._, Act II., Sc. 1, l. 94. - -6. There was something in the tone of this note which gave me great -uneasiness. Its whole style differed materially from that of Legrand; -what could he be dreaming of? what new crotchet possessed his excitable -brain? what “business of the highest importance” could _he_ possibly have -to transact? Jupiter’s account of him boded no good; I dreaded lest the -continued pressure of misfortune had, at length, fairly unsettled the -reason of my friend; without a moment’s hesitation, therefore, I prepared -to accompany the negro. - -7. And in that country is an old castle, that stands upon a rock, the -which is cleped the Castle of the sparrowhawk, that is beyond the city -of Layas, beside the town of Parsipee, that belongeth to the lordship of -Cruk; that[21] is a rich lord and a good Christian man; where men find -a sparrowhawk upon a perch right fair, and right well made; and a fair -Lady of Fayryre, that keepeth it.—_Mandeville._ - -8. And thus will the city have more lights on the subject, and what will -be a gain in lighting to the city will be a greater loss in cash, and the -city’s loss will be the Water Works company’s gain, and we are glad of it -so far as the company is concerned, for the company was put off and were -refused a renewal of its contract with the city at terms that were most -reasonable, and the company will also make up for lost time now in good -shape. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES - - -A sentence may be said to be well-knit if it stands the following -tests. It must have unity of form; freedom from excessive looseness; a -due amount of emphasis; and climax, if climax is required. All these -technical terms need explanation. - - -=Unity of Form.=—To be a unit of form, a sentence must place subordinate -thoughts in subordinate clauses, and must keep one coherent structure -throughout. - - -=Subordination of Clauses.=—In the early years of a language, before it -has been used to express philosophy and science, the structure of the -sentences is loose and simple; it sounds like the speech of a child. Here -is a passage from a book which appeared about 1370, as the _Voyage and -Travels of Sir John Mandeville_. There is some doubt whether or not there -was really a Sir John; but these Travels are very interesting and curious -reading. - - And some men say that in the Isle of Lango is yet the daughter - of Hippocrates, in form and likeness of a great dragon, that - is a hundred fathom of length, as men say: for I have not seen - her. And they of the Isles call her, Lady of the Land. And - she lieth in an old castle, in a cave, and sheweth twice or - thrice in the year. And she doth no harm to no man, but if men - do her harm. And she was thus changed and transformed, from - a fair damsel, into likeness of a dragon, by a goddess, that - was cleped Diana. And men say, that she shall so endure in - that form of a dragon, unto the time that a knight come, that - is so hardy, that dare come to her and kiss her on the mouth: - and then shall she turn again to her own kind, and be a woman - again. But after that she shall not live long. - -Though much of the naïve, childlike quality of this passage is due to -the archaic phraseology, much also is due to the use of _and_ and _but_ -instead of other conjunctions. - -In certain kinds of writing it is natural enough that ideas should be -strung together with _and_’s. Thus: “It rained, and hailed, and blew, -and snowed, and froze, and they became weary of winter.” But suppose -that they did not weary of winter. The sentence then would run, “Though -it rained, and hailed, and snowed, and froze, they did not become weary -of winter.” Here we have ceased the mere enumeration of things that -happened, one after the other, and have stated a process of reasoning. -The result is a complex sentence. The ability to construct good complex -sentences means ability to do careful thinking. - -In every complex sentence there is some one _proposition_ that ought to -stand out, with the high light upon it. This is the thing we most wish -to say; to change the comparison, it is the heart of the sentence. If -the other parts can be made subordinate to it, the strongest kind of -sentence unity is secured. In the sentence, “It rained; it snowed; it -hailed; they did not weary of winter,” all the assertions are stated as -equally important. But, clearly enough, the last one is the kernel of the -sentence. Therefore the preceding clauses ought to be reduced to their -proper rank by being made dependent. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the following compound sentences, to decide -whether or not there is in each some important thought to which the -others ought to have been subordinated. Then improve the unity by -reducing the subordinate ideas to dependent clauses having a participle, -or a relative adverb like _when_. - -1. Love is blind; it is not for want of eyes. - -2. The soldiers were perhaps somewhat sleepy with the sultriness of the -afternoon; they had now laid by much of their vigilance. - -3. I spied an honest fellow coming along a lane, and asked him if he had -ever heard of a house called the house of Shaws. - -4. The next person I came across was a dapper little man in a beautiful -white wig; I knew well that barbers were great gossips, and I asked him -plainly what kind of a man was Mr. Balfour of the Shaws. - -5. In these days folk still believed in witches and trembled at a curse; -and this curse fell pat, like a wayside omen, to arrest me; it took the -pith out of my legs. - -6. I was called in at last; my uncle counted out into my hand seven and -thirty golden guinea pieces. - -7. I had come close to one of the turns in the stair; I felt my way as -usual; my hand slipped upon an edge and found nothing but emptiness -beyond it. - -8. I returned to the kitchen; I made up such a blaze as had not shone -there for many a long year; I wrapped myself in my plaid; I lay down upon -the chests and fell asleep. - - -=The So Construction.=—The conjunction _so_ is a useful word, and the -learner prefers it to its synonyms, _therefore_ and _consequently_, -because it is simpler, less formal than either. But in a narrative which -is liberally besprinkled with _so_’s the reader feels that the simplicity -is overdone. Here is an extreme example. - - A short time afterward my uncle died; so my aunt went to her - country-house in Derbyshire. She did not wish to be alone in - the country; so she took her servants. When they got there they - found the house very lonely; so the maids did not want to stay, - but they did. - -Examine the sentences just quoted, and show the relations between the -clauses by other devices than the use of _so_. - -_So_, as a conjunction, should be employed very sparingly. When it is -employed, it should usually be preceded by _a semicolon rather than a -comma_. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—A careful writer is known by his use of conjunctions: he -does not use _and_ unless the clauses joined are co-ordinate; nor _but_ -unless there is a real opposition; nor a given subordinate conjunction -unless it is actually required by logic. In the subjoined selections from -Ruskin the original conjunctions have been changed to those in italics. -Find better expressions for those italicized. - - 1. In employing all the muscular power at our disposal we - are to make the employments we choose as educational as - possible. _Consequently_ a wholesome human employment is - the first and best method of education, mental as well as - bodily. A man taught to plough, row, or steer well, _moreover_ - a woman taught to cook properly, and make a dress neatly, - are already educated in many essential moral habits. Labour - considered as a discipline has hitherto been thought of only - for criminals, _therefore_ the real and noblest function of - labour is to prevent crime, _but_ not to be _Re_formatory, but - Formatory.—RUSKIN. - - 2. We must spend our money in some way, at some time, - _accordingly_ it cannot at any time be spent without employing - somebody. _While_ we gamble it away, the person who wins it - must spend it; _while_ we lose it in a railroad speculation, - it has gone into some one else’s pockets, or merely gone to - pay navvies for making a useless embankment, _but not_ to pay - riband or button makers for making useless ribands or buttons; - we cannot lose it (unless by actually destroying it) _and not - give_ employment of some kind; _nevertheless_ whatever quantity - of money exists, the relative quantity of employment must some - day come out of it; _and_ the distress of the nation signifies - that the employments given have produced nothing that will - support its existence. Men cannot live on ribands, or buttons, - or velvet, or by going quickly from place to place; _but_ every - coin spent in useless ornament, or useless motion, is so much - withdrawn from the national means of life.—RUSKIN. - - -=One Coherent Structure.=—We have seen that to be well-knit a sentence -must have that unity of form which gives every thought its proper -clause-rank. It must also be uniform in structure. There should be no -sudden, unnecessary change in subject, or in the form of the verb. -Sometimes a sentence is pulled about by the mind as a child by a cross -nurse. It begins in the active voice, it is twitched aside into the -passive. It begins as the act of one person, it ends as that of another. -Even so admirable a writer as John Fiske has this sentence: “But Howe -could not bear to acknowledge the defeat of his attempts to storm, and -accordingly, at five o’clock, with genuine British persistency, a third -attack was ordered.” This “British persistency” is evidently Howe’s. -Why not give him full credit for it, thus?—“But Howe could not bear to -acknowledge the defeat of his attempts to storm, and accordingly, at five -o’clock, with genuine British persistency he ordered a third attack.” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Change the following sentences so that each shall have -unity of form. - -1. A blue pencil? there is nothing so easy for an editor to manage, so -unmistakable in reading, so wholly impressive to a contributor when he -sees it. - -2. Tom and East became good friends, and the tyranny of a certain -insolent fellow was sturdily resisted by them together. - -3. You will see no sudden jerks of the _St. Ambrose_ rudder, nor will any -clumsy rounding of a point be seen. - -4. Miller, motionless till now, lifts his right hand and the tassel is -whirled round his head. - -5. Thorold had just read the account of John Inglesant’s vision of the -dead King Charles. He disliked the idea of spending the night in the old -country house, and still more to go through the tapestried chamber; but -it was immediately determined by him that such an invitation must not be -refused. - - -=The Loose Sentence.=—The passage given at the beginning of the chapter, -from Mandeville, is written in what are called loose sentences. _Loose_ -as applied to a sentence, does not necessarily mean that the sentence is -bad,—that it is rambling or disjointed. A loose sentence is one in which -an independent statement comes first, followed by others, dependent or -independent. Example: “And some men say that in the Isle of Lango is yet -the daughter of Hippocrates, in form and likeness of a great dragon, that -is a hundred fathom of length, as men say: for I have not seen her.” In -this sentence comes first a proposition,—“And some men say,” followed by -several subordinate clauses, and by one independent clause,—“for I have -not seen her.” The test of a loose sentence is a grammatical one: the -sentence can be closed at some point before the end, without hurting the -grammatical structure. At what places in the sentence just quoted is the -grammatical structure complete? - -The loose sentence is used freely in conversation. The speaker gives his -main idea first, and qualifies it afterward. Therefore the legitimate -effect of the loose sentence is to lend an air of simplicity, a -colloquial air, to the style. The danger is that it may become a mere -sequence of clauses, that dangle insecurely, each from the preceding, -like needles hanging from a magnet. Avoid long loose sentences. - -Examine the sentence by Defoe, p. 89. It is a fine example of what a -loose sentence should not be. - - -=The Periodic Sentence.=—In the sentence, “A short time afterward my -uncle died; so my aunt went to her country-house in Derbyshire,” the -grammatical structure is complete at “died.” But if the two clauses -be welded together by _because_, they will no longer be grammatically -free. Thus: “_Because my uncle died shortly afterward, my aunt went to -her country-house in Derbyshire._” This sentence is periodic in form. A -periodic sentence is a complex sentence in which the modifiers of the -verb precede the verb. The effect of this structure is to delay the -main idea of the sentence until the last.[22] Obviously, if too many -subordinate ideas occur before the main one, the mind of the reader will -weary with the tension of expectation. Short periodic sentences however -are extremely effective in arousing the reader’s attention and holding -it till the important idea is stated. It is plain that good periodic -structure is highly conducive to unity in the sentence: each subordinate -idea is held in its proper place of subordination till the main idea is -stated, and on the reader is flashed a pleasant sense that the structure -has grown naturally into one complete whole. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the oral exercise on pages 98, 99, and say which -sentences were made periodic in the effort to improve their unity. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Below are given some good periodic sentences.[23] Give -equivalent loose sentences. Decide whether or not the loose are better -than the periodic. - -1. At this moment a large, comfortable white house, that had been -heretofore hidden by green trees, came into view. - - [Changed, this might read: “A large, comfortable white house - had been heretofore hidden by green trees; it came into view at - this moment.”] - -2. Off went Timothy’s hat. - -3. And it was to this household that Timothy had brought his child for -adoption. - -4. Gay, not being used to a regular morning toilet, had fought against it -valiantly at first. - -5. If you care to feel a warm glow in the region of your heart, imagine -little Timothy Jessup sent to play in that garden. - -6. Yet of an evening, or on Sunday, she was no village gossip. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—The following passage, from Hawthorne, is written in -excellent loose sentences. Change to periodic all of them that can be so -changed without hurting the ease of structure. Whatever else it be, a -periodic sentence should never be strained or unnatural. - - Then Theseus bent himself in good earnest to the task, and - strained every sinew with manly strength and resolution. He put - his whole brave heart into the effort. He wrestled with the big - and sluggish stone as if it had been a living enemy. He heaved, - he lifted, he resolved now to succeed, or else to perish there, - and let the rock be his monument forever! Æthra stood gazing at - him, and clasped her hands, partly with a mother’s pride, and - partly with a mother’s sorrow. The great rock stirred! Yes, it - was raised slowly from the bedded moss and earth, uprooting the - shrubs and flowers along with it, and was turned upon its side. - Theseus had conquered! - - -=Inappropriate Periodicity.=—It is foolish to use an elaborate suspended -structure when a very simple thought or a very rapid narrative is to -be given. Note the pomposity of the following sentences. Remove it by -changing the structure. - -“Three summers ago, to rejoin my family in northern Michigan, I left the -city. On a little peninsula which juts out into Lake Michigan, a group of -houses, dignified by the name of Edgewood, stands. Undistracted by the -bustle of hotel life, a few sensible people live here. To get away from -town for a few days and lounge in the pine woods about Edgewood, to me is -always very pleasant.” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the following sentences one by one, and say -whether each is (_a_) wholly periodic, (_b_) wholly loose, or (_c_) -partly loose and partly periodic. When the last is the case, show at what -point the change of structure occurs. - - 1. He who walks in the way these following ballads point - will be manful in necessary fight, fair in trade, loyal in - love, generous to the poor, tender in the household, prudent - in living, plain in speech, merry upon occasion, simple in - behavior, and honest in all things.—LANIER. - - 2. While Johnson was busied with his _Idlers_, his mother, - who had accomplished her ninetieth year, died at Lichfield. - It was long since he had seen her; but he had not failed to - contribute largely, out of his small means, to her comfort. In - order to defray the charges of her funeral, and to pay some - debts which she had left, he wrote a little book in a single - week, and sent off the sheets to the press without reading them - over. A hundred pounds were paid him for the copyright; and the - purchasers had great cause to be pleased with their bargain, - for the book was “Rasselas.”—MACAULAY: _Life of Johnson_. - - 3. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever - things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever - things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever - things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there - be any praise, think on these things.—_Philippians._ - - 4. “Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is weak; - it is in your hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights - in the literary horizon of our country. You may put it out. - But, if you do so, you must carry through your work! You must - extinguish, one after another, all those greater lights of - science which, for more than a century, have thrown their - radiance over our land! It is, Sir, as I have said, a small - college. And yet there are those who love it.”—WEBSTER. - - 5. Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections; let me indulge - in refreshing remembrance of the past; let me remind you that, - in early times, no States cherished greater harmony, both of - principle and feeling, than Massachusetts and South Carolina. - Would to God that harmony might again return! Shoulder to - shoulder they went through the Revolution; hand in hand they - stood round the administration of Washington, and felt his - own great arm lean on them for support. Unkind feeling, if it - exist, alienation and distrust, are the growth, unnatural to - such soils, of false principles since sown. They are weeds, the - seeds of which that same great arm never scattered.—WEBSTER. - - 6. That man, I think, has had a liberal education, who has been - so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his - will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a - mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, - logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in - smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned - to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge - the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge - of the great and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws - of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life - and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by - a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has - learned to love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to - hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself.—HUXLEY. - - 7. If then the power of speech is a gift as great as any that - can be named,—if the origin of language is by many philosophers - even considered to be nothing short of divine,—if by means - of words the secrets of the heart are brought to light, pain - of soul is relieved, hidden grief is carried off, sympathy - conveyed, counsel imparted, experience recorded, and wisdom - perpetuated,—if by great authors the many are drawn up into - unity, national character is fixed, a people speaks, the - past and the future, the East and the West are brought into - communication with each other,—if such men are, in a word, - the spokesmen and prophets of the human family,—it will not - answer to make light of Literature or to neglect its study; - rather we may be sure that, in proportion as we master it in - whatever language, and imbibe its spirit, we shall ourselves - become in our own measure the ministers of like benefits to - others, be they many or few, be they in the obscurer or - the more distinguished walks of life,—who are united to us - by social ties, and are within the sphere of our personal - influence.—CARDINAL NEWMAN.[24] - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Each of the passages given above should be read aloud as -a whole, to get the effects produced by the different types of sentence. -In the first passage note that the first clause arouses interest by the -periodic structure. So do the first and third sentences in the second -passage; but the third and fourth—loose—have a fine simplicity that -adds to the weight of their subject matter. The third passage moves up -steadily to an impressive point,—the word _think_. The fourth passage -is extremely direct and earnest. Webster is pleading for his _Alma -Mater_, Dartmouth; is making an appeal, straight from his heart. Almost -choked with emotion, he has no desire to frame periodic sentences and -nicely subordinated clauses. In the fifth passage he is perhaps equally -direct; but he is master of himself, and his sentences are somewhat -more elaborate. In the sixth passage, Huxley gets a steadily increasing -strength of thought, but not of structure. Cardinal Newman, on the other -hand, builds up his period with superb suspense both of form and thought. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Change the sentence by Huxley into the periodic form. -This can be done by changing the order of clauses, and beginning each -subordinate clause with _if_, or with _suppose_, or with a relative. - - -=Emphasis in the Sentence.=—A sentence cannot be called well-knit if it -does not succeed in calling most attention to the most important idea. We -have seen already how important it is to put the unimportant parts of the -sentence into subordinate clauses. How may further emphasis be had? - -The beginning and the end of the sentence are the most prominent places. -Important words should usually stand in these places. Rarely should these -points be covered up with trivial expressions. Compare two sentences. “As -a matter of fact, it is bread, rather than advice, that people actually -need, in this city.” “Bread it is, rather than advice, that, in this -city, people actually need.” - -Attention can always be called to a word by placing it out of the -ordinary, commonplace order. The _inverted_ order, where verb precedes -the noun, or predicate adjective precedes the verb, frequently permits -emphasis to be put just where it is wanted. The oft-quoted example is as -good a one as can be found: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” How much -better it is, how much _greater_ the cry is than, “Diana of the Ephesians -is great!” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Which of the following sentences from Ruskin begin and -end with words that deserve distinction?[25] - -“For all books are divisible into two classes,—the books of the hour, and -the books of all time. Mark this distinction; it is not one of quality -only. It is not merely the bad book that does not last, and the good one -that does; it is a distinction of species. There are good books for the -hour, and good ones for all time; bad books for the hour, and bad ones -for all time. I must define the two kinds before I go farther.” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Change the order of words in the following sentences so -as to throw more emphasis on the italicized words. Avoid infringement of -English idiom in making the changes. - -1. It is _courage_ that wins. - -2. Never say _die_, under any circumstances. - -3. Yet he stood _beautiful and bright_, as born to rule the storm. - -4. A rascal, _nothing more or less_, he was. - -5. Gilpin went _away_, and the post boy went _away_. - -6. The English child is _white as an angel_. - -7. - - When wild northwesters rave _on stormy nights_ - With wind and wave _how proud a thing_ to fight. - -8. What a piece of work _man_ is! - -9. Trafalgar lay, full in face, _bluish_ mid the burning water. - -10. He repeatedly pronounced _these words_, and they were the last which -he uttered. - -11. The king said, “_Alas_, help me from hence.” - -12. Man is _the paragon of animals_, the beauty of the world. - -13. What a place an old _library_ is to be in. It seems as though all -the souls of all the writers that have bequeathed their labors to these -Bodleians, as in some _middle state_ or dormitory, were reposing here. I -do not want to handle, to profane their _winding sheet_, the leaves. I -could a _shade_ as soon dislodge. - - -=Climax.=—The principle of climax demands that in a series of related -terms the weaker degree should precede the stronger. Southey says of -Lord Nelson’s being permitted to live to hear the news of his great -victory: “That consolation, that joy, that triumph, was afforded him.” -By these three nouns the reader ascends, as if by a ladder—climax is -merely Greek for ladder. Endeavor to discover the original order in which -the following sentences were written to secure climax. Changing them by -slight omissions, weave them together into two sentences. - -“The most triumphant death is that of the martyr. The most splendid -death is that of the hero in the hour of victory. If the chariot and the -horses of fire had been vouchsafed for Nelson’s translation, he could -scarcely have departed in a brighter blaze of glory. The most awful death -is that of the martyred patriot. He has left us, not indeed his mantle of -inspiration, but an example which will continue to be our shield and our -strength, and a name which is our pride—an example and a name which are -at this hour inspiring hundreds of the youth of England.” - -Which of the sentences quoted on pages 107, 108, have climax of thought? - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -ON ORGANIZING THE THEME - - -=Different Ways of Planning.=—There are various kinds of -composition,—description, narration, argument, and others. These will -be treated one by one in later chapters. Each kind has laws of its -own. Each has its own vocabulary, which may well be studied apart -from other vocabularies. So, too, each type calls for special methods -of organization. For the present, only a few principles of planning, -applicable to all types alike, need be considered. - - -=The Growth of a Thought.=—When a thought is first conceived, it is -always misty, dim, nebulous.[26] When we speak of having a “general -notion,” a “vague notion,” we usually mean that a thought is just -beginning. If it receives attention, it emerges from the nebulous -condition and forms into several definite thoughts. Or, to change the -figure, it grows and branches. Suppose that the mind awakes to the vague -notion that the room is getting cold. _Cold_ is the undeveloped root -from which may presently branch off such thoughts as these: “Yes, it is -really cold. In fact, I feel cold all over. My hands are blue, and I am -shivering. Besides, Horace over there is standing with his back to the -radiator, and so he too must be cold.” The thought has grown into several -sentences. _Cold_ branched into _I am cold all over_, and this also sent -off two shoots—_My hands are blue, and I am shivering._ Then the mind -stopped this line of branching, and out from the stock sprang a new -branch: _Horace is standing with his back to the radiator_; and then this -sends off the branch _and so he too must be cold_. Try to draw a picture -to represent the process that has gone on. - -Now, the whole growth of a thought—stock and branches—can sometimes be -expressed within the limits of one grammatical sentence. If there are too -many thoughts for this, they are put into separate sentences, and the -whole is called a miniature composition, or isolated paragraph. - -Exactly as a paragraph grows, so a long composition may grow out of one -vague idea. Some ideas have in them only enough matter to be developed -into a paragraph. Others are germs from which whole books might grow. -“That apple looks good” would probably develop into a short paragraph; -but, “it is strange that that apple should fall to the earth instead of -away from it” might blossom into a great system of natural philosophy. -If a nebulous idea has in it the making of a long theme, it will develop -into main parts if the attention be fixed keenly upon it. These are -paragraph nebulæ, which will subdivide into sentences. Or, to vary the -figure, the main thought will send out main branches (paragraphs) which -will send off lesser ones (sentences). - - -=Unity.=—Although thought grows, one must keep in mind that it does not -always grow to fruit unless it is trained and pruned. Thought loves -to branch, and unless restrained by a stern sense of logic, it will -often end in a mere tangle of superfluous twigs and leaves. To speak -less figuratively, every writer is in danger of setting down matters -suggested by the subject in hand but not logically related to it. This -is as true of a large piece of work as of a sentence (compare page -90). Every theme, like every sentence, should have unity. It should be -the development of one idea—a large, complex idea, if you please, but, -nevertheless, one. No matter how long or how short the whole, it must -all concern the different phases of one thing or one thought. It should -grow naturally from one germ. Every part in it should bear on the central -idea of the whole—so that, after reading any given sentence, the reader -can see a real connection between title and sentence. A well-organized -composition cannot spare any part; each is essential to its life. Milton -said, “Almost as well kill a man as kill a good book”; and we may adapt -this idea to the structure of the theme. A good composition is so well -organized that if you cut it anywhere it will bleed. - - -=Planning a Paragraph.=—Before writing a paragraph, try to think out the -whole of it. Let the thought grow in the mind before you let it grow on -paper. This method will afford a chance to review the whole mentally and -to determine whether the thoughts follow each other logically. - - -=The Topic Sentence.=—When an after-dinner speaker rises to respond to a -toast, he generally announces his topic at once, or after a sentence or -two of introduction. He is very likely also to announce at once his chief -thought about the subject; for he knows that people like to hear him come -to the point. If however he has reason to think that his hearers may not -agree with him immediately, he is likely to state his subject first, and -then lead up gradually to his own conclusion about it. - -We naturally follow some such course in writing. With each paragraph we -begin a new speech, as it were. It is a matter both of courtesy and of -economy if in each we state definitely what we are talking about. The -topic sentence of a paragraph ordinarily states the general _subject_, or -else declares the general _thought_, i.e. _conclusion_, of the whole. It -is generally short, because emphatic. - -The following paragraph shows its general _subject_ in the opening -sentence. - - A Tree-Planting Association has been organized in New York - City. The Association will be organized with twelve or more - members on a block, who will form a local club under the - Association. A tree-planting association may, in this city, - fail to plant trees, but it certainly will encourage the - planting of window boxes, the fencing of unused lots, the - painting of fences to the exclusion of posters, and the general - care of the public street. Back yards will assume some relation - to the general good of the community, and trees, vines, and - flowers will find place in them. The children will be taught to - care for the appearance of the block, and chalk-marks and other - defacements will soon disappear, because of new-born civic - pride.—_The Outlook._ - -In the following paragraph, Macaulay does not state his topic till the -second sentence. The first is a general remark by way of introduction. - - One of the first objects of an inquirer, who wishes to form a - correct notion of the state of a community at a given time, - must be to ascertain of how many persons that community - then consisted. _Unfortunately the population of England in - 1685, cannot be ascertained with perfect accuracy._ For no - great state had then adopted the wise course of periodically - numbering the people. All men were left to conjecture for - themselves; and, as they generally conjectured without - examining facts, and under the influence of strong passions - and prejudices, their guesses were often ludicrously absurd. - Even intelligent Londoners ordinarily talked of London as - containing several millions of souls. It was confidently - asserted by many that, during the thirty-five years which had - elapsed between the accession of Charles the First and the - Restoration, the population of the City had increased by two - millions. Even while the ravages of the plague and fire were - recent, it was the fashion to say that the capital still had a - million and a half of inhabitants. Some persons, disgusted by - these exaggerations, ran violently into the opposite extreme. - Thus Isaac Vossius, a man of undoubted parts and learning, - strenuously maintained that there were only two millions - of human beings in England, Scotland, and Ireland taken - together.—MACAULAY: _History of England, Chapter III_. - -In the following paragraph, the topic sentence states the general -_thought_ of the whole. - - The appetite of this fish is almost insatiable. Mr. Jesse - threw to one pike of five pounds’ weight, four roach, each - about four inches in length, which it devoured instantly, and - swallowed[27] a fifth within a quarter of an hour. Moor-hens, - ducks, and even swans have been known to fall a prey to this - voracious fish, its long teeth effectually keeping them - prisoners under water until drowned.—DR. J. G. WOOD. - -The following paragraph states in the topic sentence the general -_subject_, in the last sentence the _general thought_, which has grown -out of the subject. - - Two years ago the Boston School Board encouraged the - establishment of cheap luncheons in the schools. Up to the - present time this has been considered an experiment. It is now - conceded that the experimental stage is passed, and that cheap, - nutritious school luncheons can successfully be provided, and - are in demand. - -The following shows how the first sentence of a paragraph may be made to -include the general topic. - - I cite as an instance of _the absence of vandalism in Japan_ - the experience of a Japanese friend of mine who lived on a - street near and parallel to the busiest street in Tokio. He - had placed in his front gate, bordering immediately upon the - sidewalk, an exquisite panel carved in delicate tracery and - nearly two hundred years old. Such a specimen would be placed - in our Museums of Art under lock and key. On my expressing - surprise that he would expose so precious a relic without fear - that some heedless boy might break off a twig, or otherwise - deface it, he assured me it was quite as safe there as in - his library. Three years afterwards I chanced to be in Japan - again, and though my friend was dead, and a stranger occupied - the premises, I was led to seek the place to ascertain the - condition of the delicate wood-carving. It was absolutely - uninjured, though slightly bleached by the weather, and this in - the great commercial city of Tokio, with a population of over - one million.—EDWARD S. MORSE.[28] - - -=Kinds of Paragraphs.=—What can be said within the limits of a paragraph? -The same things that can be said in a sentence, but more fully. We -need to consider here only a few of these. The sentences may repeat -the substance of the topic sentence, adding something new. Or, if the -paragraph states the general conclusion first, the succeeding sentences -may give the needed particulars, or illustrations, or examples, or -proofs. Once more, the paragraph may open with the statement of a -_cause_, this being followed by the statement of a necessary _effect_. -Or, the paragraph as a whole may develop a _contrast_. Or, it may consist -of a group of sentences that narrate the particulars of some event, or -describe some scene. - -The following paragraph exhibits a single thought by repetition. - - A true critic must love the subject-matter of literature. He - must care for its message. The theme of the story, the thing - the author was trying to say, must not escape him. The form of - the thing is much, but the soul is more. - -The following gives a general thought first, then the particulars. - - That farm bore every manner of fruit known to the climate. - There were apples, a score of varieties, from the snow apple - that burned among the leaves, and when bitten revealed a flesh - so white that you kept biting it lest the juice should discolor - it, to the great cold autumn fruits that were resonant beneath - the snap of your finger. There were opulent pears, distilling - the golden sun into their bottles. There were plums, the kind - that succeed. Grapes there were, and quinces, and peaches,—the - last not so prolific as the apples, but a very worthy fruit. - -The following gives a general thought, repeats it, explains it, -illustrates it, and so defends it. - - If it were only for a vocabulary, the scholar would be covetous - of action. Life is our dictionary. Years are well spent - in country labors; in town; in the insight into trades and - manufactures; in frank intercourse with many men and women; in - science; in art; to the one end of mastering in all their facts - a language by which to illustrate and embody our perceptions. - I learn immediately from any speaker how much he has already - lived, through the poverty or the splendor of his speech. Life - lies behind us as the quarry from whence we get tiles and - copestones for the masonry of to-day. This is the way to learn - grammar. Colleges and books only copy the language which the - field and the work-yard made.—EMERSON. - -The following gives cause and effect:— - - The King could not see that there were two Englands—that of - himself and North, and that of Burke and Chatham. The result - was inevitable. A third England sprang up across the sea. - -The following sets up a quaint contrast. The passage is from Dr. -Johnson’s allegory on _Wit and Learning_:— - - Their conduct was, whenever they desired to recommend - themselves to distinction, entirely opposite. WIT was daring - and adventurous; LEARNING cautious and deliberate. WIT - thought nothing reproachful but dullness; LEARNING was afraid - of no imputation but that of error. WIT answered before he - understood, lest his quickness of apprehension should be - questioned; LEARNING paused, where there was no difficulty, - lest any insidious sophism should lie undiscovered. WIT - perplexed every debate by rapidity and confusion; LEARNING - tired the hearers with endless distinctions, and prolonged the - dispute without advantage, by proving that which never was - denied. WIT, in hopes of shining, would venture to produce - what he had not considered, and often succeeded beyond his - own expectation, by following the train of a lucky thought; - LEARNING would reject every new notion, for fear of being - entangled in consequences which she could not foresee, and was - often hindered, by her caution, from pressing her advantages, - and subduing her opponent. - - -=Oral Exercise.=[29]—Each of the following paragraphs had a topic -sentence stating a _cause_, which was then followed by a statement of the -_effect_. Frame a topic sentence for each, stating the _cause_. - -1. — — — — — — Consequently it is a good thing to apply pretty sharp -tests to whatever offers itself as the genuine thing. Often the great -schemes that men hatch for growing rich are nothing but pyrites. The acid -of sharp common sense corrodes and discolors them. - -2. — — — — — — — — — — — — Nothing worse could have befallen the man. -Being unused to the possession of wealth he ran through his millions in a -year. In 1876 his old friend Everard met him in the street and passed him -by as a beggar. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the following paragraphs of _explanation_, and -form a topic sentence for each. - -1. — — — — — — — — — — — In other words, hold to the good you have. Let -well enough alone. People lay great plans; they see the future through -rosy lenses; they build castles in Spain. But great plans that can’t be -carried out are of less value than small, practicable plans; the future -is never just what it promises to be; and as for castles in Spain, of -what value are they to owners who can neither rent nor inhabit them? - -2. — — — — — — — — — — — — — It is not, observe, a mere coating of snow -of given depth throughout, but it is snow loaded on until the rocks can -hold no more. The surplus does not fall in the winter, because, fastened -by continual frost, the quantity of snow which an Alp can carry is -greater than each single winter can bestow; it falls in the first mild -days of spring in enormous avalanches. Afterward the melting continues, -gradually removing from all the steep rocks the small quantity of snow -which was all they could hold, and leaving them black and bare among the -accumulated fields of unknown depth, which occupy the capacious valleys -and less inclined superficies of the mountain. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Analyze the following narrative paragraphs from Irving’s -_Sketch-Book_, endeavoring to discover what office each sentence performs -in the paragraph. - -“We had not been long home when the sound of music was heard from a -distance. A band of country lads, without coats, their shirt-sleeves -fancifully tied with ribbons, their hats decorated with greens, and -clubs in their hands, were seen advancing up the avenue, followed by a -large number of villagers and peasantry. They stopped before the hall -door, where the music struck up a peculiar air, and the lads performed a -curious and intricate dance, advancing, retreating, and striking their -clubs together, keeping exact time to the music; while one, whimsically -crowned with a fox’s skin, the tail of which flaunted down his back, kept -capering round the skirts of the dance, and rattling a Christmas-box with -many antic gesticulations.” - -“After the dance was concluded, the whole party was entertained with -brawn and beef and stout home-brewed. The ’Squire himself mingled among -the rustics, and was received with awkward demonstrations of deference -and regard. It is true, I perceived two or three of the younger peasants, -as they were raising their tankards to their mouths, when the ’Squire’s -back was turned, making something of a grimace, and giving each other the -wink; but the moment they caught my eye they pulled grave faces, and were -exceedingly demure. With Master Simon, however, they all seemed more at -their ease. His varied occupations and amusements had made him well known -throughout the neighborhood. He was a visitor at every farm-house and -cottage; gossiped with the farmers and their wives; romped with their -daughters; and, like that type of a vagrant bachelor, the humble-bee, -tolled the sweets from all the rosy lips of the country round.” - - -=Theme.=—Choose one of the following topic sentences, and develop the -idea coherently, by a succession of illustrations, of details, or of -particulars, into a paragraph of 150 words. - -1. The ghosts one hears of are not all alike. - -2. In some respects, athletics are dangerous. - -3. It was a dreary day. - -4. It was one of those mornings that stir the blood. - -5. There are battles with fate that can never be won. - -6. “A dog hath his day,” runs the old proverb. - -7. It is easy to enumerate the ways of getting a lesson. - -8. The race is not always to the swift. - -9. There are many instances of bravery in everyday life. - -10. Many phases of American life are illustrated in American short -stories. - - -=Theme.=—Choose one of the following topic sentences, and defend it by -giving reasons, proofs, to the extent of 150 or 200 words. - -1. On the whole, school athletics are a good thing. - -2. Vivisection is necessary to science. - -3. Vivisection is cruel and unnecessary. - -4. None but scientists are competent to decide whether or not vivisection -is necessary to science. - -5. If necessary to science, vivisection should be practised only when -necessary. - -6. A debating society is a help in education. - -7. The American Revolution is an uninteresting theme topic. - -8. The American Revolution is not an uninteresting theme topic. - -[Other sentences can easily be suggested by students or teacher.] - - -=Theme.=—Develop one of the following topic sentences into a paragraph of -_contrast_,—200 words. - -1. There is a difference between knowing a thing, and being able to tell -it. - -2. Outside the wild winds were rioting; within all was cheer. - -3. I saw an old man holding his granddaughter in his arms. - -4. I know two persons: one is a dreamer, the other a doer. - -5. Hawthorne [or some other writer] has two characters that are strong -foils to each other. - -6. I imagined what was going on in those two houses. - -7. Some men are always hopeful, some always in despair. - -8. I knew two men of very unlike abilities. - -9. I knew two persons of very unlike dispositions. - -10. The great choir presented fine contrasts in color of garments. - - -=Expansion of One Paragraph into Several.=—Let it be supposed that having -composed a theme of one paragraph, a student has been asked to develop -the subject at greater length; the paragraph has 85 words, and the -audience wants 200, or 225. What will be the right course? It is possible -to expand one paragraph of 85 words into one paragraph of 225 words. -But if the paragraph of 85 words has two or three distinct parts, it is -better to expand each into a new paragraph. - -Let it be imagined that Dr. Wood, the English naturalist, had written a -very short paragraph on the Crustacea; that it ran somewhat like this. - - THE CRUSTACEA - - The aquatic animals known as the Crustacea have no internal - skeleton, but are defended by a strong crust, made of a series - of rings. This unyielding armor, together with the coverings - of the eyes, the tendons of the claws, and the lining membrane - of the stomach, with its teeth, is cast off annually to permit - the growth of the body. The Crustacea possess the power of - reproducing a lost or original limb; and, indeed, if injured - the animal itself shakes off the injured joint. - -Suppose, now, that Dr. Wood found himself dissatisfied with these -somewhat cramped and overloaded sentences, and determined to rewrite, -making three paragraphs where he had formerly but one. In the new theme, -the main topics would be, as before: _Definition of Crustacea_; _Annual -shedding_; _Reproduction of Limbs_. Each would have a paragraph to -itself, where before it had but a sentence. All the sentences to be made -about the Definition would be set off by themselves as one main part of -the theme; all those about the Shedding would form a second; all those -about the New Limbs, a third. - -“Set off”;—that is, by _indentation_, or _indention_. This word means, “a -biting in,” or, more properly, “a biting out.” Where a new division of -the theme begins, the first line does not come up plumb to the straight -edge at the left; it is bitten into; it begins farther to the right than -do the other lines. In the printed book, the indentation is small—usually -the width of a letter _m_. But in a manuscript it is important for the -indentation to be absolutely unmistakable. Some persons keep so ragged -an edge at the left hand that it is impossible to know whether or not -they should be credited with understanding what a paragraph is. Indent -each new paragraph one or two inches. Bring every line of the paragraph, -_except the last_, up even with the right-hand margin; the last line may -be stopped anywhere, if the paragraph is complete in sense; often this -line has but a word or two. If at any time you inadvertently omit the -indentation, and have not time to copy, place a paragraph mark where the -new paragraph should begin; thus, ¶. - -A rough outline for Dr. Wood’s new paragraphs could now be made. The -topics being known, the number of sentences under each could be guessed -at. There is nothing in the original paragraph to show that Dr. Wood -ascribed especial importance to some one of the three topics. The third -is perhaps the least important. It may be estimated that in the completed -theme he would give about 80 words to each of the first two, and about 50 -to the third. The outline would be something like this, the full stops -representing those of the future theme. - - THE CRUSTACEA - - ¶ Crustacea are aquatic. No skeleton, but crust, which protects - and strengthens. Framework of rings; part develops into limbs. - Articulated animals. - - ¶ Curious way of growth. Other animals not inconvenienced - as they grow. Not so Crustacea. Mail unyielding. Is cast - off annually and larger coat grows. Eye-covering, tendons, - stomach-membrane are also shed. - - ¶ Curious reproduction of lost or injured limb. New one grows - if old lost; animal shakes off injured joint. Lobsters do, when - alarmed. - -As a matter of fact, Dr. Wood did write a short chapter on the Crustacea, -and here it is. - - THE CRUSTACEA - - The Crustacea are almost all aquatic animals. They have no - internal skeleton, but their body is covered with a strong - crust, which serves for protection as well as for strength. - Their whole framework consists of a series of rings fitted - to, and working in each other; some forming limbs, and others - developing into the framework supporting the different organs. - From this reason, they and the remaining animals, as far as the - star-fishes, who have no limbs at all, are called “articulated” - animals. - - Their method of growth is very curious. Other animals, as they - increase in size, experience no particular inconvenience. Not - so the Crustacea. Their bodies are closely enveloped in a - strong, unyielding mail, which cannot grow with them. Their - armor is therefore cast off every year, and a fresh coat formed - to suit their increased dimensions. Not only is the armor cast - off, but even the covering of the eyes, the tendons of the - claws, and the lining membrane of the stomach, with its teeth. - - They all also possess the curious power of reproducing a lost - or injured limb. In the former case, a fresh limb supplies the - place of that lost; and in the latter case, the animal itself - shakes off the injured joint, and a new one soon takes its - place. Lobsters, when alarmed, frequently throw off their claws. - - -=Theme.=—Choose one of the following paragraphs and expand it into a -theme. Each sentence should grow into a paragraph. The proportions to be -observed are suggested by the number of amplifying sentences prescribed -for the different paragraphs. Write a title above the theme. - -1. (_a_) I like winter for its outdoor sports. [Four or five sentences.] -(_b_) I like it no less for its indoor sports. [Four or five sentences.] - -2. (_a_) Wearing birds is foolish, for it is a remnant of savagery, like -tattooing. [Two or three sentences.] (_b_) It is less artistic than is -often supposed. [Two or three sentences.] (_c_) It is unwise, because it -threatens the extinction of certain species of flycatchers and warblers. -[Two or three sentences.] (_d_) It is cruel, necessitating slaughter -of innocent life, and producing callousness to suffering. [Five or six -sentences.] - -3. (_a_) A contrast between faces. [Two sentences.] (_b_) The face of -Napoleon is intellectual, firm, and cruel. [Three sentences, giving -details of the face.] (_c_) The face of Lincoln is intellectual, firm, -and kind. [Three sentences, giving details.] - -4. (_a_) There are two kinds of people,—those who know what they want -life to do for them, and those who do not. [This introductory sentence -may be made a part of the first paragraph.] The people who know what they -want are few. [Three or four sentences.] (_b_) The people who do not know -what they want are partly young people, who have not had training enough -to know; partly older people. [Three or four sentences.] - -5. (_a_) Some dinners I like, some I do not. [Part of first paragraph.] -The kinds I like; food; company. [Three or four sentences.] The kinds I -do not like; food; company. [Three or four sentences.] - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Discuss with the instructor and the class the best way -of paragraphing each of the following topics. Form first an idea as to -how many paragraphs each should have and what should be the paragraph -subjects. 1. This recitation room. 2. How Lincoln looked. 3. A painting -I like. 4. What I do in a day. 5. My plans. 6. The walk to school. 7. My -past education. 8. The elm. 9. The construction of the steam engine. 10. -An ocean steamer. 11. Evening in the country. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Read carefully the following speech and state the -paragraph subjects. Estimate the number of words in each paragraph, and -say whether you think the proportion of parts is bad or good. The speech -will be recognized as that delivered by Lincoln at the dedication of the -Gettysburg National Cemetery. It was written first as one paragraph; but -a year later, in making a copy, the President divided it as you see. - -“Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this -continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the -proposition that all men are created equal. - -“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or -any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on -a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of -that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives -that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we -should do this. - -“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we -cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled -here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. -The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it -can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather -to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here -have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated -to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we -take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full -measure of devotion,—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall -not have died in vain,—that this nation, under God, shall have a new -birth of freedom,—and that government of the people, by the people, for -the people, shall not perish from the earth.” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—The importance of modelling all work on the right -scale is illustrated in the task of the editor of an encyclopædia. His -problem is to give each subject space and prominence according to its -importance. Opening Johnson’s Encyclopædia, I find seven columns devoted -to Shakespeare. Of these, two and a half are given to the poet’s life, -four and a half to his works. Is the proportion about right? If you were -editing an encyclopædia of geography, how much space should you give to -Africa as compared with Europe? How much, if the encyclopædia dealt with -civilization? - - -=Oral Exercise in Proportioning.=—In treating each of the following -subjects, (_a_) what paragraph topics might be chosen? (_b_) which -paragraph ought to be the longest, dealing with the most important phase -of the subject? 1. Living statesmen. 2. Advantages of country life. 3. -The life of Lincoln. 4. The uses of gold. 5. A railway accident. 6. A -cyclone. 7. A visit to an art-gallery. 8. A week of camping. - - -=Exercise in Varying the Scale.=—Read one of the following poems. -Then write two papers, the first retelling (not closely paraphrasing) -the story of the poem in one paragraph of about 100 words, the second -retelling the same story in a theme of 300 words, properly paragraphed. -_In each theme give space to every part according to its relative -importance._ - -Browning: Tray—about vivisection; Clive—story of courage; Incident of the -French camp—story of heroism; How we brought the good news from Ghent -to Aix—story of endurance; The Pied Piper of Hamelin—story of pathos; -Muleykeh—owner’s pride in a horse; The Bean Feast—a Pope’s humility. -Longfellow: The Fell of Atri; Paul Revere’s Ride; Evangeline; The Legend -Beautiful; Robert of Sicily. Lowell: The Vision of Sir Launfal. Drayton: -The Ballad of Agincourt (_Heart of Oak Books_, Vol. V.). Thackeray: -Chronicle of the Drum (_Ibid._). Tennyson: The Revenge (_Ibid._). -Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (_Ibid._). Whittier: Skipper -Ireson’s Ride (_Ibid._). - - -=Choice of Topic; Method of Work.=—It is easier to choose among definite -theme subjects, printed in the book, than to choose from an unlimited -number of topics. Left free, a person may be attracted to a subject that -is either too large, or else mechanically limited. The latter kind is -the easier to manage. “The parts of a certain city,” is a topic easily -paragraphed. To choose no subjects but such as this would lead a person -into making his theme in water-tight compartments. On the other hand, -what can any one write in half an hour that will interest a reasonable -being in such a subject as Water, or Clouds, or Steam, or Electricity, or -the Rise and Fall of Nations? - -If the student is given free choice of a subject, he should select -something that he really cares about, and that he wishes some definite -audience to care about. Different modes of treatment are necessary to -interest different audiences. - -Very often the attractive subject will not be capable of easy analysis. -In such a case, choose only a few paragraph topics, thus narrowing the -treatment; pick out the most attractive phases of the subject. - -_This done, invent a theme title that will give an adequate hint of -what is coming._ The actor, Mr. Joseph Jefferson, once made a charming -talk to some college men about the “starring system,” concluding with -remarks about the fancy of some people that Bacon wrote Shakespeare and -put a cryptogram into the plays. A college periodical, wanting to give -some hint of both topics, reported the speech under the heading “Stars -and Cryptograms.” It was not a very good title, for it was meaningless. -But it was designed to rouse curiosity, and, taken in connection with -Jefferson’s name, it did as well, I dare say, as a less vague and -fanciful title. - -Let it be supposed that a person is to choose a subject for a simple -theme,—any subject he pleases. He is to select one that will interest -high school students as well as himself. His window looks out on a lake. -How will _Lakes_ do, for a topic? It is too large; one would never have -done. Nobody enjoys reading a small theme on a large matter. The window -affords a glimpse of the lake; perhaps this _Glimpse of the Lake_ would -serve for a theme. There would be no difficulty in paragraphing; one -section would go to the water, one to the boats, one to the sky. But the -water would have to be described exactly as it now looks, though looking -its worst. The boats are all absent except one, and perhaps there are -other kinds that he would like to tell about. Besides, the lad in the -boat is fishing, and the writer may be glad to tell about the fishing on -this lake. If however memories of the past few days must be dragged in to -make the theme interesting to us all, why, the name must be changed. The -writer may call it, _A Glimpse of the Lake and Some Memories_; the title -can then be interpreted with some elasticity. - -What, now, are the chief things to say? A brief paragraph of -introduction, perhaps, though that is by no means necessary. Then -something about the look of the lake. Then a word about the boats. Then -something about the fishing. Here is enough: _water_, _boats_, _fishing_. - -Now for the outline. ¶ Sprained ankle, armchair. Must study landscape. -Window shows lake. ¶ Lake has moods. Dull now. Glare this morning, -colors last night. Sometimes calm; crystal depths. Ripples. Wind makes -it blossom; raises undercurrents. Rain quiets it. Freckled look. Queer -way water _fits_ land. ¶ Steamer seen. Variety of boats. Red-stack boats. -Swarms of passengers. Boats gay at night. Launches. Pulse of engines. -Sailboat. It upset, the other day. Rowboats. Fisherman. ¶ Casting for -bass. Amateur. Wish him luck! I tried for pike. Tried for bass. No luck. -Tried for perch. Caught a bass. [Six or eight sentences.] - -In the last paragraph it perhaps occurs to the writer that the bullheads -bite when the water is muddy; and this _muddiness_ suggests the first -paragraph; the _muddiness_ should be described back there with the -changing look of the water. - -Next, the composition. It is not offered as a model of style, but to -suggest a possible way of organizing any simple theme. - - A GLIMPSE OF THE LAKE, AND SOME MEMORIES - - Here I am, planted in an armchair before the window, my - sprained ankle reposing, or trying to repose, on a smaller - chair. In such a position one must be thankful for his mercies; - he must take the exceptional chance to study the landscape. - Fortunately, the window cuts off a goodly section of the lake - which lies down there below. - - An exquisite thing is the lake, with as many moods as a baby. - Just now it is dull in color, for the sky is overcast and there - is mist in the air. But early this morning it blazed with - light, and last night at sunset it was awake with every fashion - of color. Sometimes, when the heavens are bare and windless, - the water takes on an indescribable calm; and then if you look - down from this height there seems to be no surface at all—only - depths of blue, such as the poets are always likening to - crystal or to sapphire. At other times clouds and a breeze move - over it, and the surface ruffles till one’s mind is tired with - fancying the million lines of ripples. If the wind stiffens - and stays by, there soon are waves; the water breaks white and - springs up in blossoms over the whole dark field; then the - under streams are roused out of their quiet and the whole mass - thunders in upon the shore, muddy but grand. Now it begins - to rain; and rain is the witch that charms the savage waters - into rest. Presently the surface is dull again, but for the - freckled look made by the plunging drops. One notes through the - gathering mist an odd thing—the way the water seems to settle - into place, fitting into the curves and nooks of the shore; the - edge of the lake seems to grow white and distinct, and to cling - to the land in a sharp outline. - - Breaking through that white streak of water near the shore - comes a dark something, which soon takes form and is seen to be - a steamer. What a variety of craft haunt the lake! The largest - are these tall steamers, taller still for their red stacks. - At night, with their colored lights, they look like jewelled - slippers. By day they carry crowds, which seem to rim each - deck with a black band. Then there are the launches, slipping - here and there straight across the bow of the bigger craft. - They have a curiously trim and self-satisfied look; and their - naphtha engines, beating no louder than some great, fast pulse, - seem to make fun of the slow-puffing monsters that stain the - air with smoke. A sailboat—a little sloop—slips across the - picture. It is the one that upset the other day and gave my - friend the Doctor a thorough soaking. Two rowboats are standing - to the south. In the bow of one there’s a lone fisherman. - - That lad is casting for bass. He is an amateur—from his dress. - Better luck to him than has thus far befallen the amateur who - sits watching him from this window! I trolled in the lake for - silver pike, but with never a rise to break the monotony. Then - I tried thrice in the early morning for yellow bass, using - first minnows for bait, afterward grasshoppers, and lastly - frogs. No luck! Disgusted, I stole out one afternoon to catch - perch, hoping to be seen by no one. The perch bit languidly, - and the few that were taken seemed to have a supercilious - look. “Here’s my last worm!” I cried; “then for the hotel and - farewell to these fishing grounds where no fish are.” A bite! - a competent, masterly, vicious bite! It’s a bass, strayed away - from home, and too hungry to ask for delicate diet! Pull him - in—seize the line, for the pole is light and the hook is small. - Safely landed, and not less in weight than two pounds! Let them - brag of six-pounders; this gleaming, muscular fellow, smelling - of fresh water and mint, is good enough game for me. As I gaze - and remember, the amateur in his boat moves out of the picture - frame and the lake is a blank again. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Why are the following subjects unfit for short themes? -Suggest two or three theme topics that might be derived from each. 1. -George Washington. 2. Snow. 3. War. 4. Evening. 5. Light. 6. Politeness. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Name several limited subjects that would be available -if you were trying to interest legitimately (_a_) an audience of college -men, (_b_) an audience of high school boys, (_c_) an audience of high -school girls, (_d_) an audience of business men. - - -=Theme.=—Choose one of the following subjects, and think how to secure -for it the interest of persons three or four years younger than yourself. -Think of some intelligent boy or girl, one who, though considerably your -junior, distinctly commands your respect, and explain to him high school -ways of studying either (_a_) physiography, or (_b_) history, or (_c_) -Latin, or (_d_) manual training, or (_e_) English, or some other subject. -The theme should consist of one paragraph, of about 200 words. - - -=Oral and Written Exercise.=—Choose _three_ of the following subjects, -and think what illustrations you would use to make them clear to -different audiences. Draw upon your knowledge of the things that are most -familiar to the experience of each audience. Jot down memoranda of the -illustrations that you suggest, and afterward compare notes in the oral -discussion. For example, - -Explain, by illustration:— - - _A gentleman_, to a gamin. - _Ice_, to a native of the tropics. - _The charm of foot-ball_, to a girl. - _The pleasure of work_, to a shirk. - _Wagner’s music_, to a deaf painter. - _The charm of foot-ball_, to a soldier. - _The solar system_, to a child of eight. - _Oranges_, to a native of the polar regions. - _The charm of a true lady_, to an awkward lad. - _The Jungle Book_, to a North American Indian. - _A newsboy’s life_, to an earl’s son or a millionnaire’s son. - _A sleepless night_, to a person who sleeps like a top. - _A headache_, to a person who never had a headache. - _The charm of Stevenson_, to a reader of dime novels. - _Taking gas at the dentist’s_, to a person who never lost a tooth. - _An encyclopædia_, to a man who never heard of such a book. - _Paragraph construction_, to a youth who cares only for the shop. - _The danger of open windows_, to a child who never heard of death. - _Some good monthly_, to a bright boy or girl who had never seen - a magazine. - - -=Transitions between Paragraphs.=—Suppose that a given theme is a unit, -no idea being admitted that does not bear on the topic; suppose, further, -that the paragraphs are units, each treating a distinct part of the theme -idea; it remains to be sure that the reader gets easily from paragraph to -paragraph. Sometimes the writer is so anxious to make each paragraph a -unit in itself that the reader does not feel at once that the new section -has anything to do with the preceding. - -Look back to the theme on the _Glimpse of the Lake_. There were three -things to talk about: water, boats, fishing. At the end of the paragraph -on _the water_ the attention must be led over without any jar to the -subject of _boats_. The last idea of the _water_ paragraph was that -the edge of the lake grew white and distinct. In beginning the new -paragraph, we may refer to that idea. “Breaking through that white streak -of water near the shore comes a dark something,” etc. - -Now look at the paragraph on fishing. How does the writer try to get over -to the _fishing_ from the _boats_? Explain in recitation. - -The joints of the theme should be smooth and strong, like the joints of -bamboo—not a rude joint made by chisel and hammer. - - -=Written Exercise.=—The instructor will hand you in class your themes -thus far written. Go over them carefully, trying by revision to make the -thought connection closer between the paragraphs. For the future, always -read carefully the whole paragraph before beginning the next. - - -=Transitions between Sentences.=—Within the paragraph each sentence -should grow vitally out of the preceding. “Connection is the soul of good -writing,” said the great translator, Jowett of Balliol. _Plan sentences -ahead; and read each sentence before you write the next._ Make it -impossible for people to say of you as they used to say of Emerson, “His -sentences read equally well in any order.” Make it impossible to pick -a sentence out and set it down elsewhere, without tearing the theme as -Æneas rent young Polydore. - -Frequently the sentences can be bound tighter together by beginning the -next with a reference to some idea contained in the preceding. Burke, -pleading in Parliament for America, said: “But with regard to her own -internal establishment, she may, I doubt not she will, contribute in -moderation. I say in moderation, for she ought not to be permitted to -exhaust herself. She ought to be reserved to a war, the weight of which, -with the enemies that we are most likely to have, must be considerable -in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, and serve you -essentially.” Here the last words of each sentence suggest the first -words of the next. Of course this way of getting coherence is easily -overdone; but it is very valuable, nevertheless. - -It is easy to discover the order in which Ruskin wrote the following -sentences, here printed in wrong order. Find the true arrangement, and -tell how it was found. - - Well, whatever bit of a wise man’s work is honestly and - benevolently done, that bit is his book, or his piece of art. - But, again, I ask you, do you at all believe in honesty or at - all in kindness, or do you think there is never any honesty - or benevolence in wise people? If you read rightly, you will - easily discover the true bits, and those _are_ the book. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Change either the grammatical construction or the order -of words wherever you think such change will increase the coherence of -the following paragraph. - -“We were coasting down chapel hill. In western New York, this is one -of many similar long hills. This state is indeed a coaster’s paradise -in many parts. The particular paradise I speak of, saw, however, a -disastrous fall of a brave young Adam and a gentle young Eve. Williams, -I mean by this, who was coming like a meteor down the hill, with Miss —— -in front of him on the “bob-sled,” as he reached the bridge, was thrown -out of the track. Luckless bridge! it ought to have been guarded by -stout rails. There were no rails, however, and across the narrow canyon, -Williams, with his precious charge, took a flying leap. On the other side -of it, five feet below, was a wooden abutment. The lives of the young -people were saved by this; for the sled shot across the gulf and landed -on the projection. We picked the adventurers up from this perilous perch. -They were more surprised than hurt. But after he had time to think, -Williams confessed that he was never more frightened in his life; for he -thought of the thirty feet of space below that wooden ledge.” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -ON CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS - - -=Authority.=—If the art of writing is the art of saying what we mean, -we must use words that the reader will understand. Of course the word -_reader_ is rather general: there are readers and readers. An article -written for adults would show different words from one written for -children. For the purposes of this chapter, our typical reader is the -American or the Englishman who has a good public school training. This -“average man” may in theory happen to live in London, or in Maine, or, -again, in Texas. Now, there are certain words used in Texas that are -not used in London or in Maine. In parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania -a small pail is called a “blickey.” Most natives of Chicago never -heard the word. Such words as “blickey” are called _provincialisms_ or -_localisms_, and are ruled out. Our words must be _national_. This need -not mean international; many words are used in England that need not be -used in America, and _vice versâ_. The American speaks of _switching_ a -train; the Englishman speaks of _shunting_ it. With the former the train -goes up a steep _grade_; with the latter it goes up a _gradient_. The -Englishman calls _baggage_, _luggage_, a word that Americans are more -likely to use of those pieces only that can be carried in the hand. It -is to be presumed that national differences of this sort are known to -American and Englishman alike; therefore there is no reason why either -should change from the usage of his country. Good English is essentially -the same in all English-speaking countries. - -One other matter is suggested by the words _national usage_. A nation is -composed of all sorts and conditions of men. Each class, each trade and -profession, has its own pet expressions and contractions. Good usage does -not recognize these. The dialect of the college, or the ball-ground, or -the counting-room, or the law-courts, is racy enough and proper enough -in its place; but it has no place in standard English. A student may -_flunk_, but only in school. A book of accounts can be _posted_, but not -a man. - -Again, our words must not be so old-fashioned or obsolete that they are -unintelligible. They must be _present_. _Let_ once meant “to hinder.” -Naturally no one would use it in this sense to-day. - -Many words that are both national and present are not permitted, since -they are not _reputable_. They are used, but wrongly so; used by the -careless and the uneducated. A great number of such expressions are -perfectly well understood wherever English is spoken, but if one employs -them one will be set down as careless or ignorant; for example, _ain’t_ -is intelligible to all, but its use is known to be a mark of vulgarity; -such a word is called a _vulgarism_. Most slang consists of vulgarisms, -though some slang finally becomes reputable English. Reputable words are -those employed by the best writers. By _best_ is meant writers who have -literary distinction, and who know and regard the structure and history -of English literary words. In this day, when everybody scribbles and -prints, there are countless writers whose usage is not really reputable. -The newspapers, though they have done much to free modern English from -pedantry, are not usually reputable in usage. The English of very many -novelists is in bad repute. Even certain writers of eminence, such as -Dickens and Thomas Hughes, are guilty of using unreputable words and -senses of words. Such essayists as Matthew Arnold and John Fiske; such -writers of fiction as Thackeray, Hawthorne, Stevenson, and Henry James; -such historians as Green and Parkman—these men are in general safe models -in matters of usage. - -To sum up, then; if we would be understood, and would be reckoned as -educated persons, we must use words that are reputable, national, and -present. _Good usage is the employment of such words and, senses of -words as the body of reputable writers sanction by their own practice -to-day._ Notice that _the body_ of reputable writers is specified. No one -author makes good use, any more than one swallow makes a summer. When a -critic wishes to prove by authority that a given expression is English, -he must be able to quote it from many authors. - - -=The Dictionary.=—A dictionary is a codification of good usage. Indeed, -a large dictionary codifies also much bad usage, explaining in the case -of the latter the particular form of badness, whether local usage, or -colloquial usage, or vulgar usage. Such a dictionary also outlines -the history of each word, so far as this is known; it can here be -learned what was standard English yesterday, what three centuries ago. -A dictionary habit is indispensable to every one. When in doubt about -the present meaning or pronunciation of a word, or curious as to its -history, look it up. Have an abridged dictionary of your own,—the less -abridged the better,—but consult also the unabridged books frequently. -Every author rediscovers the charm that lies in the dictionary. To find -that charm, every word of the given explanations should be read, and the -system of _diacritical marks_, which show syllabification, accent, vowel, -and consonant sounds, should be studied. - - -=Barbarisms.=—Lord Chesterfield writes to his son: “The first thing you -should attend to is, to speak whatever language you do speak, in its -greatest purity, and according to the rules of grammar; for we must never -offend against grammar, nor make use of words which are not really words.” - -A word that is not in a good dictionary, or is there branded as -provincial or as vulgar, is not really a word, and should not be used. -An expression that has not been recognized by good use is called a -_barbarism_. Often such terms are incorrectly formed, as when they -are coined by ignorant persons; often they are corruptions of words. -_Motorneer_ is wrongly coined; _slick_ is corrupted from _sleek_. -_Motorneer_ is made up of _motor_ plus the ending _er_. The _ne_ is -left over from the discarded steam engine, for _motorneer_ is made by -false analogy from _engineer_. The proper word is _motorman_. If there -is need for a new word in the language,—and the need often arises in -these days of invention,—its component parts should be from the same -tongue, and it should be formed by strict analogy, on the model of some -correct, accepted word. Examine such a word as _shadowgraph_, which the -more careless newspapers began to use as soon as the “Roentgen rays” -were discovered. _Shadow_ is English; _graph_ is Greek,—a termination -that should be added only to a Greek word. Various correct formations -have been proposed for the ray-picture—_scotograph_, _radiograph_, -_skiagraph_, etc. It remains to be seen which one of these words will -become established. Examine the word _electrocution_. It is formed on -the false analogy of _execution_. _Execution_ is from the Latin _ex_ + -_sequor_, meaning “to follow up,” or, so to speak, “to chase down.” The -man who invented _electrocution_ could not have known that _sequor_ was -a part of _execution_. He merely tied together _electro_ and _cution_, -thinking perhaps that _cution_ meant cutting or killing. _Electro_ is -from the Greek (meaning “amber,” the substance by rubbing which some -one discovered electricity), and in strictness should not be joined to -a Latin termination, even if that be correct. We might easily have had -a good English word for death in the electrical chair; but as matters -stand, there is no one recognized word for this idea. - -Other barbarisms are: _burglarize_, _to enthuse_ (a bad coinage from -_enthusiasm_), _an invite_, _double entendre_ and _nom de plume_ (two -expressions which are neither accepted French nor accepted English), -_walkist_, _a combine_, _preventative_ (for _preventive_), _reportorial_, -_managerial_, _to suicide_, _gent_, _pants_ (the trade name, but not -the literary), _photo_, _prof._, _spoonsful_. Words brought into the -English from other languages, and not yet recognized by good use, -are also barbarisms. Such words are said to be not yet _Anglicized_. -They are referred to as _alienisms_, and most may be classified as -Latinisms, Hellenisms (or Greek words), Teutonisms (chiefly German -words), Gallicisms (French words). A word peculiar to America is -an _Americanism_; one peculiar to England is a _Briticism_. Some -Americanisms and Briticisms are not really barbarisms, but are warranted -by the canon of national use. - -The following words are as yet alienisms: _artiste_, _sobriquet_, -_beau monde_, _faux pas_, _entre nous_, etc. Certain other words are -Anglicized: _amateur_, _omelette_, _etiquette_, _litterateur_, etc. The -temptation to sprinkle foreign words unnecessarily into one’s English -reaches most persons sooner or later. It should be withstood. The English -language is rich enough to furnish forth any man’s vocabulary. - -Many words that may finally become good English are not yet accepted. To -be on the safe side one should say: _point of view_, not _standpoint_; -_upon_, not _onto_; _written permission_, not _a permit_; _he doesn’t_, -not _he don’t_.[30] - -In the list given above it is remarked of _pants_ that it is a trade name -(for what are ordinarily known as trousers or pantaloons). Commercial -English and literary English are two different things; and while a -careful novelist would hardly write about _wheatena_, or _flexibone_, or -_autoharp_, he might talk about them in the shops. Yet these words are -not correctly formed; and the same thing is unhappily true of other trade -names. - - -=Improprieties.=—Suppose, now, that a writer uses a good English word, -but uses it in a sense not found in the best authors. In this case he -uses the word improperly; he commits an _impropriety_. Sometimes two -words sound so much alike that they are mistaken one for the other; for -instance, _accept_ and _except_. Sometimes the two words mean nearly the -same thing, and so come to be confused; for example, _continual_ and -_continuous_. The following list gives the words that are most frequently -mistaken for each other. In the illustrative sentences each such word is -correctly used, and in all cases the other word would be incorrect or at -least less desirable if substituted for it. - - -NOUNS - - -Ability, capacity. - -1. The _capacity_ of man’s memory is great. - -2. _Capacity_ for learning and _ability_ for doing are secrets of success. - -What idea do these words share? - - -Acceptance, acceptation. - -1. His _acceptance_ was graceful. - -2. You use the word in its usual _acceptation_. - -Each of these words contains the idea to _take_. In what sense may this -be said? - - -Access, accession. - -1. _Access_ to the director is easy. - -2. The library has received an _accession_ of books. - -3. She was seized with an _access_ of grief. - -4. The Tsar celebrated his _accession_ to the throne. - -Each of these words contains the idea of _entrance_. _Access_ means the -entrance of a person into a room or into the presence of another; also -the entrance of a flood of emotion into the mind. _Accession_ means the -entrance of a person into the rights of a position; also the entrance of -books or other objects to a collection,—an addition to the collection. - - -Act, action. - -1. Character is developed by _action_. - -2. Our own _acts_ for good or ill speak for us. - -Explain how both these words hold the idea of _do_. - - -Advance, advancement. - -1. The swallow comes with the _advance_ of the season. - -2. He has received _advancement_. - -3. Each _advance_ of Napoleon was swift. - -What idea have these two words in common? Explain how they differ. - - -Alternative, choice. - -1. There is no _alternative_; he must go. - -2. There are only three _choices_. - -_Alternative_ is a choice between —— things. - - -Avocation, vocation. - -1. My regular calling, or _vocation_, is teaching; but for an _avocation_ -I spend my holidays in photography. - -2. Dr. Weir Mitchell is a physician; but his regular _vocation_ of -medicine doesn’t prevent him from following the delightful _avocation_ of -letters. - -Both these words have the idea of _calling_. Explain how they differ. -(What does _ab_ mean in Latin?) - - -Balance, remainder. - -1. The _balance_ of the sum is due. - -2. The _remainder_ of the day is spent. - -What relation exists between _balancing_ (_a book_) and _remainder_? - - -Character, reputation. - -1. His _reputation_ for integrity is good. - -2. His _character_ is beyond reproach. - -3. A man cannot always control his _reputation_, but he can control his -_character_. - -Character is what a man ——; reputation is what people —— of him. - - -Compliment, complement. - -1. Woman’s mind is by many considered the _complement_ of man’s, -supplying certain things that the masculine mind has not. - -2. His _compliments_ are really _flatteries_. - -3. The secretary supplied the army with its _complement_ of stores. - - -Council, counsel. - -1. His _counsel_ defended him in the trial. - -2. Let good _counsel_ prevail. - -3. The _council_ of ten gave good _counsel_. - -Define these two words. What idea have they in common? - - -Falseness, falsity. - -Arnold was a traitor; and the _falseness_ of his character was proved by -the _falsity_ of his statements. - -What idea do these words share? Frame definitions. - - -Invention, discovery. - -Edison _discovered_ certain laws of sound and by them _invented_ -the phonograph. This _invention_ is not as yet very useful; but the -_discovery_ of the laws was important. - -What idea do these words share? Frame definitions. - - -Limit, limitation. - -1. There should be no _limitation_ of the commander’s authority. - -2. There were no _limits_ to his delight. - -What common idea have these words? Define each. - - -Majority, plurality. - -A _majority_ is more than half the whole number. A _plurality_ is the -excess of votes received by one candidate above another. When there are -several candidates, the one who receives more votes than any other has a -plurality. - -In what respect are these words alike in meaning? in what unlike? - - -Observation, observance. - -1. His _observation_ of the habits of birds was keen. - -2. His _observance_ of the Sabbath was strict. - -Is _watch_ the best word for the idea shared by these words? Discuss. - - -Observation, remark. - -1. Johnson’s _observations_ of men were keen. - -2. Johnson’s _observations_ were made with his eyes; his _remarks_, -with his tongue; and Boswell, by recording the remarks, recorded the -_observations_. - -What relation has a _remark_ to an _observation_? - - -Party, person. - -1. A _party_ in a silk hat must be a party of Liliputians. - -2. The _party_ of the first part was two _persons_. - -3. A seedy _person_ joined the party. - -4. I refuse to be a _party_ to the deed. - -Is the idea of a _part_ always contained in the word _party_? Discuss. - - -Part, portion. - -1. Esau sold his _portion_, the part allotted him. - -2. The human body has many _parts_. - -3. Waiter, one _portion_ of roast beef will do! - -What is a _portion_? - - -Prominent, predominant. - -There were many _prominent_ men in Lincoln’s cabinet, but the President -was always _predominant_ among them. - -Consult the unabridged as to the origin of these words. - - -Recipe, receipt. - -If _receipt_ comes from the Latin meaning “taken,” it is easy to see why -when money is taken a _receipt_ is given. _Recipe_ is a Latin imperative, -meaning “take”; naturally it is the right word for a formula in cooking; -“take” so much salt, so much meal, so much water—and lo! a johnny cake. - - -Relative, relation. - -One may have many _relatives_ with whom he does not keep up close -_relations_. - -Is _relation_ preferably an abstract noun, or a concrete? - - -Residence, house. - -1. Do not say _residence_ when you mean house; the simpler word is the -better. - -2. He has his _residence_ in his house. - -3. His _residence_, or place of _residence_, is Montreal. - - -Sewage, sewerage. - -The _sewage_ flows through the system of _sewerage_. - - -Site, situation. - -1. Lovely is Zion for _situation_. - -2. The _site_ of Troy was repeatedly built upon, each new Troy being in -turn destroyed by fire or by some enemy. - -3. The _situation_ of Chicago by the lake gives the city fresh breezes. - -What kind of place is a _site_? What is a _situation_? - - -VERBS - - -Accept, except. - -1. All Cretans are liars, runs the proverb: the proverb _excepts_ none. - -2. He _accepted_ the invitation. - -Both words have the idea of _take_. How is this true of except? - - -Affect, effect. - -1. Even the rumor _affected_ his belief, changing it slightly. - -2. He _effected_ a junction with the other army. - -Which of these words could properly govern _reconciliation_? _mind_? -_health_? _release_? _conduct after release_? _destruction_? -_conscience_? _peace of mind_? Which one of the two words requires for an -object a noun expressing an action? - - -Aggravate, irritate, tantalize. - -1. Tantalus was _tantalized_ by the sight of inaccessible fruit. - -2. He _aggravates_ the difficulty by trying to excuse his act. - -3. He is _aggravating_ his cold by going out. - -4. He _irritates_ me by his teasing. - -5. The gravity of our case is but _aggravated_ by delay. - - -Allude, mention. - -1. Nobody would _allude_ to an experience so unpleasant to all that party. - -2. He _alluded_ to Washington as the Father of his Country. - -3. He _mentioned_ several ways of accomplishing the work; then he went -back to his duties, not _alluding_ to the subject again. - -Can a person _allude_ to a thing without assuming knowledge of it on the -part of an audience? Can a thing be _alluded_ to for the first time? if -so, would it be the first time it was spoken of? Make _allusions_ to -several great men without _mentioning_ their names. - - -Antagonize, alienate. - -1. By _antagonizing_ the views of his friends, he _alienated_ their -sympathies from him. - -2. He _alienated_ his friends by _antagonizing_ them. - - -Begin, commence. - -These words are often interchangeable, but _commence_ is the more formal. -_Begin_ is the better word ordinarily. - - -Bring, fetch. - -1. Come here and _bring_ the book. - -2. Go and _fetch_ the book. - -Define these two words. What is their common idea? - - -Claim, assert, etc. - -1. _Claim_ means to assert a right to a thing as one’s own. It means -neither _to say_, _to assert_, _to declare_, _to maintain_, _to hold_, -_to allege_, nor _to contend_. - -2. He _claims_ the right to be heard. - -3. He _maintains_ that he ought to be heard. - -4. He _asserts_ that such is the fact. - -NOTE.—It is better not to use _claim_ with the conjunction _that_. - - -Degrade, demean, debase. - -1. Being in disgrace, the captain was _degraded_ from his rank. - -2. He _demeans_ himself sometimes well, sometimes ill. - -3. He _debases_ [or _degrades_] himself by his profanity. - -Give a synonym for _demean_. - - -Drive, ride. - -In England one _rides_ only when one is on horseback; one is said to -_drive_ if in a carriage. In America one _drives_ when one holds the -reins; but we _go driving_ even when the coachman drives. There is also -excellent authority for _take a ride_, and _go riding_, when conveyance -in a carriage is meant. - - -Endorse, approve, second. - -1. He _seconded_ all his friend’s propositions. - -2. He _endorsed_ the check across the top. - -3. He _approved_ his colleague’s act. - -What is a _dorsal_ fin? What does _endorse_ mean, by etymology? - - -Got, gotten, have. - -1. _Got_ is perhaps preferable to _gotten_. - -2. Don’t say you’ve _got_ a thing when you merely _have it_, without -having secured it. - -What idea is common to _get_ and _have_? - - -Guess, think, reckon. - -1. I _think_ I shall go. - -2. He _reckoned_ the cost before he started. - -3. I _guess_ there are a hundred. - -[The habitual misuse of _guess_ is an American fault.] - - -Intend, calculate. - -1. She received his apologies with a resentment they were _likely_, but -were not intended, to inspire.[31] - -2. He aimed at the animal a blow _calculated_ to kill it. - -3. I fully _intend_ to go, but cannot _calculate_ how soon. - - -Let, leave. - -1. _Let_ me be! Don’t bother me when I want to study. - -2. _Let_ me alone! - -3. _Leave_ me alone here. - -4. _Let_ go! Unhand me. - -_Let_ once meant “to hinder.” Now it means the opposite—“permit.” - - -Lie, lay. - -The chief trouble with the first of these two words seems to concern the -past tense: “He _laid down_ on the sofa.” - - -Locate, settle. - -1. He _located his house_ there (not _located there_). - -2. He _settled_ in Chicago. - - -Loan, lend. - -It is not incorrect to use _loan_ in the sense of _lend_, but _lend_ is -the less formal and the preferable word. - - -May, can. - -_May_ it not be said that any person who has not learned the difference -between these two words, _can_ hardly be permitted to call himself a user -of good English? - -It is not hard to see why people confuse these two words. Often the -questioner feels that, for all practicable purposes, the refusal of his -request will make a barrier over which he _cannot_ go. When he says “Can -I go,” he is feeling, “Will you make it possible for me to go? for unless -you consent I cannot go—I cannot afford to, or I cannot conscientiously, -or I cannot and remain on right terms with you.” Nevertheless, _may_ is -the only right word to use in asking permission. - - -Proved, proven. - -1. The point was not _proved_. - -2. Verdict: “Not proven.” _Proven_ is a Scotch legal term, wrongly -supposed by some persons to be preferable to _proved_ out of the -court-room. - - -Purpose, propose. - -1. One can’t _propose_ unless he proposes something to somebody. - -2. One can _purpose_ to do a thing, without _proposing_ it to any one. - -How do both these words contain the idea of _placing_? - - -Sit, set. - -The chief errors in the use of _sit_ and _set_ are two. Some people -insist on saying “_setting hen_” for “_sitting hen_,” and “the coat -_sets_ well” for “_sits_ well.” A few say, “_Sit_ yourself down,” for the -somewhat old-fashioned “_sit_ you down” (where the _you_ is nominative) -or for “_set_ yourself down.” Similarly this error has been known to -occur—“he sat the basket of eggs down.” - - -Stay, stop. - -1. He _stopped_ at Albany; he went no farther. - -2. At what hotel are you _staying_, these days? - - -Transpire, happen. - -A good many things _happened_ that dark night when the boys were out for -a lark; but it never _transpired_ what really did happen; nothing leaked -out or got to the light. - -_Spiro_ means “to breathe.” _Trans_ (across) when in composition means -through, out. Is it not clear how the present use of the word comes -about? Explain. Compare the words _expire_, _conspire_, _inspire_. How -does each get its present meaning? - - -Wish, want, desire. - -1. It is sometimes correct enough to say _want_ in the place of _wish_. - -2. You shall _want_ nothing; all shall be supplied. - -3. You shall not want anything you may _desire_. - -Which idea springs out of the other—_want_ from _wish_, or _wish_ from -_want_? - - -ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS - - -Apt, likely, liable. - -1. He is _apt_ at languages. - -2. He is _likely_ to fail if he does not properly prepare himself. [Here -_apt_ was possible, but not so good as _likely_.] - -_Apt_ means “fitted,” “fit.” How could such an idea as “It is _apt_ to -rain this month” spring from the idea of _fit_? - -3. He is _likely_ to succeed if only he tries. - -4. He is _liable_ to arrest and quarantine,—though not _likely_ to be -arrested,—merely because he is _liable_ to come down with a contagious -disease. - -With what kind of feeling does a person look forward to a thing to which -he is _liable_? - - -Continual, continuous. - -1. A _continual_ dropping is a Biblical phrase. - -2. A _continuous_ dropping would not be a dropping at all. It would be a -stream. - -What idea have these words in common? - - -Funny, odd. - -1. It is _odd_ that I haven’t heard of this before. - -2. It is a _funny_ sight to see Fido trying desperately to catch his own -tail. - -Can you explain something of the mental process by which a child comes to -say _funny_ so frequently, and _strange_ so rarely? Is it all a matter of -imitation, or is there some other reason? Are there not more of _strange_ -things in a child’s experience than of _funny_ things? - - -Healthy, healthful. - -_Healthful_ food makes a _healthy_ man. - -Give a synonym for _healthful_ as applied to food. - - -Imminent, eminent, immanent. - -1. The _eminent_ Latin writer, Livy, speaks of Hannibal’s elephants as -looming up—_eminentes_—through the mist. - -2. That God is _immanent_ in all the world was a doctrine of the Greek -fathers; they meant that he pervades and is diffused throughout it. - -3. The sword of Damocles hung _imminent_, suspended by a hair. - -4. He is in _imminent_ danger of disgrace. - -With which two of these words is the idea of _threaten_ connected? Which -has the idea of _remain_, or _stay_, in it? - - -In, into. - -1. Bruno looked up _into_ his master’s face. - -2. He got _into_ the chariot. - -3. He sprang _into_ the lake, while I stayed _in_ the boat. - -4. Once _in_ the lake, he swam round. - -What difference in the use of these words? - - -Last, latest. - -1. The _last_ page of the book is done. - -2. The _latest_ news from the patient is bad. - -Does _latest_ imply anything as to the future? - - -Last, preceding. - -1. Let each paragraph be joined smoothly with the _preceding_. - -2. The _last_ paragraph ends the theme. - - -Mad, angry. - -1. There is no reason for being _angry_. - -2. Much learning hath made thee _mad_. - -3. He was _mad_ with rage—fairly insane. - - -Most, almost. - -1. _Most_ men are optimists. - -2. _Almost_ every man loves praise. - -Parse the words italicized above. - - -Mutual, common. - -1. Our _common_ friend is the better expression, though Dickens has made -famous the corresponding worse usage. - -2. Friendship may be _mutual_; a friend cannot. - -3. Separated by mountains and by _mutual_ fear. - -What is meant by reciprocal? Which word is a synonym of reciprocal? - - -Oral, verbal. - -1. Miles Standish’s act of sending the Indians a snake-skin filled with -powder and ball, was a message, but not a _verbal_ message. - -2. If you are to see John, let me send him this _oral_ message: Never say -die. - -3. The corrections did not affect the truth of the statements, but only -the manner: they were _verbal_ corrections. - -4. The telegraph operator translates into _verbal_ form the message that -he hears in the ticking of his receiver. - -The Latin word _os_ means mouth; the Latin word _verbum_ means a word. -Do _oral_ and _verbal_ keep the sense of the Latin words? Can a verbal -message be oral? Can an oral message be verbal? Is an oral message -ordinarily verbal? Can you imagine an oral message that is not verbal? - - -Posted, informed. - -1. The ledger is well _posted_. - -2. The editor is well _informed_. - -Can you see the slightest reasonable advantage in speaking of a person as -well _posted_? In other words, does this commercial slang lend any real -force? - - -Practicable, practical. - -His scheme won’t work; it isn’t _practicable_. I’m afraid he isn’t so -_practical_ a schemer as we thought. - - -Quite, somewhat, very, rather, entirely, wholly. - -1. _Quite_ never means “very,” “rather,” or “somewhat.” It means “wholly.” - -2. Harry is _quite_ well; he is never sick. - -3. Yes, I like him _rather_ well. - -4. Thank you; I’m _quite_ myself again. - -Curtail _quite_, and you get another good English adjective from the -same root. How is this shorter word related in sense to the longer? With -which of the following expressions can _quite_ be used? Well (adj.), -sick, recovered, pretty, finished, settled, nice, good, assured, patient, -used up, satisfied, a good deal, fine, a hero, a way, a mile, a noise, -a failure, a lot, a hundred, a few, a good many, a million, a dozen, -some, well (adv.), a while, an hour, your debtor, every one, all, around, -through, under, o’erthrown, down, elated, in a rage, underestimate, -vanquished, quarrelsome, lovely, everywhere, crestfallen. - - -Real, really, extremely. - -1. I think he’s a _real_ Count. - -2. I think he’s _extremely_ mean. - -3. He’s _really_ a very fine fellow. - -Parse the words italicized above. - - -Some, somewhat. - -1. The sick man is _somewhat_ better this morning. - -2. _Some_ men have greatness thrust upon them. - -Parse the words italicized above. - - -Without, unless. - -1. I can’t go _unless_ there is a holiday. - -2. I can’t go _without_ getting permission. - -Parse the words italicized above. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from John Ruskin. No -improprieties occur in the originals. Within each pair of brackets a word -is given, sometimes the right word, sometimes the wrong word. Study the -meaning of each sentence, and satisfy yourself as to what is the best -expression for each place in question. - -1. The ennobling difference between one man and another—between one -animal and another—is precisely in this, that one feels more than -another. If we were sponges, perhaps sensation might not be easily -[gotten] for us; if we were earth-worms, [apt] at every instant to be cut -in two by the spade, perhaps too much sensation might not be good for us. - -2. But chiefly of all, she is taught to extend the [limitations] of her -sympathy. - -3. Very ready we are to say of a book, “How good this is—that’s exactly -what I think!” But the right feeling is, “How [odd] that is! I never -thought of that before, and yet I see it is true; or if I do not now, I -hope I shall some day.” - -4. I believe, then, with this exception, that a girl’s education should -be nearly, in its course and material of study, the same as a boy’s; -but [entirely] differently directed. A woman in any rank of life ought -to know whatever her husband is [liable] to know, but to know it in a -different way. - -5. I do not blame them for this, but only for their narrow motive in -this. I would have them [want] and [assert] the title of “lady” provided -they [allege] not merely the title, but the office and duty signified by -it. - -6. And not less wrong—perhaps even more foolishly wrong (for I will -[expect] thus far what I hope to prove)—is the idea that woman is only -the shadow and attendant image of her lord. - -7. But now, having no true [avocation], we pour our whole masculine -energy into the false business of money-making. - -8. Having then faithfully listened to the great teachers, that you may -enter into their thoughts, you have yet this higher [advancement] to -make,—you have to enter into their hearts. - -9. And, lastly, a great nation does not mock Heaven and its Powers by -pretending belief in a revelation which [asserts] the love of money to -be the root of _all_ evil, and [claiming], at the same time that it is -actuated, and [proposes] to be actuated, in all chief national deeds and -measures, by no other love. - -10. But an education “which shall keep a good coat on my son’s back; -which shall [capacitate] him to ring with confidence the visitors’ -bell at double-belled doors; which shall result ultimately in the -establishment of a double-belled door to his own [residence]—in a word, -which shall lead to [advance] in life—_this_ we pray for on bent knees; -and this is _all_ we pray for.” It never seems to occur to the parents -that there may be an education which in itself _is_ [advance] in Life; -that any other than that may perhaps be [advancement] in Death; and that -this essential education might be more easily [gotten] or given, than -they [guess], if they set about it in the right way, while it is for no -price and by no favor to be [got], if they set about it in the wrong. - -11. The chance and scattered evil that may here and there haunt, or hide -itself in, a powerful book, never does any harm to a noble girl; but the -emptiness of an author oppresses her, and his amiable folly [degrades] -her. And if she can have [access] to a good library of old and classical -books, there need be no choosing at all. Keep the modern magazine and -novel out of your girl’s way; turn her loose into the old library every -day, and [let] her alone. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the italicized words in the following -sentences, taken from a newspaper. According to a good dictionary, which -are barbarisms? What ones are here incorrectly used? Which ones are -colloquial—permitted in talking familiarly, but not in writing? Suggest -better expressions. - -1. Her prospects for a long career on this earth are _quite_ favorable. - -2. The galvanic battery was applied every hour without producing any more -satisfactory results, but hope did not abandon the _resurrectionists_. - -3. When the police arrived they discovered that Burdick was wearing a -_bogus_ police star and he was arrested. - -4. “If you’ll throw that gun away and put up your _dukes_ like a -gentleman, I’ll come down there and sew a button _onto_ you!” - -5. Mr. Hanna was decidedly late in _showing up_ at headquarters. - -6. It buttons down the front with the finest white pearl buttons of -_quite_ large size. - -7. Makers of sporting goods say there are _a lot_ of bicyclists who are -ready and waiting to take up every new thing. - -8. I _spotted_ two of my countrywomen at once. - -9. It has been thus far an _exceptionably_ busy campaign. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from Stevenson’s volume, -_Virginibus Puerisque_. As in the preceding exercise, decide on the best -word for each place in question. - -1. Think of the heroism of Johnson, think of that superb indifference to -mortal [limit] that set him upon his dictionary, and carried him through -triumphantly to the end! - -2. [Most] everybody in our land ... can understand and sympathize with an -admiral or a prize-fighter. - -3. When he comes to ride with the king’s pardon, he must bestride a -chair, which he will so hurry and belabor and on which he will so -furiously [demean] himself, that the messenger will arrive, if not bloody -with spurring, at least fiery red with haste. If his romance involves -an accident upon a cliff, he must clamber in person about the chest of -drawers and fall bodily [onto] the carpet, before his imagination is -satisfied. - -4. Surely all these are [practicable] questions to a neophyte entering -upon life with a view to play. - -5. A sedentary population ... can [noways, in no wise] explain to itself -the gaiety of these passers-by. - -6. To borrow and [demean] an image, all the evening street-lamps burst -into song. - -7. But the conservative, while lauding progress, is ever timid of -innovation; his is the hand upheld to [council] pause; his is the signal -advising slow [advance]. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from Mrs. Gaskell’s -_Cranford_. As before, decide on the best word for each place in question. - -1. There were rules and regulations for visiting and calls; and they were -announced to any young people, who might be [stopping] in the town. - -2. He must have been upwards of sixty at the time of the first visit I -paid to Cranford after I had left it as a [residence]. - -3. She was evidently nervous from having [expected] my call. - -4. My request evidently pleased the old gentleman, who took me all -[round, around[32]] the place, and showed me his six and twenty cows, -named after the different letters of the alphabet. - -5. I can’t [wholly] remember the date, but I think it was in 1805 that -Miss Jenkyns wrote the longest [series, succession] of letters. - -6. She never laughed at his jokes ...; and that [aggravated] him. - -7. He was very, very [mad] indeed, and before all the people he lifted up -his cane and flogged Peter! - -8. “Shell-fish are sometimes thought not very [healthy].” - -9. The writer of the letter ... was dead long ago; and I, a stranger, not -born at the time when this occurrence [took place], was the one to open -it. - -10. I seized the opportunity, and wrote and despatched an [acceptation] -in her name. - -11. He thought each shawl more beautiful than the [last]. - -12. I could not see that the little event in the shop below had in the -least damped Miss Matty’s curiosity as to the make of sleeves or the -[set, sit] of skirts. [If neither _sit_ nor _set_ is right here, how -recast the sentence?] - -13. Miss Matty [anticipated] the sight of the glossy folds. - -14. The Gordons ... were now [expected] to return very soon; and Miss -Matty, in her sisterly pride, [expected] great delight in the joy of -showing them Mr. Peter. - -15. However, we all sat eyes right, square front, gazing at the -[tantalizing] curtain. - -16. We (at least I) had doubts as to whether she really would enjoy the -little adventure of having her house [burglarized], as she [protested] -she would. - -17. Miss Jenkyns ... never got over what she called Captain Brown’s -disparaging [observations] upon Dr. Johnson as a writer of light and -agreeable fiction. - -18. It (Death) was a word not to be [alluded to] to ears polite. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—The following sentences are from Lord Chesterfield’s -letters to his son. As in the preceding exercise, choose the best word -for each place in question. - -1. Your own [remarks] upon mankind, when compared with those which you -will find in books, will help you fix the true point. - -2. There is nothing which I more wish that you should know, and which -[less] people do know, than the true use and value of time. - -3. Your [neglect] of dress, while you were a schoolboy, was pardonable, -but would not be so now. - -4. The [reputations] of kings and great men are only to be learned in -conversation; for they are never fairly written during their lives. - -5. What does Chesterfield mean by “in a good sense,” in the following? -“Another, speaking in defence of a gentleman upon whom a censure was -moved, happily said that he thought the gentleman was more _liable_ to be -thanked and rewarded, than censured. You know, I presume, that _liable_ -can never be used in a good sense.” - - -=Review Exercise.=—Let each word of the following list be taken up by -itself. Each member of the class should give a sentence of his own, using -the given word correctly. - -Access, acceptance, alternative, avocation, observation, ability, -capacity, character, discovery, limitation, party, portion, predominance, -residence, except (verb), affect, effect, allude, claim, purpose, -transpire, liable, apt, somewhat, quite, mad, practicable. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY - - -=The English Vocabulary.=—The enormous treasure of English speech -contains something like 200,000 words.[33] Most of these were once -foreigners to the language. To tell how each came to be English would be -like telling the personal romances of all the foreign-born citizens of -these United States. - -England was once inhabited by Celts, the ancestors of the Scotch, Welsh, -and Irish. The Romans under Cæsar possessed the island, and for five -hundred years held the country, but they left us, from this period -of their occupation, only half a dozen words: the names of the camp -(_castra_), the paved road (_strata_), the settlement (_colonia_), the -trench (_fossa_), the harbor (_portus_), the rampart (_vallum_). These -words remain chiefly in the names of places. A sharp eye sees them -in Lancaster, Leicester, Manchester, etc.; Stratford, street, etc.; -Lincoln, etc.; Fossway, etc.; Portsmouth, etc.; wall, bailey, bailiff -(these three words being derived from _vallum_). - -In the fifth century, however, Teutonic tribes began to cross the sea and -invade the land. The Celts were driven north and west into the mountains, -and the newcomers stayed permanently. Although these Teutons—the -Anglo-Saxons—called the Celts _Welsh_, that is, strangers, they took up -a good many of the strangers’ words. They called many a river of the -land _Avon_, water, as the Celts had done,—there are fourteen Avons -to-day,—and they kept many such words as _inch_, an island (in Inchcape), -and _kill_, a church (in Kildare). Indeed, for centuries the Celts kept -on lending words to the English: _bargain_, _bodkin_, _brogue_, _clan_, -_crag_, _dagger_, _glen_, _gown_, _mitten_, _rogue_, _whiskey_, are -familiar examples of these permanent loans. - -The Old English language itself was a Germanic dialect. Like Latin and -German, it was inflected,—a fact that we see to-day in the presence of -such forms as _him_, the old dative case for _he_. The inflectional -endings nearly all disappeared before Shakespeare’s time. The vocabulary -of this Old English has given us most of the words that we use as -children. For example, household names—_home_, _friends_, _father_, -_mother_, etc.; names of many emotions—_gladness_, _sorrow_, _love_, -_hate_, _fear_, etc.; names of most objects in the landscape—_tree_, -_bush_, _stone_, _hill_, _woods_, _stream_, _sun_, _moon_, etc.; common -names of animals—_horse_, _cow_, _dog_, _cat_, etc.; parts of the -body—_head_, _eye_, etc. Our household proverbs are in these Anglo-Saxon -words. “Fast bind, fast find,” is an example of a thousand similar saws -that embody the practical common sense of the people. The loves and -hates, the hopes and fears, the wit and rude wisdom of our forefathers, -have gone into Saxon words. These are not merely the words of childhood; -in hours of deep feeling, in moments when the natural disposition demands -expression, the grown man speaks in Saxon. These strong, forcible old -words are to be prized and cherished as carefully as are those of less -emotional suggestion,—the exact, discriminative Latin words. - -In the ninth and tenth centuries the Norse vikings, who sailed -everywhere, sailed also to England, and for a time got the upper hand -of the Saxons. From 1013 to 1042 there were Scandinavian kings on the -English throne. But these Norse were not able to impose much of their own -language upon the country. Their settlements were named in Norse, and the -word _by_, a town, remains in hundreds of such places, as _Whitby_, the -_white town_ (from the white cliffs). From these great seamen our Saxon -ancestors learned some new nautical dialect—words like _bow_, _bowline_, -_crew_, _harbor_, _hawser_, _lee_, _stern_. - -In 1066 the Normans conquered the land. These were Frenchmen whose -fathers had been Norse. They brought the French language into their -English court, and for two or three hundred years there were two -languages in England,—French on the lips of the nobles, Saxon on the -lips of the peasants. But the Saxon race was too strong to remain -an underling. Gradually it mingled with the Norman race, picking up -hundreds, even thousands of French words from the latter, but keeping its -own ways of putting words together. - -By 1400, when Chaucer died, there was a new English language, almost as -much French as Saxon in vocabulary, but far less French than Saxon in -grammar. Since French is largely derived from Latin, it is clear that the -total Latin element in the vocabulary was already very great. - -After Chaucer there came a general awakening of interest in ancient -civilization; and in the Revival of Learning a great many words were -adopted directly from Latin and Greek. In the sixteenth century followed -the Renaissance of literature, art, and the sciences. This made its -way to England from Italy, and naturally Englishmen caught up many -new words from Italians. For example: _alert_, _bankrupt_, _brigade_, -_bust_, _cameo_, _caricature_, _cascade_, _domino_, _fresco_, _granite_, -_influenza_, _malaria_, _niche_, _oratorio_, _pianoforte_, _ruffian_, -_studio_, _tirade_, _umbrella_, _vista_. The Spaniards, too, whom -Englishmen met in those days on the sea and at courts, have lent our -language such words as _barricade_, _bravado_, _cigar_, _desperado_, -_flotilla_, _guerilla_, _merino_, _mosquito_, _mulatto_, _renegade_, -_sherry_, _tornado_, _vanilla_. - -The bold English seamen of the sixteenth century sailed back even from -America with new things and new names—like _tobacco_. In the next -century the commerce which followed hard upon the voyages of discovery -was the means of bringing to the British island many new words. Here it -may be said that the Dutch, who have rivalled the English in commerce, -and who have taught the English some tricks of seamanship,—as did the -vikings before them,—are represented in English by words like _ballast_, -_boom_, _boor_, _skipper_, _sloop_, _smack_, _trigger_, _yacht_. English -merchantmen of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries sailed to ports -Oriental and Occidental. Returning, they brought from Africa canaries and -gorillas, with the words _canary_ and _gorilla_, and told of _oases_; -from Arabia they fetched such names as _admiral_, _alcohol_, _alcove_, -_alkali_, _arsenal_, _azure_, _chemistry_, _coffee_, _cotton_, _lute_, -_magazine_, _nabob_, _naphtha_, _sherbet_, _sofa_, _syrup_, _zenith_; -indeed, some of these words had got into English through earlier English -travellers—chiefly crusaders. English sailors and travellers have -brought from China _silk_, _tea_, etc.; from India, _banyan_, _calico_, -_mullagatawny_, _musk_, _punch_, _sugar_, _thug_, etc.; from Malayan -ports, _bantam_, _cockatoo_, _gong_, _rattan_, _sago_, etc.; from Persia, -_awning_, _caravan_, _chess_, _hazard_, _horde_, _lemon_, _orange_, -_paradise_, _sash_, _shawl_, etc. Few are the languages from which a -British ear has not caught and kept a new term. - -In America we have many Indian names of places and things. We have -_hominy_, _moose_, _opossum_, _raccoon_, _toboggan_, and other words from -North American tribes. Mexico gave us _chocolate_, _tomato_, etc.; the -West Indies, _potato_, _canoe_, _hurricane_; South America, _alpaca_, -_quinine_, _tapioca_, etc. - -In the present century, science, both practical and pure, has discovered -thousands of facts and invented thousands of contrivances. Consequently -thousands of words have been coined, mostly from Greek, to name modern -inventions and the facts of science. A recent dictionary found it -necessary to codify 4000 technical terms that had sprung up within the -last few years. - - -=Anglo-Saxon Prefixes and Suffixes.=—The following prefixes are -Anglo-Saxon. Think of words made with each. - - 1. _A-_ = in, on. - - 2. _Be-._ What grammatical effect has this prefix on _moan_, - _daub_, _friend_? - - 3. _For-._ What effect has this on _bid_, _lorn_? Compare Latin - _per_, in _perfect_. - - 4. _Fore-._ - - 5. _Gain-_ = against. - - 6. _Mis-_ (A.-S. _mis_ = wrong). What effect on _deed_, _lead_? - A French prefix from Latin _minus_ occurs in _mischief_, etc. - - 7. _Th-._ - - 8. _Un-._ - - 9. _With-_ (A.-S. _wither_ = back). - -Similarly think of words made with each of the following _noun_ suffixes -and explain the force of each suffix. - - 1. _-ard_ = habitual. - - 2. _-craft._ - - 3. _-dom._ - - 4. _-en._ - - 5. _-er._ - - 6. _-hood._ - - 7. _-ing_ = son of, part. Meaning of _Browning_? _lording_? - _tithing_? There is an older suffix which appears in the - gerund—_taking_, _hunting._ - - 8. _-kin._ - - 9. _-ling._ - - 10. _-ness._ - - 11. _-ock._ - - 12. _-ric_ = power. - - 13. _-ship._ - - 14. _-stead_ = place. - - 15. _-ster._ - - 16. _-wright._ - - 17. _-ward._ - -Think of words made with the following _adjective_ suffixes. - - 1. _-ed._ - - 2. _-en._ - - 3. _-ern._ - - 4. _-fast._ - - 5. _-fold._ - - 6. _-ful._ - - 7. _-ish._ - - 8. _-less._ - - 9. _-like_ (_lic_ = body, form). - - 10. _-right._ - - 11. _-some_ = same. - - 12. _-y._ - -Think of words made with the following _adverb_ suffixes. - - 1. _-es_ (the old genitive ending). - - 2. _-ly_ (_lic_ = body, form). - - 3. _-ling_, _-long_. - - 4. _-meal._ - - 5. _-om_ (old dative plural). - - 6. _-ward._ - - 7. _-wise_ = manner. - -=The Latin Element.=—The Latin element is numerically the larger part -of the language. It is therefore impossible to know well the English -vocabulary except by knowing a considerable part of the Latin language. -Whether our Latin words come directly through the ancient classics, or -through the Romance tongues, such as French, Italian, and Spanish, to -know their full force one must know the original meaning of them, as used -by the ancient race of world-conquerors. Every instructor in English -watches with keen interest the progress made by his students in their -Latin studies. Of course, the mere knowledge that a given word is derived -from a given Latin word does not necessarily give the student practical -command of it in his writing; but usually such knowledge does help to a -better understanding of the meaning the word has to-day, and so tends -both to fix it in memory and to insure exact use of it. - - -=Latin Words transferred to English.=—Some Latin words have been -transferred bodily into English. Discuss with the instructor the -derivation of the present meanings of the following:— - - _Alias_ = otherwise; _album_ = white; _amanuensis_ = - hand-writer; _animus_ = mind; _arena_ = sand; _boa_ = great - serpent; _camera_ = chamber; _cornucopia_ = horn of plenty; - _extra_ = beyond; _focus_ = hearth; _gratis_ = for nothing; - _item_ = also; _memento_ = remember (imperative); _nostrum_ = - our own; _omnibus_ = for all; _posse_ = to be able; _quorum_ - = of whom; _rebus_ = by things; _rostrum_ = beak; _torpedo_ = - numbness; _vagary_ = to wander; _videlicet_ = it can be seen; - _virago_ = a mannish woman. - - -=Latin Prefixes and Suffixes.=—Recall English words having the following -prefixes, and explain the effect of the prefix on each. - - _A-_, _ab-_, _abs-_ = from; _ad-_ = to; _amb-_ = about; _ante-_ - = before; _bis-_, _bi-_ = twice; _circum-_ = around; _cum-_ - (found in French _col-_, _com-_, _cor-_, _coun-_) = with; - _contra-_ = against; _de-_ = down, from; _dis-_ (Fr. _des-_, - _de-_) = asunder; _ex-_ (Fr. _es-_, _e-_) = from; _extra-_ = - beyond; _in-_ (Fr. _en-_, _em-_) = in, into; _in-_ (_il-_, - _im-_, _ir-_, _ig-_) = not; _inter-_ = between, among; _non-_ - = not; _ob-_ = against; _pene-_ = almost; _per-_ = through; - _post-_ = after; _præ-_, _pre-_ = before; _præter-_ = beyond; - _pro-_ (Fr. _pour_ = _pol-_, _por-_, _pur-_) = for; _re-_ = - back; _retro-_ = backwards; _se-_ = apart; _sub-_ (_suc-_, - _suf-_, _sum-_, _sup-_, _sur-_, _sus-_) = under; _super-_ = - above; _trans-_ = across; _vice-_ = in place of. - -Recall words having the following Latin or Latin-French suffixes, and -explain each in terms of the meaning of the suffix. - - _-Aceous_ (Lat. _-aceus_) = made of; _-al_ (Latin _-alis_) = - pertaining to; _-able_ (_-ible_), Lat. (_h_)_abilis_ = capable - of being; _-ple_, _-ble_ (Latin _-plex_) = fold; _-plex_ = - fold; _-lent_ (Lat. _-lentus_) = full of; _-ose_ (Lat. _-osus_) - = full of; _-und_ (Lat. _-undus_) = full of; _-ulous_ (Lat. - _-ulus_)= full of. - - -=Latin Roots in English.=—Below are listed a few of the many Latin words -that have given us English words. Recall as many as possible of their -derivatives, and define each in terms of the original meaning. Thus -_acer_, sharp, gives us _acrimony_, sharpness, _acrid_, sour. Some member -of the class may know that through the French it gives us _vinegar_, -sharp wine. Make notes in your note-book of any derivatives that are new -to you. _Ædes_, a building; _æquus_, equal; _ager_, a field; _agere_, -to do; _alere_, to nourish—perfect participle _altus_, nourished, -therefore high; _amare_, to love; _anima_, life; _animus_, mind; _annus_, -a year; _aqua_, water; _arcus_, a bow; _ardere_ (pf. ptc. _arsus_), to -burn; _audire_, to hear; _augere_ (pf. ptc. _auctus_), to increase; -_brevis_, brief; _cadere_ (pf. ptc. _casus_), to fall; _candere_, to -shine; _capere_, to take; _caput_, a head; _cavus_, hollow; _cernere_ -(pf. ptc. _cretus_), to distinguish; _clarus_, clear; _cor_, heart; -_corona_, crown; _credere_, to believe; _crescere_ (pf. ptc. _cretus_), -to grow; _crudus_, raw; _cura_, care; _deus_, god; _dicere_, to say; -_docere_, to teach; _dominus_, lord (Fr. _damsel_, _dame_, _madame_); -_domus_, a house; _ducere_, to lead; _errare_, to wander; _facere_, to -make; _filum_, a thread; _finis_, the end; _flos_, a flower; _frangere_ -(stems, _frag_, _fract_), to break; _fortis_, strong; _fundere_, to pour; -_gradus_, a step; _gravis_, heavy; _homo_, a man; _imperare_, to command; -_jus_, right; _legere_ (_lect_), to read; _ligo_, to bind; _litera_, a -letter; _loqui_, to speak; _lumen_, light; _luna_, the moon; _magnus_, -great; _manus_, a hand; _maturus_, ripe; _mittere_ (_missere_), to send; -_mors_, death; _novus_, new; _nox_, night; _omnis_, all; _ordo_, order; -_pascere_ (pf. ptc. _pastus_), to feed; _pati_ (pf. ptc. _passus_), -to suffer; _petere_, to seek; _portare_, to carry; _radix_, a root; -_regere_ (pf. ptc. _rectus_), to rule; _scire_, to know; _sequi_ (pf. -ptc. _secutus_), to follow; _socius_, a companion; _spirare_, to breathe; -_tangere_, to touch; _texere_, to weave; _vanus_, empty; _videre_, to -see; _vincere_ (pf. ptc. _victus_), to conquer; _vulgus_, the crowd. - - -=Greek Roots in English.=—Recall English words made from the following -Greek roots, and explain each. Make notes in your note-book of those -derivatives that are new to you. _Anthropos_, a man; _aster_, _astron_, -a star; _autos_, self; _biblos_, a book; _bios_, life; _deka_, ten; -_dokein_, to think; _dunamis_, power; _eu_, well; _ge_, the earth; -_graphein_, to write; _hemi_, half; _hippos_, a horse; _homos_, the same; -_kuklos_, a circle; _monos_, alone; _orthos_, right; _pan_, all; _petra_, -a rock; _philein_, to love; _phone_, a sound; _poiein_, to make;[34] -_skopein_, to see; _sophia_, wisdom; _tele_, distant; _theos_, a god. - - -=Curious Words.=—Look up and copy into your note-book the origin of the -following words. _Assassin_, _august_, _dahlia_, _dunce_, _epicure_, -_galvanic_, _guillotine_, _hermetically_, _January_, _jovial_, _July_, -_lynch_, _March_, _mentor_, _panic_, _phaeton_, _quixotic_, _stentorian_, -_tantalize_, _tawdry_. _Bayonet_, _bedlam_, _copper_, _damask_, _dollar_, -_gasconade_, _gipsy_, _laconic_, _lumber_, _meander_, _milliner_, -_palace_, _utopian_. _Abominate_, _adieu_, _amethyst_, _apothecary_, -_beldam_, _capricious_, _cemetery_, _cheap_, _checkmate_, _cobalt_, -_curmudgeon_, _dainty_, _daisy_, _dismal_, _emolument_, _salary_, -_fanatic_, _gentleman_, _heretic_, _inculcate_, _infant_, _intoxicated_, -_maidenhair_ (fern), _maxim_, _nausea_, _onyx_, _parlor_, _Porte_ -(the Sublime Porte), _pupil_, _silly_, _sincere_, _tariff_, _trump_ -(card). _Atonement_, _belfry_, _brimstone_, _carouse_, _counterpane_, -_coward_, _crayfish_, _dandelion_, _dirge_, _drawing-room_, _easel_, -_gospel-grove_, _harbinger_, _Jerusalem artichoke_, _line_ (garments), -_licorice_, _nostril_, _porpoise_, _quinsy_, _squirrel_, _summerset_, -_surgeon_, _thorough_, _treacle_, _trifle_, _wassail_, _whole_. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Examine the following passages separately. Classify -all the words in two columns, one giving those of Saxon derivation, the -other those of Latin derivation. Consult the dictionary in case of doubt. -Then compare the English of Dr. Johnson with that of Dr. Blackmore. The -former is writing in his own person as an eighteenth century scholar; the -latter in the person of the stout John Ridd, a seventeenth century youth. - - No degree of knowledge attainable by man is able to set him - above the want of hourly assistance, or to extinguish the - desire of fond endearments, and tender officiousness; and - therefore, no one should think it unnecessary to learn those - arts by which friendship may be gained. Kindness is preserved - by a constant reciprocation of benefits or interchange of - pleasures; but such benefits only can be bestowed, as others - are capable to receive, and such pleasures only imparted, as - others are qualified to enjoy.—DR. JOHNSON, _Rambler for July - 9, 1751_. - - When I had travelled two miles or so, conquered now and - then with cold, and coming out to rub my legs into a lively - friction, and only fishing here and there because of the - tumbling water, suddenly, in an open space, where meadows - spread about it, I found a good stream flowing softly into the - body of our brook. And it brought, so far as I could guess by - the sweep of it under my knee-caps, a larger power of clear - water than the Lynn itself had; only it came more quietly down, - not being troubled with stairs and steps, as the fortune of the - Lynn is, but gliding smoothly and forcibly, as if upon some set - purpose.—R. D. BLACKMORE, _Lorna Doone_. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY - - -=Ideas without Words.=—It is possible to have ideas without having words -in which to express them. Miss Helen Keller[35] had plenty of ideas -before any one taught her the words for them. The painter trains himself -to express ideas in paint; the sculptor, in stone. The inventor expresses -ideas in machinery. Because words however are the commonest means of -expression, it is desirable that one should know as many as possible. -A person who has ideas will indeed be able to communicate them in some -rough-and-ready form of speech; will use a poor word, if he cannot think -of a good one, and by hook or crook will manage to be understood. But an -unread, untrained man trying to communicate some fine shade of thought is -commonly a sorry sight, no matter how bright his mind may be. - - -=Words without Ideas.=—On the other hand, it is possible to know words -without knowing what they stand for. Some persons of quick verbal memory -pick up phrases readily, and utter them glibly, with little sense of -their meaning. Gratiano, of Shakespeare’s drama, “spoke an infinite deal -of nothing, more than any man in Venice.” Such persons as he have given -ground for the sarcastic remark that language is the art of concealing -thought. The use of meaningless phrases, and the use of words without -a care to their exact meaning, is one danger that besets the student -of composition. The boy who fluently remarks that he recently lost -his little _saturnine_ (meaning _canine_, i.e. _dog_); the lady, Mrs. -Malaprop, who walks through Sheridan’s play, saying, “You go first, -and we’ll _precede_ you”; the man, Launcelot Gobbo, who enlivens _The -Merchant of Venice_ with such remarks as that “his suit is _impertinent_ -to himself,”—these people need a book of synonyms. Unless a writer is -sure that he knows definitely the meaning of the word that his pen is -about to trace, he would much better stay his hand. - - -=Ideas and Words.=—Though one mind may have ideas but lack their names, -and though another may have the names but lack the notions for which -they stand, yet both ideas and words are indispensable to the writer. A -general recipe for getting ideas is hardly easier to give than a recipe -for being great, or for having blue eyes, or for being liked by every -one. Ideas are had through new experiences, new acquaintanceships, new -sights; through hard thinking, through hard reading,—in short, through -living. Mr. Henry James, the eminent novelist, gives a direction for -being a good novelist: _Try to be one of those people on whom nothing is -lost._ The student who is eager to know as much as possible of what is -worth knowing in life, and is devoured with curiosity to learn the name -of everything, is sure to acquire both new ideas and new words.[36] - -It is nevertheless not to be denied that to some extent ideas can be -bred by the study of the mere words. How true this is appears when it is -remembered that words are the embalmed ideas of men. A study of such a -list as the Curious Words given in the preceding chapter cannot but add -to the student’s mental stores. Thackeray, it is said, used to read the -dictionary before he composed. It may be presumed that the habit used -not merely to acquaint him with new words, but to arouse his mind and -set it to fashioning new thoughts. The attempt to discriminate between -words that mean nearly, not quite, the same thing, results in a distinct -gain in thought, and in power of thought. It is probable that no two -words have exactly the same sense; to discover the difference enriches -the discoverer’s store of knowledge, and develops one of the highest -mental powers. A command of words not merely affords relief from the pain -of dumbness, not merely loosens the tongue; it aids reasoning. Thinking -proceeds more securely the moment a hazy notion is given definite shape -in the right word. Indeed, the mere search for the right word is always a -means of clearing up the thought. To be tortured in mind by inability to -find the unique phrase, sometimes means a mere fault in verbal memory; as -often, or oftener, it is due to a vagueness of thinking. - -By way of summary, then, acquisition of ideas furthers acquisition -of words, and _vice versâ_. To be poor in ideas, or to be poor in -language,—either means failure for a writer. - - -=The Two Vocabularies.=—Of all the 200,000 words in our language, -probably no one man would understand one-half if he saw them, undefined, -in a dictionary. Just how large a man’s reading vocabulary can be is not -known. Professor Holden, the astronomer, found that his own was about -33,000 words. It is therefore likely that 25,000 is not an unusual number -for an educated person to understand. But the _reading_ or _passive_ -vocabulary is very different in size from the _writing_ or _active_ -vocabulary. To remember the sense of a word when it is seen is far less -difficult than to recall the word whenever its meaning rises dimly in -the mind. A little child has but one set of words—an active vocabulary; -it makes oral use of all the expressions it knows. But the older person -reads so much that he comes to recognize myriads of words that rarely -rise to his lips or find their way to his pen. There is inevitably -therefore a widening gap between the expressions he can recognize and -those he can employ. That this should be so is in part desirable. A -person of fourteen or sixteen or eighteen must, if he reads carefully, -learn to understand many expressions that are too bookish for his own -uses. The word _temerarious_, for instance, is needed once where its -unpretentious cousin, _rash_, is needed a score of times. With some words -the young writer needs only a speaking acquaintance; others are good -friends that, in Hamlet’s phrase, he should buckle to his soul with hoops -of steel. But it is safe to say that if a person can transfer some part -of his reading vocabulary into his writing vocabulary, he will be much -benefited by so doing. There is probably no reason why a freshman should -not enter college master of a writing vocabulary of 5000 words, and a -reading vocabulary of 15,000. Shakespeare’s works contain about 15,000 -different words, the King James version of the Bible fewer than 6000. -Again, each person uses the same words with many different meanings. -Every great writer employs the same words in many figurative senses; -the fact is perhaps the most striking proof of his literary power. If -Shakespeare’s vocabulary were reckoned as including these figurative -meanings, it would shoot up to a wonderful figure. - -“It would be absurd,” says Professor A. S. Hill, with characteristic good -sense, “for a boy to have the desirableness of enlarging his vocabulary -constantly on his mind; but if he avails himself of his opportunities, in -the school-room or out of it, he will be surprised to find how rapidly -his vocabulary grows.” Doubtless however the matter must receive some -definite attention, if the best results are to be secured. In the rest -of this chapter particular methods of acquiring new words and senses of -words will be considered. - - -=A Vocabulary Book.=—It will be found helpful to buy a strong blank-book -of convenient size, and to copy into this every new word that seems to -the student available for his writing; not every new word he meets, for -some will impress him as too bookish or pedantic, but those which appear -to express happily some idea that has lain unnamed in his mind. - - -=Figurative Uses of Common Words.=—A writer owes it to himself and to -the reader to get all the service he legitimately can out of common -words, because in the end so doing spares both persons a vast deal of -unnecessary labor. Examine a handful of the well-worn counters of -speech,—such words as _poor_, _heavy_, _thin_, _best_, _full_, _manner_, -_sense_, _deep_, _sweet_. They are like dull pebbles brought home from -the beach. But dip them back into the brine of a good book, and they -become gems. The words specified above appear in a paragraph of Mr. W. D. -Howells: “I followed Irving, too, in my later reading, but at haphazard, -and with other authors at the same time. I did my poor best to be amused -by his _Knickerbocker History of New York_, because my father liked it -so much, but secretly I found it heavy; and a few years ago when I went -carefully through it again, I could not laugh. Even as a boy I found some -other things of his up-hill work. There was the beautiful manner, but -the thought seemed thin; and I do not remember having been much amused -by _Bracebridge Hall_, though I read it devoutly, and with a full sense -that it would be very _comme il faut_ to like it. But I did like the life -of Goldsmith; I liked it a great deal better than the more authoritative -life by Forster, and I think there is a deeper and sweeter sense of -Goldsmith in it.”[37] - -Observe the various duties that the plainest words were persuaded -into doing for Shakespeare. With him the word _old_ applies to widely -different things: _Old arms_, _old beard_, _old limbs_, _old eyes_, _old -bones_, _old feet_, _old heart_, _old wrinkles_, _old wit_, _old care_, -_old woe_, _old hate_, _old custom_, _old days_. What does each of these -phrases mean? He is fond of contrasting simple words; thus, “He’ll take -his _old_ course in a country _new_.” - -Note how many abstract ideas in Shakespeare are contented with the word -_heavy_, which ordinary people apply merely to coal, lead, and such -uninspiring commodities. _Heavy accent_, _heavy news_, _heavy sin_, -_heavy act_, _heavy task_, _heavy day_, _heavy hour_, _heavy gait_, -_heavy leave_, _heavy message_, _heavy summons_. Explain what each -means.[38] - -Similarly there are _light gifts_, _light behavior_, _light heart_, -_light loss_, _light of foot_, _light wings_, _light foam_. Another -drudge of a word, _thick_, learns new and pleasanter tasks of the -great poet. _Thick sight_, _thick perils_, _thick in their thoughts_, -_thick sighs_, _thick slumber_. Explain each of these phrases. Opposed -to _thick_ is _thin_: _thin air_, _thin drink_, _thin and slender -pittance_. These are the things that Shakespeare calls _high_: _high -deeds_, _high descent_, _high desert_, _high designs_, _high disgrace_, -_high exploits_, _high feats_, _high good trim_, _high heaven_, _high -hope_, _high perfection_, _high resolve_, _high reward_. One more word, -_golden_. Lesser poets would apply it to physical objects. Shakespeare, -too, speaks of the sun “Kissing with golden face the meadows green,” -and of “This majestical roof fretted with golden fire.” But elsewhere -he manages to apply the adjective to things that cannot so directly be -called golden. Thus: “A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross.” -“... wear a golden sorrow.” “Golden lads and girls all must, As chimney -sweepers, come to dust.” “Nestor’s golden words.” Explain each of these -uses. - -Of course many of these figurative expressions are too poetical by far -for the prose of high school students. Nevertheless, many others would -be appropriate in the manuscript of any person,—for instance, _high -designs_, _high deeds_, _high exploits_, _high resolve_. Such uses as -these can be cultivated to the enrichment of the vocabulary. - - -=Written Exercise.=[39]—Each of the following adjectives applies -primarily to physical objects, that can be seen, or heard, or touched, or -tasted. But each is often raised to a higher use, being made to name some -quality of character, or some other abstract idea. Take the adjectives -one by one, and under each write in class as many abstract words as you -think can properly be modified by the given adjective. Thus the adjective -_fine_, which is used of such physical objects as _sand_, _cloth_, -_particles_, may also apply to _courage_, _sense of honor_, _presence_, -_phrases_, _words_, _deeds_. - -1. Sweet. 2. Sour. 3. Bitter. 4. Soft. 5. Hard. 6. Smooth. 7. Rough. 8. -Delicious. 9. Insipid. 10. Cold. 11. Freezing. 12. Icy. 13. Burning. 14. -Chilly. 15. Blue. 16. White. 17. Black. 18. Gray. 19. Brown. 20. Green. -21. Dark. 22. Shadowy. 23. Misty. 24. Cloudy. 25. Windy. 26. Stormy. 27. -Transparent. 28. Blunt. 29. Sharp. 30. Keen. 31. Dull. 32. Fragrant. 33. -Malodorous. 34. Shining. 35. Beaming. 36. Glowing. 37. Glittering. 38. -Blazing. 39. Hazy. 40. Brilliant. 41. Muddy. 42. Rippling. - - -=The Value of Careful Reading.=—A writer must perhaps be as dependent on -books for his vocabulary as on any other one source. Yet it is possible -to read a great deal without absorbing many new expressions. To gain new -words and new ideas, the student must compel himself to read slowly. -Impatient to hurry on and learn how the tale or poem ends, many a youth -is accustomed to read so rapidly as to miss the best part of what the -author is trying to say. Thoughts cannot be read so rapidly as words. -To get at the thoughts and really to retain the valuable expressions, -the student must scrutinize and ponder as he reads. Each word must be -thoroughly understood; its exact value in the given sentence must be -grasped. It will not do to draft off a long list of new expressions -into the note-book, and then investigate the meaning of each after the -connection in which each was used has been forgotten. Usually the best -way is to look up the meaning when the word is come upon. This is always -the best way when a passage is being read with a view to increasing -one’s vocabulary. When a tale or poem or essay is being read for its -general theme, or for its literary construction, it is often desirable to -underline each new word, leaving the meaning to be investigated a little -later. In finding the value of the word in its sentence, the student is -often little aided by the dictionary. Imagination and reasoning must -sometimes be called into play before the definition can be made to apply. -The dictionary—particularly the abridged dictionary—is not a magic book, -ready to explain every delicate shading that a great author gives a word -in a particular connection. - -In reading silently it is due the author to read with as much expression -as if one were pronouncing the words aloud. One should mentally give -every word and phrase its proper accent, should feel the value of every -punctuation mark. The force of such a passage as the following, from -Carlyle, will be lost unless the reader puts the emphasis in exactly the -right places. - - Manhood begins when we have in any way made truce with - Necessity; begins, at all events, when we have surrendered to - Necessity, as the most part only do; but begins joyfully and - hopefully only when we have reconciled ourselves to Necessity; - and thus, in reality, triumphed over it, and felt that in - Necessity we are free. - -Literature is full of words descriptive of things that all have seen or -heard. We render a service to the memory if in reading we linger long -enough to call up the colors, shapes, motions, sounds, that are suggested -by the text. Some persons recall sights more easily than sounds, some -recall sounds more easily than sights; some can remember motions more -easily than either colors, shapes, or sounds. It is therefore good -training for the word-memory if we endeavor to recall all kinds of sense -impressions. Read the following passage slowly, imagining the sights, -motions, and sensations of touch, that are suggested. - - A long way down that limpid water, chill and bright as - an iceberg, went my little self that day on man’s choice - errand—destruction. All the young fish seemed to know that I - was one who had taken out God’s certificate, and meant to have - the value of it; every one of them was aware that we desolate - more than replenish the earth. For a cow might come and look - into the water, and put her yellow lips down; a kingfisher, - like a blue arrow, might shoot through the dark alleys over - the channel, or sit on a dipping withy-bough with his beak - sunk into his breast-feathers; even an otter might float down - stream, likening himself to a log of wood, with his flat head - flush with the water-top, and his oily eyes peering quietly; - and yet no panic would seize other life, as it does when a - sample of man comes.—R. D. BLACKMORE, _Lorna Doone_. - -Imagine as vividly as possible each sound and other physical sensation -suggested by the following selection, from the book just quoted:— - - The volumes of the mist came rolling at me (like great logs of - wood, pillowed out with sleepiness), and between them there was - nothing more than waiting for the next one. Then everything - went out of sight, and glad was I of the stone behind me, and - view of mine own shoes. Then a distant noise went by me, as of - many horses galloping, and in my fright I set my gun and said, - “God send something to shoot at.” Yet nothing came, and my gun - fell back, without my will to lower it. - - But presently, while I was thinking “What a fool I am!” arose - as if from below my feet, so that the great stone trembled, - that long lamenting, lonesome sound, as of an evil spirit not - knowing what to do with it. For the moment I stood like a root, - without either hand or foot to help me, and the hair of my head - began to crawl, lifting my hat, as a snail lifts his house, and - my heart like a shuttle went to and fro. But finding no harm - to come of it, neither visible form approaching, I wiped my - forehead and hoped for the best, and resolved to run every step - of the way till I drew our own latch behind me. - - Yet here again I was disappointed, for no sooner was I come - to the cross-ways by the black pool in the hole, but I heard - through the patter of my own feet a rough low sound very close - in the fog, as of a hobbled sheep a-coughing. I listened, and - feared, and yet listened again, though I wanted not to hear - it. For being in haste of the homeward road, and all my heart - having heels to it, loath I was to stop in the dusk for the - sake of an aged wether. Yet partly my love of all animals, and - partly my fear of the farmer’s disgrace, compelled me to go - to the succor, and the noise was coming nearer. A dry, short, - wheezing sound it was, barred with coughs and want of breath; - but thus I made the meaning of it:— - -What do you see mentally, when you read the following? - - Sweet are the uses of adversity, - Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, - Wears yet a precious jewel in its head. - -The value of minute and thoughtful reading has been set forth by John -Ruskin, in his _Sesame and Lilies_, a book well worth reading, if one is -willing to take in good part the earnest, somewhat dogmatic tone which -Ruskin so often uses. The oft-quoted passage in which he illustrates his -idea of how a poem should be read, is given below. The student who every -day reads a few pages as conscientiously as Ruskin would have him, will -find his command of words rapidly increasing, and his power of thought -increasing likewise. - - And now, merely for example’s sake, I will, with your - permission, read a few lines of a true book with you carefully, - and see what will come out of them. I will take a book - perfectly known to you all. No English words are more familiar - to us, yet few perhaps have been read with less sincerity. I - will take these few following lines of _Lycidas_:— - - “Last came, and last did go, - The pilot of the Galilean lake. - Two massy keys he bore of metals twain - (The golden opes, the iron shuts amain): - He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake: - ‘How well could I have spared for thee, young swain, - Enow of such as for their bellies’ sake - Creep and intrude and climb into the fold! - Of other care they little reckoning make - Than how to scramble at the shearers’ feast, - And shove away the worthy bidden guest; - Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold - A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least - That to the faithful herdsman’s art belongs! - What recks it them? What need they? They are sped; - And when they list, their lean and flashy songs - Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw. - The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, - But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw, - Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread, - Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw - Daily devours apace, and nothing said.’” - - Let us think over this passage, and examine its words. - - First, is it not singular to find Milton assigning to St. - Peter, not only his full episcopal function, but the very types - of it which Protestants usually refuse most passionately? His - “mitred” locks! Milton was no Bishop-lover; how comes St. Peter - to be “mitred”? “Two massy keys he bore.” Is this, then, the - power of the keys claimed by the bishops of Rome, and is it - acknowledged here by Milton only in a poetical license, for - the sake of its picturesqueness, that he may get the gleam of - the golden keys to help his effect? Do not think it. Great men - do not play stage tricks with doctrines of life and death: - only little men do that. Milton means what he says; and means - it with his might too—is going to put the whole strength of - his spirit presently into the saying of it. For though not a - lover of false bishops, he _was_ a lover of true ones; and the - Lake-pilot is here, in his thoughts, the type and head of true - episcopal power. For Milton reads that text, “I will give unto - thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven” quite honestly. Puritan - though he be, he would not blot it out of the book because - there have been bad bishops; nay, in order to understand him, - we must understand that verse first; it will not do to eye it - askance, or whisper it under our breath, as if it were a weapon - of an adverse sect. It is a solemn, universal assertion, deeply - to be kept in mind by all sects. But perhaps we shall be better - able to reason on it if we go on a little farther, and come - back to it. For clearly, this marked insistence on the power - of the true episcopate is to make us feel more weightily what - is to be charged against the false claimants of episcopate; or - generally, against false claimants of power and rank in the - body of the clergy; they who, “for their bellies’ sake, creep, - and intrude, and climb into the fold.” - - Do not think Milton uses those three words to fill up his - verse, as a loose writer would. He needs all the three; - specially those three, and no more than those—“creep,” and - “intrude,” and “climb”; no other words would or could serve - the turn, and no more could be added. For they exhaustively - comprehend the three classes, correspondent to the three - characters, of men who dishonestly seek ecclesiastical power. - First, those who “creep” into the fold, who do not care for - office, nor name, but for secret influence, and do all things - occultly and cunningly, consenting to any servility of office - or conduct, so only that they may intimately discern, and - unawares direct, the minds of men. Then those who “intrude” - (thrust, that is) themselves into the fold, who by natural - insolence of heart and stout eloquence of tongue and fearlessly - perseverant self-assertion obtain hearing and authority with - the common crowd. Lastly, those who “climb,” who, by labor - and learning both stout and sound, but selfishly exerted in - the cause of their own ambition, gain high dignities and - authorities, and become “lords over the heritage,” though not - “ensamples to the flock.” - - Now go on:— - - “Of other care they little reckoning make - Than how to scramble at the shearers’ feast. - _Blind mouths_—” - - I pause again, for this is a strange expression,—a broken - metaphor, one might think, careless and unscholarly. - - Not so; its very audacity and pithiness are intended to - make us look close at the phrase and remember it. Those two - monosyllables express the precisely accurate contraries of - right character, in the two great offices of the Church—those - of bishop and pastor. - - A Bishop means a person who sees. - - A Pastor means one who feeds. - - The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore to be - Blind. - - The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be - fed,—to be a Mouth. - - Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind mouths.” - We may advisably follow out this idea a little. Nearly all the - evils in the Church have arisen from bishops desiring _power_ - more than _light_. They want authority, not outlook. Whereas - their real office is not to rule; though it may be vigorously - to exhort and rebuke; it is the king’s office to rule; the - bishop’s office is to _oversee_ the flock; to number it, sheep - by sheep; to be ready always to give full account of it. Now - it is clear he cannot give account of the souls, if he has - not so much as numbered the bodies of his flock. The first - thing, therefore, that a bishop has to do is at least to put - himself in a position in which, at any moment, he can obtain - the history from childhood of every living soul in his diocese, - and of its present state. Down in that back street, Bill, and - Nancy, knocking each other’s teeth out!—Does the bishop know - all about it? Has he his eye upon them? Has he _had_ his eye - upon them? Can he circumstantially explain to us how Bill got - into the habit of beating Nancy about the head? If he cannot, - he is no bishop, though he had a mitre as high as Salisbury - steeple. He is no bishop,—he has sought to be at the helm - instead of the masthead; he has no sight of things. “Nay,” - you say, “it is not his duty to look after Bill in the back - street.” What! the fat sheep that have full fleeces,—you think - it is only those he should look after, while (go back to your - Milton) “the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, besides - what the grim wolf, with privy paw” (bishops knowing nothing - about it) “daily devours apace, and nothing said”? - - “But that’s not our idea of a bishop.” Perhaps not; but it - was St. Paul’s, and it was Milton’s. They may be right, or we - may be; but we must not think we are reading either one or the - other by putting our meaning into their words. - -[Ruskin goes on to discuss other expressions with the same minuteness.] - - -=Contributions from Other Studies.=—In acquiring any new science or art -one learns many new terms, some of which are not too technical for use -in themes. For that matter, every exercise written in any subject cannot -help being to some extent an exercise in English. The vocabulary book -should receive contributions from every line of the student’s work. - - -=Translation.=—There is no better means of making the memory yield up -the words which it has formerly caught, than translation. Professor A. -S. Hill quotes the reported words of Rufus Choate: “Translation should -be pursued to bring to mind and to employ all the words you already own, -and to tax and torment invention and discovery and the very deepest -memory for additional, rich, and admirably expressive words.”[40] Every -lesson in translating is a lesson in self-expression. Professor Carpenter -testifies[41] that the Latin-trained boys entering scientific schools are -remarkably superior in power of expression to those not so trained; and -his testimony is confirmed by the experience of many other teachers. - - -=Memorizing of Literature.=—To the habit of memorizing, many a person is -indebted not merely for high thoughts that cheer hours of solitude and -that stimulate his own thinking, but for command of words. The degree to -which the language of modern writers is derived from a few great authors -is startling. Shakespeare’s phrases are a part of the tissue of every -man’s speech to-day. Such writers as Charles Lamb bear Shakespeare’s mark -on every page. The language of the King James version of the Bible is -echoed in modern English prose and poetry. It formed styles so unlike as -those of Bunyan, Ruskin, and Abraham Lincoln. Most teachers would declare -that a habit of learning Scripture by heart is of incalculable value to a -student’s English. In the Authorized Version, and to almost as great an -extent in the Revised Version, the Anglo-Saxon element and the Latin are -both present in marvellous effectiveness.[42] - -It is clear that whatever help one’s writing is to receive from -memorizing will come naturally through one’s study of literature. But -so many of the strongest words in the language, particularly the Saxon -words, have been treasured up in the homely sayings of the people, that -I have ventured to suggest a list of proverbs for memorizing. Just how -many of these it may be advisable for a given pupil to retain in mind is -a matter to be decided by the instructor. Certainly each student will do -well to learn a score of those that seem to him best worth remembering. -Each saying preserves some fine word in some natural context, a fact that -will make the word far easier to recall than it would be if learned as -an isolated term. Not more than ten or fifteen minutes a day ought to be -given to the memorizing. - - -ENGLISH PROVERBS[43] - - A brave retreat is a brave exploit. - A carper can cavil at anything. - A carrion kite will never make a good hawk. - A child is better unborn than untaught. - A custom more honored in the breach than in the observance. - A dogmatical tone, a pragmatical pate. - A diligent scholar, and the master’s paid. - A dog’s life, hunger and ease. - A dwarf on a giant’s shoulders sees farther of the two. - A fair field and no favor. - A fault confessed is half redressed. - A fine new nothing. - A fool always comes short of his reckoning. - A fool will not be foiled. - A forced kindness deserves no thanks. - A good cause makes a stout heart and a strong arm. - A good name keeps its lustre in the dark. - A grain of prudence is worth a pound of craft. - A great city, a great solitude. - A honey tongue, a heart of gall. - A man may buy gold too dear. - A man must sell his ware at the rates of the market. - A man never surfeits of too much honesty. - A nod for a wise man, and a rod for a fool. - A penny saved is a penny got. - A wicked book is the wickeder because it cannot repent. - A wager is a fool’s argument. - All complain of want of memory, but none of want of judgment. - All the craft is in the catching. - An unpeaceable man hath no neighbor. - Antiquity is not always a mark of verity. - As wily as a fox. - Better lose a jest than a friend. - Better to go away longing than loathing. - By ignorance we mistake, and by mistakes we learn. - Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts. - Clowns are best in their own company, but gentlemen are best everywhere. - Conscience cannot be compelled. - Cutting out well is better than sewing up well. - Danger and delight grow on one stock. - Decency and decorum are not pride. - Different sores must have different salves. - Dexterity comes by experience. - Do not spur a free horse. - Even reckoning makes long friends. - Every age confutes old errors and begets new. - Every man hath a fool in his sleeve. - Faint praise is disparagement. - Force without forecast is of little avail. - From fame to infamy is a beaten road. - Great businesses turn on a little pin. - Great spenders are bad lenders. - He is lifeless that is faultless. - Heaven will make amends for all. - Let your purse be your master. - Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world. - Ignorance is a voluntary misfortune. - It is a wicked thing to make a dearth one’s garner. - Lean liberty is better than fat slavery. - Self-love is a mote in every man’s eye. - Sloth is the key to poverty. - Some sport is sauce to pains. - Subtility set a trap and caught itself. - Temporizing is sometimes great wisdom. - The goat must browse where he is tied. - The poet, of all sorts of artificers, is the fondest of his works. - The prick of a pin is enough to make an empire insipid. - The purest gold is the most ductile. - There’s a craft in daubing. - Thrift is good revenue. - Too much consulting confounds. - Truth needs not many words, but a false tale a large preamble. - Truths too fine-spun are subtle fooleries. - Upbraiding turns a benefit into an injury. - Use your wit as a buckler, not as a sword. - What God made, he never mars. - When honor grew mercenary, money grew honorable. - Where vice is, vengeance follows. - - -=Synonyms.=—A synonym is a word that means the same or nearly the same -thing as some other word. Our language, from its composite nature, is -peculiarly rich in synonyms. In hundreds of cases English has absorbed -both the Saxon and the French or Latin word for a given idea. Nearly -always, in such cases, one of the words has acquired a distinctly -different shade of meaning from the other. Indeed, one of the words -is sure to acquire a slightly different _value_, whether from its -associations or its sound. While it may roughly be said that there are -words which mean the same thing, yet for the really careful writer there -are no synonyms. - - -=Synonyms for Adjectives of Praise.=—In another sense there are many -people who seem to have no synonyms. You have doubtless known persons who -lacked all means of differentiating praise,—persons who applied the same -adjective to everything, from a pin to the solar system. There are the -people who find everything either _nice_ or _not nice_; the people who -eat _elegant soups_ and sigh at _elegant sunsets_; the people who have -_jolly times_, _jolly canes_, _jolly excuses_. To the _nice_ group, the -_elegant_ group, and the _jolly_ group, may be added the _lovely_ group, -and many others. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Apply several proper adjectives of praise to each of -the following: soup, sunset, poodle, lady, moon, time (_e.g._ meaning -an excursion), silk, opera, book-binding, gown, face, mountain, box of -sweets, ice-cream, disposition, story, manner, soul, fan, perfume, roses, -piano-playing, sermon, editorial or leader, critique. - - -=A Danger.=—The study of synonyms cultivates discrimination. But as a -study for the purpose of widening the active vocabulary it must be -judiciously limited. If one turns to a book of synonyms, one finds on -many a page some score of words meaning nearly the same thing. Many of -these words are unusual, out-of-the-way expressions, to use which would -make a man sound like a prig. Simplicity is a cardinal virtue in writing. -If this fact is kept in mind, and the student does not affect too -elaborate and bookish words, the study of synonyms will be of the utmost -service to him. - - -=A Method of Study.=—Below are listed a good many groups of synonyms. -They are to be studied now and to be used hereafter for reference in the -work of writing. Each group contains only a few of the words that might -demand a place if the question were merely one of meaning. The words here -chosen are such as may properly appear in the work of any high school -student, _if there is need of them to express the student’s meaning_. - -Even in these groups some words are simpler, and therefore in general -more desirable. _The class should first examine the entire list, -underlining carefully the simpler words in each group. These, simpler -words are regularly to be preferred when their meaning is exact enough -for the idea in mind._ The others are to be mastered for the sake of the -distinctions they express, and for their occasional usefulness as a means -of avoiding repetitions. - -The underlining finished, the groups may further be studied with a view -to discriminating the various terms. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to -devote to this work, and in some cases it may be best to examine minutely -only a part of the list, leaving the rest to be used for reference. - - -=Written Exercise.=—It will be found useful to spend five minutes a day -in copying off several times each unfamiliar word. Unless the hand is -accustomed to tracing the word, the mind will not be likely to demand -this act of the hand in the moment of composition. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Each student may be asked to pronounce every word that -he has not been in the habit of using orally. Since the same term is -likely to have been neglected by many of the class, a considerable amount -of ear-training will be received by all. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—One of the best, because most natural, ways of studying -synonyms, is to examine a page of good prose with a view to seeing -whether synonyms could have been used as effectively as the actual words -in the text. Choose such a page, underline the important words, and -examine the list to find the group to which each belongs. Then substitute -for the word in the text the other words of the group, and see whether -the author’s choice was wise. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Each group should be taken up in turn and discussed by -the class after the meanings of unfamiliar words have been looked up in -the dictionary. The force of each word _as a synonym of the others in its -group_ should be brought out by illustrative sentences. The differences -in meaning should be talked about until they are thoroughly understood. -Fernald’s _Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions_, and Smith’s _Synonyms -Discriminated_, are good books of reference if any doubtful question -arises. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Study an assigned number of groups, and pick out the -word which seems to have the most general meaning, the word which, more -than any other, includes the remaining members of the group. Thus, in the -series _Actual_, _authentic_, _genuine_, _real_, the last is the most -general term. Real applies to a larger number of things than any of its -synonyms. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Study an assigned number of groups, and say what idea -the members of each have in common, and, if possible, what additional -idea each member has. Thus, _Adept_, _adroit_, _deft_, _dexterous_, -_handy_, _skilful_, each have the idea _skilful_. _Adept_ means skilful -in some art or occupation. _Adroit_ means skilful with the hand, or with -the mind,—_i.e._ tactful. _Deft_, _dexterous_ usually mean skilful with -the hand; _deft_ refers to movements of the fingers, _dexterous_ to -quick motions, as of the hand. _Handy_ means skilful at manual exercises. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—One member of each group should be pronounced, and the -student asked to give from memory the other members. - - -=Oral or Written Exercise.=—Only one part of speech is represented in -each group. The student should be asked to give corresponding parts of -speech. Thus, the adjective series _Actual_, _authentic_, _genuine_, -_real_, yields the adverbs _actually_, _authentically_, _genuinely_, -_really_, and the nouns _actuality_, _authenticity_, _genuineness_, -_reality_. - - -GROUPS OF SYNONYMS[44] - - Abandon, cast off, desert, forswear, quit, renounce, withdraw - from. - - Abate, decrease, diminish, mitigate, moderate. - - Abhor, abominate, detest, dislike, loathe. - - Abiding, enduring, lasting, permanent, perpetual. - - Ability, capability, capacity, competency, efficacy, power. - - Abolish, annul, eradicate, exterminate, obliterate, root out, - wipe out. - - Abomination, curse, evil, iniquity, nuisance, shame. - - Absent, absent-minded, absorbed, abstracted, oblivious, - preoccupied. - - Absolve, acquit, clear. - - Abstemiousness, abstinence, frugality, moderation, sobriety, - temperance. - - Absurd, ill-advised, ill-considered, ludicrous, monstrous, - paradoxical, preposterous, unreasonable, wild. - - Abundant, adequate, ample, enough, generous, lavish, plentiful. - - Accomplice, ally, colleague, helper, partner. - - Active, agile, alert, brisk, bustling, energetic, lively, - supple. - - Actual, authentic, genuine, real. - - Adept, adroit, deft, dexterous, handy, skilful. - - Address, adroitness, courtesy, readiness, tact. - - Adequate, competent, equal, fitted, suitable. - - Adjacent, adjoining, bordering, near, neighboring. - - Admire, adore, respect, revere, venerate. - - Admit, allow, concede, grant, suffer, tolerate. - - Admixture, alloy. - - Adverse, disinclined, indisposed, loath, reluctant, slow, - unwilling. - - Aerial, airy, animated, ethereal, frolicsome. - - Affectation, cant, hypocrisy, pretence, sham. - - Affirm, assert, avow, declare, maintain, state. - - Aged, ancient, antiquated, antique, immemorial, old, venerable. - - Air, bearing, carriage, demeanor. - - Akin, alike, identical. - - Alert, on the alert, sleepless, wary, watchful. - - Allay, appease, calm, pacify. - - Alliance, coalition, compact, federation, union, fusion. - - Allude, hint, imply, insinuate, intimate, suggest. - - Allure, attract, cajole, coax, inveigle, lure. - - Amateur, connoisseur, novice, tyro. - - Amend, better, mend, reform, repair. - - Amplify, develop, expand, extend, unfold, widen. - - Amusement, diversion, entertainment, pastime. - - Anger, exasperation, petulance, rage, resentment. - - Animal, beast, brute, living creature, living organism. - - Answer, rejoinder, repartee, reply, response, retort. - - Anticipate, forestall, preclude, prevent. - - Apiece, individually, severally, separately. - - Apparent, clear, evident, obvious, tangible, unmistakable. - - Apprehend, comprehend, conceive, perceive, understand. - - Arraign, charge, cite, impeach, indict, prosecute, summon. - - Arrogance, haughtiness, presumption, pride, self-complacency, - superciliousness, vanity. - - Artist, artificer, artisan, mechanic, operative, workman. - - Artless, boorish, clownish, hoidenish, rude, uncouth, - unsophisticated. - - Assent, agree, comply. - - Assurance, effrontery, hardihood, impertinence, impudence, - incivility, insolence, officiousness, rudeness. - - Atom, grain, scrap, particle, shred, whit. - - Atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, brutal, merciless. - - Attack, assault, infringement, intrusion, onslaught. - - Attain, accomplish, achieve, arrive at, compass, reach, secure. - - Attempt, endeavor, essay, strive, try, undertake. - - Attitude, pose, position, posture. - - Attribute, ascribe, assign, charge, impute. - - Axiom, truism. - - Baffle, balk, bar, check, embarrass, foil, frustrate, hamper, - hinder, impede, retard, thwart. - - Banter, burlesque, drollery, humor, jest, raillery, wit, - witticism. - - Beg, plead, press, urge. - - Beguile, divert, enliven, entertain, occupy. - - Bewilderment, confusion, distraction, embarrassment, perplexity. - - Bind, fetter, oblige, restrain, restrict. - - Blaze, flame, flare, flash, flicker, glare, gleam, gleaming, - glimmer, glitter, light, lustre, shimmer, sparkle. - - Blessed, hallowed, holy, sacred, saintly. - - Boasting, display, ostentation, pomp, pompousness, show. - - Brave, adventurous, bold, courageous, daring, dauntless, - fearless, gallant, heroic, undismayed. - - Bravery, coolness, courage, gallantry, heroism. - - Brief, concise, pithy, sententious, terse. - - Bring over, convince, induce, influence, persuade, prevail - upon, win over. - - Calamity, disaster, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap. - - Candid, impartial, open, straightforward, transparent, - unbiassed, unprejudiced, unreserved. - - Caprice, humor, vagary, whim. - - Candor, frankness, truth, veracity. - - Caricature, burlesque, parody, travesty. - - Catch, capture, clasp, clutch, grip, secure. - - Cause, consideration, design, end, ground, motive, object, - reason, purpose. - - Caution, discretion, prudence. - - Censure, criticism, rebuke, reproof, reprimand, reproach. - - Character, constitution, disposition, reputation, temper, - temperament. - - Characteristic, peculiarity, property, singularity, trait. - - Chattering, garrulous, loquacious, talkative. - - Cheer, comfort, delight, ecstasy, gaiety, gladness, - gratification, happiness, jollity, satisfaction. - - Churlish, crusty, gloomy, gruff, ill-natured, morose, sour, - sullen, surly. - - Class, circle, clique, coterie. - - Cloak, cover, gloss over, mitigate, palliate, screen. - - Cloy, sate, satiate, satisfy, surfeit. - - Commit, confide, consign, entrust, relegate. - - Compassion, forbearance, lenience, mercy. - - Compassionate, gracious, humane. - - Complete, consummate, faultless, flawless, perfect. - - Confirm, corroborate. - - Conflicting, discordant, discrepant, incongruous, mismated. - - Confused, discordant, miscellaneous, various. - - Conjecture, guess, suppose, surmise. - - Conscious, aware, certain. - - Consequence, issue, outcome, outgrowth, result, sequel, upshot. - - Continual, continuous, incessant, unbroken, uninterrupted. - - Credible, conceivable, likely, presumable, probable, reasonable. - - Customary, habitual, normal, prevailing, usual, wonted. - - Damage, detriment, disadvantage, harm, hurt, injury, prejudice. - - Dangerous, formidable, terrible. - - Defame, deprecate, disparage, slander, vilify. - - Defile, infect, soil, stain, sully, taint, tarnish. - - Deleterious, detrimental, hurtful, harmful, mischievous, - pernicious, ruinous. - - Delicate, fine, minute, refined, slender. - - Delightful, grateful, gratifying, refreshing, satisfying. - - Difficult, laborious, toilsome, trying. - - Digress, diverge, stray, swerve, wander. - - Disavow, disclaim, disown, recall, renounce, repudiate, retract. - - Dispose, draw, incline, induce, influence, move, prompt, stir. - - Earlier, foregoing, previous, preliminary. - - Effeminate, feminine, womanish, womanly. - - Emergency, extremity, necessity. - - Empty, fruitless, futile, idle, trifling, unavailing, useless, - vain, visionary. - - Erudition, knowledge, profundity, sagacity, sense, wisdom. - - Eternal, imperishable, interminable, perennial, perpetual, - unfailing. - - Excuse, pretence, pretext, subterfuge. - - Exemption, immunity, liberty, license, privilege. - - Explicit, express. - - Faint, faint-hearted, faltering, half-hearted, irresolute, - languid, listless, purposeless. - - Faithful, loyal, stanch, trustworthy, trusty. - - Fanciful, fantastic, grotesque, imaginative, visionary. - - Folly, imbecility, senselessness, stupidity. - - Fling, gibe, jeer, mock, scoff, sneer, taunt. - - Flock, bevy, brood, covey, drove, herd, litter, pack. - - Fluctuate, hesitate, oscillate, vacillate, waver. - - Grief, melancholy, regret, sadness, sorrow. - - Hale, healthful, healthy, salutary, sound, vigorous. - - Ignorant, illiterate, uninformed, uninstructed, unlettered, - untaught. - - Impulsive, involuntary, spontaneous, unbidden, voluntary, - willing. - - Indispensable, inevitable, necessary, requisite, unavoidable. - - Inquisitive, inquiring, intrusive, meddlesome, peeping, prying. - - Intractable, perverse, petulant, ungovernable, wayward, wilful. - - Irritation, offence, pique, resentment. - - Probably, presumably. - - Reliable, trustworthy, trusty. - - Remnant, trace, token, vestige. - - Requite, repay, retaliate, satisfy. - - -=Oral or Written Exercise.=—In the following, vary the overworked words -as much as possible. Permit repetition only when it is necessary for -clearness. - -1. I think the committee selected to select theme topics for the class -to write upon, should be careful not to select too many topics on one -subject, since the nature of one student differs from that of another. I -think that the few who are not satisfied with the topics the committee -have selected, should be required to select and hand in a list of topics -on which they would like to write. - -2. There are two distinct stories running through the Merchant of Venice: -the story of the pound of flesh and the story of the caskets. These -stories run parallel to each other through the play, as far as the third -act, where the story of the caskets is ended by the lucky choice of -Bassanio. But from here a new story, the story of the rings, commences, -and continues through the rest of the play, crossing the story of the -pound of flesh and finally taking the place of this story. - - -=Future Revision.=—Henceforth one distinct object for which every -theme should be revised is _variety of words_. It soon becomes a -keen satisfaction to read one’s own work aloud to detect overworked -expressions. In the pursuit of variety, the scholar not merely grows -sensitive to the ugly recurrence of the same sound; he grows bold to -repeat words if the repetition is demanded for clearness or force. Some -things seem to have but one name in English; more’s the pity; but we must -make the best of the case. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -RIGHT NUMBER AND SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS - - -Let it be supposed that a person has learned to plan a composition -logically and to write with grammatical correctness; that further he has -acquired a noble unrest which keeps him searching for new words and fine -distinctions; what should be his next care? - -After the power of thinking coherently, the ability most important to -a writer is that of picking out from the wide world of words the one -expression that mates his unworded idea. His choice of words—_i.e._ his -_diction_—must meet three requirements. If it is to be _clear_, it must -mean the same to the reader’s intellect that it does to the writer’s. -If it is to _forcible_, it must move the reader’s feelings as it moved -the writer’s. Furthermore, if it is to be _beautiful_, it must please a -reader who has good taste. - - -=Clearness.=—Clearness, the intellectual quality of style, has already -been referred to (p. 43), for it is the quality aimed at in making -sentences coherent. That the idea should be made unmistakably clear is -the first requisite of good writing. The thinking must be clear; the -division of the theme into paragraphs, and of paragraphs into sentences -must be clear; and the words must be clear. We have presently to ask what -effect number and choice of words have upon clearness. - - -=Force.=—Force is the emotional quality of style. It may occur in a very -moderate degree, just enough to _interest_ the reader slightly, or it may -be present to such an extent as to move the deepest springs of feeling. -It is hard to give suggestions for securing force, because language -is better adapted to communicating ideas than emotions. We find that -language furnishes very few names for feelings. Furthermore, these names, -even such as _love_, _fear_, _anger_, do not in themselves move us. What -a marvellous variety of emotion each of us feels in a day! how many -delicate tints of pleasure! how many shades of regret or fear, of painful -memory or suggestion! The psychologists tell us that we do no act which -does not bring with it some touch of pleasure or of pain. And yet most of -these shades and tints and touches of feeling neither have names nor can -be communicated by words. Nevertheless, though language cannot directly -convey feeling, it can sometimes suggest feeling. If your reader has -experienced a given emotion, some word of yours may recall that to his -mind. One secret of being forcible lies in choosing theme subjects that -interest the reader; subjects that set up a train of feeling and memory -in his mind. Other secrets are, to choose _suggestive_ words and figures -of speech, and to refrain from wearing out interest by too many words. We -shall presently inquire, what words and figures are most suggestive. - -Something may be done to secure force by so arranging words as to attract -the reader’s attention. It will be noted that emphasis (p. 110) and -climax (p. 112) are means of force. - - -=Beauty.=—Beauty is the quality of style which satisfies what is called, -for lack of a better word, the æsthetic sense; this is little else but -saying, beauty of style satisfies the sense for beauty. One element of -beauty is _simplicity_, a quality closely allied to clearness, yet not -the same. _Euphony_, or absence of ugly sounds, is another element of -beauty. _Variety_ is another element of beauty. It is clear that the last -exercise in Chapter X is as much an exercise in beauty as in vocabulary. -In the present chapter we shall have space to consider only one element -of beauty,—that of simplicity. - - -=Prolixity.=—If a writer descends into tedious details, or if he repeats -the same idea over and over in slightly different words, without -developing or adding to the thought, he is said to be prolix. Prolixity -offends chiefly against force, for it kills interest. This fault may -affect merely a single sentence or paragraph, or it may infest a whole -composition. It does not much beset the writer who plans his work ahead. -It can be corrected only by rewriting. - - -=Written Exercise.—=The following prolix passage should be rewritten, -only the essential thoughts being kept. Any mistakes and crudities of -style should be corrected. - -“My friend the doctor was a collector of ancient coins and was always -roaming about the ruins of old cities in search of coins. He would wander -around and pick up valuable relics like the Venus he wore in his seal -ring. He was always finding something worth keeping. He would pick up -a precious bit of antiquity and put it in his pocket, and so he always -carried with him a regular collection of relics. One afternoon he was out -among the mountains picking up relics and not looking up to see whether -any one was near. When he looked around he saw five or perhaps six rough -fellows who were standing there behind him. He fell to quivering with -fright and stood trembling and shaking, but managed to greet them. After -he had greeted the five or six men they all walked along down the road -until they came to an inn that was there on the mountain-side. It was an -inn and not a cave there in the mountains, as was incorrectly said by one -member of the class.” - - -=Surplusage.-=-Surplusage consists of words that can be excised without -hurting the sense of the passage. In tyros it is perhaps less of a fault -than the opposite one of _deficiency_,—the absence of needed words; for -fulness of expression is essential to clearness, and surplusage often -results from the desire to be clear. Verbosity, however, dulls the edge -of the keenest thought. Like prolixity, it weakens. Just as many a prolix -speaker could make a brilliant oration if he knew when to stop, so many -a wordy writer could make an effective sentence if he knew what to prune -away. As Mr. Lowell would say:[45] Thoughts are never draped in long -skirts like babies, if they are strong enough to go alone. - -The redundant use of the following common words should be avoided:— - -1. _From_, in the phrases _from thence_, _from whence_. - -2. _Of_, especially in the expressions _off of_, _remember of_, _treat -of_. “Keep off [not _off of_] the grass.” “This book treats [better than -_treats of_] chemistry.” - -3. _On_, with the words _the next morning_. “He was rebellious on the -seventh of July, but the next morning [not _on the next morning_] he -reappeared in a more submissive frame of mind.” - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Prune away every word that can be spared; note the -increase in force. Slight changes may be made in the wording. - -1. All of the ships were lost; no kind of a one was saved. - -2. I know from my own personal knowledge that a man who stands upright in -his own manhood, honest and conscious of the rectitude of his purposes, -is safe against calumny and slander. - -3. I don’t think it a good precedent to set in this house for any man to -vote for a bill in which he has a personal interest, and I don’t remember -of ever having done so of myself. I shall, therefore, for this reason, -refrain from voting, but I want to say a word on this bill, and I want to -talk to the democrats. - -4. Real-estate dealer is knocked down by an accident and is run over by a -cab. - -5. Commencing on Monday, March 29, supported by the New York Garrick -Theatre Stock Company, Mr. Mansfield will commence an engagement of two -weeks at the Grand Opera House. - - -=Written or Oral Exercise.=—In the following sentences some of the -underscored expressions should be expressed more briefly by changing -clauses to phrases or phrases to single words. Thus: _men who deserved -and won renown_ may shorten to _men of deserved renown_. - -1. _Men who deserved and won renown_, and _women who were peerless_, -have lived upon what we should now call the coarsest fare, and paced the -rushes _which were strewn_ in their rooms with as high, or as contented -thoughts, as their _descendants, persons who are fed better and clothed -better than they_, can boast of. - -2. If children _are able_ to make us wiser, _it is sure that they can -also_ make us better. There is no one _who is more to be envied_ than a -good-natured man _when he is watching how children’s minds perform their -workings, or when he is overlooking the play they engage in_. - - -=Deficiency of Words.=—It was said in a former paragraph that in young -writers surplusage is perhaps less of a fault than is the lack of needed -words. Verbosity robs a theme of force; deficiency robs it of force and -clearness. It is human nature to try to say a thing more briefly than -is possible. Forgetting that pitch, stress, and gesture do much to make -spoken words intelligible, the easy-going writer does not tax himself to -attain full and lucid expression. He forgets that a piece of writing may -be so condensed as to be dense. - -Ambiguity often springs from the omission of merely a word or two. -Reading such a phrase as “the secretary and treasurer,” we are vexed -with doubt whether one person is meant, or two; the omission of the -article seems to imply that the two offices are vested in a single -officer. The lack of a few words may turn force into weakness. A German -newspaper thus burlesques the compression to which editors sometimes feel -impelled: “Ottokar took a small brandy, then his hat, his departure, -besides no notice of his pursuers, meantime a revolver out of his pocket, -and lastly his own life.” - -The following common words should not be omitted:— - -1. The main part of an infinitive at the end of a sentence. _Wrong_: “He -did what he wished to.” _Right_: “He did what he wished to do.” - -2. The adverb _much_ before certain adjectives. _Wrong_: “He was very -pleased to comply.” _Right_: “He was very much pleased to comply.” - -3. (_a_) The preposition _at_ with home. _Wrong_: “I stayed home and -slept home.” _Right_: “I stayed at home and slept at home.” (_b_) The -preposition _on_ with days of the month. _Wrong_: “The seventh of July he -rebelled.” _Right_: “On the seventh of July he rebelled.” Compare page -231. 3. - -4. A demonstrative used for clearness. _Wrong_: “He chose between the lot -of the rich and of the poor.” _Right_: “He chose between the lot of the -rich and that of the poor.” - -5. The conjunction _that_ when needed for clearness. _Wrong_: “I wish -such a beefsteak as that one over there may never be served on this -table.” What is the ambiguity here, at the beginning? - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Indicate how by the addition of words each sentence may -be corrected:— - -1. Altogether it was a day like unto which the memory of the oldest -inhabitant could not recall. - -2. He received his early education at Brownsville and Whitesville -academy, remaining about a year at each place. - -3. There was a minister who, being informed by the church officials that -they had raised his salary $100, declined to accept it. - -4. The following great reductions indicate the heavy losses we are taking -closing out the balance of our stock. - -5. This mutual esteem was shown by their cordial welcome of the guests as -well as the uniform courtesy shown by the latter. - -6. Poor Evelina was obliged to choose between a blue and green dress. - -7. Streaks of lightning and claps of thunder rattled through the narrow -streets of Paris. - -8. I am an historical painter by profession, and living for some time at -a villa near Rome. - - -=Specific Words.=—Suppose it were desired to make clear to a friend how -the sunset looked—a difficult task. One would hardly succeed if one had -no better words to offer than the general terms _clouds_, _beautiful_, -_lovely_, _bright_. The friend, if he cared to know, would insist on -specific words: What kind of beauty? was it quiet beauty, or awful -beauty, or picturesque beauty? What kind of brightness? was it redness? -If so, was the sky blood-red, or merely pink? What kind of clouds?—great -masses of storm cloud, or high frozen clouds, or mottled “mackerel” -clouds? To be clear, then, words must be specific enough to give the idea -intended. Just how specific they should be depends on the audience. They -must be familiar to the hearer or reader, if they are to be understood -without explanation. All audiences would understand the general term -_tool_; all would understand the genus name _saw_, which specifies a kind -of tool. But many would not understand the species name _rip-saw_; for -to most people _rip-saw_ is unfortunately a technical term. In choosing -specific words the line should therefore be drawn between common terms -and technical terms, the latter not to be employed without explanation, -except in addressing special audiences. - -Specific words are usually as forcible as they are clear. Most people’s -feelings are roused by the thought of a particular object, not of a -class name. _Flower_ is a class name; it does not move one. _Clover_ is -a specific name; it calls back the old farm, the old friends, the old -joys and sorrows. No word will really interest the reader unless he has -previously used it or heard it in association with his feelings. Take -the word _contusion_; it means something forcible to a doctor, but not -to a boy, for the latter never used it. But say _bruise_—which means -exactly the same thing. That’s forcible. It feelingly reminds us of the -hour in which that dead branch broke and delivered us over to the law of -gravitation. - -Pick out from these words those that are in themselves forcible to most -people: paternal solicitude, fatherly care; home, domicile; altruism, -unselfishness. You see at once that certain of these words get their -force from the long associations of childhood. In childhood we use -the simpler words of the language, those that are derived from the -Anglo-Saxon mother-tongue. Anglo-Saxon words, therefore, are usually -forcible. Compare page 183. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Reduce the following names step by step to a particular -genus and a particular species. Thus: animal, mammal, quadruped, -graminivorous animal, cow, Alderney. - - 1. Reduce _machine_ step by step till you reach _stop-watch_. - - 2. Reduce _machine_ to _revolver_. - - 3. Reduce _living organism_ to _moss-rose_. - - 4. Reduce _living organism_ to _oyster_. - -Similarly, extend the following species names step by step to family -names. - - 1. Extend _pen-knife_ to _instrument_. - - 2. Extend _Longfellow_ to _man of letters_. - - -=General Words.=—We found that most specific words are of Anglo-Saxon -origin. Most general words are of Latin origin. Both these statements -are only roughly true, of course; but the distinction is worth -making. The language of science is mostly of Latin origin, because it -consists so largely of class names. Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers had -fewer class names, for they had not progressed far enough to care to -classify everything. When, later, the English came to study history, -and philosophy, and science, they had either to invent new Anglo-Saxon -words for class names, or else use Latin words. They chose the latter -course. Consequently we have such Latin class names as _animal_, and such -individual names as _cat_, _dog_, _horse_, _pig_. We speak of _white_, -_blue_, _green_, _red_; but when we want a class name for these, we say -_color_, a Latin word. From all this it may be seen that any great number -of general words gives a scientific, abstract tone to writing. General -words are absolutely necessary for the exact purposes of science and -philosophy. They are adapted, as Professor Carpenter puts it, to “precise -and elaborate distinctions of thought.” They do not give a clear mental -image; that is, you cannot _see_ beauty, or smallness, or animal, or -color—you can see only a beautiful object, a small object, a particular -animal, a particular color. But, still, general words mean exactly what -they say. _Animal_ means exactly this: a summing up of all the qualities -that are common to all individual animals. All the things called animal -have in common powers of sensation and voluntary movement. When such -a distinction is wanted, it is wanted badly, as we say. There is no -better mark of literary mastery than knowing just when to use a general -word, just when a specific one. Examine a few pages from Robert Louis -Stevenson, to see with what exquisite fitness words of Latin origin may -be used in the midst of Anglo-Saxon words when the appeal turns from the -feelings to the intellect. - -There are many reasons why a writer may not wish to be too specific. -In the sentence, “I picked up my traps and left,” the colloquialism -_traps_ answers every essential purpose. The reader does not care to -have tooth-brush and books and papers all specified. People are not to -be blamed for referring vaguely to _death_ as a _passing away_, for the -specific word is harsh at best. Such expressions as _pass away_ are -called _euphemisms_. Many euphemisms are legitimate; but whether a given -one should be employed is a question of taste, a question of beauty. It -seems a beautiful expression when Keats says, “to cease upon the midnight -with no pain,” instead of, “to die painlessly at twelve o’clock;” but it -is a mark of false modesty and bad taste to insist on saying _rose_ for -_got up_, _retire_ for _go to bed_, _lower limbs_ for _legs_. - -Again, one should not always hesitate to set down an idea because one -has not the sharpest, clearest possible notion of it. Vague ideas are -sometimes valuable ones. They should receive earnest thought that they -may take definite shape. But if they seem to defy definite form, they -certainly should not be thrown away merely for that. Catching one’s -exact idea is often as difficult as catching a trout. But a glimpse of -the fine fish that gets away is worth something,—there are few of us who -can resist the temptation to tell about it when we get home. Speaking -of the mind, Emerson says, “It is wholesome to angle in those profound -pools, though one be rewarded with nothing more than the leap of a fish -that flashes his freckled side in the sun and as suddenly absconds in the -dark and dreamy waters again.”[46] In Wordsworth’s poem, The Solitary -Reaper, we hear of a song about _old, unhappy, far-off things_. That was -exactly Wordsworth’s own vague notion, and down he set it—in words that -make it clear (so to speak) that his idea was sweet and vague. Ruskin, -describing the façade of St. Mark’s in Venice, tries to give a sense of -the bewildering multiplicity of beautiful things on that wonderful front -by saying, _a confusion of delight_. If he had used more definite words -we should have missed the effect. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the passages from Johnson and Blackmore (pp. -192-3). Which passage contains more of general words than of specific? -Which is more forcible in subject-matter? Which in _diction_. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—In the following passage, choose the better expression -from each pair of brackets. Each pair contains one general and one -specific term; choose the term which gives greater force or greater -clearness than the other. - -1. And therefore, first of all, I tell you earnestly and authoritatively -(I _know_ I am right in this) you must get into the [way, habit] of -looking [rightly, intensely] at words, and [telling, assuring] yourself -of their meaning, syllable by syllable—nay, letter by letter. For ... -you might read all the books in [a great library, the British Museum] -(if you could live long enough) and remain an utterly “illiterate,” -uneducated person; but if you read [some part, ten pages] of [a good, an -instructive] book, letter by letter—that is to say, with real [care, -accuracy]—you are forevermore in some [way, measure] an educated [man, -person]. The entire difference between education and non-education (as -regards the merely [mental, intellectual] part of it) consists in this -[exactitude, accuracy]. A well-educated gentleman may not [read, know] -many languages, may not be able to speak any but his own, may have -read very few books. But whatever language he knows, he knows [well, -precisely]; whatever word he [says, pronounces] he [says, pronounces] -rightly. Above all, he is learned in the _peerage_ of words, knows the -words of [true, veritable] descent, and [old, ancient] blood, at a -glance, from the words of [new, modern] _canaille_, remembers all their -ancestry, their intermarriages, distant relationships, and the extent -to which they were admitted, and offices they held, among the national -_noblesse_ of words at any time and in any [place, country]. But an -uneducated person may know, by [heart, memory], many languages, and [use, -talk] them all, and yet truly [know, apprehend] not a word of any—not a -word even of his own. An ordinarily [clever, good] and sensible seaman -will be able to make his way ashore at most [ports, places], yet he has -only to speak [a little, a sentence] of [Spanish or French, any language] -to be [known, recognized] for an illiterate person; so also the accent, -or turn of expression of a single sentence, will at once mark a scholar. -And this is so [well, strongly] felt, so [conclusively, well] admitted, -by educated persons, that a false accent or a [bad, mistaken] syllable is -enough in the parliament of any civilized nation, to [assign, send] man -to a certain degree of [lower, inferior] standing forever. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Which words in the following are general, which -specific? Does each seem appropriate in its place, or ought some words to -have been more specific, others more general? - -1. Her dress was dark and rich; she had pearls round her neck, and an old -rococo fan in her hand.—HENRY JAMES. - -2. When gratitude has become a matter of reasoning, there are many ways -of escaping from its bonds.—GEORGE ELIOT. - -3. Friendships begin with liking or gratitude—roots that can be pulled -up.—GEORGE ELIOT. - -4. What scene was ever commonplace in the descending sunlight, when color -has awakened from its noonday sleep, and the long shadows awe us like a -disclosed presence? Above all, what scene is commonplace to the eye that -is filled with serene gladness, and brightens all things with its own -joy?—GEORGE ELIOT. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Is there danger of misconception from the use of the -following words? If so, how can the danger be avoided? Discuss in class. -_Fair_, _fine_, _certain_, _charity_, _democratic_, _republican_, -_nature_. - - -=Simple Words.=—Several years ago a gentleman[47] secured from a large -number of successful authors brief pieces of advice to young writers. In -one particular there was an extraordinary unanimity among these authors. -Nearly all agreed that a young writer should try to express himself -simply. They agreed on other matters too,—for example, on the need of -clear thinking and an inclination to take much pains in expression. But -it was noticeable that even writers whose own work is not characterized -by simplicity seemed to admire this quality. - -The greatest men are simple. Affectation, straining for effect, is a -mark of a little mind. The greatest art is simple,—governed by a noble -restraint. Over-decoration, whether in a picture, a piece of music, in -dress, in the furnishing of a room, or in a theme, is always a mark of -bad taste. - -What is called fine writing—the use of over-ambitious words to express -simple thoughts—grows up in various ways. Sometimes it springs from a -desire to be funny. Exaggeration has always been a favorite device of -the humorist—especially of the American humorist. There are students -who learn to use this kind of humor so well that an unconscious habit of -bombast pursues them into their more serious work. Most of us can force -a smile at such writing as the passage given below, or even laugh at it -when there are enough people present to help us:— - -“It was in the sixth that Captain Anson, aided and abetted by sundry -young men generally called ‘Colts,’ waded in to snatch laurel, trailing -arbutus, and other vegetables from the coy hand of fame. He did it, too, -and he now has laurels to throw to the birds. Ryan went first to the bat, -and pasted a warm one through short that turned the grass black along its -path.” - -But when a young fellow has read so much of this sort that he drags -similar diction into his themes, the fun becomes vulgarity. - -In general, use always the simplest word that will express your meaning -exactly. Compare pages 216, 217. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Write in simple English the equivalents of the -following passages. Some are from students’ themes; others from -newspapers. - -1. The _svelte_[48] young debutante received a perfect ovation. - -2. In my estimation it is far more to be desired that a tyro in the art -of composition should select those subjects with which his acquaintance -is the most extensive. - -3. In all my experience I have never enjoyed the acquaintance of two -youths of more superior ability. - -4. It is impossible for me to disassociate from my mind the conception -that such a course would be disastrous to the ambitions of the team. - -5. Public sentiment would not permit an individual or an infinitesimally -small minority to clog the wheels of progress in order to prevent the -escape of a few dollars from the individuals composing the obstructive -element. - -6. Let us indeed refrain from any course of action which will militate -against the onward march of the civilizing power of the public schools of -this great and growing nation. - -7. While the birds were carolling their sweetest strains and the grass -hung heavy with water-pearls, Peter Brant was taking his life. A more -seductive place to die in than the little garden back of 7000 Congress -street is inconceivable. - -=Literal and Figurative Words.=—Before it can be decided how far the -young writer should use figures of speech, it is necessary to find out -the real difference between a literal word or statement and a figurative -word or statement. If figures are always mere embellishments of -language, the journeyman had better shun them anxiously; for his true -object is to express his thought, not to decorate it. If, however, some -figures are not embellishments but ordinary building-material, the case -is different. - -When, on seeing biscuits for the first time, a child refers to them -as _moons_, he is not making an effort to adorn his language. He is -unconsciously using a figure of speech because he does not know the -literal, proper, conventional name, _biscuit_. If the child had formerly -lived in a country where apples grew but potatoes did not, the first time -he saw a potato he would probably call it a _ground-apple_. As a matter -of fact there are people that have gone through some such experience with -potatoes. The French word _pomme de terre_ indicates this. - -Most words were once figures of speech, that is, _tropes_. A trope, from -the Greek word τρέπω, to turn, is merely the turning away of a word from -its ordinary meaning to give a name to some new idea. The root of many a -word shows the figure that was used to express a given new idea. The root -_spir-_ means to breathe. Since the inability to breathe is one part of -the process of death, the expression _to breathe out_ became a figurative -expression for the whole idea of “to die.” In _expire_, applied to death, -the idea of _breathe_ is usually not felt. The figure is forgotten, and -we therefore call it a root-figure, or _radical figure_. As may be seen -from the roots of the Curious Words on page 191, language is figurative -through and through. - -This is true not only of language already made, but of that which is -daily making. In every mind shades of thought are constantly occurring -for which there are either no names, or none which the mind can learn in -the interval before expression is necessary. If the exact word is not at -hand, a comparison must be made. The shade of thought must be named by -telling what thing in the reader’s experience it is like. - -Does the attempt at comparison result in a vague, inexact phrase, or -in an exact one? The youth who declares that his lesson is as “hard as -thunder,” has expressed himself but vaguely. The same is true of the -young lady who declares that it rained “like anything.” Let us examine -briefly the chief kinds of tropes, and note whether they are necessarily -less clear and exact than literal statements. - -A person sees an accident, and reports that “a score of hands” picked -up the injured boy. Here is _synecdoche_. The “hands” stand for the -persons—a part for the whole; a “score” probably stands for a dozen,—the -whole number of hands in the group of people, for the smaller number that -actually touched the boy. Or, the “score” may be called _hyperbole_, that -is, exaggeration. A critic might say that either figure is inexact here. -True, in a way. But if the writer had reported that he _seemed_ to see a -score of hands, the phrase would be faithful to his thought. We may take -the _seemed_ for granted, and reply to the critic that for exact purposes -in a law court, “seemed to see a score of hands” might be nearer the -truth than an attempt at greater precision. - -Suppose, now, that the writer who reported the accident said that the -boy was in great pain, so that his face was “as white as ivory.” Here is -a _simile_,—an explicit statement of likeness in two things which are -different in most respects. This particular simile is certainly more -exact than the literal word _white_ would be. - -If now the writer had said, “I caught a glimpse of compressed lips and -ivory face,” the comparison would have been not explicit, but implied. An -implied comparison is called _metaphor_. Metaphor is from the Greek for -_carrying over_, because it carries over bodily the name of one thing to -another. To speak of a man as “bold as a lion,” is simile; to call him a -“lion” outright, is metaphor. It is less clear to call a man a lion than -to say in what respect he is like a lion; it is less clear to say, “ivory -face” than to say “face white as ivory.” - -The case of the boy who was injured may have got into the newspapers. -To speak more figuratively, the _press_ may have taken up the matter. -_Press_ stands here for the editors of the various journals. This last -figure is _metonymy_. In metonymy one thing is put for another that is -often associated with it. In the sentence given, metonymy does not seem -to detract from clearness; at all events it saves a roundabout expression. - -Metaphor and metonymy, by ascribing life to inanimate things, often -become _personification_. So above, where the press _takes up_ a matter. -It is evident that personification need not make a sentence less -intelligible. - -Once more, let us suppose that the reporter who first learned of the -boy’s accident remarked, on handing in his account of it, “The early bird -catches the worm.” The remark is pure _allegory_—describing some act or -thing indirectly by describing something else. If the hearer knows enough -of the situation to understand the allegory, he undoubtedly receives a -forcible impression, and may be helped to a clearer view. Allegory is a -kind of expanded metaphor. It is more liable to misinterpretation than -most figures; but the allegorical proverbs of our language, and the -popularity of such books as the _Pilgrim’s Progress_, show that it is a -favorite form of expression. Like general words, allegory can be used to -say things which policy may forbid being said more directly. - -From the discussion it appears that tropes can often be made to yield a -clear and sufficiently exact phrase. Often however a trope lends force or -beauty rather than clearness. It is forcible rather than clear to call a -man a lion. It is beautiful rather than clear to speak of the Pleiades -as “a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid.” Such a phrase as -this is legitimate enough in poetry; it would be legitimate in highly -imaginative prose. But the fact cannot be dodged that it would be out of -place in the midst of plain prose description. - -The practical conclusion is obvious. Use tropes without hesitation when -they are really needed to give clearness and force. Never use a trope -for decorative purposes only. The ability to write plain, bare English -is absolutely indispensable. The ability to write figuratively is an -enviable, but not a necessary, possession. - -When the need of a figure is actually felt, the choice should be made -with scrupulous care. If tropes occur to you in numbers, “like flocks -of pigeons,” choose only the pigeon that can carry a message. To secure -lucidity, employ a figure which makes use of something already clear -to the reader. Every-day life and common things are the best sources -for both similes and metaphors. To secure force, select such figures as -appeal to the emotional experiences of everybody. If you wish to hold -attention and move your reader, appeal to such primal feelings as love, -hate, fear, courage, joy, sorrow, aspiration, hope. Note how Shakespeare -appeals to the human animal’s dread of deep water: he makes Cardinal -Wolsey say, “I have ventured, like wanton boys that swim on bladders, -this many summers in a sea of glory.” In _Macbeth_ he appeals to the joy -of release from pain: he calls sleep _the balm_ of each day’s hurt. - -A good figure of speech must be consistent. Although a lively imagination -changes its metaphors from minute to minute, it must not change them -so fast as to suggest ridiculous things. If the metaphor gets mixed, -clearness and force go to the winds. The other day the writer heard a -young man earnestly exclaim: “Now I shall have to toe the bee-line!” -The thought of that youth, lifted to a perilous position where his toes -sought vainly in the trackless air for a “bee-line,” was quite too much -for the gravity of his hearers. This trope that failed to be a trope was -about as effective as the famous lightning-change series of metaphors -uttered by Sir Boyle Roche: “Mr. Speaker, I smell a rat. I see him -floating in the air. But I will nip him in the bud.” Mixed metaphors may -arise from mere liveliness of imagination,—a good fault sometimes. More -frequently it arises from vague thinking or from grandiloquence. The -examples on page 246 show how liable fine writing is to this fault. A -figure that is not in good taste is incomparably worse than no figure at -all. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Name each trope, and explain how each gets its force; -what emotion each touches. - -(_a_) “Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart.”—WORDSWORTH. - -(_b_) “What is hope?—a smiling rainbow children follow through the -wet.”—CARLYLE. - -(_c_) “She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.”—SHAKESPEARE. - -(_d_) “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive; but to be young was very -heaven.”—WORDSWORTH. - -(_e_) “Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the -night.”—BEECHER. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Examine the phrases that you made by finding adjectives -to fit abstract qualities (p. 202), and decide in each case whether -clearness or force is the chief resulting characteristic. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Restore force to the following figures by changing -whatever is incongruous in them. Reject any that are irretrievably bad in -taste, or hackneyed. - -1. The singing was led by the organ assisted by four violins. - -2. In graceful and figurative language he pointed the finger of scorn at -the defendant. - -3. It was 8 o’clock when the guests attacked the following menu. - -4. The trailer struck the car amidships. - -5. The colonies were not yet ripe to bid adieu to British connection. - -6. Let us cast off the shackles of doubt and bind ourselves with the -bonds of faith. - -7. No human happiness is so serene as not to contain some alloy. - -8. Boyle was the father of chemistry, and brother of the Earl of Cork. - -9. The marble-hearted marauder might seize the throne of civil authority, -and hurl into thraldom the votaries of rational liberty. - -10. It is to be hoped, now that lovely woman discountenances the -flowing bowl, that the rising generation will abjure it, and follow the -weaker sex in taking nothing stronger than the cup which cheers but not -inebriates. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -LETTER-WRITING - - -=Why Important.=—There are two general classes of letters: informal -or personal, and formal or impersonal. Each kind is governed by the -general principles of clearness and courtesy. Mischief is sure to follow -if either of these principles is disregarded. A writer may indulge in -extravagance of statement when he writes for the public, and “there is no -harm done, for the speaker is one and the listener is another.”[49] But -it is quite a different matter when one is making business promises, or -trying to pacify a distant friend with whom there is a misunderstanding. -A shrewd politician knows enough not to write too many letters, and not -to write anything that he cannot stand by. A woman of tact knows that the -success of her social plans may turn upon the choice of a single word in -the leave-taking of a note. - - -=Business Letters.=—These are formal, impersonal. A good business letter -is (1) clear, (2) courteous, (3) brief. It shows unmistakably (_a_) -who is writing, (_b_) to whom, (_c_) where, (_d_) when. It is definite -in its language, so that there need be no return letter of inquiry as -to any part of its meaning. It observes the best conventions of address -and signature. It refrains from brusque remarks, even in reply to a -rude letter. It is appreciative. A good business man always takes into -account that a handful of trade is a handful of gold; if he is favored -with orders, he goes to the trouble of thanking his customers. It does -not curtly abbreviate sentences and signatures. Life is not so short but -that we may avoid writing such insults as this: “Y’rs rec’d and contents -noted. Have ordered Jones to push the deal through. Shall see you soon. -Y’rs respy.” - - -=Headings and Signatures in Business Letters.=—A business letter should -show where it was written, and where the answer should be sent. If these -places are the same, the one address may be indicated either at the -beginning or at the end, preferably the former. Street and number should -always be given in the case of city addresses. The date of writing should -be placed at the beginning, the month being written or abbreviated, not -indicated by a figure. The heading ought also to indicate to whom the -letter is sent. Since in theory or in fact there may be other persons -of the same name, the correspondent’s address should usually be placed -beneath his name. The most common signatures in business letters are -_Yours truly_, _Yours very truly_, and _Yours respectfully_. In writing a -business letter, a girl signs her full name. Then at the left she writes -her name, preceded by _Miss_, and followed by her address. - - -=Titles in Business Letters.=—Firm names need not be preceded by -_Messrs._, although this form certainly adds to the courtesy of the -communication. Names of individuals should regularly be preceded by _Mr._ -Whether a person should be addressed by his professional title depends -somewhat upon the character of the business. _In the United States a -commercial letter is sufficiently courteous if =Mr.= precedes the name -of the person addressed._ This title is in better taste, as applied to -business men, than _Esq._ But there is no objection to the use of certain -titles, and they are desirable if the business be one which pertains to -the profession of the person addressed. Initials should always be given. -“Rev. Brown,” “Hon. Jones,” are inexcusable forms. - - -=The Envelope.=—The address on the envelope should be as legible as -possible. Names of states should not be contracted. As Professor J. M. -Hart remarks, “The only current abbreviations that seem to be safe are -Penna., Conn., and D. C.”[50] New York City may be written for New York, -N. Y. The same rules for titles apply to the envelope as to the heading. -If the comma is placed after one line of the address, it must be placed -after the others. It is needed after none. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Write a business letter, replying clearly and -courteously to the following imaginary communication. - - 14 Grasmere Street, - Boston, Mass., - Dec. 4, 1897. - - Miss Helen Roe, - Graysville, Penna. - - Dear Madam:— - - We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your order of Dec. 2. - Since you mention the fact that the goods are intended as a - Christmas surprise, we have taken the liberty of holding them, - and writing for orders as to desired date of shipment to the - address you specify. We remain, - - Very respectfully yours, - - Weaver and Weaver. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Write a petition to some person or persons in -authority, following in general the form given below:— - - The Faculty of Lewis Institute. - - Gentlemen: We, the undersigned, respectfully ask the privilege - of organizing a new literary society, to be called the - Parnassian. We enclose a copy of the proposed constitution, - which we are ready to sign. If further information is desired, - we shall be glad to appoint a committee to wait upon you at any - time you may designate. - - L. Gustafson, - H. Bulkley, etc. - - -=Formal Social Letters.=—Formal correspondence indicates by its style -the mere acquaintance of the correspondents, or, in the words of Miss -Morton,[51] “the bounds of distance which for any reason it is desirable -to maintain.” A formal letter should actually be formal. If one attempts -to do an elaborate thing, one ought to do it thoroughly and properly. -A letter that begins with formal brevity and runs off into colloquial -prolixity is a burlesque. A letter that begins in the third person and -ends in the first is a farce. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Following in general the models given below, write -(1) a formal invitation to dinner; (2) an acceptance of this invitation; -(3) regrets at inability to accept. - - 1. Mr. Frederick Estoff, Jr., requests the pleasure of Mr. - Edward Edwards’ company at dinner on Tuesday, June fourth, at - seven o’clock, to meet Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Estoff. - - 12 Pear Street, June twenty-eighth. - - 2. Mr. Edward Edwards accepts with much pleasure the kind - invitation of Mr. Frederick Estoff, Jr., to dinner for June - fourth, to meet Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Estoff. - - 14 Sycamore Street, June twenty-eighth. - - 3. Mr. Edward Edwards regrets extremely that a previous - engagement prevents his acceptance of Mr. Frederick Estoff, - Jr.’s kind invitation to dinner for June fourth, to meet Mr. - and Mrs. Frederick Estoff. - - 14 Sycamore Street, June twenty-eighth. - - -=Personal or Informal Letters.=—The letter one writes informally to an -acquaintance, a friend, or a relative, should be in tone pretty nearly -what one’s conversation with the given person would be. To give such a -letter the tone which represents exactly the relation between the two -people is a hard task. The nicest sense of tact is required in order not -to be too stiff and not too familiar. Personal letters demand the art -of colloquial composition. Those unperceptive persons who have but one -style of composition,—that of a book, or that of a clerk,—make sorry work -of personal letters. Suppose that you have always known one of these -persons. You have played with him, read with him, perhaps fought with -him. When you meet, he calls you by your first name. When he writes to -ask you to visit him, he addresses you as _Dear Sir_, and signs himself -_Respectfully_! His letter gives you a chill. There is too little of -the personal letter-writing of the better sort, the leisurely, careful, -courteous, old-fashioned kind of written talk,—writing that, like Thomas -Cholmondeley’s, could be signed, “Ever yours and not in haste.” - - -=Written Exercise.=—Write a note inviting a friend of your own age to -dinner, to an informal party, or to an excursion. Such a note usually -begins on this wise,—_My Dear Tom_, or _Dear Tom_, rather than on -this,—_Dear Friend_. A similar note to an acquaintance would begin: My -dear Mr. ——, My dear Miss ——, etc. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Write a personal letter to the instructor, concerning -some matter in which you would like to interest him. This letter will not -be read to the class. - - -=Written Exercise.=—Write to some friend a long letter, observing the -ordinary rules for paragraphing. Suggested subjects: an account of -your life since last meeting your friend; a comparison of the town you -now live in with that in which you and the friend formerly lived; an -explanation of some scheme in which you wish the friend’s co-operation. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -REPRODUCTION, ABSTRACT, SUMMARY, ABRIDGMENT - - -=Literal Reproduction.=—The word _reproduction_ is often used in Rhetoric -in a somewhat general sense, to mean any version of another composition. -As we shall use it, the term means _literal reproduction_; in other -words, a version that follows the phrasing of the original as nearly as -the time given for study will permit. Writing of reproductions trains the -memory and adds immensely to one’s command of words. - -Below are given lists of brief selections, most of them requiring -not more than ten minutes to reproduce. It is suggested that a given -paragraph or page be slowly read aloud to the class, two or three -times, and that the class afterward write the piece as nearly as -possible in the author’s words. _Each student should then insert in his -vocabulary book any new words or phrases that seem to him particularly -serviceable. These memoranda will prove invaluable later on, when similar -topics (not the same ones) are to be written about by the student -himself._ To illustrate: a student after reading two or three personal -descriptions might jot down for future use such phrases as the following: -_Eyes._—Laughing, startled, heavy-lidded, hazel, vacant, protruding, -lustrous, expressive, liquid, dreamy, speaking, glad. _Nose._—Aquiline, -Roman, beak-like, shapely, snub, sharp, insignificant. _Hair._—Grizzled, -frowsy, shaggy, glossy, dishevelled, unkempt, tumbled. _Manner._—Alert, -jaunty, affable, sprightly, haughty, pretentious, modest, diffident, -reserved, ostentatious, demure, animated. _Figure._—Gaunt, emaciated, -lank, vigorous, robust, grotesque, massive, insignificant, thick-set, -portly, sturdy, stalwart, erect, decrepit, fragile. _Expression._—Rueful, -crafty, frank, wistful, stolid. - - -MATERIAL FOR LITERAL REPRODUCTION - - -_Narration_ - -Miles, One Thousand and One Anecdotes: p. 30, Garcia; 33, Handel; 36, -Mozart; 43, Paganini; 74, A dull witness; 96, Mrs. Siddons; 105, 110, -Wellington; 106, Coolness; 132, Bad handwriting; 142, Dickens and -Thackeray; 218, Hill; 231, Newton; 231, Sidney Smith; 251, Scott; 253, -Lessing; 254, Geological; 255, Blackie; 268, Béranger; 273, A toast; 304, -A careful reader; 312, Webster; 316, Johnson; 318, Poetry and Pattypans; -322, Marryat; 323, Turner; 324, Dannecker; 328, Hugo and Coppée; 368, -Heroism of a workman; 370, Rochejaquelin; 371, Washington; 374, Lefevre; -378, Virchow; 378, Cham and Gille. - - -_Description_ - -_Persons._—Hawthorne: American Note Books. See Index, p. 448, for -paragraphs on characters, mostly men. - -_Scenery._—1. _Sunrise._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 75, 121, 315. -Thoreau: Spring, 99. - -2. _Morning._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 75, 177. Thoreau: Winter, -128, 137, 258. - -3. _Afternoon._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 96. Thoreau: Autumn, 21, -28, 182. - -4. _Sunset._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 112. Thoreau: Autumn, 3, 17, -90, 112, 152, 214, 259, 311, 327, 330, 345, 388, 429, 433. Winter, 23, -38, 40, 127, 155. Summer, 47, 246, 313, 332, 362. - -5. _Sunlight._ Burroughs: Winter Sunshine, 102. Thoreau: Autumn, 289. -Winter, 114, 249. - -6. _Moonlight._ Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter (Custom House). Ruskin: -Præterita, vol. ii., 166. Thoreau: Spring, 78. Summer, 95, 97, 117, 120, -176, 233, 239, 333. Winter, 215, 320, 322. Burroughs: Winter Sunshine, 43. - -7. _Water._ Blackmore: Lorna Doone, vii. Thoreau: Spring, 87, 96, 101, -109, 154. Summer, 30, 117, 240, 243. Autumn, 111, 160, 182, 370, 400, -434. Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 159 (The Rhone). - -8. _Mountains._ Ruskin: Præterita, vol. i., 288. Bolles: At the North of -Bearcamp Water. See Index, p. 296, for many views of more than a score of -mountains. - -9. _Landscapes._ Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 78 (Rome). Hawthorne: -American Note Books, 441 (Gosport). Blackmore: Lorna Doone, iv. (Doone -Gate). Hugo: Les Misèrables (Field of Waterloo). - -_Birds, Animals, and Insects._—See indexes of the following: Thoreau: -Spring; Summer; Autumn; Winter; Walden. Burroughs: Wake Robin; Winter -Sunshine; Birds and Bees. Miller: Bird-Ways; A Bird-Lover in the West. -Torrey: A Rambler’s Lease; Birds in the Bush. Merriam: A-Birding on a -Broncho. Bolles: From Blomidon to Smoky; The Land of the Lingering Snow; -At the North of Bearcamp Water. Gibson: Sharp Eyes. - -_Buildings and Rooms._—Ruskin: Præterita, vol. i., 232 (chapel); vol. -iii., 5 (monastery). Scott: Ivanhoe, iii. (Saxon hall). Stevenson: An -Inland Voyage (Noyon Cathedral); The Amateur Emigrant (the second cabin). -Hawthorne: House of the Seven Gables, i.; Howe’s Masquerade (the Province -House). Irving: The Alhambra. (Palace of the Alhambra); Sketch Book -(Westminster Abbey). Lamb: The East India Office. - - -_Exposition_ - -Helps: Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd, 14, 27, 32, 33, 40, 42, -54, 61, 72. Brevia, 5, 14, 15, 22, 37, 91, 92, 94, 105, 113, 115, 161, -163. - -Blake: Thoreau’s Thoughts, 4, 9, 21, 46, 89, 98, 100, 103, 108, 118, 123. - - -=Summary, Abstract, Abridgment.=—The ability to arrive at the substance -of an article or book and write it down, is demanded constantly in almost -every business and in every profession. An extremely brief statement -of the substance is called a _summary_. A longer statement, couched in -language independent of that used by the author, is an _abstract_. If the -article or book is shortened by the omission of the less important parts, -the language of the original being in general retained, the result is an -_abridgment_. - -Almost any well-constructed composition lends itself to summary, -abstract, or abridgment. A story of Irving or Hawthorne, a chapter -of Parkman or John Fiske, an article in the _Forum_ or the _Nation_, -furnishes excellent material. Below are given typical pieces that may -be used, the shorter ones for summary, the longer for abstract or -abridgment. Stories can better be abstracted than abridged. - -It is well to plan the proportions of your version. The scale of 1:6 (one -paragraph to six) will be found a good proportion on which to reduce the -longer pieces. Burke’s Speech On Conciliation would thus reduce to an -abstract or an abridgment of about twenty paragraphs. But this speech can -be reduced on a scale of 1:10 or even 1:20. - - -MATERIAL FOR SUMMARY, ABSTRACT, ABRIDGMENT - - -_Narration_ - -1. _Personal Contests_:—_Spartacus and Hermann_, A. J. Church: Two -Thousand Years Ago, p. 31 ff. _Christian and Apollyon_, Bunyan: Pilgrim’s -Progress, Fourth Stage. _Archery_, Scott: Ivanhoe, xiii. _David and -Goliath_, I Samuel xvii. _Nickleby and Squeers_, Dickens: Nicholas -Nickleby, xiii. _The Boat Race_, Hughes: Tom Brown at Oxford. _Siege -of the Round House_, Stevenson: Kidnapped, x. _The Three-Handed Duel_, -Marryat: Midshipman Easy. _The Tournament_, Scott: Ivanhoe, xii. - -2. _Narrative chapters from_: Aldrich: Story of a Bad Boy. Burnett: The -One I Knew the Best of All. Hale: A New England Boyhood. Larcom: A New -England Girlhood. Howells: My Year in a Log Cabin. Warner: Being a Boy. - -3. _Stories._—Hawthorne: The Snow Image; The Great Stone Face; Ethan -Brand; Legends of the Province House; The Great Carbuncle; David Swan; -The Vision of the Fountain; Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment; The Artist of the -Beautiful. - -Wilkins: A Humble Romance; The Bar Lighthouse; A Lover of Flowers; -Gentian; A Conflict Ended; A Village Singer; Sister Liddy; A Gala Dress; -A Village Lear; The Revolt of Mother. - -Sir Roger de Coverley Papers: Spectators No. 110, 112, 113, 116, 118, -122, 123, 132, 269, 329, 335, 359, 383, 517. - -4. _History._—Green: History of the English People. _Bæda_, vol. i., -ch. 2, pp. 64-67. _Hastings_, vol. i., ch. 4, pp. 113-114. _Rising of -baronage_, B. iii., ch. 1, pp. 240-244. _Calais_, B. iv., ch. 2, pp. -422-425. _Armada_, B. vi., ch. 6, pp. 444-446. _Return of Napoleon_; -_Waterloo_, B. ix., ch. 5, pp. 385-389. - -McMasters: History of the People of the United States. _Marietta_, -vol. i., 513-515. _Death of Hamilton_, vol. iii., 52-53. _Leopard and -Chesapeake_, vol. iii., 258-259. _Monroe’s journey_, vol. iv., 377-380. - -Fiske: Critical Period of American History. The Continental Congress, -vol. i., ch. 3. Valley Forge, vol. ii., ch. 9. - -Rolfe, W. J.: Tales from English History in Prose and Verse. - -Yonge: Book of Golden Deeds. - - -_Description_ - -1. _Schools._—See The Schoolmaster in Literature. (American Book Co.) - -2. _Towns._—Hale: Seven Spanish Cities. Howells: Three Villages; A Boy’s -Town. Stedman: New York City (_St. Nicholas_, 20:403, ’93). Stockton: -St. Augustine (_Ibid._, 21:206, ’94). - - -=Exposition.=—1. Nordhoff: Politics for Young Americans. 2. Van Dyke: -How to judge a picture. 3. Krehbiel: How to understand music. 4. Wagner: -Courage. 5. Camp: American Football. 6. Stagg and Williams: American -Football. 7. Bassett: Machinist’s trade (_Harper’s Young People_, 64:682, -’91). The Printing Trade (_Ibid._, 64:624, ’91). The following articles -from _The Youth’s Companion_: 8. Journalism for girls (64:657, ’91). 9. -Civil Service (64:245, ’91). 10. Why men must die (67:426, ’94). 11. -Medicine as a profession (64:258, ’91). 12. Success in railway life -(65:505, ’92). 13. Wholesome lunches (67:83, ’94). 14-18. Advice to young -musicians (64:310, 418, 321, 362). 19. Separate functions of the Senate -and House of Representatives (63:633, ’90). 20. Self-Education (65:494, -’92). 21-23. The girl who thinks she can write (64:447; 65:458, 734). -24. Trusts (67:538,’94). 25. Uses of the census (63:89, ’90). 26. Monroe -Doctrine (67:388, ’94). 27. Arbitration (67:48, ’94). 28. Good government -clubs (67:448, ’94). - - -_Argument_[52] - -1. A property qualification for municipal suffrage is desirable. - - _Affirmative._ White: _Forum_, x. 357 (Dec. 1890). Eliot: - _Forum_, xii. 153 (Oct. 1891). - - _Negative._ Bryce: American Commonwealth, i., chaps, i., iii. - -2. An eight-hour working day should be adopted by law. - - _Affirmative._ Webb and Cox: The Eight Hours Day. - - _Negative._ Walker: Atlantic Monthly, lxv. 800 (June, 1890). - -3. Municipalities should sometimes give work to the unemployed. - - _Affirmative._ _Forum_, xvi. 655 (Feb. 1894). Coit _Forum_, - xvii. 276 (May, 1894). - - _Negative._ _Nation_, lvii. 481 (Dec. 28, 1893). - -4. The housing of the poor should be improved by municipalities. - - _Affirmative._ Riis: How the Other Half Lives. - - _Negative._ White: Improved Dwellings for the Laboring Classes. - -5. Burke: On Conciliation with the American Colonies. - -6. Chatham: On Removing Troops from Boston.[53] - -7. Beecher: Liverpool Speech.[53] - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION - - -Narration, or narrative, relates a series of events. Description gives -an account of the look of persons or things. Character description gives -both physical and mental traits. Recall to memory various stories you -have read, and say whether narratives of considerable length do or do not -have to give description as they proceed. - - -NARRATION - -=Two Kinds.=—If a series of events actually happened, they are -historical, and the story of them may be called _historical narrative_. -If they did not happen, but owe their existence to the imagination, they -are fictional, and the narrative is _fiction_. If we are writing a story, -let the fact be understood; if a sober rehearsal of facts, let it be made -an exercise in the rare and difficult art of truth-telling. - - -=Exercises in Choice of Subject.=—(1) Examine a daily paper and pick out -several narratives which seem to you to have a general human interest, -and several that have not. (2) Write a list of twenty subjects for -narrative and submit them to the class for a vote as to which are the -most interesting. Choose events which you have witnessed or taken part -in. (3) Write a list of what are to you the most interesting events of -ancient, mediæval, and modern history. - - -=Choice of Details.=—In writing an account of a simple incident it -is possible to tell every detail of what happened. But evidently no -such thing is practicable in narrating the events of a day, a week, -a lifetime. What to omit will depend much upon the length of the -composition. A clear-headed writer will not put pen to paper before he -has decided just what points he is going to bring out. - - -=Written Exercise.=—(1) Jot down on paper memoranda of the important -things, the turning events, in your own past life. (2) Make memoranda to -show what events ought to stand out most distinctly in a history of the -United States. - - -=Plot.=—Read the following:— - - Ichabod Crane was ridiculously frightened one dark night by a - boy who played ghost. The lad took the part of a traditional - spectre that rode a black horse. The joker had a cloak over his - head, and before him on the saddle a pumpkin, to represent the - head which the headless horseman was fabled to carry. - -Read now the following:— - - One dark night Ichabod Crane started homeward on horseback. - He approached the oak on which André, the spy, was hanged. - Ichabod’s heart quaked. He passed the haunted tree in safety, - but his heart almost stood still when, a little farther on, - he saw a strange rider on a gigantic horse. Horse and rider - kept pace with him. Ichabod however saw that the latter was - headless, nay, carried his head before him on the saddle. The - figure raised itself and hurled its head at Ichabod. When the - schoolmaster found himself on the ground, did he realize that - the grewsome missile was only a pumpkin? - -Which of these accounts begets _suspense as to the outcome_? In other -words, in which is there _plot_? Recall some novel you have read, and -explain how the reader’s interest is held through to the end. - - -=Oral Exercise.=—Recall some anecdote, and present it orally with plot -interest. - - -=Theme.=—Write a simple historical narrative of about two hundred words, -giving without plot all the details of some brief incident in your own -experience. The following may suggest a topic: 1. My first day at the -lathe. 2. Examination memories. 3. How I earned some money and how I -spent it. 4. Spearing fish by night. 5. A personal adventure with a -window. 6. How I spent this morning. - - -=Theme.=—Write one or more imaginary newspaper items, without plot, each -detailing some simple incident. Choose a subject of local interest -if possible. For example: 1. A runaway. 2. Fire on Seventh Street. 3. -Trolley-car accident. 4. Curious act of a bird. 5. April 23 at the Brown -School. 6. Brave deed of a child. 7. He returned $500. 8. An old building -demolished. 9. The new library is opened. 10. Arrested for “scorching.” - - -=Themes.=—Select several topics for five hundred word themes, and write -outlines showing what details you would emphasize in composing. Then -write historical narratives from the outlines, making them as interesting -as you can without deviating from facts. Sample subjects: 1. My struggles -with cooking. 2. A day in the berry patch. 3. The first time I saw a -play. 4. An adventure of my father. 5. A few days with a doctor. 6. How a -certain town was named. 7. Misfortunes of our circus. 8. The tribulations -of a truant. 9. My first ocean voyage. 10. An uncomfortable call. 11. My -career as an actor. 12. A visit to the World’s Fair. 13. In a graveyard -after dark. 14. How Smith looked me up. 15. A week in the woods. 16. -The fall I had. 17. My experience as a clerk. 18. A glimpse of college -life. 19. What I saw some bees do. 20. An unwilling swim. 21. That Fourth -of July. 22. Experiences with a pony. 23. Haying. 24. How the vacation -passed. 25. When I was a book-agent. 26. Crossing a swollen stream. - - -=Complex Incident.=—Many a narrative must be composed of several -_threads_, telling different events that were going on at the same time. -If you were giving an account of how two hunters after being separated in -the woods finally reached home again, you would relate first how one got -home, then how the other got home; or, having narrated the wanderings of -the first, you would let the second tell his own story on rejoining his -companion. - - -=Theme.=—Relate a complex incident, either historical or fictional, in -a theme about five hundred words long. Two or three threads are enough. -The following may suggest a subject: 1. Two roads to town. 2. How our -party reached the top of the mountain. 3. Adventures of a lost child and -its parents. 4. The rescue of an amateur sailor from a wreck. 5. What -happened at our club meeting. 6. Three boys and a boat. 7. An overheard -discussion. - - -DESCRIPTION - -Language is better adapted to narrate than to describe, for words follow -each other, just as events do; they cannot flash the whole picture, with -all the details, upon the reader. Consequently writers often combine -narrative and description in order to dwell on details. Homer[54] -describes the shield of Achilles by telling the story of its forging—how -Vulcan wrought each part in turn. What is called the _traveller’s view_ -is description from successive points of view. There is a good example of -this kind of description in Hawthorne’s _American Note Books_, p. 181. - -In some descriptions the writer is willing to sacrifice the general look -of the object, in order to secure accuracy of detail. Giving each detail -is called _description by inventory_. This is often useful, particularly -in business or in science. Turn to any book of natural history and read -the inventory description of some bird or animal. But ordinarily a -description should give a general impression whether it afterward gives -details or not. The most common way of doing this is to tell what in -general the object to be described makes you think of. If the object is -a river, it may remind you of a snake or a letter S; if a village, it -may recall to your mind a flat-iron; if a little old lady, it may appear -to you, as to Dickens, in _Hard Times_, “a bundle of shawls.” The main -impression thus received is called the _fundamental image_. - -Not every object will furnish a fundamental image, but every object is -sure to be remembered for a few _chief details_. If of a given landscape -there lingers in the memory only a dim sense of green woods, with here -and there a patch of white, it is as much description to record this -dim image as it would be to detail kinds of trees, distances, etc. -Indeed, it is a mistake often made to report in a description things -that could not possibly have been seen from the given point of view. To -_keep the point of view_ is vital. It is a good practice to describe a -photograph—such as those published by the Soule Company, of Boston—in -order to learn the art of proportion in these matters of living details. - -It must not, however, be thought that details have no place in -description. In studying an object with a view to writing about it, one -should have the eye of a hawk for every _visible_ detail, in order that -what he writes may be truthful. There is no better training for the -powers of observation than description. Send a careless person to the -lake to describe it. He reports “myriads of ripples dancing in glee,” -things that every wretched poetaster has seen before him. Send a careful -observer, and he will report wonderful shades of color, and curious -surface effects, like corrugation and damascene. - - -_Suggested Topics for Description_ - - -=By Inventory.=—1. The bluebird. 2. A jellyfish. 3. A luna moth. 4. Kinds -of clouds. 5. In a museum. 6. Flags of different nations. 7. A bottle -of ink. 8. A small boy’s pocket. 9. What my room contains. 10. A shop -window. 11. The old swimming-hole. 12. A bit of old silver. - - -=By Narrative.=—1. A day in Boston. 2. An oil well. 3. A crowd. 4. A -quaint tea party. 5. A country fair. 6. A fire. 7. A dream. 8. The -matinée. 9. A masquerade. 10. How the farm looked when I went back. 11. -The dynamo I made. 12. My tent-making. 13. Our hut. 14. Decorating a -church for Christmas. 15. My baking. 16. Up Pike’s Peak. - - -=By Fundamental Image and Details.=—1. Kinds of noses. 2. A bit of old -architecture. 3. A church altar. 4. Famous deltas. 5. The shop. 6. The -lunch-room. 7. A little old man. 8. This town in A.D. 2000. 9. An old -fireplace. 10. A wreck. 11. Profile Mountain. 12. The football field. 13. -The baseball ground described for an Englishman. 14. The capitol. 15. An -old horse. - - -=By Chief Details.=—1. Uncle Billy. 2. A hermit. 3. Our postmaster. 4. -Our mail-carrier. 5. An Indian. 6. A southern girl. 7. My chum. 8. The -procession of the pines. 9. A moonlight scene. 10. A wood interior. 11. -An American boy of 1925. 12. Houses I have lived in. 13. Two generals. -14. The boy who grins. 15. Queer street characters. 16. A cat. 17. The -fortune-teller. 18. Curious advertisements. 19. Betty in her best dress. -20. A sunset. 21. A wave. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -EXPOSITION AND ARGUMENT - - -EXPOSITION - -Exposition is explanation. It may either explain a general principle by -illustrations and examples, as the preacher’s sermon expounds a statement -of scripture, or it may explain a group of facts by getting at their -underlying principle, as a scientific treatise does. Exposition, it is -clear, deals with ideas rather than with particular objects. We describe -a department store; we expound the principles by which it is conducted. -We describe an electric motor; we expound the laws of electricity. We -describe a beautiful statue; we expound beauty. - -Below are given various subjects for exposition. In writing about them, -do not drift into argument. If you write on “dangers of exercise,” do not -argue against over-exercise; calmly explain the matter. - - -_Subjects for Exposition_ - -1. Golf. 2. Cannibalism. 3. The bear family. 4. Principles of diet. -5. Credulity. 6. Nostalgia. 7. How to sail a boat. 8. Drowned rivers. -9. On eating candy. 10. The formation of ravines. 11. Dangers of -over-exercise. 12. Dangers of too little exercise. 13. Why the earth -quakes. 14. How men become criminals. 15. How the will may be trained -in the classroom. 16. An ideal classroom. 17. What makes up an ideal -camping ground. 18. Advantages and disadvantages of classroom study. 19. -Effects of climate on man. 20. The conduct of a great business. 21. What -are home missions? 22. How to become famous. 23. How to plan a dinner. -24. How to furnish a sitting-room. 25. Advantages of small classes. 26. -Possibilities of electricity. 27. What constitutes a great man? 28. The -art of fly-casting. 29. The construction of a roof. 30. What good does an -examination do the student? 31. Spiritualism. 32. Ghosts. 33. My choice -of a profession. 34. The banking system. 35. Practical values of good -manners. 36. The interpretation of any of the proverbs given on pages -213-215. - - -ARGUMENT - -There are various ways of bringing people to our way of thinking. One -way, by appealing to their reason, is called _argument_. Can you suggest -other ways? - -Every argument must have a _proposition_, which is laid down to be -proved. If this proposition is not stated in the title of the argument, -it should be stated early in the discussion. It cannot be too definitely -formulated. Every word of it should be made clear; there should be full -_exposition of terms_. Half the quarrels in the world disappear after -a thorough definition of terms. The question of whether Aaron Burr was -guilty of treason depends on how treason is defined. In law a man, -however traitorous, is not guilty of treason unless his treason had been -witnessed by two persons. Burr’s treason was not witnessed; he escaped -conviction.[55] - -In argument (_a_) depend upon a few weighty arguments rather than upon -many weak ones; (_b_) remember that _examples_ are but weak arguments; -(_c_) if in debate, be perfectly fair to your opponent, admitting all -that is true on his side; (_d_) know your case thoroughly in every detail. - - -_Subjects for Argument or Debate_ - -1. Examinations are usually a fair test of scholarship. 2. Labor-saving -machinery is a permanent advantage to mankind. 3. The world owes every -man a living. 4. A truthful person will be a better writer than a liar. -5. The Gulf of Mexico will one day have a greater port than New York now -has. 6. High school students should read the newspapers. 7. Observation -helps us more than reading. 8. Examinations should be abolished. 9. -Sunday observance should be compulsory. 10. A high school is guilty of -injustice to its students if it does not train them in public speaking. -11. People possessing no property should not be allowed to vote. 12. -Is it right to break a friendship? 13. Ought department stores to be -permitted? 14. Are there good excuses for being a tramp? 15. Is it wrong -to bet? 16. How far is it right in politics that to the victors should -belong the spoils? 17. Should a parent forbid his son to take part in -football? 18. Should a man ever shoot a robber? 19. Is suicide ever -justifiable? 20. Is it right to evade custom house duties? 21. Is it -wrong to go to the theatre often? 22. Is it ever best to give money on -the street? 23. Is it right for women to wear birds on their hats? 24. -How far is it right for students to study together? 25. Is a curfew law -desirable? 26. Is it right to discard old friends for new? 27. Should -one bear witness against a friend? 28. Does paying a fare entitle one to -a seat? 29. Is it right to let people deceive themselves? 30. Are there -any customary lies which are right? 31. Is capital punishment defensible -as punishment? 32. Is capital punishment defensible as a protection to -society? 33. Should Latin be a compulsory study? 34. Which is rougher, -football or pugilism? - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] From the first, brief supplementary themes, especially reproductions, -should be required. For bibliography of material, see Chapter XIII. - -[2] Cf. President Stanley Hall’s _Pedagogical Seminary_, iv. i. 76. - -[3] _The Children_, p. 103. (_The Bodley Head._ John Lane.) - -[4] Some teachers will prefer to use composition-books. - -[5] A part of these signs are from G. R. Carpenter’s admirable _Exercises -in Rhetoric and English Composition_. - -[6] Elizabeth H. Spalding: _The Problem of Elementary Composition_. -Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. - -[7] Do not discard your old text-book in grammar or in “language.” Bring -it to school and keep it at hand for ready reference. In it are rules -for spelling; these, as well as other rules, you will be glad to review -occasionally. - -[8] The author is indebted for the idea of this exercise to Miss -Catherine Aiken’s _Methods of Mind-Training_ (Harper & Bros.). If it -proves helpful it should be extended to the consonants _d_, _f_, _g_, -_l_, _m_, _n_, _p_, _r_, _s_, _t_. - -[9] The mark over the second syllable is called the diæresis. It -indicates that each vowel is to be pronounced separately. - -[10] Such may be called logically co-ordinate, though grammatically -dependent. The restrictive relative clause may be called the necessary -relative clause; the non-restrictive may be called the unnecessary or -additional relative clause. - -[11] _Comprehensively_ is Mr. Stevenson’s word—not the _husband’s_; it -is inserted to show the way in which, probably with a vague gesture, the -husband said _all_. - -[12] Demean = behave. What word would be better here? - -[13] A quaint way of spelling _eras_. - -[14] _Solecism_ is Greek in origin. The Athenian colonists of Soli in -Asia Minor spoke Greek so badly that the Attic Greeks came to refer to an -error in grammar (or in pronunciation) as _soloikismós_, whence our word. - -[15] _Advanced Exercises_, p. 85. - -[16] There are few exceptions: _day’s work_, _week’s pay_, etc. - -[17] Is there incoherence between the clauses of this sentence after -_vowing_? If so, how remedy it? - -[18] Each of these paragraphs was written as a part of a larger whole. -But each is complete in itself, and may be considered as an independent -whole. - -[19] In another and larger sense, every mark of punctuation is -disjunctive, as was said on page 21. - -[20] That is, Lord Falkland. - -[21] This “that” is demonstrative. - -[22] Sometimes a simple sentence is called periodic. This is when the -natural order of subject and predicate is inverted. Thus: “Great is Diana -of the Ephesians.” Indeed, the attributive position of the adjective -is sometimes called periodic, because it delays the noun-idea. A long -sentence is sometimes periodic up to a certain point, then loose; -sometimes the opposite is true. - -[23] Sentences that are in the main periodic may ordinarily be given this -name. - -[24] The longer passages to which the last two selections belong may be -found in Genung’s _Rhetorical Analysis_. - -[25] The phrase, “words that deserve distinction,” is Professor Barrett -Wendell’s. See his _English Composition_, p. 103 (Scribner’s). - -[26] See also Scott and Denney, _Composition-Rhetoric_, p. 72 ff. -Teachers will be interested to compare an article by Miss Gertrude Buck, -_Educational Review_, March, 1887. The matter is touched upon in the -_History of the English Paragraph_, by the author of this book, p. 43 _et -al._ (Univ. of Chicago Press). - -[27] Is there not some ambiguity as to the grammatical structure here? -_Swallowed_ is logically the act performed by _it_, the fish, but -grammatically it may be taken with ——? Remedy the fault. - -[28] _Good Manners_, a pamphlet. (H. L. Hastings, Boston) - -[29] For the idea of this exercise the author is indebted to Professors -Scott and Denney, _Composition-Rhetoric_ (Allyn and Bacon). - -[30] See however _do_, _does_, in the Oxford English Dictionary. - -[31] A. S. Hill: _Foundations of Rhetoric_, p. 110 (Harper’s). - -[32] _Round_ is more frequently used than _around_ with verbs of motion. - -[33] Probably three-fourths of these words are not in literary use -to-day. Many are obsolete, many are colloquial, many are scientific or -technical. Thousands of other scientific terms (names of genera and -species) are not included in the 200,000 estimate. - -[34] A maker of noble verse is called what? - -[35] See _The Century Magazine_ for November, 1896, for an English theme -by Miss Helen. - -[36] Emerson’s words, quoted on page 121, will occur to every reader. - -[37] _My Literary Passions_, p. 32 (Harper & Bros.). - -[38] In case of doubt, consult Bartlett’s _Shakspere Concordance_ -(Macmillan Co.). - -[39] It may be found desirable to assign only a part of the words to each -student, the results to be read before the class and discussed. - -[40] _Foundations of Rhetoric_, p. 171. - -[41] _Advanced Exercises_, p. 41. - -[42] For particular passages, etc., see Professor A. S. Cook’s _The Bible -and English Prose Style_ (Ginn & Co.). - -[43] Hundreds of others will be found in Hazlitt’s _English Proverbs_. - -[44] For reference: Fallows, _100,000 Synonyms and Antonyms_ (Fleming -H. Revell Co.); Roget, _Thesaurus_; Fernald, _Synonyms, Antonyms, and -Prepositions_ (Funk and Wagnalls). - -[45] _Among My Books_, II. 259. - -[46] Quoted in a different connection by E. E. Hale, Jr., _Constructive -Rhetoric_, p. 288 (Henry Holt & Co.). - -[47] Mr. George Bainton, _The Art of Authorship_ (D. Appleton & Co.). - -[48] Consult a French dictionary. - -[49] The Turkish Cadi to the English Traveller. See James, _Psychology_, -II. 640. - -[50] _Handbook of English Composition_, p. 348 (Eldredge & Bro.). - -[51] _Letter-Writing_, p. 121 (Penn. Pub. Co.). - -[52] The first four subjects are taken from Brookings and Ringwalt: -_Briefs for Debate_ (Longmans), which see for further articles on the -same topics. - -[53] See Baker: _Specimens of Modern Argumentation_ (Henry Holt & Co.). - -[54] _Iliad_, xviii. 601, Bryant’s translation. - -[55] Carpenter and Fletcher, _Introduction to Theme-Writing_, p. 117. - - - - -SUBJECT INDEX - - - Abbreviations, 41-42. - - _ability_, _capacity_, 154. - - _abominate_, 192. - - Abridgment, 266-270. - - Abstract, 266-270. - - _accept_, _except_, 160. - - _acceptance_, _acceptation_, 154. - - _access_, _accession_, 154. - - _act_, _action_, 155. - - Adjective and noun, concord of, 48-49. - - Adjective, singular, with plural noun, 49. - - _advance_, _advancement_, 155. - - _affect_, _effect_, 160. - - African words, 185. - - _aggravate_, _irritate_, _tantalize_, 161. - - Agreement. See Concord. - - _ain’t_, 149. - - _alienate_, _antagonize_, 162. - - Alienism, 152, 153. - - Allegory, 250. - - _allude_, _mention_, 161. - - _alternative_, _choice_, 155. - - _amateur_, 152. - - Ambiguity, 43, 233-234. - - Americanisms, 153. - - _and_, 97, 100. - - Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes, 186-187. - - Anglo-Saxon words, 182-183, 235-238. - - _antagonize_, _alienate_, 162. - - Apostrophe, the, 37. - - _apt_, _likely_, _liable_, 167. - - Arabic words, 185. - - Argument, 280-282: - proposition, 280; - exposition of terms, 281; - subjects for, 126-127, 281-282. - - Arnold, M., 149. - - _around_, _round_, 177, foot-note. - - _artiste_, 153. - - _as ... as_, 55. - - Asterisks, 37. - - Audience, necessity of, 10, 136-137, 141-142. - - Authority, in choice of words, 147. - - Authors, the best, 149. - - _autoharp_, 153. - - _avocation_, _vocation_, 156. - - - _bad_ or _badly_, 57. - - _baggage_, _luggage_, 148. - - _balance_, _remainder_, 156. - - Barbarisms, 151-153. - - _beau monde_, 153. - - Beauty of style, 229. - - _begin_, _commence_, 162. - - Bible, 212. - - _blickey_, 147. - - _bogus_, 175. - - Brackets, 35. - - _bring_, _fetch_, 162. - - Briticisms, 153. - - Bunyan, J., 212. - - _burglarize_, 152. - - _but_, 100. - - - _c_ doubled in word, 17. - - _calculate_, _intend_, 164. - - _can_, _may_, 165. - - _capacity_, _ability_, 154. - - Capitals, rules for, 21-23. - - Case, government of, 53-54. - - Cases, concord of, 52. - - Chapter, 75. - - _character_, _reputation_, 156. - - Chinese words, 185. - - Choice of words. See under Words. - - _claim_, _assert_, etc., 162. - - Clauses, subordination of, 96-101. - - Clearness, 43, 227-228, 251, 255. - - Cleft infinitive, 46-47. - - Climax, 112-113, 229. - - Coherence, 44, 101-102. - - Collective noun, 47. - - Colon, 30-31. - - _combine_ (noun), 152. - - Comma, 24-28; - with _and_, 84. - - Comma-fault, 81. - - _commence_, _begin_, 162. - - Communication. See under English, writing of. - - _compliment_, _complement_, 156. - - Composition. See English, writing of. - - Composition, whole. See Theme. - - Compound words, 14-15. - - Concord, 47-53: - of subject and predicate, 47-48; - of adjective and noun, 48-49; - of pronoun and antecedent, 49-52; - of cases, 52; - of tenses, 52-53. - - Conjunction, 55, 56, 97, 99, 100. - - _continual_, _continuous_, 167. - - Correspondence, forms of. See Letter-writing. - - _council_, _counsel_, 157. - - Courtesy in letters, 255-256. - - Criticism: - by the instructor, 2-4; - by the class, 10. - - Curious words, 191-192. - - - Dash, 31-32. - - Deficiency of words, 233. - - _demean_, 40, foot-note; - _demean_, _degrade_, _debase_, 162-163. - - Description, 275-278: - traveller’s view, 276; - by inventory, 276; - fundamental image, 276; - point of view, 277; - topics for themes, 277-278. - - _desire_, _want_, _wish_, 167. - - Diacritical marks, 150. - - Dialogue, punctuation of, 34-35. - - Dickens, C., 149. - - Diction, 227. See also under Words. - - Dictionary, use of, 13-14, 150. - - _different than_ for _different from_, 56. - - _different to_ for _different from_, 56. - - Digression: - in the sentence, 90-91; - in the paragraph or theme, 116-117. - - _discovery_, _invention_, 157. - - _don’t_, 153. - - _double entendre_, 152. - - _drank_ and _drunk_, 63. - - _drive_, _ride_, 163. - - Dutch words, 185. - - - _each_ as pronoun, 48. - - _effect_, _affect_, 160. - - _either_: - as distributive conjunction, 48; - as pronoun, 48; - _either ... or_, 48. - - _electrocution_, 152. - - _else_, a part of the noun, 63-64. - - Emerson, R. W., 144. - - _eminent_, _imminent_, _immanent_, 168. - - Emotions, 228-229. - - Emphasis, in the sentence, 110-112, 229. - - Emphasis, punctuation for, 86-87. - - _endorse_, _approve_, _second_, 163. - - Endorsement, of theme, 2. - - English, writing of, 5-11: - as an art of communication, 5-6; - as a useful art, 7; - as a fine art, 7-9; - limitations, 9-10; - writing for an audience, 10-11. - - _enthuse_ (verb), 152. - - _entre nous_, 153. - - Errors, in themes, 1, 3. - - Essay. See Theme. - - Etymology. See under Grammar. - - Euphony, 229. - - _every_ (pronoun), 48. - - _except_, _accept_, 160. - - _exceptionably_, 175. - - Exclamation point, 35. - - Exercises. See under Subject. - - Exposition, 279-280: - explained, 279; - subjects for, 126, 127, 279-280. - - - _falseness_, _falsity_, 157. - - _faux pas_, 153. - - _fetch_, _bring_, 162. - - Figures: - figurative uses of common words, 199-203, 246-253. - - Fiske, J., 149, 266. - - _flexibone_, 153. - - _flunk_, 148. - - Force, 228. - - Formal letters, 255, 259-260. - - French words, 184. - - _funny_, _odd_, 168. - - - Gallicisms, 152. - - General words, 238-243. - - _gent_, 152. - - Good usage, 150. - - _got_, _gotten_, _have_, 163. - - _grade_, _gradient_, 148. - - Grammar, 43-73: - to secure clearness, 43; - solecisms, 44; - coherence, 44-47; - concord, 47-53; - government, 53-54; - reference of pronouns, 54-55; - conjunctions and prepositions, 55-56; - use of adverb or adjective with verbs of sensation, etc., 56-58; - _shall_ or _will_, 58-62; - matters of etymology, 63-64; - exercises, oral, 45-46, 53, 58, 61-62, 64-73. - - Grammar. See also under Punctuation. - - Greek roots in English, 191. - - Green, J. R., 149. - - Growth: - of paragraph from root, 75; - of thought, 114. - - _guess_, _think_, _reckon_, 163. - - _guillotine_, 191. - - - Hawthorne, N., 149. - - _healthy_, _healthful_, 168. - - Hellenism, 152. - - Holden, E. S., 197. - - Hughes, T., 149. - - Hyperbole, 248. - - Hyphen, 14-15. - - - Ideas and words, 195-197; - ideas without words, 194. - - _ill_ (adjective or adverb), 57. - - _imminent_, _eminent_, _immanent_, 168. - - Improprieties, 154. - - _in_, _into_, 169. - - Indentation, 1, 129-130. - - India, words from, 185-186. - - Indian words (North American), 186. - - _infant_, derivation of, 6. - - Infinitive, cleft. See Cleft infinitive. - - Informal letters, 255, 260-261. - - Interrogation point, 36. - - _invention_, _discovery_, 157. - - Inverted order, 104, foot-note, 110. - - _invite_ (noun), 152. - - Italian words, 184. - - Italics, 36-37. - - - James, H., 149. - - Janus-clause, 46. - - Jefferson, J., 137. - - - Keller, H., 194. - - - Language, English, formation of. See under Vocabulary, sources of. - - Language, study of, 5-7. - - Language, written. See under Rhetoric. - - _last_, _latest_, 169; - _last_, _preceding_, 169. - - Latin constructions. See Latinisms. - - Latin element, 188-191: - words transferred to English, 188-189; - prefixes and suffixes, 189; - roots, 189-191. - - Latin words, 181, 188-189, 190-191. - - Latinisms, 50-51, 152. - - _lay_, _lie_, 164. - - _let_, 148; - _let_, _leave_, 164. - - Letter-writing, 255-261: - use of capitals, 22; - why important, 255; - business letters, 255-258; - petition, 258-259; - formal social letters, 259-260; - personal or informal letters, 260-261; - exercises, 258-259, 259-260, 261. - - _liable_, _likely_, _apt_, 167. - - _lie_, _lay_, 164. - - _like_, 56. - - _limit_, _limitation_, 157. - - _litterateur_, 153. - - _loan_, _lend_, 165. - - Localisms, 147. - - _locate_, _settle_, 164. - - Loose sentence, 102-103, 106, 109. - - _lot_, 175. - - _luggage_, _baggage_, 148. - - - _mad_, _angry_, 169. - - _majority_, _plurality_, 158. - - Malaprop, Mrs., 195. - - Malayan words, 186. - - _managerial_, 152. - - Manuscript: - preparation of, 1-2; - once written “solid,” 23. - - _may_, _can_, 165. - - Memorizing of literature, 212; - of proverbs, 213. - - _mention_, _allude_, 161. - - Metaphor, 249. - - Metonymy, 250. - - Mexican words, 186. - - _most_, _almost_, 169. - - _motorneer_, 151. - - _mutual_, _common_, 169. - - - Narration, 271-275: - historical narrative, 271; - fiction, 271; - choice of details, 272; - plot, 272-273; - complex incident, 275; - exercises, 272-273; - themes, 273-274, 275. - - _Nation_, The, 266. - - National usage, 148. - - _neither_, as distributive conjunction, 48; - as pronoun, 48; - _neither ... nor_, 48. - - _nom de plume_, 152. - - _none_, 48. - - Norman genitive, 63. - - Norman-French words, 184. - - Norse words, 183. - - Note-book, need of, 4, 14, 199, 262-263. - - Noun and adjective, concord of, 48-49. - - Number of words. See Words, right number and skilful choice of. - - - _O_, in apostrophe, 35. - - Observation, how sharpened, 277. - - _observation_, _observance_, _remark_, 158. - - _Oh_, punctuation of, 35. - - Omission of words. See Words, omission of. - - _one’s self_, 14. - - _only_, and _not only_, 45-46. - - _onto_, 175; - _onto_, _upon_, 153. - - _oral_, _verbal_, 170. - - Orthoëpy. See Pronunciation. - - Orthography. See Spelling. - - Outline of theme, 130, 138-139. - - - _pants_, 152. - - Paragraph, division of. See under Sentence. - - Paragraph: - indented, 1; - growth of, from root, 75; - History of the English paragraph, 114, foot-note; - nebulæ of, 116; - planning of, 117; - kinds of, 120-124; - expanding of one into several, 128-131. - - Parkman, F. W., 149, 266. - - _part_, _portion_, 159. - - Participle: - unrelated, 49; - misrelated, 49; - in place of verbal noun, 49. - - _party_, _person_, 158. - - Periodic sentence, 103-106, 109-110; - defined, 104; - use of, 104; - abuse of, 104, 106. - - _permit_, _permission_, 153. - - Persian words, 186. - - _person_, _party_, 158. - - Personification, 250. - - Petition, form of, 258-259. - - _photo_, 152. - - Planning, of theme, 114, 133-136; - of paragraph, 117. - - _plurality_, _majority_, 158. - - Plurals and singulars, 15. - - _point of view_, 153. - - Possessive, how formed, 15, 63. - - _posted_, _informed_, 170. - - _practicable_, _practical_, 171. - - Predicate and subject, concord of, 47-48. - - _predominant_, _prominent_, 159. - - Prefixes and suffixes: - Anglo-Saxon, 186-187; - Latin, 189. - - Preposition, 55-56. - - Present usage, 148. - - _preventative_, 152. - - _Prof._, 152. - - Prolixity, 229-231. - - Pronoun: - neutral, 50; - indefinite, 50; - reference of, 54; - concord of, with antecedent, 49-52. - - Pronunciation: - importance of, 18; - list of words mispronounced, 19-20. - - _propose_, _purpose_, 165. - - _proved_, _proven_, 165. - - Proverbs, 213-215. - - Provincialisms, 147. - - Punctuation, 21-42: - disjunctive, 21, 84; - capitals, 21-23; - reasons for punctuation, 23-24; - comma, 24-28; - semicolon, 29-30; - colon, 30-31; - dash, 31-32; - quotation marks, 33-35; - brackets, 35; - exclamation point, 35; - interrogation point, 36; - italics, 36-37; - apostrophe, 37; - asterisks, 37; - abbreviations, 41-42; - punctuation for emphasis, 86-87; - exercises, oral, 29-30, 38-39; - exercises, written, 23, 27-28, 32-33, 36, 39-41. - - - _quite_, _somewhat_, _very_, _rather_, _entirely_, _wholly_, 171. - - Quotation marks, 33-35. - - Quotation, rhetorical, 22. - - - _radiograph_, 152. - - Reading: - oral, 12-13; - care in, 203-211. - - _real_, _really_, _extremely_, 171. - - _recipe_, _receipt_, 159. - - _reckon_, _guess_, _think_, 163. - - Relative clause, restrictive and non-restrictive, 26, 27. - - _relative_, _relation_, 159. - - _reportorial_, 152. - - Reproduction, 262, 270: - literal reproduction, 262-266; - summary, abstract, abridgment, 266-267; - material for, 267-270. - - _reputation_, _character_, 156. - - _residence_, _house_, 159. - - _resurrectionists_, 175. - - Rhetoric, defined, 6. See also under English, writing of. - - _ride_, _drive_, 163. - - “Roentgen rays,” names for, 151. - - _round_, _around_, 177, foot-note. - - Ruskin, J., 212, 241. - - - Saxon genitive, 63. - - _scotograph_, 152. - - Self-expression, 5, 11. - - Semicolon, 29-30, 84-85. - - Sensation, verbs of, use with adjective or adverb, 56-57. - - Sense impressions, 205. - - Sentence, 74-95: - part of the paragraph, 74-78; - long and short sentence, 78, 85; - sentence unity, 79-93; - unity of form, 79 (see also under Sentence, well-knit); - unity of substance, by excluding irrelevant ideas, 79-82; - by inclusion of all parts of an idea, 82-86, 88; - unity sacrificed for emphasis, 86-87; - seventeenth century paragraph, 88-90; - unity by keeping to the point, 90-91; - by supplying suppressed clauses, 92; - exercises, oral, 81, 85-86, 87, 90, 92-95; - exercises, written, 88-90. - - Sentence, well-knit, 96-113: - unity of form, 96-102; - complex, 97-98; - loose and periodic sentence, 103-110; - emphasis, 110-112; - climax, 112-113; - exercises, oral, 98, 100, 102, 104-106, 107-109, 111-112. - - _set_, _sit_, 166. - - _sewage_, _sewerage_, 160. - - _shadowgraph_, 152. - - Shakespeare, 200-201, 212, 253. - - _shall_ and _will_: - in direct discourse, 58-60; - in indirect discourse, 60-61; - in questions, 61. - - _showing up_, 175. - - _shunting_, _switching_, 147. - - _sideways_ for _sidewise_, 49. - - Signs, for marking themes, 3-4. - - Simile, 249. - - Simplicity, 229, 244-246. - - Singulars and plurals, 15. - - _site_, _situation_, 160. - - _skiagraph_, 152. - - _slick_, 151. - - _so ... as_, 55. - - _So_ construction, 99-100. - - Solecism, 44. - - _some_, _somewhat_, 172. - - South American words, 186. - - Spanish words, 184-185. - - Specific words, 235-238. - - Spelling, 13-20: - practice in, 13-14; - of compound words, 14-15; - possessive, 15; - singulars and plurals, 15; - common errors, 16-17; - word-breaking, 17; - exercises, 16-18, 19-20. - - _spoonsful_, 152. - - _spotted_, 175. - - _standpoint_, 153. - - Stevenson, R. L., 149, 239. - - _stop_, _stay_, 166. - - Style, 227-229. - - Subject and predicate, concord of, 47-48. - - Subject, choice of, 136. - - Subjects for themes. See Theme. - - Suffixes. See Prefixes and suffixes. - - Suggestive words, 229. - - _suicide_ (verb), 152. - - Summary, 266-270. - - Suppressed clause, 92. - - Surplusage, 231-233. - - _switching_, _shunting_, 147. - - Syllables, joining of, 15. - - Synecdoche, 248. - - Synonyms, 215-225: - a method of study, 217-220; - groups of, 220-225; - books of, 219, 220, foot-note. (See also 154-180.) - - Syntax. See under Grammar. - - - Tenses, concord of, 52-53. - - Teutonisms, 153. - - Thackeray, W. M., 149, 196. - - Theme: - errors in, 1, 3; - title, 2; - endorsement, 2; - revision and rewriting, 2, 13; - signs in correcting, 3-4; - organizing of, 114-146; - different ways of planning, 114; - growth of thought, 114-116; - unity, 116-117; - planning paragraph, 117; - topic sentence, 117-120, 123-124; - kinds of paragraphs, 120-123, 126, 127-128; - expansion, 128-133; - proportioning, 133-136; - choice of subject, 136-138, 141-143; - outline, 130, 138-139; - specimen theme, 139-141; - transitions between paragraphs, 143-144; - transitions between sentences, 144-146; - exercises, oral, 123-126, 133-135, 141-142, 145-146; - exercises written, 131, 135, 141, 142-143, 144; - themes, 126-128, 141-142. - - Theme, subjects for, 34, 81-82, 88, 126-128, 129, 131-133, 135-136, - 141-143, 263-266, 267-270, 277-278, 281-282. - - _those kind_, 48. - - Thought, growth of, 114. - - Threads of narrative, 275. - - Topic sentence, 117. - - Transitions, between paragraphs, 143-144; - between sentences, 144-145. - - Translation, 211. - - _transpire_, _happen_, 166. - - Trope, 247. - - - Uniformity of sentence structure, 101-102. - - Unity of form, in sentence, 79, 96-102. - - Unity of substance: - in sentence, 74-95; - in theme, 116. - - _unless_, _without_, 172. - - Usage: - national, 147-148; - reputable, 148; - present, 148; - good, 150. - - - Variety: - of words, 226; - as an element of beauty, 229. - - _verbal_, _oral_, 170. - - Verbosity, 233. - - Vocabulary, mastery of a writing, 194-226: - ideas without words, 194; - words without ideas, 194-195; - ideas and words, 195-197; - the two vocabularies, 197-199; - vocabulary book, 199; - figurative use of common words, 199-203; - value of careful reading, 203-211; - contributions from other studies, 211; - translation, 211; - memorizing of literature, 212-213; - English proverbs, 213-215; - synonyms for adjectives of praise, 216; - danger of bookish words, 216-217; - a method of study, 217-220; - groups of synonyms, 220-225; - variety, 226; - exercises, oral, 216, 218-219, 220; - written, 202-203, 218, 219-220, 225-226. - - Vocabulary note-book, 4, 199, 262. - - Vocabulary, sources of the English, 181-193: - historical sketch, 181-186; - Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes, 186-187; - Latin element, 188; - Latin words transferred to English, 188-189; - Latin prefixes and suffixes, 189; - Latin roots in English, 189-191; - Greek roots in English, 191; - curious words, 191-192; - written exercise, 192-193. - - Vocative words, punctuation of, 25. - - Vulgarisms, 149. - - - _walkist_, 152. - - _want_, _wish_, _desire_, 167. - - _well_ (adjective or adverb), 57. - - West India words, 186. - - _wheatena_, 153. - - _will_ and _shall_. See _Shall_ and _will_. - - _wish_, _want_, _desire_, 167. - - _with_, introducing parenthetical clause, 47. - - _without_, _unless_, 172. - - Word-breaking, 17. - - Words, correctness in choice of, 147-180: - authority, 147-150; - provincialisms or localisms, 147; - national usage, 147-148; - present usage, 148; - reputable usage, 148-149; - vulgarisms, 149; - good usage, 150; - dictionary, 150; - barbarisms, 151-153; - alienisms, 152-153; - improprieties, 154; - choice of nouns, 154-160; - verbs, 160-167; - adjectives and adverbs, 167-172; - exercises, oral, 172-174, 175-177, 178-180. - - Words, figurative use of common. See Vocabulary. - - Words, lists of: - incorrectly spelled, 16-17; - compound, 14-15; - mispronounced, 18-19; - Latin, 181-182, 188-189, 190-191; - Celtic, 182; - Anglo-Saxon, 182-183; - Norse, 183; - Italian, 184; - Spanish, 185; - Dutch, 185; - African, 185; - Arabian, 185; - Chinese, 185; - India, words from, 185-186; - Malayan, 186; - Persian, 186; - North American Indian, 186; - Mexican, 186; - West Indian, 186; - South American, 186; - Greek, 191; - curious, 191-192; - adjectives, 203; - synonyms, 220-225. - - Words, omission of, 55, 92, 234-235. - - Words, right number and skilful choice of, 227-253: - as affecting clearness, 227-228; - force, 228-229; - beauty, 229; - prolixity, 229-231; - surplus of, 231-232; - deficiency of, 233-235; - specific words, 235-238; - general words, 238-245; - ambiguous words, 243-244; - simple words, 244-246; - literal and figurative words, 246-253; - exercises, 232-233, 235, 237-238, 241-243, 243-244, 245-246, 253-254. - - Words without ideas, 194-195. - - Writing vocabulary. See Vocabulary. - - - - -INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED - - - Aiken, C., 18. - - - Bainton, G., 244, foot-note. - - Baker, G. P., 270, foot-note. - - Bardeen, C. W., 44. - - Bartlett, J., 201, foot-note. - - Beecher, H. W., 75, 253. - - Bible, 107. - - Bigelow, N. T., 15. - - Blackmore, R. D., 193, 205, 206. - - Brookings, W. D., and Ringwalt, R. C., 269, foot-note. - - Browning, R., 135. - - Bryant, W. C., 275, foot-note. - - Buck, G., 114, foot-note. - - Burke, E., 145, 267. - - - Carlyle, T., 201-205, 253. - - Carpenter, G. R., 3, foot-note; 48, 211, foot-note; 238-239; - and Fletcher, J. B., 281, foot-note. - - Chesterfield, P. D. S. (4th earl), 151, 179. - - Choate, R., 211. - - Cholmondeley, T., 261. - - Clarendon, E. H. (1st lord), 89-90. - - Coleridge, S. T., 76-77, 136. - - Cook, A. S., 212, foot-note. - - - Defoe, D., 89. - - De Quincey, T., 78. - - Dickens, C., 276. - - Drayton, M., 136. - - - Eliot, George, 243. - - Emerson, R. W., 34, 77, 121-122, 240. - - - Fallows, S., 220, foot-note. - - Fernald, J. C., 219, 220, foot-note. - - Fiske, J., 101. - - - Gaskell, Mrs., 177-179. - - Genung, J. F., 109, foot-note. - - Goethe, 35. - - - Hale, E. E., Jr., 240, foot-note. - - Hall, S., ix., foot-note. - - Hart, J. M., 257, foot-note. - - Hawthorne, N., 105-106, 276. - - Hazlitt, W., 213, foot-note. - - Hill, A. S., 164, foot-note; 199, 211. - - Holmes, O. W., 75-76. - - Homer, 275, foot-note. - - Howells, W. D., 200. - - Hughes, T., 64-71. - - Huxley, T. H., 108. - - - Irving, W., 124-126. - - - James, H., 196, 243. - - James, W., 255, foot-note. - - Johnson, S., 122-123, 192-193. - - Jowett, B., 144. - - - Keats, J., 240. - - Keller, 194, foot-note. - - - Lamb, C., 39-41. - - Lanier, S., 107. - - Lewis, E. H., 114, foot-note. - - Lincoln, A., 133-134. - - Longfellow, H. W., 22, 136. - - Lowell, J. R., 136, 231. - - - Macaulay, T. B., 107, 118-119. - - Mandeville, Sir J., 94-95, 96-97. - - Meynell, A., ix. - - Miles, A. H., 263, 264. - - Milton, J., 117, 207-208. - - Molière, 43. - - Morse, E. S., 120. - - - Newman, J. H., 91, 108-109. - - - Outlook, The, 118. - - Oxford English Dictionary, 153, foot-note. - - - Phyfe, W. H. P., 18. - - - Roche, Sir B., 252. - - Roget, P. M., 220, foot-note. - - Rousseau, J. J., 13. - - Ruskin, J., 100-101, 111, 145, 172-174, 207-211. - - - Scott, F. N., and Denney, J. V., 114, foot-note; 123, foot-note. - - Shakespeare, 30, 93, 94, 201, 252, 253. - - Sheridan, P. B., 195. - - Smith, C. J., 219. - - Southey, R., 112-113. - - Spalding, E. H., 8, foot-note. - - Stevenson, R. L., 27-28, 32-33, 36, 176-177. - - - Tennyson, A., 136. - - Thackeray, W. M., 136. - - - Webster, D., 107-108. - - Wendell, B., 111, foot-note. - - Whittier, J. G., 136. - - Wood, J. G., 119, 128, 131. - - Wordsworth, W., 240, 253. - - - See also bibliography, 263-270. - - - - -EXERCISES IN RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION. - -BY GEORGE R. CARPENTER, - -_Professor of Rhetoric and English Composition, Columbia College_. - -HIGH-SCHOOL COURSE. SEVENTH EDITION. - -16mo. Cloth. Price 75 cents, net. - -ADVANCED COURSE. FOURTH EDITION. - -12mo. Cloth. Price $1.00, net. - - “This work gives the student the very gist and germ of the art - of composition.”—_Public Opinion._ - - “G. R. Carpenter, Professor of Rhetoric and English Composition - in Columbia College, has prepared a work under the title of - ‘Exercises in Rhetoric and English Composition,’ in which not - so much the science of Rhetoric is mapped out and defined as - the practical workings of the art are furnished to the student - with just enough of the principles to guide him aright. The - author gives an abundance of exercises for the student to study - and analyze, and this is the very best kind of help. The scheme - of the subject-matter is somewhat unique and novel, but it is - comprehensive and lucid.... A very serviceable and suggestive - book to read and consult.”—_Education._ - - “The text represents the substance of teaching which a freshman - may fairly be expected to compass, and it is set forth with a - clearness and directness and brevity so admirable as to make - the volume seem almost the realization of that impossible - short method of learning to write which has often been sought - for, but never with a nearer approach to being found.... We do - not hesitate to give unreserved commendation to this little - book.”—_The Nation._ - - “Seldom has so much good common sense been put within so brief - a space.”—_The Boston Herald._ - -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. - - - - -THE ENGLISH POETS. - -WITH CRITICAL INTRODUCTIONS BY VARIOUS WRITERS AND A GENERAL INTRODUCTION -BY - -MATTHEW ARNOLD. - -EDITED BY THOMAS HUMPHRY WARD, M.A. - -In Four Volumes. 12mo. - - Vol. I. Chaucer to Donne. - Vol. II. Ben Jonson to Dryden. - Vol. III. Addison to Blake. - Vol. IV. Wordsworth to Tennyson. - -Cabinet Edition. Four Volumes in Box, $5.00. - -Student’s Edition. Each Volume sold separately. $1.00 per vol. - - “All lovers of poetry, all students of literature, all readers, - will welcome the volumes of ‘The English Poets.’ ... Mr. - Matthew Arnold has written a most delightful introduction, full - of wise thought and poetic sensibility. Very few books can be - named in which so much that is precious can be had in so little - space and for so little money.”—_Philadelphia Times._ - - “Altogether it would be difficult to select four volumes of any - kind better worth owning and studying than these.”—_Nation._ - - “These four volumes ought to be placed in every library, - and, if possible, in the hands of every student of - English.”—_Churchman._ - - “Ward’s ‘English Poets’ has been acknowledged to be one of - the most serviceable and discriminating contributions to the - history of English poetry.”—_Quips._ - -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. - - - - -ENGLISH PROSE - -SELECTIONS WITH CRITICAL INTRODUCTIONS BY VARIOUS WRITERS, AND GENERAL -INTRODUCTIONS TO EACH PERIOD. - -EDITED BY HENRY CRAIK, LL.D. - -In Five Volumes. 12mo. - - Volume I. From the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century. - Volume II. The Sixteenth Century to the Restoration. - Volume III. The Seventeenth Century. - Volume IV. The Eighteenth Century. - Volume V. Nineteenth Century from Sir Walter Scott to Robert - Louis Stevenson. - -Cabinet Edition. Five Volumes in Box, $7.50. - -Student’s Edition. Each Volume sold separately. $1.10 per vol. - -COMMENTS. - - “If prose literature can ever be successfully studied by means - of short extracts, it will be possible to conduct such a study - with the aid of this book. As a companion book of Ward’s - ‘English Poets’ it is very interesting and satisfactory. In the - Department of Rhetoric, this book will certainly be of greater - value than any other work of the kind yet published.”—PROF. H. - H. NEILL, _Amherst College_. - - “Mr. Craik and his coadjutors do their work admirably. Their - remarks are appropriate, their selection of extracts is - felicitous. We thank them for not a few happy hours.”—_Literary - World._ - - “The extracts are carefully chosen and edited, and a brief - sketch of each writer is given. These sketches are written - by men who edit the different sections, and as these men are - selected from the foremost of English critics, the result is - that the books contain a valuable set of brief essays from - able and distinguished pens. George Saintsbury, Alfred Ainger, - Edmund Gosse, Norman Moore, and others besides the editor - himself have contributed, and the book would have been valuable - did it contain nothing but these introductory notices. The - conclusions of the editors of the different authors who have - summed up the characteristics of the separate men represented - in the previous volume, have done their work so well, that - the student is likely in the end to have a rather better idea - of the writers than he would gather from his unaided study of - the original and complete works of these old writers.”—_Boston - Courier._ - -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. - - - - -THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE - -BY OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON, A.M., Ph.D., - -_Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and English Philology in Cornell -University_. - -Second Edition, Revised. 12mo. pp. 415. Cloth. - -Price $1.25, net. - - “A work that, as a treatise for the instruction of the - individual student as well as for class-room use, is to be - warmly commended.... On every page of this admirably arranged - volume is shown the fruit of original thought, profound - erudition, and philosophical grasp of a subject which has been - too often obscured by injudicious counsel.”—_The Beacon._ - - “An admirable work; the best results of recent research are - embodied in it.”—_Providence Journal._ - - “The work is a valuable contribution to linguistic science, and - it will be a welcome text-book in colleges and schools and to - all students of philology.”—_Home Journal._ - - “In respect both of scholarship and of exposition, this volume - is entitled to high praise.... There is no part of this book - that cannot be read with pleasure as well as profit, and one - is therefore embarrassed by the wealth of material worthy of - illustration.”—_New York Sun._ - -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY, 66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A First Book in Writing English, by -Edwin Herbert Lewis - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH *** - -***** This file should be named 62265-0.txt or 62265-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/2/6/62265/ - -Produced by Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A First Book in Writing English - -Author: Edwin Herbert Lewis - -Release Date: May 28, 2020 [EBook #62265] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A FIRST BOOK IN WRITING ENGLISH *** - - - - -Produced by Tim Lindell and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[i]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger">A FIRST BOOK<br /> -IN WRITING ENGLISH</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[ii]</a></span></p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;"> -<img src="images/macmillan.jpg" width="200" height="70" alt="" /> -<p class="caption">The MM Co.</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[iii]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger">A FIRST BOOK<br /> -<span class="smaller">IN</span><br /> -WRITING ENGLISH</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">EDWIN HERBERT LEWIS, Ph.D.</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN LEWIS INSTITUTE<br /> -AND IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="gothic">New York</span><br /> -THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -<span class="smaller smcap">LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.</span><br /> -1897</p> - -<p class="center smaller"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[iv]</a></span></p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller"><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1897,<br /> -By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller"><span class="gothic">Norwood Press</span><br /> -J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith<br /> -Norwood Mass. U.S.A.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2> - -<p>It sometimes happens that the study of the principles -of composition is left until the overcrowded -last year of the high school, under the plea that -facts ought to precede generalizations. Is it not -better to have the pupil begin two or three years -earlier than this to frame simple generalizations -for his own future guidance? The first year student -daily awakes to new experiences and problems. -He demands rules and reasons: “<i>How</i> shall -he choose theme topics? <i>How much</i> shall he -put into a sentence? <i>Why</i> is <i>electrocution</i> in bad -usage?” If the principle is asked for, should it -not be given—as much of it as can be digested? -When such a course is followed, time enough is -left in the high school for composition to become -a habit. The complex process wherein invention, -as it proceeds, is rectified by criticism, involves -many delicate reflexes. The formulated principle, -invaluable to the student in revising, in turn grows -to be an unconscious factor in every succeeding act -of composition.</p> - -<p>The more essential rules ought not to be mere -phantoms to the boy just completing his first year<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> -in the secondary school. In regard to other matters -of living, great principles are taught him from -infancy, without the slightest fear of setting up too -analytic a state of mind. If a boy of three may be -told “always to do one thing at a time,” must a -boy be eighteen before he is told “always to -write about one thing at a time”? At three the -child is required to control some of his strongest -emotions; must he be eighteen before he is asked -to check digressions in the paragraph? And is it -possible to implant a genuine habit of checking -digressions except by leading the student from -particular instances to some generalization which -he may keep in mind as a norm for future self-criticism? -Synthesis and analysis cannot safely -be separated; a good prescription for most rhetorical -disorders is, more of both. Indeed, what seems -to be needed to-day in teaching composition is not -one thing, but several: on the one hand, more -utilization of literature and more appeal to social -interests; on the other hand, more inductions and -generalizations by the student himself; on both -hands, more time for practice and self-criticism.</p> - -<p>In the present book, originally printed privately -for my own classes and now rewritten and enlarged, -I have tried to present a large number of definite -situations to be faced for constructive practice both -in organization and in diction; and to give in -simple, even colloquial language, all the larger<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> -generalizations which a boy presenting himself at -college might reasonably be expected to have been -using for two or three years as touchstones of his -own work. Except in the chapters on punctuation -and grammar, the order of reaching generalizations -is meant to be essentially inductive. In these -review-chapters a part of the principles come -before the illustrations in order to get the help of -all past associations. Even here the induction is -often gone through with a second time, leading up -to a restatement of the principle. It is recommended -that students should often be asked to -frame generalizations of their own, though the text-book -may have led up to similar ones. In Chapters -<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII.</a> and <a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a>, on words, I have tried to present conditions -favorable to the framing of definitions by -the student. By various devices I have constantly -tried to avoid separation between exercise critical -and exercise constructive. Occasionally, after the -correct form has been studied, bad English is offered -for correction, for the sake of the appeal to -the student’s personal pride and his sense of the -ridiculous; but in general it is assumed that the -student’s correction of his own bad English will -afford plenty of contact with faulty forms.</p> - -<p>The book is primarily intended to be used in -close connection with the literary studies of the -first two years of the secondary course. It may -be used later if the arrangement of subjects allows<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> -little time for literature in these earlier years. -The order of presentation should,<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> in the author’s -opinion, follow that of the book. Still, Chapter -<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII.</a>, on correct choice of words, may be taken at -the start if the teacher prefers. Where a good deal -of literary study is carried on in the first year, the -first eight chapters are perhaps enough for this -year. But a rate of progress cannot be prescribed. -A text-book is a mere help, and bad in proportion -as it tries to be anything more. Its function seems -to be to supply the supplementary appeal to the -eye, since the living teacher can engage to do this -but to a limited extent. It appears obvious that -the book should be read slowly enough to permit -two things—much parallel literary study, and -much revision of themes in the light of preceding -chapters. First drafts are sometimes all that are -worth making; but usually a task requiring connected -discourse is not finished until there have -been several revisions. If the student writes each -new composition with a view to one particular kind -of excellence, and then revises with reference to -the kinds of excellence he has previously striven -for, he will gradually be able to hold several stylistic -principles in mind as he composes. Many -themes should be written in class. A limited period<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> -should be set for the first draft; and half as -much time may well be spent in revising before -this is handed in. In this revision the student -may profitably read his theme as many times as -there are chapters to be mentally reviewed.</p> - -<p>The remarkable strength of the verbal memory -in students of the first two years of the secondary -school is a fact by which every teacher must have -been impressed.<a name="FNanchor_2" id="FNanchor_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Add to this fact the other, that -the pupil’s social interests are now in a perfect -renaissance of liveliness, and you have exactly the -conditions for enlarging the working vocabulary. -It is now or never. The boy, though like the man -he hates a fine distinction in conversation, is growing -out of the exaggerated reticence which has -of late seemed to him the manly thing. He is no -longer determined to employ what Mrs. Meynell, -speaking of the boy of twelve, calls his “carefully -shortened vocabulary.”<a name="FNanchor_3" id="FNanchor_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> The girl, even more than -the boy, is full of new ideas which would flower -into speech if the words were to be had. To capture -these new interests and satisfy them by literature -is of course the best thing. Study of isolated -words, whether for knowledge or for power, is but -supplementary to the study of the vital functions -of words in the living organism. But even the -study of synonyms, if pursued in preparation for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span> -an oral debate,—one of the very best exercises -for first-year students,—or in connection with a -page of spirited prose, rapidly becomes constructive -and vital. Although the chapters on vocabulary -(<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX.</a> and <a href="#CHAPTER_X">X.</a>) may be given before the student -has begun a foreign language, the best results with -them will not be secured until he has had at least -six months in Latin. The study of prefixes and -suffixes (<a href="#Page_186">p. 186 ff.</a>) should not be made burdensome. -Some general view of the subject seems desirable, -but the detailed study is best given in connection -with an interesting context.</p> - -<p>For kindly criticism or advice I have debts of -gratitude to Professor and Mrs. W. D. McClintock; -to Professor F. A. March, Professor John Dewey, -and Professor Robert Herrick; to several of my -colleagues, especially Director George M. Carman, -Miss Jane Noble, and Mr. Phil B. Kohlsaat; to -Mr. F. A. Manny, to Mrs. Hufford and Miss Dye, -of Indianapolis; to Superintendent A. F. Nightingale, -Miss Jones, and Miss Herrick, of the -Chicago high schools. I have been particularly -indebted to Carpenter’s <i>Advanced Exercises</i>, a book -made familiar to me by using it with freshmen in -college; and to Scott & Denney’s <i>Paragraph-Writing</i>. -For the index I have to thank Miss L. E. W. Benedict, -librarian of Lewis Institute, and Mr. Lewis -Gustafson.</p> - -<p class="right">E. H. L.</p> - -<p class="smaller"><span class="smcap">Chicago</span>, April 15, 1897.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> - -<h2>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"></td> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"></td> - <td><span class="smcap">Preface</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#PREFACE">v</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"></td> - <td><span class="smcap">Introductory Explanations</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INTRODUCTORY_EXPLANATIONS">1</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">I.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">The Art of Writing English</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">5</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">II.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">On Reading Aloud, and on Spelling</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">12</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">III.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">A Review of Punctuation</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">21</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">IV.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Grammatical Phases of Writing English</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">43</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">V.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">On Dividing a Paragraph into Sentences</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">74</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VI.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">On Well-knit Sentences</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">96</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VII.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">On Organizing the Theme</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VIII.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">On Correctness in Choice of Words</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">147</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">IX.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Sources of the English Vocabulary</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">181</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">X.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">The Mastery of a Writing Vocabulary</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">194</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">XI.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Right Number and Skilful Choice of Words</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">227</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">XII.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Letter-Writing</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">255</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">XIII.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Reproduction, Abstract, Summary, Abridgment</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">262</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">XIV.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Narration and Description</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">271</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">XV.</td> - <td><span class="smcap">Exposition and Argument</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">279</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr"></td> - <td><span class="smcap">Index</span></td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#INDEX">283</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="INTRODUCTORY_EXPLANATIONS">INTRODUCTORY EXPLANATIONS</h2> - -<p>Our plan provides for a good many short compositions. -These, as well as all other exercises, -should be written on uniform theme-paper,<a name="FNanchor_4" id="FNanchor_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> say -eight inches by ten, with a broad margin at both -sides. There are advantages in the double margin. -First, it is easier for the reader of the theme to -jot down his suggestions at the right, since he -need not turn the paper to do so. Secondly, it is -well for the student to learn the knack of keeping -<i>a straight edge</i> at the left hand. Only one side of -the paper should be written on. If a mistake is -made, a heavy line may be drawn through the -word. The manuscript ought to present the neatest -possible appearance. Blank spaces are to be -avoided at the end of lines, except where a paragraph -ends. The straight edge, referred to above, -is to be scrupulously preserved at the left of the -page, except that when a new paragraph (that is, -division of the theme) is to begin, the first line -of it should start about two inches farther to the -right than the other lines. The pages should be -carefully numbered in the upper right-hand corner,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> -and kept in their proper order. Nothing is -more disconcerting to any person who reads a -manuscript than to open the paper and find before -him the last page, rather than the first. Every -theme should have a definite title. This should -appear in the blank space at the top of the first -page and in the endorsement of the folded paper, -on the back of the last page. The theme should -be folded once, lengthwise. In the blank space at -the top should be written the endorsement, which -should follow this model: (1) name; (2) name of -course; (3) title; (4) date.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Richard Doe.</p> - -<p>First year English.</p> - -<p>A Dialogue on Politics.</p> - -<p>Oct. 1, 189-.</p> - -</div> - -<p>After the themes have been read, whether by -the instructor alone or by the class and the -instructor, they will be returned with marginal -comments, and (just under the endorsement) a -summary of these comments. In many cases the -student will be expected to rewrite, and the word -<i>Rewrite</i> will appear with the general comment. -Otherwise he will be expected to <i>Revise</i>, that is, -to interline corrections and improvements on the -manuscript without copying it.</p> - -<p>Each student’s papers will be filed and kept. -He will often be asked to consult with the instructor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> -concerning his own progress, as shown by his -bundle of themes.</p> - -<p>The following suggestive signs<a name="FNanchor_5" id="FNanchor_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> may be used -in the margin of themes, indicating the presence -of errors, the actual errors to be discovered by -the pupil for himself. Some teachers will prefer -a simpler system of symbols, some a more elaborate -system. The suggested list can easily be modified -or supplanted.</p> - -<table summary="Signs a teacher can use to indicate errors"> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Ms.</span></td> - <td>Bad manuscript.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>✓.</td> - <td>Some obvious fault—a mark which will be used more and - more frequently as the student’s knowledge increases. - The check-mark will frequently indicate bad spelling - or punctuation, or fault in capitalizing.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Sp.</span></td> - <td>Bad spelling (see under check-mark).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Hy.</span></td> - <td>Fault in use of hyphen.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>P.</td> - <td>Fault in punctuation (see also under check-mark).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Cap.</span></td> - <td>Fault in the use of a capital letter (see check-mark).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>L.</td> - <td>Too loose; structure rambling.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>S.</td> - <td>Solecism.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>C.</td> - <td>Structure incoherent.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>E.</td> - <td>Lack of emphasis in sentence.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>U.</td> - <td>Lack of unity in sentence.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Tr.</span></td> - <td>Transpose order of words.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>V.</td> - <td>Vague.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>A.</td> - <td>Ambiguous.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>¶U.</td> - <td>Lack of unity in paragraph.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>¶.</td> - <td>Proper place for a paragraph.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>(.</td> - <td>Run two paragraphs together.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>[].</td> - <td>Passages within brackets to be omitted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><img src="images/dele.jpg" width="15" height="15" alt="[Deleatur symbol]" />.</td> - <td>Dele, take out, omit; a mark used in correcting printer’s proof.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>|.</td> - <td>Against a passage requiring to be wholly recast.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Ri.</span></td> - <td>Unnecessary repetition of idea.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>?.</td> - <td>Questions truth of statement.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>B.</td> - <td>Barbarism.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>I.</td> - <td>Impropriety.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>W.</td> - <td>Wordy.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>H.</td> - <td>High-flown, inflated, or over-ambitious.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>D.</td> - <td>Consult the dictionary.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Hack.</span></td> - <td>Hackneyed.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Bw.</span></td> - <td>Better word needed—a more exact or appropriate word.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Rw.</span></td> - <td>Unnecessary repetition of a word.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>M.</td> - <td>Metaphors mixed, or other fault in the use of figures of speech.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>K.</td> - <td>Awkward, ugly, or unpleasing.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Bt.</span></td> - <td>Bad taste.</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p>A strong notebook of portable size is needed for -the work in spelling and vocabulary. It should -be used from the first for noting new words, etc. -<a href="#Page_199">See page 199.</a></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> - -<h1>A FIRST BOOK<br /> -<span class="smaller">IN</span><br /> -WRITING ENGLISH</h1> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE ART OF WRITING ENGLISH</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>An Art of Communication.</b>—Language may be -studied in various ways. It may be scientifically -investigated as a historical growth, or as a curious -revelation of how the human mind works. This -kind of study has pure knowledge for its object; if -it learns the laws which govern language, it is satisfied. -Again, language may be studied with a view -to applying its principles to the art of self-expression. -The attempt to find words for one’s ideas -has enlivened many a weary hour for many a person -who wrote merely for his own satisfaction. But -the chief object for which language should be -studied is that it may be made a means of communication.</p> - -<p>Most that is good in life comes from men’s ability<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> -to make their fellows share their thoughts and -feelings. But it is not always an easy thing to -make others see how we feel or think. The young -child is called an <i>infant</i>, a word which means <i>not-speaking</i>. -Half his miseries arise from his inability -to communicate his notions. “Men are but children -of a larger growth,” and much of their misery -results from inability to tell what they think or -feel. In a sense the case is worse for the man -than for the child. The latter makes gestures and -grimaces to help his meaning out; and he depends -not in vain on pitch and stress. The grown man is -partly shorn of these helps, in that he has to communicate -by letters and other compositions. How -much more work the eye does to-day than the ear! -Before the age of printing, things were different.</p> - -<p>Both in speaking and in writing there are many -special laws that must be observed if there is to be -real communication. The special laws of spoken -language are not so numerous as those of written -language. Written language has to be much more -careful than spoken; the writer has no chance of -correcting himself on the spot if not understood. -Nevertheless a knowledge of how to communicate -by written words is a very great help in communicating -orally.</p> - -<p>The art of communicating by means of written -English words is called English composition, or -rhetoric. The latter word once meant the art of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -speaking; and it still keeps this sense when a composition -is written to be delivered. Rhetoric is a -useful art, like that of curing the sick, or that of -building bridges. A matter of prime importance -to each man is that, in business or in society, he -should be able to say or write exactly what he -means; rhetoric helps him to do this. A business -man may lose money by failing to make himself -clearly understood; misunderstandings and quarrels -arise between friends because some one has -failed to write just what he meant; a man is liable -to be taken for a boor if he abuses the English language. -Rhetoric is an exceedingly practical art.</p> - -<p>It would not, however, be fair to remove all emphasis -from the fact that rhetoric is a fine art, an -art of beauty. As soon as the student begins to master -the use of words, he has a chance to become an -artist in language. In producing a beautiful thing -he feels the artist’s pleasure. Most persons like -to play some musical instrument, or experiment -in color, or use a camera. Why should they not -come to enjoy the art of setting down their ideas -in words skilfully chosen, and arranged with delicate -precision? The old Greeks enjoyed it—those -people who knew how to extract so much high -pleasure from life. Along with their musical contests -and athletic contests, they had trials of skill -in poetry and in public speech.</p> - -<p>There is no more delightful art than that of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> -writing, if the writer finds words for his own fresh -impressions. In order to learn the mandolin, a -new player will train his wrist till it aches. -But thrumming music is doubtless small pleasure -compared with writing music; and writing English -is in a way like writing music,—a fine, -high, creative process, which, in the hands of a -master, results in a permanent, not a fleeting, -product.</p> - -<p>A teacher of English recently said that, in a certain -sense, if a student likes any study at all he -can be brought to like composition also.<a name="FNanchor_6" id="FNanchor_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> She was -right. If he cares for mathematics, and the beautiful -precision by which everything in mathematics -falls exactly into its place, he will enjoy showing -the exact relations he conceives to exist between -the parts of his sentence. If a girl likes music -she will care for the music that is in prose. She -will perceive that a good sentence is free from -ugly sounds, and has furthermore a music of -rhythm, a finely modulated rise and fall that a -keen ear readily perceives. A lad declares himself -interested in inventing or in building machinery. -If so, why should he not enjoy building a -theme? To think out a new mechanical device -requires much the same kind of ingenuity, sense -of proportion, perception of cause and effect, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> -are required in thinking out the logical framework -of a composition.</p> - -<p>The student should work steadily toward the -point where he may come to have an abiding love -for that which is lucid and beautiful in expression -by words. He will never regret the time he -spends in perfecting his instrument of expression. -No matter how practical the life he plans to lead, -the power of writing down his ideas in good -English, in a way that will leave no doubt as -to what he meant and how earnestly he meant -it, will always profit him. One meets everywhere -men who lament that they gave so little -attention to our language when they were young -enough to master it.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Limitations of the Art.</b>—It must never be -supposed that, because to some extent a fine art, -rhetoric should be studied as an end in itself. What -was said a moment ago about the primary aim -of the study must be kept steadily in view. We -study the art of composition not for the art’s -sake, but to communicate our ideas and feelings. -Rhetoric does not profess to supply the student -with ideas, though it assumes that his mind is -stimulated to new thought by trying to express that -which he already has. The more ideas he brings -to the study,—ideas he has thought out in -life or in his other studies, like literature, history,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> -civics,—the more facility he will carry away; -for ideas are the very best of material to make -themes of. If composition does only one thing for -a given person,—if, namely, it brings him to a -sturdy habit of <i>finding something to say</i> before he -asks other people to listen to him,—it is eminently -worth while.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Write for an Audience.</b>—Writing is usually good -in proportion as the writer is interested in it. If -he cares for it, if he is anxious to find a worthy -thought and make it clear to the eyes of others, -he will be very likely to succeed in doing so. -Something of every student’s weekly work ought -to be good enough to come before the eyes of his -friends and to command his friends’ respect. The -student will find that his mates are keen critics; -they will not respect poor work. But they are -also fair and sympathetic critics, ready and willing -to surrender on sight to really good work. A class -as a whole will judge the compositions of each -member disinterestedly and appreciatively.</p> - -<p>Whatever is most characteristic of you, as different -from other people; whatever gift is yours, of -imagination, or reasoning power, or emotion, or -humor,—all will find its fit expression in your -writing. Every human being is particularly interested -in something, is peculiarly apt at something. -To find out what most appeals to one’s self in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -literature or in life, and to voice one’s ideas about -it, is to know a keen pleasure. It is more. It is to -be of some use to one’s fellows. As human beings -we want other human beings to tell us the best -that is in them. If a man has ideas we wish to -share them—and wish him to learn how to express -them that we may share them. If he hasn’t -ideas, the effort to express what he considers such -will convince both him and us of the fact. But -then!—everybody has ideas.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<span class="smaller">ON READING ALOUD, AND ON SPELLING</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>Reading Aloud.</b>—One of the quickest ways of -learning to know good English, is oral reading. -For him who would write the language it is therefore -a great economy to learn to read it. It is an -invaluable habit to read aloud every day some piece -of prose with the finest feeling the reader can lend -to it. In no other way can one so easily learn to -notice and to remember new words. In no other -way can one catch the infinitely varied rhythm of -prose, and acquire a sense of how a good sentence -rises gradually from the beginning and then descends -in a cadence. This rise and fall of the sentence -is not merely a matter of voice; it is a matter -of thought as well. Similarly, the law of unity -in the sentence, a law which prescribes what shall -constitute a complete thought, is curiously bound -up with the laws of the human voice. A clause -that is too long to be pronounced in a single breath -is usually clumsy in logic. In the next place, reading -aloud helps one to spell correctly. Furthermore, -it is the best means of detecting those useless -repetitions which betray poverty of vocabulary.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span></p> - -<p>Rousseau called accent the soul of language. If -the student reads aloud from writers whose work -was natural, unforced, original, he will gradually -come to see his own ideas more clearly, feel his -own feelings more keenly. Best of all, however, -let him read his own work aloud, habitually. This -will help him to see whether or not it is correct, -natural, effective.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Spelling.</b><a name="FNanchor_7" id="FNanchor_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>—Bad spelling should practically be a -thing of the past for each student by the end of -his first high school year. Every one can learn to -spell, though some more rapidly than others.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the chief reason why persons fail to -spell correctly is that they do not read correctly. -They have not trained their eyes to see what is on -the page; they do not notice the syllables. It is a -good practice to read every day a page or two very -slowly, examining the words letter by letter. It is -equally helpful to read the page aloud after examining -it. In so doing give every vowel its true -value; cut no syllable short that should be sounded -distinctly.</p> - -<p>After writing a theme, go through it, challenging -the spelling. Do not hand in your work without -having consulted your own dictionary. A bad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -speller may not be able to win in an oral spelling-match; -but there is no reason why every page of -his writing should not be perfect in orthography.</p> - -<p>Into a little blank-book copy the correct form of -every word you misspell. Each day read over -carefully several words by syllables, and then write -them from memory. The more frequently the -hand writes the word in its correct form, the -better; for the hand has a memory of its own, -and the mere act of writing a given form tends -to fix it in memory.</p> - -<p>Make good spelling a matter of pride. Habitual -bad spelling is a slovenly thing, a mark of illiteracy.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Spelling of Compound Words.</b>—It may be well -to call attention here to the use of the hyphen in -compound words.</p> - -<p>1. The hyphen is needed in a compound adjective, -if there is any doubt as to the meaning when the -hyphen is omitted. “Red-hot iron” may be a -different idea from “red hot iron.”</p> - -<p>2. Numbers like the following take the hyphen: -seventy-three, seventy-third.</p> - -<p>3. Many a word once compounded is now written -solid, that is, as a single word: railroad, steamboat, -anybody, anything, raindrop, forever, schoolboy, -schoolhouse, schoolmate, schoolfellow (but school -days, school teacher, school district); myself, yourself -(but one’s self); childlike, lifelike. All these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -words but two, it will be seen, have a monosyllable -for the first part. When in doubt as to -whether or not a hyphen is needed, consult -some special manual like Bigelow’s <i>Handbook of -Punctuation</i>.</p> - -<p>In all your writing, join distinctly syllables that -you wish to have go together. Notice the absurd -and misleading effect of such careless writing as -this: “He was a glass maker and worked down -at the glass house; his gal lant moust ache and -his loud voice trai ned by blow ing glass mad e -him wel come at the harvest home celebrations.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Possessives.</b>—The possessive singular of a monosyllable -ending in <i>s</i> is regularly made by adding <i>’s</i>, -pronounced as an extra syllable. Thus: Jones’s; -Briggs’s. For the polysyllable ending in <i>s</i> or the -sound of <i>s</i>, merely the apostrophe is usually required, -as in the plural. Thus: “Moses’ seat”; -“conscience’ sake.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Singulars and Plurals.</b>—Spell aloud by syllables, -and write from dictation the plurals of the following: -Analysis, animalcule, antithesis, appendix, -bandit, cherub, crisis, ellipsis, focus, fungus, -genus, hypothesis, madame, memorandum, monsieur, -mother-in-law, mussulman, nebula, oasis, parenthesis, -radius, spoonful, synopsis.</p> - -<p>What are the singulars—if singulars there are—of -data, errata, magi, strata, vertebræ?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Below are given the correct -form of certain words often misspelled by pupils -in the first and second years of a secondary school. -Without previous study write each word from dictation. -Afterwards spell aloud by syllables each -word that you misspelled in writing from dictation. -Then write at least twenty times the correct form. -The object is to acquire a kind of automatic correctness. -In composing, one should have his mind -free for thought; one should not have to think -much more about spelling than about breathing.</p> - -<p>Accompany; advisability; all right; anniversary; -appearance; associated; bargained; buried; carriage; -catarrh; cemetery; characteristic; commander; -commotion; conceive; condescension; -confidants; confidence; deceive; describe; descriptions; -despair; difficulty; dilapidate; disappointed; -disappeared; ecstasy; enemies; enemy; exaggerate; -excrescence; existence; fascination; fatiguing; -finally; further; grammar; handkerchief; -hating; hemorrhage; immature; indispensable; -irresistible; lightning; literary; living; loathsome; -lose (the money); manœuvre; melancholy; minister; -ministry; misshapen; necessary; niece; -occurrence; offered; opportunity; outrageous; -parallel; paralysis; peaceable; persuade; planned; -poniard; primitive; principal (objection); principle -(of action); privilege; promenading; pursuit; -received; recommend; redoubtable; referred;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> -representatives; rhythm; sacrilegious; secretary; -seize; seized; separate; shoeing; siege; simile; -stopped; striking; studied; superintendent; supposing; -tenants; theatre; their (money); transferred; -until; veil (on face); vengeance; very; village; -wasn’t; whether; Roger de Coverley; George -Eliot; Lord Macaulay; Michigan; Thackeray.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Word-Breaking.</b>—At the end of a line do not -divide (<i>a</i>) a monosyllable, (<i>b</i>) a short disyllable, -such as <i>real</i>, <i>doing</i>. Divide polysyllables according -to their etymological composition (to be found -in the dictionary). Some authors discountenance -beginning a second line with <i>-ic</i>, <i>-al</i>, <i>-ing</i>, <i>-ly</i>. These -breakings are perhaps permissible, <i>if the hyphen is -made very distinct</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written and Oral Exercise.</b>—The instructor -should ask each pupil in turn to recall, spell, -and pronounce some word that doubles the letter -<i>c</i>. The class should then be given a few minutes -to write from memory as many of those given as -they can recall. After this the pronouncing and -spelling should proceed as long as possible, alternately -with the writing. The lists should then be -compared, and the pupil who has reproduced the -largest number of words should be asked to spell -and pronounce each one on his list. The other -pupils should then be called upon to read from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> -their own lists words that the first fails to give. -Each should then be asked to add to his paper all -words remembered by other members of the class, -but not by him.<a name="FNanchor_8" id="FNanchor_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Pronunciation.</b>—A person who regards good usage -in pronunciation and who articulates with unaffected -nicety, is received at once as an educated man. It -is interesting to see how often Lord Chesterfield, -the best-mannered of Englishmen, insists that a -gentleman is known by his accent. Chesterfield’s -letters to his son are full of this idea. A sense -of ease and security blesses him who knows how -to sound every word that occurs to him as he talks; -it is such a sense as a man feels when he is sure -that his clothes fit him and are cut according to -the accepted conventions. It is accordingly worth -all the trouble involved, to form a habit of letting -no word pass unchallenged as to its orthoëpy. -Look it up in the dictionary, or in a good manual like -Phyfe’s <i>Seven Thousand Words often Mispronounced</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Exercise.</b>—Below is given a short list of words -frequently mispronounced. The instructor should -pronounce the words, and ask the class to pronounce -them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> - -<ul> -<li>Abdomen,</li> -<li>abject,</li> -<li>absinthe,</li> -<li>abstruse,</li> -<li>acacia,</li> -<li>accessory,</li> -<li>acclimate,</li> -<li>acoustics,</li> -<li>actor,</li> -<li>adagio,</li> -<li>adult,</li> -<li>advertisement,</li> -<li>aëronaut,</li> -<li>again,</li> -<li>aged,</li> -<li>aggrandize,</li> -<li>aide-de-camp,</li> -<li>allopathy,</li> -<li>ally,</li> -<li>alma mater,</li> -<li>alternate (noun and adjective),</li> -<li>amenable,</li> -<li>apricot,</li> -<li>arbutus,</li> -<li>aroma,</li> -<li>aspirant,</li> -<li>bade,</li> -<li>bellows,</li> -<li>biography,</li> -<li>bitumen,</li> -<li>boatswain,</li> -<li>bravado,</li> -<li>bronchitis,</li> -<li>canine,</li> -<li>cant,</li> -<li>can’t,</li> -<li>cement (noun),</li> -<li>cemetery,</li> -<li>cerebrum,</li> -<li>clematis,</li> -<li>coadjutor,</li> -<li>daunt,</li> -<li>decade,</li> -<li>devil,</li> -<li>diphtheria,</li> -<li>disdain,</li> -<li>dislike,</li> -<li>drama,</li> -<li>duke,</li> -<li>dynasty,</li> -<li>enervate,</li> -<li>evil,</li> -<li>exhale,</li> -<li>exhaust,</li> -<li>extant,</li> -<li>extempore,</li> -<li>finale,</li> -<li>finance,</li> -<li>financier,</li> -<li>garrulous,</li> -<li>gaunt,</li> -<li>genuine,</li> -<li>gibber,</li> -<li>gibbet,</li> -<li>glacier,</li> -<li>gratis,</li> -<li>grimace,</li> -<li>half,</li> -<li>hegira,</li> -<li>heinous,</li> -<li>impious,</li> -<li>jugular,</li> -<li>lamentable,</li> -<li>learned (adj.),</li> -<li>legend,</li> -<li>lever,</li> -<li>literature,</li> -<li>nape,</li> -<li>nomad,</li> -<li>opponent,</li> -<li>pageant,</li> -<li>patriot,</li> -<li>patron,</li> -<li>petal,</li> -<li>precedence,</li> -<li><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>precedent,</li> -<li>quay,</li> -<li>revolt,</li> -<li>rise (noun),</li> -<li>sacrifice,</li> -<li>squalor,</li> -<li>subtile,</li> -<li>subtle,</li> -<li>vagary,</li> -<li>water,</li> -<li>wrath,</li> -<li>zoölogy.<a name="FNanchor_9" id="FNanchor_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></li> -</ul> - -<ul> -<li>Abélard,</li> -<li>Abernethy,</li> -<li>About (Edmond),</li> -<li>Abydos,</li> -<li>Acheron,</li> -<li>Achitophel,</li> -<li>Adonis,</li> -<li>Ægean,</li> -<li>Æolus,</li> -<li>Æschylus,</li> -<li>Afghanistan,</li> -<li>Agincourt,</li> -<li>Agnes,</li> -<li>Aguilar (Grace),</li> -<li>Aïda,</li> -<li>Aix-la-Chapelle,</li> -<li>Alaric,</li> -<li>Alcantara,</li> -<li>Alcuin,</li> -<li>Aldebaran,</li> -<li>Alighieri,</li> -<li>Amphion,</li> -<li>Andronicus,</li> -<li>Antinous,</li> -<li>Aquinas,</li> -<li>Arab,</li> -<li>Aral,</li> -<li>Arundel,</li> -<li>Athos,</li> -<li>Avon,</li> -<li>Aytoun,</li> -<li>Bajazet,</li> -<li>Balliol (college),</li> -<li>Balmoral,</li> -<li>Czerny,</li> -<li>Latin,</li> -<li>Laocoön,</li> -<li>Medici,</li> -<li>Mivart, (St. George),</li> -<li>Orion,</li> -<li>Paderewski,</li> -<li>Pepys,</li> -<li>Proserpine,</li> -<li>Sienkiewicz,</li> -<li>Southey,</li> -<li>Thalia,</li> -<li>Tschaikowsky,</li> -<li>Volapük,</li> -<li>Wagner,</li> -<li>Ygdrasil.</li> -</ul> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<span class="smaller">A REVIEW OF PUNCTUATION</span></h2> - -<p>Punctuation is a system of disjunctive marks by -which the eye and ear are helped to understand the -sense of what is written. It is desirable to regard -the subject as governed to a great extent by a few -principles of common sense. The present chapter -reviews those matters of capitalization and punctuation -which seem to give most trouble to secondary -school students.</p> - -<h3><b>Capitals.</b></h3> - -<p>1. Of course all proper nouns should begin with -capital letters, and so should adjectives derived -from them: examples, <i>Russia</i>, <i>Russian</i>, <i>Jew</i>, <i>Jewish</i>, -<i>Gentile</i>, <i>French</i>, <i>German</i>. But the word <i>christian</i> -is not always capitalized, especially if it is -used vaguely as a synonym for good, righteous, etc.</p> - -<p>2. We capitalize the words <i>North</i>, <i>South</i>, <i>East</i>, -<i>West</i>, when, because we mean parts of the country, -we use the article <i>the</i> before them. Thus, “The extreme -West favors free silver.” But if we speak -of direction merely, we do not capitalize: “Many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -people took Horace Greeley’s advice and went -west.” Capitalize sections of the country, but not -points of the compass.</p> - -<p>3. Names of the seasons are not capitalized. -Thus, though we write <i>June</i>, <i>September</i>, we also -write <i>spring</i>, <i>autumn</i>.</p> - -<p>4. In the salutation of a letter, the word <i>Sir</i> is -capitalized, but not the preceding adjective unless -that begins the salutation. Thus: “My dear Sir.” -So in the leave-taking only the first word receives -a capital. Thus: “Yours very truly.”</p> - -<p>5. One valuable device is the use of the capital -to introduce the semblance of a quotation, or what -might be called a rhetorical quotation. Note: “I -should answer, No.” Here the quotation <i>No</i> is -merely rhetorical, or pretended, not real. Or this: -“Let me give you a short rule for success: Trust -in God and keep your powder dry.” Or this, from -Longfellow: “Perhaps the greatest lesson which -the lives of literary men teach us is told in a single -word: Wait!”</p> - -<p>6. In titles of books, essays, etc., the important -words are capitalized. Thus: “My theme-title -to-day was, A Description of a Person.”</p> - -<p>7. Names of Deity begin with a capital, and -many persons prefer to capitalize adjectives referring -directly to Deity. Thus: “We crave Thy -grace.” But this habit should not be carried so -far as the capitalization of words like <i>divine</i>, <i>omniscient</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> -when these are not applied to Deity. Rather: -“His goodness was divine.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Copy the following, capitalizing -where necessary:—</p> - -<p>1. After going south last spring I understood -better than before what is meant by the new south. -The southerners have taken to manufacturing; the -cotton is no longer all shipped away. Wealth -has multiplied. Immigration has increased—the -french are not the only foreigners now. There -are colleges and even universities, that compare -favorably with those of the north. Are the people -wide-awake and ambitious? I answer, yes.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Reasons for Punctuation.</b>—In early days manuscripts were written “solid,” thus:—</p> - -<p class="center">MANUSCRIPTSWEREWRITTENSOLID.</p> - -<p>It was found that both eye and ear demanded -spaces and punctuation. The reader’s train of -thought goes straight ahead from word to word -until the punctuation mark warns it that there -is danger of misunderstanding if it does not pause. -The mark shows that the words which precede it -are to be understood mentally as a group, and -to be read orally as a group. If the thought is -kept in mind that a punctuation mark is a sort -of danger signal, many of the difficulties of the -subject vanish. “Henry rose, and I with him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -laughed at the story we had heard.” If that -comma be omitted between <i>rose</i> and <i>and</i>, what -happens?</p> - -<h3><b>The Comma.</b></h3> - -<p>1. The comma, even more than other points, -shows what the meaning of the sentence is; it -should set off the parts of the thought. Nothing is -easier than to spoil a minor unit of thought by -breaking it in two with a comma. So far as may -be, the modified subject of a sentence should not be -cut into by a comma; neither should the modified -predicate; nor should a subject and its predicate be -separated any oftener by commas than is necessary. -The following passage, written by a lad of fifteen -from dictation, shows the minor units of thought -divided by too many commas:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The mean appearance of the houses, in old Boston, was, -to some extent, relieved by the rich display, of painted, and -sculptured signs, which adorned the front of taverns, and -stores.... They served sometimes, as advertisements of -the business, sometimes merely as designations, of the shops -which were indicated popularly, and, in the newspapers, by -their signs.</p> - -</div> - -<p>If this passage be read aloud, a pause being made -wherever a comma is placed, it will sound unnatural, -disconnected. Revised, it will read somewhat -as follows:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The mean appearance of the houses in old Boston was, -to some extent, relieved by the rich display of painted and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> -sculptured signs which adorned the front of taverns and -stores.... They served sometimes as advertisements of -the business, sometimes merely as designations of the shops, -which were indicated popularly and in the newspapers by -their signs.</p> - -</div> - -<p>2. Commas are used to set off matter that is -parenthetical, but not sufficiently so as to need -parentheses or dashes. Such words as <i>therefore</i> -are not usually to be considered as parenthetical. -A parenthetical group of words is not to be broken -into unnecessarily by a comma. Incorrect form: -“The squire remarked, as all we who live here, in -Smithboro, know, that, so far as the people who -lived over there, in Edinburgh, are concerned, we -are as happy as they.” Correct form: “The squire -remarked, as all we who live here in Smithboro’ -know, that so far as the people who live over -there in Edinburgh are concerned, we are as happy -as they.”</p> - -<p>3. Vocative words, that is, words used in direct -address, are set off by commas. “Come, men, let’s -go!” “Well, sir, how now?” It is curious that -in the expressions “Yes, sir,” “No, sir,” in pronouncing -which we do not pause before “<i>sir</i>,” we -still place a comma here. Probably no rule of -punctuation is more neglected than this of vocative -words. Something like this usage is the placing of -a comma after the expletive <i>Now</i>. Thus: “Now, -I think that the case is a little different.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span></p> - -<p>4. (<i>a</i>) Words or phrases forming a series are -separated by commas when conjunctions are -omitted; and the comma is used between the -last two members of the series, conjunction or no -conjunction. Thus: “Burns, Barnes of Dorsetshire, -and Riley are poets of the people.” If the -last comma were omitted, we should seem not to -be considering each man separately. Exceptions: -“little old man,” “fine fat hen,” etc.</p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) A rapid series of independent propositions, -very closely related in sense, may be punctuated -by commas. Thus: “I came, I saw, I conquered.” -This is the only structure in which an independent -statement, not introduced by a conjunction, is ever -pointed with the comma. If there is any doubt -whether or not the series is rapid enough to admit -commas, semicolons should be used instead.</p> - -<p>5. Relative clauses not restrictive<a name="FNanchor_10" id="FNanchor_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> are set off by -commas. This is a rather important rule. If I -say, “The moon, which, as everybody is aware, goes -round the earth, is cold,” the <i>which</i> clause does not -so restrict or define the word “moon” that it is -necessary to our understanding what is meant by -“the moon”; the relative clause can be picked out -bodily, and the sentence will still be intelligible. -“The moon is cold,” is clear enough to people who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -live on the earth. They understand that the earth’s -moon is meant. But suppose I say, “The moon -which goes round the earth is smaller than one of -Jupiter’s moons”; now the relative clause identifies, -restricts the word “moon”—tells what moon is -meant. The clause forms an integral part of the -subject. It is no longer the moon merely, a thing -that everybody knows about; it is one particular -moon: the-moon-which-goes-round-the-earth. Occasionally -such a clause can be identified by <i>that</i>, -for many writers save this relative for restrictive -clauses.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Copy and punctuate the following -sentences, all of which, except the first, are -from Robert Louis Stevenson. Defend orally your -pointing:—</p> - -<p>1. There goes President Harper who is so much -interested in everything that interests students.</p> - -<p>2. Marquis I said if you take another step I fire -upon you.</p> - -<p>3. In the midst of these imagine that natural -clumsy unintelligent and mirthful animal John.</p> - -<p>4. The terms and spirit in which he spoke of -his political beliefs were in our eyes suited to -religious beliefs and <i>vice versâ</i>.</p> - -<p>5. Oh yes I dare say said John.</p> - -<p>6. Moy pronounced Moÿ was a pleasant little -village.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> - -<p>7. We were in a large bare apartment adorned -with two allegorical prints of music and painting -and a copy of the law against public drunkenness</p> - -<p>8. Now what I like so much in France is the -clear unflinching recognition by everybody of his -own luck</p> - -<p>9. If it ever be a good thing to take such despondency -to heart the Miserere is the right music -and a cathedral a fit scene</p> - -<p>10. But the sun was already down the air was -chill and we had scarcely a dry stitch between the -pair of us</p> - -<p>11. The inn to which we had been recommended -at Quartes was full.</p> - -<p>12. Mme. Gilliard set herself to waken the boy -who had come far that day and was peevish and -dazzled by the light.</p> - -<p>13. Do you remember the Frenchman who was -put down at Waterloo Station</p> - -<p>14. The children who played together to-day by -the Sambre and Oise canal each at his own father’s -threshold when and where might they next meet</p> - -<p>15. I began with a remark upon their dog which -had somewhat the look of a pointer</p> - -<p>16. The only buildings that had any interest for -us were the hotel and the café</p> - -<p>17. Not long after the drums had passed the -café [we] began to grow sleepy and set out for the -hotel which was only a door or two away</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> - -<h3><b>The Semicolon.</b></h3> - -<p>1. The semicolon is a kind of weak full-stop, <i>i.e.</i> -period. Nearly always it separates clauses that -are grammatically able to get along without each -other, but that are closely related in sense. So -rare indeed are the cases in which the semicolon -may be used with a dependent clause, that a high -school student may properly ignore them. <i>For the -present, avoid using the semicolon to point a dependent -clause.</i></p> - -<p>2. Sometimes the semicolon punctuates a series -of mere phrases. This occurs if some particular -emphasis is desired for them, or if they are too -long to be set off by commas. Example:—</p> - -<p>An enormous smoke-stack blocks my view; built -of brick, and massive; blue in the cold winter -mist; glowing like a pillar of fire as soon as the -sunlight reaches it; the most changing, the most -stable, thing is this landscape.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Which statements in the following -sentences are independent? which dependent? -(It need hardly be suggested that the necessity of -understanding a subject or a predicate does not -make a statement dependent.)</p> - -<p>1. If the sky falls, we shall catch larks.</p> - -<p>2. Faults are thick, where love is thin.</p> - -<p>3. Happy is he that is happy in his children.</p> - -<p>4. Histories make men wise; poets, witty; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> -mathematics, subtile; natural philosophy, deep; -morals, grave; logic and rhetoric, able to contend.</p> - -<p>5. O, there be players that I have seen play,—and -heard others praise, and that highly—not to -speak it profanely, that neither having the accent -of Christians, nor the gait of Christian, pagan, nor -man, have so strutted and bellowed, that I have -thought some of nature’s journeymen had made -men, and not made them well, they imitated humanity -so abominably.—<i>Hamlet</i>, Act III. Sc. 2.</p> - -<p>The following sentences were written by a pupil -in the first year of the high school. If there are -mistakes in punctuation, explain what principle is -violated:—</p> - -<p>1. When the time came to retire; my uncle was -shown to the tower-room.</p> - -<p>2. A short time afterward when he was travelling -through Normandy; he came to an old castle -standing in the midst of a park.</p> - -<p>3. The postilion was ordered to drive to the -castle; where my uncle received a welcome from -the little Marquis.</p> - -<p>4. This seemed the very night for ghosts; with -the wind howling outside and whistling through -the ill-fitting casement.</p> - -<h3><b>The Colon.</b></h3> - -<p>1. The colon is usually a mark of specification. -Thus, “The old idea of education was simple:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -reading, writing, arithmetic.” A fine distinction -of logic can be shown by using it: a general statement -may be followed by a colon, after which the -details that explain the statement may be given. -In the following sentence the colon <i>specifies</i> what -is meant by fine character. “He was a fellow of -fine character: brave, honorable, free from false -pretense.” Usually the colon separates clauses -that are logically, if not grammatically, in <i>apposition</i> -with each other.</p> - -<p>2. The colon introduces a formal or long, the -comma an informal or short, quotation. “He -answered, ‘I will work while the day lasts.’” -“The Declaration of Independence begins as follows: -‘When, in the course of human events.’”</p> - -<h3><b>The Dash.</b></h3> - -<p>1. The dash shows a sudden break in the thought. -Thus: “We were hurrying onward—but first let -me tell what happened before that.”</p> - -<p>2. The dash sometimes precedes a <i>summing up</i>. -Here it usually follows a comma, since the members -of the series are set off by commas: “Chaucer, -Shakespeare, Wordsworth,—very many of our great -poets indeed, were at home in the country.” Sometimes -the dash is used when there is no real summing -up, but an appositive phrase is added, as a further -explanation. For an example, see the last sentence -of the next paragraph,—and this sentence also.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> - -<p>3. The dash, like the comma, is often used to set -off a parenthetical expression. (See 2, under the -comma.) Examples: “His father—that iron gentleman—had -long ago dethroned himself.” “He -was a man—the reader must already have perceived—of -easy, not to say familiar, manners.” -Note that in these examples no commas are used -with the dashes, because if the parenthetical words -were lifted out, the sentence would close up without -punctuation. But suppose the sentence were such -that it could not close up without punctuation; then -the comma would be needed. The comma in “His -father being angry, he felt afraid,” remains when -the parenthesis is inserted: “His father being -angry,—that iron gentleman,—he felt afraid.” -Note that in such a case a second comma is used,—with -the second dash.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Copy and punctuate the -following sentences from Stevenson. In the first -is there not a choice of punctuation after “difficulties”?</p> - -<p>1. All the way down we had our fill of difficulties -sometimes it was a wear which could be shot sometimes -one so shallow and full of stakes that we -must withdraw the boats from the water and carry -them round</p> - -<p>2. But this is a fashion I love to kiss the hand -or wave a handkerchief to people I shall never see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -again to play with possibility and knock in a peg -for fancy to hang upon</p> - -<p>3. You see what it is to be a gentleman I beg -your pardon what it is to be a pedler.</p> - -<p>4. Centralization said he but the landlord was at -his throat in a minute</p> - -<p>5. There should be some myth but if there is I -know it not founded on the shivering of the reeds -there are not many things in nature more striking -to man’s eye</p> - -<p>6. “The fire should have been here at this side” -explained the husband “then one might have a -writing table in the middle books and” comprehensively<a name="FNanchor_11" id="FNanchor_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> -“all it would be quite coquettish <i>ça serait -tout-à-fait coquet</i>.”</p> - -<h3><b>Quotation Marks.</b></h3> - -<p>1. Marks of quotation, or, as the English call -them, inverted commas, are placed around direct -quotations. Many students neglect a part of this -little duty: they fail to mark <i>the end</i> of the quotation.</p> - -<p>2. A quotation within a quotation stands between -single commas. Thus: “We were gathered on -shore, watching the schooner. Gray spoke up: -‘She’s certainly going down, and we must let the -saving station know it. Maybe the patrol has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -already seen her; I saw a sailor walking on the -beach not long since, and singing, “Yeave ho, my -lads, the wind blows free.”’” Note that when -there is a quotation <i>within the second quotation</i>, it -receives the double marks.</p> - -<p>3. Sometimes a quotation is given in substance, -with no attempt at accuracy; to show this fact -it is quoted in single commas. Thus: ‘A foolish -consistency frightens little minds.’ This is the -substance of Emerson’s remark, “A foolish consistency -is the bugbear of little minds.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Write a dialogue a page or two long. -Show the change from speaker to speaker by the -use of quotation marks and paragraphing. Each -reply of each interlocutor, with its word or two of -introduction, if such there be, should go by itself -as a paragraph. Choose your own topic; or take -one of these, changing the wording: (1) Smith -tries to make Brown see the difference between -relative clauses restrictive and those merely coördinate. -(2) Two girls lament the difficulties of -punctuation. (3) Two lads [or, men] talk politics. -Do not begin each speech as in Shakespeare each is -begun—with the speaker’s name. Refer occasionally -to the speakers, if you please, <i>e.g.</i>, “‘Not by -any means,’ responded Bangs, rather tartly”; but -do not hesitate to let most of the speeches stand -without comment. Punctuate the dialogue carefully,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> -as you write. Then revise it carefully for -punctuation.</p> - -<h3><b>Brackets.</b></h3> - -<p>Brackets indicate that the included -matter is inserted by another person than the original -author; that is, by a person who is quoting or -editing the passage. Thus: “He [Goethe] tells -us that character is developed in the busy world, -though intellect is developed in solitude.”</p> - -<h3><b>The Exclamation Point.</b></h3> - -<p>1. There is a tendency to punctuate with the period -sentences that are really exclamatory; it is better -to use the exclamation point. Thus: “I am so delighted -to see you!”</p> - -<p>It is better still to avoid an excess of exclamatory -sentences, however correctly punctuated.</p> - -<p>2. The word <i>oh!</i> should be followed by an exclamation -point or by a comma. This is not the -word <i>O</i>, which is used in direct address—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“O thou that rollest above,</div> -<div class="verse">Round as the shield of my fathers,”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p class="noindent">and to express a wish:</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“O that I had wings like a dove.”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>3. The exclamation point may stand in the midst -of a sentence, at the end of a clause. The mark -is then not followed by a capital letter. Thus: “Is -it possible! is it credible!” exclaimed the Bishop.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span></p> - -<h3><b>The Interrogation Point.</b></h3> - -<p>1. Placed in parentheses the interrogation point -questions the accuracy of a statement. Ex.: “It is -in New York (?) that the largest number of exiled -Russians is found.”</p> - -<p>2. Like the exclamation mark, the question -mark may stand at the end of a clause, before a -small letter. Thus: “Do you believe it? was the -way he greeted me as I finished reading the letter.” -Or, “Shall we lie here inactive? Shall we plan -nothing? attempt nothing? do nothing?”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Copy and punctuate the following -sentences from Stevenson:—</p> - -<p>1. Such a dinner as we were going to eat such -beds as we were to sleep in</p> - -<p>2. Where were the boating men of Belgium -where the judge and his good wines and where the -graces of Origny</p> - -<p>3. Come back again she cried and all the hills -echoed her</p> - -<p>4. All the gold had withered out of the sky and -the balloon had disappeared whither I ask myself; -caught up into the seventh heaven or come safely to -land somewhere in that blue uneven distance into -which the roadway dipped and melted before our eyes</p> - -<h3><b>Italics.</b></h3> - -<p>1. A good rule for italics is to shun them—that -is, not to use them freely to denote emphasis.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> -Emphasis can be secured by some other means; -for instance, by putting the emphatic word near -the beginning of the sentence. Thus: “It was -such a very <i>fine</i> thing to spin along over the ice” -becomes, “A fine thing it was, to spin along over -the ice.”</p> - -<p>2. Use italics to show that a word is foreign. -Thus: “Sophronia likes to interlard her English -with such fine phrases as <i>en passant</i>, <i>fin de siècle</i>, -and <i>al fresco</i>.”</p> - -<p>3. It is usual to italicize single words if they are -specified,—spoken of as words. Thus: “A good -many words that pass muster with most people are -not really in good use; for example, <i>burglarize</i>.”</p> - -<h3><b>The Apostrophe.</b></h3> - -<p>1. One use of the apostrophe is to mark the -plural of single letters, or figures. Ex.: Distinguish -between your 8’s and 3’s; dot your <i>i’s</i> and -cross your <i>t’s</i>.</p> - -<p>2. The commoner use of the apostrophe is to -mark the possessive case. There is however no -apostrophe in the word <i>its</i>, which is considered an -adjective, not a personal, pronoun.</p> - -<h3><b>Asterisks.</b></h3> - -<p>A row of asterisks is used to show -an omission. Thus, if a writer were quoting, and -wished to skip a page or two, he would insert this -sign * * * * But if he omitted only a few -words, he would rather use “leaders”; thus....</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise, in Review.</b>—Read this passage -over carefully, and listen to the reading of it aloud -by some member of the class or by the instructor. -Then explain how it should be punctuated.</p> - -<p>Mr. Higginbotham Mr. Higginbotham tell -us the particulars about old Mr. Higginbotham -bawled the mob what is the coroner’s verdict -are the murderers apprehended is Mr. Higginbotham’s -niece come out of her fainting fits Mr. -Higginbotham Mr. Higginbotham</p> - -<p>The coachman said not a word except to swear -awfully at the ostler for not bringing him a fresh -team of horses the lawyer inside had generally -his wits about him even when asleep the first -thing he did after learning the cause of the excitement -was to produce a large red pocket-book -meantime Dominicus Pike being an extremely -polite young man and also suspecting that a female -tongue would tell the story as glibly as a lawyer’s -had handed the lady out of the coach she was a fine -smart girl now wide awake and bright as a button -and had such a sweet pretty mouth that Dominicus -would almost as lieves have heard a love tale from -it as a tale of murder</p> - -<p>Gentleman and ladies said the lawyer to the -shopkeepers the mill men and the factory girls I -can assure you that some unaccountable mistake or -more probably a wilful falsehood maliciously contrived -to injure Mr Higginbotham’s credit has excited<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> -this singular uproar we passed through -Kimballton at three o’clock this morning and most -certainly should have been informed of the murder -had any been perpetrated but I have proof nearly -as strong as Mr. Higginbotham’s own oral testimony -in the negative here is a note relating to a -suit of his in the Connecticut courts which was -delivered me from that gentleman himself I find -it dated at ten o’clock last evening</p> - -<p>So saying the lawyer exhibited the date and -signature of the note which irrefragably proved -either that this perverse Mr. Higginbotham was -alive when he wrote it or as some deemed the more -probable case of two doubtful ones that he was -so absorbed in worldly business as to continue to -transact it even after his death but unexpected -evidence was forthcoming the young lady after -listening to the pedlers explanation merely seized -a moment to smooth her gown and put her curls in -order, and then appeared at the tavern-door making -a modest signal to be heard</p> - -<p>Good people said she I am Mr. Higginbotham’s -niece</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise, in Review.</b>—Copy, punctuate, -and capitalize the following, from Charles Lamb:</p> - -<p>And first let us remember as first in importance -in our childish eyes the young men as they almost -were who under the denomination of <i>Grecians</i> were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> -waiting the expiration of the period when they -should be sent at the charges of the Hospital to -one or other of our Universities but more frequently -to Cambridge these youths from their -superior acquirements their superior age and stature -and the fewness of their numbers for seldom -above two or three at a time were inaugurated into -that high order drew the eyes of all and especially -of the younger boys into a reverent observance and -admiration how tall they used to seem to us how -stately would they pace along the cloisters while -the play of the lesser boys was absolutely suspended -or its boisterousness at least allayed at their presence -not that they ever beat or struck the boys that -would have been to have demeaned<a name="FNanchor_12" id="FNanchor_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> themselves the -dignity of their persons alone insured them all respect -the task of blows, or corporal chastisement -they left to the common monitors or heads of wards -who it must be confessed in our time had rather -too much license allowed them to oppress and misuse -their inferiors and the interference of the -Grecian who may be considered as the spiritual -power was not unfrequently called for to mitigate -by its mediation the heavy unrelenting arm of this -temporal power or monitor in fine the Grecians -were the solemn Muftis of the school œras<a name="FNanchor_13" id="FNanchor_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> were -computed from their time it used to be said such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> -or such a thing was done when S—— or T—— -was Grecian.</p> - -<h3><b>Common Abbreviations.</b></h3> - -<p>The following list of abbreviations should be learned, -Latin words and all.</p> - -<div class="blockquote hanging"> - -<p>A. B., <i>Artium Baccalaureus</i>. Bachelor of Arts. In England, -B. A.</p> - -<p>A. D., <i>Anno Domini</i>. In the Year of our Lord.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ad. lib.</span>, or <i>ad. lib.</i>, <i>Ad libitum</i>. At pleasure.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Æt.</span>, <i>Ætatis</i>. Of age; aged.</p> - -<p>A. M., <i>Ante Meridiem</i>. Before noon.</p> - -<p>A. M., <i>Artium Magister</i>. Master of Arts. In England, -M. A.</p> - -<p>A. U. C., <i>Anno Urbis Conditæ</i>. In the year from the Building -of the City (Rome).</p> - -<p>D. C. L. Doctor of Civil Law.</p> - -<p>D. D., <i>Divinitatis Doctor</i>. Doctor of Divinity.</p> - -<p>D. D. S. Doctor of Dental Surgery.</p> - -<p>Do., <i>Ditto</i>. The same.</p> - -<p>E. E. Errors excepted. (Used in book-keeping.)</p> - -<p>E. O. E. Errors and omissions excepted.</p> - -<p>E. G., or <i>e. g.</i>, <i>Exempli gratia</i>. For example.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Etc.</span>, or <span class="smcap">&c.</span>, <i>Et cætera</i>. And so forth; literally, And -others.</p> - -<p>F. R. S. Fellow of the Royal Society.</p> - -<p>H. M. His <i>or</i> Her Majesty.</p> - -<p>H. M. S. His <i>or</i> Her Majesty’s Ship <i>or</i> Service.</p> - -<p>H. R. H. His <i>or</i> Her Royal Highness.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ibid.</span>, <i>Ibidem</i>. In the same place. Used in quoting several -selections from one book, or making several references to -one source.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">I. e.</span>, or <i>i. e.</i>, <i>Id est</i>. That is. In reading aloud, one gives -the English words only.</p> - -<p>I. H. S., sometimes explained as <i>Iesus Hominum Salvator</i>. -Jesus the Saviour of Men. More properly, this abbreviation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> -merely means “Jesus.” It is made up of the first -three letters of the Greek word for Jesus—ΙΗΣΟΥΣ. -The H, in I. H. S., is really the Greek letter êta, from -which we get our capital E.</p> - -<p>I. N. R. I., <i>Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudæorum</i>. Jesus of Nazareth, -King of the Jews.</p> - -<p>L. H. D., <i>Litterarum Humanarum Doctor</i>. Doctor of Humane -Letters.</p> - -<p>LL. D., <i>Legum Doctor</i>. Doctor of Laws.</p> - -<p>M., <i>Meridies</i>. Mid-day.</p> - -<p>M. A. Master of Arts.</p> - -<p>M. D., <i>Medicinæ Doctor</i>. Doctor of Medicine.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Messrs.</span> Gentlemen. (French, <i>Messieurs</i>.)</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mme.</span> Madame.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Mlle.</span> Mademoiselle.</p> - -<p>MS., or <span class="smcap">Ms.</span> Manuscript. MSS. Manuscripts.</p> - -<p>N. B., <i>Nota bene</i>. Mark well, or take notice.</p> - -<p>N. S. New Style (after 1752).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ob.</span>, <i>Obiit</i>. He <i>or</i> she died.</p> - -<p>O. S. Old Style (previous to 1752).</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Ph. D.</span>, <i>Philosophiæ Doctor</i>. Doctor of Philosophy.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Pp.</span> Pages.</p> - -<p>P. P. C., <i>Pour prendre congé</i>. To take leave. This is not -an abbreviation for the English words: Paid parting call.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Pro tem.</span>, <i>Pro tempore</i>. For the time being.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Prox.</span>, <i>Proximo</i>. Next, <i>or</i> the next month.</p> - -<p>Q. E. D., <i>Quod erat demonstrandum</i>. Which was to be -demonstrated.</p> - -<p>R. S. V. P., or <span class="smcap">R. s. v. p.</span>, <i>Répondez, s’il vous plaît</i>. Answer, -if you please.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Viz.</span>, or viz., <i>Videlicet</i>. Namely, to wit. <i>Videlicet</i> has etymologically -about the force of “You see,” or “It can be -seen.”</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Vs.</span>, <i>Versus</i>. Against.</p> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span class="smaller">GRAMMATICAL PHASES OF WRITING ENGLISH</span></h2> - -<p>The present chapter reviews only those grammatical -principles that are sometimes violated by -students who have had a year of formal grammar.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Clearness.</b>—If composition is the art of communicating -one’s ideas in words, it is certain that -clearness is the first requisite of good writing. -Clearness, perfect intelligibility, is secured by -means innumerable. One secret however of being -clear is to regard grammatical usages. If a man is -to be understood exactly, he must be grammatical. -No one is excepted. “Grammar,” said Molière, -“knows how to lord it even over kings.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Ambiguity.</b>—When an expression is open to two -interpretations, it is said to be ambiguous. In the -sentence, “He is a fair man,” <i>fair</i> is an ambiguous -word. In the sentence, “He was arrested by two -officers, who were about to board a West Madison -street car, in possession of a large amount of stolen -property,” the phrase <i>in possession</i>, etc., holds an -ambiguous position. Grammatical errors often produce -this fault.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Solecisms.</b>—Infringements of grammatical rules -are called <i>solecisms</i>.<a name="FNanchor_14" id="FNanchor_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> Never losing sight of the -fact that writing English is largely the art of telling -some one else just what one means, let us note -a few solecisms that hinder a writer from giving -his exact meaning.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Coherence by placing Modifiers rightly.</b>—I. The -rhetorics are fond of quoting droll sentences in -which, from being wrongly placed, ideas fail to -<i>cohere</i>, stick together. A favorite sentence is that -from an epitaph in an Ulster churchyard: “Erected -to the memory of John Phillips, accidently shot, -as a mark of affection by his brother.” Mr. Bardeen -(“Sentence-Making”) quotes the following, -which sounds like a manufactured joke, but is -nevertheless to the point. “Is there a gentleman -with one eye named Walker in the club?” “I -don’t know; what was the name of his other -eye?” Another much quoted and startling sentence -reads thus: “In one evening I counted -twenty-seven meteors sitting on my back piazza.” -Remedy the incoherence of these sentences. <i>Put -close together on the paper ideas that belong close -together in the mind.</i> Do not let adverbs and -modifying clauses stray from the thought to which -they belong.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The order of words in the following -sentences should so be changed as to increase -the logical coherence of the thoughts.</p> - -<p>1. The tops of the French ships were filled with -riflemen, like those of the enemy’s ships.</p> - -<p>2. The killing by Orlando, of the wrestler, was -indirectly due to a plot against his brother, which -Oliver invented.</p> - -<p>3. I hardly ever remember to have heard such -music.</p> - -<p>4. I never remember to have seen him. [Here it -is better to recast the sentence than to change the -position of <i>never</i>.]</p> - -<p>5. The lad managed a bronco pony, very vicious -and dangerous, when only thirteen.</p> - -<p>6. Wanted, a hostler to take care of a horse, of -a religious turn of mind.</p> - -<p>7. After a brief rest Blondin set out again with -“Tom Sayers,” and accomplished the feat he had -undertaken without a hitch.</p> - -<p>This week will see the last times of “The -Rogue’s Comedy,” as next season Mr. Willard will -play the new play of Henry Arthur Jones entitled -“The Physician” exclusively.</p> - -<p class="tb">II. <i>Only</i>, and <i>not only</i>, usually belong directly -before the word modified.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Insert <i>only</i> in the proper blank.</p> - -<p>1. Browning —— wrote —— a few poems for boys.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. She —— breathed —— the name; but we -heard it.</p> - -<p>3. We —— received his letter, —— this morning.</p> - -<p>4. He —— gave —— five cents —— to the church.</p> - -<p class="tb">III. Avoid the Janus-clause; the Janus-phrase; -the Janus-adverb or adjective. The Latin god -Janus had two faces, one looking back, the other -ahead. Avoid putting a modifier where it becomes -double-faced,—where it may be taken either with -the preceding idea or with the following idea.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—So change the position of the -double-faced modifiers that their allegiance will be -known.</p> - -<p>1. There is no doubt that Milton gave Dryden -permission to paraphrase Paradise Lost; Dryden -did imitate Milton as a matter of fact not very -cleverly.</p> - -<p>2. There can be no doubt that he quarrelled,—that -he fought indeed vigorously. He reappeared -at least with a black eye.</p> - -<p>3. She will sing in any case charmingly; her -training has been admirable.</p> - -<p>4. As Hazlitt says, in his book of English proverbs, -where no fault is, there needs no pardon.</p> - -<p>IV. Avoid putting an adverb between the parts of -an infinitive,—between the <i>to</i> and the verb. Some -reputable writers approve this construction; still,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> -the better order is to place the modifier before or -after the whole infinitive. “Clearly to see,” or -“To see clearly,” is better than “To clearly see.” -This error is called the <i>cleft infinitive</i>.</p> - -<h3><b>Concord of Subject and Predicate.</b></h3> - -<p>1. A collective noun takes a singular verb if the -group of objects is thought of as a whole: “The -United States is coining gold and silver.” The -collective noun takes a plural verb if each separate -member of the group is thought of: “The United -States are firmly bound together in one union.”</p> - -<p>2. When two subject nouns are so closely related -in thought that they seem to mean one thing, the -verb is in the singular: “His courage and bravery -is well approved.”</p> - -<p>3. In writing a long sentence, glance back at the -number of the subject before you write the verb. -A plural near the verb often leads one to forget -that the subject is singular. Thus: “The great -number of the crows that settle nightly in the -grove and fill the air with their cries, makes [not -<i>make</i>] the place a bedlam.”</p> - -<p>4. When a singular subject precedes a parenthetical -phrase, the former reaches over the head -of the latter, and makes the verb singular. This -rule holds even when the parenthesis is introduced -by <i>with</i>. Thus: “Napoleon, with all his -army, was on the march.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> - -<p>5. <i>Either</i>, <i>neither</i>, when used as distributive conjunctions, -take a singular verb. Mr. Carpenter<a name="FNanchor_15" id="FNanchor_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> -gives this instance of the error: “Neither Senators -Dawes nor Hoar were in their seats to-day.” How -shall the sentence be changed to distribute the -senators properly?</p> - -<p>6. If two subjects connected by <i>either—or</i>, etc., -differ in person, it is possible to make the verb -agree with the subject nearest; as “Neither she -nor you are to blame in this; either I or he is to -blame.” But this construction is awkward. Avoid -the difference in person, or else say, “Neither she -is to blame, nor are you; either he is to blame, or -I am.”</p> - -<p>7. <i>Each</i>, <i>every</i>, <i>either</i>, <i>neither</i>, when used as -pronouns, always take a singular verb. “Each of -us knows; neither of us is ignorant.”</p> - -<p>8. <i>None</i> takes either a singular or a plural verb. -It is originally <i>no one</i>, and many careful writers -prefer to keep the singular with it.</p> - -<h3><b>Concord of Adjective (or Participle) and Noun.</b></h3> - -<p>1. There is an old phrase, <i>these kind</i>, which, -though permitted a century ago, was essentially -ungrammatical, and is not allowed to-day. Say, -<i>this kind</i>, <i>that kind</i>, etc.</p> - -<p>2. (<i>a</i>) Every participle, like every adjective, -must agree with its noun in person and number.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> -But furthermore, every participle has an indisputable -right to have something to agree with. Too -often the poor word is left dangling in mid air. -<i>Shun the unrelated participle and the misrelated participle.</i> -The best of us are only too prone to such -slips as this: “Coming up stairs, it was seen that -the great window fell,” instead of, “Coming up -stairs, we saw the great window fall.” Or this: -“Coming up stairs, the window fell on him,” -where the <i>coming</i> may belong to the <i>window</i> or to -the <i>him</i>. In the first of the two incorrect sentences -the participle is unrelated; in the second it is -misrelated, or at least ambiguously related.</p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) Care should be taken not to use a participle -when a verbal noun in <i>ing</i> is needed. “The fact -of <i>Poe being</i> intemperate should not blind us to the -fact of his genius,” is wrong for “The fact of <i>Poe’s -being</i> intemperate,” etc.</p> - -<p>3. Particularly avoid a singular adjective with -a plural noun, in such expressions as, “A long -way” [not <i>ways</i>]. Note here that <i>sidewise</i>, not -<i>sideways</i>, is correct.</p> - -<h3><b>Concord of Pronoun and Antecedent.</b></h3> - -<p>1. It should be remembered that every singular -antecedent takes a singular pronoun. “Everybody -came forward and laid <i>his</i> contribution on the -table”—not “<i>their</i> contribution.”</p> - -<p>2. Before writing the verb of a relative clause,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> -think whether the antecedent is singular or plural. -“Her voice is one of the sweetest that have [not -<i>has</i>] been heard in this town.”</p> - -<p>3. When a number of persons, men and women, -are spoken of distributively, the pronouns <i>he</i> and -<i>his</i> are proper forms of reference—not <i>their</i>, not -<i>his or her</i>. “The audience rose and each person -waved <i>his</i> applause” would be correct, even if -there were ten ladies to each man. The <i>he</i> or <i>his</i> -may here be called the <i>neutral</i> pronoun. What -pronouns should fill the blanks in the following -sentence? “Let every man and woman who would -like to join our picnic betake —— to the pier at -three o’clock, and give —— no anxiety about —— -lunch; —— will find plenty of sandwiches and -cake and coffee on the picnic-boat.”</p> - -<p>Such expressions as “every man and woman” -are however undesirable whenever the neutral -pronoun is to be used. A neutral antecedent, like -<i>every person</i>, <i>everybody</i>, <i>every one</i>, is preferable.</p> - -<p>4. When the indefinite pronoun <i>one</i> is used, -there is often ambiguity in referring to it later -by <i>he</i>, <i>his</i>, etc. Repeat the <i>one</i>. Thus, “One does -not always know one’s own mind.” Better still, -use an expression like the indefinite <i>you</i>, or, <i>a -person</i>, which has its own representative among -the pronouns. Thus, “A person doesn’t always -know his own mind.”</p> - -<p>5. Use sparingly, if at all, the Latin construction—<i>which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> -fact</i>, <i>which idea</i>, etc. Say rather, <i>a fact -which</i>, etc. E.g. “He was slightly deaf, <i>a misfortune -which</i> he bore without whimpering.”</p> - -<p>6. Avoid the Latin construction that makes <i>which</i> -refer to the idea of a whole clause; it is a clumsy -fashion. Example, “He said that he always doted -on Shakespeare—<i>which</i> I, for one, didn’t believe, -because I know the fellow.” There is nothing here -for <i>which</i> to tie to; it is a relative without anything -to which to relate. Rather a better way is to -discard the relative clause, substituting <i>and</i> with a -demonstrative. Thus, “He bowed politely, <i>which</i> -set us all at ease,” becomes, “He bowed politely, -<i>and this</i> set us all at ease.” The <i>this</i> is allowed by -our idiom to refer to the clause, though the construction -is still vague. It is best to hunt up a -good synonym for the idea of the preceding clause: -“He bowed politely, and this <i>courtesy</i> set us all at -ease.” But it is not necessary to discard the relative -clause. A little ingenuity will enable one to -find and insert just before the relative an appositive -to the clause. Into each of the following -sentences slip an appropriate appositive chosen -from the following list: <i>a fact</i>, <i>an idea</i>, <i>a task</i>, <i>a -statement</i>, <i>an assertion</i>, <i>a notion</i>, <i>an excuse</i>, <i>a fancy</i>, -<i>a belief</i>, <i>a hyperbole</i>, <i>a prevarication</i>, <i>a remedy</i>.</p> - -<p>(<i>a</i>) Mr. Ignatius Donnelly thinks that Bacon -wrote Shakespeare, —— which ought not to bother -the student who likes Romeo and Juliet.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span></p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) Mame told father that there were a thousand -cats in the back yard, —— which, according to -father, meant our cat and another.</p> - -<p>(<i>c</i>) He has undertaken to learn two hard lessons -in one hour, —— which will probably prove too -much for the lad.</p> - -<p>(<i>d</i>) He proposes to cut the hand off, —— which -seems rather cruel.</p> - -<h3><b>Concord of Cases.</b></h3> - -<p>Subject and complement of an intransitive verb -agree in case.</p> - -<p>1. The complement of an intransitive verb in a -finite mode is in the nominative case. “It’s I” -[not <i>me</i>]. “I am he.” “I thought it was he.”</p> - -<p>2. If the subject of an infinitive is in the objective -case, the complement is in the same case. -“I thought it to be him” [not <i>he</i>]. But, “It was -thought to be he.”</p> - -<h3><b>Concord of Tenses.</b></h3> - -<p>1. In writing the verb of a subordinate clause, -be sure that its tense shall show just what you wish -it to show—whether the <i>same</i> time as that of the -principal verb, or <i>earlier</i> time, or <i>later</i> time. For -example:—</p> - -<p><i>The same time.</i>—“He did not think himself to -be much of a poet.”</p> - -<p><i>Earlier time.</i>—“He did not think that he had -been much of a poet.” “He was sorry not to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> -been much of a poet.” “Yesterday, when John -spoke of the matter, I should have liked to have -had some experience that I might have used in -advising him.”</p> - -<p><i>Later time.</i>—“I wanted to go” [not <i>to have -gone</i>]. “I had intended to go.” “I should have -liked to go.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Correct the errors in concord of -tenses, explaining each emendation.</p> - -<p>1. Where did you say St. Peter’s was?</p> - -<p>2. Is it warm out of doors? I should say it was.</p> - -<p>3. I fully intended to have met you at the -concert.</p> - -<h3><b>Government.</b></h3> - -<p>1. “He invited him and <i>I</i>,” is not an unheard-of -blunder. People often needlessly shrink from -saying a correct sentence like this—“He invited -him and me”—and will even insert the full -names of <i>him</i> and <i>me</i> rather than out with the -right case of the pronoun.</p> - -<p>2. In asking a question, think whether <i>who</i> or -<i>whom</i> is required. “<i>Whom</i> did you see?” but, -“<i>Who</i> was it that you saw?”</p> - -<p>3. <i>Let</i> governs the objective case, quite as any -other active verb. “Let John and me go.”</p> - -<p>4. An error often occurs in the case of the -relative after a verb of saying, thinking, telling, -and the like. “Franklin’s Autobiography is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> -work of a man <i>whom</i> I should think would be -known to every American.” The <i>whom</i> is wrong -for <i>who</i>. Had the writer set off “I should think” -by commas, he would have seen the mistake.</p> - -<p>5. How should the following newspaper sentence -be corrected? “He stated that the offering -was $101,500, an amount upon which he would -stake his honor would all be paid up.”</p> - -<h3><b>On the Reference of Pronouns.</b></h3> - -<p>1. In the use of pronouns one cannot be too careful -that each refers to the right person. “Farmer -Jones called on his neighbor and told him that -his cows were in his pasture,” leaves us in doubt -whether Farmer Jones came to make a complaint -or an apology. How should the sentence be constructed -to remove the ambiguity? The following -delicious error has been much quoted: “If fresh -milk does not seem to agree with the child, boil -it.” How change the sentence to save the child’s -life?</p> - -<p>2. Sometimes a demonstrative can be used to -better advantage than a personal pronoun. “They -lent us their horses for the afternoon and these -[not <i>they</i>] took us a long way out into the country.”</p> - -<p>3. Sometimes it is better to repeat the antecedent, -varying it by simple synonyms, than to use -any pronoun. Not, “He gave him his word of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> -honor, that whenever he should see his brother -in London, he would do all for him that he ought -to do for an old comrade’s brother.” Rather thus: -“He gave his friend his word of honor, that whenever -he should see the latter’s brother in London, -he would do for the boy all that a man ought to -do for the brother of an old comrade.”</p> - -<p>4. Acquire a habit of writing, “It is he,” or “It’s -he,” instead of “He is the one.” This latter phrase -is permissible in colloquial speech, where its clumsiness -is not much felt. The correct expression may -sometimes seem over-precise. But a person of tact -ought to be able to speak correctly without seeming -affected.</p> - -<h3><b>Conjunctions and Prepositions.</b></h3> - -<p>1. Shall we say “as large as,” “not as large as,” -etc.? The first expression is right. But after a negative, -use <i>so</i> for a correlative to <i>as</i>: “not <i>so</i> large as.”</p> - -<p>2. In general be careful not to omit necessary -conjunctions. What should be supplied in the following -sentence? and how should the order be -changed? “Henty is better known but not so -interesting to older boys as Stevenson.”</p> - -<p>3. <i>And which</i>, <i>and who</i>, etc., are wrong for <i>which</i>, -<i>who</i>, etc., when no relative has previously been -used. Correct the following: “Irving, the historian, -and whom we honor as our first writer of -prose tales, is a prime favorite of us all.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> - -<p>4. <i>Like</i> is not a conjunction. It is incorrect -to say, “Do like I do.” This wrong use of <i>like</i> -is habitual in many parts of our country, and a -native of any one of these districts has to watch -himself narrowly to acquire the habit of using <i>as</i> -for <i>like</i>. It is, however, correct enough to say, -“She talks <i>like him</i>.” Here <i>like</i> is an adjective -governing what was the dative case, and the phrase -<i>like him</i> has the value of an adverb.</p> - -<p>5. <i>Different to</i> is wrong for <i>different from</i>. This -error, though rarely to be found in America, -is habitual in England. The commoner American -error is <i>different than</i>. This mistake frequently -occurs when the comparative degree has previously -been used. <i>E.g.</i> “This last kind of apple -is different and sweeter than the first.” The better -form is: “This last kind of apple is different from -the first, and sweeter.” <i>Do not split the particles</i>, -by saying, “This kind of apple is different from -and sweeter than the first.”</p> - -<h3><b>Adverb or Adjective?</b></h3> - -<p>1. There is a group of words—verbs of sensation -and the like, <i>look</i>, <i>sound</i>, <i>feel</i>, <i>smell</i>, <i>taste</i>, <i>appear</i>, -<i>seem</i>—which take an adjective to complete -their meaning. “She looks <i>sweet</i>,” “It tastes -<i>sweet</i>,” “She <i>seems</i> happy,” are common and correct -ways of speaking. <i>Notice that here something -of the same idea can be given by saying</i>, “She <i>is</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> -sweet,” “It <i>is</i> sweet,” “She <i>is</i> happy.” The -<i>sweet</i> idea or the <i>happy</i> idea describes the subject, -the person, not the verb. Of course, one might -write a sentence in which the <i>sweet</i> idea would -tell the way a given act was done. “She looked -sweetly” would imply that she was gazing sweetly -at something or somebody.</p> - -<p>But here must be noted an exception or two. -(<i>a</i>) The word <i>bad</i> has two senses: moral badness, -and badness that is not moral—badness of health, -for instance. If I say “I feel bad,” the bad seems -to mean moral badness: <i>i.e.</i> “I <i>am</i> bad.” It is -therefore permissible to break the rule and apply -<i>badly</i> to physical feeling. “I feel badly” is a -common expression for “I feel sick”; and by the -exception to the rule is correct. Which is better -in the following sentence—<i>bad</i> or <i>badly</i>? “It -sounds —— to hear a young man swear.” (<i>b</i>) There -are a few cases where the adverb is retained -when the verb is not felt as acting. “The report -sounds well,” certainly does not mean that the -report is in good health; but it is certainly good -English. Similarly we have: “She appears well -in company.”</p> - -<p>It is to be kept in mind that <i>ill</i> and <i>well</i> -are not always adverbs. They are often adjectives; -and if one says “I feel ill,” or “I feel -well,” one is using the adjective <i>ill</i> or the adjective -<i>well</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Which of the italicized words is -preferable in the following sentences? (<i>a</i>) “This -old stern-wheel boat rides over the waves quite as -<i>easy</i> (<i>easily</i>) as any propeller, if not <i>easier</i> (<i>more -easily</i>).” (<i>b</i>) “This old chaise rides as <i>easy</i> (<i>easily</i>) -as any modern one.” (<i>c</i>) “An old shoe feels <i>easy</i> -(<i>easily</i>).” (<i>d</i>) “As Billings read that passage it -sounded <i>different</i> (<i>differently</i>) from the way in which -the Colonel read it.” (<i>e</i>) “Do you feel <i>good</i> (<i>well</i>) -after your night’s rest?” (<i>f</i>) “I’ve been to church -and, for me, really feel <i>good</i> (<i>well</i>).” (<i>g</i>) “He voted -<i>independently</i> (<i>independent</i>).” (<i>h</i>) “Home, sweet -home” sounds <i>well</i> (<i>good</i>) to the ears of the American -abroad.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Shall or Will.</b>—Most Americans, like most Scotchmen, -use the word <i>will</i> too frequently, to the neglect -of <i>shall</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Shall</i> is from Old English <i>sceal</i> (skayʹ-al) and -once meant <i>owe</i>, <i>be obliged</i>. It still may mean the -same thing, when not used as a mere auxiliary. -That is, <i>should</i> often means <i>ought</i>, which was once -the past tense of <i>owe</i>. It still can mean “to -be obliged.” “You shall,” “he shall,” are expressions -that imply obligation, imposed by the -speaker. “I shall at last die” still has in it the -idea of being compelled. But this phrase illustrates -happily one way by which <i>shall</i> with the first -person has come to be felt as a mere future.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> -Nearly always to-day <i>I shall</i> names a voluntary act; -but the volition is usually not emphasized; the -speaker has usually made up his mind before he -says <i>I shall</i>, and the words simply foretell the -future act. “I shall be there” incidentally announces -the speaker’s intention, but the chief thing -it announces is that the speaker will <i>be there</i>. It is -probably the future fact that is of interest to his -friends. <i>Ordinarily, therefore</i>, shall <i>in the first person -means futurity more than it means volition.</i></p> - -<p><i>Will</i> is from <i>wilian</i> (wilʹ-yan), meaning <i>to wish</i>, <i>to -will</i>. It frequently means that to-day, though in -the second and third persons it is also used for -the simple future. “I will” always implies volition. -I will <i>implies either deliberate intention, distinct -wish, or distinct willingness</i>. “I will go” -means “I am determined to go,” or, “I wish to -go,” or, “I am willing to go.” Frequently such a -phrase implies that there is opposition or an obstacle. -“You will,” “they will,” usually lack the -volitive idea; they simply foretell that which <i>you</i>, -<i>they</i>, are about to do. Yet <i>you will</i>, <i>he will</i>, <i>they will</i> -may still mean <i>you are determined</i>, etc., if applied -to a being that has the power of choice. Here one -has but to emphasize the <i>will</i>, and the old meaning -is brought back. Thus: “He <i>will</i> persist in doing -so, though all his friends deplore it.”</p> - -<p>Our first rule will accordingly be as follows: <i>To -indicate mere futurity, use <span class="antiqua">shall</span> in the first person,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> -<span class="antiqua">will</span> in the second and third.</i> Examples: “I shall -be glad to come. You and the others will find me -on hand at the pier.” So far, so good. But note that -this rule also applies when the speaker is made to -report his own words in indirect narrative. “Abner -<i>says</i> that he <i>shall</i> be glad to come, and that you -and the others <i>will</i> find him on hand at the pier.” -Just so if the indirect discourse is in the <i>past</i>, and -it is still the speaker who reports his own words. -“Abner <i>said</i> that he <i>should</i> be glad to come, and -that you and the others <i>would</i> find him at the -pier.” All this seems sensible enough, for the -speaker is merely made to foretell his own future -act. The rule is too often broken. “Abner said -he was afraid he’d miss the boat.” Here the contraction -<i>he’d</i> stands (as always) for <i>he would</i>, a -form that is wrong in this place for <i>he should</i>.</p> - -<p>The same rule applies when the indirect narrative -is merely implied; that is, when instead of -such a word as <i>say</i> we have <i>think</i>, or <i>fear</i>, or <i>believe</i>. -“Luke thinks he <i>shall</i> miss his boat,” is -correct; so is, “Luke feared he <i>should</i> miss the -boat.”</p> - -<p>Suppose, now, it is no longer what Luke said about -his own future act, but what somebody else said -about it. “Evarts remarked that Luke was ready -and <i>would</i> hurry to the pier; but Evarts feared that -Luke <i>would</i> miss the boat.” The <i>shall</i> gives place -naturally enough to <i>will</i>. <i>After verbs of saying,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> -thinking, telling, and the like, <span class="antiqua">shall</span> (or <span class="antiqua">should</span>) is the -proper auxiliary if the future act is foretold by the actor.</i></p> - -<p>Now we are ready to ask how these words should -be used in questions. A very simple rule is enough -for most purposes: <i>In the second and third persons, -use in the question the form you expect in the answer.</i></p> - -<p>“Shall you be at the pier by three, Abner?” -Abner replies, “I certainly shall.” “Will you -kindly bring my lunch with you? the cook has it -ready.” “I will, with great pleasure.”</p> - -<p>The rule holds when applied to indirect discourse. -Thus: “Abner’s aunt asked him whether -he <i>should</i> be at the pier by three. Abner replied -that he <i>should</i>. Then she wanted to know if he -<i>would</i> kindly bring her lunch along; Abner promised -that he <i>would</i>.”</p> - -<p>If a question is put in the first person, <i>shall</i> often -asks for instructions. “<i>Shall</i> I go?” But if -mere information is asked, <i>shall</i> is still the form: -“<i>Shall</i> I be required to do all this?” “Yes, I fear -you will.” Briefly, then, <i>for a question in the first -person always use</i> shall.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Where blanks appear in the following -sentences insert the right auxiliary. Correct -any misuse of auxiliaries.</p> - -<p>1. Sometimes an Irishman, sometimes a Frenchman, -is credited with this remark: “I will be -drowned; nobody shall help me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. I —— be delighted to see you with us.</p> - -<p>3. I —— be obliged if you —— lend me your -pencil.</p> - -<p>4. The director thinks he —— be able to speak -well of that student, if the boy —— need a good word.</p> - -<p>5. —— you be content if you get to college?</p> - -<p>6. —— I be permitted to say that you —— see -him before anything is done?</p> - -<p>7. Jim Hawkins was mortally afraid that he -—— be killed by Long John Silver; and in turn -Long John began to fear that Jim —— be the death -of him.</p> - -<p>8. —— you like some bread? [Here <i>should</i> is -the right word; <i>to like</i> is a word of volition, and it -does not need the volitive auxiliary <i>would</i>.]</p> - -<p>9. —— you mind my asking where you bought -that jersey?</p> - -<p>10. His father insisted that he —— stick to the -task; and the son afterwards seemed glad of the -fact, and asked whether he —— do some more work -of the same sort.</p> - -<p>11. If we were better, we —— be happier.</p> - -<p>12. In which sentence can a contraction of <i>he -would</i> be used? (<i>a</i>) He said —— be glad to accept. -(<i>b</i>) Luther declared —— go to a certain city, -though there were as many devils there as tiles on -the housetops.</p> - -<p>13. —— I be asked to go? Yes, you will.</p> - -<p>14. Of whom —— I be afraid?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span></p> - -<h3><b>Matters of Etymology.</b></h3> - -<p>1. Good usage recommends that we say “the -schools of Chicago” rather than “Chicago’s -schools”; “the cause of the accident” rather than -“the accident’s cause.” In other words, it recommends -that we save the possessive in <i>’s</i> (or Saxon -genitive) for living beings. For things, for abstract -ideas, for cities—everything except beings—the -possessive in <i>of</i> (or Norman genitive) is preferred. -Thus we say, “Napoleon’s hat,” and “the rim of -Napoleon’s hat,” instead of “Napoleon’s hat’s rim.” -The newspapers, perhaps to save space, have fallen -into the habit of talking about “Chicago’s interests,” -“Evanston’s water-works,” “America’s navy,” -etc.; but it is better not to imitate these expressions.<a name="FNanchor_16" id="FNanchor_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> -Such matters are matters, not of right and -wrong, but of better and worse.</p> - -<p>2. While <i>got</i> is usually better than <i>gotten</i> as a -past participle, the two words have, in one case, -different meanings. “I have got my lesson” is -perhaps preferable to “I have gotten my lesson.” -But “I have got to be a scholar” means, “I must be -a scholar”; while, “I have gotten to be a scholar” -is, well,—perhaps a boast.</p> - -<p>3. Good use prescribes <i>he drank</i>, but <i>he has drunk</i> -[not, <i>he has drank</i>].</p> - -<p>4. <i>Anybody else’s</i>, or <i>anybody’s else</i>—which is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> -in better use? For most places, the former. -Thus: “Anybody else’s dog would have been -shot for his sheep-stealing.” But <i>anybody’s else</i> -is often preferable at the end of the clause or -sentence. Thus: “If the dog had been anybody -else’s it would have been shot; unfortunately -it was nobody’s else.” The distinction has ceased -to be a matter of logic, and become a matter of -euphony. Of course, <i>else</i> is strictly an adjective, -and might seem to be exempt from the possessive -case. But adjectives have always had a way of -growing fast to nouns and becoming part of them: -<i>e.g.</i> sweetbriar, Redfern, Goodman. Though <i>else</i> -is not written as a part of the noun <i>anybody</i> (which -is already long enough), it is often felt as a part -of the noun. What you <i>think</i> is not always <i>anybody -+ else</i>; it is often, <i>anybodyelse</i>. As a matter -of fact, the word <i>anybody</i> itself is really two words -grown together till we do not think of them as -adjective + noun.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise in Review.</b>—Below are given a -number of sentences from Hughes’s <i>Tom Brown’s -School Days</i>, a book which every one likes for its -racy Saxon style, but which is not always beyond -reproach in sentence-structure. Most, however, -of the sentences given below were correctly -written. <i>Examine the passages, and decide as to -which of the bracketed words should be omitted.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> -When several words are italicized, correct the order -of them.</i></p> - -<p>1. Tom’s nurse was one who took in her instruction -very slowly—she seemed to have two left -hands and no head; and so Mrs. Brown kept her -on longer than usual, that [she, the girl] might -expend her awkwardness and forgetfulness upon -those who would not judge and punish [her, the -girl] too strictly for them.</p> - -<p>2. It had been the immemorial habit of the village -[either] to [either] christen children [either] -by Bible names or [by] those of the cardinal and -other virtues.</p> - -<p>3. He was a hearty, strong boy from the first, -given to fighting [with and escaping from his -nurse, with his nurse and escaping from her] and -fraternizing with all [of] the village boys, with -whom he made expeditions all around the neighborhood.</p> - -<p>4. You shall hear at once what sort of [a] folk -the Browns are, [at least] my branch of them [at -least]; and then if you don’t like the sort, why -cut the concern at once, and let you and [I, me] -cry quits before either of us can grumble at the -other.</p> - -<p>5. For a short time after a boy has taken up -[such] a life [as, like] Arnold would have urged -upon him, he has a hard time of it. He finds his -judgment often at fault, his body and intellect running<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> -away with him into all sorts of pitfalls, and -[he, himself] coming down with a crash.</p> - -<p>6. “No, Pompey, I must preach whenever I see -a chance of being listened to, [which, and this] I -never did before.”</p> - -<p>7. And now, my boys, you [who, whom] I want -to get for readers, have you had enough? [Will, -shall] you give in at once, and say you’re convinced, -and let me begin my story, or will you -have more of it? Remember, I’ve [only] been -over [only] a little bit of a hillside yet—what you -could ride round easily on your ponies in an hour.</p> - -<p>8. To-day, however, [being, being the day of] -the school-house match, none of the school-house -præpostors [stay, stays] by the door to watch for -truants of their side; there is <i>carte blanche</i> to the -school-house fags to go where they like: “They -trust to our honor,” as East proudly informs -Tom; “they know [very well] that no school-house -boy would cut the match [very well]. If -he did [we’d, we should] very soon cut him, I can -tell you.”</p> - -<p>9. Passing along the Ridgeway to the west for -about a mile, [we come to, appears] a little clump -of young beech and firs, with a growth of thorn -and privet underwood.</p> - -<p>10. I [only] know [only] two English neighborhoods -thoroughly, and [in each] within a circle of -five miles, [within each] there is enough of interest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> -and beauty to last any reasonable man his life. I -believe this to be the case [almost] throughout the -country [almost]; but each has a special attraction, -and [neither, none] can be richer than the one I am -speaking of and going to [very particularly] introduce -to you [very particularly].</p> - -<p>11. It’s very odd [how, that] almost all English -boys love danger.</p> - -<p>12. He wore an old full-bottomed wig, the gift -of some dandy old Brown whom he had [in the -middle of the last century] valeted [in the middle -of the last century], [which habiliment, a habiliment -which] Master Tom looked upon with considerable -respect, not to say fear.</p> - -<p>13. [It was he, He was the one] who bent the -first pin with which Tom extracted his first stickleback -out of [“Pebbly Brook,”] the little stream -which ran through the village, [“Pebbly Brook”]. -The first stickleback was a splendid fellow, with -fabulous red and blue gills. Tom kept him in a -small basin till the day of [his, the fish’s] death, -and became a fisherman from that day.</p> - -<p>14. His nurse told him that those good-natured -looking women were in the constant habit of enticing -children into the barges and taking [them, -these] up to London and selling them, [which, a -story which] Tom wouldn’t believe.</p> - -<p>15. “I say,” said East, as soon as he [got, had -gotten] his wind, looking with much increased respect<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> -at Tom, “you [ain’t, you’re not, aren’t, are -not] a bad scud, not by [no, any] means.”</p> - -<p>16. But who [shall, will] tell the joy of the next -morning, when the church bells were ringing a -merry peal, and [in the servants’ hall] old Benjy -appeared [in the servants’ hall] resplendent in a -long blue coat and brass buttons [in the servants’ -hall], and a pair of old yellow buckskins and top-boots, -which he had cleaned <i>for and inherited from -Tom’s grandfather</i>.</p> - -<p>17. So, as we are going [to at any rate, at any -rate to] see Tom Brown through his boyhood, [supposing, -if] we never get any further, [which, -though] (if you show a proper sense of the value -of this history, there is no knowing but [that, -what] we may), let us have a look at the life and -environments of the child.</p> - -<p>18. He felt [like, as if] he had been severely -beaten all down his back, the natural result of his -performance at his first match.</p> - -<p>19. “And now come in and see my study; we -[shall, will] have just time before dinner; and -afterwards, before calling over, [we’ll, we shall] -do the close.”</p> - -<p>20. It [certainly] wasn’t very large [certainly], -being about six feet long by four broad. It couldn’t -be called light, as there [was, were] bars and a -grating to the window; [which] little precautions -[which] were necessary in the studies on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> -ground floor looking out into the close, to prevent -the exit of small boys [after locking up], and the -entrance of contraband articles [after locking up.]</p> - -<p>21. And now, [having broken my resolution -never to write a Preface,] there are just two or -three things which I [would, should] like to say -a word about [having broken my resolution never -to write a Preface].</p> - -<p>22. My dear boys, old and young, you who have -belonged, [or do belong,] to other schools and other -houses, don’t begin throwing my poor little book -about the room, and abusing [me and it] [it and I], -and vowing<a name="FNanchor_17" id="FNanchor_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> you’ll read no more when you get to -this point. I allow you’ve provocation for it. But, -come now, [would, should] you, any of you, give a -fig for a fellow who <i>didn’t believe in, and stand up -for his own house and his own school</i>? You know -you [wouldn’t, shouldn’t]. Then don’t object to my -cracking up the old school-house, Rugby. Haven’t -I a right to do it, when I’m taking all the trouble -of writing this true history for all your benefits? -If [you’re not, you ain’t] satisfied, go and write the -history [of your own houses] in your own times -[of your own houses] and say all you know for -your own schools and houses, [provided it’s true,] -and [I’ll, I shall] read it without abusing you -[provided it’s true].</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> - -<p>23. All the way up to London he had pondered -what he [would, should] say to Tom [by way of -parting advice], something that the boy could keep -in his head ready for use, [by way of parting -advice].</p> - -<p>24. “I say, Green,” Snooks began one night, -“[ain’t, isn’t] that new boy, Harrison, your fag?”</p> - -<p>“Yes; why?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I know something of him at home, and -[would, should] like to excuse him—will you -swap?”</p> - -<p>“[Who, Whom] will you give me?”</p> - -<p>“Well, let’s see; there’s Willis, Johnson—no, -that won’t do. Yes, I have it—there’s young -East, I’ll give you him.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you wish you may get it?” replied -Green. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do—I’ll give you -[if you like] two for Willis [if you like].”</p> - -<p>“[Whom, Who] then?” asked Snooks.</p> - -<p>“Hall and Brown.”</p> - -<p>“[Shouldn’t, Wouldn’t] have ’em at a gift.”</p> - -<p>25. By keeping out of bounds [all day], or at all -events out of the house and quadrangle, [all day,] -and [carefully] barring themselves [carefully] in -at night, East and Tom managed to hold on without -feeling very [miserably, miserable]; but it was -as much as they could do.</p> - -<p>26. His friends at home, [hadn’t put him into -tails] having regard, I suppose, to his age, and not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> -to his size and place in the school, [hadn’t put him -into tails]; and [even] his jackets were always -too small [even]; and he had a talent for destroying -clothes, and making himself look [shabbily, -shabby].</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Review-Exercise.</b>—Correct the following -sentences, after naming each fault.</p> - -<p>1. Belonging to the modern realistic school of -novelists, his address was an able defence of their -tenets.</p> - -<p>2. It is not probable that the scholars will yet -give him a very lofty place, and they will be disinclined -to call his books literature, but the division -of sentiment as to their exact standing will not detract -from the brilliancy of the future they promise.</p> - -<p>3. “Here you are, a great, hulking fellow, endowed -by providence with magnificent strength, -instead of which you go about stealing nuts.”</p> - -<p>4. Cæsar and all his legions was encamped -around the city, and the barbarians knew well -enough it was them they had to fight, them the -soldiers of the Roman god-like man.</p> - -<p>5. “It wasn’t us! it wasn’t us! We wasn’t there, -we warnt.”</p> - -<p>6. Neither of the adventurers, Olson and Lefevre, -saw their native land again.</p> - -<p>7. He sat the cage down; and the bird cried, -between each mouthful, “Polly wants a cracker.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> - -<p>8. Like Lucretius, his pleasure was in watching -the sea fight from a secure place.</p> - -<p>9. Masquerading under the stage name of Viola -Violet, there was a gasp of astonishment when she -made her first entrance and was recognized by her -many friends in the audience.</p> - -<p>10. Lacking practice in what might be called the -technique of acting, there was now and then some -restraint in pose and gesture, and the essential element -of artistic repose was lacking.</p> - -<p>11. Passengers are warned not to get off the train -while in motion.</p> - -<p>12. Without stopping to fully describe the construction -of this aural instrument, suffice it to say, -that it is small and compact, and can be carried in -the pocket, weighing about two ounces, constructed -mostly of aluminum.</p> - -<p>13. When I go back to Cuba again I should like -to go with 10,000 interpreters instead of one, all in -United States uniforms, and who would talk fast -and to the point and would not expect or wait for -an answer.</p> - -<p>14. Passing a field where brother David was sowing -rye, several merry voices called out, “How are -you, Mr. Newton?”</p> - -<p>15. Mr. Adams positively declines to hang cards -over the edges of the boxes at the grand opera -with the names of those present in large type.</p> - -<p>16. Eva picked up the letter from the hall table,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> -looked quickly round at the closed hall door, at the -closed dining-room door, and at the baize door that -led to the kitchen stairs—and kissed it.</p> - -<p>17. Talking the other day with a friend (the late -Mr. Keats) about Dante, he observed that whenever -so great a poet told us anything in addition or continuation -of an ancient story, he had a right to be -regarded as classical authority.</p> - -<p>18. Alcibiades told the Spartan envoys that if -they would say to the Athenians that their power -was limited and that they could only listen and -then tell the Spartans what they heard that he -would see that the Athenians did not join the -alliance: so when the ambassadors went there they -did as Alcibiades said and Alcibiades got up and -said, that they could not tell two things alike and -the Athenians would not have anything more to do -with them and they joined the alliance.</p> - -<p>19. Having given this department-store question -much careful thought I have decided a more dangerous -monopoly could not be found, for reasons as -follows: First, they tend to centralize business, -which is dangerous, and should not exist if we -wish our city to grow and thereby equalize taxation. -Second, the continuous advertising of the -entire stock of an unfortunate merchant on sale in -these stores at 33 cents on the dollar is not encouraging -to strangers who visit us.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<span class="smaller">ON DIVIDING A PARAGRAPH INTO SENTENCES</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Sentence not its own Master.</b>—Everybody -learns at an early age some such definition as this: -A sentence is the expression of a complete thought -in words. But many students who have just left -the grammar school are not very clear in their own -minds as to what the definition means. When -they come to write sentences they find it hard to -decide what constitutes a complete thought. They -know what the test of grammatical completeness is—the -sentence must have a subject and a predicate; -but they are hazy as to when the sentence -is logically complete. Frankly, the most accomplished -writers are sometimes troubled to decide -this question. Having two ideas, they are not -sure whether these ought to stand in separate -sentences, or in semicolon clauses. There is no -magic rule; but by the right kind of practice one -may become perfectly sure, in nine cases out of -ten, of the best course to take.</p> - -<p>Perhaps the easiest way to approach the matter -is to remember that the sentence is only a part of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> -larger unit,—the paragraph. A paragraph is either -a miniature composition, or a main part of a short -composition. In long works, the <i>chapter</i> is the short -composition of which the paragraphs are the divisions. -The sentence, in turn, is a main part of the -paragraph. Whether a sentence should be long or -short depends on the part it plays in the paragraph.</p> - -<p>To make this statement plain, we need consider -only the paragraph that stands alone, a miniature -composition. Whatever be the number of its sentences, -each forms a main part or step in the development -of the paragraph-thought. All are -concerned with <i>explaining</i> the same thing; each -contributes something to the idea. If there is a -topic sentence and this be likened to a root, the -other sentences are like the stalks and leaves which -grow from the root.</p> - -<p>Note how each of the following miniature compositions<a name="FNanchor_18" id="FNanchor_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -has a root, from which the rest of the -paragraph springs necessarily.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. Flowers have an expression of countenance as much -as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad -expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again -are plain, honest, and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower -and the hollyhock.—<span class="smcap">H. W. Beecher.</span></p> - -<p>2. There are three wicks ... to the lamp of a man’s -life; brain, blood, and breath. Press the brain a little, its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> -light goes out, followed by both the others. Stop the heart -a minute, and out go all three of the wicks. Choke the air -out of the lungs, and presently the fluid ceases to supply the -other centres of flame, and all is soon stagnation, cold, and -darkness.—<span class="smcap">Dr. Holmes.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p>Consider the parts of the paragraphs just given. -Mr. Beecher has two sentences, the second grouping -together the details which explain the first. -But the first sentence is made much shorter than -the second, because, word for word, it is to be -more emphatic. The second is the longer, because -no one of the separate clauses seemed to the writer -important enough to stand alone. The clauses of -detail taken together form one main division of the -paragraph. The short sentence that states the gist -of the paragraph is another main division. In Dr. -Holmes’s brief parable, there are four sentences. -Three of them develop the general idea stated in -the first. Dr. Holmes cannot condense these three -into one explanatory sentence, as Beecher does; -he has too much to say. By giving a sentence -to each of the three “wicks,” he shows that he -considers them all approximately equal in importance.</p> - -<p>Study now another paragraph:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>It is saying less than the truth to affirm that an excellent -book (and the remark holds almost equally good of a Raphael -as of a Milton) is like a well-chosen and well-tended -fruit tree. Its fruits are not of one season only. With the -due and natural intervals, we may recur to it year after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> -year, and it will supply the same nourishment and the same -gratification, if only we ourselves return to it with the same -healthful appetite.—<span class="smcap">Coleridge.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p>In this passage from Coleridge the first sentence -is the root of the paragraph; ‘a book is like -a fruit tree.’ But the second sentence is made -shorter than the first, because it is to state the pith -of the paragraph more clearly and emphatically -than did the first. The meaning of the first sentence -is a little vague; how a book is like a fruit -tree, it does not say. The second sentence does say -how. Note, then, that a short sentence is always -emphatic, and that accordingly it should be used to -state something that is important in the paragraph.</p> - -<p>Study also the following paragraph:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Our chief want in life, is somebody who shall make us do -what we can. This is the service of a friend. With him -we are easily great. There is a sublime attraction in him to -whatever virtue is in us. How he flings wide the doors of -existence! What questions we ask of him! what an understanding -we have! how few words are needed! It is the -only real society.—<span class="smcap">Emerson.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p>In this paragraph of Emerson’s, the main ideas -are stated in brief sentences, and the summary of -the paragraph comes in a sentence of six short -words. But note that in the last sentence except -one, the writer groups three clauses, because the -three constitute parts of one main idea of the -paragraph.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> - -<p>Read the following rather abstruse paragraphs, -and decide as to which shows the chief divisions of -the whole thought.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>There is, first, the literature -of knowledge; and, -secondly, the literature of -power. The function of the -first is, to teach; the function -of the second is, to -move; the first is a rudder, -the second an oar or a sail. -The first speaks to the mere -discursive understanding; -the second speaks ultimately, -it may happen, to the higher -understanding or reason, but -always through affections of -pleasure and sympathy.—<span class="smcap">De -Quincey.</span></p> - -<p>There is, first, the literature -of knowledge. And, -secondly, the literature of -power. The function of the -first is, to teach. The function -of the second is, to -move. The first is a rudder. -The second, an oar or a sail. -The first speaks to the mere -discursive understanding. -The second speaks ultimately, -it may happen, to -the higher understanding or -reason, but always through -affections of pleasure and -sympathy.</p> - -</div> - -<p>From a study of the foregoing selections, it -becomes clear that the sentence is not its own -master. It is the servant of the paragraph. The -paragraph, having an idea to give, uses sentences -to develop this idea. A skilful writer is not in -haste to crowd into a sentence all of one large, -complex thought. The full expression of that -thought is the task of the paragraph. The sentences -are the means by which its parts may be -made clear. The long sentences are for explanatory -details; the short ones are for emphatic summaries -or generalizations, and for rapid narrative.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Sentence Unity.</b>—I. <i>A sentence that possesses -Unity of Substance constitutes one main step in the -development of the paragraph-idea.</i> A main step, as -thus employed, usually means a sentence giving -one of the following: (1) the general subject of the -paragraph; (2) the general thought or assertion of -the paragraph; (3) the repetition of a preceding -idea in new words; (4) an illustration; (5) a group -of particulars or details; (6) one proof, or term, in a -chain of reasoning; (7) a brief contrast; (8) a cause -and an effect; (9) an assertion and a very brief -illustration. It would be absurd to hold these -principles of unity anxiously in mind when one is -writing. Having thought them over a little, and -taken to heart the general doctrine that the sentence -should be one main step, the scholar should -trust his own sense of unity. The chief value of -any such analysis is that it may help the scholar -to give thought to his own sentences.</p> - -<p class="tb">II. <i>A sentence that possesses Unity of Form keeps -one coherent structure throughout, and subordinates -unimportant clauses to the important.</i> Unity of -form does not concern the division of the paragraph -into sentences. It will be considered in Chapter -<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI.</a>, under Well-knit Sentences.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>I. Unity of Substance by Excluding Irrelevant -Ideas.</b>—Perhaps the first thing that is noticed in -reading hasty composition, is that some sentences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> -are too long. Here is one, written by a lad of -fourteen. It will seem to most readers to be a sentence -of infantine simplicity, such as no high school -student is in the slightest danger of perpetrating. -My apology for giving it is that it renders every -heterogeneous sentence ridiculous.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Oliver Orlando’s brother did not like him and when he -heard that Orlando whipped Charles he was very angry and -was going to burn Orlando’s house up with him in it, but -Adam, Orlando’s faithful servant, ran out and told him, so -they got all the money they had and started for the forest -of Arden, when they got pretty near there Adam being so -old fainted from hunger.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The student who wrote this was not thinking of -the parts of his paragraph; he was thinking merely -of the story of <i>As You Like It</i>. He plunged ahead -after the story, never looking behind him. The -result is a long, rambling sentence, with several -chief thoughts in it. These chief thoughts are -four: (1) Oliver hatefully plots to kill Orlando. -(2) Adam foils Oliver. (3) Adam and Orlando -flee. (4) Adam at last faints. The paragraph -therefore divides into four decent, though childish, -sentences:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Oliver, Orlando’s brother, did not like him; and when he -heard that Orlando whipped Charles he was very angry, and -was going to burn Orlando’s house up with him in it. But -Adam, Orlando’s faithful servant, ran out and told him. So -they got together all the money they had, and started for the -forest of Arden. When they got pretty near there, Adam, -being so old, fainted from hunger.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span></p> - -<p>Periods are now substituted for several of the -student’s commas. That writer had confused these -two marks, the comma and the full stop. Such an -error may be called, for mere convenience, <i>the comma -fault</i>. It is readily seen that of all possible mistakes -in punctuation, the comma fault is the most serious -and elementary. To begin a new sentence after a -comma is an infallible sign of illiteracy.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—In the following passages, correct -the comma fault wherever it appears. Change -the sentences in other ways to give a more mature -tone to them.</p> - -<p>1. I don’t know what to do in such a case, it is -too hard to decide. [Change comma to semicolon.]</p> - -<p>2. Romeo fell in love at once, he couldn’t help -himself, he had never seen any person so lovable.</p> - -<p>3. So they also started for the forest of Arden -disguised as a countryman and woman, when they -got there they bought a house that was to be sold -at auction, once while wandering around they met -Orlando and Rosalind asked him if it was he that -was spoiling the trees by carving love sentences on -them, and he said it was, so she said he could pretend -that she was Rosalind, so he came there every -day until one day he was detained by seeing a lioness -just going to spring on Oliver.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Write a paragraph of six to ten short -sentences. Let the first state the whole event in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> -brief. Let the others give the steps of the action -tersely, rapidly, emphatically. Revise for spelling -and punctuation. Suggested topics:—</p> - -<ul> -<li>1. Shooting the rapids.</li> -<li>2. How the water comes down at the falls.</li> -<li>3. How the accident happened.</li> -<li>4. How a log-jam is broken.</li> -<li>5. The way to shoot a glass ball.</li> -<li>6. Down a hill on a wheel.</li> -<li>7. Sights from a car window.</li> -<li>8. A fall on the ice.</li> -<li>9. Shooting the “Chutes.”</li> -<li>10. A runaway.</li> -<li>11. A flash-light photograph.</li> -<li>12. How the bird (or game) escaped.</li> -<li>13. Paul Revere’s ride.</li> -<li>14. An exciting moment.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="tb"><b>II. Unity of Substance by Including all the Parts -of an Idea.</b>—It has already been said that a paragraph -may be composed of several very short sentences, -each one a main step of the paragraph, -each one a unit. For example:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>A great silence made itself felt. Then, on a sudden, a -dry sound cracked in the air. The viscount had slapped his -adversary’s face. Every one rose to interfere. Cards were -exchanged between the two.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Here, indeed, it may be that the second and third -sentences are halves of one idea, divided to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> -its parts more emphatic. At all events, while a -sentence may be very short and still constitute a -principal factor of the paragraph, sentences should -not be so brief that each is, so to speak, only half -a main thought. A main thought may be composite. -Thus, it is often effective (<i>a</i>) to <i>state</i> and to -<i>explain</i> an idea very briefly, within the one sentence; -(<i>b</i>) to show an extremely close relation of -<i>cause</i> and <i>effect</i>, by stating both within the one -sentence; (<i>c</i>) to <i>contrast</i> two things very briefly -within the one sentence.</p> - -<p>Now, a child gives his ideas in mere bits; he -cannot express the relations of the bits to each -other. For example:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>My aunt was a very large woman. My uncle was a very -thin man. He was very delicate. He dwindled. I mean, -he got thinner and punier every day. And my aunt thought -a great deal of him. She wished him to get well. She gave -him a great deal of medicine. She gave him so much that -he began to get worse. He finally died.</p> - -</div> - -<p>This paragraph tells the story of how a woman -doctored her husband to death. The writer has -made eight steps in the story, which perhaps has -not really more than four main parts: (1) The -<i>contrast</i> between my aunt and uncle. (2) My uncle -“dwindled”—<i>explained</i> by saying he got punier -daily. (3) My aunt’s love, and its <i>consequence</i>—her -wish for my uncle’s recovery. (4) The form -the wish took,—giving of medicine. (5) The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> -twofold result,—aggravation of the disease, then -death.</p> - -<p>The original sentences may be combined into -four. In combining them, what pointing shall be -used instead of so many full stops? We may use -commas, but only if we make one clause dependent -or join two clauses or propositions by a conjunction. -We may say, for example, “My aunt was a very -large woman, and my uncle a very thin, delicate -man.” We have inserted an <i>and</i>; this permits the -use of a comma. The result is a pretty good sentence, -having one complex idea,—the contrast -between the ample lady and her slight husband.</p> - -<p>But another invaluable means of showing the -real <i>factors</i> of the sentence is the semicolon. The -semicolon, as was said in Chapter <a href="#CHAPTER_III">III.</a>, is a kind of -weak full stop. Nearly always it connects statements -that are unrelated and independent grammatically, -but intimately related in sense. In a way,<a name="FNanchor_19" id="FNanchor_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> -the semicolon connects sentences, a period separates -sentences. The former sign is priceless to -the writer who, when he comes to expand each -idea of his paragraph, finds the structure growing -too complicated. He has merely to place a semicolon -and go ahead with a miniature new sentence, -which every reader will understand to be a part of -the logical unit in hand.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> - -<p>If we combine the eight sentences by the help -of the semicolon, we get four, somewhat like the -following:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>My aunt was a very large woman; my uncle, on the contrary, -was a very thin delicate man. He dwindled; that is, -he got thinner and punier every day. My aunt thought a -good deal of him, and naturally she wished him to get well. -She gave him, accordingly, a great deal of medicine. She -gave him so much indeed that he began to get worse; and, -finally, he died.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Most students do not use the semicolon enough. -Two or three semicolon clauses, however, are sufficient -for a very long sentence. If more are written -there is usually danger of encroaching upon the -next main thought of the paragraph. <i>It is better to -write too many short sentences than too many long -ones.</i></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Consider the following paragraph, -and decide whether the main thoughts of it are nine, -as here indicated, or four. If four, the thoughts -are: (1) Contrast between light above and dark -below. (2) The growing dark. (3) The faint, -weird sights and sounds that come to the narrator. -(4) His retreat from the abbey. If, having given -the matter careful thought, you think there should -be but four sentences, or if you think there is any -other fault in the punctuation, explain how you -would repoint.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The last beams of day were now faintly streaming through -the painted windows in the high vaults above me. The -lower parts of the abbey were already wrapped in the obscurity -of twilight. The chapels and aisles grew darker and -darker. The effigies of the kings faded into shadows. The -marble figures of the monuments assumed strange shapes in -the uncertain light. The evening breeze crept through the -aisles like the cold breath of the grave. And even the distant -footfall of a verger, traversing the Poet’s Corner, had -something strange and dreary in its sound. I slowly retraced -my morning’s walk. And as I passed out at the -portal of the cloisters, the door, closing with a jarring noise -behind me, filled the whole building with echoes.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Punctuation for Emphasis.</b>—Below are given three -ways of punctuating the same words. We may suppose -the same words to be used by three different -generals.</p> - -<p>1. General A. twirled his moustache, and spoke -softly, in his calm, unruffled way, as if he were -explaining a mathematical problem to a cadet; he -said to the soldier, “You are a coward: you shrink, -you dodge, you hide, you run away when the danger -comes.” He spoke meditatively, and with a -little drawl, letting his voice rise at each pause.</p> - -<p>2. General B. looked at the soldier steadily, and -said in a sharp, decided tone: “You are a coward: -you shrink; you dodge; you hide; you run away -when the danger comes.”</p> - -<p>3. General C. sprang up from his camp-stool, -angry and indignant. He spoke explosively and -incoherently. “You are a coward! You shrink.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> -You dodge. You hide. You run away when the -danger comes.”</p> - -<p>Evidently the punctuation here is largely dependent -on the different states of mind. A calm, -logical attitude is reflected in the nice distinctions -conveyed by the colon and comma. An excited -mood over-emphasizes each detail, and makes it a -sentence. There is sometimes need of indignant -emphasis on each detail. Perhaps therefore the -strict unity of the sentence may sometimes be -sacrificed for the sake of emphasis. Such a sacrifice -however should very rarely be made.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Consider the following paragraph -as a whole, and decide whether the sentences represent -the main factors of the paragraph-thought. -If you agree that “the song of a young girl’s voice” -is as important in the paragraph as several of the -other songs put together, how can this importance -be indicated by punctuation?</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The first thing which Tom saw was the black cedars, high -and sharp against the rosy dawn. And St. Brandan’s Isle -reflected double in the still broad silver sea. The wind sung -softly in the cedars, and the water sung among the caves. -The sea-birds sung as they streamed out into the ocean, and -the land-birds as they built among the boughs. And the -air was so full of song that it stirred St. Brandan and his -hermits, as they slumbered in the shade. And they moved -their good old lips, and sung their good old hymn amid their -dreams. But among all the songs one came across the water -more sweet and clear than all, for it was the song of a young -girl’s voice.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Write a paragraph of four sentences -on one of the following subjects. Let the first -sentence be a general statement. Then let each -of three compound sentences group together details, -and so explain the first.</p> - -<ul> -<li>1. The three parts of a tree, and their characteristics.</li> -<li>2. The three parts of my town.</li> -<li>3. A picture I like: its background, its figures, its coloring.</li> -<li>4. The lunch-room.</li> -<li>5. A sleeping-car: the car itself, the travellers, the porter.</li> -<li>6. Uses of a jack-knife: legitimate, illegitimate, doubtful.</li> -<li>7. Three men representing three kinds of true Americanism.</li> -<li>8. Three great men, typically English.</li> -<li>9. Three great men, typically Roman.</li> -<li>10. Three types of philanthropist.</li> -<li>11. Three kinds of coward.</li> -<li>12. Three kinds of hero.</li> -<li>13. Three noble American women.</li> -<li>14. Three women who write stories.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—In the seventeenth century -there were many authors whose minds were full of -Latin models. These writers tried to build up in -English, an uninflected language, sentences as complex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> -as those of Cicero. They tried to make the -sentence do the work of the paragraph. How -utterly they failed may be seen in the following -passages from Defoe and Lord Clarendon. Considering -each selection as a paragraph, rewrite with -reference to unity of substance in the sentence.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. There is one thing more remarkable in this parish, and -it is this: twenty-six sheets of lead, hanging all together, -were blown off from the middle isle of our church, and were -carried over the north isle, which is a very large one, without -touching it; and into the churchyard ten yards’ distance -from the church; and they were took up all joined together -as they were on the roof; the plumber told me that the -sheets weighed each three hundred and a half, one with -another. This is what is most observable in our parish: -but I shall give you an account of one thing (which perhaps -you may have from other hands) that happened in another, -called Kingscote, a little village about three miles from Tedbury, -and seven from us: where William Kingscote, Esq., -has many woods; among which was one grove of very tall -trees, being each near eighty foot high; the which he greatly -valued for the tallness and prospect of them, and therefore -resolved never to cut them down: but it so happened, that -six hundred of them, within the compass of five acres were -wholly blown down; (and supposed to be much at the same -time) each tree tearing up the ground with its root; so that -the roots of most of the trees, with the turf and earth about -them, stood up at least fifteen or sixteen foot high; the lying -down of which trees is an amazing sight to all beholders.—<i>Defoe.</i></p> - -<p>2. It is true, that as he<a name="FNanchor_20" id="FNanchor_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> was of a most incomparable gentleness, -application, and even submission to good and worthy -and entire men, so he was naturally (which could not be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> -more evident in his place, which objected him to another -conversation and intermixture than his own election would -have done) <i>adversus malos injucundus</i>; and was so ill a -dissembler of his dislike and disinclination to ill men, that it -was not possible for such not to discern it. There was once, -in the House of Commons, such a declared acceptation of -the good service an eminent member had done to them, and, -as they said, to the whole kingdom, that it was moved, he -being present, “That the speaker might, in the name of the -whole house, give him thanks, and then that every member -might, as a testimony of his particular acknowledgment, stir -or move his hat towards him;” the which (though not -ordered) when very many did, the lord Falkland (who -believed the service itself not to be of that moment, and -that an honourable and generous person could not have -stooped to it for any recompence) instead of moving his hat, -stretched both his arms out, and clasped his hands together -upon the crown of his hat, and held it close down to his -head; that all men might see, how odious that flattery was to -him, and that very approbation of the person, though at the -same time most popular.—<i>Clarendon.</i></p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the paragraphs by Hawthorne -(<a href="#Page_106">p. 106</a>), Macaulay, Webster, Huxley (<a href="#Page_107">pp. -107-8</a>) to see whether the sentences are units in substance. -Note also the different effects produced by -long and short sentences.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>III. A. Unity of Substance by Keeping to the -Point.</b>—In a hastily written manuscript will often -be found unlike ideas joined together in one sentence. -Some persons are worse than others in this -matter, but everybody, in composing rapidly, is -liable to the fault. It is amusingly easy to fly off<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> -at a tangent, if the parts of the paragraph have not -been properly thought out. The mind often works -erratically; it is pursuing a given idea when some -word used suggests a different line of thinking and -the train is switched off its track.</p> - -<p>Cardinal Newman once wrote a burlesque of this -scatter-brained kind of writing. He pretends that -the lad is writing a theme on the topic, “Fortune favors -the brave.” In the midst of it the boy says:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Napoleon, too, shows us how little we can rely on fortune; -but his faults, great as they were, are being redeemed -by his nephew, Louis Napoleon, who has shown himself -very different from what was expected, though he has never -explained how he came to swear to the constitution, and -then mounted the imperial throne.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Here the writer has not committed the comma -fault; he has not begun an independent sentence -after a comma. But he has set down ideas irrelevant -to the sentence, and, in this case, irrelevant -even to the theme.</p> - -<p>This lack of unity often arises from putting -down, as the sentence proceeds, the details that -occur parenthetically to the writer; he empties his -mind upon the paper. Thus:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>My aunt happened to notice, as she stood looking into -the glass and thinking how pretty she was, for she was -really pretty for one so old, that the eyes of a portrait or -one of the eyes was moving, for my aunt had a large picture -of my uncle in her room in her country-house, which was -in Derbyshire.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>B.</b> Many a sentence which ends in an irrelevant -clause can be made to show unity by the insertion of -some intermediate link that occurred in the mind -but was overlooked in the writing. “Johnson wrote -political articles, and took care that the Whigs did -not get the best of it,” becomes a unit if we supply -a few words: “Johnson wrote political articles, <i>and -in those which referred to parliamentary debates</i> took -care that the Whigs did not get the best of it.” -In other words, a sentence must not merely -include the <i>expressed</i> parts of a main thought, -as in the second kind of unity of substance; it -must <i>express</i> every part of the main thought.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Trim the following sentences -into shape, so that each shall be a unit. If necessary, -divide the sentence.</p> - -<p>1. He was young; but his foolishness stood him -in good stead.</p> - -<p>2. The cholera in Egypt is assuming a more -loathsome form, among the dead being Major -Roddy Owen, the famous Uganda explorer.</p> - -<p>3. The delegates, wearied by the excitement of -the past week, have hurried to their homes, a -few remaining for all the business men have -been making unusual displays in spite of the hard -times.</p> - -<p>4. The new light is placed upon a gas-jet, which -supplies the gas to a curious film, which is made of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> -some chemically prepared substance that becomes -incandescent, not having to be changed oftener -than twice a year, if you are careful with it.</p> - -<p>5. The electric lights, which are of the Edison -pattern, are not burned later than six o’clock. -They are more convenient than gas, and they come -packed in straw.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise, in Review.</b>—Decide whether the -following sentences are units or not. Indicate -which form of sentence unity each has or lacks. -Suggest improvements.</p> - -<p>1. In the midst of life we are in death, and it -has been said that the tariff is a tax.</p> - -<p>2. Jesu! Jesu! Dead!—he drew a good bow;—and -dead!—he shot a fine shoot:—John of -Gaunt loved him well, and betted much money on -his head.—<i>2 Henry IV.</i>, Act III., Sc. 2, l. 48.</p> - -<p>3. He had one claw knobbed and the other -jagged; and Tom delighted in watching him hold -on to the sea-weed with his knobbed claw, while -he cut up salads with his jagged one, and then put -them into his mouth, after smelling at them, like a -monkey, and always the little barnacles threw out -their casting nets and swept the water, and came -in for their share of whatever there was for dinner.</p> - -<p>4. We were now thoroughly broken down, but -the intense excitement of the time denied us repose, -and after a unique slumber of some three or four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> -hours’ duration, we arose, as if by preconcert, to -make examination of our treasure.</p> - -<p>5. Thou didst swear to me upon a parcel-gilt -[partly-gilt] goblet, sitting in my Dolphin-chamber, -at the round table, by a sea-coal fire, upon Wednesday -in Whitsun week, when the prince broke thy -head for likening his father to a singing man of -Windsor; thou didst swear to me then, as I was -washing thy wound, to marry me, and make me -my lady thy wife.—<i>2 Henry IV.</i>, Act II., Sc. 1, -l. 94.</p> - -<p>6. There was something in the tone of this note -which gave me great uneasiness. Its whole style -differed materially from that of Legrand; what -could he be dreaming of? what new crotchet possessed -his excitable brain? what “business of the -highest importance” could <i>he</i> possibly have to transact? -Jupiter’s account of him boded no good; I -dreaded lest the continued pressure of misfortune -had, at length, fairly unsettled the reason of my -friend; without a moment’s hesitation, therefore, -I prepared to accompany the negro.</p> - -<p>7. And in that country is an old castle, that -stands upon a rock, the which is cleped the Castle -of the sparrowhawk, that is beyond the city of -Layas, beside the town of Parsipee, that belongeth -to the lordship of Cruk; that<a name="FNanchor_21" id="FNanchor_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> is a rich lord and -a good Christian man; where men find a sparrowhawk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> -upon a perch right fair, and right well made; -and a fair Lady of Fayryre, that keepeth it.—<i>Mandeville.</i></p> - -<p>8. And thus will the city have more lights on -the subject, and what will be a gain in lighting to -the city will be a greater loss in cash, and the city’s -loss will be the Water Works company’s gain, and -we are glad of it so far as the company is concerned, -for the company was put off and were refused a -renewal of its contract with the city at terms that -were most reasonable, and the company will also -make up for lost time now in good shape.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span class="smaller">ON WELL-KNIT SENTENCES</span></h2> - -<p>A sentence may be said to be well-knit if it -stands the following tests. It must have unity of -form; freedom from excessive looseness; a due -amount of emphasis; and climax, if climax is required. -All these technical terms need explanation.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Unity of Form.</b>—To be a unit of form, a sentence -must place subordinate thoughts in subordinate -clauses, and must keep one coherent -structure throughout.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Subordination of Clauses.</b>—In the early years -of a language, before it has been used to express -philosophy and science, the structure of the sentences -is loose and simple; it sounds like the -speech of a child. Here is a passage from a book -which appeared about 1370, as the <i>Voyage and -Travels of Sir John Mandeville</i>. There is some -doubt whether or not there was really a Sir John; -but these Travels are very interesting and curious -reading.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>And some men say that in the Isle of Lango is yet the -daughter of Hippocrates, in form and likeness of a great -dragon, that is a hundred fathom of length, as men say: -for I have not seen her. And they of the Isles call her, -Lady of the Land. And she lieth in an old castle, in a -cave, and sheweth twice or thrice in the year. And she -doth no harm to no man, but if men do her harm. And -she was thus changed and transformed, from a fair damsel, -into likeness of a dragon, by a goddess, that was cleped -Diana. And men say, that she shall so endure in that -form of a dragon, unto the time that a knight come, that -is so hardy, that dare come to her and kiss her on the -mouth: and then shall she turn again to her own kind, and -be a woman again. But after that she shall not live long.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Though much of the naïve, childlike quality of -this passage is due to the archaic phraseology, -much also is due to the use of <i>and</i> and <i>but</i> instead -of other conjunctions.</p> - -<p>In certain kinds of writing it is natural enough -that ideas should be strung together with <i>and</i>’s. -Thus: “It rained, and hailed, and blew, and snowed, -and froze, and they became weary of winter.” But -suppose that they did not weary of winter. The -sentence then would run, “Though it rained, and -hailed, and snowed, and froze, they did not become -weary of winter.” Here we have ceased the mere -enumeration of things that happened, one after -the other, and have stated a process of reasoning. -The result is a complex sentence. The ability to -construct good complex sentences means ability to -do careful thinking.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> - -<p>In every complex sentence there is some one -<i>proposition</i> that ought to stand out, with the -high light upon it. This is the thing we most -wish to say; to change the comparison, it is the -heart of the sentence. If the other parts can -be made subordinate to it, the strongest kind of -sentence unity is secured. In the sentence, “It -rained; it snowed; it hailed; they did not weary -of winter,” all the assertions are stated as equally -important. But, clearly enough, the last one is the -kernel of the sentence. Therefore the preceding -clauses ought to be reduced to their proper rank -by being made dependent.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the following compound -sentences, to decide whether or not there is in each -some important thought to which the others ought -to have been subordinated. Then improve the -unity by reducing the subordinate ideas to dependent -clauses having a participle, or a relative adverb -like <i>when</i>.</p> - -<p>1. Love is blind; it is not for want of eyes.</p> - -<p>2. The soldiers were perhaps somewhat sleepy -with the sultriness of the afternoon; they had -now laid by much of their vigilance.</p> - -<p>3. I spied an honest fellow coming along a lane, -and asked him if he had ever heard of a house -called the house of Shaws.</p> - -<p>4. The next person I came across was a dapper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> -little man in a beautiful white wig; I knew well that -barbers were great gossips, and I asked him plainly -what kind of a man was Mr. Balfour of the Shaws.</p> - -<p>5. In these days folk still believed in witches -and trembled at a curse; and this curse fell pat, -like a wayside omen, to arrest me; it took the pith -out of my legs.</p> - -<p>6. I was called in at last; my uncle counted out -into my hand seven and thirty golden guinea pieces.</p> - -<p>7. I had come close to one of the turns in the -stair; I felt my way as usual; my hand slipped -upon an edge and found nothing but emptiness -beyond it.</p> - -<p>8. I returned to the kitchen; I made up such a -blaze as had not shone there for many a long year; -I wrapped myself in my plaid; I lay down upon -the chests and fell asleep.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The So Construction.</b>—The conjunction <i>so</i> is a -useful word, and the learner prefers it to its synonyms, -<i>therefore</i> and <i>consequently</i>, because it is -simpler, less formal than either. But in a narrative -which is liberally besprinkled with <i>so</i>’s the -reader feels that the simplicity is overdone. Here -is an extreme example.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>A short time afterward my uncle died; so my aunt went -to her country-house in Derbyshire. She did not wish to be -alone in the country; so she took her servants. When they -got there they found the house very lonely; so the maids -did not want to stay, but they did.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span></p> - -<p>Examine the sentences just quoted, and show -the relations between the clauses by other devices -than the use of <i>so</i>.</p> - -<p><i>So</i>, as a conjunction, should be employed very -sparingly. When it is employed, it should usually -be preceded by <i>a semicolon rather than a comma</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—A careful writer is known by -his use of conjunctions: he does not use <i>and</i> unless -the clauses joined are co-ordinate; nor <i>but</i> unless -there is a real opposition; nor a given subordinate -conjunction unless it is actually required by logic. -In the subjoined selections from Ruskin the original -conjunctions have been changed to those in italics. -Find better expressions for those italicized.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. In employing all the muscular power at our disposal -we are to make the employments we choose as educational -as possible. <i>Consequently</i> a wholesome human employment -is the first and best method of education, mental as -well as bodily. A man taught to plough, row, or steer well, -<i>moreover</i> a woman taught to cook properly, and make a -dress neatly, are already educated in many essential moral -habits. Labour considered as a discipline has hitherto been -thought of only for criminals, <i>therefore</i> the real and noblest -function of labour is to prevent crime, <i>but</i> not to be <i>Re</i>formatory, -but Formatory.—<span class="smcap">Ruskin.</span></p> - -<p>2. We must spend our money in some way, at some time, -<i>accordingly</i> it cannot at any time be spent without employing -somebody. <i>While</i> we gamble it away, the person who -wins it must spend it; <i>while</i> we lose it in a railroad speculation, -it has gone into some one else’s pockets, or merely -gone to pay navvies for making a useless embankment, <i>but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> -not</i> to pay riband or button makers for making useless -ribands or buttons; we cannot lose it (unless by actually -destroying it) <i>and not give</i> employment of some kind; -<i>nevertheless</i> whatever quantity of money exists, the relative -quantity of employment must some day come out of it; -<i>and</i> the distress of the nation signifies that the employments -given have produced nothing that will support its existence. -Men cannot live on ribands, or buttons, or velvet, -or by going quickly from place to place; <i>but</i> every coin -spent in useless ornament, or useless motion, is so much -withdrawn from the national means of life.—<span class="smcap">Ruskin.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>One Coherent Structure.</b>—We have seen that to -be well-knit a sentence must have that unity of -form which gives every thought its proper clause-rank. -It must also be uniform in structure. There -should be no sudden, unnecessary change in subject, -or in the form of the verb. Sometimes a sentence -is pulled about by the mind as a child by a -cross nurse. It begins in the active voice, it is -twitched aside into the passive. It begins as the -act of one person, it ends as that of another. Even -so admirable a writer as John Fiske has this sentence: -“But Howe could not bear to acknowledge -the defeat of his attempts to storm, and accordingly, -at five o’clock, with genuine British persistency, -a third attack was ordered.” This “British -persistency” is evidently Howe’s. Why not give -him full credit for it, thus?—“But Howe could -not bear to acknowledge the defeat of his attempts -to storm, and accordingly, at five o’clock, with genuine -British persistency he ordered a third attack.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Change the following sentences -so that each shall have unity of form.</p> - -<p>1. A blue pencil? there is nothing so easy for -an editor to manage, so unmistakable in reading, so -wholly impressive to a contributor when he sees it.</p> - -<p>2. Tom and East became good friends, and the -tyranny of a certain insolent fellow was sturdily -resisted by them together.</p> - -<p>3. You will see no sudden jerks of the <i>St. Ambrose</i> -rudder, nor will any clumsy rounding of a -point be seen.</p> - -<p>4. Miller, motionless till now, lifts his right -hand and the tassel is whirled round his head.</p> - -<p>5. Thorold had just read the account of John -Inglesant’s vision of the dead King Charles. He -disliked the idea of spending the night in the old -country house, and still more to go through the -tapestried chamber; but it was immediately determined -by him that such an invitation must not -be refused.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Loose Sentence.</b>—The passage given at the -beginning of the chapter, from Mandeville, is written -in what are called loose sentences. <i>Loose</i> as -applied to a sentence, does not necessarily mean -that the sentence is bad,—that it is rambling or -disjointed. A loose sentence is one in which -an independent statement comes first, followed by -others, dependent or independent. Example:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> -“And some men say that in the Isle of Lango is -yet the daughter of Hippocrates, in form and likeness -of a great dragon, that is a hundred fathom of -length, as men say: for I have not seen her.” In -this sentence comes first a proposition,—“And -some men say,” followed by several subordinate -clauses, and by one independent clause,—“for I -have not seen her.” The test of a loose sentence -is a grammatical one: the sentence can be closed at -some point before the end, without hurting the -grammatical structure. At what places in the -sentence just quoted is the grammatical structure -complete?</p> - -<p>The loose sentence is used freely in conversation. -The speaker gives his main idea first, and qualifies -it afterward. Therefore the legitimate effect of -the loose sentence is to lend an air of simplicity, -a colloquial air, to the style. The danger is that -it may become a mere sequence of clauses, that -dangle insecurely, each from the preceding, like -needles hanging from a magnet. Avoid long loose -sentences.</p> - -<p>Examine the sentence by Defoe, <a href="#Page_89">p. 89</a>. It is a -fine example of what a loose sentence should not be.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Periodic Sentence.</b>—In the sentence, “A -short time afterward my uncle died; so my aunt -went to her country-house in Derbyshire,” the -grammatical structure is complete at “died.” But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> -if the two clauses be welded together by <i>because</i>, -they will no longer be grammatically free. Thus: -“<i>Because my uncle died shortly afterward, my aunt -went to her country-house in Derbyshire.</i>” This -sentence is periodic in form. A periodic sentence -is a complex sentence in which the modifiers of -the verb precede the verb. The effect of this -structure is to delay the main idea of the sentence -until the last.<a name="FNanchor_22" id="FNanchor_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> Obviously, if too many -subordinate ideas occur before the main one, the -mind of the reader will weary with the tension -of expectation. Short periodic sentences however -are extremely effective in arousing the reader’s -attention and holding it till the important idea -is stated. It is plain that good periodic structure -is highly conducive to unity in the sentence: each -subordinate idea is held in its proper place of subordination -till the main idea is stated, and on the -reader is flashed a pleasant sense that the structure -has grown naturally into one complete whole.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the oral exercise on -pages 98, 99, and say which sentences were made -periodic in the effort to improve their unity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Below are given some good periodic -sentences.<a name="FNanchor_23" id="FNanchor_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> Give equivalent loose sentences. -Decide whether or not the loose are better than -the periodic.</p> - -<p>1. At this moment a large, comfortable white -house, that had been heretofore hidden by green -trees, came into view.</p> - -<div class="blockquote smaller"> - -<p>[Changed, this might read: “A large, comfortable white -house had been heretofore hidden by green trees; it came -into view at this moment.”]</p> - -</div> - -<p>2. Off went Timothy’s hat.</p> - -<p>3. And it was to this household that Timothy -had brought his child for adoption.</p> - -<p>4. Gay, not being used to a regular morning -toilet, had fought against it valiantly at first.</p> - -<p>5. If you care to feel a warm glow in the region -of your heart, imagine little Timothy Jessup sent -to play in that garden.</p> - -<p>6. Yet of an evening, or on Sunday, she was no -village gossip.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The following passage, from -Hawthorne, is written in excellent loose sentences. -Change to periodic all of them that can be so -changed without hurting the ease of structure. -Whatever else it be, a periodic sentence should -never be strained or unnatural.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Then Theseus bent himself in good earnest to the task, -and strained every sinew with manly strength and resolution. -He put his whole brave heart into the effort. He wrestled -with the big and sluggish stone as if it had been a living -enemy. He heaved, he lifted, he resolved now to succeed, -or else to perish there, and let the rock be his monument -forever! Æthra stood gazing at him, and clasped her hands, -partly with a mother’s pride, and partly with a mother’s sorrow. -The great rock stirred! Yes, it was raised slowly -from the bedded moss and earth, uprooting the shrubs and -flowers along with it, and was turned upon its side. Theseus -had conquered!</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Inappropriate Periodicity.</b>—It is foolish to use an -elaborate suspended structure when a very simple -thought or a very rapid narrative is to be given. -Note the pomposity of the following sentences. -Remove it by changing the structure.</p> - -<p>“Three summers ago, to rejoin my family in -northern Michigan, I left the city. On a little -peninsula which juts out into Lake Michigan, a -group of houses, dignified by the name of Edgewood, -stands. Undistracted by the bustle of hotel -life, a few sensible people live here. To get away -from town for a few days and lounge in the pine -woods about Edgewood, to me is always very -pleasant.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the following sentences -one by one, and say whether each is (<i>a</i>) wholly -periodic, (<i>b</i>) wholly loose, or (<i>c</i>) partly loose and -partly periodic. When the last is the case, show -at what point the change of structure occurs.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. He who walks in the way these following ballads point -will be manful in necessary fight, fair in trade, loyal in love, -generous to the poor, tender in the household, prudent in -living, plain in speech, merry upon occasion, simple in behavior, -and honest in all things.—<span class="smcap">Lanier.</span></p> - -<p>2. While Johnson was busied with his <i>Idlers</i>, his mother, -who had accomplished her ninetieth year, died at Lichfield. -It was long since he had seen her; but he had not failed to -contribute largely, out of his small means, to her comfort. -In order to defray the charges of her funeral, and to pay -some debts which she had left, he wrote a little book in a -single week, and sent off the sheets to the press without -reading them over. A hundred pounds were paid him for -the copyright; and the purchasers had great cause to be -pleased with their bargain, for the book was “Rasselas.”—<span class="smcap">Macaulay</span>: -<i>Life of Johnson</i>.</p> - -<p>3. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever -things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever -things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, -whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any -virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.—<i>Philippians.</i></p> - -<p>4. “Sir, you may destroy this little institution; it is -weak; it is in your hands! I know it is one of the lesser -lights in the literary horizon of our country. You may put -it out. But, if you do so, you must carry through your -work! You must extinguish, one after another, all those -greater lights of science which, for more than a century, -have thrown their radiance over our land! It is, Sir, as I -have said, a small college. And yet there are those who -love it.”—<span class="smcap">Webster.</span></p> - -<p>5. Sir, let me recur to pleasing recollections; let me -indulge in refreshing remembrance of the past; let me remind -you that, in early times, no States cherished greater -harmony, both of principle and feeling, than Massachusetts -and South Carolina. Would to God that harmony might -again return! Shoulder to shoulder they went through the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> -Revolution; hand in hand they stood round the administration -of Washington, and felt his own great arm lean on -them for support. Unkind feeling, if it exist, alienation -and distrust, are the growth, unnatural to such soils, of -false principles since sown. They are weeds, the seeds of -which that same great arm never scattered.—<span class="smcap">Webster.</span></p> - -<p>6. That man, I think, has had a liberal education, who -has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready -servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the -work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect -is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal -strength, and in smooth working order; ready, like a -steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin -the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; -whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and -fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of her operations; -one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, -but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous -will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to -love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to hate all vileness, -and to respect others as himself.—<span class="smcap">Huxley.</span></p> - -<p>7. If then the power of speech is a gift as great as any -that can be named,—if the origin of language is by many -philosophers even considered to be nothing short of divine,—if -by means of words the secrets of the heart are brought -to light, pain of soul is relieved, hidden grief is carried off, -sympathy conveyed, counsel imparted, experience recorded, -and wisdom perpetuated,—if by great authors the many -are drawn up into unity, national character is fixed, a -people speaks, the past and the future, the East and the -West are brought into communication with each other,—if -such men are, in a word, the spokesmen and prophets of -the human family,—it will not answer to make light of -Literature or to neglect its study; rather we may be sure -that, in proportion as we master it in whatever language, -and imbibe its spirit, we shall ourselves become in our own -measure the ministers of like benefits to others, be they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> -many or few, be they in the obscurer or the more distinguished -walks of life,—who are united to us by social ties, -and are within the sphere of our personal influence.—<span class="smcap">Cardinal -Newman.</span><a name="FNanchor_24" id="FNanchor_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Each of the passages given above -should be read aloud as a whole, to get the effects -produced by the different types of sentence. In -the first passage note that the first clause arouses -interest by the periodic structure. So do the -first and third sentences in the second passage; -but the third and fourth—loose—have a fine simplicity -that adds to the weight of their subject -matter. The third passage moves up steadily to -an impressive point,—the word <i>think</i>. The fourth -passage is extremely direct and earnest. Webster -is pleading for his <i>Alma Mater</i>, Dartmouth; is -making an appeal, straight from his heart. Almost -choked with emotion, he has no desire to frame -periodic sentences and nicely subordinated clauses. -In the fifth passage he is perhaps equally direct; -but he is master of himself, and his sentences are -somewhat more elaborate. In the sixth passage, -Huxley gets a steadily increasing strength of -thought, but not of structure. Cardinal Newman, -on the other hand, builds up his period with superb -suspense both of form and thought.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Change the sentence by Huxley -into the periodic form. This can be done by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> -changing the order of clauses, and beginning each -subordinate clause with <i>if</i>, or with <i>suppose</i>, or with -a relative.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Emphasis in the Sentence.</b>—A sentence cannot -be called well-knit if it does not succeed in calling -most attention to the most important idea. We -have seen already how important it is to put the -unimportant parts of the sentence into subordinate -clauses. How may further emphasis be -had?</p> - -<p>The beginning and the end of the sentence are -the most prominent places. Important words -should usually stand in these places. Rarely -should these points be covered up with trivial -expressions. Compare two sentences. “As a matter -of fact, it is bread, rather than advice, that -people actually need, in this city.” “Bread it is, -rather than advice, that, in this city, people actually -need.”</p> - -<p>Attention can always be called to a word by -placing it out of the ordinary, commonplace order. -The <i>inverted</i> order, where verb precedes the noun, -or predicate adjective precedes the verb, frequently -permits emphasis to be put just where it is wanted. -The oft-quoted example is as good a one as can -be found: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” -How much better it is, how much <i>greater</i> the cry -is than, “Diana of the Ephesians is great!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Which of the following sentences -from Ruskin begin and end with words that deserve -distinction?<a name="FNanchor_25" id="FNanchor_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p> - -<p>“For all books are divisible into two classes,—the -books of the hour, and the books of all time. Mark -this distinction; it is not one of quality only. It -is not merely the bad book that does not last, and -the good one that does; it is a distinction of species. -There are good books for the hour, and good ones -for all time; bad books for the hour, and bad ones -for all time. I must define the two kinds before I -go farther.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Change the order of words in the -following sentences so as to throw more emphasis -on the italicized words. Avoid infringement of -English idiom in making the changes.</p> - -<p>1. It is <i>courage</i> that wins.</p> - -<p>2. Never say <i>die</i>, under any circumstances.</p> - -<p>3. Yet he stood <i>beautiful and bright</i>, as born to -rule the storm.</p> - -<p>4. A rascal, <i>nothing more or less</i>, he was.</p> - -<p>5. Gilpin went <i>away</i>, and the post boy went -<i>away</i>.</p> - -<p>6. The English child is <i>white as an angel</i>.</p> - -<p>7.</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">When wild northwesters rave <i>on stormy nights</i></div> -<div class="verse">With wind and wave <i>how proud a thing</i> to fight.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span></p> - -<p>8. What a piece of work <i>man</i> is!</p> - -<p>9. Trafalgar lay, full in face, <i>bluish</i> mid the -burning water.</p> - -<p>10. He repeatedly pronounced <i>these words</i>, and -they were the last which he uttered.</p> - -<p>11. The king said, “<i>Alas</i>, help me from hence.”</p> - -<p>12. Man is <i>the paragon of animals</i>, the beauty of -the world.</p> - -<p>13. What a place an old <i>library</i> is to be in. It -seems as though all the souls of all the writers -that have bequeathed their labors to these Bodleians, -as in some <i>middle state</i> or dormitory, were -reposing here. I do not want to handle, to profane -their <i>winding sheet</i>, the leaves. I could a <i>shade</i> as -soon dislodge.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Climax.</b>—The principle of climax demands that -in a series of related terms the weaker degree -should precede the stronger. Southey says of Lord -Nelson’s being permitted to live to hear the news -of his great victory: “That consolation, that joy, -that triumph, was afforded him.” By these three -nouns the reader ascends, as if by a ladder—climax -is merely Greek for ladder. Endeavor to discover -the original order in which the following sentences -were written to secure climax. Changing them by -slight omissions, weave them together into two -sentences.</p> - -<p>“The most triumphant death is that of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> -martyr. The most splendid death is that of the -hero in the hour of victory. If the chariot and -the horses of fire had been vouchsafed for Nelson’s -translation, he could scarcely have departed -in a brighter blaze of glory. The most -awful death is that of the martyred patriot. -He has left us, not indeed his mantle of inspiration, -but an example which will continue to be our -shield and our strength, and a name which is our -pride—an example and a name which are at this -hour inspiring hundreds of the youth of England.”</p> - -<p>Which of the sentences quoted on <a href="#Page_107">pages 107, 108</a>, -have climax of thought?</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span class="smaller">ON ORGANIZING THE THEME</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>Different Ways of Planning.</b>—There are various -kinds of composition,—description, narration, argument, -and others. These will be treated one by -one in later chapters. Each kind has laws of its -own. Each has its own vocabulary, which may -well be studied apart from other vocabularies. So, -too, each type calls for special methods of organization. -For the present, only a few principles of -planning, applicable to all types alike, need be considered.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Growth of a Thought.</b>—When a thought is -first conceived, it is always misty, dim, nebulous.<a name="FNanchor_26" id="FNanchor_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> -When we speak of having a “general notion,” a -“vague notion,” we usually mean that a thought is -just beginning. If it receives attention, it emerges -from the nebulous condition and forms into several -definite thoughts. Or, to change the figure, it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> -grows and branches. Suppose that the mind -awakes to the vague notion that the room is getting -cold. <i>Cold</i> is the undeveloped root from which -may presently branch off such thoughts as these: -“Yes, it is really cold. In fact, I feel cold all over. -My hands are blue, and I am shivering. Besides, -Horace over there is standing with his back to the -radiator, and so he too must be cold.” The thought -has grown into several sentences. <i>Cold</i> branched -into <i>I am cold all over</i>, and this also sent off two -shoots—<i>My hands are blue, and I am shivering.</i> -Then the mind stopped this line of branching, and -out from the stock sprang a new branch: <i>Horace is -standing with his back to the radiator</i>; and then this -sends off the branch <i>and so he too must be cold</i>. -Try to draw a picture to represent the process that -has gone on.</p> - -<p>Now, the whole growth of a thought—stock and -branches—can sometimes be expressed within -the limits of one grammatical sentence. If there -are too many thoughts for this, they are put into -separate sentences, and the whole is called a miniature -composition, or isolated paragraph.</p> - -<p>Exactly as a paragraph grows, so a long composition -may grow out of one vague idea. Some ideas -have in them only enough matter to be developed -into a paragraph. Others are germs from which -whole books might grow. “That apple looks good” -would probably develop into a short paragraph;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> -but, “it is strange that that apple should fall to the -earth instead of away from it” might blossom into -a great system of natural philosophy. If a nebulous -idea has in it the making of a long theme, it -will develop into main parts if the attention be -fixed keenly upon it. These are paragraph nebulæ, -which will subdivide into sentences. Or, to vary -the figure, the main thought will send out main -branches (paragraphs) which will send off lesser -ones (sentences).</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Unity.</b>—Although thought grows, one must keep -in mind that it does not always grow to fruit unless -it is trained and pruned. Thought loves to branch, -and unless restrained by a stern sense of logic, it -will often end in a mere tangle of superfluous twigs -and leaves. To speak less figuratively, every writer -is in danger of setting down matters suggested by -the subject in hand but not logically related to it. -This is as true of a large piece of work as of a -sentence (compare <a href="#Page_90">page 90</a>). Every theme, like -every sentence, should have unity. It should be -the development of one idea—a large, complex -idea, if you please, but, nevertheless, one. No -matter how long or how short the whole, it must -all concern the different phases of one thing -or one thought. It should grow naturally from -one germ. Every part in it should bear on the -central idea of the whole—so that, after reading<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> -any given sentence, the reader can see a real connection -between title and sentence. A well-organized -composition cannot spare any part; each is -essential to its life. Milton said, “Almost as well -kill a man as kill a good book”; and we may -adapt this idea to the structure of the theme. A -good composition is so well organized that if you -cut it anywhere it will bleed.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Planning a Paragraph.</b>—Before writing a paragraph, -try to think out the whole of it. Let the -thought grow in the mind before you let it grow -on paper. This method will afford a chance to review -the whole mentally and to determine whether -the thoughts follow each other logically.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Topic Sentence.</b>—When an after-dinner -speaker rises to respond to a toast, he generally -announces his topic at once, or after a sentence or -two of introduction. He is very likely also to announce -at once his chief thought about the subject; -for he knows that people like to hear him come to -the point. If however he has reason to think -that his hearers may not agree with him immediately, -he is likely to state his subject first, and -then lead up gradually to his own conclusion -about it.</p> - -<p>We naturally follow some such course in writing. -With each paragraph we begin a new speech, as it -were. It is a matter both of courtesy and of economy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> -if in each we state definitely what we are -talking about. The topic sentence of a paragraph -ordinarily states the general <i>subject</i>, or else declares -the general <i>thought</i>, i.e. <i>conclusion</i>, of the -whole. It is generally short, because emphatic.</p> - -<p>The following paragraph shows its general <i>subject</i> -in the opening sentence.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>A Tree-Planting Association has been organized in New -York City. The Association will be organized with twelve -or more members on a block, who will form a local club -under the Association. A tree-planting association may, in -this city, fail to plant trees, but it certainly will encourage -the planting of window boxes, the fencing of unused lots, -the painting of fences to the exclusion of posters, and the -general care of the public street. Back yards will assume -some relation to the general good of the community, and -trees, vines, and flowers will find place in them. The children -will be taught to care for the appearance of the block, -and chalk-marks and other defacements will soon disappear, -because of new-born civic pride.—<i>The Outlook.</i></p> - -</div> - -<p>In the following paragraph, Macaulay does not -state his topic till the second sentence. The first -is a general remark by way of introduction.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>One of the first objects of an inquirer, who wishes to -form a correct notion of the state of a community at a given -time, must be to ascertain of how many persons that community -then consisted. <i>Unfortunately the population of -England in 1685, cannot be ascertained with perfect accuracy.</i> -For no great state had then adopted the wise course -of periodically numbering the people. All men were left -to conjecture for themselves; and, as they generally conjectured -without examining facts, and under the influence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> -of strong passions and prejudices, their guesses were often -ludicrously absurd. Even intelligent Londoners ordinarily -talked of London as containing several millions of souls. -It was confidently asserted by many that, during the thirty-five -years which had elapsed between the accession of Charles -the First and the Restoration, the population of the City had -increased by two millions. Even while the ravages of the -plague and fire were recent, it was the fashion to say that -the capital still had a million and a half of inhabitants. -Some persons, disgusted by these exaggerations, ran violently -into the opposite extreme. Thus Isaac Vossius, a -man of undoubted parts and learning, strenuously maintained -that there were only two millions of human beings -in England, Scotland, and Ireland taken together.—<span class="smcap">Macaulay</span>: -<i>History of England, Chapter III</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<p>In the following paragraph, the topic sentence -states the general <i>thought</i> of the whole.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The appetite of this fish is almost insatiable. Mr. Jesse -threw to one pike of five pounds’ weight, four roach, each -about four inches in length, which it devoured instantly, and -swallowed<a name="FNanchor_27" id="FNanchor_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> a fifth within a quarter of an hour. Moor-hens, -ducks, and even swans have been known to fall a prey to -this voracious fish, its long teeth effectually keeping them -prisoners under water until drowned.—<span class="smcap">Dr. J. G. Wood.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p>The following paragraph states in the topic sentence -the general <i>subject</i>, in the last sentence the -<i>general thought</i>, which has grown out of the subject.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Two years ago the Boston School Board encouraged the -establishment of cheap luncheons in the schools. Up to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> -present time this has been considered an experiment. It is -now conceded that the experimental stage is passed, and -that cheap, nutritious school luncheons can successfully be -provided, and are in demand.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The following shows how the first sentence of a -paragraph may be made to include the general topic.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>I cite as an instance of <i>the absence of vandalism in -Japan</i> the experience of a Japanese friend of mine who -lived on a street near and parallel to the busiest street in -Tokio. He had placed in his front gate, bordering immediately -upon the sidewalk, an exquisite panel carved in -delicate tracery and nearly two hundred years old. Such -a specimen would be placed in our Museums of Art under -lock and key. On my expressing surprise that he would -expose so precious a relic without fear that some heedless -boy might break off a twig, or otherwise deface it, he -assured me it was quite as safe there as in his library. -Three years afterwards I chanced to be in Japan again, and -though my friend was dead, and a stranger occupied the -premises, I was led to seek the place to ascertain the condition -of the delicate wood-carving. It was absolutely uninjured, -though slightly bleached by the weather, and this -in the great commercial city of Tokio, with a population of -over one million.—<span class="smcap">Edward S. Morse.</span><a name="FNanchor_28" id="FNanchor_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a></p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Kinds of Paragraphs.</b>—What can be said within -the limits of a paragraph? The same things that -can be said in a sentence, but more fully. We need -to consider here only a few of these. The sentences -may repeat the substance of the topic sentence, -adding something new. Or, if the paragraph states -the general conclusion first, the succeeding sentences<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> -may give the needed particulars, or illustrations, -or examples, or proofs. Once more, the -paragraph may open with the statement of a -<i>cause</i>, this being followed by the statement of a -necessary <i>effect</i>. Or, the paragraph as a whole -may develop a <i>contrast</i>. Or, it may consist of a -group of sentences that narrate the particulars of -some event, or describe some scene.</p> - -<p>The following paragraph exhibits a single thought -by repetition.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>A true critic must love the subject-matter of literature. -He must care for its message. The theme of the story, the -thing the author was trying to say, must not escape him. -The form of the thing is much, but the soul is more.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The following gives a general thought first, then -the particulars.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>That farm bore every manner of fruit known to the -climate. There were apples, a score of varieties, from -the snow apple that burned among the leaves, and when -bitten revealed a flesh so white that you kept biting it lest -the juice should discolor it, to the great cold autumn fruits -that were resonant beneath the snap of your finger. There -were opulent pears, distilling the golden sun into their -bottles. There were plums, the kind that succeed. Grapes -there were, and quinces, and peaches,—the last not so -prolific as the apples, but a very worthy fruit.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The following gives a general thought, repeats -it, explains it, illustrates it, and so defends it.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>If it were only for a vocabulary, the scholar would be -covetous of action. Life is our dictionary. Years are well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> -spent in country labors; in town; in the insight into trades -and manufactures; in frank intercourse with many men -and women; in science; in art; to the one end of mastering -in all their facts a language by which to illustrate and -embody our perceptions. I learn immediately from any -speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty -or the splendor of his speech. Life lies behind us as the quarry -from whence we get tiles and copestones for the masonry -of to-day. This is the way to learn grammar. Colleges and -books only copy the language which the field and the work-yard -made.—<span class="smcap">Emerson.</span></p> - -</div> - -<p>The following gives cause and effect:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The King could not see that there were two Englands—that -of himself and North, and that of Burke and Chatham. -The result was inevitable. A third England sprang up -across the sea.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The following sets up a quaint contrast. The -passage is from Dr. Johnson’s allegory on <i>Wit and -Learning</i>:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Their conduct was, whenever they desired to recommend -themselves to distinction, entirely opposite. <span class="smcap">Wit</span> -was daring and adventurous; <span class="smcap">Learning</span> cautious and -deliberate. <span class="smcap">Wit</span> thought nothing reproachful but dullness; -<span class="smcap">Learning</span> was afraid of no imputation but that of error. -<span class="smcap">Wit</span> answered before he understood, lest his quickness of -apprehension should be questioned; <span class="smcap">Learning</span> paused, -where there was no difficulty, lest any insidious sophism -should lie undiscovered. <span class="smcap">Wit</span> perplexed every debate by -rapidity and confusion; <span class="smcap">Learning</span> tired the hearers with -endless distinctions, and prolonged the dispute without advantage, -by proving that which never was denied. <span class="smcap">Wit</span>, in -hopes of shining, would venture to produce what he had not -considered, and often succeeded beyond his own expectation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> -by following the train of a lucky thought; <span class="smcap">Learning</span> would -reject every new notion, for fear of being entangled in consequences -which she could not foresee, and was often -hindered, by her caution, from pressing her advantages, and -subduing her opponent.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b><a name="FNanchor_29" id="FNanchor_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>—Each of the following paragraphs -had a topic sentence stating a <i>cause</i>, which -was then followed by a statement of the <i>effect</i>. -Frame a topic sentence for each, stating the <i>cause</i>.</p> - -<p>1. — — — — — — Consequently it is a good -thing to apply pretty sharp tests to whatever -offers itself as the genuine thing. Often the -great schemes that men hatch for growing rich -are nothing but pyrites. The acid of sharp common -sense corrodes and discolors them.</p> - -<p>2. — — — — — — — — — — — — Nothing -worse could have befallen the man. Being unused -to the possession of wealth he ran through his -millions in a year. In 1876 his old friend Everard -met him in the street and passed him by as a -beggar.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the following paragraphs -of <i>explanation</i>, and form a topic sentence -for each.</p> - -<p>1. — — — — — — — — — — — In other -words, hold to the good you have. Let well -enough alone. People lay great plans; they see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> -the future through rosy lenses; they build castles -in Spain. But great plans that can’t be carried -out are of less value than small, practicable -plans; the future is never just what it promises -to be; and as for castles in Spain, of what value -are they to owners who can neither rent nor inhabit -them?</p> - -<p>2. — — — — — — — — — — — — — It is -not, observe, a mere coating of snow of given depth -throughout, but it is snow loaded on until the rocks -can hold no more. The surplus does not fall in the -winter, because, fastened by continual frost, the -quantity of snow which an Alp can carry is greater -than each single winter can bestow; it falls in the -first mild days of spring in enormous avalanches. -Afterward the melting continues, gradually removing -from all the steep rocks the small quantity of -snow which was all they could hold, and leaving -them black and bare among the accumulated fields -of unknown depth, which occupy the capacious valleys -and less inclined superficies of the mountain.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Analyze the following narrative -paragraphs from Irving’s <i>Sketch-Book</i>, endeavoring -to discover what office each sentence performs in -the paragraph.</p> - -<p>“We had not been long home when the sound -of music was heard from a distance. A band of -country lads, without coats, their shirt-sleeves<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> -fancifully tied with ribbons, their hats decorated -with greens, and clubs in their hands, were seen -advancing up the avenue, followed by a large -number of villagers and peasantry. They stopped -before the hall door, where the music struck up -a peculiar air, and the lads performed a curious -and intricate dance, advancing, retreating, and -striking their clubs together, keeping exact time -to the music; while one, whimsically crowned with -a fox’s skin, the tail of which flaunted down his -back, kept capering round the skirts of the dance, -and rattling a Christmas-box with many antic -gesticulations.”</p> - -<p>“After the dance was concluded, the whole party -was entertained with brawn and beef and stout -home-brewed. The ’Squire himself mingled among -the rustics, and was received with awkward demonstrations -of deference and regard. It is true, -I perceived two or three of the younger peasants, -as they were raising their tankards to their -mouths, when the ’Squire’s back was turned, making -something of a grimace, and giving each other -the wink; but the moment they caught my eye -they pulled grave faces, and were exceedingly demure. -With Master Simon, however, they all -seemed more at their ease. His varied occupations -and amusements had made him well known -throughout the neighborhood. He was a visitor -at every farm-house and cottage; gossiped with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> -the farmers and their wives; romped with their -daughters; and, like that type of a vagrant bachelor, -the humble-bee, tolled the sweets from all the -rosy lips of the country round.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Choose one of the following topic sentences, -and develop the idea coherently, by a succession -of illustrations, of details, or of particulars, -into a paragraph of 150 words.</p> - -<p>1. The ghosts one hears of are not all alike.</p> - -<p>2. In some respects, athletics are dangerous.</p> - -<p>3. It was a dreary day.</p> - -<p>4. It was one of those mornings that stir the -blood.</p> - -<p>5. There are battles with fate that can never be -won.</p> - -<p>6. “A dog hath his day,” runs the old proverb.</p> - -<p>7. It is easy to enumerate the ways of getting -a lesson.</p> - -<p>8. The race is not always to the swift.</p> - -<p>9. There are many instances of bravery in everyday -life.</p> - -<p>10. Many phases of American life are illustrated -in American short stories.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Choose one of the following topic sentences, -and defend it by giving reasons, proofs, to -the extent of 150 or 200 words.</p> - -<p>1. On the whole, school athletics are a good -thing.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. Vivisection is necessary to science.</p> - -<p>3. Vivisection is cruel and unnecessary.</p> - -<p>4. None but scientists are competent to decide -whether or not vivisection is necessary to science.</p> - -<p>5. If necessary to science, vivisection should be -practised only when necessary.</p> - -<p>6. A debating society is a help in education.</p> - -<p>7. The American Revolution is an uninteresting -theme topic.</p> - -<p>8. The American Revolution is not an uninteresting -theme topic.</p> - -<p>[Other sentences can easily be suggested by students -or teacher.]</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Develop one of the following topic -sentences into a paragraph of <i>contrast</i>,—200 -words.</p> - -<p>1. There is a difference between knowing a -thing, and being able to tell it.</p> - -<p>2. Outside the wild winds were rioting; within -all was cheer.</p> - -<p>3. I saw an old man holding his granddaughter -in his arms.</p> - -<p>4. I know two persons: one is a dreamer, the -other a doer.</p> - -<p>5. Hawthorne [or some other writer] has two -characters that are strong foils to each other.</p> - -<p>6. I imagined what was going on in those two -houses.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> - -<p>7. Some men are always hopeful, some always -in despair.</p> - -<p>8. I knew two men of very unlike abilities.</p> - -<p>9. I knew two persons of very unlike dispositions.</p> - -<p>10. The great choir presented fine contrasts in -color of garments.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Expansion of One Paragraph into Several.</b>—Let -it be supposed that having composed a theme of -one paragraph, a student has been asked to develop -the subject at greater length; the paragraph has 85 -words, and the audience wants 200, or 225. What -will be the right course? It is possible to expand -one paragraph of 85 words into one paragraph of -225 words. But if the paragraph of 85 words has -two or three distinct parts, it is better to expand -each into a new paragraph.</p> - -<p>Let it be imagined that Dr. Wood, the English -naturalist, had written a very short paragraph on -the Crustacea; that it ran somewhat like this.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Crustacea</span></p> - -<p>The aquatic animals known as the Crustacea have no -internal skeleton, but are defended by a strong crust, made -of a series of rings. This unyielding armor, together with -the coverings of the eyes, the tendons of the claws, and the -lining membrane of the stomach, with its teeth, is cast off -annually to permit the growth of the body. The Crustacea -possess the power of reproducing a lost or original limb; -and, indeed, if injured the animal itself shakes off the injured -joint.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> - -<p>Suppose, now, that Dr. Wood found himself dissatisfied -with these somewhat cramped and overloaded -sentences, and determined to rewrite, making -three paragraphs where he had formerly but one. -In the new theme, the main topics would be, as -before: <i>Definition of Crustacea</i>; <i>Annual shedding</i>; -<i>Reproduction of Limbs</i>. Each would have a paragraph -to itself, where before it had but a sentence. -All the sentences to be made about the Definition -would be set off by themselves as one main part -of the theme; all those about the Shedding would -form a second; all those about the New Limbs, a -third.</p> - -<p>“Set off”;—that is, by <i>indentation</i>, or <i>indention</i>. -This word means, “a biting in,” or, more properly, -“a biting out.” Where a new division of the theme -begins, the first line does not come up plumb to -the straight edge at the left; it is bitten into; it -begins farther to the right than do the other lines. -In the printed book, the indentation is small—usually -the width of a letter <i>m</i>. But in a manuscript -it is important for the indentation to be absolutely -unmistakable. Some persons keep so ragged an -edge at the left hand that it is impossible to know -whether or not they should be credited with understanding -what a paragraph is. Indent each new -paragraph one or two inches. Bring every line of -the paragraph, <i>except the last</i>, up even with the -right-hand margin; the last line may be stopped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> -anywhere, if the paragraph is complete in sense; -often this line has but a word or two. If at any -time you inadvertently omit the indentation, and -have not time to copy, place a paragraph mark -where the new paragraph should begin; thus, ¶.</p> - -<p>A rough outline for Dr. Wood’s new paragraphs -could now be made. The topics being known, the -number of sentences under each could be guessed -at. There is nothing in the original paragraph to -show that Dr. Wood ascribed especial importance -to some one of the three topics. The third is -perhaps the least important. It may be estimated -that in the completed theme he would give about -80 words to each of the first two, and about 50 to the -third. The outline would be something like this, -the full stops representing those of the future -theme.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Crustacea</span></p> - -<p>¶ Crustacea are aquatic. No skeleton, but crust, which -protects and strengthens. Framework of rings; part develops -into limbs. Articulated animals.</p> - -<p>¶ Curious way of growth. Other animals not inconvenienced -as they grow. Not so Crustacea. Mail unyielding. -Is cast off annually and larger coat grows. Eye-covering, -tendons, stomach-membrane are also shed.</p> - -<p>¶ Curious reproduction of lost or injured limb. New one -grows if old lost; animal shakes off injured joint. Lobsters -do, when alarmed.</p> - -</div> - -<p>As a matter of fact, Dr. Wood did write a short -chapter on the Crustacea, and here it is.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">The Crustacea</span></p> - -<p>The Crustacea are almost all aquatic animals. They have -no internal skeleton, but their body is covered with a strong -crust, which serves for protection as well as for strength. -Their whole framework consists of a series of rings fitted to, -and working in each other; some forming limbs, and others -developing into the framework supporting the different -organs. From this reason, they and the remaining animals, -as far as the star-fishes, who have no limbs at all, are called -“articulated” animals.</p> - -<p>Their method of growth is very curious. Other animals, -as they increase in size, experience no particular inconvenience. -Not so the Crustacea. Their bodies are closely enveloped -in a strong, unyielding mail, which cannot grow -with them. Their armor is therefore cast off every year, -and a fresh coat formed to suit their increased dimensions. -Not only is the armor cast off, but even the covering of the -eyes, the tendons of the claws, and the lining membrane of -the stomach, with its teeth.</p> - -<p>They all also possess the curious power of reproducing a -lost or injured limb. In the former case, a fresh limb supplies -the place of that lost; and in the latter case, the animal -itself shakes off the injured joint, and a new one soon -takes its place. Lobsters, when alarmed, frequently throw -off their claws.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Choose one of the following paragraphs -and expand it into a theme. Each -sentence should grow into a paragraph. The -proportions to be observed are suggested by the -number of amplifying sentences prescribed for -the different paragraphs. Write a title above the -theme.</p> - -<p>1. (<i>a</i>) I like winter for its outdoor sports. [Four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> -or five sentences.] (<i>b</i>) I like it no less for its indoor -sports. [Four or five sentences.]</p> - -<p>2. (<i>a</i>) Wearing birds is foolish, for it is a remnant -of savagery, like tattooing. [Two or three -sentences.] (<i>b</i>) It is less artistic than is often -supposed. [Two or three sentences.] (<i>c</i>) It is -unwise, because it threatens the extinction of certain -species of flycatchers and warblers. [Two or -three sentences.] (<i>d</i>) It is cruel, necessitating -slaughter of innocent life, and producing callousness -to suffering. [Five or six sentences.]</p> - -<p>3. (<i>a</i>) A contrast between faces. [Two sentences.] -(<i>b</i>) The face of Napoleon is intellectual, -firm, and cruel. [Three sentences, giving details of -the face.] (<i>c</i>) The face of Lincoln is intellectual, -firm, and kind. [Three sentences, giving details.]</p> - -<p>4. (<i>a</i>) There are two kinds of people,—those -who know what they want life to do for them, and -those who do not. [This introductory sentence -may be made a part of the first paragraph.] The -people who know what they want are few. [Three -or four sentences.] (<i>b</i>) The people who do not -know what they want are partly young people, -who have not had training enough to know; partly -older people. [Three or four sentences.]</p> - -<p>5. (<i>a</i>) Some dinners I like, some I do not. [Part of -first paragraph.] The kinds I like; food; company. -[Three or four sentences.] The kinds I do not like; -food; company. [Three or four sentences.]</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Discuss with the instructor and -the class the best way of paragraphing each of -the following topics. Form first an idea as to -how many paragraphs each should have and what -should be the paragraph subjects. 1. This recitation -room. 2. How Lincoln looked. 3. A painting -I like. 4. What I do in a day. 5. My plans. -6. The walk to school. 7. My past education. -8. The elm. 9. The construction of the steam -engine. 10. An ocean steamer. 11. Evening in -the country.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Read carefully the following -speech and state the paragraph subjects. Estimate -the number of words in each paragraph, and say -whether you think the proportion of parts is bad -or good. The speech will be recognized as that -delivered by Lincoln at the dedication of the -Gettysburg National Cemetery. It was written -first as one paragraph; but a year later, in making -a copy, the President divided it as you see.</p> - -<p>“Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers -brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived -in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition -that all men are created equal.</p> - -<p>“Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing -whether that nation, or any nation so conceived -and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met -on a great battlefield of that war. We have come<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> -to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place -for those who here gave their lives that that -nation might live. It is altogether fitting and -proper that we should do this.</p> - -<p>“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we -cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow this -ground. The brave men, living and dead, who -struggled here, have consecrated it far above our -poor power to add or detract. The world will -little note, nor long remember, what we say here, -but it can never forget what they did here. It is -for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to -the unfinished work which they who fought here -have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for -us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining -before us—that from these honored dead we take -increased devotion to that cause for which they -gave the last full measure of devotion,—that we -here highly resolve that these dead shall not have -died in vain,—that this nation, under God, shall -have a new birth of freedom,—and that government -of the people, by the people, for the people, -shall not perish from the earth.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The importance of modelling -all work on the right scale is illustrated in the -task of the editor of an encyclopædia. His problem -is to give each subject space and prominence -according to its importance. Opening Johnson’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> -Encyclopædia, I find seven columns devoted to -Shakespeare. Of these, two and a half are given to -the poet’s life, four and a half to his works. Is the -proportion about right? If you were editing an -encyclopædia of geography, how much space should -you give to Africa as compared with Europe? How -much, if the encyclopædia dealt with civilization?</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise in Proportioning.</b>—In treating each -of the following subjects, (<i>a</i>) what paragraph topics -might be chosen? (<i>b</i>) which paragraph ought to -be the longest, dealing with the most important -phase of the subject? 1. Living statesmen. 2. Advantages -of country life. 3. The life of Lincoln. -4. The uses of gold. 5. A railway accident. 6. A -cyclone. 7. A visit to an art-gallery. 8. A week -of camping.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Exercise in Varying the Scale.</b>—Read one of the -following poems. Then write two papers, the first -retelling (not closely paraphrasing) the story of the -poem in one paragraph of about 100 words, the -second retelling the same story in a theme of 300 -words, properly paragraphed. <i>In each theme give -space to every part according to its relative importance.</i></p> - -<p>Browning: Tray—about vivisection; Clive—story -of courage; Incident of the French camp—story -of heroism; How we brought the good news -from Ghent to Aix—story of endurance; The Pied<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> -Piper of Hamelin—story of pathos; Muleykeh—owner’s -pride in a horse; The Bean Feast—a -Pope’s humility. Longfellow: The Fell of Atri; -Paul Revere’s Ride; Evangeline; The Legend -Beautiful; Robert of Sicily. Lowell: The Vision -of Sir Launfal. Drayton: The Ballad of Agincourt -(<i>Heart of Oak Books</i>, Vol. V.). Thackeray: Chronicle -of the Drum (<i>Ibid.</i>). Tennyson: The Revenge -(<i>Ibid.</i>). Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient -Mariner (<i>Ibid.</i>). Whittier: Skipper Ireson’s Ride -(<i>Ibid.</i>).</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Choice of Topic; Method of Work.</b>—It is easier -to choose among definite theme subjects, printed in -the book, than to choose from an unlimited number -of topics. Left free, a person may be attracted to -a subject that is either too large, or else mechanically -limited. The latter kind is the easier to -manage. “The parts of a certain city,” is a topic -easily paragraphed. To choose no subjects but -such as this would lead a person into making his -theme in water-tight compartments. On the other -hand, what can any one write in half an hour that -will interest a reasonable being in such a subject -as Water, or Clouds, or Steam, or Electricity, or -the Rise and Fall of Nations?</p> - -<p>If the student is given free choice of a subject, -he should select something that he really cares -about, and that he wishes some definite audience<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> -to care about. Different modes of treatment are -necessary to interest different audiences.</p> - -<p>Very often the attractive subject will not be -capable of easy analysis. In such a case, choose -only a few paragraph topics, thus narrowing the -treatment; pick out the most attractive phases of -the subject.</p> - -<p><i>This done, invent a theme title that will give an -adequate hint of what is coming.</i> The actor, Mr. -Joseph Jefferson, once made a charming talk to -some college men about the “starring system,” -concluding with remarks about the fancy of some -people that Bacon wrote Shakespeare and put a -cryptogram into the plays. A college periodical, -wanting to give some hint of both topics, reported -the speech under the heading “Stars and Cryptograms.” -It was not a very good title, for it was -meaningless. But it was designed to rouse curiosity, -and, taken in connection with Jefferson’s -name, it did as well, I dare say, as a less vague -and fanciful title.</p> - -<p>Let it be supposed that a person is to choose -a subject for a simple theme,—any subject he -pleases. He is to select one that will interest high -school students as well as himself. His window -looks out on a lake. How will <i>Lakes</i> do, for a -topic? It is too large; one would never have done. -Nobody enjoys reading a small theme on a large -matter. The window affords a glimpse of the lake;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> -perhaps this <i>Glimpse of the Lake</i> would serve for -a theme. There would be no difficulty in paragraphing; -one section would go to the water, one -to the boats, one to the sky. But the water would -have to be described exactly as it now looks, though -looking its worst. The boats are all absent except -one, and perhaps there are other kinds that -he would like to tell about. Besides, the lad in -the boat is fishing, and the writer may be glad to -tell about the fishing on this lake. If however -memories of the past few days must be dragged in -to make the theme interesting to us all, why, the -name must be changed. The writer may call it, -<i>A Glimpse of the Lake and Some Memories</i>; the -title can then be interpreted with some elasticity.</p> - -<p>What, now, are the chief things to say? A brief -paragraph of introduction, perhaps, though that is -by no means necessary. Then something about the -look of the lake. Then a word about the boats. -Then something about the fishing. Here is enough: -<i>water</i>, <i>boats</i>, <i>fishing</i>.</p> - -<p>Now for the outline. ¶ Sprained ankle, armchair. -Must study landscape. Window shows -lake. ¶ Lake has moods. Dull now. Glare this -morning, colors last night. Sometimes calm; crystal -depths. Ripples. Wind makes it blossom; -raises undercurrents. Rain quiets it. Freckled -look. Queer way water <i>fits</i> land. ¶ Steamer seen. -Variety of boats. Red-stack boats. Swarms of passengers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> -Boats gay at night. Launches. Pulse of -engines. Sailboat. It upset, the other day. Rowboats. -Fisherman. ¶ Casting for bass. Amateur. -Wish him luck! I tried for pike. Tried for bass. -No luck. Tried for perch. Caught a bass. [Six -or eight sentences.]</p> - -<p>In the last paragraph it perhaps occurs to the -writer that the bullheads bite when the water is -muddy; and this <i>muddiness</i> suggests the first paragraph; -the <i>muddiness</i> should be described back -there with the changing look of the water.</p> - -<p>Next, the composition. It is not offered as a -model of style, but to suggest a possible way of -organizing any simple theme.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">A Glimpse of the Lake, and Some Memories</span></p> - -<p>Here I am, planted in an armchair before the window, -my sprained ankle reposing, or trying to repose, on a smaller -chair. In such a position one must be thankful for his -mercies; he must take the exceptional chance to study the -landscape. Fortunately, the window cuts off a goodly section -of the lake which lies down there below.</p> - -<p>An exquisite thing is the lake, with as many moods as a -baby. Just now it is dull in color, for the sky is overcast -and there is mist in the air. But early this morning it -blazed with light, and last night at sunset it was awake -with every fashion of color. Sometimes, when the heavens -are bare and windless, the water takes on an indescribable -calm; and then if you look down from this height there -seems to be no surface at all—only depths of blue, such as -the poets are always likening to crystal or to sapphire. At -other times clouds and a breeze move over it, and the surface -ruffles till one’s mind is tired with fancying the million<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> -lines of ripples. If the wind stiffens and stays by, there -soon are waves; the water breaks white and springs up in -blossoms over the whole dark field; then the under streams -are roused out of their quiet and the whole mass thunders -in upon the shore, muddy but grand. Now it begins to -rain; and rain is the witch that charms the savage waters -into rest. Presently the surface is dull again, but for the -freckled look made by the plunging drops. One notes -through the gathering mist an odd thing—the way the -water seems to settle into place, fitting into the curves and -nooks of the shore; the edge of the lake seems to grow -white and distinct, and to cling to the land in a sharp -outline.</p> - -<p>Breaking through that white streak of water near the -shore comes a dark something, which soon takes form and -is seen to be a steamer. What a variety of craft haunt the -lake! The largest are these tall steamers, taller still for -their red stacks. At night, with their colored lights, they -look like jewelled slippers. By day they carry crowds, -which seem to rim each deck with a black band. Then -there are the launches, slipping here and there straight -across the bow of the bigger craft. They have a curiously -trim and self-satisfied look; and their naphtha engines, beating -no louder than some great, fast pulse, seem to make fun -of the slow-puffing monsters that stain the air with smoke. -A sailboat—a little sloop—slips across the picture. It is -the one that upset the other day and gave my friend the -Doctor a thorough soaking. Two rowboats are standing to -the south. In the bow of one there’s a lone fisherman.</p> - -<p>That lad is casting for bass. He is an amateur—from -his dress. Better luck to him than has thus far befallen the -amateur who sits watching him from this window! I trolled -in the lake for silver pike, but with never a rise to break the -monotony. Then I tried thrice in the early morning for -yellow bass, using first minnows for bait, afterward grasshoppers, -and lastly frogs. No luck! Disgusted, I stole out -one afternoon to catch perch, hoping to be seen by no one.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> -The perch bit languidly, and the few that were taken seemed -to have a supercilious look. “Here’s my last worm!” I -cried; “then for the hotel and farewell to these fishing -grounds where no fish are.” A bite! a competent, masterly, -vicious bite! It’s a bass, strayed away from home, and too -hungry to ask for delicate diet! Pull him in—seize the line, -for the pole is light and the hook is small. Safely landed, -and not less in weight than two pounds! Let them brag of -six-pounders; this gleaming, muscular fellow, smelling of -fresh water and mint, is good enough game for me. As I -gaze and remember, the amateur in his boat moves out of -the picture frame and the lake is a blank again.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Why are the following subjects -unfit for short themes? Suggest two or -three theme topics that might be derived from -each. 1. George Washington. 2. Snow. 3. War. -4. Evening. 5. Light. 6. Politeness.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Name several limited subjects -that would be available if you were trying to interest -legitimately (<i>a</i>) an audience of college men, -(<i>b</i>) an audience of high school boys, (<i>c</i>) an audience -of high school girls, (<i>d</i>) an audience of business -men.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Choose one of the following subjects, -and think how to secure for it the interest of -persons three or four years younger than yourself. -Think of some intelligent boy or girl, one -who, though considerably your junior, distinctly -commands your respect, and explain to him high -school ways of studying either (<i>a</i>) physiography,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> -or (<i>b</i>) history, or (<i>c</i>) Latin, or (<i>d</i>) manual training, -or (<i>e</i>) English, or some other subject. The theme -should consist of one paragraph, of about 200 words.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral and Written Exercise.</b>—Choose <i>three</i> of -the following subjects, and think what illustrations -you would use to make them clear to different -audiences. Draw upon your knowledge of the -things that are most familiar to the experience of -each audience. Jot down memoranda of the illustrations -that you suggest, and afterward compare -notes in the oral discussion. For example,</p> - -<p>Explain, by illustration:—</p> - -<ul> -<li><i>A gentleman</i>, to a gamin.</li> -<li><i>Ice</i>, to a native of the tropics.</li> -<li><i>The charm of foot-ball</i>, to a girl.</li> -<li><i>The pleasure of work</i>, to a shirk.</li> -<li><i>Wagner’s music</i>, to a deaf painter.</li> -<li><i>The charm of foot-ball</i>, to a soldier.</li> -<li><i>The solar system</i>, to a child of eight.</li> -<li><i>Oranges</i>, to a native of the polar regions.</li> -<li><i>The charm of a true lady</i>, to an awkward lad.</li> -<li><i>The Jungle Book</i>, to a North American Indian.</li> -<li><i>A newsboy’s life</i>, to an earl’s son or a millionnaire’s -son.</li> -<li><i>A sleepless night</i>, to a person who sleeps like a -top.</li> -<li><i>A headache</i>, to a person who never had a headache.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></li> -<li><i>The charm of Stevenson</i>, to a reader of dime -novels.</li> -<li><i>Taking gas at the dentist’s</i>, to a person who never -lost a tooth.</li> -<li><i>An encyclopædia</i>, to a man who never heard of -such a book.</li> -<li><i>Paragraph construction</i>, to a youth who cares -only for the shop.</li> -<li><i>The danger of open windows</i>, to a child who -never heard of death.</li> -<li><i>Some good monthly</i>, to a bright boy or girl who -had never seen a magazine.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="tb"><b>Transitions between Paragraphs.</b>—Suppose that -a given theme is a unit, no idea being admitted -that does not bear on the topic; suppose, further, -that the paragraphs are units, each treating a distinct -part of the theme idea; it remains to be sure -that the reader gets easily from paragraph to paragraph. -Sometimes the writer is so anxious to -make each paragraph a unit in itself that the -reader does not feel at once that the new section -has anything to do with the preceding.</p> - -<p>Look back to the theme on the <i>Glimpse of the -Lake</i>. There were three things to talk about: -water, boats, fishing. At the end of the paragraph -on <i>the water</i> the attention must be led over without -any jar to the subject of <i>boats</i>. The last idea of -the <i>water</i> paragraph was that the edge of the lake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> -grew white and distinct. In beginning the new -paragraph, we may refer to that idea. “Breaking -through that white streak of water near the -shore comes a dark something,” etc.</p> - -<p>Now look at the paragraph on fishing. How -does the writer try to get over to the <i>fishing</i> from -the <i>boats</i>? Explain in recitation.</p> - -<p>The joints of the theme should be smooth and -strong, like the joints of bamboo—not a rude joint -made by chisel and hammer.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—The instructor will hand you -in class your themes thus far written. Go over -them carefully, trying by revision to make the -thought connection closer between the paragraphs. -For the future, always read carefully the whole -paragraph before beginning the next.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Transitions between Sentences.</b>—Within the -paragraph each sentence should grow vitally out -of the preceding. “Connection is the soul of -good writing,” said the great translator, Jowett -of Balliol. <i>Plan sentences ahead; and read each -sentence before you write the next.</i> Make it impossible -for people to say of you as they used to say -of Emerson, “His sentences read equally well in -any order.” Make it impossible to pick a sentence -out and set it down elsewhere, without tearing the -theme as Æneas rent young Polydore.</p> - -<p>Frequently the sentences can be bound tighter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> -together by beginning the next with a reference -to some idea contained in the preceding. Burke, -pleading in Parliament for America, said: “But -with regard to her own internal establishment, she -may, I doubt not she will, contribute in moderation. -I say in moderation, for she ought not to be -permitted to exhaust herself. She ought to be reserved -to a war, the weight of which, with the -enemies that we are most likely to have, must be -considerable in her quarter of the globe. There -she may serve you, and serve you essentially.” -Here the last words of each sentence suggest the -first words of the next. Of course this way of -getting coherence is easily overdone; but it is very -valuable, nevertheless.</p> - -<p>It is easy to discover the order in which Ruskin -wrote the following sentences, here printed in -wrong order. Find the true arrangement, and tell -how it was found.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Well, whatever bit of a wise man’s work is honestly and -benevolently done, that bit is his book, or his piece of art. -But, again, I ask you, do you at all believe in honesty -or at all in kindness, or do you think there is never any -honesty or benevolence in wise people? If you read rightly, -you will easily discover the true bits, and those <i>are</i> the book.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Change either the grammatical -construction or the order of words wherever you -think such change will increase the coherence of -the following paragraph.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> - -<p>“We were coasting down chapel hill. In western -New York, this is one of many similar long hills. -This state is indeed a coaster’s paradise in many -parts. The particular paradise I speak of, saw, -however, a disastrous fall of a brave young Adam -and a gentle young Eve. Williams, I mean by -this, who was coming like a meteor down the hill, -with Miss —— in front of him on the “bob-sled,” -as he reached the bridge, was thrown out of the -track. Luckless bridge! it ought to have been -guarded by stout rails. There were no rails, however, -and across the narrow canyon, Williams, with -his precious charge, took a flying leap. On the -other side of it, five feet below, was a wooden abutment. -The lives of the young people were saved -by this; for the sled shot across the gulf and -landed on the projection. We picked the adventurers -up from this perilous perch. They were -more surprised than hurt. But after he had time -to think, Williams confessed that he was never -more frightened in his life; for he thought of the -thirty feet of space below that wooden ledge.”</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span class="smaller">ON CORRECTNESS IN CHOICE OF WORDS</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>Authority.</b>—If the art of writing is the art of -saying what we mean, we must use words that the -reader will understand. Of course the word <i>reader</i> -is rather general: there are readers and readers. -An article written for adults would show different -words from one written for children. For the purposes -of this chapter, our typical reader is the -American or the Englishman who has a good public -school training. This “average man” may in -theory happen to live in London, or in Maine, -or, again, in Texas. Now, there are certain -words used in Texas that are not used in London -or in Maine. In parts of New Jersey and -Pennsylvania a small pail is called a “blickey.” -Most natives of Chicago never heard the word. -Such words as “blickey” are called <i>provincialisms</i> -or <i>localisms</i>, and are ruled out. Our words must -be <i>national</i>. This need not mean international; -many words are used in England that need not -be used in America, and <i>vice versâ</i>. The American -speaks of <i>switching</i> a train; the Englishman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> -speaks of <i>shunting</i> it. With the former the train -goes up a steep <i>grade</i>; with the latter it goes -up a <i>gradient</i>. The Englishman calls <i>baggage</i>, <i>luggage</i>, -a word that Americans are more likely to -use of those pieces only that can be carried in the -hand. It is to be presumed that national differences -of this sort are known to American and -Englishman alike; therefore there is no reason -why either should change from the usage of his -country. Good English is essentially the same in -all English-speaking countries.</p> - -<p>One other matter is suggested by the words <i>national -usage</i>. A nation is composed of all sorts -and conditions of men. Each class, each trade and -profession, has its own pet expressions and contractions. -Good usage does not recognize these. -The dialect of the college, or the ball-ground, or -the counting-room, or the law-courts, is racy enough -and proper enough in its place; but it has no place -in standard English. A student may <i>flunk</i>, but -only in school. A book of accounts can be <i>posted</i>, -but not a man.</p> - -<p>Again, our words must not be so old-fashioned or -obsolete that they are unintelligible. They must -be <i>present</i>. <i>Let</i> once meant “to hinder.” Naturally -no one would use it in this sense to-day.</p> - -<p>Many words that are both national and present -are not permitted, since they are not <i>reputable</i>. -They are used, but wrongly so; used by the careless<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> -and the uneducated. A great number of -such expressions are perfectly well understood -wherever English is spoken, but if one employs -them one will be set down as careless or ignorant; -for example, <i>ain’t</i> is intelligible to all, but its use -is known to be a mark of vulgarity; such a word -is called a <i>vulgarism</i>. Most slang consists of vulgarisms, -though some slang finally becomes reputable -English. Reputable words are those employed by -the best writers. By <i>best</i> is meant writers who -have literary distinction, and who know and regard -the structure and history of English literary words. -In this day, when everybody scribbles and prints, -there are countless writers whose usage is not -really reputable. The newspapers, though they -have done much to free modern English from pedantry, -are not usually reputable in usage. The -English of very many novelists is in bad repute. -Even certain writers of eminence, such as Dickens -and Thomas Hughes, are guilty of using unreputable -words and senses of words. Such essayists -as Matthew Arnold and John Fiske; such writers -of fiction as Thackeray, Hawthorne, Stevenson, -and Henry James; such historians as Green and -Parkman—these men are in general safe models -in matters of usage.</p> - -<p>To sum up, then; if we would be understood, and -would be reckoned as educated persons, we must -use words that are reputable, national, and present.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> -<i>Good usage is the employment of such words and, -senses of words as the body of reputable writers sanction -by their own practice to-day.</i> Notice that <i>the -body</i> of reputable writers is specified. No one -author makes good use, any more than one swallow -makes a summer. When a critic wishes to prove -by authority that a given expression is English, he -must be able to quote it from many authors.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Dictionary.</b>—A dictionary is a codification -of good usage. Indeed, a large dictionary codifies -also much bad usage, explaining in the -case of the latter the particular form of badness, -whether local usage, or colloquial usage, or vulgar -usage. Such a dictionary also outlines the history -of each word, so far as this is known; it can here -be learned what was standard English yesterday, -what three centuries ago. A dictionary habit is -indispensable to every one. When in doubt about -the present meaning or pronunciation of a word, -or curious as to its history, look it up. Have an -abridged dictionary of your own,—the less abridged -the better,—but consult also the unabridged books -frequently. Every author rediscovers the charm -that lies in the dictionary. To find that charm, -every word of the given explanations should be -read, and the system of <i>diacritical marks</i>, which -show syllabification, accent, vowel, and consonant -sounds, should be studied.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Barbarisms.</b>—Lord Chesterfield writes to his son: -“The first thing you should attend to is, to speak -whatever language you do speak, in its greatest -purity, and according to the rules of grammar; for -we must never offend against grammar, nor make -use of words which are not really words.”</p> - -<p>A word that is not in a good dictionary, or is -there branded as provincial or as vulgar, is not -really a word, and should not be used. An expression -that has not been recognized by good -use is called a <i>barbarism</i>. Often such terms are -incorrectly formed, as when they are coined by -ignorant persons; often they are corruptions of -words. <i>Motorneer</i> is wrongly coined; <i>slick</i> is corrupted -from <i>sleek</i>. <i>Motorneer</i> is made up of <i>motor</i> -plus the ending <i>er</i>. The <i>ne</i> is left over from the -discarded steam engine, for <i>motorneer</i> is made by -false analogy from <i>engineer</i>. The proper word is -<i>motorman</i>. If there is need for a new word in the -language,—and the need often arises in these days -of invention,—its component parts should be from -the same tongue, and it should be formed by strict -analogy, on the model of some correct, accepted -word. Examine such a word as <i>shadowgraph</i>, -which the more careless newspapers began to use -as soon as the “Roentgen rays” were discovered. -<i>Shadow</i> is English; <i>graph</i> is Greek,—a termination -that should be added only to a Greek word. -Various correct formations have been proposed for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> -the ray-picture—<i>scotograph</i>, <i>radiograph</i>, <i>skiagraph</i>, -etc. It remains to be seen which one of these -words will become established. Examine the word -<i>electrocution</i>. It is formed on the false analogy of -<i>execution</i>. <i>Execution</i> is from the Latin <i>ex</i> + <i>sequor</i>, -meaning “to follow up,” or, so to speak, “to chase -down.” The man who invented <i>electrocution</i> could -not have known that <i>sequor</i> was a part of <i>execution</i>. -He merely tied together <i>electro</i> and <i>cution</i>, thinking -perhaps that <i>cution</i> meant cutting or killing. <i>Electro</i> -is from the Greek (meaning “amber,” the -substance by rubbing which some one discovered -electricity), and in strictness should not be joined -to a Latin termination, even if that be correct. We -might easily have had a good English word for -death in the electrical chair; but as matters stand, -there is no one recognized word for this idea.</p> - -<p>Other barbarisms are: <i>burglarize</i>, <i>to enthuse</i> (a -bad coinage from <i>enthusiasm</i>), <i>an invite</i>, <i>double -entendre</i> and <i>nom de plume</i> (two expressions which -are neither accepted French nor accepted English), -<i>walkist</i>, <i>a combine</i>, <i>preventative</i> (for <i>preventive</i>), <i>reportorial</i>, -<i>managerial</i>, <i>to suicide</i>, <i>gent</i>, <i>pants</i> (the trade -name, but not the literary), <i>photo</i>, <i>prof.</i>, <i>spoonsful</i>. -Words brought into the English from other languages, -and not yet recognized by good use, are -also barbarisms. Such words are said to be not -yet <i>Anglicized</i>. They are referred to as <i>alienisms</i>, -and most may be classified as Latinisms, Hellenisms<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> -(or Greek words), Teutonisms (chiefly German -words), Gallicisms (French words). A word peculiar -to America is an <i>Americanism</i>; one peculiar to -England is a <i>Briticism</i>. Some Americanisms and -Briticisms are not really barbarisms, but are warranted -by the canon of national use.</p> - -<p>The following words are as yet alienisms: <i>artiste</i>, -<i>sobriquet</i>, <i>beau monde</i>, <i>faux pas</i>, <i>entre nous</i>, etc. -Certain other words are Anglicized: <i>amateur</i>, <i>omelette</i>, -<i>etiquette</i>, <i>litterateur</i>, etc. The temptation to -sprinkle foreign words unnecessarily into one’s -English reaches most persons sooner or later. It -should be withstood. The English language is rich -enough to furnish forth any man’s vocabulary.</p> - -<p>Many words that may finally become good -English are not yet accepted. To be on the -safe side one should say: <i>point of view</i>, not <i>standpoint</i>; -<i>upon</i>, not <i>onto</i>; <i>written permission</i>, not <i>a -permit</i>; <i>he doesn’t</i>, not <i>he don’t</i>.<a name="FNanchor_30" id="FNanchor_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>In the list given above it is remarked of <i>pants</i> -that it is a trade name (for what are ordinarily -known as trousers or pantaloons). Commercial -English and literary English are two different -things; and while a careful novelist would hardly -write about <i>wheatena</i>, or <i>flexibone</i>, or <i>autoharp</i>, he -might talk about them in the shops. Yet these -words are not correctly formed; and the same -thing is unhappily true of other trade names.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Improprieties.</b>—Suppose, now, that a writer uses -a good English word, but uses it in a sense not -found in the best authors. In this case he uses -the word improperly; he commits an <i>impropriety</i>. -Sometimes two words sound so much alike that -they are mistaken one for the other; for instance, -<i>accept</i> and <i>except</i>. Sometimes the two words mean -nearly the same thing, and so come to be confused; -for example, <i>continual</i> and <i>continuous</i>. The following -list gives the words that are most frequently -mistaken for each other. In the illustrative sentences -each such word is correctly used, and in all -cases the other word would be incorrect or at least -less desirable if substituted for it.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Nouns</span></h3> - -<h4>Ability, capacity.</h4> - -<p>1. The <i>capacity</i> of man’s memory is great.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Capacity</i> for learning and <i>ability</i> for doing are -secrets of success.</p> - -<p>What idea do these words share?</p> - -<h4>Acceptance, acceptation.</h4> - -<p>1. His <i>acceptance</i> was graceful.</p> - -<p>2. You use the word in its usual <i>acceptation</i>.</p> - -<p>Each of these words contains the idea to <i>take</i>. -In what sense may this be said?</p> - -<h4>Access, accession.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Access</i> to the director is easy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. The library has received an <i>accession</i> of books.</p> - -<p>3. She was seized with an <i>access</i> of grief.</p> - -<p>4. The Tsar celebrated his <i>accession</i> to the -throne.</p> - -<p>Each of these words contains the idea of <i>entrance</i>. -<i>Access</i> means the entrance of a person into a room -or into the presence of another; also the entrance -of a flood of emotion into the mind. <i>Accession</i> -means the entrance of a person into the rights of -a position; also the entrance of books or other objects -to a collection,—an addition to the collection.</p> - -<h4>Act, action.</h4> - -<p>1. Character is developed by <i>action</i>.</p> - -<p>2. Our own <i>acts</i> for good or ill speak for us.</p> - -<p>Explain how both these words hold the idea -of <i>do</i>.</p> - -<h4>Advance, advancement.</h4> - -<p>1. The swallow comes with the <i>advance</i> of the -season.</p> - -<p>2. He has received <i>advancement</i>.</p> - -<p>3. Each <i>advance</i> of Napoleon was swift.</p> - -<p>What idea have these two words in common? -Explain how they differ.</p> - -<h4>Alternative, choice.</h4> - -<p>1. There is no <i>alternative</i>; he must go.</p> - -<p>2. There are only three <i>choices</i>.</p> - -<p><i>Alternative</i> is a choice between —— things.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Avocation, vocation.</h4> - -<p>1. My regular calling, or <i>vocation</i>, is teaching; -but for an <i>avocation</i> I spend my holidays in photography.</p> - -<p>2. Dr. Weir Mitchell is a physician; but his -regular <i>vocation</i> of medicine doesn’t prevent him -from following the delightful <i>avocation</i> of letters.</p> - -<p>Both these words have the idea of <i>calling</i>. Explain -how they differ. (What does <i>ab</i> mean in -Latin?)</p> - -<h4>Balance, remainder.</h4> - -<p>1. The <i>balance</i> of the sum is due.</p> - -<p>2. The <i>remainder</i> of the day is spent.</p> - -<p>What relation exists between <i>balancing</i> (<i>a book</i>) -and <i>remainder</i>?</p> - -<h4>Character, reputation.</h4> - -<p>1. His <i>reputation</i> for integrity is good.</p> - -<p>2. His <i>character</i> is beyond reproach.</p> - -<p>3. A man cannot always control his <i>reputation</i>, -but he can control his <i>character</i>.</p> - -<p>Character is what a man ——; reputation is -what people —— of him.</p> - -<h4>Compliment, complement.</h4> - -<p>1. Woman’s mind is by many considered the -<i>complement</i> of man’s, supplying certain things that -the masculine mind has not.</p> - -<p>2. His <i>compliments</i> are really <i>flatteries</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> - -<p>3. The secretary supplied the army with its -<i>complement</i> of stores.</p> - -<h4>Council, counsel.</h4> - -<p>1. His <i>counsel</i> defended him in the trial.</p> - -<p>2. Let good <i>counsel</i> prevail.</p> - -<p>3. The <i>council</i> of ten gave good <i>counsel</i>.</p> - -<p>Define these two words. What idea have they -in common?</p> - -<h4>Falseness, falsity.</h4> - -<p>Arnold was a traitor; and the <i>falseness</i> of his -character was proved by the <i>falsity</i> of his statements.</p> - -<p>What idea do these words share? Frame definitions.</p> - -<h4>Invention, discovery.</h4> - -<p>Edison <i>discovered</i> certain laws of sound and -by them <i>invented</i> the phonograph. This <i>invention</i> -is not as yet very useful; but the <i>discovery</i> of the -laws was important.</p> - -<p>What idea do these words share? Frame definitions.</p> - -<h4>Limit, limitation.</h4> - -<p>1. There should be no <i>limitation</i> of the commander’s -authority.</p> - -<p>2. There were no <i>limits</i> to his delight.</p> - -<p>What common idea have these words? Define -each.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Majority, plurality.</h4> - -<p>A <i>majority</i> is more than half the whole number. -A <i>plurality</i> is the excess of votes received -by one candidate above another. When there are -several candidates, the one who receives more votes -than any other has a plurality.</p> - -<p>In what respect are these words alike in meaning? -in what unlike?</p> - -<h4>Observation, observance.</h4> - -<p>1. His <i>observation</i> of the habits of birds was keen.</p> - -<p>2. His <i>observance</i> of the Sabbath was strict.</p> - -<p>Is <i>watch</i> the best word for the idea shared by -these words? Discuss.</p> - -<h4>Observation, remark.</h4> - -<p>1. Johnson’s <i>observations</i> of men were keen.</p> - -<p>2. Johnson’s <i>observations</i> were made with his -eyes; his <i>remarks</i>, with his tongue; and Boswell, -by recording the remarks, recorded the <i>observations</i>.</p> - -<p>What relation has a <i>remark</i> to an <i>observation</i>?</p> - -<h4>Party, person.</h4> - -<p>1. A <i>party</i> in a silk hat must be a party of Liliputians.</p> - -<p>2. The <i>party</i> of the first part was two <i>persons</i>.</p> - -<p>3. A seedy <i>person</i> joined the party.</p> - -<p>4. I refuse to be a <i>party</i> to the deed.</p> - -<p>Is the idea of a <i>part</i> always contained in the -word <i>party</i>? Discuss.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Part, portion.</h4> - -<p>1. Esau sold his <i>portion</i>, the part allotted him.</p> - -<p>2. The human body has many <i>parts</i>.</p> - -<p>3. Waiter, one <i>portion</i> of roast beef will do!</p> - -<p>What is a <i>portion</i>?</p> - -<h4>Prominent, predominant.</h4> - -<p>There were many <i>prominent</i> men in Lincoln’s -cabinet, but the President was always <i>predominant</i> -among them.</p> - -<p>Consult the unabridged as to the origin of these -words.</p> - -<h4>Recipe, receipt.</h4> - -<p>If <i>receipt</i> comes from the Latin meaning “taken,” -it is easy to see why when money is taken a <i>receipt</i> -is given. <i>Recipe</i> is a Latin imperative, meaning -“take”; naturally it is the right word for a formula -in cooking; “take” so much salt, so much meal, -so much water—and lo! a johnny cake.</p> - -<h4>Relative, relation.</h4> - -<p>One may have many <i>relatives</i> with whom he -does not keep up close <i>relations</i>.</p> - -<p>Is <i>relation</i> preferably an abstract noun, or a concrete?</p> - -<h4>Residence, house.</h4> - -<p>1. Do not say <i>residence</i> when you mean house; -the simpler word is the better.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. He has his <i>residence</i> in his house.</p> - -<p>3. His <i>residence</i>, or place of <i>residence</i>, is Montreal.</p> - -<h4>Sewage, sewerage.</h4> - -<p>The <i>sewage</i> flows through the system of <i>sewerage</i>.</p> - -<h4>Site, situation.</h4> - -<p>1. Lovely is Zion for <i>situation</i>.</p> - -<p>2. The <i>site</i> of Troy was repeatedly built upon, -each new Troy being in turn destroyed by fire or -by some enemy.</p> - -<p>3. The <i>situation</i> of Chicago by the lake gives the -city fresh breezes.</p> - -<p>What kind of place is a <i>site</i>? What is a <i>situation</i>?</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Verbs</span></h3> - -<h4>Accept, except.</h4> - -<p>1. All Cretans are liars, runs the proverb: the -proverb <i>excepts</i> none.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>accepted</i> the invitation.</p> - -<p>Both words have the idea of <i>take</i>. How is this -true of except?</p> - -<h4>Affect, effect.</h4> - -<p>1. Even the rumor <i>affected</i> his belief, changing -it slightly.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>effected</i> a junction with the other army.</p> - -<p>Which of these words could properly govern -<i>reconciliation</i>? <i>mind</i>? <i>health</i>? <i>release</i>? <i>conduct after<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> -release</i>? <i>destruction</i>? <i>conscience</i>? <i>peace of mind</i>? -Which one of the two words requires for an object -a noun expressing an action?</p> - -<h4>Aggravate, irritate, tantalize.</h4> - -<p>1. Tantalus was <i>tantalized</i> by the sight of inaccessible -fruit.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>aggravates</i> the difficulty by trying to excuse -his act.</p> - -<p>3. He is <i>aggravating</i> his cold by going out.</p> - -<p>4. He <i>irritates</i> me by his teasing.</p> - -<p>5. The gravity of our case is but <i>aggravated</i> by -delay.</p> - -<h4>Allude, mention.</h4> - -<p>1. Nobody would <i>allude</i> to an experience so unpleasant -to all that party.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>alluded</i> to Washington as the Father of -his Country.</p> - -<p>3. He <i>mentioned</i> several ways of accomplishing -the work; then he went back to his duties, not -<i>alluding</i> to the subject again.</p> - -<p>Can a person <i>allude</i> to a thing without assuming -knowledge of it on the part of an audience? Can -a thing be <i>alluded</i> to for the first time? if so, would -it be the first time it was spoken of? Make <i>allusions</i> -to several great men without <i>mentioning</i> their -names.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Antagonize, alienate.</h4> - -<p>1. By <i>antagonizing</i> the views of his friends, he -<i>alienated</i> their sympathies from him.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>alienated</i> his friends by <i>antagonizing</i> them.</p> - -<h4>Begin, commence.</h4> - -<p>These words are often interchangeable, but <i>commence</i> -is the more formal. <i>Begin</i> is the better word -ordinarily.</p> - -<h4>Bring, fetch.</h4> - -<p>1. Come here and <i>bring</i> the book.</p> - -<p>2. Go and <i>fetch</i> the book.</p> - -<p>Define these two words. What is their common -idea?</p> - -<h4>Claim, assert, etc.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Claim</i> means to assert a right to a thing as -one’s own. It means neither <i>to say</i>, <i>to assert</i>, <i>to -declare</i>, <i>to maintain</i>, <i>to hold</i>, <i>to allege</i>, nor <i>to contend</i>.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>claims</i> the right to be heard.</p> - -<p>3. He <i>maintains</i> that he ought to be heard.</p> - -<p>4. He <i>asserts</i> that such is the fact.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—It is better not to use <i>claim</i> with the -conjunction <i>that</i>.</p> - -<h4>Degrade, demean, debase.</h4> - -<p>1. Being in disgrace, the captain was <i>degraded</i> -from his rank.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>demeans</i> himself sometimes well, sometimes -ill.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span></p> - -<p>3. He <i>debases</i> [or <i>degrades</i>] himself by his -profanity.</p> - -<p>Give a synonym for <i>demean</i>.</p> - -<h4>Drive, ride.</h4> - -<p>In England one <i>rides</i> only when one is on horseback; -one is said to <i>drive</i> if in a carriage. In -America one <i>drives</i> when one holds the reins; but -we <i>go driving</i> even when the coachman drives. -There is also excellent authority for <i>take a ride</i>, -and <i>go riding</i>, when conveyance in a carriage is -meant.</p> - -<h4>Endorse, approve, second.</h4> - -<p>1. He <i>seconded</i> all his friend’s propositions.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>endorsed</i> the check across the top.</p> - -<p>3. He <i>approved</i> his colleague’s act.</p> - -<p>What is a <i>dorsal</i> fin? What does <i>endorse</i> mean, -by etymology?</p> - -<h4>Got, gotten, have.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Got</i> is perhaps preferable to <i>gotten</i>.</p> - -<p>2. Don’t say you’ve <i>got</i> a thing when you merely -<i>have it</i>, without having secured it.</p> - -<p>What idea is common to <i>get</i> and <i>have</i>?</p> - -<h4>Guess, think, reckon.</h4> - -<p>1. I <i>think</i> I shall go.</p> - -<p>2. He <i>reckoned</i> the cost before he started.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> - -<p>3. I <i>guess</i> there are a hundred.</p> - -<p>[The habitual misuse of <i>guess</i> is an American -fault.]</p> - -<h4>Intend, calculate.</h4> - -<p>1. She received his apologies with a resentment -they were <i>likely</i>, but were not intended, to inspire.<a name="FNanchor_31" id="FNanchor_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a></p> - -<p>2. He aimed at the animal a blow <i>calculated</i> to -kill it.</p> - -<p>3. I fully <i>intend</i> to go, but cannot <i>calculate</i> how -soon.</p> - -<h4>Let, leave.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Let</i> me be! Don’t bother me when I want to -study.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Let</i> me alone!</p> - -<p>3. <i>Leave</i> me alone here.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Let</i> go! Unhand me.</p> - -<p><i>Let</i> once meant “to hinder.” Now it means the -opposite—“permit.”</p> - -<h4>Lie, lay.</h4> - -<p>The chief trouble with the first of these two -words seems to concern the past tense: “He <i>laid -down</i> on the sofa.”</p> - -<h4>Locate, settle.</h4> - -<p>1. He <i>located his house</i> there (not <i>located there</i>).</p> - -<p>2. He <i>settled</i> in Chicago.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Loan, lend.</h4> - -<p>It is not incorrect to use <i>loan</i> in the sense of <i>lend</i>, -but <i>lend</i> is the less formal and the preferable word.</p> - -<h4>May, can.</h4> - -<p><i>May</i> it not be said that any person who has not -learned the difference between these two words, -<i>can</i> hardly be permitted to call himself a user of -good English?</p> - -<p>It is not hard to see why people confuse these -two words. Often the questioner feels that, for all -practicable purposes, the refusal of his request will -make a barrier over which he <i>cannot</i> go. When he -says “Can I go,” he is feeling, “Will you make it -possible for me to go? for unless you consent I -cannot go—I cannot afford to, or I cannot conscientiously, -or I cannot and remain on right terms -with you.” Nevertheless, <i>may</i> is the only right -word to use in asking permission.</p> - -<h4>Proved, proven.</h4> - -<p>1. The point was not <i>proved</i>.</p> - -<p>2. Verdict: “Not proven.” <i>Proven</i> is a Scotch -legal term, wrongly supposed by some persons to -be preferable to <i>proved</i> out of the court-room.</p> - -<h4>Purpose, propose.</h4> - -<p>1. One can’t <i>propose</i> unless he proposes something -to somebody.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. One can <i>purpose</i> to do a thing, without <i>proposing</i> -it to any one.</p> - -<p>How do both these words contain the idea of -<i>placing</i>?</p> - -<h4>Sit, set.</h4> - -<p>The chief errors in the use of <i>sit</i> and <i>set</i> are -two. Some people insist on saying “<i>setting hen</i>” -for “<i>sitting hen</i>,” and “the coat <i>sets</i> well” for “<i>sits</i> -well.” A few say, “<i>Sit</i> yourself down,” for the -somewhat old-fashioned “<i>sit</i> you down” (where -the <i>you</i> is nominative) or for “<i>set</i> yourself down.” -Similarly this error has been known to occur—“he -sat the basket of eggs down.”</p> - -<h4>Stay, stop.</h4> - -<p>1. He <i>stopped</i> at Albany; he went no farther.</p> - -<p>2. At what hotel are you <i>staying</i>, these days?</p> - -<h4>Transpire, happen.</h4> - -<p>A good many things <i>happened</i> that dark night -when the boys were out for a lark; but it never -<i>transpired</i> what really did happen; nothing leaked -out or got to the light.</p> - -<p><i>Spiro</i> means “to breathe.” <i>Trans</i> (across) when -in composition means through, out. Is it not clear -how the present use of the word comes about? -Explain. Compare the words <i>expire</i>, <i>conspire</i>, <i>inspire</i>. -How does each get its present meaning?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Wish, want, desire.</h4> - -<p>1. It is sometimes correct enough to say <i>want</i> in -the place of <i>wish</i>.</p> - -<p>2. You shall <i>want</i> nothing; all shall be supplied.</p> - -<p>3. You shall not want anything you may <i>desire</i>.</p> - -<p>Which idea springs out of the other—<i>want</i> from -<i>wish</i>, or <i>wish</i> from <i>want</i>?</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Adjectives and Adverbs</span></h3> - -<h4>Apt, likely, liable.</h4> - -<p>1. He is <i>apt</i> at languages.</p> - -<p>2. He is <i>likely</i> to fail if he does not properly -prepare himself. [Here <i>apt</i> was possible, but not -so good as <i>likely</i>.]</p> - -<p><i>Apt</i> means “fitted,” “fit.” How could such an -idea as “It is <i>apt</i> to rain this month” spring from -the idea of <i>fit</i>?</p> - -<p>3. He is <i>likely</i> to succeed if only he tries.</p> - -<p>4. He is <i>liable</i> to arrest and quarantine,—though -not <i>likely</i> to be arrested,—merely because he is -<i>liable</i> to come down with a contagious disease.</p> - -<p>With what kind of feeling does a person look -forward to a thing to which he is <i>liable</i>?</p> - -<h4>Continual, continuous.</h4> - -<p>1. A <i>continual</i> dropping is a Biblical phrase.</p> - -<p>2. A <i>continuous</i> dropping would not be a dropping -at all. It would be a stream.</p> - -<p>What idea have these words in common?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Funny, odd.</h4> - -<p>1. It is <i>odd</i> that I haven’t heard of this before.</p> - -<p>2. It is a <i>funny</i> sight to see Fido trying desperately -to catch his own tail.</p> - -<p>Can you explain something of the mental process -by which a child comes to say <i>funny</i> so frequently, -and <i>strange</i> so rarely? Is it all a matter of imitation, -or is there some other reason? Are there -not more of <i>strange</i> things in a child’s experience -than of <i>funny</i> things?</p> - -<h4>Healthy, healthful.</h4> - -<p><i>Healthful</i> food makes a <i>healthy</i> man.</p> - -<p>Give a synonym for <i>healthful</i> as applied to -food.</p> - -<h4>Imminent, eminent, immanent.</h4> - -<p>1. The <i>eminent</i> Latin writer, Livy, speaks of -Hannibal’s elephants as looming up—<i>eminentes</i>—through -the mist.</p> - -<p>2. That God is <i>immanent</i> in all the world was -a doctrine of the Greek fathers; they meant that -he pervades and is diffused throughout it.</p> - -<p>3. The sword of Damocles hung <i>imminent</i>, suspended -by a hair.</p> - -<p>4. He is in <i>imminent</i> danger of disgrace.</p> - -<p>With which two of these words is the idea of -<i>threaten</i> connected? Which has the idea of <i>remain</i>, -or <i>stay</i>, in it?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span></p> - -<h4>In, into.</h4> - -<p>1. Bruno looked up <i>into</i> his master’s face.</p> - -<p>2. He got <i>into</i> the chariot.</p> - -<p>3. He sprang <i>into</i> the lake, while I stayed <i>in</i> -the boat.</p> - -<p>4. Once <i>in</i> the lake, he swam round.</p> - -<p>What difference in the use of these words?</p> - -<h4>Last, latest.</h4> - -<p>1. The <i>last</i> page of the book is done.</p> - -<p>2. The <i>latest</i> news from the patient is bad.</p> - -<p>Does <i>latest</i> imply anything as to the future?</p> - -<h4>Last, preceding.</h4> - -<p>1. Let each paragraph be joined smoothly with -the <i>preceding</i>.</p> - -<p>2. The <i>last</i> paragraph ends the theme.</p> - -<h4>Mad, angry.</h4> - -<p>1. There is no reason for being <i>angry</i>.</p> - -<p>2. Much learning hath made thee <i>mad</i>.</p> - -<p>3. He was <i>mad</i> with rage—fairly insane.</p> - -<h4>Most, almost.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Most</i> men are optimists.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Almost</i> every man loves praise.</p> - -<p>Parse the words italicized above.</p> - -<h4>Mutual, common.</h4> - -<p>1. Our <i>common</i> friend is the better expression, -though Dickens has made famous the corresponding -worse usage.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span></p> - -<p>2. Friendship may be <i>mutual</i>; a friend cannot.</p> - -<p>3. Separated by mountains and by <i>mutual</i> fear.</p> - -<p>What is meant by reciprocal? Which word is -a synonym of reciprocal?</p> - -<h4>Oral, verbal.</h4> - -<p>1. Miles Standish’s act of sending the Indians -a snake-skin filled with powder and ball, was a -message, but not a <i>verbal</i> message.</p> - -<p>2. If you are to see John, let me send him this -<i>oral</i> message: Never say die.</p> - -<p>3. The corrections did not affect the truth of -the statements, but only the manner: they were -<i>verbal</i> corrections.</p> - -<p>4. The telegraph operator translates into <i>verbal</i> -form the message that he hears in the ticking of -his receiver.</p> - -<p>The Latin word <i>os</i> means mouth; the Latin -word <i>verbum</i> means a word. Do <i>oral</i> and <i>verbal</i> -keep the sense of the Latin words? Can a verbal -message be oral? Can an oral message be verbal? -Is an oral message ordinarily verbal? Can you -imagine an oral message that is not verbal?</p> - -<h4>Posted, informed.</h4> - -<p>1. The ledger is well <i>posted</i>.</p> - -<p>2. The editor is well <i>informed</i>.</p> - -<p>Can you see the slightest reasonable advantage in -speaking of a person as well <i>posted</i>? In other words, -does this commercial slang lend any real force?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Practicable, practical.</h4> - -<p>His scheme won’t work; it isn’t <i>practicable</i>. I’m -afraid he isn’t so <i>practical</i> a schemer as we thought.</p> - -<h4>Quite, somewhat, very, rather, entirely, wholly.</h4> - -<p>1. <i>Quite</i> never means “very,” “rather,” or -“somewhat.” It means “wholly.”</p> - -<p>2. Harry is <i>quite</i> well; he is never sick.</p> - -<p>3. Yes, I like him <i>rather</i> well.</p> - -<p>4. Thank you; I’m <i>quite</i> myself again.</p> - -<p>Curtail <i>quite</i>, and you get another good English -adjective from the same root. How is this shorter -word related in sense to the longer? With which -of the following expressions can <i>quite</i> be used? -Well (adj.), sick, recovered, pretty, finished, settled, -nice, good, assured, patient, used up, satisfied, a -good deal, fine, a hero, a way, a mile, a noise, -a failure, a lot, a hundred, a few, a good many, a -million, a dozen, some, well (adv.), a while, an hour, -your debtor, every one, all, around, through, under, -o’erthrown, down, elated, in a rage, underestimate, -vanquished, quarrelsome, lovely, everywhere, crestfallen.</p> - -<h4>Real, really, extremely.</h4> - -<p>1. I think he’s a <i>real</i> Count.</p> - -<p>2. I think he’s <i>extremely</i> mean.</p> - -<p>3. He’s <i>really</i> a very fine fellow.</p> - -<p>Parse the words italicized above.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span></p> - -<h4>Some, somewhat.</h4> - -<p>1. The sick man is <i>somewhat</i> better this morning.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Some</i> men have greatness thrust upon them.</p> - -<p>Parse the words italicized above.</p> - -<h4>Without, unless.</h4> - -<p>1. I can’t go <i>unless</i> there is a holiday.</p> - -<p>2. I can’t go <i>without</i> getting permission.</p> - -<p>Parse the words italicized above.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The following sentences are from -John Ruskin. No improprieties occur in the originals. -Within each pair of brackets a word is given, -sometimes the right word, sometimes the wrong -word. Study the meaning of each sentence, and -satisfy yourself as to what is the best expression -for each place in question.</p> - -<p>1. The ennobling difference between one man -and another—between one animal and another—is -precisely in this, that one feels more than another. -If we were sponges, perhaps sensation -might not be easily [gotten] for us; if we were -earth-worms, [apt] at every instant to be cut in -two by the spade, perhaps too much sensation -might not be good for us.</p> - -<p>2. But chiefly of all, she is taught to extend -the [limitations] of her sympathy.</p> - -<p>3. Very ready we are to say of a book, “How -good this is—that’s exactly what I think!” But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> -the right feeling is, “How [odd] that is! I never -thought of that before, and yet I see it is true; -or if I do not now, I hope I shall some day.”</p> - -<p>4. I believe, then, with this exception, that a -girl’s education should be nearly, in its course and -material of study, the same as a boy’s; but [entirely] -differently directed. A woman in any rank -of life ought to know whatever her husband is -[liable] to know, but to know it in a different way.</p> - -<p>5. I do not blame them for this, but only for -their narrow motive in this. I would have them -[want] and [assert] the title of “lady” provided -they [allege] not merely the title, but the office -and duty signified by it.</p> - -<p>6. And not less wrong—perhaps even more -foolishly wrong (for I will [expect] thus far what -I hope to prove)—is the idea that woman is only -the shadow and attendant image of her lord.</p> - -<p>7. But now, having no true [avocation], we pour -our whole masculine energy into the false business -of money-making.</p> - -<p>8. Having then faithfully listened to the great -teachers, that you may enter into their thoughts, -you have yet this higher [advancement] to make,—you -have to enter into their hearts.</p> - -<p>9. And, lastly, a great nation does not mock -Heaven and its Powers by pretending belief in -a revelation which [asserts] the love of money -to be the root of <i>all</i> evil, and [claiming], at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> -same time that it is actuated, and [proposes] to be -actuated, in all chief national deeds and measures, -by no other love.</p> - -<p>10. But an education “which shall keep a good -coat on my son’s back; which shall [capacitate] -him to ring with confidence the visitors’ bell at -double-belled doors; which shall result ultimately -in the establishment of a double-belled door to -his own [residence]—in a word, which shall lead -to [advance] in life—<i>this</i> we pray for on bent -knees; and this is <i>all</i> we pray for.” It never -seems to occur to the parents that there may be -an education which in itself <i>is</i> [advance] in Life; -that any other than that may perhaps be [advancement] -in Death; and that this essential education -might be more easily [gotten] or given, than they -[guess], if they set about it in the right way, while -it is for no price and by no favor to be [got], if -they set about it in the wrong.</p> - -<p>11. The chance and scattered evil that may here -and there haunt, or hide itself in, a powerful book, -never does any harm to a noble girl; but the emptiness -of an author oppresses her, and his amiable -folly [degrades] her. And if she can have [access] -to a good library of old and classical books, -there need be no choosing at all. Keep the modern -magazine and novel out of your girl’s way; turn -her loose into the old library every day, and [let] -her alone.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the italicized words in -the following sentences, taken from a newspaper. -According to a good dictionary, which are barbarisms? -What ones are here incorrectly used? -Which ones are colloquial—permitted in talking -familiarly, but not in writing? Suggest better -expressions.</p> - -<p>1. Her prospects for a long career on this earth -are <i>quite</i> favorable.</p> - -<p>2. The galvanic battery was applied every -hour without producing any more satisfactory -results, but hope did not abandon the <i>resurrectionists</i>.</p> - -<p>3. When the police arrived they discovered that -Burdick was wearing a <i>bogus</i> police star and he was -arrested.</p> - -<p>4. “If you’ll throw that gun away and put up -your <i>dukes</i> like a gentleman, I’ll come down there -and sew a button <i>onto</i> you!”</p> - -<p>5. Mr. Hanna was decidedly late in <i>showing up</i> -at headquarters.</p> - -<p>6. It buttons down the front with the finest -white pearl buttons of <i>quite</i> large size.</p> - -<p>7. Makers of sporting goods say there are <i>a lot</i> -of bicyclists who are ready and waiting to take up -every new thing.</p> - -<p>8. I <i>spotted</i> two of my countrywomen at once.</p> - -<p>9. It has been thus far an <i>exceptionably</i> busy -campaign.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The following sentences are -from Stevenson’s volume, <i>Virginibus Puerisque</i>. -As in the preceding exercise, decide on the best -word for each place in question.</p> - -<p>1. Think of the heroism of Johnson, think of -that superb indifference to mortal [limit] that set -him upon his dictionary, and carried him through -triumphantly to the end!</p> - -<p>2. [Most] everybody in our land ... can understand -and sympathize with an admiral or a prize-fighter.</p> - -<p>3. When he comes to ride with the king’s pardon, -he must bestride a chair, which he will so -hurry and belabor and on which he will so furiously -[demean] himself, that the messenger will -arrive, if not bloody with spurring, at least fiery -red with haste. If his romance involves an accident -upon a cliff, he must clamber in person about -the chest of drawers and fall bodily [onto] the -carpet, before his imagination is satisfied.</p> - -<p>4. Surely all these are [practicable] questions to -a neophyte entering upon life with a view to play.</p> - -<p>5. A sedentary population ... can [noways, -in no wise] explain to itself the gaiety of these -passers-by.</p> - -<p>6. To borrow and [demean] an image, all the -evening street-lamps burst into song.</p> - -<p>7. But the conservative, while lauding progress, -is ever timid of innovation; his is the hand upheld<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> -to [council] pause; his is the signal advising slow -[advance].</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The following sentences are -from Mrs. Gaskell’s <i>Cranford</i>. As before, decide -on the best word for each place in question.</p> - -<p>1. There were rules and regulations for visiting -and calls; and they were announced to any young -people, who might be [stopping] in the town.</p> - -<p>2. He must have been upwards of sixty at the -time of the first visit I paid to Cranford after I -had left it as a [residence].</p> - -<p>3. She was evidently nervous from having [expected] -my call.</p> - -<p>4. My request evidently pleased the old gentleman, -who took me all [round, around<a name="FNanchor_32" id="FNanchor_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a>] the place, -and showed me his six and twenty cows, named -after the different letters of the alphabet.</p> - -<p>5. I can’t [wholly] remember the date, but I -think it was in 1805 that Miss Jenkyns wrote the -longest [series, succession] of letters.</p> - -<p>6. She never laughed at his jokes ...; and -that [aggravated] him.</p> - -<p>7. He was very, very [mad] indeed, and before -all the people he lifted up his cane and flogged -Peter!</p> - -<p>8. “Shell-fish are sometimes thought not very -[healthy].”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> - -<p>9. The writer of the letter ... was dead long -ago; and I, a stranger, not born at the time -when this occurrence [took place], was the one -to open it.</p> - -<p>10. I seized the opportunity, and wrote and despatched -an [acceptation] in her name.</p> - -<p>11. He thought each shawl more beautiful than -the [last].</p> - -<p>12. I could not see that the little event in the -shop below had in the least damped Miss Matty’s -curiosity as to the make of sleeves or the [set, sit] -of skirts. [If neither <i>sit</i> nor <i>set</i> is right here, how -recast the sentence?]</p> - -<p>13. Miss Matty [anticipated] the sight of the -glossy folds.</p> - -<p>14. The Gordons ... were now [expected] to -return very soon; and Miss Matty, in her sisterly -pride, [expected] great delight in the joy of showing -them Mr. Peter.</p> - -<p>15. However, we all sat eyes right, square front, -gazing at the [tantalizing] curtain.</p> - -<p>16. We (at least I) had doubts as to whether she -really would enjoy the little adventure of having -her house [burglarized], as she [protested] she -would.</p> - -<p>17. Miss Jenkyns ... never got over what she -called Captain Brown’s disparaging [observations] -upon Dr. Johnson as a writer of light and agreeable -fiction.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span></p> - -<p>18. It (Death) was a word not to be [alluded to] -to ears polite.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—The following sentences are from -Lord Chesterfield’s letters to his son. As in the -preceding exercise, choose the best word for each -place in question.</p> - -<p>1. Your own [remarks] upon mankind, when -compared with those which you will find in books, -will help you fix the true point.</p> - -<p>2. There is nothing which I more wish that you -should know, and which [less] people do know, -than the true use and value of time.</p> - -<p>3. Your [neglect] of dress, while you were a -schoolboy, was pardonable, but would not be so now.</p> - -<p>4. The [reputations] of kings and great men -are only to be learned in conversation; for they -are never fairly written during their lives.</p> - -<p>5. What does Chesterfield mean by “in a good -sense,” in the following? “Another, speaking in -defence of a gentleman upon whom a censure was -moved, happily said that he thought the gentleman -was more <i>liable</i> to be thanked and rewarded, than -censured. You know, I presume, that <i>liable</i> can -never be used in a good sense.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Review Exercise.</b>—Let each word of the following -list be taken up by itself. Each member of the -class should give a sentence of his own, using the -given word correctly.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span></p> - -<p>Access, acceptance, alternative, avocation, observation, -ability, capacity, character, discovery, limitation, -party, portion, predominance, residence, -except (verb), affect, effect, allude, claim, purpose, -transpire, liable, apt, somewhat, quite, mad, practicable.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span class="smaller">SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>The English Vocabulary.</b>—The enormous treasure -of English speech contains something like 200,000 -words.<a name="FNanchor_33" id="FNanchor_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> Most of these were once foreigners -to the language. To tell how each came to be -English would be like telling the personal romances -of all the foreign-born citizens of these -United States.</p> - -<p>England was once inhabited by Celts, the ancestors -of the Scotch, Welsh, and Irish. The -Romans under Cæsar possessed the island, and for -five hundred years held the country, but they left -us, from this period of their occupation, only half -a dozen words: the names of the camp (<i>castra</i>), -the paved road (<i>strata</i>), the settlement (<i>colonia</i>), -the trench (<i>fossa</i>), the harbor (<i>portus</i>), the rampart -(<i>vallum</i>). These words remain chiefly in the names -of places. A sharp eye sees them in Lancaster,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> -Leicester, Manchester, etc.; Stratford, street, etc.; -Lincoln, etc.; Fossway, etc.; Portsmouth, etc.; -wall, bailey, bailiff (these three words being derived -from <i>vallum</i>).</p> - -<p>In the fifth century, however, Teutonic tribes -began to cross the sea and invade the land. The -Celts were driven north and west into the mountains, -and the newcomers stayed permanently. -Although these Teutons—the Anglo-Saxons—called -the Celts <i>Welsh</i>, that is, strangers, they took -up a good many of the strangers’ words. They -called many a river of the land <i>Avon</i>, water, as the -Celts had done,—there are fourteen Avons to-day,—and -they kept many such words as <i>inch</i>, an -island (in Inchcape), and <i>kill</i>, a church (in Kildare). -Indeed, for centuries the Celts kept on lending -words to the English: <i>bargain</i>, <i>bodkin</i>, <i>brogue</i>, <i>clan</i>, -<i>crag</i>, <i>dagger</i>, <i>glen</i>, <i>gown</i>, <i>mitten</i>, <i>rogue</i>, <i>whiskey</i>, are -familiar examples of these permanent loans.</p> - -<p>The Old English language itself was a Germanic -dialect. Like Latin and German, it was inflected,—a -fact that we see to-day in the presence of such -forms as <i>him</i>, the old dative case for <i>he</i>. The inflectional -endings nearly all disappeared before -Shakespeare’s time. The vocabulary of this Old -English has given us most of the words that we -use as children. For example, household names—<i>home</i>, -<i>friends</i>, <i>father</i>, <i>mother</i>, etc.; names of many -emotions—<i>gladness</i>, <i>sorrow</i>, <i>love</i>, <i>hate</i>, <i>fear</i>, etc.;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> -names of most objects in the landscape—<i>tree</i>, <i>bush</i>, -<i>stone</i>, <i>hill</i>, <i>woods</i>, <i>stream</i>, <i>sun</i>, <i>moon</i>, etc.; common -names of animals—<i>horse</i>, <i>cow</i>, <i>dog</i>, <i>cat</i>, etc.; parts -of the body—<i>head</i>, <i>eye</i>, etc. Our household proverbs -are in these Anglo-Saxon words. “Fast bind, -fast find,” is an example of a thousand similar saws -that embody the practical common sense of the -people. The loves and hates, the hopes and fears, -the wit and rude wisdom of our forefathers, have -gone into Saxon words. These are not merely -the words of childhood; in hours of deep feeling, -in moments when the natural disposition demands -expression, the grown man speaks in Saxon. These -strong, forcible old words are to be prized and -cherished as carefully as are those of less emotional -suggestion,—the exact, discriminative Latin words.</p> - -<p>In the ninth and tenth centuries the Norse -vikings, who sailed everywhere, sailed also to England, -and for a time got the upper hand of the -Saxons. From 1013 to 1042 there were Scandinavian -kings on the English throne. But these Norse -were not able to impose much of their own language -upon the country. Their settlements were -named in Norse, and the word <i>by</i>, a town, remains -in hundreds of such places, as <i>Whitby</i>, the <i>white -town</i> (from the white cliffs). From these great -seamen our Saxon ancestors learned some new -nautical dialect—words like <i>bow</i>, <i>bowline</i>, <i>crew</i>, -<i>harbor</i>, <i>hawser</i>, <i>lee</i>, <i>stern</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> - -<p>In 1066 the Normans conquered the land. These -were Frenchmen whose fathers had been Norse. -They brought the French language into their English -court, and for two or three hundred years -there were two languages in England,—French -on the lips of the nobles, Saxon on the lips of -the peasants. But the Saxon race was too strong -to remain an underling. Gradually it mingled -with the Norman race, picking up hundreds, even -thousands of French words from the latter, but -keeping its own ways of putting words together.</p> - -<p>By 1400, when Chaucer died, there was a new -English language, almost as much French as Saxon -in vocabulary, but far less French than Saxon in -grammar. Since French is largely derived from -Latin, it is clear that the total Latin element in -the vocabulary was already very great.</p> - -<p>After Chaucer there came a general awakening -of interest in ancient civilization; and in the -Revival of Learning a great many words were -adopted directly from Latin and Greek. In the -sixteenth century followed the Renaissance of literature, -art, and the sciences. This made its way -to England from Italy, and naturally Englishmen -caught up many new words from Italians. -For example: <i>alert</i>, <i>bankrupt</i>, <i>brigade</i>, <i>bust</i>, <i>cameo</i>, -<i>caricature</i>, <i>cascade</i>, <i>domino</i>, <i>fresco</i>, <i>granite</i>, <i>influenza</i>, -<i>malaria</i>, <i>niche</i>, <i>oratorio</i>, <i>pianoforte</i>, <i>ruffian</i>, <i>studio</i>, -<i>tirade</i>, <i>umbrella</i>, <i>vista</i>. The Spaniards, too, whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> -Englishmen met in those days on the sea and at -courts, have lent our language such words as <i>barricade</i>, -<i>bravado</i>, <i>cigar</i>, <i>desperado</i>, <i>flotilla</i>, <i>guerilla</i>, -<i>merino</i>, <i>mosquito</i>, <i>mulatto</i>, <i>renegade</i>, <i>sherry</i>, <i>tornado</i>, -<i>vanilla</i>.</p> - -<p>The bold English seamen of the sixteenth century -sailed back even from America with new -things and new names—like <i>tobacco</i>. In the next -century the commerce which followed hard upon -the voyages of discovery was the means of bringing -to the British island many new words. Here -it may be said that the Dutch, who have rivalled -the English in commerce, and who have taught the -English some tricks of seamanship,—as did the -vikings before them,—are represented in English -by words like <i>ballast</i>, <i>boom</i>, <i>boor</i>, <i>skipper</i>, <i>sloop</i>, -<i>smack</i>, <i>trigger</i>, <i>yacht</i>. English merchantmen of the -seventeenth and eighteenth centuries sailed to -ports Oriental and Occidental. Returning, they -brought from Africa canaries and gorillas, with -the words <i>canary</i> and <i>gorilla</i>, and told of <i>oases</i>; -from Arabia they fetched such names as <i>admiral</i>, -<i>alcohol</i>, <i>alcove</i>, <i>alkali</i>, <i>arsenal</i>, <i>azure</i>, <i>chemistry</i>, -<i>coffee</i>, <i>cotton</i>, <i>lute</i>, <i>magazine</i>, <i>nabob</i>, <i>naphtha</i>, -<i>sherbet</i>, <i>sofa</i>, <i>syrup</i>, <i>zenith</i>; indeed, some of these -words had got into English through earlier English -travellers—chiefly crusaders. English sailors -and travellers have brought from China <i>silk</i>, <i>tea</i>, -etc.; from India, <i>banyan</i>, <i>calico</i>, <i>mullagatawny</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> -<i>musk</i>, <i>punch</i>, <i>sugar</i>, <i>thug</i>, etc.; from Malayan ports, -<i>bantam</i>, <i>cockatoo</i>, <i>gong</i>, <i>rattan</i>, <i>sago</i>, etc.; from -Persia, <i>awning</i>, <i>caravan</i>, <i>chess</i>, <i>hazard</i>, <i>horde</i>, <i>lemon</i>, -<i>orange</i>, <i>paradise</i>, <i>sash</i>, <i>shawl</i>, etc. Few are the -languages from which a British ear has not caught -and kept a new term.</p> - -<p>In America we have many Indian names of -places and things. We have <i>hominy</i>, <i>moose</i>, <i>opossum</i>, -<i>raccoon</i>, <i>toboggan</i>, and other words from North -American tribes. Mexico gave us <i>chocolate</i>, <i>tomato</i>, -etc.; the West Indies, <i>potato</i>, <i>canoe</i>, <i>hurricane</i>; -South America, <i>alpaca</i>, <i>quinine</i>, <i>tapioca</i>, etc.</p> - -<p>In the present century, science, both practical -and pure, has discovered thousands of facts and -invented thousands of contrivances. Consequently -thousands of words have been coined, mostly from -Greek, to name modern inventions and the facts of -science. A recent dictionary found it necessary to -codify 4000 technical terms that had sprung up -within the last few years.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Anglo-Saxon Prefixes and Suffixes.</b>—The following -prefixes are Anglo-Saxon. Think of words -made with each.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. <i>A-</i> = in, on.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Be-.</i> What grammatical effect has this prefix on -<i>moan</i>, <i>daub</i>, <i>friend</i>?</p> - -<p>3. <i>For-.</i> What effect has this on <i>bid</i>, <i>lorn</i>? Compare -Latin <i>per</i>, in <i>perfect</i>.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Fore-.</i></p> - -<p>5. <i>Gain-</i> = against.</p> - -<p>6. <i>Mis-</i> (A.-S. <i>mis</i> = wrong). What effect on <i>deed</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> -<i>lead</i>? A French prefix from Latin <i>minus</i> occurs in <i>mischief</i>, -etc.</p> - -<p>7. <i>Th-.</i></p> - -<p>8. <i>Un-.</i></p> - -<p>9. <i>With-</i> (A.-S. <i>wither</i> = back).</p> - -</div> - -<p>Similarly think of words made with each of the -following <i>noun</i> suffixes and explain the force of -each suffix.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. <i>-ard</i> = habitual.</p> - -<p>2. <i>-craft.</i></p> - -<p>3. <i>-dom.</i></p> - -<p>4. <i>-en.</i></p> - -<p>5. <i>-er.</i></p> - -<p>6. <i>-hood.</i></p> - -<p>7. <i>-ing</i> = son of, part. Meaning of <i>Browning</i>? <i>lording</i>? -<i>tithing</i>? There is an older suffix which appears in the -gerund—<i>taking</i>, <i>hunting.</i></p> - -<p>8. <i>-kin.</i></p> - -<p>9. <i>-ling.</i></p> - -<p>10. <i>-ness.</i></p> - -<p>11. <i>-ock.</i></p> - -<p>12. <i>-ric</i> = power.</p> - -<p>13. <i>-ship.</i></p> - -<p>14. <i>-stead</i> = place.</p> - -<p>15. <i>-ster.</i></p> - -<p>16. <i>-wright.</i></p> - -<p>17. <i>-ward.</i></p> - -</div> - -<p>Think of words made with the following <i>adjective</i> -suffixes.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. <i>-ed.</i></p> - -<p>2. <i>-en.</i></p> - -<p>3. <i>-ern.</i></p> - -<p>4. <i>-fast.</i></p> - -<p>5. <i>-fold.</i></p> - -<p>6. <i>-ful.</i></p> - -<p>7. <i>-ish.</i></p> - -<p>8. <i>-less.</i></p> - -<p>9. <i>-like</i> (<i>lic</i> = body, form).</p> - -<p>10. <i>-right.</i></p> - -<p>11. <i>-some</i> = same.</p> - -<p>12. <i>-y.</i></p> - -</div> - -<p>Think of words made with the following <i>adverb</i> -suffixes.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. <i>-es</i> (the old genitive ending).</p> - -<p>2. <i>-ly</i> (<i>lic</i> = body, form).</p> - -<p>3. <i>-ling</i>, <i>-long</i>.</p> - -<p>4. <i>-meal.</i></p> - -<p>5. <i>-om</i> (old dative plural).</p> - -<p>6. <i>-ward.</i></p> - -<p>7. <i>-wise</i> = manner.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Latin Element.</b>—The Latin element is numerically -the larger part of the language. It is -therefore impossible to know well the English -vocabulary except by knowing a considerable part -of the Latin language. Whether our Latin words -come directly through the ancient classics, or -through the Romance tongues, such as French, -Italian, and Spanish, to know their full force one -must know the original meaning of them, as used -by the ancient race of world-conquerors. Every -instructor in English watches with keen interest -the progress made by his students in their Latin -studies. Of course, the mere knowledge that a -given word is derived from a given Latin word -does not necessarily give the student practical -command of it in his writing; but usually such -knowledge does help to a better understanding of -the meaning the word has to-day, and so tends -both to fix it in memory and to insure exact use -of it.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Latin Words transferred to English.</b>—Some Latin -words have been transferred bodily into English. -Discuss with the instructor the derivation of the -present meanings of the following:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>Alias</i> = otherwise; <i>album</i> = white; <i>amanuensis</i> = hand-writer; -<i>animus</i> = mind; <i>arena</i> = sand; <i>boa</i> = great serpent; -<i>camera</i> = chamber; <i>cornucopia</i> = horn of plenty; <i>extra</i> = -beyond; <i>focus</i> = hearth; <i>gratis</i> = for nothing; <i>item</i> = also; -<i>memento</i> = remember (imperative); <i>nostrum</i> = our own;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> -<i>omnibus</i> = for all; <i>posse</i> = to be able; <i>quorum</i> = of whom; -<i>rebus</i> = by things; <i>rostrum</i> = beak; <i>torpedo</i> = numbness; -<i>vagary</i> = to wander; <i>videlicet</i> = it can be seen; <i>virago</i> = a -mannish woman.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Latin Prefixes and Suffixes.</b>—Recall English -words having the following prefixes, and explain -the effect of the prefix on each.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>A-</i>, <i>ab-</i>, <i>abs-</i> = from; <i>ad-</i> = to; <i>amb-</i> = about; <i>ante-</i> = -before; <i>bis-</i>, <i>bi-</i> = twice; <i>circum-</i> = around; <i>cum-</i> (found -in French <i>col-</i>, <i>com-</i>, <i>cor-</i>, <i>coun-</i>) = with; <i>contra-</i> = against; -<i>de-</i> = down, from; <i>dis-</i> (Fr. <i>des-</i>, <i>de-</i>) = asunder; <i>ex-</i> (Fr. -<i>es-</i>, <i>e-</i>) = from; <i>extra-</i> = beyond; <i>in-</i> (Fr. <i>en-</i>, <i>em-</i>) = in, -into; <i>in-</i> (<i>il-</i>, <i>im-</i>, <i>ir-</i>, <i>ig-</i>) = not; <i>inter-</i> = between, among; -<i>non-</i> = not; <i>ob-</i> = against; <i>pene-</i> = almost; <i>per-</i> = through; -<i>post-</i> = after; <i>præ-</i>, <i>pre-</i> = before; <i>præter-</i> = beyond; <i>pro-</i> -(Fr. <i>pour</i> = <i>pol-</i>, <i>por-</i>, <i>pur-</i>) = for; <i>re-</i> = back; <i>retro-</i> = -backwards; <i>se-</i> = apart; <i>sub-</i> (<i>suc-</i>, <i>suf-</i>, <i>sum-</i>, <i>sup-</i>, <i>sur-</i>, -<i>sus-</i>) = under; <i>super-</i> = above; <i>trans-</i> = across; <i>vice-</i> = in -place of.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Recall words having the following Latin or -Latin-French suffixes, and explain each in terms -of the meaning of the suffix.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>-Aceous</i> (Lat. <i>-aceus</i>) = made of; <i>-al</i> (Latin <i>-alis</i>) = pertaining -to; <i>-able</i> (<i>-ible</i>), Lat. (<i>h</i>)<i>abilis</i> = capable of being; -<i>-ple</i>, <i>-ble</i> (Latin <i>-plex</i>) = fold; <i>-plex</i> = fold; <i>-lent</i> (Lat. -<i>-lentus</i>) = full of; <i>-ose</i> (Lat. <i>-osus</i>) = full of; <i>-und</i> (Lat. -<i>-undus</i>) = full of; <i>-ulous</i> (Lat. <i>-ulus</i>)= full of.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Latin Roots in English.</b>—Below are listed a few -of the many Latin words that have given us English -words. Recall as many as possible of their -derivatives, and define each in terms of the original<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> -meaning. Thus <i>acer</i>, sharp, gives us <i>acrimony</i>, -sharpness, <i>acrid</i>, sour. Some member of the class -may know that through the French it gives us -<i>vinegar</i>, sharp wine. Make notes in your note-book -of any derivatives that are new to you. <i>Ædes</i>, a -building; <i>æquus</i>, equal; <i>ager</i>, a field; <i>agere</i>, to do; -<i>alere</i>, to nourish—perfect participle <i>altus</i>, nourished, -therefore high; <i>amare</i>, to love; <i>anima</i>, life; -<i>animus</i>, mind; <i>annus</i>, a year; <i>aqua</i>, water; <i>arcus</i>, -a bow; <i>ardere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>arsus</i>), to burn; <i>audire</i>, to -hear; <i>augere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>auctus</i>), to increase; <i>brevis</i>, -brief; <i>cadere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>casus</i>), to fall; <i>candere</i>, to -shine; <i>capere</i>, to take; <i>caput</i>, a head; <i>cavus</i>, hollow; -<i>cernere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>cretus</i>), to distinguish; <i>clarus</i>, clear; -<i>cor</i>, heart; <i>corona</i>, crown; <i>credere</i>, to believe; <i>crescere</i> -(pf. ptc. <i>cretus</i>), to grow; <i>crudus</i>, raw; <i>cura</i>, -care; <i>deus</i>, god; <i>dicere</i>, to say; <i>docere</i>, to teach; -<i>dominus</i>, lord (Fr. <i>damsel</i>, <i>dame</i>, <i>madame</i>); <i>domus</i>, -a house; <i>ducere</i>, to lead; <i>errare</i>, to wander; <i>facere</i>, -to make; <i>filum</i>, a thread; <i>finis</i>, the end; <i>flos</i>, a -flower; <i>frangere</i> (stems, <i>frag</i>, <i>fract</i>), to break; -<i>fortis</i>, strong; <i>fundere</i>, to pour; <i>gradus</i>, a step; -<i>gravis</i>, heavy; <i>homo</i>, a man; <i>imperare</i>, to command; -<i>jus</i>, right; <i>legere</i> (<i>lect</i>), to read; <i>ligo</i>, to bind; -<i>litera</i>, a letter; <i>loqui</i>, to speak; <i>lumen</i>, light; <i>luna</i>, -the moon; <i>magnus</i>, great; <i>manus</i>, a hand; <i>maturus</i>, -ripe; <i>mittere</i> (<i>missere</i>), to send; <i>mors</i>, death; -<i>novus</i>, new; <i>nox</i>, night; <i>omnis</i>, all; <i>ordo</i>, order; -<i>pascere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>pastus</i>), to feed; <i>pati</i> (pf. ptc.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span> -<i>passus</i>), to suffer; <i>petere</i>, to seek; <i>portare</i>, to carry; -<i>radix</i>, a root; <i>regere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>rectus</i>), to rule; <i>scire</i>, -to know; <i>sequi</i> (pf. ptc. <i>secutus</i>), to follow; <i>socius</i>, -a companion; <i>spirare</i>, to breathe; <i>tangere</i>, to touch; -<i>texere</i>, to weave; <i>vanus</i>, empty; <i>videre</i>, to see; -<i>vincere</i> (pf. ptc. <i>victus</i>), to conquer; <i>vulgus</i>, the -crowd.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Greek Roots in English.</b>—Recall English words -made from the following Greek roots, and explain -each. Make notes in your note-book of those derivatives -that are new to you. <i>Anthropos</i>, a man; -<i>aster</i>, <i>astron</i>, a star; <i>autos</i>, self; <i>biblos</i>, a book; -<i>bios</i>, life; <i>deka</i>, ten; <i>dokein</i>, to think; <i>dunamis</i>, -power; <i>eu</i>, well; <i>ge</i>, the earth; <i>graphein</i>, to write; -<i>hemi</i>, half; <i>hippos</i>, a horse; <i>homos</i>, the same; -<i>kuklos</i>, a circle; <i>monos</i>, alone; <i>orthos</i>, right; <i>pan</i>, -all; <i>petra</i>, a rock; <i>philein</i>, to love; <i>phone</i>, a sound; -<i>poiein</i>, to make;<a name="FNanchor_34" id="FNanchor_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> <i>skopein</i>, to see; <i>sophia</i>, wisdom; -<i>tele</i>, distant; <i>theos</i>, a god.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Curious Words.</b>—Look up and copy into your -note-book the origin of the following words. <i>Assassin</i>, -<i>august</i>, <i>dahlia</i>, <i>dunce</i>, <i>epicure</i>, <i>galvanic</i>, <i>guillotine</i>, -<i>hermetically</i>, <i>January</i>, <i>jovial</i>, <i>July</i>, <i>lynch</i>, -<i>March</i>, <i>mentor</i>, <i>panic</i>, <i>phaeton</i>, <i>quixotic</i>, <i>stentorian</i>, -<i>tantalize</i>, <i>tawdry</i>. <i>Bayonet</i>, <i>bedlam</i>, <i>copper</i>, <i>damask</i>, -<i>dollar</i>, <i>gasconade</i>, <i>gipsy</i>, <i>laconic</i>, <i>lumber</i>, <i>meander</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> -<i>milliner</i>, <i>palace</i>, <i>utopian</i>. <i>Abominate</i>, <i>adieu</i>, <i>amethyst</i>, -<i>apothecary</i>, <i>beldam</i>, <i>capricious</i>, <i>cemetery</i>, <i>cheap</i>, -<i>checkmate</i>, <i>cobalt</i>, <i>curmudgeon</i>, <i>dainty</i>, <i>daisy</i>, <i>dismal</i>, -<i>emolument</i>, <i>salary</i>, <i>fanatic</i>, <i>gentleman</i>, <i>heretic</i>, <i>inculcate</i>, -<i>infant</i>, <i>intoxicated</i>, <i>maidenhair</i> (fern), <i>maxim</i>, -<i>nausea</i>, <i>onyx</i>, <i>parlor</i>, <i>Porte</i> (the Sublime Porte), -<i>pupil</i>, <i>silly</i>, <i>sincere</i>, <i>tariff</i>, <i>trump</i> (card). <i>Atonement</i>, -<i>belfry</i>, <i>brimstone</i>, <i>carouse</i>, <i>counterpane</i>, <i>coward</i>, <i>crayfish</i>, -<i>dandelion</i>, <i>dirge</i>, <i>drawing-room</i>, <i>easel</i>, <i>gospel-grove</i>, -<i>harbinger</i>, <i>Jerusalem artichoke</i>, <i>line</i> (garments), -<i>licorice</i>, <i>nostril</i>, <i>porpoise</i>, <i>quinsy</i>, <i>squirrel</i>, -<i>summerset</i>, <i>surgeon</i>, <i>thorough</i>, <i>treacle</i>, <i>trifle</i>, <i>wassail</i>, -<i>whole</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Examine the following passages -separately. Classify all the words in two -columns, one giving those of Saxon derivation, -the other those of Latin derivation. Consult the -dictionary in case of doubt. Then compare the -English of Dr. Johnson with that of Dr. Blackmore. -The former is writing in his own person as -an eighteenth century scholar; the latter in the -person of the stout John Ridd, a seventeenth century -youth.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>No degree of knowledge attainable by man is able to set -him above the want of hourly assistance, or to extinguish -the desire of fond endearments, and tender officiousness; -and therefore, no one should think it unnecessary to learn -those arts by which friendship may be gained. Kindness is -preserved by a constant reciprocation of benefits or interchange<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> -of pleasures; but such benefits only can be bestowed, -as others are capable to receive, and such pleasures only -imparted, as others are qualified to enjoy.—<span class="smcap">Dr. Johnson</span>, -<i>Rambler for July 9, 1751</i>.</p> - -<p>When I had travelled two miles or so, conquered now and -then with cold, and coming out to rub my legs into a lively -friction, and only fishing here and there because of the -tumbling water, suddenly, in an open space, where meadows -spread about it, I found a good stream flowing softly into -the body of our brook. And it brought, so far as I could -guess by the sweep of it under my knee-caps, a larger power -of clear water than the Lynn itself had; only it came more -quietly down, not being troubled with stairs and steps, as -the fortune of the Lynn is, but gliding smoothly and forcibly, -as if upon some set purpose.—<span class="smcap">R. D. Blackmore</span>, -<i>Lorna Doone</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE MASTERY OF A WRITING VOCABULARY</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>Ideas without Words.</b>—It is possible to have -ideas without having words in which to express -them. Miss Helen Keller<a name="FNanchor_35" id="FNanchor_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> had plenty of ideas -before any one taught her the words for them. -The painter trains himself to express ideas in -paint; the sculptor, in stone. The inventor expresses -ideas in machinery. Because words however -are the commonest means of expression, it -is desirable that one should know as many as -possible. A person who has ideas will indeed be -able to communicate them in some rough-and-ready -form of speech; will use a poor word, if he cannot -think of a good one, and by hook or crook will -manage to be understood. But an unread, untrained -man trying to communicate some fine shade -of thought is commonly a sorry sight, no matter -how bright his mind may be.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Words without Ideas.</b>—On the other hand, it is -possible to know words without knowing what they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> -stand for. Some persons of quick verbal memory -pick up phrases readily, and utter them glibly, -with little sense of their meaning. Gratiano, of -Shakespeare’s drama, “spoke an infinite deal of -nothing, more than any man in Venice.” Such -persons as he have given ground for the sarcastic -remark that language is the art of concealing -thought. The use of meaningless phrases, and -the use of words without a care to their exact -meaning, is one danger that besets the student of -composition. The boy who fluently remarks that -he recently lost his little <i>saturnine</i> (meaning <i>canine</i>, -i.e. <i>dog</i>); the lady, Mrs. Malaprop, who walks -through Sheridan’s play, saying, “You go first, -and we’ll <i>precede</i> you”; the man, Launcelot Gobbo, -who enlivens <i>The Merchant of Venice</i> with such remarks -as that “his suit is <i>impertinent</i> to himself,”—these -people need a book of synonyms. Unless a -writer is sure that he knows definitely the meaning -of the word that his pen is about to trace, he -would much better stay his hand.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Ideas and Words.</b>—Though one mind may have -ideas but lack their names, and though another -may have the names but lack the notions for which -they stand, yet both ideas and words are indispensable -to the writer. A general recipe for getting -ideas is hardly easier to give than a recipe -for being great, or for having blue eyes, or for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> -being liked by every one. Ideas are had through -new experiences, new acquaintanceships, new sights; -through hard thinking, through hard reading,—in -short, through living. Mr. Henry James, the eminent -novelist, gives a direction for being a good -novelist: <i>Try to be one of those people on whom -nothing is lost.</i> The student who is eager to know -as much as possible of what is worth knowing in -life, and is devoured with curiosity to learn the -name of everything, is sure to acquire both new -ideas and new words.<a name="FNanchor_36" id="FNanchor_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a></p> - -<p>It is nevertheless not to be denied that to some -extent ideas can be bred by the study of the mere -words. How true this is appears when it is remembered -that words are the embalmed ideas of men. -A study of such a list as the Curious Words given -in the preceding chapter cannot but add to the -student’s mental stores. Thackeray, it is said, -used to read the dictionary before he composed. -It may be presumed that the habit used not merely -to acquaint him with new words, but to arouse his -mind and set it to fashioning new thoughts. The -attempt to discriminate between words that mean -nearly, not quite, the same thing, results in a distinct -gain in thought, and in power of thought. -It is probable that no two words have exactly the -same sense; to discover the difference enriches the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> -discoverer’s store of knowledge, and develops one -of the highest mental powers. A command of -words not merely affords relief from the pain of -dumbness, not merely loosens the tongue; it aids -reasoning. Thinking proceeds more securely the -moment a hazy notion is given definite shape in -the right word. Indeed, the mere search for the -right word is always a means of clearing up the -thought. To be tortured in mind by inability to -find the unique phrase, sometimes means a mere -fault in verbal memory; as often, or oftener, it is -due to a vagueness of thinking.</p> - -<p>By way of summary, then, acquisition of ideas -furthers acquisition of words, and <i>vice versâ</i>. To -be poor in ideas, or to be poor in language,—either -means failure for a writer.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Two Vocabularies.</b>—Of all the 200,000 -words in our language, probably no one man would -understand one-half if he saw them, undefined, in -a dictionary. Just how large a man’s reading -vocabulary can be is not known. Professor Holden, -the astronomer, found that his own was about -33,000 words. It is therefore likely that 25,000 -is not an unusual number for an educated person -to understand. But the <i>reading</i> or <i>passive</i> vocabulary -is very different in size from the <i>writing</i> or -<i>active</i> vocabulary. To remember the sense of a -word when it is seen is far less difficult than to recall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> -the word whenever its meaning rises dimly in -the mind. A little child has but one set of words—an -active vocabulary; it makes oral use of all the -expressions it knows. But the older person reads so -much that he comes to recognize myriads of words -that rarely rise to his lips or find their way to his -pen. There is inevitably therefore a widening gap -between the expressions he can recognize and those -he can employ. That this should be so is in part desirable. -A person of fourteen or sixteen or eighteen -must, if he reads carefully, learn to understand -many expressions that are too bookish for his own -uses. The word <i>temerarious</i>, for instance, is needed -once where its unpretentious cousin, <i>rash</i>, is needed -a score of times. With some words the young -writer needs only a speaking acquaintance; others -are good friends that, in Hamlet’s phrase, he should -buckle to his soul with hoops of steel. But it is -safe to say that if a person can transfer some part -of his reading vocabulary into his writing vocabulary, -he will be much benefited by so doing. -There is probably no reason why a freshman should -not enter college master of a writing vocabulary -of 5000 words, and a reading vocabulary of 15,000. -Shakespeare’s works contain about 15,000 different -words, the King James version of the Bible fewer -than 6000. Again, each person uses the same -words with many different meanings. Every great -writer employs the same words in many figurative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> -senses; the fact is perhaps the most striking proof -of his literary power. If Shakespeare’s vocabulary -were reckoned as including these figurative meanings, -it would shoot up to a wonderful figure.</p> - -<p>“It would be absurd,” says Professor A. S. Hill, -with characteristic good sense, “for a boy to have -the desirableness of enlarging his vocabulary constantly -on his mind; but if he avails himself of -his opportunities, in the school-room or out of it, -he will be surprised to find how rapidly his vocabulary -grows.” Doubtless however the matter must -receive some definite attention, if the best results -are to be secured. In the rest of this chapter particular -methods of acquiring new words and senses -of words will be considered.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>A Vocabulary Book.</b>—It will be found helpful -to buy a strong blank-book of convenient size, and -to copy into this every new word that seems to the -student available for his writing; not every new -word he meets, for some will impress him as too -bookish or pedantic, but those which appear to express -happily some idea that has lain unnamed in -his mind.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Figurative Uses of Common Words.</b>—A writer -owes it to himself and to the reader to get all the -service he legitimately can out of common words, -because in the end so doing spares both persons a -vast deal of unnecessary labor. Examine a handful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span> -of the well-worn counters of speech,—such words -as <i>poor</i>, <i>heavy</i>, <i>thin</i>, <i>best</i>, <i>full</i>, <i>manner</i>, <i>sense</i>, <i>deep</i>, -<i>sweet</i>. They are like dull pebbles brought home -from the beach. But dip them back into the brine -of a good book, and they become gems. The words -specified above appear in a paragraph of Mr. W. D. -Howells: “I followed Irving, too, in my later reading, -but at haphazard, and with other authors at the -same time. I did my poor best to be amused by -his <i>Knickerbocker History of New York</i>, because my -father liked it so much, but secretly I found it -heavy; and a few years ago when I went carefully -through it again, I could not laugh. Even -as a boy I found some other things of his up-hill -work. There was the beautiful manner, but the -thought seemed thin; and I do not remember -having been much amused by <i>Bracebridge Hall</i>, -though I read it devoutly, and with a full sense -that it would be very <i>comme il faut</i> to like it. But -I did like the life of Goldsmith; I liked it a great -deal better than the more authoritative life by -Forster, and I think there is a deeper and sweeter -sense of Goldsmith in it.”<a name="FNanchor_37" id="FNanchor_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> - -<p>Observe the various duties that the plainest -words were persuaded into doing for Shakespeare. -With him the word <i>old</i> applies to widely different -things: <i>Old arms</i>, <i>old beard</i>, <i>old limbs</i>, <i>old eyes</i>, <i>old -bones</i>, <i>old feet</i>, <i>old heart</i>, <i>old wrinkles</i>, <i>old wit</i>, <i>old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> -care</i>, <i>old woe</i>, <i>old hate</i>, <i>old custom</i>, <i>old days</i>. What -does each of these phrases mean? He is fond of -contrasting simple words; thus, “He’ll take his -<i>old</i> course in a country <i>new</i>.”</p> - -<p>Note how many abstract ideas in Shakespeare are -contented with the word <i>heavy</i>, which ordinary -people apply merely to coal, lead, and such uninspiring -commodities. <i>Heavy accent</i>, <i>heavy news</i>, -<i>heavy sin</i>, <i>heavy act</i>, <i>heavy task</i>, <i>heavy day</i>, <i>heavy -hour</i>, <i>heavy gait</i>, <i>heavy leave</i>, <i>heavy message</i>, <i>heavy -summons</i>. Explain what each means.<a name="FNanchor_38" id="FNanchor_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a></p> - -<p>Similarly there are <i>light gifts</i>, <i>light behavior</i>, <i>light -heart</i>, <i>light loss</i>, <i>light of foot</i>, <i>light wings</i>, <i>light foam</i>. -Another drudge of a word, <i>thick</i>, learns new and -pleasanter tasks of the great poet. <i>Thick sight</i>, -<i>thick perils</i>, <i>thick in their thoughts</i>, <i>thick sighs</i>, <i>thick -slumber</i>. Explain each of these phrases. Opposed -to <i>thick</i> is <i>thin</i>: <i>thin air</i>, <i>thin drink</i>, <i>thin and slender -pittance</i>. These are the things that Shakespeare -calls <i>high</i>: <i>high deeds</i>, <i>high descent</i>, <i>high desert</i>, <i>high -designs</i>, <i>high disgrace</i>, <i>high exploits</i>, <i>high feats</i>, <i>high -good trim</i>, <i>high heaven</i>, <i>high hope</i>, <i>high perfection</i>, -<i>high resolve</i>, <i>high reward</i>. One more word, <i>golden</i>. -Lesser poets would apply it to physical objects. -Shakespeare, too, speaks of the sun “Kissing with -golden face the meadows green,” and of “This majestical -roof fretted with golden fire.” But elsewhere<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> -he manages to apply the adjective to things -that cannot so directly be called golden. Thus: -“A golden mind stoops not to shows of dross.” -“... wear a golden sorrow.” “Golden lads and -girls all must, As chimney sweepers, come to dust.” -“Nestor’s golden words.” Explain each of these -uses.</p> - -<p>Of course many of these figurative expressions -are too poetical by far for the prose of high school -students. Nevertheless, many others would be appropriate -in the manuscript of any person,—for -instance, <i>high designs</i>, <i>high deeds</i>, <i>high exploits</i>, <i>high -resolve</i>. Such uses as these can be cultivated to -the enrichment of the vocabulary.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b><a name="FNanchor_39" id="FNanchor_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a>—Each of the following adjectives -applies primarily to physical objects, that -can be seen, or heard, or touched, or tasted. But -each is often raised to a higher use, being made to -name some quality of character, or some other -abstract idea. Take the adjectives one by one, -and under each write in class as many abstract -words as you think can properly be modified by -the given adjective. Thus the adjective <i>fine</i>, which -is used of such physical objects as <i>sand</i>, <i>cloth</i>, <i>particles</i>, -may also apply to <i>courage</i>, <i>sense of honor</i>, -<i>presence</i>, <i>phrases</i>, <i>words</i>, <i>deeds</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> - -<p>1. Sweet. 2. Sour. 3. Bitter. 4. Soft. 5. Hard. -6. Smooth. 7. Rough. 8. Delicious. 9. Insipid. -10. Cold. 11. Freezing. 12. Icy. 13. Burning. -14. Chilly. 15. Blue. 16. White. 17. Black. -18. Gray. 19. Brown. 20. Green. 21. Dark. -22. Shadowy. 23. Misty. 24. Cloudy. 25. Windy. -26. Stormy. 27. Transparent. 28. Blunt. 29. Sharp. -30. Keen. 31. Dull. 32. Fragrant. 33. Malodorous. -34. Shining. 35. Beaming. 36. Glowing. -37. Glittering. 38. Blazing. 39. Hazy. 40. Brilliant. -41. Muddy. 42. Rippling.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Value of Careful Reading.</b>—A writer must -perhaps be as dependent on books for his vocabulary -as on any other one source. Yet it is possible -to read a great deal without absorbing many new -expressions. To gain new words and new ideas, -the student must compel himself to read slowly. -Impatient to hurry on and learn how the tale or -poem ends, many a youth is accustomed to read so -rapidly as to miss the best part of what the author -is trying to say. Thoughts cannot be read so -rapidly as words. To get at the thoughts and -really to retain the valuable expressions, the student -must scrutinize and ponder as he reads. Each -word must be thoroughly understood; its exact -value in the given sentence must be grasped. It -will not do to draft off a long list of new expressions -into the note-book, and then investigate the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> -meaning of each after the connection in which each -was used has been forgotten. Usually the best -way is to look up the meaning when the word is -come upon. This is always the best way when a -passage is being read with a view to increasing -one’s vocabulary. When a tale or poem or essay is -being read for its general theme, or for its literary -construction, it is often desirable to underline each -new word, leaving the meaning to be investigated -a little later. In finding the value of the word in -its sentence, the student is often little aided by -the dictionary. Imagination and reasoning must -sometimes be called into play before the definition -can be made to apply. The dictionary—particularly -the abridged dictionary—is not a magic -book, ready to explain every delicate shading -that a great author gives a word in a particular -connection.</p> - -<p>In reading silently it is due the author to read -with as much expression as if one were pronouncing -the words aloud. One should mentally give every -word and phrase its proper accent, should feel the -value of every punctuation mark. The force of -such a passage as the following, from Carlyle, will -be lost unless the reader puts the emphasis in -exactly the right places.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Manhood begins when we have in any way made truce -with Necessity; begins, at all events, when we have surrendered -to Necessity, as the most part only do; but begins<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> -joyfully and hopefully only when we have reconciled ourselves -to Necessity; and thus, in reality, triumphed over it, -and felt that in Necessity we are free.</p> - -</div> - -<p>Literature is full of words descriptive of things -that all have seen or heard. We render a service -to the memory if in reading we linger long -enough to call up the colors, shapes, motions, -sounds, that are suggested by the text. Some persons -recall sights more easily than sounds, some -recall sounds more easily than sights; some can -remember motions more easily than either colors, -shapes, or sounds. It is therefore good training -for the word-memory if we endeavor to recall all -kinds of sense impressions. Read the following -passage slowly, imagining the sights, motions, and -sensations of touch, that are suggested.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>A long way down that limpid water, chill and bright as -an iceberg, went my little self that day on man’s choice -errand—destruction. All the young fish seemed to know -that I was one who had taken out God’s certificate, and -meant to have the value of it; every one of them was aware -that we desolate more than replenish the earth. For a cow -might come and look into the water, and put her yellow lips -down; a kingfisher, like a blue arrow, might shoot through -the dark alleys over the channel, or sit on a dipping withy-bough -with his beak sunk into his breast-feathers; even an -otter might float down stream, likening himself to a log of -wood, with his flat head flush with the water-top, and his -oily eyes peering quietly; and yet no panic would seize other -life, as it does when a sample of man comes.—<span class="smcap">R. D. Blackmore</span>, -<i>Lorna Doone</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> - -<p>Imagine as vividly as possible each sound and -other physical sensation suggested by the following -selection, from the book just quoted:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>The volumes of the mist came rolling at me (like great -logs of wood, pillowed out with sleepiness), and between -them there was nothing more than waiting for the next one. -Then everything went out of sight, and glad was I of the -stone behind me, and view of mine own shoes. Then a -distant noise went by me, as of many horses galloping, and -in my fright I set my gun and said, “God send something -to shoot at.” Yet nothing came, and my gun fell back, -without my will to lower it.</p> - -<p>But presently, while I was thinking “What a fool I -am!” arose as if from below my feet, so that the great -stone trembled, that long lamenting, lonesome sound, as of -an evil spirit not knowing what to do with it. For the -moment I stood like a root, without either hand or foot to -help me, and the hair of my head began to crawl, lifting -my hat, as a snail lifts his house, and my heart like a shuttle -went to and fro. But finding no harm to come of it, neither -visible form approaching, I wiped my forehead and hoped -for the best, and resolved to run every step of the way till -I drew our own latch behind me.</p> - -<p>Yet here again I was disappointed, for no sooner was I -come to the cross-ways by the black pool in the hole, but -I heard through the patter of my own feet a rough low -sound very close in the fog, as of a hobbled sheep a-coughing. -I listened, and feared, and yet listened again, though I -wanted not to hear it. For being in haste of the homeward -road, and all my heart having heels to it, loath I was to -stop in the dusk for the sake of an aged wether. Yet partly -my love of all animals, and partly my fear of the farmer’s -disgrace, compelled me to go to the succor, and the noise -was coming nearer. A dry, short, wheezing sound it was, -barred with coughs and want of breath; but thus I made -the meaning of it:—</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> - -<p>What do you see mentally, when you read the -following?</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">Sweet are the uses of adversity,</div> -<div class="verse">Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,</div> -<div class="verse">Wears yet a precious jewel in its head.</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>The value of minute and thoughtful reading has -been set forth by John Ruskin, in his <i>Sesame and -Lilies</i>, a book well worth reading, if one is willing -to take in good part the earnest, somewhat dogmatic -tone which Ruskin so often uses. The oft-quoted -passage in which he illustrates his idea of -how a poem should be read, is given below. The -student who every day reads a few pages as conscientiously -as Ruskin would have him, will find -his command of words rapidly increasing, and his -power of thought increasing likewise.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>And now, merely for example’s sake, I will, with your -permission, read a few lines of a true book with you carefully, -and see what will come out of them. I will take a -book perfectly known to you all. No English words are -more familiar to us, yet few perhaps have been read with less -sincerity. I will take these few following lines of <i>Lycidas</i>:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Last came, and last did go,</div> -<div class="verse">The pilot of the Galilean lake.</div> -<div class="verse">Two massy keys he bore of metals twain</div> -<div class="verse">(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain):</div> -<div class="verse">He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake:</div> -<div class="verse">‘How well could I have spared for thee, young swain,</div> -<div class="verse">Enow of such as for their bellies’ sake</div> -<div class="verse">Creep and intrude and climb into the fold!</div> -<div class="verse">Of other care they little reckoning make</div> -<div class="verse">Than how to scramble at the shearers’ feast,</div> -<div class="verse">And shove away the worthy bidden guest;</div> -<div class="verse">Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold</div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> -<div class="verse">A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else, the least</div> -<div class="verse">That to the faithful herdsman’s art belongs!</div> -<div class="verse">What recks it them? What need they? They are sped;</div> -<div class="verse">And when they list, their lean and flashy songs</div> -<div class="verse">Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw.</div> -<div class="verse">The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,</div> -<div class="verse">But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw,</div> -<div class="verse">Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread,</div> -<div class="verse">Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw</div> -<div class="verse">Daily devours apace, and nothing said.’”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>Let us think over this passage, and examine its words.</p> - -<p>First, is it not singular to find Milton assigning to St. -Peter, not only his full episcopal function, but the very -types of it which Protestants usually refuse most passionately? -His “mitred” locks! Milton was no Bishop-lover; -how comes St. Peter to be “mitred”? “Two massy keys -he bore.” Is this, then, the power of the keys claimed by -the bishops of Rome, and is it acknowledged here by Milton -only in a poetical license, for the sake of its picturesqueness, -that he may get the gleam of the golden keys to help his -effect? Do not think it. Great men do not play stage -tricks with doctrines of life and death: only little men do -that. Milton means what he says; and means it with his -might too—is going to put the whole strength of his spirit -presently into the saying of it. For though not a lover of -false bishops, he <i>was</i> a lover of true ones; and the Lake-pilot -is here, in his thoughts, the type and head of true -episcopal power. For Milton reads that text, “I will give -unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven” quite honestly. -Puritan though he be, he would not blot it out of the book -because there have been bad bishops; nay, in order to -understand him, we must understand that verse first; it -will not do to eye it askance, or whisper it under our breath, -as if it were a weapon of an adverse sect. It is a solemn, -universal assertion, deeply to be kept in mind by all sects. -But perhaps we shall be better able to reason on it if we go -on a little farther, and come back to it. For clearly, this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> -marked insistence on the power of the true episcopate is -to make us feel more weightily what is to be charged against -the false claimants of episcopate; or generally, against false -claimants of power and rank in the body of the clergy; they -who, “for their bellies’ sake, creep, and intrude, and climb -into the fold.”</p> - -<p>Do not think Milton uses those three words to fill up his -verse, as a loose writer would. He needs all the three; -specially those three, and no more than those—“creep,” -and “intrude,” and “climb”; no other words would or -could serve the turn, and no more could be added. For -they exhaustively comprehend the three classes, correspondent -to the three characters, of men who dishonestly seek -ecclesiastical power. First, those who “creep” into the -fold, who do not care for office, nor name, but for secret -influence, and do all things occultly and cunningly, consenting -to any servility of office or conduct, so only that they -may intimately discern, and unawares direct, the minds of -men. Then those who “intrude” (thrust, that is) themselves -into the fold, who by natural insolence of heart and -stout eloquence of tongue and fearlessly perseverant self-assertion -obtain hearing and authority with the common -crowd. Lastly, those who “climb,” who, by labor and -learning both stout and sound, but selfishly exerted in the -cause of their own ambition, gain high dignities and authorities, -and become “lords over the heritage,” though -not “ensamples to the flock.”</p> - -<p>Now go on:—</p> - -<div class="poetry-container"> -<div class="poetry"> -<div class="verse">“Of other care they little reckoning make</div> -<div class="verse">Than how to scramble at the shearers’ feast.</div> -<div class="verse"><i>Blind mouths</i>—”</div> -</div> -</div> - -<p>I pause again, for this is a strange expression,—a broken -metaphor, one might think, careless and unscholarly.</p> - -<p>Not so; its very audacity and pithiness are intended to -make us look close at the phrase and remember it. Those -two monosyllables express the precisely accurate contraries<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> -of right character, in the two great offices of the Church—those -of bishop and pastor.</p> - -<p>A Bishop means a person who sees.</p> - -<p>A Pastor means one who feeds.</p> - -<p>The most unbishoply character a man can have is therefore -to be Blind.</p> - -<p>The most unpastoral is, instead of feeding, to want to be -fed,—to be a Mouth.</p> - -<p>Take the two reverses together, and you have “blind -mouths.” We may advisably follow out this idea a little. -Nearly all the evils in the Church have arisen from bishops -desiring <i>power</i> more than <i>light</i>. They want authority, not -outlook. Whereas their real office is not to rule; though -it may be vigorously to exhort and rebuke; it is the king’s -office to rule; the bishop’s office is to <i>oversee</i> the flock; to -number it, sheep by sheep; to be ready always to give full -account of it. Now it is clear he cannot give account of -the souls, if he has not so much as numbered the bodies -of his flock. The first thing, therefore, that a bishop has -to do is at least to put himself in a position in which, at any -moment, he can obtain the history from childhood of every -living soul in his diocese, and of its present state. Down -in that back street, Bill, and Nancy, knocking each other’s -teeth out!—Does the bishop know all about it? Has he his -eye upon them? Has he <i>had</i> his eye upon them? Can he -circumstantially explain to us how Bill got into the habit of -beating Nancy about the head? If he cannot, he is no -bishop, though he had a mitre as high as Salisbury steeple. -He is no bishop,—he has sought to be at the helm instead -of the masthead; he has no sight of things. “Nay,” you -say, “it is not his duty to look after Bill in the back street.” -What! the fat sheep that have full fleeces,—you think it -is only those he should look after, while (go back to your -Milton) “the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, besides -what the grim wolf, with privy paw” (bishops knowing -nothing about it) “daily devours apace, and nothing said”?</p> - -<p>“But that’s not our idea of a bishop.” Perhaps not;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> -but it was St. Paul’s, and it was Milton’s. They may be -right, or we may be; but we must not think we are reading -either one or the other by putting our meaning into their words.</p> - -</div> - -<p>[Ruskin goes on to discuss other expressions -with the same minuteness.]</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Contributions from Other Studies.</b>—In acquiring -any new science or art one learns many new terms, -some of which are not too technical for use in themes. -For that matter, every exercise written in any subject -cannot help being to some extent an exercise in -English. The vocabulary book should receive contributions -from every line of the student’s work.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Translation.</b>—There is no better means of making -the memory yield up the words which it has -formerly caught, than translation. Professor A. S. -Hill quotes the reported words of Rufus Choate: -“Translation should be pursued to bring to mind -and to employ all the words you already own, and -to tax and torment invention and discovery and the -very deepest memory for additional, rich, and admirably -expressive words.”<a name="FNanchor_40" id="FNanchor_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> Every lesson in translating -is a lesson in self-expression. Professor -Carpenter testifies<a name="FNanchor_41" id="FNanchor_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> that the Latin-trained boys -entering scientific schools are remarkably superior -in power of expression to those not so trained; and -his testimony is confirmed by the experience of -many other teachers.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Memorizing of Literature.</b>—To the habit of memorizing, -many a person is indebted not merely for -high thoughts that cheer hours of solitude and that -stimulate his own thinking, but for command of -words. The degree to which the language of -modern writers is derived from a few great authors -is startling. Shakespeare’s phrases are a part -of the tissue of every man’s speech to-day. Such -writers as Charles Lamb bear Shakespeare’s mark -on every page. The language of the King James -version of the Bible is echoed in modern English -prose and poetry. It formed styles so unlike as -those of Bunyan, Ruskin, and Abraham Lincoln. -Most teachers would declare that a habit of learning -Scripture by heart is of incalculable value to a -student’s English. In the Authorized Version, and -to almost as great an extent in the Revised Version, -the Anglo-Saxon element and the Latin are both -present in marvellous effectiveness.<a name="FNanchor_42" id="FNanchor_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> - -<p>It is clear that whatever help one’s writing is -to receive from memorizing will come naturally -through one’s study of literature. But so many -of the strongest words in the language, particularly -the Saxon words, have been treasured up in -the homely sayings of the people, that I have ventured -to suggest a list of proverbs for memorizing. -Just how many of these it may be advisable for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> -given pupil to retain in mind is a matter to be -decided by the instructor. Certainly each student -will do well to learn a score of those that seem to -him best worth remembering. Each saying preserves -some fine word in some natural context, a -fact that will make the word far easier to recall -than it would be if learned as an isolated term. -Not more than ten or fifteen minutes a day ought -to be given to the memorizing.</p> - -<h3 class="center">ENGLISH PROVERBS<a name="FNanchor_43" id="FNanchor_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></h3> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>A brave retreat is a brave exploit.</p> - -<p>A carper can cavil at anything.</p> - -<p>A carrion kite will never make a good hawk.</p> - -<p>A child is better unborn than untaught.</p> - -<p>A custom more honored in the breach than in the observance.</p> - -<p>A dogmatical tone, a pragmatical pate.</p> - -<p>A diligent scholar, and the master’s paid.</p> - -<p>A dog’s life, hunger and ease.</p> - -<p>A dwarf on a giant’s shoulders sees farther of the two.</p> - -<p>A fair field and no favor.</p> - -<p>A fault confessed is half redressed.</p> - -<p>A fine new nothing.</p> - -<p>A fool always comes short of his reckoning.</p> - -<p>A fool will not be foiled.</p> - -<p>A forced kindness deserves no thanks.</p> - -<p>A good cause makes a stout heart and a strong arm.</p> - -<p>A good name keeps its lustre in the dark.</p> - -<p>A grain of prudence is worth a pound of craft.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> - -<p>A great city, a great solitude.</p> - -<p>A honey tongue, a heart of gall.</p> - -<p>A man may buy gold too dear.</p> - -<p>A man must sell his ware at the rates of the market.</p> - -<p>A man never surfeits of too much honesty.</p> - -<p>A nod for a wise man, and a rod for a fool.</p> - -<p>A penny saved is a penny got.</p> - -<p>A wicked book is the wickeder because it cannot repent.</p> - -<p>A wager is a fool’s argument.</p> - -<p>All complain of want of memory, but none of want of judgment.</p> - -<p>All the craft is in the catching.</p> - -<p>An unpeaceable man hath no neighbor.</p> - -<p>Antiquity is not always a mark of verity.</p> - -<p>As wily as a fox.</p> - -<p>Better lose a jest than a friend.</p> - -<p>Better to go away longing than loathing.</p> - -<p>By ignorance we mistake, and by mistakes we learn.</p> - -<p>Children are certain cares, but uncertain comforts.</p> - -<p>Clowns are best in their own company, but gentlemen are best everywhere.</p> - -<p>Conscience cannot be compelled.</p> - -<p>Cutting out well is better than sewing up well.</p> - -<p>Danger and delight grow on one stock.</p> - -<p>Decency and decorum are not pride.</p> - -<p>Different sores must have different salves.</p> - -<p>Dexterity comes by experience.</p> - -<p>Do not spur a free horse.</p> - -<p>Even reckoning makes long friends.</p> - -<p>Every age confutes old errors and begets new.</p> - -<p>Every man hath a fool in his sleeve.</p> - -<p>Faint praise is disparagement.</p> - -<p>Force without forecast is of little avail.</p> - -<p>From fame to infamy is a beaten road.</p> - -<p>Great businesses turn on a little pin.</p> - -<p>Great spenders are bad lenders.</p> - -<p>He is lifeless that is faultless.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p> - -<p>Heaven will make amends for all.</p> - -<p>Let your purse be your master.</p> - -<p>Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world.</p> - -<p>Ignorance is a voluntary misfortune.</p> - -<p>It is a wicked thing to make a dearth one’s garner.</p> - -<p>Lean liberty is better than fat slavery.</p> - -<p>Self-love is a mote in every man’s eye.</p> - -<p>Sloth is the key to poverty.</p> - -<p>Some sport is sauce to pains.</p> - -<p>Subtility set a trap and caught itself.</p> - -<p>Temporizing is sometimes great wisdom.</p> - -<p>The goat must browse where he is tied.</p> - -<p>The poet, of all sorts of artificers, is the fondest of his works.</p> - -<p>The prick of a pin is enough to make an empire insipid.</p> - -<p>The purest gold is the most ductile.</p> - -<p>There’s a craft in daubing.</p> - -<p>Thrift is good revenue.</p> - -<p>Too much consulting confounds.</p> - -<p>Truth needs not many words, but a false tale a large preamble.</p> - -<p>Truths too fine-spun are subtle fooleries.</p> - -<p>Upbraiding turns a benefit into an injury.</p> - -<p>Use your wit as a buckler, not as a sword.</p> - -<p>What God made, he never mars.</p> - -<p>When honor grew mercenary, money grew honorable.</p> - -<p>Where vice is, vengeance follows.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Synonyms.</b>—A synonym is a word that means -the same or nearly the same thing as some other -word. Our language, from its composite nature, -is peculiarly rich in synonyms. In hundreds of -cases English has absorbed both the Saxon and -the French or Latin word for a given idea. -Nearly always, in such cases, one of the words -has acquired a distinctly different shade of meaning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> -from the other. Indeed, one of the words -is sure to acquire a slightly different <i>value</i>, whether -from its associations or its sound. While it may -roughly be said that there are words which mean -the same thing, yet for the really careful writer -there are no synonyms.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Synonyms for Adjectives of Praise.</b>—In another -sense there are many people who seem to have -no synonyms. You have doubtless known persons -who lacked all means of differentiating praise,—persons -who applied the same adjective to everything, -from a pin to the solar system. There are -the people who find everything either <i>nice</i> or <i>not -nice</i>; the people who eat <i>elegant soups</i> and sigh -at <i>elegant sunsets</i>; the people who have <i>jolly times</i>, -<i>jolly canes</i>, <i>jolly excuses</i>. To the <i>nice</i> group, the -<i>elegant</i> group, and the <i>jolly</i> group, may be added -the <i>lovely</i> group, and many others.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Apply several proper adjectives -of praise to each of the following: soup, sunset, -poodle, lady, moon, time (<i>e.g.</i> meaning an excursion), -silk, opera, book-binding, gown, face, mountain, -box of sweets, ice-cream, disposition, story, -manner, soul, fan, perfume, roses, piano-playing, -sermon, editorial or leader, critique.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>A Danger.</b>—The study of synonyms cultivates -discrimination. But as a study for the purpose of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> -widening the active vocabulary it must be judiciously -limited. If one turns to a book of synonyms, -one finds on many a page some score of -words meaning nearly the same thing. Many of -these words are unusual, out-of-the-way expressions, -to use which would make a man sound like a prig. -Simplicity is a cardinal virtue in writing. If this -fact is kept in mind, and the student does not affect -too elaborate and bookish words, the study of -synonyms will be of the utmost service to him.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>A Method of Study.</b>—Below are listed a good -many groups of synonyms. They are to be studied -now and to be used hereafter for reference in the -work of writing. Each group contains only a few -of the words that might demand a place if the question -were merely one of meaning. The words here -chosen are such as may properly appear in the work -of any high school student, <i>if there is need of them -to express the student’s meaning</i>.</p> - -<p>Even in these groups some words are simpler, -and therefore in general more desirable. <i>The class -should first examine the entire list, underlining carefully -the simpler words in each group. These, simpler -words are regularly to be preferred when their meaning -is exact enough for the idea in mind.</i> The -others are to be mastered for the sake of the distinctions -they express, and for their occasional usefulness -as a means of avoiding repetitions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span></p> - -<p>The underlining finished, the groups may further -be studied with a view to discriminating the various -terms. Fifteen minutes a day is enough to devote -to this work, and in some cases it may be best to -examine minutely only a part of the list, leaving -the rest to be used for reference.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—It will be found useful to -spend five minutes a day in copying off several -times each unfamiliar word. Unless the hand is -accustomed to tracing the word, the mind will not -be likely to demand this act of the hand in the -moment of composition.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Each student may be asked to -pronounce every word that he has not been in the -habit of using orally. Since the same term is -likely to have been neglected by many of the class, -a considerable amount of ear-training will be received -by all.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—One of the best, because most -natural, ways of studying synonyms, is to examine -a page of good prose with a view to seeing whether -synonyms could have been used as effectively as -the actual words in the text. Choose such a page, -underline the important words, and examine the -list to find the group to which each belongs. Then -substitute for the word in the text the other words -of the group, and see whether the author’s choice -was wise.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Each group should be taken up -in turn and discussed by the class after the meanings -of unfamiliar words have been looked up in -the dictionary. The force of each word <i>as a synonym -of the others in its group</i> should be brought out -by illustrative sentences. The differences in meaning -should be talked about until they are thoroughly -understood. Fernald’s <i>Synonyms, Antonyms, and -Prepositions</i>, and Smith’s <i>Synonyms Discriminated</i>, -are good books of reference if any doubtful question -arises.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Study an assigned number -of groups, and pick out the word which seems to -have the most general meaning, the word which, -more than any other, includes the remaining members -of the group. Thus, in the series <i>Actual</i>, <i>authentic</i>, -<i>genuine</i>, <i>real</i>, the last is the most general -term. Real applies to a larger number of things -than any of its synonyms.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Study an assigned number of -groups, and say what idea the members of each -have in common, and, if possible, what additional -idea each member has. Thus, <i>Adept</i>, <i>adroit</i>, <i>deft</i>, -<i>dexterous</i>, <i>handy</i>, <i>skilful</i>, each have the idea <i>skilful</i>. -<i>Adept</i> means skilful in some art or occupation. -<i>Adroit</i> means skilful with the hand, or with the -mind,—<i>i.e.</i> tactful. <i>Deft</i>, <i>dexterous</i> usually mean -skilful with the hand; <i>deft</i> refers to movements of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> -the fingers, <i>dexterous</i> to quick motions, as of the -hand. <i>Handy</i> means skilful at manual exercises.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—One member of each group -should be pronounced, and the student asked to -give from memory the other members.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral or Written Exercise.</b>—Only one part of -speech is represented in each group. The student -should be asked to give corresponding parts of -speech. Thus, the adjective series <i>Actual</i>, <i>authentic</i>, -<i>genuine</i>, <i>real</i>, yields the adverbs <i>actually</i>, <i>authentically</i>, -<i>genuinely</i>, <i>really</i>, and the nouns <i>actuality</i>, -<i>authenticity</i>, <i>genuineness</i>, <i>reality</i>.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Groups of Synonyms</span><a name="FNanchor_44" id="FNanchor_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a></h3> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Abandon, cast off, desert, forswear, quit, renounce, withdraw -from.</p> - -<p>Abate, decrease, diminish, mitigate, moderate.</p> - -<p>Abhor, abominate, detest, dislike, loathe.</p> - -<p>Abiding, enduring, lasting, permanent, perpetual.</p> - -<p>Ability, capability, capacity, competency, efficacy, power.</p> - -<p>Abolish, annul, eradicate, exterminate, obliterate, root -out, wipe out.</p> - -<p>Abomination, curse, evil, iniquity, nuisance, shame.</p> - -<p>Absent, absent-minded, absorbed, abstracted, oblivious, -preoccupied.</p> - -<p>Absolve, acquit, clear.</p> - -<p>Abstemiousness, abstinence, frugality, moderation, sobriety, -temperance.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> - -<p>Absurd, ill-advised, ill-considered, ludicrous, monstrous, -paradoxical, preposterous, unreasonable, wild.</p> - -<p>Abundant, adequate, ample, enough, generous, lavish, -plentiful.</p> - -<p>Accomplice, ally, colleague, helper, partner.</p> - -<p>Active, agile, alert, brisk, bustling, energetic, lively, -supple.</p> - -<p>Actual, authentic, genuine, real.</p> - -<p>Adept, adroit, deft, dexterous, handy, skilful.</p> - -<p>Address, adroitness, courtesy, readiness, tact.</p> - -<p>Adequate, competent, equal, fitted, suitable.</p> - -<p>Adjacent, adjoining, bordering, near, neighboring.</p> - -<p>Admire, adore, respect, revere, venerate.</p> - -<p>Admit, allow, concede, grant, suffer, tolerate.</p> - -<p>Admixture, alloy.</p> - -<p>Adverse, disinclined, indisposed, loath, reluctant, slow, -unwilling.</p> - -<p>Aerial, airy, animated, ethereal, frolicsome.</p> - -<p>Affectation, cant, hypocrisy, pretence, sham.</p> - -<p>Affirm, assert, avow, declare, maintain, state.</p> - -<p>Aged, ancient, antiquated, antique, immemorial, old, venerable.</p> - -<p>Air, bearing, carriage, demeanor.</p> - -<p>Akin, alike, identical.</p> - -<p>Alert, on the alert, sleepless, wary, watchful.</p> - -<p>Allay, appease, calm, pacify.</p> - -<p>Alliance, coalition, compact, federation, union, fusion.</p> - -<p>Allude, hint, imply, insinuate, intimate, suggest.</p> - -<p>Allure, attract, cajole, coax, inveigle, lure.</p> - -<p>Amateur, connoisseur, novice, tyro.</p> - -<p>Amend, better, mend, reform, repair.</p> - -<p>Amplify, develop, expand, extend, unfold, widen.</p> - -<p>Amusement, diversion, entertainment, pastime.</p> - -<p>Anger, exasperation, petulance, rage, resentment.</p> - -<p>Animal, beast, brute, living creature, living organism.</p> - -<p>Answer, rejoinder, repartee, reply, response, retort.</p> - -<p>Anticipate, forestall, preclude, prevent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span></p> - -<p>Apiece, individually, severally, separately.</p> - -<p>Apparent, clear, evident, obvious, tangible, unmistakable.</p> - -<p>Apprehend, comprehend, conceive, perceive, understand.</p> - -<p>Arraign, charge, cite, impeach, indict, prosecute, summon.</p> - -<p>Arrogance, haughtiness, presumption, pride, self-complacency, -superciliousness, vanity.</p> - -<p>Artist, artificer, artisan, mechanic, operative, workman.</p> - -<p>Artless, boorish, clownish, hoidenish, rude, uncouth, unsophisticated.</p> - -<p>Assent, agree, comply.</p> - -<p>Assurance, effrontery, hardihood, impertinence, impudence, -incivility, insolence, officiousness, rudeness.</p> - -<p>Atom, grain, scrap, particle, shred, whit.</p> - -<p>Atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, brutal, merciless.</p> - -<p>Attack, assault, infringement, intrusion, onslaught.</p> - -<p>Attain, accomplish, achieve, arrive at, compass, reach, secure.</p> - -<p>Attempt, endeavor, essay, strive, try, undertake.</p> - -<p>Attitude, pose, position, posture.</p> - -<p>Attribute, ascribe, assign, charge, impute.</p> - -<p>Axiom, truism.</p> - -<p>Baffle, balk, bar, check, embarrass, foil, frustrate, hamper, -hinder, impede, retard, thwart.</p> - -<p>Banter, burlesque, drollery, humor, jest, raillery, wit, -witticism.</p> - -<p>Beg, plead, press, urge.</p> - -<p>Beguile, divert, enliven, entertain, occupy.</p> - -<p>Bewilderment, confusion, distraction, embarrassment, perplexity.</p> - -<p>Bind, fetter, oblige, restrain, restrict.</p> - -<p>Blaze, flame, flare, flash, flicker, glare, gleam, gleaming, -glimmer, glitter, light, lustre, shimmer, sparkle.</p> - -<p>Blessed, hallowed, holy, sacred, saintly.</p> - -<p>Boasting, display, ostentation, pomp, pompousness, show.</p> - -<p>Brave, adventurous, bold, courageous, daring, dauntless, -fearless, gallant, heroic, undismayed.</p> - -<p>Bravery, coolness, courage, gallantry, heroism.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p> - -<p>Brief, concise, pithy, sententious, terse.</p> - -<p>Bring over, convince, induce, influence, persuade, prevail -upon, win over.</p> - -<p>Calamity, disaster, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, -mishap.</p> - -<p>Candid, impartial, open, straightforward, transparent, unbiassed, -unprejudiced, unreserved.</p> - -<p>Caprice, humor, vagary, whim.</p> - -<p>Candor, frankness, truth, veracity.</p> - -<p>Caricature, burlesque, parody, travesty.</p> - -<p>Catch, capture, clasp, clutch, grip, secure.</p> - -<p>Cause, consideration, design, end, ground, motive, object, -reason, purpose.</p> - -<p>Caution, discretion, prudence.</p> - -<p>Censure, criticism, rebuke, reproof, reprimand, reproach.</p> - -<p>Character, constitution, disposition, reputation, temper, -temperament.</p> - -<p>Characteristic, peculiarity, property, singularity, trait.</p> - -<p>Chattering, garrulous, loquacious, talkative.</p> - -<p>Cheer, comfort, delight, ecstasy, gaiety, gladness, gratification, -happiness, jollity, satisfaction.</p> - -<p>Churlish, crusty, gloomy, gruff, ill-natured, morose, sour, -sullen, surly.</p> - -<p>Class, circle, clique, coterie.</p> - -<p>Cloak, cover, gloss over, mitigate, palliate, screen.</p> - -<p>Cloy, sate, satiate, satisfy, surfeit.</p> - -<p>Commit, confide, consign, entrust, relegate.</p> - -<p>Compassion, forbearance, lenience, mercy.</p> - -<p>Compassionate, gracious, humane.</p> - -<p>Complete, consummate, faultless, flawless, perfect.</p> - -<p>Confirm, corroborate.</p> - -<p>Conflicting, discordant, discrepant, incongruous, mismated.</p> - -<p>Confused, discordant, miscellaneous, various.</p> - -<p>Conjecture, guess, suppose, surmise.</p> - -<p>Conscious, aware, certain.</p> - -<p>Consequence, issue, outcome, outgrowth, result, sequel, -upshot.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span></p> - -<p>Continual, continuous, incessant, unbroken, uninterrupted.</p> - -<p>Credible, conceivable, likely, presumable, probable, reasonable.</p> - -<p>Customary, habitual, normal, prevailing, usual, wonted.</p> - -<p>Damage, detriment, disadvantage, harm, hurt, injury, -prejudice.</p> - -<p>Dangerous, formidable, terrible.</p> - -<p>Defame, deprecate, disparage, slander, vilify.</p> - -<p>Defile, infect, soil, stain, sully, taint, tarnish.</p> - -<p>Deleterious, detrimental, hurtful, harmful, mischievous, -pernicious, ruinous.</p> - -<p>Delicate, fine, minute, refined, slender.</p> - -<p>Delightful, grateful, gratifying, refreshing, satisfying.</p> - -<p>Difficult, laborious, toilsome, trying.</p> - -<p>Digress, diverge, stray, swerve, wander.</p> - -<p>Disavow, disclaim, disown, recall, renounce, repudiate, -retract.</p> - -<p>Dispose, draw, incline, induce, influence, move, prompt, -stir.</p> - -<p>Earlier, foregoing, previous, preliminary.</p> - -<p>Effeminate, feminine, womanish, womanly.</p> - -<p>Emergency, extremity, necessity.</p> - -<p>Empty, fruitless, futile, idle, trifling, unavailing, useless, -vain, visionary.</p> - -<p>Erudition, knowledge, profundity, sagacity, sense, wisdom.</p> - -<p>Eternal, imperishable, interminable, perennial, perpetual, -unfailing.</p> - -<p>Excuse, pretence, pretext, subterfuge.</p> - -<p>Exemption, immunity, liberty, license, privilege.</p> - -<p>Explicit, express.</p> - -<p>Faint, faint-hearted, faltering, half-hearted, irresolute, -languid, listless, purposeless.</p> - -<p>Faithful, loyal, stanch, trustworthy, trusty.</p> - -<p>Fanciful, fantastic, grotesque, imaginative, visionary.</p> - -<p>Folly, imbecility, senselessness, stupidity.</p> - -<p>Fling, gibe, jeer, mock, scoff, sneer, taunt.</p> - -<p>Flock, bevy, brood, covey, drove, herd, litter, pack.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span></p> - -<p>Fluctuate, hesitate, oscillate, vacillate, waver.</p> - -<p>Grief, melancholy, regret, sadness, sorrow.</p> - -<p>Hale, healthful, healthy, salutary, sound, vigorous.</p> - -<p>Ignorant, illiterate, uninformed, uninstructed, unlettered, -untaught.</p> - -<p>Impulsive, involuntary, spontaneous, unbidden, voluntary, -willing.</p> - -<p>Indispensable, inevitable, necessary, requisite, unavoidable.</p> - -<p>Inquisitive, inquiring, intrusive, meddlesome, peeping, -prying.</p> - -<p>Intractable, perverse, petulant, ungovernable, wayward, -wilful.</p> - -<p>Irritation, offence, pique, resentment.</p> - -<p>Probably, presumably.</p> - -<p>Reliable, trustworthy, trusty.</p> - -<p>Remnant, trace, token, vestige.</p> - -<p>Requite, repay, retaliate, satisfy.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral or Written Exercise.</b>—In the following, -vary the overworked words as much as possible. -Permit repetition only when it is necessary for -clearness.</p> - -<p>1. I think the committee selected to select theme -topics for the class to write upon, should be careful -not to select too many topics on one subject, -since the nature of one student differs from that of -another. I think that the few who are not satisfied -with the topics the committee have selected, should -be required to select and hand in a list of topics on -which they would like to write.</p> - -<p>2. There are two distinct stories running through -the Merchant of Venice: the story of the pound of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> -flesh and the story of the caskets. These stories -run parallel to each other through the play, as far -as the third act, where the story of the caskets is -ended by the lucky choice of Bassanio. But from -here a new story, the story of the rings, commences, -and continues through the rest of the -play, crossing the story of the pound of flesh and -finally taking the place of this story.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Future Revision.</b>—Henceforth one distinct object -for which every theme should be revised is -<i>variety of words</i>. It soon becomes a keen satisfaction -to read one’s own work aloud to detect overworked -expressions. In the pursuit of variety, the -scholar not merely grows sensitive to the ugly -recurrence of the same sound; he grows bold to -repeat words if the repetition is demanded for -clearness or force. Some things seem to have but -one name in English; more’s the pity; but we -must make the best of the case.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span class="smaller">RIGHT NUMBER AND SKILFUL CHOICE OF WORDS</span></h2> - -<p>Let it be supposed that a person has learned to -plan a composition logically and to write with -grammatical correctness; that further he has acquired -a noble unrest which keeps him searching -for new words and fine distinctions; what should -be his next care?</p> - -<p>After the power of thinking coherently, the -ability most important to a writer is that of picking -out from the wide world of words the one -expression that mates his unworded idea. His -choice of words—<i>i.e.</i> his <i>diction</i>—must meet -three requirements. If it is to be <i>clear</i>, it must -mean the same to the reader’s intellect that it does -to the writer’s. If it is to <i>forcible</i>, it must move -the reader’s feelings as it moved the writer’s. -Furthermore, if it is to be <i>beautiful</i>, it must please -a reader who has good taste.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Clearness.</b>—Clearness, the intellectual quality of -style, has already been referred to (<a href="#Page_43">p. 43</a>), for it is -the quality aimed at in making sentences coherent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> -That the idea should be made unmistakably clear -is the first requisite of good writing. The thinking -must be clear; the division of the theme into -paragraphs, and of paragraphs into sentences must -be clear; and the words must be clear. We have -presently to ask what effect number and choice of -words have upon clearness.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Force.</b>—Force is the emotional quality of style. -It may occur in a very moderate degree, just -enough to <i>interest</i> the reader slightly, or it may be -present to such an extent as to move the deepest -springs of feeling. It is hard to give suggestions -for securing force, because language is better -adapted to communicating ideas than emotions. -We find that language furnishes very few names -for feelings. Furthermore, these names, even such -as <i>love</i>, <i>fear</i>, <i>anger</i>, do not in themselves move us. -What a marvellous variety of emotion each of us -feels in a day! how many delicate tints of pleasure! -how many shades of regret or fear, of painful -memory or suggestion! The psychologists tell us -that we do no act which does not bring with it -some touch of pleasure or of pain. And yet most -of these shades and tints and touches of feeling -neither have names nor can be communicated by -words. Nevertheless, though language cannot directly -convey feeling, it can sometimes suggest -feeling. If your reader has experienced a given<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> -emotion, some word of yours may recall that to his -mind. One secret of being forcible lies in choosing -theme subjects that interest the reader; subjects -that set up a train of feeling and memory in -his mind. Other secrets are, to choose <i>suggestive</i> -words and figures of speech, and to refrain from -wearing out interest by too many words. We shall -presently inquire, what words and figures are most -suggestive.</p> - -<p>Something may be done to secure force by so -arranging words as to attract the reader’s attention. -It will be noted that emphasis (<a href="#Page_110">p. 110</a>) and -climax (<a href="#Page_112">p. 112</a>) are means of force.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Beauty.</b>—Beauty is the quality of style which -satisfies what is called, for lack of a better word, -the æsthetic sense; this is little else but saying, -beauty of style satisfies the sense for beauty. One -element of beauty is <i>simplicity</i>, a quality closely -allied to clearness, yet not the same. <i>Euphony</i>, or -absence of ugly sounds, is another element of -beauty. <i>Variety</i> is another element of beauty. It -is clear that the last exercise in Chapter X is as -much an exercise in beauty as in vocabulary. In -the present chapter we shall have space to consider -only one element of beauty,—that of simplicity.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Prolixity.</b>—If a writer descends into tedious details, -or if he repeats the same idea over and over -in slightly different words, without developing or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> -adding to the thought, he is said to be prolix. -Prolixity offends chiefly against force, for it kills -interest. This fault may affect merely a single -sentence or paragraph, or it may infest a whole -composition. It does not much beset the writer -who plans his work ahead. It can be corrected -only by rewriting.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.—</b>The following prolix passage -should be rewritten, only the essential thoughts -being kept. Any mistakes and crudities of style -should be corrected.</p> - -<p>“My friend the doctor was a collector of ancient -coins and was always roaming about the ruins of -old cities in search of coins. He would wander -around and pick up valuable relics like the Venus -he wore in his seal ring. He was always finding -something worth keeping. He would pick up a -precious bit of antiquity and put it in his pocket, -and so he always carried with him a regular collection -of relics. One afternoon he was out among -the mountains picking up relics and not looking -up to see whether any one was near. When he -looked around he saw five or perhaps six rough -fellows who were standing there behind him. He -fell to quivering with fright and stood trembling -and shaking, but managed to greet them. After -he had greeted the five or six men they all walked -along down the road until they came to an inn that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> -was there on the mountain-side. It was an inn and -not a cave there in the mountains, as was incorrectly -said by one member of the class.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Surplusage.-</b>-Surplusage consists of words that -can be excised without hurting the sense of the -passage. In tyros it is perhaps less of a fault than -the opposite one of <i>deficiency</i>,—the absence of -needed words; for fulness of expression is essential -to clearness, and surplusage often results from -the desire to be clear. Verbosity, however, dulls -the edge of the keenest thought. Like prolixity, it -weakens. Just as many a prolix speaker could -make a brilliant oration if he knew when to stop, -so many a wordy writer could make an effective -sentence if he knew what to prune away. As Mr. -Lowell would say:<a name="FNanchor_45" id="FNanchor_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> Thoughts are never draped in -long skirts like babies, if they are strong enough to -go alone.</p> - -<p>The redundant use of the following common -words should be avoided:—</p> - -<p>1. <i>From</i>, in the phrases <i>from thence</i>, <i>from whence</i>.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Of</i>, especially in the expressions <i>off of</i>, <i>remember -of</i>, <i>treat of</i>. “Keep off [not <i>off of</i>] the grass.” -“This book treats [better than <i>treats of</i>] chemistry.”</p> - -<p>3. <i>On</i>, with the words <i>the next morning</i>. “He -was rebellious on the seventh of July, but the next<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> -morning [not <i>on the next morning</i>] he reappeared -in a more submissive frame of mind.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Prune away every word that -can be spared; note the increase in force. Slight -changes may be made in the wording.</p> - -<p>1. All of the ships were lost; no kind of a one -was saved.</p> - -<p>2. I know from my own personal knowledge -that a man who stands upright in his own manhood, -honest and conscious of the rectitude of his -purposes, is safe against calumny and slander.</p> - -<p>3. I don’t think it a good precedent to set in -this house for any man to vote for a bill in which -he has a personal interest, and I don’t remember of -ever having done so of myself. I shall, therefore, -for this reason, refrain from voting, but I want to -say a word on this bill, and I want to talk to the -democrats.</p> - -<p>4. Real-estate dealer is knocked down by an -accident and is run over by a cab.</p> - -<p>5. Commencing on Monday, March 29, supported -by the New York Garrick Theatre Stock Company, -Mr. Mansfield will commence an engagement of -two weeks at the Grand Opera House.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written or Oral Exercise.</b>—In the following -sentences some of the underscored expressions -should be expressed more briefly by changing -clauses to phrases or phrases to single words.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> -Thus: <i>men who deserved and won renown</i> may -shorten to <i>men of deserved renown</i>.</p> - -<p>1. <i>Men who deserved and won renown</i>, and <i>women -who were peerless</i>, have lived upon what we should -now call the coarsest fare, and paced the rushes -<i>which were strewn</i> in their rooms with as high, or as -contented thoughts, as their <i>descendants, persons -who are fed better and clothed better than they</i>, can -boast of.</p> - -<p>2. If children <i>are able</i> to make us wiser, <i>it is -sure that they can also</i> make us better. There is no -one <i>who is more to be envied</i> than a good-natured -man <i>when he is watching how children’s minds perform -their workings, or when he is overlooking the -play they engage in</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Deficiency of Words.</b>—It was said in a former -paragraph that in young writers surplusage is perhaps -less of a fault than is the lack of needed -words. Verbosity robs a theme of force; deficiency -robs it of force and clearness. It is human nature -to try to say a thing more briefly than is possible. -Forgetting that pitch, stress, and gesture do much -to make spoken words intelligible, the easy-going -writer does not tax himself to attain full and lucid -expression. He forgets that a piece of writing -may be so condensed as to be dense.</p> - -<p>Ambiguity often springs from the omission of -merely a word or two. Reading such a phrase as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span> -“the secretary and treasurer,” we are vexed with -doubt whether one person is meant, or two; the -omission of the article seems to imply that the two -offices are vested in a single officer. The lack of a -few words may turn force into weakness. A German -newspaper thus burlesques the compression to -which editors sometimes feel impelled: “Ottokar -took a small brandy, then his hat, his departure, -besides no notice of his pursuers, meantime a -revolver out of his pocket, and lastly his own life.”</p> - -<p>The following common words should not be -omitted:—</p> - -<p>1. The main part of an infinitive at the end of a -sentence. <i>Wrong</i>: “He did what he wished to.” -<i>Right</i>: “He did what he wished to do.”</p> - -<p>2. The adverb <i>much</i> before certain adjectives. -<i>Wrong</i>: “He was very pleased to comply.” <i>Right</i>: -“He was very much pleased to comply.”</p> - -<p>3. (<i>a</i>) The preposition <i>at</i> with home. <i>Wrong</i>: -“I stayed home and slept home.” <i>Right</i>: “I -stayed at home and slept at home.” (<i>b</i>) The -preposition <i>on</i> with days of the month. <i>Wrong</i>: -“The seventh of July he rebelled.” <i>Right</i>: “On -the seventh of July he rebelled.” Compare page -231. 3.</p> - -<p>4. A demonstrative used for clearness. <i>Wrong</i>: -“He chose between the lot of the rich and of the -poor.” <i>Right</i>: “He chose between the lot of the -rich and that of the poor.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> - -<p>5. The conjunction <i>that</i> when needed for clearness. -<i>Wrong</i>: “I wish such a beefsteak as that -one over there may never be served on this table.” -What is the ambiguity here, at the beginning?</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Indicate how by the addition of -words each sentence may be corrected:—</p> - -<p>1. Altogether it was a day like unto which the -memory of the oldest inhabitant could not recall.</p> - -<p>2. He received his early education at Brownsville -and Whitesville academy, remaining about a -year at each place.</p> - -<p>3. There was a minister who, being informed by -the church officials that they had raised his salary -$100, declined to accept it.</p> - -<p>4. The following great reductions indicate the -heavy losses we are taking closing out the balance -of our stock.</p> - -<p>5. This mutual esteem was shown by their cordial -welcome of the guests as well as the uniform -courtesy shown by the latter.</p> - -<p>6. Poor Evelina was obliged to choose between -a blue and green dress.</p> - -<p>7. Streaks of lightning and claps of thunder -rattled through the narrow streets of Paris.</p> - -<p>8. I am an historical painter by profession, and -living for some time at a villa near Rome.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Specific Words.</b>—Suppose it were desired to -make clear to a friend how the sunset looked—a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span> -difficult task. One would hardly succeed if one -had no better words to offer than the general -terms <i>clouds</i>, <i>beautiful</i>, <i>lovely</i>, <i>bright</i>. The friend, -if he cared to know, would insist on specific -words: What kind of beauty? was it quiet beauty, -or awful beauty, or picturesque beauty? What -kind of brightness? was it redness? If so, was -the sky blood-red, or merely pink? What kind of -clouds?—great masses of storm cloud, or high -frozen clouds, or mottled “mackerel” clouds? To -be clear, then, words must be specific enough to -give the idea intended. Just how specific they -should be depends on the audience. They must -be familiar to the hearer or reader, if they are to -be understood without explanation. All audiences -would understand the general term <i>tool</i>; all would -understand the genus name <i>saw</i>, which specifies a -kind of tool. But many would not understand the -species name <i>rip-saw</i>; for to most people <i>rip-saw</i> -is unfortunately a technical term. In choosing -specific words the line should therefore be drawn -between common terms and technical terms, the -latter not to be employed without explanation, -except in addressing special audiences.</p> - -<p>Specific words are usually as forcible as they are -clear. Most people’s feelings are roused by the -thought of a particular object, not of a class name. -<i>Flower</i> is a class name; it does not move one. -<i>Clover</i> is a specific name; it calls back the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> -farm, the old friends, the old joys and sorrows. -No word will really interest the reader unless he -has previously used it or heard it in association -with his feelings. Take the word <i>contusion</i>; it -means something forcible to a doctor, but not to a -boy, for the latter never used it. But say <i>bruise</i>—which -means exactly the same thing. That’s forcible. -It feelingly reminds us of the hour in which -that dead branch broke and delivered us over to -the law of gravitation.</p> - -<p>Pick out from these words those that are in -themselves forcible to most people: paternal solicitude, -fatherly care; home, domicile; altruism, -unselfishness. You see at once that certain of -these words get their force from the long associations -of childhood. In childhood we use the -simpler words of the language, those that are -derived from the Anglo-Saxon mother-tongue. -Anglo-Saxon words, therefore, are usually forcible. -Compare <a href="#Page_183">page 183</a>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Reduce the following names -step by step to a particular genus and a particular -species. Thus: animal, mammal, quadruped, -graminivorous animal, cow, Alderney.</p> - -<ul> -<li>1. Reduce <i>machine</i> step by step till you reach <i>stop-watch</i>.</li> -<li>2. Reduce <i>machine</i> to <i>revolver</i>.</li> -<li>3. Reduce <i>living organism</i> to <i>moss-rose</i>.</li> -<li>4. Reduce <i>living organism</i> to <i>oyster</i>.</li> -</ul> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> - -<p>Similarly, extend the following species names -step by step to family names.</p> - -<ul> -<li>1. Extend <i>pen-knife</i> to <i>instrument</i>.</li> -<li>2. Extend <i>Longfellow</i> to <i>man of letters</i>.</li> -</ul> - -<p class="tb"><b>General Words.</b>—We found that most specific -words are of Anglo-Saxon origin. Most general -words are of Latin origin. Both these statements -are only roughly true, of course; but the distinction -is worth making. The language of science is -mostly of Latin origin, because it consists so largely -of class names. Our Anglo-Saxon forefathers had -fewer class names, for they had not progressed far -enough to care to classify everything. When, later, -the English came to study history, and philosophy, -and science, they had either to invent new Anglo-Saxon -words for class names, or else use Latin -words. They chose the latter course. Consequently -we have such Latin class names as <i>animal</i>, -and such individual names as <i>cat</i>, <i>dog</i>, <i>horse</i>, <i>pig</i>. -We speak of <i>white</i>, <i>blue</i>, <i>green</i>, <i>red</i>; but when we -want a class name for these, we say <i>color</i>, a Latin -word. From all this it may be seen that any great -number of general words gives a scientific, abstract -tone to writing. General words are absolutely -necessary for the exact purposes of science and -philosophy. They are adapted, as Professor Carpenter -puts it, to “precise and elaborate distinctions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> -of thought.” They do not give a clear mental -image; that is, you cannot <i>see</i> beauty, or smallness, -or animal, or color—you can see only a beautiful -object, a small object, a particular animal, a particular -color. But, still, general words mean exactly -what they say. <i>Animal</i> means exactly this: a -summing up of all the qualities that are common -to all individual animals. All the things called -animal have in common powers of sensation and -voluntary movement. When such a distinction is -wanted, it is wanted badly, as we say. There is -no better mark of literary mastery than knowing -just when to use a general word, just when a specific -one. Examine a few pages from Robert Louis -Stevenson, to see with what exquisite fitness words -of Latin origin may be used in the midst of Anglo-Saxon -words when the appeal turns from the feelings -to the intellect.</p> - -<p>There are many reasons why a writer may not -wish to be too specific. In the sentence, “I picked -up my traps and left,” the colloquialism <i>traps</i> -answers every essential purpose. The reader does -not care to have tooth-brush and books and papers -all specified. People are not to be blamed for referring -vaguely to <i>death</i> as a <i>passing away</i>, for the -specific word is harsh at best. Such expressions -as <i>pass away</i> are called <i>euphemisms</i>. Many euphemisms -are legitimate; but whether a given one -should be employed is a question of taste, a question<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> -of beauty. It seems a beautiful expression -when Keats says, “to cease upon the midnight -with no pain,” instead of, “to die painlessly at -twelve o’clock;” but it is a mark of false modesty -and bad taste to insist on saying <i>rose</i> for <i>got up</i>, -<i>retire</i> for <i>go to bed</i>, <i>lower limbs</i> for <i>legs</i>.</p> - -<p>Again, one should not always hesitate to set -down an idea because one has not the sharpest, -clearest possible notion of it. Vague ideas are -sometimes valuable ones. They should receive -earnest thought that they may take definite shape. -But if they seem to defy definite form, they certainly -should not be thrown away merely for that. -Catching one’s exact idea is often as difficult as -catching a trout. But a glimpse of the fine fish -that gets away is worth something,—there are -few of us who can resist the temptation to tell -about it when we get home. Speaking of the -mind, Emerson says, “It is wholesome to angle in -those profound pools, though one be rewarded with -nothing more than the leap of a fish that flashes -his freckled side in the sun and as suddenly absconds -in the dark and dreamy waters again.”<a name="FNanchor_46" id="FNanchor_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> -In Wordsworth’s poem, The Solitary Reaper, we -hear of a song about <i>old, unhappy, far-off things</i>. -That was exactly Wordsworth’s own vague notion, -and down he set it—in words that make it clear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> -(so to speak) that his idea was sweet and vague. -Ruskin, describing the façade of St. Mark’s in -Venice, tries to give a sense of the bewildering -multiplicity of beautiful things on that wonderful -front by saying, <i>a confusion of delight</i>. If he had -used more definite words we should have missed -the effect.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the passages from Johnson -and Blackmore (<a href="#Page_192">pp. 192-3</a>). Which passage -contains more of general words than of specific? -Which is more forcible in subject-matter? Which -in <i>diction</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—In the following passage, choose -the better expression from each pair of brackets. -Each pair contains one general and one specific -term; choose the term which gives greater force or -greater clearness than the other.</p> - -<p>1. And therefore, first of all, I tell you earnestly -and authoritatively (I <i>know</i> I am right in this) you -must get into the [way, habit] of looking [rightly, -intensely] at words, and [telling, assuring] yourself -of their meaning, syllable by syllable—nay, letter -by letter. For ... you might read all the books -in [a great library, the British Museum] (if you -could live long enough) and remain an utterly “illiterate,” -uneducated person; but if you read [some -part, ten pages] of [a good, an instructive] book, -letter by letter—that is to say, with real [care,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> -accuracy]—you are forevermore in some [way, -measure] an educated [man, person]. The entire -difference between education and non-education (as -regards the merely [mental, intellectual] part of -it) consists in this [exactitude, accuracy]. A well-educated -gentleman may not [read, know] many -languages, may not be able to speak any but his -own, may have read very few books. But whatever -language he knows, he knows [well, precisely]; -whatever word he [says, pronounces] he -[says, pronounces] rightly. Above all, he is learned -in the <i>peerage</i> of words, knows the words of [true, -veritable] descent, and [old, ancient] blood, at a -glance, from the words of [new, modern] <i>canaille</i>, -remembers all their ancestry, their intermarriages, -distant relationships, and the extent to which they -were admitted, and offices they held, among the -national <i>noblesse</i> of words at any time and in any -[place, country]. But an uneducated person may -know, by [heart, memory], many languages, and -[use, talk] them all, and yet truly [know, apprehend] -not a word of any—not a word even of his -own. An ordinarily [clever, good] and sensible -seaman will be able to make his way ashore at -most [ports, places], yet he has only to speak [a -little, a sentence] of [Spanish or French, any language] -to be [known, recognized] for an illiterate -person; so also the accent, or turn of expression of -a single sentence, will at once mark a scholar.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> -And this is so [well, strongly] felt, so [conclusively, -well] admitted, by educated persons, that a -false accent or a [bad, mistaken] syllable is enough -in the parliament of any civilized nation, to [assign, -send] man to a certain degree of [lower, inferior] -standing forever.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Which words in the following -are general, which specific? Does each seem appropriate -in its place, or ought some words to have -been more specific, others more general?</p> - -<p>1. Her dress was dark and rich; she had pearls -round her neck, and an old rococo fan in her hand.—<span class="smcap">Henry -James.</span></p> - -<p>2. When gratitude has become a matter of reasoning, -there are many ways of escaping from its -bonds.—<span class="smcap">George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p>3. Friendships begin with liking or gratitude—roots -that can be pulled up.—<span class="smcap">George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p>4. What scene was ever commonplace in the -descending sunlight, when color has awakened from -its noonday sleep, and the long shadows awe us like -a disclosed presence? Above all, what scene is -commonplace to the eye that is filled with serene -gladness, and brightens all things with its own -joy?—<span class="smcap">George Eliot.</span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Is there danger of misconception -from the use of the following words? If so, -how can the danger be avoided? Discuss in class.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> -<i>Fair</i>, <i>fine</i>, <i>certain</i>, <i>charity</i>, <i>democratic</i>, <i>republican</i>, -<i>nature</i>.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Simple Words.</b>—Several years ago a gentleman<a name="FNanchor_47" id="FNanchor_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> -secured from a large number of successful authors -brief pieces of advice to young writers. In one -particular there was an extraordinary unanimity -among these authors. Nearly all agreed that a -young writer should try to express himself simply. -They agreed on other matters too,—for example, -on the need of clear thinking and an inclination to -take much pains in expression. But it was noticeable -that even writers whose own work is not -characterized by simplicity seemed to admire this -quality.</p> - -<p>The greatest men are simple. Affectation, straining -for effect, is a mark of a little mind. The -greatest art is simple,—governed by a noble -restraint. Over-decoration, whether in a picture, -a piece of music, in dress, in the furnishing of -a room, or in a theme, is always a mark of bad -taste.</p> - -<p>What is called fine writing—the use of over-ambitious -words to express simple thoughts—grows -up in various ways. Sometimes it springs -from a desire to be funny. Exaggeration has always -been a favorite device of the humorist—especially<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> -of the American humorist. There are students who -learn to use this kind of humor so well that an -unconscious habit of bombast pursues them into -their more serious work. Most of us can force a -smile at such writing as the passage given below, -or even laugh at it when there are enough people -present to help us:—</p> - -<p>“It was in the sixth that Captain Anson, aided -and abetted by sundry young men generally called -‘Colts,’ waded in to snatch laurel, trailing arbutus, -and other vegetables from the coy hand of -fame. He did it, too, and he now has laurels to -throw to the birds. Ryan went first to the bat, -and pasted a warm one through short that turned -the grass black along its path.”</p> - -<p>But when a young fellow has read so much of -this sort that he drags similar diction into his -themes, the fun becomes vulgarity.</p> - -<p>In general, use always the simplest word that -will express your meaning exactly. Compare -pages 216, 217.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Write in simple English the -equivalents of the following passages. Some are -from students’ themes; others from newspapers.</p> - -<p>1. The <i>svelte</i><a name="FNanchor_48" id="FNanchor_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> young debutante received a perfect -ovation.</p> - -<p>2. In my estimation it is far more to be desired<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> -that a tyro in the art of composition should select -those subjects with which his acquaintance is the -most extensive.</p> - -<p>3. In all my experience I have never enjoyed -the acquaintance of two youths of more superior -ability.</p> - -<p>4. It is impossible for me to disassociate from -my mind the conception that such a course would -be disastrous to the ambitions of the team.</p> - -<p>5. Public sentiment would not permit an individual -or an infinitesimally small minority to clog -the wheels of progress in order to prevent the escape -of a few dollars from the individuals composing -the obstructive element.</p> - -<p>6. Let us indeed refrain from any course of action -which will militate against the onward march -of the civilizing power of the public schools of this -great and growing nation.</p> - -<p>7. While the birds were carolling their sweetest -strains and the grass hung heavy with water-pearls, -Peter Brant was taking his life. A more seductive -place to die in than the little garden back of 7000 -Congress street is inconceivable.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Literal and Figurative Words.</b>—Before it can be -decided how far the young writer should use figures -of speech, it is necessary to find out the real -difference between a literal word or statement and -a figurative word or statement. If figures are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> -always mere embellishments of language, the journeyman -had better shun them anxiously; for his -true object is to express his thought, not to decorate -it. If, however, some figures are not embellishments -but ordinary building-material, the case -is different.</p> - -<p>When, on seeing biscuits for the first time, a -child refers to them as <i>moons</i>, he is not making an -effort to adorn his language. He is unconsciously -using a figure of speech because he does not know -the literal, proper, conventional name, <i>biscuit</i>. If -the child had formerly lived in a country where -apples grew but potatoes did not, the first time he -saw a potato he would probably call it a <i>ground-apple</i>. -As a matter of fact there are people that have -gone through some such experience with potatoes. -The French word <i>pomme de terre</i> indicates this.</p> - -<p>Most words were once figures of speech, that is, -<i>tropes</i>. A trope, from the Greek word τρέπω, to -turn, is merely the turning away of a word from -its ordinary meaning to give a name to some new -idea. The root of many a word shows the figure -that was used to express a given new idea. The -root <i>spir-</i> means to breathe. Since the inability to -breathe is one part of the process of death, the expression -<i>to breathe out</i> became a figurative expression -for the whole idea of “to die.” In <i>expire</i>, -applied to death, the idea of <i>breathe</i> is usually not -felt. The figure is forgotten, and we therefore call<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> -it a root-figure, or <i>radical figure</i>. As may be seen -from the roots of the Curious Words on <a href="#Page_191">page 191</a>, -language is figurative through and through.</p> - -<p>This is true not only of language already made, -but of that which is daily making. In every mind -shades of thought are constantly occurring for -which there are either no names, or none which -the mind can learn in the interval before expression -is necessary. If the exact word is not at -hand, a comparison must be made. The shade of -thought must be named by telling what thing in -the reader’s experience it is like.</p> - -<p>Does the attempt at comparison result in a -vague, inexact phrase, or in an exact one? The -youth who declares that his lesson is as “hard as -thunder,” has expressed himself but vaguely. The -same is true of the young lady who declares that -it rained “like anything.” Let us examine briefly -the chief kinds of tropes, and note whether they -are necessarily less clear and exact than literal -statements.</p> - -<p>A person sees an accident, and reports that “a -score of hands” picked up the injured boy. Here -is <i>synecdoche</i>. The “hands” stand for the persons—a -part for the whole; a “score” probably -stands for a dozen,—the whole number of hands in -the group of people, for the smaller number that -actually touched the boy. Or, the “score” may -be called <i>hyperbole</i>, that is, exaggeration. A critic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> -might say that either figure is inexact here. True, -in a way. But if the writer had reported that he -<i>seemed</i> to see a score of hands, the phrase would be -faithful to his thought. We may take the <i>seemed</i> -for granted, and reply to the critic that for exact -purposes in a law court, “seemed to see a score of -hands” might be nearer the truth than an attempt -at greater precision.</p> - -<p>Suppose, now, that the writer who reported the -accident said that the boy was in great pain, so -that his face was “as white as ivory.” Here is a -<i>simile</i>,—an explicit statement of likeness in two -things which are different in most respects. This -particular simile is certainly more exact than the -literal word <i>white</i> would be.</p> - -<p>If now the writer had said, “I caught a glimpse -of compressed lips and ivory face,” the comparison -would have been not explicit, but implied. An implied -comparison is called <i>metaphor</i>. Metaphor is -from the Greek for <i>carrying over</i>, because it carries -over bodily the name of one thing to another. To -speak of a man as “bold as a lion,” is simile; to -call him a “lion” outright, is metaphor. It is -less clear to call a man a lion than to say in -what respect he is like a lion; it is less clear -to say, “ivory face” than to say “face white as -ivory.”</p> - -<p>The case of the boy who was injured may have -got into the newspapers. To speak more figuratively,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> -the <i>press</i> may have taken up the matter. -<i>Press</i> stands here for the editors of the various -journals. This last figure is <i>metonymy</i>. In metonymy -one thing is put for another that is often -associated with it. In the sentence given, metonymy -does not seem to detract from clearness; -at all events it saves a roundabout expression.</p> - -<p>Metaphor and metonymy, by ascribing life to -inanimate things, often become <i>personification</i>. So -above, where the press <i>takes up</i> a matter. It is -evident that personification need not make a sentence -less intelligible.</p> - -<p>Once more, let us suppose that the reporter who -first learned of the boy’s accident remarked, on -handing in his account of it, “The early bird -catches the worm.” The remark is pure <i>allegory</i>—describing -some act or thing indirectly by describing -something else. If the hearer knows -enough of the situation to understand the allegory, -he undoubtedly receives a forcible impression, and -may be helped to a clearer view. Allegory is a -kind of expanded metaphor. It is more liable to -misinterpretation than most figures; but the allegorical -proverbs of our language, and the popularity -of such books as the <i>Pilgrim’s Progress</i>, show -that it is a favorite form of expression. Like -general words, allegory can be used to say things -which policy may forbid being said more directly.</p> - -<p>From the discussion it appears that tropes can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> -often be made to yield a clear and sufficiently -exact phrase. Often however a trope lends force -or beauty rather than clearness. It is forcible -rather than clear to call a man a lion. It is beautiful -rather than clear to speak of the Pleiades as -“a swarm of fireflies tangled in a silver braid.” -Such a phrase as this is legitimate enough in poetry; -it would be legitimate in highly imaginative -prose. But the fact cannot be dodged that it -would be out of place in the midst of plain prose -description.</p> - -<p>The practical conclusion is obvious. Use tropes -without hesitation when they are really needed to -give clearness and force. Never use a trope for -decorative purposes only. The ability to write -plain, bare English is absolutely indispensable. -The ability to write figuratively is an enviable, but -not a necessary, possession.</p> - -<p>When the need of a figure is actually felt, the -choice should be made with scrupulous care. If -tropes occur to you in numbers, “like flocks of -pigeons,” choose only the pigeon that can carry -a message. To secure lucidity, employ a figure -which makes use of something already clear to the -reader. Every-day life and common things are the -best sources for both similes and metaphors. To -secure force, select such figures as appeal to the -emotional experiences of everybody. If you wish -to hold attention and move your reader, appeal to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> -such primal feelings as love, hate, fear, courage, -joy, sorrow, aspiration, hope. Note how Shakespeare -appeals to the human animal’s dread of deep -water: he makes Cardinal Wolsey say, “I have -ventured, like wanton boys that swim on bladders, -this many summers in a sea of glory.” In <i>Macbeth</i> -he appeals to the joy of release from pain: he -calls sleep <i>the balm</i> of each day’s hurt.</p> - -<p>A good figure of speech must be consistent. -Although a lively imagination changes its metaphors -from minute to minute, it must not change -them so fast as to suggest ridiculous things. If -the metaphor gets mixed, clearness and force go -to the winds. The other day the writer heard a -young man earnestly exclaim: “Now I shall have -to toe the bee-line!” The thought of that youth, -lifted to a perilous position where his toes sought -vainly in the trackless air for a “bee-line,” was -quite too much for the gravity of his hearers. -This trope that failed to be a trope was about as -effective as the famous lightning-change series of -metaphors uttered by Sir Boyle Roche: “Mr. -Speaker, I smell a rat. I see him floating in the -air. But I will nip him in the bud.” Mixed metaphors -may arise from mere liveliness of imagination,—a -good fault sometimes. More frequently -it arises from vague thinking or from grandiloquence. -The examples on <a href="#Page_246">page 246</a> show how -liable fine writing is to this fault. A figure that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> -is not in good taste is incomparably worse than -no figure at all.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Name each trope, and explain -how each gets its force; what emotion each touches.</p> - -<p>(<i>a</i>) “Thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart.”—<span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span></p> - -<p>(<i>b</i>) “What is hope?—a smiling rainbow children -follow through the wet.”—<span class="smcap">Carlyle.</span></p> - -<p>(<i>c</i>) “She speaks poniards, and every word -stabs.”—<span class="smcap">Shakespeare.</span></p> - -<p>(<i>d</i>) “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive; but -to be young was very heaven.”—<span class="smcap">Wordsworth.</span></p> - -<p>(<i>e</i>) “Prayer is the key of the morning and the -bolt of the night.”—<span class="smcap">Beecher.</span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Examine the phrases that you -made by finding adjectives to fit abstract qualities -(<a href="#Page_202">p. 202</a>), and decide in each case whether clearness -or force is the chief resulting characteristic.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Restore force to the following -figures by changing whatever is incongruous in -them. Reject any that are irretrievably bad in -taste, or hackneyed.</p> - -<p>1. The singing was led by the organ assisted by -four violins.</p> - -<p>2. In graceful and figurative language he pointed -the finger of scorn at the defendant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span></p> - -<p>3. It was 8 o’clock when the guests attacked -the following menu.</p> - -<p>4. The trailer struck the car amidships.</p> - -<p>5. The colonies were not yet ripe to bid adieu -to British connection.</p> - -<p>6. Let us cast off the shackles of doubt and -bind ourselves with the bonds of faith.</p> - -<p>7. No human happiness is so serene as not to -contain some alloy.</p> - -<p>8. Boyle was the father of chemistry, and -brother of the Earl of Cork.</p> - -<p>9. The marble-hearted marauder might seize -the throne of civil authority, and hurl into thraldom -the votaries of rational liberty.</p> - -<p>10. It is to be hoped, now that lovely woman discountenances -the flowing bowl, that the rising generation -will abjure it, and follow the weaker sex in -taking nothing stronger than the cup which cheers -but not inebriates.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII<br /> -<span class="smaller">LETTER-WRITING</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>Why Important.</b>—There are two general classes -of letters: informal or personal, and formal or impersonal. -Each kind is governed by the general -principles of clearness and courtesy. Mischief is -sure to follow if either of these principles is disregarded. -A writer may indulge in extravagance -of statement when he writes for the public, and -“there is no harm done, for the speaker is one and -the listener is another.”<a name="FNanchor_49" id="FNanchor_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> But it is quite a different -matter when one is making business promises, -or trying to pacify a distant friend with whom -there is a misunderstanding. A shrewd politician -knows enough not to write too many letters, and -not to write anything that he cannot stand by. A -woman of tact knows that the success of her social -plans may turn upon the choice of a single word -in the leave-taking of a note.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Business Letters.</b>—These are formal, impersonal. -A good business letter is (1) clear, (2) courteous,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> -(3) brief. It shows unmistakably (<i>a</i>) who is writing, -(<i>b</i>) to whom, (<i>c</i>) where, (<i>d</i>) when. It is definite -in its language, so that there need be no return -letter of inquiry as to any part of its meaning. It -observes the best conventions of address and signature. -It refrains from brusque remarks, even in -reply to a rude letter. It is appreciative. A good -business man always takes into account that a -handful of trade is a handful of gold; if he is -favored with orders, he goes to the trouble of -thanking his customers. It does not curtly abbreviate -sentences and signatures. Life is not so short -but that we may avoid writing such insults as this: -“Y’rs rec’d and contents noted. Have ordered -Jones to push the deal through. Shall see you -soon. Y’rs respy.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Headings and Signatures in Business Letters.</b>—A -business letter should show where it was written, -and where the answer should be sent. If these -places are the same, the one address may be indicated -either at the beginning or at the end, preferably -the former. Street and number should always -be given in the case of city addresses. The date of -writing should be placed at the beginning, the month -being written or abbreviated, not indicated by a -figure. The heading ought also to indicate to whom -the letter is sent. Since in theory or in fact there -may be other persons of the same name, the correspondent’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> -address should usually be placed beneath -his name. The most common signatures in business -letters are <i>Yours truly</i>, <i>Yours very truly</i>, and <i>Yours -respectfully</i>. In writing a business letter, a girl -signs her full name. Then at the left she writes -her name, preceded by <i>Miss</i>, and followed by her -address.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Titles in Business Letters.</b>—Firm names need not -be preceded by <i>Messrs.</i>, although this form certainly -adds to the courtesy of the communication. Names -of individuals should regularly be preceded by <i>Mr.</i> -Whether a person should be addressed by his professional -title depends somewhat upon the character -of the business. <i>In the United States a commercial -letter is sufficiently courteous if <b>Mr.</b> precedes the name -of the person addressed.</i> This title is in better -taste, as applied to business men, than <i>Esq.</i> But -there is no objection to the use of certain titles, -and they are desirable if the business be one which -pertains to the profession of the person addressed. -Initials should always be given. “Rev. Brown,” -“Hon. Jones,” are inexcusable forms.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>The Envelope.</b>—The address on the envelope -should be as legible as possible. Names of states -should not be contracted. As Professor J. M. Hart -remarks, “The only current abbreviations that seem -to be safe are Penna., Conn., and D. C.”<a name="FNanchor_50" id="FNanchor_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> New<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span> -York City may be written for New York, N. Y. -The same rules for titles apply to the envelope -as to the heading. If the comma is placed after -one line of the address, it must be placed after the -others. It is needed after none.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Write a business letter, replying -clearly and courteously to the following -imaginary communication.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="right">14 Grasmere Street,<br /> -Boston, Mass.,<br /> -Dec. 4, 1897.</p> - -<p class="hanging">Miss Helen Roe,<br /> -Graysville, Penna.</p> - -<p class="noindent">Dear Madam:—</p> - -<p>We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your -order of Dec. 2. Since you mention the fact that -the goods are intended as a Christmas surprise, -we have taken the liberty of holding them, and -writing for orders as to desired date of shipment -to the address you specify. We remain,</p> - -<p class="center">Very respectfully yours,</p> - -<p class="right">Weaver and Weaver.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Write a petition to some -person or persons in authority, following in general -the form given below:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="noindent">The Faculty of Lewis Institute.</p> - -<p>Gentlemen: We, the undersigned, respectfully -ask the privilege of organizing a new literary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> -society, to be called the Parnassian. We enclose a -copy of the proposed constitution, which we are -ready to sign. If further information is desired, -we shall be glad to appoint a committee to wait -upon you at any time you may designate.</p> - -<p class="right">L. Gustafson,<br /> -H. Bulkley, etc.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Formal Social Letters.</b>—Formal correspondence -indicates by its style the mere acquaintance of the -correspondents, or, in the words of Miss Morton,<a name="FNanchor_51" id="FNanchor_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> -“the bounds of distance which for any reason it is -desirable to maintain.” A formal letter should -actually be formal. If one attempts to do an -elaborate thing, one ought to do it thoroughly and -properly. A letter that begins with formal brevity -and runs off into colloquial prolixity is a burlesque. -A letter that begins in the third person and ends -in the first is a farce.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Following in general the -models given below, write (1) a formal invitation -to dinner; (2) an acceptance of this invitation; -(3) regrets at inability to accept.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p class="hanging">1. Mr. Frederick Estoff, Jr., requests the pleasure -of Mr. Edward Edwards’ company at dinner on -Tuesday, June fourth, at seven o’clock, to meet -Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Estoff.</p> - -<p>12 Pear Street, June twenty-eighth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> - -<p class="hanging">2. Mr. Edward Edwards accepts with much pleasure -the kind invitation of Mr. Frederick Estoff, -Jr., to dinner for June fourth, to meet Mr. and -Mrs. Frederick Estoff.</p> - -<p>14 Sycamore Street, June twenty-eighth.</p> - -<p class="hanging">3. Mr. Edward Edwards regrets extremely that a -previous engagement prevents his acceptance -of Mr. Frederick Estoff, Jr.’s kind invitation -to dinner for June fourth, to meet Mr. and -Mrs. Frederick Estoff.</p> - -<p>14 Sycamore Street, June twenty-eighth.</p> - -</div> - -<p class="tb"><b>Personal or Informal Letters.</b>—The letter one -writes informally to an acquaintance, a friend, or -a relative, should be in tone pretty nearly what -one’s conversation with the given person would -be. To give such a letter the tone which represents -exactly the relation between the two people -is a hard task. The nicest sense of tact is required -in order not to be too stiff and not too familiar. -Personal letters demand the art of colloquial composition. -Those unperceptive persons who have but -one style of composition,—that of a book, or that -of a clerk,—make sorry work of personal letters. -Suppose that you have always known one of these -persons. You have played with him, read with -him, perhaps fought with him. When you meet, -he calls you by your first name. When he writes to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> -ask you to visit him, he addresses you as <i>Dear Sir</i>, -and signs himself <i>Respectfully</i>! His letter gives -you a chill. There is too little of the personal -letter-writing of the better sort, the leisurely, -careful, courteous, old-fashioned kind of written -talk,—writing that, like Thomas Cholmondeley’s, -could be signed, “Ever yours and not in haste.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Write a note inviting a friend -of your own age to dinner, to an informal party, or -to an excursion. Such a note usually begins on -this wise,—<i>My Dear Tom</i>, or <i>Dear Tom</i>, rather -than on this,—<i>Dear Friend</i>. A similar note to -an acquaintance would begin: My dear Mr. ——, -My dear Miss ——, etc.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Write a personal letter to -the instructor, concerning some matter in which -you would like to interest him. This letter will -not be read to the class.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—Write to some friend a long -letter, observing the ordinary rules for paragraphing. -Suggested subjects: an account of your life -since last meeting your friend; a comparison of -the town you now live in with that in which you -and the friend formerly lived; an explanation of -some scheme in which you wish the friend’s co-operation.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII<br /> -<span class="smaller">REPRODUCTION, ABSTRACT, SUMMARY, ABRIDGMENT</span></h2> - -<p class="tb"><b>Literal Reproduction.</b>—The word <i>reproduction</i> -is often used in Rhetoric in a somewhat general -sense, to mean any version of another composition. -As we shall use it, the term means <i>literal reproduction</i>; -in other words, a version that follows the -phrasing of the original as nearly as the time given -for study will permit. Writing of reproductions -trains the memory and adds immensely to one’s -command of words.</p> - -<p>Below are given lists of brief selections, most of -them requiring not more than ten minutes to reproduce. -It is suggested that a given paragraph or -page be slowly read aloud to the class, two or three -times, and that the class afterward write the piece -as nearly as possible in the author’s words. <i>Each -student should then insert in his vocabulary book any -new words or phrases that seem to him particularly -serviceable. These memoranda will prove invaluable -later on, when similar topics (not the same ones) are -to be written about by the student himself.</i> To illustrate:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> -a student after reading two or three personal -descriptions might jot down for future use -such phrases as the following: <i>Eyes.</i>—Laughing, -startled, heavy-lidded, hazel, vacant, protruding, -lustrous, expressive, liquid, dreamy, speaking, glad. -<i>Nose.</i>—Aquiline, Roman, beak-like, shapely, snub, -sharp, insignificant. <i>Hair.</i>—Grizzled, frowsy, -shaggy, glossy, dishevelled, unkempt, tumbled. -<i>Manner.</i>—Alert, jaunty, affable, sprightly, haughty, -pretentious, modest, diffident, reserved, ostentatious, -demure, animated. <i>Figure.</i>—Gaunt, emaciated, -lank, vigorous, robust, grotesque, massive, insignificant, -thick-set, portly, sturdy, stalwart, erect, -decrepit, fragile. <i>Expression.</i>—Rueful, crafty, -frank, wistful, stolid.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Material for Literal Reproduction</span></h3> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Narration</i></h4> - -<p>Miles, One Thousand and One Anecdotes: p. 30, -Garcia; 33, Handel; 36, Mozart; 43, Paganini; 74, -A dull witness; 96, Mrs. Siddons; 105, 110, Wellington; -106, Coolness; 132, Bad handwriting; 142, -Dickens and Thackeray; 218, Hill; 231, Newton; -231, Sidney Smith; 251, Scott; 253, Lessing; 254, -Geological; 255, Blackie; 268, Béranger; 273, A -toast; 304, A careful reader; 312, Webster; 316, -Johnson; 318, Poetry and Pattypans; 322, Marryat; -323, Turner; 324, Dannecker; 328, Hugo and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> -Coppée; 368, Heroism of a workman; 370, Rochejaquelin; -371, Washington; 374, Lefevre; 378, Virchow; -378, Cham and Gille.</p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Description</i></h4> - -<p><i>Persons.</i>—Hawthorne: American Note Books. -See Index, p. 448, for paragraphs on characters, -mostly men.</p> - -<p><i>Scenery.</i>—1. <i>Sunrise.</i> Hawthorne: American -Note Books, 75, 121, 315. Thoreau: Spring, 99.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Morning.</i> Hawthorne: American Note Books, -75, 177. Thoreau: Winter, 128, 137, 258.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Afternoon.</i> Hawthorne: American Note -Books, 96. Thoreau: Autumn, 21, 28, 182.</p> - -<p>4. <i>Sunset.</i> Hawthorne: American Note Books, -112. Thoreau: Autumn, 3, 17, 90, 112, 152, 214, -259, 311, 327, 330, 345, 388, 429, 433. Winter, 23, -38, 40, 127, 155. Summer, 47, 246, 313, 332, 362.</p> - -<p>5. <i>Sunlight.</i> Burroughs: Winter Sunshine, 102. -Thoreau: Autumn, 289. Winter, 114, 249.</p> - -<p>6. <i>Moonlight.</i> Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter -(Custom House). Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 166. -Thoreau: Spring, 78. Summer, 95, 97, 117, 120, -176, 233, 239, 333. Winter, 215, 320, 322. Burroughs: -Winter Sunshine, 43.</p> - -<p>7. <i>Water.</i> Blackmore: Lorna Doone, vii. Thoreau: -Spring, 87, 96, 101, 109, 154. Summer, 30, -117, 240, 243. Autumn, 111, 160, 182, 370, 400, -434. Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 159 (The Rhone).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> - -<p>8. <i>Mountains.</i> Ruskin: Præterita, vol. i., 288. -Bolles: At the North of Bearcamp Water. See -Index, p. 296, for many views of more than a score -of mountains.</p> - -<p>9. <i>Landscapes.</i> Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 78 -(Rome). Hawthorne: American Note Books, 441 -(Gosport). Blackmore: Lorna Doone, iv. (Doone -Gate). Hugo: Les Misèrables (Field of Waterloo).</p> - -<p><i>Birds, Animals, and Insects.</i>—See indexes of the -following: Thoreau: Spring; Summer; Autumn; -Winter; Walden. Burroughs: Wake Robin; Winter -Sunshine; Birds and Bees. Miller: Bird-Ways; -A Bird-Lover in the West. Torrey: A Rambler’s -Lease; Birds in the Bush. Merriam: A-Birding on -a Broncho. Bolles: From Blomidon to Smoky; The -Land of the Lingering Snow; At the North of -Bearcamp Water. Gibson: Sharp Eyes.</p> - -<p><i>Buildings and Rooms.</i>—Ruskin: Præterita, vol. -i., 232 (chapel); vol. iii., 5 (monastery). Scott: -Ivanhoe, iii. (Saxon hall). Stevenson: An Inland -Voyage (Noyon Cathedral); The Amateur Emigrant -(the second cabin). Hawthorne: House of -the Seven Gables, i.; Howe’s Masquerade (the -Province House). Irving: The Alhambra. (Palace -of the Alhambra); Sketch Book (Westminster -Abbey). Lamb: The East India Office.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span></p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Exposition</i></h4> - -<p>Helps: Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd, -14, 27, 32, 33, 40, 42, 54, 61, 72. Brevia, 5, 14, 15, -22, 37, 91, 92, 94, 105, 113, 115, 161, 163.</p> - -<p>Blake: Thoreau’s Thoughts, 4, 9, 21, 46, 89, 98, -100, 103, 108, 118, 123.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Summary, Abstract, Abridgment.</b>—The ability -to arrive at the substance of an article or book and -write it down, is demanded constantly in almost -every business and in every profession. An extremely -brief statement of the substance is called -a <i>summary</i>. A longer statement, couched in language -independent of that used by the author, is -an <i>abstract</i>. If the article or book is shortened by -the omission of the less important parts, the language -of the original being in general retained, the -result is an <i>abridgment</i>.</p> - -<p>Almost any well-constructed composition lends -itself to summary, abstract, or abridgment. A -story of Irving or Hawthorne, a chapter of Parkman -or John Fiske, an article in the <i>Forum</i> or the -<i>Nation</i>, furnishes excellent material. Below are -given typical pieces that may be used, the shorter -ones for summary, the longer for abstract or -abridgment. Stories can better be abstracted than -abridged.</p> - -<p>It is well to plan the proportions of your version. -The scale of 1:6 (one paragraph to six) will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> -be found a good proportion on which to reduce the -longer pieces. Burke’s Speech On Conciliation -would thus reduce to an abstract or an abridgment -of about twenty paragraphs. But this speech -can be reduced on a scale of 1:10 or even 1:20.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Material for Summary, Abstract, Abridgment</span></h3> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Narration</i></h4> - -<p>1. <i>Personal Contests</i>:—<i>Spartacus and Hermann</i>, -A. J. Church: Two Thousand Years Ago, p. 31 ff. -<i>Christian and Apollyon</i>, Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, -Fourth Stage. <i>Archery</i>, Scott: Ivanhoe, xiii. -<i>David and Goliath</i>, I Samuel xvii. <i>Nickleby and -Squeers</i>, Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby, xiii. <i>The -Boat Race</i>, Hughes: Tom Brown at Oxford. <i>Siege -of the Round House</i>, Stevenson: Kidnapped, x. -<i>The Three-Handed Duel</i>, Marryat: Midshipman -Easy. <i>The Tournament</i>, Scott: Ivanhoe, xii.</p> - -<p>2. <i>Narrative chapters from</i>: Aldrich: Story of a -Bad Boy. Burnett: The One I Knew the Best of -All. Hale: A New England Boyhood. Larcom: -A New England Girlhood. Howells: My Year in -a Log Cabin. Warner: Being a Boy.</p> - -<p>3. <i>Stories.</i>—Hawthorne: The Snow Image; The -Great Stone Face; Ethan Brand; Legends of the -Province House; The Great Carbuncle; David -Swan; The Vision of the Fountain; Dr. Heidegger’s -Experiment; The Artist of the Beautiful.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span></p> - -<p>Wilkins: A Humble Romance; The Bar Lighthouse; -A Lover of Flowers; Gentian; A Conflict -Ended; A Village Singer; Sister Liddy; A Gala -Dress; A Village Lear; The Revolt of Mother.</p> - -<p>Sir Roger de Coverley Papers: Spectators No. -110, 112, 113, 116, 118, 122, 123, 132, 269, 329, 335, -359, 383, 517.</p> - -<p>4. <i>History.</i>—Green: History of the English -People. <i>Bæda</i>, vol. i., ch. 2, pp. 64-67. <i>Hastings</i>, -vol. i., ch. 4, pp. 113-114. <i>Rising of baronage</i>, B. -iii., ch. 1, pp. 240-244. <i>Calais</i>, B. iv., ch. 2, pp. -422-425. <i>Armada</i>, B. vi., ch. 6, pp. 444-446. <i>Return -of Napoleon</i>; <i>Waterloo</i>, B. ix., ch. 5, pp. 385-389.</p> - -<p>McMasters: History of the People of the United -States. <i>Marietta</i>, vol. i., 513-515. <i>Death of Hamilton</i>, -vol. iii., 52-53. <i>Leopard and Chesapeake</i>, vol. -iii., 258-259. <i>Monroe’s journey</i>, vol. iv., 377-380.</p> - -<p>Fiske: Critical Period of American History. -The Continental Congress, vol. i., ch. 3. Valley -Forge, vol. ii., ch. 9.</p> - -<p>Rolfe, W. J.: Tales from English History in -Prose and Verse.</p> - -<p>Yonge: Book of Golden Deeds.</p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Description</i></h4> - -<p>1. <i>Schools.</i>—See The Schoolmaster in Literature. -(American Book Co.)</p> - -<p>2. <i>Towns.</i>—Hale: Seven Spanish Cities. Howells: -Three Villages; A Boy’s Town. Stedman:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> -New York City (<i>St. Nicholas</i>, 20:403, ’93). Stockton: -St. Augustine (<i>Ibid.</i>, 21:206, ’94).</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Exposition.</b>—1. Nordhoff: Politics for Young -Americans. 2. Van Dyke: How to judge a picture. -3. Krehbiel: How to understand music. -4. Wagner: Courage. 5. Camp: American Football. -6. Stagg and Williams: American Football. -7. Bassett: Machinist’s trade (<i>Harper’s Young -People</i>, 64:682, ’91). The Printing Trade (<i>Ibid.</i>, -64:624, ’91). The following articles from <i>The -Youth’s Companion</i>: 8. Journalism for girls (64:657, -’91). 9. Civil Service (64:245, ’91). 10. Why men -must die (67:426, ’94). 11. Medicine as a profession -(64:258, ’91). 12. Success in railway life -(65:505, ’92). 13. Wholesome lunches (67:83, -’94). 14-18. Advice to young musicians (64:310, -418, 321, 362). 19. Separate functions of the -Senate and House of Representatives (63:633, ’90). -20. Self-Education (65:494, ’92). 21-23. The girl -who thinks she can write (64:447; 65:458, 734). -24. Trusts (67:538,’94). 25. Uses of the census -(63:89, ’90). 26. Monroe Doctrine (67:388, ’94). -27. Arbitration (67:48, ’94). 28. Good government -clubs (67:448, ’94).</p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Argument</i><a name="FNanchor_52" id="FNanchor_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a></h4> - -<p>1. A property qualification for municipal suffrage -is desirable.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>Affirmative.</i> White: <i>Forum</i>, x. 357 (Dec. 1890). -Eliot: <i>Forum</i>, xii. 153 (Oct. 1891).</p> - -<p><i>Negative.</i> Bryce: American Commonwealth, i., -chaps, i., iii.</p> - -</div> - -<p>2. An eight-hour working day should be adopted -by law.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>Affirmative.</i> Webb and Cox: The Eight Hours -Day.</p> - -<p><i>Negative.</i> Walker: Atlantic Monthly, lxv. 800 -(June, 1890).</p> - -</div> - -<p>3. Municipalities should sometimes give work -to the unemployed.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>Affirmative.</i> <i>Forum</i>, xvi. 655 (Feb. 1894). Coit -<i>Forum</i>, xvii. 276 (May, 1894).</p> - -<p><i>Negative.</i> <i>Nation</i>, lvii. 481 (Dec. 28, 1893).</p> - -</div> - -<p>4. The housing of the poor should be improved -by municipalities.</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p><i>Affirmative.</i> Riis: How the Other Half Lives.</p> - -<p><i>Negative.</i> White: Improved Dwellings for the -Laboring Classes.</p> - -</div> - -<p>5. Burke: On Conciliation with the American -Colonies.</p> - -<p>6. Chatham: On Removing Troops from Boston.<a name="FNanchor_53" id="FNanchor_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<p>7. Beecher: Liverpool Speech.<a href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV<br /> -<span class="smaller">NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION</span></h2> - -<p>Narration, or narrative, relates a series of events. -Description gives an account of the look of persons -or things. Character description gives both physical -and mental traits. Recall to memory various -stories you have read, and say whether narratives -of considerable length do or do not have to give -description as they proceed.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Narration</span></h3> - -<p class="tb"><b>Two Kinds.</b>—If a series of events actually -happened, they are historical, and the story of -them may be called <i>historical narrative</i>. If they -did not happen, but owe their existence to the -imagination, they are fictional, and the narrative -is <i>fiction</i>. If we are writing a story, let the fact -be understood; if a sober rehearsal of facts, let -it be made an exercise in the rare and difficult -art of truth-telling.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Exercises in Choice of Subject.</b>—(1) Examine a -daily paper and pick out several narratives which -seem to you to have a general human interest,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span> -and several that have not. (2) Write a list of -twenty subjects for narrative and submit them to -the class for a vote as to which are the most interesting. -Choose events which you have witnessed -or taken part in. (3) Write a list of what are -to you the most interesting events of ancient, mediæval, -and modern history.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Choice of Details.</b>—In writing an account of a -simple incident it is possible to tell every detail -of what happened. But evidently no such thing -is practicable in narrating the events of a day, -a week, a lifetime. What to omit will depend -much upon the length of the composition. A -clear-headed writer will not put pen to paper before -he has decided just what points he is going -to bring out.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Written Exercise.</b>—(1) Jot down on paper memoranda -of the important things, the turning events, -in your own past life. (2) Make memoranda to -show what events ought to stand out most distinctly -in a history of the United States.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Plot.</b>—Read the following:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>Ichabod Crane was ridiculously frightened one dark night -by a boy who played ghost. The lad took the part of a -traditional spectre that rode a black horse. The joker had -a cloak over his head, and before him on the saddle a pumpkin, -to represent the head which the headless horseman was -fabled to carry.</p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span></p> - -<p>Read now the following:—</p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>One dark night Ichabod Crane started homeward on horseback. -He approached the oak on which André, the spy, -was hanged. Ichabod’s heart quaked. He passed the haunted -tree in safety, but his heart almost stood still when, a little -farther on, he saw a strange rider on a gigantic horse. Horse -and rider kept pace with him. Ichabod however saw that -the latter was headless, nay, carried his head before him on -the saddle. The figure raised itself and hurled its head -at Ichabod. When the schoolmaster found himself on the -ground, did he realize that the grewsome missile was only -a pumpkin?</p> - -</div> - -<p>Which of these accounts begets <i>suspense as to the -outcome</i>? In other words, in which is there <i>plot</i>? -Recall some novel you have read, and explain how -the reader’s interest is held through to the end.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Oral Exercise.</b>—Recall some anecdote, and present -it orally with plot interest.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Write a simple historical narrative of -about two hundred words, giving without plot all -the details of some brief incident in your own -experience. The following may suggest a topic: -1. My first day at the lathe. 2. Examination -memories. 3. How I earned some money and how -I spent it. 4. Spearing fish by night. 5. A personal -adventure with a window. 6. How I spent -this morning.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Write one or more imaginary newspaper -items, without plot, each detailing some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> -simple incident. Choose a subject of local interest -if possible. For example: 1. A runaway. 2. Fire -on Seventh Street. 3. Trolley-car accident. 4. Curious -act of a bird. 5. April 23 at the Brown School. -6. Brave deed of a child. 7. He returned $500. -8. An old building demolished. 9. The new library -is opened. 10. Arrested for “scorching.”</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Themes.</b>—Select several topics for five hundred -word themes, and write outlines showing what details -you would emphasize in composing. Then -write historical narratives from the outlines, making -them as interesting as you can without deviating -from facts. Sample subjects: 1. My struggles -with cooking. 2. A day in the berry patch. 3. The -first time I saw a play. 4. An adventure of my -father. 5. A few days with a doctor. 6. How a -certain town was named. 7. Misfortunes of our -circus. 8. The tribulations of a truant. 9. My first -ocean voyage. 10. An uncomfortable call. 11. My -career as an actor. 12. A visit to the World’s Fair. -13. In a graveyard after dark. 14. How Smith -looked me up. 15. A week in the woods. 16. The -fall I had. 17. My experience as a clerk. 18. A -glimpse of college life. 19. What I saw some bees -do. 20. An unwilling swim. 21. That Fourth of -July. 22. Experiences with a pony. 23. Haying. -24. How the vacation passed. 25. When I was a -book-agent. 26. Crossing a swollen stream.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Complex Incident.</b>—Many a narrative must be -composed of several <i>threads</i>, telling different events -that were going on at the same time. If you were -giving an account of how two hunters after being -separated in the woods finally reached home again, -you would relate first how one got home, then how -the other got home; or, having narrated the wanderings -of the first, you would let the second tell his -own story on rejoining his companion.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>Theme.</b>—Relate a complex incident, either historical -or fictional, in a theme about five hundred -words long. Two or three threads are enough. -The following may suggest a subject: 1. Two roads -to town. 2. How our party reached the top of the -mountain. 3. Adventures of a lost child and its -parents. 4. The rescue of an amateur sailor from -a wreck. 5. What happened at our club meeting. -6. Three boys and a boat. 7. An overheard discussion.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Description</span></h3> - -<p>Language is better adapted to narrate than to -describe, for words follow each other, just as events -do; they cannot flash the whole picture, with all -the details, upon the reader. Consequently writers -often combine narrative and description in order to -dwell on details. Homer<a name="FNanchor_54" id="FNanchor_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> describes the shield of -Achilles by telling the story of its forging—how<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> -Vulcan wrought each part in turn. What is called -the <i>traveller’s view</i> is description from successive -points of view. There is a good example of this -kind of description in Hawthorne’s <i>American Note -Books</i>, p. 181.</p> - -<p>In some descriptions the writer is willing to -sacrifice the general look of the object, in order -to secure accuracy of detail. Giving each detail is -called <i>description by inventory</i>. This is often useful, -particularly in business or in science. Turn to any -book of natural history and read the inventory -description of some bird or animal. But ordinarily -a description should give a general impression -whether it afterward gives details or not. The -most common way of doing this is to tell what in -general the object to be described makes you think -of. If the object is a river, it may remind you of -a snake or a letter S; if a village, it may recall to -your mind a flat-iron; if a little old lady, it may -appear to you, as to Dickens, in <i>Hard Times</i>, “a -bundle of shawls.” The main impression thus received -is called the <i>fundamental image</i>.</p> - -<p>Not every object will furnish a fundamental -image, but every object is sure to be remembered -for a few <i>chief details</i>. If of a given landscape -there lingers in the memory only a dim sense of -green woods, with here and there a patch of white, -it is as much description to record this dim image -as it would be to detail kinds of trees, distances,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> -etc. Indeed, it is a mistake often made to report -in a description things that could not possibly -have been seen from the given point of view. To -<i>keep the point of view</i> is vital. It is a good practice -to describe a photograph—such as those published -by the Soule Company, of Boston—in order to -learn the art of proportion in these matters of -living details.</p> - -<p>It must not, however, be thought that details -have no place in description. In studying an -object with a view to writing about it, one should -have the eye of a hawk for every <i>visible</i> detail, in -order that what he writes may be truthful. There -is no better training for the powers of observation -than description. Send a careless person to the -lake to describe it. He reports “myriads of ripples -dancing in glee,” things that every wretched poetaster -has seen before him. Send a careful observer, -and he will report wonderful shades of color, and -curious surface effects, like corrugation and damascene.</p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Suggested Topics for Description</i></h4> - -<p class="tb"><b>By Inventory.</b>—1. The bluebird. 2. A jellyfish. -3. A luna moth. 4. Kinds of clouds. 5. In -a museum. 6. Flags of different nations. 7. A -bottle of ink. 8. A small boy’s pocket. 9. What -my room contains. 10. A shop window. 11. The -old swimming-hole. 12. A bit of old silver.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p> - -<p class="tb"><b>By Narrative.</b>—1. A day in Boston. 2. An oil -well. 3. A crowd. 4. A quaint tea party. 5. A -country fair. 6. A fire. 7. A dream. 8. The matinée. -9. A masquerade. 10. How the farm looked -when I went back. 11. The dynamo I made. -12. My tent-making. 13. Our hut. 14. Decorating -a church for Christmas. 15. My baking. -16. Up Pike’s Peak.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>By Fundamental Image and Details.</b>—1. Kinds -of noses. 2. A bit of old architecture. 3. A church -altar. 4. Famous deltas. 5. The shop. 6. The -lunch-room. 7. A little old man. 8. This town -in <span class="smcapuc">A.D.</span> 2000. 9. An old fireplace. 10. A wreck. -11. Profile Mountain. 12. The football field. -13. The baseball ground described for an Englishman. -14. The capitol. 15. An old horse.</p> - -<p class="tb"><b>By Chief Details.</b>—1. Uncle Billy. 2. A hermit. -3. Our postmaster. 4. Our mail-carrier. 5. An -Indian. 6. A southern girl. 7. My chum. 8. The -procession of the pines. 9. A moonlight scene. -10. A wood interior. 11. An American boy of -1925. 12. Houses I have lived in. 13. Two -generals. 14. The boy who grins. 15. Queer -street characters. 16. A cat. 17. The fortune-teller. -18. Curious advertisements. 19. Betty in -her best dress. 20. A sunset. 21. A wave.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV<br /> -<span class="smaller">EXPOSITION AND ARGUMENT</span></h2> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Exposition</span></h3> - -<p>Exposition is explanation. It may either explain -a general principle by illustrations and examples, -as the preacher’s sermon expounds a statement of -scripture, or it may explain a group of facts by -getting at their underlying principle, as a scientific -treatise does. Exposition, it is clear, deals with -ideas rather than with particular objects. We -describe a department store; we expound the principles -by which it is conducted. We describe an -electric motor; we expound the laws of electricity. -We describe a beautiful statue; we expound beauty.</p> - -<p>Below are given various subjects for exposition. -In writing about them, do not drift into argument. -If you write on “dangers of exercise,” do not -argue against over-exercise; calmly explain the -matter.</p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Subjects for Exposition</i></h4> - -<p>1. Golf. 2. Cannibalism. 3. The bear family. -4. Principles of diet. 5. Credulity. 6. Nostalgia. -7. How to sail a boat. 8. Drowned rivers. 9. On<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> -eating candy. 10. The formation of ravines. -11. Dangers of over-exercise. 12. Dangers of -too little exercise. 13. Why the earth quakes. -14. How men become criminals. 15. How the -will may be trained in the classroom. 16. An -ideal classroom. 17. What makes up an ideal -camping ground. 18. Advantages and disadvantages -of classroom study. 19. Effects of climate -on man. 20. The conduct of a great business. -21. What are home missions? 22. How to become -famous. 23. How to plan a dinner. 24. How -to furnish a sitting-room. 25. Advantages of small -classes. 26. Possibilities of electricity. 27. What -constitutes a great man? 28. The art of fly-casting. -29. The construction of a roof. 30. What good -does an examination do the student? 31. Spiritualism. -32. Ghosts. 33. My choice of a profession. -34. The banking system. 35. Practical values of -good manners. 36. The interpretation of any of -the proverbs given on <a href="#Page_213">pages 213-215</a>.</p> - -<h3 class="center"><span class="smcap">Argument</span></h3> - -<p>There are various ways of bringing people to our -way of thinking. One way, by appealing to their -reason, is called <i>argument</i>. Can you suggest other -ways?</p> - -<p>Every argument must have a <i>proposition</i>, which -is laid down to be proved. If this proposition is -not stated in the title of the argument, it should be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span> -stated early in the discussion. It cannot be too -definitely formulated. Every word of it should -be made clear; there should be full <i>exposition of -terms</i>. Half the quarrels in the world disappear -after a thorough definition of terms. The question -of whether Aaron Burr was guilty of treason depends -on how treason is defined. In law a man, -however traitorous, is not guilty of treason unless -his treason had been witnessed by two persons. -Burr’s treason was not witnessed; he escaped conviction.<a name="FNanchor_55" id="FNanchor_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a></p> - -<p>In argument (<i>a</i>) depend upon a few weighty -arguments rather than upon many weak ones; (<i>b</i>) -remember that <i>examples</i> are but weak arguments; -(<i>c</i>) if in debate, be perfectly fair to your opponent, -admitting all that is true on his side; (<i>d</i>) know -your case thoroughly in every detail.</p> - -<h4 class="center"><i>Subjects for Argument or Debate</i></h4> - -<p>1. Examinations are usually a fair test of scholarship. -2. Labor-saving machinery is a permanent -advantage to mankind. 3. The world owes every -man a living. 4. A truthful person will be a -better writer than a liar. 5. The Gulf of Mexico -will one day have a greater port than New York -now has. 6. High school students should read the -newspapers. 7. Observation helps us more than<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> -reading. 8. Examinations should be abolished. -9. Sunday observance should be compulsory. 10. A -high school is guilty of injustice to its students -if it does not train them in public speaking. -11. People possessing no property should not be -allowed to vote. 12. Is it right to break a friendship? -13. Ought department stores to be permitted? -14. Are there good excuses for being a -tramp? 15. Is it wrong to bet? 16. How far is -it right in politics that to the victors should belong -the spoils? 17. Should a parent forbid his son to -take part in football? 18. Should a man ever shoot -a robber? 19. Is suicide ever justifiable? 20. Is it -right to evade custom house duties? 21. Is it -wrong to go to the theatre often? 22. Is it ever -best to give money on the street? 23. Is it right -for women to wear birds on their hats? 24. How -far is it right for students to study together? -25. Is a curfew law desirable? 26. Is it right to -discard old friends for new? 27. Should one bear -witness against a friend? 28. Does paying a fare -entitle one to a seat? 29. Is it right to let people -deceive themselves? 30. Are there any customary -lies which are right? 31. Is capital punishment -defensible as punishment? 32. Is capital punishment -defensible as a protection to society? -33. Should Latin be a compulsory study? -34. Which is rougher, football or pugilism?</p> - -<hr /> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> From the first, brief supplementary themes, especially reproductions, -should be required. For bibliography of material, -<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">see Chapter XIII</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2" id="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Cf. President Stanley Hall’s <i>Pedagogical Seminary</i>, iv. i. 76.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3" id="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>The Children</i>, p. 103. (<i>The Bodley Head.</i> John Lane.)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4" id="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Some teachers will prefer to use composition-books.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5" id="Footnote_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> A part of these signs are from G. R. Carpenter’s admirable -<i>Exercises in Rhetoric and English Composition</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6" id="Footnote_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Elizabeth H. Spalding: <i>The Problem of Elementary Composition</i>. -Boston, D. C. Heath & Co.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7" id="Footnote_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Do not discard your old text-book in grammar or in “language.” -Bring it to school and keep it at hand for ready reference. -In it are rules for spelling; these, as well as other rules, -you will be glad to review occasionally.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8" id="Footnote_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The author is indebted for the idea of this exercise to Miss -Catherine Aiken’s <i>Methods of Mind-Training</i> (Harper & Bros.). -If it proves helpful it should be extended to the consonants <i>d</i>, -<i>f</i>, <i>g</i>, <i>l</i>, <i>m</i>, <i>n</i>, <i>p</i>, <i>r</i>, <i>s</i>, <i>t</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9" id="Footnote_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> The mark over the second syllable is called the diæresis. -It indicates that each vowel is to be pronounced separately.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10" id="Footnote_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Such may be called logically co-ordinate, though grammatically -dependent. The restrictive relative clause may be called -the necessary relative clause; the non-restrictive may be called -the unnecessary or additional relative clause.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11" id="Footnote_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Comprehensively</i> is Mr. Stevenson’s word—not the <i>husband’s</i>; -it is inserted to show the way in which, probably with -a vague gesture, the husband said <i>all</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_12" id="Footnote_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Demean = behave. What word would be better here?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_13" id="Footnote_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> A quaint way of spelling <i>eras</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_14" id="Footnote_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Solecism</i> is Greek in origin. The Athenian colonists of Soli -in Asia Minor spoke Greek so badly that the Attic Greeks came -to refer to an error in grammar (or in pronunciation) as <i>soloikismós</i>, -whence our word.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_15" id="Footnote_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>Advanced Exercises</i>, p. 85.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_16" id="Footnote_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> There are few exceptions: <i>day’s work</i>, <i>week’s pay</i>, etc.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_17" id="Footnote_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Is there incoherence between the clauses of this sentence -after <i>vowing</i>? If so, how remedy it?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_18" id="Footnote_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> Each of these paragraphs was written as a part of a larger -whole. But each is complete in itself, and may be considered -as an independent whole.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_19" id="Footnote_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> In another and larger sense, every mark of punctuation is -disjunctive, as was said on <a href="#Page_21">page 21</a>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_20" id="Footnote_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> That is, Lord Falkland.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_21" id="Footnote_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> This “that” is demonstrative.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_22" id="Footnote_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> Sometimes a simple sentence is called periodic. This is -when the natural order of subject and predicate is inverted. -Thus: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.” Indeed, the attributive -position of the adjective is sometimes called periodic, because -it delays the noun-idea. A long sentence is sometimes -periodic up to a certain point, then loose; sometimes the opposite -is true.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_23" id="Footnote_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Sentences that are in the main periodic may ordinarily be -given this name.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_24" id="Footnote_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The longer passages to which the last two selections belong -may be found in Genung’s <i>Rhetorical Analysis</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_25" id="Footnote_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> The phrase, “words that deserve distinction,” is Professor -Barrett Wendell’s. See his <i>English Composition</i>, p. 103 (Scribner’s).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_26" id="Footnote_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> See also Scott and Denney, <i>Composition-Rhetoric</i>, p. 72 ff. -Teachers will be interested to compare an article by Miss Gertrude -Buck, <i>Educational Review</i>, March, 1887. The matter is -touched upon in the <i>History of the English Paragraph</i>, by the -author of this book, p. 43 <i>et al.</i> (Univ. of Chicago Press).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_27" id="Footnote_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Is there not some ambiguity as to the grammatical structure -here? <i>Swallowed</i> is logically the act performed by <i>it</i>, the fish, -but grammatically it may be taken with ——? Remedy the -fault.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_28" id="Footnote_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Good Manners</i>, a pamphlet. (H. L. Hastings, Boston)</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_29" id="Footnote_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> For the idea of this exercise the author is indebted to Professors -Scott and Denney, <i>Composition-Rhetoric</i> (Allyn and -Bacon).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_30" id="Footnote_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> See however <i>do</i>, <i>does</i>, in the Oxford English Dictionary.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_31" id="Footnote_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> A. S. Hill: <i>Foundations of Rhetoric</i>, p. 110 (Harper’s).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_32" id="Footnote_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>Round</i> is more frequently used than <i>around</i> with verbs of -motion.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_33" id="Footnote_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Probably three-fourths of these words are not in literary -use to-day. Many are obsolete, many are colloquial, many are -scientific or technical. Thousands of other scientific terms -(names of genera and species) are not included in the 200,000 -estimate.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_34" id="Footnote_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> A maker of noble verse is called what?</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_35" id="Footnote_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> See <i>The Century Magazine</i> for November, 1896, for an -English theme by Miss Helen.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_36" id="Footnote_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Emerson’s words, quoted on <a href="#Page_121">page 121</a>, will occur to every -reader.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_37" id="Footnote_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>My Literary Passions</i>, p. 32 (Harper & Bros.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_38" id="Footnote_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> In case of doubt, consult Bartlett’s <i>Shakspere Concordance</i> -(Macmillan Co.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_39" id="Footnote_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> It may be found desirable to assign only a part of the words -to each student, the results to be read before the class and discussed.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_40" id="Footnote_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> <i>Foundations of Rhetoric</i>, p. 171.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_41" id="Footnote_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> <i>Advanced Exercises</i>, p. 41.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_42" id="Footnote_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> For particular passages, etc., see Professor A. S. Cook’s <i>The -Bible and English Prose Style</i> (Ginn & Co.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_43" id="Footnote_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> Hundreds of others will be found in Hazlitt’s <i>English -Proverbs</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_44" id="Footnote_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> For reference: Fallows, <i>100,000 Synonyms and Antonyms</i> -(Fleming H. Revell Co.); Roget, <i>Thesaurus</i>; Fernald, <i>Synonyms, -Antonyms, and Prepositions</i> (Funk and Wagnalls).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_45" id="Footnote_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> <i>Among My Books</i>, II. 259.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_46" id="Footnote_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Quoted in a different connection by E. E. Hale, Jr., <i>Constructive -Rhetoric</i>, p. 288 (Henry Holt & Co.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_47" id="Footnote_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Mr. George Bainton, <i>The Art of Authorship</i> (D. Appleton -& Co.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_48" id="Footnote_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Consult a French dictionary.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_49" id="Footnote_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> The Turkish Cadi to the English Traveller. See James, -<i>Psychology</i>, II. 640.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_50" id="Footnote_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> <i>Handbook of English Composition</i>, p. 348 (Eldredge & Bro.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_51" id="Footnote_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> <i>Letter-Writing</i>, p. 121 (Penn. Pub. Co.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_52" id="Footnote_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> The first four subjects are taken from Brookings and -Ringwalt: <i>Briefs for Debate</i> (Longmans), which see for further -articles on the same topics.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_53" id="Footnote_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> See Baker: <i>Specimens of Modern Argumentation</i> (Henry -Holt & Co.).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_54" id="Footnote_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> <i>Iliad</i>, xviii. 601, Bryant’s translation.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_55" id="Footnote_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> Carpenter and Fletcher, <i>Introduction to Theme-Writing</i>, -p. 117.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> - -<h2 id="INDEX">SUBJECT INDEX</h2> - -<ul> -<li class="ifrst">Abbreviations, <a href="#Page_41">41-42</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>ability</i>, <i>capacity</i>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>abominate</i>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abridgment, <a href="#Page_266">266-270</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Abstract, <a href="#Page_266">266-270</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>accept</i>, <i>except</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>acceptance</i>, <i>acceptation</i>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>access</i>, <i>accession</i>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>act</i>, <i>action</i>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Adjective and noun, concord of, <a href="#Page_48">48-49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Adjective, singular, with plural noun, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>advance</i>, <i>advancement</i>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>affect</i>, <i>effect</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">African words, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>aggravate</i>, <i>irritate</i>, <i>tantalize</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Agreement. See <a href="#Concord">Concord</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>ain’t</i>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>alienate</i>, <i>antagonize</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Alienism, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Allegory, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>allude</i>, <i>mention</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>alternative</i>, <i>choice</i>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>amateur</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ambiguity, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_233">233-234</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Americanisms, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>and</i>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes, <a href="#Page_186">186-187</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Anglo-Saxon words, <a href="#Page_182">182-183</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235-238</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>antagonize</i>, <i>alienate</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Apostrophe, the, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>apt</i>, <i>likely</i>, <i>liable</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Arabic words, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Argument, <a href="#Page_280">280-282</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">proposition, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exposition of terms, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">subjects for, <a href="#Page_126">126-127</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281-282</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Arnold, M., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>around</i>, <i>round</i>, <a href="#Footnote_32">177, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>artiste</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>as ... as</i>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Asterisks, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Audience, necessity of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136-137</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141-142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Authority, in choice of words, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Authors, the best, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>autoharp</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>avocation</i>, <i>vocation</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>bad</i> or <i>badly</i>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>baggage</i>, <i>luggage</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>balance</i>, <i>remainder</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Barbarisms, <a href="#Page_151">151-153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>beau monde</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Beauty of style, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>begin</i>, <i>commence</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bible, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>blickey</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>bogus</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Brackets, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>bring</i>, <i>fetch</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Briticisms, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>Bunyan, J., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>burglarize</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>but</i>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>c</i> doubled in word, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>calculate</i>, <i>intend</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>can</i>, <i>may</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>capacity</i>, <i>ability</i>, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Capitals, rules for, <a href="#Page_21">21-23</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Case, government of, <a href="#Page_53">53-54</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cases, concord of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chapter, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>character</i>, <i>reputation</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chinese words, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Choice of words. See under <a href="#Words">Words</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>claim</i>, <i>assert</i>, etc., <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Clauses, subordination of, <a href="#Page_96">96-101</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Clearness, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227-228</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Cleft">Cleft infinitive, <a href="#Page_46">46-47</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Climax, <a href="#Page_112">112-113</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Coherence, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101-102</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Collective noun, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Colon, <a href="#Page_30">30-31</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>combine</i> (noun), <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Comma, <a href="#Page_24">24-28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">with <i>and</i>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Comma-fault, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>commence</i>, <i>begin</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Communication. See under <a href="#English">English, writing of</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>compliment</i>, <i>complement</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Composition. See <a href="#English">English, writing of</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Composition, whole. See <a href="#Theme">Theme</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Compound words, <a href="#Page_14">14-15</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Concord">Concord, <a href="#Page_47">47-53</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">of subject and predicate, <a href="#Page_47">47-48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of adjective and noun, <a href="#Page_48">48-49</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of pronoun and antecedent, <a href="#Page_49">49-52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of cases, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of tenses, <a href="#Page_52">52-53</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Conjunction, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>continual</i>, <i>continuous</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Correspondence, forms of. See <a href="#Letter-writing">Letter-writing</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>council</i>, <i>counsel</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Courtesy in letters, <a href="#Page_255">255-256</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Criticism:</li> -<li class="isub1">by the instructor, <a href="#Page_2">2-4</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">by the class, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Curious words, <a href="#Page_191">191-192</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dash, <a href="#Page_31">31-32</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Deficiency of words, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>demean</i>, <a href="#Footnote_12">40, foot-note</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>demean</i>, <i>degrade</i>, <i>debase</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162-163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Description, <a href="#Page_275">275-278</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">traveller’s view, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">by inventory, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">fundamental image, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">point of view, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">topics for themes, <a href="#Page_277">277-278</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>desire</i>, <i>want</i>, <i>wish</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Diacritical marks, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dialogue, punctuation of, <a href="#Page_34">34-35</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dickens, C., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Diction, 227. See also under <a href="#Words">Words</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dictionary, use of, <a href="#Page_13">13-14</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>different than</i> for <i>different from</i>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>different to</i> for <i>different from</i>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Digression:</li> -<li class="isub1">in the sentence, <a href="#Page_90">90-91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in the paragraph or theme, <a href="#Page_116">116-117</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>discovery</i>, <i>invention</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>don’t</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>double entendre</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>drank</i> and <i>drunk</i>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>drive</i>, <i>ride</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dutch words, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>each</i> as pronoun, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>effect</i>, <i>affect</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>either</i>:</li> -<li class="isub1">as distributive conjunction, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">as pronoun, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>either ... or</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>electrocution</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>else</i>, a part of the noun, <a href="#Page_63">63-64</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>Emerson, R. W., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>eminent</i>, <i>imminent</i>, <i>immanent</i>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Emotions, <a href="#Page_228">228-229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Emphasis, in the sentence, <a href="#Page_110">110-112</a>, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Emphasis, punctuation for, <a href="#Page_86">86-87</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>endorse</i>, <i>approve</i>, <i>second</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Endorsement, of theme, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="English">English, writing of, <a href="#Page_5">5-11</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">as an art of communication, <a href="#Page_5">5-6</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">as a useful art, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">as a fine art, <a href="#Page_7">7-9</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">limitations, <a href="#Page_9">9-10</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">writing for an audience, <a href="#Page_10">10-11</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>enthuse</i> (verb), <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>entre nous</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Errors, in themes, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Essay. See <a href="#Theme">Theme</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Etymology. See under <a href="#Grammar">Grammar</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Euphony, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>every</i> (pronoun), <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>except</i>, <i>accept</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>exceptionably</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Exclamation point, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Exercises. See under <a href="#Subject">Subject</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Exposition, <a href="#Page_279">279-280</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">explained, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">subjects for, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279-280</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>falseness</i>, <i>falsity</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>faux pas</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>fetch</i>, <i>bring</i>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Figures:</li> -<li class="isub1">figurative uses of common words, <a href="#Page_199">199-203</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246-253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fiske, J., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>flexibone</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>flunk</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Force, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Formal letters, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259-260</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">French words, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>funny</i>, <i>odd</i>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gallicisms, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">General words, <a href="#Page_238">238-243</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>gent</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Good usage, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>got</i>, <i>gotten</i>, <i>have</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>grade</i>, <i>gradient</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Grammar">Grammar, <a href="#Page_43">43-73</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">to secure clearness, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">solecisms, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">coherence, <a href="#Page_44">44-47</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">concord, <a href="#Page_47">47-53</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">government, <a href="#Page_53">53-54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reference of pronouns, <a href="#Page_54">54-55</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">conjunctions and prepositions, <a href="#Page_55">55-56</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">use of adverb or adjective with verbs of sensation, etc., <a href="#Page_56">56-58</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>shall</i> or <i>will</i>, <a href="#Page_58">58-62</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">matters of etymology, <a href="#Page_63">63-64</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_45">45-46</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61-62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64-73</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Grammar. See also under <a href="#Punctuation">Punctuation</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Greek roots in English, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Green, J. R., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Growth:</li> -<li class="isub1">of paragraph from root, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of thought, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>guess</i>, <i>think</i>, <i>reckon</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>guillotine</i>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hawthorne, N., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>healthy</i>, <i>healthful</i>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hellenism, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Holden, E. S., <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hughes, T., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hyperbole, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hyphen, <a href="#Page_14">14-15</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ideas and words, <a href="#Page_195">195-197</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ideas without words, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>ill</i> (adjective or adverb), <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>imminent</i>, <i>eminent</i>, <i>immanent</i>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Improprieties, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>in</i>, <i>into</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Indentation, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129-130</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>India, words from, <a href="#Page_185">185-186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Indian words (North American), <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>infant</i>, derivation of, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Infinitive, cleft. See <a href="#Cleft">Cleft infinitive</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Informal letters, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260-261</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Interrogation point, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>invention</i>, <i>discovery</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Inverted order, <a href="#Footnote_22">104, foot-note</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>invite</i> (noun), <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Italian words, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Italics, <a href="#Page_36">36-37</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">James, H., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Janus-clause, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Jefferson, J., <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Keller, H., <a href="#Page_194">194</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Language, English, formation of. See under <a href="#Vocabulary">Vocabulary, sources of</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Language, study of, <a href="#Page_5">5-7</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Language, written. See under <a href="#Rhetoric">Rhetoric</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>last</i>, <i>latest</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>last</i>, <i>preceding</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Latin constructions. See <a href="#Latinisms">Latinisms</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Latin element, <a href="#Page_188">188-191</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">words transferred to English, <a href="#Page_188">188-189</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">prefixes and suffixes, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">roots, <a href="#Page_189">189-191</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Latin words, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188-189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190-191</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Latinisms">Latinisms, <a href="#Page_50">50-51</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>lay</i>, <i>lie</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>let</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>let</i>, <i>leave</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Letter-writing">Letter-writing, <a href="#Page_255">255-261</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">use of capitals, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">why important, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">business letters, <a href="#Page_255">255-258</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">petition, <a href="#Page_258">258-259</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">formal social letters, <a href="#Page_259">259-260</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">personal or informal letters, <a href="#Page_260">260-261</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, <a href="#Page_258">258-259</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259-260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>liable</i>, <i>likely</i>, <i>apt</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>lie</i>, <i>lay</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>like</i>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>limit</i>, <i>limitation</i>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>litterateur</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>loan</i>, <i>lend</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Localisms, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>locate</i>, <i>settle</i>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Loose sentence, <a href="#Page_102">102-103</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>lot</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>luggage</i>, <i>baggage</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>mad</i>, <i>angry</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>majority</i>, <i>plurality</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Malaprop, Mrs., <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Malayan words, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>managerial</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Manuscript:</li> -<li class="isub1">preparation of, <a href="#Page_1">1-2</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">once written “solid,” <a href="#Page_23">23</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>may</i>, <i>can</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Memorizing of literature, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of proverbs, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>mention</i>, <i>allude</i>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Metaphor, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Metonymy, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mexican words, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>most</i>, <i>almost</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>motorneer</i>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>mutual</i>, <i>common</i>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Narration, <a href="#Page_271">271-275</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">historical narrative, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">fiction, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">choice of details, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">plot, <a href="#Page_272">272-273</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">complex incident, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, <a href="#Page_272">272-273</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">themes, <a href="#Page_273">273-274</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Nation</i>, The, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">National usage, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>neither</i>, as distributive conjunction, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">as pronoun, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>neither ... nor</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span><i>nom de plume</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>none</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Norman genitive, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Norman-French words, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Norse words, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Note-book, need of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262-263</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Noun and adjective, concord of, <a href="#Page_48">48-49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Number of words. See <a href="#Words">Words, right number and skilful choice of</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>O</i>, in apostrophe, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Observation, how sharpened, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>observation</i>, <i>observance</i>, <i>remark</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Oh</i>, punctuation of, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Omission of words. See <a href="#Words">Words, omission of</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>one’s self</i>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>only</i>, and <i>not only</i>, <a href="#Page_45">45-46</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>onto</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><i>onto</i>, <i>upon</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>oral</i>, <i>verbal</i>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Orthoëpy. See <a href="#Pronunciation">Pronunciation</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Orthography. See <a href="#Spelling">Spelling</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Outline of theme, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138-139</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>pants</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Paragraph, division of. See under <a href="#Sentence">Sentence</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Paragraph:</li> -<li class="isub1">indented, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">growth of, from root, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">History of the English paragraph, <a href="#Footnote_26">114, foot-note</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">nebulæ of, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">planning of, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">kinds of, <a href="#Page_120">120-124</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">expanding of one into several, <a href="#Page_128">128-131</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Parkman, F. W., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>part</i>, <i>portion</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Participle:</li> -<li class="isub1">unrelated, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">misrelated, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in place of verbal noun, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>party</i>, <i>person</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Periodic sentence, <a href="#Page_103">103-106</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109-110</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">defined, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">use of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abuse of, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>permit</i>, <i>permission</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Persian words, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>person</i>, <i>party</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Personification, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Petition, form of, <a href="#Page_258">258-259</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>photo</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Planning, of theme, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133-136</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of paragraph, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>plurality</i>, <i>majority</i>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Plurals and singulars, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>point of view</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Possessive, how formed, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>posted</i>, <i>informed</i>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>practicable</i>, <i>practical</i>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Predicate and subject, concord of, <a href="#Page_47">47-48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>predominant</i>, <i>prominent</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Prefixes">Prefixes and suffixes:</li> -<li class="isub1">Anglo-Saxon, <a href="#Page_186">186-187</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Latin, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Preposition, <a href="#Page_55">55-56</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Present usage, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>preventative</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Prof.</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Prolixity, <a href="#Page_229">229-231</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Pronoun:</li> -<li class="isub1">neutral, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">indefinite, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reference of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">concord of, with antecedent, <a href="#Page_49">49-52</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Pronunciation">Pronunciation:</li> -<li class="isub1">importance of, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">list of words mispronounced, <a href="#Page_19">19-20</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>propose</i>, <i>purpose</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>proved</i>, <i>proven</i>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Proverbs, <a href="#Page_213">213-215</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Provincialisms, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Punctuation">Punctuation, <a href="#Page_21">21-42</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">disjunctive, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">capitals, <a href="#Page_21">21-23</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reasons for punctuation, <a href="#Page_23">23-24</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">comma, <a href="#Page_24">24-28</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">semicolon, <a href="#Page_29">29-30</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">colon, <a href="#Page_30">30-31</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">dash, <a href="#Page_31">31-32</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">quotation marks, <a href="#Page_33">33-35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">brackets, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exclamation point, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>interrogation point, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">italics, <a href="#Page_36">36-37</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">apostrophe, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">asterisks, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">abbreviations, <a href="#Page_41">41-42</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">punctuation for emphasis, <a href="#Page_86">86-87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_29">29-30</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38-39</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, written, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27-28</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39-41</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>quite</i>, <i>somewhat</i>, <i>very</i>, <i>rather</i>, <i>entirely</i>, <i>wholly</i>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Quotation marks, <a href="#Page_33">33-35</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Quotation, rhetorical, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>radiograph</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Reading:</li> -<li class="isub1">oral, <a href="#Page_12">12-13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">care in, <a href="#Page_203">203-211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>real</i>, <i>really</i>, <i>extremely</i>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>recipe</i>, <i>receipt</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>reckon</i>, <i>guess</i>, <i>think</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Relative clause, restrictive and non-restrictive, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>relative</i>, <i>relation</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>reportorial</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Reproduction, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">literal reproduction, <a href="#Page_262">262-266</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">summary, abstract, abridgment, <a href="#Page_266">266-267</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">material for, <a href="#Page_267">267-270</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>reputation</i>, <i>character</i>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>residence</i>, <i>house</i>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>resurrectionists</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Rhetoric">Rhetoric, defined, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>. See also under <a href="#English">English, writing of</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>ride</i>, <i>drive</i>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">“Roentgen rays,” names for, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>round</i>, <i>around</i>, <a href="#Footnote_32">177, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ruskin, J., <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Saxon genitive, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>scotograph</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Self-expression, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Semicolon, <a href="#Page_29">29-30</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84-85</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sensation, verbs of, use with adjective or adverb, <a href="#Page_56">56-57</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sense impressions, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Sentence">Sentence, <a href="#Page_74">74-95</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">part of the paragraph, <a href="#Page_74">74-78</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">long and short sentence, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">sentence unity, <a href="#Page_79">79-93</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unity of form, <a href="#Page_79">79</a> (see also under <a href="#Sentence">Sentence, well-knit</a>);</li> -<li class="isub1">unity of substance, by excluding irrelevant ideas, <a href="#Page_79">79-82</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">by inclusion of all parts of an idea, <a href="#Page_82">82-86</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unity sacrificed for emphasis, <a href="#Page_86">86-87</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">seventeenth century paragraph, <a href="#Page_88">88-90</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unity by keeping to the point, <a href="#Page_90">90-91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">by supplying suppressed clauses, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85-86</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92-95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, written, <a href="#Page_88">88-90</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sentence, well-knit, <a href="#Page_96">96-113</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">unity of form, <a href="#Page_96">96-102</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">complex, <a href="#Page_97">97-98</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">loose and periodic sentence, <a href="#Page_103">103-110</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">emphasis, <a href="#Page_110">110-112</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">climax, <a href="#Page_112">112-113</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104-106</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107-109</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111-112</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>set</i>, <i>sit</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>sewage</i>, <i>sewerage</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>shadowgraph</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shakespeare, <a href="#Page_200">200-201</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="shall"><i>shall</i> and <i>will</i>:</li> -<li class="isub1">in direct discourse, <a href="#Page_58">58-60</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in indirect discourse, <a href="#Page_60">60-61</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in questions, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>showing up</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>shunting</i>, <i>switching</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>sideways</i> for <i>sidewise</i>, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Signs, for marking themes, <a href="#Page_3">3-4</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Simile, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Simplicity, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244-246</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Singulars and plurals, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>site</i>, <i>situation</i>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>skiagraph</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>slick</i>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>so ... as</i>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span><i>So</i> construction, <a href="#Page_99">99-100</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Solecism, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>some</i>, <i>somewhat</i>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">South American words, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Spanish words, <a href="#Page_184">184-185</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Specific words, <a href="#Page_235">235-238</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Spelling">Spelling, <a href="#Page_13">13-20</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">practice in, <a href="#Page_13">13-14</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">of compound words, <a href="#Page_14">14-15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">possessive, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">singulars and plurals, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">common errors, <a href="#Page_16">16-17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">word-breaking, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, <a href="#Page_16">16-18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19-20</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>spoonsful</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>spotted</i>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>standpoint</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Stevenson, R. L., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>stop</i>, <i>stay</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Style, <a href="#Page_227">227-229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Subject and predicate, concord of, <a href="#Page_47">47-48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Subject, choice of, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Subject">Subjects for themes. See <a href="#Theme">Theme</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Suffixes. See <a href="#Prefixes">Prefixes and suffixes</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Suggestive words, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>suicide</i> (verb), <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Summary, <a href="#Page_266">266-270</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Suppressed clause, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Surplusage, <a href="#Page_231">231-233</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>switching</i>, <i>shunting</i>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Syllables, joining of, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Synecdoche, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Synonyms, <a href="#Page_215">215-225</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">a method of study, <a href="#Page_217">217-220</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">groups of, <a href="#Page_220">220-225</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">books of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Footnote_44">220, foot-note</a>. (See also <a href="#Page_154">154-180</a>.)</li> - -<li class="indx">Syntax. See under <a href="#Grammar">Grammar</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tenses, concord of, <a href="#Page_52">52-53</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Teutonisms, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Thackeray, W. M., <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Theme">Theme:</li> -<li class="isub1">errors in, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">title, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">endorsement, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">revision and rewriting, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">signs in correcting, <a href="#Page_3">3-4</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">organizing of, <a href="#Page_114">114-146</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">different ways of planning, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">growth of thought, <a href="#Page_114">114-116</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">unity, <a href="#Page_116">116-117</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">planning paragraph, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">topic sentence, <a href="#Page_117">117-120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123-124</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">kinds of paragraphs, <a href="#Page_120">120-123</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127-128</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">expansion, <a href="#Page_128">128-133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">proportioning, <a href="#Page_133">133-136</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">choice of subject, <a href="#Page_136">136-138</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141-143</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">outline, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138-139</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">specimen theme, <a href="#Page_139">139-141</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">transitions between paragraphs, <a href="#Page_143">143-144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">transitions between sentences, <a href="#Page_144">144-146</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_123">123-126</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133-135</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141-142</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145-146</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises written, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142-143</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">themes, <a href="#Page_126">126-128</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141-142</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Theme, subjects for, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81-82</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126-128</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131-133</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135-136</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141-143</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263-266</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267-270</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277-278</a>, <a href="#Page_281">281-282</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>those kind</i>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Thought, growth of, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Threads of narrative, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Topic sentence, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Transitions, between paragraphs, <a href="#Page_143">143-144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">between sentences, <a href="#Page_144">144-145</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Translation, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>transpire</i>, <i>happen</i>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Trope, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Uniformity of sentence structure, <a href="#Page_101">101-102</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Unity of form, in sentence, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96-102</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Unity of substance:</li> -<li class="isub1">in sentence, <a href="#Page_74">74-95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in theme, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>unless</i>, <i>without</i>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Usage:</li> -<li class="isub1">national, <a href="#Page_147">147-148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reputable, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">present, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>good, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Variety:</li> -<li class="isub1">of words, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">as an element of beauty, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>verbal</i>, <i>oral</i>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Verbosity, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Vocabulary">Vocabulary, mastery of a writing, <a href="#Page_194">194-226</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">ideas without words, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">words without ideas, <a href="#Page_194">194-195</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ideas and words, <a href="#Page_195">195-197</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">the two vocabularies, <a href="#Page_197">197-199</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">vocabulary book, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">figurative use of common words, <a href="#Page_199">199-203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">value of careful reading, <a href="#Page_203">203-211</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">contributions from other studies, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">translation, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">memorizing of literature, <a href="#Page_212">212-213</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">English proverbs, <a href="#Page_213">213-215</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">synonyms for adjectives of praise, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">danger of bookish words, <a href="#Page_216">216-217</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">a method of study, <a href="#Page_217">217-220</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">groups of synonyms, <a href="#Page_220">220-225</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">variety, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218-219</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">written, <a href="#Page_202">202-203</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219-220</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225-226</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vocabulary note-book, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vocabulary, sources of the English, <a href="#Page_181">181-193</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">historical sketch, <a href="#Page_181">181-186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes, <a href="#Page_186">186-187</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Latin element, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Latin words transferred to English, <a href="#Page_188">188-189</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Latin prefixes and suffixes, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Latin roots in English, <a href="#Page_189">189-191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greek roots in English, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">curious words, <a href="#Page_191">191-192</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">written exercise, <a href="#Page_192">192-193</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vocative words, punctuation of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Vulgarisms, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><i>walkist</i>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>want</i>, <i>wish</i>, <i>desire</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>well</i> (adjective or adverb), <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">West India words, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>wheatena</i>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>will</i> and <i>shall</i>. See <a href="#shall"><i>Shall</i> and <i>will</i></a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>wish</i>, <i>want</i>, <i>desire</i>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>with</i>, introducing parenthetical clause, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><i>without</i>, <i>unless</i>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Word-breaking, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx" id="Words">Words, correctness in choice of, <a href="#Page_147">147-180</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">authority, <a href="#Page_147">147-150</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">provincialisms or localisms, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">national usage, <a href="#Page_147">147-148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">present usage, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">reputable usage, <a href="#Page_148">148-149</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">vulgarisms, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">good usage, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">dictionary, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">barbarisms, <a href="#Page_151">151-153</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">alienisms, <a href="#Page_152">152-153</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">improprieties, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">choice of nouns, <a href="#Page_154">154-160</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">verbs, <a href="#Page_160">160-167</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">adjectives and adverbs, <a href="#Page_167">167-172</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, oral, <a href="#Page_172">172-174</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175-177</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178-180</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Words, figurative use of common. See <a href="#Vocabulary">Vocabulary</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Words, lists of:</li> -<li class="isub1">incorrectly spelled, <a href="#Page_16">16-17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">compound, <a href="#Page_14">14-15</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">mispronounced, <a href="#Page_18">18-19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Latin, <a href="#Page_181">181-182</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188-189</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190-191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Celtic, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Anglo-Saxon, <a href="#Page_182">182-183</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Norse, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Italian, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Spanish, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Dutch, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">African, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Arabian, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Chinese, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">India, words from, <a href="#Page_185">185-186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Malayan, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Persian, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">North American Indian, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Mexican, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">West Indian, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">South American, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Greek, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">curious, <a href="#Page_191">191-192</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">adjectives, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">synonyms, <a href="#Page_220">220-225</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>Words, omission of, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_234">234-235</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Words, right number and skilful choice of, <a href="#Page_227">227-253</a>:</li> -<li class="isub1">as affecting clearness, <a href="#Page_227">227-228</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">force, <a href="#Page_228">228-229</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">beauty, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">prolixity, <a href="#Page_229">229-231</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">surplus of, <a href="#Page_231">231-232</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">deficiency of, <a href="#Page_233">233-235</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">specific words, <a href="#Page_235">235-238</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">general words, <a href="#Page_238">238-245</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">ambiguous words, <a href="#Page_243">243-244</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">simple words, <a href="#Page_244">244-246</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">literal and figurative words, <a href="#Page_246">246-253</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">exercises, <a href="#Page_232">232-233</a>, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237-238</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241-243</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243-244</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245-246</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253-254</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Words without ideas, <a href="#Page_194">194-195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Writing vocabulary. See <a href="#Vocabulary">Vocabulary</a>.</li> - -</ul> - -<hr /> - -<h2>INDEX OF AUTHORS QUOTED</h2> - -<ul> - -<li class="ifrst">Aiken, C., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bainton, G., <a href="#Footnote_47">244, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Baker, G. P., <a href="#Footnote_53">270, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bardeen, C. W., <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bartlett, J., <a href="#Footnote_38">201, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Beecher, H. W., <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bible, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bigelow, N. T., <a href="#Page_15">15</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Blackmore, R. D., <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Brookings, W. D., and Ringwalt, R. C., <a href="#Footnote_52">269, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Browning, R., <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Bryant, W. C., <a href="#Footnote_54">275, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Buck, G., <a href="#Footnote_26">114, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Burke, E., <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Carlyle, T., <a href="#Page_201">201-205</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Carpenter, G. R., <a href="#Footnote_5">3, foot-note</a>; <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Footnote_40">211, foot-note</a>; <a href="#Page_238">238-239</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and Fletcher, J. B., <a href="#Footnote_55">281, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Chesterfield, P. D. S. (4th earl), <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Choate, R., <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cholmondeley, T., <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Clarendon, E. H. (1st lord), <a href="#Page_89">89-90</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Coleridge, S. T., <a href="#Page_76">76-77</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Cook, A. S., <a href="#Footnote_42">212, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Defoe, D., <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>De Quincey, T., <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Dickens, C., <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Drayton, M., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Eliot, George, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Emerson, R. W., <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121-122</a>, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fallows, S., <a href="#Footnote_44">220, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fernald, J. C., <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Footnote_44">220, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Fiske, J., <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gaskell, Mrs., <a href="#Page_177">177-179</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Genung, J. F., <a href="#Footnote_24">109, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Goethe, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hale, E. E., Jr., <a href="#Footnote_46">240, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hall, S., <a href="#Footnote_2">ix., foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hart, J. M., <a href="#Footnote_50">257, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hawthorne, N., <a href="#Page_105">105-106</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hazlitt, W., <a href="#Footnote_43">213, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hill, A. S., <a href="#Footnote_31">164, foot-note</a>; <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Holmes, O. W., <a href="#Page_75">75-76</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Homer, <a href="#Footnote_54">275, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Howells, W. D., <a href="#Page_200">200</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Hughes, T., <a href="#Page_64">64-71</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Huxley, T. H., <a href="#Page_108">108</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Irving, W., <a href="#Page_124">124-126</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">James, H., <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">James, W., <a href="#Footnote_49">255, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Johnson, S., <a href="#Page_122">122-123</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192-193</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Jowett, B., <a href="#Page_144">144</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Keats, J., <a href="#Page_240">240</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Keller, <a href="#Footnote_35">194, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lamb, C., <a href="#Page_39">39-41</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lanier, S., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lewis, E. H., <a href="#Footnote_26">114, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lincoln, A., <a href="#Page_133">133-134</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Longfellow, H. W., <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Lowell, J. R., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Macaulay, T. B., <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118-119</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Mandeville, Sir J., <a href="#Page_94">94-95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96-97</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Meynell, A., <a href="#Page_ix">ix</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Miles, A. H., <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Milton, J., <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207-208</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Molière, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Morse, E. S., <a href="#Page_120">120</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Newman, J. H., <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108-109</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Outlook, The, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Oxford English Dictionary, <a href="#Footnote_30">153, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Phyfe, W. H. P., <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>Roche, Sir B., <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Roget, P. M., <a href="#Footnote_44">220, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Rousseau, J. J., <a href="#Page_13">13</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Ruskin, J., <a href="#Page_100">100-101</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172-174</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207-211</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Scott, F. N., and Denney, J. V., <a href="#Footnote_26">114, foot-note</a>; <a href="#Footnote_29">123, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Shakespeare, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Sheridan, P. B., <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Smith, C. J., <a href="#Page_219">219</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Southey, R., <a href="#Page_112">112-113</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Spalding, E. H., <a href="#Footnote_6">8, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Stevenson, R. L., <a href="#Page_27">27-28</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32-33</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176-177</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tennyson, A., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Thackeray, W. M., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">Webster, D., <a href="#Page_107">107-108</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Wendell, B., <a href="#Footnote_25">111, foot-note</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Whittier, J. G., <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Wood, J. G., <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>.</li> - -<li class="indx">Wordsworth, W., <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.</li> - -<li class="ifrst">See also bibliography, <a href="#Page_263">263-270</a>.</li> - -</ul> - -<hr /> - -<div class="ads"> - -<p class="center larger">EXERCISES IN RHETORIC<br /> -<span class="smaller">AND</span><br /> -ENGLISH COMPOSITION.</p> - -<p class="center">BY<br /> -<b>GEORGE R. CARPENTER,</b><br /> -<i>Professor of Rhetoric and English Composition, Columbia College</i>.</p> - -<p class="center"><b>HIGH-SCHOOL COURSE. SEVENTH EDITION.</b><br /> -<b>16mo. Cloth. 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These sketches are written by men who edit -the different sections, and as these men are selected from the foremost -of English critics, the result is that the books contain a valuable -set of brief essays from able and distinguished pens. George -Saintsbury, Alfred Ainger, Edmund Gosse, Norman Moore, and -others besides the editor himself have contributed, and the book -would have been valuable did it contain nothing but these introductory -notices. The conclusions of the editors of the different authors -who have summed up the characteristics of the separate men represented -in the previous volume, have done their work so well, that -the student is likely in the end to have a rather better idea of the -writers than he would gather from his unaided study of the original -and complete works of these old writers.”—<i>Boston Courier.</i></p> - -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="larger">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY,</span><br /> -66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="center larger">THE HISTORY<br /> -<span class="smaller">OF THE</span><br /> -ENGLISH LANGUAGE</p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -<b>OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON, A.M., Ph.D.,</b><br /> -<i>Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and English Philology in Cornell -University</i>.</p> - -<p class="center"><b>Second Edition, Revised. 12mo. pp. 415. 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