NOTE TAKING
1910

THE UNIVERSITY
THE UNIVERS
30
SCIENTIA VERI
LIBRARIES
OF
MICHIGAN
MICHIGAN.
NOTE-TAKING
·
amud
LA
BY
S. S. SEWARD, JR.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN LELAND
STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY
ALLYN AND BACON
Boston and Chicago
LB
23.95
S52
1910
COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY
BY S. S. SEWARD, JR.
PDM
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing Co. - Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
S
• INTRODUCTION
THIS book is written from personal knowledge of the
insufficient, jumbled, and often misleading material with
which the average student's note-books are filled; from con-
viction that improved standards in note-taking will increase
measurably the effectiveness of a student's work; and from
some experience in training students to better habits in the
actual process of taking notes. For several years the writer
has conducted classes that met once a week through a
semester, devoting their time to various aspects of the note-
taker's problem; and into this book have gone the results
of that experience.
Those who attempt to train students in note-taking must
make the opportunity to do so, either taking up the subject
by itself or treating it in connection with some regular
lecture course. In the former case the subject is appropri-
ately taught by the English department, as a branch of
expository composition; but in the latter case the task may
be undertaken by any instructor who finds that good notes
are necessary for successful work in his course.
The pur-
pose of this book, therefore, is twofold: to make sugges-
tions, especially in the exercises, for a practical course in
the subject; and to provide, both in the text and in the
illustrations, sufficient material for instruction in note-
taking under the direction of some interested teacher.
The plan of the book explains itself, and so needs no
comment here; but some hints as to methods of class con-
duct may be useful. The work of the instructor is greatly
iii
iv
INTRODUCTION.
facilitated by having selected passages typewritten and
distributed to the class in mimeographed sheets. To correct
carefully each set of notes collected from a large class
is a laborious matter; but if typical papers, good and bad,
are placed before the members, the qualities that go to make
success or failure in notes can be brought out clearly, and
with a minimum of labor. Typewritten passages in the
hands of students are far more useful than the same
passages written out by hand on the blackboard.
If the regular work of a course does not supply suitable
material for note-taking, it can easily be supplemented; in
fact, the opportunity thus given to draw on material not
directly connected with regular work is itself a privilege.
Every alert teacher finds abundance of topics of local inter-
est, of large ethical significance, or of special importance
politically and socially, by which he may stimulate the
intellectual life of his students. He may use these topics
for class talks or for assigned reports outside of class. If he
prefers not to prepare original lectures, there are plenty
of suitable addresses, articles, chapters, which he can use
for reading aloud. For notes to be worked up outside of
class there is admirable material in the current and bound
numbers of such magazines as the Atlantic Monthly, or the
North American Review, or in certain books from the library,
a list of which may easily be prepared. No one book yields
better results, as material for note-taking both in class and
out, than does Bryce's American Commonwealth, owing no
less to the intrinsic interest of the subject-matter than to
the care with which its organization is made clear.
FALSE IDEALS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
♦ I. THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING
A Shorthand Copy
Suggestive Jottings
Unaided Memory
THE TRUE IDEAL
•
RESULTS OF GOOD NOTE-TAKING.
TWO DIVISIONS OF NOTE-TAKING
PAGE
1
1
2 2
3
•
6
7
♦ II. HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES
NOTES FROM READING .
Finding the Substance
Looking for Ideas .
•
Looking for Complete Statements.
Testing Statements
Expressing the Substance
Using General but not Vague Terms
Adding Related Ideas
NOTES FROM LECTURES
Taking Sufficient Time
Observing Signals of Voice
•
Watching for Hints as to Subject
•
9
9
10
11
12
14
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Following up Hints by Writing
III. HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES
NOTES FROM READING .
Why Organization Helps
V
24
24
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
How Text Indicates Plan
How to Express Plan
•
Indenting Minor Parts
Numbering a Series
Leaving Blank Lines
Underscoring for Emphasis.
Bracketing Digressions.
NOTES FROM Lectures
How to Use a Syllabus
Hints for Recognizing Plan
•
IV. SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING
REPORTS FROM PRINTED MATERIAL
PAGE
24
27
28
28
30
30
31
32
32
33
44
44
49
50
52
52
57
61
61
63
65
66
•
Summaries of Articles
Topical Outlines
Selected Quotations
REPORTS FROM ORAL MATERIAL
Newspaper Reports
Newspaper Interviews
MECHANICAL PROCESSES
The Note-book
Abbreviation of Words .
References and their Abbreviation
Punctuation of Quotations
EXERCISES
For Outside Work.
For Class Work
69
71
APPENDIX. EXAMPLES OF NOTES.BIBLIOGRAPHY,
GOOD AND BAD CONDENSATION
GOOD AND BAD ORGANIZATION
SPECIMEN NOTES.
Additional Literature on Note-Taking
üre
74
77
79
85
• CHAPTER I
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING
Ask our friend, the average student, what is the use
of taking notes, and he will answer without hesitation :
Why, to preserve a record of what a lecturer has said,
for the sake of future use, especially in reviewing for
examinations. And probably he will go on to assert
that the reason why notes are not better than they are
is because it is impossible, between listening to a speaker
and scribbling upon paper, to make the notes full enough.
False Ideals. Does it seem absurd to challenge a way
of thinking about notes that seems at first glance so self-
evident, and that is held, more or less consciously, by so
very many people? Yet just because this common view
is held to be so obvious, is reason for questioning whether
it be not superficial. This, at least, is true: that if there
is a better way of thinking about notes, we want to know
it, especially if we are entering on a systematic study of
the subject. And it is certainly worth our while to re-
view the whole question on its merits, first the reasons
against the accepted theory, then the reasons for holding
a different view.
A Shorthand Copy. Why, in the first place, is not
fulness of notes a good thing in itself? Or, to put the
extreme case concretely, why would not a shorthand
1
2
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
transcript of a lecture be the perfect, though unattain.
able, ideal of notes? Because, to give the most super-
ficial reason first, such notes would be too bulky to keep,
too long to reread, too clumsy to hunt through for par-
ticular topics. Much that one hears in a lecture is of no
value for record, however useful it may have been in the
original presentation of the subject; from all such use-
less matter, whether digressions or elaborations, we shall
do well to keep our notes free. There is a better reason,
too, one that goes deeper; but that may well wait, for
the present.
Suggestive Jottings. If not fulness of notes, then, are
not ideal notes a record of suggestions, jottings un-
intelligible to another reader, it may be, yet sufficient
to guide the owner in reconstructing the original ideas?
Again, the most obvious objection is superficial, yet
sufficient. We are too prone to forget the original sub-
stance, or, retaining it, to hold a vague, uncertain idea,
perhaps only half true
forgetting altogether.
ject accurately if we
which is at least no better than
And are we likely to grasp a sub-
merely jot hasty phrases, putting
off till the time of review the test as to whether we
have really mastered the subject or no?
Unaided Memory. Yet another solution of the note-
taker's problem is there, with obvious advantages, yet
serious defects: dispense with notes altogether. Instead
of dividing the mind between listening and writing,
concentrate it on listening carefully, training it to retain
what is grasped. For certain individuals this is indeed
an excellent way, and it has the general advantage of
being based on a sound principle, — that the final value
of a lecture is that which reaches the mind of the hearer,
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
3
rather than that which gets put down in the note-book.
But the disadvantages are very serious too: first, that
only the exceptional mind can be trusted to rely so wholly
on itself; secondly, that the student with only mental
notes is at a disadvantage in reviewing a subject; thirdly,
that if the listener has a tendency toward vagueness
of thought, his system offers no check upon resulting
inaccuracy.
The True Ideal. It remains, then, to determine what
the true purpose of note-taking really is, and what is the
test of a good set of notes. The problem reaches back
to a more fundamental one, as to how far the lecturer,
and how far the listener, contributes to a successful
lecture. That the listener, indeed, has a share, and an
important one, in the success of the lecture is the crux
of the whole matter, and needs, therefore, thoroughly
to be understood. The lecturer's part is clear; the
listener's not so much so. One that benefits from a
lecture is not content to sit passively and "be pumped
into"; that gives no play to his own mind. Nor will
he be an automatic recording machine; that calls for
industry, but scarcely intelligence. His part rather is
one of active mental effort. The speaker's mind acts,
and his reacts and assimilates; it recognizes important
matter, observes disgressions, takes note of illustrations,
relates part to part, and distinguishes the true sense
from other meanings likely to become confused with it.
Stated thus, the idea will perhaps be accepted readily
enough; but it is so important that a tangible illustra-
tion will be helpful to show just how it works in actual
practice. If we take up Huxley's address on A Liberal
Education, we come upon a passage of exceptional inter-
4
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
est. As we read it we absorb it; but we do more than
that we try to anticipate its main idea, we comment
on its significance, we question its validity. In the
bracketed remarks in italics that follow there is an
attempt to show how an alert reader is likely to react
on the ideas as they unfold. Thus :
And by way of a beginning, let us ask ourselves — What is
education? Above all things, what is our ideal of a thor-
oughly liberal education? —of that education which, if we
could begin life again, we would give ourselves; of that
education which, if we could mould the fates to our own.
will, we would give our children? [An interesting question :
I wonder how his definition will fit the education I am receiv-
ing.]
Well, I know not what may be your conceptions upon
this matter, but I will tell you mine, and I hope I shall find
that our views are not very discrepant. [I have heard it
said that education is a development of all one's mental powers.
I wonder if that is his idea?]
Suppose it were perfectly certain that the life and fortune.
of every one of us would, one day or other, depend upon his
winning or losing a game of chess. [What's this?]
Don't you think that we should all consider it to be a
primary duty to learn at least the names and the moves of
the pieces; to have a notion of a gambit, and a keen eye for
all the means of giving and getting out of check?
Do you
not think that we should look, with a disapprobation amount-
ing to scorn, upon the father who allowed his son, or the
state which allowed its members, to grow up without know-
ing a pawn from a knight? [That certainly is true. But how
will he make the connection?]
Yet it is a very plain and elementary truth, that the life,
the fortune, and the happiness of every one of us, and, more
or less, of those who are connected with us, do depend upon
our knowing something of the rules of a game infinitely
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
5
LO
more difficult and complicated than chess. It is a game
which has been played for untold ages, every man and
woman of us being one of the two players in a game of his
or her own. The chess-board is the world, the pieces are
the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are
what we call the laws of Nature. [Yes, the point seems well
made. But doesn't that seem to limit education to learning facts,
not developing powers?] The player on the other side is
hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just,
and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never
overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for
ignorance. To the man who plays well, the highest stakes
are paid, with that sort of overflowing generosity with
which the strong shows delight in strength. And one who
plays ill is checkmated-without haste, but without re-
morse.
My metaphor will remind some of you of the famous pic-
ture in which Retzsch has depicted Satan playing at chess
with man for his soul. Substitute for the mocking fiend
in that picture a calm, strong angel who is playing for love,
as we say, and would rather lose than win - and I should
accept it as an image of human life. [Seems convincing
from the point of view of success, certainly.]
Well, what I mean by Education is learning the rules of
this mighty game. In other words, Education is [Now we're
coming to it.] the instruction of the intellect in the laws of
Nature, under which name I include not merely things and
their forces, but men and their ways [That's the thing to
remember. But it's a larger meaning for Laws of Nature
than I'm accustomed to. Is it fair to include so much ?]; and
the fashioning of the affections and of the will into an
earnest and loving desire to move in harmony with those
laws. [His idea includes character, then, after all.] For me,
education means neither more nor less than this. Anything
which professes to call itself education must be tried by this
standard, and if it fails to stand the test, I will not call it
education, whatever may be the force of authority, or of
6
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
numbers, upon the other side.
up the centre of his thought.
practical as a working theory.]
[Yes, there he has summed it
See if he will show it to be
Results of Good Note-taking. Now this process of
query and comment is not note-taking, but it is pre-
supposed in note-taking. And it makes possible a cor-
rect answer to the question as to wherein lies the final
usefulness of notes. It shows that behind the accumu-
lation of jottings is our mental attitude as note-takers
- the most important thing. Our notes should, indeed,
be useful for purposes of review; yet that usefulness is
not their chief value. They should be full, yet contain
only what the mind has accepted as significant. The
practical value of our notes will take care of itself as a
matter of secondary importance, if we devote ourselves.
wholly to their main purpose to make us alert, clear-
headed, and responsible as we listen to a lecture, and to
serve as a ready test of the firmness of our grasp. To
take good notes is not preliminary to study, but study
itself of the most vital kind; calling at once on all one's
powers of concentration, judgment, and craftsmanship.
Such being the purpose of our notes, how are we to
know whether we have successfully accomplished it?
The effort is intangible, incapable of being accurately
judged; but the notes remain, a clear test of results.
Some way must be found of measuring the degree of
success. The standard, clearly, should be high, capable
of indicating the ideal perfection of notes. And that,
it seems, is no less than this, that our report be illumi-
nating to one who has not heard the original lecture,
selecting for him what was important to remember,
setting forth the relation that one part bore to another,
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
7
and phrasing the whole in a style both brief and accu-
rate. Though we aim, at the time of writing, to hold
ourselves to the strictest standard, we realize that we
are not the best judges of our own success; notes that
are really good should be clear to a stranger who picks
them up to read, or to ourselves long after, when the
original subject has been forgotten.
To start with an ideal so high as this might seem to
mean discouragement from the very beginning. And
should we demand of ourselves that we absolutely meet
the standard, such indeed would the result probably be.
But the very fact of having a clear aim is enough to
satisfy us at first; it matters less how far we have gone
on the right road than that we have avoided the wrong
road altogether. To go on then with a greater meas-
ure of self-confidence is to know that all progress is
genuine progress, and no steps need be retraced. For
that satisfaction, even some initial discouragement,
should it be felt, would be after all but a small price to
pay.
Two Divisions of Note-taking. Thus far it has been
assumed that the whole problem of note-taking is con-
fined to the task of the lecture room. Centered there
it certainly is, but not confined. We take our notes
from articles or chapters read, as well as from lectures
heard; and we use them, as will be later seen, for a
variety of purposes. In order, therefore, that our prac-
tice be flexible enough to adapt itself to varying con-
ditions, it seems wise to apply our principles, as we
reach them, definitely to the two great divisions of
note-taking, — those based on printed material, and
those based on the spoken word. And since it is easier
8
THE AIM IN NOTE-TAKING.
to work with the written article than the spoken lecture,
it will be convenient to gain experience and confidence.
in the simpler problem before addressing ourselves to
the more difficult. That idea furnishes a suggestion
of method, first to determine how best to work up
notes from a printed article; then to adapt the process
to the special conditions of the lecture.
CHAPTER II
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES
NOTES FROM READING
Finding the Substance. - Were our task in note-taking
merely to select the more striking items of an article,
and jot them down as they occur, there would be no
occasion for writing this chapter. But enough has
been already said to show how much higher is the aim,
and how much more thoughtful must be the method.
Since note-taking is a complex process, including both
they.condensation of a passage into a single note and the
2. organization of these notes so as to bring out the plan
of the entire article, it will be in the interest of sim-
plicity if we take up at once the preliminary process,
condensation, reserving for a later chapter all considera-
tion of organization into a larger whole. In doing so
we deal with the single passage only, represented by a
paragraph or its equivalent, and disregard any relation
it may bear to what comes before or after. It is of
course somewhat arbitrary so to regard a paragraph,
and we shall have to modify our practice in some meas-
ure when we apply it to the larger unit. But that will
be easily done, once the essential principles of handling
separate passages have been mastered. In order to
arrive at these principles we have first to consider how
to find the substance of a note; then how to phrase it.
9
10
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
Looking for Ideas.—It may safely be said, at the out-
set, that the real problem in notes is in dealing with
ideas, not mere facts. Facts such as names, dates,
formulæ, tables, statistics are indeed often important,
in which case they should be accurately incorporated
in notes; but it will generally be found that they are
incidental to ideas, not independent of them. Take
the statement, for example, that King Richard of Eng-
land and King Philip of France took part in the Third
Crusade, in 1189. That certain men travelled in com-
pany to the Holy Land in a given year is a mere fact;
but when it is understood what those men represented,
and why they went, the circumstance becomes signifi-
cant, and constitutes essentially an idea. Oftentimes
facts are grouped about an idea, in support or illustra-
tion of it. Thus, a writer who wishes to express the
idea that the largest species of tree in the world is the
Californian Sequoia Gigantea might give statistics as
to the size of the largest specimens, their age, and their
distribution, and compare these facts with statistics re-
garding other kinds of trees. Now, however interest-
ing these supporting facts may be, it is the idea that is
important. The facts may be grouped under the idea
-in which case brackets are appropriate-or, in the
interest of condensation, the facts may be dispensed
with altogether: the idea must be retained. And so the
general point becomes clear: mere facts may be cited
in connection with ideas, either incidentally or in ac-
companying statements, or they may, if unimportant, be
omitted; the main problem in summarizing for notes lies
in dealing with the significance of things, with judgments,
interpretations, conclusions-in a word, with ideas.
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
11
The next step is to test our results and to consider
how we may tell whether our search has actually
brought us ideas or not. And since the matter is so
purely practical a one, we cannot do better than take a
concrete example, and look for a plan of procedure that
may be directly applied to the case. A passage from
Bryce's American Commonwealth, dealing with "The
Uniformity of American Life," will serve this purpose
admirably. It runs as follows:
There are some extraordinary natural phenomena, such
as Niagara, the Yellowstone Geysers, and great cañon of the
Colorado River, which Europe cannot equal. But taking
the country as a whole, and remembering that it is a conti-
nent, it is not more rich in picturesque beauty than the
much smaller western half of Europe. The long Alleghany
range contains a good deal of pretty scenery and a few really
romantic spots, but hardly anything so charming as the best
bits of Scotland or Southern Ireland or the English Lake
country. The Rocky Mountains are pierced by some splen-
did gorges, such as the famous cañon of the Arkansas River
above South Pueblo, and show some very grand prospects,
such as that over the Great Salt Lake from the Mormon
capital. But neither the Rocky Mountains, with their de-
pendent ranges, nor the Sierra Nevada, can be compared for
variety of grandeur and beauty with the Alps; for although
each chain nearly equals the Alps in height, and covers a
greater area, they have little snow, no glaciers, and a singular
uniformity of character. One finds, I think, less variety in
the whole chain of the Rockies than in the comparatively
short Pyrenees. There are, indeed, in the whole United
States, very few first-rate pieces of mountain scenery rival-
ling the best in the Old World.
Looking for Complete Statements. Our first impulse
might naturally be to look for a heading or a phrase
12
HOW TO CONdense notes.
that will sum up the meaning of the paragraph. Natu-
ral Beauty is the general subject, but that is vague and
really tells us nothing. It might imply that the natural
beauties of America are enumerated, or given praise,
or denied praise. A more accurate heading would be,
Comparison of Natural Beauty of America and Europe.
Yet that is little better, for it gives no hint as to which
way the verdict lies-the very point of the whole pas-
sage. The heading, Superiority of European Scenery to
American, would answer this difficulty, but might actu-
ally mislead one into thinking that the author had
abandoned his subject, the uniformity of American life,
and turned to discuss standards of natural beauty.
The whole difficulty vanishes when we express the
thought of the passage in a complete statement — not a
subject merely, but a subject and predicate. For our
purpose it is not enough simply to name the subject
with which a passage deals; the subject becomes an
idea only when something is said about it—and that
requires the definite statement of a sentence.
Testing Statements. It is easy to frame sentences
that express ideas; but how are we to know whether
our statements be the right ones? The question brings.
us to the next point of interest. We recall from our
study of rhetoric(the doctrine of the "Topic-Statement,"
according to which every perfect paragraph is consid-
ered to be the expansion of a single idea.) This idea is
expressed sometimes in the words of the text, sometimes
not, but it is always implicit in the paragraph, and
capable of being definitely formulated. Expressed or
implied, however, the topic-statement gives us the very
test we wish: If the note that summarizes a passage
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
13
fairly represents the "topic" idea from which the pas-
sage may be imagined to have been expanded, then we
may feel sure that the statement we have chosen is the
one we are after.
What that statement is, of course, is not always evi-
dent at the first. In fact, it sometimes does not become
apparent till the middle of the passage or even till the
very end. Too great haste in summarizing, therefore,
is likely to result in misstating the point altogether.
Our object is not to scribble the first remark that seems
striking, but to watch deliberately until we are sure we
have clearly grasped the thought in its entirety.
The whole matter becomes tangible when we turn.
once more to our passage from Bryce. The first sen-
tence is striking indeed; but as we read on we find that
it emphasizes a fact that all the rest of the passage
shows to be exceptional. Presently we find a statement
more to our purpose, expressed definitely in the words.
of the text: that, taken as a wholę, the American conti-
nent "is not more rich in picturesque beauty than the
much smaller western half of Europe." And the rest
of the passage confirms us in accepting this statement as
the central idea of the whole. Should we wish to find
a wording of our own, we might do so a little more com-
prehensively, as follows: "Although America contains
natural phenomena that Europe cannot equal, the scen-
ery of Western Europe surpasses that of America in
variety of grandeur and beauty." Whichever wording
we choose, we find it equally true that the whole idea
may be comprehended in a single sentence, and that
the idea appears in its entirety only when we have read
well on in the passage.
14
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
I
Expressing the Substance. If it has become clear,
then, how to look for the substance of our notes, we are
now in a position to consider more definitely the prob-
lem of expressing or phrasing them. And here the
passage that we have been examining gives us our first
and most important observation.
But
Using General but not Vague Terms.-On looking more
closely, we find that Mr. Bryce has stated both particu-
lar facts or opinions, and a generalization based upon
them. It might seem, at first, that the particular facts,
being more concrete and specific, are more valuable, and
more to our purpose, than the generalization.
second thought corrects this view. The author is not
concerned with characterizing Niagara and the Grand
Cañon for their own sake, nor even with establishing
the superiority of the scenery of the Alps over that of
the Rockies. These details confirm his point, but do
not constitute it. That point is general-the conclu-
sion that European scenery as a whole is more varied in
its beauty than American. The note that adequately
expresses the idea, therefore, must obviously be in gen-
eral terms, — general, but not sweeping or vague. That
"European scenery surpasses American" is a general
statement, but it is so sweeping as to go far beyond the
meaning of the author. That "European scenery has
variety" is also general, but so vague as to have no
value whatsoever. Accuracy is no less important in the
statement of large ideas than it is in those of particular
facts. If a passage distinguishes one idea clearly from
the multitude of things that might be said upon its sub-
ject, the note that sums it up must distinguish that one
precise idea no less accurately.
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
15
Adding Related Ideas. Here we might leave the mat-
ter, if we were satisfied to let the simplest of statements
sum up the passage for us. But the passage under con-
sideration is typical of many another, in which the main
idea is supplemented by one or more contributing ideas.
The fact that our most satisfactory note began with the
clause, "Although America contains natural phenomena
that Europe cannot equal," suggests the thought that a
paragraph having one or more ideas contributing to a
main idea can best be represented by a sentence having
two or more clauses clearly related together. The unity
and emphasis of the paragraph are brought out by the
unity and emphasis of the sentence. Stated thus, the
matter may seem at first rather technical, but in practice
we find ourselves adopting the device unconsciously.
This will appear in its practical aspect if we select a
few typical examples to stand for the many that are
constantly arising. Let us assume, then, that a passage
contains two contrasted ideas, that might be summed
up thus:
European scenery surpasses American in beauty.
American scenery, on the other hand, surpasses Euro-
pean in grandeur.
The two statements may readily be related together in
a compound sentence, as follows:
European scenery surpasses American in beauty, but is
surpassed by American in grandeur.
Should the two statements, however, consist of a main
idea supplemented by a subordinate one, the sentence
that relates them is complex, with the main emphasis
clearly on the main clause. Just such a sentence, in
fact, is the one beginning "Although," with which we
16
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
summarized the passage from Bryce. Another typical
case occurs when the relation between two ideas is one
of cause and effect, with the emphasis, naturally, on the
latter. Thus :
The points of scenic interest in America lie far apart.
They are for that reason little sought out by travellers.
The relation is readily indicated by the appropriate
conjunction:
Since the points of scenic interest in America lie far
apart, they are little sought out by travellers.
Adjective and adverb clauses are also useful in supple-
menting a main idea with additional information. An
example is furnished in this sentence:
The Alps (which are readily accessible from all parts
of Europe) are much sought out by tourists (as
can be seen by noting the statistics of railroads and
hotels).
Because we have taken pains thus to analyze certain
cases, it by no means follows that our actual practice is
formal and deliberate. On the contrary, these sentence
forms, like others that might be instanced, are in fa-
miliar daily use, and are likely to be used unconsciously.
While we are accustoming ourselves, however, to the
practice of quickly summing up a complex idea,(it will
often be helpful to have these typical sentence moulds
definitely before us, that we may the more readily pour
into the appropriate one any idea that obviously fits it.
NOTES FROM LECTURES
The methods used in condensing a topic from a spoken
lecture are in a general way the same that are used in
summarizing a printed passage.
Yet there is a differ-
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
17
ence; and we can apply the general methods best when
we have grasped clearly just what the new conditions
are. At first glance, we are impressed most by the
greater difficulty of the problem in the lecture room
over that of the library; and there are indeed valid
grounds for that impression. The chief difficulty, of
course, is that the lecture does not stand still while we
search for its successive ideas, but flows on and on; if
we do not grasp the thoughts as they pass, we lose
them altogether. And the task seems more complex,
of course, if we have to keep the ear intent upon
listening, the mind upon condensing, and the pen
upon transcribing, all at the same time. Yet as we
gain experience, we find that the difficulties are not so
great as at first appear; that, in some respects, the
problem of the spoken lecture is, in fact, the easier of
the two. Let us see.
Taking Sufficient Time. -We shall do well, in the
first place, if we rid ourselves of nervous hurry in
taking down the points of a lecture. This is not
merely because tense, over-anxious straining prevents
free exercise of the mind, but for the simpler reason
that there is no need of special haste, that (there is
time enough. A speaker is not content to crowd one
important idea close upon the heels of another:) he pre-
fers to dwell upon it, to enforce it, to add illustrations,
to amplify with comment. While he does so, there is
time and to spare for the listener to phrase and jot
down the essential thought. This becomes obvious.
when we compare the small compass of an adequate
set of notes with the actual length of an article or
lecture. It is illustrated tangibly in the example of
18
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
notes from Bryce, as given in the next chapter. Simple
observation makes the general point perfectly clear.
It is not only bad policy but bad judgment to take
notes with nervous haste; the speaker needs reasonable
time to unfold his ideas, and we may ourselves take
reasonable time in condensing them.
Observing Signals of Voice. — But how are we to pick
out the significant point from the comment and illus-
tration that accompany it? That seems the difficult
part; but in point of fact there are conditions in the
spoken lecture that simplify it beyond our realization.
To the eye, the successive sentences in a paragraph are
all uniform the same type, the same spacing. But
the speaker's voice is flexible, and has varied ways of
indicating the significance of any given passage. One
way is to pause and to speak with greater deliberation,
when the words have special importance. Or a speaker
may accent a significant sentence by the pitch of his
voice, or its stress. In bringing out the special impor-
tance of certain words he is not unlikely to go so far as
to repeat them, not only adding to their emphasis by so
doing, but giving extra time for transcribing them in
the note-book. If a lecture be drawled in a monotone,
it is indeed a trying task to pick out what we wish to
preserve; but when the voice is continually commenting
upon and interpreting the text, the problem is more
than half solved for us.
Yet more is this the case when the lecture, instead
of being read, is informally phrased from notes in the
speaker's hand. Under these circumstances the style
is likely to be much looser; there is more emphasis on
the main ideas, less upon secondary aspects; repetition
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
19.
is more common; there is greater simplicity of treat-
ment. The speaker may even pause to indicate specifi-
cally what are the salient points worth recording.
At this point, however, there is need to interpose
a caution. It is not wise to rely too confidently on
changes of voice as signals that ideas of special impor-
tance are being expressed. A speaker may accent his
lecture arbitrarily, fitfully, following a shifting mood
rather than a consistent purpose. Sometimes he may
begin a new phase of his subject with a new emphasis
of voice, and by so doing betray an unwary note-taker
into thinking that a mere introductory statement is a
matter of final importance. In such a case it is not
infrequent to see a whole class turn to writing industri-
ously, when a moment's reflection would show that what
was being said was merely a digression, or perhaps the
introduction to a topic, not the substance of the topic
itself. No, note-taking in its essence is not mechanical,
but depends upon a free play of mind; hints of voice
may stimulate attention and so guide the mind, but no
idea should be allowed to pass until it has first been
submitted to the judgment, and obtained from it full
consent.
Watching for Hints as to Subject. — In its last analy-
sis, then, it is the mind of the listener reacting upon
the words of a speaker that determines the selection
and phrasing of notes. And if we think twice, we shall
realize that there are two stages in the listener's com-
prehension of any given topic: (1) recognition of the
particular subject upon which the speaker has some-
thing to say, leading to (2) understanding of what he
has to say upon that subject. In the first stage the
20
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
listener is on the alert; in the second, he grasps and
retains. Now this fact gives a useful hint for practical
procedure in taking notes from a spoken lecture;
namely, to keep the two processes separate, devoting
ourselves, deliberately, to only one at a time. (1) First,
we watch for the subject when the significant thing
has been said upon it, we are ready then immediately
to put it down.) This preparation of the mind by tak-
ing account of preliminary hints has been already
pointed out in connection with the passage from
Huxley, quoted in the preceding chapter. Further ex-
amples will help to bring out the practical bearings of
the matter.
Following up Hints by WritingRoughly speaking,
explanations divide themselves into two classes,
those which defer the significant idea to the end, or
towards it, and those which set it forth at once, and
then enlarge upon it. The following paragraph is an
example of the first class:
ahead.
Here we turn aside to consider a question which perhaps
has not often suggested itself, but which is, nevertheless,
quite interesting. Why can we hear, but not see around a
corner? Some may think that this question can be an-
swered by saying that light moves in a straight line, while
sound does not. But this answer is not satisfactory. It is
known that light and sound are similar in character; each
is due to the vibrations of a medium, and each is trans-
mitted in waves. Why, then, may not light spread around
a corner as well as sound? The answer is to be found in
the different lengths of sound and light waves. Sound-
waves themselves are of different lengths, the graver sounds
having waves of greater length than the more acute. Now
it can be shown mathematically that the greater length of
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
21
sound-waves will cause the sound to be diffused around the
obstruction. Hence, the bass notes of a band of music are
heard more distinctly from behind a wall than the higher
notes; and as the person moves out of the "acoustic
shadow" the more acute notes increase in distinctness.
So, also, when sound is transmitted through water, the
sound-waves are shorter than in the air, and the "acoustic
shadow" is fully formed. As the length of sound-waves in
the air is sometimes many feet, while the length of the
longest light wave is not more than .0000266 of an inch, it
is no longer a mystery why we can hear but cannot see
around a corner.
The question is propounded in the first part, the
answer given in the second. Now it is not enough for
our mind to be ready for the answer; our note-book
should be ready too. And it may easily be. While
we are listening to the first part of the passage, we may
jot down the problem thus: "Why can we hear but
not see around a corner?" Then we are ready to add
later: "Because long waves diffuse themselves, but
light waves are very short." Or, should we prefer
another form, “The reason why we can hear, but not
see around a corner, is "— (when the explanation has
been finally made) "because long waves diffuse
themselves," etc. It takes about so many words to
bring the subject out, and if we can anticipate some of
them in this manner, so much the better; it saves time
where it is most needed.
The other sort of treatment is instanced in the fol-
lowing paragraph, from Shauck's Abraham Lincoln :
The difficulty in ascertaining the sources of Lincoln's
power results from the bewildering antitheses which the
subject presents; not only antitheses in the literature which
22
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
he produced, but in his life and character. His life, though
finished at its noon, reached from a humble cabin to a posi-
tion of greatest authority and to an immortality of influence.
Though deeply religious, he was without theology or dogma.
Though his companionship was sought by lovers of mirth,
bereavements of his youth sound minor chords which are
audible in every movement of his symphony. Though so
tender of heart that the maintenance of military discipline
gave him intense and enduring pain, he stood as the indomi-
table leader in the most destructive war of the century.
Though a consistent opponent of slavery, he had no word
of malediction for those who practised it. Though grave
with anxiety for the close of the war, he had infinite
patience with subordinates who disappointed him in its
prosecution. Bound by a law of his being to speak the
absolute truth to all to whom he owed speech, he was able
to practise all the concealment required by the most success-
ful statecraft. Deeply believing that in both its ethical
and economic aspects slavery was wrong and at variance
with our theories of government, he would not, to overthrow
it, have prosecuted the war for a day beyond the require-
ments of the preservation of the Union. An excited people,
incapable even of recognizing, much less of estimating, the
facts in the complex problem set for his solution, and view-
ing him with diverse prejudices, came to contradictory con-
clusions respecting his character and abilities.
Here we are told the main idea of the passage in the
very first sentence. After the fourth sentence it be-
comes reasonably clear that the passage will continue to
devote itself to specific examples of this central thought.
There is time, then, to go back and re-phrase the idea
of that first sentence: "It is difficult to name the source
of Lincoln's power, because of antitheses in his nature."
Or, if we want to catch some of the examples as they
pass, we can begin backward, with the words, "An-
HOW TO CONDENSE NOTES.
23
•
titheses of Lincoln's nature (religious, but without the-
ology; tender in heart, yet indomitable in war; truthful,
yet diplomatic)." Then, when we have enough details,
we can add the brief conclusion,-" make it hard to
name the source of his power." These two examples
are a slight foundation on which to found a definite sys-
tem; and indeed that is not their purpose. But they
will perhaps give some idea as how to take advantage
of the hints and signals of purpose which a speaker is
sure to throw out to the alert listener. Practice and
experience, of course, are the really effective teachers.
This leads to a question that is sure to arise in the
actual conditions of note-taking. How is it possible to
phrase and write down notes at the same time that one is
listening for the next topic? The best answer is, Don't:
put down clearly the topic in hand, and trust to catch
up with the next in time. Some material may thus be
missed; but what of that? There is a substantial quan-
tity of really valuable material left; and there is danger
that a distracted effort to do two things at a time will
result in doing nothing at all. Furthermore, experience
will give greater and greater facility in focussing the
mind on phrasing and writing, while still keeping an
ear alert to see whether a new topic of importance is
being introduced. But until the necessary experience
is gained, the best results will be obtained by taking up
(one task at a time,-first deciding on the topic, then
phrasing it, finally writing it down in the note-book.)
CHAPTER III
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES
NOTES FROM READING
Why Organization Helps. When we pass from the
simpler task of condensing a single idea to the more
complex one of condensing a whole series of ideas, we
meet the problem of organizing notes.
Unless special
pains be taken, too easily shall we fall into the error of
putting down each point as of equal importance with
every other. The most obvious way of doing this is
to crowd everything into solid paragraphs, making it
very difficult, on a later reading, to pick out from the
mass the particular point wanted. But the opposite
extreme is quite as confusing,—giving each new idea a
separate paragraph all to itself. The eye, to be sure,
catches a point more readily, but the mind gets no help
in relating one to another. When, however, the larger
topics are put conspicuously and the smaller are shown
to be subordinate, both purposes of note-taking are
accomplished: the notes themselves are more accessible
for practical use in review, and the mind, in making
them, is more alert to grasp the larger plan of the
thought.
How the Text Indicates Plan. - At this point it is
profitable to pause a little for the better realization of
how plan may be made clear. Should the author pre-
sent us with a tabulated outline of his subject, as is
24
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
25
done in tables of contents, we should get his purpose at
a glance so many main points, each elaborated with
such and such subordinate topics. We assume, of
course, that the author had such an outline in mind.
The question then becomes, How does he communicate
it to the reader? Very little help, as a rule, does he
give the reader's eye. To be sure, paragraphs mark a
change of subject, but whether they introduce main or
subordinate topics does not ordinarily appear on the
surface. Exceptions, of course, occur, when paragraph
headings are used, or when the members of a series are
definitely indicated by numbers; but it is not the com-
mon practice to employ such helps. More useful, and
more to be relied on, are the hints that an author gives
in the transition from one paragraph to another. Some-
times he definitely announces what the next topic is to
be; sometimes, by gathering many points into a sum-
mary, he indicates that an important main division is
now to follow. Paragraphs occasionally, more often
sentences, frequently merely words or slight phrases,
signal a change of topic, and indicate the nature of
what is next to be expected.
Yet, when all these hints to eye and mind have been
supplied, the greater part in determining the plan of
an article is left to the discernment of the reader. He
must recognize by its very nature a certain topic as
important, and observe when the writer leaves the
larger thought to take up some particular aspect of it.
Therein lies a special need for alertness in the reader,
not alone that he may grasp accurately the thought he
reads, but quite as much that he seize instantly every
hint of larger purpose, revealing itself in an outlined
26
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
arrangement and sequence of topics.
The outlined
plan from which the author worked, but which is now
lost sight of in his completed article, is thus abstracted
and reconstructed in the reader's mind; the latter has
reversed the process of writing, and reduced the ideas
again to their simplest terms.
(6
•
""
All this may be illustrated by examining Chapter II
of a book entitled The English Religious Drama, by
Miss Katharine Lee Bates. The subject is a descrip-
tion of the "Miracle Plays" of medieval England.
After an introductory part linking this chapter to the
one preceding, a paragraph opens with the words: "By
the time we find the English Miracle Cycles in full
career, the clergy had ceased to be the customary ac-
tors." We need not stop to state the complete thought
now, but the topic is plain, - actors. When we find
the opening of the next paragraph containing the words
preparations began at once. Every guild be-
came responsible.
the subject of the next
topic is instantly clear. And so, as we go on to ob-
serve the topics, Assignment of Plays to Guilds,
The Miracle Play Stage, Costumes, Properties, we
are aware of how naturally they all fall into a sequence,
leading up to a passage on the reverential attitude of
the people toward the plays. The opening words of
the next paragraph bid us pause," As a representa-
tive Miracle Cycle I would select the Towneley Mys-
teries, sometimes styled The Widkirk or Woodkirk
Plays." Here, evidently, the author intends to illus-
trate the subjects and methods of dramatic portrayal
by describing a typical cycle of miracle plays. And so
indeed it proves. The cycle begins with the
play of
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
27
the Creation, introducing the Old Testament series,
leads on to that of Cæsar Augustus, introducing the
New Testament series, and ends finally with that of
the Last Judgment, closing the entire cycle. But be-
fore we have gone very far in this part, we have discov-
ered a point in the general plan that was not clear at
first; namely, that the first sections all dealt with the
methods of presenting miracle plays in general, whereas
the latter part is devoted to describing a particular
series of plays in order. The complete outline, then,
takes shape for the first time in our mind, and its
briefest form might be indicated thus:
Introd. Dramatic Quality of Miracle Plays
Body. I. Methods of Presenting Plays
Actors
Preparation for Plays
Assignment of Plays to Guilds
The Miracle Play Stage
The Miracle Play Costumes
The Miracle Play Properties
Reverential Attitude of the People
II. Description of a Representative Cycle.
1. Old Testament Plays
2.
Play of Creation, etc.
New Testament Plays
How to Express Plan. — That an underlying plan is
to be looked for in an article, and that alert intelli-
gence will find it, will perhaps be clear from what has
just been said. And it is equally apparent that whether
the plan be simple, as in our example, or elaborate, the
principle is the same. But how to transfer to paper
the plan as it unfolds itself to us; that is the question
that next awaits a practical solution.
28
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
Indenting Minor Parts. To group jottings upon sep-
arate phases of a subject into distinct paragraphs is, of
course, the simplest and most useful of devices. But
more useful yet is the practice of going a step further,
— extending the points of main importance the full
width of the page, and indenting with larger margins.
the points of clearly subordinate value. Jottings sub-
ordinate to these latter may be written with yet larger
margins, and so on as far as is convenient. Judgment
and economy, of course, will guard against the abuse of
the plan, resulting in a series of too deep indentions,
that leave the pages gaping while the notes huddle in
the sides and corners. In this system of indention a
variation from the common practice of paragraphing
will perhaps be of value. The first line of main para-
graphs may, according to customary usage, be indented
more than the succeeding lines; but if the subordinate
paragraphs be of more than one line, it is well to bring
all the lines nearly to the same margin. The result is
that unused marginal space is economized, and the eye
clearly separates matter of different values into well-
distinguished, solid blocks. Thus:
Those in favor of national conservation believe:
That the water power companies monopolize per-
manently rights that belong to the people as a
whole;
That government ownership would result in cheaper
rates for power.
Numbering a Series. Such a system does very well
for a beginning; but we find advantage often in sup-
plementing it, by heading divisions of equal rank with
a series of numbers or letters. Sometimes it seems
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
29
helpful to extend this practice, from the main divisions
down to the smallest of the subdivisions, reserving for
each rank its own kind of symbol. In such a case it is
natural for each writer to prefer a system devised for
his own convenience and suited to his own tastes; and
so long as that system is simple and consistent it will
serve his purpose well. One such system, that perhaps
has advantage over others, can be specially recom-
mended. Headings of main importance are designated
by Roman numerals; those of the next rank by capital
letters; those of lower value by Arabic numerals; and
so on, alternating numerals and letters as far as desired.
The system extended to reasonable limits might then
be represented thus:
I.
II.
A.
B.
1.
2.
a.
b.
GC
(1)
(2)
(a)
(b)
To have some such system definitely worked out,
ready for instant use, is clearly an advantage. Its
practical value depends largely on the common sense
with which it is used. If notes are not clearly indented,
an appropriate sign prefixed to each division helps the
eye to distinguish the rank to which that division
properly belongs. But when the system of increasing
30
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
margins is consistently used, a glance makes the matter
instantly clear, and there seems to be no good reason
for prefixing signs to each and every division. The
signs may then better be reserved as a means of special
emphasis. Thus, should a subject develop itself gradu-
ally, by a natural succession of stages, the indention
system is sufficient. But if at any point the number of
divisions into which a topic falls becomes significant,
the fact may be emphasized by the further use of signs,
Roman numerals to designate a series in the main
paragraphs, capital letters in those of next lower rank,
and so on down. The supplementary system of signs
may thus be used intermittently, yet consistently.
Leaving Blank Lines. In case two divisions of notes
need to be separated from each other, instead of being
connected in a series, it is convenient to indicate the
change by leaving a line or so blank. Such occasions
arise when there is a sharp break between the introduc-
tion of an article and the body, or between the body
and the conclusion. An abrupt digression may be sig-
nalled by the same method.
Underscoring for Emphasis. Yet another device of
much practical helpfulness is to underscore headings or
phrases that should, for some special reason, catch the
eye. Double, or even treble underscoring, of course,
increases the emphasis so much the more. And there
is this great advantage in the device, that if at any
point in taking notes we observe a greater significance
in preceding headings than we did at the time of re-
cording them, we may go back instantly and underscore
them, bringing out, if need be, different degrees of
importance in the several passages. Underscoring,
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
31
however, is a device that must be used moderately if it
is to prove truly useful. When used too constantly, it
creates uniformity rather than contrast, and so defeats
its own purpose.
Bracketing Digressions. One contingency in the or-
ganization of notes remains to be provided for; namely,
interjected passages that interrupt, without seriously
disturbing, a systematic outline. The author pauses
to illustrate his point, to comment on it, to cite au-
thority, to interject a query. Parentheses or brackets
will indicate at once the relation of such a passage to
its context. Brief digressions in a paragraph of notes
are best designated by parentheses; so also citations,
and references to books or articles. But if the digres-
sion or comment be important, especially if it be capable
of organization, square brackets, aided by appropriate
spacing, will conveniently separate it from the main
body of notes.
In the application of all these devices we shall find
ourselves at liberty to modify in one respect a practice.
that has been already commended. Clearness requires,
as has been said, that ideas when condensed in notes
should take the form of complete sentences, not mere
headings or phrases. Yet when an idea is related to
its subordinate topics, headings alone are sufficient, so
long as in combination they make complete sense.
Either of the following forms, for example, fulfils the
requirements perfectly:
The systems employed in American colleges are:
1. The fixed curriculum;
2. The free elective system;
3. A compromise between the two.
32
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
Methods employed in determining a student's course :
1. The entire curriculum is prescribed;
2. All the courses are elective;
3. Certain courses are prescribed and the rest are
elective.
NOTES FROM LECTURES
It is one thing to analyze a printed article and set
it forth properly organized, and quite another to catch
and reduce to order the flowing, slippery thoughts of
a spoken lecture. Experience, however, teaches us that
listening for notes is a trade that has its own tricks, and
he will be most successful that understands and makes
the most effective use of them.
How to Use a Syllabus. The greater part of the diffi-
culty disappears, of course, when an outline of the
lecture is in the hands of the listener in the form of
a syllabus. The topics are therein given in their order,
the references clearly set down, and the scope and plan
of the entire lecture is apparent at a glance. Yet even
under these circumstances a question arises for settle-
ment. What shall be the relation between the printed
syllabus and the jotted notes? Shall the notes be separ-
ate from the syllabus, a sort of supplement to them?
Or shall the syllabus be incorporated into the notes, so
that the whole becomes in effect an expanded syllabus
complete in itself? The former is the easier in the
doing, the latter the more useful when done. And the
latter has the added advantage- and an important one
of setting a higher standard in note-taking, and
giving practice in attaining to it. The double process
of copying and expanding the syllabus keeps the mind
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
33
constantly alive to the organization of the lecture.
Assume, for example, that the outline of the chapter
upon the English Miracle Plays, as given above, is in
the listener's hands as a printed syllabus; the com-
pleted notes might then take some such form as this:
Introd. Dramatic Quality of Miracle Plays.
Body. Methods of Presenting Plays.
Actors. Changing the performance of church
plays from inside the churches to outside
gave rise to a class of secular actors working
under the direction of the trades guilds.
Preparation for Plays. Plays were staged
under directions of two pageant masters, and
announced in public proclamations.
Etc.
Hints for Recognizing Plan. But more frequently the
notes must be taken without any help from syllabus
sheets, and then all the resources for quickly seizing
upon and recording the plan of the lecture must be
brought into play. We watch not alone for the signifi-
cant ideas of the lecture itself, its substance, but as well
for the indications of plan, the transitions, which ap-
prise us of the relation that the coming idea bears to
what has gone before. So far as we can thus anticipate
the general plan, well; but where we are uncertain, or
where a later passage corrects a former mistake, we
must be ready to go back, interlining a neglected head-
ing, perhaps underscoring it for emphasis, numbering
an unobserved series, bracketing a digression, — using
every convenient device for perfecting what did not
appear in its true relation at the first.
A tangible illustration will show most clearly how all
34
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
these devices may be put into practice. Let us suppose
that Mr. James Bryce is lecturing, using that part
of his American Commonwealth that deals with "The
Uniformity of American Life." As we read, we shall
consider ourselves listening, and shall pause to jot down.
such notes as suggest themselves. The written style
of the passage is, of course, more compact than spoken
language would be, giving less time for making our
notes; yet in spite of that the passage will serve admir-
ably. The result, then, might be somewhat like this:
The Uniformity of American Life
To the pleasantness of American life there is one, and
perhaps only one, serious drawback-its uniformity. Those
who have been struck by the size of America, and by what
they have heard of its restless excitement, may be surprised
by the word.
The drawback to the pleasantness of American life is
its uniformity.
They would have guessed that an unquiet
changefulness and turmoil were the disagreeables to be
feared. But uniformity, which the European visitor begins
to note when he has travelled for a month or two, is the fea-
ture of the country which Englishmen who have lived long
there, and Americans who are familiar with Europe, most
frequently revert to when asked to say what is the "crook
in their lot.".
It is felt in many ways. I will name a few.
It is felt in the aspects of nature. All the natural fea-
tures of the United States are on a larger scale than those
of Europe.
Felt in
I. Aspects of Nature:
The four chief mountain chains are each of them
longer than the Alps. Of the gigantic rivers and of those
inland seas we call the Great Lakes one need not speak.
ร
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
35
natural features on a large scale-
mountains, rivers.
The centre of the continent is occupied by a plain larger
than the western half of Europe. In the Mississippi Val-
ley, from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Superior, there is
nothing deserving to be called a hill, though, as one moves
westward from the great river, long, soft undulations in the
boundless prairie begin to appear. Through vast stretches
of country one finds the same physical character maintained
with little change—the same strata, the same vegetation, a
generally similar climate. From the point where you leave
the Alleghanies at Pittsburg, until after crossing the Mis-
souri, you approach the still untilled prairie of the West, a
railway run of some thousand miles, there is a uniformity
of landscape greater than could be found along any one hun-
dred miles of railway run in Western Europe.
Vast plains of Mississippi Valley —
Everywhere the
same nearly flat country, over which you cannot see far, be-
cause you are little raised above it, the same fields and crops,
the same rough, wooden fences,
flat,
the same thickets of the
same bushes along the stream edges, with here and there a
bit of old forest; the same solitary farm-houses and strag-
gling wood-built villages.
monotonous.
And when one has passed beyond
the fields and farm-houses, there is an even more unvaried
stretch of slightly rolling prairie, smooth and bare, till after
five hundred miles the blue line of the Rocky Mountains
rises upon the western horizon.
•
When we turn from the aspects of nature to the cities of
men, the uniformity is even more remarkable.
36
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
II. The Cities :
With eight
or nine exceptions to be mentioned presently, American
cities differ from one another only herein, that some of them
are built more with brick than with wood, and others more
with wood than with brick. In all else they are alike, both
great and small. In all the same wide streets, crossing at
right angles, ill-paved, but planted along the sidewalks with
maple trees whose autumnal scarlet surpasses the brilliance
of any European foliage.
right-angled streets,
In all the same shops, arranged on
the same plan, the same Chinese laundries, with Li Kow
visible through the window,
laundries,
the same ice-cream stores, the
same large hotels with seedy men hovering about in the
cheerless entrance-hall,
hotels,
the same street cars passing to and
fro with passengers clinging to the door-steps, the same loco-
motives ringing their great bells as they clank slowly down
the middle of the street. I admit that in external aspect
there is a sad monotony in the larger towns of England also.
Compare English cities with Italian cities, and most of the
former seem like one another, incapable of being, so to speak,
individualized as you individualize a man with a definite
character and aspect unlike that of other men. Take the
Lancashire towns, for instance, large and prosperous places.
[English cities much alike.
You cannot individualize Bolton or Wigan, Oldham or
Bury, except by trying to remember that Bury is slightly
less rough than Oldham, and Wigan a thought more grimy
than Bolton. But in Italy every city has its character, its
memories, its life and achievements, wrought into the pillars
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
37
of its churches and the towers that stand along its ram-
parts. Siena is not like Perugia, nor Perugia like Orvieto;
Italian cities much unlike.
Ravenna, Rimini, Pesaro, Fano, Ancona, Osimo, standing
along the same coast within seventy miles of one another,
have each of them a character, a sentiment, what one may
call an idiosyncrasy, which comes vividly back to us at the
mention of its name. Now, what English towns are to
Italian, that American towns are to English. They are
in some ways pleasanter; they are cleaner, there is less
poverty, less squalor, less darkness. But their monotony
haunts one like a nightmare.
American: English:: English: Italian.]
Even the irksomeness of
finding the streets named by numbers becomes insufferable.
It is doubtless convenient to know by the number how far
up the city the particular street is. But you cannot give
any sort of character to Twenty-ninth Street, for the name
refuses to lend itself to any association. There is something
wearisomely hard and bare in such a system.
I return joyfully to the exceptions. Boston has a char-
acter of her own with her beautiful Common,
Exceptions: Boston-Common,
her smooth en-
vironing waters, her Beacon Hill crowned by the gilded
dome of the State House,
Beacon Hill, etc.
and Bunker Hill, bearing the monu-
ment of the famous fight. New York, besides a magnificent
position, has in the grandeur of the buildings and the tre-
mendous rush of men and vehicles
New York-great buildings and rush.
along the streets as much
the air of a great capital as London itself. Chicago, with
38
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
her enormous size and the splendid warehouses that line her
endless thoroughfares, now covered by a dense smoke pall,
Chicago-size, smoke.
leaves a strong though not wholly agreeable impression.
Richmond has a quaint old-world look which dwells in the
memory; few cities have a sea front equal in beauty to the
lake front of Cleveland. Washington, with its wide and
beautifully graded avenues,
Washington— streets,
and the glittering white of the
stately Capitol, has become within the last twenty years
a singularly handsome city.
Capitol.
Charleston has the air of an
English town of last century, though lapped in a far richer
vegetation, and with the shining softness of summer seas
spread out before it. And New Orleans or rather the
Creole quarter of New Orleans, for the rest of the city
is commonplace—is delicious, suggesting old France and
Spain, yet a France and Spain strangely transmuted in this
clime. I have seen nothing in America more picturesque
than the Rue Royale,
New Orleans — old-world look.
S
with its houses of all heights, often
built round a courtyard, where a magnolia or an orange tree
stands in the middle, and wooden external staircases lead
up to wooden galleries, the house-fronts painted of all
colors and carrying double rows of balconies decorated with
pretty ironwork, the whole standing languid and still in the
warm soft air, and touched with the subtle fragrance of
decay.
Characteristic architec-
ture, Creole quarter-
Here in New Orleans the streets and public build-
ings, and specially the old City Hall, with the arms of
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
39
Spain still upon it, speak of history. One feels, in stepping
across Canal Street from the Creole quarter to the business
part of the town, that one steps from an old nationality to a
new one, that this city must have had vicissitudes, that it
represents something,
historical feeling.
and that something one of the great
events of history, the surrender of the northern half of the
New World by the Romano-Celtic races to the Teutonic.
Quebec, and to a less degree Montreal, fifteen hundred miles
away, tell the same tale; Santa Fé in New Mexico repeats
it.
Of the uniformity of political institutions over the
whole United States I have spoken already.
III. Political uniformity:
Everywhere
the same system of state governments, everywhere the
same municipal governments, and almost uniformly bad or
good in proportion to the greater or smaller population of
the city; the same party machinery, organized on the same
method, “run” by the same wirepullers and "workers.”
same system of government—
In
rural local government there are some diversities in the
names, areas, and functions of the different bodies, yet dif-
ferences slight in comparison with the points of likeness.
The schools are practically identical in organization, in the
subjects taught, in the methods of teaching,
school system,
though the ad-
ministration of them is as completely decentralized as can
be imagined, even the state commissioner having no right
to do more than suggest or report. So it is with the chari-
table institutions, with the libraries, the lecture courses, the
public amusements. All these are more abundant and bet-
ter of their kind in the richer and more cultivated parts of
40
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
the country, generally in the North Atlantic than in the
inland states, and in the West than in the South.
libraries, etc.
But they
are the same in type everywhere. It is the same with the
social habits and usages. There are still some differences
between the South and the North; and in the Eastern cities
the upper class is more Europeanized in its code of eti-
quette and in its ways of life. But even these variations
tend to disappear.
(Even social usages tend to uniformity.)
Eastern customs begin to permeate the
West, beginning with the richer families; the South is more
like the North than it was before the war. Travel where
you will, you feel that what you have found in one place
that you will find in another. The thing which hath been
will be: you can no more escape from it than you can quit
the land to live in the sea.
Last of all we come to man himself to man and to woman,
not less important than man.
IV. Man- and woman.
The ideas of men and women,
their fundamental beliefs and their superficial tastes, their
methods of thinking and their fashions of talking, are what
most concern their fellow-men; and if there be variety and
freshness in these, the uniformity of nature and the monot-
ony of cities signify but little. If I observe that in these
respects also the similarity of type over the country is sur-
prising, I shall be asked whether I am not making the old
mistake of the man who fancied all Chinese were like one
another, because noticing the dress and the pigtail, he did
not notice minor differences of feature. A scholar is apt to
think that all business men write the same hand, and a
business man thinks the same of all scholars. Perhaps
Americans think all Englishmen alike,
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
41
(Standard of judgment a shifting, personal one.)
and I may also be
asked with whom I am comparing the Americans. With
Europe as a whole? If so, is it not absurd to expect that
the differences between different sections in one people
should be as marked as those between different peoples?
The United States are larger than Europe, but Europe has
many races and many languages among whom contrasts far
broader must be expected than between one people, even
if it stretches over a continent.
It is most clearly not with Europe, but with each of the
leading European peoples that we must compare the people
of America. So comparing them with the peoples of Britain,
France, Germany, Italy, Spain, one discovers more varieties
between individuals in these European peoples than one finds
in America. Scotchmen and Irishmen are more unlike
Englishmen,
More variety in a single European country than in U.S.
the native of Normandy more unlike the native
of Provence, the Pomeranian more unlike the Wurtemberger,
the Piedmontese more unlike the Neapolitan, the Basque
more unlike the Andalusian, than the American from any
part of the country is to the American from any other.
Differences of course there are between the human type as
developed in different regions of the country differences.
moral and intellectual as well as physical.
You can gen-
erally tell a Southerner by his looks as well as by his speech,
and the South, as a whole, has a character of its own, propa-
gated from the older Atlantic to the newer Western states.
Differences of local types,
A native of Maine will probably differ from a native of
Kentucky, a Georgian from an Oregonian. But these differ-
ences strike even an American observer much as the differ-
ence between a Yorkshire man and a Warwickshire man
strikes the English, and is slighter than the contrast between
42
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
1
a middle-class southern Englishman and a middle-class
Scotchman, slighter than the difference between a peasant
from Northumberland and a peasant from Dorsetshire.
yet not strongly marked.
Or,
to take another way of putting it: If at some great gather-
ing of a political party from all parts of the United King-
dom you were to go round and talk to, say, one hundred,
taken at random, of the persons present, you would be struck
by more diversity between the notions and tastes and mental
habits of the individuals comprising that one hundred than
if you tried the same experiment with a hundred Americans
of similar education and position, similarly gathered in a
convention, from every state in the Union.
The notes that we have thus jotted down take shape
in our note-book as follows:
The Uniformity of American Life
The drawback to the pleasantness of American life is its
uniformity. Felt in
I. Aspects of Nature: natural features on a large
scale mountains, rivers.
Vast plains of Mississippi
Valley-flat, monotonous.
II. The Cities: right-angled streets, laundries, hotels.
[English cities much alike.
Italian cities much unlike.
American English:: English: Italian.]
Exceptions: Boston - Common, Beacon Hill, etc.
New York-great buildings and rush.
Chicago-size, smoke.
Washington-streets, Capitol.
New Orleans
-old-world look. Char-
acteristic architecture, Creole quar-
ter-historical feeling.
HOW TO ORGANIZE NOTES.
43
III. Political uniformity: same system of government,
school system, libraries, etc.
(Even social usages tend to uniformity.)
IV. Man
and woman.
(Standard of judgment a shifting, personal one.)
More variety in a single European country than
in U.S.
Differences of local types, yet not strongly
marked.
CHAPTER IV
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING
IT has been assumed thus far that the problem of
taking notes is to condense within convenient compass
the substance of an exposition, whether printed or
spoken, so as to preserve its most important ideas, and
to indicate the relation that these ideas bear to one
another. And that is, indeed, the purpose generally
served in the actual process of note-taking. But occa-
sions not infrequently arise calling for some special kind
of notes, and we are required to adapt our practice
accordingly. It then becomes useful to consider defi-
nitely some of the conditions we are likely to meet
with, and the methods whereby we may, when required,
solve the new problem with which they present us.
Since some of these problems arise in preserving
material gathered from printed sources, and others in
reporting the substance of spoken address, it will be
convenient to group them under these heads. In deal-
ing with them, we shall take up each separately, as a
single problem complete in itself.
REPORTS FROM PRINTED MATERIAL
Summaries of Articles.
Condensation is of course a
matter of degree. A sentence may stand for a single
paragraph, or for several, or for a whole article.
For
44
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
45
general purposes of note-taking, as we have seen, it is
best to retain in the condensed statement not only the
substance, but something of the form of the original
article. Yet sometimes, when lesser details are not of
the utmost importance, it is desirable to condense
within very small compass the general purport of an
article. If a friend should ask us to sum up for him in
a few words the gist of an article we had read, we
should need to prepare just
we may conveniently call it. Perhaps we might wish
to preserve for our own use a briefer abstract than
would be contained in a set of analytical notes. In
either case, the ends to be reached would call for a
method of procedure specially adapted to the condi-
tions.
such a
66
summary"
as
In order that we may think of the conditions as real,
rather than merely theoretical, let us assume that we
wish to summarize the essay on Robert Louis Stevenson,
by Mr. J. J. Chapman, included in his volume entitled
Emerson and Other Essays. It is too long an essay to
reproduce in full, but a brief analysis of it will be
sufficient to indicate the progress of the argument. The
following abstract, then, has been prepared for this
present purpose, but it will serve as well to indicate
roughly the scope and form of "reading notes."
Robert Louis Stevenson
Stevenson's great popularity in the early eighties was due
to these circumstances:
(1) his sole object was to entertain;
(2) his personality was attractive;
(3) his heroic fight against disease was admired.
46
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
Noteworthy among his works are:
(1) The Child's Garden of Verses, unique in its originality
and genuine understanding of children; and
(2) Studies in biography, written with penetration and
courage.
Stevenson's lightness and sureness of touch is due to his
brilliant ability to mimic the styles of his predecessors.
He consciously imitated others' styles in early life, but in
maturity, instead of outgrowing his masters, he retained
the youthful attitude of mind (for a boy thinks of style
as something added to substance, not as an inseparable
part of what an author has to say).
This conscious interest in the question of how his artistic
strokes will tell results in a kind of literary insincerity.
An artist who thus subordinates the expression of his
own mind to the object of giving pleasure to others lowers
his art, and tends to bring it into disrepute.
In Stevenson's work there is
(1) an important division of imitative stories:
Treasure Island, imitated from Robinson Crusoe ;
The Sieur de Maletroit's Door, imitated from a French
one-act play;
The Isle of Voices, imitated from the Arabian Nights;
Etc.
(Yet imitation is unconscious, and not an attempt to
appropriate.) Also there are
(2) a body of arabesques - fanciful works that attract a
tired mind:
New Arabian Nights - burlesque, in genuine
spirit of fun, and
(3) certain special books (Weir of Hermiston, Kidnapped,
The Merry Men), which prove to be too perfect —
all intention and calculation unlike the natural
buoyancy of Scott's novels.
Examples of Stevenson's natural style and some of his imi-
tative styles.
In spite of the fact that Stevenson has no clear place in
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
47
the history of literature, being rather "a succession of
flavors," he is held in high regard, because of
(1) the genuine desire for culture on the part of people
not yet capable of distinguishing the real from
the imitation;
(2) his playfulness of spirit, making serious criticism
inappropriate; and
(3) his courage and lovable spirit, winning for him ad-
miration and personal affection.
Now the essential difference between such an abstract
as this and a summary is that, whereas in the former
we start with the complete essay and try to represent
each part in the compressed; form, in the latter we begin
with the single idea which is the germ of the whole,
and expand it only so far as is necessary to do justice
to the intention of the author. In this case the central
idea might be expressed baldly in some such statement
as this: "Stevenson's writings as a whole lack the
maturity and sincerity of purpose that are required of
genuinely significant literature." But so condensed a
statement is manifestly unjust, not alone because it
leaves unexpressed the element of appreciation in Mr.
Chapman's estimate of Stevenson, but also because it
does not leave a clear idea as to what is meant by this
lack of maturity and sincerity. An interested reader
might well ask a series of pertinent questions: Are
the shortcomings merely negative, qualities that might
be found but are not; or are they positive defects,
whose presence mars the works wherein they appear?
Do all of Stevenson's writings fall under this criti-
cism? If not, which of them are excepted, and why?
In order to anticipate these questions it is necessary to
48
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
expand our summary into a short paragraph, somewhat
as follows:
A true estimate of Stevenson takes account of the varied
and delightful entertainment that his works afford, recog-
nizes the noble courage and the lovable personality shown
in his life, and appreciates the penetration of certain critical
essays as well as the originality and genuine value of The
Child's Garden of Verses. Yet it is also true that in model-
ling the styles of his principal works upon the writings of
various predecessors, Stevenson failed to outgrow an essen-
tially boyish artistic attitude. His concern for the effect
of each artistic stroke is incompatible with the highest
artistic sincerity, for the true artist puts the expression of
his own mind above all considerations of pleasing the
reader. Consequently Stevenson's writings as a whole,
valuable though they may be for many readers, amount to
little more than pleasant diversions, and lack (with the
exceptions noted above) permanent literary significance.
On comparing this summary with the analytical ab-
stract, we observe that there has been no attempt to
condense the latter by selecting its more significant
phrases. Nor does the summary retain accurately the
order in which the ideas are expressed in the original
essay. The qualities desired are brevity and accuracy ;
and every freedom of method is readily allowed that
will result in bringing out the true meaning, properly
qualified and emphasized.
The term that we use so readily, the right "shade"
of meaning, indicates the delicacy that often distin-
guishes the accurate from the inaccurate summary;
and the more condensed the summary, the greater is
the need for careful discrimination. Just as it makes
a great difference at the end of a day's sailing whether
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
49
a mariner has laid out his course northeast or north-
east-by-east, so it is with us when we aim at an idea:
we can afford no inaccuracy in the direction indicated
by our words. It is, for example, not enough to be
able to say merely that a thing is or is not so; we need
to pick out the more precise direction from some such
compass-card as this:
It is
It is, on the whole
-It probably is

It is not unlikely
-It may or may not be
It is hardly probable
It probably is not
It is barely possible
-It is not
In like manner we can distinguish between the impli-
cations of single words. Thus, between the extremes
of hoping and fearing, certain stages are clearly marked
-to anticipate, to expect, and to apprehend. And it
makes considerable difference whether we say that a
course of action is right, expedient, convenient, desirable,
or acceptable. In a summary, then, it is all-important
that the shade of meaning be exact. Restrictions of
form or method reduce themselves to a minimum, but
this very freedom is a stimulating challenge to us that
our grasp of thought be firm and our phrasing clear.
Topical Outlines. - Very different from the summary
is the form of report that we may call the "topical out-
line.”
Its purpose is the same as that of the table of
50
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
contents of a book, — to indicate in their order the sub-
jects with which an article deals. It is useful chiefly
for reference, in cases where there is no need of indi-
cating precisely what is said upon the various topics
treated. The method is therefore the same as that of
the analytical outline, with the exception that headings
alone, not complete statements, are sufficient. An out-
line of Mr. Chapman's essay on Stevenson might take
this form:
Reasons for Stevenson's popularity.
Stevenson's original works.
The "imitative" quality in Stevenson's writing.
Sincerity vs. insincerity in art.
Classification of Stevenson's works, with examples of
imitated styles.
Estimate of Stevenson's significance in literature.
Selected Quotations. Oftentimes it is useful to pre-
serve the most significant parts of an article in the
words of the author himself, by means of selected quo-
tations. It might seem at first the easiest method of
condensing; as a matter of fact, it is one of the most
difficult. The reason is that we are tempted to pick
out the most striking passages, only to find, on reflec-
tion, that they are not really the most significant. And
even if the significant passages are chosen, it sometimes
happens that the writer's own words, taken out of their
context, do not do justice to the intent of the whole
article. Thus, it is striking to hear Mr. Chapman say
that "His essay on Burns is the most comprehensible
word ever said of Burns." But that statement has
nothing to do with the aspect of Stevenson's work with
which the essay as a whole has to do. It is more to the
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
51
point when we read, on a later page, "It is not to be
expected that posterity will take much interest in him,
for his point and meaning are impressional. He is
ephemeral, a shadow, a reflection." Yet if we should
read these words apart from others in the essay, it would
be manifestly unfair to the spirit of the entire criticism.
We should hardly know, for one thing, how to reconcile
them with others that might be quoted, such as these :
"It is not impossible that a man who met certain needs
of the times so fully, and whom large classes of people
sprang forward to welcome, may in some particulars
give a clew to the age." There is need of a longer
quotation if we are to give the essential idea of the
essay in its integrity. Perhaps the following selection,
comprising one complete paragraph and parts of two
others, would be best to choose:
That Stevenson's doctrines tend to produce imitative
work is obvious. If the artist is a fisher of men, then we
must examine the works of those who have known how to
bait their hooks: in fiction, Defoe, Fielding, Walter
Scott, Dumas, Balzac.
To a study of these men, Stevenson had, as we have seen,
devoted the most plastic years of his life. The style and
even the mannerisms of each of them, he had trained him-
self to reproduce. One can almost write their names across
the pages and assign each as a presiding genius over a share
of his work. Not that Stevenson purloined or adopted in a
mean spirit, and out of vanity. His enthusiasm was at the
bottom of all he did. He was well-read in the belles-lettres
of England and the romanticists of France. These books
were his bible. He was steeped in the stage-land and cloud-
land of sentimental literature. From time to time, he
emerged, trailing clouds of glory and showering sparkles
from his hands.
52
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
A close inspection shows his clouds and sparkles to be
stage properties; but Stevenson did not know it. The pub-
lic not only does not know it, but does not care whether it
be so or not.
In order to safeguard us, then, from the manifest
temptation of misrepresenting an author by quoting
his own words, we may have recourse to two methods.
One is to select carefully the right passage, even if it
be longer than we might wish. In case such a passage
contains repetitions or amplifications unnecessary to our
purpose, it is permissible to omit them, so long as we
indicate in our text the fact that we are doing so. De-
vices of punctuation that will enable us to do this will
be given on a later page under the head of "Punctuation
of Quotations." The other method is to introduce a
quotation, or to link together a series of them, by
words of our own, supplying in summary the necessary
context. The relation that such a context may bear to
the quotation may be illustrated in the following:
After explaining that a mature writer does not try to
imitate another writer's manner because he realizes that an
author's style is inseparable from his personality, a part of
himself, Mr. Chapman goes on: "But Stevenson was not
a man, he was a boy; or, to speak more accurately, the
attitude of his mind towards his work remained unaltered
from boyhood till death, though his practice and experiment
gave him, as he grew older, a greater mastery over his
materials.'
""
REPORTS FROM ORAL MATERIAL
Newspaper Reports. Very different from the condi-
tions that we have been considering are those that gov-
ern the practice of note-taking for newspaper reports.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
53
The subject of reporting as a whole lies, of course, out-
side the province of note-taking as we ordinarily conceive
it; for the average newspaper "story" is concerned, not
with recording ideas, but with chronicling facts and hap-
penings. Yet there are occasions, as when called upon
to report a public address, when the reporter is veri-
tably a note-taker. He uses the larger principles of note-
taking, but adapts them to the special conditions under
which he works. An examination of these conditions
will help explain the methods used in meeting them.
The central fact to grasp is that the reporter is writ-
ing not in his own interest, not in the speaker's, nor, it
must be said, primarily in the interest of truth. He
writes for the readers of his paper, and tells them what
they want to know: he adapts his work at all times to
the multitudinous audience known as "the public."'
And though this public differs in character somewhat
with different papers, nevertheless it is essentially one
in what it demands of the press.
The public desires that an account of a public address
shall be truthful; but is less concerned that it be com-
plete. It is probably safe to say that it prefers a report
that takes account of only a few points. These can be
read quickly and assimilated easily. The public then
has the satisfaction of feeling that at a trifling outlay of
effort it understands the whole matter perfectly. These
few points, it naturally follows, are the ones that seem
striking, not necessarily those that the speaker is anxious
to stress. Should a speaker, for example, touch upon
some matter attracting public attention at the time, or
should he express some unusual opinion, the reporter is
almost sure to seize upon it as a point of special interest
54
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
to the public.
And for the same reason he feels justi-
fied in omitting such other points as do not seem to have
special interest to his readers. This is said with no in-
tention of approving or condemning current newspaper
practice, but merely of recording a fact. The reader
who expects the report of an address to be correctly
proportioned and emphasized is likely to be disappointed;
he will be best satisfied when what seems important to
the speaker is deemed by the reporter to be interesting
to the public as well.
·
This question of emphasis calls for some special
comment, for it is one of great importance to the re-
porter. He addresses a body of readers who have no
intention of reading his "stories" unless they are prom-
ised some special interest in doing so; he competes, as
it were, for the attention of his readers against all the
rest of the day's news. It is consequently necessary for
him to catch his readers' attention at the very beginning,
if he is to get it at all. The method, of course, is to
put the most striking feature of the report first, where
it will most readily catch the eye. If the reader then
becomes interested, he will go on to read the entire
account. Now it may be, is in fact most likely, that
the point of chief importance in an address comes toward
the end; but that does not affect the principle of empha-
sis in the newspaper report. The climax comes first;
the rest follows, to be read or skipped at pleasure.
True as this is of the main text of a report, it is yet
more true when the headlines are taken into account;
for these still further condense and emphasize the most
striking feature of the address and hold it out as a bait
to the casual glance of the reader.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
55
In the actual writing of the newspaper report there
are some special points to observe. The time and place
of the address, its occasion, and the nature of the audi-
ence, are generally brought in incidentally before the
article is well under way. But though this is true of
the more important facts, it does not necessarily apply
to details, such as the names of those occupying the
platform, mention of other less important speakers, esti-
mate of the number present, and so on. Such facts as
these are as a rule grouped in a paragraph at the end of
the report. The ideas of the address itself are expressed
for the most part in indirect discourse. But it is not
uncommon to put certain points of special emphasis in
the speaker's own words, indicated by quotation marks.
These, accordingly, the reporter jots down as near as
may be word for word. If he does not take shorthand
notes, or have access to the manuscript copy of the text,
it is likely that such quotations will not be strictly accu-
rate; but if a fair idea of the sense is brought out,
it is considered, under the circumstances, sufficient.
Incidental mention of the speaker, in such phrases as
“Mr.
went on to say," is often resorted to in
linking together parts of an address and breaking up
the continuity of the discourse.
All this may be illustrated by making use of Mr.
Chapman's essay on Stevenson, the substance of which
has been given on a previous page. It might easily be
imagined that Mr. Chapman had delivered an address
on the subject before some appropriate society or club.
The reporter would at once seize on the fact that the
speaker put a lower estimate on Stevenson's work than
that held by many of his admirers, and he would there-
56
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
fore stress, as the most striking feature of the criticism,
that part which explains the creative immaturity of
Stevenson's writings. Leaving out of account the
headlines, then, as belonging to the province of the
editor rather than of the reporter, we should be likely
to read in the morning paper some such account as
follows:
In a well-attended meeting of the Cosmos Club, yester-
day evening, Mr. J. J. Chapman, of New York, delivered
an address on Robert Louis Stevenson, in which he said
that that writer's stories and essays lacked the genuine
touch of genius that would make them live in literature.
He characterized the author's work as essentially imitative,
the expression of a boyish and immature literary spirit.
Stevenson, he said, never grew up. He consciously adopted
in early life the practice of modelling his style upon the
works of his notable literary predecessors, and as he grew
older, instead of developing a style distinctively his own,
he went on making his brilliant experiments in imitation.
"Stevenson was a magician," Mr. Chapman declared, "who
came trailing clouds and scattering sparkles; but his clouds
and sparkles were stage properties. Stevenson himself did
not know this, and his readers did not care, so thoroughly
were they under the spell of his wizard-like art."
fact, the speaker went on to say, results in an effect of in-
sincerity that grows upon us as we read, and distinguishes
the work of a versatile craftsman, like Stevenson, from the
really great works of the giants in fiction - Walter Scott,
Dumas, Balzac. Each of these writers Stevenson has in
turn used as a model, as well as many others, from which
examples were liberally quoted by the speaker.
This
Mr. Chapman paid a tribute to Stevenson's personal quali-
ties, which have made him widely loved as a man and an
author, and expressed the belief that much of the regard in
which Stevenson is held is due to public knowledge of the
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
57
courageous fight he waged against physical weakness and
disease.
An informal talk by the president of the Cosmos Club,
Mr. Albright, upon the future work of the club, followed
the main address. Judge Prince, of the Superior Court,
was announced as the speaker for the next open meeting,
to be held on May 20. His topic will be "The Future of
the Juvenile Court."
Newspaper Interviews. So widely do newspaper in-
terviews differ from one another in purpose, that it is
impossible to lay down principles of reporting them
that will apply to all cases. They tend to fall into two
classes: those which interest the public because they
deal with some important or timely subject, and those
which deal primarily with the personality of some one
in the public eye.
Interviews of this latter kind cover a wide range of
subjects, generally connected with the special interests
of the individual in question; they take their direction
from the queries or suggestions of the interviewer; and
they pass freely from subject to subject, after the man-
ner of natural conversation. The report is likely to
be chatty in style, interspersed with descriptive touches,
informal comments, bits of narrative. Since all this
requires a special kind of skill on the part of the inter-
viewer, this branch of reporting is generally intrusted
to those who have shown themselves specially qualified
for it. The faculties demanded are a quick, accurate
memory, as well as self-possession and readiness of ad-
dress. So wide is the scope for personal adroitness,
that there is but little need for general guiding princi-
ples. For all these reasons the personal newspaper
58
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
interview is related to the larger subject of note-taking
rather in name than in actual method, and so has no
large place in our present inquiry.
It is otherwise with the impersonal interview. Since
its purpose is to lay before the reader a definite body
of facts or opinions, it calls for systematic method,
looking to accuracy and reliability of results. It may
be assumed that there is always some special reason
why the interview is desired, the timeliness of the
subject, the eminence of the one interviewed, his
special knowledge of some interesting situation. If
the report is to be successful, then, it is necessary not
only that the one interviewed be reported accurately,
but also that he speak directly upon the desired sub-
ject. It is harder to meet these conditions than might
seem, at first; but most of the difficulties, we find
upon deliberation, resolve themselves into one, and the
key to this solves all.
What is this key? Simply the fact that half of the
work of interviewing is done before the reporter sends
up his card. It is not enough that he be generally
conversant with the subject in hand; he must know
definitely upon just what aspect of it he wishes to ask
questions, just what information he wishes to elicit.
With his own purpose thus clearly in mind, he is not
likely to find the talk wandering aimlessly away from
important and significant issues.
But this definite preparation for an interview accom-
plishes more than giving clear direction to the talk; it
enables the reporter to remember and to record accu-
rately what is said. To the extent that a conversation
tends to drift at its own sweet will, it is difficult later
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
59
to recall definitely its shifting course. But if a reporter
has thought out carefully in advance just what he
wishes to learn, and especially if he has considered the
various opinions that might be held upon the subject he
is investigating, by so much the more is he likely to
recall definitely not only the substance but even the
very words of an opinion expressed in his hearing. A
reporter finds neither time nor opportunity, as a rule,
to jot down at the moment the substance of what he
hears; yet he is supposed to report it accurately in his
public article. Clearly he is best in a position to do
this, if he has a keen curiosity about the subject, a clear
grasp of its various aspects, and a tentative theory as
to what Mr. X will probably have to say upon it.
As soon as convenient after the interview is over it is
wise to make accurate jottings of the talk, so far as pos-
sible in the words actually used. The mind will carry
the general substance of an interview a long time, but the
details, the little turns of speech that give naturalness
and vivacity to the written account, soon fade, and so
cannot be too quickly committed to paper. The final
writing can then be done at leisure. In this process
there is no need for a strict following of the order in
which several topics may have come up in the actual
conversation. In fact, there may be special reasons for
changing the order, putting first, at the place of great-
est emphasis, matter that came up comparatively late in
the interview. As in the case of the reported lecture, the
material may be presented either as a summary, in
the reporter's words; or in the exact words of the
speaker, indicated by quotation marks; or in a com-
bination of the two; but the more free the use of direct
60
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
quotations, the more vivid and interesting is the result
generally found to be. In the interest of vividness, too,
it is sometimes found useful to indicate the manner of
the speaker, his expression or gestures.
Let us imagine, for the sake of example, that Mr.
Huxley has aroused public interest in the subject of
educational ideals by the lecture from which a quota-
tion was made in the first chapter of this book, and a
reporter has been sent to interview the speaker on the
issues raised by his lecture. The report of the inter-
view might come out in some such form as this:
When found at his rooms at The Brunswick yesterday
morning, Mr. Huxley expressed amused surprise that his
conception of a liberal education, as laid down in his recent
lecture, had aroused special comment among his hearers.
Seated comfortably in his chair, and smoking a favorite
pipe, he chatted freely on the topic, which he declared had
long been a hobby of his.
"Why should it seem strange," he asked, "to pattern
our educational ideals on the methods that Nature herself
has been using from the beginning of time? We may try,
if we choose, to be uneducated, but Nature does not allow us
wholly to succeed. Conceive a man suddenly placed in the
world, as Adam is said to have been, and then left to do as
best he might. Pleasure and pain would be at his elbow at
once, telling him to do this, to avoid that. And the result
would be an education, not very broad, perhaps, yet adequate
to his circumstances, with no extras and very few accom-
plishments.
"But you ask me whether this sort of education neces-
sarily stops with scientific study of the so-called Laws of
Nature? By no means." And here he leaned forward,
frowning in his earnestness. "That's the great mistake
that shallow people are always making; they can't see that
Nature means more than merely physical nature, that it in-
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
61
cludes men, in all their relations with one another. And
that being the case, of course it follows that a man must
train himself to meet his obligations to his fellow-man,
must train his passions at all times to obey his will, and
his will to be ever obedient to conscience. A sense of
beauty, reverence, high standards of personal conduct, all
these things are inevitably included in any education that is
to be considered liberal.
“Of course,” he went on, "Nature herself does not supply
all of this directly. Man has to intervene to supplement
Nature's methods, to anticipate her punishments and her
rewards as well. This is what may be called artificial
education, as opposed to the informal education that Nature
forces on all of us. But the two, it must be remembered,
are always in harmony, and Nature herself points out the
end and suggests the means.
""
When asked how this idea might be carried out in prac-
tice, Mr. Huxley smiled quietly, as to an oft-repeated ques-
tion. "That," he said, "is a larger matter than there's
time to go into now. But certainly this is true: that more
recognition will be given in the future to training and
investigation in the Natural Sciences than has thus far been
given. However, I shall devote a lecture to that special
question two weeks hence, and it may be best not to antici-
pate it now."
Mr. Huxley has been very busy during his stay in the
city, and is considerably fatigued in consequence. After
his lectures are over he plans to spend three weeks in com-
plete rest at the country home that a friend has put at his
disposal.
MECHANICAL PROCESSES
The Note-book. The usefulness of good notes depends
in no small degree upon the kind of note-book used.
What that kind shall be rests, of course, largely with
the convenience and taste of the one taking notes, and
62
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
there is a wide range for individual choice. Wise
method, however, will not be merely arbitrary or acci-
dental, but will be based upon careful consideration of
the special circumstances involved. The whole matter
can best be explained in detail.
If the shape and size of the note-book depended wholly
on the convenience of the writer in carrying about, it
would be easy to select a page of small size, perhaps
specially narrow, convenient for the pocket. But the
narrower the note-book page, the less easy it is to organ-
ize notes upon it, with margins of varying depth. The
larger the page, on the other hand, the more clearly
does an outline form, with all its devices of organization,
stand out clear to the eye, like a map. For elaborate
notes, therefore, especially if they are to contain much
in the way of diagrams or tables, the page of 8×10
inches is specially convenient. For ordinary purposes,
however, the page of half the size (5 x 8 inches) has
several distinct advantages; it is a standard size, easy
to obtain; it is easy to carry with other books; and if
desired, it can be used for correspondence, and folded
once into a square envelope of standard size.
The choice between bound and loose-leaf note-books
is one for individual decision, with certain obvious
advantages in favor of the latter. Although loose-leaf
note-books generally imply punched sheets with some
device for holding them together, it is well to remember
that unpunched sheets may be used, either in a folder
or in a strong Manila envelope. The most obvious.
advantage of such a system is that sheets for several
subjects can be carried in a single package, and then
distributed at convenience. And it may be further
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
63
noted that if sheets of medium size (say 5 x 8 inches)
be fitted to a folder, a few sheets of double size can
easily be folded in, ready for any occasion. When notes
for several subjects are carried together, it is obviously
better to write on one side of the sheet only; and if
proper selection of paper be made, the difference in
expense need be but slight.
However wide the range for individual choice in the
selection of type of note-book, it is of the utmost
importance to determine upon some system and then
stick consistently to it. It not only simplifies the
matter of writing notes, but makes the notes when
written convenient and accessible.
Abbreviation of Words. In the actual process of
writing notes, it is very useful to be able to abbreviate
words rapidly, yet clearly; and for this purpose a sys-
tem is necessary. Each note-taker, of course, will
employ a system suited to his own taste and personal
needs, yet there are certain suggestions that may be of
general service, especially for those who have not yet
perfected their own individual systems.
In general, it is unwise to carry abbreviations so far
that it becomes difficult in review to read what has been
put down. Both speed in writing and legibility later
are best attained when abbreviations are so systematized
that the writer uses them consistently and instinctively,
wasting no time in determining for each special case
what to shorten and how to shorten it. Three Don'ts
may here be suggested. (1) Don't abbreviate by leav-
ing out letters in the middle of a word; as, alst for
almost, hlth for health, prly for poorly. With the excep-
tion of a few standard abbreviations such as mdse, hdkf
64
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
etc., such contracted forms lose far more in legibility
than they gain in the ease of writing. (2) Don't use
one abbreviation for more than one word; as, cl for cell
and clearly, or fr for for and from. (3) Don't use
ingenious forms that call up other associations; as, 2
for to, ? for question, ex for from, etc.
In the following table is given a system of abbrevia-
tions that, when once mastered, will save many a pen
stroke, and yet result in a manuscript perfectly easy to
read. The chief advantage, however, of this or any
other system, is not in the theory of it, but in familiar
practice. Satisfaction comes when the pen writes the
shorter form instinctively, and the eye re-translates it to
its original form without effort.
I. Standard abbreviations: ex, example; exam, exami-
nation; ave, avenue; N. Y., New York; etc.
II. Special abbreviations for special subjects. Thus,
for a history student: hist, history, -ical, -ian;
econ, economy, -omic; const, constitution, -al;
govt; rep; conserv; etc.
III. Simplified spelling: tho, program, foto, etc.
IV. Common words (phonetic, as far as possible) :
are, r
is, z
that, tt
be, b
not, n
from, fr
of, v
the, e
this, th
which, wh
with, w
V. Signs and, &; but, >; therefore, ...
An example of the system, applied, follows:
Yet no phenom z more amaz than tt v speech. Nor
can any process b imag more complicated than tt by wh
e vocab v a highly devel lang, like Eng, comes into
exist & fits itself to e multifar needs v civilized man in
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
65
e utterance v thot & emotion. If to e process v oral
speech we add e correl processes v read & writ we have
a series v phenom wh no thinking man can contempl
wout a kind v awe.
Lang z e expression v thot by means v words: i.e.,
by means v signs v a peculiar sort made w e vocal
organs. Since e tong z one ve most import v these
organs, & since we r habitu consc v using it in articula-
tion, we often call our lang our 'tong,' &e word
'lang' itself z derived, thro e Fr., fr lingua, e Lat. name
for tt organ.
References and their Abbreviation. There is frequent
occasion in note-taking to refer to books and articles,
and especially to certain passages in them; for which
purpose a scholarly system of references is most valu-
able. Too great care cannot be exercised in indicating
the source of all material gathered from printed docu-
ments, and in putting such references in accurate, con-
sistent form. In the case of books it is customary to
write first the name of the author (generally with
initials following the surname), and then, after a colon,
the title of the book, underscored to indicate italics.
The name of the publisher and the date of publi-
cation, enclosed in parentheses, make it easier for
librarian or bookseller to find and identify the volume.
When the reference is to a particular passage, there is
need for greater exactness. The name of the chapter
is sometimes sufficient; but in some works the number
of the volume, or part, requires mention as well. If
the reference be by page, it is in all cases important to
indicate the edition used, in order to prevent confusion
with another edition in which the pagination may be
66
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
different. For this purpose the name of the publisher
and the date should be given, as well as such indication
of volume or edition as may be needed.
References to magazine articles include the volume
and page of the periodical, and often the date as well,
enclosed in parentheses. It must be remembered that
the files of a magazine are sometimes numbered in more
than one series, in which case the words old or new
series should be prefixed to the number of the volume.
Biblical references are indicated by book, chapter,
and verse.
Similarly, Roman and Arabic numerals in
a series are used to identify a passage from a play; but
in this case differences in individual texts make it all-
important to indicate the edition used. The whole sub-
ject of references is illustrated in the following examples,
which may be used as models for practical use:
Channing, Edw.: History of the United States (Macm.
1908), vol. II, chap. X.
Ruskin, John: Modern Painters, vol. II, part III, sect. I,
chap. V, § 16.
Harrison, F.: Culture: A Dialogue, from The Choice of
Books, &c. (Macm. 1907).
Pepys, Samuel: Diary, ed. A. B. Wheatley (G. Bell &
Sons, 1898), vol. III, p. 161.
Bruce, J. D.: ed. Le Morte Arthur, E.E.T.S., extra
series, no. 88.
Crozier, J. B.: The Condition of England Question, Fort-
nightly Review, new series, 73: 70 (Jan. '03).
Shakespeare: The Tempest, I, ii, 396–404 (Cambr. ed.).
2 Chron. xxxii : 21.
Punctuation of Quotations. It may be presumed, of
course, that the rules for punctuating quotations are
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
67
well understood in their ordinary application; but it
may be useful, nevertheless, to review certain matters
of usage in their special relation to note-taking. The
mistake most commonly made is to put in quotation
marks a passage that is not given in the exact words of
the text. Thus, if we had before us the passage from
Huxley on A Liberal Education, quoted in the first
chapter of this book, we might be inclined to write as
follows:
Huxley opens his discussion by making the supposi-
tion that "the life and fortune of every one of us
depends upon his winning or losing a game of chess.”
The sense is accurate, but the phrasing, if we look
carefully, is not. The remedy is to include in quota-
tion marks only such part of the text as may be quoted
exactly; in this case, "his winning or losing a game of
chess." It may be that only a word or a phrase is thus
quoted; but it is enough to show that we are following
the ideas of the author accurately, with an eye upon
the actual words he uses.
If a sentence that we are quoting contains a pronoun
without explanatory antecedent, the omission may be
supplied in square brackets without pausing to make a
break in the quotation, thus :
"Well, I know not what may be your conception upon
this matter [the idea of a liberal education], but I
will tell you mine, and I hope I shall find that our
views are not very discrepant.
""
When we wish to quote in part from a passage, we
may indicate omissions at any point, without pausing
to repeat quotation marks, by the use of a series of
periods. The same passage will serve for illustration :
68
SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN NOTE-TAKING.
1
"And by way of a beginning, let us ask ourselves
What is education? Above all things, what is our
ideal of a thoroughly liberal education?
66
'Well, what I mean by liberal education is
the
instruction of the intellect in the laws of Nature,
under which name I include not merely things and
their forces, but men and their ways.
For me,
education means neither more nor less than this.
25
ย
EXERCISES
FOR OUTSIDE WORK
[Indicate accurately the source of all material for reading
notes according to the system outlined in Chapter IV.]
1. Selecting three suitable paragraphs, each inde-
pendent of the others, copy them, appending to each a
condensed statement of the thought. (Assignments of
copying give good opportunity to get practice in using
a system of abbreviating words. Compare Exercise 11.)
2. Condense the successive paragraphs of a chapter
or article, each in a single sentence, without attempting
to organize the resulting notes. (It may be advisable
sometimes to treat more than one paragraph as consti-
tuting a single unit.)
3. Condense as in the preceding exercise, and then
go over the notes, underscoring the important items
and putting subsidiary items in parentheses.
4. After being provided with a series of brief head-
ings, indicating in outline form the chief divisions
of an assigned chapter or article, expand this outline
into a complete analysis, properly organized and in-
dented.
5. Choosing some appropriate chapter or article,
mark all transition phrases or sentences that introduce
important divisions. With the help of these prepare a
brief topical outline of the chapter or article, in the
69
70
EXERCISES.
form of headings, enclosing in parentheses under each
heading the transition that introduces it.
6. Take the best notes possible in some regular lec-
ture course. With these as a basis, write up another.
set of notes outside of class, making as many improve-
ments as possible, and hand in both versions for com-
parison.
7. Choosing some appropriate chapter or article, pre-
pare an analytical outline of it, employing all useful de-
vices for indicating plan.
8. Using as material a chapter or article for which
an analytical outline has been prepared, write a brief
summary of the subject and hand it in with the outline.
9. Selecting some magazine articles of public inter-
est, mark the passages that seem specially important or
significant. Prepare then an abbreviated version of the
article, so far as convenient in the words of the text,
introducing and connecting the quoted passages by
means of explanatory sentences.
10. Condense the same article, first by means of
selected quotations and then by means of a summary.
11. Using some passage that either is known by
heart or is at least familiar, write it out according to
an accepted system of abbreviation. (In this practice
it is more helpful to write from memory or from dicta-
tion than to copy from the printed page, with the eye
constantly on the text.)
12. From histories and books of reference collect a
series of quotations about Queen Elizabeth, giving
accurately the reference for each case.
EXERCISES.
71
FOR CLASS WORK
[For class exercises in note-taking it is desirable that each stu-
dent provide himself with several sheets of large-sized paper, and
that he be directed to make the indorsement before he begins
taking notes, in order to save time later in the collection of the
papers.]
1. Read aloud from a passage that deals with an in-
teresting, suggestive idea, while the class listens atten-
tively; but stop before the idea is completed. Have
the members of the class write down a question that
they expect to find answered in the remaining part.
Compare results, and then read the conclusion, observ-
ing how correctly the members have anticipated the
expected point.
2. Read aloud a paragraph that deals with a single
idea, directing the class to listen carefully but not to
make jottings. Then give reasonable time (say five
minutes) for the class members to formulate briefly the
idea of the paragraph and write it down. Good and bad
specimens of the resulting notes may be mimeographed
and distributed later for criticism by the class.
3. Using a well-organized set of notes as material,
have the items mimeographed in uniform succession,
obliterating all evidence of organization. Distributing
these copies to the class members, have them rewrite
the notes, restoring the original organization so far as
possible from the evidence of the text.
4. Read aloud a passage in which a main idea is
supplemented by subordinate ideas and illustrative de-
tails, while the class makes such jottings as seem use-
:
72
EXERCISES.
ful. Then give reasonable time for the class members.
to work up their jottings into good form, emphasizing
the central idea and relating subsidiary material to it,
perhaps by means of subordinate clauses or parentheti-
cal additions.
5. Proceed as in the previous exercise, but have the
class condense the passage in the best form possible.
while it is being read. Allow time later for such revi-
sion as seems desirable.
6. After selecting a passage of several paragraphs,
provide the class with a series of brief headings, one
for each paragraph. Then read the passage, while the
members of the class expand the successive headings
into complete, adequate statements.
7. Providing each member of the class with a sylla-
bus on a given subject, read or deliver a lecture on the
basis of the syllabus, while the class members expand
the syllabus outline into complete analytical notes.
8. Have the class prepare analytical notes on a lec-
ture without the help of a syllabus. Then distribute
copies of a syllabus, directing the class to write up an
improved set of notes outside of class, with the help of
the syllabus.
9. Read aloud a passage from a well-organized lec-
ture, while the class take analytical notes. Let the
members then look over their notes, marking any im-
perfections of substance or organization that they
observe. Then reread the passage, while the members
of the class take a second set of notes that shall correct
the imperfections of the first.
EXERCISES.
73
10. Read or deliver a carefully prepared lecture,
paying special attention to the transitions, and have
the members of the class prepare analytical notes, em-
ploying all useful devices for indicating plan.
11. Deliver a lecture into which digressions have
purposely been introduced, while the members of the
class take notes. Call attention later to the difference
between the material suitable for the note-book and
that which may better be omitted.
12. Read or deliver an address such as might be
delivered on some public occasion, informing the class
of such circumstances of time, place, audience, and so
on, as it may be useful to imagine. Have the members.
of the class make jottings in their note-books to be
worked up later into "copy" suitable for newspaper
use.
13. Invite the members of the class to "interview
the instructor, imagining him to be a certain public
character in a given set of circumstances, as agreed
upon. Then have the class write up the interview out-
side of class, in a form suitable for publication.
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES
GOOD AND BAD CONDENSATION
THE following paragraph, from a lecture by Ruskin,
was read to a class inexperienced in note-taking. The
members were asked to listen attentively and then, at
the end of the reading, to condense the thought into a
brief note. Below are given some of the results, so
classified as to show both the virtues to be striven for
and the faults to be avoided in dealing with ideas.
The good book of the hour, then-I do not speak of
the bad ones — is simply the useful or pleasant talk of some
person whom you cannot otherwise converse with, printed
for you. Very useful, often, telling you what you need to
know; very pleasant, often, as a sensible friend's pleasant
talk would be. These bright accounts of travels; good-
humored and witty discussions of questions; lively or
pathetic story-telling in the form of novels; firm fact-telling,
by the real agents concerned in the events of passing history
all these books of the hour multiplying among us as edu-
cation becomes more general are a peculiar characteristic
and possession of the present age; we ought to be entirely
thankful for them, and entirely ashamed of ourselves if we
make no good use of them. But we make the worst possi-
ble use, if we allow them to usurp the place of true books:
for, strictly speaking, they are not books at all, but merely
letters or newspapers in good print. Our friend's letter
may be delightful, or necessary, to-day: whether worth
keeping or not, is to be considered. The newspaper may be
entirely proper at breakfast-time, but assuredly it is not
74
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
75
reading for all day. So, though bound up in a volume, the
long letter which gives you so pleasant account of the inns
and roads, and weather last year at such a place, or which
tells you that amusing story, or gives you the real circum-
stances of such and such events, however valuable for occa-
sional reference, may not be, in the real sense of the word,
a "book" at all, nor, in the real sense, to be "read." A
book is essentially not a talked thing, but a written thing;
and written, not with the view of mere communication, but
of permanence. The book of talk is printed only because
its author cannot speak to thousands of people at once; if
he could, he would the volume is mere multiplication of
his voice. You cannot talk to your friend in India; if you
could, you would; you write instead: that is mere convey-
ance of voice. But a book is written, not to multiply the
voice merely, not to carry it merely, but to preserve it. The
author has something to say which he perceives to be true.
and useful, or helpfully beautiful. So far as he knows, no
one has yet said it; so far as he knows, no one else can say
it. He is bound to say it, clearly and melodiously if he
may; clearly, at all events. In the sum of his life he finds
this to be the thing, or group of things, manifest to him;
this the piece of true knowledge, or sight, which his share of
sunshine and earth has permitted him to see. He would
fain set it down forever; engrave it on rocks, if he could;
saying, "This is the best of me; for the rest, I ate and
drank, and slept, loved, and hated, like another; my life was
as the vapor, and is not; but this I saw and knew: this, if
anything of mine, is worth your memory." That is his
writing"; it is, in his small human way, and with what-
ever degree of true inspiration is in him, his inscription, or
scripture. That is a "Book."
(6
I. Observe the conciseness and accuracy of phrase ;
also the balanced sentence form, bringing out the con-
trast of two opposed ideas.
76
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
A good book is the supreme thought and product of an
author, and is intended to be permanent; while a
book of the hour is merely a means of increasing the
radius of a man's voice.
Popular "books of the hour" are not really books, but
are simply the interesting talk or conversation of
some one distant; while real books are the per-
petuated thoughts and individuality of an author
at his best.
II. In these sentences, too, the form shows that
two ideas are contrasted, but the ideas themselves are
misinterpreted.
The novels of the day are good reading, but they should
not usurp the place of more solid reading, because
books are written to preserve the opinions of the
writers.
New books are pleasant companions for the moment,
while old and tried ones leave a lasting impression
from which one may derive truth and a tangible
thought.
III. These sentences show a groping after correct
ideas, but failure to grasp the thought accurately has
resulted in confused and aimless wandering.
In reading for other purposes than mere amusement,
the permanent value of a book is necessarily taken
into consideration.
Though books of travel and adventure are useful and
entertaining, we must not confuse them with real
books — to the exclusion of such as are in reality writ-
ings, as opposed to talk in the books of travel, and
which are the results of experience of a single man.
IV. In these notes the meaning, so far as it is
clear at all, is directly opposite to that of the original
text.
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
77
A good book is like a cheerful and instructive friend
telling you stories and experiences in a clear manner.
The author has something to say to the people, that
he thinks no one else said or can say, and he has it
printed so that it may reach more people.
A thoroughly good book, which itself is but a multipli-
cation of the author's voice, is designed primarily for
permanence, and this feature alone characterizes
and distinguishes it from the ordinary class of
publications such as the daily newspapers.
GOOD AND BAD ORGANIZATION
The following examples are brief extracts, taken from
class notes, of a lecture on Student Life at Oxford.
They illustrate the pitfalls that are to be avoided when
one is learning how to organize notes. The substance
of the lecture will be sufficiently clear from the first
extract, but perhaps one point needs special explana-
tion as an example of the conservatism of Oxford
tradition, the lecturer cited the old custom of requiring
a "candidate" (Lat. candidus, "white-robed ") to wear
white vestments during examinations, —a tradition sur-
viving to-day in the required wearing of white dress ties
by all candidates for examination.
I. This extract is simple and clear in statement, and
its organization brings out the relation that one idea
bears to another.
The English college man is:
1. generally of comfortable means;
2. well-prepared in Greek and Latin;
3. lodged in rather elaborate rooms, which include a
study separate from the sleeping room.
78
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
During his college course he
1. is required to take but two important sets of ex-
aminations, one in the middle, and one at the
end of the course;
2. does his studying largely in vacation, and attends
only a small number of lectures in term time.
Some examples of traditional customs which are still
followed at Oxford are:
1. the wearing of white neckties at examination
time;
2. the requirement that law students shall eat a
prescribed number of dinners at the Inns of
Court in London, before graduation.
II. Here, too, there is organization, but the ideas are
related to one another illogically.
I. Unusual aspect.
(a) Gate closed to prevent exit of students.
(b) Courses.
1. Students do not specialize early.
2. Marks in examinations determine a man's
standing.
(c) The adherence to old usages and customs.
(d) White tie must be worn before taking exami-
nations.
III. In this extract the mingling of important and
unimportant details becomes confusing because of the
lack of organization.
The education here consists greatly in a study of the classics.
The Englishman has a reverence for old things.
White ties are worn by candidates for examination.
Candidates receive book of rules to be followed. They
are partly written in Latin.
The original purpose of Oxford was that of ecclesiastical
study.
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
79
IV. This extract illustrates the added confusion
that results when items are not indented at the margin.
It is to be noted in this series that the papers lacking
organization are also the ones least successful in point
of clearness and accuracy.
English social distinctions make Oxford life homogeneous.
It is almost wholly aristocratic. Students usually have
definite careers in mind.
Great importance laid on examinations.
Many careers are open to those who pass with a good grade.
The Oxford student clings to old customs and there are
hundreds of picturesque customs handed down from older
times
white dress ties worn with blue flannel shirts worn as the
survival of an ancient tradition.
SPECIMEN NOTES
[The following set of notes was taken in a course in Literature.
The nature of the lectures was such that it was important that
good notes should contain a considerable body of facts. The
organization, though not complex, is very important. The writer
preferred not to abbreviate his words.]
The Beginnings of the Renaissance
The essential thing in the Renaissance is the change
in men's minds as to Latin Classics, then as to Greek. In
the early Middle Ages the classics were regarded as educa-
tional material; in the Renaissance as containing a theory
of life. This was the movement of Humanism, the ful-
filling of man's nature as a human being. Mediæval con-
cern for man as an eternal spirit; Renaissance inclined to
confine attention to this world. So there was a revival
of Paganism through study and imitation of Greeks and
Romans.
80
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
Among the causes leading back to classics were:
(1) The important place given to ancient philosophy in
the late Middle Ages. After the middle of the
12th century, when Aristotle began to be prized,
ancient philosophy was widely cultivated.
(2) Political theorizing, turning back to the Roman
Empire as a model for government. From the
end of the 10th century there was a growing
national feeling among the Italians as descend-
ants of the Romans, shown in at least three
revolutions designed to restore the Roman Re-
public (that of Crescentius, in 998; Arnaldo da
Brescia, 1146; Cola di Rienzi, 1347). In these
days all non-Italians came to be called "barba-
rians"; the term "Dark Ages" was introduced,
and "Gothic" became a term of reproach.
(3) Growing familiarity with antiquity through myths
and vulgar literature. Many myths grew up
attached to ancient times:
(a) that of Virgil, who had come to be regarded as
a magician, and of whom there were such
stories as that he had built the Coliseum in
a night (Dante called him "the sea of all
wisdom");
(b) that of Alexander the Great, an attractive figure
to the mediæval mind, about whom several
apocryphal works had been written in the
early Middle Ages, which became the basis
of many romances in the vulgar tongues;
(c) that of the Trojan War, not known in the Mid-
dle Ages in the Homeric form, but handed
down in the apocryphal histories of "Dares
the Phrygian" and "Dictys the Cretan,'
which were the basis of the French version
of Bénoit de S. Maure, which in turn was
the basis of Guido della Colonna's great ver-
sion, the "Historia Troiana."
""
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
81
(4) The revival of rhetorical education, in the 12th and
13th centuries. The art of writing having as-
sumed importance, it was increasingly believed
that in antiquity only was to be found rhetorical
excellence; indeed, one may say that the whole
Renaissance proceeded in large measure from a
study of Style. Cf. the early humanists who
became great teachers of rhetoric: Johannes de
Garlandia, an Englishman who taught in Paris;
Petrus de Vineis, Chancellor of Frederick II,
who made a collection of model public letters;
Brunetto Latini, a Florentine, according to tradi-
tion Dante's teacher of rhetoric.
These things bring us to the very verge of the Renais-
sance, and to the work of Petrarch (1304–1374) and Boccaccio
(1313-1375).
[The extract that follows is taken from a note-book in a His-
tory Course. The abbreviation of the notes is erratic, but easy to
follow.]
The Programme of Catholic Reaction
Occasion. Chas. V. had been anxious to bring about re-
ligious unity in Germany by means of a Church council.
The Prot. & Cath. in Germany desired this. The Papacy
was not so closely associated with the Church as formerly.
The Popes were opposed to such a council, fearing com-
promise with the Lutherans. They were however not
strong enough to oppose Chas. V.
The Council. The subsequent summoning of the Council
of Trent followed in 1545, and lasted until 1563. Paul
IV. was a fiery, narrow-minded Neapolitan, under whose
auspices the Council was inaugurated.
Trent theoret. was sit. in Empire, but act. in Italy.
The reform of the Church was to be in a Catholic sense,
and the Pope negotiated with great diplomacy.
82
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF notes.
Sarpi, a Venetian, wrote a hist. of the C. of Trent, as
did also Pallavicino.
The Pope's Plan. (1) The Pope aimed to have all voting
done by heads rather than by nations.
(2) A great number of bishops were pensioners of the
Pope. The real control was thus in hands of
Pope and Jesuits. No Lutherans were present.
(3) Only papal legatees could introduce decrees.
Results. I. Doctrinal (basis of Cath. theology):
1. Vulgate version of Bible made the only
authoritative text of the Christian
faith.
2. Traditions of church placed on parity
with Bible.
3. All people rejecting sacraments were to
be condemned.
II. Disciplinary (reforms in church):
1. Annates done away with or curtailed.
2. Residence of bishops enforced.
3. Plurality of bishoprics forbidden.
4. Clergy required to be well educated.
This Council gave the Catholics a firm statement
of faith, thus making reconciliation with Protes-
tants impossible in the future.
[Notes in Engineering courses resolve themselves largely into
formulæ copied from the black-board, problems, etc. The follow-
ing extract is a good average specimen of helpful notes in this
department of study.]
Keys in Machine Design
A
Purpose: to prevent relative rotation of shafts and attached
parts.
Different Classes of Keys:
1. Parallel.
2. Taper.
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF notes.
83
3. Disc.
4. Feathers or splines.
1. Parallel keys. These prevent relative rotation but
not necessarily sliding. They are usually made to
fit loose at bottom and top, and tight on the sides.
Let d = diam. of shaft.
w= width of key.
radial thickness of key.
Then for parallel keys:
d
1
11 1 1/1
5
7
W
32
32
3/2/20
9
etc.
t
3
16
1114
5
16
2. Taper keys. These prevent rel. motion of all kinds.
Usually made with draw heads. The taper of the
keys varies from 1" to " per foot.
Table for taper keys:
d
00
t
1
14
5
1111
5
16
3
32 18
16
03/00
etc.
This table is based on rough assumption that
W
to=4
d
t
=tan 30°
... t = .578 w.
4
พง
}
For two keys,
d
20
6
t=578 w.
Formulæ of allowance for bore of hub over the
diam. of shaft for taper key:
5
A = d + 0.5
16
1000
When parts are to be permanently connected, use
driving fit. Then,
84
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
d
+ 0.5
2
A:
1000
(Great care must be taken to finish taper of key same as
taper of key-way, or the parts will be thrown out of true.)
[The following extract is from a set of notes on Chemistry.
There is no attempt to picture some of the experiments performed
during the lecture.]
Chlorine
Discovered by Scheele, 1774.
Named by Davy, 1810.
In combination it occurs as chlorides, of which NaCl is
most common. Found in great abundance. Not found
free-in nature.
Methods used:
Preparation: Chlorine cannot be released from compounds
nearly so easily as O or H.
(1) Electrolysis of HCl.
when mixed.
H & Cl explode violently
(2) From HCl-a cheap process. Oxygen may be
used to release Cl, thus:
2 HCl + 0 = H₂O + 2 Cl.
2
But since this proceeds very slowly, a quicker
method is found by the use of a catalytic agent.
This process (called Deacon's) consists in pass-
ing a mixture of HCl & air over pumice or
brick soaked in CuCl₂ solution and heated to
370-400° C. Under these conditions the reac-
tion proceeds rapidly- why, no one knows.
(3) NaCl, subjected to electrolysis, gives NaOH & Cl.
Useful commercially under proper conditions.
(4) MnO2 + 4 HCl = MnCl2 + H₂O +2 Cl.
0+2 HCl = H₂O + 2 Cl.
(5) "Bleaching powder" is a compound of lime and
chlorine.
CaOCl2 + H2SO4 = CaSO4 + H2O + 2 Cl.
APPENDIX: EXAMPLES OF NOTES.
85
Properties:
Physical:
Deep yellow green
suffocating-very heavy.
Density, on basis of H = 1, is 35.79.
Boiling point is — 33.6° C.
Solidifies at -102° C.
Critical temperature, +146° C.
Soluble in water, 215 vols in 100 vols water.
Chemical:
Active substance: C10H16 + 16 Cl 16 HCl + 10 C.
Strong bleaching agent, but is likely to injure delicate
fabrics.
Splendid disinfectant, "chloride of lime" (not CaCl2).
Formed by running Cl over lime.
ENGLISH
Public Speaking: A Treatise on Delivery with Selec-
tions for Declaiming
By Professor EDWIN D. SHURTER, of the University of Texas. 12mo,
cloth, 265 pages. Price, go cents.
TH
stress
'HIS book treats chiefly of persuasive speaking, and the
author lays stress on the fact that mental qualities, such
as clearness, simplicity, vivacity, spontaneity, and sincerity, are
of chief value in declamation. Although this principle is counted
fundamental, the book has all the necessary rules and principles
for the technique of public speaking, with exercises for perfecting
the voice and for overcoming defects of speech. Gesture is treated
in a very happy way, as the physical expression of earnestness.
The chapters are : —
I. The Nature and Basis of
Public Speaking.
II. The Voice.
III. Pronunciation and Enuncia-
tion. IV. Key.
V. Emphasis. VI. Inflection.
VII. Time: Phrasing, Transition.
VIII. Force, Climax, Volume.
IX. Tone-Color.
X. Earnestness.
XI. Physical Earnestness-
Gesture.
XII. General Suggestions.
XIII. Selections for Practice.
The Selections for Practice include speeches from Lincoln,
Roosevelt, Blaine, Grady, John Hay, Woodrow Wilson, Wendell
Phillips, Henry Watterson, and many others.
A Drill Book in English
Compiled by GEORGE E. GAY, Superintendent of Schools, Haverhill,
Mass. 12mo, cloth, 108 pages. Price, 45 cents.
THIS
HIS manual will appeal only to teachers who believe that
there is value in presenting to the pupils specimens of bad
English for correction. It contains in brief form rules for spell-
ing, punctuation, capitalization, and the most important principles
of grammar and rhetoric. Abundant exercises for practice are
given.
7
ENGLISH
The Drama: Its Law and its Technique
By ELISABETH WOODBRIDGE, Ph.D. 12mo, cloth, 198 pages. Price,
80 cents.
THE
'HE object of this book is to present a manual for use in
college courses on the drama, which shall stand the test of
actual classroom use. It is successful in avoiding the principal
defects of previous short treatises on the subject, which have
been made up too completely of theories on the art, or have
occupied themselves too exclusively with practical stage-craft.
The chapters are:
LAW
I. Poetic Truth.
II. Dramatic Unity.
III. Seriousness, ΣПOтAн.
IV. The Nature and Sources of
Tragic Effect.
V. The Nature and Sources of
Comic Effect.
TECHNIQUE
1. The Two Types of Drama.
II. The Logical Divisions of the
Action.
III. The Mechanical Division of
the Drama.
IV-VI. Character-Treatment and
Plot in Comedy.
Its broader foundations are laid in Freytag's Technik des
Dramas, but it follows Freytag's footsteps only where it is un-
avoidable to any one venturing on the ground at all. The discus-
sion itself is an original treatment on lines adapted to give the
student a real knowledge and a permanent appreciation of the
structure of the drama.
Selections from Carlyle
-
Edited by H. W. BOYNTON. 12mo, cloth, 288 pages. Price, 75 cents.
THI
HIS volume includes material for the elementary study of
Carlyle in his earliest and most fruitful period. It contains
the Essays on Burns, on History, on Boswell's Life of Johnson,
and selections from Heroes and Hero-Worship (the Introduction;
the Hero as Poet - Dante, Shakespeare; and the Hero as Man
of Letters — Johnson, Rousseau, Burns).
8
ENGLISH
An Old English Grammar and Exercise Book
With Inflections, Syntax, Selections for Reading, and Glossary. By
C. ALPHONSO SMITH, Ph.D., Professor of English in the University of
North Carolina. 12mo, cloth, 201 pages. Price, $1.00.
'HIS book is designed to meet the needs of those teachers
TH
is
who wish a brief and simplified text-book in Anglo-Saxon.
It will enable the student to read any of the dialects of the Old
English period, and will also serve as a foundation for the study
of Modern English, of historical English grammar, and of the
principles of English etymology. Emphasis is constantly put
upon Modern English equivalents, the student being thus led at
every step to compare the words, inflections, and syntax of Old
English with those of Modern English.
The book begins with a brief History of the Language, followed
by Sounds, Inflections, and Syntax. The exercises will furnish
all the drill necessary to enable the student to retain the forms
and constructions given in the various chapters.
The Selections for Reading which follow the grammar contain
The Battle of Ashdown from the Chronicle; A Prayer of King
Alfred; The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan; The Story of
Cædmon; Alfred's Preface to the Pastoral Care.
There is a chapter on Anglo-Saxon Poetry, followed by extracts
from Beowulf and The Wanderer.
Introduction to Theme-Writing
By J. B. FLETCHER, of Harvard University, and the late Professor
GEORGE R. CARPENTER. 16mo, cloth, 143 pages. Price, 60 cents.
THI
HIS is a text-book for students who have completed the
introductory course in rhetoric usually prescribed at the
beginning of the freshman year. It is founded on lectures de-
livered by Mr. Fletcher at Harvard in 1893. The chapters are
on Letter-Writing, Description, Narration, Criticism, Exposition,
and Argument.
9
1
ENGLISH
De Quincey's Essays on Style, Rhetoric, and
Language
Edited by Professor FRED N. SCOTT, University of Michigan. 12mo,
275 pages. Price, 60 cents.
THE
HE essays selected are those which deal directly with the
theory of literature. The appendix contains such passages
from De Quincey's other writings as will be of most assistance to
the student.
Principles of Success in Literature
By GEORGE HENRY LEWES. Edited with Introduction and Notes by
Professor FRED N. SCOTT. 12m0, 163 pages. Price, 50 cents.
THE
HE object of reprinting this admirable little treatise on litera-
ture is to make it available for classes in rhetoric and literary
criticism. Scarcely any other work will be found so thoroughly
sound in principles, and so suggestive and inspiring.
The value of the present edition is greatly increased by the
excellent introduction by Professor Scott, and by a full index.
Spencer's Philosophy of Style and Wright's Essay
on Style
Edited by Professor FRED N. SCOTT, of the University of Michigan.
12m0, 92 pages. Price, 45 cents.
THE
HE plan has been followed of providing a biographical and
critical introduction, an index, and a few notes. In the
belief that the Philosophy of Style can best be understood in
connection with the Spencerian philosophy as a whole, the Intro-
duction has been made largely bibliographical. There are Ap-
pendices giving a criticism of Spencer's theory of the effect of
rhythmical structure from Gurney's Power of Sound, and an
extract from Spencer's First Principles touching the evolution
of literature.
10
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