STATE NORMAL SCHOOL LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA f CALIFORNIA \NGJELES UBUAHX ■ jum i mj .i l i ji i iuj tuM ii nft . 1 i 1 1 in i i " ■ *J SAVONAROLA b A First Year English Book By Harriet E. Crandall Instructor in English in the South Chicago High School 2. 7^<^ream of John Ball, William Morris. Review of Rules for the Sentence 1. Every sentence should begin with a capital letter and end with a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. 2. Do not write phrases or clauses as if they were sentences. 3. /// a compound sentence place a semicolon between coordinate propositions which arc not connected by con- junctions. A Review of the Sentence 37 4. Every sentence should express one wain thought and only one. SECTION VIII. A REVIEW OF THE SENTENCE Adventures with Books 1. Write in your own words a theme, drawing your material from one of the following- biographical sketches Find an apt title for your theme. From my infancy I was passionately fond of reading, and all the money that came into my hands was laid out in the purchasing of books. I was very fond of voyages. My first acquaintance was Bunyan's works in separate little vol- umes. I afterwards sold them to enable me to buy R. Bur- ton's Historical Collections. They were small chapmen's books, and cheap ; forty volumes in all. My father's little library consisted chiefly of books on polemic divinity, most of which I read. I have often regretted that at a time when I had such a thirst for knowledge, more proper books had not fallen in my way, since it was resolved I should not be bred to divinity. There was among them Plutarch's Lives, which I read abundantly, and I still think that time spent to great advantage. There was also a book of Defoe's called An Essay on Projects, and another of Dr. Mather's called An Essay to Do Good, which perhaps gave me a turn of thinking, that had an influence on some of the principal future events of my life. Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin. I remember well the spot where I read these volumes [Percy's Reliques] for the first time. It was beneath a huge plantain tree in the ruins of what had been intended for an old-fashioned arbor in the garden I have mentioned. The summer day sped onward so fast that, notwithstanding the sharp appetite of thirteen, I forgot the hour of dinner, was sought for with anxiety, and was found still entranced in my intellectual banquet. To read and to remember was, in this 38 A First Year English Book instance, the same thing; and henceforth I overwhelmed my school-fellows, and all who would listen to me, with tragical recitations of the ballads of Bishop Percy. The first time, too, I could -(.Tape a few shillings together, I bought unto myself a copy of these beloved volumes; nor do I believe I ever read a book so frequently, or with half the enthu- siasm. Memoirs of My Early Life, Bib Walter Scott. I begged my mother to give us Schwab's Talcs of (lassie Antiquity, which was owned by one of our com- panions. We received it <>n Ludo's birthday, in September, and how we listened when it was read to US — how often we ourselves devoured its delightful contents. I think the story of the Trojan War made a deeper impression on me than even the Arabian Mights. Homer's heroes seemed like giant oaks, which far overtopped the lit- tle trees of the human wood. They towered like glorious snow mountains above the little hills with which my childish imagination was already tilled ; and how often we played the Trojan War. and aspired to the honor of acting Hector. Achilles, or Aiax ! Tin Story of M.n Life, Qeoboi Ebers. In those times, Cook's edition of the British poets came up. I had got an odd volume of Spenser ; and I fell pas- sionately in love with Collins and Gray. How I loved those little six-penny numbers containing whole poets ! I doted on their size; I doted on their type, on their ornaments, on their wrappers containing lists of other poets, and on the engravings from Kirk. I bought them over and over again, and used to get up select sets which disappeared like but- tered crumpets ; for I could resist neither giving them away, nor possessing them. When the master tormented me — when I used to hate and loath the sight of Homer, and Demosthenes, and Cicero — I would comfort myself with thinking of the sixpence in my pocket, with which I should go out to Paternoster Row, when school was over, and buy another number of an English poet. Autobiography, Lfi<;h TTtxt. Subordination in the Sentence 39 Note: If possible read in Ruskin's Praeterita, Volume II.. Chapter I., his account of his study of bible stories; and in Cross's Life of George Eliot, Chapter I., the account of her liking for ^sop's Fables. 2. Oral. Do you find any of these experiences with books surprising? What have been your experiences' 1 When you were very young had you any favorite stories or poems? Later, were you especially pleased with any books? Did you read them more than once? j. Write a letter to a friend who has ten dollars to spend for books, and has asked your advice on what books to buv. 4. Write a theme with some such title as "My Literary Likings," "Good Old Friends," or "Adventures Among Books." Be sure not to make your theme a mere catalogue. Tell what these "friends" meant to you. in such a way that your reader will feel interested in them. 5. Examine the theme you have written to see that you have violated none of the rules for the sentence, given on pages 36 and 37. SECTION IX. SUBORDINATION IN THE SENTENCE Since the purpose of writing is to express thought, the question is not one of arbitrary rules, but of shaping the sentence to fit the thought. Sometimes we have a series of similar thoughts which need a series of like constructions to express them; sometimes our thoughts are very dissimilar; some of them are important and some unimportant. To express them aptly, then, we need different kinds of con- structions. To express our thoughts, we have only words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. Our most important thoughts we put in main statements ; less important ones we put in 40 A First Year English Book modifying or dependent clauses ; still less important ones we put in phrases ; less important ones yet in modifying words. How clumsy our expression would be if we used only statements of equal value is evident from selection i, in which almost every idea is in the form of a statement. Contrast this with selection 2, and note how much more accurately the thought is expressed in the latter. 1. Silver trumpets sounded a flourish. The javelin-men came pacing down Treggarric Fore Street. The sher- iff's coach swung behind them. Its panels were splendid with fresh blue paint and florid blazonry. Its wheels were picked out in yellow. This scheme of color extended to the coachman and the two lackeys, who held on at the back by leathern straps. Each wore a coat and breeches of electric blue, and a canary waistcoat. Each was toned off with powder and flesh-colored stockings at the extremities. Within the coach sat the two judges of the Crown Court and Nisi Prius. They sat facing the horses. They were both in scarlet. They wore wigs and little round patches of black plaster, like ventilators, on top. Facing their lord- ships, sat Sir Felix Felix-Williams. He was the sheriff. He wore a tightish uniform of the yeomanry. A great shako nodded on his knees. A chaplain sat bolt upright by his side. Behind, trooped a rabble of loafers and small boys. They shouted, "Who bleeds bran?" The lackeys' calves itched with indignation. 2. Silver trumpets sounded a flourish, and the jave- lin-men came pacing down Treggarric Fore Street, with the sheriff's coach swinging behind them, its panels splen- did with fresh blue paint and florid blazonry. Its wheels were picked out in yellow, and this scheme of color extended to the coachman and the two lackeys, who held on at the back by leathern straps. Each wore a coat and breeches of Ii3 Subordination in the Sentence 41 electric blue, with a canary waistcoat, and was toned off with powder and flesh-colored stockings at the extremities. Within the coach, and facing the horses, sat the two judges of the Crown Court and Nisi Prius, both in scarlet, with full wigs and little round patches of black plaster, like venti- lators, on top ; facing their lordship sat Sir Felix Felix- Williams, the sheriff, in a tightish uniform of the yeomanry with a great shako nodding on his knees, and a chaplain bolt upright by his side. Behind trooped a rabble of loafers and small boys who shouted "Who bleeds bran?" till the lackeys' calves itched with indignation. The Drawn Blind, A. T. Quiller-Couch. In order, then, to express your thoughts fittingly, you must be able to use all the different elements of a sentence — words, phrases, and clauses, — which are subordinate to the main statements. These subordinate elements are : 1. Modifying words, including adjectives, adverbs, pos- sessives, and appositives. • 2. Modifying phrases : (a) Prepositional. (b) Participial. (c) Infinitive. 3. Clauses beginning with a relative pronoun or a subordinating conjunction. Exercises 1. Turn to Section III., page 24; Exercise 4, pages 33- 34; and name the subordinate elements in each selection. 2. Rewrite the following selection in longer sentences, subordinating unimportant statements : The bowl of food stood on the chair. The rush-light was beside it. I finished the food, and felt better for it. I stretched myself upon the couch and fell into a heavy, 42 A First Year English Book dreamless asleep. This may have lasted three or four hours. I was suddenly awakened. I heard a sound that was like the creaking of hinges. I sat up on the pallet; I gazed around me. The rush-light had burned out and the cell was dark. A grayish glimmer at one end showed dimly the position of the aperture, but all else was thick and black. I strained my eyes and ears. I heard no further sound. Yet I was certain I had not been deceived. The noise which had aroused me was within my very chamber. I rose and felt my way carefully about the room. I passed my hands over the walls and door. Then I paced backward and for- ward. I tested the flooring. I sat down on the side of my bed. I waited patiently in the hope of hearing the sound again. Presently a dull yellow light streamed from above. It issued from a thin slit in the center of the arched roof above me. Eagerly I watched it. The slit widened and ex- tended as if a sliding panel were being pulled out. A good sized hole was left. Through this I saw a head. It looked down on me. The knotted end of a rope was passed through this opening. It dangled down to the dungeon floor. I pulled it. I found it was firmly secured above. I went up hand over hand. I had some difficulty in squeez- ing my shoulders through the hole. I succeeded in reaching the room above. Untrained or careless writers often write sentences made up of two statements connected by "and so," one of which is really subordinate to the other. This type of sentence is often called "loose-knit." An example is, "The sky was overcast, and so we carried our umbrellas." The sentence should read, "As the sky was overcast, we carried our umbrellas." Note that such sentences are poor because they do not accurately express the thought. 5. Correct the following loose-knit sentences : The king was ready to sail from France for England and a man asked the king to let him take him in the boat. Proportion and Detail 43 But the king had already engaged his boat, and so he told him to take the prince. And so the king sailed first. But the prince was a jolly fellow and so he staid until the moon came up. The prince had ordered festivities, and so they all danced and sang till midnight. Then they set sail. And the princess was with them. And they were still sing- ing merrily when suddenly the boat struck a rock. The prince got in a boat and shoved off, but he heard his sister call, and so he went back to get her. Then all the people rushed into the boat and overturned it, and so they were all drowned. Only one came ashore, and he was a butcher. And he went to the king and told the story. And the king never smiled again. SECTION X. PROPORTION AND DETAIL The Matter of Fairy Stories There is a large class of literature called folk lore and folk tales, which includes animal stories, myths, legends, fairy tales, and household tales. Nearly every child likes them, and some retain the liking till old age. Scientists who have spent years studying them tell us that such sto- ries as Cinderella, The Tar-Baby and Jack and the Bean Stalk are told to children from China to Peru. On the other hand, some persons consider such stories mere non- sense and a waste of time. Read the following selection from the life of Ebers : When the time for rising came, my mother called me. I climbed joyfully into her warm bed, and she drew her darling into her arms, played all sorts of pranks with him, and never did I listen to more beautiful fairy tales than at those hours. They became instinct with life to me, and have always remained so ; for my mother gave them the form of dramas, in which I was permitted to be an actor. The best one of all was Little Red Riding Hood. I played the little girl who goes into the wood, and she was 44 A First Year English Book the wolf. When the wicked beast had disguised herself in the grandmother's cap, I not only asked the regulation questions: "( jrandmother, what makes you have such big eyes? Grandmother, why is your skin so rough?" etc., but invented new ones to defer the grand final effect, which fol- low ed the words, "Grandmother, why do you have such big, sharp teeth ?" and the answer, "So that I can eat you," where- upon the wolf sprang on me and devoured me — with kisses. How real this merry sport made the distress of perse- cuted innocence, the terrors and charm of the forest, the joys and splendor of the fairy realm! If the flowers of the garden had raised their voice in song, if the birds on the bough had called and spoken to me — nay, if a tree had changed into a beautiful fairy, or the toad in the damp path of our shaded avenues into a witch — it would have seemed only natural.. I plead with voice and pen in behalf of fairy tales. I tell them to my children and grandchildren, and have even written a volume of them myself. How perverse and unjust it is to banish the fain- tale from the life of the child. because devotion to its charm might prove detrimental to the grown person! lias not the former the same claim to consideration as the latter? The Story <>( My Life, Ger old grub, Time out o' mind the fairies' coachma! Her wagon-spokes made of long spinners' legs; The cover, of the wings of grasshopper- ; The trace-, of the smallest spider's web; The collars, of the moonshine's watery beams; Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film; Her wagoner, a -mall gray-coated gnat. Not half so big as a round little worm Prick'd from the lazy fingers of a maid. Romeo \ consulting Rossetti's Poems. Do you forgive the prince his evil life because of his heroic death? 2. Rewrite this story in your own words. Decide which point is the more important: how a wicked king was punished, or how a wicked youth was yet capable of a great act. Tr\ to bring out clearly one point or the other; do not try to bring out both. ■?. Oral. If possible, tell in your own words one of the following accounts : 1. Bradford's story of the landing oi the pilgrims at Plymouth. 2. Napoleon's retreat from Moscow. 3. The burning of Moscow. 4. The capture oi Quebec. 5. The signing of the Declaration oi Independence. ./. The telephone enables us to hear sounds across a continent ; the phonograph enables us to hear words spoken months or years ago. Suppose that science could do the same thing for sights that it has done for sounds, so that by going into a room ami looking through a glass one could see what is happening at this moment at any place 60 A First Year English Book in the world; and even more, could see what happened years or ages ago; what scenes in the history of the world would you choose to seer Write on the one that interests you most. < >bserve the following directions: i. Try to write the story as if you had seen it. Imagine how the people moved, what they wore, and how their faces looked. 2. Tell the story in good proportion ; that is, give each incident its proper share of attention. 3. After you have made your first draft, go over the work carefully and see that your sentences are all clear. SECTIOX XV. THE PARAGRAPH IX DIALOGUE In writing conversation the speech of each person, to- gether with the words which go with it, is written as one paragraph. The words of each speaker are enclosed in quo- tation marks. For example: "Good woman, why do you weep?" asked Arthur, walking towards her. "Hush!" she cried, "or the giant will hear you." "Why do you weep?" the king repeated. "Alas ! because my mistress, the Duchess of Brittany, is dead. The giant has killed her." At that Arthur gripped the handle of his sword, and said, "I will kill this wretch before I am an hour older." When a speech is short, and at the same time belongs to the thought of the preceding sentences, it is added to these in the same paragraph. For example : The county was soon aware of Willoughby's engagement. The ladies especially were curious to see the fortunate O The Paragraph in Dialogue 61 young woman of his choice. When Mrs. Mountstuart met him at the hunt, her greeting was abrupt: "Let me see her." The following is written in what is called dramatic form ; that is, there are no quotation marks showing that someone is speaking ; the name of the speaker is written first, and is followed by a period, and if there is any comment on how he spoke and acted, it is inserted in parenthesis. This is the way in which plays are written. Giuseppe. They say you are careful of every thing ex- cept human life, excellency. Napoleon. Human life, my friend, is the only thing that takes care of itself. (He throws himself at ease on the couch.) Giuseppe (admiring him). Ah, excellency, what fools we all are beside you ! If I could only find out the secret of your success ! Napoleon. You would make yourself Emperor of Italy, eh? Giuseppe. Too troublesome, excellency. I leave all that to you. Besides, what would become of my inn if I were Emperor? See how you enjoy looking at me whilst I keep the inn for you and wait on you ! Well, I enjoy looking at you whilst you become Emperor of Europe and govern the country for me. (Whilst he chatters, he takes the cloth off without removing the mat and inkstand, and takes the cor- ners in his liands and the middle of the edge in his mouth to fold it up.) The Man of Destiny, George Bernard Shaw. Exercises /. Rewrite the following selection; paragraph the con- versation properly : 62 A First Year English Book I was still arguing it back and forth and getting no great clearness, when I came into the round-house and saw the Jacobite eating his supper under the lamp ; and at that my mind was made up all in a moment. I have no credit by me ; it was by no choice of mine, but as if by com- pulsion, that I walked right up to the table and put my hand on his shoulder. Do you want to be killed? said I. He sprang to his feet and looked a question at me as clear as if he had spoken. Oh! cried I, they're all murderers here; it's a ship full of them! They've murdered a boy already, now it's you. Ay, ay, said he; but they haven't got me yet And then looking at me curiously, Will ye stand with me? That will I! said I. I am no thief nor yet murderer. I'll stand by you. Why, then, said he. what's your name? David Balfour, said I; and then think- ing that a man with so fine a coat must like tine people, I added for the first time of Shaws. It never occurred to him to doubt me, for a Highlander is used to see great gentlefolk in great poverty ; but as he had no estate of his own, my words nettled a very childish vanity he had. My name is Stewart, he said, drawing himself up. Alan Breck, they call me. A king's name is good enough for me, though I bear it plain and have the name of no farm midden to clap to the hind-end of it. And having admin- istered this rebuke as though it were something of a chief importance, he turned to examine our defenses. The round- house was built strong, to support the breaching* of the seas. Of its five apertures, only the skylight and the two doors were large enough for the passage of a man. The doors, besides, could be drawn close; they were of stout oak, and ran in grooves, and were fitted with hooks to keep them either shut or open, as the need arose. The one that was already shut I secured in this fashion ; but when I was proceeding to slide to the other, Alan stopped me. David, said he. for I cannot bring to mind the name of your landed estate, and so will make so bold as to call you David — that door, being open, is the best part of my defenses. It would be yet better shut says I. Xot so, David, says he. Ye see. I have but one face ; but so long as that door is open and my face to it, the best part of my The Paragraph in Dialogue 63 enemies will be in front of me, where I would aye wish to find them. 2. Rewrite the following story, putting into dialogue form the parts printed in italics. Introduce descriptive details where they are necessary to make us see the speakers clearly : A beautiful damsel named Lynette came to King Arthur's court, and told him that her sister, Lyonors, was kept a prisoner in her castle Perilous. A river circled three times around the castle, and across the three passing-places, three brother knights kept guard. The damsel Lynette asked for a knight zuho would rescue her sister from these men who wanted her to marry one of them that they might have her great wealth. Gareth, a knight zvho zvas serving in disguise as a kitchen-boy, asked that the adventure be given to him. The king agreed, but Lynette, who zvas very angry, cried out on Arthur and hurried from the court. Gareth, putting on armor, and mounting a horse, fol- lowed her, and catching up to her, told her to lead, and he would follow. But she ordered him to go back, saying that she smelt kitchen grease. Nevertheless he followed her, and after a time they approached the first circle of the river. Lynette told Gareth that he had better return as he -would be overthrown, but lie refused to give up the adventure. On the other side of the river was a silk- draped pavilion in front of which passed a tall warrior without armor. Lynette cailed to him that Arthur so despised him that he was sending a kitchen knave to fight with him. While the knight put on his armor, Lynette asked Gareth if he zcere afraid. He said no, and that he would rather tight with twenty men than hear her unkind words. The warrior rode forth and taunted him, and Gareth, answering, rode at him fiercely, and soon overthrew him and sent him back to Arthur's court. As they rode on, Lynette, smiling, said that she did not smell the kitchen grease so much as she had. When they reached the second circle of the river she again bade Gareth go back, since 64 - 1 First Year English Book a kitchen knave should not fight with knights, and when he would not return, she called to the second knight that she was bringing a kitchen-boy who had overthrown his brother. The warrior shouted, and rode fiercely at ( iareth. It was a long time before Gareth overthrew him, and sent him back to King Arthur's court. As Gareth rode on, following Lynette, she looked back and said the ivarrior's horse hod slipped or Gareth could never have been the victor, but that he could not overthrow the third warrior, who was by far the greatest of the three brothers. When they reached the third warrior, a huge man, he rode forward fiercely, and for a long time he and Gareth fought, (iareth grew very tired, and began to fear that he should be conquered. But when his strokes were be- coming feeble, Lynette called out that he was doing bravely, that he was not a kitcheu-knare, but a noble lord, the greatest she knew. This so encouraged (iareth that he con- quered the knight, 'I hen //(' turned to Lynette. telling her to lead that he might follow. But she replied that they must HOW ride side by side, and that she was sorry she had treated him unkindly. Then they rode on together to the castle ^i 1 .yonors. y. Choose one incident in the story of Robin Hood and write it out in dramatic form. The scene should be one which would "act" well ; that is, something interesting should happen, which could be "acted out" on a stage. 4. Write out in dramatic form some incident from real life, such as "The Last Fifteen Minutes Before Our Foot- ball Team Goes Into Play"; "Catching the 8:05 Train"; "A Rehearsal for the School Entertainment." 5. Rewrite the paragraph on page 124. beginning "He then led me." Paragraph the conversation properly. PART II TELLING YOUR OWN EXPERIENCES SECTION I. FINDING AN INTERESTING SUBJECT We now come to the second large source of material — your own experience. Something is always happening to you, your senses are always reporting to you from the out- side world, and you are always thinking about these intel- ligences. So the difficulty here is that there is so much to \ choose from. The best way is to choose what interests you more than f anything else. Perhaps today it is the game of ball to be played tomorrow, or the party you attended last night. Or possibly you want to know how the serial story is coming out that you are reading in a magazine. Whatever it may '• be, the subject you are thinking most about today is the one I you can write about best. Exercises /. Make a list of ten subjects in which you are inter- ested. 2. What subjects in the following list interest you? i. The Boy Next Door. 2. My Brother's Pony. 3. My Favorite Book. 4. How to Make a Canoe. 5. Our Summer Cottage. 6. How to Elect a Mayor. 65 56 A First Year English Book 7. My New Fishing-Rod Pole. 8. How to Make a Paper Hat. 9. Learning to Swim. 10. A New Picture. 11. Why I Like Alan Breck Stewart. 12. My Favorite Historical Character. 13. A Day with Huckleberry Finn 14. Abraham Lincoln. [5. Making a Summer Camp. 10. How 1 Used to Get the < tysters for Breakfast 17. Our Swimming Pond. 18. My First Diary. 19. The Advantage of 1 laving an Allowance 20. How to Preserve Rose Leaves. 21. Making Raspbeiry Vinegar. 22. When I Go to Europe. 2$. My Row Boat. 24. Robert E. Lee. 25. A Straw Ride. 26. A Surprise Party. 27. My Birthday Experiences. 28. My Adventure in the ( Md House. 29. Digging for Treasure. 30. How to Draw a Map of North America 31. What I Found in an ( )ld Trunk. 32. Starved Rock. 2,2,- In a Haying Field. 34. A Country Store. 35. How the Streets arc Cleaned. 36. Washing Day. 37. The Captain's Barometer. 38. The Story of My Uncle's Sword. 39. The Madonna of the Chair. 40. The Fire Next Door. 41. A Pair of Twins. 42. Sailing a Boat. 43. Making Dried Apples. 44. Our Railroad Station. 45. The Keeper of Our Post-Office, 46. Making a Garden. 47. How I Earned Mv First Money. Making the Subject Definite 67 48. How We Organized Our Base-Ball Team. 49. What I Would Do with a Thousand Dollars. 50. The Trained Dog. j. Make a list of five subjects that you talk about during the rest of the day. ./. Make a list of four subjects that you have heard your fellow students talk of lately. 5. Make a list of your favorite heroes and heroines in fiction. 6. Make a list of your favorite heroes and heroines in history. 7. Make a list of three subjects that you hear discussed by your parents or teachers. 8. Make a list of ten subjects about which you know most. SECTION II. MAKING THE SUBJECT DEFINITE You must have noticed in the lists of subjects you have made that you have put down some general subjects, such as "Fishing," or "Books," or "Sewing." You probably will not have included any such subject as "Ambition," or "Du- plicity," for very few people take any real interest in such abstract and general topics. If you should try to write about such subjects as "Automobiles," "Novels," "Sewing," "Longfellow's Works," you would soon find yourself in difficulties. It is hard to begin such a subject ; there is no handle to take it up by. But you could write about "My Cousin's Automobile," "My Favorite Novel," "How to Make a Hemstitched Handkerchief," "Longfellow's The Skeleton in Armor." The examples given above show that you may take a large subject and limit it until you are able to handle it. 68 A First Year English Book- You may begin with such a subject as "Books," and narrow it first to "English Books of Fiction," then to "English Novels," and lastly to Silas Marner. Or "Sports" may become "Outdoor Sports"; "Football"; "How to Play Half- back." It. then, you are to write about something which will interesl you and your reader, you must choose a definite subject fully within your power of handling. Exercises /. Narrow the following subjects: Flections. Photography. The Kings of England. Ocean Steamers. Storms. Colonial Customs. Summer Vacations. Cod Fisheries. Horses. Reading. Christianity. Authors. 2. Make a list of five definite subjects about fishing, sewing, or cooking. ,\ Look at the pictures opposite pages 80, too, and 120, and make a list of three small and definite subjects about each. ./. Oral. Note in the picture of the pilgrims going to church, opposite page 180, the appearance of the landscape. What effect does it have? Why do the pilgrims choose the particular order in which they walk? What expressions do the faces of the men and women wear? Of what are they probably thinking? Note their clothes. Note the way in which the men carry their weapons. Whose face do you like best? Whose face do you like least? 5. ( )ral. Answer similar questions on Columbus at the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella, opposite page 140. The Notes 69 SECTION III. THE NOTES One reason why you find it difficult to write is that you see things and hear things without noting them carefully, so that when you want to put them in a composition you have forgotten most of what you saw and heard. The best way of remembering is to make notes of your experiences. Indeed, the very act of making notes fixes your attention, so that you will see more than you have ever seen before, record more accurately, and remember more vividly. Charles Dickens said that when he went into a room he always remembered everything that was in it, even if he were there only for a moment. But very few people have such a memory as that ; and certainly most of our great writers, such as Hawthorne and Stevenson, have filled note- books with accounts of what they saw and heard in their everyday life. You can do no better than follow in their steps. In taking notes, write your impressions down just as they occur to you. The first necessity is to get everything down ; you can arrange afterwards. Write not only what you see, but also any reflections that come to you. For instance, you may be walking in the rain in the spring, and seeing the young growing things, you say, "I believe things in the spring have a great deal of curiosity ; they are stretching up to see what the rain is." That is certainly worth writing down. Or you may notice that when the old postman smiles, his mouth goes up at one side. Then you may begin to ask vourself what gives the peculiar effect to the smiles of dif- ferent people. So you will find yourself observing and remembering more accurately than ever before. The following selection is from Whitman's Memoranda of the War: /O ./ First Year English Book I am writing this, nearly sundown, watching a cav- alry company (acting Signal service), jusl come in through a shower, making their night's camp ready on some broad, vacant ground, a sort of hill, in full view opposite my window. There are the nun in their yellow - striped jackets. All are dismounted; the freed horses stand with drooping heads and wet sides ; they are to be led off presently in groups, to water. The little wall- tents and shelter tents spring* up quickly. 1 see the fires already blazing, and pots and kettles over them. Some among the men are driving in tent-poles, wielding their axes with strong, slow blows. I see great huddles of horses, bundles of hay, groups of men (some with un- buckled sabers yet on their sides), a few officers, piles of wood, the Barnes of the tires, saddles, harness, etc. The smoke streams upward, additional men arrive and dismount — some drive in stakes and tie their horses to them; some go with buckets for water, some are chopping wood, and so on. litre Whitman leaves you in no doubt as to the time of day, the weather, where he is and where the company is. He gives you a general view of the groups of men. animals and objects. Then he particularizes : the men are in '"yel- low-striped jackets;" the horses stand with "drooping heads and wet sides;" the men drive their axes with "strong, slow blows." He gives you a vivid picture because he has observed accuratelv. Exercises i. Stand on a bridge, look up and down the stream, and take notes of what you see. 2. Make notes on the view from your room. j. Make notes of what you see in the picture opposite page 80. 4. Make notes on the oddest-looking person you know The Notes 71 5. Make notes of the most interesting street scene you watched today. 6. Alake notes on a conversation you heard on the play- ground or the street. 7. Make notes, as you have opportunity, on a picnic, a church bazaar, a street procession, a sky-scraper in process of erection, a football game, a boat-race, a skating scene, a street fair, a visit to the zoological gardens, or to a museum of natural history. Bring the notes to class for report and discussion. 8. From the notes you have made, choose the subject in which you are most interested, and write it out in con- nected form. You will doubtless find it necessary to change the order of your notes in order to make your theme clear and straightforward. p. Let the teacher show the class a picture for a few moments, and then let the class describe it as fully as pos- sible. 10. Let the class look at a view and then describe it min- utely. //. Let the teacher read to the class some passages of interesting information ; let them make brief notes, and then give as full and accurate an account of the matter as they can. 12. Change the following to simple sentences by using participles or infinitives wherever you can. 1. The frogs became tired of the rule of King Log and they desired a new king. 2. He was wearied by their importunities and he granted their request. 3. When they received their new king they regretted the change. 4. They wanted a change in order that they might have excitement. ~2 A hirst Year English Book 5. The new king gave them more than they wished ; he ate a dozen frogs every morning for breakfast. 6. They arrived at the station ; they found that the train had gone. 7. lie crossed the bridge; he peered cautiously through the bushes ; there he beheld Robin Hood and his merry men. 8. Gareth went to the king's court; his purpose was to be sent on a quest and gain great glory. 9. When he reached the court, he was assigned to menial service in the king's kitchen. 10. The man who is brave is the man who wins. 11. He put on his armor; he mounted his horse, and he rode swiftly after the scornful lady, Lynette. 1 j. When he was confronted by the two black knights he did not lose hope for an instant. SECTION IV. UNITY So far, you have learned to find material, to choose what you want of it, to see for yourself, to use your imagination, and to find subjects in books and papers. You now come to closer quarters with the problem of how best to plan and tell what you have to say. All writing is an attempt to express your thought; it goes without saying that you cannot write if you cannot think. The first requisite is to have clearly in mind just what you want to bring out in your writing. The next requirement is to stick to your point ; not to put in what does not concern it, and to include what does concern it. This may seem to you simple advice, hut how many people actually follow it ? If you listen carefully to the average person who tries to tell a story, you will notice that he does not go straight for- ward, dealing with one subject and one only. He drags in details which have nothing to do with the subject. Unity 73 Your composition, tbo w , should deal with one subject. \ If it does, it will be possible to find a title which will name or suggest the main theme — which will hit the center of the subject. The title will serve as a test, i If your composition treats^ of but one subject, you can find a title which will state itff if you have treated more than one subject, you cannorrind a title which will accurately name your com- position. Exercises /. Write the story of some interesting incident in your life. The following subjects may be suggestive: i. My First Day in School. 2. A Tragedy in the Oak Tree. 3. My First Visit to the Theater. 4. My First Experience with a Bicycle. 5. Camping by Lake. 6. How I Learned to Ride a Broncho. 7. My First Experience in Cooking. 8. My Visit to New York, Washington, Chicago. 9. How I Trained a Dog (or some other animal). 10. Going to the Circus. 11. The Unloading of the Circus. 12. A Runaway. 13. A Big Fire. 14. My First Experience with an Automobile. Rrview of Rules for Writing In writing your composition, observe the following direc- tions : 1. Choose something that has really happened to your- self. 74 -' First Year English Book 2. Choose a title which names the main interest of your story. 3. Throughout your writing, keep your mind fixed on your main idea; see that you stick to the subject. 4. After you have made your first draft, go over it carefully to see that it contains nothing which should be omitted. 5. Be sure that each sentence begins with a capital let- ter and ends with a period. Exercises Make these sentences either simple or complex by sub ordinating some statements: 1. It was already hard upon October; 1 was read} to set forth; my road led over high altitudes; there was no Indian summer to be looked for. 2. 1 was determined to camp out ; I did nut wish to be obliged always to reach the shelter of an inn by dusk. 3. Now. a tent is troublesome tu pitch; it is especiall) so for a solitary traveler. 4. I thought the matter over ; I decided on a sleeping- sack ; this has many advantages. 5. It serves a double purpose ; it is a bed by night; it is a portmanteau by day ; it does not advertise your intention of camping out to every curious passer-by. This is a high point. 6. I could not carry all my baggage on my shoulders; I must choose a beast of burden. 7. The path became gradually fainter, and it disappeared at length in a tangle of thorns and bushes. 8. The sun was setting and we descried on our right the steep roofs of an old castle ; it stood among lofty crags. 9. Goldsmith spent two years roving about the conti- Unity 75 nent; he said he was pursuing" novelty and losing content; then he landed at Dover early in 1756. 10. You may easily imagine what difficulties he had to encounter; he was left without friends, recommendations, or money. 11. At length we find him launched in the great metrop- olis ; he was drifting about the streets ; it was in the gloomy month of February ; he had but a few half-pence in his pocket. Even when you are thinking primarily of your subject, you are liable to include something which does not belong to it. It is, therefore, necessary to be definitely on your guard against this fault. The following composition relat- ing a true experience has this fault : MY EXPERIENCE WITH A BURGLAR (1) It was so hot the night of my birthday, July the tenth, that I could not sleep, and kept tossing and turning on my pillows. (2) I suppose I was excited, too, by some unexpected presents I had received after supper. (3) The doorbell rang at eight o'clock, and the expressman brought a silver watch from cousin Alice, and a set of carpenter's tools from great uncle Henry. (4) I can tell you I felt proud thinking how I'd show them to the boys next day. (5) I am the only boy around who has carpenter's tools. (6) I was so uncomfortable in my own bed that I thought I would go to the spare room, which is over the side porch. (7) It felt good to slip between the cool sheets, and I soon began to doze. (8) Mother hardly ever lets me sleep in the spare room. (9) Pretty soon I heard a little click and a scraping sound. (10) I don't know why they made me wide awake, but they did, and I sat up and listened. (11) The sound came again, and I knew it was from the porch. (12) Then I knew that somebody was gently raising the window higher. (13) Perhaps if I hadn't been so fright- y6 A First Year English Book ened 1 might have made for the door. (14) My sister always runs when she is afraid. (15) But then maybe I should have been shot at. (16) Anyway, what I did was to slip gently between the sheets again and pretend to go to sleep. (17) But while I was taking long breaths, I was thinking. (18) The burglar would probably see me, but if he did not, he would go out of the door down the passage to Father's room. (19) If he did that, I should slip into the closet which has another door opening on the back hall, and I should then go to John's room. (20) John, who drives our horses, is very strong, and I know he could knock down any burglar. (21) When he was young he gave his brother a slap in fun and knocked him senseless, and that was when he found out how strong he was. (22) It seemed about a week before the burglar finally stepped inside the room. (23) The first thing he did was to come to the bed and flash a light on my face. (24) I went on breathing deeply, though it seemed about a week before he moved away. (25) I heard him at the bureau and the closet, but I knew he wouldn't find anything, unless it was the door. (26) Mother never keeps anything of value in the spare room. (27) I have an aunt, though, who keeps the silver between the sheets of her spare bed. (28) After a while, I heard him opening the bedroom door, and when I had given him time enough, I slipped out of bed and into the closet, pulled open the door, and just flew through the hall and down the stairs into John's room. (29) It took a little time to waken John, and a little more to show him I wasn't just trying to scare him. (30) But when we got up stairs, I was disgusted to find that the burglar was nowhere to be seen. (31) But the open window and the marks on the roof of the porch showed that there really had been one. (32) So that was the end of my first and last experience with a burglar. Observe the following points : 1. The subject of this composition is the experience with the burglar. The writer must decide what to put in and what to leave out according to this subject. Unity jj 2. The writer begins well by explaining the reason why he slept in the room which the burglar entered. But when he tries to tell part of the reason why he was not sleepy, he does not stick to the subject. Sentence 2 is on the point, but sentences 3, 4, and 5 have nothing to do with the burglar. Every sentence which does not in some way concern the main incident should be omitted. Of the three sentences, 5 is farthest off the point. Sentences 8, 14, 21, and 27 have nothing to do with the story. Sentence 26 should be omitted. All these irrelevant sentences are connected with the boy's experience; they mean something to him, and that is why they slipped into the story almost in spite of him. But the writer should always remember that nothing must be used in a composition which does not bear on the main point ; that is, he must stick to his subject. Criticize the following selections with these questions and suggestions in mind : 1. What do you think should be the title of each? 2. How many subjects does each contain, and what are these? 3. Can you find instances in which something should be added to make the subject clear? 4. Strike out, where you can, irrelevant sentences. MY CHICKENS I always wanted to keep chickens, and at last Father said I might. He bought me four Plymouth Rock hens and four settings of eggs. I put them in the old hen house. Father had let Michael Ray paint it gray. While he painted it, I watched him, and he told me stories. He doesn't tell such interesting stories as Father, but he meant well. Father said the chickens wouldn't come out for three weeks, but I used to look at them every day, just in case y8 A First Year English Book these should be quicker. At last one morning when I went to the hen-house I could hear little peepings. And there were some chickens out, and others half out. The hen and I helped those which were inside their shells to get out. When chickens first get out they seem damp and tired. I felt like drying them with my handkerchief, but the hen looked a little cross, so I didn't. They were very pretty little things, and for two or three days I spent a good deal of time with them. Some of my time I spent in reading and in studying French. Then I used to practice duets with Amy Roberts. She lives in the house next to ours. As my chickens grew up, I was fonder and fonder of them. I had names for them all. I called a bald one "Truth." and the lazy one "Dickens' Fat Boy," and the thin one "Ichabod Crane." But I noticed that when I called one they all came running. I tried to teach them tricks, but I think chickens must be stupid, for they wouldn't learn. Now, our dog learned tricks very easily. Amy Roberts says you can teach a horse to count if he is the right kind of horse. But although they were stupid, I couldn't bear to lose one, and if any died, I always buried it. Besides, I never would let Mother have one for dinner, and she bought chickens to eat from a farmer's wife. Father said he could not appreciate my sentiment when it made him pay for an extra dinner. But T am sorry now that I did not let him have my chickens to eat. One day when I woke up, I remembered that I had forgotten to lock the hen-house door. When I ran out to see if anything had happened, I found the door open and nothing inside but a few feathers. Some thief had stolen all my pretty chickens. I have never felt like keeping any since. MRS. TULLIVER'S DEFENSE [Mrs. Pullet has been objecting to Mr. Tulliver because he is not deferential enough to his w r ife's family. The fol- lowing is Mrs. Tulliver's reply.] "I'm sure, sister, I can't help myself," she said. "There's no woman strives more for her children ; and, I'm sure, at scouring time this Ladyday, as I've had all the bed- Unity 79 hangings taken down, I did as much as the two gells put together ; and there's this last elder-flower wine I've made beautiful ! I always offer it along with the sherry, though Sister Glegg will have it I'm so extravagant; and as for liking to have my clothes tidy, and not go a fright about the house, there's nobody in the parish can say anything against me in respect o' backbiting and making mischief, for I don't wish anybody any harm ; and nobody loses by sending me a pork-pie, for my pigs are fit to show with the best o' my neighbors' : and the linen's so in order, as if I was to die tomorrow I shouldn't be ashamed. A woman can do no more nor she can." The Mill On The Floss, George Eliot. HOW GREEN PEAS ARE CANNED When we consider the fact that many vegetables which a few years ago were unknown in this country are at the present time canned and ready for table use, do we not find it interesting to know something of the process of canning? I did not think how wonderful the process of canning is till I saw it done. I happened to be at Stur- geon Bay where there is a large pea canning factory. The building was very close to the lake, and it was a rather old-looking place, but everything was exceptionally clean. As I was walking along the sidewalk I glanced into a driveway where I saw a man pitching some kind of vines from an old wagon into a window. Upon inquiring what the vines were I was informed that they were pea vines being put into a chute leading to the factory. Having seen this much I was extremely anxious to see what became of all those peas. I walked up the driveway a little distance and looking into the building saw many interesting ma- chines. The building was large and roomy and the scene was one of a very busy life. However, a gentleman evidently had noticed me standing outside, curiously looking into the building, and he came out to ask me if I should not like to come into the place. When I started in I noticed how clean everything looked. The floor was of cement and was 80 A First Year English Book still damp from being scrubbed. Evidently I acted as if I were going to stop there, for the gentleman asked if I would not like to go through the place, and much to my surprise, left me. This offered me a chance to learn something of interest ; so I ventured inside, where another gentleman ushered me around, explaining the entire process of canning peas. The first thing to be seen is a place where the peas in the pods are thrown out of the chutes in which they are sep- arated from the vines. They are then put into a machine where they are shelled and then thrown into a tank of water to be well washed. Then the peas are put into a large zinc cylinder which revolves slowly. There are in this cylinder holes of medium size out of which the smallest peas drop into another tank of water, where they are washed thor- oughly before being put into the next tank, where they are cooked and made ready for canning. The rest of the peas go into another cylinder in which are holes of a larger size, and so the peas are separated into three sizes. The peas are next cooked in great vats of boiling water, and then rolled down a trough into the canning room, and thence to the soldering room, where the cans are sealed. Thev are then cooled in great tanks of water, labeled, packed in boxes, and are ready for market. Exercises /. Find in the daily newspapers an article which does not stick to the subject. Read it to the class and criticize it. 2. Turn to the notes you took under Exercise I, page 70. Do you find in them one main subject? If so, write a composition on that subject. 3. Oral. State the main situation suggested by the pic- ture opposite this page. 7. In the following exercises combine each group of hi o o o The Topic and the Paragraph 81 sentences into a single sentence by changing some of them into modifying words or clauses: 1. Years passed away. Paul grew up; he was a quiet boy. He was unpretending. He had a shy look and awk- ward behavior. 2. Generally he kept apart. He took care of the twins. He would sit for hours and work at some wood-carving. 3. Meanwhile, he would not say a word to anyone. He had little intercourse with boys of his own age even at school. 4. The old seaman sat before the fire. It threw fan- tastic shadows on the walls. 5. He wore his hair in a tarry pigtail. This fell over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat. 6. Every day he would come back from his stroll. He would ask if any sea- faring men had gone along the road. 7. I remember the wooden sea-chest. It stood in his room. It was fastened with a heavy lock. None of us had ever seen it open. 8. I remember the appearance of his coat. He patched it himself. Before the end it was nothing but patches. 9. It was already candle-light. We reached the ham- let. We hoped to find aid there. SECTION V. THE TOITC AND THE PARAGRAPH In writing a composition, then, you must know what sub- ject you are going to write about; you must treat that sub- ject and nothing else. Very often you will find that your subject contains but one topic. Many editorials, many an- &2 .1 First Year English Book &' ecdotes, some poems, treat only one topic. Generally, how- ever, you will find that your subject falls into two or three main topics. Suppose you were going to write about how you spent your holiday. You would probably find that your subject divided into two topics ; what happened in the morning, and what happened in the afternoon. If the morning had been dull, but the afternoon had been interesting because of three things that happened, you would doubtless begin your com- position with the statement that there was nothing to tell about the morning, and then you would go on to treat the three interesting events of the afternoon. If you were tell- ing how you cooked a meal, your first topic might be an account of how you planned your courses, and the second, how you carried out your plan. Or your first topic might be, "Collecting and Preparing the Different Articles of Food," and the second, "Cooking and Serving the Meal." Most subjects, then, contain several topics, or main parts. In order to make these easily evident to the eye, compo- sitions are divided into paragraphs. Each paragraph states a topic and then discusses it. ' Just as you must deal with one subject in your whole composition, so you must deal with one part of your subject in each paragraph. /A paragraph must treat of one topic and one only ; it must stick to the point. \ THE LAST LESSON [After the Franco-Prussian war the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine were ceded to the Germans.] That morning it was quite late before I started for school, and I was terribly afraid I should be scolded, for Monsieur Ffamel had told us that he would question us upon participles, and I did not know the first thing about The Topic and the Paragraph 83 them. The blackbirds whistling upon the outskirts of the voods, the Prussians drilling in the meadow, tempted me, but I went on my way. When I reached the town hall, I saw a group of people who loitered before the little grat- ing, reading the placards posted upon it. For two years, every bit of bad news about our lost battles had been announced to us from that grating. As I hurried across the square, the blacksmith told me that I should reach Monsieur Hamel's soon enough, but I thought he was mak- ing fun of me. I was all out of breath when I arrived. Usually the place was full of uproar, all of us reciting lessons at the top of our voices, all shouting together, and each of us stopping his ears that he might hear better. But on this day a Sabbath stillness reigned. I entered in the midst of that deep silence, blushing, but Monsieur Hamel, without anger, told me to take my seat quickly. When I had recovered from my fright, I noticed that our master had on his handsome green frock-coat, and his finest frilled shirt which he wore only upon inspection days, or upon those occasions when prizes were distributed. But the greatest surprise of all came when my eye fell upon the benches at the farther end of the room. Usually, they were empty, but this morning, the villagers sat there, solemn as ourselves. "My children," said Monsieur Hamel, in a grave and gentle tone, "this is the last day I shall teach you. The order has come from Berlin that henceforth in the schools of Alsace and Lorraine all instruction shall be given in German. Your new master will arrive to-morrow. To- day you hear the last lesson you will receive in French, and I beg you will be most attentive." My last French lesson ! and I scarcely knew how to write ! How I grudged every moment I had lost ! And those books which a moment before were so dull and heavy seemed now to wear the faces of old friends to whom I could not bear to bid farewell. Now I understood why Monsieur Hamel wore his finest clothes, why the villagers had come. I was busied with these reflections when Mon- sieur Hamel called on me to recite. Ah ! what would I not have given then had I been able to repeat from begin- ning to end that famous rule for the use of the participles ; 84 A First Year English Book but I became entangled in the first few words. Monsieur Hamel, however, did not chide me. Instead, he began to speak of the French language, saying it was the clearest, most beautiful language in the world, which we must keep as our heritage, never allowing it to be forgotten, telling us that when a nation has become enslaved, she holds the key which shall unlock her prison as long as she preserves her native tongue. Then he took a grammar and read our lesson to us. and I was amazed to see how well I under- stood. After that, he set us at writing, giving us copies on which he had written in a beautiful round hand, "France, Alsace! France, Alsace!" Not a sound was heard but the scratching of our pens. Once, some cockchafers entered the room, but not even the tiniest pupils paid the least atten- tion to them. They were absorbed in tracing their straight strokes as conscientiously as if these, too, were written in French. Whenever I looked up from my page, I saw Monsieur Hamel gazing fixedly about the little school where he had taught for forty years. Suddenly, we heard the church clock strike twelve, and the Angelus. At the same moment, a trumpet blast under our windows announced that the Prussians were returning from drill. Monsieur Hamel rose in his chair. He was very pale ; never before had he seemed to me so tall as at that moment. He tried to speak, but he could not finish his sentence. Then he took a piece of chalk, and wrote in his largest hand. "Vive la France!" He remained standing at the blackboard, his head resting against the wall. He did not speak again, but a motion of his hand said to us, "That is all. You are dismissed." Adapted from the French of Daudct. The first paragraph tells how Francois set out for school, and what he saw on the way. The second relates how he entered the silent room, and what he saw there. The third is a short paragraph of conversation in which Monsieur Hamel tells the children that they are studying- their last French lesson. The fourth long paragraph gives an account of the lesson, and the fifth tells of the dismissal. Each oara- The Topic and the Paragraph 85 graph, as yon see, deals with a different topic ; each is im- portant enough to have a paragraph by itself. You will note, too, that each paragraph deals with one topic only. Nothing is introduced which is not needed ; nothing is left out which should be introduced. For example, in the first paragraph we must be told about the lesson on the parti- ciples, the Prussians drilling, the placards, and the words of the blacksmith, because all those details are used later on. In the second paragraph we must be told of the usual uproar in order to feel the contrast of the unusual silence. We must know of the master's fine clothes, and of the presence of visitors. In the fourth paragraph, the little detail of the cockchafers serves to show how perfectly the attention of the children was held. There are a great many points of interest about this story. The suspense is very well handled ; it is only in the third paragraph that the boy understands the situation ; till then we are wondering what has happened. The detail about the Prussians in the first and last paragraphs adds a great deal. Throughout, the author makes you feel the pathos in the fact that these oeople of Alsace were forced to give up their nationality. Exercises 1. Oral. Turn back to page 26, The Arrival, and state the topics treated in each paragraph. 2. State the topics in the paragraphs of the following selection. Passing through many a mile of pine and spruce woods, toward the centre of the park you come to the famous Yellowstone Lake. It is about twenty miles long and fifteen wide, and lies at a height of nearly eight thou- sand feet above the level of the sea, amid dense black 86 ./ First Year English Hook forests and snowy mountains. Around its winding, waver- ing shores, closely forested and picturesquely varied with promontories and bays, the distance is more than one hun- dred miles. It is not very deep, only from two hundred to three hundred feet, and contains less water than the celebrated Lake Tahoe of the California Sierra, which is nearly the same size, lies at a height of six thousand four hundred feet, and is over sixteen hundred feet deep. But no other lake in North .America of equal area lies so high as the Yellowstone, or gives birth to so noble a river. The terraces around its shores show that at the close of the glacial period its surface was about one hundred and sixty feet higher than it is now, and its area nearly twice as great. It is full of trout, and a vast multitude of birds, swans, pelicans, geese, ducks, cranes, herons, curlews, plovers, snipe — feed in it and upon its shores ;. and many forest animals come out of the woods and wade a little way in shallow, sandy places to look about them, and cool them- selves in the free flowing breezes. The Absaroka Mountains and the Wind River Plateau on the east and south pour their gathered waters into it, and the river issues from the north side in a broad, smooth, stately current, silently gliding with such serene majesty that one fancies it knows the vast journey of four thousand miles that lies before it, and the work it has to do. For the first twenty miles its course is in a level, sunny valley lightly fringed with trees, through which it flows in silvery reaches stirred into spangles here and there by ducks and leaping trout, making no sound save a low whispering among the pebbles and the dripping willows and sedges of its banks. Then suddenly, as if preparing for hard work, it rushes eagerly, impetuously forward rejoicing in its strength, breaks into foam-bloom, and goes thundering flown into the Grand Canon in two magnificent falls, one hundred and three hundred feet high. Our Notional Parks, John MuiB. j. Write a theme on one of the following subjects, using the topic sentences suggested. The Topic and the Paragraph 87 THE FIREMAN'S CALLING There are a great many dangerous occupations in the world, but among them all, none is more interesting to me than that of the fireman. His daily work consists in . . . But the excitement and danger in the fireman's life . . . BRIDGES Modern invention has introduced many new methods into industry. The use of steel frames, for instance, has changed the process of bridge-building. The old bridges used to be made of stone . . . (Describe.) But nowadays all the great bridges are built of steel, and many of them are of huge size and' stand very high across the water. One of the best examples is the Brook- lyn bridge. (Describe.) THE WILD BEAST TRAINER There are many queer ways of getting a living, such as fortune-telling, tight-rope walking, and jugglery; and one often wonders why people enter such strange callings. One of the most unusual and at the same time most interest- ing of occupations is that of the wild beast tamer. . . . I can think of three reasons why people follow this call- ing. ( Write a paragraph on each. ) A QUESTION OF MORALITY In the Middle Ages they had a strange way of settling a dispute, called the "Trial by battle." . . . (Describe it.) This custom seems to me [ Hght J because . . . (Give your reasons why.) 88 A First Year English Book S< >LDIER AND SAID >R TOO Few nun nowadays lead such adventurous lives as did that old soldier of fortune, Captain John Smith. His life in Europe was full of strange happenings. . . . {Nar- rate.) But more familiar to us are lh> adventures in America. . . . {Narrate, i 1 HE CARRIER PIGEoX The carrier pigeon is . . . {Describe it. ) It has a remarkable instinct which enables it to . . . ( Tell how it will find its home.) This instinct in the carrier pigeon has sometimes been of great service to man . . . t Tell how. > /. ( Iral. Discuss the following subject, using the topic sentences suggested : There are two characters in history I always like to read about: one is ; the other . I like to read about . . . {Tell why you like to read of the first. I I like to read of . . . {Tell why you like to read of the second, > 5. Oral. In the same way discuss the following: We often think that there is no chance nowadays to do anything heroic, but when we read of such a man a^ Father Damien we know that there are opportunities now just as there were in the days of King Arthur. Father Damien's early life was . . . 1 Narrate. 1 At last he found his life work . . . {Narrate.) The Plan 89 SECTION VI. THE PLAN So far it is clear that you should have definitely in mind your subject and the main topics into which it naturally divides. It does not matter how you accomplish this, but most people find it a help to make a plan before writing. Some people write down the subject, and the main parts into which it divides, even before taking notes. Others make the notes first, then look through them to determine the topics, and then write the plan. The following plans and notes written on the same subject by two brothers will show you how different people treat the same subject. The first boy made his plan and then took notes ; the second used the opposite method. ALECK'S COMPOSITION Subject: Hoiv We Made Maple Sugar. Plan 1. Going to the woods. 2. What we did before the sap was ready to boil. 3. Making the sugar. Rough Notes Early start. Vacation time. Cousin Miles. Utensils. Arrival at grove. House in the woods. Gathering brush for fire. Putting in spouts. The troughs. Collecting sap. Waiting for it to boil. Watching the kettles. Supper. Sap poured out. Hardened into sugar. The First Draft (1) We were visiting Cousin Miles in Soperton, Canada, during our spring vacation. (2) He has a small 90 A First Year English Hook grove of maple trees from which he makes maple sugar. (3) The grove used to be much larger, but fire destroyed a good deal of it. (4) One reason why Father wanted us to visit Cousin Miles was so that we could see how maple sugar was made. (5) He used to like making it when he was a boy. (6) So we were looking forward to going to the grove. (7) We got up early on one morning, Cousin Miles, the hired man, whose name is Jim, Joe and I, and drove behind the old mule. (8) I was so sleepy at first that I did not see what we had in the cart with us. (9) But after a while I noticed that we had a great iron pot that would hold about forty gallons, eight wooden pails, a frying pan and coffee pot, and some blankets. (10) We drove out in the nippy spring air, and about the time the sun was up we reached the grove. ( 1 1 ) There was a lit- tle clearing, on one side of which was a hut. (12) Joe and 1 ran inside and found an old rusty stove, a table, a bench, and in a corner, a pile of wooden troughs. (13) After Cousin Miles and the hired man had brought in the blankets and frying-pan and coffee-pot, they called us out and we got into the cart again. (14) We drove to a part of the grove where two small trees about seven feet apart had been cut and trimmed so that they were almost like posts. (15) Across their forks a long pole hung. (16) The hired man took one end of this off, and swung the kettle on. (17) I forgot to say that he and Cousin Miles had put all the troughs in the cart. (18) They then went from tree to tree, cutting little holes about half an inch round and one and a half inches deep, and at about four feet from the ground. (19) Into each hole they put a semi-circular spout made of basswood. (20) I should have said that they put troughs first under all the trees they cut. (21) Before we could see how soon the sap would begin to run, Cousin Miles sent us off to gather brushwood to put under the kettle. (22) While we collected wood, the sap began to run. (23) I think we must have gathered wood for two or three hours. (24) Then Cousin Miles made a fire under- neath the kettle. (25) The next thing he did was to go to the troughs, and scoop up with wooden pails what sap there was in each. (26) This he poured into the big kettle. (2y) We stood about waiting for the sap to boil when The Plan 91 Cousin Miles sent us back to the hut to cook the dinner. (28) I can tell you we hurried. (29) I think we can cook- pretty well, for Father has taken us camping a good deal. (30) I remember one time I cooked thirty fish for a big party for breakfast. (31) When we called Cousin Miles and Jim to dinner, they had poured in more sap, and they said the kettle would be ready to boil when the dinner was over. (32) We hurried through dinner so that we could stir the sap. (33) Some leaves and bark fell in, but Cousin Miles said they would add to the flavor. (34) I thought we'd have a great deal of sugar, but Cousin Miles said that four gallons of sap would make only about a pound of sugar, and a tree would yield from two to six pounds a season. (35) Cousin Miles let me skim off the scum that came to the surface. (36) Late in the afternoon he said the sugar would be burnt if we left it in the kettle any longer. (37) He poured it into the pails. (38) After a while the syrup slowly hardened into sugar. (39) We ate all we wanted of it, spreading it on our bread for supper. (40) I should have said chat we brought bread and groceries with us as well as the cooking things. (41) Then we went to bed, tired out. Criticism Let us take up Aleck's work topic by topic. The first paragraph, "Going to the woods," has ten sentences. Six of these are introductory, some of which can be omitted (the third, for example, is quite off the point), and the others cut down. The introduction, up to Sentence 7, could be expressed "in the following way: "Father used to enjoy maple-sugar-making when he was a boy ; so he sent Joe and me to spend our spring vacation with Cousin Miles, who has a maple sugar grove." On reading all the sentences over you will see that this first topic could more appropriately be named, "What we took with us on our drive to the woods." So far, then, the use of a plan has helped Aleck to treat one topic and 92 A First Year English Book only one, and has also helped him to find out definitely what the topic is. In the second topic, '"What we did before the sap was ready to boil," sentence 17 belongs with sentence 13, and 20 should come before 18. Sentences 29 and 30 have nothing to do with the topic of the paragraph or the subject of the composition. The third paragraph follows the topic with the exception of sentence 20, which belongs with sentence 17. JOE'S O »MP< ISITION (1) I was dreaming that I was in a house made of maple sugar, slowly, slowly eating my way out, when I was awakened by Aleck, who was dropping cold water on my face. (2) I told him once that was a way they used to torture people in the old times. (3) So he tried it on me. (4) I jumped up, remembering all at once that Cousin Miles was going to take us to help make maple sugar. ( 5 ) We dressed by lamplight, ate breakfast, and hur- ried out to a cart which Cousin Miles and the man Jim had loaded with pails, a big iron kettle, food and dishes. 101 We jumped in, and drove along behind the old mule. Jennie. (7) I sat on some gunny-sacks, and breathed in the cool air. (8) It felt very exciting to be driving along in the gray light. (9) We were on a road lined with trees, and I thought they looked very solemn and dark. ( 10) Here and there white frost lay on them, as if some one had put it on with a brush. (11) I sup- pose if I believed in fairies I might think that they got np early and painted the trees with frost. (12) I must say I read fairy tales now and then, and wish they were true. (13) Well, after a while the gray light seemed to grow brighter, and then some rose color came in the sky. (14) ft grew brighter and brighter, and presently up jumped the sun. (15) He seemed to make a real pop. (16) At the same time, the cart turned into Cousin Miles' strove of maple trees, and stopped in front of a little gray hut with a roof of yellow shingles. (17) It looked some- how like an old man with a straw hat on. (18) We found The Plan 93 out that the cooking was done there. (19) Presently we got into the cart again with troughs and pails and the big kettle, and began to drive down a narrow road full of ruts. (20) I liked the look of the troughs, which were brown with age and polished and smooth inside. (21) After a while we - stopped at a place where a pole was slung across two uprights made of trees. (22) This was to hang the kettle on. (23) We went with Cousin Miles and Jim while they put the troughs under the maple trees. (24) Then they cut little round holes in these trees, and put in spouts from which the sap was to run. (25) Aleck and I had to gather dead wood for the fire. (26) It felt chill to the touch as if it had saved up all the cold of winter inside itself. (27) After the fire was lighted. Cousin Miles took pails and got sap out of the troughs for the •kettle. (28) It looked very black, swinging up there over the red and blue flames of the fire. (29) While I was watching the sap, Cousin Miles sent Aleck and me off to cook dinner, something I don't like to do. (30) Maybe it is because I always burn my fingers, or put in too much salt, or something; anyway, I'd rather watch the fire. (31) After dinner we went back to the kettle. (32) It was fun to watch the sap boiling. (33) It made big yellow circles, and gray-white bubbles ; sometimes it boiled hard as if it wanted to talk. (34) I wondered if it could have told us what the maple trees think of all winter while they are waiting for the spring. (35) I helped skim the syrup, and at first I tried to keep bits of bark and leaves from falling in. (36) But I was glad when Cousin Miles said it didn't matter, for I felt as if all the woods ought to have a share in the sugar. (37) When the syrup was boiled enough it was poured into pails, and by and by it became gray-brown sugar. (38) At supper Cousin Miles said we were to stay all night. (39) Of course we were glad, for it was quite as good as camping. (40) After supper we went out to watch the boiling again. (41) Our light was partly the moon, and partly a lantern, and partly a big torch which Jim had made of pine wood. (42) He stuck it in the hollow of a stump, and there it blazed and flared in the wind. (43) After a while, Cousin Miles took us to the hut to go to bed, while Jim stayed with the kettle. 94 A first Year English Book (44) But the house seemed stuffy, and the floor I was sleeping on very hard. (45) So when the others were asleep, I slipped out, carrying my blankets, and went back to Jim. (46) I rolled up in my blankets under one of the trees. (47) It all seemed very quiet. (48) All I could hear was the steady drip of the sap into the troughs, the crackle of the fire, and now and then the hoot of an owl. (49) All I could see was Jim's dark figure, and his face in the light of the pine torch, and the dark trees all bare, and away above them, the stars. (50) They seemed larger and quieter than ever before. (51) I lay there winking up at them, and wishing I could keep my eyes as steady as they were. (52) That was my last thought ; when I next knew anything, it was dawn, and another day of sugar-making had begun. When Joe chose his subject he thought he was going to give nearly all his space to telling what he did in the grove, but when he had written his notes he saw that his plan should have read as follows : Plan t. The drive to the grove; sentences 1-18. 2. How we made the sugar; sentences 19-37. 3. The night in the woods; sentences 38-52. Criticism On comparing the plan with the notes, he found that from the first topic he must cut out sentences 2 and 3, for, although they are interesting, they have nothing to do with the topic; and also sentence 12. In the second paragraph, sentence 30 is not related to the topic. The third para- graph, which is very well written, follows the topic properly. These two boys have treated the same subject very dif- ferently. Aleck is more accurate ; Joe is more imaginative. Indicate the sentences which show Joe's imagination and love of nature, and Aleck's accuracy. Which composition do you like the better? Whv? The Plan 95 Exercises /. Read the following notes ; state the subject of each composition ; point out the sentences that are irrelevant to the subject, and make a plan in which you show the topics into which your subject naturally falls. 1. ( 1 ) The way to the old house on Chesapeake Bay led through a long stretch of woods. (2) As we drove my eyes were delighted with the colors about us. (3) First, there was the dull yellow of the sandy road, damper, and there fore darker, where the shade was deep. (4) On both sides of the road were oak trees, sycamore trees and pine trees. (5) The leaves of the sycamore were a bright thin gold, shining against dark brown trunks and branches. (6) The oaks were touched with brown, but the pines kept their rich dark green. (7) No leaves, however, have such a pure gold color in autumn as maple leaves. (8) There were hardly any flowers to be seen, partly because it was autumn, partly because they do not grow well in the sandy soil of the Eastern Shore of Virginia. (9) When I speak of the Chesapeake Bay, you know, probably, that I am writing about Virginia land. (10) As we drove on I noticed other colors, especially in the mill-pond. (11) This was a beautiful golden-brown color, so clear that I could almost see the stones at the bottom. (12) It stirred gently in the breeze, and the water lily leaves on the surface moved a little. (13) Now and then through the trees an old gray gate in a low fence barred our progress. (14) It always irritates me to open a gate when I am driving. (15) The road finally led us through a cornfield and then up to a great, green, tree-covered lawn, sloping down to the water's edge. (16) In the midst of this lawn stood the house. (17) It was large and white with a dark green roof. (18) It was long, consisting of a main part, and two wings, but so narrow that it did not seem more than one room in width. (19) It stood perhaps sixty feet from the water. (20) I counted twenty windows on the upper g6 .1 Firsi Year English Bo story of the front, and about fifteen on the lower. i_m | Part of the lower -pace was taken up by three doors. The roof had only a very slight slope. • 23 1 The window 5 had cool green shutters, and soft white curtains fluttering in and out through the open -p.. 2 ; ) 1 If the three white doors, the middle one had a Square of -tallied glass in its upper half. (25) Wide gravel walks swept around the house. (26) At the hack were the kitchen and the servants' houses, also painted white, and behind, a vegetable garden. \t the side was a rose garden reaching almost t<« the sandy beach at the water*- edge. (28) The view is ver\ pretty, whether one stands at the front of the house, looking at the green lawn with the water beyond, or at the side with the garden • in sight. I have always wished that 1 hail a 1 30) This was a particularly beautiful one. (31) It was surrounded by a box-hedge, fully one hundred years "id. (32) The garden was divided into parts by paths edged with box (33) The ro>e> were of all color-: red, and delicate pink. and faint yellow, and white, ami ivory colored. (34) I have never seen more beautiful colors except in a garden in France. (35) Even in < let her thi 1 till flourished bravely, though 1 could &ee - ; ^n- of their vanished com- panions. (36) Some people do not like to look at flowers in Octoher. but I think the) are a cheering sight then. \"f) The water itself, especially as I saw it in late after- noon, seemed to have as many lovely tints as the r (38) Altogether, the impression I have of the old house on the Chesapeake, the ro~e garden, and the drive to the house, is a very beautiful one. rich in colors. (1) When T was sure my pursuers had gone away I stepped again into the pathway which led to the empty mill. (2) I pushed open the tottering door and entered a round, stone-flagged room. (3) Outside, nothing was to be seen or heard. (4) On one side of this chamber was a long W< ho X . and all around the walls were sacks full of flour. (5) I soon lighted a fire. (M On the fireplace stood a pile ^\ wood, all ready for the match. (7) I went out to the The Plan 97 pond and got a pitcher of water. (8) Then I opened a flour sack, and, taking out some flour, made a paste of it and the water. (9) Cookery has always been a mystery to me ; many a time on my adventures I have wished that I had the knack of it. (10) There have been days when I have gone hungry rather than touch my own cooking. (11) But this cake I made seemed to me delicious, and I ate it with a relish. (12) I cooked it on a shingle in front of the fire. (13) This room had a ladder leading to a loft above. (14) I wondered if my pursuers could have given up the hunt for me, or were only postponing it. (15) I made another cake, which I ate more slowly than I had the first. (16) I had forgotten all about the danger I was in, when all at once I heard a loud sneeze. (17) I jumped to my feet and looked all about me. (18) There was nothing to see but the solid stone walls of the chamber, the box, and the sacks of flour. (19) There was no adjoining room from which the noise could have come. (20) I had gone up the ladder before I made my cake, and investigated the loft. (21) The loft was a bare place, absolutely empty. (22) I began at last to think that my imagination had deceived me. (23) I was settling down again when I heard an- other and a louder sneeze. (24) The sacks were unusually long and wide. (25) I seized my sword and glanced at the flour sacks. (26) Could anyone be hidden in one of those great bags? (2/) I pricked one after another, but found no one. (28) I was standing puzzling over the matter when I heard an extraordinary series of snorts and gasps and cries. (29) This time there could be no doubt as to whence the noise came. (30) I ran to the great box on which I had been seated, threw back the heavy lid, and gazed in. (31) It was a box fully six feet long. (32) It was of heavy oak wood, brown and worn with age. (33) It was more than half full of flour, in the midst of which was floundering some creature, so coated and caked with the white powder that it was hard to tell that he was human, except for the pitiable cries he was uttering. (34) I dragged the man from his hiding place, upon which he dropped upon his knees and shouted for mercy. (35) I still held my sword in hand. (36) It was a stout old blade, which had been given me by my father. (37) The man 98 A hirst Year English Book raised such a cloud of dust that I almost dropped my sword as I stepped back, coughing and sneezing. (38) As the powder kept dropping from him 1 saw that he was not a miller or a peasant but a man-at-arms. (39) He wore a huge sword and a great steel-faced breastplate. (40) His Steel cap had remained behind in the box, and his bright red hair seemed to stand straight up in terror as he implored me to spare hi-- life. 141 ) Thinking there was something familiar about him, I brushed the flour from his face. ( \2 ) Me shrieked as though I had tried to kill him. (43) I have seen many such COWards in my adventures. (44) I recognized the fellow at once (45) It was none other than the ex-clerk who had iir-t set the pursuers <>n mv track. .?. Criticize the following plans; arrange them in what seem- to yon natural order. I >ecide what are the main topics, and place under each main topic all that bears upon it. Washington's First Presidential Inauguration Who went with him. The weather. The barge of honor, which carried him from Elizabeth Point, Xew Jersey, across the harbor. His reception in Xew York. The people at the Battery. Escorting flotilla. The arrival at the Battery. The journey from his home at Mount Vernon to Xew York. How he took the oath. His trip from Mount Vernon to Elizabeth Point. What his face looked like. The delegation which met him in Xew Jersey. His reception in Xew York. What he wore. The ceremony of inauguration. The Plan 99 Preserving and Canning Tin cans used; sometimes lined with parchment to pre- vent poisoning. How the pickles are prepared. Cooking. Glass and crockery jars used for pickles. Preparation of the fruit and vegetables. Various tests to which cans are put to be sure they are hermetically sealed. The large copper kettles used in cooking fruits and vege- tables. How the vegetables are cooked. All bottles of mixed pickles uniform in number, arrange- ment, and color of contents. Cans soldered by machines. Putting pickles and whole fruits in bottles and jars by hand. Catsup, baked beans, and so forth, by machinery. Caps placed on each can by hand. Process of cooking the fruit. Canning. 5. Write a composition according to one of the following plans : 1. The Deserted House. The garden and driveways of the deserted house. The lower story. The upper story. 2. The Deserted House. How it looks outside. The yard. The house. 3. The Deserted House. Why I do not like to go near it. What it looks like. ioo A First Year English Book 4. A Trip Dozen the River. What we saw going down. What we saw coming home. 5. The Party. The occasion of the party and the guests. The games we played. The supper. /. Rewrite the following, making the sentences either simple or complex. Underline the subordinate elements in the rewritten sentences. 1. The kitchen of the inn was of spacious dimensions; it was hung round with copper vessels ; these were highly polished ; it was decorated here and there with a Christmas green. 2. A deal table extended along one side of the room ; the table was well scoured ; on it stood a cold round of beef and other hearty viands. 3. Travelers of inferior order were preparing to attack this repast ; others were smoking and gossiping ; they sat on two high-backed oaken settles beside the fire. 4. Trim housemaids hurried backwards and forwards ; they were under the direction of a fresh, bustling landlady. 5. Soon there drove up to the door a post-chaise ; a young gentleman stepped out of it ; his face seemed familiar to me. 6. I moved forward to get a nearer view ; his eye caught mine. 7. It was Frank Bracebridge ; he was a good-humored young fellow ; I had traveled with him on the continent. 8. We approached the house ; we heard a sound of music from one end of the building. 9. The servants were intent upon their sports ; we had to ring repeatedly. The Topic Sentence 101 10. The squire came out to meet us ; he was accom- panied by his two sons ; one was an officer in the army ; the other was an Oxonian ; he was home from the university. SECTION VII. THE TOPIC SENTENCE One can hardly say too often that the purpose of writing is to make your thought clear to someone else. Suppose you have your plan in mind ; now, one way of making it clear to the reader is to state in a sentence near the begin- ning of each paragraph what topic that paragraph treats of. Such a sentence is called the topic sentence. You have noticed how readily you can follow the words of a minister or a lecturer who announces in such a topic sentence what he is going to discuss. The topic sentence does not, of course, always occur just at the beginning of the paragraph, although that is generally the best place for it. Exercises /. Examine the topic sentences in the following selec- tions : i. Little dramas and tragedies and comedies, little char- acteristic scenes, arc always being enacted in the lives of the birds, if our eyes are sharp enough to see than. Some clever observer saw this little comedy played among some English sparrows, and wrote an account of it in his newspaper. It is too good not to be true : A male bird brought to his box a fine, large, goose feather, which is a great find for a sparrow and much coveted. After he had deposited his prize and chattered his gratulations over it, he went away in quest of his mate. His next door neigh- bor, a female bird, seeing her chance, quickly slipped in and seized the feather — and here the wit of the bird came out, for, instead of carrying it into her own box, she flew with it to a near tree and hid it in a fork of the branches ; then 102 A First Year English Book went home, and when her neighbor returned with his mate, was innocently employed about her own affairs. The proud male, finding his feather gone, came out of his box in a high state of excitement, and with wrath in his manner and ac- cusation on his tongue rushed into the cot of the female. Not finding his goods and chattels there as he had expected, he stormed around a while, abusing everybody in general and his neighbor in particular, and then went away as if to repair the loss. As soon as he was out of sight the shrewd thief went and brought the feather home and lined her own domicile with it. . . . Sharp Eyes, John Burroughs. 2. There arc names which carry with them something of a charm. We utter them, and, like the Prince in "The Arabian Nights/' who mounted the marvelous horse and ^><>ke the magic words, we feel ourselves lifted from the earth into the clouds. We have but to say "Athens," and all the great deeds of antiquity break upon our hearts like a sudden gleam of sunshine. We perceive nothing definite ; we see no separate figures ; but a cloudy train of glorious men passes over the heavens, and a breath touches us, which, like the first warm wind in the year, seems to give promise of the spring in the midst of snow and rain. "Flor- ence!" and the magnificence and passionate agitation of Italy's prime sends forth its fragrance toward us like blos- som laden boughs, from whose dusky shadow we catch whispers of the beautiful tongue. The Life of Michael Angela, NORMAN GRIMM. 2. Find the topic sentences in the following : i. To what extent the birds or animals can foretell the weather is uncertain. When the swallows are seen hawking very high it is a good indication ; the insects upon which they feed venture up there only in the most auspicious weather. Yet bees will continue to leave the hive when a storm is imminent. I am told that one of the most reliable weather signs they have down in Texas is afforded by the ants. The ants bring their eggs up out of their under- The Topic Sentence 103 ground retreats and expose them to the warmth of the sun to be hatched. When they are seen carrying them in again in great haste, though there be not a cloud in the sky, your walk or your drive must be postponed ; a storm is near at hand. Signs and Seasons, John Burroughs. 2. Then the moving was an event, too. A farmer had a barn to move, or wanted to build a new house on the site of the old one, and the latter must be drawn to one side. Now this work is done with pulleys and rollers by a few men and a horse ; then the building was drawn by sheer bovine strength. Every man that had a yoke of cattle in the country round about was invited to assist. The barn or house was pried up and great runners, cut in the woods, placed under it, and under the runners were placed skids. To these runners it was securely chained and pinned ; then the cattle — stags, steers, and oxen, in two long lines, one at each runner — were hitched fast, and while men and boys aided with great levers, the word to go was given. Slowly the two lines of bulky cattle straightened and settled into their bows ; the big chains that wrapped the runners tight- ened, a dozen or more "gads" were flourished, a dozen or more lusty throats urged their teams at the tops of their voices, when there was a creak or a groan as the building stirred. Then the drivers redoubled their efforts ; there was a perfect Babel of discordant sounds ; the oxen bent to the work, their eyes bulged, their nostrils distended ; the on- lookers cheered, and away went the old house or barn as nimbly as a boy on a hand-sled. Not always, however; sometimes the chains would break, or one runner strike a rock, and bury itself in the earth. There were generally enough mishaps or delays to make it interesting. Sifjns and Seasons, John 'Riti:rou<:.us. 3. The life of a swarm of bees is like the active and hazardous campaign of an army; the ranks are being con- tinually depleted and continually recruited. What adven- tures they have by flood and field, and what hairbreadth escapes ! A strong swarm during the honey season loses, on an average, about four or five thousand per month, or 104 A First Year English Book one hundred and fifty per day. They are overwhelmed by wind and rain, caught by spiders, benumbed by cold, crushed by cattle, drowned in rivers and ponds, and in many nameless ways cut off or disabled. In the spring the principal mortality is from cold. As the sun declines they get chilled before they can reach home. Many fall down outside the hive, unable to get in with their burden. One may see them come utterly spent and drop helplessly into the grass in front of their very doors. Before they can rest the cold has stiffened them. I go out in April and May and pick them up by the handfuls, their baskets loaded with pollen, and warm them in the sun or the house, or by the simple heat of my hand, until they can crawl into the hive. Heat is their life, and an apparently lifeless bee may be revived by warming him. I have also picked them up while rowing on the river and have seen them safely to shore Honey was a much more important article of food with the ancients than it is with us. As they appear to have been unacquainted with sugar, honey no doubt stood them in stead. It is too rank and pungent for the modern taste ; it soon cloys upon the palate. It demands the appetite of youth, and the strong, robust digestion of people who live much in the open air. It is a more wholesome food than sugar, and modern confectionery is poison beside it. Besides grape sugar, honey contains manna, mucilage, pollen, acid, and other vegetable odoriferous substances and juices. It is a sugar with a kind of wild natural bread added. The manna is of itself both food and medicine, and the pungent vegetable extracts have rare virtues. Honey promotes the excretions and dissolves the glutinous and starchy impedi- menta of the system. Hence it is not without reason that with the ancients a land flowing with milk and honey should mean a land abounding in all good things ; and the queen in the nursery rhyme, who lingered in the kitchen to eat "bread and honey" while the "king was in the parlor counting out his money," was doing a very sensible thing. Epaminondas is said to have eaten rarely anything but bread and honey. The Em- peror Augustus one day inquired of a centurion how he had kept his vigor of mind and body so long; to which the The Topic Sentence 105 veteran replied that it was "oil without and honey within." ( "icero, in his Old Age classes honey with meat and milk and cheese as among the staple articles with which a well- kept farmhouse will be supplied. Locusts and Wild Honey, John Burroughs. j. Go back to Section VI., page 32, and find the topic sentences in each paragraph. 4. Supply the topic sentences in the. following : 1. Even in the well-watered gardens of the middle region, where the flowers grow tallest, and where dur- ing warm weather the bears wallow and roll, no evidence of destruction is visible. On the contrary, under Nature's direction, the massive beasts act as gardeners. On the i'orest floor, carpeted with needles and brush, and on the tough sod of glacier meadows, bears make no mark ; but around the sandy margins of lakes their magnificent tracks iorm grand lines of embroidery. Their well-worn trails extend along the main canons on either side, and, though dusty in some places, make no scar on the landscape. They bite and break off the branches of some of the pines and oaks to get the nuts, but this pruning is so light that few mountaineers ever notice it ; and, though they interfere with the orderly lichen-veiled decay of fallen trees, tearing them to pieces to reach the colonies of ants that inhabit them, the scattered ruins are quickly pressed back into harmony by snow and rain and overleaning vegetation. 2. Of all the tourists and travelers who have vis- ited the Yosemite and the adjacent mountains, not one has been bitten by a snake of any sort, while thousands have been charmed by them. Some of them vie with the lizards in beauty of color and dress-patterns. Only the rattlesnake is venomous, and he carefully keeps his venom to himself as far as man is concerned, unless his life is threatened. 5. Choose one of the plans you made under Exercise T, page 95. Write a composition according to it, taking care to begin each paragraph with a topic sentence. io6 A First Year English Book 6. Write a composition on one of the following sub- jects. Write a paragraph on each topic stated in the topic sentences. i. A DESCRIPTION OF A TOWN is a typical (Illinois) town. (Describe the general situation, style of buildings, and so forth.) The main industries are The most notable public buildings are (Enumerate and describe.) 2. THE MOST INTERESTING BOOK I HAVE READ is the most interesting book I have ever read. (Give the reasons why it is interesting.) 3. WHY I WISH TO BE A LAWYER, DOCTOR, SOLDIER Among the many occupations in life I should choose In the first place it attracts me, because it requires (much) preparation. (Discuss the amount and hind of preparation.) In the second place it attracts me because it offers oppor- tunity to make a good living. (State the wages, etc.) Finally, it attracts me because (Give the aspect of it that you think you would especially enjoy.) SECTION VIII. PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT You have seen that in the whole composition you must not only leave out whatever does not bear on your subject, but you must also put in what does bear on it. If a topic belongs to your subject, you must discuss it; mere mention Paragraph Development 107 of it is not sufficient. To mention your topic and not dis- cuss it, would be like giving your title but neglecting to write your composition. The following composition is faulty because the second paragraph merely states a topic but does not treat it : OUR ROOM IN ROME We reached Rome two days before Easter Sunday, anx- ious to witness the beautiful Easter service in St. Peter's church. As we drove to a hotel we saw many foreigners in the streets, but it did not occur to us that their number could affect our comfort until we confidently ordered rooms. The proprietor informed us with regretful bows that all his rooms were taken. With spirits but slightly dashed, we drove to another hotel, only to hear the same words. To house after house we went, our despair growing, and our bill to the driver increasing. At last, having exhausted our list of hotels and pensions, we turned to our driver for sug- gestions. In broken English he said he thought his cousin might take us in if we did not mind the palazzo being on a small street. When we said the street did not matter, he took us to an old, marble palace unspeakably dirty. At his call a fat, untidy signora appeared, and after talking with him, said she would give us a room. Never in my life did I see such a grimy room. The first paragraph treats its topic, the search for a room, at sufficient length. The second states a topic, but does not treat it. The paragraph should be developed by describing the room, which is the main interest in the composition. Of the two paragraphs, the second should be the longer. Exercises i. Take the following notes and arrange them under topics. Add any material which is necessary to the treat- ment of each topic. 108 A First Year English Book I promised my cousins to go to a picnic in the woods. I think they showed a great deal of confidence in my good- nature, for they remarked that as they were going to pro- vide the carriage, and lemonade, and carry fishing-rods, I could get the lunch ready. There were seven of us. So I bought seven loaves of bread, a dozen and a half eggs, a chocolate cake, and two pies. Then I went down to see Aunt Annie. I always disliked picnics. I couldn't see why I had said I would go to this. I like hot food, and things are always cold at a picnic. Then the coffee is always weak, or else too sweet. It's awkward to sit down around a table-cloth on the ground. And then, green things are always dropping on me. If there are little children along they are sure to get cross and cry ; or else they fall in the water and make their elders cross. Altogether, I don't see why sensible people don't stay in their back yards for the air, and eat in their own dining-rooms. Aunt Annie offered to give me a salad. She said the very fact that I didn't care to go should make me more particular about the food I took. So she made a delicious salad of fruits and nuts. She also added seven jam tarts. She asked me what I was going to make my sandwiches of. I said ham, and she sug- gested that I vary with lettuce and peanut sandwiches. She laughed at my seven loaves, and said that three would be more than enough. She told me to pack the food care- fully and hot to forget to carry some drinking glasses. She said I'd be sure to forget something. The next morning my cousins called for me in their big three-seated carry-all. They were all laughing and talking as if they were going to enjoy themselves thoroughly. I felt as if I should have a good time, too, Mother helped me in with my basket of food. I had put in some olives and pickles, and Mother had exchanged half of the chocolate cake for half an angel's food cake. There was enough for twenty people. We drove on rapidly for two miles. Then one of the horses fell lame, and we went at a snail's pace for two miles. After awhile, one of the boys got out to see if he could tell what was the matter. He found that the horse had a stone in his foot. When it was removed we set off again at a better pace. When we reached the lake in the woods where the picnic was to be held, we found that the boys had forgotten Paragraph Development 109 the fishing-rods. So, as they could not fish, they played games until it was time for lunch. Then we found that I had forgotten the salt and pepper. I felt sure more than ever that picnics are not worth while. They just serve to show what a poor memory a person can hare at times. 2. Find the main topics in the following selection. Com- bine the sentences into paragraphs, each of which shall treat one topic. If you find a sentence which does not bear on the paragraph topic, omit it. The old signs seldom fail, — a red and angry sunrise, or flushed clouds at evening. Many a hope of rain have I seen dashed by a painted sky at sunset. There is truth in the old couplet, too: "If it rains before seven, It will clear before eleven." An old Indian had a sign for winter : "If the wind blows the snow off the trees, the next storm will be snow ; if it rains off, the next storm will be rain." Morning rains are usually short-lived. Better wait until ten o'clock. When the clouds are chilled, they turn blue and rise up. When the fog leaves the mountains, reaching upward, as if afraid of being left behind, the fair weather is near. Shoddy clouds are of little account, and soon fall to pieces. Have your clouds show a good strong fiber, and have them lined, — not with silver, but with other clouds of a finer texture, — and have them wadded. It wants two or three thicknesses to get up a good rain, especially unless you have that cloud-mother, that dim, filmy, nebulous mass that has its root in the higher regions of the air, and is the source and backing of all storms, your rain will be light indeed. I fear my reader's jacket is not thoroughly soaked yet. I must give him a final dash, a "clear-up" shower. We were camping in the primitive woods by a little trout- lake which the mountain carried high on his hip, like a sol- dier's canteen. There were wives in the party, curious to no A First Year English Book know what the lure was that annually drew their husbands to the woods. The magical writing on a trout's back they would fain decipher, little heeding the warning that what is written here is not given women to know. Our only tent or roof was the sheltering arms of the great birches and maples. What was sauce for the gander should be sauce for the goose, too, so the goose insisted. A luxurious couch of boughs upon swinging poles was prepared, and the night should be not less welcome than the day, which had indeed been idyllic. (A trout dinner had been served by a little spring brook, upon an improvised table covered with moss and decked with ferns, with straw- berries fn»m a near clearing.) At twilight there was an ominous rumble behind the mountains. I was on the lake and could see wdiat was brew- ing in the west. Locusts 'hiil Wild Honey, John Buurouuiis. The number of paragraphs in a composition, or of topics in a subject, depends on lmw much you have to say. If you are writing on a small scale there will be few paragraphs; if you are writing on a large scale, there will be many. For example, suppose you were going to tell about the boyhood of Thomas Jefferson. If you were writing briefly, you might tell the story in one paragraph. If you had more in- formation, you might write one paragraph on his parentage, another on his schooling, a third on his work. A subject, then, does not contain inevitably just so many paragraphs or parts. It contains more or fewer, according to the information you have about it. With information you see the possibilities in a subject, and can write about it more fully. Xote that though the following selections treat the same subject from practically the same point of view, the first shows fuller and more specific information, and conse- quently has more paragraphs than the second. Paragraph Development in THE PONTE YECCHIO In all Florence, nothing appeals to me as does the Ponte Vecchio, — the Old Bridge. Its long history stretches back into the Roman period when a Roman bridge lay across the Arno, binding Florence to Rome. In 1080, it was recon- structed of wood; in 1 177 it was carried away by a flood, and was rebuilt of stone; in 1333 another great inundation carried it away, and it was finally rebuilt of stone with three arches, by the great architect, Taddeo Gaddi, and today it stands as firm, apparently, as it was the day he finished it. Little shops are built upon the bridge on both sides of the roadway except in the exact middle, where, on each side, there is the width of one shop. Through these spaces, as through windows, one can look up and down the Arno, and see this beautiful part of Florence as though it were framed. The little shops were occupied from 1422 till the middle of the sixteenth century by butchers. Then the great De Medici, Cosmo I., gave ';hem to the goldsmiths, who have used them ever since for the display of jewelry. But the mere history of the bridge is nothing to what has passed over it. It heard the tramp of Roman legionaries, popes and emperors, kings and queens, generals and hire- lings. It heard the triumphal march of feet in 1288 when the foundations of the cathedral were laid, — that great cathedral which was finished only in 1887. It heard the hurried tread of funerals in the dreadful year of the Black Death, when 100,000 inhabitants died. Over it the Guelphs and Ghibellines fought their terrible feud that involved nearly all Florence in bloodshed. Over it passed the gen- erations of the Medici, to whose intrigues Florence owed the final loss of her republican rights. The pageant of the life of the nation has gone over the bridge, and much pri- vate history, too. Here Cosmo I. saw the beautiful Camilla Martelli, whom he afterwards married, leaning out of her father's shop, — the loveliest jewel there. And many a time she longed for the simple life of her girlhood, when, after Cosmo's death, his successor imprisoned her till she died an imbecile. Across the bridge many a time passed the great thinkers and poets and artists of Florence, — Galileo and Machiavelli. Dante and Giotto, and Michael Angelo. Many 112 A First Year English Book and many a time Michael Angelo must have leaned upon the balustrade of the bridge watching the flow of the green Arno, brooding over his verses, planning the fortifica- tions of Florence, or dreaming of his dome of St. Peter's. The crowning glory of the Ponte Vecchio is that its floor bore the tread of this great man of Florence. Maude Radford Warren. THE OLD BRIDGE AT FLORENCE Taddeo Gaddi built me, I am old, Five centuries old. I plant my feet of stone Upon the Arno as St. Michael's own Was planted on the dragon. Fold by fold Beneath me as it struggles, I behold Its glistening scales. Twice hath it overthrown My kindred and companions. Me alone It moveth not, but is by me controlled. I can remember when the Medici Were driven from Florence ; longer still ago The final wars of Ghibelline and Guelph. Florence adorns me with her jewelry; And when I think that Michael Angelo Hath leaned on me, I glory in myself. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, PART III SEEING HI III THE MIND'S EYE SECTION I. DESCRIBING FROM MEMORY There are few of us who have not at times been subject to dreams which have seemed so real that it has been hard to shake off their impression. Some have been pursued by a certain definite kind of bad dream ; night after night we have met strange creatures, or we have fallen from great heights, to wake just as we were about to strike the ground. Some have had certain pleasant dreams, which became, so to say, habitual. Some, perhaps, have dreamed poetry, but failed to remember it after waking. There is one remarkable in- stance of a beautiful poem — Kitbla Khan — which came to Samuel Taylor Coleridge in a dream. When he woke he began writing it down, but was interrupted and was never able to finish the fragment. You will find the beginning of it on page 138. Robert Louis Stevenson sometimes dreamed out stories, which were characterized by clearness of detail, and neatness of structure. The following is Stevenson's account of his dreams when he was a youth, before his mind was trained in the craft of story-telling. He was, it should be said, of a nervous consti- tution, and was never in good health. DREAMS Upon these grounds, there are some of us who claim to have lived longer and more richly than our neighbors ; when they lay asleep they claim they were still active ; and among 113 ii4 A Fust Year English Book the treasures of memory that all men review for their amuse- ment, they count in no second place the harvests of their dreams. There is one of this kind whom I have in my eye, and whose case is perhaps unusual enough to be described. He was from a child an ardent and uncomfortable dreamer. When he had a touch of fever at night, and the room swelled and shrank, and his clothes, hanging on a nail, now loomed up instant to the bigness of a church, and now drew away into a horror of infinite distance and infinite littleness, the poor soul was very well aware of what must follow. and struggled hard against the approaches of that slumber which was the beginning of Sorrows. Bui his struggles were m vain; sooner or later the night-hag would have him by the throat, and pluck him, struggling and ^creaming, from his sleep. His dreams were at times commonplace enough, at times very strange; at times they were almost formless; he would be haunted, for instance, by nothing more definite than a certain hue of brown, which he did not mind in the least while he was awake, but feared and loathed while he was dreaming; at times, again, they took on every detail of circumstance, as when once he supposed he must swallow the populous world, and awoke screaming with the horror of the thought. These were extremely poor experiences, on the whole ; and at that time of life my dreamer would have very willingly parted with his power of dreams. Hut presently, in the course of his growth, the cries and physical contortions passed away, seemingly forever; his visions were still for the most part miserable, but they were more constantly sup- ported ; and he would awake with no more extreme symp- tom than a living heart, a freezing scalp, cold sweats, and the speechless midnight fear. I lis dreams, too, as befitted a mind better stocked with particulars, became more circum- stantial, and had more the air and continuity of life. The look of the world beginning to take hold on his attention, scenery came to play a part in his sleeping as well as his waking thoughts, so that he could take long uneventful journeys and see strange towns and beautiful places as he lav in bed. And, what is more significant, an odd taste that he had for the Georgian costume and for stories laid in that period of English history, began to rule the features of his Describing from Memory i*5 dreams ; so that he masqueraded there in a three-cornered hat, and was much engaged with Jacobite conspiracy be- tween the hour for bed and that for breakfast. About the same time he began to read in his dreams — tales, for the most part, and for the most part after the manner of G. P. R. James, but so incredibly more vivid and moving than any printed book, that he has ever since been malcontent with literature. A Chapter on Dreams, Eobert Louis Stevenson. Exercises 1. Oral. What are the causes of dreams? Have you heard of any superstition as to their meaning? Have you read of any cases where dreams have influenced a man's life ? 2. Write a brief theme telling some of your own dreams. References eor Suggestive Reading The Dream of Clarence in Richard III. Byron's The Dream. Jacob's Dream, in Genesis. Jack London's Be- fore Adam. SECTION IT. DESCRIBING FROM MEMORY Few writers of fiction describe scenes more vividly, with more faithful detail, than did Charles Dickens. When we have read one of his books we know the homes of his char- acters as well as if we had seen them. The Peerybingles' kitchen, the toymaker's shop, we can see as if we were in them. Why was Dickens able to make us see all this ? Be- cause he had a remarkably accurate observation, and a re- markably accurate memory. He himself said that he never went into a room, even for a few moments, that he did not remember what the room contained. And this power is characteristic of most great writers. Men of thought, phi- losophers and mathematicians, often pay little attention to their surroundings ; they are absent-minded, like Archime- des ; but the writer is usually, as a great French man of let- n6 A First Year English Book ters said of himself, "a man for whom the visihle world exists." Exercises Oral OR WRITTEN. Descrihe four of the following scenes as fully and accurately as you can, describing color as well as form : i. Descrihe the breakfast table this morning. 2. Describe what you saw from your scat in church Sun- day morning. 3. Describe the view from your window. 4. Describe the front of your house. 5. Describe Launcelot as he rode by to Camelot ; the Lady of Shalott in her room ; what she saw as she looked from her window; describe her in the boat drifting down to Camelot. See the picture opposite page 80. 6. Describe Queen Mab's coach ; the Feast of Oberon ; the fairies' funeral. 7. Describe a favorite character from fiction : Huckle- berry Finn, or King Arthur, or Leatherstocking, or The Red Cross Knight, or any other. 8. Describe some familiar flower or tree or animal. 9. Describe what Enoch Arden saw as he sat on the cliff watching for a ship. 10. Describe the room of Priscilla; of John Alden. 11. Describe Miles Standish; Rip Van Winkle, his wife, his dog; Icliabod Crane. SECTION III. FORECASTING CURRENT EVENTS It has been well said that the secret of success is interest. "He who takes interest in a thing, will invariably develop a good memory regarding everything in relation to that thing. He will be eloquent on it; he will eventually prove inventive, at any rate suggestive, with regard to it. The keener the interest, the more likely is the person entertain- Forecasting Current Events 117 ing it to advance knowledge, to do something striking and successful concerning the object of his interest. "Now a good way of increasing your interest and at the same time increasing your power to think, is the following : Whenever you read something in your daily paper which, either as a political or social event, arrests your momentary attention, try to think out how it will develop in the near future, by force of your own reflections. Thus, e. g., at present there is a conflict between Turkey and Great Britain in reference to the boundary of Egypt in the Sinai Penin- sula. Try to place yourself, first on the standpoint of the Turk, arguing out his case and possible rights as completely as you can ; then argue out the case from the standpoint of Great Britain ; finally, come to a conclusion ; bring your- self to predict the result of the conflict. "In doing so, you will at once take a more intense interest in the Anglo-Turkish conflict. By acquiring that interest, you will learn to view with attention phases of life different from your own. You will learn to see. Once you have made some headway in this great art of seeing things and into things, you have secured possession of one of the most essential factors of success." Success Among Men, Emil Reich. Exercises 7. Read in a newspaper, or The Outlook, or The Re- view of Reviews an account of one or two situations im- portant now. 2. What is the gist of the situation in each of these cases? the most important conditions? What are the possible re- sults ? Who are the most important actors in it ? What lines of action are possible to them in the case ? What would you do if you were one of them? 5. Write a theme, summing up a situation briefly, and telling how you think the matter will come out. Give the reasons for your conjecture. Ii8 A First Year English Book SECTION IV. AVOID REPETITH >N ( >F W< »RDS There is one fault which is especially liable to appear in description, namely, the unnecessar} repetition of words. I fere is an example : On one side of the room was a table, and at the right of that was a settle. At the left of the settle stood a great arm chair ; in the chair were red cushions. In the center of the room stood an oak table on which stood a heavy gilt goblet ; beside it was an open book. On the other side of the room was the great fireplace. In front of it was a row of apples roasting before the fire. Such indications of place as "at the right," "at the left" are necessary to clearness ; but a little care in arrangement of words and in structure of the sentence will prevent the monotonous repetition of them. Such words as "was" and "stood" can be varied, or avoided by subordination. (Sec sentence study, page jp.) Note how the author of the following selection avoids such repetition : Here, then, was a wide and reasonably lofty hall, extend- ing through the whole depth of the house, and forming a medium of general communication, more or less directly, with all the other apartments. At one extremity, this spa- cious room was lighted by the windows of the two towers, which formed a small recess on either side of the portal. At the other end, though partly muhied by the curtain, it was more powerfully illuminated by one of those embowed hall-windows which we read of in old books, and which was provided with a deep and cushioned seat. Here, on the cushion, lay a folio tome, probably of the chronicles of Eng- land or other such substantial literature ; even as, in our own days, we scatter gilded volumes on the center-table, to be turned over by the casual guest. The furniture of the hall consisted of some ponderous chairs, the backs of which were elaborately carved with wreaths of oaken flowers ; and like- wise a table in the same taste ; the whole being of Eliza- Describing from Imagination 119 bethan age, or perhaps earlier, and heirlooms, transferred hither from the governor's paternal home. On the table — in token that the sentiment of 'old English hospitality had not been left behind — stood a large pewter tankard. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Exercises 1. Take these properties — an interior with fireplace, set- tle, armchair, table, goblet, open book, row of roasting apples — and write a description, avoiding unnecessary repeti- tion of words. 2. Describe the picture opposite page 15. SECTION V. DESCRIBING FROM IMAGINATION Another way of finding something to write about is by telling what you see with the mind's eye, that is, with your imagination. Some of the most useful discoveries that were ever made were not found first with the eyes, but were first seen by the imagination. It was only an apple falling which Newton saw, but his imagination saw a universe held to- gether by law. Moreover, some of the most beautiful things in the world were made by the imagination— pictures like The Angelas, and poems like The Lady of Shalott. Of course, your imagination must use what you have really seen. But you can build up and combine so as to produce a new thing. Hawthorne had seen pictures of the Puritans ; he had seen their clothes, furniture, and banners. Out of all these, he made such stories as The Gray Cham- pion, or Endicott and the Red Cross. You can not only improve your writing by exercising your imagination, but you can also give yourself much pleasure. You are walking to school and you see a horse and wagon placidly ambling down the road with no driver. As you walk on, you can imagine what sort of man the driver is, 120 ./ First Year English Book what he wears, where he is going, where he is at present, what he will do when he finds the horse gone. Or, as yon near a clump of woods, you see a line of blue .smoke. Sup- pose that should indicate a gypsy camp. Ybu shut your eyes and see men with swarthy faces and full black beards, and women with large, dark eyes, gleaming teeth, heavy gold ear-rings, and gay handkerchiefs around their necks. You see a black pot over the fire, and half a dozen children and dogs playing nearby. Perhaps you see how the men look as they walk about. At every opportunity, then, you should see with the mind's eye, you should exercise your imagination. There is an added pleasure in the fact that you see what nobody else sees. If you write down your impressions and com- pare them with your neighbor's, you will find many differ- ence-. Suppose that you are told to picture to yourself an untidy hoy who always comes late to school. You see him as he enters the door of the schoolroom; and you might write as folic .\\ s : Jimmy was the laziest boy I ever knew. lie would sleep so late in the morning that his hreakfast was cold when he came yawning down stairs, his curly mop of yellow hair all tangled, his brown eyes half shut with sleep. As he liked to eat, he would linger so long over breakfast that the last hell for school would ring before he set off. But he never hurried. He would open the schoolroom door at five min- utes past nine, looking at the teacher, while we looked at him. His jacket would he unbuttoned; probably he would have left off his waistcoat, and maybe his shirt would ln- pinned instead of buttoned. His trousers would be shabby and especially worn at the knees. His stockings would be full of holes and his shoes unlaced. All the time he would be swinging back and forth in his dirty right hand a tattered book. The student in the seat next you might write : THE PIED PIPER OE HAMELIN Describing from Imagination 121 Of all the unlucky people in our town Martin Lane is surely the unluckiest. He is well-meaning, but all his good intentions come to nothing because he is absent-minded. He is absent-minded because he has inventive genius. But so far, his genius has resulted only in making him always untidy and always late for school. His appearance in our schoolroom door at half-past nine yesterday was typical. He came breathless, because he did not want to be late. There he stood, his yellow hair all disheveled by his run- ning, one lock sticking straight out at the side, showing where he had singed it short in making some experiment. His blue eyes looked very round and staring, partly because he was worried at being late and partly because he had singed off his eyebrows and eyelashes in this same experi- ment. He had forgotten his collar, and his brown coat and waistcoat were full of little holes and singed places where he had dropped chemicals, and they were without buttons, for he had cut these off for some purpose or other. The bottom of one of his trouser legs was cut almost into rib- bons. One of his stockings was black, and one brown, showing that he had put them on while he was in a brown study. One foot was in a carpet slipper, because he had burned his heel in some lime. Altogether, he looked as untidy and mixed up as a scarecrow. Note that each of the writers has a different picture of the untidy boy who is always late. Which picture is more vivid? Which introduces details that seem more lifelike? Exercises 1. Oral. Can you read a person's character from his appearance, his belongings and surroundings ? Are you sometimes deceived by appearances ? Give examples. 2. Write descriptions of the following: 1. Suppose that you could build a house, with grounds, situation, everything just as you would like; describe. 122 A First Year English Book 2. You have found a knife with a hacked handle and a broken blade ; describe the boy who lost it. 3. Describe a room so that it will be recognizable as a sitting room on a rainy Sunday morning in November. 4. Describe a schoolroom so a- to -how that it is ready for the closing exercises of the year. 5. Suppose that you could spend two weeks of youi vacation just as you like; describe your experience fully. 6. Suppose someone had given you three thousand dol- lars; how could you use it most wisely? 7. A picnic has been held in the woods; what are the signs, and what do they tell yon of the picnickers? 8. Describe a kitchen so as to show that it is a Thanks- giving morning. 9. Describe the sitting room of a house so as to show that it is Christmas Eve. 10. Describe a group of boys and girls who are hazel- nutting, and are resting before they set out for home. 11. You see a girl's room, furnished in blue; dainty mus- lin curtains: a willow chair; a picture of Lincoln on the wall ; open on the table a large picture book, bound in red morocco; on the floor a blue hair ribbon, an open letter, and a picture postal card from London. Tell all you can about the girl. 5. Oral. Describe a man and his surroundings so that it will be evident that he is a mason ; a doctor ; a sculptor ; a painter ; a railroad conductor ; a street car conductor ; a sailor; an army officer; a blacksmith; a miner. 4. Oral. Describe a woman who is a milliner ; a nurse ; a sister of a religious order. 5. Describe a scene so as to show that it is eaWy spring; late autumn ; early morning in summer. Castles in Spain 123 SECTION VL CASTLES IN SPAIN Power to imagine is one of the greatest of our faculties. Before an actor can act his part, he must first imagine it. Before the painter makes his picture or groups his models, he must see in his mind what he afterwards makes visible to the world. Before the business man or the captain of industry builds up a great enterprise, he first sees it in his mind, together with the means by which he can realize his vision. This power of inward vision, like all our powers, is a matter of growth, and growth comes by exercise. Read the following imaginative sketch : On the fifth day of the moon, which according to the cus- tom of my forefathers I always keep holy, after having washed myself, and offered up my morning devotions, I ascended the high hills of Bagdat, in order to pass the rest of the day in meditation and prayer. As I was here airing myself on the tops of the mountains, I fell into a profound contemplation on the vanity of human life ; and passing from one thought to another, "Surely," said I, "man is but a shadow and life'a dream." Whilst I was thus musing, I cast my eyes towards the summit of a rock that was not far from me, where I discovered one in the habit of a shepherd, with a musical instrument in his hand. As I looked upon him he applied it to his lips, and began to play upon it. The sound of it was exceedingly sweet, and wrought into a variety of tunes that were inexpressibly melodious, and alto- gether different from anything I had ever heard. I had been often told that the rock before me was the haunt of a Genius ; and that several had been entertained by music who had passed by it, but never heard that the mu- sician had before made himself visible. When he had raised my thoughts by those transporting airs which he played to taste the pleasures of his conversation, as I looked upon him like one astonished, he beckoned to me, and by the waving of his hand directed me to approach the place where he sat. i_'4 A. First Year English Book I drew near with thai reverence which is due to a superior nature; and as my hearing \\ is entirely subdued by the cap- tivating strains 1 had heard. I fell down at his feet and wept. The Genius smiled upon me with a look oi compassion and affability that familiarized him to my imagination, and at once dispelled all the fears and apprehensions with which 1 approached him. He lifted me from the ground, and tak- ing me by the hand, "Mir/a.'* said he. "I have heard thee in thy soliloquies; follow me." He then led me to the highest pinnacle of the rock, and placing me on the top oi it. "Cast thy eyes eastward," said lie. "and tell me what thou seest." "I see." said 1, *'a huge valley ami a prodigious tide oi water rolling through it." "The valley that thou seest." said he. "is the Vale of Misery, and the tide of water that thou seest IS part oi the great tide oi Eternity." "What is the reason." said \, "that the tide I see rises out oi a thick mist at one end, and again loses it-elf in a thick mist at the other?" "What thou seest," said he. "is that portion of Eternity which is called Time. measured out by the sun, and reaching from the beginning of the world to its consummation. Examine now." said he, "this sea that is thus hounded with darkness at both ends, and tell me what thou discoverest in it." "1 see a bridge," said 1, "standing in the midst of the tide." "The bridge thou seest," said he. "is human life; consider it attentively." Upon a more leisurely survey of it. I found that it consisted of threescore and ten entire arches, with several hroken arches, which added to those that were entire, made up the numher about an hundred. As 1 was counting the arches, the Genius told me that this bridge consisted at first of a thousand arches: but that a great flood swept away the rest, and left the bridge in the ruinous condition I now beheld it. "But tell me farther," said he, "what thou discoverest on it." "I see multitudes of people passing over it." said I, "and a black cloud hanging on each end of it." As T looked more attentively, I saw several of the passengers dropping through the bridge into the great tide that flowed underneath it : and upon farther examination, perceived there were innumerable trap-doors that lay concealed in the bridge, which the passengers no sooner trod upon, but they fell through them into the title, and immediately disappeared. Castles in Spain 125 These hiddei pitfalls were set very thick at the entrance of the bridge, /so that throngs of people no sooner broke through the/cloud, but many of them fell into them. They grew thinner towards the middle, but multiplied and lay r together towards the end of the arches that were entire. . . . "Look no more," said he (the Genius), "on man in the first stage of his existence ; but cast thine eye on that thick mist into which the tide bears the several generations of mortals that fall into it." I directed my sight as I ordered, and I saw the valley opening at the farther end, and spreading forth into an immense ocean, that had a huge rock of adamant running through the midst of it, and dividing it into two equal parts. The clouds still rested on one-half of it, insomuch that I could discover nothing in it; but the other appeared to me a vast .ocean, planted with innumerable islands, that were covered with fruits and flow- ers, and interwoven with a thousand little shining seas that ran among them. I could see persons dressed in glorious habits with garlands upon their heads, passing among the trees, lying down by the sides of fountains, or resting on beds of flowers ; and I could hear a confused harmony of singing birds, falling waters, human voices, and musical instruments. Gladness grew upon me at the discovery of so delightful a scene. I wished for the wings of an eagle, that I might fly away to those happy seats ; but the Genius told me there was no passage to them, except through the gates of death that I saw opening every moment upon the bridge. . . . Tht Vision of Mirza, Addi.sox. References for Suggestive Reading Tennyson's Recollections of the Arabian Xights. Ken- neth Grahame's Dream Days. Exercises /. Write a theme describing some of your "castles in Spain." 2. Suppose that you are a young man who has gone to 126 A First Year English Book the Klondike. Write a letter home describing' your hard- ships and your prospects. 5. You are doing charity work in a great city. Write a letter home. 4. You are shipwrecked on a desert island. Recount your experiences until you arc rescued. 5. Suppose you could work a great reform in the world. Tell the story of your achievement. 6. From the situations given below, choose one and \\ rite a story of what happens. Think over the subject carefully, so that you can see exactly how the scene looks and what is happening. Then write in a straightforward way, leav- ing out nothing that your readers ought to understand. 1. A railroad station. A little girl from the country who has never been in a station before, enters timidly, alone. 2. At church on a warm day. The beads of the con- gregation are all turned towards the door ; the clergyman has stopped in his sermon. 3. A boy stands on the step of a house now empty, bis home till the death of his parents the week before. He has in his hand an old valise and a worn umbrella. 4. A little store where school supplies and confection- ery are sold. Three children stand at a counter in the back of the room, while an old woman is searching on some shelves at the side. Beneath the counter crouches a boy, his hand in his pocket, peering cautiously at the old woman. 7. Study the picture opposite page 15 ; write a conversa- tion between two of the boys. 8. Study the following dialogue. How do the people look ? What are their ages ? Is the first speaker a man ? Are they standing or sitting ? Where ? Do they make any gestures or movements as they talk? Rewrite, making all this perfectly clear. Avoid Shifts in Sentence Structure 127 "So you want to make fifty dollars, and you think I can help you? What does a boy of your age want with fifty dollars?" "I want twenty-five of it to get a new sewing-machine for my mother, and twenty-five to buy a bicycle so that I can have a newspaper route." "And why do you come to me?" "Because I — I can't think of any way of making money myself, and I knew you had work to give to people." "Did you try to think what you could do best?" "Yes ; and I tried to find work. But I can't do chores because I have to work at home at the time people want their chores done. Everyone seems to have plenty of wood split, and their own boys weed their gardens, and — " "I see. Well, had you any notion of what I might give you to do ?" "I thought you might perhaps let me do some of the things the hired man hasn't time for on this big place." "I help him myself." "Well, I have been wondering, and when I was in your library once, I noticed that the books were all dusty, and were put on the shelves in any order; some of them were upside down. You said you didn't know how many books you had, or what they were. Why shouldn't I arrange them, and — " "That's not a bad idea." "Then I thought maybe I might overhaul your garret. They say it hasn't been touched since it was built a hundred years ago ; and maybe — " "There, there ; you begin on the library, and if you do that well, I'll set you at something else." SECTION VII. AVOID SHIFTS IN SENTENCE STRUCTURE We have found that in attempting to write we are sure to fail unless we take the trouble to plan our compositions. It is quite as essential that we plan our sentences. It would have been a pleasant arrangement if we had been created 128 A Fust Year English Book so that our thoughts would gush out into perfect expres- sion, clothing themselves in beautiful, orderly words, as a tree clothes itself in leaves. But it is the law of life that we must strive in order to attain success. If we would express ourselves well, we must use our wits; we must plan our sentences, as well as everything else that we make. Xow the facts which you should consider in planning are few and simple. You know that the sentence is an attempt to express your thought. The subject of your thought, then, should be the grammatical subject of your sentence. The person who writes, "He made a -perch in the town hall and the building of a new bridge was advocated by him," has not planned his sentence, lie has not taken the trouble to find out which is the subject of his thought, "he" or "the bridge." Let the subject of your thought be the subject of your sentence. Do not change your subject unless it is necessary to do so in order to express your thought. Exercises i. In the following selections, what is the subject of each paragraph? What is the subject of each sentence? Does each sentence bear on the subject of the paragraph? Note that there is no unnecessary change of subject within the sentence : Johnson had now become one of Goldsmith's best friends and advisers. He knew all the weak points of his character, but he knew also his merits; and while he would rebuke him like a child, and rail at his error-; and follies, he would suffer no one else to undervalue him. Goldsmith knew the sound- ness of his judgment and his practical benevolence, and often sought his counsel and aid amid the difficulties into which his heedlessness was continually plunging him. "I received one morning," says Johnson, "a message from Avoid Shifts in Sentence Structure 129 poor Goldsmith that he was in great distress, and, as it was not in his power to come to me, begging that I would come to him as soon as possible. I sent him a guinea, and prom- ised to come to him directly. I accordingly went as soon as I was dressed, and found that his landlady had arrested him for his rent, at which he was in a violent passion. I perceived that he had already changed my guinea and had a bottle of Madeira and a glass before him. I put the cork into the bottle, desired he would be calm, and began to talk to him of the means by which he might be extricated. He then told me he had a novel ready for the press, which he produced to me. I looked into it and saw its merits; told the landlady I should soon return ; and, having gone to a bookseller, sold it for sixty pounds. I brought Goldsmith the money, and he discharged his rent, not without rating his landlady in a high tone for having used him so ill." The novel in question was the Vicar of Wakefield ; the bookseller to whom Johnson sold it was Francis Newbery, nephew of John. Strange as it may seem, this captivating work, which has obtained and preserved an almost unrivaled popularity in various languages, was so little appreciated by the bookseller, that he kept it by him for nearly two years unpublished. Oliver Goldsmith, Washington Irving. 2. Point out unnecessary changes of subject in the fol- lowing sentences. Rewrite the sentences. 1. He set out for school, but a day in the country was chosen instead. 2. Alice and Bessie went for a walk, but walking soon grew tiresome to them. 3. Edward Smith was suspended from his office, and the mayor charged him with embezzling taxes to the amount of seventeen hundred dollars. 4. John Bruce, the cashier, first noticed the deficit, and was called as a main witness in the case. 5. We think the baby is our most precious possession, and he, in turn, appreciates us. 130 A First Year E)iglish Book 6. He broke the violin and it cannot be mended. 7. To study is to grow ; growing is to do much good in the world. 8. Golfing is our greatest pleasure, but we also like to play tennis and row. 9. He was seen by Dora and me as we went down the street, and we called to him, but in vain. 10. A rest was taken today by the hunters in camp, and they passed the hours telling stories. 11. The women of Newcastle sent to camp a huge fruit cake, and a basket of fresh egg- was sent to Han l'icrson, a ranchman. The first requisite in sentence structure is that the- subject should not be changed without good reason. There are other unnecessary changes which occur in careless writing. Suppose you are telling a story and you come to a point where several actions follow each other in a rapid series, thus: "We ran about wildly, we shouted, we threw up our hats, we waved our ann>, — all to no purpose." You begin with a short statement, and if you plan your sentence, you will use the same construction for all the other actions in the series. Make no unnecessary changes in the structure of your sentence. For example, you should not say: "We ran about wildly, waving our arms; our shouts were heard ; our hats were thrown up — all to no purpose." Perhaps your series will consist of infinitives, as in the following sentence: "Salemina's first idea is always to make tangled things smooth, to bring sweet order out of chaos, to prune and graft and water and weed and tend things, until they blos- som for shame under her healing touch." Or you may use participial phrases: "We often found him at work in his garden, digging in the rich loam, pulling Avoid Shifts in Sentence Structure 131 a stray weed, trimming a border-hedge, or fastening an errant vine upon the wall." Or again your series may consist of dependent clauses : "It was a pleasure to see how he would fit the tid-bits to the puny mouths, how he would recommend this slice of white bread, or that piece of kissing-crust, how genteelly he would deal about the water, with a special recommenda- tion to wipe the lip before drinking." Whatever your series, you should continue your sentence consistently in the way you begin it. You help to make your sentence clear when you form certain parts of it after the same pattern. By putting similar ideas in similar forms, you call attention to their likeness. The important rule to keep in mind is this: Do not change your construction un- necessarily; carry out your plan: make the parts fit each other. m Exercises /. In the following sentences, name the words, phrases, or clauses which correspond in construction ; that is, which are in a series. If peradventure, reader, it has been thy lot to waste the golden years of thy life — thy shining youth — in the irksome confinement of an office; to have thy prison days prolonged through middle age down to decrepitude and silver hairs without hope of release or respite ; to have lived to forget that there are such things as holidays, or to remember them but as the prerogatives of childhood ; then, and then only, will you be able to appreciate my deliverance. The Superannuated Man, Charles Lamb. "I wish the good old times would come again," she said, 'when we were not quite so rich. I do not mean that I want 132 A First Year English Book to be poor; but there was a middle state," — so she was pleased to ramble on, — "in which I am sure we were a great deal happier. A purchase is but a purchase, now that you have money enough and to spare. Formerly it used to be a triumph. When we coveted a cheap luxury (and, Oh! how much ado I had to get your consent in those times!) we were used to have a debate two or three days before, and to weigh the for and against and think what we might spare it out of, and what saving we could hit upon that should be equivalent. A thing was worth buying then, when we felt the money that we paid for it. "Do you remember the brown suit which you made to hang upon you till all your friends cried shame upon you, it grew so threadbare, and all because of that folio Beaumont and Fletcher, which you dragged home late at night from Barker's in Covent Garden? Do you remember how we eyed it for weeks before we could make up our minds to purchase, and had not come to a determination till it was near ten o'clock of the Saturday night, when you set off for Islington, fearing you should be too late — and when the old bookseller with some grumbling opened his shop, and by the twinkling taper (for he was getting bed wards) lighted out the relic from his dusty treasury — and when you lugged it home, wishing it were twice as cumbersome — and when you presented it to me — and when we were exploring the perfectness of it (collating you called it) — and while I was repairing some of the loose leaves with paste, which your impatience would not suffer to be left till daybreak — was there no pleasure in being a poor man?" Old China, Charles Lamb. 3- That man, I think, has a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order ; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind ; whose mind is stored with Avoid Shifts in Sentence Structure 133 a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience ; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of Nature or of Art, to hate all vileness,' and to respect others as himself. A Liberal, Education, Thomas II. Huxley. 4- And, O my brethren, O kind and affectionate hearts. O loving friends, should you know any one whose lot it has been, by writing or by word of mouth, in some degree to help you thus to act ; if he has ever told you what you knew about yourselves, or what you did not know ; has read to you your wants and feelings, and comforted you by this very reading; has made you feel that there was a higher life than this daily one, and a brighter world than that you see; or encouraged you, or sobered you, or opened a way to the inquiring, or soothed the perplexed; if what he has said or done has ever made you take interest in him, and feel well inclined towards him ; remember such a one in time to come, though you hear him not, and pray for him, that in all things he may know God's will, and at all times he may be ready to fulfill it. The Parting of Friends, John Henry Newman. Oh the terrible drought ! When the sky turns to brass ; when the clouds are like withered leaves ; when the sun sucks the earth's blood like a vampire ; when rivers shrink, stream fail, springs perish ; when the grass whitens and crackles under your feet; when the turf turns to dust; when the fields are like tinder; when the air is the breath of an oven ; when even the merciful dews are withheld, and the morning is no fresher than the evening. Locusts and Wild Honey, Johx Burroughs. 2. In the following sentences, unnecessary changes are 134 A First Year English Book made in construction. Rewrite the sentences, correcting such mistakes. i. A cameo-cutter works neatly and with quickness. 2. To read and remembering make a full mind. 3. He saw to it that I rode, that I played tennis, and was insistent on my taking exercise in general. 4. Walking in the morning, sleeping in the afternoon, and to go to a concert, or a lecture at night, suit his taste. 5. Silence maketh a wise man, but to talk much is a sign of a foolish man. 6. He suggested my studying grammar, and that I should take a course in composition. 7. The "Daily Telegraph" began a series of articles to call attention to the situation in the far East, and giving new facts of importance 8. The writer alleges that fifteen battleships are unfit for service, ten others being only partially supplied with am- munition. 9. The bear, killed today, furnished a very fine skin, brown, with long hair, and of a uniform color, not mottled. 10. Charles Green is recovering from his attack, and it is also thought that the injury will not be permanent. 11. I will not deny that he read and that he studied, nor can his writing be gainsaid ; but the question is. what profit has been brought to others. 12. He told him to observe, and to gather material, and planning the composition was insisted upon. PART IV WORDS- SECTION I. HOW TO ENRICH ONE'S VOCAB- ULARY One reason why most of us do not accomplish more in this world is that it does not occur to us to try ; we con- ceive an ideal, but think we can not reach it. This is particularly the case among students. The boy who thinks he can not learn Latin, or the girl who "can't do" algebra, seldom reaches excellence in the subject. Now, most of us do not try to use words we are not ac- customed to use. It scarcely enters our minds that we might have more than one adjective for the idea "pleasant day," or "great man." And if we see such a word as ''am- ateur" or "extraordinary" or "charming," we ignore it be- cause it seems to us unusual. If children associate with people who use the varied riches of their native tongue, they will pick up words without effort. Those who do not have such associates should make the conscious effort to increase their stock of words. Let us note some instances which illustrate this point. The following story is told of the childhood of Sir Walter Scott, by Mrs. Cockburn, who came to call on the family. At the time, the boy was only six years old. He was reading a poem to his mother when I went in. I made him read on ; it was the description of a shipwreck. His passion rose with the storm. "There's the mast gone !"' says he. "Crash it goes ; they will all perish." After hi? 135 136 A First Year English Book agitation he turns to me, ''That is too melancholy," says he; "1 had better read you something more amusing." And after the call, he told his aunt he liked Mrs. Cockburn, for, "She was a virtuoso like himself." "Dear Walter," says Aunt Jenny, "what is virtuoso?" "Don't you know? Why, it's one who wishes and will know everything. " When Macaulay was a child about five years old, he was taken by his father to make a call. A servant who was waiting on the company spilled some hot coffee over his legs. The hostess was all kindness and compassion, and when, after a while, she asked him how he was feeling, the little fellow looked up in her face and replied: "Thank you, madam, the agony is abated." When eight or nine he wrote a long poem about Olaus .Magnus, king of Norway, from which are taken the following lines: "Long," said the prince, "shall Olave's name Live in the high records of fame. Fair Mona now shall trembling stand That ne'er before feared mortal hand. Mona, that isle where Ceres' flower In plenteous autumn's golden hour I tides all the fields from man's survey, As locusts hid old Egypt's day." These instances, to be sure, are exceptional. Macaulay and Scott were men of genius. But words which they used as children should surely be in the vocabulary of the Ameri- can high school student ; and a very little effort will put them there. Exercises 7. In the stories told above, make a list of the words which you do not habitually use. Write sentences using them correctly. 2. Suppose you wish to say that a man is courageous. You can say: "He has courage; he is a man of courage; a man of unflinching courage ; indomitable courage ; a brave Words 137 man; a man of bravery; of notable bravery; a valiant man; a man without fear ; absolutely without fear ; without a shadow of fear; the man did not know the meaning of fear ;" and so on. Or, you can state it figuratively : ''He has a heart of oak; he is brave as a lion." j. Find as many ways as you can of saying that a man is not truthful; not honest; that an act is not wise; that cer- tain behavior is uncivil ; that a man is industrious ; that this would be an improvement ; that a girl is meddlesome ; is blameless. 4. Write sentences using the following words: Dip; duck ; immerse ; submerge ; plunge ; abundant ; ample ; big ; broad ; capacious ; extensive ; huge ; immense ; great ; vast ; massive ; spacious ; gigantic. 5. Write sentences using the following words : Belief ; confidence ; conviction ; opinion ; trust ; fancy ; caprice ; whim ; vagary ; garrulous ; chattering ; talkative ; loquacious. 6. Write sentences using the following words : Throng ; crowd ; host ; multitude ; concourse ; age ; epoch ; season ; period; term; affair; business; proceeding; dialect; lan- guage ; command ; decree ; order. 7. Write sentences using the following words : Gleam ; glimmer; glitter; glow; illumination; lustre; sheen; shim- mer ; shine ; sparkle ; twinkle ; riddle ; enigma ; puzzle ; prob- lem ; disciple ; savant ; agitate ; shake ; brandish ; quake ; quiver ; tremble ; oscillate. 8. Oral. Find as many expressions as you can for the various degrees of darkness and gloom ; for misfortune ; for money ; success ; for lack of care ; for the expression, "not a whit." p. Oral. Find several ways of saying that a thing is new ; strange ; old ; bad or evil ; that a person is reluctant ; rustic ; intelligent ; strong. 10. Turn to page 131, selection 2, and make a list of the 138 A First Year English Book words you do not use in writing ; in speech. Use them in sentences. 11. Report at the end of the week two words that you have newly acquired in your speaking vocabulary. There are some combinations of words or even of sylla- bles that affect us with a strange pleasure. Perhaps this is the source of the belief in charms. Certain it is that some words please us quite aside from their meaning, and so far as we can discover, simply as a result of their sound. Ten- nyson tells us that the words "far, far away" had always a strange fascination for him, and all poets have been sensi- tive to the music of language. Now we are not all poets, but we have in lower degree some of the tastes of poets. If we had not, poets would have no one to read their verses. 12. Point out in the following selections anv words of which you especially like the sound : Go little book and wish to all Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall. A bin of wine, a spice of wit, A house with lawns enclosing it, A living river by the door, A nightingale in the sycamore. Robert Louis Stevenson. In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea. So twice five miles of fertile ground With walls and towers were girdled round : And here were gardens bright with sinuous rills, Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree, And here were forests ancient as the hills, Enfolding sunny spots of greenery. . , Words 139 A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw : It was an Abyssinian maid, And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of mount Abora. Could I revive within me Her symphony and song, To such a deep delight 'twould win me, That with music loud and long, I would build that dome in air, That sunny dome ! those caves of ice ! And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware ! Beware ! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of paradise. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. THE FORSAKEN MERMAN Come, dear children, let us away; Down and away below ! Now my brothers call from the bay, Now the great winds shoreward blow, Now the salt tides seaward flow ; Now the wild white horses play, Champ and chafe and toss in the spray. Children dear, let us away. This way, this way! Call her once before you go — Call once yet! In a voice that she will know :. "Margaret! Margaret!" Children's voices should be dear (Call once more) to a mother's ear; Children's voices wild with pain! Call her once and come away ; This way, this way ! 140 A First Year English Hook ".Mother dear, we cannot stay! The wild white horses foam and fret." Margaret! Margaret! Children dear was it yesterday We heard the sweet hells over the bay? In the caverns where we lay, Through the surf and through the swell, The far-off sound of a silver hell? Sand-strewn caverns, cool and deep. Where the winds are all asleep; Where the spent lights quiver and gleam, Where the salt weed sways in the stream, Where the sea-beasts, ranged all round, Feed in the ooze of their pasture-ground; Where the sea-snakes coil and twine. Dry their mail and bask in the brine; Where great whales come sailing by, Sail and sail with unshut eye, Round the world forever and aye ? When did the music come this way? Children dear, was it yesterday? Matthew Arnold, Orlando. But whate'er you are That in this desert inaccessible. Under the shade of melancholy boughs, Lose and neglect the creeping hours of time ; If ever you have looked on better days. If ever been where bells have knolled to church, If ever sat at any good man's feast. If ever from your eyelid wiped a tear And know what 'tis to pity and be pitied. Let gentleness my strong enforcement be: In the which hope I blush and hide my sword. Duke. True is it that we have seen better days, And have with holy bell been knolled to church. And sat at good men's feasts and wiped our eyes Of drops that sacred pity hath engendered; ^ ^ tq q te5 O o O Words 141 And therefore sit you down in gentleness And take upon command what help we have That to your wanting may be ministered. As You Like It. Shakespeare. 12. Bring to class some selection in prose or verse which pleases you from the sound. PART V LETTER WRITING You may not write many compositions in the course of your life, but you will certainly have to write many letters and notes of various sorts. The chief reason for taking pains with your letters is that they represent you. A care- lessly spoken sentence you may carry off by a smile or a jest. A badly written letter will have no palliative. More- over, it is only courteous to the recipient of your letter tc make it as attractive and readable as you can. SECTION I. LETTERS TO FRIENDS Letters to people you know well should be very like talk. A good., friendly letter is a substitute for conversation ; it makes you feel, as you read it, that you can almost see your friend and hear his familiar voice. This effect of natural- ness should be your first aim in letter writing. Try to make your letter read like good talk. But you do not talk to each person with just the same manner. Your talk to your brother is very much more familiar than your talk to your .grandfather, though one may have no warmer place in your heart than the other. The tone of your letter, like- wise, should be appropriate, and should depend largely upon the relations existing between you and the person to whom you write ; somewhat also upon the matters of which you write ; and somewhat upon the circumstances under which you write. If you were writing an everyday letter 142 Letter Writing 143 to your cousin, you should make it as close an approach as possible to your usual intercourse. But if you were con- doling with him over a bereavement, the tone of your letter would be much graver than usual ; or if you were writing about some national matter in which you were deeply inter- ested, your letter would probably he more serious than usual. The best way to make the tone of your letter both appro- priate and natural is to imagine that you are actually talking to your correspondent about certain given subjects. Make up your mind first of all that you are going to write an interesting letter. It must not be a number of isolated, disjointed scraps, such as : I met Ned Brown yesterday ; he is going to military school next term. Mother and I drove to town this morn- ing to buy a new ice-box. I think I am going to spend the holidays with Harry Lane. These remarks are neither appropriate nor natural ; and a letter made up of them is often tiresome. to the re- cipient, and certainly could not be read with pleasure by a third person. Plan your letter ^ust as you plan your whole composition. Arrange your thoughts in an orderly manner, grouping the related topics into two or three or four para- graphs according to the length of the letter. And do not forget that you are trying to give pleasure to your reader. The following is an example of a friendly letter : Vailima, Samoa, September 9, 1894. Dear Aliss Middleton: Your letter has been like the drawing up of a curtain. Of course I remember you very well, and the Skye terrier to which you refer — a heavy, dull, fatted, graceless creature 144 ^ First Year English Book as he grew up to be — was my own particular pet. It may amuse you, perhaps, as much as "The Inn" amused mc, if I tell you what made this dog particularly mine. My father was the natural god of all the dogs in our house, and poor Jura took to him, of course. Jura was stolen, and kept in prison somewhere for more than a week, as I remember. When he came back, Smeoroch had come and taken my father's heart from him. lie took his stand like a man, and positively never spoke to my father again from that day until the day of his death. It was the only sign of char- acter he ever showed. 1 took him up to my room to be my dog in consequence, partly because I was sorry for him, and partly because I admired his dignity in misfortune. With best regards and thanks for having reminded me of so many pleasant days, old acquaintances, dead friends, and — what is perhaps as pathetic as any of them — dead dogs, I remain, Yours truly, Robert Louis Stevenson. Note that this letter is fresh and interesting. It contains no hackneyed expressions, such as "I take my pen in hand," or "I hope you are well." In short, the letter impresses you as being what the writer would actually say to his friend. You could find no better models for your letters than Ste- venson's. But a letter demands more than a good body. Every let- ter should state when and where it is written — that is, should have a heading. It should tell to whom it is written — that is, it should have an address. It should begin with a salutation, such as "Dear Mary." or "My Dear Mary" ( the latter being a shade more formal), "Dearest Mother," or "My own dear Mother." It might end with the leave- taking, "Lovingly yours," "Yours affectionately," "Yours cordially," "Your sincere friend." The relations of Miss Middleton and Stevenson justified the beginning and the ending of the letter printed above. "Dear Madam," would Letter Writing 145 be, of course, quite too formal. "Yours respectfully" would not properly represent the relations of the two. These points concerning the beginning and the ending might take any of the following forms : 28 Perie Street, Chicago, Illinois, August 25, 1907. Air. James Lowe, Lincoln, Texas. My Dear Uncle : Your affectionate nephew, Amos Lowe. August 25. 1907. Dear Uncle James : Your affectionate nephew, Amos Lowe. 28 Perie Street, Chicago, Illinois. 3- Dear Uncle lames : Y r ours affectionately, Amos Lowe. 28 Perie Street, Chicago, Illinois, August 25, 1907. 4- August 25, 1907. My dear Uncle James : Your affectionate nephew, Amos. Mr. James Lowe, Lincoln, Texas. 146 . / First Year English Hook In friendl) letters, then, more or less informality and variation are permissible in showing to wlmni, when, where, antmastide to visit the king. He set out on foot in his old armor and his faded cloak. When he arrived at the palace of the king . . In every story or chain of events, there is one incident which is most important of all. This is usually called the main incident. It does not necessarily stand at the end of the story ; sometimes it comes near the middle. In the story of Ichabod Crane, for example, the main in- cident is his meeting with the headless horseman, and thus abandoning his suit to pretty Katrina Van Tassel. So in Rip Van Winkle the main incident is Rip's long sleep in The Relation of the Incidents 159 the mountains. In the story of Joseph, the main incident is the scene where his brothers have come to buy corn from him, and he at length discloses his identity to them. Unless the main incident is carefully prepared for, how- ever, and the mind of the reader is made ready to receive it, the story fails. For example, the simple statement that Sidney Carton took a man's place and died for him on the scaffold does not move us ; but when it is prepared for, as it is in Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, we are deeply affected. In The Legend of Sleepy Hollozv the meeting with the headless horseman is prepared for by many clever de- tails. Thus we are told that Brom Bones was famed for his skill in horsemanship, and that he and his companions were wont to go riding about at night bent on madcap pranks. Brom played various practical jokes upon Ichabod. The night of the party Brom rode his favorite horse Dare- devil. Before the party broke up, many stories of neigh- borhood ghosts and apparitions were told, with dire effect on Ichabod, who was superstitious. All these prepare the mind of the reader for the main incident. In Silas Marnier a main incident is the finding of Dunstan Cass' skeleton in the Stone-pits with Marner's gold, the body being identified by Godfrey's riding whip. The hints which lead to this are the following: Dunstan has taken Godfrey's riding whip on one of his expeditions. He is walking homeward through a deep fog, and is obliged to feel his way by means of the riding whip. When he comes to the Stone-pits he picks his way carefully among them, and enters the cottage of the weaver. Marner is not there, and Dunstan reflects flippantly that he must have fallen into the Stone-pits. After he leaves the cottage with the old man's gold, Dunstan has greater difficulty in walking, for now he has but one free hand with which to feel his way by means of the whip. And then we lose sight of 160 A First Year English Book Dunstan till his skeleton is found in the pits sixteen years later. The details are put unobtrusively ; our attention is caught by them at the time, but it is only later that we realize their full significance. For the story of Joseph, the best preparation is Joseph's dream, in which the sheaves in the field bow to his sheaf. ( )f course, the method of preparing for the main incident differs with each story. It depends on the incident you choose. Silas Marner requires one sort of preparation ; the story of Evangeline another. But in any case, you must choose only such details as bear on your story and lead to your main incident. Omit all that is irrelevant or unnecessary. Take care, then, to select your main incident ; prepare for it by putting in all that is necessary to bring the story naturally to this main event. Tell your story in such a way that your reader's expectation is aroused without his seeing just what is going to happen ; treat important matters at length and pass lightly over unimportant matters, and make the beginning and the end interesting and consistent with your story. 5. Turn back to The Last Lesson, page 82. The main incident is the master's farewell to the children on the last day of school. It is prepared for from the first : Francois going reluctantly to school, the Prussians in the meadow, the blacksmith at the grating, the master in his fine clothes, the visiting villagers, the failure of Francois to recite, the master's words about French, the writing-lesson — all these make us ready for the pathos of the moment when the An- gelus rings, the Prussians blow their bugles, and the mas- ter bids the children farewell forever. 6. Turn back to the selection on page 45 and the selec- tion on pages 54-58, and state what is the main incident in General and Definite Narration 161 each, and the details which prepare for this main incident. y. Find an incident in the life of Washington which would make the main incident of a story; in the life of Alexander Hamilton ; of Queen Elizabeth ; of Sir Walter Raleigh ; of Thomas Edison ; of Edmund Kean ; of Cyrus \V. Field ; of Christopher Columbus. 8. Tell the story of the picture opposite page 160. 0. Tell the story of the picture opposite page 180. SECTION III. GENERAL AND DEFINITE NAR- RATION For the purposes of the writer, narration may be divided into two kinds, general and definite. The first kind simply states that such and such events took place, without trying to make the reader see the characters at a particular place and time. The second kind narrates events as occurring at a definite time, and in a definite place, and makes the reader see the characters, and hear what they say. The following examples will make the difference clear: General Narration When Oedipus came to the city of Thebes, he found the community afflicted with a monster that infested the high road. It was called the Sphinx. It had the body of a lion and the upper part of a woman. It lay crouched on the top of a rock, and arresting all travelers who came that way, propounded to them a riddle, with the condition that those who could solve it should pass safe, but those who failed should be killed. Not one had yet succeeded in guessing it. Oedipus, not daunted by these alarming ac- counts, boldly advanced to the trial. The Sphinx asked him, "What animal is it that in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?" Oedipus replied, "Man, who in childhood creeps on hands and knees, in manhood walks erect, and in old age goes with the aid of a staff." The Sphinx, mortified at the 162 A First Year English Book collapse of her riddle, cast herself down from the rock and perished. rhis.s,,- Myths, < !harles M. <;avi Definite Narration It was one January morning, very early— a pinching, frosty morning — the cove all graj with hoarfrost, the ripple lapping softly on the stones, the snn still low and only touching the hilltops and shining far to seaward. The captain had risen earlier than usual, and set out down the beach, his cutlass swinging under the broad skirts of the old blue coat, his brass telescope under his arm, his hat tilted hack upon his head. I remember his breath hanging like smoke in his wake as he Strode off, and the last .sound I heard of him, as he turned the big rock, was a loud snort of indignation, as though his mind was still running upon Dr. Livese) Well, mother was upstairs with father; and I was laying the breakfast table against the captain's return, when the parlor door opened, and a man stepped in on whom f had never set my eyes before. He was a pale, tallowy creature, wanting two fingers of the left hand; and. though he wore a cutlass, he did not look much like a fighter. I had always my eye open for seafaring men, with one leg or two. and I remember this one puzzled me. He was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the sea about him too. I asked him what was for his service, and he said he would take rum; but as I was going out of the room to fetch it he sat down upon a table and motioned me to draw- near. I paused where I was with my napkin in my hand. Home here, sonny,'* says he. "Come nearer here." \ took a step nearer. "Is this here table for my mate Rill?" he asked, with a kind of leer. . . Truism, island, Robert Louis stkvkxson. Exercises I. In the following examples of definite narration, name all the details which make you see just what time it is, just where it is, just how things look, just what happens, and just how the characters feel. ^ General and Definite Narration 163 It was deathly still. The homespun bedclothes and handmade quilts of brilliant colors had been thrown in a heap on one of the two beds of hickory withes ; the kitchen utensils — a crane and a few pots and pans — had been piled on the hearth, along with strings of herbs and beans and red pepper-pods — all ready for old Nathan when he should come over for them, next morning, with his wagon. Not a living thing was to be heard or seen that suggested human life, and Chad sat down in the deepening loneliness, watch- ing the shadows rise up the green walls that bound him in, and wondering what he should do, and where he should go, if he was not to go to old Nathan ; while Jack, who seemed to know that some crisis was come, settled on his haunches a little way off, to wait, with perfect faith and patience, for the boy to make up his mind. . . . Just above him, and across the buck antlers over the door, lay a long flint-lock rifle ; a bulletpouch, a powder- horn, and a small raccoon-skin haversack hung from one of the prongs ; and on them the boy's eyes rested longingly. Old Nathan, he knew, claimed that the dead man had owed him money ; and he further knew that old Nathan meant to take all he could lay his hands on in payment ; but he climbed resolutely upon a chair and took the things down, arguing the question, meanwhile. "Uncle Jim said once he aimed to give this rifle gun to me. Maybe he was foolin', but I don't believe he owed ole Nathan so much, an' anyways," he muttered grimly, "I reckon Uncle Jim 'ud kind o' like fur me to git the better of that old devil — jes a leetle, anyways." . . . A moment more and he had his pack and his rifle on one shoulder and was climbing the fence at the wood-pile. There he stopped once more with a sudden thought, and wrenching loose a short ax from the face of a hickory log, staggered under the weight of his weapons up the mountain. The sun was yet an hour high and, on the spur, he leaned his rifle against the big poplar and set to work with his ax on a sapling close by — talking frankly now to the God who made him. "I reckon You know it, but I'm a-goin' to run away now. I haint got no daddy an' no mammy, an' I haint nuver had none as I knows — but Aunt Jane hyeh — she's ben jes' like 164 A First Year English Book a mother to me an' I'm a 'loin' fer her jes' whut I wish You'd have somebody do fer my mother, ef You know whar she's a-la\ in'." Eight round sticks he cut swiftly — four long and four short — and with these he built a low pen, as is the custom of the mountaineers, close about the fresh mound, and, borrowing a board or two from each of the other mound-. covered the grave from the rain. Then he sunk the ax into the trunk of the great poplar as high up as he could reach — so that it could easily he seen— and, brushing the sweat from his face, he knelt down. "God," he -aid, simply, "I hain't nothin' hut a hoy, but I got to ack like a man now. I'm a-goin' now. I don't believe You keer much, and seems like I bring ever'body bad luck; an' I'm a-goin' to live up hyeh on the mountain jus' as long as I can. I don't want You to think I'm a-complainin' — fer I aint. Only hit does seem sort o' curious that You'd let me he down hyeh — with me a-keerin' fer nobody now, an' nobody a-keerin' fer me. lint Thy ways is inscrutable — leastwise, that's whut the circuit-rider says — an' I ain't got a word more to say. Amen." The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, John Fox, Jr. 2. Point out the same in The White Ship, The Last Class; in some story of your own selection. j. Compare the account of the return of Ulysses in Gayley's Classic Myths, with Stephen Phillips' Ulysses, Act III. /. Compare one of the stories in the Arabian Knights, Riverside Literature Series, with any larger version of the story. 5. Read a story from the Arabian Nights or Tales of a Wayside Inn, or Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales; point out in it the scenes which are told in definite narra- tive ; point out also the general narrative which connects these scenes. 6. Read one of Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare, point- ing out the general and the definite narrative. Selection of Details 165 SECTION IV. DESCRIPTION. SELECTION OF DETAILS It is obvious that a story is more vivid when the writer makes us see the characters and the places, as if they were actually before us. On the other hand, a narrative that is overburdened with description loses interest. Thus it be- comes necessary to tell as much as possible in a few words. The first thing to learn, then, is what to leave out. It goes without saying that you will omit what everyone takes for granted; for example, if you were describing a man, you would not say he had two eyes and a nose. But you would say that he was of medium height, and that he wore an ordinary-looking business suit. This gives the general look of the man, and so forms a natural part of your description ; but it is only the beginning. You must go on, then, and give the individualizing details which mark him out from all other men of medium height wearing business suits. You would say that his mild brown eyes have an expression as if he were trying vainly to recall something he had for- gotten ; and that his face is barred on the left side with a scar, which makes the left corner of his mouth droop. Thus you would give a picture of this particular man. Your object is to make the reader see the person, place, or thing as you saw it, and feel it as you felt it. Two people, each with good powers of observation, look at the same object, but their impressions of the object differ. Remember that what you see has a particular meaning for you, and that you must convey that meaning to your reader. There are three points to keep in mind in reference to any literary description you may make : 1. You must note the general shape or outline of the person, place, or object. 2. You must note the individual traits which belong to this person, place, or object, and to no other. 166 A First Year English Book 3. You must know what main impression the person, place, or object makes upon you. These points we shall study in their order. First, you should "notice the general look of what you are going to describe. A good way of making your reader see the general appearance of a man, for example, is to com- pare him to something he resembles. This method can be more easily applied to the description of places than of persons. Xotc, however, the aptness of the following example : The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his per- sun. lie was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoul- ders, long arms and legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together. His head was small and flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather- cock perched upon his spindle neck to tell which way the wind blew. To see him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day. with his clothes bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scarecrow eloped from a cornfield. Tht Sketch Book, Washington Irving. The individual traits which express the real essence of a person are usually as few as they are telling. A few details, if rightly selected, will make you see a whole picture. For example : "A tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man ; his tarry pigtail falling" over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails; and the sabre cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white." Exercise • 1. Study the descriptions in Rip Van Winkle, or The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, or in Chapter [ or XIII or XXV Arrangement of Details 167 of Treasure Island. Point out the most lifelike pictures given by a few strokes. SECTION V. DESCRIPTION. ARRANGEMENT OF DETAILS You can make no effective description of a person until you know the kind of man he is, the impression he makes upon you. Until you are sure of this, you do not know what details to put in and what to leave out. For example, the man you are trying to describe is a millionaire, noted for his parsimony. You would of course mention that he wore an ordinary, even shabby, business suit, for this detail helps to bring- out the impression of a parsimonious million- aire ; and you wish to introduce all significant details which help to produce this impression. If, however, you were describing a merchant, the fact that he wore an ordinary business suit would be taken for granted, as well as the fact that he had two eyes and a nose. In short, decide what main impression you wish to make, and choose only the details which bring out that impression. Sometimes a writer tells you in a sentence what im- pression he wishes to give you ; sometimes he merely pre- sents details which give the impression without stating the impression in a sentence. For instance, in the following de- scription of Modred, the details themselves give you the impression of his slyness. In the description of the Vir- ginian, the details are reen forced by sentences at the begin- ing and end which state the general impression. Modred's narrow foxy face Heart-hiding smile and gray persistent eye. Guinevere, Alfred Tennyson. i68 A First Year English Book Lounging there at ease against the wall was a slim young giant, more beautiful than pictures. His broad, soft hat was pushed back ; a loose-knotted, dull-scarlet handker- chief sagged from his throat, and one casual thumb was hooked in the cartridge-belt that slanted across his hip. He had plainly come many miles from somewhere across the vast horizon, as the dust upon him showed. His boots were white with it. llis overalls were gray with it. The weather-beaten bloom of bis face shone through it duskily, as the ripe peaches look upon their trees in a dry season. Bui no dinginess of travel or ^-habbiness of attire could tarnish the splendor that radiated from his youth and strength. The Virginian, Owes Wister. The next example should show you that any object, or creature, however commonplace, may be individualized and made interesting. She was an egregious fowl. She was huge and gaunt with great yellow beak. And she stood straight and alert in the manner of responsible people. There was some- thing wrong with her tail. It slanted far to one side, one feather in it twice as long as the rest. Feathers on her breast there were none. These had been worn entirely off by her habit of sitting on potatoes and other rough ab- normal objects. And this lent to her appearance an air singularly at variance with her otherwise prudish ensemble. Her eye was remarkably bright, but somehow it had an outraged expression. It was as if she went about the world perpetually scandalized over the doings that fell beneath her notice. Her legs were blue, long, and remarkably stout. The Virginian, Owen Wister. Exercises /. In the following description of a person point out the general, large impression of the man, and the individual details. Character 169 There, with his shoulder propped against the jamb of the door, stood a tall, broad-shouldered peasant, about thirty years of age. In costume, he was a typical tramp ; in face and figure, a genuine Slav — a rare specimen of the race. He wore a red cotton shirt, incredibly dirty and tattered, full trousers of coarse, homemade linen, and on one of his feet were the remains of a rubber boot, while on the other was an old leather boot-leg. His light, reddish-brown hair was tangled all over his head, and small chips, straws and bits of paper stuck in the snarls ; all these things also adorned his luxuriant light-reddish beard, which covered his chest like a fan. His long, pallid, weary face was lighted up by large, pensive blue eyes, which gazed at me with a caressing smile, and his lips, which were handsome, although a trifle pale, also smiled beneath his reddish mustache. This smile seemed to say: "This is the sort of fellow I am . . . Don't condemn me. . . ." 2. Write a brief description of a tramp, j. Describe a beggar, so as to show that he is not yet accustomed to begging. 4. Describe a gypsy. 5. Describe the queerest character you know. 6. Write descriptions of what you see in the following situations : 1. I had cautiously raised myself for an instant till my eyes were level with the window sill ; then I dropped to the ground, for in that instant I had recognized . . . 2. A crowd was thick at the street corner and I ran up thinking there had been an accident. At first I could not get even a glimpse of the cleared space in the center ; but presently I dodged under the elbow of a tall man in a black coat, and craning my neck, I saw a doctor kneeling beside a little old woman. . . . SECTION VI. CHARACTER In real life when you are observing a person, you judge of what he is chiefly by what he says and does. Very 170 A First Year English Book often in writing it is advisable to suggest what a person is like, either by describing him so as to show what his character is, or by telling something he does which reveals his character. For example, the blind man Pew came to the Admiral Benbow fnn. "I hear a voice," said he, "a young voice. Will you give me your hand, my kind young friend, and lead me in?" 1 held out my hand, and the horrible, soft-spoken, eyel creature gripped it in a moment like a vise. I was so much startled that I struggled to withdraw ; but the blind man pulled me up close to him with a single action of his arm. The incident in The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come where Chad is eager to get away before the neighbors come. but stops to milk old Nance, gives us an insight into the boy's character. In the following description of the Ancient Mariner. Coleridge does not attempt to tell us how worn and wild the mariner's face must have looked from his suffering. lie achieves a stronger result by telling how the man's appearance affected the Pilot, the Hermit, and the Boy. I moved my lips — the Pilot shrieked And fell down in a fit ; The holy Hermit raised his eyes. And prayed where he did sit. I took the oars; the Pilot's boy. Who now doth crazy go, Laughed loud and long, and all the while His eves went to and fro. "Ha! Ha!" quoth he, "full plain I see The Devil knows how to row." Exercises 1. Point out all descriptions and incidents which sug- gest character in the following: Character 171 1. Jackanapes, Mrs. Ewing. 2. The Great Stone Face, Hawthorne. 3. Wee Willie Winkie, Kipling. 4. Will Wimble, {The Spectator Papers), Addison. 2. Describe a boy who, later in the . story, is to betray his friend. 5. Tell something a boy does which shows he is vacil- lating, although he tries to be firm. 4. Show the character of an old lady whom the children all like. 5. Describe a boy who is recklessly brave and who be- comes a famous spy. 6. Describe a boy who is recklessly brave in sudden danger but whose courage breaks down under a long strain. J. Describe a woman whose character is so sincere and honest that her son will believe it impossible for her to tell a lie. 8. Tell the following story, making it as clear and life- like as possible. These are the facts in brief: In one of the many Italian uprisings against Austria, a Sicilian youth, who had already exhibited great daring, is said to have volunteered as a spy. Captured by the Aus- trians and summarily condemned to be shot, he lost cour- age. His mother, permitted to visit his cell, found him in such agony of fear as to compel the contempt of his Aus- trian guards. After appealing vainly to his fortitude, she told him, in a feigned scorn, that the Austrians had at last rated him not worth shooting ; that they intended, for the public exhibition of his cowardice, to go through the form with blank cartridges. Believing this lie, he stood up smil- ing next morning before the rifles — and, of course, was instantly killed.* You may vary the setting of this story ; choose your own time and place. The incidents might happen in the Civil * Baldwin: A College Manual of Rhetoric, page 142. 172 A First Year English Book War, in the Franco-Prussian War, or oven in the recent Spanish-American War. In each case, however, the armies must be operating near the home of the spy. References for Suggestive Reading Jackanapes, Mrs. Ewing. The Story of i/ Short Life, Mrs. Ewing. ./ Soldier of the Umpire. Page. Wee Willie Winkie, Kipling. SECTION VII. MOOD Very frequently in writing it is necessary to describe a character so as to show what mood he is in. This may appear from what he does and says, or from the way he looks. For example : Long John Silver and another of the crew stood face to face in conversation. The sun beat full upon them. Silver had thrown his hat beside him on the ground, and his great, smooth, blond face, all shining with heat, was lifted to the other man's in a kind of appeal. "Mate," he was saying, "it's because I thinks gold dust of you — gold dust, and you may lay to that! If I hadn't took to you like pitch, do you think I'd have been here a-warning of you? All's up — you can't make nor mend; it's to save your neck that I'm a-speaking, and if one of the wild 'tins knew it, where 'ud I be, Tom — now, tell me, where 'ud I be?" "Silver," said the other man — and I observed he was not only red in the face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and his voice shook, too, like a taut rope. "Silver," says he, "you're old and you're honest, or has the name for it ; and you've money, too, which lots of poor sailors hasn't ; and you're brave, or I'm mistook. And will you tell me you'll let yourself be led away with that kind of a mess of swabs? Not you ! As sure as God sees me, I'd sooner lose my hand. If I turn agin my dooty — " And then all of a sudden he was interrupted by a noise. Setting 173 . . . Far away out in the marsh there arose, all of a sudden, a sound like the cry of anger, then another on the back of it ; and then one horrid long-drawn scream. . . . Tom had leaped at the second like a horse at the spur ; but Silver had not winked an eye. . . . ". . . In heaven's name, tell me what was that?" "That?" returned Silver, smiling away, but warier than ever, his eye a mere pin-point in his big face, but gleaming like a crumb of glass. "That? Oh, I reckon that'll be Alan." Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson. Exercises 1. Read Treasure Island, Chapter XXV ; point out all indications of mood. 2. Read any story from your literature course and point out all indications of mood. j. Read The Last Lesson, page 82, for this purpose. 4. Write a description of a child sitting on the curb, the broken pieces of a beautiful pitcher in his hands. De- scribe so as to show mood. 5. Write a description of a dog on a street corner thronged with people. Show that he has lost his master. 6. Write a description to show a boy coming towards an old house with large barns and grounds. Show by his actions that he has been away a long time and does not know whether or not his father and mother are still there. 7. Write a description of a girl entering a railway sta- tion, carrying a worn satchel, an old umbrella, and a lunch box. Show that she does not know where to go and that her friends have failed to meet her. 8. Write a description to show that a boy who is usually cheerful, is depressed at receiving a low mark in exami- nation. p. Oral. What is the mood of each character in the picture opposite page 200? Describe the picture so as to show this. 174 -4 First Year English Book SECTION VIII. SETTING It is often very important in a story that we see clearly the place where the story happens. Very often the action is determined by the "lay of the land." the situation of the house, or the build of the ship's cabin. Such description is by no means easy. Places, objects, space-relations, arc proper subjects for the painter, rather than for the writer, who must, therefore, study the art with special care. First, as is the case in describing persons, you should notice the general look of the place you are going to describe, and should present its general shape by a com- parison with some familiar object which it resembles. A well-known example is Victor Hugo's description of the bat- tle-field of Waterloo: Those who would get a clear idea of the battle of Waterloo have only to lay down upon the ground in their mind a capital letter A. The left stroke of the A is the road to Xivelles, the right stroke is the road from Genappe, the cross of the A is the sunken road from Ohain to Braine I'Alleud. The top of the A is Mont Saint Jean, Wellington is there; the left-hand lower point is Hougomont, Teille is there with Jerome Bonaparte ; the right-hand lower point is La Belle Alliance, Napoleon is there. A little below the point where the cross of the A meets and cuts the right stroke, is La Haie Sainte. At the middle of this cross is the precise point where the final battle word was spoken. There the lion is placed, the involuntary symbol of the supreme heroism of the Imperial Guard. The triangle con- tained at the top of the A, between the two strokes and the cross, is the plateau of Mont Saint Jean. The struggle for this plateau was the whole of the battle. Les Miserable*, Victor Hr. Exercises i. Describe the town in which you live, using a com- parison to explain the shape of it. Setting 175 2. In the same way describe some body of .water which you have seen. 5. Describe the village of Stratford-on-Avon as shown in the picture opposite page 220. In describing places you must begin at a definite point, and describe what you see from that point, never changing your position or point of view. You must not begin to describe a town as if you were standing on the steps of the town hall, and then go on as if you were standing on the bridge. In the following example, the writer chooses a definite point of view and keeps it throughout : When the young men awoke they found that their win- dows looked out upon a prospect of soft and tranquil love- liness, quiet and peaceful as a happy dream. Immediately below the windows was a terrace, and beyond the terrace an orchard of fruit-trees, then leafless, but just breaking into blossom, the twisted branches gray with lichens and sparkling with dewdrops ; and beyond this again a stretch of park and pastures and vineyards, and then, in the far distance, the Jura Mountains, with their dark fir forests and escarpments of white rocks. Between the windows and these distant hills shadowy gradations of light revealed the ridges of vineyard and woodland with a delicate, faint tracery of outline, and a clear distinctness, in the softly tinted morning air. The Countess Eve, J. H. Shorthouse. Exercises /. Go back to the selection on pages 123-125, and note how the author has selected one definite point of view and has kept to that consistently. 2. Make a diagram of your school grounds. Choose a point of view, and then describe the grounds as you see them from that point. 3. Write a description, making the point of view the top of a hill. 176 A First Year English Book 4. Write a description of a railway station, selecting carefully your point of view as an artist would who was trying to make a good picture. 5. Describe what you can see from your window. 6. Look at the picture opposite page 40. and decide why the artist chose the point of view from which he painted it. 7. Describe a room as seen by a sparrow on the window- sill. After you have chosen your point of view, you will try to arrange the details in the most effective order. Some- times you will go from the nearest point to the farthest, or from the largest detail to the smallest. In the preceding example, page 175, the writer describes the details as they are contiguous — that is, in the order of space, beginning nearby and going farther and farther away. The following description begins at a definite point at the bottom and pro- ceeds upward. The scene before the reddleman's eyes was a gradual scries of ascents from the level of the road backward into the heart of the heath. It embraced hillocks, pits, ridges, acclivities, one behind the other, till all was finished by a high hill cutting against the still light sky. The traveler's eye hovered about these things for a time, and finally settled upon one noteworthy object up there. It was a barrow. This bossy projection of earth above its natural level occu- pied the loftiest ground of the loneliest height that the heath contained. Although from the vale it appeared but as a wart on an Atlantean brow, its actual bulk was great. It formed the pole and axis of the heathery world. As the resting man looked at the barrow, he became aware that its summit, hitherto the highest object in the whole prospect round, was surmounted by something higher. What the barrow was to the hill supporting it, the object was to the barrow. It rose from the semiglobular mound like a spike from a helmet. The first instinct of an im- aginative stranger might have been to suppose it the person Setting 177 of one of the Celts who built the barrow, so far had all of modern date withdrawn from the scene. It seemed a sort of last man among them, musing for a moment before drop- ping into eternal night with the rest of his race. There the form stood, motionless as the hill beneath. Above the plain rose the hill ; above the hill rose the bar- row ; above the barrow rose the figure ; above the figure was nothing that could be mapped elsewhere than on a celestial globe. The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy. In the preceding, the description also proceeds from large to small with the most characteristic detail for the last. Your plan will, of course, vary according to the object you are describing. The important point to keep in mind is that you must choose some plan which is adapted to your object. You have been told that you must be careful not to shift the point of view ; but suppose you were going to describe some large object which could not all be seen from one point of view. In this case you would choose a point of view, and describe what you could see from that point ; then you would shift your point of view, taking care to tell your reader that you have done so ; or you might take your reader with you for a walk, and describe what you saw on the way. Here, again, you should always be careful to make plain the point of view. In describing places or objects, as well as in describing people, you must keep in mind the main impression you wish to produce. The following description of a house conveys the main impression of cleanliness. Note how Dickens builds up this one impression. At length we stopped before a very old house bulg- ing out over the road. It was quite spotless in its cleanli- ness. The old-fashioned brass knocker on the low-arched 178 . / First Year English B dour, ornamented with carved garlands of fruits and flow- ers, twinkled like a star; the two stone steps descending to the door were as white as if they had been covered with fair linen; and all the angles and corners, and carvings and mouldings, and quaint little pam- of glass, and quainter little windows, though as "M a- the hills, were a- pure as any --now that ever fell upon the hill-. 1 Coppi ,/it 1,1, ( lHARl 1 - Dl( KENS. < u'ten the des< ription of the scene of a story helps ver) much in making the events seem real. The setting Miit-> the event so perfectly that the one suggests the other. "I ertain dank garden- cry aloud for a murder; certain old hi demand to be haunted." Indeed, ii" only a house look suf ficiently Military and ruined and desolate, the popular imagi- nation will supply a harmonious story, and will soon set in circulation tales of ghosts and spooks. 'The ghost story i- an excellent example of how setting heightens the effect of reality. References h>r Suggestive Reading The Maelstrom, Poe. The House of Usher, 1 ' The Mmy Men, Stevenson. Will 0' the Mill, Stevenson. Exercises 1. Read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and point out all the description which help- the uncanm effect. Read the stor) aloud, leaving .nit tl riptions, and see what you have left. _\ Point <>nt effective setting in Rip Van Winkle, The Specter Bridegroom. J. Write a good beginning for a ghost story, describing the time and the place. Setting ijij References for Suggestive Reading: A Ghost in The Odd Number, Maupassant. The Cantcrville Ghost, Wilde. They, Kipling. 4. What kind of stories should be put in the following settings? Add as many suitable details as you can to the setting. 1. Early morning in May. A freshly-painted white house stands in a trimly kept lawn under oak trees. To the right is an apple-orchard pink with blossoms. 2. Late afternoon in August. The dust lies thick along a country road, full of ruts and unshaded by trees. A cart apparently empty, drawn by two gray horses, is passing along the road. 3. Noon in June. The blazing sun is pouring down over a hay-field in which several men and boys are at work. In the next meadow two women are walking with pails in their hands. 4. Morning in August in a Southern tobacco-field. Many negroes are at work. xAlong a road leading from a house in the background, a rider is seen galloping, leaping the fences as he comes. 5. Midnight on a sailing vessel going from the Banks to Massachusetts. The waves are beating high ; there is no moon, and no light of any sort except a faint cluster of white and green to the starboard. 6. A crowded dry-goods store. Clerks are waiting on women customers, all apparently in a hurry. One young man in a riding suit lounges, his hands in his pockets, near the ribbon counter. 5. W'rite stories for some of the following settings ; de- scribe the setting of each incident fully and vividly. 180 A First Year English Book 1. A cold winter night in the country. There is a road faintly marked between two lines of fences, weighted with snow. A man is plodding forward, head bent, shoulders up. There is no other person and no house in sight. 2. A derelict is swinging on the ocean in a fog. Not far off an ocean steamer is feeling her way carefully, con- stantly sounding her fog-horn. 3. A well-filled library in which >il> an old man fallen asleep over his reading. Slowly opening the window is a man with a dark lantern. 4. A house on fire, the crowd being pushed back by policemen; firemen handling hose and climbing ladders. A young man standing at a three-story window of the burning building. 5. A sheet of ice; boys and girls skating; a small dog trying to follow one of the skaters ; an old gentleman being taught to skate by his grandson. 6. A crowded city street ; fire engine coming rapidly ; a woman standing irresolutely in the middle of the street. 7. A country grocery store. An old man i> whittling a piece of wood on the step. Two old men sit beside the stove. A lanky young clerk is selling a stick of candy to a little girl. 8. An old woman is washing clothes in a back yard under an apple tree ; a clothes line is stretched across the yard between two trees, with a few clothes hanging from it. A tramp is entering the back gate. 9. A soldier is limping painfully along a little village street towards a house at the far end, the blinds of which are down. Women and children stand at the doors and windows looking at him. He does not turn his head. 10. A girl in evening dress is coming down a long staircase, carefully drawing on a pair of white gloves. An old lady stands at the bottom waiting for her. Preparation 181 SECTION IX. PREPARATION Much of the interest in a story depends on suggesting, not merely saying, that certain things have happened or will happen. If Mr. Fox had simply told us that Chad was left in the deserted cahin and that old Nathan was coming next morning to get the furniture, it would not have been so effective as it is when he describes the room: The homespun bedclothes and hand-made quilts of brilliant colors had been thrown in a heap on one of the two beds of hickory withes ; the kitchen utensils — a crane and a few pots and pans — had been piled on the hearth along with strings of herbs and beans and red pepper- pods — all ready for old Nathan when he should come over for them, next morning, with his wagon. The following scene from Treasure Island tells a clear story as to what has happened : It occurred to me there was no time to lose ; and, dodging the boom as it once more lurched across the deck, I slipped aft, and down the companion stairs into the cabin. It was such a scene of confusion as you can hardly fancy. All the lockfast places had been broken open in quest of the chart. The floor was thick with mud, where ruffians had sat down to drink or consult after wading in the marshes round their camp. The bulkheads, all painted in clear white, and beaded round with gilt, bore a pattern of dirty hands. Dozens of empty bottles clinked together in corners to the rolling of the ship. One of the doctor's medical books lay open on the table, half of the leaves gutted out, I suppose, for pipe-lights. In the midst of all this litter the lamp still cast a smoky glow, obscure and brown as umber. Exercises /. In Irving's Rip J 'an Winkle point out all the descrip- tions which show that a long time has passed since he left his home. 1 82 A First Year English Book 2. Describe a room so as to show thai burglars hav< just left it. j. Describe ;i house made ready for an auction sale. 4. Write a description to show that a thunder-shower is about to fall. This might take the shape of a convi tion between two little girls anxious t<> reach home in time to avoid a wetting; or two boys, fishing, who are looking for shelter. 5. Describe a farm scene so .i- to show that the thresh- ing is just over. 6. Descrihe a scene which shows that four hoys are just ready to start on a camping expedition. I Ine caution is necessary: in trying to make a story seem ical, do not make the mistake of describing what is unim- portant. Only the main scenes and the important char- acters deserve full description. The following theme writ- ten by a student shows how misleading is such a mistake. Never descrihe merely for the sake of describing. John and Theodore are two friends, laborers, who have occupied a room with an old miser. John is devoted to Theodore, who is a weak and shallow character. Becoming involved in debt, Theodore at length steals some gold from the miser. When the theft is discovered John assumes the guilt and is taken to jail. Meantime Theodore returns and finds his friend gone. The student continues the >tor\ thus: 1 tastily picking up his bundle he rushed blindly down the stairs and hurried down the streets, never stopping until the sun had driven the stars from sight. Me then stopped and looked upon the cool brook running through the high nod • ling grass on either side, with the sloping purple meadow- stretching to the forest and the blue sea beyond. I le quickly turned his steps to the forest. Theodore was filled with wonder at the beautiful scene, and wandering about he came upon a clear space. Here he was charmed by a song. When it was ended he walked toward the singer. Conversation 183 She was a slender girl, about fifteen years old, with large gray eyes beneath an arch of black eyebrows. Her large white forehead extended back to a mass of glossy black ringlets. She smiled, showing faultless white teeth. Theo- dore, going up to her, asked for food and drink. She brought him to her father's home and set before him a good supply of food and drink. After having his fill, he started to roam about the forest until he came to a spot he liked, and there he built himself a hut, in which he lived many years. Meanwhile John had been taken to prison, where after a hard trial he was found guilty. After serving many years of hardships he was again set free and returned to Paris. I Ie began to work in an humble position ; soon he had reached a high and worthy position, yet he never seemed satisfied. One day as he was standing beside his door his attention was attracted by a strong man with brown face and hands. Something about his walk and the expression of his face seemed familiar. Then it came to him, as swift as an arrow, that this was his long lost friend, Theodore. . . . In this theme the girl is described so fully that we think she is an important actor in the conclusion of the story ; as a matter of fact we never see her again. The forest, too, receives more attention than it deserves. The student has been carried away by the mere pleasure of describing. y. Turn to the picture opposite page 120: write out the incidents for which this picture is the preparation. SECTION X. CONVERSATION One can readily test what is important in a story by turn- ing it into drama. This process forces one to determine which scenes really count. 1. Take a story from The Arabian Nights, — that of the three Princes, Ali, Houssain, and Ahmed, will answer, — and write it out in dramatic form. Try to make as few changes of scene as possible. 184 .1 First Year English Book 2. Select some scene in the life of one of the following characters and write it out in dramatic form: Alexander the Great ; Chevalier Bayard ; John Paul Jones; Fridtjof Nansen; Aaron l'.nrr ; Warren Hastings; Thomas a Becket; Napoleon; Robinson Crusoe; Enoch Arden ; King Robert of Sicily; King Richard and Blondel ; Cer- v antes. 3. Choose some scene from a favorite story and write it out in dramatic form. The following list may be suggestive: The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain ; King Cophetua and the Beggar-Maid; The Man Who Would Be King, Kipling; Rip Van Winkle, Irving; The Bottle Imp, Steven- son. In the management of your story, you can present a good deal of the action through the talk of your people, if you wish to choose this rather difficult method of carrying on the story. In connection with your plot, you must remember that dialogue has two purposes: to reveal character, and to tell what happens. Xever put any remarks in the mouth of a character which do not belong to him and to nobody else. Try to make the remarks so surely a part of the character, that if you were to read your story aloud without any ''said he's" and "said she's" your listener could tell who was speaking. Exercises /. Go back to the .--election on page 62, and note how the dialogue between Alan and David reveals character and advances the action. 2. Make dialogues on the following subjects. Be sure that before you begin you have in mind the character- istics of each of your persons. Do not say "said he" too frequently ; vary with "he replied," "he remarked," "he observed," "he retorted," "he objected." "he answered," "he Story Writing 185 inquired." Insert necessary description and comment. Do not forget to develop a story. 1. Write a dialogue between two brothers who are about to start for a county fair. Show that one brother is quick- witted and hot-tempered ; the other slow, though not stupid, and good-natured. 2. Write a dialogue between an aunt and her niece about a summer vacation, showing that the former has traveled much. She is gentle and considerate ; the niece thoughtless but affectionate. 3. Write a dialogue between two girls in a school-room. One is clever, and kind, and has a sense of humor ; the other a newcomer, who has always gone to a private school, is a little supercilious and impatient. 4. Write a dialogue between two men, one a great cow- ard and boaster ; the other reticent and self-sacrificing. Let them talk of hunting or of fishing. 5. Let two workmen who are laying a street-paving talk about their employer. One is happy-go-lucky and lazy, and yet always seems to succeed ; the other is painstaking, but not very good-tempered, and has sometimes been unjustly treated. 6. Write a dialogue about two newcomers to a country town who are talking to an agent who has a house to rent. The agent is trying to find out what their business is, and they are skillfully avoiding an answer. One is polite and smiling ; the other stern and rather scornful. 7. Write a conversation held by a tramp who has seen better days, a thin, sad man who does not like to beg ; and two boys, one of whom is kind-hearted and a good reader of character ; the other kind-hearted, but cowardly and sus- picious. 8. Write a dialogue between two women, one of whom is hard-worked, but merry ; the other is complaining and ill- i86 ./ First Year English Hook natured. It i- washing day and the clothes-lines of one o! them with it- burden has fallen to the ground. SECTK IN XI. ST( tRY WRITING /. Take the situation of a 1><>\ or girl who is thrown upon his own resources, and tell what he does. The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come places tin > situation upon a lonely mountain. The story mighl begin in the midst of a great city, or on a western plain, or in San Francisco just after the earthquake. _'. Write the stor) "i a t> \ who wishes to in- a soldier. Begin so as to show how the surroundings of his early life have led him to this ideal. R.E1 ERE \t l S FOR SUGGES I i\ I R.E U5ING Jackanapes, Mrs. Ewing. . /;; Incident of the French Lump, Browning. The Story of a Short Life, Mrs. Ewing. Wee Willie Winkie, Kipling. 5. The same situation can be used beginning with a boy whose surroundings make him wish to he- a sailor; a painter; a civil engineer; a singer; an actor; a railway engineer. /. A negro hoy, horn a slave, wishes lie might he free. When the war breaks out he runs away from his Virginia master, goes to Washington and enters a negro regiment. < >n the battlefield he finds his old master, wounded . . . 5. Two related families have been separated by a Ww<\. The little grand-daughter of one family has never seen her grandfather of the other family. lie i> very fond of fishing. < >ne day she wander- down to a stream where he has cast his lines. What happens? 6. Take some character from a book which you like, and write your own storv about him. Story Writ in g 187 7. Tell the story of an Indian spy acting for the French in the French and Indian War, and a frontiersman acting as a spy for the English. The one pursues and captures the other ; on the journey to camp they become friends. 8. Continue the story of Treasure Island. Remember that the silver bars were still on the Island ; that John Silver had left the ship for parts unknown ; that three men had been left on the Island when the Hispaniola sailed for England. p. Finish the following stories. So much is given you that with a little of your imagina- tion you can see how each story ought to come out. Try to see the rest of the story vividly, have all your incidents and details lead up to the main incident, and introduce realistic details wherever you can. 1. Casperl was a woodchopper, and the son of a wood- chopper, and although he was only eighteen when his father died, he was so strong and active that he went on chopping wood for the whole neighborhood, and people said he did it quite as well as his father, while he was certainly a great deal more pleasant in his manners, and much more willing to oblige others. It was a poor country, however, for it was right in the heart of the Black Forest, and there were more witches and fairies and goblins there than healthy human beings. So Casperl scarcely made a living, for all he worked hard and rose early in the morning, summer and winter. His friends often advised him to go to some better place, where he could earn more money ; but he only shook his head and said that the place was good enough for him. He never told anyone, though, why he loved his poor hut in the depths of the dark forest, because it was a secret which he did not wish to share with strangers. For he had discovered, a mile or two from his home, in the very black- est part of the woods, an enchanted mountain. It was a high mountain, covered with trees and rocks and thick, tangled undergrowth, except at the very top, where there i88 A First Year English Book stood a castle surrounded by smooth, green lawn- and 1 tiful gardens, which wore always kept in the neatest pi ble order, although no gardener was ever seen. This enchanted mountain had been under a spell for nearly two hundred years. The lovely Princess who lived there had once ruled the whole country. But a powerful and wicked magician disguised himself as a Prince, and made love to lur. At first the Princess loved her false suitor, but one day she found out thai he was not what he pretended to he. and she told him to leave her and never to come near her again. "For you are not a Prince," she said. "You are an im- ■. and. [ will never wed any hut a true Prill "Very wall." -aid the magician in a 'you -hall -•ait for your true Prince, if there is such a thing as a true Prince, and you shall marry no one till he com< And then the magician cast a spell upon the beautiful castle upon the top of the mountain, and the terril sprang up about it so that no mortal man could My go to the summit, except by one path, which was purposely left clear. And in the path there was a gate that the strongest man could not open, it was so heavy. Farther up the mountain slope the trunk of a tree lay right ac the way — a magic tree, that no one could climb over or crawl under, or cut through. And beyond the gate and the tree was a dragon with green eyes which frightened away every man that looked at it. Now . . . year after year young princes came from all part- of the earth to try to re-cue the lovely captive and win her for a bride. But, one after the other, they all tried and failed — the best of them could not so much a- open the gate. And so there the Princess remained a- the years went on. She did not grow any older <>r any less beautiful, for -he was still waiting for the True Prince, and A\q believed that he would come. This was what kept Casperl from leaving the I Hack 1 e-t. lie was sorry for the Princess, and he hoped snme day to see her re-cued, and wedded to the True Prince. But every Prince had to make a trial by himself. That was one of the condition- which the magician made Story Writing 189 when he laid the spell upon the castle, although Casperl did not know it. And each Prince would throw off his cloak and shoulder a silver or gold-handled axe, and fasten his sword by his side, and set out to climb the hill, and open the gate, and cut through the fallen tree, and slay the dragon, and wed the Princess. But everyone of them came back, after a while, with his fine clothes torn and his soft skin scratched, all tired and disheartened and worn out. And then he would look spite- fully up at the mountain and say he didn't care so much about wedding the Princess, after all ; that she was onlv a common enchanted Princess, just like any other enchanted Princess, and really not worth so much trouble. This would grieve Casperl, for he couldn't help think- ing that it was impossible that any other woman could be as lovely as his Princess. You see, he called her his Princess because he took such an interest in her, and he didn't think- there could be any harm in speaking of her in that way, just to himself. For he never supposed she could even know that there was such an humble creature as poor young Cas- perl, the woodchopper, who sat at the foot of the hill and looked up at her. By and by, one summer evening, as Casperl sat watch- ing, there came a little Prince with a small train of at- tendants. He was rather undersized for a Prince; he didn't look strong, and he did look as if he slept too much in the morning and too little at night. He slipped off his coat, however, and climbed up the road and began to push and pull at the gate. Casperl watched him carelessly for a while, and then, happening to look up, he saw that the Princess was gazing sadly down upon the poor little Prince as he tugged and toiled. Then a bold idea came to Casperl. Why shouldn't he help the Prince. He was young and strong; he had often thought that if he were a Prince a gate like that should not keep him away from the Princess. Why, indeed, should he not give his strength to help to free the Princess ? And he felt a great pity for the poor little Prince, too, 190 A First Year English Book So he walked modestly up the hill and offered his serv- ices to the Prince. "Your Royal Highness," he said, "1 am onl) a wood- chopper; but, if \<>u please, I am a strong woodchopper, and perhaps I can be of use to you." "But why should you take the trouble to help me?" in- quired the Prince. "What good will it do you?" "Oh, well!" said Casperl, "it i- helping the Princess, too, don't you know ':" "No, I don't know," said tin- Prince. "However, you may try what you can do. Here, put your shoulder to this end of the gate and I'll stand right behind you." Now, Casperl did not know that it was forbidden to any suitor to have help in his attempt to climb the hill. The Prince knew it, though, but he said to himself, "When I am through with this woodchopper I will dismiss him, and no one will know anything about it. 1 can never lii't this gate by myself. I will let him do it for me. and thus I shall gel the Princess, and he will be just as well satisfied, for be is only a woodchopper.'" So Casperl put hi- -boulder to the gate and pushed with all his might. It was very heavy, but after a while it began to move a little. . . 2. In finishing the following store, punish the wicked queen and treat Lanval as seems to you right. Use descrip- tion and conversation so a- to make the scene- vivid. In the days when King Arthur held court at Carleon, Lanval was for many years his steward. Then he left the court of Arthur, and, being to., generous, soon fell into pov- erty. One day Lanval rode out into the forest in poor array, and, dismounting, he sat under a tree, very sorrowful. Soon there approached two maidens, passing fair, who said that their lady, Dame Triamore. wished to speak to him. I loing with the maidens, he found a rich pavilion and a lady of marvelous beauty who was daughter of the King of Fairy. She promised him that if he would forsake every other lady for her she would make him rich and would keep him from harm in tournament and in battle. But it must all be kept secret and he must on no account boast of her love. Story Writing . 191 Lanval was well pleased. He won much renown by his largess and his rich attire and by his prowess in tourney and in battle. And many ladies looked on him kindly, but none seemed to him fair in comparison with Triamore. At length there was a wicked Queen, who showered him with favors until Lanval said to her that for seven years he had loved a lady more fair than any she had ever set eyes on. And in revenge, because he had slighted her, the wicked Queen accused him falsely to the King, who swore that Lanval should be slain unless, within a twelvemonth, he could substantiate his boast. Then was Lanval in sore distress, for he had broken his word to Triamore, who appeared to him no more, and whose rich gifts had disappeared. He lay wretchedly in prison, lamenting his folly in vain. Sir Perceval and Sir Gawain became his bondsmen, but nothing could he do to help him- self. And so the twelvemonth passed by, and again he was bound and brought before King Arthur and his knights. . . . 10. Make stories from the following outlines, selecting with particular care the main incident. 1. One Friday afternoon two boys slip into the church behind the deaf sexton, *and go up to play in the loft. He goes out and locks the door. What happens ? 2. A tramp, penniless but in love with his roaming life, picks up a newspaper and reads that his eccentric uncle, living five hundred miles away, has died and left him a mil- lion dollars. What does he do? 3. A girl of fifteen loses her uncle who was her sole relative. It is found that he has left no money. What does she do? 4. Three boys out camping are set upon by robbers, tied, and robbed of all they have, one thief, however, protesting against taking anything from them. What happens? 5. A brother and sister find in a hollow tree a round box on which is a piece of paper, covered with strange marks. 192 A .first Year English Book At the top is written, "Who can read me truly wins a for- tune." What happens? 6. Two girls are given a ten-acre field with the proviso that if they do not make it pay, it is to go to their brother. What do they do? 7. Two boys are out in a sailboat. They quarrel ; a storm arises. What follov 8. A girl who has offended her guardian wants to go to college. lie refuses to allow her the money. What does she do? SECTK »N XII. FHiCRES OF SPEECH < iften in trying to describe persons or objects you will find yourself telling what they are like, what they remind you of, comparing and perhaps contrasting them with other 1 ibjects ■ 'i' pers< ins. <■ I, my love is like a red. red rose, That's newly sprung in June. 1 '. my love i> like the melodie That's sweetly played in tune. Comparison, then, is one of the most suggestive tools of description; so valuable, indeed, that we shall find it worth while to consider, at this point, the kinds of figures at our disposal. Figurative language is language used in a sense not strictly literal. When Macbeth says: Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more — the statement is not literally true. The words are used fig- uratively. The most common figure is that of comparison. We fre- quently compare objects. When we express the compari- son, we use a figure called a simile. Figures of Speech 193 Fair as a star when only one Is shining in the sky. When we do not fully state the comparison, but merely imply the likeness, we use metaphor. Or, to put it differ- ently : to use a simile is to compare one thing to another ; to use a metaphor is to call one thing by the name of an- other. An example of metaphor is: "The stars are the flowers of the sky." In the following sentence, the first figure is a simile, the second a metaphor: "Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it. " Sometimes, again, we speak of inanimate objects and of the lower animals as if they had the same qualities as human beings. This figure is called a personification. Stars, hide your fires ! Let no light see my black and deep desires. It is to be noted that figurative expressions are not con- fined to nouns, but are just as frequently found in other parts of speech. Scan every word to see if it is expressing a figurative or a literal idea. Such a figurative expression as "The sun's rim dips, the stars rush out, at one stride comes the dark," has its metaphor in the verbs and in the prepositional phrase. Exercises /. In the following passages, point out all the expres- sions which are not literal. Name personifications, similes and metaphors. State the points of similarity between two objects compared: 1. It was an ugly little venomous serpent of a noise. 194 A First Year English Book 2. Rode under groves that looked like paradise ( >f blossom, over sheets of hyacinth That seemed the heavens upbreaking through the earth. 3. The train grew small in the unending gulf of space, until all sign of its presence was gone save a faint skein of smoke against the evening 4. Youth untamed sat here an idle moment, spending easily its hard-earned wag It came o'er my ear like the sweet sound That breathes upon a bank of violets. 6. Thick as autumnal leaves that Strew the brooks In Vallambr 7. These picnic pots and can- were the tir.^t of her trophies that Civilization dropped upon Wyoming's virgin soil. 8. A drove of fishes, painted like the rainbow and billed like parrots, hovered up in the shadow of the schooner, and passed clear of it, and glinted in the submarine sun. They were beautiful like birds, and their silent passage impressed him like a strain of song. 9. In the early history of our planet, the moon was thing oft into space as mud is thrown from a turning wheel. 10. Love took up the glass of Time and turned it in his glowing hands; Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden . sands. 11. Many a night I saw the Pleiades, rising thro' the mellow shade, Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid. \2. How smart a lash thy speech doth give my con- science ! Figures of Speech 19: 13. My crown is in my heart, not on my head. 14. Your fair discourse has been as sugar, Making the hard way sweet and delectable. 15. To one who hath been long in city pent, Tis very sweet to look into the fair And open face of heaven, to breath a prayer Full in the smile of the blue firmament. 16. The birds made Melody on branch and melody in mid-air ; The damp hilltops were quickened into green. And the live green had kindled into flames. 17. Xot only around our infancy Doth heaven with all its splendors lie ; Daily, with souls that cringe and plot, We Sinais climb and know it not. Over our manhood bend the skies ; Against our fallen and traitor lives The great winds utter prophecies ; With our faint hearts the mountain strives ; Its arms outstretched, the druid wood Waits with its benedicite ; And to our age's drowsy blood Still shouts the inspiring sea. 18. And what is so rare as a day in June? Then, if ever, come perfect days ; Then heaven tries the earth if it be in tune. And over it softly her warm ear lays. 19. The little brook heard it, and built a roof 'Neath which he could house him, winter-proof; All night by the white stars' frosty gleams He groined his arches and matched his beams ; Slender and clear were his crystal spars As the lashes of light that trim the stars. 196 A First Year English Hook 20. He was a pleasanl appearing man of two or three and twenty, of medium stature with dark gray eyes; but his lace lacked any fixed idea or concentration of purpose. A thought would wander like a free bird over his features, flutter in his eyes, light on his parted lips, hide itself in the wrinkles of his brow; then entirely vanish away, and over his whole countenance would spread the shadeless light of unconcern. j". Go over the preceding list and turn ten of the figura- tive expressions into literal expressions. Turn five of the similes into metaphors, and five of the metaphors into similes. 3. Turn to page 43. Point out all the similes and metaphor-. Are they used to make the thought clearer? To suggest beautiful associations? /. Correct anything that i- incongruous in the follow- ing figures: 1. The war-horse of the republic waves his strong right hand as a token of victoiy. 2. She flung aside the mask and -bowed the cloven foot. 3. She sat in a new gown and unlimited confidence. 4. I bridle in my struggling muse with pain, That longs to launch into a bolder strain. 5. To take arm- against a sea of troubles. 6. Cut loose your stammering tongue that it may drive your thoughts home like a flaming sword. 7. His remarks went to the point like a dove to her nest, springing up in leaves and fruit in the hearts of his hearers. 8. He champed and fretted like a young wardiorse. im- patient to make the victory his own, and sow the seeds of his personality upon the whole army. Figures of Speech 197 9. She flourished like a young bay tree, making ready to mark her footprints upon the sands of time. 10. The keynote of his speech was wrapped up in a cloud of comparison. 11. His threats leapt up like tongues of flame, hewing their way at the heads of the oppressors. 5. Use comparisons to express the following ideas : 1. He was talkative 2. The wind blew 3. The boat was tossed on the waves 4. The engine shrieked 5. The approaching trolley-car sounded like 6. She was beautiful 7. He was strong 8. You could rely on him 9. The sun shimmered through the leaves 10. The leaves were blown along 11. The little garden was fresh and neat 12. The day was dark and the rain fell 13. We heard the sound of confused footsteps like ..... 14. The sparrows were chirping APPENDIX A ./ BRIEF REVIEW OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR SECTK ).\ I. THE SENTENCE I. A sentence is ;i group oi words which expresses a complete thought. It consists of a subject, which names thi' subjed mi' the thought, and a predicate, which states what is thought of the subject. Exercise Name the subject and the predicate of each sentence in i he following: 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 [Q ] I 12 13 '4 kick built a house. The day' wa> very warm. .Many people called to-day. The lake was unusually ri<£k\ The tire burned brightly, jy • 1 sat on the heajth-rUg and watched the fire., Nature pays all debts promptly.' Re sought through the world lor a perfect man. The house is buihuof stone. The house on thelhilltop is buiftftof gray limestone. Where i< the Land <>f Heart's Desire? To thine own -elf be true. Owe no man anything. Where are the 'snows of yesteryear? II. A clause is a group of words which contains a subject 198 Appendix A 199 and a predicate, and is used like a noun, an adjective, or an adverb; as, "When he had fought many battles, he became weary of war." A phrase is a group of closely related words which does not contain a subject and a predicate; as, "going home"; "on the table". Exercise Among the following groups of words, point out the sen- tences, clauses, and phrases : 1. And who art thou? said I to the soft- falling shower. 2. This is the house that Jack built. 3. The day of doom. 4. Going homeward. 5. The green trees whispered soft and low. (). A little learning is a dangerous thing. 7. As life runs on, the road grows strange. ( 8. The butterflies ceased. their flitting over the grass. <;. The way was long; the night was dark. 10. As the boy was ill, we took him home. 11. The robins sang in the orchard; the buds into blos- soms grew. 12. While we were waiting the tide began to rise. III. Sentences are classified according to their form as simple, complex, and compound. A simple sentence contains one subject and one predicate, either or both of which may be compound: 1. Ole Bull played the violin. 2. Paganini and Ole Bull played the violin. ^Com- pound subject.) 3. Mozart played, composed, and conducted. {Com- pound predicate). A complex sentence consists of one principal proposition and one or more subordinate propositions or clauses; as, "This is the house that Tack built." 2oo ./ First Year English Book A compound sentence consists of two or mine independent propositions ; as, "The wa) was long and the wind was cold." Exercise Classify the following sentences, as simple, complex, and compound. Point out all the clauses. Charles the King, <>nr great Emperor, has been for seven long year> in Spain; he has conquered all the high land down to the sea; nol a castle holds out against him. Not a wall <>r city is left unshattered, save Saragossa, which stands high on a mountain. King Marsila holds it, who loves not God. He serves Mahound, and worships Apollon; ill hap must in sooth befall him. King Marsila abides in Saragossa. And on a day he passes into tlu- shade of his orchard; there he sits on a ter- race of bine marble, and around him his men are gathered to the number of twenty thousand. lie speaks to his dukes and d mnts. "I [ear, 1< >rds, w hat evil i iverwhelms us; ( Charles, the Emperor of fair France has come into this land to con- found us. I have no host to do battle against him, nor any folk to discomfort his. Council me. lords, as wise men and save me from death and shame." But not a man has any word in answer, save Blancandrin of the castle of Yal- Fonde. Tli' 8f Unkind. IV. A complex-compound sentence contains two or more independent propositions, one or more of which is accom- panied by a subordinate clause ; as, "There is a book in the British Museum, which would have, for many people, a greater value than any other single volume in the world: it is a copy of Florio's "Montaigne,'* and it hears Shake- speare's autograph on a fly-leaf." Exercise Classify the sentences in the following selections, as simple, complex, compound, and complex-compound. HI Appendix A 201 In a mill there lived an old miller who had neither wife nor child, and three boys served under him. As they had been with him many years, he one day said to them, — "I am old, and want to sit in the chimney-corner; go out, and whichever of you brings me the best horse home, to him I will give the mill ; in return for the gift, he shall take care of me till my death."' Xow the third of the boys was the drudge, who was looked on as foolish by the others ; they did not mean he should have the mill. They all three went out together, and when they came to the village, the two said to stupid Hans, — "You may just as w 7 ell stay here; as long as you live you will never get a horse." But Hans went with them, and when it was night, they came to a cave in which they lay down to sleep. The two sharp ones waited until Hans had fallen asleep ; then they got up, and went away leaving him where he was. And they thought they had done a very clever thing, but it was certain to turn out ill for them. Soon after the Scots and Picts had become one people, there was a King of Scotland called Duncan, a very good old man. He had two sons; one was called Malcolm, and the other Donalbain. But King Duncan w r as too old to lead off his army to battle, and his sons were too young to help him. At this time Scotland, and indeed France and England, and all the other countries of Europe, were much harassed by the Danes. These were a very fierce, warlike people, who sailed from one place to another, and landed their armies on the coast, burning and destroying everything wherever they came. They were heathens, and did not believe in the Bible, but thought of nothing but battle and slaughter and making plunder. / SECTTO\ T IT. PARTS OF SPEECH V. A noun is a name. A proper noun is a name of a particular person, place, or thing. All other nouns are called common nouns. A common noun which names a quality or 202 ./ First Year English Book a general idea, is called an abstract noun; as, "virtue," "wealth. '* A common noun which names a group, is called a collective noun; as, "committee,' - "army.'* VI. A pronoun is a word which refers to a person or thing without naming him or it. A personal prononn is one that by its form distinguishes the speaker, the pi i spoken to, or the person or thing spoken <>f. A relative pronoun refers to some noun or pronoun, which is called an antecedent, and connects its clause with that antecedent ; as, "The man who would be king." The pronouns "who," "which" and "what," when used in asking a question, are called interrogative pronouns. Certain adjectives may be used as pronouns, and are- called adjective pronouns: "Give me that hook." {Adject- ive.) "That is the book I want." (Adjective pronoun.) There are three kinds of adjective pronouns: demon- strative, such as, "this," "that." "the former;" numeral (often called indefinite), as. "some." "few," "any"; dis- tributive, as, "each," "either." "neither." Examples: "This is the way." "Many are called, but few are chosen." "T want neither of them." VII. An adjective is a word which describes or limits the meaning- of a noun or pronoun; as, "The merry lark is singing." A proper adjective is an adjective formed from a proper noun. Jt is written with a capital letter; as, "English;" "Christian." An article is a limiting word which cannot be used alone, but which is always joined to a noun. It has no descriptive meaning. There are two kinds of articles : the definite article "the," which points out a particular individual or group ; the indefinite articles "a" and "an," which do not point out a particular individual or group. Appendix . / 203 Examples: "The king called a courtier." VIII. A verb is a word which assert? something of its subject. A group of words which makes a statement is called a verb-phrase. Examples: "Time flies." "I should have helped you." A transitive verb is a verb which requires an object to complete its meaning. An intransitive verb is one which does not require an object to complete its meaning. Many verbs are transitive or intransitive according to their use in the sentence. Examples: "He dwells alone.*' "He learns his lesson." An auxiliary verb is a verb which is used with the infini- tives or participles of a verb to complete its conjugation. The most common auxiliary verbs are "be,"' ''have," "do," "may," and their various forms. Examples: "I go." "I shall go." 'T might go." "I was told so." In each verb there are certain forms which do not assert something of a subject; they are called verbals. They are of three kinds: participles, infinitives, and gerunds. A participle combines the functions of adjective and verb. It at the same time expresses action or being, ami modifies a noun. Example: "I remember my father, standing before the fire, his head thrown back, his hands thrust into his pockets, talking to us in a pleasant, desultory way." A gerund is like a present participle in form, and is used like a noun. Example: "He enjoyed learning the poem." An infinitive is a form oi the verb which expresses an action or a state without asserting it of a subject. It has various uses: as a noun. "To see is to believe;" as an ad- jective. "I have a lesson to learn:" to complete the meaning 204 A First Year English Book of another verb, "J went to see him." Ii may itself be modified In an adverb, as, " I hope some time to play well." IX. An adverb is a word which modifies a verb, an ad- jective, or another adverb. Examples: "It was raining heazily." "The burden was very heavy." "It was raining very heavily." X. A preposition is a word which shows the relation between a noun it pronoun and some other word in the sentence. Examples: "The hook is on the table." "Beneath the ledge grew ferns ami columbine." XI. A conjunction is a word which connects words, phrases or propositions. A coordinate conjunction is one that connects elements of equal rank in the sentence. "Sir Richard spoke and he laughed." A subordinate conjunction is one that connects a dependent clause to some part of another proposition. Examples: "He walked about the room while he talked." "Take it if you want it." XII. An interjection i> a word which expresses emo- tion. It is not grammatically related to other words in the sentence. Examples: ".lias! 'tis pity!" "Hurrah! the day is won !" Exercise irt/of : Xame the parti of speech in the following: On one side of the moat was a large wood, and here Arthur spent a great deal of his time, lie liked to lie under the trees and gaze up at the blue of the sky. All about him Appendix A 205; old oaks stood like giant guardians watching sturdily over the soil where they had grown for centuries. Arthur could look between the trunks and see rabbits and squirrels frisk- ing about. Sometimes he heard a brown deer with shy, dark eyes pass, holding its graceful head high in the air ; some- times a flock of pheasants with brilliant plumage rose from the bushes. Again there was no sound except the tapping of a bright-crested woodpecker, and no motion but the flut- tering of leaves and the trembling of violets half buried in green moss. At times, when it was dim and silent in the wood, Arthur would hear bursts of merry laughter, the tinkling of bells, and the jingling of spurs. Then he would know that knights and ladies were riding down the road which ran beside the trees. King Arthur and His Knights, Maude L. Radford. XIII. Phrases are classified in two ways, . according to their form, and according to their use in the sentence. A phrase introduced by a preposition is called a prepositional phrase ; introduced by an infinitive, it is called an infinitive phrase ; introduced by a participle, a participial phrase. Examples: "Snow lies on the field."- "To hear him talk is to believe in his sincerity." "Seeing a curiously wrought sword-hilt, I paused and examined it." A phrase used as a noun is called a noun-phrase ; used as an adjective, an adjective-phrase; used as an adverb, an adverbial-phrase. Examples: "It came again with a great wakening light." {Adverbial) . "Dear common flower that growest beside the way, fringing the dusty road with harmless gold.*' (Ad- jective). "Hoping past hope is what men call despair." (Noun-phrase). XIV. Clauses also are classified according to their use in the sentence, as, adjective, adverbial, and noun clauses. Examples: "When the cat's away the mice will play." 206 A First Year English Book (Adverbial). "The house that was built upon tin- sands (adjective) izWwhen the Hoods came." (Adverbial.) "Hoiv a man can live well on nothing a year is indeed a puzzling question." (Noun). Exercise In the following, name all modifying phrases. Classify the dependent clauses according to their use. Point out coordinate propositions in the sentences, ami state the con- j unctions which connect them. The porter, drawn by the growing turmoil, had vanished from the postern, and the door .stood open on the darkness of the night. As Seraphina fled up the terraces, the cries and loud footing of the mob drew nearer the doomed pal- ace; the rush was like the rush of cavalry; the sound of shattering lamps tingled above the rest; and overtowering all. she heard her own name handied among the shouters. A bugle sounded at the door of the guard-room; one gun was fired; and then with the yell of hundreds, Mittwaldcn Palace was carried at a rush. Sped by these dire sounds and voices, the Princess scaled the long garden, skimming like a bird the star-lit stairway ; crossed the Park, which was in that place nar- row ; and plunged upon the farther side into the rude shelter of the forest. So, at a bound, she left the discretion and the cheerful lamps of palace evenings; ceased utterly to be a sovereign lady; and. falling from the whole height of civilization, ran forth into the woods, a ragged Cinderella. The Flight of lite Princess, Robert Louis Stevenson. SECTION IIP ERRORS IX GRAMMAR Certain errors in grammar are SO common that it re- quires special care to eradicate them, especially when they are habitual in speech. The only way to rid oneself of them is to practice the correct forms aloud daily until these Appendix A 207 replace the incorrect forms. The following exercises should be used or omitted according to the needs of the student. XV. Some pronouns have different forms for different cases. The subject of a verb is in the nominative case; the object of a verb or of a preposition is in the objective case. Many people make mistakes in the use of the forms. You should say : "Tom and / were there," not "Tom and me were there." "They told Tom and me to go," not "They told Tom and I to go." "It is /," not "It is me." Exercise Unless you habitually use the correct form, repeat the following forms aloud ten times every day. 1. You and I were there. 2. He and I were there. 3. She and I were there. 4. They and we were there. 5. You and we were there. 6. It is I. It is we. It was not I. It was not we. 7. Give it to Tom and me. 8. Give it to him and me. 9. Give it to her and me. 10. Give it to them and me. 1 1 . They saw you and me. 12. They saw you and them. 13. They saw him and her. 14. He is taller than I. 15. He thought it was I. He thought it was she, etc. XYI. The pronoun "who," has an objective form, "whom." You should say: (1) "To whom did you speak?" not "To zAio did you speak?" 208 A First Year English Booh (2) "Whom did you see?" not "Who did you sec?" Write five sentences using "whom" correctly. Practice them aloud daily until the correct form becomes habitual. XVII. Verbs should agree with their subjects in per- son and number. "The boy rims" is singular. "The boys run" is plural. Most mistakes in verbs occur in the col- loquial forms of everyday speech, where we do not recognize the number of the subject. SE( I M ).\ IV. FORMS Id )K PRACTK E I am. You arc. lie is. I was. You were, lie was. I was there You were there, lb- was there. Was I there? Were you there ? Was he there? Wasn't I dine? Weren't you there? Wasn't he there? Neither of us is ready. Neither of us two was there. Was either of them there? Was neither of them there ? I'm not. You're not. You aren't. He's not. fie isn't. We're not. We aren't, etc. There's no use. [ haven't been. I've not been. You haven't been. You've not been, etc. Am I not" Aren't you? Isn't he? etc. It isn't; 'tisn't ; 'tisn't I ; 'tisn't she ; etc. Supply the correct form of the verb to be in the following: I. Neither of them present. Man after man seen to fall. ,}. Tom. with Bill ready to <^o. 4. 'The man as well as the child worthy of prai 5. Either he or she — — mistaken. 6. Neither of us too tired to go. 7. No one more honest than be. X. Everyone delighted. '). Everybody alarmed at the news. Many mistakes are made in the use of tense-forms of verbs. The principal parts of verbs arc the present, the past, and the past participle, as "speak, spoke, spoken." Appendix A 209 SECTION' V. FORMS FOR PRACTICE I did, you did, he did, etc. I have done, you have done, etc. I saw, you saw, etc. I have seen, you have seen, etc. I went, you went, etc. I've gone, you've gone, etc. I began. I've begun, etc. I came, I've come, etc. I spoke, I've spoken. I gave, I've given. I knew, I've known. I ran, I've run. 1 took, I've taken. I wrote, I've written. XVIII. One of the commonest mistakes in grammar is the misuse of "shall" and "will." Yet the rule is simple. You will easily keep it in mind if you remember that usage is determined by meaning. When you wish to express in the first person simple futurity, you say, "I shall call." "We shall call as usual." When you wish to express, in the first person, determination or willingness, you say, " I will." You reverse matters when you are using the second and third persons. You say, of something in the future, "I shall," but "you will," and "he will." When you are ex- pressing authority, control, or determination, you say, "I will," but "you shall," and "he shall." That is, when you are discussing simple future occurrences, you use "shall" in the first person, and "will" in the second and third. When you are expressing determination or authority, you use "will" in the first person, and "shall" in the second and third. In questions, you must always say "shall" for the first person, not "will." It would not show common sense to say "Will I call on him?" for you are then asking someone else what your intention is. In the second and third per- sons, you use the form which will be used in the answer to your question. If it is a matter of willingness or de- termination, the answer will be, "Yes, I will go," and, ac- cordingly, your question should be, "Will you go?" "Will you do me a favor?" If the reply indicates simply a future 210 A First Year English Book fact, not determination or willingness, your question should be, "Shall you go?" SECTION VI. FORMS FOR PRACTICE Shall you like it? Won't you try it? Will you please pass the salt? Then you won't do it after all? Exercises Insert the correct form, "shall" or "will": i. I be glad if you be so kind. 2. 1 be at home as usual. 3. You find it very convenient. 4. He see his mistake. 5. We be happy to see you. 6. You be tired before noon. 7. They be glad of the opportunity. 8. I be glad ? Of course I . 9. you be at home ? 10. we ever know the truth of the affair? n. you be happy to go home? 12. you not consent to go? . 13. Yes, if you wish it, I go. 14. I'm afraid I be late. 15. I'm afraid you be late. 16. I'm afraid we miss the train. 17. If you start at three. you catch your train I 5 The use of "should" and "would" corresponds to the use of "shall" and "will." If you are in doubt as to whether you should use "should" or "would," translate the terms into "shall" or "will." Practice the following forms. 1. I should like to go. Should you like to go? 2. I said that I should like it. 3. I said that I would do it gladly. 4. If it should rain, we should miss the train. 5. If you would consent to go now, you would catch the train. Note to the Teacher : Other exercises of this sort may be devised as the faults of the pupils may require. A good practice book for this purpose is Applied English Grammar. Lewis, Part I. APPENDIX B PUNCTUATION. RULES AND EXERCISES. SECTION I. RULES FOR FORMING POSSESSIVES /. Singular nouns usually form their possessives by adding 's to the nominative ; as, hoy, boy's. Note: Often the pronunciation of the added s makes a new syllable ; and if this syllable makes an unpleasant sound, the possessive is indicated by the apostrophe (') alone; as, "For goodness' sake." This is chiefly a matter of taste. If the s is sounded, it is always written ; and whenever there is doubt, it is well to follow the rule. 2. Plural nouns form their possessives in two ways : — (a) If the nominative plural ends in s, the possessive is formed by the addition of the apostrophe (') alone; as, boys, boys'. (b) If the nominative plural does not end in s, the pos- sessive is formed by adding 's, as in the singular ; as men, men's. j. Compound nouns form their possessives by the addi- tion of the proper sign to the end of the compound ; as, "sister-in-law's." ./. Personal and relative pronouns form their possessives without the use of the apostrophe ; as, "he," "his," "who," "whose." The form it's is the contracted form of it is. The Indefinite pronoun one forms its possessive like a noun ; as. "one," "one's." 211 212 A First Year English Book SECTION II. RULES FOR THE APOSTROPHE /. The apostrophe is used to form the possessive case of nouns. 2. The apostrophe is used to indicate the elision of a letter or letters. (See 4 above.) j. The apostrophe is used to form the plural of letters, figures, etc. Example: C, C's ; r, r's. SECTION III. RULES FOR QUOTATION MARK'S /. Every direct quotation should be enclosed in double quotation marks. Example: "Shall we go?" he asked. 2. A quotation consisting of several paragraphs requires quotation marks at the beginning of each paragraph, and at the end of the last paragraph only. Example: See Section XXII, Rule 18. J. A quotation which is included within another should be enclosed by single quotation marks. Example: See Section XXII, Rule 18. 4. Titles of books, etc., are often enclosed by quotation marks, unless printed in italics or underlined. Example: See Section XXII, Rule 18. Note: This rule applies to quoted words and phrases. The World says it is "brutal" and "cruel." SECTION IV. RULES FOR PUNCTUATION /. Nouns or phrases which are independent by direct address (compellatives) should be separated from the rc>t of the sentence by commas. Example: "Come, men, let us go." 2. Parenthetical expressions, and expressions which, though not parenthetical, come between important parts of Appendix B 213 the sentence, as. between subject and predicate, between the predicate verb and the direct object, or between the parts of a quotation, should be separated from the rest of the sen- tence by commas. Example: Punctuation, without doubt, will aid you to express your thoughts clearly. Note: If the intermediate expression is restrictive, so that it is inseparable in idea from what precedes, no comma is necessary. Example: The man across the street is named Williams. j. Introductory words and phrases should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas, unless the con- nection is very close. Example: By the way, who told you that? 4. Words in apposition, with their modifiers, should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Example: John Meyer, the prisoner at the bar, was now called upon for his defense. Note i : If one of the terms in apposition is a general title, the comma may be omitted. Example: The novelist Stevenson is dead. Note 2: A title or a degree following the name of a person should be separated from the name by a comma. Example: John Smith, Esq. Note 3 : If a pronoun is used with a noun, for emphasis or in direct address, the comma should be omitted. Example: He himself did it. 5. Phrases or clauses placed by inversion at the begin- ning of sentences are usually followed by commas. Example: In everything that relates to science, I am be- hind the rest of the world. 6. Participial phrases, unless restrictive, and nouns used absolutely with a participle, should be set off by commas. 214 A First Year English Book Examples: Having been absent, lie did nut know the les- son. Success being hopeless, we retreated. The door lead- ing to the hall was closed. 7. A very long subject should be followed by a comma. (Use this rule rarely, if at all, in first year.) 8. Words, phrases, and clauses which arc contrasted should be separated by comma-. Example: We live in deeds, not years. p. Words or phrases in the same construction, forming a series, should be separated from each other by commas. Example: The fruils. Mowers, and shrubs sent forth grateful perfumes. Note 1 : If there are two or more words or phrases, with a conjunction between each two, no commas are needed. Example: The fruits and flowers and shrubs sent forth grateful perfumes. Xote 2: If in the series the only conjunction is between the last two members, the better usage is to place a comma before the conjunction. Example: See Rule 8. Note 3 : If the last two words or phrases are not con- nected by a conjunction, a comma is usually placed after the series, unless what follows is a single word or a short ex- pression very closely connected with the series. Example: The fruits, flowers, shrubs, sent forth grate- ful perfumes. Note 4: If tw r o or more adjectives precede a noun, they should not be separated by commas, unless they are of the same kind. Examples: She wore a pair of soiled white kid gloves. He had in himself a radiant, living spring of generous and manlv action. Appendix B 215 10. Short quotations, or expressions resembling quota- tions, should be set off by commas. Example: He asked, "Are you ready?" The question is, What shall we do now? it. A comma is frequently used before a conjunction that joins two words or phrases that are far apart. (Use rarely in first year.) 12. A relative clause which is nonrestrictive (that is, which contains an additional thought) should be separated from the rest of the sentence by commas. Examples: Longfellow, who wrote many poems, was an American. The man whom we saw is Mr. Drake. Note: A restrictive clause should be preceded by a comma if several words come between the relative pronoun and its antecedent, or when the relative pronoun refers to each of several antecedents. Example: There were present men, women, and chil- dren, who had been hurt. /j. Dependent clauses, commonly introduced by such words as "if," "when," "unless," "though," should be sep- arated from the rest of the sentence by commas, unless closely connected. Example: We were always ready to receive advice, though we seldom followed it. 14. In compound sentences containing a common verb, the omission of the verb in any clause except the first should be marked by a comma, unless the sense is clear without it. Example: "Chaucer painted persons; Spenser, qualities. 75. If the members of a compound sentence are not joined by conjunctions, they should be separated by semi- colons, though if they are very short, commas are some- times used. Example: Friends deserted him; enemies thronged his way. "I came, I saw, I conquered." 216 A First Year English Book 16. If the members of a compound sentence are not closely connected in thought, or arc subdivided by comma-, they are usually separated by semicolons. Example: Nor is it always in the most distinguished achievements that a man's virtues or vices may be best dis- cerned; but very often an action of small note, a short -ax- ing, or a jest shall distinguish a person's real character more than the greatest sieges, or the most important battles. 77. A semicolon should precede such words as "as," "viz." (namely), "i. e." {that is), "c. g." (for example), when followed by examples, instance-, or specifications. Example: The invaders of Britain were composed of three tribes; viz., the Jute-, the Angles, and the Saxons. 18. When a direct quotation is so long that it begins a new paragraph, it should be preceded by a colon. Example: The poet Longfellow used to tell the follow- ing story : "I was once riding in London when a man approached my carriage and said, 'Are you the author of the Psalm of Lifef " T am,' I replied. " 'Will you allow me to shake hands with you ?' "We clasped hands warmly, the carriage moved on, and I saw him no more ; but I remember that as one of the best compliments I ever received, because it was so sincere." Exercise 1 a. Rewrite, using the necessary periods: 1. The sugar weighs ten lbs, three oz 2. The train leaves at ten A M, the boat, at two P M j. I replied on the 2nd inst to yours of the 30th ult 4. Lieut Col and Mrs Smith, Capt and Mrs Rogers. 5. Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be or not to be," is in Act III, Scene 1 6. Here are three letters, — one for Jamaica, L I, one for Bridgeport, Conn, and one for Chi- cago, 111 7. We send you inclosed a MS of 284 pp, from the Rev J J Walker of Washington, D C Appendix B 217 b. Rezvrite, making the usual abbreviations and punctu- ating: 1. Address the letter to Messieurs J C Smith and Company, 22 Market Street, Newark, New Jersey. 2. The chief railroad stations of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are the Broad Street Station of the Pennsylvania Rail Road and the Terminal of the Reading- Rail Road. 5. The Stuart Kings of England are James I, Charles I, Charles II, James II, and Anne. 4. The meeting was addressed by the Rev- erend Joseph Speaker, Doctor of Divinity, Professor Fow- ler, and Doctor Waters. 5. The quotation is from Milton's Paradise Lost, Book II, lines 1-5. Exercise 2 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. Its too bad hes gone. 2. Every subjects duty is the kings; but every subjects soul is his own. j. Mind your ps and your qs. 4. Whom the gods love die young was said of yore. 5. Good speed cried the watch as the gate-bolts undrew. 6. You are old father William the young man said. 7. The man replied my child you are right. 8. (Write as a direct quotation) The man told ^)hn to go home. p. (Write as an indirect quotation) "I am Peter Klaus," he said, "and no other." 10. (Punctu- ate in tzvo ways to mean very different things) The Doctor said the Professor is crazy. Exercise 3 Rezvrite, punctuating: 1. He was unwilling he said to part from his people without a word. 2. If she had said pretty Annie there would have been some sense to it. 5. Dear master I can go no farther farewell kind master. 4. God save thee brother exclaimed the monk. 5. Horatius quoth the consul as thou sayest, so let it be. 6. All work even cotton spinning is noble. 7. Dismiss as soon as possi- ble all envious feelings. 8. The officer shouted charge like heroes men. p. My boy is gone forever cried the father. 70. Every man however humble he may be can do some- thing to benefit society. Exercise 4 Rezvrite, punctuating: 1. Mother Im to be Queen of the May. 2. Novels as a class are injurious to many young 218 A First Year English Book people. J. Much of his popularity he owed we believe to that very timidity which his friends lamented. 4. Tell me John what you have found. 5. A good motto for you un- friend is make haste slowly. 6. I shall not run answered Herbert stubbornly. 7. Let us if we must have great ac- tions make our own so. 8. Cease fool thy prattle, p. Its too bad the box has lost its lid. 10. Summer woods about them blowing Made a murmur in the land. Exercise 5 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. The managers with Burke at their head appeared in full dre^<. 2. And I said my cousin Amy speak, and speak the truth to me. 3. Keats says that truth is beauty and beauty is truth. ./. ( )h, surely my good mother you will not refuse me this. 5. These three books and they are not expensive are all that you will need. 6. I am a wayfarer the stranger said and would like permission to remain with you a little while. 7. I thought the writing excellent, and wished if possible to imitate it. 8. Shall we go now asked John it has stopped raining. o. So Tike a shattered column lay the king. 10. You are wrong my boy though you cannot see it now. Exercise 6 Reunite, punctuating: 1. My wish nevertheless was heard and remembered. 2. It is then a mark of wisdom to live virtuously, j. O are you come Iago. 4. There is a parrot too calling out pretty Poll pretty Poll as we pass by 5. Religion then has an undeniable part to play. 6. Then he came. 7. Yes the messenger has gone. 8. Let us be of good cheer however remembering that the misfortunes hard- est to bear are those that never come. 0. We shall never know perhaps. 10. The Dakota tribes doubtless then occu- pied the country southwest of the Missouri. Exercise 7 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. One of the best books I ever read Little ^Yomen was written by Miss Alcott. 2. Balti- more the Monumental City has grown rapidly. 3. ( >n the contrary he is able to come. 4. W'c your representatives Appendix B 219 shall demand justice. 5. All these however were mere ter- rors of the night. 6. However you may feel son you must do your work. 7. The poet Lowell was a native of Cam- bridge. 8. Whittier's story, The Rattlesnake Hunter, is based upon this fact. o. Hawthorne himself could scarcely have imagined a wilder, stranger story. 10. My country tis of thee Sweet land of liberty Of thee I sing. Exercise 8 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. Like most gifted men he won affection with ease. 2. When the court sat again Mr. Fox assisted by Mr. Grey opened the charge. 3. It is impos- sible however to change the natural order, and they who attempt it must suffer. 4. When Jason the son of the de- posed king of Colchis was a little boy he was sent away from his parents, and placed under the queerest schoolmas- ter that you ever heard of. 5. Though he were dumb it would speak. 6. Cadmus said a voice Cadmus pluck out the dragon's teeth, and plant them in the earth. /. As they neared it the appearance of the reef became more and more forbidding. 8. Up ran also a great many trumpeters. o. I have two brothers George and Henry my brother George is older than I, but my brother Henry is younger. 10. Now who be ye would cross Lochgyle This dark and stormy water? Exercise 9 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. The President after having re- viewed the troops started on a trip to California. 2. To what purpose said the merchant hesitating we know noth- ing of the youths character, j. Isaacs father being dead Mrs. Newton was married again to a clergyman. 4. Gen- erally speaking the dogs which stray around the butcher shops restrain their appetites. 5. Because the doctor in- sisted on a change of scene they took the invalid to Men- tone. 6. Mr. Carr seeing his nephew in the room re- proached him bitterly. J. The teacher being away for the day the children went home. 8. Wearied bv his London 220 ./ First Year English Book life [rving started for a tour on the Continent, p. Human life may be compared to a river flowing ever toward the sea of Eternity, jo. If you ran talk in human language say what you would have me do. Exercise 10 Rewrite, punctuating: i. Up spoke John saying father if you let me go I will on my return carry all the wood into the cellar. 2. The school-house being deserted soon fell to decay, y. The school-house being deserted they went on to the church. ./. The horizon was of a fine golden tint changing gradually into a deep apple-green. 5. The man with the long coat on is Mr. Appleby our new minister, o. In [862 a few days after the hattle of Antictam Lincoln is- sued his immortal proclamation announcing that on the fol- lowing New Year's Day in all such states as had not by that time returned to their allegiance the slaves should he forever lire. ;•. The- man having finished his work went home. 8. The man having finished his work we all admired it. p. Truth crushed to earth will rise again. 10. In such circum- stances be guided by your judgment. Exercise 11 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. We live in y\c^\\- not years. 2. But they were happy grateful pleased with one another and contented with the times. 5. lie their sire was butchered to make a Roman holiday. 4. Bruce seeing the success of the spider resolved to try his own fortune. 5. Bryant was robust but not tyrannical: frugal but not severe; grave yet full of shrewd and kindly humor. 6. Industry honesty tem- perance are essential to happiness. 7. It was a bright calm cold night. 8. She wore a pair of soiled white kid glove-. p. Here comes a big rough dog a countryman's dog in search of his master. 10. I come to bury Caesar not to praise him. Exercise 12 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. There are few voices in the world but many echoes. 2. The great burden- he had borne the terrible anxieties and perplexities that had poisoned his life and the peaceful scenes that he had forever left behind swept aero-- his memory, j. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit Appendix D 221 entered flushed but smiling proudly with the pudding like a speckled cannon ball so bard and firm blazing in half a quartern of ignited brandy. 4. Punish guide instruct the boy. 5. The college was a large light standstone structure with red sandstone trimming 6. While the emperor was speaking a breathless silence pervaded the whole audience. 7. The ledge blurred at first in outline now stood out in bold relief. 8. The sea carried men spars casks planks bul- warks heaps of such toys into the boiling surge, p. At one time he was a radical at another a conservative. 10. Not only his duty but also his inclination prompts him to be kind to his mother. Exercise 13 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. All eyes were now turned upon Philip who had not spoken. 2. The book that you want is on the table. 3. Sir Walter Scott who was a famous nov- elist is also the author of several notable poems. 4. Water which is composed of oxygen and hydrogen is necessary to life. 5. He that will not work shall not eat. 6. The man whom I want to see is gone. 7. The cloud which had scat- tered so deep a murkiness over the day had now settled into a solid and impenetrable mass. 8. I that denied thee gold will give my heart, o. The books which help you most are those which make you think most. 10. The judge who was a shrewd fellow winked at the iniquity of the decision. Exercise 14 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. The man who had first spoken then arose and asked the attention of the audience. 2. The man who proved to be an escaped convict had in his pos- session one of the missing papers. 3. I once ascended the spire of Strassburg Cathedral which is the highest I think in Europe. 4. After a short interval Charles turning to Philip who in an attitude of deep respect stood awaiting his commands thus addressed him. 5. The river being flooded my uncle whose temper had been growing worse all day broke out into a series of snorts grumblings and sputterings which would have been laughable at any other time. 6. However if we have to do it we might as well do it now. 7. Lastly in the name of human nature itself in the name of 222 A First Year English Book both sexes in the name of every age in the name of every rank I impeach the common enem) and oppressor of all. 8. But they arc choosing neither a king nor a president else we should hear a most horrible snarling, p. The) flew to the better country the upper day. TO. It 1 were you Minnie said the king I would run home to my mother. Exercise 15 Rewrite, punctuating and capitalizing: Mr. Smith who has the reputation of being a generous uncle was talking to little Johnnie his nephew well Johnnie he said how are you getting along with your french oh very well uncle we have nice sensible sentences now the lesson this morning read my uncle never forgets me at christmas and i hope he will give me a sled a bicycle and a pony this time if he knew how much i want them he would i am sure. Exercise 16 Rezcritc, punctuating and capitalizing: Francis Wilson the comedian tells this story many years ago i was a mem- ber of a company playing she stoops to conquer one evening in a small town a man without any money stepped up to the box-office and said pass me in please the box-office man gave a loud harsh laugh pass you in what for he asked the applicant drew himself up and answered haughtily what for why because i am oliver goldsmith the author of the play oh i beg your pardon sir replied the box-office man hastily seizing his pencil he wrote out an order for a box. Exercise 17 Rewrite, punctuating: i. If you see Margaret to-day please give her this book. 2. The house is brilliantly lighted the rooms are decorated and everything is in readiness for the arrival of the guests. 5. Though he slay me yet will I trust him. 7. If the good is there so is the evil. 5. God made the country man made the town. 6. He holds his watch in his left hand but clutched in such a manner that you cannot see the dial-plate. 7. When he died poor people lost one of their best friends. 8. As they now gazed for the last time on that revered form and listened to the part- ing admonitions from his lips they were deeply affected, o. Appendix B 223 Smooth back your curls Annie and let me tie on your bon- net and we will set forth. 10. When Duty whispers low Thou must ■ The youth replies I can. Exercise 18 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. To err is human to forgive divine. 2. My end draws nigh 'tis time that I were gone. 3. To be really wise we must labor after knowledge to be learned we must study to be great in anything we must have patience. 4. Worth makes the man the want of it the fellow. 5. Then shook the hills with thunder riven then rushed the steeds to battle driven. 6. They were not a handsome family they were not well dressed their shoes were far from being waterproof their clothes were scanty. 7. Homer was the greater genius Virgil the better artist. 8. It ought to have been enough to satisfy him but it was not. p. Suddenly in the air before them not farther up than a low hilltop flared a lambent flame. 10. \\ nile work- ing his way through college he saved a hundred dollars. Exercise 19 Rewrite, punctuating: 1. Irving was born in 1783 Long- fellow in 1807 and Holmes in 1809. 2. The Normans ral- lied and the day was lost. 5. Who was that short sturdy plainly dressed man ? 4. It was a strange thing to do nor was it very easy I should imagine to dig out all those teeth from the dead dragon's jaw. 5. Leave me here and when you want me sound the bugle horn. 6. Every town had its fair every village its wake. 7. Although defeated so many times he never gave way to discouragement. 8. Sink or swim live or die survive or perish I give my hand and my heart to this vote. 0. Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit Cratchit's wife dressed out but poorly in a twice turned gown but brave in ribbons and she laid the cloth assisted by Belinda Cratchit her second daughter also brave in rib- bons. 10. Nobody jostles her all turn aside to make way for little Annie and what is most singular she appears con- scious of her claim to such respect. APPENDIX C SECTION I. WRITING ADVERTISEMENTS Countless advertisements are written every year, and mil- lions of dollars are paid to print them. One authority puts the total annual expense of printed forms of advertising at six hundred millions of dollars. One million was spent in one year in advertising a single cereal. The Century Mag- azine charges two hundred and fifty dollars for a full page advertisement. The Ladies' Home Journal charges seven dollars and fifty cents for a single agate line (there are four- teen such lines to the inch i the width of one column for a single insertion. And yet, very many advertisements do not pay. It has been estimated that seventy-five per cent of all advertisements are a loss ; and still the other twenty-five pay so well that business men feel that they must advertise. In many cases it is impossible to tell beforehand whether an advertisement will succeed or not. It is a good deal like presenting a play : the managers and actors cannot tell in advance whether the play will attract the public. For this reason it is difficult to give many suggestions which will inevitably bring success in the writing of advertisements ; but there are some which must be followed, or failure is certain. As a rule, the picture which usually accompanies an advertisement catches the reader's attention, and so takes some of the burden from the writer. But a conscientious writer will try to make his advertisement as interesting as if no extraneous aid accompanied it. The average reader feels that he is paying you a compliment in reading your advertisement ; thus you must work doubly hard to win his 224 Appendix C 225 interest. He will not be interested if you are wordy or ambiguous. For example, it is stated that a famous firm lost money in England by using in advertising the expres- sion, "The smile that won't come off," because "come off" to the English conveys the meaning of '"happen." Let every word, then, be absolutely clear, and as definite and forceful as possible. Before you can write thus, you must think over your mate- rial again and again, trying to shape it in different ways until your mind is thoroughly accustomed to looking at it in all possible forms. This means that you must choose words that are applicable to the thing you are advertising, and to nothing else. For example, the following advertise- ment is poor, because it might apply to several different things : "The in its fourth year of existence has endeared it- self to old friends, and is winning new ones. Xo family once having tested it, can afford to be without it. Xo judge, however severe, can fail to testify to its excellence. If the purchaser is not satisfied with it, we cheerfully refund his money. For full particulars apply to the Com- pany. X'ew York." The , then, might be baking-powder, or breakfast food, soap, a chest-protector, or a sewing-machine. If your article is something to eat, arouse in the first line your reader's desire to taste it : if it is a musical instrument, appeal to his sense of hearing ; if it is a pair of woolen hose make him feel how pleasant the warm contact of the wool would be. Consider your object thoroughly, make your- self a real admirer of the object, see how it feels or looks or tastes or sounds to you, and then make your reader feel that effect. Further, you must catch your reader's attention at once. He may be stepping into the street car, and for one instant 226 ./ First Year English Book his eye lights on your advertisement; in that instant, he must be attracted, or he will not care to finish reading it when he has taken his seat. And remember that your beginning must be brief as well as interesting. No less important is the ending: when the last word of your adver- tisement is finished, stop. The following is an example of a good brief advertisement which catches the attention immediately : THE FIRST THREE-DOLLAR HAT IX NEW YORK WAS THE WALDORF. THE WALDORF THREE-DOLLAR HAT IS STILL THE FIRST. A word or two about advertisements in verse: These are attractive if they are good, but if bad they fall very flat. Choose a Mibject which is rit for verse and can be put in a jingling meter. Then see that your rhythm is smooth and the rhyming perfect. But whether you write rhyme or serviceable prose, remember these cautions: Consider how your subject will appeal to the reader; that is, which of his senses it should affect ; next, think it over so thoroughly that you are master of it from all points of view ; then clothe it in clear, concrete, forceful words, paying particular atten- tion to the beginning and the end. Exercises Write an advertisement of a new cereal. Write an advertisement of a new automobile. Write an advertisement of a business college. Write an advertisement of an auction sale. Write an advertisement of a circus. APPENDIX D SECTIOX I. WRITING FOR NEWSPAPERS Considering- how many daily and weekly newspapers there are in the world, it is not unlikely that you may wish to become an occasional contributor to one or more of these, or perhaps a regular reporter. There are many contributors and reporters, and there are thousands who try to fill these positions and fail. If you want to write for the newspapers, you must first of all get what the editor calls "news." By this is meant any event or occurrence not previously printed, which is interesting to a number of people ; or perhaps some- thing occurs which has been written about, but which is particularly timely. If you take a trip to New York on a train, that is not new. But if on that train you make ac- quaintance with a great English politician traveling incog- nito, and get from him the material for an "interview," that is news which the average editor would be glad to take. Or if there is a bad accident on the train, and you are able to write an account of it as a capable eye-witness, this is news. Suppose a great general is killed ; then little stories which have been printed about him months ago could be rewritten, and would be read because of their timeliness, while these same stories, submitted to an editor a year after the general's death, would be refused. But it is not enough to have good and timely material ; you must know how to treat the material. In the first place, you must be master of all the facts relating to your "story," as the newspaper account is technically called. If you were 227 228 A First Year English Book to write an account of a train wreck which was merely descriptive, it would be worthless; and if it were full of comment on the fearful carelessness towards life which we Americans show, it would be worthless. The public wants facts. You would be expected to tell what was the probable cause of the wreck, just where and when it took place; the number of lives lost; the probable amount of damage done. If you were submitting your "interview" with the politician, you should have in it various interesting facts about him ; why he was visiting America; where he had been so far; where he was going next ; how long he intended to stay in this country. The work of a writer for the newspaper, then, is to give plain facts, and all necessary facts. As he is merely a trans- mitter of timely and interesting news, he must omit any personal reflection or moralizing. He must give news in the simplest and clearest manner possible. Moreover, he must present his facts in a particular order. If you will examine any newspaper account of a stirring event, you will find that the most prominent facts or incidents are put in the headlines and in the first paragraph or two, while the rest of the details come later, though this method often involves repetition. This plan of presentation is, of course, to save the time of the busy reader, who, by reading the first paragraph or two, gets the main facts without loss of time. The power of finding and selecting news can be acquired. You learned in the earlier sections of this book that close observation was essential before you could find interesting material about which to write. Close observation, a keen curiosity about the life which surrounds you, the habit of storing up facts in your mind and in your note-books, and the power to tell just what you see, such is the road to suc- cess in newspaper writing. Can you shut your eye and see every detail of the street Appendix D 229 along which you pass to school? There is a store being built on the corner; who is building it? Who is the con- tractor? How many workmen are engaged? When does the owner move in? What kind of store is it? You know a merry-faced, talkative old man who built the first house in town ; do you know when it was or why he chose the site or anything of his history? Some time you may need the information he can give you. You can never tell when a fact may be needed, and, in general, you may be sure that some time or other you can use nine out of every ten facts you acquire. Observe keenly, then, and be on the alert for facts and information of all sorts. Exercises 1. Read carefully several copies of a good daily paper. See how the news articles are written. Look at the head- lines of a certain article, and write upon the subject. Then compare your composition with the newspaper article, and see what facts you have omitted. 2. Write a report of the wedding of a prominent couple. Compare your account with a good newspaper account and see what you have omitted. 3. W r rite an account of a lecture by some prominent lecturer or politician. Compare your account with some newspaper account of like sort. 4. Write an account of some public event which has happened lately in your town. Compare with the newspaper account. 5. Write an account of your commencement exercises. 6. Write an account of some important public build- ing which is soon to be opened. 7. Write an account of an accident. APPENDIX E SUPPLEMENTARY LIST OF SUBJECTS TOR COM- POSITION 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. :>>o. 31. My Neighbor in School. 32. How I Made a Kite. 33. If I Were President. 34. A Narrow Escape. 35, My Saturdays. 36. My Scrap-book. 37. My Mother's Old Autograph 38. Album. A Photograph Album. 39. The Book-store. 40. The Oldest Inhabitant. 41. My Impromptu Gynasium. 42. The Leader of the Demo- 43. crats. 44. The Leader of the Bepubli- cans. 45. How I Made a Paper Hat. 46. The Christmas Windows. 47. The Autobiography of a 48. Nickle. 49. My Autobiography. 50. The Lesson of The Ancient 51. Mariner. 52. My Visit to a Newspaper 53. Office. 54. The Latest Air-Ship. 55. How I Earned My New 56. Eing. 57. An Ideal School. 58. My Dream About the Puri- 59. tans. 60. A Disappointing Side-show. 61. Smokeless Powder. 62. A Picture of Robert E. Lee. 63. An Ideal House. 64. The New-comer. 65. A Eunaway. 66. The Crowded Corner. 67. The Game of the Sparrows. 68. 230 A Clever Bird. The Vociferous Colon v. A Bird of Prey. The Cocoon. The Leg-of-mutton Sleeve. The Long Eoad to — . My Cousin in the Kinder- garten. A Secret. A Little Pocket Edition. The Old Bureau. The Old Armchair. A Poster. The Travels of a Pumpkin Vine. The Punctured Tire. What I Know About Cats. The Story of the Drum. Our Town Band. The Last Day of Winter. The Clearing in the Woods. The Ferry Boat. The Eels. The Moving Sidewalk. Fishing for Minnows. Building a Wharf. The Search by Night. The Ghost. Lost. The Scene in the Street Car. My Eaft. What I Saw of the Strike. My Aunt's Kitchen. Grandmother 's Eoom. The Football Song. The Lumber Mill. The Blacksmith's Shop. The Driver. The Conductor. Appendix E 23 T 69. The Fruit Store. 70. The Drug Store on the Cor- ner. 71. A Visit to the Home of the Old Colonel. 72. How I went Camping. 73. An Autumn Trip. 74. Fording the River. 7"). My First Mountain. 76. The Summer Hotel. 77. The Lady and the Umbrella. 78. The Dance of the Fire-flies. 79. The Dog and the Bone. 80. The Saw-mill. 81. The Newsboy. 82. Our Charades. 83. The Dog with the Ribbon Collar. 84. Our Sea-serpent. 85. The Broken Vase. 86. Why the Crowd Laughed. 87. The Old Omnibus. 88. A Search for Treasure. 89. Our Assembly Room. 90. A Rose-garden. 91. The Mud-hole. 92. My Hero. 93. A Great General. 94. Why I Admire Queen Eliza- beth. 95. My Favorite Picture. 96. The Haunted House. 97. Telling Ghost Stories. 98. A New York Draft. 99. The Points of a Good Cow. 100. The Creamery. 101. The Day I Churned. 102. The Manual Training Class. 103. The Election. 104. Sitting up All Night. 105. What I Thought of when I Could not Sleep. 106. A Lesson in Physiology. 107. Peter the Hermit. 108. The Noble Knight. 109. A Feudal Castle. 110. How a Knight Was Trained. 111. A Banquet in King Arth- ur's Court. 112. What I Think of Chivalry. 113. A Moki Village. 114. How a Bank-note is Made. 115. Tennyson's Poem, The 'Re- venge. 116. In a Hospital. 117. How We Celebrated the Vic- tory. 118. The Philippines. 119. What a Davy Lamp Is. 120. Getting Up in the Morning. 121. The Bonfire. 122. The Scare-crow. 123. Examination Day. 124. The Queer House. 125. Building Air Castles. 126. How I Met a Great Man. 127. The Baby's Tricks. 128. My Day of Misfortunes. 129. A Sewing Society. 130. The Consumer's League. 131. Three Ways of Obtaining Salt. 132. My First Hour in a Depart ment Store. 133. How I Study My History Lesson. 134. A Hay-meadow. 135. The Happy-go-lucky Girl. 136. The Hoodoo. 137. What I Think of the Jap- anese. 138. if I Were Living in the Year 2000. 139. If I Owned a Newspaper. 140. The Fourth of July. 141. Our Most Treasured Relic. 142. The Dog that Adopted Me. 143. The Game of the Birds. 144. Mv First Play. 145. The Time I Won the Prize. 146. The Truant Baby. 147. Going Berrying. 148. The Tea-party. 149. How I Spent My First Earnings. 150. The Windmill. 151. My (diner in the Garret. 152. How to Make Corn-bread. 153. A Girl's Room. 154. A Boy's Room. 155. The Church Choir. 232 ./ First Year English Book 156. Whal 1 Should Like to En- 17s. vent. 179. 157. The Host Tiling I Ever 180. Made. 1 -1. 158. The Boy Across the Street. |SU. 159. The Giggling Girl. IV,. 160. The New Restaurant. 161. How to Make Pudge. 1M. 162. The Peculiar Pedler. 1 85. 163. The Clever Book-agent. 186. L64. When Grandmother Was a Is7. (liil. 188. 165. When Father Was a Boy. 1-:'. 166. A Queer Character. 190. 167. An English Sihool-boy. 191. 168. A Duel. 192. 169. Our Minister. L93. 170. Our Doctor. 171. My Besl Friend. L94. 171'. Whom I Wish to Be Like. 195. 173. The Battle of San Juan. l'.iti. 174. When 1 Was Alone in the li"7. House. 198. 175. The Ice-cream Party. 199. 1 76. My Reward. 200. 177. Borrowing in School. Our Library. Our Policeman. My Desk. My Teacher's Table. A Trip 1 Wish to Take. My l'ir-i Attempt at Cook- ing. Why I Failed. ( iiir Quarrel. Our Reconciliation. An Adventure in the Rain. The Trick Horse. Iinw i Made a < iarden. Going Borne from School. Why the Farm Kan Down. Tom Sawyer. The Time I Missed the Train. The Ways of the Bea\ er. My Favorite Magazine. Hard-tack. A Sacrifice. A Halloween Party. A Pretty old I .adv. Breaking the Pony. APPENDIX F SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS In teaching composition, more depends upon the teacher than upon the text. The first aim of the teacher should be to make the child take the work naturally, as if it were a part of his pleasurable, every-day living. At home he lives actively ; he often carries to school an unwilling or passive mind. At home he takes part in the social life and talk of the family ; he asks questions, finds out facts, makes things with his hands. At school he often feels a sense of isolation. There are certain things which he must learn all by himself ; he can not ask help, for instance, from the boy whom he was helping in a game in the schoolyard five minutes before. (See The School and Society, by John Dewey.) If the teacher makes the composition work a part of the daily living of the pupil, the latter will reflect in writing his interest in talk. He can be shown that he is making some- thing when he constructs a composition, just as much as if he were making a box. And in time he will feel a pleasure in expressing himself through words as well as through deeds. Further, composition will help him to organize and generalize his life. It can largely do away with the isola- tion he feels, can help him socially, give him an idea of general responsibility, an interest in others, an impulse to help others. This is achieved not so much by writing as by criticizing. The child is led to criticize his own and his friends' composition. Mary tells George where she thinks he could improve his work by changing the title, or by adding something to the end. All the children work 233 234 ■ ' First Year English Honk together at improving John's theme. John will not feel hurt at their suggestions; he will simply realize that he is being helped. It is only when John is twenty and in a col- lege class that he resents criticism. The first step, then, is for the teacher to get the pupils to take writing as a matter of course. The ideal would he to spend from a half t<> three-quarters of an hour a day <>n the subject. Compositions may he written in class, or sub- jects may he assigned for outside work. The former plan trains the pupil to do hi- work quickly. Occasionally the subject should he given him just before he writes t" insure spontaneity; again, it should he assigned a day m- two in advance to give him time to think over the matter. Sometime- <>ne method should he used chiefly with a class, -nmetimes the other. The teacher should he always ready to help by asking questions and offering suggestions. Ideally the pupils should write one composition a day; yet it is impossible for the teacher to correct all the^c. The teacher should criticize in writing at least one composition a week for each pupil. The paper on which the composition is written should have a wide margin. < »n this the teacher should put, in red ink, the suggestions for rewriting, mak- ing on the outside of the composition a general summary of the criticism. Then the pupil should rewrite in accordance with these suggestions. Too much insistence can not be put on this matter of rewriting, for by it the pupil learns more than he does when he writes the original composition. But more can be done by oral criticism than by written criticism. The teacher should read aloud every day, or two or three times a week, some of the best and some of the worst compositions, and lead the class to criticize them. Criticism should never be discouraging. All that can be said in praise of a composition should he said. Even when there is absolutely no good point in it, the teacher should Appendix F 235 put his remarks in some such way as this : "You can turn this into a good composition if you will make the following cor- rections." Further, criticism should be constructive. Never tell a pupil he is wrong without setting him right, or else putting him in the way of finding out for himself the rem- edy. Moreover, the teacher ought not to try to accomplish too much at once ; it is enough to call the child's attention at first to one or two of his gravest faults, weeding out the others as time goes on. It is well, sometimes, in writing down criticism to correct a fault, especially if it be a bad mistake in grammar, without calling the child's attention to it. The great necessity is fluency and the power to con- struct ; if we find too much fault with the child, we prevent these powers and destroy his interest. There follow four specimen corrected compositions, two of which are perhaps worse than many which most eighth grade or first year high school teachers receive. The first is bad because the child has chosen too large a subject, and a title which is even larger than the subject. The result is that he writes about two or three disjoined topics, and errs in unity. It should be treated as follows : CORRECTED COMPOSITIONS I Y (yuv titls xs too MY VACATION large; you talk of only r\ * 1 , 1 °"'e ™°* writing about ,1 1 r 11 • r-\ him, but about the ac- the people fell in. One was a man cident in geixeraL You from Chicago who owns a red auto- should treat only one „i :i~ tlj li r • 1 subject in your com- mobue. He was arrested once for rid- position. 236 ./ First Year English Book ing too fast. ( >nly a few of the p pic could swim, SO some men went out to try to save them. They managed to save them all. About an hour after this accident a man stepped on a si and killed it. Then \vc went for ice-cream and lemonade and by mistake the man gave me two dishes of ice-cream. When we was coming home thi " ro it-Hi- ' ' ' ran over a cow and killed it. This composition is interesting, but you try to talk about too much, fell of the sail-boat accident only, giving more details about it; or tell how you saw the man kill the snake, what it looked like, etc. Take one small subject and treat it fully. (See Section I.) Put all this in one paragraph. Rewrite. In the second composition note that the child'-' attention is not called t<> two faults which are corrected. Further, no notice is taken of his mistake in coherence; "the woman" is wrong, because there must have been several women. But it is necessary to put the emphasis on unity here. II CLARENCE'S RIDE "Hello, hello," said Clarence to the groceryman. "Give me a ride." "Ah, I ain't got time to bother with Jrhat should you , . , ,, . , , have said instead of kids, said the groceryman. "ainf'f Clarence hollered so that the gro- ceryman stopped his wagon and got Appendix F 2 37 out and helped him in. Then don't you think Clarence felt good? He .."ver had rode on a grocery-wagon before. He sat up as straight as the gate-post before his yard. Whenever the groceryman got out of the wagon to give the woman a parcel, Clarence held the lines. The groceryman used to live in the workhouse when he was a little boy, and they weren't very good to him there. The groceryman kept Clarence till twelve o'clock, and then he brought him back to his mother. This is a bad mis- take. Find out the correct form. Do you need this? Bemember you are talking of Clarence 's ride. This is what you might say if you were talking of the grocery man as a little boy. Write on one subject only. This is very pleasant reading; you do the dialogue well. But be sure to write of one subject only. The third composition has unity, but suffers excessively from the fault of wordiness. Obviously, the writer has about a fifth grade mind. Ill THE CHILDREN NEXT DOOR A good title. There is a little boy lives next door to us and then there is another little boy, and a girl. All three of them live in the detached house next door to us. Their names are Tom and Dick. Their father told my father that the next boy he had he would name him Harrv for a name. The Since one and one make two, what should you write here? Bon 't you say some- thing here that you have already told us? Do you need "for a name"? 2 3 8 . / First Year English Book little girl she is called .Mary. Mary is not pretty. I don't know what to call her face, but it is not pretty. Tom and Dick play with Mary, and when they play with Mary they are kind to her. She is good to them. I go in and play with them when my mother lets me. "Shi "' Is it happy i tun \ XIX This work on the sentence calls for the closest attention on the part oi the teacher. It is necessary for him to have a feeling for the structure ni the sentence if he is to interest the children in the structure of it. The matter of subordina- tion can easily he taught them in connection with the rela- tive importance oi the different parts of the thought that 244 A First Year English Book goes into a sentence. Connectives, too, have a close relation to the thinking ; they show explicitly the logical order of the ideas. But it will take more drill to make the children real- ize the necessity of uniformity, and the value of parallel construction. The study should never be carried so far that it becomes tiresome to the children ; moreover, it should always be made plain that they are not aiming to imitate any particular sentence type, but are trying to put the thought in the way which shall be clearest. Good sentences so constructed should be given them for study, and the sub- ject matter must be particularly simple. It is too much of an effort to take a difficult thought and at the same time understand completely the form. PART II. SECTION I It is a good plan to talk over with the children subjects in which they are interested. A great deal of stimulus comes to them from the fact that they are all working together. Suggestions from the teacher, and from each other, will show them that they have a wider range of subjects than they had supposed, and that it is possible to generate inter- est in very commonplace matters. If the teacher has the time, it is worth while to suggest to individual children the subjects which will interest them peculiarly. PART II. SECTION II Suggest the narrowing of subjects immediately related to the children's experience at home and in the school. Have them examine the pictures in the schoolroom, or in certain literature books; ask them suggestive questions on these. Then have them make small and definite lists of subjects Appendix F 245 which they see in these pictures. Minute observation is indispensable. PART II. SECTION III This matter of note-making is one of the most important in the subject of composition. It may be made interesting or lifeless. The best way of putting life in such work is to get the children interested in the subject of composition for its own sake. Competition is valuable here if it is not pushed too far. Let the children observe and take notes on the same object ; then have the notes read in class, and by criticism and questioning point out in what cases the great- est number of facts have been observed, the best observation shown. It is not necessary that the class know whose notes are being read ; the teacher might read the notes, if she thinks that best. At the same time it is well to train the children to receive open criticism as a matter of course. Make use of the various points of local observation. It is a good plan to take fifteen minutes and have the children make notes from memory of all that they can see from a cer- tain field or tree or hill. Then show them all the points they have omitted in this landscape which they have passed scores of times. Further, the child should be stimulated not only to note the dialogue of people, but to note how they look as they talk, etc. This will help to prepare him for description which comes later. PART II. SECT I OX IV This matter of teaching the children to write about one subject and one only, or the principle of unity, is one of the fundamentals in the teaching of composition. The eager child is full of ideas ; they come pressing in on him so thick 246 A First Year English Hook and fast that he is not able to tell always that some of them are irrelevant. They are all interesting to him, because they are his. The quickest way of getting rid of this fault is to read aloud a composition which sins against unity, and ask the children, "Does the writer stick to one subject?" They can soon tell when he does not, and where he errs, and how his work can be remedied. Many compositions should be read in this way, until the children learn to sec the fault in the work of themselves as well as in that of others. It goes without saying that the remedy for such a fault must always be pointed out. Tin children should never be left at a loss as to how they arc to rewrite their work. Moreover, if a child commits the sin of unity in his oral work, he should be corrected. This error is one that affects the whole thinking of the child and should not be allowed to appear in any connection whatever. Further, in his litera- ture and history work, the teacher should call attention now and then to the fact that the writer treats one .subject and one only. The children should be asked to choose stories from their own reading in books and newspapers where one subject is treated throughout. PART II. SECTIONS V-VII The fault that most children commit in paragraphing is twofold: They either make almost every single sentence stand as a paragraph, or else they put all they have to say in one long paragraph. It is imperative that they should be taught that a subject naturally falls into topics, each of which should have a paragraph. The great difficulty will be that they will make very short paragraphs on each topic ; then they must be taught to write more fully on each topic, or else join together by some word- of connection the topics most closely related, and put them in one paragraph. Appendix F 247 If they think over their subjects long enough, they will have sufficient to say on each topic ; for that reason it is worth while, frequently, to discuss a subject in class before it is written about. This work on the paragraph will be slow at first, but after the children have grasped the ideas in Sec- tions X and XII, the matter will be much simpler. PART II. SECTION VIII The teacher will already have had the experience of cor- recting compositions where the paragraphs are too short. It is comparatively simple to show a child that he has treated two halves of a topic, as it were, in two paragraphs, when they should be joined together. The fault of the undevel- oped paragraph, however, is not the same thing. If the child is careful always to plan his work, he may not fall into this fault of the undeveloped paragraph ; that is, he will not simply state a topic and then neglect to develop it. As a rule, when a child uses an undeveloped paragraph he usually does so near or at the end of the composition, when he is getting tired of his work. The fault shows such lazy thinking that it should be promptly uprooted. The attention of the class should be called to the full way in which certain writers of history develop their topics. They should be asked to bring to class writing where the topics are fully discussed. Exercises in reproduction will teach the children better than anything else could that the number of paragraphs the writer should use depends on the fullness of treatment. It is worth while in this connection to compare in class com- positions which different children have written on the same subject, in order to show how their scales of treatment have differed. 248 A First Year English Book PART IV. GENERAL This section is so fully developed in the text that there is no need to dwell on it here. A child who has been well drilled on the first three elements of style will take up the subject of words with great zest and intelligence. The teacher need only emphasize the necessity for accuracy. It is well worth while to give the children drill in the class in defining wellknown words. Their awkwardness at first will be a good object lesson to them. PART V. GENERAL Since letter writing has such a practical part in a child's life, a good deal of attention should be paid to drill in this work. It is advisable to have letters written in class about a given subject, and then compare the results. Through class discussion the children can be led to see that it is neces- sary to put themselves in their work, if it is to be interest- ing. Here again the exercise must be correlated with their interests. Finally, too much can not be said of the necessity of tak- ing writing as a matter of course. The children should not be allowed to look upon it as a hard task in which only a few can be proficient. Rather, they should take it as a pleasant exercise, actually communistic on the side of crit- icism, in which proficiency is quite within the reach of any and all. Only thus will the teacher receive the full reward of his labor. THE INDEX (The references are to MS es ) Addison, 125, 170. Advertisements, 224-226. Aesop, 16, 39. And, 49. Arabian Nights, 164. Arnold, Matthew, 139. Arrival, The, 26. As You Like It, 140. Autobiography, 37, 38. Baldwin, C. S., 171. Ballads, 20, 45, 54. Before Adam, 115. Bottle Imp, The, 157. Browning, Eobert, 186. Burns, Eobert, 192. Burroughs, John, 101, 102, 103, 109, 133. Byron, 115. Canterville Ghost, The, 17S. Chapter on Dreams. A. 113. Cinderella, 43. Classic Myths, 161, 164. Coleridge, 138. Comma fault, 28-30, 215. Conversation in narration, 183- 185. Eules for, 19. Coordination, 49. Countess Eve, The, 175. Cross, 39. Current Events. 11(5 117. Baudot, Alphonse. 26, 29, David Copperfield, 177. 82. Describing from Memory, 113- 116. Description, arrangement of de- tails in, 167-169. Character, 169-171. Fundamental Image, 165-169. Individualizing details, 164- 169. Selection of details, 165-167. Setting, 174-180. Details, arrangement of details, 166-169. Individualizing details, 164- 169. Eeality by means of, 24-28, 30 32, 161-164. Selection of, 164-166. Dialogue (see Conversation). Dickens, Charles, 69, 177. Domestication of Animals, The, 32. Drawn Blind, The, 40. Dream Days, 125. Dream of John Ball, A, 36. Dream, The, 115. Ebers, George, 24, 38, 43. Eliot, George, 79. Ewing, Mrs., 170, 171, 186. Fable, 16, 39. Figures of Speech, 192-197. Flight of the Princess, The. 206. Forsaken Merman, The, 139. Fox, John, 162, 185. Franklin, Benjamin, 37. Fundamental Image, 165-169. 249 250 Index Gayley, C. M., 161, L64. Ghost, A, 178. Grahame, Kenneth, L25. ( Irammar, errors in, 206 210. Review of, 198-210. Great Stone Pace, The, 17". Grimm, Norman, 102. Guinevere, Ki7. Hardy. Thomas, ] 76. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1 19, 164, 170. How ( laedmon Became a Poi llnw Isidore Became a Historian, 31. How Lincoln Earned His I Hollar, 27. Bugo, Victor, 17). Hunt, Leigh, 38. Huxley, Thomas, 132. Incident of the French Camp, An, 186. [rving, Washington, 129, 159, 166, 178. [vanhoe. 156. Jack and the Bean Stalk, 13. Jackanapes, 17". 171, 186. King Arthur and His Knights, on, 33. Kipling, Rudyard, 170, 171, 17S, 186. Lamb, Charles, 131, 132. 1(54. Last Lesson, The, si', 17)!. Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The, 159, 166. Les Miserables, 174. Letters, Business, 150-154. Formal, 147-150. To friends, 142 147. Liberal Education, A, 132. Life of Audubon, 50. Life of (i gc Eliot, :'■'.' Life of Michael Alio, .|,., 102. Little Shepherd of Kingdom ic, The, 162, 1 - Locusts and Wild Honey, 108, L09, I :■.::. London, .lack. 1 15. fellow, H. \\., 67, 112. 1 s,. Knit Sentence, li Maelstrom, The, 17s. Maeterlinck, Maurice, 32. Man of Destiny, The, 61. Maupassant, Guy de, 178. Memories of My Early Life, •"•7. Memoranda of the War, 89. Merry Men. The, 178. Metaphor, L92-197. Midsummer Night's Dream, I s . Mill on the Floss, The, 7s:. Mood, 172 17:;. Mollis. William. 36. Muir, John, B5. Narration, Analysis of, 155- 164. 1 definite ami general, nn-164. Elements of, 155-157. Main incident, 54-59, 159 161, 186 L91. Preparation in, 180-1 83. Relation of incidents in, 15s- 161. Setting, L73-180. situation elements, 155-1.57. Newman, John Henry, I Newspapers, Writing for, 227- 229. Notes, 69-71. Old Bridge at Florence. The, 112 Old China, 132. Oliver Goldsmith, 129. Our National Park, 85. Outline (see plan). Outlook, The, 117. Index 251 Page, Thomas Nelson, 171. Paragraph, Topic, 81-88, 101-106. Development, 106-112. In dialogue, 60-64. Parallel Structure (see sentence). Parting of Friends, The, 133. Personification, 193. Phillips, Stephen, 164. Plan, 89-101. Plot (see Narration). Poe, Edgar Allen, 178. Praeterita, 39. Preparation, 181-183. Proportion, 20-24, 32-35, 43-47, 59-60. Punctuation, Exercises in, 215-223. Rules for, 211-215. Quiller-Couch, A. T., 40. Radford, Maude L., 16, 30, 33. 2(14. Recollections of the Arabian Nights, 125. Reich, Emil, 117. Repetition of Words, 118-119. Reproduction, 16-19, 20-23, 24- 28, 30-31, 33-34, 37-38, 45- 47, 54-58. Return of the Native, The, 176. Review of English Grammar, 198-210. Review of Reviews, The, 117. Richard III., 115. Rip Van Winkle, 47, 159, 166, 178. Robin Hood and the King, 10. Romeo and Juliet, 48. Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 54, 24n. Rusk in, John, 39. Scarlet Letter, The, 119. Scott, Sir Walter, 38, 156. Semicolon, rules for 29, 215. Sentence, clearness in, 51-5:!. Coordination in, 49. Loose-Knit, 42-43. Parallel structure in, 130-134. Review of, 36, 39, 53-54. Shifts in structure of, 127- 134. Subordination in, 39-43, 71-72. 74-75, 100. Unity in, 35-37. Setting', 174-180. Shakespeare, 48, 115, 140. Sharp Eyes, 101. Shaw, George Bernard, 61. Shorthouse, J. II., 175. Sicilian Spy, The, 171. Signs and Seasons, 102, 103. Silas Maimer, 68, 159. Simile, 192-197. Sir Patrick Spens, 20, 157. Situation Elements, 155-157. Skeleton in Armor, The, 67. Sketch Book, The, 166. Soldier of the Empire, A, 171. Song of Roland, The, 200. Spectator Papers, The, 170. Spectre Bridegroom, The, 178. Stevenson, Robert Louis, 62, 113, 138, 143, 157, 162, 160. 172, 178, 181, 206. Story of My Life, The, 24, 38, 43. Story of a Short Life, 171, ISO. Story Writing, 186-192. Subject, choice of, 65-67. Definiteness of, 67-68. Subjects for composition, 230- 232. Subordination, in the sentence, 39-43, 71-72, 74-75. Success Among Men, 117. Suggestions to Teachers, 233- 248. Superannuated Man. The, 131. Tales from Shakespeare, 104. Tales of a Wavside Tun, 104. Tar Baby, The', 43. Tarbell, Ida M., 27. Tennyson, Alfred, 125, 107 252 Index Thackeray, Wm. M.. 156. Vanity Fair, 156. They, 178. Virginian, The, 167, L68. Thomas the Rhymer, 15. Vision of Mirza, The, \-~>. Thompson-Seton, :'«•"». Vocabulary, 135-138. Topic Sentence, 10] 112. Warren, Maude Radford, 111. Treasure [aland, 162, 166, 17l', n . lsl - ...... ,.., Wee Willie Winkie, 170, 171. [Vice l old I ales, i<>4. .g- White Ship, I'll.-. :,». 240. Ulysses, ici. Whitman, Walt, 69. Unity in description, 164 169, Will o' the Mill. 17s. 17:: 179. Wilde, 178. In the paragraph, 81 88. Wistrr. Owen, 167, 168 In the whole composition, 7 - _'- Words, 135 ill. 80. Repetition of, 118-1 19. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below DEC 6 1954 Form L-fl 11 - A iar JEC6 195|» UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACI A A 001 433 995 [AL SCHOOL CAUFORrtU VERSITY of CALIFORNIA AT tor ANGELES li ! 1 P « 111 li