GIFT OF the estate of Professor William F. Meyer A MODERN COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC (COMPLETE COURSE) CONTAINING THE PRINCIPLES OF CORRECT ARTISTIC AND EFFECTIVE ENGLISH FOR SCHOOLS BY LEWIS WORTHINGTON SMITH, PH. B. H PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, TABOR COLLEGE, IA. JAMES E. THOMAS, A.B. (HARV.) MASTER OF ENGLISH, BOSTON ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL ov TroAA* dAAa 7roA.v BENJ. H. SANBORN & CO. BOSTON, U.S.A. Copyright, 1900-1901. LEWIS W. SMITH AND JAMKS E. THOMAS, PREFACE. NEARLY two thousand years ago Quintilian defined rhetoric as "the art of speaking well." Had he lived in the present age, he would undoubtedly have said, "the art of speaking ancTof writing well." No better phrase can be found to describe the true function of rhetoric to-day. Previous to the last decade it was regarded as an ornamental study, abounding in theory and subtle dis- tinctions of diction and style. With the development of the study of English in the schools came an awakening to the true value of rhetoric, and its relation to the study of literature and composition. To-day rhetoric and com- position are inseparably associated in teaching the methods of simple, direct, and accurate expression, the principle of one being supplemented by the abundant practice of the other. In the making of the present text -book the authors have been influenced by two important considerations. First, they believe firmly in the inductive method ; and the text has been written in the hope of encouraging the pupil to make his own researches under the guidance of the teacher, but without that absolute reliance upon M5772S6 IV PREFACE. the dictum of another, so subversive of independent literary judgment. Second, in an art so delicate as that of literary expression, it is of great importance that all in- struction given, whether propounded directly in the way of statement of rhetorical theory, or left for the student to discover through the medium of exercises, should be made as definite as is possible in matters involving such subtle- ties of psychology and of taste. It is a comparatively easy matter to write entertainingly and thoughtfully on literary subjects without leaving in the mind of the reader anything tangible or clear-cut. This in a text- book is always a fault, and failure here is well-nigh failure altogether. The teacher should be advised, how- ever, that much depends upon the care with which he drives home the conclusions which the pupil is sup- posed to draw from the exercises and illustrative material placed before him. Great care has been taken in this book to make plain to the pupil just the sort of investi- gation he is to make in each case, and the teacher should see to it that from every exercise the pupil gets a definite understanding of some principle of literary art. The definite object of the book is that of giving train- ing in accuracy of thought, nicety of taste, and finer command of the wizard words that touch imagination. These things cannot be acquired by rule, they must not be taught by rote. Literary judgment, not theoreti- cal knowledge of the literary laws that others have established, is the end for which rhetoric should be PREFA CE. V studied Some statement of rhetorical doctrine is ne- cessary, and such statement has been made as simple and clear as possible ; but these laws the student is given opportunity to verify for himself, and he should accept them only after such verification. They cannot other- wise be of any service to him in his own writing. No text-book of rhetoric can lay claim to entire originality, but each should have some original features to justify its existence. The principles of rhetoric are old, but improved educational methods and experi- ence in the class-room are continually suggesting new methods of teaching them. Any new book upon the subject must keep pace with modern pedagogical meth- ods, and embody the latest results of class-room ex- perience. It should not be a mere imitation of books already in existence, but should aim to make a distinct advance in helpful and practical suggestions. Original- ity must consist in presenting old truths in a new light, conformably to new ideas and new methods. This im- plies a wise choice of material, a sound arrangement, a proper proportion of parts, simple language, and concise, clear-cut definitions, enforced by copious illustrations and exercises. The authors of this book have endeavored to meet all these requirements. Previous to the writing of the text an outline of the book was sent to twenty teachers of rhetoric in the leading secondary schools, and suggestions asked for. The authors have given due consideration to the answers received. The material is chosen from what has been found valuable in the class- vi PREFA CE. room, and those points are made most prominent which have been productive of best results. The usual order of developing the theme, beginning with words and work- ing up to the whole composition, has been reversed. In this book the pupil begins with the theme as a whole, and his mind is centered upon gathering material. Ideas and not words are his first consideration. This is the natural order of procedure, and is confirmed by psychological and pedagogical reasons. It is believed that it will prove to be an important feature of the book. The authors have made no literary pretensions in what they have written. They have cared principally to be understood by everyone who uses the text, and they have been glad to sacrifice the graces of style for the accomplishment of this purpose. To this end, likewise, the definitions have been made concise and to the point, with abundant * illustrations and exercises. This last feature, it is hoped, will be a boon to teacher and pupil alike, helpful to one and stimulating to the other. The necessity of finding something for the pupils to do beyond memorizing the words of a- text brings gray hairs to the head of the over-worked teacher ; it is easy for him to leave out part of the text, but it is far from easy to supply matter for the pupil to work with. Special efforts have been made by the authors to relieve him of this constant strain. In the limited time allotted to the study of composition and rhetoric it is quite probable that the entire material of the book cannot be PREFACE. Vll used. It is designed to cover a course of two years ; but teachers who must give less time to the subject are expected to make such choice of the material as the circumstances will permit. They will appreciate the large opportunities of choice which the book offers to meet their needs. Roughly speaking, rhetoric has a two-fold function, to teach one to express his thoughts with business-like accuracy, and to acquaint him with the graces of style and the artistic effectiveness of language. Many schools do not have time for more than the first of these pur- poses ; and to meet the requirements of such schools PARTS I, and II. Composition and The Laws of Good Use (see Table of Contents) are published in a separate volume, together with an appendix on punctua- tion, letter-writing, good and bad specimens of composi- tion, and a list of subjects for themes. This BRIEF COURSE is a thorough text on the subject of correct English ; the COMPLETE COURSE extends the subject to a full consideration of what is required to make a composition artistic and effective. Special obligations to the many authors of rhetorics need hardly be acknowledged. The writers of the present work have had recourse to the whole storehouse of rhetorical doctrine. Their indebtedness is general rather than specific. Special thanks are due, however, to Professor L. A. Sherman of the University of Nebraska, to Professor Sophie C. Hart of Wellesley, to Mr. Thomas Hall of Harvard, and to a score of viii PREFACE. teachers in secondary schools for kindly suggestions. Thanks are also due to the various publishers, to the Dial, and to East and West for permission to use ex- tracts from their publications. The work of Mrs. Martha A. L. Lane, of Hingham, Mass., in revising the proof- sheets, and in offering timely suggestions, has been of great value. L. w. s. j. E. T. NOVEMBER, 1900. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Suggestions to Teachers xvii-xx INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Requisites for Composition 3-4 System in Composition 4-5 The Function of Rhetoric 5-6 Distinction between an Art and a Science 6-7 Distinction between Grammar and Rhetoric . 7-8 Authority of the Principles of Rhetoric 8-9 Writing and Talking : . . 9-1 1 The Habit of Correct Speech . n Exercises 11-14 PART I. Composition. CHAPTER I. THE THEME. Preparatory Themes 15-16 Appearance of the Manuscript' 16-17 Sources of Material for Themes 17-18 The Subject 18-23 Selection of Title 2 3~ 2 4 Exercises 24-29 CHAPTER II. THE THEME (Continued). Material for the Theme ' 30-33 Organizing the Theme 33~35 Development of the Theme -35-38 Exercises , 38-41 CHAPTER III. THE PARAGRAPH. What the Paragraph Is 42-44 Importance of Paragraph 44-46 Length of Paragraphs 46-49 The Topic Sentence 49~53 Exercises 53~59 ix X TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. THE PARAGRAPH (Continued"). PAGK Development of the Paragraph 60 Repetition 61-64 Detail 64-68 Specific Examples 68-7 1 Comparison or Contrast ?i~74 Cause and Effect 74-76 Proofs 76-77 Irregular Development 7778 Exercises 79-84 CHAPTER V. THE SENTENCE. The Sentence, the Unit of Discourse 85 What a Sentence Is 85-87 What the Sentence may Contain 8788 Compound and Complex Sentences 88-90 Subordination in the Complex Sentence 9~93 Sentence Variety 93~97 Sentence Length 97 Exercises 98-102 CHAPTER VI. WORDS. What Words Are 103 Sources of English Words 103-107 Anglo-Saxon Element 107109 Classical Element 109-114 Comparison of the Two Elements 114-116 Emotional and Intellectual Characteristics of Words .... 116-120 The Vocabulary 121-128 Books of Synonyms and Concordances 128-129 Exercises 129-131 PART II. Good Use, Discourse, Style. CHAPTER VII. USAGE. Coirect Expression 133134 Good Use 134-135 Present Use 135-136 TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi PAGE National Use 136-140 Reputable Use 140-141 Doubtful Words M 1 Exercises 141-146 CHAPTER VIII. PURITY. BARBARISMS. Application of the Laws"of Good Use 14? Barbarisms 147-151 Foreign Words 148-149 Slang I49- 1 5" New Words 1 50 New Formations 150151 Abbreviations I5 1 Exercises . . . i5 2 - J 54 CHAPTER IX. PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. Propriety 155 What Improprieties Are 1 55-1 56 Causes of Improprieties 156-157 Classes of Improprieties 157-171 Idiomatic English 171 Unidiomatic English ..." 172 Exercises 172-177 CHAPTER X. SOLECISMS. Solecisms 178-179 Nouns and Pronouns 179184 Parts of Speech 184-187 Redundant and Incomplete Expressions 187-189 Connectives and Correlatives 189-191 Miscellaneous Errors 191-193 Exercises 193-198 CHAPTER XI. THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. What Distinguishes One Form of Writing from Another . . 199-200 Description 200-201 Exercises in Descriptive Writing 201-204 Narration 204-206 Exercises in Narration 206207 xii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Exposition 207-209 Exercises in Exposition 209-210 Argumentation 211-215 Exercises in Argumentation 215-218 Exercises ... . 218-220 PART III. Style. CHAPTER XII. DICTION: SELECTION OF WORDS. Diction 221 Number of Words 222-223 Verbosity and Circumlocution 223-224 Redundancy and Tautology 224-225 Exercise 225-226 Precision 227 Choice of Words 228-231 Style as Affected by Choice 231-233 Force as a Quality of Diction 234-236 Exercise 237-238 Elegance as a Quality of Diction 238-240 Exercise 240-243 Fine Writing 243-244 Exercises 244-248 CHAPTER XIII. DICTION : CHOICE AND ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS FOR RHYTHM, TONE-COLOR, AND EMPHASIS. Rhythm 249-251 Rhythm and Coherence 252-252 Tone-Color 254-256 Elegance as Affected by Rhythm and Tone-Color 256-257 The General Law of Emphasis 257-258 How Emphasis is Secured 258-261 Selection a Form of Emphasis 262 Force and Emphasis 262-263 Exercises 264-266 TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XIV. SENTENCES : SHORT AND LONG. PA GK Unity and Coherence 268-268 Clearness . 269-269 Rhetorical Use of Short and Long Sentences 269-273 Oral and Written Exercises 273-276 Exercises 276-280 CHAPTER XV. SENTENCES: LOOSE, PERIODIC, AND BALANCED. Kinds of Sentences and Use 281-282 The Normal English Sentence 283-287 Balanced Sentences 287-290 Style as Affected by Sentence-Form 290 ,291 Exercises . 291-295 CHAPTER XVI. THE PARAGRAPH. The Nature of the Paragraph 296 Principles of Paragraph-Structure 297-298 Unity in the Paragraph . 298-300 Violations of Unity 300-302 Variety in the Paragraph 302-303 Coherence in the Paragraph 303-304 Selection 304-306 Coherent Arrangement 306-308 Use of Connectives 308-310 Omission of Connecting Words 310-311 Mass in the Paragraph 3 TI -3 T 3 Exercises 3 I 3~3 I 5 CHAPTER XVII. THE WHOLE COMPOSITION. The Relation of the Whole Composition to its Parts .... 316 The Plan 316-320 The Introduction '....'.... 320-322 The Conclusion 322-323 Principles of Style Applied to the Composition 323-326 Exercises 326-328 xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE CHAPTER XVIII. FORMS OF LITERATURE AND METHODS OF TREATMENT. Forms of Discourse 3 2 9-33 Literature of Full Statement 33O-33 1 Literature of Suggestion . 331-333 Criticism 333-334 Sources of Literary Pleasure 334 33^ Exercises 33^-337 CHAPTER XIX. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. The Use of Figures 338-340 Simile and Metaphor 340-341 Personification 341 Synecdoche and Metonymy 441-342 Antithesis 342 Historical Present 342343 Exclamation and Rhetorical Question 342 Other Figures 343 The Effect of Figures of Speech . . . 343-344 Exercises 344346 PART IV. Prosody. CHAPTER XX. THE FORMAL ELEMENTS OF POETRY. Poetry Defined 347-348 Poetic Diction 348 Kinds of Poetry 348-350 Terms Applied to Poetry 350 Meter 35J-35 2 Accented and Long Syllables 352-353 Length of Lines 353~354 Other Meters .:...' 354~355 The Prevailing English Verse 355-356 Special Verse Forms 356 Exercises 357 TABLE OF CONTENTS. xv APPENDICES. PAGE APPENDIX A. PUNCTUATION AND THE USE OF CAPITALS. Importance of Punctuation 358 Rules of Punctuation 359 Comma 360-362 Semicolon 362-363 Colon 363 Other Punctuation Marks 364-366 Capital Letters 366-367 APPENDIX B. LETTER-WRITING. What Makes a Good Letter 368-369 Parts of a Letter 389-373 Formal Notes of Invitation 374 The Superscription 374 APPENDIX C. Examples of Defective Composition 37S-3&6 APPENDIX D. Additional Exercises 387-398 SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. ALTHOUGH every teacher necessarily uses a text-book in accordance with his own class-room methods, some few suggestions here may simplify the work of adapt- ing these methods to this particular book. Under present conditions of school work, the study of rhetoric consists of a minimum of rhetorical doctrine and a maximum of practical composition. Such a course undoubtedly produces the best results. Accordingly, the authors of the present book have assumed that classes in which the book is used will do a great deal of writing. To this end an abundance of material has been provided, both in the exercises and in the Appendix. In the latter this material is given in such a variety of forms as to be equivalent to additional exercises cover- ing almost all the work in the book. The class can be required to write upon some of these subjects at once ; and it would be well, perhaps, to demand such work in connection with the study of so much of each chapter as precedes the exercises. In case there is not suffi- cient time for this, however, a lesson may be assigned covering a few pages at the beginning of the chapter and some of the first exercises ; for instance, for the X-Vill SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. first lesson, the Introductory Chapter to section 7, and exercises i and 2, page 12. The teacher should see that each lesson as assigned includes something from the exercises. This will give the recitation a more varied interest, and will help the pupil to rely upon his own conclusions rather than upon his memory of the text. Although the study of the text is not an end in itself, but a means to an end, the teacher, while encouraging the pupil to think for himself, cannot be too careful to insist upon his reaching some definite understanding of rhetorical doctrine. The class may do a great deal of writing without getting much benefit from it, unless the teacher is watchfully critical, and in his criticisms suc- ceeds in making clear the exact reason for his objections to the form or the phrasing which the pupil has employed. It is not intended, of course, that all chapters, or all topics in a chapter, shall receive the same consideration. A careful reading of topic I in the Introductory Chapter is all that will be necessary, while topic 7 will require some comment from the teacher. Topics 2 and 3 will need some study, for it is important that the pupil should understand the purpose of composition and of rhetoric. Finally, the whole Introductory Chapter will require much less study than the chapters upon the theme, the paragraph, the sentence, etc., because these chapters are fundamental. Likewise it may not be possible to take all the exercises. Each teacher must be governed by circumstances, and if he cannot take all, he should choose SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. xix those best suited to his work. Above all, let the exer- cises be suggestive to the pupil. Many of them may recall to his mind something far better for the occasion. Thus his inventive powers are stimulated. We may now consider the teacher's task of correcting the written work. How much may be wisely attempted ? In general, correction of written work should be con- fined to those matters which are at the time under con- sideration, or have already been taken up. It is important that at first criticism be not too severe, lest the ease and pleasurable spontaneity with which the pupil writes be turned into hesitating diffidence. Occasionally a paper should be re-written ; but if too much of this is demanded, the work will lose interest and become mechanical. It will often be advisable to discuss subjects in the class-room before the pupil writes upon them, such discussion quickening interest in the theme, and setting in motion definite trains of thought. Sometimes it will be well to let each member of the class correct the written exercise of some one else. This will develop the critical faculty of the pupil, and relieve the teacher ; but the criticisms should be stated and defended in the class, and when they are vague and lacking in clearness the teacher should ex- plain them carefully himself. Finally, the teacher should attempt as much as possi- ble to connect the lesson of to-day with previous lessons, showing that the sentence should be coherent for the same reason that the paragraph should be a unified XX SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS. whole, and that the same, literary principle is involved in the use of figures as in the arrangement of words in the sentence for the purpose of securing emphasis. When in his writing the pupil has come to refer the various problems of literary art to a few elementary principles Emphasis, Harmony, Proportion, Cohe- rence, and some others his difficulties have been greatly simplified. If the discussion of the class-room leads every question back to simple basic principles, it will be an easier matter to make the pupil feel the unity of rhetorical doctrine as a whole. Although the employment of abbreviations to indicate faults in a MS. is largely a matter of individual choice, those that follow may appeal to some who make use of the book. Amb. Ambiguous. Aivk. Awkward. Brb. Barbarism. Cd. Condense. Con. Connection imperfectly shown. F. F. Fault in figure. Gr. Bad grammar. Inc. Incoherent. Imp. Impropriety. Kpg. Not in keeping. L. Sentences unduly loose. L. c. No capital needed. Obs. Obscure. Out. Omit. P. Punctuation faulty. Pr. Prolixity. Sp. Spelling. 77. Tautology. 7>. Transpose. Un. Lacking in unity. V. Vague. Var. Lacking in variety. Vbs. Verbose. Tf Make new paragraph. No IT No new paragraph. ! or ! ! Pretentious language. ? False or doubtful statement. A Insert letter, word, or punc- tuation mark. ^ Bring together separated parts of words. X Fault to be learned from dis- cussion with instructor. COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. True ease in writing comes from art, not chance, As those move easiest who have learned to dance. 'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence ; The sound must seem an echo to the sense. POPE : Essay on Criticism. COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. i. Requisites for Composition If we are to write anything which shall give interest and pleasure to others two things are necessary : we must have some- thing to say, and we must know how to say it. Evidently, the ability to express ourselves well can be of little use to us until we have satisfied the first of these requisites. Finding something to say is ordi- narily the great problem of all of us who are called upon to write, whether in school or elsewhere. It is not merely that we have nothing to express, for most of us are talking a great part of the time, but that we feel the greater importance of the written word, and do not readily satisfy ourselves that our thoughts and feelings are of sufficient importance to make it worth while putting them down in writing. This feeling of the inadequacy of what we might say checks the flow 3 4 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. of our thoughts. Further, we feel that we cannot present the things that we have in mind in their clearest and most attractive form. There are few of us, perhaps, who cannot remember how difficult it was, in our first years at school, to make ourselves understood. There were explanations which we could have made as clear as crystal in the class-room, had we known just how to express the thought that we held with so sure a grasp. How many times have we recalled the words of Portia, in "The Merchant of Venice," "If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces." What we need is something to help us convey our thoughts to others clearly, forcibly, and gracefully. The practice of composition and the study of rhetoric are the sources to which we must look for help in sur- mounting our difficulties. 2. System in Composition When we would write our thoughts out for others, we should bear in mind that what we have to say must be arranged in some sort of organic system, so that one detail shall grow into another, and the whole shall result in rounded complete- ness. Composition is a placing of something with something. In reality, it is a placing together of our thoughts in an orderly way. Our composition when complete must follow one line of thought ; that is, there must be unity. Each part of the composition must have a definite relation to some other part, and this relation must be clear. In addition to unity, then, a INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 5 composition must have coherence ; it must stick together. Composition, indeed, may be defined as the putting together of several elements so as to produce a unified and coherent whole. 3. The Function of Rhetoric The ability to choose proper words, and to put them together into sentences, is not alone sufficient for a satisfactory expression of our thoughts. If I should say : " The man wept on hearing of the death of his mother," the assertion might be accurate in fact and correct in grammar, and yet fail altogether to convey the real emotional value of what I have in mind. For effective writing we must say what we have to say so that our readers or hearers may see exactly as we see, and feel exactly as we feel. It is the part of rhetoric to enable us to do this. The study of rhetoric should develop in us a clear under- standing of literary qualities, it should give us confi- dence in our work, and it should enable us to present our thoughts in such fashion that they will make as great an appeal as possible to the sympathetic interest of our readers. We should not hope, through the aid of the study of rhetoric, to make the trivial appear important or the vulgar, polished and refined. It should be remembered, also, that the rules of rhetoric will but hamper us, if we do not come to such an understanding of the reasons for them as will enable us to use our own judgment under their guidance. Do not, then, confound a knowledge of text-book definitions with the skill acquired by applying them in practice. Do not 6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. think that any text-book suggests everything. A book that should deal with every specific problem of effective writing could not be written, and if written would be of little practical value. Books teach us to think for our- selves, train us in our tastes, develop our powers of literary discernment. They must be supplemented by practical experience in writing. The important thing to be acquired is not a knowledge of rhetorical theory, but training in literary judgment. Rhetoric we may define, in conclusion, as the art of expressing ourselves in words in the most pleasing and most effective manner. 4. The Relation between Composition and Rhetoric. It will be seen that the relation between composition and rhetoric is very close ; indeed, just what part each plays in the effective expression of our thought it is hard to point out. It is not important that we should keep in mind just where one ends and the other begins. Rhetoric and composition are inseparably connected, and so blend in their offices that they form, rather, one educational method. We may get a tolerably clear idea of the field covered by each if we think of composition as the building-up process, and of rhetoric as the smoothing and refining process, remembering that skill in either comes only from practice. 5. Distinction between an Art and a Science. Rhet- oric is an art and not a science. The distinction be- tween an art and a science is this : an art implies skill, a science implies knowledge. The basis of an art is prac- tice ; of a science, law. A knowledge of the laws of a science is a knowledge of the science itself. Thus, we INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7 may know a science without practicing it. In physics, for example, we perform experiments to get at the underlying law, not to become skilled in the perform- ance. Every art has certain underlying principles, and to that extent partakes of the nature of a science ; but there is this difference, we do not make a study of the principles for their own sake, but use them simply to guide us in our practice. A knowledge of the princi- ples of music would never make us musicians. We become proficient in music according as we attain skill by practice. Like music and painting, rhetoric is an art ; like them, it has underlying principles to guide us ; but as students of rhetoric we are chiefly concerned with the skill attained in applying these principles. 6. Distinction between Grammar and Rhetoric. We should distinguish carefully between grammar and rhet- toric. It is the duty ot grammar to make clear the rules which govern the correct use of words in a sentence. Grammar deals with the forms and offices of words, and their relations to one another in the sentence. It tells us whether to use the singular or the plural of a noun, what an adjective or an adverb should modify, or the relation of a verb to its subject. It tells us, in fact, how to write a correct sentence. Its field does not extend beyond the sentence. Rhetoric may be said to begin where grammar ends. Like grammar it deals with words ; but it concerns itself rather with the choice, the number, and the arrange- ment of words in the sentence that will make them 8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. effective. It tells us whether to use a long or a short sentence, how to arrange the sentences in a paragraph, and how to combine the paragraphs into an effective whole. In rhetoric it is not the question of whether a thing is right or wrong, but whether one thing is better than another. However, to secure the best results, it is necessary to introduce some of the less familiar rules of grammar into a text-book of rhetoric to refresh the student's memory. 7. The Principles of Rhetoric and their Authority. We naturally ask ourselves, Whence come the principles of rhetoric ? and why should we follow them ? Suppose that we wish to paint pictures. We might of ourselves by long practice produce fair results ; but more proba- bly we should go to some successful painter for instruc- tion. We should expect him to tell us something of the principles he has followed in the choice of colors, in the mixing and the blending of them, the rules of optics, etc.; we should naturally follow his course. It is just so in our writing. We wish to become good writers, and so we follow the methods by which our best writers have attained their success. Now, the princi- ples of rhetoric are only concise statements of how these writers have made themselves masters of their art. They simply record the experience of our superiors. They are not arbitrary laws for what we must do, and what we must not do. They are not morally binding. We are free to express ourselves as we please ; but there is this drawback ; we must use words and expres- INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 9 sions as other people use them, or we shall not be understood ; and that is our only object in writing. In brief, we must express ourselves in accordance with good usage. The principles of rhetoric have, largely, good usage for their authority. 8. Writing and Talking. There are those who con- tend that our written language should be the same as our speech that we should write as we talk. Per- haps it would be more correct to say that they would have us talk as we write. Unquestionably the ten- dency in English prose has for a long time been towards an easier, more conversational, and less formal style. Yet it is not possible, or even desirable, for us ever to make our writing and our talking alike. The easy spontaneity of conversation, the rapid change of subject that keeps interest alive, the ready adjustment of each speaker to the mood of the other, are things that make our talk very different from what our writing ordinarily must be. In talking we decide each moment, and in fact each second, what effect our last words have had on our hearers ; and we frame our next words to correct that effect or emphasize it, as the case may be. This we cannot do when we write. The effect of each sen- tence and each phrase must be weighed beforehand, and we must shape the course of our writing accordingly. Moreover, our personal relations with our readers are not the same as those that we assume with our hearers when we are in conversation. They are strangers, and we should not adopt with them so informal an air as 10 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. with friends. Even among those whom we know some- what closely we change our mode of speech to agree with their varying characters and the varying degrees of intimacy we maintain with them. In our writing we must always be so formally careful as to make sure that we do not offend any of our readers. We will take some examples of oral and written composition, and note some of the differences in the manner of ex- pression. " He's gone a long time. Can't you see him down the road ? Look ! What is that figure behind the trees ? It's moving ! Don't you see the dust rising in the road ? " George Dane had waked up to a bright new day ; the face of nature, well washed by last night's downpour, and shining as with high spirits, good resolutions, lively inten- tions the great glare of recommencement, in short, fixed in his patch of sky. He had sat up late to finish work arrears overwhelming ! then at last had gone to bed with the pile but little reduced. He was now to return to it after the pause of the night ; but he could only look at it, for the time, over the bristling hedge of letters planted by the early postman an hour before, and already on the customary table by his chimney-place, formally rounded and squared by his systematic servant. HENRY JAMES : The Great Good Place. The second of these paragraphs shows a finish that would make it seem stiff if it were an example of con- versational English. In the first the contractions, the abrupt changes in the order of thought, the omission of connecting words and phrases, all indicate that it is the INTROD UCTOR Y CHA P TER. 1 1 immediate expression of thought and feeling in the spoken word. The character of all speech, whether oral or written, should be determined by its fitness for sub- ject, speaker, occasion, and hearer, and certainly these will differ in oral and written discourse. 9. The Habit of Correct Speech. We should be very careful to cultivate the habit of correct speech in our ordinary conversation ; because, if we are careful to speak correctly, we shall soon acquire the habit of writ- ing correctly. Slovenly speech, like a slovenly habit, savors of vulgarity and low associations ; but it has another effect, it begets slovenly writing. The boy who carelessly says in school, "I ain't got no book," or "I can't do them examples," will find it difficult to preserve care in writing. In general, language once within our control can be employed for oral or written discourse. As we talk much more than we write, the opportunities for oral practice greatly outnumber those for written ; consequently our oral practice plays an im- portant part in the development of literary power. It is of the greatest importance, then, that every teacher should insist on the pupils' cultivating correct speech in the every-day talk of the class-room. EXERCISES. Let each answer consist of at least one complete sentence. See that your manuscript is neat, your hand- writing legible, and your spelling correct. 12 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 1 . What are some of the difficulties you have found in expressing your thoughts ? Recall and write out some explanation which you have recently found difficult in the class-room. Why should you regard composition as a pleasure ? 2. How do you think rhetoric will help you ? What do you understand the function of rhetoric to be ? Write a brief distinction between an art and a science. Compare rhetoric as an art with music or painting. Tell why chemistry is. a science. 3. Write a brief distinction between rhetoric and gram- mar. To what extent should you obey the principles of rhetoric ? What do you understand by " good usage " ? Why is it important to think before you write ? How can you acquire the habit of correct speech ? 4. Give an account of what you saw while on your way to school this morning. Write the conversation, real or imaginary, that you had with your friend while on the way to school. Give the conversation during some interesting hour of the school session. Give an account of your last bicycle ride. Tell what you think of your different studies. 5. Say which of the following paragraphs have the form of oral or written discourse, and rewrite each in the other form. Give your reasons for thinking that each is written or oral in form, and show what you have changed to give it a new character. Hello, John ! Going to school ? Let's take this car. Jump aboard. There's a vacant seat. I nearly lost my balance then. What's the matter now ? Oh ! it's a wagon stuck on the track. Hope it won't delay us long. Let's walk the rest of the way. Don't go so fast ! I can't breathe ! There's the bell ringing now ! Hurry up ! Yet, too, he struggled. He realized at moments what he was doing, and his cheek grew pale at the idea that he was juggling with his conscience and soul. He tried to attend to the talk, and could only succeed in listening for INTRODUCTORY C PI AFTER. 1 3 the sound of her voice. He kept no more hold on the conversation than was sufficient to allow him to put in a* word now and then to cover his preoccupation. He feigned to be interested, to be as usual ; but all his blood was trembling and tumbling with this new delirium, and all struggles to forget his passion only increased its in- tensity. ARLO BATES : The Puritan^ Oh 1 we got there all right. Of course we were covered with mud. John doesn't know how to carry an umbrella. The water trickled down my back. I got into a mud puddle, and the water came over my shoes. Jennie fell once, too ; look at that mud on her arm ! John's a miser- able failure as an escort. 6. Re-write the following selections throughout, chan- ging each direct quotation to the indirect form. Barret pressed his lips together, and shook his head. " You can't send him away like that," he said ; he is a very important young man." " Find out how much he will take, then," exclaimed the king angrily, " and give it to him. I can better afford to pay blackmail to any amount than have my plans spoiled now by the newspapers. Give him what he wants a fur coat they always wear fur coats or five thousand francs, or something anything, but get rid of him." Barret stirred uneasily in his chair, and shrugged his shoulders. " He is not a boulevard journalist," he re- plied sulkily. " Your majesty is thinking of Hungarian Jews at Vienna," explained Kalanay, "who live on chantage and the Monte Carlo propaganda fund. This man is not in their class ; he is not to be bought. I said he was an American." 1 Permission oi Houghton, Mifflin Co., Publishers. 14 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. " An American ! " exclaimed Mrs. Carson and her daughter, exchanging rapid glances. "Is it Archie Gor- don you mean ? " the girl asked. " I thought he was in China." " That is the man Archie Gordon. He writes books, and explores places," Kalanay answered. " I know him. He wrote a book on the slave-trade in the Congo," contributed Colonel Erhaupt. " I met him at Zanzibar. What does he want with us ? " "He was in Yokoham. when the Japanese-Chinese war broke out," said Kalanay, turning to the king; " and he cabled a London paper he would follow the war for it if they paid him a hundred a week. He meant American dollars ; but they thought he meant pounds, so they cabled back that they would pay one-half the sum. He answered, ' One hundred or nothing ' ; and they finally assented to that, and he started ; when the first week's remittance arrived, and he received five hundred dollars instead of the one hundred he expected, he sent back the difference." " What a remarkable young man ! " exclaimed the king. " He is much too good for daily wear. We don't want anyone like that around here, do we ? " RICHARD HARDING DAVIS ; The King's Jackal?- 1 Permission of Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers. PART I. COMPOSITION. CHAPTER I. THE TPIKME. 10. Preparatory Themes. At this stage of our study of the art of writing we shall not be able to write very acceptably, perhaps, but it is important for us to begin the work of writing at once. In these preparatory themes, as we shall call them, we should not strive for effect, or try to be pretentious or elaborate. If we observe closely the events of the day we shall find much that may be of interest, not only to ourselves, but to others,^ the ball-game, the bicycle-ride, an occurrence on the street, or our studies. ' These will furnish material for short themes ; and in them we should now try merely to be natural, and to write directly and simply. We will first get into the writing habit, and when we have come to feel at ease with a pen in the hand we may attempt writing that demands more of us. At the same time we can improve the opportunities to perfect our- selves in the minor matters which contribute so much 15 1 6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. to the excellence of a manuscript, such as neatness, care in handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and margins, all of which add much to the pleasure of our readers. ii. The Appearance of the Manuscript. Any writing which is to have genuine value and interest .must, as we have seen, be orderly in arrangement. As a first step towards* the development of orderly habits in the writer, as well as towards giving the reader the impression of orderliness, we may give attention to the appearance of the manuscript. It should be written neatly and legibly on one side of the paper only. The sequence and con- nection of ideas can be but imperfectly understood by the instructor, if the manuscript is difficult to read, and the good qualities which it may possess will not be apparent. Ruled white paper, such as is usually pro- vided by the school authorities, will answer ; and, if folded at all, it should be lengthwise. Care should be taken to leave a blank space between the title and the body of the writing. At the left of every page a margin of an inch should be left, and the first line of every paragraph should be indented another inch or more. According to custom the important words of titles begin with capitals. The title may be followed by a period or not, as pleases the taste of the writer. The more recent method is to omit the period, which is, however, very generally employed. Plain, legible handwriting and correct spelling are the first essentials of a good theme. They go far to atone for rhetorical deficiencies and to attract attention to any THE THEME. I/ composition ; but above all they develop in the mind of the pupil that regard for the appearance of his manu- script which neatness and courtesy demand. Careless handwriting and spelling are evidences of slovenliness, which all should avoid. Before taking up theme work it is assumed that the pupil is familiar with elementary grammar. Conse- quently he should be careful to avoid the errors and vulgarisms so common in his every-day talk. Gram- matical correctness is sure to impress 'the mind of the reader pleasantly towards what he reads. 12. Sources of Material for Themes. We gather information in two ways, first, through experience, and, second, from the experience of others. This last may be communicated to us orally, in which case it approaches personal experience, or through the medium of the printed page. Almost always when there is a special subject upon which we wish to gain information beyond what we have we must appeal to books. This material taken at second-hand is not so vitally our possession as is that which has been a part of the life we have lived. We should first, then, cultivate the habit of observation, and make everything that we see or hear contribute to the enrichment of our minds. Information seemingly of the most trivial consequence may at any moment become of great importance to us. In our reading we should remember that too much careless skimming of news- papers or other ephemeral productions, which we must naturally forget, weakens the memory, and makes our 18 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. hold upon what we know and wish to know less sure and trustworthy. Writing may be concerned only with a sort of reporting of the things we know, but ordinarily it attempts more than this. All good reasoning is more or less syllogistic, and the syllogism is merely the putting together of two known facts in such fashion as to make known something new dependent upon these established facts. Out of our experience and our reading, then, we should endeavor to evolve something new. Composition should be a placing together, accomplished with such carefully ordered forethought as to produce in the com- bination a sort of creation. The question may arise, How far are we at liberty to appropriate the ideas of others ? We may read books for information and gather material to reinforce our ideas, the more the better ; but we are not at liberty to take the matter and call it our own. What we read should give us food for thought. We should have a plan of our own, and make our borrowed material con- form to this plan. We must compare the ideas we gather from others with our own observation and experi- ence, and deduce our own interpretation, thereby color- ing the work with our own personality. What we take in must be thoroughly assimilated before we give it out. 13. The Subject. Several considerations must have weight with us in considering what we shall write about. As we -have seen, we must deal with matters upon which we have or can secure information. At first glance, it seems as if we should write better about matters con- THE THEME. 19 cerning which we are already informed, but this will not always be true. If we write largely or altogether from what we already know, we shall write with more ease and freedom, with stronger assurance of conclusions that have become convictions ; but our interest in a subject will be less infectious if it has become a little worn for us. The writer as well as the reader needs the stimulus of novelty, and should choose subjects that compel him to do some new thinking, some new studying or reading, for himself. This new studying or reading, it should be remembered, is not to be reproduced simply. The more we do of it the better ; but the material that we gather must be digested, reorganized, and made new with our own thought. Two other considerations especially enter into the choice of a subject, our own interest, and the appre- ciative interest we may hope for on the part of our readers. Whether our interest is one that has grown with years, or one that we have just brought to life by recent study, it must be a real present interest.' If we have no interest in a theme, and a little study quickens no interest in us, we should discard it ; for we shall have nothing to say that is worth reading. On the other hand, study of a subject often develops an interest which we had not thought we had ; and before rejecting a sub- ject that does not appear promising we should first make sure that we cannot look for such a kindling of interest. We should choose our subjects with some reference to our readers. Whatever we write about .should be a 20 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. matter of present interest to those around us, or capa- ble of arousing an interest ; otherwise it will be a waste of time to put our thoughts on paper. "The Pleasure of Adversity," or " The Necessity of Hope," would never unless in the hands of an Emerson attract readers ; for the subjects are so old and hackneyed that they have no present interest for readers, and the ordi- nary writer has nothing new or fresh to say which will awaken an interest. Remember then, that, in addition to our own interest in a subject, we should hope to arouse an appreciative interest in others. 1 . Sources of Subjects. Fortunately the world is so full of things that interest us that we do not have to repeat other men's thoughts in order to have something to say. Our daily experiences, our everchanging inter- ests, the newspapers and magazines that crowd our tables, continually suggest new topics for discussion and stimulate our thinking. Our different studies, par- ticularly English literature and history, furnish us with many excellent subjects for themes. Nothing could be more helpful to the pupil or more interesting to read than a theme based on some one of Irving's sketches or on one of the Roger de Coverley papers. An inci- dent in the school history, such as "The Roman Soldier" or "The Army of the Potomac" would be equally interesting. Whenever a pupil finds something in his studies to interest him and to stimulate his mind, he can feel that he has a suitable subject for a theme. 2. Definite Subjects. In general we should choose THE THEME. 21 subjects that are definite and specific, rather than those that are abstract and general. Subjects of the latter sort, while seemingly easy, are really much more unsatis- factory and difficult of treatment. They present so many lines of thought that the mind cannot readily take them in ; they require, too, a wide range of infor- mation and an exact knowledge of the facts from which generalizations may be drawn. It is almost impossible to add anything fresh or original to the discussion of such subjects. They, therefore, offer more difficulties to the writer, and have less interest for the general reader. " Fiction " would be an uninteresting subject, or at least a subject that could be made interesting only by one who had read widely and thought much ; it could not be treated properly in the short space of a theme ; but George Eliot's greatest novel might be made the subject of an interesting paper by one whose knowl- edge of the world of books was much less extended. Even this subject, properly treated, would be much too abstract for most of us. A book is rarely a fit subject for themes to be written by high-school pupils ; since they have not the requisite critical judgment to treat it properly, and ordinarily make their writing on such a subject mere catalogues of the facts of which the book makes record. 3. Narrowing the Subject. The space that is to be given to a subject will affect somewhat the statement of the subject and title. A essay upon the earth might fill a volume, and leave all but a fraction of the subject 22 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. untouched. If by some additional word or phrase of limitation the subject be so narrowed, that the earth is to be considered simply in its astronomical relations as a member of the solar system, much less can be written ; and if the subject be further narrowed, so that only the size of the earth in relation to that of other members of the solar system is to be considered, there will be still less to be said. Finally, the subject may be so nar- rowed that the theme will contain no more than a paragraph. As we observed above, general subjects do not ordi- narily offer much opportunity for the writer. Save for the experienced author who has a mass of facts at his command, and is able to employ these in such fashion as to make his generalization almost concrete, sub- jects that are tangible, subjects upon which the mind can take firm hold, are best. Certainly we should be- gin our composition work with such subjects, so training ourselves to habits of sure mastery of whatever we have in hand. It will be best, then, when a subject suggests itself to us, to consider carefully whether it is not too general and vague, whether we may not be more suc- cessful if we treat but one of the subjects which it includes. " Manual Training," for instance, would be altogether too large a subject for an ordinary school theme. It may include, however, a number of subjects upon which we could write acceptably. Limiting it with respect to the character of the discussion we may get the " Practical Utility of Manual Training," and further THE THEME. 23 with respect to place, "The Practical Utility of Manual Training in High Schools," and with respect to those concerned, " The Practical Utility of Manual Training in High Schools for Poor Boys." 14. Selection of Title. We must distinguish be- tween the general subject and the distinctive title. Evidently the last subject in the preceding paragraph would not do for a title. It is too diffuse and unat- tractive. The title must be compact yet comprehen- sive. It must tersely suggest all that we are writing about, and would better not contain more than four or five words. If the title suggests itself along with the prospective subject matter and the manner of treat- ment, that is well ; but often this is not the case, and the title becomes our first care. It should generally be determined before we begin to write, for we are thereby better able to preserve the unity of the theme and to avoid rambling. Besides, it is usually easier to make the theme conform to the title than the title to the theme. We should think first of what we wish to say, subject, point of view, length of treatment, etc., and govern ourselves accordingly. The title should have a very definite relation to what it introduces ; it should appeal to the curiosity of the reader, but should not tell too much. " Prohibition does not Prohibit " is very faulty as a title, since it betrays at once the partisanship of the writer ; and those whom the article is written to convince will look no further. " Why prohibition does not prohibit " is better, since it 24 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. leaves the point of view of the writer uncertain. The use of hackneyed expressions in the title is peculiarly open to objection, since it gives the color of common- place to the whole production. "Tripping the Light Fantastic Toe " we know to be merely an account of a dancing-party, and it awakens in us no further interest. A title should be brief to catch the attention of the reader, and clear, that he may see quickly the character of the article. " Victorious yet Skunked," a title recently given by a schoolboy to his theme, would hardly suggest that the boy was narrating the incidents of a fox-hunt. A title should attract attention, but when it has too obviously been chosen for that purpose the impression upon the reader is unpleasant. It savors of affectation on the part of the writer. This is the case with a great many of the titles found in the newspapers and cheap works of fiction of the present day, the object being, no doubt, to attract readers by novel or startling- headlines. Such devices should be avoided. With the help of a proper title, however, we may hope to get the reader interested in our theme. EXERCISES. i. Bring to the class five subjects which you have found of interest to you in the newspapers and the maga- zines you have recently read. Select from your own ob- servations five subjects suitable for themes. Select a similar list from your school courses. Choose a proper title for each of your subjects. Give your reasons for thinking each title appropriate. THE THEME. 2$ 2. Which of the following subjects would be of interest to you, and which would be of general interest ? Which of them should you criticise as being too abstract or general ? 1. The benefits of gardening. 14. Culture. 2. The pleasures of a well- 15. Coal-mining. informed mind. 16. The rubber-tree. 3. Courage. 17. General Grant's cam- 4. A sunset in the mountains. paigns in the Civil War. 5. A Turkish man-of-war. 18. Newspapers. 6. Butterflies. 19. A visit to Washington. 7. Astrology.- 20. The Boston Subway. 8. A cotton-field. 21. A day in camp. 9. Zoroaster. 22. Yachting. 10. A Hindoo temple. 23. Trout-fishing. 11. Oom Paul Kruger. 24. The pleasures of bicycle- 12. Manual training. riding. 13. " The Man with the Hoe." 25. Our soldiers in Manila. / .x5- Narrow four of the following themes by making limi- i "'tations of place, time, kind, either one or all, till they are so far reduced that each may be treated within the compass of a paragraph. 1. Mountains. 9. Charities. 2. Clocks. 10. Pain. 3. Flowers. n. Play. 4. Bicycles. 12. Air. 5. Locomotives. 13. Fire. 6. Cats. 14. Geysers. 7. Opportunities. 15. Seas. 8. Character. 4. Narrow four of the following subjects so as to make them interesting to four different classes of readers. Nar- row at least two of the subjects so that the theme may be interesting to readers for whom the subject as a whole might not be attractive. In each case state to what par- ticular class of readers the theme is intended to appeal, and be prepared to say why it should have interest for readers of that class. 26 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 1. Farming. 8. The Nile. 2. Printing. 9. Our Country. 3. Sewing. 10. Niagara. 4. Moonlight. n. Nature. 5. Inventions. 12. Base-ball. 6. The post-office. 13. The Milky Way. 7. Elections. 14. The Aztecs. 5. Narrow five of the following subjects until you think they are suitable for school themes, and give an appro- priate title to each. 1. The Mother Country. n. The Straits of Dover. 2. Art. 12. The War between the 3. Rivers. English and the Boers 4. The Spanish War. in South Africa. 5. Literature. 13. Electricity. 6. Magazines. 14. Arbitration. 7. Watches. 15. Immigration. 8. Country Roads. 16. Public Parks. 9. Heroes. . 17. Politics. 10. Sunrise. 18. Municipal Government. 6. Look over the newspapers and magazines of the , and select five titles which you think appropriate to the subjects under discussion. What have you to say on this point with regard to the following titles ? TITLE. SUBJECT IN BRIEF. 1. New York Bites the Dust. Describing the defeat of the New York base- ball club in a game. 2. Lessons in Liberty. An account of the prepa- rations for the visit of Cuban teachers to the United States. 3. A Patriot's Mecca. An account of the cele- bration of Patriot's Day, April 19, at Con- cord, Mass. 4. Her Day of Battle. An account of the same at Lexington. THE THEME. 5. Housing the Poor. 6. A Garden of Mercy. 7. Forty Years of British Trade. 8. The Battle of the Centuries. 9. A Ten Years' War. 10. Poor People. 11. We are too much Governed. Experiments in securing model dwelling-houses for the poor of London. A plea for sending the poor from the crowded cities to the farming- districts, and for the establishment of train- ing-colonies. "Land Experiments," says the author, " is a cold title. To me they (the train- ing-colonies) appear as Gardens of Mercy, where the gardener longs to make as goodly a show of souls as of roses." A history of the develop- ment of trade in Great Britain during the last forty years. A discussion whether the year 1900 belongs to the nineteenth or twentieth century. the An account of the battle with the slums in New York City. A novel, dealing with life in the tenement district in Chicago. This does not mean the slums. "I am asked," says the author, " to express my views of the tendency on the part of the Legis- latures of the various States of the Union in the direction of multi- plying legislation." 28 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 12. The Klondike Stampede. 13. " Never Say Die." 14. An Actor's Day off. 15. Chocorua. 1 6. A Large Bass. 17. A Steam Carriage. A history of the Klon- dike region, and a de- scription of the rush of people to that locality during the gold fever of 1897-1898. A school-boy's account of the work and prac- tice of the school boat- ' crew on the river. The experience of an actor who had stopped over a day at Niagara Falls. A description of Mt. Chocorua by a writer who spent one summer in that vicinity. A school-boy's account of a day's bass-fishing in Florida. A description of an auto- mobile propelled by steam. 7- Suggest suitable titles for the following newspaper paragraphs. 1. The attorney-general for Kansas, on January 16, at Topeka, rendered an opinion to the state superintendent of public instruction, holding that when a public school has been suspended by order of the board of trustees, on account of the presence of a contagious disease in the community, teachers are entitled to full pay under their contracts during such suspension. : 2. What sneaks and snobs we are getting to be ! A Cana- dian railroad dignitary is written of by an American news- paper as " having once filled the position of an humble ticket agent." Mark the juxtaposition. The " humble " is attached to the man more than to the position. We never yet found that humility was required in that occupation. 3. The worst of the whole business is, not so much the harm that a single play can do, but the general degradation THE THEME. 29 of public taste, if not of morals, by exaltations of brute reproductions of the indecent as " art." Between the repre- sentations of life and life itself there must always be a distinction. 4. For three consecutive Congressional elections the methods and practices of that district have been investi- gated by this House, and in both of the preceding instances this body has set its seal of condemnation upon the de- bauchery thereof. 5. The flour trust has collapsed, from the same cause that sent so many trusts down, over capitalization. As it was written in the Register many months ago, the people who will be hurt first and worst by the trusts will be those who put their money in them. 6. Mamma Tommy, you must eat every bit of your soup. How many little boys would be thankful to have only half of that big bowlful set before them. Tommy So would I. 7. The Dublin city council had an exciting session over a resolution to welcome Queen Victoria formally^ in her coming visit. It was carried by a narrow majority, and with groans from the spectators. 8. During the past week there have been increasing signs of a rising tide of war sentiments among the French people directed against England, and it is an open secret that the army and navy are being put on a war footing. 9. The British newspapers very generally applaud Salis- bury's rejection of the peace proposal. 10. In both Senate and House bills have been introduced giving the senior major-general of the army, while com- manding the Urmy, the rank of lieutenant-general, together with the emoluments of that rank. %- 30 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. CHAPTER II. THE THEME (continued}. 15. Material for the Theme. Before the work of composition is begun, material for the theme should be gathered and considered carefully. Every sentence should be planned with the thought of the conclusion for which the whole is written. A great genius may dash off his lines without premeditation, trusting to inspiration for the working out of a well-rounded design, but the majority of us cannot do this. In general, lack of design is a very serious hindrance to the pleasure as well as to the comprehension of the reader. We should get our material, and have it arranged in our minds? before we begin to write. But it is sometimes difficult to know where we shall get this material. We may have our subject, even our title, well in mind ; but the next step is not always an easy one. Let us consider, then, whence our material is to come. The great source of material is our own experience and observation. Having chosen his subject, the pupil should keep his eyes open continually for hints and sug- gestions. He will be surprised to find how many things that he sees or hears or reads have a bearing on what he has been thinking about. If at frequent intervals he THE THEME. 31 brings his mind back to It the subject will grow in his thought, trains of mental association and of memory will be set in motion, and almost unconsciously he will come to have a clearly outlined understanding of what he wishes to say. Of course not everything that comes under our observation is available, and not everything available shows its true character at a glance ; we may have to look a long time to see anything that has not already been seen and reported many times. The success of Dickens was undoubtedly due in great measure to the fact that he had been a reporter, and acquired the habit of observing minutely the manners, movements, and surroundings of the characters which he has portrayed with such consummate skill. Read Washington Irving's description of Sleepy Hollow, and you see at once that it is no fancy of Irving's imagination, but a real valley which Irving had visited, and which had made deep impression upon his mind. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's " Note Book " may be found the following record, show- ing how he was continually jotting down minute observa- tions for future use : 1 61 October 25. A walk yesterday through Dark Lane and home through the village of Danvers. Landscape now wholly autumnal. Saw an elderly man laden with two dry, yellow, rustling bundles of Indian cornstalks, a good personification of Autumn. Another man hoeing up potatoes. Rows of white cabbages lay ripening. Fields of dry Indian corn. The grass has still considerable greenness. Wild-rose bushes devoid of leaves, with their 1 Quoted from Newcomer's " Elements of Rhetoric." 32 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. deep, bright red seed-vessels. Meeting-house in Danvers seen at a distance, with the sun shining through the win- dows of its belfry," and so on. Such is the importance of close observation and personal experience. We may find material also in the observations and experiences of others. We should cultivate the habit of consulting books, of getting something besides pleasure out of magazines and papers. We know from Macaulay's journal- that he spent eighteen months in acquainting himself with the reign of William III., that he might be able to write his History. He visited Holland, Belgium, Scotland, .Ireland, France ; he ransacked the Dutch archives and the French archives ; he turned over thousands of pamphlets, and explored the British Museum and the great libraries "of England, for his material. Go into the Boston Public Library any day, and you will see men from all parts of the count rv poring over books and manuscripts for information upon subjects which they intend to discuss. Learn to use indexes, such as Poole's " Index to Periodical Literature," and the American Library Association's " Index to General Literature," that you may the more readily find out what has been written on a given subject. If you wish to know about Dr. John- son, and have no book or magazine article dealing with him, perhaps the index to a life of Goldsmith or some other contemporary will help you. A chance allusion to the subject is better than no information at all ; it THE THEME. 33 may suggest another view of the matter, or may show that your researches have been too narrow and one- sided. We should guard carefully against any such fault. Our readers will hardly appreciate the real force of our conclusions, and the grounds for them, if we leave them with the feeling that our showing is not a fair one. If a recent paper or magazine has suggested our subject, we have to guard especially against the danger of one-sided treatment. If we are writing upon "The United States and the Philippines," and wish for facts in support of our opinions, we must consult the more serious magazines and reviews instead of relying upon the doubtful statements of partisan newspapers. 16. Organizing the Theme. Gathering material and gathering an abundance of it is the first step in prepara tion for our writing. We shall next need to choose from the mass of things which we have found those particularly suited to our purpose, and reject the rest. When we have done this we may make an outline. Some preliminary outline is essential to the writing of a good theme. From it the theme is built up. This outline may consist of little more than the ideas which we have acquired in the way of reading and observation. We may simply put down these ideas, and then arrange them in proper sequence and under proper headings, so as to secure unity and symmetry in our work. In this way we get a mental grasp of our subject. Let us suppose, for instance, that we wish to describe a New England village that we have visited. With note-book 34 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. in hand we put down our impressions somewhat as follows : THE LITTLE VILLAGE OF A. Arrived at the little railroad station. Saw a number of curious looking people gathered there. Strange forms of conveyance. A bright, sunny day. A beautiful spot. A river flowing through the valley. Road bordered with trees. Green fields stretching away in the distance. Fields of grain. Gardens. Farm-houses here and there. Mountains in the distance. Approach to village. Main streets. Tall elms. One or two stores. Post-office. Church. School. A hotel. A number of loafers around. A small factory on the river. People mostly farmers, pleasant, talkative, always busy. Some work in factory. Stayed at a large farm-house. Numerous walks. Beauti- ful paths. A lake. Falls. Good fishing. Historical associations. Traditions. Feelings wakened by the visit. We have written down our notes at random, as they happened to come to us ; but on examination we shall see that we can improve this outline by omitting some of the trivial and unimportant notes, and by grouping and rearranging what remain. Thereby the outline will be made more systematic, and the theme more orderly and symmetrical. The revised outline will be somewhat as follows : 1. Beginning, i. Arrival. 2. Railroad station. 3. Peo- ple around. 4. A sunny day. 5. My first impressions. 2. Natural features, i. A river flowing through the valley. 2. Green fields stretching away. 3. Cultivated land. 4. Large tracts of woodland. 5. A lake. 6. Mountains all around in the distance. 3. Artificial features. i. Prosperous-looking farms. THE THEME. 35 2. Stores. 3, A country church. 4. A small district school. 5. The hotel. 6. The factory. 4. People, i. Farmers. 2. Workmen in the factory. 3. Character of the people, pleasant, courteous, busy. Peculiarities. 5. Places of interest. i. The lake. 2. Fishing, 3. The falls. 4. Beautiful paths through the woods. 6. Historical associations, i. Indians. 2. A Revolu- tionary. War incident. 3. A tradition. 7. Conclusion. Feelings awakened by my visit. Of course the outline may be still further systema- tized if desired. 17. Development of the Theme. When we have de- cided on our subject and our title, secured our material, and thought out in a general way our conclusions, we have still to consider various points in connection with the theme, such as how to begin, the order and the length of treatment, the proportion of parts, and how to end it. Most of these considerations can be answered as we acquire experience in writing, but a few of the more elementary matters may be treated here. i. The Beginning. How to begin is one of the most perplexing questions that confront the pupil in his theme writing. He may have his material well in mind, but he cannot think of a good way to begin ; everything seems awkward or abrupt. Whence shall come the first words ? They must develop from something in the mind of the reader, and lead to what is to come. When we once get started it is easy to go on, for one thing suggests another. But how shall we start ? Let us consider for a moment what purpose our beginning is to 36 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. serve, Plainly its first purpose is to get the reader's attention ; then it must interest him, and create a favor- able impression in his mind ; and lastly it must give him to understand what we intend to write about. We should, then, begin with something fresh and interesting ; and this should prepare the way for a brief statement of the subject. Sometimes a short anecdote or an apt quota- tion will answer the purpose ; again, we may begin with some brief assertion that will strike the reader with surprise or pleasure, or arouse his curiosity. The use of the first personal pronoun is often effective, as it in- vites familiarity and confidence. On simple topics we may begin a theme as we should begin a conversation with a friend. If we have spent an enjoyable day at the seashore, and wish to tell a friend about it, we do not hesitate for a way to begin. We say naturally, " I spent a most delightful day at the seashore yesterday ; " and then we proceed to tell him all the particulars. We may do the same in our writing, although, of course, in a somewhat more formal way. Look over Irving' s "Sketch- Book," or some similar work, and note how the author begins his different sketches. In a recent magazine article on " Railroading as a Profession," the author begins as follows : " Ever since the Civil War, railroading as a career has probably been more attractive to the bold and enterpris- ing youth of America than any other occupation." An article in the "Atlantic Monthly," entitled "A Girl of Sixteen at Brook Farm," begins thus : THE THEME. 37 " Of all the -memorable company whom I found seated at the tea table when I arrived at Brook Farm, a few weeks after its opening, not one is now alive." In general, the pupil will find little difficulty in begin- ning, if he keeps in mind what he wishes to accomplish, and does it as briefly and simply as is consistent with what he has to say. 2. The Ending. Somewhat less perplexing is the question, how to end the theme. Every teacher has doubtless listened to the despairing cry of the pupil who has written all he has to say upon his subject, but cannot think of a suitable way to end his theme ; there is an indefinite something in his mind which he would like to say to bring his work to a fitting close, but he cannot frame it in words. As in the case of the begin- ning, the difficulty will be easily solved if the pupil will keep in mind what he wishes to accomplish in the end- ing. If we were to analyze the indefinite something in the pupil's thought, we should probably find that it is a desire to impress more firmly on the reader the important points that have been made, and to round out gracefully his theme, so as to produce a finished whole. This is the purpose of an ending ; and this pur- pose can be accomplished best by a brief summary of the several points, which will present them in one view to the mind of the reader. If the theme is a simple nar- rative, a simple, happy turn of expression, when interest in the subject is closed, will suffice for' an ending. (In- troduction and Conclusion will be treated more fully in Part III.) 38 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 3. TJie Body of the Writing. Having now out- lined our plan of work, it only remains for us to develop the topics with the material at our command'; that is, to write out a complete and connected draft. In our early writing this may need a great deal of revision, but as soon as possible we should train ourselves to make the first draft as nearly what we would have it as possi- ble. In particular we must be careful to make the first writing of the desired length and of the proper propor- tions. Once written the form of our composition is in a degree fixed, and later revision will not wholly correct faults. 4. TJie Theme, an Organic Whole. We are now in a position to see that a theme is not a mere collection of material on a given subject, but an organized whole, made up of parts, having a close relation to one another, being mutually dependent on one another, and arranged in logical sequence. The whole theme, in fact, is one in thought and purpose, a unit, made up of smaller units, and these, in turn, of smaller units, which are developed on the same general lines, and in turn contribute to the unity and symmetry of the whole. EXERCISES. i. Let the pupils study the following beginnings taken from some of the magazines of the day, and say if they con- r form to his ideas of a good beginning, if they are attractive, if they serve their purpose, etc. i, TITLE: "The Little Tricks of Smuggling." Beginning: " Successful smuggling at the port of New York may be classed as one of the polite forms of crime." THE THEME. 39 2, TITLE : " The Respectable Wolf." Beginning: " ' There is nothing good in the wolf. He has a base look, a savage aspect, a terrible voice, an in- supportable smell, a nature brutal and ferocious, a body so foul that no animal or reptile will touch it.' So says Buff on, in a characterization well nigh as savage as the nature of the beast characterized." . 3. TITLE: "The Cuckoo Clock." A Story. Beginning: "No one, not even his wife, could deny that Mr. Bates was the meekest of men. All his married rlife he had submitted to the superiority of his wife, and when his daughters grew. up, to CffellS aliJo asuperior- ity which he invariably acknowledged." 4. TITLE : " The Place of French Literature." V ' Beginning: "The preeminence of French literature over its rivals has been complacently taken for granted by most Frenchmen." 5. TITLE : " The Unofficial Government of Cities." Beginning: "There is probably no subject to which, during the last few years^} the attention of public- spirited Americans has been more carefully directed- than to that of municipal government." ^*^zr Let the pupil look over the periodicals at hand, note the beginnings and the endings of some of the articles, and bring to the class two of each which especially please him. Let him tell what he sees in them that makes them suitable for their purpose. NOTE. The teacher should have a number of the popular magazines and periodicals in the class-room for distribution among the pupils. 3. Let the pupil read one or two of the lighter articles in the magazines, note down the important points, and make a topical outline for each article. Irving's " Sketch- Book " furnishes excellent material for such an exercise. 4. From the list of books which you have recently read, either in or out of school, bring to the class five subjects upon any one of which you could write a theme. Look over the daily newspapers carefully, and from the COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. topics under discussion select five which seem to you suitable for themes. 5. Look up material on three of the following subjects, using an encyclopedia only as a last resort ; bring in your notes on paper, and tell the source of each jotting. The Invention of the Steam Engine. David Harum and Mrs. Cullom mDavid Harum. The Cape to Cairo Rail- road. The Story of Chevalier Bayard. Electric Railroads. The Story of Orpheus. A Cyclone at Sea. The Boston Library. 9. The City of Manila. 10. The Gulf Stream. 11. The Government of the Boers. 12. The Movements of the Glaciers. 13. The Making of Pottery. 14. The Colony of Porto Rico. 15. General Gordon in Egypt. 16. The Coal Supply of the World. 6. Make notes about something which particularly in- terests you, if possible giving the results of your own ex- perience and observation, for instance, the use of the camera. Develop a theme from the notes you have made. 7. Which of the following subjects, as it seems to you, would require a treatment of no more than two hundred words ? Which, five hundred ? Which would require more ? Justify your decision in each case. 1. Military Drill in Public Schools. 2. A Day's Outing on the Bi- cycle. 3. The Burning of a House. 4. A Game of Baseball. 5. Duck-Shooting. 6. A School Incident. 7. A Native Flower. 8. The Boston Subway. 9. Rapid Transit in Great Cities. 10. The Pleasures of Bicycle- Riding. 11. Yachting. 12. A Home Phonograph. 13. An Electric-Car Ride. 14. My Native Town. 15. A Bachelor's Room. 16. The Appearance of Icha- bod Crane. 17. A Native Tree. 18. The Evils of Immigration. 19. The Advantages of an Ed- ucation. 20. A Fishing-Trip. 21. A Ramble through the Parks. THE THEME. 22. A Description of the Shakespeare House. 23. A Rainy Day. 24. A Haunted House. 25. Stamp-Collecting. 26. Maple-Sugar Making. 27. The Books we Read. 28. The Development of School Athletics. 29. The Disastrous Effects of War at the Present Day. 30. ImprovementsinFirearms. 31. Boston, a Literary Center. 32. The Advantages to a Town of a Good Library. 33. A Knowing Cat. 34. An Intelligent Dog. 35. A Yachting Incident. 36. Rip Van Winkle's Twenty Years' Sleep. 37. General Grant's Cam- paigns. 38. Sights from my Window. 39. A Good Dinner. 40. The Paris Exposition. 41. A Day at the County Fair. 42. Improvements in Locomo- tion. 43. The Automobile. 44. How to Sail a Boat. \ 45. The Choice of an Occupa- tion. 46. The Coming Baseball Sea- son. 47. A Fox Hunt. 48. The Woodpecker. 49. The Use of the Flashlight in Photography. 8. Look over carefully some of the compositions given in the appendix, and comment on the choice of material, plan, beginning, ending, etc. 50. The Life of an Actor. 51. How to Raise Strawber- ries. 52. Should Capital Punish- ment be Abolished ? 53. A Week on a Pilot Boat. 54. The Printing of a News- paper. 55. The Coming of Spring. 56. The Department Stores. 57. At the Lunch Counter. 58. The Influence of the Mod- ern Newspaper. 59. Gathering Wild Flowers. 60. An Eccentric Character. -61. An American Soldier in the Philippines. 62. Fishing through the Ice. 63. Home Life of the Boers. 64. The Art of Trout-Fishing. 65. Mt. Chocorua. 66. The Legend of the Holy Grail. 67. A Beautiful Sunrise. 68. An Autumn Day in the Country. 69. The Old-fashioned Stage- coach. 70. The Justice of Strikes. 71. A Model Farm. 72. A Walk through a Shoe- Factory. 73. Good Roads. 74. The Passing of the Ameri- can Indian. 75. A Thunder Shower. 42 COMPOSITION AMD RHETORIC. CHAPTER III. THE PARAGRAPH. 18. What the Paragraph Is. If we look at the printed page of any book we notice that usually it is not solid, but is broken once or twice into what we call paragraphs. These paragraphs are not arbitrary devices adopted to catch the reader's eye. They have a much greater significance. Let us see, then, what the para- graph is, and why the printed page should be broken by paragraph divisions. If we turn for a moment to the two outlines of The Little Village of A, in the preceding chapter, we see that the second outline differs from the first in this respect, that certain ideas that were related to one another have been grouped under heads or topics, and that each topic is expressive of the ideas in its group. So our thoughts upon any matter, if developed at any length, break up naturally into groups of kindred ideas. If they do not our thinking is not clear-cut and logical. These groups seem to be natural divisions of the subject. 1 Now, if the ideas of the several groups be developed into sentences, each sentence-group will constitute a paragraph. I We may define a paragraph, then, as a group of sentences in which a single topic is developed. J THE PARAGRAPH. 43 Let us take some theme, and see how the ideas which we are to present in it group themselves. We will describe an old mill, and make such arrangement of the details as will form fitting paragraphs. Arranging these .details as they suggest themselves to us, without regard to order or grouping, we will afterwards see how they are related to each other, and group them for paragraphs according to these relations. i. The mill-wheel. 2. The belts and whirring wheels. 3. The dam. 4. The mill itself. 5. Shape of the mill. 6. The mill-pond. 7. The dusty miller. 8. Size of the mill. 9. The wagons of the farmers bringing grain. 10. Situation of the mill. IT. The background of trees and hills. Glancing over these items, we see at once that if the subject should be treated in the order in which the de- tails are here given the description would be broken and incoherent, and the whole impression would be indis- tinct. Attempting to bring together those things which have some relation, we may unite them in paragraphs in some such fashion as follows : First paragraph to include 10, n, and 9. ^Second " " " 6, 3, and i. Third " " " 4, 5, and 8. Fourth " " " 7, and 2. Each paragraph now includes items which we can hold together mentally, and forms a picture which is, for our purposes, complete. We shall not find it easy to think in groups of related ideas at first ; but by being careful continually to have the purpose of each para- 44 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. graph thought out before we begin writing upon it, we shall come to divide our subjects naturally into para- graphs. If that division is not made in the first writing, it will be found difficult or impossible to make it after- wards without rearrangement and re-writing. That the reader may not pass over the break from paragraph to paragraph the first line of each should be indented an inch more than the other lines. On the printed page or in typewritten manuscript the indentation is less, be- cause the uniformity of print makes a slight indentation sufficiently noticeable. 19. The Importance of Paragraphs From what has been said in the preceding section, we see that a paragraph is a natural and necessary division of the sub- ject, containing a complete discussion of a particular topic, and that the several paragraphs enable the writer to develop his theme logically. They are quite as sig- nificant to the reader. They show him the divisions of the subject which the writer wishes to make, and each conveys a sense of something complete. We see further that the paragraph has a double relation. It is a division of a larger topic, a dependent member of the whole composition, logically connected with the other members ; and it is a complete whole in itself, a miniature composition, in which the several sentences are linked together, each sentence fulfilling the function apportioned to it. It is the latter relation with which we are now concerned. Let us, then, consider a para- graph for a moment, and see how the sentences com- THE PARAGRAPH. 45 posing it are linked together by a natural relation of one sentence to another and to the whole. i. Once on the brink of the crater, we obtained a per- fect view of this wonderful cavity in the mountain side. 2. It is one of the main features of the southwestern face of St. Elias. 3. It begins on the right in the splen- did jagged arete leading up to a peak, which from another point appears as a spur of the mountain. 4. At the foot of this peak begins the upper rim of the crater, which descends gradually to the left in the shape of a spiral curve. 5. In its entire length it is frosted with a layer of snow over fifty feet thick; the effect of this is very striking. 6. The walls of the crater are composed of steep, bare rock, the surface of which is furrowed and stratified in a most wonderful manner. 7. The interior is filled with snow ; its outlet is to the westward, where it feeds a large glacier. 8. There is good reason to believe that this amphitheater is of volcanic origin. 9. Several specimens of rock which were brought down seem to sup- port this theory, while later in the day a cone was passed resembling in shape and general appearance those seen in the crater of Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii. From sentence I to sentence 7 inclusive the para- graph is concerned with the description of the crater, each sentence adding definiteness to the picture, and having a close connection with the sentence preceding it. Sentences 8 and 9, dealing with the formation, could come only after the description, since it is the appearance of the crater that leads to this as a conclu- sion. There are but these two divisions of thought in the paragraph, which may be outlined as follows : 46 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. The Crater. 1 . Description. a. Position. b. The snow. c. The walls. d. Outline. 2. Formation. a. Probably volcanic. b. Character of the rock. Observe that the paragraph is a complete whole, the descriptions and the conclusions as to the formation of the crater being but different phases of the mental effect of the sight of the crater. This should be true of every paragraph. It is normally the unit of thought which first presents itself to the mind of the writer as he mentally outlines a composition before putting pen to paper. Certain things must be said before the reader is prepared for certain other things ; and these various matters should arrange themselves in the mind of the writer in a definite order, each separate phase of the subject as it is to be treated forming a paragraph, a unit in itself. A composition in which each paragraph is complete and contains nothing extraneous in thought, mood, or manner, gives to the reader the sense of logi- cal, clear-cut, orderly arrangement which is essential to his satisfaction and interest. 20. The Length of Paragraphs The length of the paragraph must be determined primarily by the amount of detail that goes to form the one connected whole. A paragraph may consist of but one sentence, and how long it may be without becoming disjointed and awk- THE PARAGRAPH. tf ward in effect the writer must determine in each indi- vidual case ; but, in general, paragraphs extending over several pages are too long. When the subject is a com- plex one, dealing with abstract thought or with historical or scientific generalizations, the groups of related ideas may necessarily be large ; but, while this will increase the difficulty of making distinctions between them, such distinctions must be made with greater care. If the completed composition is to maintain the same tone throughout, the paragraphs should not vary greatly in length. In rapid narration the paragraphs will gener- ally be short, since the story does not dwell long upon the separate incidents. In effect, then, long paragraphs have weight and dignity when the subject matter com- posing them is properly connected in thought, and short paragraphs have movement and vivacity. Occasionally, for the sake of emphasis, sentences that are connected in thought, and might form one paragraph, are broken up into several paragraphs. So it is in the following, in which both sentences beginning " Lady Standish " are put in paragraphs by themselves for emphasis. There was the bishop, the Bishop of Bath and Wells 1 That reverend prelate had shown her much kindness and attention. He would know how to interfere in such a crisis. He was a man of authority. Between them could they not force the peace at Hammer's Fields, and could not Sir Jasper be saved in spite of himself, were it by de- livering him into the hands of the law ? Lady Standish flew into her room and called the sniff- ing Megrim. " Paper and ink," cried she, " and get you ready to run on a message. 'Tis a matter of life and death." 48 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. " My Lady," said Megrim, primly, " I will serve your Ladyship in all things that are right ; but I hope I know my duty to my Creator ; and stoop to connive at irregular- ities, my Lady, I won't and never will." She had been ready to condemn her master overnight, but the talk in the servants' hall had, as she had expressed it, " opened her eyes." And what woman is not ready to judge her sister woman above all, what maid to condemn her mistress ? Lady Standish stared. " What means this ? " said she. " You shall do as I bid you, Mistress Megrim. How dare you ! " cried Lady Standish, with a sudden flash of comprehension. " Why, woman, my letter is to the bishop ! " " Oh," quoth Mistress Megrim, still with reserve, yet condescending to approval, " that is another matter. Shall I," she sniffed, "be stricter than becomes a Christian? Shall I refuse aid to the bruised sinner or to the smok- ing lamp whose conscience is awakened ? May his Lord- ship be a tower of strength to your Ladyship along the rocky paths of penitence amen ! "* Direct quotations are usually put in paragraphs by themselves, though sometimes the quotation is so much a part of the context that it is included with it. In the following observe that the first sentence in paragraph 2 implies what the quotation following it expresses more definitely, and the two are therefore too closely connected to be put in separate paragraphs. The first sentence of paragraph 3 bears the same relation to the quotations following it, and they are therefore paragraphed to- gether. " And you," he said, " you pretended because you thought it was best for me." l " The Bath Comedy," by Egerton Castle. THE PARAGRAPH. 49 She nodded. " And we saw through each other all the time," she said. " Grizel, has it passed away altogether now ? " Her grip upon his hand did not tighten in the least. " Yes," she could say honestly, " it has altogether passed away." " And you have no fear ? " " No, none." t It was his great reward for all that he had done for Grizel. " I know what you are thinking of," she said, when he did not speak. "You are thinking of the haunted little girl you rescued seven years ago." 1 21. The Topic-Sentence We have defined a para- graph as a group of sentences in which a single topic is developed. This topic is usually announced in some one or two sentences which are called topic-sentences. These topic-sentences may be considered as having two specific uses : they make known to the reader the subject-matter of the paragraph, and they hold the writer to the discus- sion of the matter with which the paragraph is concerned. A topic-sentence is usually, though not necessarily, short, and may come anywhere in the paragraph, though ordi- narily it occurs at the beginning. When there are two topic-sentences they are rarely separated ; but if they are, one will usually be found at the beginning and the other at the end of the paragraph. Sometimes there is no clear topic-sentence, especially in narrative and de- scriptive writing, in which case the first sentence will give a clew to what follows, or the topic must be in- ferred from all the sentences. The use of the topic- sentence may be seen in the following paragraphs. 1 "Tommy and Grizel," by J. M. Barrie, in Scribbler's Magazine. $0 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Study carefully its relation to the paragraph, and be prepared to say whether or not these paragraphs show any digression from their themes as announced in the topic-sentences, pointing out such digression, if any. To be strong-backed and neat-bound is the desideratum of a volume. Magnificence comes after. This, when it can be afforded, is not to be lavished upon all kinds of books in- discriminately. I would not dress a set of Magazines, for instance, in full suit. The dishabille or half-binding (with russia backs ever) is our costume. A Shakespeare, or a Milton (unless the first editions), it were mere foppery to trick out in gay apparel. The possession of them con- fers no distinction. The exterior of them (the things themselves being so common), strange to say, raises no sweet emotions, no tickling sense of property in the owner. Thomson's Seasons, again, looks best, (I main- tain it) a little torn and dog's-eared. How beautiful to a genuine lover of reading are the sullied leaves, and worn-out appearance, nay the very odor (beyond russia), if we would not forget kind feelings in fastidiousness, of an old " Circulating Library," Tom Jones, or Vicar of Wakefield ! How they speak of the thousand thumbs that have turned over their pages with delight ! of the lone sempstress, whom they may have cheered (milliner, or harder-working mantua-maker) after her long day's needle-toil, running far into midnight, when she has snatched an hour, ill spared from sleep, to steep her cares, as in some Lethean cup, in spelling out their en- chanting contents ! Who would have them a whit less soiled ? What better condition could we desire to see them in ? CHARLES LAMB : Essays of Elia. Let us dwell upon this contrast for a few minutes. All the sunshine appears to have been on your side and all the shadow on his. Born of highly cultivated parents, in the highest rank in England under royalty, you have lived from the beginning amongst the most official aids to THE PARAGRAPH. 51 culture, and Nature has so endowed you that, instead of becoming indifferent to these things from familiarity, you have learned to value them more and more in every suc- cessive year. The plainest statement of your advantages would sound like an extract from one of Disraeli's novels. Your father's principal castle is situated amongst the finest scenery in Britain, and his palace in London is filled with masterpieces of art. Wherever you have lived you have been surrounded by good literature and culti- vated friends. Your health is steadily robust, you can travel wherever you choose, and all the benefits of all the capitals of Europe belong to you as much as to their own citizens. In all these gifts and opportunities there is but one evil the bewilderment of their multiplicity. P. G. HAMERTON : The Intellectual Life. " My instinct would certainly be to fight, whether fighting were of any use or not. But the propriety of fighting in such a case is a very nice question of judg- ment. So long as there is anything to fight for, no matter how hopeless the odds, a gentleman should go to the front but no longer. The question must be to de- cide the precise point at which the position becomes un- tenable. So long as France makes our quarrel hers, every man should give his personal assistance to the cause ; but it is absurd to suppose that if we were left alone, a handful of Romans against a great power, we could do more, or should do more, than make a formal show of resistance. It has been a rule in all ages that the general, however brave, who sacrifices the lives of his soldiers in a perfectly hopeless resistance, rather than accept the terms of an honorable capitulation, is guilty of a military crime. F. MARION CRAWFORD : Saracinesca. The propositions of William were framed with a punctil- ious fairness, such as might have been expected rather from a disinterested umpire pronouncing an award than from a chivalrous prince dictating to a helpless enemy. 52 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. No fault could be found with them by the partisans of the king. But among the Whigs there was much murmuring. They wanted no reconciliation with the tyrant. They thought themselves absolved from all allegiance to him. They were not disposed to recognize the authority of a parliament convoked by his writ. They were averse to an armistice ; and they could not conceive why, if there was to be an armistice, it should be an armistice on equal terms. By all the laws of war the stronger party had a right to take advantage of his strength ; and what was there in the character of James to justify any extraordi- nary indulgence ? Those who reasoned thus little knew from how elevated a point of view, and with how discern- ing an eye, the leader whom they censured contemplated the whole situation of England and Europe. They were eager to ruin James, and would therefore have refused to treat with him on any conditions, or have imposed on him conditions insupportably hard. To the success of William's vast and profound scheme of policy it was necessary that James should ruin himself by rejecting conditions ostentatiously liberal. The event proved the wisdom of the course which the majority of Englishmen at Hungerford were inclined to condemn. T. B. MACAULAY : History of England. Even the invention of railroads has produced the unforeseen result of a return in the direction of barbarism. If there is one thing that distinguishes civilization, it is fixity of residence ; and it is essential to the tranquil following of serious intellectual purposes that the student should re- main for many months of the year in his own library or laboratory, surrounded by all his instruments of culture. But there are people of the highest rank in the England of to-day whose existence is as much nomadic as that of Red Indians in the reserved territories of North America. You cannot ascertain their whereabouts without consulting the most recent newspaper. Their life may be quite ac- curately described as a return, on a scale of unprece- dented splendor and comfort, to the life of tribes in that , ~"\TS THE PARAGRAPH. 53 stage of human development which is known as the period of the chase. They migrate from one hunting-ground to another as the diminution of the game impels them. Their residences, vast and substantial as they are, serve only as tents and wigwams. The existence of a monk in the cloister, of a prisoner in a fortress, is more favorable to the intellect tha?i theirs. P. G. HAMERTON : The I?itellectual Life. EXERCISES. 1. Define a paragraph. Give reasons for your defini- tion. Why are paragraphs important ? What do they signify to the reader ? How are they helpful to the writer ? 2. In the following outlines find the natural divisions of the subject, and arrange the ideas in paragraph groups under appropriate topics. s- i. The Newspaper of To-day. One of the many advantages /of printing. Country where the newspaper was first printed. A branch of the periodical press. Feeling that gave it birth. The province of the newspaper to-day. Date of the first news- paper __ I ntroduction into the United States. Influence upon the "peopleT What has contributed to its circulation. /Origin of the first newspaper. Process of printing a modern newspaper. The setting of the type by machinery. Electrotyping. The cylinder press. The circulation of a large paper. Contributions to freedom, justice, education. Influence on literary taste. Abuse of influence. Influence on civilization. Advantages to advertisers, merchants, readers. Duty of citizens with regard to newspapers. 2. The Benefits of Travel. Broadens the mind. Gives many useful ideas. //Objects of travel. Means of making im- portant discoveries. Travel more common now than formerly. Promotes general intercourse. Is a means of education. It acquaints us with the manners and customs of others. Affords pleasant recollections and instruction. Makes one contented. Is a source of pleasure. A means of transacting business. It makes an agreeable change. 3- Life of Washington Irving. Early home. His paren- tage. Beginning of his literary career. Third voyage to Europe, when and why? Date and place of birth. His 54 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. journey through the West His law studies. Character First literary work. Second voyage to Europe. Schooling His last book. Vacation rambles. His different publications Home influences. Editor of a magazine. First voyage to Europe. Death and burial. Public offices. Impressions of him from what we read. 3. Make outlines showing the divisions of thought in six of these subjects. Gather material on four^rjf these subjects, and arrange it in paragraph groups under appro- priate topics. Justify your arrangement, showing why you group your ideas as you do. Assume that the divisions you are making are for a theme of three hundred or four hundred words. 1. Michael Angelo. 2. An amateur photographer. 3. The French Academy. 4. How a hailstone is formed. 5. The Chicago fire. 6. The method of securing a patent. 7. The Siege of Troy. -^ 8. Twenty miles on a bicycle. 9. A Florida river. 10. Building a railroad in China. 11. King Alfred and the cakes. 12. The college boat-race. 13. How a caucus is conducted. 14. Old Ironsides. 15. Roman writing materials. 16. Feudalism. 17. The Reign of Terror. 1 8. A sky-scraper. 19. Flying-fish. ^o. A Klondike experience. 21. An Indian war-dance. .x22. An orange grove". 23. The delta of the Mississippi. 24. How the President of the United States is elected. 25. The colonies of the United States. 26. Municipal government in the United States. 27. A summer on a farm. 4. Have the following selections been properly para- graphed ? Make any changes you think proper, and give reasons. THE PARAGRAPH. 55 SIR ROGER IN LONDON. 1. I was this morning surprised with a great knocking at the door, when my landlady's daughter came up to me, and told me that there was a man below desired to speak with me. Upon my asking her who it was, she told me it was a very grave, elderly person, but that she did not know his name. I immediately went down to him, and found him to be the coachman of my worthy friend Sir Roger de Coverley. He told me that his master came to town last night, and would be glad to take a turn with me in Gray's Inn walks. As I was wondering in myself what had brought Sir Roger to town, not having lately received any letter from him, he told me that his master was come up to get a sight of Prince Eugene, and that he desired I would immediately meet him. I was not a little pleased with the curiosity of the old knight, though I did not much wonder at it, having heard him say more than once in private discourse, that he looked on Prince Eugenio (for so the knight always calls him) to be a greater man than Scanderbeg. I was no sooner come into Gray's Inn walks, but I heard my friend upon the terrace hemming twice or thrice to himself with great vigor, for he loves to clear his pipes in good air (to make use of his own phrase), and is not a little pleased with any one who takes notice of the strength which he still exerts in his morning hems. SQUIRE BULL. 2. John Bull was a choleric old fellow, who held a good manor in the middle of a great mill-pond, which, by reason of its being quite surrounded by water, was generally called "Bullock Island." Bull was an ingenious man ; an exceedingly good black- smith, a dexterous cutter, and a notable weaver besides. He was, in fact, a sort of Jack-at-all-trades, and good at each. In addition to these, he was a hearty fellow, a jolly com- panion, and passably honest, as the times go. But what tarnished all these qualities, was an exceedingly quarrelsome, overbearing disposition, which was always get- ting him into some scrape or other. The truth is, he never heard of a quarrel going on among his neighbors, but his fingers itched to take a part in it; so he was hardly ever seen without a broken head, a black eye, or a bloody nose. Such was Squire Bull, as he was commonly called by his neighbors one of those odd, testy, grumbling, boasting old codgers, that never get credit for what they are, because they are always pretending to be what they are not. 56 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. The squire was as tight a hand to deal with indoors as out; sometimes treating his family as if they were not the same flesh and blood, when they happened to differ with him in certain matters. SUMMER RAIN. 3. Men begin to look at the signs of the weather. It is long since much rain fell. The ground is a little dry, and the road is a good deal dusty. The garden bakes. Transplanted trees are thirsty. Wheels are shrinking and tires are looking dangerous. Men speculate on the clouds; they begin to calculate how long it will be, if no rain falls, before the potatoes will suffer ; the oats, the corn, the grass, everything. Rain, rain, rain ! All day, all night, steady raining. Will it never stop ? The hay is out and spoiling. The rain washes the garden. The ground is full. All things have drunk their fill. The springs revive, the meadows are wet ; the rivers run dis- colored with soil from every hill. Smoking cattle reek under the sheds. Hens, and fowl in general, shelter and plume. The sky is leaden. The clouds are full yet. The long fleece covers the mountains. The hills are capped in white. The air is full of moisture. 5. What determines the length of a paragraph ? Where should you expect to find long and where short para- graphs ? Find examples from the magazines at hand to justify your opinions. Bring; to the class several. consecu- tive paragraphs from thr/eWr four books or magazine articles, and account for the length of the paragraphs, making any criticism on the paragraphing that you think necessary. Make proper paragraph-divisions of the following selections : THE PLAGUE IN LONDON. i. During the winter of 1664, it had been whispered about that a number of people had died, in some of the unwholesome suburbs around London, of the disease called the Plague. News was not published then, as now, and some people be- lieved these rumors, and some disbelieved them, and they I THE PARAGRAPH. $? were soon forgottenS/But in the month of May, 1665, it began to be said all over the town that the disease had burst out with great violence in St^iles's, and that the people were dying in great numbers. rf*The roads out of London were choked up by people endeavoring to escape from the infected city, and large sums were paid for any kind of conveyance.^The disease soon spread so fast that it was necessary to shut up the houses in which the sick people were, and to cut them off from commu- nication with the living. The door of every one of these houses was marked witlj^a red cross, and the words, " Lord, have mercy upon us!"| The streets were all deserted, grass grew in the public ways, and there was a dreadful silence in the air. LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION. 2. A gentleman once advertised for a boy to assist him in his office, and nearly fifty applied for the place. Out of the whole number he, in a short time, chose one, and sent all the others away .4 " I should like to know," said a friend, " on what grounds you chose that boy. He had not a single recom- mendation with him." f""Vou are mistaken," said the gentle- man, "he had a great number: he wiped his feet when he came in, and closed the door after him ; showing he was orderly and tidy. He gave up his seat instantly to that old man ; showing that he was kind and thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in, and answered my questions promptly and respectfully ; showing that he was polite. And he waited quietly for his turn, instead of pushing the others aside ; show- ing that he was modest. ^Don't you call these things letters of recommendation? I do; and what I can tell about a boy by using my eyes for ten minutes, is worth more than all the fine letters he can bring me." 6. What do you understand by topic-sentences ? Of what use are topic-sentences to the reader? To the writerTXWhat ideas would each of the following topic- sentences suggest to you ? Write a group of such ideas for each topic-sentence. 1. We had not been out (at sea) many days when a violent , storm arose. 2. On the following day we visited the Capitol (at Wash- ' ington). J 3. " During my residence in the country, I used frequently to attend service at the old village church." I 58 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 4. With the coming of spring the ceremony of house-clean- ing begins. 5. The roar of cannon announced that the battle had begun. 7. Taking each of the following subjects write three topic-sentences for as many paragraphs to be developed in Be prepared to justify the order in which 4 you arrange them, and say to which you would give the fuller treatment. 1. The country fair. 2. Gathering wild flowers. 3. The Old State House in Boston. 4. Government ownership of railroads. / 5. A snow blockade. 6. The choice of an occupation. 8. Look over the .magazines at hand, and find the topic-sentences in several of the articles. Bring to the class the topic sentences which you have found, together with a brief outline of the ideas grouped under each. 9. Fill in the blank spaces in the following paragraphs with topic-sentences, writing these topic-sentences in the tone and style of the paragraph. i. Does the substantive which we have turned into an adjective imply time only ? Or is there not in the word Christ- mas a finer, and more potent quality which we should do well to preserve, even though we anticipate the Yule-tide or let our thoughts run after it? The real Christmas gift will bear bestowal in March or June or November, though if one can link it with the dearer day, and put, too, a little of the de- light of anticipation into some one's life, a delight that is given to us all too charily, why it is so much the better. 2. A carpenter's hammer, in a warm summer's noon, will fret me into more than midsummer madness. But those un- connected, unset sounds are nothing to the measured malice of music. The ear is passive to those single strokes, willingly enduring stripes while it hath no task to con. To music it cannot be passive. It will strive mine at least will 'spite of its inaptitude, to thrid the maze, like an unskilled eye pain- fuJy poring upon hieroglyphics. I have sat through an Italian opera, till for sheer pain, and inexplicable anguish, I have rushed out into the noisiest places of the quiet streets, to THE PARAGRAPH. 59 solace myself with sounds, which I was not able to follow, and get rid of the distracting torment of endless, fruitless, barren, attention ! I take refuge in the unpretending assem- blage of honest common-life sounds ; and the purgatory of enraged musicians becomes my paradise. 3. Previous to the retirement of Hastings from the head of affairs in Calcutta, certain important changes had taken place in the machinery of the Company's government. The con- cerns of India had begun to assume such colossal proportions, and had become so mixed up with the honor and wel- fare of the nation, that the propriety of their administration by a single company, although controlled in a measure by the operation of the Acts of 1772, was a subject of grave consider- ation. The corruption and greed of the officials had long been a matter for criticism ; and from a consideration of the subordinate, the public had been naturally drawn to a con- templation of the principals ; so that the status of the Com- pany was pretty freely discussed. 60 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. CHAPTER IV. THE PARAGRAPH (continued). 22. The Development of the Paragraph. Looking upon the paragraph as the development of a single topic, we may next consider how that development is brought about, its means and manner. Owing to the latitude . allowed in paragraph development the subject presents many difficulties. It is a noticeable fact that very few writers make really good paragraphs, and consequent ly we find in most writing a great lack of logical develop- ment. Again, many things must be taken into consid- jiaion ; for instance, the kind_of composition, whether it be narrative, descriptive, expository, or argumentative, likewise the position of the paragraph in the theme. It is impossible in the space at our command to describe all the methods by which a topic is expanded into a par- agraph ; but we should keep in mind that the main ob- ject is to bring out clearly and effectively the idea of the topic, and that to attain this result all the details in the paragraph should be so arranged as to aid in the process. We shall now consider a few of the more common methods of development. These are not to be thought of as arbitrary, but rather as convenient, and THE PARAGRAPH. 6 1 they are chiefly valuable for study and practice in train- ing the mind to orderly thought. They .also bring the pupil to a sense of the unity and coherence in good para- graphs, and he will then develop his own accordingly. 23. Development by Repetition. Since the paragraph must have unity, and unity results from a relation of each part to the topic-sentence, the most obvious de- velopment of the topic-sentence will be by repetition. The repetition must, of course, give the thought greater definiteness, make it more emphatic or of larger import, or present it in some new form. This method is effec- tive in exposition where explanation is needed, and in argument where the reader is to be convinced. The following paragraph will illustrate development by repe- tition : " A good summer storm is a rain of riches. If gold and silver rattled clown from the clouds, they would hardly en- rich the land so much as soft, long rains. Every drop is silver going to the mint. The roots are machinery, and catching the willing drops, they assay them, refine them, roll them, stamp them, and turn them out coined berries, apples, grains, and grasses ! When the heavens send clouds, and they bank up the horizon, be sure they have hidden gold in them." HENRY WARD BEECHER. Sentence I is the topic sentence to be developed. Sentence 2 presents the idea in a new form and more definitely. Sentence 3 gives still another turn to the idea in sentence I and greater definiteness. Sentence 4 carries out the idea in sentence 3, and emphasizes it. 62 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Sentence 5 again repeats the idea in sentences i, 2, and 3, but in a new form. The entire group of sentences leaves upon the mind the single impression that rain is a source of riches. Look over the following paragraphs carefully, point out the repetitions, and explain in what way each one develops the thought of the topic-sentence. It is difficult for anyone who cares for justice to read party journals without frequent irritation, and it does not signify which side the newspaper takes. Men are so unfair in con- troversy that we best preserve the serenity of the intellect by studiously avoiding all literature that has a controversial tone. By your new rule of abstinence from newspapers you will no doubt gain almost as much in serenity as in time. To the ordinary newspaper reader there is little loss of serenity, be- cause he reads only the newspaper that he agrees with, and however unfair it is, he is pleased by its unfairness. But the highest and best culture makes us disapprove of unfairness on our own side of the question also. We are pained by it ; we feel humiliated by it, we lament its persistence and its perversity. P. G. HAMERTON : Intellectual Life, The fact is, that the qualities that raise man above the ani-. mal are superimposed on those which he shares with the animal, and that it is only as- he is relieved from the wants of his animal nature that his intellectual and moral nature can grow. Compel a man to drudgery for the necessities of animal existence, and he will lose the incentive to in- dustry the progenitor of skill and will do only what he is forced to do. Make his condition such that it cannot be much worse, while there is little hope that anything that he can do will make it much better, and he will cease to look beyond the day. Deny him leisure, and leisure does not mean the want of employment, but the absence of need which forces to uncongenial employment and you can- THE PARAGRAPH. 63 not, even by running the child through a common school and supplying the man with a newspaper, make him intelligent. HENRY GEORGE : Progress and Poverty. After all, a naval war upsets all calculations, and it is full of inconsistencies. The silence of the " wizards " who were going to annihilate any and all our haughty foes in new and dreadful ways became positively oppressive after hostili- ties actually began. The novel things which we fixed up ourselves for the same purpose we guessed, on the whole, we would not bother with for the present. We just relied on men and guns, and in so doing took the least possible risk, as we knew very well, although the rest of the world did not. And as for our inconsistencies, we can admit them cheerfully enough, since they do not seem to have affected the general result. Some of them, no doubt, revealed us in a new light, perhaps shed much luminosity on our way of waging horrid war. And I suppose in this respect none of them is more typical than the conduct of that captain of a blockading warship, who, while his vessel was lying off a lighthouse held by the Spaniards, discov- ered that the half-starved lighthouse keeper was destitute of supplies and had a very sick baby, and thereupon pro- ceeded to send to that baby every morning, under a flag o f truce, a can of condensed milk. The Independent. The English, in fact, are strongly gifted with the rural feeling. They possess a quick sensibility to the beauties of nature, and a keen relish for the pleasures and employ- ments of the country. This passion seems inherent in them. Even the inhabitants of cities, born and brought up among brick walls and bustling streets, enter with iacility into rural habits, and evince a tact for rural occu- pation. The merchant has his snug retreat in the vicinity of the metropolis, where he often displays as much pride and zeal in the cultivation of his flower-garden, and the matu- rity of his fruits, as he does in the conduct of his business 64 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. and the success of a commercial enterprise. Even those less fortunate individuals, who are doomed to pass their lives in the midst of din and traffic, contrive to have some- thing that shall remind them of the green aspect of nature. In the most dark and dingy quarters of the city, the draw- ing-room window resembles frequently a bank of flowers ; every spot capable of vegetation has its grass-plot and flower-bed ; and every square its mimic park, laid out with picturesque taste, and gleaming with refreshing verdure. WASHINGTON IRVING : Sketch J3ook. 24. " Development by Detail. A second method of developing the topic-sentence is by giving details. These details should be such as are appropriate to the topic- sentence, and should add something to the thought in each case, just as in the method by repetition ; indeed, the two methods are closely related, for in giving details we repeat to some extent the idea of the topic-sentence. This method is used in all kinds of discourse. Some- times, as in the last selection of the preceding section, the two methods are combined. The following paragraph will illustrate the method of development by detail : The country was yet naked and leafless ; but English scenery is always verdant, and the sudden change in the temperature of the weather was surprising in its quicken- ing effects upon the landscape. It was inspiring and ani- mating to witness this first awakening of spring ; to feel its warm breath stealing over the senses ; to see the moist, mellow earth beginning to put forth the green sprout and the tender blade ; and the trees and shrubs, in their reviv- ing tints and bursting buds, giving the promise of return- ing foliage and flower. The cold snow-drop, that little borderer on the skirts of winter, was to be seen with its THE PARAGRAPH. 65 chaste white blossoms in the small gardens before the cot- tages. The bleating of the new-dropt lambs was faintly heard from the fields. The swallows twittered about the thatched eaves and budding hedges; the robin threw a livelier note into his late querulous wintry strain ; and the lark, springing up from the reeking bosom of the meadow, towered away into the bright, fleecy cloud, pouring forth torrents of melody. WASHINGTON IRVING : The Sketch Book. It will be readily seen that the topic-sentence in this paragraph is, " It was inspiring and animating to witness this first awakening of spring." In the sentences that follow Irving enumerates in detail some of the things that characterize the awakening of spring. Each sentence and each clause adds something to the thought, and makes more emphatic the general idea in the topic-sen- tence. Study the following paragraphs, point out what sen- tences give details developing the topic-sentence, and say how they add to the thought : i . Much good had come to Florence since the dim time of struggle between the old patron and the new ; some quarreling and bloodshed, doubtless, between Guelf and Ghibelline, between Black and White, between orthodox sons of the Church and heretic Paterini; some floods, famine, and pestilence ; but still much wealth and glory. 2. Florence had achieved conquests over walled cities once mightier than itself, and especially over hated Pisa, whose marble buildings were too high and beautiful, whose masts were too much honored on Greek and Italian coasts. 3. 'The name of Florence had been growing prouder and prouder in all the courts of Europe, nay, in Africa itself, on the strength of purest gold coinage, finest dyes and 66 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. textures, pre-eminent scholarship and poetic genius, and wits of the most serviceable sort for statesmanship and banking ; it was a name so omnipresent that a Pope with a turn for epigram had called Florentines " the fifth ele- ment." 4. And for this high destiny, though it might partly depend on the stars and Madonna dell Impruneta, and certainly depended on other higher powers less often named, the praise was greatly due to San Giovanni, whose image was on the fair gold florins. GEORGE ELIOT : Romola. i. Lord Plowden was familiarly spoken of as a hand- some man. 2. Thorpe had even heard him called the handsomest man in England though this seemed in all likelihood an exaggeration. 3. But handsome he un- doubtedly was, tall, without suggesting the thought of height to the observer ; erect, yet graceful ; powerfully built, while preserving the effect of slenderness. 4. His face in repose had the outline of the more youthful guards- man type, regular, finely cut, impassive to hardness. 5. When he talked, or followed with interest the talk of others, it revealed almost an excess of animation. 6. Then one noted the flashing subtlety of his glance, the swift facility of his smile and comprehending brows, and saw that it was not the guardsman's face at all. 7. His skin was fresh-hued, and there was a shade of warm brown in his small, well-ordered mustache, but his hair, wavy, and worn longer than the fashion, seemed black. 8. There were perceptible veins of gray in it, though he had only entered his thirty-fifth year. 9. He was dressed habitu- ally with the utmost possible care. HAROLD FREDERIC : The Market Place. i. There is something, too, in the sternly simple fea- tures of the Spanish landscape, that impresses on the soul a feeling of sublimity. 2. The immense plains of the Cas- tiles and La Mancha, extending as far as the eye can reach, derive an interest from their very nakedness and THE PARAGRAPH. 67 immensity, and have something of the solemn grandeur of the ocean. 3. In ranging over these boundless wastes, the eye catches sight, here and there, of a straggling herd of cattle, attended by a lonely herdsman, motionless as a statue, with his long slender pike tapering up like a lance into the air ; or beholds a long train of mules slowly mov- ing along the waste like a train of camels in the desert, or a single herdsman, armed with blunderbuss and stiletto, and prowling over the plain. 4. Thus, the country, the habits, the very looks of the people, have something of the Arabian character. 5. The general insecurity of the country is evinced in the universal use of weapons. 6. The herdsman in the field, the shepherd in the plain, has his musket and his knife. 7. The wealthy villager rarely ventures to the market-town without his trabucho, and, perhaps, a servant on foot with a blunderbuss on his shoulder ; and the most petty journey is undertaken with the preparations of a warlike enterprise. WASHINGTON IRVING : The Alhambra. As we have remarked above, a paragraph is occasion- ally developed by the two methods of repetition and of details. In the paragraph following determine which method of development each sentence employs : i . Now it will be obvious to any one at a glance that God has not made any such thing as a complete remembrance of past ages possible. 2. He writes oblivion against all but a few names and things, and empties the world to give freer space for what is to come. 3. No tongue could recite the whole vast story if it were known, the world could not con- tain the books if it were written, and no mind reading the story could give it possible harbor. 4. Besides, there are things in the past which no tradition can accurately carry and no words represent. 5. Who that will untwist the subtle motives of action can do it far enough to make out anything better than a tolerable fiction ? 6. Who can paint 68 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. a great soul's passion as that passion, looked upon, painted itself ? 7. To come down to things more humble, yet by no means less significant, by what words can any one find how to set forth a gait or a voice ? 8. And yet if I could simply see the back of Cato jogging out afield, or hear one sentence spoken by Caesar's voice, it really seems to me that I should get a better knowledge of either, from that single token, than I have gotten yet from all other sources. 9. So very important are words to reproduce, or keep in impression the facts and men of history. 10. We have a way of speaking, in which we congratulate ourselves on the score of a distinction between what are called the unhistoric and historic ages. n. The unhistoric, we fancy, make no history, because they have ho written lan- guage!** 2. But having such a gift, with paper to receive the record of it, and types to multiply that record, and libraries to keep it, and, back of all, a body of learned scribes, who are skilled in writing history as one of the elegant arts, we conclude that now the historic age has come. 13. We do not perceive, that, in just this manner, we are going to overwrite history, and write so much of it that we shall have really none. 14. If we had the whole world's history written out in such detail of art, we could not even now make anything of it the historic shelf of your library would girdle" 3 the world. 15. What, then, will our written history be to us, after it has gotten fifty mil- lions of years into its record ? for we must not forget that the age we live in is but the world's early morning. 16. Calling it the historic age, then, what are we doing but in oblivion, as the unhistoric age took it without writing at all. HORACE BUSHNELL : Moral Uses of Dark Things. 25. Development by Specific Examples. A third method of developing the paragraph is by giving specific instances or examples. This method of development is employed where the topic-sentence is in the form of a THE PARAGRAPH. 69 general statement. The preceding methods may also be employed for the same purpose, but specific instances are more effective in illustrating and enforcing a general statement, and may be used in description, exposition, or argument. The following paragraphs are developed ac- cording to this method. The pupil should study them carefully, and note the effect of the several instances in developing the topic-sentence : If we look for the explanation of the situation, it ap- pears primarily in the absolute disorganization of the Liberal party. It has no policy, no leader. It stands for nothing. Its most prominent men are either practically at one with the Conservatives in policy, jealous of each other, incompetent, or mere theorists and cranks. Lord Rosebery is as much an Imperialist as Lord Salisbury, perhaps more of one. Sir William Harcourt is a disap- pointed man, who vents his spleen whenever he finds opportunity, whether it be at the expense of the High Church party, the Colonial expansionists, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, or anybody else, and his blows hit his own associates as sharply as they do his opponents. Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman has shown that he cannot rise above mediocrity ; while Mr. Labouchere is prac- tically the buffoon in politics, holding his own only by virtue of an occasional sally into sober common sense. John Morley has dropped out. On the other hand, there is Mr. Chamberlain, clear headed, incisive, determined, the one man in England who knows exactly what he wants and is bound to have it. Even less in evidence, though probably still more effective, is the Premier, hold- ing the many lines of English politics with a loose, almost cynical hand, yet so that the slightest movement serves only to strengthen his grip on them. There is Arthur Balfour, whose leadership in the House has 70 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. already proved his ability. The result was a foregone conclusion. Editorial in the Independent, Oct. n, 1900. It is a mistake to suppose that writers who win the greatest renown are commonly hasty, and that they dash off what they say by a stroke of genius. The biography of Dickens shows what pains he took to secure even the right proper names ; for example, note his choice of the title " Household Words." Pages of his proof-sheets which I have seen show how carefully he revised every paragraph. The very last proofs of " Peveril of the Peak" (owned by President White) show that a romance of Walter Scott re- ceived the master's final touches just before the printing began. Bret Harte's famous poem on the Heathen Chi- nee was corrected and re-corrected, and on the ultimate revision received, I believe, that satirical touch which gave it world-wide fame : " We are ruined by Chinese cheap labor." Emerson is considered by many as a sort of oracle, simply opening his mouth to let fall aphorisms of profound importance, but recent and authentic narra- tives of his life show that he forged his sentences like the gold-beater who is preparing a setting for pearls. DANIEL COIT GILMAN : College Training, an address. In no modern society, not even in England during the reign of Elizabeth, has there been so great a number of men eminent at once in literature and in the pursuits of active life, as Spain produced during the sixteenth century. Almost every distinguished writer was distinguished also as a soldier and a politician. Boscan bore arms with a high reputation. Garcilaso de Vega, the author of the sweetest and most graceful pastoral poem of modern times, after a short but splendid military career, fell sword in hand at the head of a storming party. Alonzo de Ercilla bore a conspicuous part in the war of Arauco which he afterwards .celebrated in one of the best heroic poems that Spain has produced. Hurtado de Mendoza, whose poems have been THE PARAGRAPH. 71 compared to those of Horace, and whose charming little novel is the model of Gil Bias, has been handed down to us as one of the sternest of those iron proconsuls who were employed by the House of Austria to crush the lingering public spirit of Italy. Lope sailed in the Armada ; Cer- vantes was wounded at Lepanto. T. B. MACAULAY : Essays. . 26. Development by Comparison or Contrast. A fourth method of developing a paragraph is by compari- son or by contrast. In comparison the points of resem- blance between the subject of thought and some well- known object are brought out. This comparison is not to be understood as of the nature of a purely rhetorical figure. A great deal of our reasoning is by comparison, and our knowledge of all sorts is largely relative. The enforcing of the statement of a topic-sentence by com- parison is more in the way of illustration than of proof. If the difference between the subject of thought and some well-known object be brought out we call the pro- cess a contrast. The statement of the topic-sentence is made more emphatic by being placed in contrast with something of a different but not necessarily conflicting character. The development by comparison or by con- trast is much used in description and exposition. The following paragraphs will illustrate this method : Some minds are wonderful for keeping their bloom in this way, as a patriarchal gold-fish apparently retains to the last its youthful illusion that it can swim in a straight line be- yond the encircling glass. Mrs. Tulliver was an amiable fish of this kind ; and after running her head against the 72 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. same resisting medium for thirteen years, would go at it again to-day with undulled alacrity. GEORGE ELIOT : 77/6- Mill on the Floss. Day was breaking on the world. Light, hope, freedom, pierced with vitalizing ray the clouds and the miasma that hung so thick over the prostrate Middle Age, once noble and mighty, now a foul image of decay and death. Kindled with new life, the nations gave birth to a progeny of heroes, and the stormy glories of the sixteenth century rose on awakened Europe. But Spain was the citadel of darkness, a monastic cell, an inquisitorial dungeon, where no ray could pierce. She was the bulwark of the church, against whose adamantine wall the waves of inno- vation beat in vain. In every country of Europe the party of freedom and reform was the national party, the party of reaction and absolutism was the Spanish party, leaning on Spain, looking to her for help. Above all: it was so in France ; and while within her bounds there was a semblance of peace, the national and religious rage burst forth on a wider theatre. Thither it is for us to follow it, where on the shores of Florida, the Spaniard and the Frenchman, the bigot and the Huguenot, met in the grapple of death. 1 FRANCIS PARKMAN : Pioneers of France in the New World. In the following paragraphs point out the compari- sons or the contrasts, and show how they are effective in developing the paragraphs : Mr. Speaker, I know of no parallel to this charming philosophy, unless it is to be found in the sayings of Mause Hedrigg, an elderly Scotch lady, who figures in one of Sir Walter Scott's novels. In one of her evangeli- cal moods, she rebuked her son Cuddie for vising a fan, or any work of art, to clean his barley. She said it was an 1 Permission of Little, Brown & Co., publishers. THE PARAGRAPH. 73 awesome denial o' Providence not to wait His own time, when He would surely send wind to winnow the chaff out of the grain. In the same spirit of enlightened philoso- phy does the gentleman exhort us in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, to cease our impious road-making, and wait the good time of Providence, who will, as he seems to think, surely send a river to run from Cumberland over the Alle- ghanies, across the Ohio, and so on, in its heaven-directed course, to St. Louis. THOMAS CORWIN : The Cumberland Road. If it were only for a vocabulary, the scholar would be covetous of action. Life is our dictionary. Years are well spent in country labors ; in town, in the insight into trades and manufactures ; in frank intercourse with many men and women ; in science ; in art ; to the one end of mastering in all their facts a language by which to illus- trate and embody our perceptions. I learn immediately from any speaker how much he has already lived, through the poverty or the splendor of his speech. Life lies be- hind us as the quarry whence we get tiles and cope- stones for the masonry of to-day. This is the way to learn grammar. Colleges and books only copy the lan- guage which the field and the workyard made. RALPH WALDO EMERSON: The American Scholar -, 1 ... He (Grant) surpassed his predecessors also in the dignity of the object for which he fought. The three great generals of the world are usually enumerated following Macaulay 'as being Caesar, Cromwell, and Napoleon. Two of these fought in wars of mere conquest, and the contests of the third were marred by a gloomy fanaticism, by cruelty and by selfishness. General Grant fought to restore a nation, that nation being the hope of the world. And he restored it.. His work was as com- plete as it was important. Caesar died by violence ; Napoleon died defeated; Cromwell's work crumbled to 1 Permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers. 74 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. pieces when his hand was cold. Grant's career triumphed in its ending ; it is at its height to-day. It was finely said by a Massachusetts statesman that we did not fight to bring our opponents to our feet but only to our side. Grant to-day brings his opponents literally to his side, when they act as pallbearers around his coffin. - T. W. HIGGINSON : Ulysses S. Grant. No, sir, we are above all this. Let the Highland clans- man, half-naked, half-civilized, half-blinded by the peat smoke of his cavern, have his hereditary enemy, and his hereditary enmity, and keep his keen, deep, and precious hatred, set on fire of hell, alive if he can ; let the North American Indian have his, and hand it down from father to son, by Heaven knows what symbols of alligators, and rattlesnakes, and war-clubs smeared with vermilion and entwined with scarlet ; let such a country as Poland, cloven to the earth, the armed heel on her radiant forehead, her body dead, her soul incapable of dying, let her remember the wrongs of days long past ; . . . but shall America, young, free, and prosperous, just setting out on the highway of Heaven, . . . shall she be supposed to be polluting and corroding her noble and happy heart, by moping over old stories of stamp-act, and the tax, and the firing of the Leopard on the Chesapeake in time of peace ? No, sir ; no, sir ; a thousand times, No ! RUFUS CHOATE : The Old Grudge against England. 27. Development by Cause and Effect. A fifth method by which a paragraph grows from a topic is by making the topic-sentence the cause, and immediately following it by the effects produced. A full paragraph of effects is not often found ; more often a few sen^ tences at the end give the effect. This method of de- velopment is common in almost all kinds of discourse, THE PARAGRAPH. 75 and is often indicated by such words as therefore, conse- quently, and others, but sometimes this relation of cause and effect is left to the understanding of the reader. If properly suggested, it will be equally clear and vivid, and may be more pleasing by reason of being less formal. Point out the relation of cause and effect in the para- graphs that follow : The most erudite woman I know studies as hard at thirty-eight as she did at eighteen. She speaks five lan- guages, is " up " in many systems of philosophy ; conver- sant with scientific discoveries, and is a competent art critic. For all that her acquaintances and the outer world are benefited by her attainments she might as well be unable to read or to write. She has her own study in her father's house, and takes no interest in any other part of it, seldom descending to the drawing-room ; and when she takes her meals with the family rarely speaks unless directly addressed. She hates housewifery, has never made a bed or dusted a room, and considers the thimble " a degrading implement, a relic of the barbarous ages when woman was a chattel and a beast of burden." MARION HARLAND : The Independent. This treatment of his subjects and ignominious punish- ment of his friend outraged the pride and exasperated the passions of Philip. The bolt which had fallen thus at his very feet awakened him to the gathering storm, and he determined to trust himself no longer in the power of the white men. The fate of his insulted and broken-hearted brother still rankled in his mind ; and he had a further warning in the tragical story of Miantonomah, a great Sachem of the Narragansetts, who, after manfully facing his accusers before a tribunal of the colonists, exculpating himself from a charge of conspiracy, and 76 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. receiving assurances of amity, had been perfidiously despatched at their instigation. Philip, therefore, gath- ered his fighting men about him ; persuaded all strangers that he could to join his cause ; sent the women and children to the Narragansetts for safety ; and wher- ever he appeared, was continually surrounded by armed warriors. WASHINGTON IRVING : The Sketch Book. 28. Development by Proofs. In argumentative dis- course a theme is often developed by giving proofs. The topic-sentence is the proposition to be established ; the other sentences give the proofs. These proofs will, of course, take different forms, varying from simple evi- dence in support of the principal statement to more formal and logical presentation of the proof. The following paragraphs will illustrate this method of development : Cathedrals were essentially expressions of the popular will and the popular faith. They were the work neither of ecclesiastics nor of feudal barons. They represent in a measure the decline of feudalism, and the preva- lence of the democratic element in society. No sooner did a city achieve its freedom than its people began to take thought for a cathedral. Of all arts, archi- tecture is most quickly responsive to the instincts and the desires' of a people. And in the cathedrals the popular beliefs, hopes, fears, fancies, and aspira- tions found expression, and were perpetuated in a lan- guage intelligible to all. The life of the Middle Ages is recorded on their walls. When the democratic element was subdued, as in Cologne by a prince bishop, or in Milan by a succession of tyrants, the cathedral was left unfinished. When, in the fifteenth century, all over THE PARAGRAPH. 77 Europe, the turbulent, but energetic liberties of the people were suppressed, the building of cathedrals ceased. CHARLES ELIOT NORTON : Notes of Travel and Study in Italy. After all has been said that can be said of the horrors of war, it still remains that there are certain circumstances under which war is not only justifiable, but absolutely necessary. There are times when a people have been crushed in all of the rights of a nation which God has given to them; when all measures of redress for their wrongs have been spurned and contemned. Beyond that they see the gleam of freedom. Then it is that they are prompted to bare their breasts to the lightning and place their reliance, through God, in the argument of force. No nation can see its people bow their heads in shame before the rest of the people of the world. The nation's honoris the nation's soul ; it is the nation's spirit and must be kept alive. JOHN P. CHIDWICK : The Spanish- American War. 29. Irregular Development We have described some of the more common forms of paragraph develop- ment. There are many others. As has been remarked before, the real value of these methods is to teach the pupil to analyze his thought and to develop it coherently. Outside of the more severe forms of discourse para- graphs of these strict types are seldom found. In or- dinary writing less formal types prevail. Again, it is rare that a paragraph is developed by one method only. If we take at random a paragraph from a book or a magazine we shall find two or three methods employed in the same paragraph, sometimes obscure and hard to classify. For this reason and because of faulty construction the 78 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. ordinary magazine paragraph is a poor model of para- graph development. Further", it is to be noted that many paragraphs show no regular method of development, or have even a topic- sentence. This is true particularly of narration and description, which consist of a mere group of facts, hav- ing only a time or a space relation. In the former the paragraph is developed in the time order, the relation of sequence being the only one which any ..sentence in the paragraph has to another; in the latter, the paragraph is developed in the space order, and the only relation of sentence to sentence may be that of nearness of place, making a topic-sentence equally unnecessary. In some kinds of informal discourse the regular development of a topic-sentence would destroy the tone of the composi- tion. Especially is this true where a light and graceful conversational air is to be maintained, as in the following : i. What then? 2. Shall I betray a secret ? 3. I have already entertained this party in my humble little parlor at home ; and Prue presided serenely as Semiramis over her court. 4. Have I not said that I defy time, and shall space hope to daunt me ? 5. I keep books by day, but by night books keep me. 6. They leave me to dreams and reveries. 7. Shall I confess that sometimes when I have been sitting reading with my Prue Cymbeline, perhaps, or a Canterbury tale I have seemed to see clearly before me the broad highway to my castles in Spain ; and as she looked up from her work, and smiled in sympathy, I have even fancied that I was already there. GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS : Prue and I. THE PARAGRAPH. EXERCISES. \ i. What do you understand by the development of a paragraph ? Why is the development of paragraphs a dif- ficult subject to handle? Mention some of the common methods of development, and tell the kind of discourse in which each is most commonly used. j 2. Point out the difference between development by repetition and development by details ; between develop- ment by details and development by examples ; between development by comparison and development by contrast ; between development by cause and effect and develop- ment by proof. 3. Bring to the class a number of paragraphs selected from the magazines. Be prepared to tell if each has any topic-sentence, and if so, explain how the paragraph has been developed from it. If any of these paragraphs have no topic-sentence, see if you can discern any logical method of development. , 4. How is a paragraph of simple narration developed ? Of simple description? Explain just how the two processes differ. Justify your opinions by bringing to the class^fex- amples of narration and description taken from the books, magazines, and papers that yon read from day to day. 5- Look over the following paragraphs, and explain the method by which each has been developed, indicating topic-sentences when there are any. There are few places more favorable to the study of charac- ter than an English country church. I was once passing a few weeks at the seat of a friend, who resided- in the vicinity of one, the appearance of which particularly struck my fancy. It was one of those rich morsels of quaint antiquity which give such a peculiar charm to English landscape. It stood in the midst of a country filled with ancient families, and con- tained, within its cold and silent aisles, the congregated dust of many noble generations. The interior walls were incrusted with monuments of every age and style. The light streamed through windows dimmed with armorial bearings, richly em- 30 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. blazoned in stained glass. In various parts of the church were tombs of knights and high-born dames, of gorgeous workman- ship, with their effigies in colored marble. On every side, the eye is struck with some instance of aspiring mortality ; some haughty memorial which human pride had erected over its kindred dust, in this temple of the most humble of all religions. WASHINGTON IRVING: The Sketch Book. An American boy, who has received a fair common school education, and has an active, inquiring mind, does not will- w ingly consent merely to drive oxen and hold the plow forever. He will do these with alacrity, if they come in his way; he will not accept them as the be-all and the end-all of his career. He will not sit down in a rude, slovenly, naked home, devoid of flowers, and trees, and books, and periodicals, and intelli- gent, inspiring, refining conversation, and there plod through a life of drudgery as hopeless and cheerless as any mule's. He has hopes, and needs, and aspirations, which this life does not, and should not satisfy. This might have served his progeni- tor in the ninth century ; but this is the nineteenth, and Young America knows it. HORACE GREELEY : Agriculture. v_x\) ^Energy is the steam-power, the motive principle of intellect- ual capacity. \ It is the propelling force; and, as in physics, momentum is resolvable into velocity and quantity of matter, so in metaphysics the extent of human accomplishment may be resolvable into the degree of intellectual endowment, and the energy with which it is directed. A small body driven by a great force will produce a result equal to, or even greater than that of a much larger body moved by a considerably less "^ force. So it is with minds. Hence we often see men of com- paratively small capacity, by greater energy alone, leave and justly leave their superiors in natural gifts far behind them in the race for honors, distinction, and preferment. ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS: Energy. Amid this mountainous region tempests give brief warning of their approach. Walled in as these lakes are by mountains, behind which the cloud gathers unseen, the coming of a storm is like the spring of a tiger. A sudden peal of thunder, a keen shaft of lightning, which cuts through the atmosphere in front of your startled vision, a puff of air, or the spinning of a whirl- wind across the lake, and the tempest is upon you. So was it now. Even as I gazed into the white mist, a heavy bank of jet-black cloud rose up through its feathery depths, unrolled itself as a battery unlimbers for battle, and the next instant a THE PARAGRAPH. 8 1 sheet of flame darted out of its very centre, and the air seemed rent into fragments by the concussion. W. H. H. MURRAY: Sabbath in the Woods. On the other hand, the story of rapid fatal extinction is dis- proved. Many of the accounts are explained by the facts im- mediately above mentioned, but treated conversely. When a name of a tribe had been adopted, whether correctly or not, and a number of other names of the same tribe had been abandoned or disused, the number of people before reported as belonging to all these disused names was subtracted from the total. So they were considered to be extinct. Doubtless tribes became extinct through their destruction by the Euro- pean invaders in all parts of the country, especially in Massa- chusetts and California; but as a general rule, the defeated tribes fled to other regions of the continent which were unoc- cupied, and as good for their habitation as those they left, and were not "annihilated," as was the common expression. Even when they infringed upon the regions claimed by a body of Indians occupying them, there was seldom difficulty about the adoption of the weaker by the more powerful and success- ful folk. The hereditary, traditional, and most hated enemies of tribes were adopted mutually, and this fact, in addition to those before mentioned, explains the disappearance of tribal names as published by imperfectly informed writers. The tribes, as such, did disappear from their old habitat, and were not recognized under their former names, but the people did not cease to exist. J. W. POWELL: The North American Indian. A railroad train was rushing along at almost lightning speed. A curve was just ahead, beyond which was a station at which the cars usually passed each other. The conductor was late, so late that the period during which the down train was to wait had nearly elapsed ; but he hoped yet to pass the curve safely. Suddenly, a locomotive dashed into sight right ahead. In an instant there was a collision. A shriek, a shock, and fifty souls were in eternity ; and all because an engineer had been behind time. 6. Develop each of the following topic-sentences, or the negative of each, into a paragraph of 150 words, mainly by repetition. Be careful to add something to the thought in each repetition, and to outline the paragraph before writing. 82 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Science has given us practically all our mod- ern comforts. Women are les"s ready than men to break up domestic and local ties and move to new places. Success in any great un- dertaking can be ex- pected only by one thor- oughly interested in it. The lives and deeds of heroes are an eternal legacy to the world. "A thing of beauty is a Joy forever." 6. Announcements of new discoveries in science are now so frequent that we have ceased to marvel at them. 7. The strength of a nation is in its young men. 8. A "crank" is always needed to make things go. 9. The growing cordiality between England and the United States is an unmixed good to both. 7. Develop each of the following topic-sentences into a brief paragraph, mainly by giving particulars and details, but in some of the paragraphs employing both that method and the method of repetition. / Be sure that the particu- lars given are such as will in some way add definiteness to the thought of the topic-sentence. 1. In Ichabod Crane Irving has created for us a most amusing and in- teresting character. 2. Jefferson's inauguration was in harmony with the spirit of our repub- lican simplicity. 3. The material resources of the United States are as yet but imperfectly known. 4. I shall never forget an experience I once had in trying to cross a swollen river. 5. The patience that an im- will hibitwhen he goes fish- ing is remarkable. A naval officer is given superior opportunities for seeing the world. It was not until the next day that we realized the destruction that the storm had wrought. The woods are a wilder- ness of gloom and beauty. There is something un- canny in the sight of a locomotive headlight flashing through the darkness of midnight. patient man will ex- / I/ ^ 8. Develop the following \topic-sentences into para- graphs by giving specific instances or examples. THE PARAGRAPH. 1. The nineteenth century has been remarkable for its scientific discov- eries. 2. America's great writers have almost uniformly been men of clean and noble lives. 3. Many of the victims of the Reign of Terror had been prominent in bringing it about. 4. The early attempts to gain dominion in the New World were not properly directed. 5. The history of the Turk in Europe is one long succession of infamies. Millionaires have often been animated by a spirit of noble benevo- lence, looking upon their wealth merely as a trust and not a pos- session. In former times great dis- coveries were generally met by popular oppo- sition. In countries having a great deal of sea-coast the people have gener- ally been more enlight- ened than in others. The last years of a well- spent life are often the most serene and happy. *x- 9. Develop the following topic-sentences into para- graphs mainly by the use of comparisons or contrasts. Be sure that the comparisons or contrasts are such as make the thought clearer or fuller, more definite or more emphatic. 6. In the time of the Salem witchcraft people must have been very super- stitious. 7. The Northmen were in- stinctively a race of fighters. 8. There are gains for all our losses. 9. Nature shows her most beautiful aspects in the early autumn. 10. The birds of tropical South America are many and beautiful. The coast-line of Europe is very irregular and broken. It is safe to assume that some of the races now uncivilized will eventu- ally develop a civiliza- tion like our own. The garden was sur- rounded by a high hedge. Alexander was a very successful commander. Youth is the time of growing strength. 10. Develop the following topic-sentences into para- graphs by giving the effects of which they are the cause s or by giving proofs. 8 4 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 1. The farm was very much changed when I went back. 2. Aaron Burr was a man of insatiable ambition. 3. Willie had run away from school that day. 4. Monks lead isolated lives. 5. Before the rain was over the river had risen more than two feet. . We can hope to control the sale of liquor only by placing it in the hands of the govern- ment. It is now evident that a republican form of gov- ernment is the best that man has so far devised. With the advance in the civilization of the world there has been a cor- responding advance in morality. The only hope for the good of the world is in universal education. Effective legislation must always follow, rather than precede, public opinion. ii. Write narrative paragraphs on several of the fol- lowing topics, and show that each paragraph is developed in the time order. 1. A railroad trip. 2. A summer picnic. 3. A deer hunt. 4. A bicycle ride. f ) . A tramp through country. the 6. A visit to Mt. Washing- ton. , 7. A day in a large city. 8. A house-party. 9. A boat-race. 10. A steamboat excursion. 12. Write descriptive paragraphs on several of the following topics, developing each paragraph in the space order. 1. A summer camp. 2. An old barn. 3. *My early home. 4. A department store. 5. Boston Common. 6. 8. 9- 10. Trout-fishing. A modern yacht. An automobile. A large hotel. An art museum. THE SENTENCE. 85 CHAPTER V. THE SENTENCE. 30. The Sentence, the Unit of Discourse In the pre- ceding chapters we have made frequent references to the sentence, and in our written practice we have used sentences that roughly served our purpose. Presumably we all know in a general way what a sentence is ; but we may not realize how essential it is in the expression of our thoughts, and to what extent effective discourse de- pends on sentence-structure. The sentence is the real unit of discourse, the medium of intelligent communica- tion, and therefore the vital element of composition. It is of the utmost importance that we should understand the principles of sentence-structure. In this chapter, then, we will consider this subject, leaving the matter of sentence-style for consideration hereafter. 31. What a Sentence Is Disconnected words, or words lacking definite grammatical relations to one an- other, may give us ideas, but they do not communicate thoughts. The word "house," spoken or written, will serve to call up a definite image in the mind, but it will not give the reader any knowledge of what the writer thought when he penned it. We may add modifying words and phrases, such as "the brick house," or "the 86 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. brick house belonging to the doctor," and yet the thought is not complete. Something more is needed, and we see at once that to complete the meaning we must have a finite verb which shall predicate something definite about the house. Occasionally a single word used as an ex- clamation or as a question serves to transfer thought from the writer to the reader, but even then it is done by the aid of the context. Separate the word from what precedes or follows it, and it would have no mean- ing. VA sentence, then, is a group of words so arranged with definite grammatical relations to one another that they convey a complete thought} Ordinarily two parts, expressed or understood, are essential to every sentence, the subject, about which something is said, and the predicate, or finite verb, which says it. To these may be added any number of modifiers. Such verbal forms as the infinitive, the participle, or a finite verb in a sub- ordinate clause do not of themselves constitute a sen- tence. Beginners frequently err in this respect, and should carefully guard against treating a mere collection of words as a sentence. Occasionally, even among good writers, we find groups of words which do not contain a complete thought punctu- ated as sentences. This is not in accord with the logical nature of the sentence, and should not be imitated by in- experienced writers. It is usually done for some special purpose, but only a trained writer is competent to judge where it is justifiable. A mistake in judgment in this matter is shown in the following selection from a stu- dent's paper : THE SENTENCE. 87 Large and gray stands the Quaker meeting-house. The shingles and clap-boarding, weather beaten and rickety, showing not a trace of paint. Here the first period should be a comma, for what follows is simply a participial clause. 32. What a Sentence may Contain. A sentence must not be a collection of disconnected ideas. Every- thing that is put into it must have some definite relation to the thought involved, and whatever is necessary to complete the thought must be included as carefully as irrelevant matter is excluded. Let us consider a few faulty sentences selected from students' papers, and learn from them what we should put into a sentence. i. James Thomson was the son of a clergyman. 2. He spent six years in Edinburgh in theological stud- ies. 3. He tutored in private families. 4. At the age of fourteen he wrote some blank verse which possessed many merits. Clearly these sentences make unpleasant reading as they are, and it is quite evident that they are too short. Considering sentences I and 2, we see regardless of what we may know about Thomson's life that there is a closer relation between the two than the form makes evident. They may be joined into one sentence, and to this we may add sentence 3, assuming that his theologi- cal studies were the preparation for his tutoring, and in this relation finding the link that fastens the last to the whole. These four sentences reduced to two will read somewhat as follows : 88 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. James Thomson was the son of a clergyman, and spent six years in Edinburgh in theological studies, after- wards tutoring in private families. At the early age of fourteen, he had written blank verse that was not without merit. 33. Compound and Complex Sentences There is another important reason why several short sentences should often be united into one longer sentence. The child beginning to talk puts all that he has to say into the form of brief statements. Each of these statements is as important as any other, so far as he knows, and he gives them all equal value in form. But in our mature thinking and speech we continually make nice distinc- tions between the value of one thought and another. According to the degree in which we are able to express these distinctions, do we attain accuracy in the use of language. Certainly, if we do not recognize such differ- ences in value, our thinking will hardly be clear and exact enough to command the attention of others. The sentences that follow illustrate this defect. i . These books increased his fame, but did not make him prosperous. 2. The reason of it was because he had de- pended upon the courts. 3. He wrote a letter to the queen in 1593 asking for help. In reading this paragraph we feel at once that the writer had no sense of proportion or relative value. Sen- tence 2 is properly a part of sentence I, since it gives the reason for the second part of sentence i, and should, therefore, be a modifying clause. Sentence 3 as it THE SENTENCE. 89 stands is isolated, and seems to have no dependence upon what precedes, though in reality it follows as effect from what goes before it as a cause. If, then, we re- write these sentences, making the proper distinctions in thought, we shall have something like this : These books made him famous, but they did not make him prosperous, since he had depended upon the courts. In 1593 he was reduced to the necessity of writing to the queen for help. In the re-written form it will be noted that sentences i and 2 have been united, the relation of the latter to the former being that of subordination, and the union of the two making what is called a complex sentence, that is, a simple sentence with a subordinate clause added. Frequently clauses of equal value are united into what is called a compound sentence, that is, two or more simple or complex sentences connected by a coordinate con- junction. It is often difficult to determine whether two statements should be so united or should be separate sentences. The following selection is faulty, because the writer did not take sufficient care in joining like and related thoughts. i. The poem "Winter," in blank verse, brought him three guineas through the sale of the copyright. 2. This poem attracted much attention, and thus he was fairly started in his literary career, as his poems sold readily and were at that time much appreciated. It is evident not only that the first sentence and. the first clause of the second are so closely related in mean- 90 COMPOSITION ANt RHETORIC. ing that they should be put together into one sentence, but also that the remainder of the second sentence is so much in the nature of a result of what precedes that it should be put into a sentence by itself. Observe that the thought of the first part of the second sentence is not subordinate to what goes before it, but of equal rank. Re-writing, and giving to each thought its proper rela tion and value, we shall have : The poem " Winter," in blank verse, brought him three guineas through the sale of the copyright, and attracted much attention. Thus he was fairly started in his literary career, as his poems sold readily, and were at that time much appreciated. 34. Subordination in the Complex Sentence We have seen that the thought of the paragraph is usually related in some definite way to the thought of some one sentence in the paragraph to which the other sentences are more or less subordinate. This in a general way is true also of the complex sentence ; it subordinates one or more clauses to a more important one. Let us take two clauses having close relation to each other, and discuss different possible arrangements of them. a. He gave up the attack on the fort. b. He had be- come assured of its futility. 1. He had become assured of the futility of the attack on the fort, and gave it up. 2. Having become assured of the futility of the attack on the fort, he gave it up. 3. He gave up the attack on the fort when he had become assured of its futility. THE SENTENCE. 91 Just what is tne best form for any sentence must always depend largely upon the context, and we will not attempt to decide in this case ; but we can profitably consider the different effects of the several forms. The original arrangement in two separate sentences is not to be tolerated. Sentence I makes the hopelessness of the attack on the fort the thing of most importance, and the second coordinate clause merely emphasizes that hopelessness. In sentence 2 the first clause is subordi- nate, rather than coordinate as in the preceding, and be- cause of this subordination it expresses a reason for the direct predication not manifest in the insistent hopeless- ness of form i. In sentence 3 the subordinate clause gives a reason as before, but in this form the emphasis is on the fact that the attack was given up only when it had become hopeless. Each of these sentences says the same thing, but the understanding of that thing which the reader will receive is not the same. The alteration in meaning comes through the change in the degree and character of the subordination of the secondary clause. The following sentences found in students' papers are faulty in the matter of the subordination of clauses. 1. Here tall trees grow on either side of the road, nicely mown grass plots come between the broad walks and the fences which inclose well-kept lawns. 2. At this Margy's hold relaxed, and her strength was totally exhausted, for she had fainted. 3. .He arranged his head-gear and gave his signal, but the ball hit his shoulder, but fortunately landed in the arms of the great full-back, who hit center and gained five yards. 92 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. In the first sentence, which is part of a description of a village street, the relation of the concluding clause to the preceding, whether subordinate or coordinate, is not at once clear. The subject matter of the clause sug- gests the coordinate relation, but the relative which is a subordinate connective. Again, the word and seems at first to connect a new coordinate clause to the pre- ceding instead of merely joining the nouns walks and fences. In re-writing this we must bear in mind that the degree of subordination which the grammatical structure indicates must be that which the subordina- tion of thought requires. Here the concluding clause seems to be quite as important as those preceding, and there should be no subordination, the sentence re-written reading about as follows : Here tall trees grow on both sides of the road, the lawns are well kept, and nicely mown grass plots come between the broad walks and the fences. In the second sentence the subordination of the final clause is more clearly and unmistakably faulty. Either Margy fainted because her strength was totally ex- hausted, or her hold relaxed because she .had fainted. Perhaps, if we say that her strength was exhausted, she fainted, and her hold relaxed, we shall have indicated the proper relation between the clauses, but in any case the final clause is not subordinate to the others. In the third sentence we have a subordinate clause within a subordinate, something of not infrequent occurrence THE SENTENCE. 93 and not always easy to manage. Here, though the clauses beginning with the conjunction but are not in strictness grammatically subordinate, they are so in effect, while the first clause should be made subordi- nate in structure as it is in thought. Of course the repetition of the conjunction adds to the awkwarclnes^ of the construction, but the substitution of though for the second but will not make the sentence satisfactory Re-writing in such fashion as to make the first clause subordinate we shall have something like this : When he had arranged his head-gear and given his signal, he was hit on the shoulder by the ball, but fortu- nately it landed in the arms of the great full-back, who hit center, and gained five yards. 35. Sentence-Variety. We get pleasure out of reading when each moment something that we did not know or had not felt before comes into our con- sciousness from the printed page. When the book in 'jur hand ceases to give us new sensations, or to revive old ones with new vividness, we throw it down. In our reading, the pleasure of novelty may come to us through the subject matter or through the form of what we read. When it is something more than commonplace in the form that holds our attention we are less con- scious of novelty as the source of pleasure, but it is so none the less truly. Monotony of sentence-structure will destroy our pleasure in almost any subject, if that monotony be sufficiently pronounced. 94 COMPOSITION A AD RHETORIC. Philip Van Artevelde lived in the latter part of the fourteenth century. His father was the well-known Jacques Van Artevelde, from whom Philip inherited many of his military abilities. He was named Philip in honor of Philippa of Hainault, his godmother at his baptism. In this paragraph the monotony of structure is not so great as is frequently the case ; but each sentence begins with the subject followed immediately by the predicate. The subject of the first sentence is included in the subject of the second sentence, and again in the pronoun of the subject of the third sentence. This is a fault very common in the work of young and inexperi- enced writers, and one against which all writers have to guard continually. A composition that is made up largely of short simple sentences is more liable to the defect of monotonous structure than one composed of longer com- plex and compound sentences; since in short simple sentences it is difficult to vary the order of subject, predicate, and object. Even compound sentences are often little more than disjointed simple sentences strung together by various connectives. . The student should make continual effort to acquire variety of sentence- forms and ease in the use of them. A few methods of varying the simple form above are suggested here. /^i^^c,^-^^ i. At home and abroad things were looking ominous r for the new reign. MCCARTHY. In this sentence a prepositional phrase precedes the subject. THE SENTENCE. 95 2. When an intelligent foreigner commences the study of English, he finds every page sprinkled with words A whose form unequivocally betrays a Greek or Latin origin. MARCH. An adverbial time clause here precedes the subject. Adverbial clauses of various sorts may be so used, con- cessive, conditional, causal, and others, and some of these forms are given in sentences 3 to 8 following. ^ 3. So far as the nation at large was concerned, no history, no romance, hardly any poetry save the little known verse of Chaucer, existed in the English tongue when the Bible was ordered to be set up in churches. SAINTSBURY. 4. Had the Bible then for the first time appeared in an English dress, the translators would have been per- plexed and confounded with the multitude of terms. MARSH. 5. That we may not enter the church out of the midst t^ of the horror of this, let us turn aside under the portico which looks towards the sea. RUSKIN. ^ 6. Though the cadences of Newman's prose are rarely as marked as here, a subtle musical beauty runs elusively through it all. GATES. ^ 7. If there was any person entitled to speak with au- thority on the subject, that person was assuredly Mrs. Dingley. COLLINS. 8. As we track Elizabeth through her tortuous mazes ^ of lying and intrigue, the sense of her greatness is almost lost in a sense of contempt. GREEN. Adverb clauses may take so many forms that several sentences in succession may begin with such clauses and yet seem unlike. 96 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. **/ 9. The days of creation ; the narratives of Joseph anu his brethren, of Ruth, of the final defeat of Ahab, of trie. discomfiture of the Assyrian host of Sennacherib ; the moral discourses of Ecclesiastes and Ecclesiasticus and the Book of Wisdom ; the poems of the Psalms and the Prophets ; the visions of the Revelation, a hundred other passages which it is unnecessary to catalogue, will always be the ne plus ultra of English composition in their several kinds. SAINTSBURY. Sentences of this form serve to mass a number of things which have the same relation to the verb ; such grouping saves words, and is more vivid in effect. fy 10. Luxurious and pleasure-loving as she seemed, Elizabeth lived simply. GREEN. /^/ n. Conspicuous among the Dutch troops were Port- land's and GinkelFs Horse. MACAULAY. i 12. Certain it is that a great difference of character /existed between those Greeks who mingled much in mari- time affairs and those who did not. GROTE. Sentences I o, 1 1 , and 1 2 illustrate different ways of introducing the adjective at the beginning of the sen- tence. This should be done only when the adjective is one that may properly be made prominent. 13. Of political wisdom in its larger and more gener- ous sense Elizabeth had little or none ; but her political tact was unerring. GREEN. The transposition of a portion of the object to the be- ginning of the sentence gives variety, since it is unusual, but is admissible only when that which is transposed may properly be made emphatic. THE SENTENCE. 97 36. Sentence-Length. From what has been s^icl ot sentence structure we are naturally led to ask what the proper length of a sentence should be. A little consideration will show that no definite answer can be given to this question. As the sentence must contain all that is necessary to complete the thought, its length will depend on the work it has to do. Approximately speaking, we may say that simple ideas will naturally be expressed in short sentences, and that more complex ideas and finer shades of thought will require longer sen- tences for expression. Again, short sentences are ser- viceable in expressing strong feeling and rapid action, or in definitions and propositions which require concise statement, and, lastly, they contribute to a vigorous style. Long sentences have the opposite uses. They give weight and dignity, amplify topics, develop propositions, and express the finer modifications of thought. Each serves certain purposes ; but a succession of either long or short sentences becomes monotonous, and fatigues the reader. Good writers judiciously vary the length of their sentences, as a glance at books or magazines will show. As inexperienced writers often use too many words in expressing their thoughts, and as they have an imperfect conception of what a sentence should contain, they will find it worth while to practice brevity. There can be no question that the short sentence is one of the ele- ments of a good style, and contributes much to vigorous expression. To acquire the habit of writing short sen- 98 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, tences is certainly safer and more advisable for young writers than to attempt long and ponderous expressions. EXERCISES. 1. Indicate the sentence-divisions in the following pas- sages l?y proper punctuation. The preparations of a snow storm arenas a rule.gentle and quiets marked hush pervades both the earth ami sky^here is no uproar, no clashing of arms, no blowing of wind trum- petsfthese soft feathery exquisite crystals are formed as if in the silence and privacy of the inner cloud chambers^rude winds would break the spell and mar the process /he clouds are smoother./ with less definite outlines and slower move- ments^ than those which bring rairuin fact everything is pro- phetic of the gentle and noiseless meteor that is approaching,, and of the stillness that is to succeed it JOHN BURROUGHS : A Snow-Storm. Thinking,not growth makes mankind* there are some who/ though they have done growing, are still only children|the constitution may be fixed while the judgment is immature/ the limbs may be strong while the reasoning is feeblefmany who can run and jump and bear any fatigue cannot examine cannot reason or judge, contrive or execute ' ; because they do not think ^accustom yourself then to thinking^set yourself to understand whatever you see or read-to run through a book is not a difficult task nor is it a very profitable one,to under- stand a few pages only is far better than to read the whole , where mere reading is the only objecUif the work does not set you to thinking either you or the author must be de- ficient, ISAAC TAYLOR: Thinking Makes the Man. 2. Rewrite the following paragraph in longer sen- tences, giving careful attention to the proper subordina- tion of clauses, and to the proper grouping of related ideas in the sentence. Be prepared to justify the ar- rangement in each sentence. i. Mrs. Baker was at that time an eager young woman She was somewhat tragic. She was of complex mind and undeveloped manners. She had had a crude experience of ' THE SENTENCE. 99 matrimony. This had fitted her out with a stock of generali- zations. These exploded like bombs in the academic air of Hillbridge. She had become the spokeswoman of outraged wifehood. Her husband had been signally gifted with the faculty of putting himself in the wrong. This was fortunate lor her. It had given her leaving him the dignity of a mani- festo. In the light of spokeswoman of outraged wifehood she was interesting. She was even cherished by that dominant portion of Hillbridge society which was least indulgent to conjugal differences. It found a proportionate pleasure in being for once able to feast openly on a dish liberally seasoned with the outrageous. This endeared Mrs. Baker to the university ladies. In Hill- bridge misfortune was still regarded as a visitation. It was designed, as they thought, to put people in their proper place, and make them feel the superiority of their neighbors. To Mrs. Baker, however, they accorded more than usual liberty of speech and action. The young woman so privileged had a kind of personal shyness. She had also intellectual audacity. This was like a reflected impulse of coquetry. One felt that if she had been prettier she would have had emotions instead of ideas. 3. Write sentences having the forms of those numbered i to Ik in, section 3^, illustrating different sentence-types, making two of each kind. 4. Re-write each of the following groups of sentences in one sentence, bringing to the class serial writings of each group, showing different treatment in the way of subor- dination of clauses. Be prepared to say which you think best, and to give reasons for your opinion. ^ ^ i. I set out with a complete distrust of my own abilities. I renounced totally every speculation of my own. I had a pro- found reverence for the wisdom of our ancestors. They have left us the inheritance of a happy constitution and a flourish- ing empire. They have left us the treasury of the maxims and principles which formed the one and obtained the other. This is a thousand times more valuable. 2. One senator with the breath of his eloquence has blown a beautiful piece of rhetoric. It has been resplendent with the hues of the rainbow. Another senator has pricked it with the sharp spdar of his sarcasm. Then the senate has lapsed into inextinguishable laughter. This has been followed ftie next day by a squall of ill-humored contention. 100 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 3. There are those who say that Congress rarely acts in telligently. It is influenced by personal considerations. It is concerned with benefits for the district or the party. Those who say this are intelligent observers. As they think, Congress acts intelligently only in consequence of popular agitation and in fear of it. This agitation occasionally amounts almost to a revolution. 5, Which is the more important of the two sentences in each of the following groups ? Could they be combined into one with better effect ? If so, combine them in ac- cordance with your decision in regard to proper subordi- nation. 1. Sometimes he could see for miles and miles over the still, green jungle. In like fashion a man on the top of a mast can see for miles across the sea. 2. Night is a dead, monotonous period under a roof. In the open world it passes lightly, with its stars and dews. ?. Two centuries of the play of the sea-wind were in the yet of the mosses. These lay along its inaccessible ledges and angles. 4. This may be kept up through all the sessions. If so there will come to Christian work of every type a new impulse. 5. The beginning of the national campaign draws near. A dense fog still obscures in the public mind the problem of the trusts. j The balloon was invented by the French. For this reason, perhaps, they appear to believe that it will furnish the final solution of- the navigation of the air. 6. What is the relation of the third sentence in the following group to the two preceding, and how would you express that relation more definitely than in the arrange- ment here ? Re-write. i. It is a purely nominal republic, a wholly fictitious democracy. 2. It is brutally governed by the military oli- garchy. 3. Public spirit there has grown very narrow, and popular sentiment has become rather dangerous toward foreigners. Which of the two sentences following bears to the other the causal relation, and is that sufficiently pro- nounced to warrant the use of such a definite word of THE SENTENCE. IOI relation as " because," " since," or " as " ? Re-write the two clauses indicating the relation and the degree of re- lation you find between them. i. These people are endowed with unlimited power to supply by handwork crude materials in exchange for the products of machinery. 2. They stand waiting to exchange their products with those nations who will work them into the machine-made fabrics they require. Which of the two sentences following is of the greater importance, and which would you place first in re-writing them to make their relation clearer ? Which is general in meaning and which specific ? Is the generalization or the specific statement more effective in making the reader realize the general truth ? Re-write. i. It has already been remarked that the traffic of the Sault St. Marie Canal now exceeds the traffic of the Suez Canal. 2. From this one may get some idea of the mechan- ism of our waterways. Re-write the following material so as to give to the paragraphs greater variety of sentence endings and sen- tence beginnings. Combine or break up sentences as seems to you best, and be prepared to give your reasons for using the various sentence-forms. i. The United States commenced at first with a very liberal patent law. 2. It has repaid to the nation, by the systematic and cordial encouragement of its great inventors, from 1790 to the middle of the nineteenth century, a thou- sand-fold all its cost and all its sacrifices. 3. It has placed the United States far in the van in all progress resulting from scientific discovery and mechanical invention. 4. It was recognized by Washington and Jefferson and Madison, and all the great men of the earlier congresses, that this is the one case in law in which law must itself establish the right to property. 5. Material wealth is acquired by gather- ing together the substance. 6.' It is tangible and the owner's right is unquestionable. 7. The law does not establish his right; it simply protects his property against unlawful seiz- ure. 8. It is not the' same in the case of the product of the brain, whether of the inventor, or author, or discoverer ; he cannot of himself hold, or establish his own possession. 102 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 9. The law must give him what is recognized as a limited pos- session and monopoly, fairly dividing advantage between him and the people. 2. Our modern athletes must learn this chief, if somewhat obvious, lesson from Olympia, if they would not remain barbarians in spirit, amid all the external paraphernalia of Hellenic revival. 2. They must strive, like the young heroes of Pindar, only for the complete development of their manhood, and their sole prizes must be the conscious , rtlelight of pertectly trained powers and some simple symbol of honor. 3. They must not prostitute the vigor of their youth for gold, directly, or indirectly, through division of gate receipts, acceptance of costly prizes, or coining into money the notoriety that the newspaper press and the tele- graph instantly lend to every form of ephemeral preemi- nence.^ 4- It is not merely that the commercial spirit destroys all the ideal associations that transfigure the bare physical facts of the contests. 5. It is that it "hardens a' within and petrifies the feeling." 6. It is fatal, as the Greeks learned in their degenerate days, to the very object for which gymnasiums and athletic contests are instituted, the harmonious development of the body to be the apt servant of the mind in all the affairs of life. 7. It is inevitable that where money is the end men will tend to rate the end above the means, or rather to misconceive the true end, through giving too much attention to the means. 8. Drugs will be administered to induce sleep after heavy repasts or over- training, through the need of reinvigorating the body. 9. The professional will usurp the place of the amateur, so lowering the tone of athletic contests. 10. Highly specialized, time-absorbing forms of training will be substituted for the free and healthy play of the faculties in leisure hours, leading to monstrous and abnormal developments of body and slug- gishness of mind. WORDS. 103 CHAPTER VI. WORDS. 37. What Words Are. Words are arbitrary symbols which by custom represent ideas. By general agree- ment we use them to communicate our thoughts to others, but we need not necessarily adopt this means of. communication. Often we convey a simple idea by ges- tures or other signs ; but if we were confined to gestures and signs alone we should be very much restricted in the expression of our thoughts. We use words, because in them we have a larger number and variety of symbols which are readily understood. All words, however, are not equally serviceable. Some from their derivation or association suggest much more to our minds than others ; that is, they have greater thought or emotional value. To be effective in our writing we must have as many words as possible at our command, and understand something of their utility, so that we may choose those whr^h best express our thoughts and feelings. To this end we may consider to some extent how our words are made up, the sources from which they are derived, and their thought value. 38. Sources of English Words. The English lan- guage is especially rich in the number of its words and 104 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. in their range of meaning. They are drawn from various sources ; but two influences, mainly, have contributed to the making of our vocabulary. Primarily it is English, drawn from Old English or Anglo-Saxon sources, to which have been added many words from the classical languages, introduced principally through the Norman French at the time of the Norman Conquest, and later by scholars during the Revival of Learning, or since that period. When Old English became a written lan- guage the people who spoke its various dialects were but little advanced in civilization, consequently they had no great range of ideas to express, and developed but a limited vocabulary. They had words for all the simple family relations, such as father, mother, son ; words for house, home, river ; words for heat and cold, light and darkness ; and these words have remained with so little change that we can often know their mean- ings from their modern forms. Naturally, words that were a part of the language previous to the Norman Conquest, and still remain in use, are largely the simple, more elementary words of our speech, words in which we express feelings that are common to all. For com- plex thought, however, or for nice distinctions of mean- ing, the vocabulary of our early tongue is inadequate ; abstractions and generalizations we must put, to a great extent, into the words derived from Latin or Greek sources. But for telling power over simple emotions our native English is most effective. The following se- lection from Dickens is written almost wholly in the WORDS. 105 vocabulary of the mother tongue, and to this is due largely the directness and vividness of its emotional appeal. f There was once a child, and he strolled about a great deal, and thought of a number of things. He had a sister, who was a child, too, and his constant companion. These two used to wonder all day long. They wondered at the beauty of the flowers ; they wondered at the height and blueness of the sky ; they wondered at the depth of the bright water ; they wondered at the goodness and the power of God, who made the lovely world. They used to say to one another sometimes, Supposing all the children upon earth were to die, would the flowers and the water and the sky be sorry ? They believed they would be sorry. For, said they, the buds are the children of the flowers, and the little playful streams that gambol down the hillsides are the children of the water ; and the smallest bright specks playing hide and seek in the sky all night, must surely be the children of the stars ; and they would all be grieved to see their playmates, the children of men, no more. There was one clear shining star that used to come out in the sky before the rest, near the church spire, above the graves. It was larger and more beautiful, they thought, than all the others, and every night they watched for it, standing hand in hand at the window. Whoever saw it first cried out, " I see the star ! " And often they cried out both together, knowing so well when it would rise and where. So they grew to be such friends with it, that be- fore lying down in their beds they always looked out once again, to bid it good night ; and when they were turning round to sleep, they used to say, " God bless the star ! " CHARLES DICKENS. In the following passages the words of classic origin have been printed in italics, and you will observe that in 106 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. comparison with the preceding selection there is a sur- prisingly large number of them. Viewed from the scientific standpoint the successful ad- ministration of tropical dependencies presents a number of difficulties which fall readily into two classes the difficul- >v ties inherent in the nature of the local conditions and those ^/ J incident to the imperfection of the instruments employed; in tt other words, the difficulties involved on the one hand in the formulation, on the other hand in the execution of a policy. Unfortunately, however, mankind in general refuses abso- lutely to include government administration among those things which are to be considered proper subjects for scien- tific treatment. So, in setting out to examine some of the practical problems cf tropical colonization we must realize at once that the simple statement of the scientific difficulties of the task falls far short of expressing the magnitude of the work in hand. ALLEYNE IRELAND in the Independent, July 5, 1900. Glancing over the words in italics we see at once that there are many for which a primitive people, or a people not already advanced in civilization, would have no use, since they would not have in their thought the things for which these words stand. Such words are scientific, administration, tropical, dependencies, inherent y incident, instruments, involved, and perhaps others. As civiliza- tion advances it demands new words continually, and these additions to our vocabulary come very largely from the Latin or the Greek. These words, when they have come into the language, are just as much a part of it as are those which have been in common use for centuries, but they do not quicken our emotions in just WORDS. 107 the same way. Words of classic origin are of more fre- quent occurrence in the literature of thought than in the literature of feeling. When we see them on the printed page or hear them spoken, they bring to mind things that have been a part of our mental life rather than those that are a part of our experiences ; and words influence us quite as much through their associations and suggestions as through their definite meanings. / ,39. The Anglo-Saxon Element. Only a small part of our English words have been English always, but these few are used much more in ordinary speech and writing than are the words derived from other sources. We will see how a few of them are made up, so that we may use them more intelligently. Perhaps you have fancied that, if you know the meaning of a word, you know quite enough to enable you to use it effectively, but that is not true. The significance of any word is so bound up in its history and in our experience that probably it does not have exactly the same value for any two readers. Below is a list of words with Anglo-Saxon prefixes. Study each group carefully, and define the meaning of each //r/fo. Abed, aback, aboard, afield, afloat. Because. Become, besmirch, bestir, beset. Forgive, forget, forbear, forbid. Forefend, foretell, forestall, forewarn. Mischance, mismatch, mistake. N-ever, n-either, n-one, n-othing. Outlaw, outstretch, outward. N 108 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Overspread, overdo, overmatch. To-day, to-morrow, to-night. Untruth, unfulfilled, unhonored. Undertake, undergo. Withstand. Bring to class a list of words made with each of the following noun suffixes, and say what the suffix adds to the word. i . -ar. 5. -en. 9. -ling. 13. -ship. 2. -ard. 6. -er. 10. -ness. 14. -stead. 3. -dom. 7. -hood. 1 1 . -ock. 1 5 . -ster. 4. -craft. 8. -kin. 1 2 . -ric. 1 6. -wright. Now it is to be remembered that in writing we do not stop to think that in one place we should use an Anglo- Saxon word and in another a word that bears the classic stamp upon it. Did we do that, our writing would be- come stiff and mechanical. But a discriminating famil- iarity with the two elements in the language makes it more natural for the word that is associated with deep feelings to come readily to mind when it is wanted to touch a like feeling anew. Let us see whether in our own writing, even without this familiarity, we make a distinction in favor of the English word when we have subjects of a certain kind in hand, f On one subject from each of the two lists following write not less than one hundred words. When you have finished find out, with the aid of a dictionary, what proportion of the words employed in each case is Anglo-Saxon, and be prepared to state in the class why it is greater in one case than in the other. \ ^-^ ^ A. i. The budding of the B. i. Chinese diplomacy. trees. 2. Improvements in meth- 2. Jack the Giant Killer. ods of transportation. 3. How John learned to 3. The influence of the tel- play base-ball. egraph upon coin- 4. Marjory Fleming. merce. 5. The day we went fish- 4. New illuminants. ing. 5. The benefits of imml 6. The beaver's house. gration. 6. Dying civilizations. 40. The Classical Element. That portion of our English vocabulary which comes from other than strictly English sources is so much more complex and in many ways so much richer than our native vocabulary, that an acquaintance with some of its more important root words, and with the prefixes and suffixes that occur more fre- quently in it, is particularly valuable for any one who wishes to use the language effectively. Naturally, one can best come to a knowledge of the exact force of words derived from classical roots through a direct study of the Latin and Greek languages themselves, but even a second-hand acquaintance with them is worth while. We will consider briefly some of the various uses to which a single Latin root is put when it has been trans- ferred to our speech. Let us take the very common verb duco, meaning I lead. We have it in the words adduce, abduct, aqueduct, conduct, conduce, deduct, deduce, duc- tile, educate, educe, and many others. Now, taking the nouns derived from some of these words, which as given are mostly verbs, we can define them readily enough in terms of the original root and its prefix. A deduction I 10 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. is a conclusion which we have led down from some other fact, an abduction is the leading away of some- thing, an education is the leading out of the powers and faculties of the one who has been educated. Observe, too, that deduce and deduct are compounded of the same root and prefix, and yet, as we use them, they mean alto- gether different things, although both clearly retain the original significance of root and prefix. This is true of other words of classic origin. Clearly, we shall be helped in our understanding and use of words derived from foreign sources by a study of the way in which they are put together in the process of becoming part of our English speech. Bring in a list of not less than thirty words in which the following Latin prefixes occur. a, ab, abs = from, away from. ab-hor = to shrink from. ad = to. The d of this prefix is usually changed to the sound of the consonant following it in the root, becoming then a-, ac-, af-, ag-, a/-, an-, ap-, ar-, as-, at-. This has come from the difficulty experienced in pronouncing two dissimilar consonants in succession without an intervening vowel. ad-here = to cling to. con = with or together. The n changes sound occasionally, forming co-, cog-, col-, com-, cor-. con-tract = to draw together. dis = apart, asunder, opposite of. This changes to di- and dif-. disjoin = to make the opposite of joined. WORDS. Ill in = in, into, or, on. (It has this meaning in verbs and some nouns, but is a negative in adjectives and other nouns). Changes to //, im-, ir . infuse = to pour into. intra and intro = within or into. introduce = to lead into. contra = against. contradict = a speaking against. ex = out or from. Changes to A comparison between Europe and America, as respects the current production of dramatic literature intended for actual performance, offers results which reflect upon us a striking national discredit. In Germany, the two foremost writers among those now living are writers for the stage. The two greatest of living Scandinavians are likewise dramatists. In France there is at least the poet of " Cyranb' " to reckon with, besides the men who have passed away during the closing quarter of the century. Italy offers one contemporary name of much significance, and the like statement is true of Spain and of Belgium. -"Even England has her present-day group of highly re spectable playwrights, men of serious purpose and sub- stantial performance, if not exactly writers of genius. The works of all the men here mentioned belong dis- tinctly to the literatures of their respective countries, and in some cases they constitute the best literature that is now being produced in those countries. Has America anything of the sort to show ? piVell, we have Mr. Bron- son Howard, and Mr. Augustus Thomas, and Mr. Clyde Fitch. But who would think of reckoning the produc- tions of these men among the noteworthy things of our modern literature ? The mere suggestion is an absurdity. We have poets and novelists and essayists fairly compara- ble with those of the European countries ; but of dramatic writers, in the European sense, we have not one, nor have we ever produced one. Editorial in the Dial, Jan. i, 1900. Dacier had observed the blush, and the check to her flowing tongue did not escape him as they walked back to 120 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. the inn down the narrow street of black rooms, where the women gossiped at the fountain and the cobbler threaded on his door-step. His novel excitement supplied the de- ficiency, sweeping past minor reflections. He was, how- ever, surprised to hear her tell Lady Esquart, as soon as they were together at the breakfast-table, that he had the intention of starting for England ; and further surprised, and slightly stung too, when, on the poor lady's moaning over her recollections of the midnight bell, and vowing she could not attempt to sleep another night in the place, Diana declared her resolve to stay there one day longer with her maid, and explore the neighborhood for the wild flowers in which it abounded. Lord and Lady Esquart agreed to anything agreeable to her, after excusing them- selves for the necessitated flight, piteously relating the story of their sufferings. My lord could have slept, but he had remained awake to comfort my lady. GEORGE MEREDITH : Diana of the Crossways. Then Jason got out of the cairiage, and without further word or sign, swung down the street. The doctor looked after him until his stormy figure was lost in the distance. What thoughts bearded the physician's respectability : Was the city, so atrociously modern, as aggravating to his un- tamed manhood as it was .to Jason's? Whatever games they had played they had generally won. And he knew that of all men Jason was the one to pursue a foe to the utter- most parts of the earth. Jason was Mosaic in his belief of fair play, and in his instinct of retaliation. He would strip himself to pay a debt of honor or of kindness. Like- wise to him vengeance was a law as sacred as hospitality, and he could entrust it neither to God nor man to exe- cute it for him. The doctor knew that whatever his old mate purposed would be deftly done,* and with dispatch. Far off, the tall sombrero waved above the petty crowd and was finally swallowed. Shaking off his reverie, the doctor called his man and hurried on his rounds. HERBERT D. WARD. WORDS. \ 2 1 43. A Large Vocabulary. It is not enough that wo have an accurate knowledge of the words that we employ in our daily speech and in writing ; we must have a large vocabulary to draw upon. Writers who use the same words often seem to us, when we read, to be repeating thoughts as well, and that feeling destroys our pleasure in the reading. Indeed, the thought of a composition cannot be developed as fully if the vocabulary in which it is written is a narrow one The intellectual poverty of the writer betrays itself in his poverty of words, and he says less, perhaps, than he means, and seems to say less still. In the following, from a student's paper, ob- serve how the repetition of the words "lived," "moun- tains," "but," "crabbed," "thought," and " never, " give the effect of lack of substance. There are other faults in the composition, but that of tautology is the most serious. Old Tim Hardy was a miner who lived all alone in a little cottage up in the Rocky Mountains. For many years he had lived in this desolate region, eager to get some of the gold and silver that the mountains contained. He had searched often fruitlessly, but would never give up, but day after day he toiled, but in vain. His surround- ings had done much towards changing his nature and the character of his life. The happy, gallant Tim of long ago had become, as time went on, the hard, crabbed old Tim Hardy. No one thought anything of him and never did a kind word pass his lips. He sometimes wondered why people never had anything to do with him, but he never once thought that it was his own crabbed nature from which they recoiled. 122 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Obviously, then, we should strive to obtain a large vocabulary ; for it is only by having an abundant supply of words at our command that we can bring out the fine distinctions of our own thought, and understand other writers who are careful to discriminate in their use of words. For some people no special effort to add to their stock of words is necessary ; but for the majority of us such is not the case; we must strive continually to increase our supply until our vocabularies are ade- quate to our needs. To this end we should not only remember the new words which we meet, but we must grasp their significance with clearness and accuracy. 44. How to Increase our Vocabulary. There are three sources from which one may hope to increase his vocabulary, from reading, from the conversation of others, and from frequent writing. Undoubtedly a varied and careful reading of good authors offers the best means of securing a supply of new words ; but we may add to our store by listening to the conversation of intelligent and cultivated people. From both of these sources we shall obtain many words which we can soon make a part of our working vocabulary, by using them in our speaking and writing. Frequent writing is in itself a most fruitful method of enriching our vocabu- lary and keeping it vigorous. If we do not easily remember words and their mean- ings, we should try to remedy the matter by taking note of all new words that come up in our reading, look- ing them up in a dictionary, and writing their meanings, WORDS. 123 together with some few sentences in which they occur, in a note-book. Then as soon as possible we should use them. We all have two vocabularies, the vocabulary of the words thac we understand more or less fully when we see them, and that of the words that we use our- selves, a much smaller number. There are, of course, a great many technical words of which we need to know the meaning, but with which we do not need to be so familiar that they will come easily to mind for our own use. On the other hand, technical words are often useful outside the literature of the occupation or pro- fession in which they occur, and familiarity with some of the more common ones may at any time serve our pens a good turn. And we should remember that defi- nite efforts to use words that are not a part of our writing vocabulary will result in adding them to the num- ber of our working tools. Remember, too, that we think in words, and that if we lack words we shall, to some extent, lack ideas ; for ideas are often but the refine- ments and distinctions of meaning which are involved in words themselves. Let us see how a great master of English prose, John Ruskin, uses words that are not those of our every-day speech. But if we seek to know more than this and to ascertain the manner in which the story first crystallized into its shape, we shall find ourselves led back generally to one or other of two sources either to actual historical events, represented by the fancy under figures personify- ing them ; or else to natural phenomena similarly endowed with life by the imaginative power usually more nr less 124 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. under the influence of terror. The historical myths we must leave to the masters of history to follow ; they, and the events they record, being yet involved in great, though attractive and penetrable, mystery. But the stars, and hills, and storms are with us now, as they were with others of old ; and it only needs that we look at them with the earnestness of those childish eyes to un- derstand the first words spoken of them by the children of men, and then, in all the most beautiful and enduring myths, we shall find, not only a literal story of a real per- son, not only a parallel imagery of moral principle, but an underlying worship of natural phenomena, out of which both have sprung, and in which both forever re- main rooted. Thus, from the real sun, rising and setting, from the real atmosphere, calm in its dominion of unfading blue, and fierce in its descent of tempest, the Greek forms first the idea of two entirely personal and corporeal gods, whose limbs are clothed in divine flesh, and whose brows are crowned with divine beauty ; yet so real that the quiver rattles at their shoulder, and the chariot bends beneath their weight. And, on the other hand, collaterally with these corporeal images, and never for one instant separated from them, he conceives also two omnipresent spiritual influences, of which one illuminates, as the sun, with a constant fire, whatever in humanity is skilful and wise; and the other, like the living air, breathes the calm of heavenly fortitude, and strength of righteous anger, into every human breast that is pure and brave. ' The Queen of the Air. "Ascertain " is a word we do not use often ; and here Ruskin employs it rather than any of its synonyms, such as learn, find out, or discover, because to ascertain means to make more certain, and in this case some knowledge of the subject is presupposed. " Crystallized " we use even less often, but observe how effective it is here in WORDS. 125 describing the slow process of growth of a legend, like that of a crystal, not to be seen or known unt'J com- pleted. "Personifying," " phenomena," "endowed," and "imaginative," are all words of but infrequent occurrence in ordinary speech and writing ; and yet there is no reason why they should be cut off from every-day use. Other words that are not a part of the working vocabulary of most people. are "involved," "penetrable," "myths," "imagery," "underlying," "dominion," "cor- poreal," "quiver," "collaterally," "images," "conceives," "omnipresent," and "fortitude." Without these words Ruskin could never have expressed the thought and feeling of this paragraph with such clear vividness, and perhaps he could not have had just the same thoughts and feelings himself. Further, if Ruskin had merely known of these words in a vague way, they might almost as well have been out of the language, so far as their being of service to him is concerned. We shall find it worth while to look for words that we do not ordinarily make use of, and when new words come up in our reading we should spend time in tracing up their origin in order to fasten them in the memory. The following paragraphs contain words that probably are not a part of your serviceable vocabulary. Bring to class a list of those that you do not use readily and bring also sentences that you have written to illustrate their use. Be sure that you have made diligent study of them in the dictionary, and have come to know with sufficient certainty the shades of meaning by which they differ from other words of like signification. 126 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. It is well meant, it is bravely said ; and yet, is the con- clusion entirely sound ? I hardly think that either the great Apostle or the august Emperor would be honestly gratified by the inscription upon their place of sepulture of the epitaph made by Mr. Stevenson, Anno Domini 1890 or so. These men are among the mighty builders of the world ; their portion was not failure, but transcendent success ; not defeat, but victory. But a half-truth bal- anced by its opposite moiety is robbed of half its glory ; and what becomes of the work of art under these circum- stances ? And the artist is bound to work within condi- tions imposed upon him from without. Moreover, Stevenson was far too acute a logician not to look, when it suited his purpose, upon both sides of the shield ; and in his Fables he gives both obverse and reverse. The Fables were written at intervals during the latter half of his career ; and perhaps, of all the literary forms employed by Stevenson and he used most of those extant at one time or another that of the fable " set his genius " best. Here romance and metaphysic, character and wit, may meet together in harmony and in the realm that is both homely and ideal ; and the problem of presentment offers valuable opportunities in the matter of prose com- position. L. COPE CORNFORD : Robert Louis Stevenson}* Although the outward appearance of the house is unin- viting, the interior is warm and dainty. The odor of delicate hot-house plants is in the slightly enervating at- mosphere of the apartments. It is a Russian fancy to fill the dwelling-rooms with delicate, forced foliage and bloom. In no country in the world are flowers so wor- shipped, is money so freely spent in floral decoration. There is something in the sight, and more especially in the scent of hot-house plants, that appeals to the complex siftings of three races which constitute a modern Russian. We, in the modest self-depreciation which is a national 1 Permission of Dodd, Mead & Co. Copyright, 1899. WORDS. 127 characteristic, are in the habit of thinking, and some- times saying, that we have all the good points of the Angle and the Saxon rolled satisfactorily into one Anglo- Saxon whole. We are of the opinion that mixed races are the best, and we leave it to be understood that ours is the only satisfactory combination. Most of us ignore the fact that there are others at all, and very few indeed recognize the fact that the Russian of to-day is essentially a modern outcome of a triple racial alliance of which the best component is the Tartar. The modern Russian is an interesting study, because he has the remnant of barbaric tastes, with ultra-civilized facilities for gratifying the same. The best part of him comes from the East, the worst from Paris. HENRY SETON MERRIMAN : The Sowers}- It is well, in reviewing the character of Socrates, to mark the age in which he lived, as the moral and politi- cal circumstances of the times would probably exert an important and immediate influence upon his opinions and character. The dark ages of Greece, from the settlement of the colonies to the Trojan war, had long closed. The young republics had been growing in strength, population, and territory, digesting their constitutions and building up their name and importance. The Persian War, that hard but memorable controversy of rage and spite, conflicting with energetic and disciplined independence, had shed over their land an effulgence of glory which richly deserved all that applause which after ages have bestowed. It was a stern trial of human effort, and the Greeks might be pardoned if, in their intercourse with less glorious nations, they carried the record of their long triumph too far to conciliate national jealousies. The aggrandizement of Greece which followed this memorable war was the zenith 1 Copyright, 1899, by Harper & Brothers. 128 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. of its powers and splendor, and ushered in the decay and fall of the political fabric. RALPH WALDO EMERSON : The Character of Socrates, an early essay printed in E. E. Kale's Ralph Waldo Emerson.^ 45 . Books of Synonyms and Concordances: Even the trained writer who has succeeded in making himself the master of a large vocabulary often finds that the proper word has for the moment escaped his memory, and that he must make use of a book of synonyms, or, in default of that, a dictionary. When the right word does not suggest itself, one that is of closely allied meaning will generally come to mind ; and by looking up its syno- nyms and perhaps, if that is not sufficient, the synonyms of some word found among them, we may find the word we want. But perhaps this word is not one that we have merely forgotten, but one with which we are un- familiar ; then we shall have to see how other writers have used it. In this the dictionary should give us some help, and if we have at hand special concordances of different authors they may aid us further. It is not enough to know of the word that it is used in the sense in which we wish to use it. It may be used in various other senses ; and perhaps some one of these, in the con- nection in which we would employ it, would be suggested to the reader more vividly than the meaning we intend to convey. All this must be considered in passing upon the fitness of the word for our use. Further, we should 1 Permission of Brown & Co., publishers. WORDS. 129 question whether the word is in keeping ; that is, has it been in use in like connection, not with the same mean- ing simply, but with similar context, or has its use been such as to suggest incongruous thoughts or images ? Only by such careful painstaking can we make the written word fully informed with the thought and feel- ing that struggles in us for expression. The great good that comes to us from our training in translating the Latin and Greek classics is largely that of cultivating the faculty of patient persistence in choosing just the right word from a number of words that the vocabulary shows are admissible. EXERCISES. 1 . What are words, and why do we use them ? From what sources are our English words derived ? 2 . Bring to the class a written statement of the character of each element of the English language as distinguished by derivation. 3. Bring to the class a list of fifty words that seem to you especially fitted for use in the literature of feeling. How large a proportion of them are Anglo-Saxon ? How many of them would you mark with the symbols of the six classes of words having the highest emotional value as we have distinguished them ? 4. Bring to the class a list of fifty words that seem to you especially fitted for use in the literature of thought. How many of them are classical ? How many of them would you mark with the symbols of the six classes of words having the highest intellectual value as we have distin- guished them ? 5 . Bring to the class a paragraph that seems to you an effective example of the literature of feeling, and be pre- 130 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. pared to state the proportion of words of the six classes of highest emotional quality which it contains. 6. Bring to the class a paragraph that seems to you an effective example of the literature of thought, and be pre- pared to state the proportion of words of the six classes of highest intellectual character which it contains. 7. Bring to the class sentences containing each of the in the following groups of synonyms, and be pre- pared to state how any word of each group differs in meaning from any other word of the group. A discussion of some or all of the words of each group will be found under many of them in the Students' 1 Standard Dictionary. To abandon, abjure, cast off, forsake, relinquish, repudiate, surrender. To adopt, cherish, keep, maintain, retain, uphold. To abate, decrease, diminish, lessen, mitigate, moderate, suppress, terminate. Absolute, atbitrary, authoritative, despotic, tyrannical. "Active, agile, alert, brisk, expeditious, lively, spry. To address, accost, approach, greet, salute. Abutting, adjacent, adjoining, bordering, contiguous. To admonish, advise, caution, censure, dissuade, rebuke, reprove. To adorn, beautify, bedeck, decorate, embellish, ornament. Affinity, consanguinity, kin, kindred, relationship. To affirm, assert, asseverate, declare, maintain, protest. Agreeable, acceptable, grateful, pleasant, pleasing. Blithe, buoyant, cheerful, cheery, genial, joyous, merry, sunny. Childish, childlike, petty, trivial. Follow, observe, pursue. Emancipation, freedom, independence, liberty. 8. Bring to the class a number of synonyms for each of the following words, and discriminate in meaning between them. Abhor, Allure, Bevy. Abiding, Anger, Boorish, Absorbed, Animal, Blaze, Adept, Apparent, Brave, Admire, Banter, Candid, WORDS. 1 3 1 Caprice, Discordant, Irritation, Character, Excessive, Issue, Coterie Excuse, Knowledge, Depression, Futile, Listless, Delicate, Guess, Satisfy. 9. Fill in the blank spaces in the following with fitting words. This was probably the first light-point ,-p toe -J^f>l Luther, his purer will now first decisively itself ; but for the pres- ent, it was still as one light-point in an element all of dark- ness. He says he was a/pious monk; faithfully, painfully 4&*& workout the^ulAT this, one high act of his; but it was tQ little purpose. His had not lessened ; had rather, as it were, increased into infinity. The drudgeries he had to do as novice in his convent, all sorts of slave-work, were not his ^-; the deep earnest soul of the man had -A into all manner of black scruples ; he believed himself to die soon, and far worse than die. One hears with a new for poor Luther that, at this , he lived in fear of the mis- ery ; fancied that he was doomed to eternal . Was it not the sincere of the man? What was he that he should be to heaven? He that had known only misery and slavery: the news was too blessed to be believable. It could not become to him how, by fasts , formali- ties and mass-work, a man's could be preserved. He fell into the blackest wretchedness ; had to wander on the of bottomless despair. THOMAS CARLYLE : The Hero as Priest. 10. On one of the following topics write not less than one hundred words without paying particular attention to the phrasing. Then look it over, and give it careful re- vision for tautology, the repetition of the same word or idea. Bring original and corrected copy to class. A face to be remembered. Seeing the fair. Why violets are blue. Politics as a profession. Influence of machinery on the condition of the laborer. The man shows in his work. Cleanliness the chief agent of civilization. / PART II. GOOD USE, DISCOURSE, AND STYLE. CHAPTER VII. USAGE. 46. The Necessity of Correct Expression. In indicat- ing the proper method of developing the theme and its component parts no reference has been made to the necessity of expressing our thoughts in correct language. Important as have been the preceding suggestions, they are applicable to the development of thought rather than to the expression of it ; and they will not a]pne suffice to make us good writers, if we are not able to speak and to write correct English. Correct expression is the first requisite of good discourse. 47. What Correct Expression Is For the purposes of English composition we may define correct expres- sion as the use of good English words and phrases, employed in their recognized English meanings, and combined according to the English idiom ; in brief, cor- rect expression is synonymous with good English. It 134 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. is not to be supposed for a moment that a writer of English composition would use Greek, Latin, or French for the expression of his thoughts ; but many a young writer is tempted to display his knowledge, or piece out his meager vocabulary, by the introduction of foreign words and phrases which should have no place in Eng- lish writing. Further, there is a prevailing tendency among writers of a certain class to introduce into their writing the slang and vulgarisms of the day. It re- quires less mental effort to say, " He got a call-down from the super," than to say, " He was reproved by the superintendent'." "It is awfully hot to-day," and "I don't think much of those sort of people," are common expressions ; yet they have no recognized standing in the language, and their use cannot be too strongly con- demned. Other words and phrases are liable to creep in, which, although not containing the glaring faults of those quoted above, are open to criticism. To in- sure correct expression it is evident that we must have sonic test of what is good English, some standard by which we may gauge our words and phrases. 48. Good Use, the Standard If to be understood is a writer's first object, as it should be, his language must be such that his readers will understand it as he under- stands it. Accordingly he must use words that are familiar to the readers of to-day, rather than words of the fourteenth or fifteenth centuries ; his words must be those that are common to the English-speaking world ; and, finally, his language must be that of intelli- USAGE. 135 gent and cultivated people. The same reasons that prevent a writer of English from employing Greek and Latin phrases are of equal weight in prohibiting the use of any expression that is not in GOOD USE. GOOD USE is, then, the test of good English. 49. What Good Use Is As we have before learned, words are but arbitrary symbols representing ideas, and have only the meanings which usage gives them. These meanings are subject to continual variation. Our language itself is not fixed, but is perpetually changing and enlarging ; new words are coming into use, and old words are becoming obsolete. The language of any period is regulated by the cultivated people of that time. Accordingly, a word is in good use at any time when it is accepted in a certain sense by the best writers and speakers of that time, and is so understood throughout the country, or in the language of rhetori- cians, a word is in good use when it is in present, national, and reputable use. 50. Present Use. Considered with reference to our own time, a word is in present use when it is understood by the people of to-day. It matters not whether it be as old as "man" and " boy," or as new as ".telephone" and " motor-man ;" it matters not from what source it is derived, whether it be " quadruped " from the Latin, "yacht " from the Dutch, "taboo" from the South Sea Islands, or "mob," an abbreviation. So far as present use is concerned, one word is as good as another if it is intelligible to the people of to-day. 136 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. In these days of change old words go and new words come. Old names disappear with old customs, or acquire new meanings, and new ideas demand new names. With the decline of chivalry, astrology, and archery their vocabularies, being no longer significant, went out of use, only to be succeeded by those of steam and electricity. Words that were familiar a cen- tury or two ago are unknown to the present generation. They have become obsolete, for example, wit, wot, and wist, meaning "know," wend for "think," lief for "beloved," comen for "come," sooth f or "truly," withsay for "gainsay," enow for "enough," holpen for "help," twain for "two," and anon for "soon," a list taken at random from Malory's " Morte D' Arthur," a work which marks the beginning of modern prose in England. Similar tests may be made from any of the writings of two centuries ago. Present use prohibits the employ- ment of obsolete words, or words used in an obsolete sense, except in poetry or in the historical novel, and inexperienced writers should carefully avoid using them to affect a literary style. It is impossible to fix accurately the boundaries of present use ; but it is safe to assume that any word which is understood by the cultivated people of to-day may be considered as belonging to the present time. 51. National Use. In writing for the people at large it is necessary to employ words which are not only understood, but understood in the same sense in all parts of the country. Evidently we should not use USAGE. 137 foreign words and phrases, or expressions common to a locality or a class, for in so doing we narrow our circle of readers. Common sense, therefore, dictates that we should carefully' shun all such words and phrases, and aciopt only those words that are in national use as fixed by speakers and writers of national reputa- tion. i. Local Terms. In whatever part of the country we go we find terms peculiar to that locality. We call them localisms. They are the natural outcome of local experiences and customs, and the number is in proportion to the exclusiveness of the locality. In the days when there was little intercourse between different parts of the country localisms abounded, and new mean- ings were given to old words, until each locality had a dialect of its own ; but with the advent of steam and electricity the people of all sections were brought into closer contact, remote communities became neighbors, books, magazines, and newspapers penetrated the farth- est corners of the land, and dialects and localisms to a great extent gave way to a settled national language. Some localisms still remain, and in remote districts nourish. To what extent this is true may be appre- ciated by comparing the two selections that follow, the first illustrating the speech of the New England Yankee, and the second that of a Tennessee mountaineer. " I seen this dog a ha'ntin' round on the dike a good while 'fore you come," said Mar Baker. " I should er give him some ole vittles, only all our scraps go to the hens. 138 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, I've always thought he might b'long to a carry-all of fine folks as come ridin' by a week or so 'fore you brought your things down. I can't tell why I took that notion, but I did, and 'Zias thought the same. But then there's a good many high-flyers travellin' about to see the Web- ster place an' so on." " I war a-black berryin, thar bein' only a few lef yit, an I went fur an' furder yit from home ; an' ez I kem out'n the woods over yon, I viewed or yit I 'lowed I viewed the witch-face through a bunch o' honey locust, the leaves bein' drapped a' ready, they bein' always the fust o' the year git. bare. An' stiddin leavin' it ter be, I sot my bucket o' berries at the foot o' a tree, an' started down the slope todes the bluff, ter make sure an' view it clar o' the trees." 1 CHARLES EGBERT CRADDOCK : The Witch Face. We need not, however, go to remote districts for our localisms ; we find them to some extent everywhere. The New Englander guesses when he thinks, the South- erner reckons ; the former perks up, and has a pesky horse, he senses things when he understands them ; he hires a team, while the Westerner hires a rig. The //';/ pail of the East becomes the bucket as we go West, and in like manner a quarter of a dollar passes current as two bits, and so on. We should not, perhaps, expect to keep our speech or writing altogether free from local terms, but we should confine ourselves, as far as possi- ble, to words of national use. 2. Technical Terms. Just as all sections have their localisms, so all trades, professions, and classes have 1 By permission of Houghton, Mifflin & Co. USAGE. 139 their peculiar terms, which, in the main, are unintelli- gible to the public at large. Such, for example, are the numerous yachting terms, fore and aft, starboard, luff, jibe, tack, and countless others. A lawyer's brief with its legal phrases, or a physician's report of a 'case, con- veys no impression to the majority of us, and the news- paper account of a base-ball or a golf game is almost as obscure to the ordinary reader as it would be if written in a foreign language. The use of technical terms is permissible when one is writing for people who under- stand them, but in ordinary expression they should be used very sparingly. 3. English and American Terms. The English and the American people have a common heritage in a com- mon language. They live in great part a common life, are actuated by like ideals, and distinguished by like characteristics. Nevertheless, so different are the cus- toms of the two people that minor differences in language are bound to arise. Such is the case. The Englishman knows nothing of motor-man, lobby, stampede, or cable- car, while the American is equally ignorant .of stoker, luggage-van, or fishmonger. In England an elevator becomes a lift, a druggist is known as a chemist, and a pitcher is a jug. The question of whether or not we should use Americanisms or Anglicisms is one of no great consequence. In the few caser where we are called upon to decide, it is safe to say, that, as Ameri- cans, we should use the word that is in national use in 140 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. our own country, otherwise we might be unintelligible to our neighbors and open to the charge of affectation. 52. Reputable Use We have only to glance at the newspapers of to-day to find many words, which, though they are ' undoubtedly understood by the majority of readers, lack the stamp of approval from our best writers and speakers. They are in present, and perhaps in national use ; but they are not in gocd use, because they are not in reputable use. The fault of employing obsolete, local, or technical terms is not to be compared with that of adopting words which are common in the papers and speech of the day, and which bear the marks of illiteracy. "No invite for Hart"; "The Bostons had a cinch on the game"; "The story is a fake" \ "The Chinese are bluffing" are a few of the expressions found in a recent edition of a daily newspaper. Their use cannot be too strongly condemned. We should be careful that all our words are in good repute ; for reput- able use is the most important requisite of good use, and is fixed by speakers and writers of established reputation. The use of a word by one author only is not sufficient to make it reputable. In vain Charles Sumner pleaded for annexion instead of annexation, and Abraham Lin- coln wrote abolishment for abolition. A word is in reputable use only when a number of representative writers and speakers find it a necessary adjunct to their vocabulary. It is thus that our language grows, and new words come into use. Most of them die a USAGE. 141 natural death, but some in time receive the sanction of good use. Telephone and bicycle were adopted as necessary, but electrocute and automobile are still on trial. The untrained writer must be willing to accept words only after they have established themselves in the language. 53. Doubtful Words. We can be reasonably cer- , tain that the great majority of the words which we use are in good use, but occasionally it is difficult to apply the test, and we are in doubt as to the propriety of using some word. In our limited reading of reputable authors we have not founcl it, and it may, or may not, be in national use. The usual advice given in such cases is to substitute another word of recognized stand- ing ; but if the first seems to meet our needs particularly, some indulgence may be allowed. We may have re- course to the dictionary, the great storehouse of English usage, and as a last resort to our own taste and judg- ment. Good sense will naturally prompt us to adopt the well-formed name of a new idea, such as motor-man or dynamo, and to reject the slang and vulgarisms of the day. EXERCISES. i. Write a brief theme on what you think correct expres- sion to be, saying why it is so important in good writing. Look over the following passage, criticise the expression, and re-write it in good English. Justus laughed in triumph. "Oh, I tell ye, Watt's way up in the pictur's ! He'll be a reg'lar town man 'fore long, I reckon, dandified, an' sniptious ez the nex' one, marryin' one o' them finified town galls ez wear straw hats stiddier sun- 142 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. bonnets, though they do look ter be 'bout as flimsy an' no- count cattle ez any I ever see." 2. Define obsolete words, localisms, and technical terms. Write out ten obsolete words that you find in the poetry which you are reading. Make a note of some of the more common localisms in your section. Bring to the class a dozen technical expressions from the occupation most familiar to you. 3. Re-write the following passage in modern English : Anon as King Arthur heard this he was greatly displeased, for he wist well that they might not againsay their vows. Alas ! said King Arthur unto Sir Gawain, ye have nigh slain me with the avow and promise ye have made. For through you ye have bereft me of the fairest fellowship and the truest of knighthood that ever were seen together in any realm of the world. For when they depart from 'hence, I am sure they all shall never meet more in this world, for they shall die many in the quest. And so it forethinketh me a little, for I have loved them as well as my life, wherefore it shall frieve me right sore the departition of this fellowship. For have had an old custom to have them in my fellowship. Consult the writings of some author of the sixteenth century, and bring to the class a list of obsolete words. 4. Why is reputable use the most important requisite of good use? Make a list of writers and speakers of the present day whom you think to be of established reputa- tion. Tell why you so regard them. 5. Look over the daily paper, note what words and expressions you find that you think are not in good use. Make a list of these, bring them to the class, and give reasons to justify your opinion. 6. When should we adopt new words ? Doubtful words ? Take some new invention, like the electric car or the automobile ; make a list of all words which have come into use in connection with it. Which of these words do you think will survive ? Give your reasons. 7. What words in the following selections are not in good use as here employed ? USAGE. 143 a. Now Gudrun asked her bower-maidens why they sat so joyless and downcast " What has come to you, that ye fare ye as witless women, or what unheard-of wonders have befallen you ? " Then answered a waiting-lady, hight Swaflod, "An un- timely, an evil day it is, and our hall is fulfilled of lamenta- tion." Then spake Gudrun to her handmaids, "Arise, for we have slept long; go, wake Brynhild, and let us fall to our needlework and be merry." "Nay, nay," she says, "nowise may I wake her, or talk with her; for many days has she drunk neither mead nor wine ; surely the wrath of God has fallen upon her." Then spoke Gudrun to Gunnar, " Go and see her," she says, "and bid her know that I am grieved with her grief." "Nay," says Gunnar, "I am forbid to go see her or to share her weal." Nevertheless he went unto her, and strives in many wise to have speech of her, but gets no answer whatsoever ; there- fore he gets him gone and finds Hogni, and bids him go see her : and he said he was loth thereto, but went, and gat no more of her. Then they go and find Sigurd, and pray him to visit her; he answered naught thereto, and so matters abode for that night. But the next day, when he came home from hunting, Sigurd went to Gudrun, and spake " In such wise do matters show to me, as though great and evil things v^ll betide from this trouble and upheaving, and that Brynhild will surely die." Gudrun answers, "O my lord, by great wonders is she encompassed, seven days and seven nights has she slept, and none has dared wake her." "Nay, she sleeps not," said Sigurd, "her heart is dealing rather with dreadful intent against me." Then said Gudrun, weeping, " Woe worth the while for thy death ! go and see her: and wot if her fury may not be abated ; give her gold and smother up her grief and anger therewith ! " WILLIAM MORRIS : The Story of the Volsungs and Niblungs. b. As thus the king with his foresters frolicked it among the shepherds, Corydon came yi with a fair mazer full of cider, and presented it to Gerismond with such a clownish salute that he began to smile, and took it of the old shepherd very kindly, drinking to Aliena and the rest of her fair maids, amongst whom Phoebe was the foremost. Aliena pledged 144 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. the king, and drunk to Rosader ; so the carouse went round from him to Phoebe, etc. As they were thus drinking and ready to go to church, came in Montanus, apparelled all in tawny, to signify that he was forsaken. On his head he wore a garland of willow, his bottle hanged by his side whereon was painted despair, and on his sheep-hook hung two sonnets, as labels of his loves and fortunes. THOMAS LODGE: Rosalind. c. "I am afraid, Sir," said Mannering, turning towards him, "you may be one of those unhappy persons who, their dim eyes unable to penetrate the starry spheres, and to dis- cern therein the decrees of heaven at a distance, have their hearts barred against conviction by prejudice and misprision." "Truly," said Sampson, "I opine with Sir Isaac Newton, knight, and umwhile master of his majesty's mint, that the (pretended) science of astrology is altogether vain, frivolous, and unsatisfactory." And here he reposed his oracular jaws. " Really," resumed the traveller, " I am sorry to see a gen- tleman of your learning and gravity laboring under such strange blindness and delusion. Will you place the brief, the modern, and, as I may say, the vernacular name of Isaac Newton in opposition to the grave and sonorous authorities of Dariot, Bonatus, Ptolemy, Haly, Ezler, Dieterich, Naibod, Harfurt, Zael, Tannstetter, Agrippa, Duretus, Maginus, Ori- gen, and Argoli ? Do not Christians and Heathens, and Jews and Gentiles, and poets and philosophers, unite in allowing the starry influences?" " Comm unis error it is a general ^error," answered the inflexible Dominie Sampson. " Not so," replied the young Englishman ; " it is a general and well-grounded belief." "It is the resource of cheaters, knaves, and cozeners," said Sampson. " Abusus 11011 tollit usum. The abuse of anything doth not abrogate the lawful use thereof." During this discussion Ellangowan was somewhat like a woodcock caught in his own springe. He turned his face alternately from the one spokesman to the other, and began, from the gravity with which Mannering plied his adversary, and the learning which he displayed in the controversy, to give him credit for being half serious. As for Meg, she fixed her bewildered eyes upon the astrologer, overpowered by a jargon more mysterious than her own. WALTER SCOTT: Guy Mannering. d. And when we made part of a draft of fifty to fill out the Utah I took um under me wing and showed um'how to USAGE. 145 smuggle uz jug in the broad light of day past the searching sergeant of marines ; and he took to that handily. But O, a real man o' war was a wildering bedazzlement to um ! 'Tvvas cross-eying to um ! Such that he spent the deal of uz time a-falling through coal-holes and hatches and ladder- ways, all by mistake that green he was and making friends everywhere in the bowels of the ship by ut, with tell- ing how once he had risked uz life to save the captain's horse from being dry-smoked. And I thought I see me way to some special dispensations from old Tarrant through O'Shay. And I took um a walk to rub off uz lustre. I showed um the air-pumps and steam-pumps and hand-pumps and hydraulicky-pumps, and the fan-gear and tiller-gear, and turn- ing gear; and condinsers and ice-makers and forty small engines here and there ; with the winches and capstans and dynamos, and ash-hoists and shot-lifts and railways, and deck-plates and hand-wheels, and water-tight doors and holds and bottoms me telling um what each and every one was for. And I expostulated to um how the green-flanged red-painted pipe overhead carried water, and the yellow-flanged blue pipe carried steam from the donkey, and the black-flanged gray pipe carried pressed air, and the red-flanged green pipe car- ried hydraulicky, and the speaking tube painted yellow, took whispers all over the ship ; and I showed um twenty flush hatches and started to tell urn what each one was for. But O'Shay took to drink, saying that Heaven would forgive um. Well, I hauled off and forgot of um. For I see by the signs that the ship was to crawl away by moonlight, and me to serve me lick at the wheel at midnight. So I hove to and snored in me hammick between me favorite beams. And there was little Clarence, forty feet below, lying boxed up on the hard cement of her outside bottom, with her inner bottom for uz sky not two feet above uz nose, and uz feet agin her vertical keel and uz head bang up agin another vertical plate, called a longitudinal. CHESTER BAILEY FERNALD: The Spirit of the Pipe. 8. In the following sentences correct the provincialisms, colloquialisms, and other faults of which this chapter treats : 1. After being locked up in the closet for an hour Tommy began crying that he wanted out. 2. Nellie went to town a hour ago. COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 3. Sim Tompkins is the ornriest, measliest man I ever saw. 4. He suspicioned that things weren't right. 5. This yere hoss is all the one I have. 6. You go home and tell your paw to keep you there. 7. I don't remember of no such house as you tell about. 8. Archie says he wants a sure 'nough wagon now. 9. He went by way of the never-to-be-forgotten route through the Chilkoot Pass. 10. The land has been so long untilled that it is growing up to sunflowers. n. The boy sendeth one arrow to seek the other. 12. Mrs. Harkness is a great conversationist, but her mas- terpiece in the way of talk was her discussion of evolution with Prof. Mayer. 13. I reckon that wolves are no longer found here. 14. You will get tired toting that all day. 15. Henry had a very distingue appearance as he entered the hall. 16. The audience became very much enthused during his speech. 17. We had so many apples this year that we thought we never should get shet of them. 18. His great ambition was to be able to orate well. 19. John's father told him to harness the horse and start for town instanter. 20. We could hardly understand the patois in which they spoke. 21. That was a parlous siege. 22. The deer were confined in a narrow draw. 23. She had hidden the meat in a little cache at the back of the kennel. 24. In the course of those sharp engagements the command had somehow been licked into shape. 25. You knowed better than to do what I had so expressly forbidden. 26. They were terribly afeared and the captain was unable to revive their courage. PURITY. BARBARISMS. 147 CHAPTER VIII. PURITY. BARBARISMS. 54. The Application of the Laws of Good Use. Though the canons of good use are, to a certain extent, applicable to all the directions given in Part I. for the development of the theme, these directions at best are indefinite. We follow them because they state concisely the methods by which the best speakers and writers have attained success. They bear the stamp of gocd usage ; yet we might not follow them and still write cor- rect English. But in our choice of words and in gram- matical constructions we have no such latitude. Here we are rigidly governed by the laws of good use, which are not to be violated if we are to speak and to write with correctness. Violations of these laws of good use in spoken or written discourse may be summed up as follows : the use of words not English, the use of words in a sense not English, and the use of constructions not English. These are technically known as barbarisms, improprieties, and solecisms, convenient rather than arbitrary terms of designation. 55. Barbarisms. A barbarism is the use of a word or expression that has no good standing in the Eng- lish language because it is not in present, reputable, 148 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. and national use. Obsolete words, localisms, technical terms, foreign words and phrases, slang, and the com- mon vulgarisms of the day, are barbarisms. It is impos- sible to enumerate all the varieties of barbarisms that we meet, but a few of them may be pointed out, more for the purpose of showing their character than as an at- tempt to make a complete classification. This will enable us to recognize more readily the common mistakes of every-day speech, and will make us more careful in avoid- ing like errors. Of obsolete words, localisms, and techni- cal terms enough has been said in the preceding chapter. I. Foreign Words. Although the basis of our lan- guage is Anglo-Saxon, it has been augmented by the adoption of words from other languages. With new inventions, new arts and sciences, and new ideas bor- rowed from other nations, there have usually come the names by which they were first known to those nations. Thus, we are indebted to the American Indians for canoe, wigwam, tomakaivk, and moccasin ; to the Spanish for cigar, ranch, cargo, and stampede ; to the Italian for macaroni, piano, and many musical terms ; to the Dutch for yaclit and sloop ; to the French, Latin, and Greek for innumerable words. These words have become incorporated into our language, and may properly be regarded as a part of it. The practice of borrowing from other languages, however, is always hazardous, subjecting the writer to the charge of affectation, and should be left to authors of established reputation, who may venture so to supply an obvious need. The fre- PURITY. BARBARISMS. 149 quent use of hackneyed foreign expressions, chiefly French, by some writers of the day is to be especially condemned. The author whose events pass off with fclat ; who talks of affaires d' amour ; who does this or that by a coup ; who takes the metier of a man ; whose men are blase, and whose women are en grande toilette, convicts himself of affectation, and declares himself unable to command the resources of his own tongue. Happily this fault is not prevalent among pupils, and little need be said were it not for the fact that now and then a theme- writer, with a smattering of a foreign tongue puts into his composition some worn-out phrase under the impression that he is adding to the effective- ness of his work, when in reality he is tedious. A language sufficient to give utterance to the thoughts of Milton and Shakespeare ought certainly to supply the needs of the ordinary writer. 2. Slang. One of the most common forms of bar- barism is slang, the inelegant and vulgar speech which originates in local happenings, through the badinage of the street, or in the vituperative bitterness of a political contest. Slang is often compact, suggestive, and for- cible, and for that very reason lends color to colloquial discourse ; but it always savors of illiteracy, and has no place in dignified language. Most of the slang words live for a brief time only, but occasionally one comes into good use to supply a permanent need. Such, for instance, are WJiig, Tory, Yankee, bombast, buncombe, kttmbug, banter, and snob. The objections to slang are 150 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. that it is vulgar, inelegant, short-lived, and likely to impoverish and debase our diction by leading us to rely upon the catch-phrases of the day. It should never be permitted to disfigure serious composition. 3. New Words. As we have before noticed, our language grows by the introduction of new words from various sources. Some come from new ideas or new inventions, such as bicycle and telephone ; others, like mob and humbiig, spring up to meet a popular need ; commerce furnishes many ; and many which at first are peculiar to some occupation, come into general use. New words in any language are inevitable and even desirable ; but they should not be coined carelessly, to save the trouble of thinking out a fitting expression in the accepted vocabulary of the language. The exigen- cies of expression must determine what words shall come into a language.. If the new word supplies a real need, it will soon have a recognized standing ; thus, typewriter, motorman, and dynamo have come into good use. But more often such woFds are the invention of newspaper reporters, and partake either of the nature of slang, like fake, scoop, fad, and guy, or are incor- rectly formed, Xfao. jnotorneer, electrocute, and bioscope. Usually such words are short-lived, and disappear forever to be replaced by other and better expressions. The ordinary writer should be cautious about using new words ; if one is needed, it may safely be left to the best writers to give it a standing in the language. 4. New Formations. Some latitude must be allowed PURITY. BARBARISMS. 15.1 in the formation of new words from words that have already come into good use. When once we adopt a name for any new idea, new formations from it naturally follow ; thus, when the noun, telephone, came into good use, it was followed by the verb, to telephone, and the adjective, telephonic. The noun, bicycle, gave us the verb, to bicycle, the adjective, bicycling, and another noun, bicyclist. But whatever may be the need of such words, there are serious objections to the many vulgar formations which are substituted for expressions already in good use ; e.g., walkist, shoeist, to tour, to pedal, to sprint, to enthuse, to burglarize, to suicide, a combine, a scoop, an invite, trouserings, expose ; and a host of others with which the newspapers of the day are filled. 5. Abbreviations. A common offence against good English is the use of abbreviated forms as words. Some of these forms have established themselves in the lan- guage, e.g., cab for cabriolet, hack for hackney coach, van for vanguard,/^;/?/// for penultimate,/;'^^/ for procuracy ; but the greater part of them must be condemned as barbarisms. Such, for instance, are : incog for incog- nito, photo for photograph, phiz for physiognomy, exam for examination, gym for gymnasium, ' 'phone for tele- phone, ad for advertisement, doc for doctor, pard for partner, gents for gentlemen, and pants, a trade name for pantaloons, the last two being especially vulgar. I $2 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. EXERCISES. 1. Show why the laws of good use are applicable to the principles of theme development as given in Part I. Why do we follow these directions ? How do the laws cf good use govern us in our choice of words ? 2. What are the common offences against good English ? By what names are these offences known ? Of what value are these names ? 3. What is a barbarism ? Mention some varieties that we often meet. Turn to the exercises of the preceding chapter, and point out what you think to be barbarisms in the illustrations given. 4. Is a word a barbarism when it violates only one of the principles of good use ? Are barbarisms more fre- quent in spoken or in written discourse ? Why ?' Where have you found barbarisms in your reading? Where look for them ? 5. Bring to the class a list of the barbarisms found in your recent reading. 6. Look over the following passage, and note the bar- barisms if there are any. Comment upon any words you think not to be in good use and substitute proper words for them. " The roping of bear, mountain lion, and even deer is a favorite pastime of the Arizona cowboy, and at the same time affords a test of his accuracy with the rope and the speed and activity of his horse. He seldom misses a 'throw' when the animal is within range, but in the roping of bear not only must the cowboy be successful in placing the noose about the bear's neck, but he must draw it taut before the wily brute shakes it off. " On this occasion the boys followed their quarry through mesquite shrubbery, and several times when it appeared on an open they tossed the lasso about the animal's neck. The bear as frequently stopped, obtained a little slack, and neatly threw off the noose with his paw. The cowboys suffered the disgrace of losing their animal, three lariats, and their temper, but they returned to S afford, a small community in the moun- tains, with four skins and a wonderful account of a herd of Arizona bears. Cowboys from the surrounding hills are com- pleting a rodeo, and are gathering for a big bear hunt. Little . PURITY. BARBARISMS. 153 ammunition will be taken along, for the cowboy, as a rule, who stoops to sh.oot a bear is regarded as no better than the hunter who revels in ' pot-shots,' and the vaquero who returns without having successfully roped several bears will be in disgrace." 7. The following words and phrases are frequently found in the daily papers and magazines. Substitute a good English expression for each. artiste, en deshabille, terra firma, faux pas, mal de mer, ad libitum, entre nous, ^clat, facile princeps, nom-de-plume, raison d'etre, multum in parvo, tapis, coup, verbatim, furore, affaire d 'amour, descensus averni, distingue, on dit, casus belli, soiree, apropos, sub rosa, sang froid, ne'e, a la carte, qui vive, entree, matinee. 8. Examine the following words, and determine which are in good use. When in doubt, refer to a standard dictionary. enthuse, paragraphist, kopje, tapis, presidential, reconcentrado, siesta, referendum, corral, donate, fiance'e, parvenu, tony, boulevard, , spirituel, gubernatorial, penalize, impromptu, electrocute, memento, boycott, proven, .orate, mugwump, preventative, skedaddle, prote'ge', faddist, cablegram, reportorial, jag, gotten., swell. 9. Examine the following abbreviations, and determine which, if any, are in good use. sub, for substitute, chum, for chamber-fellow, super, for superintendent, curios, for curiosities, supe, for supernumerary, cycle, for bicycle, 'varsity, for university, prof., for professor, 'change, for exchange, perk, for perquisite, cap, for captain, 'neath, for beneath, spec, for speculation, bike, for bicycle. 10. Correct all violations of good English in the follow- ing sentences : 154 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 1. We toured Spain and cycled through Russia before we decided on our Indian trip. 2. We are pleased to hear that the prince was not troubled with mal de mer. 3. According to the present census, there has been a hump- ing increase in the population of many of the cities. 4. Newport is agog over the doings of the smart set. 5. Mrs. Fish's entertainment was the first blow-out of the season. 6. The race began with a ding-dong mile. 7. Eight bicyclers pedalled to Salem yesterday. 8. When the Harvard pigskin chasers came upon the field they presented a new line-up. 9. The hard work jars the Harvard men just a little. 10. The Press Club will hold a grand cycle meet at Charles River Park. Some good sprinting is expected. 11. The Governor doffs his cow-boy toga and puts on those of a miner. 12. Archery does not seem to materialize among us. 13. Business methods are becoming more and more impor- tant in politics, and Mr. Brown is facile princeps in their employment. 14. He gave out ominous signs of a proclivity to go on an oratorical rampage. 15. There was something so intoxicating in the sound of his voice and in the plaudits of his claqueurs that he was on the verge of a loquacious jag. 1 6. In his genre Mr*. Sothern is a charming actor. 17. The fools in the audience found that they had been monkeying with a buzz saw. 1 8. The home team (football) was- heavily penalized. 19. Seven subs were put in, but they could not get into the scrimmage owing to the light-footedness of the half-backs. 20. If the umpire would bench some of the players he would do a good work. 21. Pope now holds the premier place in the club for rowing. 22. The cops dashed forth and pinched the pugilists. It frequently eventuates that way. 23. There are no politics about trusts; they compel their employees to pony up for both parties. 24. Politics makes strange bed-fellows: witness the anti- imperialists, Populists, mugwumps, and silverites supporting the same nominee. 25. He wired his clientele to go short on railroad stocks and to bull the industrials. PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. 155 CHAPTER IX. PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. 56. Propriety. All writers must be careful not only to use good English words, but also to use each word in its proper sense ; that is, they must observe the rules of propriety. Here again good use must be the guide, for we use words properly when we follow the usage of the best authors. Swift's maxim, "proper words in proper places," tersely expresses the idea of pro- priety. 57. What Improprieties Are Many a writer fails to convey his meaning because he is careless in the use of his words. When we use a word in any sense not recognized by good use, we use it improperly. Such a misuse of words is known in rhetoric as an impropriety. The name is unimportant, but the fault itself is preva- lent and serious. It is comparatively easy to avoid the use of barbarisms, but a writer who would avoid improprieties must have a large vocabulary, be familiar with the meanings of his words, and painstaking in the choice of them. Few people are thus happily equipped for writing. To the majority words are but counters to be handed about with little comprehension of their mean- ing. Most people, meeting a new word in their read- 156 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. ing, conjecture the meaning from the context, and have but a vague idea of its real signification. When they attempt to use it, they make all sorts of mistakes, some ridiculous and others serious, but all tending to pro- duce ambiguity and obscurity of thought. Few of us can attain perfection in the use of words, but if we are careful to discriminate, we shall avoid the more glaring errors which weaken-and debase our writing. Accord- ingly, we must study our vocabulary with the aid of a dictionary, and make ourselves familiar with the accepted signification of words. 58. Causes of Improprieties Improprieties arise mainly from two causes, carelessness and ignorance. As an example of the former we may instance the use of "can" for "may," "most "for "almost," "quite" for "rather," "guess" for "think," etc. Ignorance usually manifests itself in the use of long words which the writer does not understand. We are all familiar with the mirth-provoking blunders of Mrs. Malaprop in "The Rivals." Few of us would make such mistakes as to confuse "illiterate" and "obliterate," "super- cilious" and "superficial," "contagious" and "con- tiguous," or "reprehend" and "comprehend"; but many of us are liable to errors which are reprehensible only in a less degree. Frequently we meet "transpire " in the sense of "happen," or find "affect" for "effect," and even Macaulay uses "observation" for "observ- ance." To avoid such mistakes it is better to confine ourselves to the simple words of Anglo-Saxon origin, PROPRIE TV. IMPROPRIE TIES. I 5 / than to attempt to use long words carelessly or igno- rantly. 59. Classes of Improprieties To enumerate all the improprieties which we meet would be impossible. We may, however, roughly classify some of the more com- mon cases that confuse the mind of the inexperienced writer. This classification is one simply of conve- nience, based on the reasons for our liability to confuse certain words. i. Resemblance in Looks and Sound. Sometimes two words look or sound so much alike that they are mistaken for each other. Nouns. Access, Accession. Access means (i) admission ; (2) a way of entrance. Accession means (i) an addition ; (2) the coming into possession of a right. This is the legal sense of the word. We gain " access to the Presi- dent." " An accession of territory is advantageous." " The accession of King James to the throne caused un- easiness." Advance, Advancement. Advance is the act of moving forward ; advancement, the act of being moved forward. "The advance of the army was rapid." "His advance- ment in the service was slow." Acceptance, acceptation. Acceptance is the act of accept- ing; as, "the acceptance of a nomination to office." Ac- ceptation means the sense in which an expression is understood ; as, " This was the common acceptation of the term." Allusion, illusion, delusion. Allusion refers to some- thing not explicitly mentioned ; a reference to a thing. Illusion refers to an error of vision ; delusion, to an error of judgment. " The allusions of Macaulay are often ob- 158 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. scure." " The mirage is an illusion.' 1 '' " He labored under a delusion" Compliment, complement. Compliment is an expression of approbation or praise. Complement is something that completes a deficiency. " He receives many compliments from his friends." " The State has furnished its comple- ment of soldiers." Council, counsel. Council is an advising body. Counsel is advice, or, in legal language, a lawyer who gives ad- vice. " The governor's council g&\e the men good counsel" " The counsel for the defendant then addressed the court." Enormity, enormousness. Enormity refers to deeds of unusual horror ; enormousness, to things of unusual size. " The enormity of the crime shocked the people." " We hardly realize the enormousness of the buildings at the Paris exhibition." Observation, observance. Observation means the act of observing or viewing, or it may mean a remark. We speak of "the observation of the stars," or "of making some ex- cellent observations." Observance means the keeping of a law or rite : as " the observance of the Sabbath," " the observance of a custom." Recipe, receipt. Recipe is used in the sense of a for- mula for cooking or for medicine. Receipt is also used in the sense of a formula for cooking, but more often as the act of receiving; as, "I am in receipt of your letter"; or as an acknowledgment of payment ; as, " I have a receipt for the money paid." Signification, significance. Signification refers to the meaning of a thing ; significance, to its importance. We speak of the " signification of words," " the significance of an act." Statue, statute. A statue is a carved likeness or image of a living being. A statute is a law. " The statute pro- vides that the statue of Washington shall not be defaced." Union, unity. Union means the joining of two or more things ; as, " a union of the states." Unity means PROPRIE TV. IMPROPRIE TIES. I 5 9 "oneness," "harmony." "There should be unity in a paragraph." Verbs. Accept, except. To accept means to receive or take something offered. We " accept a gift." To except means to make an exception of, to exclude. "He was ex- cepted from the general law." Accredit, Credit. To accredit means to invest with power or authority. " Mr. Choate is the accredited repre- sentative of the United States to the Court of St. James." To credit means to believe. " I can hardly credit your statement." Affect, effect. To affect is to influence, to produce an effect upon, or to seek, to aim at. " He was greatly affected by the news." " Some writers affect a literary style." To effect is to bring about, to accomplish. " The prisoner effected his escape." Construe, construct. To construe is to interpret, to show the meaning of. The speaker's words were con- strued in the wrong sense." To construct is to build. " We construct a building or a sentence." Convince, convict. To convince is to satisfy by argu- ment. To convict is to prove guilty. " I am convinced that the prisoner was guilty, but there was not sufficient evidence to convict him." Estimate, esteem. To estimate is to judge the value of. "I estimate the cost of a house." To esteem is to have a high opinion of. "I esteem my friend highly." Purpose, propose. To purpose is to intend. " I pur- pose to go to town to-morrow." To propose is to sug- gest. " I propose that we go to town to-morrow." Prescribe, proscribe. To prescribe is to lay down as a ttile of action, or to direct as a remedy. " The direc- tors prescribed the course to be taken." " The physician prescribed a dose of oil." To proscribe is to ostracise, or V> condemn. " Cicero was proscribed. " 160 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Persecute, prosecute. To persecute is to harass, to beset in an annoying way. " The Romans persecuted the Christians." To prosecute is to follow with a view to accomplish a thing, or to proceed against any one accord- ing to law. "The man prosecuted his purpose faithfully." "The lawyer prosecuted the criminal." Adjectives and Adverbs. Almost, most. Almost ! is used in the sense of nearly. Most is a superlative. It denotes the greatest number, quantity, or degree of anything. "Almost everybody had left the hall." " Most men are honest." Credible, creditable, credulous. Credible is that which may be believed. Creditable is that which is deserving of esteem, reputable. " The story seems hardly credible, although the act was highly creditable" Credulous is that which is too easy of belief, easily imposed upon. "Credu- lous people may accept a report that is not credible" Decided, decisive. Decided means strong, positive, un- questionable; thus we may have " decided opinions " about many things. Decisive means that which settles a point at issue. " The opinion of a judge is decisive" Exceptional, exceptionable. Exceptional means not ac- cording to rule. Exceptionable means open to criticism, objectionable. " He is an exceptional man whose conduct is not sometimes exceptionable" Human, humane. Human is that which belongs to mankind. " Human nature is the same everywhere." Humane means kind or compassionate. " He is a humane citizen." Official, officious. Official means belonging or pertain- ing to an office. " He was able to perform his official duties." Officious is used in the sense of unduly for- ward, meddlesome. " The overseer performs his duties in an officious way." Partly, partially. Partly means in part, partially, with partiality, although some very good authorities use PROPRIE TV. IMPROPRIE TIES. 1 6 1 partially for partly. " This is partly true." " The judge was accused of acting partially.' 1 '' Sensible of, sensitive to. We are sensible #/" anything when we are aware of it. We are sensitive to a thing when we are affected by it. We are sensible of an open door \ we are sensitive to the cold air that comes from it. 2. Resemblance in Sound and Meaning. Often two words resemble each other in both sound and meaning, thus doubly confusing the mind. Nouns. Act, action. An act is a thing done. An action more properly refers to the process of doing. We say, "He is incapable of such an act.' 1 ' 1 "Actions speak louder than words." Admittance, admission. Admittance means permission to enter, actual entrance. Admission is also used in the sense of permission to enter, but in a broader sense, with less definiteness in respect to space ; as, " No admittance to the office." "Admission to the harbor or to a peerage." Admission also means the price paid for en- trance ; but more commonly admission has come to be used in a figurative sense as an assent to an argument ; as, " This admission lost him the argument." Avocation, vocation. Avocation means a minor pursuit in distinction from a regular calling or vocation. " Teach- ing is his vocation, photography is his avocation" Completeness, completion. Completeness is the state of being complete. Completion is the act of complet- ing. We speak of the "completion of a building," and "the completeness of a collection of books or relics." Emigration, immigration. Emigration is moving out from a country. Immigration is moving into a country. Thus, we speak of "emigration from Europe," and " immi- gration to the United States." 1 62 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Falseness, falsity. Falseness means want of veracity, deceit, perfidy, and implies blame. We speak of "the falseness of a man's heart." Falsity is non-conformity to truth, usually without a suggestion of blame ; as, " The falsity of his argument was apparent." Relation, relative. Relation is used in a sense of fam- ily connection, but also in an abstract sense of connec- tion in general ; hence relative is preferable when we refer to a member of the family. " He invited his relatives to be present, although his relations with them were not pleasant." Requirement, requisite. Requirement is something re- quired by a person. Requisite is something required by the nature of the case. " He was not able to comply with the requirements of his employer." "A good education is a requisite to social advancement." Verbs. Lie, lay. Lie means to recline lengthwise, to assume a recumbent position. It is an intransitive verb. Lay is the causal verb of lie, and means to cause to lie, to place. Lay is a transitive verb. " We lie down to sleep." " We lay down the book." The principal error among unedu- cated people is in the use of lay for lie in the present and imperfect tenses. With a little care these can be properly distinguished. Rise, raise. Rise and raise bear the same relation to each other as do lie and lay. Rise is the primitive verb, and is intransitive. Raise is the causal verb of rise, and is transitive. " The building rises" but " the carpenter raises the building." Sit, set. Sit and set are two verbs which have the same relations as lie and- lay, rise and raise. " We sit down," but " we set the chair down." " We set the hen," but " the hen sits " ; hence we speak of " a sitting hen," and not of " a setting hen." Arise, rise. Rise has come to be used in a literal sense; as, " He rises from his seat." Arise is more often used figuratively, as, " Trouble arose among the people." PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. 163 Adjectives and Adverbs. After, afterwards. After should be used as a preposi- tion ; afterwards, as an adverb. " The sun came out after the rain." "Afterwards we went to drive." Continual, continuous. Continual is used of oft-re- peated acts ; continuous, of uninterrupted action. " The speaker was annoyed by continual interruptions." " There was a continuous uproar during the evening." Deadly, deathly. Deadly is used of anything that causes death ; deathly, of anything that resembles death. We speak of a " deadly poison," and of a " deathly pallor." Haply, happily. Haply is now nearly obsolete in prose. It means by chance ; as, " Haply some hoary-headed swain may say." Happily means by a happy chance. " Happily there were no delays." Healthy, healthful. -Healthy means to be in a state of good health. Healthful means to produce health, wholesome. " A healthful diet makes a healthy man." Practicable, practical. A thing is practicable that can be done ; it is practical when it is not theoretical. " Good roads are practicable. " "His ideas are practical. ' ' 3. Resemblance in Meaning. Sometimes two words are so nearly alike in meaning that they are confused. This is, perhaps, the most frequent cause of impropri- eties. Nouns. Ability, capacity. Ability means the power of doing anything. Capacity means the power of containing any- thing, the power of receiving ideas, the extent of space. " General Grant had the ability to lead armies." " The hogshead has a capacity of a thousand gallons." " The crowd filled the room to its utmost capacity." Balance, rest, remainder. Balance is a commercial term, and means the difference between two sides of an 164 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. account. Rest and remainder are what is left after a part is taken. Rest'vs a more general term than remainder ; it may represent a large or a small part, and is applied to persons or things. Remainder generally represents a small part, and is applied to things. We speak of " the balance of an account," "the rest of the people," and " the remainder of the hour." Character, reputation. Character is what we are ; repu- tation is what we appear to be to others. " We admire the character of Lincoln." "Lord Roberts has a good reputa- tion as a general." Custom, habit. Custom means the frequent repetition of an act ; it is voluntary. Habit is a custom continued so steadily as to develop a tendency to permanency ; it is the effect of custom, and is involuntary, often uncontrol- lable. " It was a custom of the Indians to scalp their victims." " A man may acquire the habit of opium- eating." Female, woman. Female is the opposite of male; it is used as the feminine of animals in general. Woman is the female of the human kind. It is a lack of courtesy to call a woman a female. We should say " a woman is wanted for the position," not " & female" Majority, plurality. Majority is the greater part of a whole number, more than half. Plurality means more than one, the greater number, and is used in a political sense as the excess of votes which one candi- date receives over those received by another, and is not necessarily a majority, when there are more than two candidates. " The majority of the people are in favor of the measure." " Mr. Smith received a plurality of votes over Mr. Brown and Mr. Jones." Person, party. Person is used of an individual ; party, of a company of individuals ; but in legal language party may be one of the persons concerned in an agreement. " Who is that person whom we met ? " " The Republi- can party was victorious." PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. 165 Series, succession. A series is a number of things following one after another and mutually related by some law. Succession is used when there is no such re- lation. It denotes order of occurrence only, and does not imply connection. We speak of " a series of books " and " a succession of events." Statement, assertion. A statement is a formal setting forth of facts or opinions bearing on a subject. An asser- tion is simply an affirmation or a declaration of fact. " He left the statement of his case to his counsel." " His assertion was shown to be false." Team, carriage. Team is properly used of two or more animals working together for a certain end. It does not include the carriage. Thus, we may speak of " a team of horses or oxen," or " a base-ball team" but we must not say that we hire a horse and team, meaning a horse and carriage. Verdict, testimony. A verdict is a decision of a num- ber of men acting as a single body ; thus, we may speak of " the verdict of the jury," or " the verdict of the public." Testimony is an expression of opinion or of knowledge by an individual or a number of individuals not acting as a body ; thus, " We listened to the testi- mony of the witnesses." Verbs. Admire, like. Admire means to regard with wonder or surprise, to marvel. It should not be used in the sense of like, that is, of being pleased. " I should like to go to the World's Fair, and to admire the w r orks of art." Allude, mention. We allude to a thing when we refer to it indirectly, or in a slight way. We mention a thing when we name it directly. " Macaulay alludes to many things which the reader does not understand." " He men- tions several enterprises in which he is engaged." Calculate, intend. To calculate means to compute mathematically, to adjust. It should not be used for 1 66 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. intend, which means to have a certain purpose in view. " I intend to take a vacation, and must calculate the ex- penses attending it." Carry, bring, fetch. To carry means to take along in going ; to bring means to take along in coming ; to fetch means to go and bring. It is not so much used as formerly. " The pupil carried home his book ; he will bring it in the morning." " Fetch me the dictionary." Claim, assert. To claim means to demand as one's right. " We claim the privilege of speaking at a meet- ing," or " We claim what the law entitles us to." To assert is to make an assertion, to say something in the face of implied doubt. " The criminal asserts his in- nocence." Confess, admit. To admit is simply to acknowledge a thing in which there is no idea of blame or confession ; to confess is to admit a fault or a sin. We admit that our argument is weak. We confess that we have done wrong. Discover, invent. To discover is to find something that already existed. " Columbus discovered America." To^invent is to find something which did not previously exist, to create by some new combination of means, to fabricate. " Bell invented the telephone." Drive, ride. Drive and ride are often used inter- changeably, but there is a growing distinction between the two. We drive in a carriage ; we ride on horseback, or on a bicycle. Drive seems to be narrowing in its use, while ride seems to have a broader use. Learn, teach. In older English learn and teach were used in the same sense, but in modern English learn has come to mean to acquire knowledge ; teach, to impart knowledge ; and this distinction must be made in good English to-day. We teach others, but we must learn for ourselves. Love, like. Love and like, though often carelessly used the one for the other, differ greatly in force and in PROPRIE TY. IMPROPRIE TIES. 1 6/ kind. We like or love a friend according to the intensity of our feeling. We like, never love, a thing, such as an article of food, when we are simply fond of it, or are pleased with it. Love implies a strong affection for a person ; like, simply a preference for anything. Lease, hire. To lease means to let by lease and not to hire by lease. To hire means to obtain the use of for remuneration. We lease a house when we let it, not when we hire it. May, can. We use may in asking or in giving per- mission ; we use can to denote a possibility. " May I borrow your pencil ? " " Can you perform the task allotted to you ? " Stay, stop. Stop means simply to come to a halt or rest ; stay means to remain for any length of time. " We stayed at the seashore all summer." " Many people stopped \Q get a drink of water from the old well." Transpire, happen. Transpire means to leak out through unnoticed channels. It should not be used in the sense of happen. " It transpired that there was trouble at the meeting," but events do not transpire ; they happen. Adjectives and adverbs. Aggravating, irritating. Although at the present day aggravating is sometimes used in the sense of irritating, its proper meaning is making heavier, or worse in some way. We may speak of " aggravating circumstances " and of " irritating remarks." Apt, likely, liable. Apt implies an habitual tendency to do a thing, or a readiness in doing it. " We are apt to think that the world is growing more immoral." Likely implies a probability of any kind. " We are likely to suc- ceed if we persevere." Liable implies an unpleasant proba- bility. "When we do wrong we are liable to be punished." Apparently, evidently. Apparently is used of that which seems, but may not be, real ; evidently, of that which both 1 68 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. seems and is real. " He was apparently a man in the prime of life." " The sun is evidently the great source of heat in the world." Both, each, every. When we speak of two persons or things as acting together, that is, as a pair, we use both. " Both men were noted for their honesty." When we speak of two or more persons or things separately, that is, consider them one by one, we use each. " Each boy denied that he was at fault." When we speak of two or more persons or things as forming a group, and do not make any individual distinction, we use every. " The sun rises every day." Every directs attention to the group as a whole ; eath, chiefly to the individuals composing the group. Mad, angry. Mad properly means insane, and is not correctly used in the sense of angry. " The continual use of some drugs makes men mad" "His remarks made me angry" Mutual, common. Mutual is improperly used in the sense of common ; it means reciprocal, pertaining alike to both sides, sharing alike ; thus we may speak of " mutual love," " a mutual insurance company." A and B may be " mutual friends," but C cannot be a mutual friend of A and B. Quite, very, rather. Quite means entirely ; it is not in good use in the sense of rather or very. We may say, " I am quite satisfied with his explanation," but not, " He was quite seriously hurt," meaning " He was rather seriously hurt." Oral, Verbal. Oral is used of spoken words ; verbal of words either spoken or written. We speak of an oral exercise in distinction from one that is written. We read a verbal report of the proceedings at a meeting. Splendid, Elegant. Splendid means brilliant, dazzling, grand. We may speak of a " splendid palace," or a "splendid victory." Elegant means refined, characterized by good taste ; as, " Her manners were elegant" PROPRIE TY. IMPROPRIE TIES. 1 69 ebositions. Among, between. When we refer to more than two persons or things, we use among ; when we refer to two only, between is the proper word. " He divided the candy among five boys." " The relations between the United States and England are cordial." At, in. Both at and in are used to denote the place where. When the place is viewed as a mere point, at is used. In makes prominent the idea " within the bounds of." " The boy was at school every day, and when he was in school, he was studious." By, with. By is more properly used to denote the agent; with to denote the means or instrument. " Rich- mond was taken by General Grant with a large army." 4. Shall and will. Should and would. The mistakes that are made in the use of shall and will, should and would, may be regarded as impropri- eties. So confusing are these words to many people that they seem to require special treatment. Shall and will. Many grammars teach that shall and will may be used interchangeably to form the future tense of a verb; as, "I shall or will come," "You shall or will come," "He shall or will come," etc. This is not true. To form the future we should use shall in the first person, and will in the second and third persons, singular and plural ; thus, " I shall come," " You will come," " He will come," " We shall come," " You will come," " They will come." The alternative form expresses something more than futurity. The distinction between the two words will be better understood if we consider the history of them. Shall and will originally had no connection with each other. They were separate verbs, each having a meaning of its I/O COMPOSITION AND It HE TOR 1C. own. Shall implied an obligation, and was used in a sense much like that of our word " ought ; " will implied volition, and corresponded to the Latin " volo " and the French " vouloir." As the English verb had no future form, shall was used as an auxiliary to express future action, and later will was substituted for shall in the sec- ond and third persons, probably as a matter of courtesy. As auxiliaries they lost their original meaning, and now express simple futurity. When otherwise used, they still retain traces of their original meaning; thus, "I will come," means"! am willing," or "I wish to come." Sometimes will implies a promise or a determination. " You " or " he shall come " implies a command or a threat. " Thou shalt not kill " is a command. To express futurity the following rules may be given for the use of shall and will: 1. In principal clauses use shall in the first person, and will in the second and third persons, singular and plural. 2. In subordinate clauses shall is generally the form to be used in all persons ; but if it be a case of indirect dis- course, that is, a noun clause introduced by " that " after a verb of "saying" and the like, use the auxiliary that would be proper if the sentence were turned into direct discourse; thus, "He says that he shall go," " He thinks that you will go." 3. In questions use shall in the first person, and in the second and third persons use the auxiliary that is ex- pected in the answer; thus, " Shall you go to the theater to-night ? " " Will he be at home when I call ? " Shduld and would. As should and would were origi- nally but the past tenses of shall and will, we should ex- pect them to follow the same rules. In general this is true, but in addition they have certain uses of their own. Should is sometimes used in its original sense of " ought," as, " We should do what is right." " We should do unto others what we would that men should do unto us." Should is also used in a conditional sense as -the PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. 171 equivalent of " were to ; " as, " If it should rain, we shall go just the same." Would is sometimes used to express habitual action. " He would often express his opinions." Would also ex- presses a wish ; as, " Would that he had died in his in- fancy." 60. Idiomatic English. English, like other lan- guages, has many constructions and expressions pecu- liar to itself, known as idioms. These idioms cannot be translated literally into other languages, and many of them will not bear grammatical analysis. They are not manufactured expressions, but are the growth of the soil ; and although they are the result, perhaps, of care- lessness and loose thinking, they are, nevertheless, sanctioned by good use, and are among the strongest and most characteristic features of the language. "How do you do?" "What is the matter ?" "to fall asleep," "to look out," "to be out of one's head," "to play fast and ioose," are common idioms of the day. Such idioms express ideas as nothing else can do ; they are often figurative, always brief and full of mean- ing, and their use gives to discourse a freshness and native vigor that would otherwise be wanting. A list of idioms in good use would include the following : A stroke of luck. To be of age. To get rid of. Full many a. To jump to a conclusion. On hand. Under the circumstances. To be bent upon. Now-a-days. To catch cold. To call to account. To turn the tables. To take advantage of. Of mine (a friend of mine). 1/2 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 61. Unidiomatic English Important as English idioms are in good discourse, they are not to be con- fused with those constructions that are contrary to the genius of the language, that is, the English method of combining words; such as, "What for a man is he?" " I am desirous to enter a business house," " The window gives upon the balcony," " You make me to feel tired," "He left his seats above," for "he left his dwelling- place above." Such combinations of. words are not in good use, and, therefore, are improprieties. These im- proprieties usually result from an attempt to translate a foreign language into literal English, or to adopt a foreign style, in which the constructions and combi- nations of words are different from what the English language allows. " Ou' avez-vous ? " and "Comment vous portez-vous ? " are good French idioms, but their sense is completely lost if we try to translate them into literal English. " What for a man is he ? " may be a good German idiom ; but in English we should say, " What kind of man is he ? " We must beware, then, of trying to translate any foreign language literally, or of introducing into our English any idiomatic use of words which we have found in studying other languages. EXERCISES. i. What do you mean by " propriety " ? How should you distinguish an impropriety ? What are the causes of improprieties ? How do they affect our writing ? How does our reading help us to avoid them ? 2. Is it possible to classify improprieties definitely ? PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. 173 Why not? Is there any way in which they may be roughly grouped ? What reasons can you give for your liability to confuse certain words ? 3. Distinguish in meaning between the following: advance, progress, and pro- hanged and hung. gression. grant and give, alternative and choice. allege and maintain, couple and pair. declare and assert, depot and railway station. expect and suppose, migration and emigration. decimate and destroy, woman and lady. fly and flee, man and gentleman. repair and mend, house and home. begin and commence, loan and lend. settle and locate, part and portion. contemptible and contemp- amount and number. tuous. scholar and pupil. each other and one another, college and university. clever and pleasant, sewage and sewerage. less and fewer, habit and practice. noted and notorious. 4. Construct sentences in which the preceding words are used properly. 5. Insert the proper word in each of the following sentences : 1. Mr. Brown is building a beautiful (house, home) in Brookline. 2. Will the (party, person) who found an umbrella in the Union (depot, station) return the same to the office of the Company? 3. The (testimony, verdict) of history is that Christianity has done much for .the (advance, advancement) of civilization. 4. The rjver at this point is a (series, succession) of rapids which makes it difficult for small boats to pass. 5. The Governor in his Thanksgiving proclamation asks the people to abstain from their usual (vocations, avocations) on Thanksgiving Day. 6. We are pleased to (state, say) that the new City Hall is approaching (completeness, completion). 7. The savages fell upon us so suddenly that to attempt resistance would have been the (act, action) of a madman. 8. The (observation, observance) of a few rules of health will prolong life many years. 1/4 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 9. Two (proposals, propositions) were submitted for consideration at the last meeting. 10. His (character, reputation) among his friends is that of an honorable business man. 11. He was deeply (effected, affected) by what she had told him, but it did not alter his resolution. 12. The king could never be persuaded to employ that (description, kind) of manoeuvering in his campaigns. 13. An invitation was (given, extended) to him to come and visit them whenever it suited his convenience. 14. He was greatly (aggravated, irritated) by the outcome of the affair. 15. The party was very anxious to occupy the (balance, remainder) of the time in (reaching, discovering) the farther range of mountains. 16. The teacher confessed that he was a very (apt, likely) pupil, but added that he troubled her greatly, because he was so (apt, liable, likely) to get into trouble. 17. Every (individual, person) in that vast assembly was moved to sympathy with the speaker. 18. My friend Morrison (considers, thinks) the piano the king of instruments. 19. Two months before the election we (predicated, pre- dicted) the results which our news columns announced yester- day. 6. Replace the improprieties in the following passages with proper words : 1. " Sir," said a man to Dr. Parr, " I have a contemptible opinion of you." " That does not surprise me," replied the Doctor ; " all your opinions are contemptible." 2. A gentleman who has had exceptionable opportunities to observe the trend of political feeling in the west, states that there is no doubt that the Republican candidates will be elected. 3. A great part of the congregation left the church after the service, but the balance remained to talk over the sermon. 4. Several years have transpired since I visited the spot, and I understand there has been any number of changes. 5. I beg to acknowledge the acceptation of your book. I have only partially examined it, but I admire it very much, and propose to spend many a spare hour in reading it. 6. "Can I leave the room?" "No, you cannot, unless you want to stop after school." 7. We engaged a couple of men to take our baggage to the depot. PROPRIETY IMPROPRIETIES. 1/5 8. Such was the violence of the storm that none of the passengers hoped the vessel could outlive the gale. 9. We had a nice time yesterday ; the weather was nice, the lunch was nice, and everything was nice. 10. A society for the promotion of good citizenship has lately been inaugurated in Boston. 11. I have exceptionable opportunities for making good investments, and claim to give satisfaction. 12. I confess that I have never attained a great quantity of perfection in the art. 13. A dispatch from London states that Sir Thomas Lip- ton proposes to issue another challenge for the cup. 14. The strike of the coal-miners, which it was claimed would transpire yesterday, failed to materialize. 15. The advent of so large a corporation into this locality is an unlooked-for factor in the situation. 16. It is hoped that the guilty parties will be apprehended during the balance of the week. 17. The local dramatic company scored a decided success ; the play was elegantly staged, and the parts were splendidly taken. 7. Distinguish carefully between " shall " and "will," " should " and " would." Give rules for the use of " shall " and " will " in expressing future action. Mention any special uses of " should " and " would." In the following sentences insert the proper forms, " shall " or " will," " should " or " would " : - 1. You (shall, will) know to-morrow the result of the game. 2. Whenever she disobeyed she (should, would) be punished. 3. He says he (shall, will) be present at the meeting. 4. He says his brother (shall, will) be present at the meeting. 5. If we (should, would) visit the scenes of our childhood, we (should, would) find many changes. . 6. The time is coming when we (shall, will) have to go somewhere else for our coal. 7. He promised that our trunk (should, would) be here by six o'clock. 8. Do you think you (shall, will) go with us to-morrow? 9. (Shall, will) I send you the letter if it (should, would) come? 10. (Should, would) you like to come to dinner, if you had the time ? COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 8. Correct the following sentences, if necessary : 1. I asked her whether she would come again. 2. If he will come to-day, should you be willing to see him? 3. On receipt of this, you will immediately report at headquarters. 4. " Perchance I will be there as soon as you." 5. Were we writing for the English public, we would give it but a paragraph. 6. Whom shall the Democrats nominate? asks a daily paper. 7. " I will sooner have a beard grow on the palm of my hand than he shall get one on his cheek." 8. To-morrow we will offer for sale all of our stock of neckties at reduced rates. 9. I would like to go to town, and should do so if I could ? 10. Should they not agree to the proposals, what would I do? 9. Write sentences in which each of the following words is employed followed by the preposition which it takes. In the cases of the words after which several prepositions are given, write sentences illustrating the proper use of the word with each of them. Abhorrent. Abhorrence. Accountable (to, for). Acquiesce. Admission (to, into]. Advantage (of, over}. Agree (among, in, to, with}. Ambitious (after, for, of}. Answer (for, to}. Attend (to, upon}. Bargain (for, with). Call (at, for, in, on}. Careful (of, in}. Coincide. Compatible. Complain. Conform. Connect (to, with}. Correspond (to, with}. Deficient. Desirous. Discourage. Distinction. Emulous. Equal (to, with}. Exonerate. Grieve (at, for}. Inure. Join (to, with}. Killed (by, with}. Listen (for, to}. Mastery (of, over}. Militate. Necessity (of. for}. Objection (against, to). Opposite. PROPRIETY. IMPROPRIETIES. Partiality (for, to). Pleased (at, with}. Possessed (by, of, with}. Prevent. Rejoice (at, in). Reproach (with, for). Requisite. Reward (by, for, with}. Secure (against, from, of). Significant. Vexed (at, with). Weep (at, for). Yearn (for, towards). Zealous (for, in). 10. Write sentences illustrating the correct use of the fol- lowing words. Character. Limitation. Avocation. Prominent. Residence. Plurality. Site. Aggravate. Degrade. Antagonize. Endorse. Approve. Reckon. Calculate. Locate. Proven. Propose. Want. Preceding. Imminent. Posted. Advancement. Complement. Decisive. Remainder. Invent. Patent. 178 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC CHAPTER X. SOLECISMS. 62. Solecisms The employment of expressions that violate the laws of English grammar is the most distinctive mark of the unlettered mind, and is there- fore to be avoided with the greatest care. Such ungrammatical expressions, or errors in syntax, are technically known in rhetoric as solecisms. Theoreti- cally the pupil who has come to the study of rhetoric may be supposed to have mastered the principles of syntax and to need no further drill in correct gram- matical expression ; practically we are all so much influenced by the careless speech of the day that we often fall into constructions that are not in accord with the principles of English speech. "Grammar," says De Quincey, "is so little of a perfect attain- ment amongst us, that, with two or three exceptions, we have never seen the writer, through v a circuit of prodigious reading, who has not sometimes violated the accidence of English grammar." It is well, there- fore, to fix in the mind some of the specific and common errors, that we may be on our guard against them. "He don't," "you was," " I seen," are such crude mis- takes that it seems almost unnecessary to caution SOLECISMS. 179 pupils against them, and yet just such solecisms are continually surprising us in the speech of those who should know better. It is possible to give here only a few of the more important instances of grammatical errors which occur in the speech or in the writing of the careless and the ignorant. Bearing in mind what the sentence is as it has been defined on page 86, the pupil should take care in his writing to be sure that every word has a definite grammatical relation in the sentence. 63. Nouns and Pronouns. Errors in the use of nouns and pronouns may be con- sidered under two heads, errors of case and errors of number. As nouns in English have very little inflec- tion, mistakes in the cases are not frequent ; but as pronouns have retained their inflectional forms to a greater extent, the possibility of using them incorrectly is much greater. Nouns. i . Errors in Case. The Possessive. In using the possessive case great care must be exer- cised in putting the apostrophe where it belongs. The possessive singular is formed by adding " 's " to the nominative ; thus, " lady's," not " ladie's," " Dickens's," not " Dicken's." But a proper noun ending in " s " may, for the sake of euphony, take the apostrophe alone ; thus, " Socrates'." The possessive plural is formed by adding the apostrophe to the nominative plural when the la f ter ends in " s," but otherwise it is formed like the possessive singular; thus, "boys'," "men's," "children's." The possessive case of compound nouns and expres- l8o COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC sions used as compound nouns is formed by adding the proper sign of the possessive to the end of the compound ; thus, " brother-in-law's," " William the Conqueror's." When we have two nouns in the possessive case, one in apposition with the other, the sign of the possessive is usually put with the second, but may be used with both ; thus, " Go down to Smith the grocer's," or "Go down to Smith's the grocer's." In using the possessive form of such expressions as " somebody else " or " anybody else," we may say " some- body's else " or " somebody else's," " anybody's else," or " anybody else's." The rules of grammar favor the first of the two forms, but good usage seems to have adopted the second. If several nouns in the possessive case qualify the same noun, and are connected by and, the possessive sign may be used with the last one only ; thus, " Men, w r omen, and children's shoes." But if common possession is not implied, or if the possessive words are joined by some dis- junctive term, the possessive sign must be used with each word. Occasionally the sentence will be more elegant if possession is expressed by the use of the preposition " of," and in some cases by both the preposition and the regular possessive case ; thus, " How do you like that new house of John's ? " The phrase " of John's " is a recognized *English idiom. The possessive case must not be used as coextensive with the Latin genitive. As a general rule, the possessive case in English should denote ownership or possession, and should not be applied to inanimate objects. We may say " the boy's book," but not "the city's indebtedness," for the latter is a sort of personification of " the city," when no such personification is intended. In such cases it is better to use the objective case with " of." We may also say " the President's reception " when it is the Presi- , dent who receives, but if some one receives the President, * we should say " the reception of the President ; " that ^ is, if a noun referring to a person be used subjec- SOLECISMS. 1 8 1 lively, it may be put in the possessive case, but if it be used objectively it must be put in the objective case with " of." Thus we may speak of " living's visit to Strat- ford," but not of " the strike's beginning," or we may say, " a good story of Lincoln's " (one that he told) and " a good story of Lincoln " (one told about him). The objective genitive was an admissible construction in the Anglo-Saxon, but it has now become obsolete. We must distinguish carefully between the verbal noun in " ing " and the present participle in " ing." The former is used as a noun and the latter as an adjective ; conse- quently when the verbal noun is used the substantive which precedes it, and which is used as the active agent, should be in the possessive case. Thus we may say, " We looked for his coming," but such common sentences as " The probability of him helping them was small," are not cor- rect. " Helping " as here used is an adjective modifying " him;" consequently the sentence has no meaning; but if we think of " helping " as a verbal noun, as the meaning shows it to be, and change " him " to " his," the sentence becomes clear. Pronouns. Mistakes are frequently made in the use of the nominative and the objective cases. Nouns present nc difficulties in this respect, but as pronouns re- tain their inflectional forms, we are liable to become care- less in the use of the two cases. After prepositions we should be especially careful to use the objective form. We must say " between you and me" not " between you and /," " an invitation for you and me" not " an invita- tion for you and /." It is sometimes difficult to decide which case of the pronoun to use after the verb to be, but if we remember that the verb to be is followed by the same case as that which precedes it, we shall have little trouble. Thus when the pronoun follows the finite verb it should be in the nominative case ; as, " If I were he" or " if I had been he." When it follows the infinitive it should usually be in the objective case, as " I supposed it to be him." 1 82 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. Who and Whom. Even the most careful writers and speakers often find difficulty in deciding promptly upon the proper case of the relative and the interrogative. When whom, either relative or interrogative, precedes the verb of which it is the object, the natural tendency is to use the nominative in its place ; thus, " Who did you see last night?" or "He could not remember who he had given it to," are typical examples of the use of who for whom. Occasionally the verb of the subordinate clause to which the pronoun belongs is omitted, leaving it doubtful whether a finite verb or an infinitive is to be supplied. In such cases it is usually better to assume that the omitted verb is an infinitive ; thus, " We left the valuables with Mr. Blockley, whom we thought (to be) a thoroughly honest man," is better than ''We left the valuables with Mr. Blockley, who we thought (was) a thoroughly honest man." 2. Errors in Number. Nouns. That nouns in English usually form their plurals in " s " has become so impressed upon our minds that we are apt to associate all nouns ending in " s " with the plural and all nouns not ending in " s " with the singular. This gives rise to many errors. We must re- member that not all nouns form their plural in " s." Nouns of foreign origin usually retain the plural form which they have in their own language : thus, alumni, radii, analyses, data, phenomena, and tableaux are plural. On the other hand, we have many nouns ending in " s " which are singular, for example, news, means (an instru- ment), and pains. Nouns in " ics," such as ethics , mathe- matics, politics, and tactics are usually treated as singular, while headquarters, measles, and alms are treated some- times as singular, sometimes as plural. " The United States " is properly regarded as singular, although some very good authorities use it as plural. Collective nouns may be regarded as singular or plural according to their signification. Pronouns. A pronoun must agree with its antecedent SOLECISMS. 183 (the noun which it represents) in number : " Let each take his turn," " Nobody should praise himself" When the antecedent consists of two or more nouns in the singular, connected by and, expressed or implied, the pronoun should be in the plural; when the nouns are separated by or, nor, or any other disjunctive, the pronoun should be in the singular ; thus, " James, John, and William are on their way to school," and " James, John, or William is on his way to school." If the antecedent is qualified by each or every the pronoun should be in the singular. Such expressions as any one, each, every, either, neither, anybody, everybody, and nobody, when used as antecedents, require a singular pronoun ; thus, " Has anybody a pencil in his pocket ? " " Every one has his troubles." Each other is used with reference to two persons or things, one another with reference to more than two. " The guests gave one another mementoes of the occasion," is preferable to " The guests gave each other mementoes of the occasion." Some very good authorities, however, use them interchangeably. Either is one of two, any is one of any number. Neither and none are distinguished in the same way. None is also used in the plural number ; as " None are so blind as those who will not see." Which and that are often confounded by inexperienced writers. The general rule is to use which as explanatory, that is, to introduce a new fact, and that as restrictive, that is, to limit an idea already expressed. In other words, when and with the personal pronoun it or they can be substituted for the relative, use which. Thus, " He took all the books which were on the table," means that he took all the books, and that they were on the table ; but if we say, " He took all the books that were on the table," we mean that he took only those books that were on the table. In some cases, however, euphony demands the use of which instead of that ; thus, " That book which you spoke of " sounds better than " That book that you spoke of." That is preferable after same, very, all, the interrogative who, and the superlatives of weight, meas- 1 84 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. ure, and value ; " the very book that I wished," " the largest river that I saw," etc. 64. The Parts of Speech The use of one part of speech for another is a fault against which it would seem that no caution is needed, but even a " liberal educa,- tion " may not keep a man from using the noun suspi- cion for the verb suspect, or from saying, " It seemed like the time would never come," for " It seemed as if the time would never come." Countless other errors of a similar kind are to be found in the work of the half- educated writers of the day and give it the stamp of illiteracy. Adjectives an'd Adverbs. Most, which is an adjective or an intensive, is frequently used for the adverb almost (see Section 59. i. Adjectives and Adverbs, for the distinction between most and almost}. This fault is especially dis- figuring in such expressions as, "I most always take a walk before breakfast," or "I am most dead, I am so tired." The adjective good is often used for the adverb well, as, " I am feeling good' 1 '' for " I am feeling well.' 1 '' The adjective real is used for very or really even by those who are otherwise careful in their speech ; for example, " We had a rea/ good time," should be " We had a very, or a really, good time." The predicate adjective is often used for the adverb, or the adverb for the predicate adjective. Even cultivated persons are sometimes in doubt whether to use an adjec- tive or an adverb after certain verbs. We say properly, " He seems happy," but not, " He worked happy," and, " The flower smells sweet," not, " The flower smells sweetly." In general we may have less difficulty if we remember that the qualifying word when referring to the subject of the verb should be an adjective; when re- SOLECISMS. 185 ferring to the verb, it should be an adverb, thus, we say, " He looked angry " and " He spoke angrily" In the sentence, " He feels badly over the affair," badly is preferable to bad, as the latter might give rise to ambiguity. Verbs and Verbals. The indicative mood is often used where the subjunctive is preferable. The distinction be- tween the indicative and subjunctive has been lessening as the language has lost its inflectional forms. The hurried writing of the newspapers has contributed further to this result, but good writers are careful to avail themselves of the subjunctive to express shades of meaning that without it are not easily made clear. When a sentence or a subordinate clause expresses doubt, a wish, indecision, or a future contingency not a question, its verb should be in the subjunctive. A conditional clause which is not future and not contrary to fact, is, however, in the indica- tive. In the sentence, " If I were he I should not follow that plan," the verb of the subordinate clause is properly subjunctive, since the condition is contrary to fact. In " If that was known to him he did wisely in continuing his march," it is assumed that the conditional clause is true, and the verb is therefore indicative. The use of the perfect infinitive after the past tense of the finite verb is a very common error. The boy who says, " I hoped to have gone," really declares that he hoped, after it was too late. The sentence should be, "I hoped to go," since the tense of the infinitive must be determined by its relation to the time of the principal verb, and it is here a future relation. The verb ought may of course take the perfect or present infinitive as the sense requires. " He ought to be more careful," " You ought to have looked after him," are both correct. But the error of using an . auxiliary with ought, even among educated men, is a common fault. "He hadn't ought to have done that," is ungrammatical, because ought itself is a finite verb and cannot take the auxiliary had, which may be used only with the participle. 1 86 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. General propositions that make no distinction as to time should be expressed in the present tense, and when the statement of the truth is in a subordinate clause, the tense of the principal verb does not affect that of the subordinate verb. " One of the first chemical facts we learned was that water is composed of oxygen and hydro- gen," is correct, although at first thought the past tense of the principal clause might seem to require a past tense in the subordinate clause. Care must be taken to distinguish between the present and the future tenses. We often say carelessly, " I shall be happy to accept your invitation," when we mean, " I am happy to accept your invitation," or " I regret that a previous engagement will prevent me from being present," when we mean, " I regret that a previous engagement prevents me from being present." A verb is singular or plural according to the sense of its subject : " The chairman and the secretary were chosen." " The editor and poet was given a reception." In the first of these sentences the chairman and the secretary are two distinct persons, and in the second the editor and poet are one. Frequently a singular noun is fol- lowed by a plural expression, qualifying or parenthetical, and the tendency is to make the verb plural to agree -with this expression. This, of course, has no justification, but often it will be found better to change the sentence so as to avoid the suggestion of plurality, since a sen- tence which at first seems to be incorrect is unpleasant, even though a second reading shows that it is gram- matical. " The wish of many others was what influ- enced him," " Henry Law, with a number of his friends, has formed a new telephone company," are correct sen- tences. The second, however, would be better in this form : " Henry Law and a number of his friends have formed a new telephone company," unless the writer wishes especially to emphasize the subordinate rela- tion of the friends in the enterprise. Collective nouns are followed by plural verbs when the things for SOLECISMS. 187 which the noun stands are thought of as separate parts of the whole. " The army was slow in taking position," and " The army to a man were dissatisfied with the arrangements for distributing the plunder," are both cor- rect. 65. Redundant and Incomplete Expressions. By a redundant expression we mean an expression that is not needed to complete the sense ; in other words, a superfluous expression. An expression is incomplete when some word or words are omitted which are neces- sary to complete the construction or the sense. A noun like ' man " or "boy" when referring to a class should not have the article a before it, especially after the expressions kind of and sort of. We say properly, " That sort of man," not " That sort of a man," or " He is not worthy the name of gentleman," not " He is not worthy the name of a gentleman." On the other hand, the omission of the definite or the indefinite article is often the occasion of ambiguity. When several words in the same construction refer to persons or things which must be considered separately, the article should be used before each. In the sentence "It is the hope of the statesman and of the scholar," it is clear that the statesman and the scholar are not one person, as might be properly under- stood if the sentence were written without the second the, thus, " It is the hope of the statesman and scholar." Likewise we should say " I have a history and a geom- etry," otherwise we should understand the history and geometry to be one book. When reference is made to a class as a whole and as distinct from other classes, or to a particular object repre senting the class, the definite article should be used, as, " The dog is my favorite animal ; " but the nouns man and woman are used without the article. When the participle is used as an abstract noun, it is 1 88 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. preceded by the definite article and followed by the preposition of, but when used as a gerund both article and preposition are omitted, thus, " The reading of books will not necessarily result in culture." " Upon hearing my name he recognized me." Many of the common prepositions, such as on, into, up, over, etc., are often used as adverbs, after verbs, and are redundant, thus, " The firm failed up" " We will do this later on" and " The question, if examined into, could be easily answered." The use of and before a relative prbnoun is superfluous when it does not connect the relative clause to a pre- ceding relative clause having like relation to a common antecedent, as in the following sentence ; " The picture reminded Rip of an old Flemish painting in the parlor of Dominie Van Schaick, and which had been brought over from Holland at the time of the settlement." In this case the sentence is improved by leaving out the and. The use of a double subject is another fault of redun- dancy found in the work of careless writers, as, " The horse, she was frightened and ran away." The double subject is a common construction in the English of two and three centuries ago. In the King James version of the Bible, we find " The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat," but such a construction is no longer in good use. The fault of employing a phrase or a dependent relative clause as a sentence has been noticed in a preceding chapter. The inexperienced writer should guard against this fault. Sometimes the relative has no other antecedent than the general meaning of the preceding clause, as in the following: "By this mishap the dinner party was broken up, which troubled our host very much." This usage has the sanction of some good writers, but the gen- eral practice of the more careful is against it. The fault can usually be remedied by the simple device of adding an antecedent for the relative, thus, " By this mishap the SOLECISMS. 189 dinner party was broken up, a result which troubled our host very much." A frequent and very unpleasant fault of some writers is that of omitting a necessary part of the verb. This usually occurs when two distinct auxiliary verbs are used with one participle to complete them both! If the auxiliaries take the same participle after them, this will do ; but if they re- quire different participles, this construction will not answer, as in this, " I never have and never shall do that." Evi- dently, as the sentence is expressed, do is understood with have, an absurd construction. The sentence should read. " I never have done and never shall do that." This fault of omitting important words assumes many forms, often peculiarly vexing because of the difficulty of supplying the necessary words without making the sentence stiff ; but such a sentence as the one here quoted is enough to de- stroy a sensitive reader's pleasure for many pages. Other words, such as prepositions, adverbs, and con- nectives necessary to the construction, are sometimes omitted : " If you want something done, write A your friend." " You look very /\ pleased." We cannot be too careful in avoiding such errors. 66. Connectives and Correlatives. The use of con- nectives in an improper sense may easily obscure the thought, or give a shade of meaning not intended. The rule of English speech, that two negative's make an affirmative, is violated by the writer who uses nor for or in a clause that already contains a negative. " He could not be content to go nor to stay," should be, " He could not be content to go or to stay," since the " not " modifying the principal verb is a negative for the whole sentence. If we expand the infinitives to finite verbs in a like sentence, " He was not willing that he should go or that he should stay," the same law holds true. Occasionally the force of the negative will be expended in the first clause, when the 1 90 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, second may require not. " He did not go at three o'clock, as he had intended, nor did he start that night." The correct pairs of conjunctive particles or correlatives are not only but also, either or, neither nor, etc. It is a common error with young writers to use but as the correlative with not only. But also is the correct ex- pression, since the first of the two correlatives, not only, implies that the relation between the clauses or phrases is distinctly not disjunctive in such sort as to require but alone. " He knew not only what should be done, but also how he could do it," illustrates this very well, the second clause being in the way of addition to the preceding and requiring and rather than but, if the not only were re- moved and choice had to be made between the two. In the same way we should use either or, and neither nor. It is incorrect to say " He neither knows or cares what becomes of him," and " It is not either agreeable nor convenient for me to go with you." We should say rather " He neither knows nor cares what becomes of him," and "It is neither agreeable nor convenient for me to go with you." Without and except are prepositions, and should not be used for the conjunction unless. " I cannot do this without your help," " I cannot do this unless you help me," illus- trate the distinction in use between them. As is preceded by so in all negative statements, other- wise by as. It should never be used for that. The fol- lowing sentence illustrates the correct use of the two words : " It is as good as could be expected, but not so good as you promised." The faulty use of as for that, a not uncommon mistake, is shown in this sentence : " I do not know as we have any reason for believing that." The use of as as a relative pronoun following such in the same clause may be noted. Careless writers often select the wrong preposition for the shade of meaning which they wish to express. Terms indicating comparison employ different prepositions to in- dicate differences in the manner of making the compari- SOLECISMS. 191 son. The verb to compare is followed by the preposition with to stKxw degree of excellence, and by to to show re- semblance. " He compared the Capitol at Washington with other great buildings of the world." " We might compare a great river system to the arteries of the human body." The verb to differ takes with when the difference is a matter of opinion, "I must confess that I still differ with you in that matter," - and from or among when it has to do with appearance or with fact. " In per- sonal characteristics they differed greatly among them- selves." " They differed from each other as much as brother and sister can." The adjective different should be followed by from and not by than. It is to be remembered that between should be used only in relation to two objects, though both of these may have the plural form. Among should be used when the rela- tion to be expressed has to do with more than two. The preposition off is frequently used in connection with from or of. " He -jumped off from the box "is a construction that is both awkward and incorrect. One preposition is sufficient, and it may be said that, in general, when two prepositions are used properly together one of them is really an adverb, as in "He came down from the hill." According to and others of like character are phrase prepo- sitions, and not several prepositions used together with their separate meanings. There is another fault in the use of prepositions against which it is more difficult to guard, a fault illustrated in this sentence : " Where did you take the package to ? " Where, an adverb, cannot properly be the object of a preposition. A substantive should be substituted ; or the sentence should be re-written with the omission of the preposition " to." 67. Miscellaneous Errors. An obscure violation of the rule that two negatives make an affirmative is that involved in the use of not with the words hardly, scarcely, and barely. " They were hardly able to get here on time," expresses the difficulties experienced 1 92 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. in coming; and the addition of a negative, " They were not hardly able to get here on time" denies the*difficulties in- stead of making them more emphatic, as the writer intends. Another common error is the use of than after such words as hardly and scarcely. For example : " Scarcely had the clouds cleared away than the sun came out." Than implies comparison, and requires an adjective or an adverb of comparison before it. We may properly say, " No sooner had the clouds cleared away than the sun came out." A careful distinction should be made between the comparative and the superlative degrees of compari- son. The comparative degree is used when two persons or things are compared, and the. superlative when more than two are compared. We may say " Of two evils choose the less," and " Of several evils choose the least." We should be equally careful to avoid giving comparative and superlative forms to adjectives and adverbs that are incapable of comparison. Such adjectives as dead, perfect, unanimotts, and inseparable express absolute quality, and are therefore incapable of degree. It is ridiculous to say that one thing is deader or more perfect than another. What we mean is, that one thing is more nearly dead or more nearly perfect than another. The pronouns in self, such as myself, himself, herself, themselves, should not be used for the corresponding per- sonal pronouns.. We may say correctly, " My brother and I went out for a walk," not " My brother and myself went out for a walk." The pronoun in self is used properly either for emphasis or reflexive ly, that is, referring to the sub- ject of the clause in which it stands. We may say, " I myself saw the accident," and " He gave himself up to the authorities." The adjective pronouns this and that should agree in number with what they limit or represent ; thus we say " That kind of people " or " Those kinds of people," and " That sort of thing," not " Those sort of things." When to is used as a part of the infinitive no word should intervene between it and the verb itself. The use SOLECISMS. 193 of the "cleft infinitive," as it is called, is gaining ground, but the sanction of good use cannot do away with the in- herent awkwardness of such sentences as the following : " He told the scout to carefully reconnoiter and to promptly report." Writers of the better sort do not yield to the temptation to employ such loose phrasing. Place the word only as near as possible to the word which it modifies. " He only would lend me the book," may be interpreted in two ways. Adverbial phrases should be carefully placed. " He might have gone on his bicycle, with great propriety, or with his carriage," is an instance of careless arrangement. A pronoun should refer plainly to its antecedent. In the two following sentences there is room for doubt as to the meaning : " He showed me a box in his desk which held many treasures." " John could not go to his brother because he had yellow fever." Avoid constructions in which the subjects differ in per- son or number. " Neither you nor I am responsible," should be " Neither of us is responsible." EXERCISES. 1. Define a sentence. What do you think to be the important point to be considered in the definition ? Why cannot any group of words constitute a sentence? 2. Define a solecism. What do you understand by " an error of construction " or " an error of syntax " ? Do solecisms properly belong to rhetoric ? W T hy should they be given in a chapter of rhetoric ? 3. What do you mean by inflection ? Of what does the inflection of nouns consist ? How does this compare with the inflection of pronouns and of verbs ? How does the inflection of nouns in English compare with the inflec- tion of nouns in other languages with which you are acquainted ? 4. What errors are we liable to make in using nouns and pronouns ? Why is there more liability to error in 194 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. using pronouns than in using nouns ? How would your answer apply to the use of verbs ? What do you mean by a redundant expression? An incomplete expression? 5. What is the regular rule in English for forming the plural number of nouns ? How do you account for such plurals as men, children, oxen, geese and mice ? Bring to the class a fist of nouns that are used only in the plural, also a list of nouns ending in " s " that are singular. 6. W T ith the help of the dictionary write the plurals of the following nouns : stratum, curriculum, animalcule, index, alumnus, mathe- matics, beau, phenomenon, cherub, dictum, datum, ne- cropolis, erratum, larva, vertebra, maximum, radius, stamen, spectrum, hypothesis, analysis, aide-de-camp, focus, ignis-fatuus, oasis, crisis, addendum. 7. Write the possessive case, singular and plural, of: fairy, lady, mouse, ox, man, woman, witness, princess, thief, Dickens, Jones, Burgess, brother-in-law. Write the possessive case of: Jones the grocer, Prince of Wales, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., man-of-war, Smith and Thomas, William the Conqueror. 8. Mention the different kinds of pronouns. Make a list of the personal pronouns, giving the nominative and the objective cases, singular and plural, of each. Dis- tinguish between who and whom, who and which, whose and of which, which and that. Mention the pronouns in se/f, and tell how they should be used. 9. What is the difference between an adjective and an adverb ? What do you understand by comparison ? Why should some adjectives and adverbs be incapable of com- parison ? How would you distinguish between a verbal noun and a present participle ? 10. Write the principal parts of the following verbs : awake, bear, begin, bid, burst, clothe, dare, do, eat, flee, fly, go, lie, lay, sit, see, take, go, drink, sing, rise, throw. n. Write sentences using the past tense and the past participle of each of the following verbs : bear, bid, do, eat, give, drink, lie (recline), see, dive, swim, set. SOLECISMS. 195 1 2 . Correct the errors in the following sentences, and be prepared to give reasons for your corrections. 1. A Mississippi teacher writes us saying that at the County institute a number of the teachers agreed to each in- vest five dollars of their own money in a library for their schools. 2. He wished to have been present but he knew that he had ought to stay at home. 3. We were most there. 4. This kind of an expression is called a substantive. 5. They do not want to do the work nor to have anyone else do it. 6. The jury was of widely different opinions in regard to the testimony of the last witness. 7. They did not know as they would come until just before starting, and so we did not expect them. 8. It looks like they had not yet found out the proper method of mixing the ingredients. 9. We found the new play different than we had expected. 10. Hilary jumped off of the car while it was yet in motion. 11. They did not know where the book was at. 12. That picture looks like you do before you have combed your hair in the morning. 13. When they first tried to cross the bridge they found it would not support them without it was repaired. 14. We were surprised at the doctor coming, for Mabel had been well for nearly a week. 15. The master taught his boys other things than were to be found in books. From him they got the story of Arnold von Winkelried holding against his breast the Austrian speaVs. From him, too, came their knowledge of the cuckoo laying its eggs in the nests of other birds. Without he had inspired them to find ever new pleasures in wood and stream, they would have missed the best joys of their boyhood. 1 6. If he was not known well here I think he would have little difficulty in making the arrangement. 17. He said that the laws of the universe were immutable. 1 8. There were but seven of us against a score of the enemy, and as we looked at each other fear sprang into the face of every one. 19. He expressed the wish that the earth was even larger than it is. 20. Hawley and I had argued the matter for two hours, and now as we looked at one another we knew that we were no nearer a conclusion than before. [g6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 21. He wished the successful candidate to be he, but he was not willing to work for him openly. 22. The pride of all the midland counties were broken completely in his downfall. 23. Words of condolence over anothers misfortune come readily to the lips of sympathy. 24. When she was told that it was him her concern in the matter ended. 25. They were very an-xious to find out who the committee had chosen. 26. He very warmly expressed his liking for a horse, say- ing that he preferred it to any other animal. 27. He did that among all the proposed plans which seemed best to him. 28. He was real irritated by our apparent unwillingness to accompany him. 29. There were not hardly any people there, and so they did not have no performance. 30. All along he had suspicioned that his friend was not being true to him. 31. There are not hardly any leaves left on the trees. 32. That is the prettiest watch I most ever saw. 33. He did not give me the rose nor the geranium. 34. The jury were composed largely of friends of the defendant. 35. The work was most done before he came. 36. Such a sort of an explanation was unsatisfactory to every one concerned. 37. The council has agreed upon a proper form for the ordinance and will pass it this evening. 38. To fully understand the situation he knew that he must give it closer attention. 39. We presume it is due largely to the fact that the lamp lighter is forbidden to light the lamps only when instructed to do so by the committee appointed by the mayor. 40. The recent crusade made by the women of Emerson against the merchants of that place selling or giving away to the young boys cigarette papers and cigars might well be imitated by the good ladies of our town. 41. There has been considerable complaint recently on account of the street lamps not being lighted on dark nights. 42. He planned to have studied law a little earlier, but unavoidable hindrances prevented. 43. The commanding officer hadn't ought to have exposed his men so carelessly. 44. The bridge across the river was so frail that to com- pletely rebuild it seemed more economical than to repair it. SOLECISMS. 197 45. The horses we bought were so fine a driving team as *ve ever owned, but they were not as easily managed as we were assured they would be. 46. Neither you or I are prepared to settle that question. 47. He said that he would look after the government's interest in the matter. 48. He said that he had saw the robbing when he done it. 49. The walks on the main street were almost impassable, they being so crowded. 50. When they done so difficult a thing and which no one expected they would do. 51. The Bucentaur was the Doge's boat, who went out in it to drop the ring into the sea. 52. Thousands of buffaloes, united in one great herd, so vast a whole that the eye could hardly perceive its immensity, a single creature in seeming, was going southward. 53. Nobody can have an adequate idea concerning any person or thing which they cannot see and come into contact with. 54. Under such conditions one would not expect the marriage relation to reach very high ethical ground, nor ideal domestic and social conditions. 55. A reward of $10.00 will be paid by the trustees of the High School for the arrest and conviction of the persons who have been, or may in the future, break into the High School building, or who enter the same by stealth. 56. The bridge was said to be very dangerous, which was sufficient occasion for our taking the other road. 57. My memoranda on this matter is at the house. 58. There stood a tall, spare woman, her hair streaked with gray and firm lines about her mouth. 59. He says that he don't understand why you were so angry. 60. If I was you, I'd not permit it. 61. The two men were much alike in their public char- acters, but in private life Morris was the most honorable and straightforward. 62. We did not go to see him as the doctor said he felt too bad to receive visitors. 63. We thought we would go across by some trees like the squirrels do. 64. He come up to me on the street and apologized volubly. 65. If you will forgive me forgetting your errand this time, I will be more careful hereafter. 66. Lucy is so prompt in answering letters. Those who once write to her always want to continue the correspondence. 198 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 67. He explained the matter, so they let him go. 68. Bertha said that the decorations were just perfectly lovely. 69. Hard work only brings success at last. 70. In doing as he did he followed not only your advice but his own wishes. 71. I will pay $25 for the detection and evidence sufficient to convict the person or persons who stole or killed my English bull terrier, color white, and wearing a plain leather color, weighs about 30 pounds, and answers to the name of Mack. 72. Another fire will catch us some night, in the very place we are not looking for, and then all we can do is stand off and see it burn. 73. We* are heartily in favor of, and will do all we can in our weak way, to have the coming session of the legislature enact a law with heavy fines and jail penalties for every person who shoots, entraps, or kills prairie chickens at any season of the year. 74. The walls were tinted white and there were white curtains to the windows. 75. The calm blue vault of heaven is dotted by stars. 76. These apples are not as ripe as those we had yesterday. 77. The ruins of the castle looked like we were told, but in looking off from its highest p"int we saw a more enchant- ing prospect than we had been led to expect. 78. It looks like it would rain. 79. We turned the matter over to Dixon & Co., who we had reason to believe in every way reliable. 80. I do not remember of seeing any such book as you speak of there. 81. I wish I knew where that July magazine went to. 82. Without you take the initiative in the matter, there is no hope of us being able to carry it through. 83. There is the boy which I spoke of. 84. If it be advisable, as it certainly is, we need delay no longer. 85. Before igniting a jet of hydrogen it will always be well to make certain that it is not mixed with oxygen. 86. Whoever wishes to have seats on the opening night must get their tickets at once. 87. The pleasure of all present, reflected in countless ways from the sea of faces before them, were enough to repay them for the trouble they had taken. 88. We did not know who the instructions had been given to, nor who we should seek for information. 89. They were real pleased by the hope of release. THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 199 CHAPTER XI. THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 1 68. What Distinguishes one Form of Writing from Another In treating of the various qualities that make written discourse effective, rhetoricians have found it convenient to assume an arbitrary division of all writing having literary character into a number of classes, such as Exposition, Argumentation, Description, Narration, and Criticism. It is not often that any composition belongs wholly to any one of these divisions ; but discus- sion of them is made the easier by such division, inas- much as the qualities that are essential to a good argument are not those required for good description or criticism. Briefly, exposition is an explaining of some- thing, and in it the most important quality is clearness. Argumentation differs from exposition in being an attempt to explain convincingly something about which there may be difference of opinion. Description con- cerns itself with making clear the appearance of some material thing, and is distinguished from exposition largely by the fact that the use or operation of the thing described is not explained. Narration gives ac- 1 The Forms of Discourse are discussed further in Part III. 200 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. count of a series of happenings, and the fundamental necessity is that the events shall be vividly presented and that the order of occurrence shall be made clear. Criticism is the expression of opinion concerning liter- ary or artistic productions, and ordinarily attempts to give the tone of the production criticised and to show sufficient reason for the opinions expressed. 69. Description In describing anything, whether animate or inanimate, the writer's object is to convey to the mind of the reader a mental picture such as exists in his own mind. This may be done by giving details of the thing described, description by inventory, by telling how it appears from different points of view, the traveler's view, or by dwelling upon some chief charac- teristic of the object, the fundamental image. This last is the method ordinarily to be employed. Things, as well as people, have a certain individuality of their own ; and this individuality it is that distinguishes them in our minds from other like objects when the details of form, size, and color are no longer remembered. If, after having seen and read a new face in a passing crowd, we wish to describe that face to some one else, we might speak of the keen eyes, the straight lips, the aquiline nose, giving such details ,as our memory gath- ered from so hasty a survey ; but the face would be better visualized for the reader if we should call it a face of eagle hardness. This would present our thought more effectively than it could be presented by the greatest fullness of details. THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 2Ot " It was growing gray in the world. The dawn covered, with pale light the outlines of the walls. The trees along the wayside, the buildings, and the gravestones scattered here and there began to issue from the shade. The road was no longer quite empty. Marketmen were moving toward the gates, leading asses and mules laden with vegetables ; here and there moved creaking carts in which game was conveyed. On the road and along both sides of it was a light mist at the very earth, which prom- ised good weather. People at some distance seemed like apparitions in that mist ; Vinicius stared at the slender form of Lygia, which became more silvery as the light increased." HENRY SIENKIEWICZ : Quo Vadis, translated by JEREMIAH CuRTiN. 1 70. Exercises in Descriptive Writing As in the foregoing, description that must have some local color in it is generally best treated by giving details, but these should be subordinated to what we may call here the atmosphere of the picture. Employing that method, write a descriptive essay of not over three hundred words on one of the following subjects. Do not think out the details you employ in describing the object. See the thing to be described in your own mind, and tell what" you see. Do not tell what you know only and cannot see'in the mental picture. Literary, as distinct from technical description, seeks to convey something visualized in the mind of the writer to the mind of the reader ; and as the things merely known are not a part of the writer's visualization, they cannot be effective in 1 Permission of Little, Brown & Co. 202 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. the picture as reproduced in the mind of the reader. Note with what clearness each detail is pictured in the quotation from Quo Vadis. We are not merely told what was, but we are made to see the very light- filled grayness of the morning. This gray ness is the fundamental thing that gives character to the picture. The details are subordinated to it, and yet have added significance because of it. i. A snowstorm. 2. An old mill. 3. A deserted house. 4. A garden of roses. 5. A factory, 6. An ice-bound river. 7. A Syrian caravan. 8. A Chinese pagoda. 9. A highland lake. 10. A railway station at train-time. Often only a few details are given in order that those of greater prominence may not lose their distinctness in a mass of things of lesser moment. On one of the following subjects write not less than two hundred words, describing by giving chief details. The point of view from which a subject is considered must always be influential in determining what are the chief details. i. The cathedral close. 2. The ragman. 3. The latest thing in hats. 4. The village band. 5. A store window at Christmas. 6. A painting by r-. 7. The old school-house. 8. An Italian fruit-vender. 9. The library. 10. The teacher's desk. n. The girl who giggles. 12. A grove of poplars. Frequently a paragraph of description opens with an expression giving a fundamental image of the thing to be described. This may be in the way of compari- THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 203 son, naming something which the thing to be described is like, or a simple adjective phrase of description, or any other expression serving to convey briefly and forcibly the particular impression of the thing described which is in the writer's mind. Details may then follow, if fuller description is desirable, but care must be taken not to obliterate or dim the fundamental image. Dickens, describing John Jasper when he has received the mes- sage from Edwin Drood by the mouth of Mr. Grew- gious, after Edwin Drood's disappearance, says that Mr. Grewgious " saw nothing but a heap of torn and miry clothes upon the floor." Any addition to this would inevitably weaken the reader's sense of the com- plete mental prostration which came upon John Jasper when Mr. Grewgious had made his announcement. But in the following from Stevenson's Treasure Island the direct description preceding the semicolon is materially helped by the details that follow. They strengthen the effect of the fundamental image instead of oblit- erating it. A tall, strong, heavy, nut-brown man ; his tarry pig- tail falling over the shoulders of his soiled blue coat; his hands ragged and scarred, with black, broken nails, and the saber cut across one cheek, a dirty, livid white. In this manner write one hundred and fifty words or more on one of the following subjects. i. The church spire. 2. A Norway pine. 3. Some moss-covered rocks. 4. A Fourth of July procession. 2O4 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 5. An Indian chief. 6. The town hall. 7. A passenger car. 8. A dog. 9. A tennis ground. 10. A field of wheat, ii. A little child. 12. An old book. 13. An antique vase. 14. A burned building. 15. A waterfall. 71. Narration. A narrative may concern itself either with historical truth or with fiction. In the former case it must primarily be faithful to fact. Of necessity description and characterization will often be part of the story, but the writer's first endeavor must be to know the truth about his scenes and his characters. The vivid realization of these things will be brought about with more difficulty than in the case of the crea- tion of one's own brain. In fiction the imagination has more play, and being free to fill in details as it wills, it forms images of character more clearly. A story, it should be remembered, is not ordinarily a succession of incidents ; it is the expression of the individuality of the characters, feeling in one reacting upon feeling in an- other, mood growing from mood, and action following as the result of all. A story should also have a plot, or such a succession of incidents as will suggest a final outcome, while concealing what that outcome is to be, and so arousing interest. A narrative may concern itself only with a succession of natural incidents, incidents without any expression of human nature, or it may be simply the expression of character showing itself in action. Sometimes inci- dents follow one another without any close relation of cause and effect, or they may be wholly the result of the THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 205 reaction of mood upon mood. When the story concerns itself mainly with a study of character, this play of mood upon mood will be the prominent thing. What a man does is the result not more of his thought than of the moods that sway him. For most of us the every- day round of existence is what our reason makes it, but outside of that we yield to feeling, doing more or less as it bids us ; and the story of a life is the story of what it has willed to do, rather than the story of what it has done perfunctorily. Among the qualities that are essential in a narrative which is to hold the interest of the reader, that of move- ment is of prime importance. This is secured largely by the use of short, terse sentences, or sentences in which there are few subordinate clauses. It is also desirable that the opening arrest attention at once, and that it may do this, explanation of the situation should, as far as possible, be given indirectly in the course of the narrative. When this is done the narrative interest of the story is not delayed. The plot should be simple, curiosity as- to the outcome should be aroused in the reader as soon as pos- sible, and this curiosity should be maintained until the end. If the development of the incidents is handled with sufficient reference' to this consideration, important matters can be the better massed at the beginning and at the end of the story, where they belong. Descrip- tion, when it is required, should be made subordinate to the narrative, and should be such as will give the proper emphasis to the color and meaning of the story. - The 206 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. characters should be few, and each should have a defi- nite and easily understood relation to the story. Incidents should be developed in the order of their occurrence, but when they are complex, and involve the doings of several persons at the same time, consideration must be given to the relation of cause and effect, the cause preceding the effect. 72. Exercises in Narration. Written Exercise. On two of the following subjects write paragraphs of 250 to 300 words each. Include such description as is required for the understanding of the story, but make each a simple narrative free from characterization. Criticise both diction and style, and be prepared to say whether or not, in your opinion, they are in keeping with the theme. i. A fire. 2. An April flood. 3. A race for life. 4. Washington's journey to the French forts. 5. A day's outing. 6. The arrival of the mail. On each of two of the following subjects write a nar- rative of 250 to 300 words, introducing one character and one only. Do not attempt to make too many traits of character apparent, but let the few that the narra- tive requires be clearly painted. Close individualization of character in a narrative tends to delay its action. Criticise the story for its employment of short and long, complex and compound sentences, keeping in mind which of these forms best produce the effect of hurry and movement. Make the action of the narrative as THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 2O/ rapid as possible, so that the story shall be the thing of first importance. i. A raft in the flood. 2. A dangerous leap. 3. The dream of Eugene Aram. 4. The prodigal son. 5. When Albert learned to milk. 6. Lost in the woods. 7. Pur- sued by wolves. 8. A face outside the window. 9. A girls' party. 10. Learning to ride a bicycle, n. Coming home from the picnic. 73. Exposition concerns itself with explaining some- thing, and differs from description in having particular regard to the uses to which a thing is to be put, rather than to its appearance. In exposition clearness is the first, perhaps also the last, consideration. To make another understand a machine, a device, or a method of doing anything of any sort, is at the best not an easy matter. Much evidently depends on the order of treatment, but what that order should be depends upon the theme. In expounding the principle employed, and the method of applying it in a mechanical con- trivance, the more important things, or those first in time, should generally come first and the details after- wards ; but in exposition of more abstract ideas that order may be reversed. Only careful consideration of the relation of the various parts to the whole can in any case determine what is the proper' order. " It is safe to say that the electrolytic process of refining copper is now applied to between one-half and one-third of all the copper produced in the United States. The electric process separates the gold and silver that may be 208 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. present in the copper, and deposits the copper in a state of great purity. To accomplish this, the unrefined copper from the smelter or Bessemer converter is cast into great plates or anodes, weighing three hundred pounds or more ; these anodes are suspended in tanks containing a solution of copper sulphate, opposite to cathodes which are also copper plates, but very thin and consisting of pure metal. " The passage of the electric current in the proper direc- tion gradually transfers the copper from the anode plate to the cathode plate, while all impurities are left behind. The gold and silver which are present in the unrefined copper fall, during the process, to the bottom of the tanks, and are afterward collected and separated from each other. Some idea of the importance of this method of copper refining is given by the following facts relating to the Anaconda Copper Mining Company's Montana re- finery." The Cosmopolitan, February, 1897. Observe that this explanation takes up the larger aspects of the case first, and gives the reader a firm grasp of each detail before proceeding to the next. Observe, too, that the arrangement of these details is such as to make clear the relation of each to the whole, so that after each step of the explanation the mind has a clear understanding of the electrolytic apparatus and the electrolytic process so far as the explanation of it has gone. An exposition so developed is coherent, and coherence is essential in exposition, as it is in all dis- course. That it is more important in exposition than in other forms of writing, however, must be clear when we remember that a device, or a process, or a scientific generalization, is not explained for us until we have THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 209 grasped the significance of the separate parts- in their relations to one another and to the whole. 74. Exercises in Exposition. On each of two of the following subjects write 250 to 300 words of exposition. Take care to have no more description than is necessary for clear explanation. Be prepared to justify the order of treatment you adopt. i. A windmill. 2. A twin-screw steamer. 3. The management of a railroad. 4. Tennis. 5. What con- stitutes greatness. 6. The influence of geography on history. 7. The religion of the Egyptians. 8. How mountains are formed. 9. What causes volcanoes. 10. The value of an education, n. What are good manners. 12. Theosophy. 13. The follies of Christian Science. 14. How to entertain a guest. 15. The value of a gymnasium. 16. Success in life. 17. How to deserve friends. 18. The future of science. 19. The construction of a cantilever bridge. 20. The dangers of " scorching." " The social settlements are very young indeed. As compared with the other four agencies, they have no numerical part ; but their growth has been so rapid of late almost frightfully rapid that they may be said to have passed the experimental stage, at least in this sense, that they have plainly come to stay. The settlements have made mistakes, naturally. They have allowed them- selves, in some instances, to be inveigled into too much almsgiving, in others to become too much enamored of seeing the wheels go round, in others to engage in prose- lyting, in still others to compromise dangerously their independence by accepting dictatorial financial support. They are peculiarly liable to such diametrically opposed failings as melodramatic over-intenseness and cold dilet- tanteism ; and they have not always, it must be confessed, 210 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. been successful in avoiding these extremes. The resi- dents are too often immature boys and girls or flitting faddists. " On the other hand, they have galvanized some of the people about them into a fairly regular participation in healthy social pleasures ; have been zealous in bringing into their barren districts something of painting, sculp- ture, music, science, literature, and technical training, and have been fairly successful in getting these things appre- ciated. They have helped to foster local pride,, and to bring about some changes for the better in local politics. Already they have made laboratory studies of social con- ditions, which are in themselves almost their sufficient raison d etre. Still, the extravagant claims made for them in certain quarters as social solvents, bridges between the classes and the masses, picket-posts of a new social democracy, etc., should not be taken too seriously. In a word, what the real significance of the settlements may turn out to be when the glamour that at present surrounds them has vanished, it is as yet quite too early to guess." ALVAN F. SANBORN in the Independent, Oct. 20, 1898. This exposition of the work of the social settlements is wholly explanatory, as exposition should be, stating facts only, and indulging in no argument on the basis of these facts. In like manner write from 250 to 400 words on each of three of the following subjects. Be prepared to justify your order of treatment. i. An Hawaiian custom. 2. Education in Rome. 3. The German Reichstag. 4. Base-ball. 5. Getting a bill through Congress. 6. Chess. 7. The art of politi- cal lying. 8. Grafting trees. 9. How chemistry makes life easier. 10. Making crayon pictures, n. Cleaning house. 12. A Shaker colony. 13. A Quaker meeting. THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 211 75. Argumentation In argumentation the writer's purpose is to convince his readers or hearers of the truth of a proposition, and to this end special care must be taken to present the arguments and conclusions from them in proper order. Statements the truth of which might reasonably be a matter of doubt should not be made without giving something in the nature of reasons or proofs in support of them. In argumenta- tive discourse the relation of cause and effect will gene- rally be very prominent throughout. Often, however, the proofs of the statements must consist of illustra- tive facts, showing like conditions or causes that make presumptive like results. . i. The remedy for oppression, then, is to bring in men who cannot be oppressed. 2. This is the remedy our fathers sought; we shall find no other. 3. The problem of life is not to make life easier, but to make men stronger, so that no problem shall be beyond their solution. 4. It will be a sad day for the Republic when life is easy for ignorance, indolence, and apathy. 5. The social order of the present we cannot change much if we would. 6. The real work of each generation is to mold the social orders of the future. 7. The grown-up men and women of to-day are, in a sense, past saving. 8. The best work of the republic is to save the children. 9. The one great duty of a free nation is education, education, wise, thorough, universal ; the education not of cram- ming, but of training ; the education which no republic has ever given, and without which all republics must be in whole or in part failures. 10. If this generation should leave as its legacy to the next the real education, train- ing in individual power and skill, breadth of outlook on the world and on life, the problems of the next century 212 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. would take care of themselves. 1 1 . There can be no industrial problem where each is capable of solving his own individual problem for himself. DAVID STARR JORDAN, in the Independent, Dec. 29, 1898. Here sentence i contains the statement of the thing for which the writer is contending, and this statement is made more clear and definite in sentence 8. Sen- tence 2 is an illustrative fact stated as a presumptive reason for sentence i. Sentence 3 is a fact stated as a cause for sentence i. Sentence 4 is a fact stated as a cause for sentence 3. Sentence 5 is a fact stated as a cause for sentence 6, which is itself a fact stated as a cause for sentences i and 8. Sentence 7 is a fact stated as a cause for sentence 5 and sentence 8. Sen- tence 9 is both a fuller statement of sentence 8, and also a fact stated as a cause for sentence 8. Sentences 10 and 1 1 are facts stated as causes for sentences 8 and i. Note throughout this paragraph that, while some statements are made which must rely upon the reader's voluntary assent, those that might fail of that assent are supported by others which bear to them the relation of causes or of reasons. i. But, however correct in theory, such views, it will be suspected, are, after all, remote and impracticable. 2. How, especially, can we hope to bring our intractable democracy upon so high a ground of principle ? 3. I can- not entirely sympathize with such impressions. 4. His- tory clearly indicates the fact that republics are more ductile than any other form of government, and more favorable to the admission of high-toned principles and THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 213 the severer maxims cf government. 5. The confederate republics of Crete, and the daughter republic of Sparta, were no other than studied and rigorous systems of direct personal discipline upon the people, in which wealth and ease were in nowise sought, but sternly rejected. 6. And in what monarchy, or even despotism, of the world, where but in plain republican Rome, the country of Cato and Brutus, is a censor of manners and morals to be endured, going forth with his note-book, and for any breach of parental or filial duty observed, for seduction of the youth, for dishonor in the field, for a drinking-bout, or even luxurious manners, inflicting a civil degradation upon the highest citizens and magistrates ? 7. The beginnings, too, of our own history are of the same temperament, and such as perfectly to sympathize with the highest principles of government ? 8. Indeed, I have felt it to be in the high- est degree auspicious, that the ground I vindicate before you requires no revolution, being itself the true American ground. 9. May we not also discover even now, in the worst forms of radicalism and political depravation among us, a secret elemental force, a law of republican feeling, which, if appealed to on high and rigid principles, would yield a true response? 10. We fail in our conservative attempts, more because our principles are too low than because they are too high. 1 1 . A course of administra- tion, based on the pursuit of wealth alone, though bad in principle anywhere, is especially bad in a republic. 12. It is more congenial to the splendors and stately distinctions of monarchy. 13. It concentrates the whole attention of the nation upon wealth. 14. It requires measures to be debated only as they bear upon wealth. 15. It produces thus a more egregious notion of its dignity continually, both in the minds of those who have it and of those who have it not, and thus it exasperates every bad feeling in a republic, till it retaliates destruction upon it. 16. But a system of policy based on the high and impartial prin- ciples of philosophy, one that respects only manly bodies, high talents, great sentiments and actions, one that values 214 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. excellence of person, whether found in the palaces of the rich or the huts of the poor, holding all gilded idleness and softness in the contempt they deserve such a system is congenial to a republic. 17. It would have attractions to our people. 18. Its philosophic grounds, too, can be vindicated by a great variety of bold arguments, and the moral absurdity of holding wealth in higher estimation than personal value can be played out in the forms of wit and satire, so as to raise a voice of acclamation, and over- whelm the mercenary system with utter and final con- tempt. HORACE BUSHNELL : True Wealth or Weal of Nations. Here the speaker is arguing that "republics are more ductile," etc., as in sentence 4. Sentences I and 2 are introductory, stating the views of objectors to his opinion, and sentence 3 is a sentence of transition to his own thought. Sentences 5 and 6 give specific instances in the way of presumptive proof that like results should follow in our republic. Sentences / and 8 are facts stated as a cause for sentence 4, and sentence 9 is a fact stated in the form of a rhetorical question as a cause for sentence 4. Sentence 10 is a fact stated as an effect from sentence 4, and so in the mincl of the reader implying the truth of sentence 4. Sentences 1 1 and 12 are facts stated as effects from sentences 13, 14, and 15. Sentence 16 is a fact stated as a cause for sentence 4 ; and sentences 1 7 and 1 8 are facts stated as causes for sentence 16, and therefore also as causes for sentence 4. Of course a paragraph is not sufficient to illustrate fully the course of an elaborate argument. It can show THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 21$ only the close texture, the inwrought dependence of part upon part, in good argumentative discourse. It should be kept carefully in mind that such argument as is contained in sentences 5 and 6 of this quotation is not of the most convincing sort. Argument from analogy must always be uncertain because of the im- probability of having in both cases exactly similar condi- tions. It is, however, the sort of argument most readily furnished by history, and is effective in making a con- clusion from historical facts probable, but probable only. 76. Exercises in Argumentation. On the following outline write an essay of 500 words, taking care to leave no doubtful statements without some sort of support in the way of causes, reasons, or proofs. European countries should maintain smaller armies. 1. (Cause.) War is the soldier's business, and the soldier is inclined to look upon the prospect of war with favor. (Reasons.) 2. (Effect.) The military spirit is a menace to the peaceful interests of a nation. (Proofs.) 3. (Effect and Cause.) A standing army increases the chance of war. (Proofs.) 4. (Effect.) A state of war is a reversion to barba- rism, impeding the progress of civilization. (Proofs.) 5. (Cause and Effect.) Armies are expensive, and entail great indebtedness. (Specific instances.) 6. (Cause and Effect.) Great military armaments take the strength of a nation from productive enterprises. (Reasons.) On the following outline write an essay of 400 words, taking care to have the essay properly connected in 2l6 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. thought, and properly paragraphed to show division of thought. Write it as if for a reader very strongly opposed to the opinions you are trying to enforce. Give the essay a title. The Republican form of government is best fitted for developing manhood. Effect, i. An interest and share in public affairs enlarges the individual's sense of responsibility, and with it develops his better qualities of head and heart. Cause. 2. Such an interest is possible only in a republic. Presumptive proof. 3. A comparatively fine manhood has been seen to be developed in republics. [Specific instances.] Effect. 4. The sense of personal freedom is in itself ennobling. Cause. 5. This sense of freedom is not possible under a monarchical or an aristocratic form of government. In argumentative discourse it is usually important to present the arguments in the order of their importance. The individual force of each argument is strengthened, if it is in each case a more convincing argument than the one immediately preceding it. Re-arrange the mate- rial in the outline below so as to secure this effect of climax, and write on the outline as so arranged an essay of 500 words. Give the essay a title. High schools should give more particular attention to training for citizenship. 1. The security of a free people is in the intelligence with which they administer their affairs. 2. Education may train the student away from the duties of citizenship. THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 21 / 3. It is for its own good that the state pays for the education of its citizens. 4. The high schools seek mainly to give the student culture. 5. Training for citizenship does not consist in instruc- tion in the machinery of government. 6. Young men are apt to accept the education the state gives them without feeling that they owe it anything in return. 7. The high school may be made to strengthen the- sense of relationship and duty to the state. 8. High schools that do not do this fail to accomplish what we may justly expect of them. Conclusion. Outline four of the following subjects in such fashion as to make an essay upon any one of the outlines a series of arguments of increasing force. So far as possible arrange to have one argument develop readily and naturally into another. Indicate relations of cause and effect, or other relations which you discern between the parts of the outline. Be sure to have your outline lead to some definite conclusion. 1. United States senators should be chosen in some other way than by the legislatures of the States. 2. The increase in the proportion of people living in cities is a menace to our American civilization. 3. A boy should not choose his life-work until after he has finished his high-school course. 4. In the estimation of future ages Lincoln will be a greater man than Washington. 5. Mary, Queen of Scots, was more sinned against than sinning. 6. Evil tendencies in young people are best overcome by influencing them to an interest in better things. 2l8 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 7. The novel is an increasingly important literary vehicle for the artistic expression of all sorts of truths and theories. 8. A curfew law is everywhere desirable. 9. Examinations are not a satisfactory test of a stu- dent's scholarship. 10. Some manual training should be included in the teaching of a high-school course. 1 1 . The right to vote should not be granted to those who cannot read. 12. Country life is the best for a growing boy. 13. No man should be appointed to office because of his politics. 14. High-school pupils should keep themselves in- formed upon topics of current interest. 15. It is wrong to hazard money upon any game of chance. Upon two of the outlines you have made write essays of 350 words or more each. Be prepared to justify the proportionate amount of space given to each argument presented. Criticise each production carefully with re- gard (i) to logical connection of thought, (2) to content of the sentences and proper subordination of clauses, and (3) to the accurate and fitting use of words. EXERCISES. 1. What are the distinguishing characteristics of the different literary forms of which this chapter treats ? 2. Bring to the class examples of each of these distinc- tive forms, and be prepared to say whether each is, or is not, a good example of its kind, and why.- 3. Which of these various forms of discourse belong more particularly to the literature of feeling, and which to the literature of thought, and why ? In which should you expect to find the greater number of Anglo-Saxon words ? THE FORMS OF DISCOURSE. 219 Of classical words ? Why ? Is this true in the case of the examples you have found for exercise 2 ? 4. Tell, in the case of each of the distinct forms of dis- course, which of the following literary laws is the most im- portant and why : Selection (the proper choice of details to be treated), Unity, Coherence, Proportion, Climax. 5. Bring to class examples of each of these forms, and comment upon them with reference to each of these liter- ary laws. 6. Should you expect to make a description vivid by giving a mass of details, or by presenting a few important details of like or harmonious significance ? Why ? 7. Find in a newspaper or in a magazine what you think is a poor example of one of the forms of discourse, and be prepared to explain why you think it is poor. 8. Bring to the class an example of narration that has distinct rapidity of movement, and another that has not. Be prepared to show whether it is more characterization, or more explanation, that delays the second. In which do you find the shorter sentences ? 9. Write five topic sentences each for five of the fol- lowing subjects, arrange them in proper order, give the whole a title, and say which of the forms of discourse the whole composition would be an example of when written in full. 1. The qualities that go to make a good musician. [verse? 2. Why have many nations made their first literary efforts in 3. The character of Ida in the Princess. 4. What I saw on my trip^up the river. t. The old homestead. . Bacon and Shakespeare. 7. The decline of Spain. 8. The Spanish Armada. 9. Longfellow's " Psalm of Life." 10. Grandfather's clock. 11. Down by the creek. 12. At home in a moving- wagon. 13. A soldier's life. 14. A burial of dead in battle. 15. The midnight sun. 22O COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 10. In which of the several forms of discourse should you expect to find paragraphs containing the more defi- nite topic sentences ? Why ? In which would paragraphs without topic sentences be the more frequent ? Why ? In which should you expect to find the shorter, more di- rect and simple sentences ? Why ? In which the longer and more involved sentences ? Why ? 11. What should you say of a description requiring three minutes in the reading ? 12. Write a composition on one of the subjects for which you wrote topic sentences under Exercise 9. 13. Do you think a narrative recounting a series of incidents having merely the relation of sequence in time, or one giving incidents which develop one from the other with the relation of cause and effect, would be the more interesting to the reader ? Why ? 14. In argumentation should you in general think it best to answer possible objections of your reader before proceeding to your own argument or not ? Why ? 15. Write an exposition of something in which you are interested, and which you understand. 1 6. Give an account of some recent happening in school. PART III. STYLE. CHAPTER XII. DICTION : SELECTION OF WORDS FOR CLEARNESS, FORCE, AND ELEGANCE. 77. Diction. By diction is to be understood the choice, use, and arrangement of words and combinations of words in phrases or other expressions. The pupil who takes up the reading of the Orations of Cicero a*fter having read Caesar's Commentaries finds at first that the new study is much more difficult than the old. There are new words and new combinations of words ; the sentence order is different ; and many words are used in other than the sense which they have in Caesar. In brief, there is a change of diction, and the new dic- tion is fundamentally characteristic of Cicero's style. No two writers use the same vocabulary, or use even the words that they employ in common with the same frequency or in the same way. When we speak of a writer's diction, then, we mean the way in which he uses words. 221 222 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 78. Number of Words. Remembering that the ob- ject of all writing is to bring understanding or convic- tion to our readers, we must realize at once that the more we dilute our meaning the less effective it will be in persuading or informing those for whom we write. We must say all that we have to say, and we must say it with sufficient fullness for clear understanding ; but we must say no more than that, and so much we must say in as few words as possible. Among the faults of diction that we must guard against, if we wish what we write to have force, are verbosity, circumlocution, redun- dancy, and tautology. Verbosity is the general fault of too many words, the use of such expressions as "in something of a hurry," for "hastily," or "in its location the village had the fortune to be slightly higher than the surrounding country," for "the village was on a slight elevation." Circumlocution is the employment of involved and " round-about " expressions, a fault differing but little from verbosity, and like it to be corrected only by a complete re-writing. Redundancy is the employment of words that are not needed, and may usually be cor- rected simply by cutting such words out. Tautology, the repetition of expressions or ideas, has been spoken of in an earlier chapter, but it is a fault against which we shall have to be watchful always, no amount of training or practice serving to make us secure against it. Force is the quality of style by virtue of which a com- position impresses itself upon the reader. Wordiness DICTION, 223 of any sort, whether coming from verbosity, circumlocu- tion, redundancy, or tautology, detracts from the force of our writing. In the great mass of writing that is pouring from the press ours will receive but scant attention if it lacks force. Below there are given in the first column examples of each of the faults of wordiness. Study them carefully in connection with the better form in the second column. Do not be too sure that you would not yourself make such simple mistakes as some of these. With an excep- tion or two they have been taken from students' papers, and the supposition is that in each case the student was trying to write his best. 79. Verbosity and Circumlocution. Mrs. Tongueloose had bent her head and seemed quite absorbed in her sew- ing, which was something unusual for her. The whole country here is covered with a dense growth of palmettos from two to six feet tall, and so thick that one can scarce- ly walk through them, their many-pointed leaves stopping one almost as effectively as barbed-wire. A man killed a dog be- longing to another man. The son of the man whose Mrs. Tongueloose, her head bent, seemed ab- sorbed in her sewing, something unusual. The whole country here is covered with a demise growth of palmettos, from two to six feet tall, which are covered with many- pointed leaves that pre- vent walking through them almost as effectually as barbed-wire. A man who had been whipped by the son of a neighbor whose dog he 224 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. dog was killed proceeded to whip the man who killed the dog of the man he was the son of. The man who was the son of the man whose dog was killed, was arrested on complaint of the man who was assaulted by the son of the man whose dog the son of the man who was assaulted had killed. As the moon had risen quite a distance in the heavens, it cast a long, silvery reflection upon the whole width of the stream. 80. Redundancy. Although a very small girl, Maggie had a brain equal in capacity and strength to that of a much older one. Silently and mutely she distributed the work. We moved along swift- ly over the hummocks which occasionally be- came so rough as to neces- sitate our getting off and carefully picking our way over them. 81. Tautology. I have in mind a coun- try church, some six or seven miles from where I had killed, had his assail- ant arrested. As the moon was high in the heavens, it cast a long, silvery reflection up- on the whole width of the stream. Although a very small girl, Maggie had a brain equal to that of one much older. Silently she distributed the work. We moved along swiftly over the hummocks which were occasionally so rough that we were compelled to get off and pick our way. I have in mind a coun- try church some six or seven miles from where I DICTION. 225 lived last year. It was built by a community of wealthy farmers who be- lieved that country people should have as good a church building as any town. The building stands on a hill some little higher than the surrounding country, and so can be seen some distance away in almost every direction. As you approach it you know, instantly that it is quite a costly building. It will hold between two and three hundred people, is nicely carpeted, and is furnished with new seats, pulpit, chairs, and organ. The windows are of fancy colored glass, nearly all of them put there in remem- brance of some faithful member of the church who is not there to behold the beauty of the building. There are modern gaso- line lamps, and the build- ing is heated by hot-air furnaces. lived last year. It was built by a community of wealthy farmers, who be- lieved that country people should have as good a house of worship as any town. The building stands somewhat higher than the surrounding country, and so can be seen at a great distance in almost every direction. As you approach it you perceive at once that it is a well- built structure. It will hold between two and three hundred people, is nicely carpeted, and is furnished with new seats, pulpit, chairs, and organ. The windows a're of fancy colored glass, nearly all of them put there in remem- brance of some faithful member of the church who can not now behold the beauty of the place. It is lighted by the mod- ern gasoline lamps and heated by hot-air furnaces. 82. Exercise Criticise each of the following para- graphs with especial regard to faults of wordiness, and re-write it in better form. i. Geronimo, the Apache leader, has become a raving maniac as a result of his being held in captivity, according 226 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. to a dispatch from Vinita, Ind. T. With other Apache braves he has been a prisoner at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for ten of the fourteen years since their capture by the army. It is said that constant fretting and a growing despon- dency over his captivity have wrecked Geronimo's mind. 2. During the reign of George I., England became heavily encumbered with debt. In order to relieve this burden a number of prominent and influential men formed an organization known as the " South Sea Company." Their idea was to pay off the national debt solely from the profits of the slave trade which they were to carry on between Africa and Brazil. 3. Cortez belonged to a noble family with a small fortune, and at the age of fourteen he was sent to the University of Salamanca to study for the bar ; but study was distasteful to him and he returned home, thinking of taking up a life of adventure. The plans of adventure formed in youth were carried out. Hearing that in Mexico a settlement had not been effected, he set sail for this country and landed on the coast. Advancing along the coast, sometimes taking measures to conciliate the natives and sometimes spreading terror by his arms, he took possession of the town of Tabasco. 4. What is the actual cost of the national conventions of one of the great political parties ? This question is more easily asked than answered, as I have found in endeavoring to secure an accurate answer to it. Party leaders, convention managers, convention officials, either do not know or will not tell the details of the expenditures on this account. They seem to be part of a body of secrets which one national committee hands down to another, and which all national committees endeavor to keep from the public. The national conventions are largely under the management of the national committees. National committees select the time and the place, make the arrangements with the cities which entertain the con- vention, manage everything but the actual proceedings, wind up the business affairs afterwards, DICTION. 227 83. Precision. In a general way we think of synonyms as words which have the same meaning, but in actual fact there are in the language only a few pairs of words which are exact equivalents. It is true that often any one of a number of words will do for our purpose, but only one of the words that we may use will express exactly the thought we have in mind. If in the enthusiasm of com- position we are careless and write something that is not just what we wished to say, the fact that we have, per- haps, given our readers our own warmth of feeling will not atone for our inaccuracy. A writer of whose con- scientious sureness we are confident gives us an added pleasure through that confidence, since it permits us to relax our vigilance and yield to the mere enjoyment of the page. On the other hand, when in the work of a careless writer we come upon a word which, as we feel, is not used in its exact signification, we become watch- fully critical at once, and in this mood we do not have the same pleasure in our author. We can be precise in our use of words only through the most painstaking care. Even then, with all the help that we may get from dictionaries and books of refer- ence, we shall not be able to use the right word in the right place if we have not come to a genuine familiarity with the word in the course of our general reading. We must make ourselves observant, taking mental note of the shades of meaning which words have as they are used by those who are masters of them. By doing this we may hope to use them easily and with precision. 228 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 84. The Choice of Words. We have observed before that the effect a word has upon us is dependent upon something in addition to its absolute meaning. Words- worth contended that the diction of poetry was the same as the diction of prose ;, but he was practically alone in the opinion, and one need read but little of his verse to realize how fatal to much of it his theory was. A recent critic of Rudyard Kipling finds warrant for his criticism in the character of the poet's diction. Great poetry, as he insists, cannot be written in a vocabulary the chief asso- ciations of which are with the common and the vulgar. Perhaps we do not need to be so careful in our choice of words for prose as for verse, but the same principle holds in the one as in the other. As we have seen, we must not use too many words ; we must use them with precision ; and, further we must use words that are in keeping, that is, those that have the tone of the writing we have in hand. We must consider, then, whether we should use short or long words, scholarly or colloquial words, words that are emotionally suggestive, or words that we think of as having been employed largely in the literature of thought. In the selection that follows note with what care the words have been chosen, a care that conceals itself, so simply and naturally do the sen- tences follow one another. It is the expression of a general truth, a truth of universal significance ; but the writer wishes to make it personal and individual, and so he employs words that are suggestive of things that we have all felt or imagined. "Think and love," DICTION. 229 " strength and patience," "humble and serviceable," are expressions that in themselves have significance for our deepest feeling. The personification in " whose whim " makes the abstract generalization of the word "oppor- tunity " more personal, and so do practically all the remaining words of the sentence that are not mere words of articulation. " Habited " and " plainest garb " are used here rather than clothed and simplest dress as being less conventional and so suggesting cloistered seclusion to the imagination more effectively. Through- out the paragraph the words are such as will in them- selves have emotional value through what they suggest of experience or of things imagined; Whatever can help me to think and love, whatever can give me strength and patience, whatever can make me humble and serviceable, though it be a trifle light as air, is opportunity, whose whim it is to hide in unconsiderable things, in chance acquaintance and 'casual speech, in the falling of an apple, in floating weeds, or the accidental explosion in a chemist's mortar. Wisdom is habited in plainest garb, and she walks modestly, unheeded of the gaping and wondering crowd. She rules over the king- dom of little things, in which the lowly minded hold the places of privilege. Her secrets are revealed to the care- ful, the patient, and the humble. They may be learned from the ant or the flower that blooms in some hidden spot or from the lips of husbandmen and housewifes. He is wise who finds a teacher in every man, an occasion to improve in every happening, for whom nothing is use- less or vain. If one whom he has trusted play false, he lays it to the account of his own heedlessness and resolves to become more observant. If men scorn him, he is thankful that he need not scorn himself. If they pass 230 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. him by, it is enough for him that truth and love still re- main. If he is thrown with one who bears himself with ease and grace, or talks correctly in pleasantly modulated tones, or utters what can spring only from a sincere and generous mind there is opportunity. If he chance to find himself in the company of the rude, their vulgarity gives him a higher estimate of the worth of breeding and behavior. The happiness and good fortune of his fellows add to his own. J. L. SPALDING : Opportunity. The ability to make choice of words that shall be in harmony with the general tone of what we are writing, sureness of judgment in deciding when a long word is cumbrous or a short one trivial and commonplace, can come only through the insensible training that \ve de- rive from intimate acquaintance with a wide range of literature of the finer sort. Taste, which is but a ready knowledge of what is fitting, is a thing that cannot be taught definitely. The study of literature develops appreciation of what is beautiful and a corresponding dislike for the ugly and inharmonious. When the aesthetic sense has become somewhat refined and sure we have in a degree acquired taste, and may in that degree trust our literary judgment. Until our own literary likings have become fairly conformable to the established judgment of the world we shall do well to distrust them, not disowning them, but accepting the opinions of those who are more competent, and attempt- ing to bring ourselves to a like certainty of insight. The necessity of cultivating our tastes is quite as great in the, matter of making proper choice of words as in DICTION. 231 the larger questions of our likings for the novel or the poem or the drama. A great part of the enjoyment that we find in our reading should come from our sense of the artistic excellence of the story or the poem or the essay, and we shall write with the most genuine pleas- ure when we are conscious of making a like appeal to the aesthetic sense in others. We shall not be able to do this, and we shall not know wherein we fail, until we have acquired a cultivated taste. 85. Style as Affected by Choice of Words. We may now properly turn to consideration of some writings of different sorts with a view to studying the authors' choice of words and of the different characteristics of style which have in part resulted from the choice in each case. A quality of first importance in all writing is clear- ness. We must make it our first care to be understood. Other qualities are important, but clearness is essen- tial, and without it others cannot be effective. As one of the intellectual qualities of style, it is as necessary in a scientific treatise as in a literary essay, and is, there- fore, not a distinct literary quality in itself. The other intellectual qualities of style, unity and coherence, are not directly affected by choice of words and so need not be considered here. On the other hand, the emo- tional qualities of style are in a measure dependent upon the character of the words employed. A compo- sition which is to have literary character must have, in addition to unity and coherence and clearness, various emotional qualities of style which we may consider 232 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. under the general heads of force and elegance. If there does not appear in it some sort of mental energy which is in part communicated to the reader, and if there is not in it some appeal to the aesthetic sense, it is not literature. For this reason legal documents, strictly scientific treatises, books on mathematical subjects, and other writings of like sort, are not literature in the more exact sense. Under the general term force we may group such special forms of this quality as vehemence, passion, dignity and animation, and under elegance we may include propriety, harmony, beauty, and other qualities for which it would be difficult to find exact terms. That we may come to a more definite un- derstanding of what these qualities are, and of the way in which -they are in part results of our choice of words, let us consider some writings in which they are present in greater or less degree. Taking into considera- tion the words printed in italics in each of the following selections from Burke and Macaulay, determine which author has chosen his words the better for the purpose of securing clearness, and state briefly why each word is or is not well chosen for that purpose. But the population of this country, the great and grow- ing population, though a very important consideration, will lose much of its weight, if not combined with other circumstances. The commerce of your colonies is out of all proportion beyond the numbers of the people. This ground of their commerce, indeed, has been trod some days ago, and with great ability, by a distinguished per- son, at your bar. This gentleman, after thirty-five years, DICTION. 233 - it is so long since he first appeared at the same place to plead for the commerce of Great Britain has come again before you to plead the same cause, without any other effect of time than that to the fire of imagination and the extent of erudition, which even then marked him as one of the first literary characters of his age, he has added a consummate knowledge in the commercial interest of his country^ formed by a long course of enlightened and discriminating experience. EDMUND BURKE : Speech on Conciliation with America. The sergeants made proclamation. Hastings ad- vanced to the bar, and bent his knee. The culprit was indeed not unworthy of that great presence. He had ruled an extensive and a populous country, had made laws and treaties, had sent forth armies, had set up and pulled down princes. And in his high place he had so borne himself that all had ^mm/ him, that most had loved him, and that hatred itself could deny him no title to glory, except virtue. He locked like a great man and not like a bad man. A person small and emaciated, yet deriving dignity from a carriage which, while it indicated deference to the court, indicated also habitual self-possession and self -respect, a high and intellectual forehead, a brow peji- sive, but not gloomy, a mouth of inflexible decision, a face pale and worn, but serene, on which was written, as legibly as under the picture in the council-chamber at Calcutta, Mens aqua in arduis ; such was the aspect with which the great pro-consul presented himself to his judges, T. B. MACAULAY : Warren Hastings. Both Burke and Macaulay were orators. The former was in general unsuccessful in the effort to carry his hearers with him, while the latter was always heard with pleasure. Can you account for this in part from, the character of these two selections ? 234 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 86. Force as a Quality of Diction. The faults of diction which were considered in the beginning of this chapter tautology, redundancy, circumlocution, and verbosity are faults of weakness, that is, they are faults that lessen the force the strength or energy, as it is variously called of a composition. The discussion of these matters has made it clear that condensation when it is not carried so far as to lessen clearness contributes largely to force. Further, if we make a study of the work of an author whose style is remarkable for its force, we shall observe that this quality comes in part from the employment of words which have force in themselves. Words differ in degree of significance as well as in other ways, and a composition which is written in words that are largely unimportant will seem insignificant as a whole. An examination of the selections from Irving and Kipling which follow may enable us to understand more clearly some of the elements that contribute to force in style. The lack of this quality in Irving is always noticeable, and to the nerveless character of his style it is in great measure due that, while he is studied in the schools because of his importance in our early literature, he is no longer read. It is to be regretted that those early writers who treated of the discovery and settlement of America have not given us more particular and candid accounts of the remarkable characters that flourished in savage life. The scanty anecdotes which have reached us are full of peculi- arity and interest ; they furnish us with nearer glimpses of human nature, and show what man is in a compara- DICTION. 235 ively primitive state, and what he owes to civilization. There is something of the charm of discovery in lighting upon these wild and unexplored tracts of human nature ; in witnessing, as it were, the native growth cf moral sentiment ; and perceiving those generous and romantic qualities which have been artificially cultivated by society, vegetating in spontaneous hardihood and rude magnifi- cence. WASHINGTON IRVING : The Sketch Book. In this there are two things to be observed. In the first place, to the important words the voice gives little stress beyond that required by their meaning merely. Force is an emotional quality of style, as has been said, and Irving does not make choice of words such as call for emotional stress. And again, the words printed in italics are either lacking in intensity, as "regretted," or are too general and abstract, as "peculiarity" and "interest," to contribute to the force of the paragraph. The last defect is funda- mental in Irving' s writing as a whole. In this paragraph the tone is properly that of thoughtful con- sideration of the distinctive traits of the Indian, but the grounds for the regret expressed might well have been made more concretely and specifically definite and vivid. They would then have appealed to the reader with more directness and force. Dick had instinctively sought running water for a com- fort to his mood of mind. He was leaning over the embankment wall, watching the rush (A the Thames through the arches of Westminster Bridge. He began by thinking of Torpenhow's advice, but, as of custom, lost himself in 236 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. the study of the faces flocking by. Some had death written on their features, and Dick marvelled that they could laugh. Others, clumsy and coarse-built for the most part, were alight with love ; others were merely drawn and lined with work ; but there was something, Dick knew, to be made out of them all. The poor at least should suffer that he might learn, and the rich should pay for the output of his learning. Thus his credit in the world and his cash balance at the bank would be increased. So much the better for him. He had suffered. Now he would take toll of the ills of others. RUDYARD KIPLING : The Light that Failed. Here we feel at once a more virile personality. The words printed in italics are words that for one reason or another are indicative of emotional stress ; they cannot be passed over lightly. " Running water " has defi- nite association in our minds with things that we have experienced, and so has "comfort" and "leaning." "Embankment walls," "Thames," and "arches" are concrete, and bring to mind things that, if we have not known them in experience, are suggestive of what we have wished to see or know, and so are potential of feeling. "Rush," "flocking," "death," and "mar- velled " are words of specific intensity, and therefore they have force. For this or like reasons the other words printed in italics also give vigor to the style. The word "he" in the fifth sentence from the end, although little more than an articulating word and almost with- out meaning, has stress because the arrangement of the sentence brings it into contrast with "poor" in the preceding clause. DICTION. 237 87. Exercise. Looking over the paragraphs that follow we see that they have the quality of force in very different degrees. There are other reasons for it than those that we can consider here ; but we will see whether they differ with respect to diffuseness or wordiness and whether the character of the words employed will in any measure account for the higher degree of force in one than in another. In each indicate words that seem to you to be important, and determine for each paragraph how large a proportion of the whole number of words this is. In which do the important words have -the most sharply denned and positive sig- nificance ? In which the least ? In addition to the words that are important in themselves, do you find in any of the paragraphs words that are ordinarily unim- portant and that yet seem to have especial significance here ? In which are there the greater number of words to which you would give an added stress in reading the paragraphs aloud ? In which of them does the diction seem the more uniform in character ? Do you find in any of them any alternation of words which are especially intellectual in character with those that are more emotional ? How would this affect the force of a composition? Can you now account in part for the different degrees of force in the paragraphs ? Elizabeth's mind was too full for conversation, but she saw and admired every remarkable spot and point of view. They gradually ascended for half a mile, and then found themselves at the top of a considerable eminence, V 238 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. where the wood ceased, and the eye was instantly caught by Pemberley House, situated on the opposite side of the valley, into which the road, with some abruptness, wound. It was a large, handsome stone building, standing well on high ground, and backed by a ridge of high woody hills ; and in front a stream of some natural importance was swelled into greater, but without any artificial appearance. Its banks were neither formal nor falsely adorned. Eliza- beth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. They were all of them warm in their admiration ; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be some- thing. JANE AUSTEN : Pride and Prejudice. It is the vogue, nowadays, to sneer at picturesque writing. Professor Seeley, for reasons of his own, appears to think that whilst politics, and, I presume, religion, may be made as interesting as you please, history should be as dull as possible. This, surely, is a jaundiced view. If there is one thing it is legitimate to make more interesting than another, it is the varied record of man's life upon earth. So long as we have human hearts and await human destinies, so long as we are alive to the pathos, the dignity, the comedy of human life, so long shall we continue to rank above the philosopher, higher than the politician, the great artist, be he called dramatist or his- torian, who makes us conscious of the divine movement of events, and of our fathers who were before us. Of course" we assume accuracy and labor in our animated historian ; though for that matter, other things being equal, I prefer a lively liar to a dull one. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL : Obiter Dicta. 88. Elegance as a Quality of Diction. While no writer whose style lacks force can hope for any perma- nent place in literature, it is to be remembered that a DICTION. 239 style which is too emotional, one which arouses emotion on insufficient grounds, is equally faulty, equally sure of bringing the author to forgetfulness. A style which has the quality of elegance is one which displays taste in the author, and a writer who has taste will write with only so much show of emotion as his subject demands. Further, in addition to choosing words that will make his meaning clear and that will give to his work the degree of force that seems to him fitting, he will be careful to employ only such words and expressions as are in keeping with the subject. It may be said that the term elegance is not a thoroughly good one for the quality which gives us pleasure in writing in which a refined taste is evident, but there seems to be no better. The term beauty has been employed, since words that are fitting by that very fact appeal to the aesthetic sense ; but as this term has another use in its applica.- tion to that which is beautiful in subject matter and in form, it is objectionable. Propriety has also been employed as a designation for the quality of style which we are here considering, but the word is too negative in character and suggestion to be acceptable. In the narrow sense a style is elegant which is distinguished by delicacy, refinement, and other like qualities that appeal to a cultivated aesthetic sense ; but, as we are using the word here, we may understand elegance merely as that quality which results from the use of words and expressions that are fitting. In the quotations that follow elegance is shown in the 240 COMPOSITIOIV AND RHETORIC. lines from Tennyson, and the lack of it in those from Thomson. And all night long his face before her lived, As when a painter, poring on a face, Divinely thro' all hindrance finds the man Behind it, and so paints him that his face, The shape and color of a mind and life, Lives for his children, ever at its best And fullest ; so the face before her lived, Dark-splendid, speaking in the silence, full Of noble things, and held her from her sleep. ALFRED TENNYSON : Lancelot and Elaine. In these nine lines observe the clear distinctness, the beauty of the subject matter, and the warmth and color which glow in the single words, no one of which is out of harmony with the tone of the poetry. The sun Scarce spreads o'er ether the dejected day, Faint are his gleams, and ineffectual shoot His struggling rays in horizontal lines, Through the thick air. JAMES THOMSON : Winter. Here in four lines we find three words at least that belong properly to the diction of prose, rather than to that of poetry. Taste in any high degree was evidently not a part of Thomson's equipment for the exercise of his art, and elegance is therefore lacking in many of his lines. 89. Exercise. The first of the selections following is an idyllic picture of part of the Maine sea-coast as the DICTION. 241 writer holds it in a loving memory ; the other is an alto- gether different thing, a part of Dickens's beautiful story of the death of little Nell. Look them over, and say which is meant to have the more imaginative appeal, and which is meant to reach elemental feeling the more directly ? Which is meant to hold the reader's thought close to feelings that have been a part of experience, and in which is the effort made to carry the thought to wide reaches of feeling colored by imagination ? Which should show the more restraint in form and phrasing, and in which may the words chosen have the wider range ? Why ? What words in this first selection would, as you judge, be inappropriate if used in the second ? The coves and indents, the bays and river-mouths, along the coast of Maine, are a part of my earlier mem- ories. All the lovely region seems to me still a sort of fairyland, which, when a little child, was all my own. . . . I can still feel the cool, salt breath there steal in from outer deeps, and see it draw a film across the stars. I can still hear the cry of the great winds, with storms upon their wings sweeping in from reefs and ledges, singing their high death-song of wreck and drowning men. The rafts, the sun-soaked hulls and tarry ropes of the coasters, the light-houses, the islands whose primeval pines stood like dark sentinels, and whose sea-edges were fringed with tender green of dripping birch and willow the elf-like sails flitting here and there, the great ships taking sun and shadow and stealing away like gray ghosts, the gloom of cliff and steep, the rolling fogs pierced by a red flame of sunset, the vast tossing stretch'es of live sunshine and azure and foam, of rose and silver, of violet mists whose 242 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. dim distances veiled a still farther and yet undiscovered country all these remain in my recollection, clothed with an atmosphere, half dream, half reality, of vivid beauty, that makes the wild sea-region all to me that a land-locked Arcady or Tempe has been to the fancy of poets and singers from the early days to this. HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD. She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God and waiting for the breath of life ; not one who had lived and suffered death. Her couch was dressed with here and there some winter- berries and green leaves, gathered in a spot she had been used to favor. " When I die, put near me something that has loved the light, and had the sky above it always." These were her words. She was dead. Dear, gentle, patient, noble Nell was dead. Her little bird a poor slight thing, the pressure of a finger would have crushed was stirring nimbly in its cage ; and the strong heart of its child-mistress was mute and motionless for ever. Where were the traces of her early cares, her sufferings, and fatigues ! All gone. Sorrow was dead, indeed, in her ; but peace and perfect happiness were born imaged in her tranquil beauty and profound repose. CHARLES DICKENS. Comparing the first of these excerpts with the one on page 237 from Jane Austen, which should you say shows in greater degree the quality of elegance as understood in the narrower sense of appeal to love of the beautiful ? Do you find the element of thought which is not kindled by feeling greater in one than in the other ? Do you find in either of them words which you think inappropriately chosen for the purpose of DICTION. 243 making the description a living picture in the mind ? Which do you enjoy the more ? Why ? 90. Fine Writing. What is called "fine writing" is one of the faults of diction against which a cultivated taste should protect us. It consists in the use of pre- tentious terms for simple ideas, as in the sentence, " This ended the row and saved the life of one more earthly sojourner." This use of over-important words is sometimes for the definite purpose of making a char- acter or a situation ridiculous. In this way Dickens makes the pompous vacuity of the perennially hopeful Micawber doubly amusing. " ( Under the impression,' said Mr. Micawber, 'that your peregrinations in this metropolis have not as yet been extensive, and that you might have some difficulty in penetrating the arcana of the modern Babylon in the direction of the City Road - in short,' said Mr. Micawber in another burst of confidence, 'that you might lose yourself I shall be. happy to call this evening, and install you in the knowl- edge of the nearest way.' ' In such cases as this the use of pretentious language does "not make us laugh at the author ; we perceive his purpose and laugh with him ; but when the author himself is apparently uncon- scious of the incongruity between subject and phrasing he becomes the object of our criticism and our mirth. The affectation of importance in high-sounding phrases not in keeping with the theme is a worse fault than the failure to give to the diction the passion or the dignity or the color that the subject demands. We prize the 244 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. diamond in the rough, but have only contempt for the paste jewels that flash a spurious radiance, deceiving only those who would themselves have deceived others. With " fine writing " we may include sensational and vulgar writing of various sorts, all of them violations of elegance. EXERCISES. 1. What are some of the faults of diction that tend to weaken style ? How should you avoid them ? How should you define force as a quality of style ? 2. What do you understand by precision as a quality of style ? How does it differ from elegance ? Which is more an intellectual quality of style ? 3. For what sort of readers might precision in some kinds of writing result in lack of clearness ? Why ? 4. Would a composition lacking in elegance, as we have used the term in this chapter, generally be as clear as one in which the words have been chosen with good taste ? Will lack of elegance affect our understanding of a composition in its intellectual or emotional significance ? Do you think that the reader's understanding of a writer's meaning as meaning merely may be affected by the emo- tional suggestions of the words employed ? Should you say, then, that clearness and elegance are in a manner dependent the one upon the other or not ? 5. In a composition in which a high degree of force seems to you fitting which word in each of the following groups should you employ, assuming that you were free to disregard considerations of precision and elegance. Praise, eulogy, approval. Endless, eternal, everlasting. Fervor, enthusiasm, passion. Symbol, sign, emblem. Emasculated, we^k, effeminate. Elegant, exquisite, dainty. DICTION. 245 Effort, attempt, struggle. Desperation, discouragement, despondency. Overthrow, demolish, destroy. Honest, candid, sincere. Temperate, dispassionate, calm. Rude, artless, awkward. 6. Compare paragraph from Choate, page 74, with that from Hamerton, page 62, and say which has the higher degree of force. Do you see any difference in the character of the words to account for this ? Is there a higher proportion of stressed words in the one than in the .other ? Is the degree of stress given to important words greater in one than in the other? Are the stressed or important words in one more concrete, specific, or emo- tional than in the other ? In the same way compare the extract from Sanborn, page 209, with that from Jordan, page 211, and that from Spalding, page 229, with that from Irving, page 79. 7. Bring to class a list of authors whose writings, as you think, would probably cultivate taste and elegance in those who read them. 8. Read Milton's "L'Allegro" and "II Penseroso" and Pope's " Dunciad," Book I., and say which poet displays the more elegance and beauty of diction. Can you point out any definite lack or violation of these qualities in the other ? 9. What violations of elegance or precision do you find in the following, and what changes should you make? His graceful physiognomy and amiable manners won him a far better chance to go to the West Indies, first to St. Domingo, then to Cuba, where he prepared with great care an expedition to Mexico, to_proye the fabulous stories of the wealth of the ruling race ana king Montezuma. The simple- minded people received them with open hearts, permitting Cortez to reach the very heart of their country and likewise their treasury without serious opposition. He plundered and robbed till gold fairly lost its charm to him. His rich hauls made the ruling monarch of his fatherland very jealous, but his rich spoil brought him a royal welcome. 246 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 10. For such words in the following as seem to you lacking in force substitute others, and say just what has been gained by the change. Yet who were we to frown angrily at him ? To the present time I shudder at the thought of him. It was not in so great degree his tallness and the mass of his body, though he was so big that the clipped pointed fashion of his beard a fashion then new at court seemed on him out of keeping and lacking in manliness ; nor so much the evilly threatening glance of his gray eyes he had a slight cast in them ; nor the grim suavity of his manner, and the harsh threatening voice that permitted of no disguise. It was the sum of these things, the large unrefined presence of the 'man that was overpowering that made the great hesitate and the poor bend themselves. And then the understanding that men had of him ! Though we knew little of the world's wrong, all we did know had come to us linked with his name. 1 ii. On one subject out of each of the two lists follow- ' ing write a composition of two hundred words, taking care to employ only words that are in keeping. Compare the diction of the two compositions, and say what is the dis- tinction between the kinds of words employed. 1. Along a country lane. i. The influence of Charles 2. A spot where violets Darwin. grow. 2. The doctrine of the conser- 3. Sailing toy boats. vation of energy. 4. A ship in a storm. 3. An explanation of the sy- 5. An April snow-storm. phon. 6. Visiting another school. 4. Cecil Rhodes and South 7. After the cyclone. Africa. 8. The village band on 5. The advantages of an Anglo- parade. American alliance. 9. An afternoon in. the 6. Arbitration between capital park. and labor. 7. The peace conference at the Hague. 12. Study the following selections, and comment on them, with reference to elegance, showing what elements in them contribute to this quality. DICTION. 247 1. We dp not make our own thoughts ; they grow in us like grain in wood ; the growth is of the skies, which are of nature nature is of God. 2. A ruined character is as picturesque as a ruined castle. There are dark abysses and yawning gulfs in the human heart, which can be rendered passable only by bridging them over with iron nerves. 3. It was a fine autumnal day, the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into bril- liant dyes of orange, purple and scarlet. Streaming files of wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air ; the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the quail at intervals from the neighboring stubble-fields. 4. I will tell you what the giving of knowledge is like. Suppose, now, that there were no sun or stars in the heavens, or anything that shone in the black brow of night; and suppose that a lighted lamp were put in your hand, which should burn, wasteless and clear, amid all the tempests that should brood upon this lower world. Suppose, next, that there were a thousand millions of human beings on earth with you, each holding in his hand an unlighted lamp, filled with the same oil as yours, and capable of giving as much light. Suppose these millions should come, one by one, to you, and light each his lamp by yours ; would they rob you of any light? Would less of it shine on your path? Would your lamp burn more dimly for lighting a thousand millions ? 13. How may elegance be violated? What do you understand by "fine writing?" What principle should we keep in mind to avoid fine writing ? Look over the following passages. Point out where they violate the quality of elegance. Re-write, or improve them with reference to elegance. 1. These impecunious characters and adventurers for weeks and weeks haunted the parliamentary buildings. 2. The master is placed there specially to influence in- tellectually only, many think, but as trully morally. 3. The house that was lately in the process of erection has been destroyed in its entirety by the devouring element. 248 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 4. A great many things seemingly relatively perfectly plain, are very difficult to unravel. 5. A petrified body of rotary motion has no affinity for gramineous matter. 6. The friends speedily called into requisition the services of the family physician, but the disease had taken so firm a hold of his system that after a few hours of agony his spirit winged its flights into realms unknown. 7. He came out wagging his tail and making circles with his body, not unlike a cat in pursuit of her appendage. 8. The blushing bride, leaning on the arm of her fond parent, passed up the aisle, the admired of all admirers. 9. It is due to neighbor Diaz (President Diaz of Mexico) to say that he is not taking advantage of this unpleasantness (the Spanish-American War) to throw any garbage over the line fence. 10. The patrons of husbandry, having thoroughly examined all the inventions of genius to be found within the machinery hall, retired to an adjoining department to partake of some liquid refreshments. 11. One boy was in a corner grinding for the examination, while another tried to boost him along whenever he got stuck. 12. Mrs. Bryan allows that she is going to contribute to the Commoner, but she is cock-sure there will be no ladies' department in that sheet. It will be interesting to see how she disguises her feminine fist. DICTION. 249 CHAPTER XIII. DICTION. CHOICE AND ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS FOR RHYTHM, TONE- COLOR, AND EMPHASIS. 91. Rhythm as an Element of Style It is safe to say that to most people a single clear note of any musical instrument is fundamentally pleasing. A mu- sical tone, as distinguished from mere sound, is one in which the separate vibrations recur at regular inter- vals ; that is, it is one in which the vibrations are rhythmical. Ordinarily we think of poetry only as the rhythmical form of speech or writing, but all good prose makes more or less appeal to our simple delight in rhythm. Further, writing in which -the accents occur at somewhat regular intervals is more easily read than that in which accented syllables are grouped together, followed by groups of unaccented syllables. It will generally be found that impassioned prose is especially rhythmical. The fervor that prompts the utterance prompts also to the more musical, more rhythmical form, a form that seems to be required for the rush of feeling that must not be stopped by a num- ber of successive accented syllables. In the following 250 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. observe how regularly the accented syllables occur and how easily it is read in consequence. Syllables that have a lighter or secondary accent are indicated by the double accent mark. | There is a rare serenity in the thought of death when it is known to be the gate of life. \ This conviction Brown- ing had, and so his grief was rather that of 6ne whose joy has westered earlier. | The sweetest music of his life had withdrawn : \ but there was still music for 6ne to whom life in itself was a happiness. He had his son and was not void of 6ther solace : \ but even had it been otherwise \ he was 6"f the strenuous natures who never succumb, nor wish to die, \ whatever accident of mortality overcome the will and the power. \ WILLIAM SHARP : Robert Browning. Further, the important words, printed in italics, those over which the voice cannot pass lightly, come at some- what regular intervals ; and when two or three such words come together, as in the third and fifth groups inclosed between the lines, these groups which are each made up of those words that are said connectedly with one impulse of the breath are comparatively short, and therefore more time may easily be given to the separate words. The rhythm of prose must not be so pronounced as that of verse, of course ; and in this the number of unaccented syllables between the accented syllables varies irregularly. A comparison of the fol- lowing paragraph, a newspaper clipping making no pre- tense to literary quality, with the extract from Sharp's life of Browning above, will show the difference between prose which is rhythmical and that which is not. DICTION. 251 If you have never yet made you a cl6thes-pm apron, d6n't neglect to d6 s6 the next idle time you have. Take a yard of s6me kind of go6ds alike on b6th sides, put a narrow hem at the b6ttom on the outsfde. Turn it up ten or twelve inches from the b6ttom, 6wing to your height, for you d6n't want to sto6p to reach the b6ttom of the p6cket, and stitch up each side ; also a r6w through the center, making tw6 nice sized p6ckets. Gather to a band, and finish with strings as they will be fcamd more convenient than a button. When the c!6thes are rem6ved from the line, hang your apron on the wall wr6ng side 6ut, or rather the p6ckets inside, and your pins will be kept perfectly clean. In this, among other faults with which we are not concerned here, we notice a remarkable irregularity in the recurrence of accented syllables. As many as four and five are found in succession ; and clearly the voice cannot pass rhythmically over such a succession of accents. Occasionally, because of the high emotional force of the place in which such crowding of accents occurs, some delay is artistically fitting, a thing evi- dently not true here. From this it will be clear that a great deal of the pleasure which we have in read- ing good prose and a great deal of the literary flavor which we find in it, -is dependent upon the rhythm which gives the character of passion or fervor or state- liness to the rounded periods. Just how to acquire command of a rhythmic prose style it would be hard to say definitely. First we must train the ear to appreciate rhythm and to distinguish writing which is rhythmical from that which is not. Then we shall be satisfied with 252 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. our own writing only when it gives us the same sense of rhythmically flowing sound. 92. Rhythm and Coherence. Primarily a composi- tion is coherent when it is concerned with one subject only, which is developed with proper logical sequence of thought. The introduction of irrelevant matter, a dis- connected and illogical order of treatment, an undue em- phasis of unimportant details, such change of the diction as changes the tone of the writing, any of these is enough to lessen the coherence of a composition. As we have seen in an earlier chapter (page 4), coherence is a necessary quality of style in any writing, but a composition may be coherent in thought and in order of presentation without giving the impression of coherence. An awkward succession of accents which makes the reading broken and interrupted, lessens the pleasurable feeling of coherence which we might otherwise have. And on the other hand, when accents occur with such regularity as to give the reader a sense of smoothly flowing continuity the rhythm adds distinctly to the effect of coherence. Coherence, it is to be remembered, is an intellectual quality of style, as rhythm is more particularly an emotional one ; and it is noticeable that writers in whom the union of the intellectual with the emotional is most pronounced, such as George Eliot, DeQuincey, and Ruskin, are especially remarkable for the flexibility and richness of their rhythm. 93. Clearness and Force as Affected by Rhythm. - Whatever increases the coherence of a literary procluc- DICTION. 253 tion increases its clearness also, since it lessens the mental effort which the reader must make in order to hold the separate details of the subject together in their proper relations. Indirectly, then, 'a pleasing rhythm adds to the clearness of what we write, and for much the same reason it may give it a higher degree of force. The short rhythmical clause units, within which the ac- cents occur with approximate regularity, add to the animated energy which characterizes the style of the following paragraph. Norwich was the capital of a large and fruitful prov- ince. It was the residence of a bishop and a chapter. It was the chief seat of the chief manufacture of the realm. Some men distinguished by learning and science had recently dwelt there ; and no place in the kingdom, except the capital and the universities, had more attrac- tions for the curious. The library, the museum, the aviary, and the botanical garden of Sir Thomas Browne, were thought by the Fellows of the Royal Society well worthy of a long pilgrimage. Norwich had also a court in miniature. THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY : History of England. In this connection it is worth remembering that Macaulay was an orator to whom people listened gladly. In the preceding chapter we have seen that his style is characterized by clearness, a necessary quality in ora- tory ; and we may now add rhythmical incisiveness to that as another quality which is effective in any writing that is to have oratorical character. 254 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIL. 94. Tone-Color. If what we write is to have a pleasing rhythm not only must it have an approximately regular succession of accents and clauses of nearly uniform length, but the sounds must also be so com- bined as to follow each other easily and with some degree of correspondence to the meaning. When the subject matter and the style are meant to appeal espe- cially to the aesthetic sense, the round vowel and the more vocal consonant tones, such as the liquids r and /, are in general to be employed more frequently than the harsher and less flowing tones. This is of course more particularly true in poetry, but even in prose it is important that the succession of sounds be agreeable and in keeping. Tone-color is most form- ally and distinctly employed in rhyme, but as that is not found in prose we are not concerned with it here. Alliteration, the repetition of the same initial consonant in two or more words or emphatic syllables which follow one another at short intervals, assonance, the successive employment of vowels having like tonal quality, and onomatopoeia, the use of sounds which are in a measure suggestive of the sense, are other forms of it. In the older Rhetorics these various effects of tone-color have been treated under the general term Euphony ; but as that implies in general pleasant tonal effects, it seems not sufficiently accurate and comprehensive. Tone- color may be fundamentally pleasing or displeasing, according to the subject matter. The law of its use is that it shall contribute to the unity of impression which DICTION. 255 the composition is to give. If the mood in which the writing is cast is an animated one there must be such alternation of sounds as may be pronounced easily and rapidly in succession. If the mood is graver the round vowels, which delay utterance, or such consonants as do not follow one another easily, may be employed. Even a succession of harsh sounds, sounds the opposite of euphonious, may sometimes be most fitting. It may be added that in prose noticeable alliteration is to be avoided. The /ielcis /all southward, abrupt and broken, To the /ow /ast edge of the /ong, /one /and. If a step should round or a word be .spoken, Would a gho.rt not rise at the .strange gue-rt'.r hand ? ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE : A Forsaken Garden. In this we have alliteration, assonance, and onomato- poeia of such sort as is not found, perhaps, outside of Swinburne's poetry. The alliterative fs in the first half of the first line are especially in keeping with the tone of melancholy musing which the title suggests as characteristic of the poem, and the hard Us of the second half of the line increase the sense of abruptness in meaning. In the second line a retarded rhythm is fitting for the mood, and the alliteration of the liquid fs and the assonance of the round Js and as are strik- ingly effective in increasing the delay. In the next line the softer s's give the sense of hush which is the feeling that this line is meant to convey. Onomatopoeia is but a more specific term for Harmony, which is the 256 COMPOSITION A XI) RUE TL MY t '. correspondence between sound and meaning continued throughout a composition. For an excellent example of this read the following description of the sudden burst- ing forth of the music of the organ from " Westminster Abbey" in Washington Irving's Sketch Hook." Ob- serve how large a proportion of round vowel and full Consonant tones there are, and note that the reading must be slow and stately. The sounds throughout are largely those that have distinct musical quality. Suddenly the notes of the deep-laboring organ burst upon the ear, falling with doubled and redoubled intensity. and rolling, as it were, huge billows of sound. I low well do their volume and grandeur accord with this mighty building ! With what pomp do they swell through its vast vaults, and breathe their awful harmony through these caves of death, and make the silent sepulchre vocal ! And now they rise in triumphant acclamation, heaving higher and higher their accordant notes, and piling sound on sound. And now they pause, and the soft voices of the choir break out into sweet gushes of melody ; they soar aloft, and warble along the roof, and seem to play about those lofty vaults like the pure airs of heaven. Again the pealing organ heaves its thrilling thunders. compressing air into music and rolling it forth upon the soul. What long-drawn cadences ! What solemn, sweep- ing concords ! It grows more and more dense and power- ful it fills the vast pile, and seems to jar the very walls the ear is stunned the senses are overwhelmed. And now it is winding up in full jubilee it is rising from the earth to heaven the very soul seems rapt away, and floated upwards on this swelling tide of harmony. 95. Elegance as Affected by Rhythm and Tone-Color. A style which is rhythmical and in which there is DICTION. 257 an agreeable and fitting succession of sounds, in this respect at least appeals to our aesthetic sense. \Yhen properly employed, then, both rhythm and tone-color contribute to elegance in writing. A severe taste might object to the tone-color of the lines from Swinburne on the ground of its being too noticeable; but aside from the possibility of that criticism, they gain in the quality of elegance, as the sounds are not only pleasing in themselves in the succession in which they are ar- ranged, but they are also fitted to the sense. 96. The General Law of Emphasis Any composi- tion which may justly be given rank as literature must present things real and imaginative, with such skillful placing of emphasis as will make the writing interesting and significant. A treatise on geometry is not properly literature ; and for such a treatise not emphasis, but the absolute suppression of emphasis, is the thing of first importance. The mathematical writer presents truths in their known logical relations, and in his presentation he must be careful to show all the truth in its true relations ; for such showing emphasis- of any sort is not fitting. But literature as distinguished from other writing is an appeal to feeling, and to make such appeal effective the writer brings into prominence those things that are to him most significant, that the reader may see the matter as he sees it, and feel about it as he feels. This emphasis must not be' apparent ; it must, in fact, be so disguised that it will affect the reader without alienating him; for, while we sit down to an 258 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. entertaining book with the definite expectation of having our sensibilities played upon, we instinctively resent any- thing on the part of the writer in the way of assumption of ability to play upon them. 97. How Emphasis is Secured Emphasis gained by the employment of more distinct rhythm, or by an increase of clearness and coherence, will, perhaps, affect a paragraph or more, but emphasis may be given to a single word 'or phrase. In the sentence the position of importance is at the beginning or at the end, and a word placed in either position is so made emphatic. The word at the beginning of the sen- tence naturally attracts more attention than the words that follow ; and the word that concludes the sentence remains in the mind during the brief pause before a new sentence is begun, and therefore makes a more positive impression than those immediately preceding. If impor- tant words can be placed at the beginning or end of the sentence, their importance will, therefore, be the more certainly apparent. Often this will make necessary a change from the, normal order of words in the English sentence, and- it at once becomes a question whether the new order is not so glaringly awkward as to more than offset the gain in emphasis. Further, the em- phasis may be so pronounced as to be in bad taste, or it may be unduly abrupt and startling. Even when these objections do not hold, a too frequent employ- ment of the device gives the style an air of artificiality. This is one of the defects of Macaulay's style, a defect I/ DICTION. 259 which the following passage shows, perhaps, in a charac- teristic degree. i. There Siddons, in the prime of her majestic beauty, looked with emotion on a scene surpassing all the imita- tions of the stage. 2. There the historian of the Roman Empire thought of the days when Cicero pleaded the cause of Sicily against Verres, and when, before a senate which still retained some show of freedom, Tacitus thun- dered against the oppressor of Africa. 3. There were seen, side by side, the greatest painter and the greatest scholar of the age. 4. The spectacle had allured Reynolds from that easel which has preserved to us the thoughtful foreheads of so many writers and statesmen, and the sweet smiles of so many noble matrons. 5. It had in- duced Parr to suspend his labors in that dark and pro- found mine from which he had extracted a vast treasure of erudition, a treasure too often buried in the earth, too often paraded with injudicious and inelegant ostentation, but st\\\ precious, massive, and splendid. T. B. MACAULAY : Warren Hastings. The arrangement of words in the sentence in such order as to secure the effect of climax contributes to emphasis. Climax stimulates interest by the continual suggestion of something more important to follow, and the expectation thus aroused serves to give a heightened significance to the reading. But it must be remem- bered that unless the subject has sufficient dignity and weight, climax will give merely the effect of bombast and pomposity. Sentences which are to have the easy flow of conversation may fittingly end with little words ; and in any case the preposition completing the verb is a part of the verb and so may properly conclude the 260 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. sentence, as in, " That is the only conclusion I can come to." Ordinarily a sentence ends most musically when the last syllable is unaccented and is preceded by an accented syllable. Emphasis is also secured by the repetition of words and phrases and by such balanced antithetical arrange- ment of words, phrases, and sentences as will make these expressions prominent through the relation of one part to another which the arrangement suggests. Any change from the normal order of words in the English sentence has a tendency to give emphasis to the expres- sion placed in the unusual position. In the following sentences these methods of securing emphasis are illus- trated, and the emphatic expressions, or expressions through the employment of which emphasis has been gained, are printed in italics. 1. His successes in parliament, his successes tHrough the war, are honest successes of a brave man. 2. This universe, ah me what could the wild man know of it ; what can we yet know ? That it is a force, and a thousand-fold complexity of forces, a force which is not we. That is all ; it is not we, it is altogether different from us. Force, force, everywhere force : we ourselves a mysterious force in the center of that. The third and fourth sentences following are exam- ples of balance and antithesis : - 3. Thus the successors of the old Cavaliers had turned demagogues ; the successors of the old Roundheads had turned courtiers. DICTION. 26l 4. Both readily found what they sought ; and both obstinately refused to see anything but what they sought. 5. In nations broken to the curb, in nations long accus- tomed to be transferred from one tyrant to another, a man without eminent qualities may easily gain supreme power. 6. Nobleman and commoner and slave and alien were mixed in one madly hurrying throng. The following passages will show how climax aids in securing emphasis : 7. To dream of such a journey would be madness; to devise it, a thing incredible ; to do it, a deed impossi- ble. But Grant was capable of them all and equal to the work. 8. Your heart gives a great bound when you think what it is the regimental flag and glancing along the front, you count fifteen of those colors that were borne at Pea Ridge, waved at Shiloh, glorified at Stone River, and riddled at Chickamauga. The close of Edmund Burke's speech on the Impeach- ment of Warren Hastings furnishes an excellent exam- ple of the effect of climax : 9. Therefore, hath it been ordered by the Commons of Great Britain, that I impeach Warren Hastings of high crimes and misdemeanors. I impeach him in the name of the Commons House of Parliament, whose trust he has betrayed. I impeach him in the name of the English nation, whose ancient honor he has sullied. I impeach him in the name of the people of India, whose rights he has trodden under foot, and whose country he has turned into a desert. Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, in the name of both sexes, in the name of every age, in the name of every rank, I impeach the common enemy and oppressor of all. 262 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 98. Selection a Form of Emphasis When a painter transfers a landscape to his canvas he does not put into the picture all of the actual scene which he is represent- ing. In order that the painting may have the more elementary qualities, unity and coherence, he empha- sizes certain details and suppresses others ; and the value of his work will depend largely upon his judgment in deciding what details will contribute to the general effect and what would be inharmonious. The camera is faithful to fact ; and because it can have no selective judgment, and can neither emphasize one detail nor suppress another, a photograph is not a work of art, and the lens can never take the place of the creative genius of the artist. It is true that the photograph is often very artistic ; but that is because it reproduces, not nature, but something in the arrangement of which the selective judgment of the artist has been exercised. In . literary composition this principle is as valid as in the art of the pencil-and the brush. The writer must first make choice of those details that, from his point of view, are especially important, and important in such a way as to contribute to the general significance of the composition. In the selection of his material the writer places emphasis upon what he wishes to make significant in the mind of the reader, and the mere dwelling upon certain phases of the question to the exclusion of others secures this result. 99. Force and Emphasis Emphasis contributes to force, but differs from it in being a less constant feature DICTION. 263 in a composition. The employment of a greater degree of force in one place than in another for the purpose of drawing particular attention to some special phase of the subject is known more specifically as emphasis. At the same time emphasis in the sentence, by whatever devices secured, is one of the elements of force. Force may be a large element in the style of a writer who em- ploys very little emphasis, but in general the two are found together. Carlyle, for instance, is remarkable for a very high degree of force, and no less so for emphasis. The following sentence from " Heroes and Hero Wor- ship " is typical of his method of securing force through emphasis. No more immoral act can be done by a human crea- ture ; for it is the beginning of all immorality, or rather it is the impossibility henceforth of any morality whatso- ever : the innermost moral soul is paralyzed thereby, cast into fatal magnetic sleep. In this we have climax and repetition, for the second of the two clauses after the colon is but a repetition in more emphatic form of the one preceding it ; and the clause just before the colon is also a repetition of the same sort. Observe that the final clause is the one of most significance, and note, too, that in the two final clauses after the colon, out of twelve words all but "the," "is," and "into" will naturally be stressed in reading. The increased force in these last clauses is in keeping with the climax resulting from the arrange- ment of clauses in the order of increasing importance, J 264 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. EXERCISES. i . What do you understand by rhythm ? Do you think that the rhythm of prose affects the ease with which you read it ? If so, how and why ? Do children who speak pieces generally prefer prose or poetry ? Why ? 2. Comment on the rhythmic character of " The Steam Carriage," in Appendix C. 3. If you were to write an oration for some occasion, should you think it best to employ long or short rhythmic units ? Why ? What would be the result of crowding accented syllables together in unimportant words ? and what the effect of a succession of seven or eight unimpor- tant words ? 4. Bring to class a newspaper clipping that seems to you deficient in rhythm, and point out its more glaring rhythmical faults. 5. What do you understand by tone-color? Do you understand that distinct effects of tone-color may result from a succession of like sounds or from a repetition of the same sound only ? When might the employment of harsh sounds be justifiable ? 6. In what kinds of composition should you expect to find tone-color the more' pronounced ? Should you think it well to give prose as distinct rhythm as poetry or not ? Why? Do you think that the suggestion of rhyme in prose is pleasant or not ? 7. Where in the sentence should you place words that you wish to make emphatic ? Why ? 8. How do you understand that we may secure em- phasis by selection ? Study the following passage, and say whether the author has followed the principle of selection, and if so say what she has made emphatic. A wide plain, where the broadening Floss hurries on be- tween its green banks to the sea, and the loving tide, rushing to meet it, checks its passage with an impetuous embrace. On this mighty tide, the black ships, laden with the freshly scented fir planks, with rounded sacks of oil-bearing seed, DICTION. 265 or with the dark glitter of coal, are borne along to St. Ogg's. This town shows its aged, fluted, red roofs and the broad gables of its wharves, between the low-wooded hill and the river brink, tingeing the water with a soft purple hue under the transient glance of this February sun. Far away, on each hand, stretch the rich pastures, and the patches of dark earth made ready for the seed of broad- leaved green crops, or touched, already, with the tint of the tencler-bladed autumn-sown grain. The distant ships seem to be lifting their masts and stretching their red-brown sails close among the branches of the spreading ash. Just by the red-roofed town, the tributary ripple flows, with a lively cur- rent, into the Floss. GEORGE ELIOT : The Mill on the Floss. In the same way study some of the illustrative para- graphs on pages 62 to 77. i/ Look over the magazines and books at hand, and bring to the class passages in which the principle is prominent. ' What is climax ? How does it aid in securing Em- phasis ? Study the following passages, and note the examples of climax. Show how they affect the passage. 1. Since concord was lost, friendship was lost; fidelity was lost ; liberty was lost, all was lost ! 2. Here I stand for impeachment or trial ! I dare accusa- tion ! I defy the honorable gentleman ! I defy the govern- ment! I defy their whole plmjanx ! 3. We have complained ; we have petitioned ; we have supplicated ; we have even prostrated ourselves at the foot of the throne, without moving royal clemency. 4. This makes the character complete.' Whatsoever things are false, whatsoever things are dishonest, whatsoever things are unjust, whatsoever things are of evil report if there be any vice, if there be any infamy, all these things we know were blended in Barere. T. B. MACAULAY. 10. Bring to class some lines of poetry in which you find distinct tone-color, and say whether it is effective in heightening the impression which the author meant to give or not. 266 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. 11. What do you understand by Emphasis as a quality of style ? To what part of our nature does it appeal ? How should you distinguish between Emphasis and Force ? What in the writer should inspire Emphasis ? Should a writer aim to secure Emphasis mechanically ? Why not ? 12. Can a writing be clear and not emphatic? Men- tion some kinds of writing in which Clearness alone is sought. Show why these writings are not properly litera- ture. 13. If Emphasis is an appeal to the feelings or the emotions, in what kind of discourse should you expect to find it the prevailing quality ? Select passages narrative, descriptive, expository, and argumentative, and compare them in the class with reference to Emphasis. 14. In the sentences following carets have been put where the bracketed expression at the end of each sentence might be placed. Try these expressions in the several positions, and decide which of them is the better and why. 1. A darker spirit A urged the new crusade, A born not of hope, but of fear, A slavish in its nature AyyTthe creature and the tool of despotism]. 2. With eleven ships, therefore/^ he sailed from Cadiz on the twenty-ninth of June, 1566, //[leaving the: smaller vessels of his fleet to follow with what s-pe^ed they might]. 3. I say that the customs and convictions of a democracy are more dangerous to intellectual liberty than those of an aristocracy, because in matters of custom the gentry rule only within their own park-palings, whereas the people* A rule wherever the breezes blow A [when power resides with them]. 4. A Ampere's young wife was in constant anxiety^ whilst the pair were separated by the severity of their fate, A [as to the sufficiency of his diet and the decency of his appearance]. 5. Such people naturally look upon any criticism and any real freedom of speech,KA when these are positively healthy signs, [with distrust and' suspicion] SEA'TEA'CES : SHORT AN 2} LONG. 267 CHAPTER XIV. ENTENCES : SHORT AND LONG. 100. Unity and Coherence in the Sentence. Sen- tences which contain only one thought, or several thoughts which are so related as to be easily held in mind as one, have unity, and that is a necessary quality in all sentences. Not only must sentences have unity, but they must also give the effect of unity. There are, then, two things to be considered : first, the fundamental unity of the thought ; and second, the form of expres- sion which will give that effect. This has been con- sidered in part, in chapter V., but some further discussion of the means of securing unity is in place here. Unity is violated when a clause, phrase, or other expression is "tacked on " after the -sentence has seemingly come to an end. The introduction into the sentence anywhere of an incongruous expression of any sort is destructive of unity. Sentences are too short for unity when they exclude closely related subordinates, which are therefore of necessity made independent sentences. Sentences are too long for unity when they include more than can easily be held together as one thought in the mind. Sentences of more than one clause are not unified when the proper relation of equality or subordination is not clearly indicated. 268 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. A sentence may have unity without being coherent. A sentence lacks coherence when it contains pronouns the antecedents of which are indefinite, when a relative clause is separated from its antecedent, when the rela- tion of one part to another is for any reason uncertain. Incoherence often results in this last case from a care- less use of connectives. Participles are often used inde- pendent of any word for them to modify, with resulting incoherence. Shifts of construction a change from the active to the passive, from the indicative to the infinitive or subjunctive, from the past to the present are violations of coherence. The sentence must not be a series of independent clauses strung together by con- junctions. Subordinate clauses must have as definite a relation in thought as they have in grammatical structure. Each subordinate clause must have some close relation to the principal clause or principal clauses, and if there are two principal clauses or more they must be closely related. Otherwise the reader will be fatigued by the attempt to find some unifying connection in thought between them. Further, the separation of related ideas is also a tax upon the attention and powers of the reader, and should therefore be avoided. As far as possible we should lighten the mental effort of the reader by so shaping our sentences that they will indicate the connection from thought to thought. 101. Clearness. Clearness is a fundamental neces- sity in all writing, and unity and coherence are essential for clearness. A writing in which the thought is uni- SENTENCES: SHORT AND LONG. 269 fied and is developed in a logically and naturally cohe- rent order will ordinarily be clear. In chapter XII. we saw that a proper choice of words is necessary for clear- ness, and we may now remember further that a proper arrangement of words is equally important. Clearness requires that words and phrases which are related in thought shall be near one another in expression, and that those which are separate in thought shall be separate, in expression. 102. Rhetorical Use of Short and Long Sentences. As we have seen, sentence length is determined some- what by considerations of unity and coherence ; but it is also affected by questions of rhetorical effect, the phase of the subject with which we are concerned in this chapter. In general short sentences are more readily understood than long, but their too frequent recurrence, except for special reasons, makes the style abrupt and jerky, and ultimately wearying. The short sentence is especially to be employed when a number of incidents and details are to have a cumulative effect upon the reader. Long sentences add dignity to a composition ; but as their meaning is less readily grasped, short sen- tences should occur at intervals to lessen the reader's fatigue. General A. S. Johnston at Shiloh was engaged in a campaign for territory valuable to the confederacy. He had been transferred from the East to supersede other generals. His fame was at stake. He had been engaged upon one of the most daring and delicate enterprises known .in warfare, a surprise of the enemy, to end in 2/0 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. wholesale slaughter or capture of the routed hosts on the banks of a bridgeless river. The movement carried well up to a point. There a Union division showed what Johnston pronounced stubbornness. His men hesitated, and he went personally with one brigade in a charge. The charge succeeded, and he drew back to bring up another brigade, when a musket-ball severed an artery in his leg. He made no sign, but kept on giving orders and watching events until the spectators saw that he was wounded, and as if acknowledging it to himself for the first time, said, "Yes, and I fear seriously." He was then on the point of death from hemorrhage. GEORGE L. KILMER : First Actions of Wounded Soldiers, Popular Science Monthly, June, 1892. The quick succession of short sentences here serves to emphasize our understanding of the excitement and mental stimulus of ambitious purpose that saved Gen- eral Johnston from yielding at once to the sensation of physical pain. There are mysteries about Number Five. I am not going to describe her personally. Whether she belongs naturally among the bright young people, or in the company of the maturer persons, who have had a good deal of experience of the world, and have reached the wisdom of the riper decades without losing the graces of the earlier ones, it would be hard to say. The men and women, young and old, who throng about her, forget their own ages. " There is no such thing as time in her presence," said the Professor, the other day, in speaking of her. Whether the Professor is in love with her or not is more than I can say, but I am sure that he goes to her for literary sympathy and counsel, just as I do. The reader may remember what Number Five said about the possibility of her getting a sprained ankle, and her asking the young Doctor whether he felt equal to taking charge of her if she did. I would not for SM&TENCES: SHORT AND LONG. 2/1 the world insinuate that he wishes she would slip and twist her foot a little, just a little, you know, but so that it would have to be laid on a pillow in a chair, and inspected, and bandaged, and delicately manipulated. There was a banana-skin which she might naturally have trodden on, in her way to the tea-table. Nobody can sup- pose it was there except by the most innocent of accidents. There are people who will suspect everybody. The idea of the Doctor's putting that banana-skin there ! People love to talk in that silly way about doctors. O. W. HOLMES : Over the Teacups. The first two sentences of this are short in order that the form itself may aid the subject-matter in arousing interest. They stimulate the attention, which is then prepared to follow more closely the description that comes after. The short sentences with which the para- graph closes have that form in order that the abruptness of the change of thought may so be made more striking and full of a lively interest. As the short sentence is also the sentence of ordinary talk, it helps here to give the tone of sprightliness. The great subject of the reestablishment of civil gov- ernment in the Southern States was then taken up. Mr. Stanton had, a few days before, drawn up a project for an executive ordinance for the preservation of order and the rehabilitation of legal processes in the States lately in rebellion. The President, using this sketch as his text, not adopting it as a whole, but saying that it was substan- tially the result of frequent discussions in the cabinet, spoke at some length on the question of reconstruction, than which none more important could ever engage the attention of the government. It was providential, he thought, that this matter should have arisen at a time when 2/2 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC. it could be considered so far as the executive was con- cerned, without interference by Congress. If they were wise and discreet, they should reanimate the States and get their governments to successful operation, with order prevailing and the Union reestablished before Congress came together in December. NICOLAY and HAY : Life of Lincoln. This paragraph illustrates admirably the dignity and strength that come from the use of long sentences. There is the calm reserve of power, and each sentence from period to period is full and well-rounded, as of a mind richly stored. Re-write the paragraph in shorter sentences, retaining the phraseology so far as possible, and note what qualities are lost in the re-writing. For common gifts, necessity makes pertinences and beauty every day, and one is glad when an imperative leaves him no option, since if the man at the door have no shoes, you have not to consider whether you could procure him a paint-box. And as it is always pleasing to see a man eat bread, or drink water, in the house or out of doors, so it is always a great satisfaction to supply these first wants. Necessity does everything well. In our condition of universal dependence, it seems heroic to let the petitioner be the judge of his necessity, and to give all that is asked, though at great inconvenience. If it be a fantastic desire, it is better to leave to others the office of punishing him. I can think of many parts I should prefer playing to that of the Furies. Next to things of necessity, the rule for a gift, which one of my friends prescribed, is that we might convey to some person that which properly belonged to his character, and was easily associated with him in thought. But our tokens of compliment and love are for the most part barbarous. Rings and other jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. SENTENCES : SHORT AND LONG. 273 T/.