Practical Exercises in English Part 44

EXERCISE Lx.x.xIX.

_Which conjunctions in these sentences are redundant_?--

1. I have again been so fortunate as to obtain the a.s.sistance of Dr.

Jones, a teacher of great experience, and whose ideas are quite in harmony with my own.

2. Franklin had noticed for some time the extreme dirtiness of the streets, and especially of the street that he lived on.

3. This animal was considered as irresistible.

4. But how to get him there was a problem. But it was decided to convey him on one of the wagons used in carrying the Emperor's men-of-war from the woods, where they were made, to the water.

5. He forgot to pay for the wine--a shortness of memory common with such men, and which his host did not presume to correct.

6. Next came Louis, Duke of Orleans, the first prince of the blood royal, and to whom the attendants rendered homage as the future king.

7. So from all this you can see that such things are not impossible.

8. Her expression of countenance induced most persons to address her with a deference inconsistent with her station, and which nevertheless she received with easy composure.

9. Our escort consisted of MacGregor, and five or six of the handsomest, best armed, and most athletic mountaineers of his band, and whom he had generally in immediate attendance upon his own person.

10. The little town of Lambtos, Mrs. Gardiner's former home, and where she had lately learned that some acquaintance still remained.

11. He spoke in a deep and low tone, but which nevertheless was heard from one end of the hall to the other.

MISPLACED CORRELATIVES.--When conjunctions are used as correlatives, as "both-and," "either-or," each of the correlated words should be so placed as to indicate clearly what ideas are to be connected in thought.

This principle is violated in "He _not only_ visited Paris, _but_ Berlin _also._" In this sentence the position of "not only" before the verb "visited" leads one to expect some corresponding verb in the second part of the sentence; in fact, however, the two connected words are "Paris" and "Berlin;" "visited" applies to both. This meaning is clearly indicated by putting "not only" before "Paris:" thus, "He visited _not only_ Paris, _but_ Berlin _also_." As a rule the word after the first correlative should be the same part of speech as the word after the second correlative.

EXERCISE XC.

_Correct the errors of position in_--

1. Few complaints were made either by the men or the women.

2. Search-lights are not useful only on s.h.i.+ps, but also on land.

3. Adversity both teaches to think and to be patient.

4. My uncle gave me not only the boat, but also taught me to row it.

5. The prisoner was not only accused of robbery, but of treason.

6. The wise ruler does not aim at the punishment of offenders, but at the prevention of offences.

7. The king was weak both in body and mind.

8. He either is stupid or insolent.

9. He worked not to provide for the future, but the present.

10. Every composition is liable to criticism both in regard to its design and to its execution.

11. The G.o.ds are either angry or nature is too powerful.

12. We are neither acquainted with the Doctor nor with his family.

13. In estimating the work of Luther, we must neither forget the temper of the man nor the age in which he lived.

14. The wise teacher should not aim to repress, but to encourage his pupils.

15. Such rules are useless both for teachers and pupils.

16. Her success is neither the result of cleverness nor of studiousness.

APPENDIX

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

The following suggestions are made in answer to many inquiries from teachers who perceive the rare excellence of the "Foundations of Rhetoric," but who do not clearly see, because of the novel method of the book, how to turn its merits to account in their cla.s.s-rooms. The suggestions outline one way in which the book has been used to great advantage.

It should never be forgotten that the ill.u.s.trative sentences in the "Foundations" have no value except as they help the student to grasp a principle that he can apply in his own use of language. In every case the emphasis should be laid on the principle which is announced or ill.u.s.trated. Merely learning the corrected sentences by heart is useless and should not be permitted.

In taking a cla.s.s over PART I., which treats of words, it is the writer's practice to a.s.sign a short lesson--from one to three pages--in connection with every recitation in English. The leading ideas and most typical sentences in each lesson are privately marked in the teacher's book with colored pencil, so that they may readily catch his eye, and from five to twelve minutes of each recitation period are taken up with a rapid questioning on these leading ideas and typical sentences. Corrections or answers unaccompanied by reasons are not accepted. Attention is always fixed, not on the form of the ill.u.s.trative sentence, but on the principle of usage under discussion. Pupils would rather commit to memory the sentences than trouble themselves about reasons; but they will master reasons when they find they must. After principles have been mastered, exercises in the choice of forms and words are needed in order that knowledge may be converted into habit.

In PARTS II. and III. the lessons are equally short and the emphasis is unceasingly laid on the question "Why?" If the subject is difficult, it is desirable, at the time that the lesson is a.s.signed, to lead the cla.s.s over the text and some of the ill.u.s.trative sentences in order to open, as it were, the eyes of the pupils. Since these parts of the book treat not of single words, but of sentences and paragraphs, recitations on them seem to call for the use of pencil or chalk. One successful teacher conducts the recitation with books open, requiring her pupils to cover the correct sentences with a strip of paper while they explain and correct the faults in the incorrect sentences. The writer's practice is to paste the faulty sentences on cards of convenient size and thickness--the arrangement of columns is such that the sentences can all be cut from _one_ old book--and to distribute them among eight or ten pupils at the beginning of the recitation hour. While other matters are being attended to, these pupils write the sentences in correct form on the blackboard, and, when the time comes, give their reasons for the changes which they have made. Their work is discussed, if necessary, by the whole cla.s.s. Reviews and written tests should be frequent. As fast as the various principles explained and ill.u.s.trated in PARTS II. and III. are studied, the attention of pupils should be immediately turned to their own writing. It will be far more profitable for them to correct their own offences against clearness, force, ease, and unity than to correct similar offences committed by others. For this reason the PRACTICAL EXERCISES IN ENGLISH contains no exercises on the subjects discussed in PARTS II. and III. of the "Foundations."

THE END