Higher Lessons in English Part 41

TO THE TEACHER.--While the pupils' thoughts and style are somewhat toned up by the preceding exercises, it may he well to let them write similar descriptions drawn from their reading, their observation, or their imagination.

If the compositions contain more than two or three short paragraphs each, it will be almost impossible to secure good work.

Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.

FROM FRANKLIN'S "AUTOBIOGRAPHY."

1. I was dirty from my journey, my pockets were stuffed out with s.h.i.+rts and stockings, and I knew no soul nor where to look for lodging. 2. I was fatigued with traveling, rowing, and want of rest; I was very hungry; and my whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar and about a s.h.i.+lling in copper. 3. The latter I gave the people of the boat for my pa.s.sage, who at first refused it on account of my rowing; but I insisted on their taking it.

1. Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near the markethouse I met a boy with bread. 2. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he directed me to, in Second Street, and asked for biscuit, intending such as we had in Boston; but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. 3. Then I asked for a three-penny loaf, and was told they had none such. 4. So not considering or knowing the difference of money, or the greater cheapness and the names of his bread, I bade him give me three-penny worth of any sort. 5. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. 6. I was surprised at the quant.i.ty, but took it; and, having no room in my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm, and eating the other.

+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--Break up sentence 1, paragraph 1, into three distinct sentences, and tell what changes this will make in capitals and punctuation. Do the same for 2. Which read more closely together, and are more closely connected, the parts of 2, or of 1? How is this shown to the eye? a.n.a.lyze the first two sentences you made from 1.

Find two object complements of _knew_, one a noun and the other a group of five words. Find in 2 a phrase whose princ.i.p.al part is made up of three nouns. What have you learned about the commas used with these nouns? In making separate sentences of 3 what words do you change or drop? Are these the words that bind the parts of 3 together? What noun is used adverbially after _gave_? Supply a preposition and then tell what phrases modify _gave_. Find the object complement of _gave_. What modifies _refused_ by telling when? What, by telling _why_?

In 1, paragraph 2, who is described as gazing about? What does _gazing about_ modify? Read the group of words that tells how far or how long Franklin walked up the street. Notice that this whole group is used like an adverb. Find in it a subject, a predicate, and an object complement. Drop _till_ and see whether the parts of 1 make separate sentences. What word, then, binds these two sentences into one? Read 2 and make of it three distinct sentences by omitting the first _and_ and the word _but_. The second of these three sentences just made contains several sentences which are not so easily separated, as some are used like single words to make up the main, or princ.i.p.al, sentence. In this second part of 2 find the leading subject and its two predicates. Find a phrase belonging to _I_ and representing Franklin as doing something. Put _what_ after _inquiring_ and find the object complement. What phrase belongs to _went_, telling where?

_He directed me to (whom)_ belongs to what? Who is represented as intending? _Intending such as we had in Boston_ belongs to what? _As we had in Boston_ goes with what? Notice that _it seems_ is a sentence thrown in loosely between the parts of another sentence. Such expressions are said to be parenthetical. Notice the punctuation.

Notice that _gazing, inquiring, intending, considering, knowing_, and _having_ are all modifiers of _I_ found in the different sentences of paragraph 2. Put _I_ before any one of these words, and you will see that no a.s.sertion is made. These words ill.u.s.trate one form of the verb (the participle), and _look_ in 1, paragraph 1, ill.u.s.trates the other form (the infinitive), spoken of in Lesson 11 as not a.s.serting. Change each of these participles to a predicate, or a.s.serting form, and then read the sentences in which these predicates are found. You will notice that giving these words the a.s.serting form makes them more prominent and forcible--brings them up to a level with the other predicate verbs. Participles are very useful in slurring over the less important actions that the more important may have prominence. Show that they are so used in Franklin's narrative.

Examine the phrase _with a roll under each arm, and eating the other_, and see if you do not find an ill.u.s.tration of the fact that even great men sometimes make slips. Does _other_ properly mean one of three things? Try to improve this expression.

+The Grouping of Sentences into Paragraphs+.--The sentences above, as you see, stand in two groups. Those of each group are more closely related to one another than they are to the sentences of the other group. Do you see how? In studying this short selection you may find the general topic, or heading, to be something like this: _My First Experiences in Philadelphia_.

Now examine the first group of sentences and see whether its topic might not be put thus: _My Condition on Reaching Philadelphia_. Then examine the sentences of the second group and see whether all will not come under this heading: _How I Found Something to Eat_. You see that even a short composition like this has a general topic with topics under it. As _sub_ means _under_, we will call these under topics _sub-topics_. There are two groups of sentences in this selection because there are two distinct sub-topics developed. The sentences of each group stand together because they jointly develop one sub-topic.

A group of sentences related and held together by a common thought we call a +Paragraph+. How is the paragraph indicated to the eye? What help is it to the reader to have a composition paragraphed? What, to the writer to know that he must write in paragraphs?

+The Style of the Author+.--This selection is mainly +Narrative+. The matter is somewhat tame, and the expression is commonplace. The words are ordinary, and they stand in their usual place. Figures of speech are not used. Yet the piece has a charm. The thoughts are homely; the expression is in perfect keeping; the style is clear, simple, direct, and natural. The closing sentence is slightly humorous. Benjamin Franklin trudging along the street, hugging a great roll of bread under each arm, and eating a third roll, must have been a laughable sight.

Have you ever known boys and girls in writing school compositions, or reporters in writing for the newspapers, to use large words for small ideas, and long, high-sounding phrases and sentences for plain, simple thoughts? Have you ever seen what could be neatly said in three or four lines "padded out" to fill a page of composition paper or a column in a newspaper?

When Franklin said. "My pockets were stuffed out with s.h.i.+rts and stockings," he said a homely thing in a homely way; that is, he fitted the language to the thought. To fit the expression to the thought on every occasion is the perfection of style. If Franklin had been a weak, foolish writer, his sentence might have taken this form:--

"Not having been previously provided with a satchel or other receptacle for my personal effects, my pockets, which were employed as a subst.i.tute, were protruding conspicuously with extra underclothing."

Compare this sentence with Franklin's and point out the faults you see in the subst.i.tute. Can you find anything in the meaning of _provided_ that makes previously unnecessary? Do you now understand what Lowell meant when, in praise of Dryden, he said, "His phrase is always a short cut to his sense"?

TO THE TEACHER.--What is here taught of the paragraph and of style will probably not be mastered at one reading. It will be found necessary to return to it occasionally, and to refer pupils to it for aid in their composition work.

SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPOSITION WORK.

TO THE TEACHER.--We suggest that the pupils reproduce from memory the extract above, and that other selections of narrative be found in the Readers or elsewhere and studied as above.

The pupils may be able to note to what extent the narrative follows the order of time and to what extent it is topical. They may also note the amount of description it contains. They should, so far as possible, find the topic for each paragraph, thus making an outline for a composition to be completed from reproduction.

It will now require little effort to write simple original narratives of real or imagined experiences.

Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.

FROM C. D. WARNER'S "MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN."

1. In the driest days, my fountain became disabled; the pipe was stopped up. 2. A couple of plumbers, with the implements of their craft, came out to view the situation. 3. There was a good deal of difference of opinion about where the stoppage was. 4. I found the plumbers perfectly willing to sit down and talk about it--talk by the hour. 5. Some of their guesses and remarks were exceedingly ingenious; and their general observations on other subjects were excellent in their way, and could hardly have been better if they had been made by the job. 6. The work dragged a little--as it is apt to do by the hour.

1. The plumbers had occasion to make me several visits. 2. Sometimes they would find, upon arrival, that they had forgotten some indispensable tool; and one would go back to the shop, a mile and a half, after it; and his comrade would await his return with the most exemplary patience, and sit down and talk--always by the hour. 3. I do not know but it is a habit to have something wanted at the shop. 4. They seemed to me very good workmen, and always willing to stop, and talk about the job or anything else, when I went near them. 5. Nor had they any of that impetuous hurry that is said to be the bane of our American civilization. 6. To their credit be it said that I never observed anything of it in them. 7. They can afford to wait.

8. Two of them will sometimes wait nearly half a day, while a comrade goes for a tool. 9. They are patient and philosophical. 10. It is a great pleasure to meet such men. 11. One only wishes there was some work he could do for them by the hour.

+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--How can you make the last part of 1 express more directly the cause of becoming disabled? Would you use a semicolon to separate the sentences thus joined, or would you use a comma?

Give a reason for the comma after _days_, Find in 2 an adverb phrase that expresses purpose. Use an equivalent adjective in place of _a couple of_.

Explain the use of _there_ in 3. What adjective may be used in place of _good_ in _a good deal_? What long complex phrase modifies _deal_? Put _what_ after the preposition _about_ and find a group of words that takes the place of a noun. Find in this group a subject and a predicate. Find in 4 an objective complement. Find a compound infinitive phrase and tell what it modifies. Notice that the dash helps to show the break made by repeating _talk_. When 5 is divided into two sentences, what word is dropped? This, then, must be the word that connected the two sentences. Notice that the two main parts of 5 are separated by a semicolon. This enables the writer to show that the two main divisions of 5 are more widely separated in meaning than are the parts of the second division where the comma is used.

Give the three leading predicate verbs in 5 and their complements. _If they had been made by the job_ is joined like an adverb to what verb? What is the predicate of this modifying group?

The infinitive phrase in 1, paragraph 2, modifies what? Is _me_, or _visits_, the object complement of _make_? Put _what_ after _would find_ in 2 and get the object complement. Can you make a sentence of this group?

What are its princ.i.p.al parts? Does the writer make an unexpected turn after _talk_? How is this shown to the eye? Put _what_ after _do know_ in 3 and find the object complement. Can you make a sentence of this object complement? What phrase can you put in place of the p.r.o.noun _it_ without changing the sense? By using the word _it_, a better arrangement can be made. What group of words in 5 is used like an adjective to modify _hurry_?

Change the p.r.o.noun _that_ to _hurry_ and make a separate sentence of this group. What word, then, must have made an adjective of this sentence and joined it to _hurry_? What is the object complement of _can afford_ in 7?

Supply a preposition after _will wait_ in 8, and then find two groups of words that tell the time of waiting. Find a subject and a predicate in the second group. What explains _it_ in 10? Find the object complement of _wishes_ in 11. What is the subject of _was_? The office of _there_? After _work_ supply the p.r.o.noun _that_ and tell the office of the group it introduces. What is the object complement of _could do_? What connects this group to _work_?

+The Grouping of Sentences into Paragraphs+.--There are two distinct sets of sentences in this selection--distinct because developing two distinct sub-topics. Accordingly, there are two paragraphs. Let us take for the general topic _The Visits of the Plumbers_. Let us see whether all the sentences of the first paragraph will not come under the sub-topic _First Visit_, and those of the second under the sub-topic _Subsequent Visits_.

The sentences of each paragraph should be closely related to one another and to the sub-topic. They should stand in their proper order. Do the paragraphs above stand such tests? If they do, they possess the prime quality of +Unity+.

+The Author's Style+.--This selection we may call +Narrative+, though there are descriptive touches in it. It is a story of what? Is the story clearly told throughout? If not, where is it obscure? Is it made interesting and entertaining? Is Mr. Warner here giving us a bit of his own experience? Or do you think he is drawing upon his imagination? Would you call the style plain, or does it abound with metaphors, similes, or other figures of speech? Are the sentences generally long, or generally short? What are the faults or foibles of these real or fancied plumbers? Does the author speak of them in a genial and lenient way? or is he hostile, and does he hold up their foibles to scorn and derision? Does he make us laugh with, or does he make us laugh at, the plumbers? If the former, the style is humorous; if the latter, the style is satirical or sarcastic. Would you call Mr.

Warner's quality of style +Humor+? or that +form of wit+ known as +Satire+?

Is our author's use of it delicate and refined? or is it gross and coa.r.s.e?

Does it stop short of making its object grotesque, or not? Can you name any writers whose humor or satire is coa.r.s.e?

SUGGESTIONS FOB COMPOSITION WORK.

TO THE TEACHER.--See suggestions, pages 159, 160.

Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph.

FROM BEECHER'S "LECTURES TO YOUNG MEN."

1. Indolence inclines a man to rely upon others and not upon himself, to eat their bread and not his own. 2. His carelessness is somebody's loss; his neglect is somebody's downfall. 3. If he borrows, the article remains borrowed; if he begs and gets, it is as the letting out of waters--no one knows where it will stop. 4. He spoils your work, disappoints your expectations, exhausts your patience, eats up your substance, abuses your confidence, and hangs a dead weight upon all your plans; and the very best thing an honest man can do with a lazy man is to get rid of him.

1. Indolence promises without redeeming the pledge; a mist of forgetfulness rises up and obscures the memory of vows and oaths. 2. The negligence of laziness breeds more falsehoods than the cunning of the sharper. 3. As poverty waits upon the steps of indolence, so upon such poverty brood equivocations, subterfuges, lying denials. 4. Falsehood becomes the instrument of every plan. 5. Negligence of truth, next occasional falsehood, then wanton mendacity--these three strides traverse the whole road of lies.

1. Indolence as surely runs to dishonesty as to lying. 2. Indeed, they are but different parts of the same road, and not far apart. 3. In directing the conduct of the Ephesian converts, Paul says, "Let him that stole steal no more; but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good." 4. The men who were thieves were those who had ceased to work. 5.

Industry was the road back to honesty. 6. When stores are broken open, the idle are first suspected.

+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--Find in 1 two compound infinitive phrases and tell their use. Supply the words omitted from the last part of each compound. What shows that the parts of 2 are not closely connected?

Would a conjunction bring them more closely together? If a conjunction is used, would you change the punctuation? A sentence that unites with another to make one greater sentence we call a _clause_. Read the first part of 2 and change _somebody's_ first to a phrase and then to a clause used like an adjective. What distinction can you make between the use of the semicolon and the use of the comma in 3? The clause _if he borrows_ is joined like an adverb to what verb? _If he begs and gets_? What p.r.o.noun more indefinite than _your_ might take its place in 4? What noun? Explain the use of the semicolon and the comma in 4. Supply _that_ after _thing_ and tell what clause is here used like an adjective. Find the office of _that_ by placing it after _do_. Find in 4 an infinitive phrase used as attribute complement.

Change the phrase in 1, paragraph 2, to a clause. Find in 2 the omitted predicate of the clause introduced by _than_. Find a compound subject in 3.