Journeys Through Bookland Volume X Part 46

_Body of the Argument._ "The citizens of Boston were English subjects who had been fostered by the mother country. Since the settlement at Plymouth in 1620 no other nation had claimed or exercised any control over them, and I maintain that loyalty to his country is one of the highest duties of every citizen." (It is not advisable to write here the "body" of the argument. It would naturally be continued step by step till the eleven "points" given above had been exhausted. If those "points" had been brought up in the general conversation lesson every child would be expected to add others that he had found by his own study. Liberty of omission, arrangement and addition should always be allowed. Originality is always at a premium.)

_Conclusion._ "I have now presented to you the reasons for my belief. I have shown you conclusively that the colonists were British subjects and owed unquestioning loyalty to their country; that----[Here recapitulate briefly but forcibly the arguments, so as to present them convincingly and at one time.] In view of all these facts I maintain that I have shown that the judges did not err when they p.r.o.nounced Captain Preston and the eight soldiers not guilty of murder."

Of course, the form of the introduction and conclusion may vary from that given here. Each child should be allowed the greatest freedom of expression consistent with the facts that there must be an introduction that states the question fairly and clearly, and a conclusion that shows how much the contentions have been proved.

CONCLUSION. While narration, description, exposition and argument are the four forms of prose composition, we do not find frequently that selections are exclusively one or another. Nearly every story contains description, and exposition is not infrequent; expositions often contain description and narration, and arguments are often based upon narration and exposition. Excellent language lessons may be given by examining masterpieces to see what forms of composition they represent or which form predominates.

Thus, in _An Exciting Canoe Race_ (Volume VII, page 79), an extract from Cooper's _The Last of the Mohicans_, may be found several forms of composition:

1. The story as a whole is narration.

2. On page 81 is this pa.s.sage in exposition: "That's a trail that nothing but a nose can follow; gra.s.s is a treacherous carpet for a flying party to tread on, but wood and stone take no print from a moccasin. Had you worn your armed boots, there might indeed have been something to fear; but with the deerskin suitably prepared, a man may trust himself, generally, on rocks with safety. Shove in the canoe higher to the land, Uncas; this sand will take a stamp as easily as the b.u.t.ter of the Jarmans on the Mohawk. Softly, lad, softly; it must not touch the beach, or the knaves will know by what road we have left the place."

3. On page 86 is this descriptive pa.s.sage: "The well-known crack of a rifle, whose ball came skipping along the placid surface of the strait, and a shrill yell from the island interrupted his speech and announced that their pa.s.sage was discovered. In another instant several savages were seen rus.h.i.+ng into the canoes, which were soon dancing over the water in pursuit. These fearful precursors of a coming struggle produced no change in the countenances and movements of his three guides, so far as Duncan could discover, except that the strokes of their paddles were longer and more in unison, and caused the little bark to spring forward like a creature possessing life and volition."

It will be observed that the paragraph just quoted is not purely descriptive, but that it contains something of narration as well. A single sentence of pure description is the following, to be found on page 88: "So rapid was the progress of the light vessels that the lake curled in their front in miniature waves and their motion became undulating by its own velocity."

The following, from page 90, is a brief argument in conversational form, the elementary form of debate:

"Get you then into the bottom of the canoe, you and the colonel; it will be so much taken from the size of the mark."

"It would be but an ill example for the highest in rank to dodge, while the warriors were under fire!"

"Lord! Lord! that is now a white man's courage! And, like too many of his notions, not to be maintained by reason. Do you think the Sagamore or Uncas, or even I, who am a man without a cross, would deliberate about finding a cover in a scrimmage when an open body would do no good?

For what have the Frenchers reared up their Quebec, if fighting is always to be done in the clearings?"

"All that you say is very true, my friend; still, our custom must prevent us from doing as you wish."

Good selections to use for the purposes described and good subjects for compositions are the following from _Journeys Through Bookland_:

For Narration:

1. Stories from _The Swiss Family Robinson_, Volume III, page 99.

2. _The Story of Siegfried_, III, 410.

3. _The Death of Hector_, IV, 364.

4. _Tom Brown at Rugby_, V, 469.

5. _The Recovery of the Hispaniola_, VII, 352.

6. _The Adventure of the Windmills_, VII, 438.

7. _The Adventure of the Wooden Horse_, VII, 467.

8. _The Battle of Ivry_, VIII, 76.

For Description:

1. _How the Old Woman Looked._ See _The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe_, Volume I, page 35.

2. _The House in the Tree._ See _Swiss Family Robinson_, III, 141.

3. _A Forest Scene._ See _Pictures of Memory_, IV, 128.

4. _Sheridan's Horse._ See _Sheridan's Ride_, IV, 223.

5. _Christmas._ See _The Fir Tree_, II, 68, and _Christmas in Old Time_, VI, 356.

6. _A Scene of My Childhood._ See _The Old Oaken Bucket_, VII, 11.

7. _My Old Kentucky Home._ See poem of the same name, VII, 179.

For Exposition:

1. _The Character of the Boy, Tom._ See _Tom, the Water Baby_, Volume II, page 215.

2. _What Kind of a Man was Viking?_ See _The Skeleton in Armor_, V, 327.

3. _Exaggeration and Falsehood._ See _Baron Munchausen_, V, 403.

4. _On the construction, meaning, and sentiment in "Home, Sweet Home."_ See VI, 221.

5. _The Strength of the Gorilla Compared with that of the Elephant._ See _A Gorilla Hunt_, VII, 247, and _Elephant Hunting_, VI, 385.

6. _The Wit of the Visitor._ See _Limestone Broth_, VI, 467.

7. _A Character Sketch of Alice and John._ See _Dream Children_. VIII, 335.

For Argument:

1. _Was the Second Traveler in the Right?_ See _The Two Travelers_, Volume I, page 109.

2. _Were the Three Men Perfectly Healthy?_ See _We Plan a River Trip_, V, 443.

3. _Was the Punishment of the Ancient Mariner Just?_ See _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_, VII, 29.

4. _Was it Sensible for Casabianca to Remain on the Burning s.h.i.+p?_ See _Casabianca_, VIII, 313.

5. _Should Warren Hastings Have Been Convicted?_ See _The Impeachment of Warren Hastings_, IX, 32.

CHAPTER XV

JOURNEYS THROUGH BOOKLAND IN ITS RELATION TO THE SCHOOL--(Continued)

_Nature Study_

Nature study to be most valuable must be in reality the study of nature.

Its beginnings are in observation and experiment, but there comes a time when the child must go to books for information and enlightenment. The purposes of nature study are to awaken a spirit of inquiry concerning things in the immediate vicinity and thence in wider fields; to develop observation, comparison and reason; to give interests that will charm the possessor through life; to introduce the elements of the natural sciences. Enthusiasts have made the study of nature the basis of all school work, the correlating force in all studies. Such an idea has merit in it, for it is certain that lessons begun in the observation of living things and the phenomena of nature speedily ramify into language, reading, geography, history, and even mathematics.

There is among some an unfortunate tendency to go too much to books for material and to seize too quickly any suggestion that leads in that direction. Yet books are valuable at the proper time and in the proper place. When facts have been learned, they may be made vital by good literary selections; when facts not accessible by observation are needed, they may be obtained through books. On the other hand, literature is full of allusions to natural facts and phenomena and may only be understood by him who knows nature. Both phases of the subject are of vital interest.

Instead of attempting any systematic outline for nature study we will here try to give help on two problems only:

_First._ How may nature study be broadened by the use of literature?

_Second._ How may the study of nature help in the appreciation of literature?

I.

In trying to answer the first question we will present first a cla.s.sified list of selections from _Journeys Through Bookland_ which are closely related to the study of nature and indicate briefly how they may be used.

A. Seven Long Selections.

In the first place, there are long selections in which there are many anecdotes and incidents which are usable in nature study. We will give partial lists of what is to be found therein, but it is well to read the whole selection and choose what is best for the occasion.