Exercise 126.—Write a story suggested by any of the following titles or phrases:—1. The first time I was badly frightened. 2. The thing I am proudest of having done. 3. My runaway. 4. How the bird's nest was saved from the snake. 5. When the elephant broke loose from the circus. 6. How the fox got the honeycomb away from the bear by saying it was bad for his health. 7. What I did when our house caught on fire. 8. How our cat got out of the barn when she was shut in. 9. Why I got to the train late. 10. How the children lost in the woods kept house in the cave. 11. What would happen if the statues in our school building could come to life. 12. If the pictures could come to life. 13. Christopher Columbus revisits America. 14. An interesting dream I once had. 15. At this, the Queen of the Fairies touched Hans with her wand. "Oh," he cried, "I'll never put off doing anything again." 16. The old sailor gave a little shiver of recollection. "Well, I hope you'll never be in such a place, sonny," he said to the little boy. 17. The poor old man looked at the kind young lady very intently. "Weren't you in Archester one summer?" he asked. "Why, you must be old Farmer Norton, to whom I owe such a lot of money," she cried. "I never could find you to pay it back."
Exercise 126.—Write a story suggested by any of the following titles or phrases:—
1. The first time I was badly frightened. 2. The thing I am proudest of having done. 3. My runaway. 4. How the bird's nest was saved from the snake. 5. When the elephant broke loose from the circus. 6. How the fox got the honeycomb away from the bear by saying it was bad for his health. 7. What I did when our house caught on fire. 8. How our cat got out of the barn when she was shut in. 9. Why I got to the train late. 10. How the children lost in the woods kept house in the cave. 11. What would happen if the statues in our school building could come to life. 12. If the pictures could come to life. 13. Christopher Columbus revisits America. 14. An interesting dream I once had. 15. At this, the Queen of the Fairies touched Hans with her wand. "Oh," he cried, "I'll never put off doing anything again." 16. The old sailor gave a little shiver of recollection. "Well, I hope you'll never be in such a place, sonny," he said to the little boy. 17. The poor old man looked at the kind young lady very intently. "Weren't you in Archester one summer?" he asked. "Why, you must be old Farmer Norton, to whom I owe such a lot of money," she cried. "I never could find you to pay it back."
79. General Principles.—There is perhaps no other form of composition which is so generally in use as exposition or explanation. If you observe your own conversation and that of the people about you, you will find that a great deal of it is explanation. Every time you say in answer to some question about a remark you have just made, "Why, I mean that—," you are explaining the first remark. In almost all the recitations you make in school you are explaining something—a principle in arithmetic, or in physics, the construction of something in manual training, the meaning of a word, etc. The object of your explanation is to make the person whom you address understand the nature of your subject. There are a number of devices for doing this, which will be treated in this chapter, but you are never to forget that your aim is simply to make some one clearly understand what was not plain to him before.
In description you were told that knowledge of your subject was the most necessary element. This is so true of exposition that only the briefest mention of that necessity is enough to show you its great importance. It might be possible to describe something and give a fair notion of it, without knowing it thoroughly yourself;but this is out of the question in explanation. If you do not entirely and completely understand what you are talking about, you certainly cannot explain it to any one else. One of the great advantages of writing explanations is that you are forced to think accurately as well as to express yourself clearly.
The next thing in explanation is a consideration of the people for whom you are writing. In the diary you write to yourself; in a letter you address one person, whom you usually know well; in narration and description, you write for persons about whom you can know very little. In exposition you come back again to a set of readers about whom you have some definite information. They may be different from each other in a great many ways, but in one respect they are alike—they do not understand the thing you are explaining, or at least they do not understand it as clearly as you do, for if they did, they would not be reading your exposition. This may appear self-evident, but it is a very important matter. You are apt to forget what should be constantly in your mind, that the entire value of your explanation lies in making something clear to a person who has not before understood it. In literary description your aim was to make your reader see the picture you saw. In exposition your aim is always and forever to make himunderstand, and no matter how well written, your explanation is a failure if he does not understand. You will often find it difficult to realize that some people know nothing whatever of some process or principle with which you are very familiar, and a good device is to imagine that you areaddressing your explanation to a foreigner ignorant of our life, or to some one younger than you. Put yourself in the place of such a person, and see if your remarks are sufficiently clear and full to be a complete explanation.
There are two great divisions of exposition—the explanation of a material process or thing, and the explanation of an abstract idea. The first is very much easier and will be taken up first.
80. Explanation of a Material Process.—There is a strange resemblance between the explanation of a material process and telling a story. This will be made more clear by an example. A well-written cookbook, or manual of handwork, employs constantly this simplest, plainest form of exposition.
To broil a steak.Light the oven burners at least five minutes before the time for broiling. Allow twelve to fifteen minutes for a steak an inch and a half thick. When the rack and the pan are hot, place the steak on the rack and put it as near the flames as possible without having it touch. As soon as it is seared and brown on one side, turn, and sear and brown on the other. Now turn again. Remove the rack three or four slides down, but do not reduce the heat. Cook for five minutes. Turn the steak and broil for five minutes longer, and it is ready to season and serve.
To broil a steak.Light the oven burners at least five minutes before the time for broiling. Allow twelve to fifteen minutes for a steak an inch and a half thick. When the rack and the pan are hot, place the steak on the rack and put it as near the flames as possible without having it touch. As soon as it is seared and brown on one side, turn, and sear and brown on the other. Now turn again. Remove the rack three or four slides down, but do not reduce the heat. Cook for five minutes. Turn the steak and broil for five minutes longer, and it is ready to season and serve.
You may not see any connection between these straightforward and plain instructions for broiling a steak and a story; but if you examine them, you will see that they are the story of the process, and that the explanation relates from first to last all the thingsthat were done by some one who cooked a steak in exactly the right way. This resemblance is mentioned because it shows you that clear statement of events in their right order is as necessary in this sort of exposition as in story telling. Every one who writes good instructions for going through some process, either consciously or unconsciously imagines himself doing what he explains. In the above example, the writer has imagined herself broiling a steak, and has set down, step by step, everything she does. This is a very good plan to follow. You will find that it simplifies any difficulty in your mind, when you are a little confused as to what comes next, if you will ask yourself, "If I were actually doing this, what would be the very next thing I should do?"
Remember that your reader is ignorant of the process, and do not forget any details that must be cared for, or there will be a gap in your directions over which he cannot cross. Use the simplest, plainest terms possible, and do not fear to be too minute. You will have a tendency to forget some necessary instruction rather than to add one that is not needed.
It is often well to make a broad statement of general conditions first, before going on to detailed instructions. For instance, suppose you are writing to a boy who has always until now lived in the South, in order to tell him how to make a snow man. Before you begin to tell him about starting with a small ball and rolling it about till it grows large, you should say that he should try to make a snow man only when the snow is somewhat damp, for no matter how clear your instructionsare, he can accomplish nothing by following them if the snow be dry and powdery.
Exercise 127.—Write an explanation of the following processes, as if to a person wholly ignorant of them:—1. How to make a dam in a brook; to make a snow man; a snow fort (with blocks pressed into shape in boxes); to set up a tent; to irrigate a garden; to hang wall paper; to teach a pet animal tricks; to build a fire out of doors.2. How to make cocoa, soup, bread, butter, cheese, cake, custard.3. How to grow flowers indoors; in a hot bed. How to plant and grow lettuce, tomatoes, tobacco, corn, mushrooms, celery, nasturtiums, crocuses, potatoes.4. How to harness a horse. How to get a trunk from your house to your cousin's in another town. How to develop an exposed photographic plate.
Exercise 127.—Write an explanation of the following processes, as if to a person wholly ignorant of them:—
1. How to make a dam in a brook; to make a snow man; a snow fort (with blocks pressed into shape in boxes); to set up a tent; to irrigate a garden; to hang wall paper; to teach a pet animal tricks; to build a fire out of doors.
2. How to make cocoa, soup, bread, butter, cheese, cake, custard.
3. How to grow flowers indoors; in a hot bed. How to plant and grow lettuce, tomatoes, tobacco, corn, mushrooms, celery, nasturtiums, crocuses, potatoes.
4. How to harness a horse. How to get a trunk from your house to your cousin's in another town. How to develop an exposed photographic plate.
Probably you have been able to treat the subjects above directly from your own experience or observation. In the following subjects you will probably need to consult some books, but be careful not simply to repeat their language. Look up the subject, inform yourself of all necessary details of manufacture or use, and then write an exposition (as if to some one younger than yourself), explaining any terms that would be new to him and stating the facts in the simplest, plainest way.
Exercise 128.—Write as if in answer to any one of the following questions from a child:—1. How are bricks made? paper? glass? ink? iron? steel? gold leaf? shingles? baseballs? hairbrushes? mirrors?2. Why are fishhooks made in the form they are? saws? wheels?3. Why does an ice house keep the ice from melting?4. How does a water wheel work? a windmill? a well sweep? scissors? Why does a chimney "draw"? What makes popcorn pop?Exercise 129.—I. Explain, with a diagram or drawing, the mechanism of the following objects. Letter or number the different parts of your diagram, and refer to them in that way. Plan your exposition as if trying to make the matter clear to a younger brother or sister.A pump, lamp, candle, stove, furnace, cistern, switches on a railroad track, city waterworks, refrigerator, ice-cream freezer, silo, limekiln.II. Explain how a book is bound; how a horse is harnessed; how windows are hung; what makes a window shade go up when you pull the string; how thread is spun and cloth woven; how grain is ground into flour; how salt is obtained.III. Give instructions (using, if necessary, a lettered diagram): for making a snare for rabbits; a mouse trap; a bear trap; a mole trap; a box; a basket; a bow and arrow; a needlebook; a cover for a book; a kite; a baseball diamond; a tennis court; a doll's hat; a springboard; a picture frame; a toboggan slide; a hasty shelter of boughs for camping; a doll's dress (with pattern).
Exercise 128.—Write as if in answer to any one of the following questions from a child:—
1. How are bricks made? paper? glass? ink? iron? steel? gold leaf? shingles? baseballs? hairbrushes? mirrors?
2. Why are fishhooks made in the form they are? saws? wheels?
3. Why does an ice house keep the ice from melting?
4. How does a water wheel work? a windmill? a well sweep? scissors? Why does a chimney "draw"? What makes popcorn pop?
Exercise 129.—I. Explain, with a diagram or drawing, the mechanism of the following objects. Letter or number the different parts of your diagram, and refer to them in that way. Plan your exposition as if trying to make the matter clear to a younger brother or sister.
A pump, lamp, candle, stove, furnace, cistern, switches on a railroad track, city waterworks, refrigerator, ice-cream freezer, silo, limekiln.
II. Explain how a book is bound; how a horse is harnessed; how windows are hung; what makes a window shade go up when you pull the string; how thread is spun and cloth woven; how grain is ground into flour; how salt is obtained.
III. Give instructions (using, if necessary, a lettered diagram): for making a snare for rabbits; a mouse trap; a bear trap; a mole trap; a box; a basket; a bow and arrow; a needlebook; a cover for a book; a kite; a baseball diamond; a tennis court; a doll's hat; a springboard; a picture frame; a toboggan slide; a hasty shelter of boughs for camping; a doll's dress (with pattern).
81. Explanation of Games.—One form of exposition which you have often used is the explanation of games and contests; and you have probably suffered from having other people give you imperfect and confused directions for playing a game unfamiliar to you, finding at some critical time in the contest that a detail or rule has been forgotten.
The following is an exposition of a game which will almost certainly be unfamiliar to you, but which is a great favorite in Spain:—
Pelota is an old Basque game, resembling hand ball, which of late years has come greatly into fashion in Spain. It is given over to professionals, and it is said that none can continue it more than three or four years, so severely does it tax the constitution.Pelota is played in large glass-roofed buildings, one side of which is devoted in all its breadth to the asphalt court. The side wall of the court at Madrid is 175 feet long and the end walls are 50 feet broad and 40 feet high.The wall fencing the players has a rib of metal along it, about a yard from the pavement, and another near the top, which limit of height is carried along the longitudinal wall opposite the spectators.A ball is only in play when it hits the first wall between these lines or the long wall below the prescribed limit. The court is marked off by lines at regular distances of about four yards. The spaces from four to seven are important, for the ball when first played must drop from the wall between these two spaces.The ball, which weighs about four ounces, is thrown from a basket-work gauntlet or cesta, with a leather glove attached for fastening to the hand, and during a game I have seen the ball sent with such terrific force that it has rebounded from the wall at one end of the court against that at the other. There are usually four players, two on each side, and the aim of the players is to cause the ball to rebound from the wall into so remote or unexpected a place in the court that it will be impossible for their opponents to reach it in time to return it again to the wall. The time that the ball is in play, that is, the time that both sides are successful in keeping the ball in motion, is called a "rally." There are frequently, between good players, rallies of sixteen strokes or more. During a match game of fifty up, the players will wear their shoes right through.Pelota is popular in most Spanish towns and villages, and one frequently sees notices on church walls to the effect that it is forbidden to play pelota against them.—E. Main:Cities and Sights of Spain.
Pelota is an old Basque game, resembling hand ball, which of late years has come greatly into fashion in Spain. It is given over to professionals, and it is said that none can continue it more than three or four years, so severely does it tax the constitution.
Pelota is played in large glass-roofed buildings, one side of which is devoted in all its breadth to the asphalt court. The side wall of the court at Madrid is 175 feet long and the end walls are 50 feet broad and 40 feet high.
The wall fencing the players has a rib of metal along it, about a yard from the pavement, and another near the top, which limit of height is carried along the longitudinal wall opposite the spectators.
A ball is only in play when it hits the first wall between these lines or the long wall below the prescribed limit. The court is marked off by lines at regular distances of about four yards. The spaces from four to seven are important, for the ball when first played must drop from the wall between these two spaces.
The ball, which weighs about four ounces, is thrown from a basket-work gauntlet or cesta, with a leather glove attached for fastening to the hand, and during a game I have seen the ball sent with such terrific force that it has rebounded from the wall at one end of the court against that at the other. There are usually four players, two on each side, and the aim of the players is to cause the ball to rebound from the wall into so remote or unexpected a place in the court that it will be impossible for their opponents to reach it in time to return it again to the wall. The time that the ball is in play, that is, the time that both sides are successful in keeping the ball in motion, is called a "rally." There are frequently, between good players, rallies of sixteen strokes or more. During a match game of fifty up, the players will wear their shoes right through.
Pelota is popular in most Spanish towns and villages, and one frequently sees notices on church walls to the effect that it is forbidden to play pelota against them.—E. Main:Cities and Sights of Spain.
Are there any questions that you would like to ask about pelota after reading this explanation? Do you feel that you would need to know more about it before trying to play? If so, remember to make your own treatment of the following subjects complete enough to satisfy a child in the Philippines, who knows no more about marbles than you do about pelota.
Exercise 130.—Tell how to play baseball; football; checkers; dominoes; basket ball; marbles; tag; hide-and-seek; drop the handkerchief; any game peculiar to your neighborhood. Explain how a field-day is conducted. What is a handicap? How do little girls play keep house? What do you mean by "playing Indians"?Exercise 131.—I. Following the model below, give good instructions for learning how to swim, to sail a boat, to ride a bicycle, to drive, to shoot a rifle, a revolver, to fish, to run a sewing machine, to paddle a canoe, to ride horseback, to go on snowshoes.Use a diagram, if necessary, and give all the information you yourself would like to have in beginning a new process, mentioning mistakes usually made by beginners and telling how to avoid them.II. Tell as well as you can how to bandage a cut, how to treat a burn, how to make a road, how to lay asphalt, brick, or macadam pavements, how to shoe a horse.
Exercise 130.—Tell how to play baseball; football; checkers; dominoes; basket ball; marbles; tag; hide-and-seek; drop the handkerchief; any game peculiar to your neighborhood. Explain how a field-day is conducted. What is a handicap? How do little girls play keep house? What do you mean by "playing Indians"?
Exercise 131.—I. Following the model below, give good instructions for learning how to swim, to sail a boat, to ride a bicycle, to drive, to shoot a rifle, a revolver, to fish, to run a sewing machine, to paddle a canoe, to ride horseback, to go on snowshoes.
Use a diagram, if necessary, and give all the information you yourself would like to have in beginning a new process, mentioning mistakes usually made by beginners and telling how to avoid them.
II. Tell as well as you can how to bandage a cut, how to treat a burn, how to make a road, how to lay asphalt, brick, or macadam pavements, how to shoe a horse.
The first thing in learning to skate is to be sure that your skates are properly attached to your foot. If you fasten them on with straps, do not pull the buckle too tight, as this stops the circulation of the blood and may end in frozen toes; if by clamps, see that they are very firmly fastened, or the skate may be wrenched off in some sudden movement, giving you a fall. Also be sure that the blades are sharp, as it is very hard to skate with dull blades. After you have attended to these matters, one of the best ways to begin is to skate with some one who is strong enough to holdyou up, or if you cannot arrange this, to push a chair in front of you, until you have confidence enough to go alone.
The feet are placed at right angles to each other with the toes turned out and the body bent slightly forward. Each foot is then raised alternately and set down slightly on the inside edge. It slides forward of its own accord and this motion is increased by pushing on the other foot, which is at right angles to your forward movement and so does not slide. You should keep your feet perfectly level when raised and set down, turning the forward foot a little on the outer edge as it slides, and keeping the other foot turned to the inside edge. A great help in keeping your balance is to swing your arms across your chest, with each forward slide, to the opposite side from the foot which is advancing. Never look at your feet, as it is almost impossible to keep your balance when doing so. Look straight in front of you at a spot about level with your eyes.
There are various ways of stopping yourself. One is to dig the heel of your skate in the ice and turn the other foot sidewise. Another is to direct your course around a circle and to stop your forward pushing; but perhaps the best way is to turn your toes in, thus putting the line of your skate across the direction of your forward movement.
Try to take as long strokes as possible and not to use the right leg more than the left, keeping your stroke steady and even. Always lean a little forward in ordinary skating and far forward if you wish to go fast.
It is a good thing for beginners to force themselves to turn the advancing foot on the outer edge of the skate. It is a little more difficult to keep your balance in this way, but if once you become fixed in the habit of using the inner edge only, you will never be able to do any fancy or figure skating.
82. Exposition of Abstract Ideas.—All the exercises in explanation you have had thus far have been with regard to simple, material things, that is, things you can touch or see. There are, however, very many subjects which need clear and accurate explanation, but which deal with abstract ideas, with principles, or with emotions. These are much harder to write of than material things, largely because it is harder to think of them quite clearly in your own mind. This is not because you do not have all the information you need, but because you have never tried to think out clearly and analyze the knowledge that you have. For instance, if some one should ask you, What is cheerfulness? although you would feel that you knew perfectly well what that quality is, you might have some difficulty in expressing it.
83. Exposition by Example.—There are many ways to bring out the meaning of an abstract term. One good device is the use of examples. If it is someone in your family who asks you the question, you can give at once a good idea of what cheerfulness is by saying, "Aunt Kate is a cheerful person." But if you are speaking to some one who does not know your Aunt Kate, you must then proceed to describe the quality in her which you call cheerfulness. You will find this use of example a very convenient method of exposition.
Another device is comparison with something that is similar but not quite the same. In explaining the exact difference between the two you define the subject of your exposition. For instance, suppose you are asked by a child to explain the meaning ofparsimony. Youcan take a word which he knows, likesavingoreconomy, and by showing the difference between the two, you can give him a clear notion of the meaning, explaining that economy is wise and reasonable saving of expense, and parsimony is foolish and exaggerated saving. The following paragraph shows the use of this method, the author comparingcheerfulnesstomirth.
I have always preferred cheerfulness to mirth. The latter I consider as an act, the former as a habit of the mind. Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent. Those are often raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are subject to the greatest depressions of melancholy. On the contrary, cheerfulness, though it does not give the mind such an exquisite gladness, prevents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds and glitters for a moment. Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.—Joseph Addison:The Spectator.Exercise 132.—Using this device of comparison, and adding to it examples, try to explain the following subjects:—1. Courage. Compare with rashness or foolhardiness, using as example the character of Hobson as compared with that of a man who goes over the Niagara Falls in a barrel.2. Joy. Compare with contentment, using as example a mother perfectly contented with her home and children, who is suddenly overjoyed by a heroic deed of a son.3. Perseverance. Compare with obstinacy, using as examples a hen sitting patiently till her chicks are hatched out; and another sitting week after week on china eggs.4. Extravagance. Compare with liberality, using as example a man who gives away so much to strangers that he has not enough left to care for his family.5. Industry. Compare with drudgery, using as examples a man who carries stone for road-mending, and the military punishment of making an offender carry stones from one side of the road to another.
I have always preferred cheerfulness to mirth. The latter I consider as an act, the former as a habit of the mind. Mirth is short and transient, cheerfulness fixed and permanent. Those are often raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are subject to the greatest depressions of melancholy. On the contrary, cheerfulness, though it does not give the mind such an exquisite gladness, prevents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds and glitters for a moment. Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.—Joseph Addison:The Spectator.
Exercise 132.—Using this device of comparison, and adding to it examples, try to explain the following subjects:—
1. Courage. Compare with rashness or foolhardiness, using as example the character of Hobson as compared with that of a man who goes over the Niagara Falls in a barrel.
2. Joy. Compare with contentment, using as example a mother perfectly contented with her home and children, who is suddenly overjoyed by a heroic deed of a son.
3. Perseverance. Compare with obstinacy, using as examples a hen sitting patiently till her chicks are hatched out; and another sitting week after week on china eggs.
4. Extravagance. Compare with liberality, using as example a man who gives away so much to strangers that he has not enough left to care for his family.
5. Industry. Compare with drudgery, using as examples a man who carries stone for road-mending, and the military punishment of making an offender carry stones from one side of the road to another.
84. Exposition by Repetition.—Another good method of explaining an abstract idea is to repeat in several different ways your first statement or definition. First, you define your subject as accurately as possible, by telling to what kind or order of thing it belongs, and then by pointing out differences between this individual example and others of the same kind. For instance, you are asked by a child to define a snob. First, you give some general idea of the meaning of the term by saying, "A snob is a vulgar person with bad manners." But there are vulgar persons with bad manners who who are not in the least snobs, so that after stating the general order of the persons to which a snob belongs, you must separate him from all other varieties of that class. You go on, therefore, "He pays a foolish and exaggerated respect to social position and money, and cannot understand that a noble character has any value in a poor or uncultivated person."
You have now given a general definition of your subject, and one good way to proceed with your explanation is, as stated above, by means of repetition in other words of your first statement, thus:—
A real snob values the opinion of an ignorant rich person more than that of an intelligent poor one. He is fawning and meanly polite to influential men, and rude and overbearing to those who have no recognized position. A snob will run hat in hand to open a door for a wealthy womanof rank, and will not give a helping hand to a poor woman who has fallen down.This sort of repetition serves to make perfectly clear the idea involved in your first statement.
A real snob values the opinion of an ignorant rich person more than that of an intelligent poor one. He is fawning and meanly polite to influential men, and rude and overbearing to those who have no recognized position. A snob will run hat in hand to open a door for a wealthy womanof rank, and will not give a helping hand to a poor woman who has fallen down.
This sort of repetition serves to make perfectly clear the idea involved in your first statement.
85. Exposition by Contrast.—A further device in explanation is contrast, showing the ways in which the subject of your exposition differs from its opposite. The explanation of the snob might be continued by contrasting him with a perfect gentleman, thus bringing out more clearly the offensive qualities. Or, you might go back to the sort of comparison you used in explaining courage, perseverance, etc., and compare the snob to a person thoroughly rude, a boor, showing how he differs: the snob is rude only to people who, he thinks, have no means of punishing him for it; whereas a boor is rude to every one.
Exercise 133.—1. Bearing in mind these two new methods for explanation (repetition and contrast), as well as the methods previously explained (comparison and examples), explain the use and value of the study of geography, arithmetic, history, manual training, music, drawing, gymnasium work, military drill, sewing, reading aloud, spelling, a foreign language.2. Explain (as if to a boy or girl younger than you, who asks, "What is it for?") the purpose and value of the following:—A debating society; a literary club; a nature study club; a "Do as you would be done by" association; amateur theatricals; athletic contests; an aquarium; zoological gardens; city parks; public libraries; foreign travel; picture galleries.
Exercise 133.—1. Bearing in mind these two new methods for explanation (repetition and contrast), as well as the methods previously explained (comparison and examples), explain the use and value of the study of geography, arithmetic, history, manual training, music, drawing, gymnasium work, military drill, sewing, reading aloud, spelling, a foreign language.
2. Explain (as if to a boy or girl younger than you, who asks, "What is it for?") the purpose and value of the following:—
A debating society; a literary club; a nature study club; a "Do as you would be done by" association; amateur theatricals; athletic contests; an aquarium; zoological gardens; city parks; public libraries; foreign travel; picture galleries.
86. Exposition by a Figure of Speech.—One of the most forcible and graceful means of exposition is by the development of a figure of speech,—a simile or metaphor.
I consider the human soul without education like marble in the quarry, which shows none of its inherent beauties until the skill of the polisher fetches out the colors, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that runs through the body of it. Education, after the same manner, when it works upon a noble mind, draws out to view every latent virtue and perfection, which without such helps are never able to make their appearance.... Aristotle tells us that a statue lies hid in a block of marble, and that the art of the statuary only clears away superfluous matter and removes the rubbish. The figure is in the stone; the sculptor only finds it. What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul. The philosopher, the saint, the hero, the wise, the good, or the great man, very often lie hid and concealed in a plebeian, which a proper education might have disinterred and brought to light.—Joseph Addison:The Spectator.Exercise 134.—I. Proverbs are really only figures of speech, and explanation of these should be based to some degree on the model above. Try to explain fully, as if to your younger brother or sister, the true meaning of any of the following expressions, using all the devices for exposition which you have been studying. Think carefully before you begin to write and make sure that you fully grasp the real meaning. You will find examples and anecdotes illustrating your point particularly useful in this sort of explanation.1. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 2. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. 3. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 4. The more haste the less speed. 5. Birds of a feather flock together. 6. Better an empty house than a bad tenant. 7. Make hay while the sun shines. 8. Enough is as good as a feast. 9. A burned child dreads the fire. 10. Strike while the iron is hot. 11. He laughs best who laughs last. 12. He that lives in a glass house should not throw stones. 13. Necessity is the mother of invention.II. Expound in the same way the following quotations, as if you were trying to give a full realization of all that they mean to some one who sees them for the first time and does not quite understand them:—1. Sweet are the uses of adversity.—Shakspere.2. He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend losesmore; but he who loses his courage loses all.—Cervantes.3. He who knows most, grieves most for wasted time.—Dante.4. The wicked flee when no man pursueth.5. A soft answer turneth away wrath.6. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.7. Books are the best things well used; abused, among theworst.—Emerson.8. Charity is a virtue of the heart, not of the hands.Exercise 135.—I. Try to explain what Washington's Birthday means to us; St. Valentine's Day; April Fool's Day; Commencement Day at a school; Arbor Day; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas; New Year's; Labor Day; Fourth of July; Decoration Day. An exposition of this sort may be very straightforward and simple, only a paragraph long, or it may be as elaborate a composition as you can make it; but in either case you should try to express sincerely the deep feeling which underlies most of these festivals. Choose some favorite of yours in the above list and try to express why you are fond of it and impressed by it.II. Following the same method, look up the facts in regard to some foreign customs, and write an explanation of what you imagine to be the feeling underlying All Souls' Day in Paris; the pilgrimage to Mecca of the Mohammedans; the pilgrimage in India to the Ganges; cherry-blossoming time in Japan; Primrose Day in England; the Fourteenth of July in France; and other festivals of which you can learn.
I consider the human soul without education like marble in the quarry, which shows none of its inherent beauties until the skill of the polisher fetches out the colors, makes the surface shine, and discovers every ornamental cloud, spot, and vein that runs through the body of it. Education, after the same manner, when it works upon a noble mind, draws out to view every latent virtue and perfection, which without such helps are never able to make their appearance.... Aristotle tells us that a statue lies hid in a block of marble, and that the art of the statuary only clears away superfluous matter and removes the rubbish. The figure is in the stone; the sculptor only finds it. What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul. The philosopher, the saint, the hero, the wise, the good, or the great man, very often lie hid and concealed in a plebeian, which a proper education might have disinterred and brought to light.—Joseph Addison:The Spectator.
Exercise 134.—I. Proverbs are really only figures of speech, and explanation of these should be based to some degree on the model above. Try to explain fully, as if to your younger brother or sister, the true meaning of any of the following expressions, using all the devices for exposition which you have been studying. Think carefully before you begin to write and make sure that you fully grasp the real meaning. You will find examples and anecdotes illustrating your point particularly useful in this sort of explanation.
1. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. 2. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched. 3. A rolling stone gathers no moss. 4. The more haste the less speed. 5. Birds of a feather flock together. 6. Better an empty house than a bad tenant. 7. Make hay while the sun shines. 8. Enough is as good as a feast. 9. A burned child dreads the fire. 10. Strike while the iron is hot. 11. He laughs best who laughs last. 12. He that lives in a glass house should not throw stones. 13. Necessity is the mother of invention.
II. Expound in the same way the following quotations, as if you were trying to give a full realization of all that they mean to some one who sees them for the first time and does not quite understand them:—
1. Sweet are the uses of adversity.—Shakspere.2. He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend losesmore; but he who loses his courage loses all.—Cervantes.3. He who knows most, grieves most for wasted time.—Dante.4. The wicked flee when no man pursueth.5. A soft answer turneth away wrath.6. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.7. Books are the best things well used; abused, among theworst.—Emerson.8. Charity is a virtue of the heart, not of the hands.
Exercise 135.—I. Try to explain what Washington's Birthday means to us; St. Valentine's Day; April Fool's Day; Commencement Day at a school; Arbor Day; Thanksgiving Day; Christmas; New Year's; Labor Day; Fourth of July; Decoration Day. An exposition of this sort may be very straightforward and simple, only a paragraph long, or it may be as elaborate a composition as you can make it; but in either case you should try to express sincerely the deep feeling which underlies most of these festivals. Choose some favorite of yours in the above list and try to express why you are fond of it and impressed by it.
II. Following the same method, look up the facts in regard to some foreign customs, and write an explanation of what you imagine to be the feeling underlying All Souls' Day in Paris; the pilgrimage to Mecca of the Mohammedans; the pilgrimage in India to the Ganges; cherry-blossoming time in Japan; Primrose Day in England; the Fourteenth of July in France; and other festivals of which you can learn.
87. General Principle.—There is probably no form of expression with which you are more practically acquainted than argumentation, both from using it yourself and from having it employed on you. If you go to college, you will study the theory of it in connection with logic and you will have a great many hard names to learn and a complicated system to understand; but, as a matter of fact, you find now that if you greatly care to have something done or not done, you will instinctively find reasons for supporting your views. You did this even as a little child, when you wished to do something your parents did not think advisable, or to be excused from doing something they desired you to do. Although this may be the first time you have consciously thought of argument as a form of composition, you must have had a great deal of practical experience in it.
It has been pointed out several times in this book that the very first thing to consider in any form of expression is the reader to whom you address yourself. Owing to the frequent practical use you have made of argument in conversation, this will be easy for you to remember when you now come to write it. That is, you are so used to making your arguments suit the personsyou are trying to persuade, that you do it instinctively. Even a little child puts forth different reasons for action when trying to persuade his mother from those which he would put forth when trying to persuade a playfellow; and you feel, without the necessity of stopping to think at all, that you should use different arguments with your mother from those which would be likely to convince your teacher.
But the next step in composing, which has been mentioned throughout the book, is more necessary in argumentation than in any other form of expression. You must not only have an outline in mind for what you are about to say, but that outline should be written, and almost as much time and thought should be given to it as to the composition itself; for clear thought is the great essential in argumentation, and a carefully prepared outline is the greatest help to clear thought.
88. The Introduction.—There are three parts to every outline for a discussion or argument. First comesthe introduction, or statement of the subject. To write this clearly, you need to remember the principles of exposition, because often the introduction to an argument is merely a clear exposition of the subject. It is very necessary to be perfectly clear in this introduction, so that your reader may have a definite idea of what it is you are about to discuss. Sometimes people discuss at great length, only to find that from neglect to state the subject clearly they have been arguing about quite different questions. For instance, suppose that the following subject is selected for a discussion:Pupilsunder fifteen years of age should not be taken out of school to earn money for their families.The statement and full exposition of the subject in the introduction to the argument should exclude cases where there is no other possible source of income for the family; otherwise you and your opponent may be discussing a question about which you really agree.
In your introduction, therefore, give first a perfectly plain statement of your subject,—what are the generally admitted facts about it (facts which even your opponent must admit), and what it is you wish to prove.
Exercise 136.—In the following subjects for discussion, see if you can pick out the place where the statement is indefinite and might lead to misunderstanding. Write one paragraph on each, defining, limiting, and making clear the subject as you see it, and another on the generally admitted facts in the case as distinct from the points which are debatable.1.Animals in captivity are better off than in their natural state.What kind of captivity? What kind of animals? What do you mean by being "better off"—merely "healthier" or "happier" or "more secure"?2.A boy's club should not study history.What kind of boys? What kind of history? Is history taught in the schools? Do these boys go to school?3.All girls should learn to be housekeepers.What do you mean by "housekeeper"? Do you mean that they should learn nothing else?4.It is not harmful for children to read fairy tales.How about nervous, excitable children who cannot sleep after a fairy story? How about dreadful tales of witches and hobgoblins that make the healthiest child afraid of the dark?5.It is wrong to kill animals.Do you include noxious and dangerous ones? Or animals used for food?
Exercise 136.—In the following subjects for discussion, see if you can pick out the place where the statement is indefinite and might lead to misunderstanding. Write one paragraph on each, defining, limiting, and making clear the subject as you see it, and another on the generally admitted facts in the case as distinct from the points which are debatable.
1.Animals in captivity are better off than in their natural state.
What kind of captivity? What kind of animals? What do you mean by being "better off"—merely "healthier" or "happier" or "more secure"?
2.A boy's club should not study history.
What kind of boys? What kind of history? Is history taught in the schools? Do these boys go to school?
3.All girls should learn to be housekeepers.
What do you mean by "housekeeper"? Do you mean that they should learn nothing else?
4.It is not harmful for children to read fairy tales.
How about nervous, excitable children who cannot sleep after a fairy story? How about dreadful tales of witches and hobgoblins that make the healthiest child afraid of the dark?
5.It is wrong to kill animals.
Do you include noxious and dangerous ones? Or animals used for food?
89. The Reasons.—The second part of your argument consists of the statement of the various proofs and reasons you advance to make people think and feel as you do about your subject. It is well to divide your subject into several main divisions or points, and take these up one by one; also to set down separately your main arguments. These should be arranged in what is called "climactic order,"—that is, the more unimportant reasons first and the better and stronger ones after, leading up to the argument which you think is your strongest one. There are two main divisions of argument as reasons in favor of something. First, there are the proofs directly for your side of the question, and then there are the proofs against your opponent's argument. The first is called direct proof; the second is called refutation.
Suppose now that you wish to persuade the principal of your school to grant a holiday on Washington's Birthday. Your introduction states the subject very briefly, since in the nature of things there can be almost no possibility of misunderstanding. It might be well to mention here that nobody doubts the value of vacations in school life if wisely selected, and that what you wish to prove is that it would be a wise selection to give the school a holiday on the twenty-second of February.
The body of your argument comes next, and you might begin by stating that a holiday would be beneficial to school work. Support the statement by pointing out, first, that the twenty-second of February comes in the midst of a long stretch of uninterruptedschool, just at the time when both pupils and teachers are tired and would do better work after a rest; second, that the weather is apt to be brisk and bracing, and such as would tempt every one to be out of doors.
Your next general argument might be a statement of the value of honoring in every way possible the great men of the nation, and of not allowing them to be forgotten. Three good reasons as proofs of this statement are, first, that we owe them great gratitude for what they have done for us; second, that they furnish the best examples for our own action; third, that they make us patriotic by making us proud of our country.
Having established the desirability of honoring our great men, your next need is to show that granting a holiday to school children does honor them. To prove this, you might make a word picture of the great importance which a holiday has in a school; how every one looks forward to it, plans for it, enjoys it, and remembers it,—so that it is felt that the occasion of a holiday must be a very notable man. Show how even the little children are impressed with the greatness of Washington's name (because of the holiday) before they know much about him, so that they are all prepared to realize instinctively how prominent he was in our history when they come to study about him. See if you cannot show how much more valuable is an instinctivefeelinglike this than any amount of mereknowledgeof what we owe to him, illustrating by the affection a child feels for a relative—a cousin or an aunt—whom he hasalways known, compared with his affection for a relative whom he learns to know after he has grown up.
A second reason to prove the advisability of granting a holiday to honor the memory of a great man is based on one of the most universally acceptable of proofs. It is good to do a thing when other people do it and always have done it. This is usually one of the first proofs which come into your mind, as is shown by the fact that the average child, on being refused something, says immediately, "Why, all the other boys have it!" So your second reason is that in our own country and abroad no better way has been found to celebrate an anniversary than to grant a holiday on that date. Cite Christmas, the Fourth of July, the Fourteenth of July in France, etc., collecting as many instances as you can, from all sources. This is a very important form of proof, although it should rarely be placed first in your argument.
Now, having shown that great men should be honored, and that holidays are a good form of honoring them, you need to prove that Washington should be specially selected from among our great men for such honors. There are various reasons you might cite here, a few of which are that he was the greatest of the founders of our nation; that his private character was noble and dignified; that he was the first American to receive world-wide recognition; that we might not be a nation without him; that, at the present day, we need more than ever to look back to his integrity and devotion to the patriotic cause, etc.
You have now given enough proofs to make up themain body of your discussion. The end of an argument is called the conclusion, and sums up in a brief way, but as forcibly as possible, the main proofs, and the way in which they lead to the conclusion you desire.
90. The Outline.—The outline of the argument which has just been sketched for you would be set down in a form something like this.
A holiday should be granted to this school on Washington's Birthday.
A. Introduction.It is taken for granted that holidays are desirable at times;we are to prove in this case that the twenty-second of Februaryis a good time for a holiday.B. Proof.I. It would be beneficial to school work,1. because the day comes at a time when a break in theroutine is needed;2. because it comes usually in good winter weather, whenoutdoor life is possible.II. It is desirable to honor the great men of a nation,1. because of our gratitude to them;2. because they set a good example to us;3. because they help us to be patriotic.III. A holiday is a suitable means for honoring the memoryof a great man,1. because it is an important occasion for all pupils,and fixes their attention on the reason for granting it;2. because all over the world holidays are given andalways have been given as the best way of making aday memorable.IV. Washington should be selected for this honor,1. because he was the founder of the nation;2. because he was the first well-known American;3. because he was the first president, etc.C. Conclusion.I. Summing up of the arguments.II. Statement of the conclusion.
91. The Plea.—This is an outline of that form of argument which is sometimes called aplea; an argument, that is, which aims to induce somebody to take action.
Exercise 137.—Make out similar outlines, and write pleas, addressed to the school authorities, on the following subjects. Take the side that appeals to you.1. The weekly holiday should be on Monday instead of Saturday. (Or "shouldnotbe," according to your convictions.)2. The summer vacation should be shorter, in order that the winter vacation might be longer.3. Gymnasium work, or participation in outdoor sports, should be compulsory for boys and girls alike.4. Music should not be taught in the schools.5. One foreign language should be compulsory in American public schools.6. All pupils, even those who have no natural taste for it, should be made to study good literature.7. Every one in the class should be forced to join a debating society.8. There should be a common school library, rather than a collection of books in each class room.9. It is better to have one long school session with a short recess than two shorter sessions with an hour or more for lunch.
Exercise 137.—Make out similar outlines, and write pleas, addressed to the school authorities, on the following subjects. Take the side that appeals to you.
1. The weekly holiday should be on Monday instead of Saturday. (Or "shouldnotbe," according to your convictions.)
2. The summer vacation should be shorter, in order that the winter vacation might be longer.
3. Gymnasium work, or participation in outdoor sports, should be compulsory for boys and girls alike.
4. Music should not be taught in the schools.
5. One foreign language should be compulsory in American public schools.
6. All pupils, even those who have no natural taste for it, should be made to study good literature.
7. Every one in the class should be forced to join a debating society.
8. There should be a common school library, rather than a collection of books in each class room.
9. It is better to have one long school session with a short recess than two shorter sessions with an hour or more for lunch.
92. Other Forms.—There are a number of arguments which can scarcely be treated likepleas, since theirobject is not to induce somebody else to take some action, but to support the truth or justice of some statement.
Exercise 138.—In treating the subjects given below, write as though you were defending the statement against an opponent. Or the subjects may be taken as topics for debate by the class, one half taking one side, and the other half attacking their position.1. Tennis is a better game than golf. (Define what you mean by "better." Better for whom; or for what results?) 2. City life is better than country life. 3. Summer (autumn, winter, spring) is the best time of the year. 4. The best method to prepare for a hard examination is to study hard up to the last minute before you take it. 5. Children of foreigners in this country should learn only English andnottheir parent language. 6. It is better to live near the sea than in the mountains. 7. It is easier to do school work at home than in the class room. 8. Swimming is the best form of exercise. 9. Little children should not be taught to believe in Santa Claus, in fairies, or in giants. 10. Novel reading has a bad influence. 11. Every one should be forced to learn to dance, to swim, to sail a boat, to skate, to ride, to learn a trade, etc. 12. Bonfires should be allowed in the street on the evenings of festival days of various kinds. 13. Pupils should report the wrong-doings of others to the teacher. 14. Books should be furnished free by public schools. 15. Composition is a more important study than arithmetic. 16. Alms should never be given to beggars. 17. No examination should be over an hour in length. 18. A city library is as important as city schools. 19. The climate of our part of the country is more conducive to good health than the climate of the tropics.
Exercise 138.—In treating the subjects given below, write as though you were defending the statement against an opponent. Or the subjects may be taken as topics for debate by the class, one half taking one side, and the other half attacking their position.
1. Tennis is a better game than golf. (Define what you mean by "better." Better for whom; or for what results?) 2. City life is better than country life. 3. Summer (autumn, winter, spring) is the best time of the year. 4. The best method to prepare for a hard examination is to study hard up to the last minute before you take it. 5. Children of foreigners in this country should learn only English andnottheir parent language. 6. It is better to live near the sea than in the mountains. 7. It is easier to do school work at home than in the class room. 8. Swimming is the best form of exercise. 9. Little children should not be taught to believe in Santa Claus, in fairies, or in giants. 10. Novel reading has a bad influence. 11. Every one should be forced to learn to dance, to swim, to sail a boat, to skate, to ride, to learn a trade, etc. 12. Bonfires should be allowed in the street on the evenings of festival days of various kinds. 13. Pupils should report the wrong-doings of others to the teacher. 14. Books should be furnished free by public schools. 15. Composition is a more important study than arithmetic. 16. Alms should never be given to beggars. 17. No examination should be over an hour in length. 18. A city library is as important as city schools. 19. The climate of our part of the country is more conducive to good health than the climate of the tropics.
Another form of argument or persuasion consists in finding reasons and stating them eloquently, in support of a personal taste or opinion. The same general outline is used as in the plea, but the argument is apt to be less impersonal.
Exercise 139.—Arrange your reasons in their logical order and write most at length upon those which are most important. Construct your argument as though in answer to the remark, "Why do you feel that way? I don't agree with you at all."1. I had rather be a doctor (lawyer, merchant, cook, teacher, musician, farmer, etc.) than anything else. 2. I had rather be a sailor than a soldier. 3. If I were not an American, I had rather be English (French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Cuban, etc.) than anything else. 4. If I did not live here, I had rather live in —— than in any other state; in —— than in any other city. 5. If I could always remain a certain age, I should prefer to be —— years old. 6. Of all my studies I think —— is the most valuable. 7. If I were not myself, I should prefer to be ——. 8. Of all the historical characters I have studied I should prefer to be ——. 9. The best book I ever read is ——. 10. I like poetry better than prose. 11. Unlike most people, I like a rainy day (a windy day, foggy weather) better than a fair day. 12. I had rather have a cat (a dog, a horse, a rabbit, etc.) than any other pet.
Exercise 139.—Arrange your reasons in their logical order and write most at length upon those which are most important. Construct your argument as though in answer to the remark, "Why do you feel that way? I don't agree with you at all."
1. I had rather be a doctor (lawyer, merchant, cook, teacher, musician, farmer, etc.) than anything else. 2. I had rather be a sailor than a soldier. 3. If I were not an American, I had rather be English (French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Cuban, etc.) than anything else. 4. If I did not live here, I had rather live in —— than in any other state; in —— than in any other city. 5. If I could always remain a certain age, I should prefer to be —— years old. 6. Of all my studies I think —— is the most valuable. 7. If I were not myself, I should prefer to be ——. 8. Of all the historical characters I have studied I should prefer to be ——. 9. The best book I ever read is ——. 10. I like poetry better than prose. 11. Unlike most people, I like a rainy day (a windy day, foggy weather) better than a fair day. 12. I had rather have a cat (a dog, a horse, a rabbit, etc.) than any other pet.
Many of the above subjects can be treated in letter forms as pleas. This is a very good exercise in writing easily and familiarly upon a careful and well-constructed outline. For instance, you might take the abstract subject that every one should learn to swim. Make it personal and write a letter to your parents, asking to be allowed to learn to swim. Draw up your outline with no less care for a familiar letter than for a formal argument. Take pains to try to imagine the arguments which would be used on the other side and bring to bear all the counterproof you can think of. Your parents would naturally be anxious about the danger involved in your learning to swim. Oppose to this the ability to save yourself in the water all the rest of your life after you have learned. They may maintain that you will neverhave any occasion to swim, since you do not live near the water. You can oppose to this the great frequency of journeys taken on or partly on water. They might think it would take too much time and strength from your studies. Oppose to this the fact that you must have exercise of some sort, that you work better after you have been in the water, and that your general health will be better, etc.
93.In nearly all schools there are several organizations—a debating club, a current events club, an athletic association, a branch society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, etc.,—and in all these organizations there is need of a special form of composition, called secretarial writing, because the secretary does most (although not all) of it. While it may seem complicated and unnatural at first sight because of the number of forms fixed by tradition for every occasion, it is really easier than any other writing you have been studying, since the very fact that the forms are fixed makes invention, charm, or force of style on your part unnecessary. Perfect and unmistakable clearness, accuracy, completeness, and an observance of certain quite rigidly fixed formulæ are the essentials of good secretarial work.
In the formation of an organization, the first writing to be done is the composition of notices (see page 130), sent or posted, announcing a meeting to be held for the purpose of forming a club. This first notice and all others announcing later meetings are to be written according to the general plan described on pages 130-132.
At the first meeting, a chairman or president and a secretary are usually elected, and a committee chosen to draw up a constitution which shall be presented to the club at the next meeting. All constitutions arewritten along the same general lines. A good general model for a simple constitution will be found in the Appendix. The committee precedes the proposed constitution with a paragraph something like the following:—
To the Members of the —— Club:Your committee, appointed at a meeting for the organization of the —— Club, respectfully submit the following articles and by-laws, with the recommendation that they be adopted by this Club.
To the Members of the —— Club:
Your committee, appointed at a meeting for the organization of the —— Club, respectfully submit the following articles and by-laws, with the recommendation that they be adopted by this Club.
During a meeting the secretary should take accurate and careful notes on what occurs, and as soon as possible afterward should write his report of the proceedings of the meeting. This report or record is called the "minutes of the meeting," and the reading aloud of the minutes is always the first business of each meeting.
There should be no attempt made in writing the minutes to make them original or interesting. They should be perfectly accurate and complete. The content of speeches made is not reported (in ordinary minutes), nor are any comments made on the spirit or events of the meeting. A plain statement of what took place officially is all that is desirable.
The place, date, and time of the meeting are set down first, and the name of the presiding officer. Then it is stated that the minutes were read and approved. After this the official events of the meeting are set down in the order of their occurrence. At the end the hour of adjournment is noted and the date fixed for the next meeting.
West Newton, ILL.,Public School No. 3.
The Literary Society of this school held its regular monthly meeting in the general assembly hall, on February 3, 1906, at 2P.M., the president, Robert Wheeler, in the chair (orpresiding).
After the meeting was called to order the minutes of the last meeting were read by the secretary and were approved.
The president then addressed the Society briefly upon the need of new books for the school library, representing to the members the suitability of the Literary Society's taking some action in the matter.
It was moved by Miss Mary Smith that the Literary Society give an entertainment in order to raise money for this purpose. The motion was carried by unanimous vote of the Society.
The president appointed a committee, consisting of Miss Mary Smith, Chairman, Mr. Clark Sturgis, and Miss Helen Brown, to decide on the nature of the entertainment, and to report to the Society at its next regular meeting.
On the motion of Mr. John Peters, it was voted that the Principal of the school, Miss Wheeler, should be made an honorary member of the Society.
The literary programme was then carried out. Mr. Robert Peters and Miss Ellen Camp recited a dialogue, entitled "After the Runaway."
Miss Edith Randing read an original short story called "The White Blackbird."
Mr. Elbert Huntington delivered an argument in favor of shorter school hours and more home study.
At 4P.M.the meeting adjourned to meet at 2P.M.on March 4, 1906.
Peter Hackett,Secretary.
After the writing of the minutes, the next duty of the secretary is to see that the members of committees appointed are notified of that fact and are told who is their chairman. Some such form as the following is generally used:—
Public School No. 3,West Newton, Ill.,February 4, 1906.Mr. Clark Sturgis,Dear Sir,—At the last regular meeting of the Literary Society of this school, held February 3, 1906, you were appointed a member of the Entertainment Committee, of which Miss Mary Smith is chairman.Yours respectfully,Peter Hackett,Secretary.Exercise 140.—1. Make out a constitution and by-laws for a debating society, an athletic association, a nature study club, a reading club, a literary society, a walking club, a sewing society, a chess club.2. Write minutes for the regular meeting of any one of these organizations.3. Write letters of notifications to committees appointed at these meetings.
Public School No. 3,West Newton, Ill.,February 4, 1906.
Mr. Clark Sturgis,
Dear Sir,—
At the last regular meeting of the Literary Society of this school, held February 3, 1906, you were appointed a member of the Entertainment Committee, of which Miss Mary Smith is chairman.
Yours respectfully,
Peter Hackett,Secretary.
Exercise 140.—1. Make out a constitution and by-laws for a debating society, an athletic association, a nature study club, a reading club, a literary society, a walking club, a sewing society, a chess club.
2. Write minutes for the regular meeting of any one of these organizations.
3. Write letters of notifications to committees appointed at these meetings.
There are usually several permanent committees to whom are regularly referred matters falling in their provinces. Some of these committees are the financial committee, the entertainment committee, the membership committee, the programme committee, etc. When the club votes that some question be referred to one ofthese committees, it is the duty of the secretary to write anotice of referencein some such form as this:—
The Musical Club of the Caxton School.Office of the Secretary, Chicago, Ill.,May 23, 1906.Mr. Elmer Henderson,Chairman of Membership Committee,Musical Club of the Caxton School.Dear Sir,—At the last meeting of the Musical Club, the question of the admission to the Club of three pupils from the lower grades was referred to your committee. They are Henry Appleton, in the Fifth Grade, Mary Monkhouse, in the Sixth Grade, and Parsons Latham, in the Fourth Grade. The respective teachers of the above-mentioned pupils represent them as being sufficiently advanced in the study of music to become useful members of our Club.Your committee is requested to look into the matter and report at the next regular meeting.Yours very truly,Helen Irving,Secretary.
The Musical Club of the Caxton School.Office of the Secretary, Chicago, Ill.,May 23, 1906.
Mr. Elmer Henderson,Chairman of Membership Committee,Musical Club of the Caxton School.
Dear Sir,—
At the last meeting of the Musical Club, the question of the admission to the Club of three pupils from the lower grades was referred to your committee. They are Henry Appleton, in the Fifth Grade, Mary Monkhouse, in the Sixth Grade, and Parsons Latham, in the Fourth Grade. The respective teachers of the above-mentioned pupils represent them as being sufficiently advanced in the study of music to become useful members of our Club.
Your committee is requested to look into the matter and report at the next regular meeting.
Yours very truly,
Helen Irving,Secretary.
The answer of the committee would be as follows:—
Chicago, Ill., May 28, 1906.To the Musical Clubof the Caxton School:The Membership Committee, to whom on the 23d day of the present month was referred the question of the admission to the Musical Club of three pupils fromthe lower grades, with instructions to ascertain their proficiency in music, respectfully report that they have given due attention to the matter referred to them and find:—That Henry Appleton plays the violin well enough to play a second part in the quartet.That Mary Monkhouse has a good voice and reads music at sight fluently.That Parsons Latham is as yet too uncertain in his mastery of the flute to take a part in our orchestra.Your committee therefore recommends that the first two be admitted to membership, but not the last.Respectfully submitted,For the Committee,Elmer Henderson,Chairman.Exercise 141.—1. Write a notice of reference to a committee on entertainment, asking them to decide on a programme for the annual meeting. Answer as from the committee.2. Write a notice of reference to a committee on finance, asking them to look into the cost of renting a hall for the meeting of a dramatic society. Answer.3. Write a notice of reference to a committee on finance, asking them to report upon the probable cost of a set of Dickens for the school library. Answer.
Chicago, Ill., May 28, 1906.
To the Musical Clubof the Caxton School:
The Membership Committee, to whom on the 23d day of the present month was referred the question of the admission to the Musical Club of three pupils fromthe lower grades, with instructions to ascertain their proficiency in music, respectfully report that they have given due attention to the matter referred to them and find:—
That Henry Appleton plays the violin well enough to play a second part in the quartet.
That Mary Monkhouse has a good voice and reads music at sight fluently.
That Parsons Latham is as yet too uncertain in his mastery of the flute to take a part in our orchestra.
Your committee therefore recommends that the first two be admitted to membership, but not the last.
Respectfully submitted,For the Committee,Elmer Henderson,Chairman.
Exercise 141.—1. Write a notice of reference to a committee on entertainment, asking them to decide on a programme for the annual meeting. Answer as from the committee.
2. Write a notice of reference to a committee on finance, asking them to look into the cost of renting a hall for the meeting of a dramatic society. Answer.
3. Write a notice of reference to a committee on finance, asking them to report upon the probable cost of a set of Dickens for the school library. Answer.
A club sometimes wishes to send a member as delegate to an assembly or convention of similar clubs. When he arrives at the convention, he needs something to show that he has been regularly elected a delegate, and this is furnished him by the secretary in the following form:—
Columbus, Ohio,March 30, 1906.To the Thirteenth Annual Convention ofthe School Branches of the S. P. C. A.:This certifies that James Harrow has been duly elected a delegate from the Columbus S. P. C. A. to the Thirteenth Annual Convention of the School Branches of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.Henry Swift,Secretary.
Columbus, Ohio,March 30, 1906.
To the Thirteenth Annual Convention ofthe School Branches of the S. P. C. A.:
This certifies that James Harrow has been duly elected a delegate from the Columbus S. P. C. A. to the Thirteenth Annual Convention of the School Branches of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Henry Swift,Secretary.
Such a letter is called "the delegate's credentials."
All the usual duties of a secretary, so far as his writing goes, have now been stated, but there are other occasions for secretarial writing and for the use of set and customary forms, which arise in connection with the duties of other officers.
The president's report is usually annual, and is presented to the club when he retires to make way for the new president. This report is less formal than other secretarial writing. It is supposed to present in a clear and condensed form a picture of the activities of the Club during the year.
The treasurer should keep the club informed frequently and in detail of the state of its finances. A customary form for the beginning of his report is:—
The undersigned, Treasurer of the Musical Club, respectfully submits the following report for the month ending May 15, 1906:—The balance on hand at the beginning of the month was three dollars and forty cents. There has been receivedfrom all sources during the month two dollars and sixty cents. During the month the expenses amounted to four dollars, leaving a balance in the treasury of two dollars.The annexed statement will show in detail the receipts and expenditures.Robert Harris,Treasurer.
The undersigned, Treasurer of the Musical Club, respectfully submits the following report for the month ending May 15, 1906:—
The balance on hand at the beginning of the month was three dollars and forty cents. There has been receivedfrom all sources during the month two dollars and sixty cents. During the month the expenses amounted to four dollars, leaving a balance in the treasury of two dollars.
The annexed statement will show in detail the receipts and expenditures.
Robert Harris,Treasurer.
The most difficult form of secretarial writing is the drafting of preambles and resolutions. These are used for many purposes: to convey the thanks of the club to a person who has done something for it, to express condolence with the family of a member who has died, to send good wishes to a member leaving the club on account of change of residence, to voice the sentiments of the club on some matter of public interest.
The preamble or first part (which is not always used) follows in general a fixed form, but to the composing of resolutions applies all that was said of the writing of petitions. They call for a graceful style, a good and melodious choice of words, and they aim to produce a favorable effect on the reader.
Following is an example of a preamble and resolutions:—
WHEREAS the Reverend George S. Stirling has honored this Club by appearing before us and delivering an address, and whereas this club feels deeply the profit and pleasure it gained from his speech, therefore, be itResolved, That we place on record our deep appreciation of the honor which Mr. Stirling did us, and our conviction that he has profoundly influenced for the better all who heard him.Resolved, That we tender to him our warmest thanks for consenting to address us.Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Mr. Stirling.
WHEREAS the Reverend George S. Stirling has honored this Club by appearing before us and delivering an address, and whereas this club feels deeply the profit and pleasure it gained from his speech, therefore, be it
Resolved, That we place on record our deep appreciation of the honor which Mr. Stirling did us, and our conviction that he has profoundly influenced for the better all who heard him.
Resolved, That we tender to him our warmest thanks for consenting to address us.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to Mr. Stirling.
The resolutions would be sent to Mr. Stirling in a letter like the following:—
Reverend George S. Stirling,Dear Sir,—At a meeting of the ——— Club, held ———, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:—Whereas, the Reverend George S. Stirling, etc. ———George Oldham,Henry Miller,Secretary.President.
Reverend George S. Stirling,
Dear Sir,—
At a meeting of the ——— Club, held ———, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:—
Whereas, the Reverend George S. Stirling, etc. ———
George Oldham,Henry Miller,Secretary.President.
94.Poetry is the most beautiful and attractive form of writing, and in the highest sense is by far the most difficult, since it is not only complicated in form, but is highly emotional and stirs deeply the feelings of the reader. To write real poetry is, therefore, out of the reach of most of us, but to write verse is not so difficult as it is usually thought, and it is an excellent exercise in learning control of words. Verse making gives skill in manipulating language and, because of the need for ingenuity and flexibility in sentence construction and for variety in the choice of words, it helps in writing prose. More than this, you will find that some practice in managing verse-forms yourself will enable you to understand and admire more intelligently the poetry you read.