23. Write well-constructed paragraphs on the following subjects: The value of clearness as compared with other qualities of style. The importance of a large vocabulary to the student. The means of acquiring a large vocabulary. The richness of the English language. The importance of care in speaking and writing. A street scene. A sunset. A winter scene. A sea view. An old building. Write three connected paragraphs upon a subject of your own selection. Divide the paragraphs properly, and give to each a suitable plan. Do not let the plan be too prominent in the completed paragraph. The skeleton looks better when properly clothed. 24. On what six things does clearness depend? Learn the following, which is called Herbert Spencer's Law of Style: "That form of language is most excellent which yields its contained idea with the least expenditure of mental effort." Is it true? Give reasons for your opinion. 25. Review Exercise in Clearness. Criticise the following sentences for clearness, and correct them where necessary: 1. The children's noise aggravates me till I can't hear myself think. 2. Railroads have abounded in fatalities this summer. 3. The migratory instinct was as strong within his heart as in the barn-swallow that brooded under the eaves of the great red barn his father had built, not only after the Dutch style of his neighbors, which he readily recognized as superior to that prevailing in New England, and accepted with the true adaptiveness of his race, but also of a size and conspicuousness to make it a landmark in the valley. 4. The vessel could not think of putting more than the afterhatch alongside the wharf, and the vessel would have to be unloaded from it. It is expected that the matter will be fixed up to-morrow. 5. In Great Britain and Ireland there are more females than males, and in France the excess of women is still greater, but in Spain nearly equal, and in the United States an excess of males. 6. The captain took the good things the gods provided with thankful good nature. 7. Anna's school does not take in till September. 8. God has plainly designed music as a grand universal luxury for all mankind. 9. The Moor seizing a bolster full of rage and jealousy, smothers her. 10. Thought and language act and react upon each other mutually. 11. These arguments were without hesitation and with great eagerness laid hold of. 12. She was ready to go down, looking the picture of innocent happy girlhood, in her trailing dress of garnet rep, with trimmings and little tight-fitting jacket of black velvet, and finished with the scintillant garnet earrings and the glittering links of her richly wrought chain. QUOTATIONS FOR MEMORIZING. As a man is known by his company, so a man's company may be known by his manner of expressing himself. — SWIFT. If a gentleman be to study any language, it ought to be that of his own country. - LOCKE. Inaccurate writing is generally the expression of inaccurate thinking. RICHARD GRANT WHITE. Propriety of thought and propriety of diction are commonly found together. Obscurity of expression generally springs from confusion of ideas. — MACAULAY. It is an invariable maxim that words which add nothing to the sense or to the clearness but diminish the force of the expression. CAMPBELL. All that trains the mind to severe thinking, and the heart to right feeling, prepares the way for perspicuous utterance.— JOHN BASCOM. A little racy slang may well be used in the course of one's daily talk; it sometimes expresses that which would otherwise be difficult, if not impossible, of expression. - RICHARD GRANT WHITE. A tendency to slang, to colloquial inelegancies, and even vulgarities, is the besetting sin against which we Americans have especially to guard and struggle. WILLIAM D. WHITNEY. We must study not only that every hearer shall understand us, but that it shall be impossible for him not to understand us. - QUINTILIAN. EXERCISES IN COMPOSITION WRITING. 1. Tell in a letter to a friend the story of a fire or a runaway. 2. Give an account in a letter of some unusual experience you have had recently. 3. Write a letter from a boy in Galilee, telling a friend in Jerusalem about the wedding in Cana. 4. Write in the briefest possible way the story of the last book you read. 5. Write a short story of discovered treasure after the manner of "The Alhambra." 6. Write an imaginary adventure of one of the inhabitants of the Alhambra. 7. With the description of the inhabitants of the Alhambra as a model, describe the persons living in some house that you know well. 8. Taking up the story of the Three Princesses where the youngest still hesitates at the top of the ladder, tell the remainder with a different ending. Try to have it consistent with the first part in thought and in style. 9-15. With the text before you, write careful outlines of the following, using not more than ten main heads for each: a. The Water-carrier. c. The Rose of the Alhambra. b. The Moor's Legacy. d. The Two Discreet Statues. 16. Write what you think of the use of the birds in the Pilgrim of Love. 17. Write a story of a pet animal with the Truant in mind as model. 18. Describe a landscape that would be a good subject for a painter. 19. Describe a place which you have seen, and which is interesting because of historic associations 20. Describe some public building with which you are familiar, keeping in mind Irving's way of describing parts of the Alhambra. 21. Tell the story of a hunt from the point of view of the hunted animal, of the dog, or of the horse 22. Write an account of the conversation held between horses tied near the store, courthouse, or schoolhouse. 23. Describe a forest scene, a lake scene, a mountain scene, or a prairie scene which is familiar to you. 24. Write an account of an interview between Rowena and Maid Marian. 25. Write the story of an unpublished adventure of Robin Hood. 26. Describe an evening in Robin Hood's camp. 27. Tell a story as told by one of Robin Hood's men at the camp-fire. 28. Tell the story of some adventure of Richard the Lion-heart. 29. Give an account of some contest which in our own times has points of likeness to a Tournament. 30. Describe Loch Katrine and the island from the promontory where Fitz-James first viewed them. Note all the hints of description given in the poem, and fill out in carefully written prose. 31. In the same way describe Ellen and her boat. 32. Tell the story of the journey of the Fiery Cross. 33. Give an account of the augury of the bull's hide and its fulfilment. 34. Tell in prose the ballad of "Alice Brand.” 35. Tell in as spirited diction as you can the story of the encounter between Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu. 36. Describe the pageant and games in the castle park. 37. Describe the scene in the palace when Ellen is granted her request. 38. Tell briefly the story of "The Lady of the Lake." 39. Describe in prose the Wayside Inn and its company. 40. Describe one of the places or buildings mentioned in “Paul Revere's Ride." 41. Write a different ending for "The Falcon," beginning with the visit of Monna Giovanna. 42. Tell in prose the story of Robert of Sicily. 43. Write a different ending to the story of Torquemada, beginning with the accusation. Be careful to have it consistent with the characters and the times. 44. Write a different beginning to the story of the Birds of Killingworth, letting their enemies be those who would kill them for the sake of wearing their feathers. 45. Describe a rainy day in winter; in spring; in summer. 46. Write a story to inculcate the same duty that is taught by "The Bell of Atri." 47. Write a letter from a good dame in Portsmouth to her daughter in Boston, telling of Governor Wentworth's marriage. 48. Describe some eccentric old person whom you have known, with his or her accustomed surroundings. 49. Describe the Christmas festivities which you remember most vividly. 50. Describe an imaginary interview with Rip Van Winkle. 51. Describe the exterior and interior of the typical farmhouse in your locality. 52. Describe the wedding of Katrina and Brom Jones. 53. A numerous posterity claim descent from Ichabod Crane. Describe such a woman as you think he married. |