2. Of mind: a. Temper and sentiment. Sensible to what kind of impressions? b. Intellect. Memory, fancy; reasoning and judgment (wit, sagacity). c. Morals. Impulses, inclinations, passions. B. For an historical event: I. Introductory remarks. These refer to causes and reasons, origin, fore-shadowing symptoms. II. The event itself. 1. Beginning (place, time) and its effect. 3. Decision. 4. Decrease. 5. End. III. Consequences (favorable, unfavorable): 2. From a general point of view. C. If an essay is to be written on a common saying or a proverb, the following divisions may be applied: I. Introduction: Various contents. II. Exposition of the theme. 1. Explanation: a. Definition of the words. b. Definition of the sense. 2. Proofs of its truth: a. Argument of reason. c. Argument from history. d. Argument by similar and true proverbs. III. Conclusion: Various contents. VII. SUMMARY. We may sum up our remarks on the writing of an essay in the following rules: 1. The meaning of the theme is to be explained, its obscurity to be cleared away. 2. The materials for an essay have to be invented by way of meditation (division; partition; simple invention). 3. A plan or skeleton is to be set up with all its divisions and subdivisions as determined by the nature of the subject in question. 4. Every plan must consist of three principal parts, viz. introduction (beginning), exposition of the theme (middle) and conclusion (end). 5. In a plan every part must be in its proper place, none superfluous, none missing. 6. Meditation alone supplies the different divisions and subdivisions, which are, by ratiocinative means, to be put into systematical order. 7. The general meaning of the theme, the leading thought, must pervade all parts and unite them into one whole, and yet every part must treat of a subject peculiar only to itself by which it may be distinguished from any other. 8. The skeleton must be dressed with skill and taste, the words must be select, and the sentences run fluently and vividly. 143 SECOND CHAPTER. Practical treatise on themes for essays. I. Stylistic exercises on (A.) substantives, (B.) adjectives and (C.) verbs. A. THE SUBSTANTIVE. Model theme: What objects do you see in the school room? Exposition (answer:) In the school-room I see tables, desks, forms, a chair (for the teacher), a black board, a sponge, a crayon, a jug of water, inkstands, pens, pencils, slates, books and maps. Themes to be treated similarly: 1. What objects do you see in a sitting-room? 2. What do you see in a garden? 3. What objects do you notice in the street? 4. What objects do you see in a church? 7. What dishes have you ever eaten? 8. Name the fruits you have ever eaten. 9. Which are the different parts of man's face? 10. Name the different principal parts of the human body. 11. Write down six boys' and six girls' names. 12. What sort of artisans and workmen do you know? B. THE ADJECTIVE. Model theme: Name adjectives that indicate the color of things. Exposition: I know various colors, as red, blue, black, green, grey, yellow and white. Themes to be treated similarly: 1. Name things that are white; 2. that are black. 4. Name things that are round. 5. Name adjectives which are applicable to a tree. 7. Add the indefinite article and suitable substantives to the following adjectives: Black, green, white, old, young, sharp, ripe, tall, large, ill, poor, light, dark, clean, high. 8. Add qualifying adjectives to the following nouns: house, court-yard, church, books. 9. State the contrary to the following adjectives: white, bitter, high, poor, tall, pretty, broad, thick, long, heavy, hard. 10. Prefix two adjectives opposed to each other, and the definite article, to the following substantives: Pupil (as the diligent and the lazy pupil), man, house, book, pencil, tree, soldier, sky, water, table, face, officer. mea 11. Add to each of the following words a pleasantly and an unpleasantly qualifying adjective: Look, dow, field, skin, sound, music, way, hill, valley, sea, fountain, brook. 12. Write down six substantives preceded by the definite and indefinite articles and appropriate adjectives; as the large garden - a large garden. C. THE VERB. Model theme: State of the following persons, what they do: the hunter, the driver, the teacher. Exposition: The hunter hunts, the driver drives, and the teacher teaches. Themes to be treated similarly: 1. State of the following persons what they do: - the 2. State the verbs referring to the voice of each of the 4. Add to the following verbs (3 p. 5) some suitable 5. What can you do with the following parts of your body? The eyes (as with my eyes I can see), the head, the nose, the ears, the tongue, the mouth, the lips, the teeth, the arms, the feet. II. Exercises on the reproduction from memory of fables, parables, and short historical narratives. Note. After a fable has been prepared, translated, and recited, it should be written down from memory. For practical use see 'Germania', part I. III. Prose reproduction from memory of short narrative poems. Note. A poem should be well prepared, translated, and recited, and then written down in prose from memory. For use see 'Germania', part I, appendix, II. 13-24. Model poem: The bee. Ein Bienchen fiel in einen Bach. |