Practical English Composition Part 7

He is stopping at the Biltmore Hotel. Although he talked freely of the trouble in Europe, he frowned at the report about the $2,000,000 shrapnel order, and then said with blazing eyes:

"Why, our company would not accept an order for $15,000,000 worth of shrapnel! The war itself is a bitter shame. It is something that does not belong in the general scheme of enlightened humanity. If men would only think in unison, and think purely and strongly for the abolition of war, it would stop. There should be a general movement in the United States in this direction.

"When I was a youngster I left my home in Centralia, Ill., to win my own way in the world, and my mother gave me five maxims--one for each finger--which I since have followed with great profit. They are:

"'Seek company among those whom you can trust and a.s.sociation with whom will make you better.

"'Never gamble or go where gambling is done.

"'Never drink or go where drinking is done.

"'As to smoking, it isn't so bad as drinking or gambling, but take my advice and let it alone.

"'When in doubt about where to go, stop and ask if it would be a good place to take your mother.'

"Plat.i.tudes, eh! Some might call them that; but they have brought me happiness, and they have brought happiness to others.

Not long ago I sat down and figured how much I had saved by not drinking, gambling, or the like. I figured it out at $1,000 a year, and it had been 30 years since my mother gave me the advice."

III. Notes

1. The contrast in Model I consists in the incongruity between the ages of the people and their occupations; in II the contrast is obviously the same as that alluded to in Byron's famous line,

"Seek roses in December, ice in June";

in III Mr. Howard's ideas, ideals, and conduct are in contrast with those of some men.

2. Ant.i.thesis between the actual and the normal is always interesting.

IV. Queries and Exercises

1. Explain the syntax of all nouns, adverbs, and infinitives in the models.

2. Find a metaphor in I.

3. Discuss the meaning and etymology of the following words: matrimonial, commuters, Christmas, December, animals.

4. Is "nearby" a better word than "adjacent"?

5. Where is Yonkers?

6. Tell whether the sentences are simple, compound, or complex.

7. What is the subject of each paragraph in II and III?

8. Write double headings for I and II. "Double" means in two parts.

For example:

| SHAKESPEARE | | CELEBRATION | | PLANS ADVANCE | | | | President of Drama League Tells | | of Interest in Tercentenary | | Observances |

Remember that you can use only a fixed number of letters in each line.

9. Define ant.i.thesis and metaphor. Find an example of each in to-day's paper.

V. Composition

1. _Choosing a Subject._ Select an incident that has come within the circle of your own observation; that has never, as far as you know, been described in print; and that is sufficiently unique to present a good contrast to the usual course of events.

2. _Collecting Material._ Get as many concrete details as possible.

Generalities never glitter. They are useful only to cure insomnia.

3. _Arranging Material._ Look out for the "Four W's." Make a framework that is definite. It should be determined, in the last a.n.a.lysis, not by the model but by the material.

4. _Oral Composition._ Rehea.r.s.e your article to your mother or to any other person whom you can induce to listen.

5. _Written Composition._ "Festina lente." "Hasten slowly." When a French student takes his college entrance examinations, he is plucked if he misspells one word, misplaces one capital letter, or makes a single mistake in punctuation. Lord Bacon somewhere says: "Let us proceed slowly that we may sooner make an end."

Sheridan wrote:

"You write with ease to show your breeding, But easy writing's curst hard reading."

Care in No. 5 will eliminate No. 6.

6. _Revision and rewriting._

VI. Suggested Reading

Coleridge's _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_.

VII. Memorize

MUSIC

Let me go where'er I will, I hear a sky-born music still: It sounds from all things old, It sounds from all things young, From all that's fair, from all that's foul, Peals out a cheerful song.

It is not only in the rose, It is not only in the bird, Not only where the rainbow glows, Nor in the song of woman heard, But in the darkest, meanest things There alway, alway something sings.

'Tis not in the high stars alone, Nor in the cup of budding flowers, Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone, Nor in the bow that smiles in showers, But in the mud and sc.u.m of things There alway, alway something sings.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

TO TEACHERS. At this point a review of Chapter XII, "Vade Mec.u.m, or Catechism," of _Practical English Composition_, Book I, will be found an invaluable exercise.

CHAPTER VIII