Practical Grammar and Composition Part 33

9. They pa.s.sed the old castle. It was almost unrecognizable. This was by reason of the scaffolding which surrounded it. The castle was now being transformed into a national museum.

10. He stood looking with curiosity at John Peters. Peters limped slightly. Otherwise, he looked well and happy. He was moving about shaking hands right and left.

11. They rushed at him with a yell. He had by this time reached the base of the fountain. With a sudden wonderful leap he sprang onto the railing. There he was out of reach. He balanced himself by touching the brackets which held the lamps.

12. The unintelligent worker reminds one of the squirrel on the wheel. The squirrel rushes round and round and round all day long.

At the end of the day the squirrel is still a squirrel. It is still rushing round and round. It is getting nowhere.

13. The man looked at the ladder. He believed he could reach it.

There was a sudden flash of hope in his face. His face was already scorched by the fire.

14. Smith was financially embarra.s.sed. He was determined to get to his home. He crawled on top of the trucks of an express car.

The car was about to leave the terminal. He courted almost certain death.

15. The commander again looks toward the hills. He looks for a long time. Something seems to excite his apprehension. He converses earnestly with the staff officer. Then the two look more than once toward a poplar tree. The tree stands at the top of the hill. Only its top half shows. The hill is on the east.

16. The most important political question has been the tariff question.

This has been most important for ten years. It is important because it is believed to have caused high prices and trusts.

17. The pleasantest month is June. It has flowers. It has mild weather. It has a slight haze in the atmosphere. These things seem to flood one's soul with peace and contentment.

91. The essential qualities that a sentence should possess, aside from correctness, are those of Unity, Coherence, Emphasis, and Euphony.

UNITY. Unity demands that the sentence deal with but one general thought, and that it deal with it in such a consistent and connected manner that the thought is clearly and effectively presented. Unity demands, also, that closely related thoughts should not be improperly scattered among several sentences.

1. Statements having no necessary relation to one another should not be embodied in one sentence.

Bad: The house sat well back from the road, _and its owner_ was a married man.

Good: The house sat well back from the road. _Its owner_ was a married man.

a. Avoid the "comma blunder"; that is, do not use a comma to divide into clauses what should be separate sentences, or should be connected by a conjunction.

Bad: Jones lives in the country, _he_ has a fine library.

Good: Jones lives in the country. _He_ has a fine library.

Good: Jones lives in the country _and has_ a fine library.

b. Avoid the frequent use of the parenthesis in the sentence.

Bad: This is a city (it is called a city, though it has but twelve hundred people) that has no school-house.

2. Avoid all slipshod construction of sentences.

a. Avoid adding a clause to an apparently complete thought.

Bad: That is not an easy problem, _I think_.

Good: That, _I think_, is not an easy problem.

Good: _I do not think_ that is an easy problem.

Bad: He could not be elected mayor again under any circ.u.mstances, _at least so I am told_.

Good: He could not, _I am told_, be elected mayor again under any circ.u.mstances.

Good: _I am told_ that he could not under any circ.u.mstances be elected mayor again.

b. Avoid long straggling sentences.

Poor: The students often gathered to watch the practice of the team, but, just before the last game, the management excluded almost all, and only a few who had influence were allowed to enter, and this favoritism caused much hard feeling and disgust, so that the students were reluctant to support the team, and lost most of their interest, a fact which had a bad effect on the athletics of the inst.i.tution.

3. Unite into one sentence short sentences and clauses that are closely and logically connected with one another.

Bad: That it is a good school is not without proof. Its diploma admits to all colleges.

Good: That it is a good school is not without proof, for its diploma admits to all colleges.

Good: That its diploma admits to all colleges is proof that it is a good school.

Bad: This fact was true of all of us. With the exception of John.

Good: This fact was true of all of us, with the exception of John.

Bad: Edward came. But John never appeared.

Good: Edward came, but John never appeared.

Bad: The town has two railroads running through it. Also, three trolley lines.

Good: The town has two railroads running through it, and also three trolley lines.

Good: The town has two railroads and three trolley lines running through it.

4. Do not change the point of view.

Bad: _We_ completed our themes, and _they_ were handed in to the teacher. (In the first part of the sentence, the subject is _we_; in the second it is _themes_.) Good: We completed our themes and handed them in to the teacher.

Good: Our themes were completed and handed in to the teacher.

Bad: The _stage_ took us to the foot of the hill, and _we_ walked from there to the top, where _our friends_ met us.

Good: _We_ were taken to the foot of the hill by the stage, and _we_ walked from there to the top, where _we_ were met by our friends.

EXERCISE 67

_Revise such of the following sentences as violate the principles of unity:_

1. I frequently had ridden on a bicycle, and though the first ride made me stiff, I felt little inconvenience afterwards.

2. Of the firm Jones & Smith, Jones is a man to be respected. While Smith is thoroughly dishonest.

3. John had plenty of energy and ambition. And it is hard to understand why he didn't succeed.

4. I have taken thorough courses in history in both grade school and high school, and I also worked on the farm in the summer.

5. In the East the people are conservative. But, in the West, they are radical and progressive.

6. The news came that special rates would be given from Chicago, and that we could go to Seattle and back for fifty dollars, and so, when our checks came, we seized our grips and started on a trip which was so long and eventful, but as enjoyable as any two months we had ever spent, and gave us an experience that was very valuable in our work, which we took up on our return in the fall.

7. The town has a fine public library, besides there are a number of steel mills.

8. One may reach Boston in two ways. Either by water or by rail.