(8) throws itself; might let you [quotation in note]. (13) brimming along; vagary; transiently.

(16) brabbling.

The following expressions call for criticism:

(1) "I recollect studying . . . and moreover that we were all,” etc.— This violates the principle of unity and stability, 93. It might be improved: "I recollect that I studied . . . and moreover that we were."

"As soon as the weather was auspicious and that the spring began to melt.”—This use of that, instead of repeating as soon as, is old-fashioned, occurring not infrequently as late as the eighteenth century; see Mätzner, Englische Grammatik (2d ed.), iii. 420. In modern syntax we say merely: “and the spring began.”

(8) "former storms, but present fair weather."-Compare De Quincey, 26.

(15) "A hammock was slung from the ceiling, which," etc.-See ? 84. How might the construction be improved?

(13) Repunctuate the first sentence, using the dash.

4. Note the (intentional) vagueness of the title (see ? 127). The Angler may stand for Irving himself, for the Don (2), for the urchin (6), for the veteran (8), or for any devotee of rod and line (21).

Are the titles: The Wife; The Widow and her Son; The Stage Coach; The Pride of the Village, equally vague?

5. Compare the American brook (3, 4) with the English (9, 13); compare the latter with the description in Tennyson's The Brook.

The Angler is slight in substance; it contains no striking scenes, like those in Rip, or Sleepy Hollow. But it reveals an equal mastery of the technique of writing, and by reason of its very simplicity and quiet tone it is peculiarly available for minute dissection. The teacher might, with considerable profit, require his pupils to state the subject of each paragraph, to distinguish narrative and description, and to pick out the scattered bits of exposition.

1. Paragraph-Structure.—In & 7 it is stated that George Eliot is not careful in her paragraphing. The following are instances. 1. In chapter iv. the sale and killing of Wildfire, Dunstan

Cass's walk back to Raveloe, and his entering Marner's cottage are all told in one long paragraph, three pages in length. This should be broken up into at least three paragraphs:

a. From: "Keating rode up now," to: fallen."

"road in which Wildfire had

b. From: "Wildfire had fallen," to: "see that it was a handsome whip."

c. From: "handsome whip," to: "that Marner was not there." Reconstruct the above in three paragraphs of 50, 150, 150 words respectively.

2. In chapter ii. the fourth paragraph, beginning: "But at last," and ending: "in the gathering gloom," introduces the rise of the spirit of avarice in Marner. The next two paragraphs relate his healing of Sally Oates and its effect in intensifying his isolation. The seventh paragraph: "Gradually the guineas, the crowns," resumes the subject of his avarice.

How might the connection between the fourth and the seventh paragraphs have been made more direct and obvious? (See 18.)

2. Character-Description.-The story offers many opportunities in this line. E. g.:

1. The character of Marner at Lantern Yard; at Raveloe, before the adoption of Eppie; after the adoption.

2. The moral weakness of Godfrey Cass, chapters iii., ix., xiii., xv. Its punishment, chapters xviii., xix.

3. Description of natural objects.

1. Marner's cottage, chapters iv. and xvi.

2. The Cass mansion, chapters iii. and xvii.

4. Narration.

1. Mollie's walk and death, ch. xii.

2. Retarding effect of ch. vi.; note the echo ("ghostly," "ghosts") from ch. vi. to ch. vii.

5. Topic Sentences.

1. In ch. i. note the beginning of the description of Raveloe: "And Raveloe was a village where many of the old echoes lingered." George Eliot thus gives the character of the village, before going into the details of its outward appearance.

2. In ch. vii., the middle paragraph, beginning: "This strangely novel situation," is a link. Note the sentence: "Our consciousness rarely registers the beginning."

3. In ch. ix., last paragraph, note the sentence: "Favorable Chance, I fancy, is the god.”

149.

Merchant of Venice.

In writing upon poetry, especially upon poetry of such high order as Shakespeare's or Tennyson's, it is advisable to make one's own prose sober, plain, and explicit, to reproduce the thought of the original, without trying to echo the peculiar style.

1. Describe the character of Antonio, i. 1, 3; ii. 8; iii. 2, 3; iv. 1;

v. 1.

2. Of Portia, i. 2; iii. 2; iv. 1; V. 1; note the alternation of spright

liness and seriousness.

3. Relate Bassanio's choice of casket, using the historical present. Is there any connection between his character, or profession in life, and his choice?

4. What justification has Jessica for running away, ii. 3, 5, 6?

5. Narrate the trick with the rings, giving every essential feature, and avoiding the historical present.

Julius Cæsar.

1. Account of the storm, i. 3, introducing Casca, Cicero, and Cassius, and using the historical present.

2. Account of the killing of Cæsar, iii. 1, avoiding historical present. 3. Character of Brutus, i. 2; ii. 1; iii. 1; iii. 2 (speech); iv. 3; v. 5. 4. Character of Portia, ii. 1; ii. 4; iv. 3.

5. In what sense is Casca "a professional politician," knowing the habits and disposition of each one of his associates and utilizing them for his own ends? The answering of this will necessitate a careful

*

study of all the scenes in which he figures.

Macbeth.

1. Narrate the unbroken series of Macbeth's successes, ending in the murder of Banquo; the unbroken series of failures, beginning with the escape of Fleance. (Moulton, Shakespeare, p. 127.)

* See Moulton, Shakespeare, p. 182. In writing upon Cassius one student made the extraordinary statement that "Cassius was a professional politician and made a paying business of it"! Evidently he had caught Moulton's epithet in some indirect way and connoted it (see 2 163) in the sense of "ward-heeler" or "wire-puller."

2. Account of the interviews with the witches, i. 3; iv. 1. How are the witches' words an ironical deception of Macbeth? Compare v. 8, line 20.

3. Retarding effect of the porter scene, ii. 3. (Compare De Quincey, On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth, x. 389.)

4. Compare the storm, ii. 3, 4, with the storm in Julius Cæsar.

The character of the Princess herself is too complex to be treated by any except very apt scholars. But the following or similar subjects are within the range of all.

[The line-numbers refer to Rolfe's edition. Boston; Osgood, 1885.] 1. Recount the story, i. 1-200, using the third person and avoiding the historical present.

2. Character of Psyche, ii. 91; 171-296; v. 68-107; vi. 192–277. 3. Account of the geological excursion, iii. 152–iv. 132.

4. Lady Blanche's speech, iv. 273–339.

5. The Princess's letter, v. 364-428.

6. Character of Prince Arac.

7. Character of Cyril.

151.

Macaulay's Life of Johnson.

[The page-numbers refer to Thurber, Select Essays of Macaulay. Boston; Allyn & Bacon, 1892.]

1. Sketch Johnson's personal appearance, pp. 55, 56, 97.

2. His character and habits, pp. 56-59, 63, 69, 73, 79.

3. Sketch of the Johnson Club, p. 83.

4. Johnson's household, pp. 86, 87.

5. Account of the Dictionary, pp. 68, 69, 74, 75, 81.

STUDIES IN PARAGRAPHING.

The advantages of gaining an insight into the mechanism of composition can scarcely be over-estimated. One learns thereby that composition is not haphazard, but methodical. One also un-learns the crude notion that writing goes by inspiration.

Nothing could be more instructive than Macaulay's method in his second essay on the Earl of Chatham. The first half of the essay is here analyzed systematically.

Macaulay's Chatham.

[The text here followed is that of O. A. Lester. New York; Maynard & Co. Figures not enclosed in parentheses designate the textpage; figures enclosed in parentheses designate the paragraph-number. This paragraph-numbering is not in the text, but has been supplied for the present purpose.]

152. Ratio of Paragraph to Page.

In this first part, pp. 9-62 (=53 pp. exactly), there are 80 paragraphs in all, long and short. This ratio of 80: 53 exemplifies the modern practice of making the average paragraph-length less than the page. That is, the eye rests, on the average, at least once in every page on the typographical break occasioned by paragraphing. Besides, in the text here followed nearly every page of text is shortened by footnotes. Were these removed, and the pages of full length, the pagebreakings would be somewhat more numerous.

153. Long Paragraphs.

By a long paragraph is here meant one that exceeds a page (= about 320 words). The longs number nineteen, viz.:

(14), the partition of powers between Pitt and Newcastle, is mentioned, 19, 1. The longest is (46), relating Pitt's resignation.

Of every one of these long paragraphs (in fact, of every paragraph in the whole essay) it can be confidently asserted that it observes the principles of Unity and Sequence (22 3, 5). The subject can be stated in a short sentence, around which the details are grouped effectively. Every student should be required to test this, by formulating two or three of the longer paragraphs. Thus (55):

Party spirit revives and attacks Bute as a royal favorite.

Observe that this is suggested in a topic-sentence, p. 46, line 1109: