COLORADO COLDEST FOR YEARS FROM 15 TO 32 DEGREES BELOW ZERO FOR MORE THAN Sugar City, Col., Jan. 2. With the mercury ranging from 15 to 32 degrees below zero for more than two weeks, and with from twelve to eighteen inches of snow covering the ground, southern and eastern Colorado are experiencing the most severe and prolonged period of cold weather that has been reported for many years. Cattle, it is said, are dying from hunger by the hundreds, owing to the deep snow covering the range grass. YALE DEFEATS CORNELL HOCKEY TEAM SPRINGS A SURPRISE UPON THE ITHACA AGGREGATION About the greatest surprise of the hockey season to date, was the defeat of Cornell in Syracuse, N.Y., last evening, by the Yale seven. The score was 5 to 1, and it does not tell fully how marked was the superiority of Yale. Dean, who played at goal for Cornell, was the busiest man on the ice, trying to stop the many shots directed his way. The fact that he succeeded so many times in intercepting the puck was the only bright feature to Cornell's work. FIRST TO HEAR MARK TWAIN'S HUMOR James W. McDaniel, who was the first literary adviser of Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), died suddenly on Monday at his home in Hannibal, Mo. In a magazine article published a short time before Mark Twain's death, the author said when he first began to write humorous stories, he always tried them on McDaniel before he had them published. If the stories made McDaniel laugh, so the humorist wrote, he always felt assured they would please the public. EXERCISES 495. (1) Criticize the first news item, showing whether it is clear, terse, forcible, and lively. (2) Write a similar news item. 496. Select the item you consider the best from the point of view of both expression and interest. Explain your choice. 497. Select from a newspaper six news items three that you consider good, three that you consider poor. Rewrite the last three items, and be prepared to show how you have improved them. 498. Write brief news items suitable for the school paper on any three of the following subjects: 1. A Prominent Graduate of the School. 2. A Baseball Game. 3. The Mid-year Examination. 4. Lincoln Day Exercises. 5. A New Piano for the Hall. 158. Longer Narratives. Whatever skill we acquire in the telling of incidents we can turn to good account when we compose stories which include several events. Of these longer narratives there are two common forms, the short story and the novel. The short story, like the incident, is constructed to bring out clearly a single point, or to produce a single effect. The plot, or action of the story, should be original and striking. Whereas in the incident the characters may be mere names, in the good short story they not only talk but they live. Compared with the short story, which generally deals with one chief character, or one situation, the novel is intricate. Pupils who wish to examine a novel as a work of art will find in Trent, Hanson, and Brewster's "Introduction to the English Classics,"1 and in the introductions and notes of editions prepared for schools, such aids as an analysis 1 Published by Ginn and Company. of the author's plot and a study of his method and of his characters. Although the study of both forms of fiction is valuable, in learning how to write such stories as most of us are likely to produce, we naturally turn to the short story. The following volumes will be found to contain many interesting short stories: "Gallegher and Other Stories” "The Other Fellow" "The Jungle Books” "Majorie Daw" "Wanted: A Match-Maker" Richard Harding Davis. Mary Wilkins Freeman. Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Other good stories are mentioned in Exercise 501, below, and others in the book review under Exercise 610. EXERCISES 499. Make a list of your favorite novels under two heads: (1) novels of incident; (2) novels of character. 500. Write a theme telling which of these two kinds you prefer, and why. Give illustrations. 159. Directions for telling a Story. In reading, as well as in writing, we may profitably keep in mind the following directions for telling a story: 1. Secure unity of effect. Choose material that will bring out the point you wish to emphasize. Reject whatever does not make some contribution to the end in view. 2. Secure coherence. Be sure that one part leads up to another; that the various parts are as closely connected as the links in a chain. 3. Secure emphasis and force. a. The beginning should arouse an intelligent interest in what is to come. Such interest may be gained in two ways: (1) by giving an explanation that will prepare the reader for subsequent narration; or (2) by fixing his attention on something decidedly suggestive of what is in store. b. See that your narrative has proportion. Condense the unimportant details in order that you may have sufficient space for whatever you wish to emphasize. c. The good story-teller knows how to keep his listeners in suspense. A study of " Ivanhoe " and other novels of Scott, and careful listening to men whose audiences seldom weary, will help us to a wise use of this means of emphasis. d. The skillful introduction of conversation often increases the interest. e. The ending must count. A story should not only make continual progress; it should grow in interest up to the very end. We should tell it so that when we have reached the "climax," when the interest is at its height, there will be little or nothing more to say. Sometimes the climax comes after a gradual preparation; sometimes it is all the more effective because it comes unexpectedly. EXERCISES 501. Tell the story of one of the following narratives: "The Vision of Sir Launfal," a canto of "The Lady of the Lake," "The Man Without a Country," "The Fall of the House of Usher," "The King of the Golden River," or one of these stories in "The Sketch-Book ": (1) the Captain's story in "The Voyage "; (2) "Rip Van Winkle "; (3) the adventures of Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." First write a brief plan. 502. Write (1) the opening paragraph of the story as you have told it; (2) the closing paragraph. 503. Write the story. Consider the value of conversation, and if you use any, see that it is to the point and neatly introduced. Be prepared to criticize your story, using the suggestions in Exercise 486. 504. Be prepared to tell the class a story that you consider joyful, pleasant, or gloomy. 505. Be prepared to tell the class in your own words a story suggested by the following list: 1. A Classic Myth. 2. Dick Whittington and his Cat. 3. Jack the Giant Killer. 4. Puss in Boots. 5. An Original Fairy Tale. 6. A Wild Animal. 506. Reproduce in writing an interesting and lifelike conversation you have heard. Perhaps the following topics will be suggestive: I. Two Women on a Street Car. 2. Buying a Ticket. 3. Meeting an Old Acquaintance. 507. Be prepared to tell the class an improbable story from Jules Verne, Poe, Kipling, or any other well-known author. 508. Bring to class a copy of an incident in which the movement is rapid. 509. Make an outline of a short story (see subjects under Ex. 477, p. 268), being careful to have a definite conclusion. Tell |