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them as much as you do now. The same may be said of the teachers. The strain upon teachers is greatly increased by the badness of the air in which they habitually work. Secondly, the stress upon the children can be greatly diminished by the systematic use of gymnastic movements during school hours and in the schoolrooms. I submit that the American people ought to learn from the experience of European nations in this respect. It has been conclusively demonstrated that brief intervals for gymnastic exercises throughout the public schools of Scandinavia and Germany do keep the children in good condition, and do enable them to sustain without injury a greater amount of mental work than I have just suggested for American children. Thirdly, the stress or strain upon children can be much diminished by making the work interesting to them, instead of dull, as much of it now is. It is extraordinary how fatigue is prevented or diminished by mental interest. As I have lately read the readers used in my sample grammar school, worked its sums, and read its geography and its book on manners, it has seemed to me that the main characteristic of the instruction, as developed through those books, unless lightened by the personality of the teacher, is dullness, a complete lack of human interest, and a consequent lack in the child of the sense of increasing power. Nothing is so fatiguing as dull, hopeless effort, with the feeling that, do one's best, one cannot succeed. That is the condition of too many children in American schools not the condition for half an hour, but the chronic condition day after day and month after month. Make the work interesting, and give the children the sense of success, and the stress which is now felt by them will be greatly diminished. CHARLES WILLIAM ELIOT, “An Average Massachusetts Grammar School," in Educational Reform," pages 183-185.

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578. (1) Profiting by whatever suggestions you can get from the preceding paragraph and plan, write on a subject of your own choosing. (2) After your writing is done, put at the end of it what you consider the main thought.

579. Make an outline of the character of (1) a book hero of yours; (2) an acquaintance.

580. Does the following plan seem clear, orderly, and likely to serve its purpose?

MAKING A FLY ROD

I. Principal requirements.

I. Lightness.

2. Strength and pliability.

II. Main construction.

1. Kind of wood.

2. Number of pieces to a section.

3. Shape and method of fastening together.

III. Mounting.

IV. Winding.

1. Uses of winding.

a. Strength.

b. Ornamentation.

2. Method of fastening.

V. Finishing.

581. (1) Write out the main divisions of a plan of one of the following subjects: croquet, diabolo, tennis, checkers, hockey, basketball, chess, or some other game. (2) Insert subdivisions in your plan. (3) Write the theme. (4) See that theme and plan agree.

173. Methods of Exposition. In the chapter on the Paragraph and its Development, we have found that the common methods of developing both the paragraph and the longer theme are: (1) by details, or particulars; (2) by examples; (3) by repetition; (4) by comparison and contrast; (5) by cause and effect. In a single theme perhaps all methods will be used to some extent, but at first we should be careful to confine ourselves to one method in a single paragraph. In exposition two particularly useful methods are illustration by examples and illustration by comparison and contrast. We crave the example just as we jump at the specific word, and everybody naturally makes comparisons and contrasts. However, we shall need practice in all the methods mentioned.

EXERCISES

EXPOSITION BY DETAILS

582. The following paragraph has been developed by details. Write a similar paragraph on some method of fishing or some other out-of-door recreation.

One of the most picturesque methods of hunting the poor deer is called "floating." The person, with murder in his heart, chooses a cloudy night, seats himself, rifle in hand, in a canoe, which is noiselessly paddled by the guide, and explores the shore of the lake or the dark inlet. In the bow of the boat is a light in a "jack," the rays of which are shielded from the boat and its occupants. A deer comes down to feed upon the lily-pads. The boat approaches him. He looks up, and stands a moment, terrified or fascinated by the bright flames. In that moment the sportsman is supposed to shoot the deer. As an historical fact, his hand usually shakes, so that he misses the animal, or only wounds him; and the stag limps away to die after days of suffering. Usually, however, the hunters remain out all night, get stiff from cold and the cramped position in the boat, and when they return in the morning to camp, cloud their future existence by the assertion that they "heard a big buck" moving along the shore, but the people in camp made so much noise that he was frightened off. - C. D. WARNER, "A-Hunting of the Deer," in "In the Wilderness."

583. Use any two of the following as topic sentences for paragraphs, and develop them by means of details:

1. Our country house is one of the most restful spots that I know. 2. Mr. Martin's new horse is a Kentucky thoroughbred.

3. Jones, Stratton, and Company have been remarkably successful since they opened their new store.

4. Elihu Grant, the Democratic candidate for mayor, has the best record of any candidate.

5. Mayville is an uninteresting town.

584. Explain one of the following, developing the paragraph by means of details: (1) how to broil steak; (2) some system of ventilation; (3) a good method of sharpening a lead pencil;

(4) some patent; (5) bread making; (6) how to make a Welsh rabbit; (7) the block system (in connection with a railway); (8) some system of heating.

585. Developing the paragraph chiefly by means of details, explain some technical term taken from one of the following: (1) music; (2) the carpenter shop; (3) mechanical drawing; (4) freehand drawing; (5) mathematics.

586. Explain orally to a stranger how to get a card, and how to draw a book, from your public library.

587. A stranger has three days for sight-seeing in your neighborhood. Write him a letter, telling him how he may spend the time to advantage.

EXPOSITION BY EXAMPLES

588. Explain orally, with as many illustrations as you choose to add, the correct use of the following words: awful, funny, cunning, lovely.

589. Add to your outlines of characters prepared in Exercise 579 illustrations by examples.

590. Develop one of the following by means of examples :

1. The way of transgressors is hard. 2. Forbearance ceases to be a virtue. 3. Ill blows the wind that profits nobody. 4. A little learning is a dangerous thing. 5. All that glisters is not gold. 6. 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view.

591. Write a short theme on "My Method of memorizing Prose [or Poetry]." Develop it by a combination of details and examples. Perhaps the following outline will be helpful: 1. Illustration.

2. Each paragraph.

a. Main thought.

b. Number of sentences.

c. Substance of each sentence.

d. First several words of each sentence.

592. Explain in short paragraphs the meaning of five of the following sentences. Use examples.

1. One good turn deserves another.

2. He that complies against his will
Is of the same opinion still.

3. The better part of valor is discretion.
4. A new broom sweeps clean.

5. No one is a hero to his valet.

6. Men are used as they use others.

Handsome is that handsome does.

8. No man ought to look a gift horse in the mouth.
9. You have hit the nail on the head.

593. Talk on one of the following subjects:

1. Honesty is the best policy. (Illustrate by examples.)

2. It was clearly a time for discretion.

3. Explain how you made some such article as these: pencil tray, book rack, picture frame, stamp box, jewel case, flower trellis, napkin ring, goblet, wallet, rolling pin, gavel, dumb-bells.

EXPOSITION BY REPETITION

594. The following is an example of development by repetition. Write a similar theme, taking for your topic sentence "The life of a sailor [or fireman] is a series of adventures and narrow escapes."

The life of the birds is a series of adventures and of hairbreadth escapes by flood and field. Very few of them probably die a natural death, or even live out half their appointed days. What perils beset their nests, even in the most favored localities! The cabins of the early settlers, when the country was swarming with hostile Indians, were not surrounded by such dangers. The tender households of the birds are not only exposed to hostile Indians in the shape of cats and collectors, but to numerous murderous and bloodthirsty animals, against whom they have no defense but concealment. They lead the darkest kind of pioneer life, even in our gardens and orchards, and under the walls of our houses. Not a day or a night passes, from the time the eggs are laid till the young are flown, when the chances are

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