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while the establishment of the Johns Hopkins University was a direct resultant of the war between the States, and was intended, at least in the mind of the founder, to assist in healing the breaches this had created.1

32. Maintaining the point of view. A frequent cause of the trouble which beginners experience in developing their paragraphs is their failure to keep to the same point of view throughout the paragraph. The topic of the paragraph must not only be kept prominently before the reader's mind, but it must also be held, as it were, in the same light, considered under the same conditions. This means that all the minor details of the paragraph should be kept strictly subordinate to the main detail or topic, and that no one of them should ever be allowed to become too prominent.

An illustration will make the point clear:

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is a very famous work. It was not only one of the most widely read books of its time but is at present read with much pleasure and profit. It was written when the author was very old and had risen to a considerable height of popularity both at home and abroad. He was really the first great literary and political product of young America. Moreover, owing to many reasons, such as the newness of the country, etc., there was then a great dearth of literature. For these two reasons, therefore, the Autobiography of Franklin met the eye of the colonists with much favor. The short sentences, and the direct and easy style pleased them. His early life, too, was such

1 Scribner's Magazine, Jan., 1904, p. 86.

as many youths of that day led. The Autobiography, therefore, appealed to them especially, and it has continued as a great literary production to the present time.1

The topic of this paragraph is the continued popularity of Franklin's Autobiography. The first three sentences take up and proceed with the discussion of this topic; but in the fourth, the point of view suddenly changes, and we are asked to consider the fact of Franklin's priority among the great literary and political geniuses produced by America. In the eighth sentence, a similar fault is noticeable. The facts that Franklin was "the first great literary and political product of young America," and that "his early life was such as many youths of that day led" may have been reasons why Franklin's contemporaries read his Autobiography; but in that case the writer should have stated them as reasons and not as mere facts. In other words, as reasons for the early popularity of the Autobiography, they might have been made prominent; but as mere facts, they have no claim to prominence in the paragraph whatever.

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33. Parallel construction in the paragraph. Keeping to the same point of view in the paragraph means, as a rule, the fashioning of the sentences on pretty much the same lines, at least the avoidance of any marked and unnecessary changes in the sentence structure. If this tendency is carried to the extreme,

1 From a student's theme.

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- that is, if corresponding sentences, clauses, and phrases are cast in practically the same mold, the result is what is commonly known as parallel construction. In the following paragraph from Macaulay, for example, the clause "it was clear,” in the fourth sentence, has its corresponding clause "it was equally clear," in the fifth; and upon the latter depend a series of "that" clauses, two of which are exactly similar in structure:

The inquiry was so extensive that the Houses rose before it had been completed. It was continued in the following session. When at length the committee had concluded its labors, enlightened and impartial men had little difficulty in making up their minds as to the result. It was clear that Clive had been guilty of some acts which it is impossible to vindicate without attacking the authority of all the most sacred laws which regulate the intercourse of individuals and of states. But it was equally clear that he had displayed great talents and even great virtues; that he had rendered eminent services both to his country and to the people of India; and that it was in truth not for his dealings with Meer Jaffier, nor for the fraud which he had practised on Omichund, but for his determined resistance to avarice and tyranny that he was now called in question.

The parallelism of this paragraph is brought about mainly by balancing one sentence or clause over against another. Balancing of sentences and clauses, however, is by no means invariable in parallel construction, as is evident from the following paragraph from Newman, where there is comparatively little attempt at setting one sentence or clause over against

another, but where there is an almost perfect parallelism in sentence structure from beginning to end:

Pride, under such training, instead of running to waste in the education of the mind, is turned to account; it is called self-respect; and ceases to be the disagreeable, uncompanionable quality which it is in itself. Though it be the motive principle of the soul, it seldom comes to view; and when it shows itself, then delicacy and gentleness are its attire, and good sense and sense of honor direct its motions. It is no longer a restless agent, without definite aim; it has a large field of exertion assigned to it, and it subserves those social interests which it would naturally trouble. It is directed into the channel of industry, frugality, honesty, and obedience; and it becomes the very staple of the religion and morality held in honor in a day like our own. It becomes the safeguard of chastity, the guarantee of veracity, in high and low; it is the very household god of society, as at present constituted, inspiring neatness and decency in the servant girl, propriety of carriage and refined manners in her mistress, uprightness, manliness, and generosity in the head of the family. It diffuses a light over town and country; it covers the soil with handsome edifices and smiling gardens; it tills the field, it stocks and embellishes the shop. It is the stimulating principle of providence on the one hand, and of free expenditure on the other; of an honorable ambition, and of elegant enjoyment. It breathes upon the face of the community, and the hollow sepulchre is forthwith beautiful to look upon.

Parallel construction is one of the most effective devices for securing paragraph coherence known. It should be used rather sparingly, however, since a too frequent use of it gives an air of artificiality to

the style, and tends also to produce monotony. Variety in paragraph structure is as important as variety in anything else. Hence the writer will do well if he continually varies the plan of his paragraphs. 34. Proportion in the paragraph.-To produce its best effect, a paragraph must have its form adapted to that division of the subject of the discourse which it discusses. This means, in the first place, that its length must correspond to the importance of the topic it develops; and, in the second place, that its prominent positions must be given to those details which properly deserve the emphasis. No paragraph will reach its proper degree of effectiveness if these two points are neglected.

As to length, it is a good rule to avoid very long paragraphs. Whenever a paragraph extends over several pages, it will usually be found either lacking somewhat in unity, or developed beyond the limits marked by the importance of its topic with regard to the subject of the composition. In any case, if it is too long to be at once mentally reviewed and grasped as a whole, it is too long to be effective. The modern theory of paragraphing really hinges upon the fact that a paragraph should be an organic part of the discourse small enough for the mind to take it in as a whole at one moment of time. On the other hand, frequent very short paragraphs should likewise be avoided, since they tend to give a "scrappy" effect to a discourse. Here, as in all things, the golden mean is the rule to follow.

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