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French alliance.

From the moral side, the writer may contrast the sanguine hopes of the Americans in 1775 and 1776 with their subsequent reverses.

The following general direction will be of help. Jot down your several items on small slips of paper of uniform size. It will not be necessary to write out the item in full; a catchword—anything to recall the point-will be enough. Look over these item-slips carefully several times, until they are all clear and present to your mind. Then arrange in small groups those slips which naturally go together. Each group will be the foundation of a paragraph, and the items will constitute the body of the paragraph.

Every composition, however short and unpretending, should be a unit, and the several paragraphs should be in sequence. As a whole, the composition should give evidence of a purpose clearly understood by the writer. The composition should interest the reader by its attractive presentation of the appearance and actions of objects and persons, or convey information in an orderly shape, or teach some lesson of value. What is to be the "point" of any composition in particular the writer must decide for himself.

This is the proper stage for the decision, namely, just before the work of writing begins. For the decision involves the rejection of every item which does not fit into the composition as a whole or into any one paragraph. Such an item is irrelevant matter; if introduced, it would interfere with unity. It is in a measure connected with the subject, but not with the writer's treatment of the subject.

This stage, namely, of grouping items, ought also to form a regular class-room exercise for beginners. The teacher ought to require each scholar to state verbally his general object in the composition, the purport of each paragraph, and the items which he intends using in the paragraph. In this way any defect of method can be promptly detected and corrected.

2. FORMULATING THE COMPOSITION.

59. Working Plan, or Outline.-Having thought out his general purpose and grouped his items provisionally, the writer is now to prepare a systematic plan, an outline, which is to be the structure of the entire composition. The outline will depend not only upon the nature of the subject but also upon the length of the composition. In general, the longer the composition, the more elaborate should be the outline. For example:

CAMPING IN THE ADIRONDACKS.

The writer has accumulated a large stock of items, namely: incidents of travel from his home to the Adirondacks; his impressions of rivers, lakes, woods, mountains; his impressions of guides and other strangers; peculiarities of travel afoot or in canoe; good and bad luck in fishing or hunting; effects of the novel life and diet upon his health; traits of character which this mode of life has brought out in himself and in his companions; contrast between this mode of life and life at home; discovery of more or less unfamiliar plants and animals; comparison of Adirondack scenery with home scenery.

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Let us assume that the writer is limited to 600 words. dently he cannot include all his items in this one composition. He is forced to restrict himself to one aspect of the subject. Among the various possibilities, he might:

a. Narrate the more striking incidents of his trip, from the time he entered the region until he left it.

b. Or, give in detail the incidents of a single day as a specimen of camping-out in general.

c. Or, describe the prominent features of lakes and rivers, woods and mountains.

d. Or, mention the peculiarities of fishing and hunting.

e. Or, discuss the gain to body and mind from such a trip, or the social features of such close companionship.

Let us assume, further, that the writer, after the manner laid down in §§ 56, 59, has decided to restrict himself to a description of the scenery and has grouped his items accordingly. He should formulate this subject in a sentence. Thus :

In this composition I am going to describe the lakes and rivers, the woods and mountains, of the Adirondacks.

A sentence of this sort, written down, is to be the writer's guide, his working formula. He is not to insert it in his composition, he is not to use it for the title; but he is to have the sentence, the formula, constantly before his eye and his mind.

If the composition is to be of more than usual length, say of 2500 or 3000 words, the writer might combine all the above-mentioned items. In that case his formula would be more elaborate. Thus:

I am going to narrate a three weeks' trip in the Adirondacks, telling where I went, describing some of the scenery, giving the incidents of one day as a sample of the life, and stating facts enough to justify the conclusion that the trip has done me good.

Here the description would be subordinate to the narrative, and the two together would lead up to the conclusion.

For all compositions it is advisable to formulate not only the general subject of the whole composition but also the special subject of each paragraph. This may be done by writing at the top of a sheet of paper the formula for the whole composition, and below, in arithmetical numbering, a succession of formulas, one for each paragraph.

Beginners should be required to make not only the general formula but also each separate paragraph-formula a complete sentence. Such a requirement will be a check upon rambling. Students more advanced may be permitted to reduce the paragraph-formula to a significant phrase.

In any event the whole outline, that is, the general formula with its arithmetical succession of paragraph-formulas, should be submitted as an exercise in writing, and as such should be corrected by the teacher. Also a copy of the outline should be preserved by the teacher and compared afterward with the finished composition, to determine whether the two agree. By way of illustration we may formulate:

NEATNESS IN SCHOOL LIFE.

General Formula.-What neatness is, what it implies, what it does. First Paragraph.—Examples of neatness in dress, penmanship, etc. Examples of want of neatness.

[These examples, of course, are not to be made personalities.]

Second Paragraph.—Other good habits most closely resembling neatBad habits usually associated with want of neatness.

ness.

Third Paragraph.—General principle or disposition of the mind underlying neatness. This principle wanting wherever neatness is

wanting.

Fourth Paragraph.-Connection of this same principle with other good habits. Its absence leads to bad habits in general. The saying is applicable: There may be many ways of doing a thing badly, but there is only one way of doing it well.

Fifth Paragraph.-Effects of habit of neatness on the person himself, on his companions.

Such a handling of the subject of Neatness, if not strictly philosophic, may serve at least to make expository writing intelligible. The student will note the method of explaining a thing by means of its resemblances and its differences, its cause and its effects.

The following are specimens of actual work:

I. THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND [Title 1]. Theme.2-The Industrial Revolution in England seems to have caused a complete change in the manner and method of production, and greatly affected the social and industrial condition of the nation.

I. Previous to 1760, the domestic system of manufacture was prevalent in England.

2. The social condition of the people was closely related to the state of the industrial world.

3. In 1770 came the great inventions which caused a sudden and violent change in the industrial system.

4. The social system was also completely revolutionized by the change. 5. The revolution seems to have brought about many results, both good and bad.

1 For a discussion of Title see 64.

2 The word Theme is employed in this writing course as a convenient abridgment of General Formula.

2. LOVE-MAKING.

Theme. The manufacture of loves is a systematized process.

1. The manufacture of loves is an extensive and diversified occupation.1

2. The conversion of the skin into leather is done by means of several processes.

3. Cutting is the first step in the manufacture of the loves, and is done by two different methods.

4. The loves then pass through several hands, as the silker, the endpuller, the maker, and the hemmer.

5. When the loves are completed, with buttons and button-holes, they are laid off, packed, and shipped to the buyer.

3. THE DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION.

Theme. The now common belief that all animals and plants have been developed from lower forms has been accepted by nearly all scientific men for several reasons.

I. Introduction. The theory of evolution at first met with much opposition.

2. Men have come to see that there are mutual affinities of organic beings.

3. Men have found that there are strong embryological relations between organic beings.

4. Geology has shown a geological succession of organic beings.

5. The geographical distribution of plants and animals has helped man to accept the doctrine of evolution.

6. General summary.

4. IMMORALITY OF COLLEGE LIFE.

2

Exposition. Being an argument in favor of a consideration of the subject, when a true conception of the matter might be had, and true conclusions drawn, outsiders being too prone to judge colleges wicked and demoralizing from superficial knowledge of the facts.

1 The distinction between the theme and this first paragraph is not as lucid as it should be. The writer intended this paragraph to be an introductory statement of the general magnitude of the business, the capital, number of hands, etc.

2 This paper is offered as a "warning example." It is wholly without unity and sequence. The paper was rejected, and the writer directed to think.

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