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TEXT-BOOK

OF

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS.

PY

THOMAS MORRISON, M.A.,

RECTOR OF THE FREE CHURCH NORMAL SCHOOL, GLASGOW.

LONDON AND GLASGOW:
WILLIAM COLLINS, SONS, & COMPANY.

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PREFACE.

IN constructing this Text-Book, the author has kept steadily in view the fact that the school life of the great majority of children is short, and that much has to be done in little time, and, frequently, with very imperfect appliances.

He has not, therefore, attempted to produce an exhaustive treatise on English Composition. Such a work, however valuable in itself, would be alien to the purpose which the Publishers of this series have set before them. His aim has been to familiarize the learner, in a practical way, with the structure of sentences, with variety of expression, with the simpler forms of paraphrasing, and with the composition of simple narratives and easy essays. Anything more than this cannot, with reason, be expected from the pupils attending our ordinary elementary schools.

The author has purposely avoided giving any illustra tions on style, strictly so called, and on the correct use of figurative language. A somewhat lengthened experience in the practical work of education has convinced him that any attempt at the critical examination of style is beyond the reach of school children, and that such attempts, however sounding they may appear, are a waste of precious

of an

time. A boy of fourteen or fifteen years of age cannot be expected to write with the purity and the grace Addison; it is enough for him to be able to express his thoughts in plain, unvarnished, grammatical English.

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In view of the imperfect appliances existing in many schools for the conduct of the work of education, and particularly in view of the multiplicity of subjects claiming the teacher's attention, the author has arranged the whole book in the form of exercises. These exercises have been carefully graduated both as to difficulty and as to length, whereby a definite portion of work can be assigned to the pupils, as often as composition forms the subject of instruction. This, it is hoped, will tend to save time and trouble to the teacher, while it will secure uniform progress in the pupil. The exercises have been constructed with great care, and the selections have been invariably taken from classic writers.

It is unnecessary to say anything upon the benefits arising from the study of Composition, or upon the plan on which it ought to be studied. The benefits are manifest; the following pages will develop the author's views upon the best methods of teaching English Composition.

GLASGOW, Oct. 1873.

T. M.

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