means 'before' but the pro- that means 'forth.' Prophecy is 2. In seeking for reliable principles on which just criticism may be based, we must, if possible, find those which are broad enough to include all art. Otherwise we should suspect them of not being fundamental principles. For literature is, in fact, one of the fine arts. Not everything that is written, of course, belongs to literature proper; but when a written product becomes a part of what has well enough been called belles-lettres, as a poem, for example, in contradistinction from a patent office report, it belongs to the art of literature, and is closely allied to the other fine arts; giving us, like them, that immediate and direct satisfaction of a high order which we call æsthetic pleasure, or delight. Literature, as we shall see, gives us much more than this, but this it gives us in common with the other arts. Literature is 3. What is to be a gentleman? Is it to have lofty aims; to lead a pure life; to keep your honor virgin; to have the esteem of your fellow-citizens and the love of your fireside; to bear good fortune meekly; to suffer evil with constancy; and through evil or good to maintain truth always? Show me the happy man whose life exhibits these qualities, and him we will salute as gentleman, whatever his rank may be. -THACKERAY: The Four Georges. 4. Side by side with biology arose about this time the modest and almost unnoticed science of the earth, then generally called physical geography, but now known as geology. This was a small seed sown in the eighteenth century, to grow into a large tree only in our time; yet it was a great step when Scilla insisted that fossils were the remains of living beings, and that the rocks containing them were formed gradually under lakes or seas. And when Werner taught men to study the earth's crust, and Hutton forced them to see that nature is, and has always been, building up our present world out of the ruins of the past, the foundations were laid for the real study of the earth and its formation. Meanwhile William Smith toiled over England, mapping out the position of each rock as he saw it, and thus led the way to a long series of careful observations, by which the whole geology of England has been worked out. BUCKLEY: History of Natural Science, p. 281. 111. Assignments in Correcting Faulty Definitions. The following definitions are faulty either (1) because they repeat some form of the word to be defined and call for synonymous expressions, or (2) because they fail to simplify matters. Correct them. (a) Citizenship is the state, condition, privilege, or duty of being a citizen. (b) A natural right is a right conferred by nature. (c) Walking is the precipitation of the body forward by means of the lower extremities, without loss of equilibrium or of upright posture. (d) Graduation is the act of being graduated. (e) Passing a course means getting above a certain mark. (f) Preparing for college is going over the studies required. (g) An education is the training you receive in schools. (h) Foreign missions are missions to foreigners. (i) R.S.V.P. means répondez s'il vous plaît. (j) P.P.C. means pour prendre congé. (k) verb. sap. means verbum sat sapienti. 112. Assignments in Definition with Explanations. A. Select one of the following questions. Talk with other people about it. Then try to answer it. Write down the first answer that occurs to you and as you continue to think about it, write every thought just as it comes, asking yourself at each step, - is this true? does it need qualification? are there exceptions to it? can I make a more accurate statement in other words? If you will do this, you will approximate more and more closely to a logical definition as you proceed. At the end set down your final definition in logical form. You may revise this theme for the English, for clearness, coherence, accuracy, — but in the revision, do not omit any of the steps in your thinking. 1. What is it to study? 2. What is meant by curiosity? 3. What is a gentleman? 4. What is a true sport? 5. What is meant by "the square deal”? 6. What is meant by “special privileges” in political discussion? 7. What is meant by "the interests" in political discussion? 8. What is meant by "the laboring man"? 9. What is meant by "the average student"? 10. What is meant by "the home girl"? 11. What is meant by "the modern girl"? 12. What is meant by "the old-fashioned girl"? 13. What is meant by "the practical politician"? 14. What is meant by "business methods"? 15. What is meant by “a purely academic view"? 16. What is meant by "Americanism"? 17. What is meant by "public opinion"? 18. What is meant by "law honest"? B. What definitions do you infer from the following? In each generation there have been men of fashion who have mistaken themselves for gentlemen. They are uninteresting enough while in the flesh, but after a generation. or two they become very quaint and curious, when considered as specimens. Each generation imagines that it has discovered a new variety, and invents a name for it. The dude, the swell, the dandy, the fop, the spark, the macaroni, the blade, the popinjay, the coxcomb,- these are butterflies of different summers. There is here endless variation, but no advancement. One fashion comes after another, but we cannot call it better. One would like to see representatives of the different generations together in full dress. What variety in oaths and small talk! What anachronisms in swords and canes and eyeglasses, in ruffles, in collars, in wigs! What affluence in powders and perfumes and colors! But would they "know each other there"? The real gentlemen would be sure to recognize each other. Abraham and Marcus Aurelius and Confucius would find much in common. Lancelot and Sir Philip Sidney and Chinese Gordon would need no introduction. Montaigne and Mr. Spectator and the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table would fall into delightful chat. But would a "swell" recognize a "spark"? And might we not expect a "dude" to fall into immoderate laughter at the sight of a "popinjay"? -CROTHERS: The Evolution of a Gentleman, Atlantic, 81:715. 2. In his effective answer to Mr. Herbert Spencer's argument against the metric system, which, oddly enough, is like spelling reform in that it finds its chief opponents in Great Britain, President Mendenhall remarked that "ignorant prejudice" is not so dangerous an obstacle to human progress, nor so common, as what may be called "intelligent prejudice,” meaning thereby "an obstinate conservatism which makes people cling to what is or has been, merely because it is or has been, not being willing to take the trouble to do better, because already doing well, all the while knowing that doing better is not only the easier, but is more in harmony with existing conditions. Such conservatism is highly developed among English-speaking people on both sides of the Atlantic." It is just such conservatism as this that must be overcome by those of us who wish to see our English orthography continue its lifelong efforts toward simplification.MATTHEWS: Simplification of English Spelling, Century, 62: 617. 3. To get the knowledge of individual aptitude and desire, and to help in the resultant choice of school work, is the province of the mysterious being whom I call the Vocation Teacher. The Vocation Teacher, as such, does not exist. A good many regular teachers and parents try to assist the youth with whom they come in contact to choose their life-work wisely; but this advice and help should not be a merely incidental duty it should occupy the whole time of a carefully trained vocational expert. In every high school there should be a vocational expert. -MILLER: Atlantic, November, 1909. Generalized Narrative. 113. A method of connecting new ideas with old that has often proved useful in expository writing is the narrative method. By this method the writer adopts a plausible time-order for the steps or stages of his exposition. The time-order is for a typical case, not for any particular case. That is, the events are related not as they actually happened in the experience of a particular person, but as they might have happened, logically, to any person of a certain class under given circumstances. Hence this kind of narrative is said to be generalized. Generalized narrative is frequently used to explain the principle underlying mental development, experiments, processes of manufacture, feats of skill, and the like. The following selection illustrates this method. Mac |