B. Make a plan of the following selection. After completing it, notice in what relation to each other the different topics stand. Compare your plan with the plans made by other members of the

class.

1. There was a time when the American mountain-lion was one of the most formidable animals in the world. The cat is the masterpiece of nature; and the mountain-lion was one of the most terribly armed and powerful of the cat family. It was a compact mass of hard and tough muscle and gristle, with bones of iron, strong jaws, sharp teeth, and claws like steel penknife-blades. It was prodigiously strong, lithe, and quick, covered with a mail-coat of loose skin that was as tough as leather. It had the temper of a demon, and was insatiably bloodthirsty. Withal, it had the proverbial nine lives of the cat tribe.

Against such an animal it was hopeless to match dogs. It was said, in the school-books of forty years ago, that "three British mastiffs can pull down a full-grown Asiatic lion." Perhaps they could; but they would have been sorry if they had tackled a full-grown American mountain-lion of that time. He was not to be "pulled down" by anything; and if he had been "pulled down," that was exactly the position in which he fought best. With his back protected by the earth, and all four fearfully armed paws flying free, aided by his terrible teeth, and a body so strong that it could not be held in any position - well, when he was "down" was the time that he was most "up."

He once was found in all the Rocky Mountain regions, from the jaguar-haunted tropical forests of the extreme South to the home of the Northern winter blizzard; but he attained his greatest size and ferocity on the subtropical plateau of northern Mexico, New Mexico, and Arizona.

These animals are no longer what they were. The tourist

or hunter of to-day cannot hope to find any of the old-time power or ferocity.

C. Rearrange the propositions in the following outlines so that they shall come in the order of their importance, the most important last.

1. Why every boy should learn how to cook.

out.

(1) Because it will be useful when he camps (2) Because it will teach him to be helpful at home. (3) Because good cooking is necessary to good health. (4) Because the cook may leave suddenly. (5) Because he may have a special talent for it.

2. How to make yourself popular.

(1) Don't take offence easily.

(2) Avoid wrangling over long-standing differences. (3) Let the beliefs and opinions of others alone.

(4) Never expose needlessly the weaknesses of others. (5) Follow the golden rule.

(6) Never betray a secret.

D. Restate and recombine the following, so as to bring out the relationship of cause and effect. Give heed also to the principle of climax.

Vacations should be abolished.

1. Saturday and Sunday and the national holidays give plenty of time for rest and recreation.

2. Two or three years of school work could be saved. 3. Hard-working business men get on very well with only ten days of vacation.

4. Young people need recreation less than older people.

5. Pupils forget in vacation what they learned in schooltime.

6. There would be time to do more thorough work.

E. Read Bryant's Thanatopsis and Longfellow's Psalm of Life. Make a plan for a brief essay contrasting these two poems, and write the essay.

F. Read Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal, and make a plan showing the contrasts between the hero as he is at the beginning and the hero as he is at the end.

G. If you have read Scott's Lady of the Lake, make a plan showing all of the contrasts between James Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu.

H. Make a plan for an essay on the subject, A Comparison and Contrast between the Flight of a Bird and the Flight of an Aëroplane.

I. Figures 1 and 2 (pp. 42 and 43) are two representations, by different artists, of the same scene from Dickens's Christmas Carol. After reading or rereading the story, make a plan for an essay describing the two drawings. See that your plan suggests plainly the points both of likeness and of difference. Then write the essay.

J. You are to make a short after-dinner speech at a class banquet on the subject, Our School. In your note-book you have set down the following suggestions:

1. When the school was established. 2. Our first acquaintance with it. 3. Things about the school that we like to remember. 4. Our victories in athletics and oratory. 5. Our teachers. 6. Some amusing incidents.

Select from these the topics you can use, add others if necessary, and arrange them in an orderly way. Then write the speech. Beware of trying to say too much.