than four or five hundred words with no hint of action or gesture grows to be dull. All these things are to be managed in the revision, not in the first draft. Unlike some other kinds of writing, a story is apt to have more merit if it is dashed off without much regard to form, and then carefully worked over, than if it is put together bit by bit in cold blood. After the writer has done his best by way of revision, the instructor will still find many things to criticise. A second revision based upon a conference is vital to the best results. Even if the work is well done, there are always weak words to be eliminated and vigorous touches to be added. It should be constantly remembered that the larger part of the class is writing a story solely for practice in winning interest by the choice of strong words, not with any idea of producing fiction that has market value. However, unsuspected talents may be revealed and developed in such practice, which are well worth following up in later elective work in composition. The best two books for further study of the subject by students of proved ability are Pitkin's The Art and the Business of Story Writing, and Esenwein's Writing the Short Story. CHAPTER XVIII HISTORICAL NARRATION Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. - CICERO. To be ignorant of what happened before you were History is the essence of innumerable biographies. THERE is little in common between good story-telling and good history or biography. They are both narrative writing, but their differences are greater than their resemblances. It is true that historical narration of the better sort is illuminated by vivid descriptions, when the sources afford material for such descriptions; true also that it appeals in other ways to the historical imagination, which has a certain kinship with the story-sense. On the other hand, there is the vital difference that history and biography are limited to the available evidence, while the story is limited only by probability. The historical imagination.—If we set out to write an account of Henry Ward Beecher's famous speech at Liverpool during the Civil War, the first thing to do is to read contemporary accounts of the circumstances under which the speech was delivered. We must read the speech itself, read about its immediate effects, consider its indirect results. Then, and only then, can imagination come to our aid in making the scene vivid to the reader. We can add nothing to the data; we can only subtract. Skillful selection of descriptive details drawn from history is the only way in which we can legitimately build up a historical picture to vitalize a narrative. In like manner, a narrative of the Chicago fire, or the Titanic shipwreck, or the Dayton flood, if it purports to be history rather than fiction, must be drawn entirely from the final revised newspaper and periodical accounts. No dialogue may be invented. If we have no reliable report of any conversations connected with the event, the aid given to fiction by quoted dialogue must be dispensed with. Further, the selection of material for emphasis differs in fiction and in history. In the story we work for a climax which shall impress the imagination. To that end we omit many details, not because they are irrelevant, but because they are dull. The historian's selection rests upon a different basis. He seeks to show causes and results, and deals with logical relations, rather than with æsthetic values. Above all, he must explain events. Therefore history is an expository narrative. Exposition in history. In Chapter VIII there was an assignment of long expository essays upon historical subjects. These essays were based upon the reading of various sources, and were designed principally to develop the power of selecting and combining material. It was stipulated that the narrative element in them should be relatively slight, in order to insure adequate attention to expository structure. Now, on the other hand, we come to the consideration of historical narration as a separate species of composition. The expository purpose still remains in greater or less degree, but the emphasis is upon events. What happened, and why did it happen? In any detailed historical narrative there are many events concerning which the second question cannot be answered for lack of information. If one is writing the history of a city, there will be some stages of its expansion plainly due to geographical causes, and others, equally important, of which the explanation has disappeared. History must include events and their meaning, if possible; but events slightly understood, or not understood at all, must be faithfully reported. This point constitutes the principal difference between the assignments of this chapter and those of Chapter VIII. Descriptions in history. Historical description goes with historical narration. In its means of securing force it can learn much from the descriptions of fiction. Here, as there, the specific is preferable to the general; words that convey strong sense-impressions are effective; and the point of view should be clearly defined. For details of a sort available for vivid historical description the larger works of reference must be consulted. Manuals have no space for anything more than an outline of events. It must always be remembered that history depends upon geography, and that guidebooks, works of travel, maps, and photographs are among the sources for historical description. English history studied in composition assignments.— The historical assignments in this chapter are intended to form an introduction to early English history, or a review of it, which will have direct value in the study of English literature. College study of general European history, even if it comes early enough to form a background for introductory courses in English literature, pays too little attention to the elementary facts of English history. It takes for granted many things that college freshmen and sophomores do not know. Collateral reading, in such a book as Cheyney's Short History of England, or Gardiner's Student's History of England, is almost indispensable for any useful study of the history of English literature. This work may well be begun in the latter part of the freshman year in connection with narrative writing. The methods to be followed in collecting and arranging material are similar to those explained in Chapters VII and VIII. Abundant bibliographical references are given by Cheyney. From the fifty subjects named each member of the class should write either two or three essays of 1000 words each. One topic should be chosen from the early period and one or two from the later. In this way each student will study for himself topics in at least two or three important periods of English history. The topics extend from the Saxon conquest down to the beginning of modern literature with the accession of Elizabeth (449-1558). The list may be extended at the discretion of the instructor. TOPICS FOR HISTORICAL ESSAYS 1. England at the End of the Roman Period. 2. The Saxon Conquest. 3. The Christianization of England. 4. Caedmon. 5. Bede. 6. Local Government in Saxon England. 7. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 8. The Danish Invasions. 9. Alfred the Great. 10. The Norman Conquest. 11. William the Conqueror. 12. History of the Tower of London. 15. History of Canterbury Cathedral. 17. History of Westminster Abbey. 19. The Reign of King John. 20. Thomas Becket. 21. The Beginnings of Parliament. 22. Monks and Friars in Medieval England. 23. The Jews in Mediæval England. 24. The War of Scottish Liberation. 25. Oxford in the Middle Ages. 26. The Battle of Crécy. 27. Rural Life in the Fourteenth Century. 28. Travel in Medieval England. 29. The Peasants' Rebellion. 30. John of Gaunt. 31. John Wycliffe. 32. William of Wykeham. 33. Geoffrey Chaucer. 34. Henry V. |