Graded Lessons in English Part 60

We have indicated elsewhere that this sentence work may follow Lesson 40.

+The Narrative+.--This selection from "Helen's Babies" is a story and therefore a narrative. But there are some descriptive touches in it. All stories must have such touches. Perhaps it is not always essential to distinguish between narration and description, but it is worth your while to do it occasionally. Try to point out the descriptive parts in these paragraphs. You certainly can find a descriptive sentence in the first paragraph, and descriptive words, phrases, and clauses throughout the selection. What help to the narrative do these descriptive touches give?

+The Paragraphs+.--What have you learned about the sentences that make up one paragraph? Are the paragraphs more, or less, closely related than the sentences of each paragraph? Why? Examine these paragraphs and see whether any sentences can be changed from one paragraph to another. If you think they can, give your reason. Is the order of these paragraphs the right one?

Can the order anywhere be changed without throwing the story out of joint?

Why?

+The General Topic and the Sub-topics+.--We shall find that every composition has its general subject and that each paragraph in the composition bus its own particular subject. Let us call the subject of the whole composition the _general topic_. _Sub_ means _under_, and so let us call the point which each paragraph develops a _sub-topic_. In the story above we may find some such outline as the following:--

AN EXCURSION IN SEARCH OF "JACKS."

1. The Place where Jacks Grow.

2. The Mishap to the Excursionists.

3. The Uncle Takes his Seriously.

4. His Attempt at Repairs.

Do you think that such a _framework_ helps a writer to tell his story? Do you not think that each sub-topic must suggest some thoughts that the general topic alone would not suggest? If you keep clearly before you the sub-topic of your paragraph, what effect do you think it will have on the thoughts and the sentences of that paragraph? With a good framework clearly before you, must not your story move along in an orderly way from a beginning to an end? Have you ever heard stories badly told? If so, what were the faults?

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.

Have you not had some experience that you can work up into a good story? If you have, tell the story upon paper, making use of the instruction we have given you in our talk above.

+To the Teacher+.--Perhaps a reproduction of the story above may be profitable.

EXERCISES ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE SENTENCE AND THE PARAGRAPH.

SELECTION FROM GEORGE ELIOT.

And this is Dovecote Mill. I must stand a minute or two here on the bridge and look at it, though the clouds are threatening and it is far on in the afternoon. Even in this leafless time of departing February, it is pleasant to look at it. Perhaps the chill, damp season adds a charm to the trimly-kept building, as old as the elms and chestnuts that shelter it from the northern blast.

The stream is brimful now, and half drowns the gra.s.sy fringe in front of the house. As I look at the stream, the vivid gra.s.s, the delicate, bright green softening the outline of the great trunks and branches that gleam from under the bare purple boughs, I am in love with moistness, and envy the white ducks that are dipping their heads far into the water, unmindful of the awkward appearance in the drier world above.

1. And now there is the huge covered wagon, coming home with sacks of grain. 2. That honest wagoner is thinking of his dinner, which is getting sadly dry in the oven at this late hour; but he will not touch it till he has fed his horses--the strong, submissive beasts, who, I fancy, are looking mild reproach at him from between their blinkers, that he should crack his whip at them in that awful manner, as if they needed such a hint!

3. See how they stretch their shoulders up the slope toward the bridge, with all the more energy because they are so near home. 4. Look at their grand, s.h.a.ggy feet, that seem to grasp the firm earth, at the patient strength of their necks bowed under the heavy collar, at the mighty muscles of their struggling haunches. 5. I should like to see them, with their moist necks freed from the harness, dipping their eager nostrils into the pond.

+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--Notice that in sentence 1, third paragraph, the subject is placed after the predicate. Tell what _now_ and _there_ do. _Coming home with sacks of grain_ does what? Does _coming_ express action? Does it a.s.sert action? What is it? What does _home_ do? Put _its_ before _home_ and then read the whole phrase. What other change do you find necessary? A noun is sometimes used alone to do the work of an adverb phrase, the preposition being omitted. What is the office of _minute_ in the second sentence of the first paragraph? What preposition could be put in? In 2, third paragraph, the p.r.o.noun _which_ stands for _dinner_. Read the sentence, using the noun instead of the p.r.o.noun. Have you now two sentences, or one? You see that _which_ not only stands for _dinner_, but it joins on a sentence so as to make it describe the dinner.

What does _till he has fed his horses_ do? Omitting _till_, would this group of words be a sentence? What, then, joins this group, and makes it do the work of an adverb? Notice the dash after _horses_. The writer here breaks off rather suddenly and begins again, using _beasts_ instead of _horses_. To _beasts_ are added many descriptive words. You will learn that this noun _beasts_ added to the noun _horses_ is called an explanatory modifier. Notice that _I fancy_ is thrown in loosely or independently and is set off by commas. All the other words beginning with _who_ and ending with _hint_ are joined by _who_ to _beasts_. Notice that the writer makes these beasts think like persons, and so uses _who_ instead of _which_ or _that_. Do we ordinarily speak of looking anything? In _who are looking reproach_, what is the object complement of _are looking_? What long group of words made up of two sentences tells why the beasts are looking reproach? Read separately the main divisions of 2. What conjunction connects these? Is one of these divisions itself divided into parts by commas? Should, then, some mark of wider separation be put between the main divisions of 2? To build so long a sentence as 2 is venturesome. We advise young writers not to make such attempts. It is hard to write very long sentences and keep the meaning clear. In 3 the subject of _see_ is _you_, which is generally omitted in a command. You are here told to see what?

Break this long object complement up into two sentences. What do the horses stretch? Where do they stretch their shoulders? How do they stretch? Why do they stretch with more energy? What is the subject of _look_ in 4? The phrase beginning with _at_ and ending with _earth_ does what? Find two other long phrases introduced by _at_ and tell what they do. _That seem to grasp the firm earth_ goes with what? Put the noun _feet_ in place of the p.r.o.noun _that_ and make a separate sentence of this group. What word, then, makes an adjective modifier of this sentence and joins it to _feet_? Does _to grasp_ a.s.sert action? What do you call it? It is here used as attribute complement. _Bowed under the heavy collar_ describes what? Does _bowed_ a.s.sert action? What do you call it?

+To the Teacher+.--If time permits, we believe that such exercises as the above may profitably be continued. This sentence work may perhaps best follow Lesson 50. See suggestions with preceding exercises.

+Descriptive Writing+.--This extract from the novelist who called herself "George Eliot" we have slightly changed for our purpose. It is purely +descriptive+. It is a painting in words--a vivid picture of a very pretty scene. How grateful we are to those who can, as it were, turn a page of a book into canvas, and paint on it a rich verbal picture that delights us every time we read it or recall it! How many such pictures there are in our libraries! And how little they cost us when compared with those that we buy and hang upon our walls!

+Some Features of a Good Description+.--Does this author mention many features of the mill, of the stream, and of the horses pulling their load over the bridge? Do those that she does mention suggest to you everything else? Name some of the things suggested to you but not mentioned in this description. Does not some of the charm of a description lie in the reader's having something left him to supply? If the author had given you every little detail of the mill, the stream, and the laboring horses, would not the description have been dull and tiresome? What things that the author imagined but did not really see are mentioned in the third paragraph? Do these touches of fancy or imagination help the picture? Do they show that the author was in love with her work? and do they therefore stimulate your fancy or imagination?

+The Framework+.--In making a framework for this description would you take for the general topic "The Scene from the Bridge" or "Things Seen from a Bridge"? or would you prefer some other wording of it? Now write out a framework, placing the sub-topics under the general topic as you have been taught.

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.

Describe some scene that you greatly enjoy, or draw your picture from imagination. Make a framework and try to profit by all that we have said.

EXERCISES ON THE COMPOSITION OF THE SENTENCE AND THE PARAGRAPH.

SELECTION FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM.

Once upon a time there was a very old man, whose eyes were dim, whose ears were dull, and whose knees trembled. When he sat at table, he could scarcely hold his spoon; and often he spilled his food over the tablecloth and sometimes down his clothes.

His son and daughter-in-law were much vexed about this, and at last they made the old man sit behind the oven in a corner, and gave him his food in an earthen dish, and not enough of it either; so that the poor man grew sad, and his eyes were wet with tears. Once his hand trembled so much that he could not hold the dish, and it fell upon the ground and broke all in pieces, so that the young wife scolded him; but he made no reply and only sighed. Then they brought him a wooden dish, and out of that he had to feed.

One day, as he was sitting in his usual place, he saw his little grandson, four years old, fitting together some pieces of wood. "What are you making?" asked the old man.

"I am making a wooden trough," replied the child, "for father and mother to feed out of when I grow big."

At these words the father looked at his wife for a moment, and presently they began to cry. Henceforth they let the old grandfather sit at the table with them, and they did not even say anything if he spilled a little food upon the cloth.

+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--What is the order of subject and predicate in the first sentence of this selection? The word _there_ does not tell where; it is put before _was_ to let the subject follow. _There_ is frequently so used and is then called an independent adverb. Find in the first sentence three adjective clauses. What connects each to _man_? What other office has this connective? How are these adjective clauses connected with one another? What is the office of the dependent clause in the next sentence? If this clause were placed after its princ.i.p.al clause, would the comma be needed? Are the clauses separated by the semicolon as closely connected as those divided by the comma?

After _made_ and some other words the _to_ before the infinitive is omitted. Find such an instance in the first sentence of the second paragraph. In this same sentence change _gave him his food_, making _him_ come last. You have learned that a noun or a p.r.o.noun may be used without a preposition to do the work of an adverb phrase. What does _one day_ do in the third paragraph? Is a preposition needed before _day?_ In the same sentence _years_ is used adverbially to modify the adjective _old_. It would be hard to find a preposition to put before _years_. We might say "old to the extent of four years," but _four years_ answers for the whole phrase. In this same paragraph what words are quoted exactly as the old man uttered them? Describe the quotation marks. Notice that the next quotation is broken by the words _replied the child_, and so each part of the quotation is separately inclosed within quotation marks.

+To the Teacher+.--We have here touched a few features of the sentences above. The exercises given with the preceding selections will suggest a fuller examination of the phrases and clauses.

+Suggestions from this Narrative+.--We see that this beautiful story has a purpose. Its purpose is to teach us kindness to our parents. It is well planned. Every sentence and every paragraph is adapted to the end in view.

No useless item or circ.u.mstance is admitted. The story stops when the end is reached. Anything added to the fifth paragraph would spoil the story. We certainly can learn much from such a model.

+Paragraphs+.--Does every sentence in the first paragraph aid in picturing the helplessness of the old grandfather? Is the picture complete? Does the second paragraph strongly impress us with the unkindness of the son and daughter-in-law, who ought to have been moved to pity by the old man's condition? Does it contain an unnecessary sentence? In telling how the grandchild unconsciously taught a lesson, a dialogue is introduced, and so what really belongs to one sub-topic is put in the form of two paragraphs.

It is customary to make a separate paragraph of each single speech in a dialogue. Read the last paragraph carefully and see whether one could wish to know anything more about the effect of the lesson taught by the child.

Make a framework for this story.

ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.

Make up a short story from your own experience, or from your imagination, and try to profit by the suggestions above. Prepare a framework at the beginning.

+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph+.

SELECTION FROM BEECHER.

Overwork almost always ends in weakening the digestive organs. There are those who overtax their minds through months and years, forgetful that there is a close connection between overwork and dyspepsia. Everyone should remember that there is a point beyond which he cannot urge his brain without harm to his stomach; and that, when he loses his stomach, he loses the very citadel of health. The whole body is renewed from the blood, and the blood is made from the food taken into the stomach. The power of the blood to renew bone and brain and muscle depends upon a good digestion.

Too little sleep is fatal to health. Perhaps you have to work hard all day; but that is no reason why you should resolve, "If I cannot have pleasure by day, I will have it at night." You are taking the very substance of your body when you burn the lamp of pleasure till one or two o'clock in the morning. G.o.d has made sleep to be a sponge with which to rub out fatigue. A man's roots are planted in night, as a tree's are planted in soil, and out of it he should come, at waking, with fresh growth and bloom. As a rule, you should take eight hours of the twenty-four, for sleep.

+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--In the exercises under the selection from the Brothers Grimm what did you learn about _there_ as used twice in the second sentence above? What does _those_ mean? What long adjective clause is joined to _those_ by _who_? Does this clause read so closely as not to need a comma before _who_? Does _forgetful_ describe the persons represented by _who_? Why is a comma used before _forgetful_? You learned in a preceding exercise that a noun may do the work of an adverb phrase without the help of a preposition. A noun clause may do the same.