Composition Rhetoric by Stratton D. Brooks

S >> Stratton D. Brooks >> Composition Rhetoric

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31

+Theme VIII.+--_Write a story suggested by one of the following
subjects:_--

1. School in the year 2000.
2. The lost door key.
3. Our big bonfire.
4. Kidnapped.
5. A bear hunt.
6. A mistake in the telegram.
7. How Fido rescued his master.

(Can you render the meaning more clear by uniting short sentences into
longer ones, or by separating long sentences into shorter ones? Can you
omit any _ands_? How many of the sentences begin with the same word? Can
you change any of those words? Pick out the words which show the
subordinate relation of some parts to others. Do all of the incidents in
your story seem probable?)

+19. Conversation.+--It must not be inferred from the preceding section
that short sentences are never to be used. They are quite as necessary as
long ones, and in some cases, such as the portraying of strong emotion,
are more effective. Even a succession of short sentences may be used with
good results to describe rapid action. In conversation, also, sentences
are generally short, and often grammatically incomplete, though they may
be understood by the hearer. Sometimes this incompleteness is justified by
the idiom of the language, but more often it is the result of carelessness
on the part of the speaker. The hearer understands what is said either
because he knows about what to expect, or because the expression is a
familiar one. Such carelessness not only causes the omission of words
grammatically necessary, but brings about the incorrect pronunciation of
words and their faulty combination into sentences.

You speak much more often than you write. Your habits of speech are likely
to become permanent and your errors of speech will creep into your written
work. It is important therefore that you watch your spoken language.
Occasions will arise when the slang expressions that you so freely use
will seem inappropriate, and it will be unfortunate indeed if you find
that you have used the slang so long that you have no other words to take
their place. An abbreviated form of _gymnasium_ or of _mathematics_ may
not attract attention among your schoolmates, but there are circles where
such abbreviations are not used. By watching your own speech you will find
that some incorrect forms are very common. Improvement can be made by
giving your attention to one of them, such as the use of _guess_, or of
_got_, or of _don't_ and _doesn't_.

In making a written report of conversation you should remember that short
sentences predominate. A conversation composed of long sentences would
seem stilted and made to order. What each person says, however short, is
put into a separate division and indented. Explanatory matter accompanying
the conversation is placed with the spoken part to which it most closely
relates. Notice the indentations and the use of quotation marks in several
printed reports of conversation.

+20. Ideas from Pictures.+--If you look at a picture and then attempt to
tell some one else what you see, you will express ideas gained by
experience. A picture may, however, cause a very different set of ideas to
arise. Look at the picture on page 38. Can you imagine the circumstances
that preceded the situation shown by the picture? Or again, can you not
begin with that situation and imagine what would be done next? If you
write out either of the series of events, the theme, though suggested by
the picture, will be composed of ideas furnished by the imagination. In
the writing of a story suggested by a picture, the situation given in the
picture should be made the point of greatest interest, and should be
accounted for by relating a series of events supposed to have preceded it.

+Theme IX.+--_Write a story that will account for the condition shown in
the picture on page 38._

(Correct with reference to clearness and meaning. Do you need to change
the sentence length either for the sake of clearness or for the sake of
variety? Cross out unnecessary _ands_. Underscore _got_ and _then_ each
time you have used them. Can the reader follow the thread of your story to
its chief point?)

[Illustration]

+21. Vocabulary.+--A word is the symbol of an idea, and the addition of a
word to one's vocabulary usually means that a new idea has been acquired.
The more we see and hear and read, the greater our stock of ideas becomes.
As our life experiences increase, so should our supply of words increase.
We may have ideas without having the words with which to express them, and
we may meet with words whose meanings we do not know. In either case there
is chance for improvement. When you have a new idea, find out how best to
express it, and when you meet with a new word, add it to your vocabulary.

It is necessary to distinguish between our reading vocabulary and our
writing vocabulary. There are many words that belong only to the first. We
know what they mean when we meet them in our reading, but we do not use
them in our writing. Our speaking vocabulary also differs from that which
we employ in writing. We use words and phrases on paper that seldom appear
in our speech, and, on the other hand, many of the words that we speak do
not appear in our writing. There is, however, a constant shifting of words
from one to another of these three groups. When we meet an unknown word,
it usually becomes a part of our reading vocabulary. Later it may appear
in our written work, and finally we may use it in speaking. We add a word
to our reading vocabulary when we determine its meaning, but _we must use
it_ in order to add it to our writing and speaking vocabulary. A conscious
effort to aid in this acquisition of words is highly desirable.

A limited vocabulary indicates limited ideas. If one is limited to
_awfully_ in order to express a superlative; if his use of adjectives is
restricted to _nice, jolly, lovely_, and _elegant;_ if he must always
_abominate_ and never _abhor_, _detest, dislike_, or _loathe;_ if he can
only _adore_ and not _admire, respect, revere_, or _venerate_,--then he
has failed, indeed, to know the possibilities and beauties of English.
Such a language habit shows a mind that has failed to distinguish between
ideas. The best way to study the shades of meaning and the choice of words
is in the actual production of a theme wherein there is need to bring out
these differences in meaning by the use of words; but some help may be
gained from a formal study of synonyms and antonyms and of the distinction
in use and meaning between words which are commonly confused with each
other. For this purpose such exercises are given in the Appendix.

+22. Choice of Words.+--Even though our words may express the proper
meaning, the effect may not be a desirable one unless we use words suited
to the occasion described and to the person writing. Pupils of high school
age know the meaning of many words which are too "bookish" for daily use
by them. Edward Everett Hale might use expressions which would not be
suitable for a freshman's composition. Taste and good judgment will help
you to avoid the unsuitable or grandiloquent.

The proper selection of words not only implies that we shall avoid the
wrong word, but also that we shall choose the right one. A suitable
adjective may give a clearer image than is expressed by a whole sentence;
a single verb may tell better how some one acted than can be told by a
lengthy explanation. Since narration has to do with action, we need in
story telling to be especially careful in our choice of verbs.

What can you say of the suitability of the words in the following
selection, taken from an old school reader?

_Mrs. Lismore._ You are quite breathless, Charles; where have you been
running so violently?

_Charles._ From the poultry yard, mamma, where I have been diverting
myself with the bravado of the old gander. I did not observe him till he
came toward me very fiercely, when, to induce him to pursue me, I ran from
him. He followed, till, supposing he had beaten me, he returned to the
geese, who appeared to receive him with acclamations of joy, cackling very
loud, and seeming actually to laugh, and to enjoy the triumph of their
gallant chief.

_Emma._ I wish I had been with you, Charles; I have often admired the
gambols of these beautiful birds, and wondered how they came by the
appellation of _silly_, which is generally bestowed on them. I remember
Martha, our nursery maid, used often to call me a _silly goose_. How came
they to deserve that term, mamma? they appear to me to have as much
intelligence as any of the feathered tribe.

_Mrs. Lismore._ I have often thought with you, Emma, and supposed that
term, like many others, misapplied, for want of examining into the justice
of so degrading an epithet.

+23. Improbability.+--Up to this point we have been concerned with
relating events that _could_ exist, though we knew that they _did_ not. We
may, however, imagine a series of events that are manifestly impossible.
There is a pleasure in inventing improbable stories, and if we know from
the beginning that they are to be so, we enjoy listening to them. Such
tales are more satisfactory to young persons than to older ones, as is
shown by our declining interest in fairy stories as we grow older.

By limiting the improbability to a part of the story, it is possible to
give an air of reality to the whole. Though the conditions described in a
story about a trip to the moon might be wholly impossible, yet the reader
for the time being might feel that the events were actually happening if
the characters in the story were acting as real men would act under
similar circumstances. In stories such as those of Thompson-Seton, where
the animals are personified, the impossibilities are forgotten, because
the actions and situations are so real. In fairy stories and similar tales
neither characters nor actions are in any way limited by probability.

+Theme X.+--_Write a short story suggested by one of the subjects below.
Make either the characters or their surroundings seem real._

1. A week in Mars.
2. Exploring the lake bottom.
3. The cat's defense of her kittens.
(_a_) As told by the cat.
(_b_) As told by the dog.
4. How the fox fooled the hound.
5. Diary of a donkey.
6. A biography of Jack Frost.

(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness and two other points to
be assigned by the teacher.)

+24. How to Increase One's Vocabulary.+--In your daily work do what you
can to add words to your reading vocabulary, and especially to increase
your writing vocabulary. In the conversation of others and in reading you
will meet with many new words, and you should attempt to make them your
own. To do this, four things must be attended to:--

1. _Spelling._ Definite attention should be given to each new word until
its form both as written and as printed is indelibly stamped upon the
mind. In your general reading and in each of the subjects that you will
study in the high school you will meet unfamiliar words. It is only by
mastering the spelling of each new word _when you first meet it_ that you
can insure yourself against future chagrin from bad spelling. A part of
the time in each high school subject may well be devoted to the mastering
of the words peculiar to that subject.

2. _Pronunciation._ The complete acquisition of a word includes its
pronunciation. In reading aloud and in speaking, we have need to know it,
and faulty pronunciation is considered an indication of lack of culture.

3. _Meaning._ This includes more than the ability to give the definition
as found in the dictionary. It is possible to recite such definitions
glibly without in reality knowing the meaning of the word defined. It is
necessary to connect the word definitely and permanently in our mind with
the idea for which it is the symbol and to be able to distinguish the idea
clearly from others closely related to it.

4. _Use._ The actual use of a word is very important. If a word is to come
into our speaking and writing vocabulary, we must use it. It is important
that the spelling, pronunciation, and meaning be determined when you
_first_ meet the word, and it is equally important that the word be _used_
soon and often.

+Theme XI.+--_Write a short story suggested by one of the following
subjects. It may be wholly improbable, if you choose._

1. The good fairy.
2. Mary's luck.
3. The man in the moon.
4. The golden apple.
5. A wonderful fountain pen.
6. The goobergoo and the kantan.

(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness and two other points to
be assigned by the teacher.)

SUMMARY

1. The clear expression of the ideas connected with our daily experiences
is of greater importance to most of us than is the production of
literature.

2. Ideas furnished by imagination may be advantageously used for
composition purposes, because--
_a._ They are your own.
_b._ They offer free choice of language.
They are less desirable than those gained from experience, because--
_a._ They generally lack clearness and permanency.
_b._ They are less likely to be worth recording.
_c._ It is more difficult to give them that unity and directness of
statement that will keep the interest of the reader.

3. An imaginative series of events may seem probable or improbable. He who
most closely observes real life and states his imaginary events so
that they seem real will succeed best in imaginative writing.

4. Euphony is a desirable quality in a composition.

5. Variety aids euphony. It is gained by--
_a._ Avoiding the repetition of the same words and phrases.
_b._ Beginning our sentences in various ways.
_c._ Using sentences of different lengths.

6. Conversation is usually composed of short sentences.

7. Pictures may suggest ideas suitable for use in compositions.

8. Our reading, writing, and speaking vocabularies differ.
Each should be increased. With each new word
attention should be given to--
_a._ Spelling.
_b._ Pronunciation.
_c._ Meaning.
_d._ Use.

III. EXPRESSION OF IDEAS ACQUIRED THROUGH LANGUAGE

+25. Language as a Medium through Which Ideas are Acquired.+--We have
been considering language as a means of expression, an instrument by which
we can convey to others the ideas which come to us from experience and
imagination. We shall now consider it from a different point of view.
Language is not merely a means of expressing ideas, but it is also a
medium through which ideas are acquired. It has a double use: the writer
must put thought into language; the reader must get it out. A large part
of your schooling has been devoted to acquiring ideas from language, and
these ideas may be used for purposes of composition. _Since it is
absolutely necessary to have ideas before you can express them_, it will
be worth while to consider for a time how to get them from language.

+26. Image Making.+--Read the following selection from Hawthorne and form
a clear mental image of each scene:--

At first, my fancy saw only the stern hills, lonely lakes, and venerable
woods. Not a tree, since their seeds were first scattered over the infant
soil, had felt the ax, but had grown up and flourished through its long
generation, had fallen beneath the weight of years, been buried in green
moss, and nourished the roots of others as gigantic. Hark! A light paddle
dips into the lake, a birch canoe glides around the point, and an Indian
chief has passed, painted and feather-crested, armed with a bow of
hickory, a stone tomahawk, and flint-headed arrows. But the ripple had
hardly vanished from the water, when a white flag caught the breeze, over
a castle in the wilderness, with frowning ramparts and a hundred
cannon.... A war party of French and Indians were issuing from the gate to
lay waste some village of New England. Near the fortress there was a group
of dancers. The merry soldiers footing it with the swart savage maids;
deeper in the wood, some red men were growing frantic around a keg of the
fire-water; and elsewhere a Jesuit preached the faith of high cathedrals
beneath a canopy of forest boughs.

Did you form clear mental images? Can you picture them all at the same
time, or must you turn your attention from one image to another? The
formation of the proper mental images will be aided by making a persistent
effort to create them.

Many words do not cause us to form images; for example, _goodness,
innocence, position, insurance_; but when the purpose of a word is to set
forth an image, we should take care to get the correct one. In this the
dictionary will not always help us. We must distinguish between the
ability to repeat a definition and the power to form an accurate image of
the thing defined. The difficulty of forming correct images by the use of
dictionary definitions is so great that the definitions are frequently
accompanied by pictures.

EXERCISES

Notice the different mental images that come to you as you read each of
the following selections. Distinguish words that cause images to arise
from those that do not.

1. Before these fields were shorn and tilled,
Full to the brim our rivers flowed;
The melody of waters filled
The fresh and boundless wood;
And torrents dashed, and rivulets played,
And fountains spouted in the shade.

--Bryant: _An Indian at the Burial Place of his Fathers_.

2. At that moment the woods were filled with another burst of cries, and
at the signal four savages sprang from the cover of the driftwood. Heyward
felt a burning desire to rush forward to meet them, so intense was the
delirious anxiety of the moment; but he was restrained by the deliberate
examples of the scout and Uncas. When their foes, who leaped over the
black rocks that divided them, with long bounds, uttering the wildest
yells, were within a few rods, the rifle of Hawkeye slowly rose among the
shrubs and poured out its fatal contents. The foremost Indian bounded like
a stricken deer and fell headlong among the clefts of the island.

--Cooper: _Last of the Mohicans_.

3. The towering flames had now surmounted every obstruction, and rose to
the evening skies, one huge and burning beacon, seen far and wide through
the adjacent country. Tower after tower crashed down, with blazing roof
and rafter; and the combatants were driven from the courtyard. The
vanquished of whom very few remained, scattered and escaped into the
neighboring wood. The victors, assembling in large bands, gazed with
wonder, not unmixed with fear, upon the flames, in which their own ranks
and arms glanced dusky red. The maniac figure of the Saxon Ulrica was for
a long time visible on the lofty stand she had chosen, tossing her arms
abroad with wild exaltation as if she reigned empress of the conflagration
which she had raised. At length, with a terrific crash, the whole turret
gave way and she perished in the flames which had consumed her tyrant.

--Scott: _Ivanhoe_.

4. Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands;
And the muscles of his brawny arms
Are strong as iron bands.

--Longfellow: _The Village Blacksmith_.

5. Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore--
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door;
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--
Only this, and nothing more."

--Edgar A. Poe: _The Raven_.

6. Where with black cliffs the torrents toil,
He watch'd the wheeling eddies boil,
Till, from their foam, his dazzled eyes
Beheld the River Demon rise;
The mountain mist took form and limb
Of noontide hag or goblin grim.

--Scott: _Lady of the Lake_.

7. On nearer approach he was still more surprised at the singularity of
the stranger's appearance. He was a short, square-built old fellow, with
thick, bushy hair and a grizzled beard. His dress was of the antique Dutch
fashion--a cloth jerkin strapped around the waist--several pairs of
breeches, the outer ones of ample volume, decorated with rows of buttons
down the sides and bunches at the knees. He bore on his shoulder a stout
keg that seemed full of liquor, and made signs for Rip to approach and
assist him with his load.

--Washington Irving: _Rip Van Winkle_.

+27. Complete and Incomplete Images.+--Some sentences have for their
purpose the presentation of an image, but in order to form that image
correctly and completely, we must be familiar with the words used. If an
unfamiliar word is introduced, the mind may omit entirely the image
represented, or may substitute some other for it. Notice the image
presented by this sentence from Henry James: "Her dress was dark and rich;
she had pearls around her neck and an old rococo fan in her hand." If the
meaning of _rococo_ is unknown to you, the image which you form will not
be exactly the one that Mr. James had in mind. The pearls and the dress
may stand out clearly in your image, but the fan will be lacking or
indistinct. The whole may be compared to a photograph of which a part is
blurred. If your attention is directed to the fan, you may recall the word
_rococo_, but not the image represented by it. If your attention is not
called to the fan, the mind is satisfied with the indistinct image, or
substitutes for it an image of some other fan. Such an image is therefore
either incomplete or inaccurate.

An oath in court provides that we shall "tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth," but, in forming images, it is not always
possible to hold our minds to such exactness. We are prone to picture more
or less than the words convey. In fact, in some forms of prose, and often
in poetry, the author purposely takes advantage of this habit of the mind
and wishes us to enlarge with creations of our own imagination the bare
image that his words convey. Such writing, however, aims to give pleasure
or to arouse our emotions. It calls out something in the reader even more
strongly than it sets forth something in the writer. This suggestiveness
in writing will be considered later, but for the present it will be well
for you to bear in mind that most language has for its purpose the exact
expression of a definite idea. Much of the failure in school work arises
from the careless substitution of one image for another, and from the
formation of incomplete and inaccurate images.

EXERCISES

_A._ Make a list of the words in the following selections whose meanings
you need to look up in order to make the images exact and complete. Do not
attempt to memorize the language of the definition, but to form a correct
image.

1. The sun stared brazenly down on a gray farmhouse, on ranges of
whitewashed outbuildings, and on a goodly array of dark-thatched ricks.

2. In his shabby frieze jacket and mud-laden brogans, he was scarcely an
attractive object.

3. In a sunlit corner of an old coquina fort they came suddenly face to
face with a familiar figure.

4. Somewhat back from the village street
Stands the old-fashioned country seat.
Across its antique portico
Tall poplar trees their shadows throw,
And from its station in the hall
An ancient timepiece says to all:
"Forever--never!
Never--forever!"

--Longfellow: _The Old Clock on the Stairs_.

5. There was a room which bore the appearance of a vault. Four spandrels
from the corners ran up to join a sharp cup-shaped roof. The architecture
was rough, but very strong. It was evidently part of a great building.

6. The officer proceeded, without affecting to hear the words which
escaped the sentinel in his surprise; nor did he again pause, until he had
reached the low strand, and in a somewhat dangerous vicinity to the
western water bastion of the fort.

7. She stood on the top step under the _porte-cochere_, on the extreme
edge, so that the toes of her small slippers extended a little over it.
She bent forward, and then tipped back on the high, exiguous heels again.

8. Before the caryatides of the fireplace, under the ancestral portraits, a
valet moves noiselessly about, arranging the glistening silver service on
the long table and putting in order the fruits, sweets, and ices.

9. No sooner is the heavy gate of the portal passed than one sees from
afar among the leafage the court of honor, to which one comes along an
alley decorated uniformly with upright square shafts like classic termae
in stone and bronze. The impression of the antique lines is striking: it
springs at once to the eyes, at first in this portico with columns and a
heavy entablature, but lacking a pediment.

_B._ Read again the selections beginning on page 46. Do you form complete
images in every case?

_C._ Notice in each of your lessons for to-day what images are incomplete.
Bring to class a list of the words you would need to look up in order to
form complete images. Do not include all the words whose meanings are not
clear, but only those that assist in forming images.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31