LESSON CXCIII

ONE THING AT A TIME

520. Every thought should bear on the central thought of the whole composition. Likewise every sentence should in some way help to elucidate the topic of the paragraph. If a sentence does not help to explain the paragraph topic, it does not belong in that paragraph.

EXERCISE 256

Find one or more sentences that do not properly belong to the following paragraph. Give a good reason.

THE BOYHOOD OF FRANKLIN

Franklin's boyhood was full of hard work. His education was very scanty, but he early showed a remarkable fondness for books. He once said that he could not remember when he did not know how to read. He was placed at school in his eighth year. This famous man is said to have invented stoves. In his tenth year he was taken from school to assist his father who was a tallow chandler and soapmaker. The lad worked at this distasteful business until his twelfth year, when he was apprenticed to his brother to learn the trade of a printer. At the age of seventeen, as the result of a quarrel with his brother, he ran away from home, and finally found himself in Philadelphia with a dollar and a quarter in his pocket. One of Franklin's most celebrated writings is "Poor Richard's Almanac."

521. A paragraph should have but one topic, and every sentence should bear on that topic. This is called the law of unity (or oneness). Some of the sentences in the above paragraph violate this law because they relate to Franklin's manhood, not his boyhood.

LESSON CXCIV

TRANSITION

522. In a paragraph it is not only necessary that the sentences should all bear upon one subject, but they should also follow one another in natural order and be so joined together that the transition is easy and natural. Let us examine the selection about "The Bird's Home" (page 100). You will see that every paragraph after the first is connected in thought with the preceding paragraph.

Paragraph 2 is introduced by so, and the word birds is repeated. Paragraph 3 is introduced by after, and the word place is repeated. Paragraph 4 begins with as, and the pronoun they (referring to birds) is used. Paragraph

5 begins with when, and the word nest is repeated. Paragraph 6 begins by repeating the word birds.

In this way each new thought is joined to what goes before. This law is sometimes called coherence, which means a sticking together. Our sentences and paragraphs should "stick together," and support one another.

523. This connection of thought is often secured by the use of words and phrases like also, again, moreover, however, nevertheless, yet, consequently, at the same time, presently, on the contrary, for example, for instance, etc. The same result is often secured: (a) by repeating some word or words; (b) by using a pronoun that refers to a noun in the preceding paragraph.

524. Summary.-1. Every sentence in a paragraph must relate to the paragraph topic.

2. Sentences and paragraphs must be arranged in their proper order, and their relation must be clearly shown.

525. Every age has had its story-tellers to entertain, instruct, and inspire mankind. Among the greatest of these story-tellers was the blind Homer. Learn all you can about him and about two famous stories in verse attributed to him, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey."

Stories vary in character, in form, and in the medium through which they have been passed on from age to age; Æsop excelled in fable; many unnamed in history have enriched letters by means of folklore and legend, of fairy and hero tale, preserved in prose and poetry.

EXERCISE 257

Study the picture to learn the significance of every object and attitude in it. Tell a story you think the reader might be interpreting to his audience; seek to secure from your hearers the same attention he seems to have won.

LESSON CXCVI

A STORY IN PROSE

RESPECT FOR ELDERS

It happened at Athens, during a public representation of some play exhibited in honor of the commonwealth, that an old gentleman came too late for a place suitable to his age and quality. Many of the young gentlemen who observed the difficulty he was in, made signs to him that they would accommodate him if he came where they sat. The good man bustled through the crowd accordingly; but when he came to the seats to which he was invited, the jest was to sit close and expose him, as he stood embarrassed, to the whole audience. The frolic went round all the Athenian benches. But on those occasions there were also particular places assigned for foreigners. When the good man skulked toward the boxes appointed for the Lacedemonians, that honest people, more virtuous than polite, rose up all, to a man, and with the greatest respect received him among them. The Athenians, being suddenly touched with a sense of the Spartan virtue and their own degeneracy, gave a thunder of applause; and the old man cried out, "The Athenians understand what is good, but the Spartans practice it!"

Where did this incident happen? When did it happen? Who is the principal person about whom the story is told? Why was he there? What joke did the Athenians play on the old man? What did he do then? How did the Spartans treat him? What was the result? or climax of the incident? What is the lesson or main thought of the story? What kind of a composition is the above selection?

What is the point

Point out the introduction of the story; the body. Does it contain any conclusion? Give a reason.

Three fishers went sailing away to the West,

Away to the West as the sun went down;

Each thought on the woman who loved him the best,
And the children stood watching them out of the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And there's little to earn, and many to keep,

Though the harbor bar be moaning.

Three wives sat up in the lighthouse tower,

And they trimmed the lamps as the sun went down; They looked at the squall, and they looked at the shower And the night rack came rolling up ragged and brown. But men must work, and women must weep, Though storms be sudden, and waters deep, And the harbor bar be moaning.

Three corpses lay out on the shining sands

In the morning gleam as the tide went down,
And the women are weeping and wringing their hands
For those who will never come home to the town;
For men must work, and women must weep,
And the sooner it's over, the sooner to sleep;
And good-by to the bar and its moaning.

Notice that the poem is divided into three regular parts or stanzas, somewhat resembling paragraphs. Notice that the first two lines of each stanza present a different situation. Does the interest in the story increase? In which stanza does it culminate?