Composition-Rhetoric | Page 2

presented in the text, but more
especially intended to provide for frequent drills in oral composition.
4. Throughout the first four chapters the paragraph is the unit of
composition, but for the sake of added interest some themes of greater
length have been included.
Chapter V
, on the Whole Composition, serves as a review and summary of the

methods of paragraph development, shows how to make the transition
from one paragraph to another, and discusses the more important
rhetorical principles underlying the union of paragraphs into a coherent
and unified whole.
5. The training furnished by Part 1 should result in giving to the pupil
some fluency of expression, some confidence in his ability to make
known to others that which he thinks and feels, and some power to
determine that the theme he writes, however rough-hewn and
unshapely it may be, yet in its major outlines follows closely the
thought that is within his mind. If the training has failed to give the
pupil this power, it will be of little advantage to him to have mastered
some of the minor matters of technique, or to have learned how to
improve his phrasing, polish his sentences, and distribute his commas.
6.
Part II provides a series of themes covering
the same ground as Part I,
but the treatment of these themes is more complete and the material is
adapted to the increased maturity and thought power of the pupils. By
means of references the pupils are directed to all former treatments of
the topics they are studying.
7.
Part II discusses some topics usually treated
in college courses in
rhetoric. These have been included for three reasons: first, because
comparatively few high school pupils go to college; second, because
the increased amount of time now given to composition enables the
high school to cover a wider field than formerly; and third, because
such topics can be studied with profit by pupils in the upper years of
the high school course.
8. It is not intended that the text shall be recited. Its purpose is to
furnish a basis for discussion between teacher and pupils before the
pupils attempt to write. The real test of the pupils' mastery of a
principle discussed in the text will be their ability to put it into practice.

Any judgment of the success or failure of the book should be based
upon the quality of the themes which the pupils write. Criticisms and
suggestions will be welcomed from those who use the book.
The authors wish to express their obligation for advice and assistance
to Professor Edward Fulton, Department of Rhetoric, University of
Illinois; Messrs. Gilbert S. Blakely and H. E. Foster, Instructors in
English, Morris High School, New York; Miss Elizabeth Richardson,
Girls' High School, Boston; Miss Katherine H. Shute, Boston Normal
School; Miss E. Marguerite Strauchon, Kansas City High School.
The selections from Hawthorne, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, Whittier,
Warner, Burroughs, Howells, and Trowbridge are used by permission
of and by special arrangement with Hoaghton, Mifflin, and Company,
publishers of their works.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Harper and Brothers; The Century
Company; Doubleday, Page, and Company; and Charles Scribner's
Sons for permission to use the selections to which their names are
attached: to the publishers of the _Forum, Century, Atlantic Monthly,
McClure's, Harper's, Scribner's_, and the Outlook for permission to use
extracts: and to Scott, Foresman, and Company; D. Appleton and
Company; Henry Holt and Company; G. P. Putnam's Sons; Thomas Y.
Crowell and Company; and Benjamin H. Sanborn and Company for
permission to use copyrighted material.

CONTENTS

PART I
1. Expression of Ideas arising from Experience
II. Expression of Ideas furnished by Imagination
III. Expression of Ideas acquired through Language
IV. The Purpose of Expression
V. The Whole Composition

VI. Letter Writing
VII. Poetry

PART II
VIII. Description
IX. Narration
X. Exposition
XI. Argument
Appendix
I. Elements of Form
II. Review of Grammar
III. Figures of Speech
IV. The Rhetorical Features of the Sentence
V. List of Synonyms
VI. List of Words for Exercise in Word Usage
Index

PART 1
1. EXPRESSION OF IDEAS ARISING FROM EXPERIENCE
+1. Pleasure in Expressing Ideas.+--Though we all enjoy talking, we
cannot write so easily as we talk, nor with the same pleasure. We
seldom talk about topics in which we are not interested and concerning

which we know little or nothing, but we often have such topics
assigned to us as subjects for compositions. Under such conditions it is
no wonder that there is little pleasure in writing. The ideas that we
express orally are those with which we are familiar and in which we are
interested, and we tell them because we wish to tell them to some one
who is likewise interested and who desires to hear what we have to