Composition-Rhetoric | Page 8

others something that is already clear to
you.
+Theme I.+-_Write a short theme on one of the subjects that you have
used for an oral composition._
(After writing this theme, read it aloud to yourself. Does it read
smoothly? Have you told what actually happened? Have you told it so
that the hearers will understand you? Have you said what you meant to
say? Consider the introduction. Has the story a point?)
+9. The Conclusion.+--Since the point of a story marks the climax of
interest, it is evident that the conclusion must not be long delayed after
the point has been reached. If the story has been well told, the point
marks the natural conclusion, and a sentence or two will serve to bring
the story to a satisfactory end. If a suitable ending does not suggest
itself, it is better to omit the conclusion altogether than to construct a
forced or flowery one. Notice the conclusion of the incident of the Civil
War related on page 18.
+Theme II.+-_Write a short theme suggested by one of the following

subjects:_--
1. A school picnic. 2. A race. 3. The largest fire I have seen. 4. A
skating accident. 5. A queer mistake. 6. An experience with a tramp.
(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness. Consider the
introduction; the point; the conclusion.)
+10. Observation of Actions.+--Many of our most interesting
experiences arise from observing the actions of others. A written
description of what we have observed will gain in interest to the reader,
if, in addition to telling what was done, we give some indication of the
way in which it was done. A list of tools a carpenter uses and the
operations he performs during the half hour we watch him, may be dull
and uninteresting; but our description may have an added value if it
shows his manner of working so that the reader can determine whether
the carpenter is an orderly, methodical, and rapid worker or a mere
putterer who is careless, haphazard, and slow. Two persons will
perform similar actions in very different ways. Our description should
be so worded as to show what the differences are.
+Theme III.+--_Write a theme relating actions._
Suggested subjects:-- 1. A mason, blacksmith, painter, or other
mechanic at work. 2. How my neighbor mows his lawn. 3. What a man
does when his automobile breaks down. 4. Describe the actions of a cat,
dog, rabbit, squirrel, or other animal. 5. Watch the push-cart man a
half-hour and report what he did.
(Have you told exactly what was done? Can you by the choice of
suitable words show more plainly the way in which it was done? Does
this theme need to have an introduction? A point? A conclusion?)
+11. Selection of Details.+--You are at present concerned with telling
events that actually happen; but this does not mean that you need to
include everything that occurs. If you wish to tell a friend about some
interesting or exciting incident at a picnic, he will not care to hear
everything that took place during the day. He may listen politely to a
statement of what train you took and what you had in your lunch basket,
but he will be little interested in such details. In order to maintain
interest, the point of your story must not be too long delayed. Brevity is
desirable, and details that bear little relation to the main point, and that
do not prepare the listener to understand and appreciate this point, are
better omitted.

+Theme IV.+--_Write about something that you have done. Use any of
the following subjects, or one suggested by them:_--
1. My first hunt. 2. Why I was tardy. 3. My first fishing trip. 4. My
narrow escape. 5. A runaway. 6. What I did last Saturday.
(Read the theme aloud to yourself. Does it read smoothly? Have you
said what you meant to say? Have you expressed it clearly? Consider
the introduction; the point; the conclusion. Reject unnecessary details.)
+12. Order of Events.+--The order in which events occur will assist in
establishing the order in which to relate them. If you are telling about
only one person, you can follow the time order of the events as they
actually happened; but if you are telling about two or more persons
who were doing different things at the same time, you will need to tell
first what one did and then what another did. You must, however, make
it clear to the reader that, though you have told one event after the other,
they really happened at the same time.
In the selection below notice how the italicized portions indicate the
relation in time that the different events bear to one another.
At the beach yesterday a fat woman and her three children caused a