English Prose

English Prose - A Series of
Related Essays for the Discussion
and Practice

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by Frederick William Roe (edit. and select.) This eBook is for the use
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Title: English Prose A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and
Practice
Author: Frederick William Roe (edit. and select.)
Release Date: April 14, 2004 [EBook #12025]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO Latin-1
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ENGLISH PROSE
A SERIES OF RELATED ESSAYS FOR THE DISCUSSION AND
PRACTICE OF THE ART OF WRITING

SELECTED AND EDITED
BY
FREDERICK WILLIAM ROE, PH.D.
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
AND
GEORGE ROY ELLIOTT, PH.D.
OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE
1913

PREFACE
The selections in the present volume, designed primarily for the
discussion and practice in college classes of the art of composition,
have been arranged under a scheme which the editors believe to be new.
There are nine related groups. Each successive group represents a
different phase of life, beginning with character and personality, and
concluding with art and literature. The whole together, as the table of
contents will show, thus presents a body of ideas that includes
practically all the great departments of human thought and interest.
It is evident that certain ideals of teaching composition underlie the
scheme. The editors believe heartily with Pater that "the chief stimulus
of good style is to possess a full, rich, complex matter to grapple with".
Instruction in writing, it is to be feared, too often neglects this sound
doctrine and places an emphasis upon formal matters that seems
disproportionate, especially when form is made to appear as a thing
apart. Form and content go together and one must not suffer at the
expense of the other. But a sustained interest in the ways and means of
correct expression is aroused only when the student feels that he has
something to express. Instructors often contend indeed that the ideas of
undergraduates are far to seek, and that most of the time in the
class-room is therefore best spent upon formal exercises and drill. The
editors do not share this view. They believe that there is no class of
people more responsive to new ideas and impressions than college
students, and none more eager, when normally stimulated, to express
themselves in writing. They have therefore aimed to present a series of
related selections that would arouse thought and provoke oral
discussion in the class-room, as well as furnish suitable models of style.
In most cases the pieces are too long to be adequately handled in one

class hour. A live topic may well be discussed for several hours, until
its various sides have been examined and students are awakened to the
many questions at issue. The editors have aimed, also, to supply
selections so rich and vital in content that instructors themselves will
feel challenged to add to the class discussion from their own
knowledge and experience, and so turn a stream of fresh ideas upon
"stock notions". Thus English composition, which in many courses in
our larger institutions is now almost the only non-special study, can be
made a direct means of liberalization in the meaning and art of life, as
well as an instrument for correct and effective writing.
The present volume therefore differs from others in the same field.
Many recent collections contain pieces too short and unrelated to
satisfy the ideals suggested above--ideals which, the editors feel sure,
are held by an increasing number of teachers. And older and newer
collections alike have been constructed primarily with the purpose of
illustrating the conventional categories,--description, narration,
exposition. Teachers of composition everywhere are becoming
distrustful of an arrangement which is frankly at variance with the
actual practice of writing, and are of the opinion that it is better to set
the student to the task of composition without confining him too
narrowly to one form of discourse. The editors have deliberately
avoided, however, the other extreme, which is reflected in one or two
recent volumes, of choosing pieces of one type to the exclusion of all
others. In collections of this kind variety in form and subject-matter is
fully as important as richness of content. Instructors who believe in the
use of the types of discourse as the most practicable means of
instruction, will find all the types liberally represented in the present
volume. And in order to meet their requirements even more adequately,
the editors have included two short stories at the