Practical English Composition: Book II

Practical English Composition: Book II., by

Edwin L. Miller This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Practical English Composition: Book II. For the Second Year of the High School
Author: Edwin L. Miller
Release Date: May 6, 2007 [EBook #21341]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Directions for Correcting a Theme
When a theme is returned to you, number each correction, and draw a heavy circle about the number. Then take another sheet of paper, and using the numbers that correspond to those on your theme, state in each case the error you made; then correct it, and give your reason for making this correction: for instance, if the mistake is marked W, i.e. a word misused, state whether the word to which the critic objected is not in good usage, or is too often repeated, or does not give the idea intended. Next, supply the proper word and show that it fits the place. Answer any questions asked by the critic and follow out any suggestion given. Put the sheet of corrections in proper form for a M.S. Fasten the sheet to your original theme and hand both to the teacher in charge of the laboratory. No credit will be given for any written theme until the mistakes are corrected.
The following signs are used to indicate mistakes in a theme:
C--Capital needed.
lc--No capital needed.
A--Mistake in use of the apostrophe.
S--Word misspelled.
P--Mistake in punctuation.
G--Mistake in grammar.
W--Wrong word used.
Cons--The construction of the sentence is poor.
D--The statement is ambiguous.
O--Order. This may refer to arrangement of words in a sentence, of sentences in a paragraph, or of paragraphs in a theme.
U--The sentence or paragraph lacks unity.
X--Discover the mistake for yourself.

PRACTICAL ENGLISH COMPOSITION
BOOK?II FOR THE SECOND YEAR OF THE HIGH SCHOOL
BY EDWIN L. MILLER, A.M.
PRINCIPAL OF THE NORTHWESTERN HIGH SCHOOL DETROIT, MICHIGAN
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge

COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY EDWIN L. MILLER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS CAMBRIDGE. MASSACHUSETTS U?.?S?.?A

PREFACE
This volume is the second in a series of four, each of which has been planned to cover one stage in the composition work of the secondary-school course. These books have been designed to supply material adapted as exactly as possible to the capacity of the pupils. Most of the exercises which they contain have been devised with the idea of reproducing in an elementary form the methods of self-instruction which have been employed by successful writers from Homer to Kipling. Nearly all of them have been subjected to the test of actual classroom use on a large scale. They may be used independently or as supplementary to a more formal textbook. Each volume contains rather more work than an ordinary class can do in one hundred recitations.
In each volume will be found exercises that involve each of the four forms of discourse; but emphasis is placed in Book?I on description, in Book?II on narration, in Book?III on exposition, and in Book?IV on argumentation. Similarly, while stress is laid in Book?I on letter-writing, in Book?II on journalism, in Book?III on literary effect, and in Book?IV on the civic aspects of composition, all of these phases of the subject receive attention in each volume.
In every lesson of each book provision is made for oral work: first, because it is an end valuable in itself; second, because it is of incalculable use in preparing the ground for written work; third, because it can be made to give the pupil a proper and powerful motive for writing with care; and, fourth, because, when employed with discretion, it lightens the teacher's burden without impairing his efficiency.
Composition is not writing. Writing is only one step in composition. The gathering of material, the organization of material, criticism, revision, publication, and the reaction that follows publication are therefore in these volumes given due recognition.
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