Practical English Composition: Book II | Page 5

Flanders, by E. Alexander Powell; or The Events Man, by Richard Barry. Above everything else, remember that the most uncompromising adherence to facts is essential.
Do not make the mistake of supposing that newspaper men fail to recognize the importance of telling the exact truth. They strive constantly and strenuously to do so. In the office of the New York World there used to be, and probably still is, a placard on which Joseph Pulitzer had printed these three words: "Accuracy, ACCURACY, =ACCURACY=." All reporters strive constantly to be accurate. If they do not always succeed, it is due to the difficulty of the task. They have to work fast lest the news grow cold. Usually they write in the midst of an uproar. When you are disposed to find fault with them by reason of their carelessness, remember that Sir Walter Raleigh, unable to determine the facts concerning a quarrel that occurred under his own window, concluded that his chance of telling the truth about events that happened centuries previous was small.
III.?Writing
In preparing manuscript the typewriter in these days is almost indispensable. The value to a reporter of a course in typewriting is therefore obvious. It is also obvious that copy must be letter-perfect. Before it can be printed, it must be entirely free from mistakes in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and the other essentials of good usage.
IV.?Model
The following article is clipped from a New York daily. In what it says and leaves unsaid it is an excellent model.
FARTHEST NORTH IS RIGHT HERE IN TOWN
Hundreds of persons were attracted yesterday to Brook Avenue, near One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street, to inspect the handiwork in snow of three fourteen-year-old boys.
They had built a thick-walled cottage, 25?feet high and with 15?��?16?feet ground dimensions. Roof and walls, inside and out, had been smoothed; and a coat of water had turned the snow house into a shimmering glaze.
The interior was divided into four rooms, all bearing out the truthfulness of the sign tacked up without, which read: "House to let, three rooms and bath." Even the bath, modeled in snow, was there. Rugs, tables, chairs, and sofas made the Esquimau edifice cozy within; and an oil stove kept eggs and coffee sizzling merrily at dinner time.
The builders were three days at their task. They are Tom Brown, of No.?516 East One Hundred and Forty-seventh Street; Arthur Carraher, of No.?430 Brook Avenue; and Walter Waller, of No.?525 East One Hundred and Forty-fifth Street.
V.?Notes and Queries
1. State the reason for the use of each capital letter and each mark of punctuation in the model.
2. Tell whether each sentence is simple, complex, or compound.
3. Explain the syntax of each adverb in the model.
4. Point out three words or phrases that have color, character, or distinction.
5. What is the subject of each paragraph?
6. Are the "Four W's" sufficiently indicated? Point them out.
7. Study the heading. The art of writing good headings is almost as difficult as that of writing good poetry, which it resembles in that, as the poet is limited to a certain number of syllables, the writer of headlines is limited to a fixed number of letters.
VI.?Suggested Time Schedule
Monday
Discuss Sections I, II, and III of this chapter. Send the class to the board and dictate the model as an exercise in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. Review last week's work.
Tuesday
Recitation on Notes and Queries.
Wednesday
Oral Composition: i.e., each pupil will bring to class his news article--not written but in his head--and be prepared to deliver it to the class as if he were a reporter dictating to a stenographer or telephoning his report to his paper.
Thursday
Profiting by Wednesday's discussion, the pupils will write their articles and hand them to the teacher, who will proof-read them and return them on Monday.
Friday
Public Speaking--Organize the class as a club. Let the officers arrange a program consisting of declamations, debates, essays, dialogues, etc. This day may also be used for the reading of the best articles that members of the class have written.
VII.?Organization of Material
After you get your story, you must decide on a plan for its discussion. This will depend largely on its nature. Indeed, the plan and the style of any piece of writing are to the material as are the clothes to the body. They must fit the body. The body determines their shape.
The model in Section?IV is a bit of exposition composed partly of description and partly of narration. Its framework is as follows:
Par.?1. The "Four W's": Who=hundreds of people; What=handiwork in snow; When=yesterday; Where=Brook Avenue near One Hundred and Forty-ninth Street.
Par.?2. The Exterior of the House.
Par.?3. The Interior.
Par.?4. The Architects.
VIII.?Some Possible Subjects
1. The Gas Engine that Jack built. 2. A Profitable Garden. 3. How a Boy earned his Education. 4. A Cabinet. 5. How to bind Books. 6. Stocking and keeping an Aquarium. 7. How to build a