C stands for Construction; your sentence is weak
Because it was not built with care, so to speak.

D is for Doubtful; your meaning's in doubt;
Ambiguity's fatal; cast the oaf out.

E is for Emphasis; points that are strong

First or last in the theme or the sentence belong.

F is for Facts; you will scribble in vain

If a grip on these churls you don't get and retain.

G is for Grammar; your grammar's at fault;

On the fortress of syntax you've made an assault.

H is for Hackneyed; the story you've told
In the days of Nebuchadnezzar was old.

I stands for Instructions. Learn to obey.

He who humbles himself is exalted, they say.

J is for Joining; each sentence should lead

By an easy transition from those which precede.

K is for Key-Word; your title should be
To open your subject an accurate key.

L is for Length; your story's too long;

Brevity marks most writing that's strong.

M is for Manuscript. Do please take pains.
Careless handwriting does not bespeak brains.

N is for Number; pray take it from me

That subject and verb should in number agree.

O is for Order; your words are arranged

In an order which may to advantage be changed.

P Punctuation! Such errors can mostly be traced
To a lack of grammatical training, or haste.

Q stands for Quotation. Quotation marks show
How much of your wit to others you owe.

R stands for Redundant. Pray note and take heed: Don't repeat words or thoughts unless there is need.

S is for Spelling; you've misspelled a word;

Noah Webster will teach you wherein you have erred.

T is for Tense; don't flounder and flop

From Father Time's feet to Eternity's top.

U is for Unity; ash-pile and dough

Were never designed in the parlor to go.

V is for Vulgar, and slang is a thing

That a parrot can use as well as a king.

W is for Words; they are quaint in their ways;
Some other word here will better the phrase.

X stands for Unknown. Your error to find

As an X-ray employ right now your own mind.

Y is for Youth; if you're indolent now,

You'll be ditto when age has wrinkled your brow.

Z is for Zero; pray take up your pen,

And with painstaking care write this paper again.

Thursday

Notes and Queries

1. What part of speech is each word in A?

2. What kind of sentence is B?

3. Define "ambiguity" and "oaf."

4. What are the emphatic places in a sentence?

5. What is a metaphor? Explain the metaphor in G.1

1 A simile is an expressed comparison between two things or persons that are essentially unlike. For instance, when Goldsmith, in writing of a village preacher, said he stood

'As some tall mount, that rears its awful form,

Swells from the plain and midway leaves the storm;
Though round its base the rolling clouds are spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head,"

he used what has been called the best simile in the English language A metaphor is an implied simile. Thus Burns, in the line,

"Of night's black arch the keystone,"

6. Define "hackneyed." Write a note of 25 words

about Nebuchadnezzar.

7. Explain the oxymoron1 in I.

8. How are the couplets in this poem joined?

9. What figure of speech have we in K?

10. What is brevity? Why is it "the soul of wit"? 11. What does M mean?

12. What kind of sentence is N?

13. Is it vulgar to punctuate correctly?

14. Why do so many people find it hard to punctuate correctly?

15. Define "redundant." See the dictionary. 16. Find in the verses an example of "redundancy." 17. In what tense is it best to write a story?

18. How many ideas should a sentence contain? A paragraph? An essay? A poem? A novel? A play?

19. What is slang? What can you say for it? Against it?

III. Memorize

COLUMBUS

Behind him lay the gray Azores,

Behind the Gates of Hercules;

Before him not the ghost of shores,

Before him only shoreless seas.

The good mate said: “Now must we pray,
For lo! the very stars are gone.

Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?"
"Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!""

implies that the hour of twelve midnight is like the keystone of an arch, as the figure XII on the face of a clock occupies the same relative position as that of a keystone in an arch.

1 An oxymoron (Greek oxy = “sharp" + moron =

"foolishness")

is a phrase or sentence which, though nonsense when taken literally, yet really contains much wisdom. "Make haste slowly" is a good example of oxymoron.

"My men grow mutinous day by day;
My men grow ghastly wan and weak."
The stout mate thought of home; a spray
Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.
"What shall I say, brave Admiral, say,
If we sight naught but seas at dawn?"
"Why, you shall say at break of day,
'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!""

They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
"Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead.
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dread seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admiral, speak and say".
He said: "Sail on! sail on! and on!"

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night.

He curls his lip, he lies in wait,

With lifted teeth, as if to bite!

Brave Admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?"
The words leapt as a leaping sword:
"Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!"

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck,

And peered through darkness. Ah, that night
Of all dark nights! And then a speck —

A light! A light! A light! A light!

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled!
It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.
He gained a world; he gave that world
Its grandest lesson: "On! sail on!"

JOAQUIN MILLER

CHAPTER VI

THE CORRECTION OF THEMES

Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it."

I. Introduction

THE object of this chapter is to furnish in a compact form an explanation of the principles back of the statements made in the "A-Z Method." It really contains a brief treatise on the principles of rhetoric. It may be used either for recitation or for reference. It is designed, however, to cover only those points which experience has shown to be peculiarly difficult for highschool pupils.

II. Explanation of the A-Z Method

A. Accuracy

Always to say exactly what you mean and mean exactly what you say is difficult. Not to do so is to be misunderstood or ridiculous.

Note the fault in each of these sentences and rewrite it so as to eliminate the inaccuracy:

1. "In 1709 was born a most eccentric, gruff, and fat old man." Essay by a Pupil in High School.

2. "Between 1759 and 1760 Dr. Samuel Johnson wrote a dictionary of the English language." — Ibid.

3. "New York is larger than any city in America." Ibid.

4. "One sees him sitting at the table writing Paradise Lost, while his daughters unwillingly read to him." - Ibid. 5. “Venice is a city in Italy built on water. Its longest