Marjorie (disgustedly) — "Oh, what's the use, then; I get that anyway." — Life.

4

Hostess (at party) "Does your mother allow you to have two pieces of pie when you are at home, Willie?" Willie (who has asked for a second piece) — “No, ma'am."

"Well, do you think she'd like you to have two pieces here?"

"Oh," confidently, "she would n't care. This is n't her pie!" Louisville Times.

5

Little Bobby Beatem went with his mother to buy a pair of knickerbockers. When he had looked at all the varieties in the store, he was still dissatisfied.

"I want that pair in the window," he protested.

"These are just exactly like them," assured the clerk; “but if you want that particular pair, I'll get them for you."

66

And he produced them, much to Bobby's satisfaction. They bore a sign which read, These knickerbockers can not be beat. Judge.

""

6

The kindergarten teacher recited to her pupils the story of the wolf and the lamb. As she completed it she said:

"Now, children, you see that the lamb would not have been eaten by the wolf if he had been good and sensible."

One little boy raised his hand.

"Well, John," asked the teacher, "what is it?"

"If the lamb had been good and sensible," said the little boy, gravely, "we should have had him to eat, would n't we?" - New York Times.

III. Topics for Oral Discussion

1. Can these stories be analyzed on the same principle as those in the preceding chapter?

2. What is the advantage of the dialogue form?

3. On what principle are the stories paragraphed? 4. State the principles on which the quotation marks are used in each.

5. Suggest a title for each model.

IV. Composition

1. Oral. Tell your story to the club.

2. Written. Write it.

3. Pay especial attention to spelling, punctuation, capitalization, grammar, and sentence structure.

V. Memorize

THE BOYS (continued from Page 90)

There's a boy, we pretend, with a three-decker brain,
That could harness a team with a logical chain;
When he spoke for our manhood in syllabled fire,
We called him "The Justice," but now he's "The Squire."

And there's a nice youngster of excellent pith;
Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith;
But he shouted a song for the brave and the free;
Just read on his medal, "My country," "of thee!"

You hear that boy laughing? You think he's all fun;
But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done;
The children laugh loud as they troop to his call,
And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all.

Yes, we're boys - always playing with tongue or with pen;
And I sometimes have asked, "Shall we ever be men?"
Shall we always be youthful and laughing and gay
Till the last dear companion drops smiling away?

Then here's to our boyhood, its gold and its gray!
The stars of its winter, the dews of its May!
And when we have done with its life-lasting toys,
Dear Father, take care of thy children, THE BOYS!
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

CHAPTER XX

EXPOSITION

"Make it a point to do something every day that you don't want to. This is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain."

I. Introduction

SOMEBODY has called this the age of exposition. Probably more people have occasion to explain than have occasion to describe, narrate, or argue. Captains of industry, salesmen, foremen, writers of advertisements employ it constantly. Housekeepers in giving instruction to their cooks and football coaches in explaining plays and in training players alike use exposition. Exposition, too, is the special business of the teacher, and most text-books are full of expositions.

II. Problem

1. What do you know how to make or do?

2. Tell in about 200 words how to do it or make it.

III. Model

The proper way to make a smudge is this: begin with a very little lowly fire. Let it be bright but not ambitious. Don't try to make a smoke yet.

Then gather a good supply of stuff which seems likely to suppress fire without smothering it. Moss of a certain kind will do, but not the soft feathery moss that grows so deep among the spruce trees. Half-decayed wood is good; spongy moist unpleasant stuff, a vegetable wet blanket. The bark of dead evergreen trees, hemlock, spruce, or balsam, is better still. Gather a plentiful store of it. But don't try to make a smoke yet.

Let your fire burn awhile longer; cheer it up a little. Get some clear resolute unquenchable coals aglow in the heart of it. Don't try to make a smoke yet.

Now pile on your smoldering fuel. Fan it with your hat. Kneel down and blow it, and in ten minutes you will have a smoke that will make you wish you had never been born.

That is the proper way to make a smudge. But the easiest way is to ask your guide to make it for you. - HENRY VAN DYKE. 1

IV. Topics for Oral Composition

1. Does Henry van Dyke make the various processes of making a smudge stand out clearly? How does he do it?

2. Who is Henry van Dyke?

3. What is a smudge good for?

4. Are there any metaphors in the model?

5. Explain the subject of each paragraph.

6. What is the fundamental difference between van Dyke's style and that of the typical cook-book?

V. Exercises

Write an exposition on one of the following topics:

1. Building a Furnace Fire.

2. Planting Corn.

3. Milking.

4. Making Chickens Profitable.

5. Constructing a Box.

6. How a city boy or girl can make money.

7. How a village boy or girl can make money.

8. How a country boy or girl can make money.

9. How to sew on a Button.

10. Keeping Books.

11. Operating a Typewriter.

12. How to start an Automobile.

13. Running a Base-burner.

1 From Fisherman's Luck. Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.

14. The Care of a Horse.

15. How to play Tennis.

16. Any other subject which your teacher approves.

In writing, use the following framework:
Paragraph 1. Introduction.

each

Paragraphs 2-4. Allot one of these paragraphs to process. If there are more than three processes, use a larger number of paragraphs.

Paragraph 5. Conclusion.

To illuminate your exposition, as Henry van Dyke does, with a metaphor or so or with a touch of humor, is neither a sin nor a crime.

Write as if your audience were composed of children. In other words, assume that they know nothing of the subject. Be as clear and as simple as you can. This is the secret of popularity. It is the chief reason why Shakespeare, Macaulay, and Rudyard Kipling are read more than Ben Jonson, Carlyle, and William de Morgan.

VI. A Poor Specimen

Cream of Wheat and Chopped Figs

c. cream of wheat. 4 c. boiling water. Salt. Stir wheat slowly into boiling water. Steam thirty to forty minutes until soft and add chopped figs when cream of wheat is onehalf done.

VII. Analysis

This is a typical recipe, as recipes appear in cookbooks. It is really a series of rough notes. It lacks coherence; sentence structure is conspicuous by reason of its absence; the style is characterized by a fine disregard of the articles; and its structure is conspicuous by its absence. If we rewrite it, we shall get something like this: