Writing Letters WRITING LETTERS Notice how the following letter is arranged: Gainesville, Ga. 17 Dear Mr. Pratt, De The boys and girls of the fourth grade are trying to have an attractive schoolWe should very room. much like to have some good pictures to brighten our walls. If we raise enough money to buy the pictures, will you ask the board of educa tion to have them framed for us? Yours truly, Arnold Shaw The heading of the letter, telling the place where and the time when it was written, begins near the middle of the page. The salutation, "Dear Mr. Pratt," begins at the margin, one inch from the left edge. Notice the comma that follows the salutation. The body of the letter, or the part that is most important, begins on the line below the salutation. The first word of the body of the letter is indented. The complimentary close, "Yours truly," is placed on the line below the body of the letter, beginning near the middle of the page. The signature, "Arnold Shaw," is written on the line below, and a little to the right of the complimentary close. Addressing the Envelope The letter on page 17 was placed in an envelope, addressed as follows: Mr. Thomas W. Pratt Copy this address on a piece of paper five inches long and three and one half inches wide. A Letter to Your Mother Write a short letter to your mother, or to some friend, telling her one thing you intend to do to improve the appearance of your school. Fold your letter and place it in an envelope. Address the envelope and take it home. Be careful to follow the correct form for writing a letter. V. PREPARING FOR WINTER A Poem for Study Ask your teacher to read the following poem aloud As she does so, try to see the pictures to you. suggested. Heap high the farmer's wintry hoard! Through vales of grass and meads of flowers While on the hills the suns and showers Of changeful April played. We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain And frightened from our sprouting grain All through the long, bright days of June And waved in hot midsummer's noon And now, with autumn's moonlit eves, 1 Used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, authorized publishers of the works of Whittier. A POEM FOR STUDY 21 Whittier was once a farmer's boy in New England. He saw the beauty of the corn as well as its use, and in this poem he helps us to appreciate what a blessing our cornfields are. In the first stanza the poet tells us that the corn is the farmer's "wintry hoard"; that is, the supply he has laid up for winter. Autumn is here written with a capital, because the season is thought of as a woman, pouring out blessings from a horn of plenty. Why is the expression "changeful April" used? Tell how a cornfield looks in midsummer. What is the corn's "soft and yellow hair"? Tell how the corn is harvested. What are "autumn's moonlit eves"? In winter what does the farmer do with his corn? Who makes the meal into bread? Look at this picture of Whittier's kitchen and tell about it. |