Higher Lessons in English - Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg (uplifting novels TXT) 📗

the Yankees. Smoked and breathed his last together.

+Direction.+–_Weave these facts into four paragraphs, write on the margin the special topic of each, and over the whole what you think it the general subject of the theme:—_

The prophets of Baal accept Elijah’s challenge. They dress a bullock. Call on Baal. Are mocked by Elijah. Leap upon the altar. Cut themselves. Blood. Cry till the time of the evening sacrifice. No answer by fire. Elijah commands the people to come near. Repairs an old altar with twelve stones, one for each tribe. Digs a trench. Sacrifices. Pours water three times upon it. Prays. Fire falls, consumes flesh, wood, stones, dust, licks up water. People see it. Fall on their faces. Cry out twice, “The Lord, he is the God.” Take the prophets to the brook Kishon, where they are slain. Elijah ascends Mount Carrael. Bows in prayer. “Go up now, look toward the sea.” Servant reports, “There is nothing.” “Go again seven times.” “Behold there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.” Orders Ahab to prepare his chariot. Girding up his loins, he runs before Ahab to Jezreel.

 

*

 

LESSON 159.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction.+—_Weave these facts into as many paragraphs as you think there should be, using the variety of expression insisted on in Lesson 150, and write on the margin of each paragraph the speciai topic, and over the whole the general subject of the theme:—_

Fort Ticonderoga on a peninsula. Formed by the outlet of Lake George and by Lake Champlain. Fronts south; water on three sides. Separated by Lake Champlain from Mount Independence, and by the outlet, from Mount Defiance. Fort one hundred feet above the water. May 7, 1775, two hundred and seventy men meet at Castleton, Vermont. All but forty-six, Green Mountain boys. Meet to plan and execute an attack upon Fort T. Allen and Arnold there. Each claims the command. Question left to the officers. Allen chosen. On evening of the 9th, they reach the lake. Difficulty in crossing. Send for a scow. Seize a boat at anchor. Search, and find small row boats. Only eighty-three able to cross. Day is dawning when these reach the shore. Not prudent to wait. Allen orders all who will follow him to poise their firelocks. Every man responds. Nathan Beman, a lad, guides them to the fort. Sentinel snaps his gun at A. Misses fire. Sentinel retreats. They follow. Rush upon the parade ground. Form. Loud cheer. A. climbs the stairs. Orders La Place, it is said, in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress, to surrender. Capture forty-eight men. One hundred and twenty cannon. Used next winter at the siege of Boston. Several swords and howitzers, small arms, and ammunition.

+Direction+.—_These facts are thrown together promiscuously. Classify them as they seem to you to be related. Determine the number of paragraphs and their order, and then do as directed above_:—

Joseph was Jacob’s favorite. Wore fine garments. One day was sent to inquire after the other sons. They were at a distance, tending the flocks. Joseph used to dream. They saw him coming. Plotted to kill him. In one dream his brothers’ sheaves bowed to his. In another the sun, moon, and stars bowed to him. Plotted to throw his body into a pit. Agreed to report to their father that some beast had devoured Joseph. Joseph foolishly told these to his brothers. Hated him because of the dreams and their father’s partiality. While the brothers were eating, Ishmaelites approached. They sat down to eat. Were going down into Egypt. Camels loaded with spices. At the intercession of Reuben they did not kill Joseph. Threw him alive into a pit. Ishmaelites took him down into Egypt. Sold him to Potiphar. Judah advised that he be raised from the pit. Jacob recognized the coat. Refused comfort. Rent his clothes and put on sackcloth. They took his coat. Killed a kid and dipped the coat in its blood. Brought it to Jacob. “This have we found; know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.”

 

*

 

LESSON 160.

PARAGRAPHS AND THE THEME.

+Direction+.—_Classify these promiscuous facts, determine carefully the number and the order of the paragraphs, and then do as directed above_:—

Trafalgar a Spanish promontory. Near the Straits of Gibraltar. Off Trafalgar, fleets of Spain and France, October 21, 1805. Nelson in command of the English fleet. The combined fleets in close line of battle. Collingwood second in command. Had more and larger cannon than the English. English fleet twenty-seven sail of the line and four frigates. Thirty-three sail of the line and seven frigates. He signaled those memorable words: “England expects every man to do his duty.” Enemy had four thousand troops. Signal received with a shout. They bore down. The best riflemen in the enemy’s boats. C. steered for the center. C. in the Royal Sovereign led the lee line of thirteen ships. A raking fire opened upon the Victory. N. in the Victory led the weather line. C. engaged the Santa Anna. Delighted at being the first in the fire. At 1.15 N. shot through the shoulder and back. At 12 the Victory opened fire. N.‘s secretary the first to fall. Fifty fell before a shot was returned. “They have done for me at last, Hardy,” said N. They bore him below. At 2.25 ten of the enemy had struck. The wound was mortal. At 4 fifteen had struck. The victory that cost the British 1,587 men won. These were his last words. At 4.30 he expired. “How goes the day with us?” he asked Hardy. “I hope none of our ships have struck.” N.‘s death was more than a public calamity. “I am a dead man, Hardy,” he said. Englishmen turned pale at the news. Most triumphant death that of a martyr. He shook hands with Hardy. “Kiss me, Hardy.” They mourned as for a dear friend. Kissed him on the cheek. Most awful death that of the martyr patriot. The loss seemed a personal one. Knelt down again and kissed his forehead. His articulation difficult. Heard to say, “Thank God, I have done my duty.” Seemed as if they had not known how deeply they loved him. Most splendid death that of the hero in the hour of victory. Has left a name which is our pride. An example which is our shield and strength. Buried him in St. Paul’s. Thus the spirits of the great and the wise live after them.

TO THE TEACHER—Continue this work as long as it is needed. Take any book, and read to the class items of facts. Require them to use the imagination and whatever graces of style are at their command, in weaving these facts together.

 

*

 

LESSON 161.

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBJECT OF THE THEME.

+Analysis of the Subject+.—A Theme is made up of groups of sentences called Paragraphs. The sentences of each paragraph are related to each other, because they jointly develop a single point, or thought. And the paragraphs are related to each other, because these points which they develop are divisions of the one general subject of the Theme.

After the subject has been chosen, and before writing upon it, it must be resolved into the main thoughts which compose it. Upon the thoroughness of this analysis and the natural arrangement of the thoughts thus derived, depends largely the worth of the theme. These points form, when arranged, the +Framework+ of the theme.

Suppose you had taken The Armada as your subject. Perhaps you could say under these heads all you wish: 1. What the Armada was. 2. When and by whom equipped. 3. Its purpose. 4. Its sail over the Bay of Biscay and entrance into the English Channel. 5. The attack upon it by Admiral Howard and his great Captains—Drake and Hawkins. 6. Its dispersion and partial destruction by the storm. 7. The return to Spain of the surviving ships and men. 8. The consequences to England and to Spain.

Perhaps the 1st point could include the 2d and the 3d. Be careful not to split your general subject up into very many parts. See, too, that no point is repeated, that no point foreign to the subject is introduced, and that all the points together exhaust the subject as nearly as may be. Look to the arrangement of the points. There is a natural order; (6) could not precede (5); nor (5), (4); nor (4), (1).

TO THE TEACHER.—Question the pupils carefully upon every point taken up in this Lesson.

+Direction+.—_Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects_:—

1. The Arrest of Major Andre. 2. A Winter in the Arctic Region.

 

*

 

LESSON 162.

ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

+Direction+.—_Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects_:—

1. Battle of Plattsburg. 2. A Day’s Nutting. 3. What Does a Proper Care for One’s Health Demand?

 

*

 

LESSON 163.

ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

+Direction+.—_Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects_:—

1. A Visit to the Moon. 2. Reasons why one Should Not Smoke, 3. What Does a Proper Observance of Sunday Require of One?

 

*

 

LESSON 164.

ANALYSIS OF SUBJECTS.

+Direction+.—_Prepare the framework of a theme on each of these subjects_:—

1. The Gulf Stream. 2. A Descent into a Whirlpool. 3. What are Books Good for?

 

*

 

LESSON 165.

HOW TO WRITE A THEME.

+I. Choose a Subject+.—Choose your subject long before you are to write. Avoid a full, round term like Patriotism or Duty; take a fragment of it; as, How can a Boy be Patriotic? or Duties which we Schoolmates owe Each Other. The subject should be on your level, should be interesting and suggestive to you, and should instantly start in your mind many trains of thought.

+II. Accumulate the Material+.—Begin to think about your subject. Turn it over in your mind in leisure moments, and, as thoughts flash upon you, jot them down in your blank-book. If any of these seem broad enough for the main points, or heads, indicate this. Talk with no one on the subject, and read nothing on it, till you have thought yourself empty; and even then you should note down what the conversation or reading suggests, rather than what you have heard or read.

+III. Construct a Framework+.—Before writing hunt through your material for the main points, or heads. See to what general truths or thoughts these jottings and those jottings point. Perhaps this or that thought, as it stands, includes enough to serve as a head. Be sure, at any rate, that by brooding over your material, and by further thinking upon the subject, you get at all the general thoughts into which, as it seems to you, the subject should be analyzed. Study these points carefully. See that no two overlap each other, that no one appears twice, that no one has been raised to the dignity of a head which should stand under some head, and that no one is irrelevant. Study now to find the natural order in which these points should stand. Let no point, to the clear understanding of which some other point is necessary, precede that other. If developing all the points would make your theme too long, study to see what points you can omit without abrupt break or essential loss.

+IV. Write+.—Give your whole attention to your work as you write, and other thoughts will occur to you, and better ways of putting the thoughts already