ENGLISH COMPOSITION.

INTRODUCTION.

1. Composition (that is, literary composition) is the art of expressing thought by means of language.

I. The art of composition is regulated by the principles of rhetoric, or the science of the expression of thought. "Rhetoric," says Bain, "discusses the means whereby language, spoken or written, may be rendered effective."

II. Rhetoric cannot supply us with thoughts. These must originate in the mind itself, by the operation, conscious or unconscious, of the intellectual faculties. But when we have thoughts which we wish to put forth, rhetorical art instructs us in the best method of expressing and arranging them—in other words, of giving them literary form.

2. Sentence, Paragraph, Discourse. The expression of a single complete thought is a sentence.

The expression of a connected series of thoughts (or “train of thought") is effected by means of a series of sentences, forming a paragraph.

The development of a whole subject constitutes discourse, written or spoken, in one or other of its manifold forms.

The most general division of discourse in its largest sense gives two forms of composition: I. COMPOSITION IN PROSE. II. COMPOSITION IN VERSE. Prose composition assumes a great variety

of forms-from the fugitive newspaper article to the elaborate scientific or historical treatise; so, also, verse ranges from the song to the epic.

3. The forms of discourse which will be considered in this book are those of, (1) the composition; (2) the theme; and (3) the essay.

In beginning the work of composition - writing the following points are to be noted:

Terminal Marks.-1. Use a period (.) at the end of a declarative or an imperative sentence; a point of interrogation (?) at the end of an interrogative sentence; and a point of exclamation () at the end of an an exclamative sentence.

2. A period is used after every abbreviation: as, "G. Washington;" "C. O. D."

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3. A period is used after a title or heading, and after an address or a signature: as, "Milton's Paradise Lost." Chapter III." "A. T. Stewart, Broadway, New York."

Capitals. A capital letter should begin—

1. The first word of every sentence.
2. The first word of every line of poetry.
8. The first word of every direct quotation.
4. All proper nouns and proper adjectives.

5. Names of things personified.

6. Names of the days of the week, and of the months of the year; but not of the seasons.

7. All words used as titles, or particular names.

8. Names of the Supreme Being.

9. The pronoun I, the interjection O, and single letters forming abbreviations should be capitals.

CHAPTER I.

THE SIMPLE SENTENCE.

I. NATURE OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE.

4. A simple sentence consists of one independent proposition.

It is limited to a single predication, but may contain an indefinite number of words and phrases.

A simple sentence can consist only of words and phrases; because, if another clause or member is introduced, the sentence becomes either complex or compound.

Each of the following sentences is simple

1. Birds fly.

2. Some birds fly swiftly.

3. Some birds of prey

4. Some birds of prey, having
secured their victim,

fly very swiftly.

fly with it very swiftly to their

nests.

I. The first example illustrates the simplest form of the simple
sentence. It consists of the subject and predicate, without ad-
juncts. In the three sentences following, the subject and the
predicate are enlarged, or modified, by the gradual addition of
certain particulars. The first sentence is a sort of skeleton; in
the succeeding sentences this becomes clothed with flesh.
II. Sentence 4 may be expressed thus:

Some birds of prey, when they have secured their victim, fly with it very swiftly to their nests.

Since a simple sentence can contain but one subject and one predicate, it is plain that this cannot be a simple sentence, for the reason that it contains two subjects and two predicates. The first subject is "birds;" its predicate is "fly." The second subject is "they" its predicate is "have secured." It is a complex sentence.

Principal Statement...

{

Some birds of prey fly with it (their vic tim) very swiftly to their nests.

Subordinate Statement..... When they have secured their victim.

III. Sentence 4 may also be transformed into the following

Some birds of prey secure their victim, and then fly with it very swiftly to their nests.

In this form the sentence cannot be simple, because it contains more than one subject and one predicate. And it cannot be complex, because each of the members is independent. It is therefore a compound sentence.

EXERCISE 1.
A.

Supply appropriate subjects, so as to make complete simple sentences: thus

Supply appropriate predicates, so as to make complete simple sentences: thus

General Wolfe fell, gallantly fighting, on the Plains of
Abraham.

2. Harnessed to a sledge, the reindeer

3. The British Parliament

4. The great circle dividing the earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres...

5. Covered with wounds, the gallant soldier

6. On Christmas-eve of the year 1775, Washington, having resolved to at

tack the British

7. The art of printing

........

8. The vapor-laden clouds, striking high mountain-peaks

.......

II. PUNCTUATION OF THE SIMPLE SENTENCE. 5. Punctuation is the art of indicating, by means of points, which elements of a sentence are to be conjoined, and which separated, in meaning.

6. The points made use of for this purpose are:

7. The occasional points-the use of which is sufficiently indicated by their names—are :

8. General Rule.-In simple sentences the only points used are the terminal marks and the comma.

The following are the principal rules for punctuating simple sentences:

1. A simple sentence in which the parts are arranged in their natural order usually requires no comma: as—

1. His garden is gay with flowers.

2. But I must introduce my readers to the inside of a New England cottage.

2. Co-ordinate words are separated by commas, except when they are only two in number and joined by a conjunction: as

1. This calm, cool, resolute man presented a noble example of daring. 2. This cool and resolute man presented, etc.