CHAPTER XIII

REPRODUCTION, ABSTRACT, SUMMARY, ABRIDGMENT

=Literal Reproduction.=—The word _reproduction_ is often used in Rhetoric in a somewhat general sense, to mean any version of another composition. As we shall use it, the term means _literal reproduction_; in other words, a version that follows the phrasing of the original as nearly as the time given for study will permit. Writing of reproductions trains the memory and adds immensely to one’s command of words.

Below are given lists of brief selections, most of them requiring not more than ten minutes to reproduce. It is suggested that a given paragraph or page be slowly read aloud to the class, two or three times, and that the class afterward write the piece as nearly as possible in the author’s words. _Each student should then insert in his vocabulary book any new words or phrases that seem to him particularly serviceable. These memoranda will prove invaluable later on, when similar topics (not the same ones) are to be written about by the student himself._ To illustrate: a student after reading two or three personal descriptions might jot down for future use such phrases as the following: _Eyes._—Laughing, startled, heavy-lidded, hazel, vacant, protruding, lustrous, expressive, liquid, dreamy, speaking, glad. _Nose._—Aquiline, Roman, beak-like, shapely, snub, sharp, insignificant. _Hair._—Grizzled, frowsy, shaggy, glossy, dishevelled, unkempt, tumbled. _Manner._—Alert, jaunty, affable, sprightly, haughty, pretentious, modest, diffident, reserved, ostentatious, demure, animated. _Figure._—Gaunt, emaciated, lank, vigorous, robust, grotesque, massive, insignificant, thick-set, portly, sturdy, stalwart, erect, decrepit, fragile. _Expression._—Rueful, crafty, frank, wistful, stolid.

MATERIAL FOR LITERAL REPRODUCTION

_Narration_

Miles, One Thousand and One Anecdotes: p. 30, Garcia; 33, Handel; 36, Mozart; 43, Paganini; 74, A dull witness; 96, Mrs. Siddons; 105, 110, Wellington; 106, Coolness; 132, Bad handwriting; 142, Dickens and Thackeray; 218, Hill; 231, Newton; 231, Sidney Smith; 251, Scott; 253, Lessing; 254, Geological; 255, Blackie; 268, Béranger; 273, A toast; 304, A careful reader; 312, Webster; 316, Johnson; 318, Poetry and Pattypans; 322, Marryat; 323, Turner; 324, Dannecker; 328, Hugo and Coppée; 368, Heroism of a workman; 370, Rochejaquelin; 371, Washington; 374, Lefevre; 378, Virchow; 378, Cham and Gille.

_Description_

_Persons._—Hawthorne: American Note Books. See Index, p. 448, for paragraphs on characters, mostly men.

_Scenery._—1. _Sunrise._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 75, 121, 315. Thoreau: Spring, 99.

2. _Morning._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 75, 177. Thoreau: Winter, 128, 137, 258.

3. _Afternoon._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 96. Thoreau: Autumn, 21, 28, 182.

4. _Sunset._ Hawthorne: American Note Books, 112. Thoreau: Autumn, 3, 17, 90, 112, 152, 214, 259, 311, 327, 330, 345, 388, 429, 433. Winter, 23, 38, 40, 127, 155. Summer, 47, 246, 313, 332, 362.

5. _Sunlight._ Burroughs: Winter Sunshine, 102. Thoreau: Autumn, 289. Winter, 114, 249.

6. _Moonlight._ Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter (Custom House). Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 166. Thoreau: Spring, 78. Summer, 95, 97, 117, 120, 176, 233, 239, 333. Winter, 215, 320, 322. Burroughs: Winter Sunshine, 43.

7. _Water._ Blackmore: Lorna Doone, vii. Thoreau: Spring, 87, 96, 101, 109, 154. Summer, 30, 117, 240, 243. Autumn, 111, 160, 182, 370, 400, 434. Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 159 (The Rhone).

8. _Mountains._ Ruskin: Præterita, vol. i., 288. Bolles: At the North of Bearcamp Water. See Index, p. 296, for many views of more than a score of mountains.

9. _Landscapes._ Ruskin: Præterita, vol. ii., 78 (Rome). Hawthorne: American Note Books, 441 (Gosport). Blackmore: Lorna Doone, iv. (Doone Gate). Hugo: Les Misèrables (Field of Waterloo).

_Birds, Animals, and Insects._—See indexes of the following: Thoreau: Spring; Summer; Autumn; Winter; Walden. Burroughs: Wake Robin; Winter Sunshine; Birds and Bees. Miller: Bird-Ways; A Bird-Lover in the West. Torrey: A Rambler’s Lease; Birds in the Bush. Merriam: A-Birding on a Broncho. Bolles: From Blomidon to Smoky; The Land of the Lingering Snow; At the North of Bearcamp Water. Gibson: Sharp Eyes.

_Buildings and Rooms._—Ruskin: Præterita, vol. i., 232 (chapel); vol. iii., 5 (monastery). Scott: Ivanhoe, iii. (Saxon hall). Stevenson: An Inland Voyage (Noyon Cathedral); The Amateur Emigrant (the second cabin). Hawthorne: House of the Seven Gables, i.; Howe’s Masquerade (the Province House). Irving: The Alhambra. (Palace of the Alhambra); Sketch Book (Westminster Abbey). Lamb: The East India Office.

_Exposition_

Helps: Thoughts in the Cloister and the Crowd, 14, 27, 32, 33, 40, 42, 54, 61, 72. Brevia, 5, 14, 15, 22, 37, 91, 92, 94, 105, 113, 115, 161, 163.

Blake: Thoreau’s Thoughts, 4, 9, 21, 46, 89, 98, 100, 103, 108, 118, 123.

=Summary, Abstract, Abridgment.=—The ability to arrive at the substance of an article or book and write it down, is demanded constantly in almost every business and in every profession. An extremely brief statement of the substance is called a _summary_. A longer statement, couched in language independent of that used by the author, is an _abstract_. If the article or book is shortened by the omission of the less important parts, the language of the original being in general retained, the result is an _abridgment_.

Almost any well-constructed composition lends itself to summary, abstract, or abridgment. A story of Irving or Hawthorne, a chapter of Parkman or John Fiske, an article in the _Forum_ or the _Nation_, furnishes excellent material. Below are given typical pieces that may be used, the shorter ones for summary, the longer for abstract or abridgment. Stories can better be abstracted than abridged.

It is well to plan the proportions of your version. The scale of 1:6 (one paragraph to six) will be found a good proportion on which to reduce the longer pieces. Burke’s Speech On Conciliation would thus reduce to an abstract or an abridgment of about twenty paragraphs. But this speech can be reduced on a scale of 1:10 or even 1:20.

MATERIAL FOR SUMMARY, ABSTRACT, ABRIDGMENT

_Narration_

1. _Personal Contests_:—_Spartacus and Hermann_, A. J. Church: Two Thousand Years Ago, p. 31 ff. _Christian and Apollyon_, Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress, Fourth Stage. _Archery_, Scott: Ivanhoe, xiii. _David and Goliath_, I Samuel xvii. _Nickleby and Squeers_, Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby, xiii. _The Boat Race_, Hughes: Tom Brown at Oxford. _Siege of the Round House_, Stevenson: Kidnapped, x. _The Three-Handed Duel_, Marryat: Midshipman Easy. _The Tournament_, Scott: Ivanhoe, xii.

2. _Narrative chapters from_: Aldrich: Story of a Bad Boy. Burnett: The One I Knew the Best of All. Hale: A New England Boyhood. Larcom: A New England Girlhood. Howells: My Year in a Log Cabin. Warner: Being a Boy.

3. _Stories._—Hawthorne: The Snow Image; The Great Stone Face; Ethan Brand; Legends of the Province House; The Great Carbuncle; David Swan; The Vision of the Fountain; Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment; The Artist of the Beautiful.

Wilkins: A Humble Romance; The Bar Lighthouse; A Lover of Flowers; Gentian; A Conflict Ended; A Village Singer; Sister Liddy; A Gala Dress; A Village Lear; The Revolt of Mother.

Sir Roger de Coverley Papers: Spectators No. 110, 112, 113, 116, 118, 122, 123, 132, 269, 329, 335, 359, 383, 517.

4. _History._—Green: History of the English People. _Bæda_, vol. i., ch. 2, pp. 64-67. _Hastings_, vol. i., ch. 4, pp. 113-114. _Rising of baronage_, B. iii., ch. 1, pp. 240-244. _Calais_, B. iv., ch. 2, pp. 422-425. _Armada_, B. vi., ch. 6, pp. 444-446. _Return of Napoleon_; _Waterloo_, B. ix., ch. 5, pp. 385-389.

McMasters: History of the People of the United States. _Marietta_, vol. i., 513-515. _Death of Hamilton_, vol. iii., 52-53. _Leopard and Chesapeake_, vol. iii., 258-259. _Monroe’s journey_, vol. iv., 377-380.

Fiske: Critical Period of American History. The Continental Congress, vol. i., ch. 3. Valley Forge, vol. ii., ch. 9.

Rolfe, W. J.: Tales from English History in Prose and Verse.

Yonge: Book of Golden Deeds.

_Description_

1. _Schools._—See The Schoolmaster in Literature. (American Book Co.)

2. _Towns._—Hale: Seven Spanish Cities. Howells: Three Villages; A Boy’s Town. Stedman: New York City (_St. Nicholas_, 20:403, ’93). Stockton: St. Augustine (_Ibid._, 21:206, ’94).

=Exposition.=—1. Nordhoff: Politics for Young Americans. 2. Van Dyke: How to judge a picture. 3. Krehbiel: How to understand music. 4. Wagner: Courage. 5. Camp: American Football. 6. Stagg and Williams: American Football. 7. Bassett: Machinist’s trade (_Harper’s Young People_, 64:682, ’91). The Printing Trade (_Ibid._, 64:624, ’91). The following articles from _The Youth’s Companion_: 8. Journalism for girls (64:657, ’91). 9. Civil Service (64:245, ’91). 10. Why men must die (67:426, ’94). 11. Medicine as a profession (64:258, ’91). 12. Success in railway life (65:505, ’92). 13. Wholesome lunches (67:83, ’94). 14-18. Advice to young musicians (64:310, 418, 321, 362). 19. Separate functions of the Senate and House of Representatives (63:633, ’90). 20. Self-Education (65:494, ’92). 21-23. The girl who thinks she can write (64:447; 65:458, 734). 24. Trusts (67:538,’94). 25. Uses of the census (63:89, ’90). 26. Monroe Doctrine (67:388, ’94). 27. Arbitration (67:48, ’94). 28. Good government clubs (67:448, ’94).

_Argument_[52]

1. A property qualification for municipal suffrage is desirable.

_Affirmative._ White: _Forum_, x. 357 (Dec. 1890). Eliot: _Forum_, xii. 153 (Oct. 1891).

_Negative._ Bryce: American Commonwealth, i., chaps, i., iii.

2. An eight-hour working day should be adopted by law.

_Affirmative._ Webb and Cox: The Eight Hours Day.

_Negative._ Walker: Atlantic Monthly, lxv. 800 (June, 1890).

3. Municipalities should sometimes give work to the unemployed.

_Affirmative._ _Forum_, xvi. 655 (Feb. 1894). Coit _Forum_, xvii. 276 (May, 1894).

_Negative._ _Nation_, lvii. 481 (Dec. 28, 1893).

4. The housing of the poor should be improved by municipalities.

_Affirmative._ Riis: How the Other Half Lives.

_Negative._ White: Improved Dwellings for the Laboring Classes.

5. Burke: On Conciliation with the American Colonies.

6. Chatham: On Removing Troops from Boston.[53]

7. Beecher: Liverpool Speech.[53]