Part 181

9. Where was he buried?

Answer each question in a complete sentence.

You have nine statements in chronological order.

Each of these can be expanded into one or more paragraphs.

=Fiction and Drama.=--If the composition is a story or drama, the principal requirements involve the following:

The story should develop one or more of the following: plot, situation, character.

The story should have interest.

1. It should begin attractively and as directly as possible.

2. It must move, and not simply “mark time.”

3. It may be made effective by dramatic situations and turning points.

4. It may use description, but the description must be closely connected with the story and must not hinder the movement.

5. It should discriminate in the number and the importance of details.

6. It may make effective use of suspense and suggestion.

7. It should have no inconsistency in the speech or the actions of the characters.

8. It should have an effective ending.

=News, or the Newspaper “Story,”= is another very important form of narrative. The newspaper is the great popular educator of the day, and in its columns are found not only excellent examples of vivid and telling narratives, but frequently excellent types of spontaneous writing.

News and news reporting require accuracy, clearness, brevity, and a style that either charms, or compels interest. Indeed, it too frequently happens that to secure the element of interest practically all else is sacrificed.

Reporting and news writing are best learned by careful study of the daily papers, and from constant practice. Shorthand is an invaluable aid in securing the exact words of the speaker if the news takes the form of an interview, or report of a public address or meeting.

The relation of the “facts” and “story” may be illustrated in the following:

Report of exact words of the speaker:--

“_I assure you, my_ friends, that _I_ for _my_ part, _will_ do all _I_ possibly _can_ to resist _this_ measure. _You know_ that _I have_ always been opposed to it; as recently as _yesterday I spoke_ against it _here_ in _this_ very hall. _Do you_ think that the people of this country _will_ tolerate such injustice? _I am_ sure they _will_ not.”

How the newspaper report appeared:--

_He assured his_ friends that _he_ for _his_ part _would_ do all _he_ possibly _could_ to resist _that_ measure. _They knew_ that _he had_ always been opposed to it; as recently as _the day before he had spoken_ against it _there_ in _that_ very hall. _Did they_ think, he asked, that the people of this country _would_ tolerate such injustice? _He was_ sure they _would_ not.

EXPOSITION

Exposition is a form of composition designed to explain. Its important characteristic is clearness, and it, therefore, makes large use of illustration.

The main points may be stated in various ways in order to make them clear.

Essays and editorials are among the best known forms of exposition.

=Essay.=--An _essay_ is a short composition upon any subject. The subject may be of any kind whatever, one fit for treatment, and with great fulness, in any of the species of discourse described above, or one without sufficient dignity for such treatment. No other species of writing ranges over so wide and varied a field of topics--nothing less than that of all others combined--and none other allows such freedom and diversity in the handling.

In _style of thought_ the essay may be dreamy and semi-poetical, and charm by its beauty, it may be simply instructive or critical, it may blaze with its brilliancy, sting with its satire, convulse with its humor, convince with its logic, inflame with its appeal and move to instant duty. The author may wander off in leisurely excursions to the right and the left, and load his pages with gleanings by the way; or, like the orator, he may keep his eye on the point he would reach, and move, with the directness of an arrow’s flight, toward it.

The _style of expression_ should fit the thought, and October woods are not more varied in color than this department of literature in utterance.

_Outline of the Essay._--1. Give a clear definition of the subject or proposition to be discussed, amplified, paraphrased, or explained.

2. Set out the reason for, or the truth of, the proposition.

3. Add the confirmation of further proofs, including demonstration of the unreasonableness of the contrary.

4. Illustrate the truth of the proposition by comparison or analogy from nature or art.

5. Give direct examples or instances to corroborate the truth.

6. Quote the testimony of standard authors.

7. Conclude by summing up, with pertinent observations.

Remember that all this working to a formula is only a training in the habit of clear thinking--a mental discipline.

When you can do without the formula, and not till then, you will begin to be a writer.

=Editorials= are, in point of fact, simply little essays, usually following closely the news or issues of the day. Their function is to elucidate, summarize, inform, persuade, or merely comment. In their highest form they are to prose writing what the sonnet is to verse; but it must be confessed that numerous editorials are so completely dominated by the so-called “editorial policy” of newspaper owners, or colored by one of the various hues of partisanship, that their otherwise beneficent influence and power are largely neutralized.

=Description.=--We mean by a _description_ the delineation of some object or scene. Narration deals with successive facts; description with objects that exist at the same time. We rarely find any literary production of great length which is entirely descriptive; but descriptions are often introduced into narratives with happy effect.

Sometimes they serve the purpose of making the narration impressive, by moving the passions of the reader. At other times they are intended to make the events more intelligible. Thus we have seen that some narratives of battles are hard to follow because the writer has neglected to give us a clear description of the battle-field.

Descriptions frequently serve as ornaments, affording an agreeable variety to the narration, and presenting scenes of striking interest to the imagination.

RULES.--The governing rules in description are the following:

1. In every good description a point of view should be established.

2. The description should be governed by the point of view.

3. The general outline of the picture should, ordinarily, be given first.

4. The number of details should be so few and so insignificant as to make a vivid picture.

5. The order of the details should be determined by the character of the object described.

=Argument.=--This form of composition is designed to prove the truth or the falsity of a proposition.

A _brief_ is a summary of an argument showing the development of the argument by a series of headings and sub-headings.

The first step in the argument should be to define the terms of the proposition or to determine the facts in the case.

State reasons to establish facts.

The conclusion should be warranted by the premises.

Illustrations may be used effectively, but not conclusively.

Analogy should be used for illustration, not as a basis for conclusions.

Arguments should usually be arranged in the order of their strength, the strongest last.

POETRY AND POETICS

Poetry is usually classified as epic, lyric, dramatic, and didactic.

=Epic Poetry= is that which deals with the life and adventures of some real or mythic personage, called a hero.

1. The _great epic_ is considered the highest effort of poetic talent, on account of the loftiness of its conceptions, the dignity of its character, and the difficulty of its execution. Few epic poems have gained general admiration. Those most highly prized are Homer’s _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_; Virgil’s _Æneid_; Milton’s _Paradise Lost_; and Tasso’s _Jerusalem Delivered_.

2. The _Metrical Romance_ differs from the great epic in its theme, which is less serious; its metre, which is lighter; and its control of events, which is mainly human; the love element is more prominent in this form of the epic. Examples: Scott’s _Marmion_ and _The Lady of the Lake_.

3. The _Tale_ is a simple form of narrative poetry telling a complete story. Examples: Chaucer’s _Canterbury Tales_; Tennyson’s _Enoch Arden_.

4. The _Ballad_ is a direct, rapid, and condensed story, having peculiarities of phrase and poetic accent. Examples: _Chevy Chase_; Coleridge’s _Ancient Mariner_.

5. _Pastorals_ and _Idylls_ have a great deal of description, often of simple country scenes, mingled with the narrative. Examples: Goldsmith’s _Deserted Village_; Tennyson’s _Idylls of the King_.

=Dramatic poetry= tells a story by means of characters speaking and acting in such a way as to develop a plot. The drama is divided into acts, often five, the fifth act showing the results of the plot which has been developing.

The classes of dramatic poetry are tragedy and comedy.

_Tragedy_ deals with the grave situations and problems of life and engenders in the spectator noble emotions.

_Comedy_ deals with the pleasanter and more trivial side of life and chooses its subjects from everyday follies, accidents, or humors.

=Lyric poetry= expresses the deepest emotions of sentiment of the poet. The lyric, as the word suggests, was originally designed to be sung to the music of the lyre.

Lyric poetry includes five classes, as follows:

_Song_ may be either sacred or secular.

The _Ode_ is the loftiest form of lyric, and expresses great range and depth of feeling. This range of emotion often varies the metre. Examples: Tennyson’s _Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington_; Lowell’s _Commemoration Ode_.

The _Elegy_ laments the fleeting condition of human affairs. Examples: Gray’s _Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard_; Milton’s _Lycidas_; Tennyson’s _In Memoriam_.

The _Sonnet_ is a short poem of fourteen iambic pentameter lines, and had originally a prescribed arrangement of rhyming lines. The great English sonnet writers are Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, and Mrs. Browning.

Many lyrics have none of the special aims already mentioned. These may be called _Simple_ lyrics. Example: Burns’s _To a Daisy_.

=Didactic verse= is not the highest type of poetry.

Its aim is not to give pleasure, but to instruct.

Example: Pope’s _Essay on Man_.

POETICS

Poetry differs from prose in three particulars: in its _purpose_, in its _style_, and in its _form_.

The chief object of poetry is to give pleasure. Of all literature it is the most spontaneous because addressed particularly to the feelings.

It has its own diction and imagery, conforming to the order, gradations and subtleties of its thought. Like other forms of genius, too, it is permitted certain liberties and variations of language or expressions in order to avoid monotony and maintain the life and music of the verse. These are more strictly rhetorical, however, and next in importance to the poetic _content_ is poetic _form_.

By poetic _form_ we mean the mould and measure whereby, in English, poetry gets itself into the expression adapted to produce its designed effect.

=Metre.=--All impassioned language, as in eloquence for instance, tends to fall into a more or less regular rhythmic swing. In poetry, which is both impassioned and imaginative, this rhythm is timed to definite lengths and called _metre_, which is the Greek word for measure.

The unit of poetic measure is the foot. A foot is a combination of syllables, two or three distinguished, after the Greek, as long and short, but more truly accented and unaccented, because our syllabic values, unlike the Greek, are more accentual than quantitative. A variety of poetic feet are employed in English, whose names and values are derived from Greek prosody.

POETIC FEET.--For brevity of description a notation is used to designate the foot: the sign (―) for a long, and (◡) for a short syllable. The kinds of feet in most common English use, here marked by their signs and illustrated by a word, are: Iambic or Iambus, a short and a long (◡ ―, e. g. forbid); Trochaic or Trochee, a long and a short (― ◡, e. g. lightly); Spondaic or Spondee, two longs (― ―, e. g. all day); Anapestic, two shorts and a long (◡ ◡ ―, e. g. arabesque); and Dactylic, a long and two shorts (― ◡ ◡, e. g. silently).

Other feet, such as Tribrach, three shorts (◡ ◡ ◡, e. g. rapidly); Amphibrach, short long short (◡ ― ◡, e. g. tremendous), and Amphimacer, long short long (― ◡ ―, e. g. undismayed), are used less frequently, and only as blends with other measures.

VERSE.--The first combination of poetic feet results in the verse or line, somewhat analogous to the clause in a prose sentence. The word verse means by derivation a _turning_; perhaps because where it reaches a certain designed length the writer turns back and begins a new line. The kinds of verse employed are named by Greek names according to the number of feet they contain; and along with this, if the measure is fully described, is named the kind of foot.

The same notation as given above is kept up through the line, the feet being separated by an upright line. Thus, taking the Iambic foot as unit, we note: Monometer, one-measure, or one foot long (◡ ―); Dimeter, two-measure (◡ ― | ◡ ―); Trimeter, three-measure (◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ―); Tetrameter, four-measure (◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ―); Pentameter, five-measure (◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ―); and Hexameter, six-measure, (◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ― | ◡ ―). English names are sometimes used, as 8 and 7, or fourteeners.

A few poetic lines may here be given, with their notation, by way of illustration:

◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ ― I wan|dered lone|ly as | a cloud (Iambic tetrameter)

― ◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ Heard the | lapping | of the | water (Trochaic tetrameter)

― ◡ ◡ ― ◡ ◡ ― ◡ ◡ ― ◡ ◡ ― This is the | forest pri|meval; the | murmuring | pines ◡ ◡ ― ◡ and the | hemlocks (Dactylic hexameter)

◡ ― ◡ ◡ ― ◡ ◡ ― ◡ ◡ ― Oh, young | Lochinvar | is come out | of the West (Anapestic tetrameter)

― ◡ ◡ ― ◡ ◡ One more un|fortunate (Dactylic dimeter)

◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ ― ◡ ― This was | the no|blest Ro|man of | them all (Iambic pentameter)

At some place within a long line, pentameter or hexameter, occurs a natural pause, called the _cæsura_. The continual varying of the place of the cæsura is one means of breaking up the monotony to which blank verse (Iambic pentameter unrhymed) tends.

=Stanzas.=--The next step of procedure as the combination of poetic elements goes on from the single verse, is some form of _stanza_ structure.

The simplest approach to the stanza, employed principally in what is called Heroic verse, is the couplet (also called the Heroic couplet), two lines, Iambic pentameter, rhymed, and generally pausing at the end of the second line. They form only partially a stanza, however, because these couplets go on, according to the requirements of the thought, to group themselves in paragraphs after the manner of prose. Pope is the great master of the heroic couplet.

Sometimes, if the lines are long, a poem is made up of couplet stanzas, as in Tennyson’s _Locksley Hall_.

There are certain standard stanza structures, such as the Elegiac stanza, four lines Iambic pentameter, rhymed either in pairs or alternately, of which Gray’s _Elegy_ (rhymed alternately) is the type; the Ballad stanza, four lines Iambic pentameter and trimeter alternating, with second and fourth lines rhymed together, sometimes also first and third; various hymn stanzas, designated Long Metre (L. M.), Common Metre (C. M.), Short Metre (S. M.), 8 and 7, 6 and 4, etc., which can be studied in any hymn-book; and most elaborate of all, the Sonnet, a fourteen-lined stanza which is also a whole poem, with a rather intricate rhyme scheme.

Generally speaking, however, the liberties and varieties of stanza structure, as to kind of measure, length of line and stanza itself, combination of long and short line, and rhyme scheme, is almost unlimited.

RHYME.--A new poetic element enters into the stanza: the element of _rhyme_. The most prominent regulative feature of English lyric verse, perhaps, is the rhyme by which recurring periods are grouped. Technically speaking, there are three kinds of rhyme, only one of which plays an important, or at least essential part, in modern English poetry.

1. _Beginning rhyme_, or alliteration (e. g. the mother of months), which in Anglo Saxon poetry was the main principle of verse, but is now introduced only furtively and delicately.

2. _Middle rhyme_, or assonance, wherein only the vowels rhyme (e. g. blarney, charming), which is introduced with even more caution than alliteration.

3. _End-rhyme_, which is so constant and essential a principle of the stanza that it needs no further definition here.

In the skillful management and disposition of the end-rhymes, to produce its poetic effects without monotony or undue obtrusiveness, there is room for the finest poetic taste and workmanship. On single rhymes (e. g. face, embrace), double rhymes (e. g. rally, sally), and triple rhymes (e. g. pentameter, sham metre), which explain themselves, there is no occasion to enlarge.

The arrangement of lines in a stanza is indicated, in brief notation, by letters of the alphabet. Thus _a a b b_ indicates a four-line stanza in which the first and second lines rhyme, and the third and fourth; _ab ab_, a stanza in which the rhymes alternate; _a b b a_, a stanza like that of Tennyson’s _In Memoriam_, in which this arrangement is reversed.

In this way, with the use of the other notation mentioned, a complete description of poetic construction, from foot to stanza, may be made in very short space.

HOW RHYTHM IS APPLIED.--Lyric poetry, of which the type is the song; was originally designed to be associated with music. It is in this class of poetry, especially, that the stanza form and the rhyme system prevail; but besides the song and the ballad, which most suggest musical accompaniment, there are the ode, the elegy, the sonnet, the didactic poem, and many others, with which music, except in the natural melody of the verse, has little to do.

In epic poetry, the vehicle of great national deeds and ideals, and the enshrining of deep religious and moral truths, the verse employed is generally blank verse (i. e. unrhymed verse), in paragraphs instead of stanzas, and generally Iambic pentameter. For less sublime or universal purposes, however, this epic class has been enlarged to include narrative and romantic poetry, often rhymed, as in Chaucer’s _Canterbury Tales_ and Scott’s _The Lady of the Lake_; and sometimes in stanzas, as in Spencer’s _Fairy Queene_.

Dramatic poetry, designed for representation on the stage, and written in blank verse of a less severe and rigid artistic kind than in the epic, is modeled more after the natural rhythm of impassioned speech. The range and tone of such dramatic verse is very generous and elastic; from the free and colloquial, as in Browning’s dramatic monologues, up to the so-called closet drama, designed to be read rather than played, wherein the artistic demands are as subtle and exacting as in the epic, and the sentiment generally more intense.

While, therefore, the ancient classification remains fundamental and true, the modern art of printing and the discontinuance of the custom of reading aloud, have operated to enlarge the scope of poetry within these elemental lines till every requirement of impassioned and imaginative utterance is freely open to it, in vital and enduring forms.

WORDS AND PHRASES FROM THE MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGES.

Including proverbs, maxims, quotations, mottoes, idioms, allusions, references, and numerous terms used in law, literature, cookery, the drama, social life, and everyday affairs.

KEY TO PRONUNCIATION

_ä_, as in farm, father; _ȧ_, as in ask, fast; _a_, as in at, fat; _ā_, as in day, fate; _â_, as in care, fare; _e_, as in met, set; _ē_, as in me, see; _ẽ_, as in her, ermine; _i_, as in pin, ill; _ī_, as in pine, ice; _o_, as in not, got; _ō_, as in note, old; _ô_, as in for, fought; _oo_, as in cook, look; _ōō_, as in moon, spoon; _u_, as in cup, duck; _ū_, as in use, amuse; _û_, as in fur, urge; _th_, as in the, though; _y_, as in yet, you; _ow_, as in cow, now; _ng_, as in sing, ring; _ch_, as in church, choose.

FOREIGN SOUNDS

_ö_ cannot be exactly represented in English. The English sound of _u_ in b_urn_ is perhaps the nearest equivalent to _ö_. _ü_ cannot be exactly represented in English. The English sound of _u_ in _luke_ and _duke_ resembles the original sound of _ü_. N represents the nasal tone (as in French) of the preceding vowel, as in encore (_ä_N-_kôr_´). K represents _ch_, as in German _ich_, _ach_. _zh_, sound of _s_ in _pleasure_. _j_ and _g_ before _i_ or _e_ in Spanish, strongly aspirated _h_.

Phrases not designated are from the French; those from other languages are distinguished thus: (Ger.)--German; (It.)--Italian; and (Sp.)--Spanish.

=A=

=a bas= (_ȧ bä´_), down.

=a bas le traitre= (_ȧ bä´le tretr´_), down with the traitor.

=a beau jeu beau retour= (_ȧ bō zhö´ bō retōōr´_), one good turn deserves another.

=a bon chat, bon rat= (_ȧ bô_N _rȧ´_), (to a good cat, a good rat), well matched; set a thief to catch a thief.

=a bon marché= (_ȧ bô_N _mȧr shā´_), cheap.

=abonnement= (_ȧ bôn mä_N´), subscription.

=a bras ouverts= (_ȧ brȧzōō ver´_), with open arms.

=abrégé= (_ȧ brā zhā´_), abridgment.

=absence d’esprit= (_ȧp sä_N_s des prē´_), absence of mind.

=a causa persa, parole assai= (It.), (_ä kä´ ōō zä per´sa, pä rô´lāäsä´ē_), when the cause is lost, there is enough of words.

=accueil= (_ȧ kö´ē_), reception; greeting; welcome.

=à charge= (_ȧ shȧrzh´_), at expense.

=à cheval= (_ȧ she vȧl´_), on horseback.

=à compte= (_ȧ kô_N_t´_), on account.

=à corps perdu= (_ȧ kôr per dū´_), headlong; neck or nothing.

=à coup sur= (_ȧ kōō sür´_), with certainty; surely.

=à couvert= (_ȧ kōō ver´_), under cover, protected, sheltered.

=acqua Tofana= (It.), (_ä kwä tō fä´nä_), a subtle poison.

=à demi= (_ȧ de mi´_), by halves.

=à dessein= (_ȧ de sâ_N), designedly.

=à deux mains= (_ȧ dö mâ_N_´_), (for both hands), having a double office or employment.

=adieu= (_ȧ dēö´_), (I commit you to God), good-bye.

=adieu, la voiture, adieu, la boutique= (_ȧ dēö´, lȧ vwȧ tür´, ȧ dēö´ lȧ bōō tēk´_), (good-bye, carriage; good-bye, shop), all is over.

=à discrétion= (_ȧ dēs krā sēô_N_´_), at discretion, unrestrictedly.

=à droite= (_ȧ drwȧt´_), to the right.

=affaire d’amour= (_ȧ fer dȧ mōōr´_), a love affair.

=affaire d’honneur= (_ȧ fer dô nör´_), an affair of honor, a duel.

=affaire du coeur= (_ȧ fer dü kör´_), an affair of the heart, a love affair.

=affiche= (_ȧ fēsh´_), a placard; a notice; bulletin.

=affreux= (_ȧ frö´_), frightful.

=à fin= (_ȧ fâ_N), to the end or object.

=à fond= (_ȧ fô_N_´_), to the bottom; thoroughly.

=à forfait= (_ȧ fôr fe´_), by contract, by the job.

=à gauche= (_ȧ gōsh´_), to the left.

=à genoux= (_ȧ zhe nōō_), on one’s knees.

=agneau= (_ä-nyō_), lamb.

=à grands frais= (_ȧ grä_N _fre´_), at great expense.

=a haute voix= (_ȧ ōt vwȧ_), loudly; openly.

=a huis clos= (_ȧ wē klō´_), (with closed doors), secretly; in camera.

=aide-toi, et le ciel t´aidera= (_ed twȧ´, ā le sēel ted rȧ´_), help yourself, and Heaven will help you.

=air distingué= (_er dēs tâ_N _gā´_), a distinguished appearance.

=air noble= (_er nôbl´_), a distinguished, patrician air, manner, or presence.

=à la= (_ä lä_), =au= (_ō_), =aux= (_ō_).--With; according to; after the manner of; as _huitres aux champignons_, oysters with mushrooms.