4 PLAN AND PURPOSE. ture depends largely upon a vivid remembrance of details and of acts seen and performed; without such remembrance the suggestions in literature can not be understood. The practical value of grammar is emphasized in the Composition. Its use and importance are constantly kept before the pupil by the application of its principles in oral and written work. In other words, the fact that a book on English must help to make fluent, correct, and effective speakers and writers has been the guiding principle in the preparation of this work. . The Grammar is divided into three parts, and the same is true of the Composition. The time given to the book in each week should be divided about equally between grammar and composition. The importance of the subjects seems to call for at least a daily lesson in each, that some schools may be unable to attain. an ideal For the courtesy of permitting the use of copyrighted selections the authors wish to express their appreciation to Charles Scribner's Sons for selections from F. Hopkinson Smith, Paul du Chaillu, and Robert Louis Stevenson; to the Century Company for selections from Jacob A. Riis and General Grant; to Houghton, Mifflin and Company for the selections and passages from Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Charles Dudley Warner, Lucy Larcom, Emerson, Longfellow, Whittier, Holmes, Hawthorne, and Bronson Alcott, which are used by permission of and by special arrangement with this firm, the authorized publishers of the writings of these authors; to Harper and Brothers for the poem by Kate Putnam Osgood and the letters by Macaulay and Lowell; and to the other publishers and authors who are mentioned in connection with the selections. Suggestive Words Persuasive Writing Organization and Conduct of a Society or Meeting Principles of Composition 299 304 308 312 316 319 324, 340 332 337 343 I. GRAMMAR. PART I. THE SENTENCE AND ITS ELEMENTS. WORDS AND THEIR USES IN THE SENTENCE. 1. THE SENTENCE. When we wish to express a thought clearly, we must arrange our words so that taken together they form what is called a sentence. If we arrange words without relation to one another, we express only disconnected ideas; as, Beautiful the on hillside trees. These words may be made to convey a meaning by changing their order and thus relating them; as, Beautiful trees on the hillside. As they are now arranged, these words are related and have some meaning; but they do not express a complete thought, and can not properly be called a sentence. The question arises, "What about the beautiful trees on the hillside?" To answer this question we must supply a predicating word or expression: Beautiful trees grow on the hillside; or, Beautiful trees on the hillside were blown down. The word grow and the words were blown down predi cate, or tell, something about the trees, and thus completely express a thought. DEFINITION. A Sentence is the complete expression of a thought in words. Exercise. Study the following expressions, and distinguish the five that are sentences. Change those that are parts of sentences into sentences by supplying appropriate words: 1. Birds in the tree. 2. Trees growing on the hillside. 7. But the sweet face of Lucy 8. Electricity in the air. 9. A penny for your thoughts. 10. Knowledge is power. 11. The boys study their lessons. 12. The boys, studying their les sons. 13. If you want learning you must work. 14. Better late than never. 2. KINDS OF SENTENCES. Sentences are used to express three different kinds of thoughts. Observe the following sentences and select : I. Those that are used to tell something. 2. Those used to command or request something. 3. Those used to ask a question. 1. We have only twenty-six letters in our alphabet. 2. The Japanese have forty-seven letters. 3. Do they write as we do? 4. Come, let us visit a Japanese school. 5. Notice how they write. 6. Do they write with pens or pencils? 7. No, they have brushes much like those we use for water colors. 8. All men are equal; there is naught in birth; 'Tis Virtue only makes the difference. |