I 02 Qualities of Style-Perspicuity. Direction. The italicized words in these sentences, whether repeated words or not, save the sentences from ambiguity or self-contradiction, or bring ideas into proper clearness or prominence. Read these sentences without such words, and then point out their functions:— 1. These have been more distinguished by zeal than by candor or by skill. 2. The poetry of Dante is picturesque beyond any other ever written. 3. The days of Charles II. were the golden age of the coward, the bigot, and the slave. 4. Every ancient and every modern language has contributed something of grace, of energy, or of music to Milton's poetry. 5. Did any brave Englishman who "rode into the jaws of death" at Balaklava serve England more truly than did Florence Nightingale ? promine 6. The works of Clarendon and of Hume are the most authoritative and the most popular historical works in our language. 7. All the various kinds of interest which belong to the near and II. A has to the distant, to the present and to the past were collected on one me spot and in one hour. 8. Voltaire gambols; he grins; he shakes usher the side; he points the finger; he turns up the nose; he shoots out the tongue. 9. In America, millions of Englishmen were at war with the country from which their blood, their language, and their institutions were derived. 10. I have always believed and still do believe that the soul is immortal. travelled more than H, but is not so well educated as he. 12. There was a heart, a kindly feeling, which prevailed over the rutsour party. 13. The beating I gave or received (not my beating) did` him good. 14. Lovest thou me more than these love me, or lovest thou me more than thou lovest these? 15. Those who drove James from his throne, who seduced his army, who alienated his friends, who imprisoned him in his palace, who broke in upon his very slumbers by imperious messages, and who pursued him with fire and sword from one part of the empire to another were his nephew and his two daughters. Direction. Find and classify the faults below, and correct them :— 1. There are few artists who draw horses so well as Mr. two Leech. 12. The grave of Robt. Bruce was only marked by two aut broad flag-stones, on which Burns knelt and kissed. 3. Our re- fruitio 5 qual buke had the desired effect. 4. There is a great difference de- ? much if not more than the rest of the body. 13. We are charm ed by that singularly humane and delicate humor in which Adcontraddison excelled all men. 14. He has worn to-day a silk and felt 2 hat. 15. It required few talents to which most men are not born or, at least, may not acquire. 16. Sewal, Archbishop of York, complained of the way in which he had been harassed by suspensions, examinations, and in other ways. 17. Mrs. Horneck and her daughters were very pleased to have with them on this Continental trip so distinguished a person as Dr. Goldsmith. 18. The peasantry of Scotland loved Burns as never people loved a poet. 19. I ask him, you, and every honab orable and patriotic man this question. 20. The rhythm of the second and third line is imperfect. 21. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between an interrogative and exclamatory sen22. Platinum is heavier but not so useful as iron. 23. The error has and will again be exploded. 24. Reform, therefore, without bravery or scandal, 1of former times and persons but yet set it down to thyself, as well to create good preceQué dents as to follow them. Алив tence. Direction.-Bring in sentences illustrating all these errors of omission, and correct them. 20101 LESSON 41. ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS, PHRASES, AND CLAUSES. Perspicuity, we have seen, depends, I. Upon the author's mastery of his subject, and II. Upon his use of words. Through nine Lessons we have insisted (1) that you use simple words; (2) that you use words which express your meaning with propriety and with precision; (3) that you use personal pronouns with care; (4) that you avoid words and constructions which have no good footing in the language; (5) that you avoid an excess of words; and (6) that you use a sufficient number of words. We add that perspicuity depends also III. UPON THE ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS, PHRASES, AND CLAUSES. This is a matter of supreme importance, and one not always carefully attended to even by the best of authors. One cannot rely upon punctuation to correct blunders of position. Place (1) the subject before the object, or object complement, if there would be a doubt which word is subject and which is object in case the positions were reversed. Place (2) all single word modifiers, such as adjectives and adverbs, (3) all phrase modifiers, prepositional and participial, and (4) all clause modifiers, adjective or adverb, where their position will raise no doubt as to what they modify. This rule does not rigidly exclude words from between these modifiers and the words they qualify or limit; but it does exclude them in case their insertion would raise a reasonable question as to what you intend these words. 1010 phrases, or clauses to modify, or even when a second reading to ascertain this would be needed. Great freedom of position is allowed, provided the grammatical relations of the words are kept obvious, and the thought is kept clear. Direction.-Study these sentences carefully, determine what they were intended to express, and then recast them, placing the italicized expressions where you think they belong: 1. Hard by a butcher, on a block, had laid his whittle down. 2. I have thought over what you said the other night very carefully. 3. If I love him, when I die, he will take me home on high. 4. Operators are wanted on cloaks. 5. Thos. W. Coke put an end to the American war by moving its cessation in the House of Commons. 6. The farmer's orchard is respected by the boy who owns a large dog. 7. Mary's sister, who was the first queen of England, was a protestant. 8. D's fortune is equal to one-half of E's which is one thousand dollars. 9. A scientist read a paper on the catastrophe of geology at Yale College. 10. A straight line can only cut the circumference of a circle at two points. II. In one evening I counted twenty-seven meteors sitting on my piazza. 12. The savage here the settler slew. 13. From a shoal of richest rubies, clear and cold, broke the morning. 14. The man struck his friend while looking him straight in the face. 15. He saw the place where Warren had fallen for the first time, yesterday. 16. I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny it. 17. The grave of Robt. Bruce was only marked by two broad flagstones. 18. I saw that they had been building a bridge at the foot of Chatham St., in the evening paper. 19. The Prince of Wales was forbidden to become king or any other man. 100 Direction. Bring in sentences illustrating all these faulty arrangements, and correct them. " LESSON 42. ARRANGEMENT OF WORDS, PHRASES, AND CLAUSES. Direction.-Do with these sentences as required with those in the preceding Lesson:— 1. A robin sees a worm while it is flying. 2. There is a great lack of disposition to hoe among the educated. 3. Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride, on the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. 4. Sewal refused to accept of inexperienced persons recommended by the pontiff to benefices, on the ground of their ignorance of the English language. 5. The Sultan of Mysore was again defeated and slain. 6. Jas, II. retained the great officers who had served under his brother that he could trust. 7. The warp of English is Anglo-Saxon, but the woof is Roman as well as the embroidery. 8. The voice is only suspended for a moment. 9. He is to speak of the landing of the Pilgrims, at the Academy of Music. 10. The journals not only spoke in high terms of Mr. Moon's powers as a critic but also as a writer. II. The first word of an example may also properly begin with a capital letter. 12. A servant will obey a master's orders that he likes. 13. He celebrated the triumphs of Marlborough in verse. 14. Lord Brooke was shot from the church, in the eye, as he stood in a door, of which he instantly died. 15. The man came to his death by excessive drinking, producing apoplexy, in the minds of the jury. 16. And keep the flame from wasting by repose. 17. I did not hear what you said coming so suddenly into the noisy room. Direction. Bring in sentences illustrating the faulty position of single words, of phrases, and of clauses and place these where they should stand. |