h. Before you begin to write, make an outline of what you intend to say; but if you find, as you write, that you can improve your outline, do so.

A COMMON MISTAKE IN GRAMMAR 113. If you will turn back to the passage about Sir Roger de Coverley, you will find a sentence or two after this style: If anybody is asleep, wake them up. It is plain that "anybody" means one person and that "is" is the proper predicate verb to go with a subject that means one person or thing; yet in this sentence the word "them," which means more than one person, is used to refer to “anybody." This was good English when the Sir Roger de Coverley Papers were written, but it is no longer so regarded. Our example sentence should be, If anybody is asleep, wake him up. Study the following sentences and show that they are correct:

1. If anybody has my book, he had better return it. 2. Let every pupil take his book and turn to page 78. 3. Each one of you should attend to his own affairs. 4. Whenever a person has anything to do, he should do it promptly.

5. Somebody has borrowed my eraser, and I want him to return it.

It is likely that you have been making mistakes in this kind of sentence, and unless you take great care you will continue to do so. In order to correct your own bad habits of speech, you should listen carefully to the speech of others, and listen even more carefully to your own. Only care and attention will improve your use of English.

CLASS CRITICISM OF A COMPOSITION

114. At least one of the character sketches you were asked to write has been written on the blackboard while the others were being written at the seats, or, if the writing was done at home, one will now be copied on the blackboard. The author will be asked to read it aloud, and the class will then decide

a. Whether the writer succeeded in writing the kind of character sketch that was asked for. Did he make you like the person he described, and did he make you laugh at him? If not, ask him to give an oral account of something he has thought of since writing.

b. Whether he made any errors in composition and

grammar. If he did, try to ask him some questions that will make him see what his errors are. After this public criticism, exchange papers and give individual criticism.

TWO COMPOSITIONS BY PUPILS

115. In this section there are two compositionsone by a boy and one by a girl.

Part of My Life

I am a Haviland china cup. I live on the mantlepiece. My companions are the Haviland china saucer and the silver candlestick.

One evening the cat jumped upon the mantlepiece and began to walk around. About the time that she reached me she was discovered by my mistress, who came rushing into the room and cried out, "Get off that mantlepiece, you old cat; you will ruin all my ornaments." As she

spoke, she struck at the cat with the dust cloth, that she had in her hand. Now, the cat while trying to dodge the blow knocked me off the mantlepiece. Crash! I hit the mantlepiece a blow that knocked me all to pieces. "Oh," cried my mistress, ringing her hands, "What shall I do? My beautiful Haviland cup is broken."

The maid picked me up with a dustpan and whiskbroom, and threw me into the ashes. The next day the ashman came and put me into his cart with a shovel, only to dump me out into a big pile of ashes. That is where I am still living, and you can well imagine that I am a nervous wreck.

My Autobiography

I am a desk in a schoolroom. I am just crammed full of secrets of all sorts. I am just like the thousand other desks in the school, grew in the same forest, was made the same way, am just the same age. I probably know just as many secrets as the other desks. But I think I know more than most of them. Why? Because I am a back seat and naturally When I was first put in the schoolroom I was very innocent and pretty. I thought all children were cherubs. But my opinion slightly changed when the boy that sat in my seat made a picture of his pet dog across my top, and what a picture! I got revenge when he said that the capital of Russia was Paris. I laughed so hard that my ink well nearly broke. I know why the teacher asked Billy Jenkins if he had a cold because he did n't speak plainly. No, it was n't a cold; the rest of the candy was in my desk at the time. I also know why Miss Grey was so forgiving and let the children out of staying after school the other night. I heard Miss Reed ask her to dinner with her, and to come right after school. Well, I have been in this school a

long time and am not exactly an ornament, and I suppose the "School Beautiful Club" will insist on my being used for kindling wood. but I have one consolation, and that is that I know their Johnnies and Annies and Fannies aren't such angels after all.

EXERCISE IN CRITICISM

116. You have already become accustomed to asking yourselves two questions about a composition: First, did the writer succeed in doing what he intended to do? Second, was what he tried to do worth doing? Let us consider these questions with respect to these autobiographies.

An autobiography is a life of a person written by himself. Hence there is no difference in meaning between such titles as "My Autobiography" and "Part of My Life," except that one writer's title leads you to expect all the life story and the other only part of it. Now in each of these cases the writer attempted to imagine himself an inanimate thing, and to tell its story. Was the effort a success? Consider the following points:

a. One title leads you to expect only a part of the story, while the other leads you to expect it all. Did both writers choose their titles accurately? Isn't it true that one of the writers told less than you have a right to expect? If you think so, how would you revise the title?

b. Did both writers make you believe that Haviland cups and school desks, if they had life, would speak as this particular cup and this particular desk are made to talk? That is, do you think the writers

have cleverly imagined themselves in the places of these two inanimate things? Show in detail why you think so.

c. Do you think the two compositions are in good order? That is, does the writer in each case let you know what he is going to write about, does he tell you the events in right order as he goes along, and does he end with an idea that cleverly finishes the story? d. Are there any clever touches here and there that you particularly like? For example, in the story about the school desk there is a long dash at one place. What does it mean? Are there any other places in either story where you see that the writer really meant more than was said? And are there any ideas in either story that a dull boy or girl would not have thought of?

e. There remains the second question to consider. Was the thing these two pupils did worth doing? It is clear that there is nothing in either story that will make it easier for you to earn your bread and butter when you have that to do; but there may be some other benefit in reading such stories, namely, the mere pleasure you get out of them. Do you consider that a benefit worth while? And if you do, was it worth while for the authors of these two autobiographies to write them?

Besides these two general criticisms, there are some minor matters to consider. The boy who wrote the first story began the word Haviland with a small letter, and this error was corrected before the story was printed. Haviland is the name of two brothers in France who established a business for the manufacture of chinaware; and as you very well know,