may be a talk at the breakfast table; it may be a talk on the playground; or it may be a talk with your teacher. Try to recall some such conversation, just as the pupils did whose conversations are given in section 151. Then write it down with care, paragraphing and punctuating as you go.

This is a good place to say again that you should do your best to finish all your composition, including punctuation, as you write. Some people write first and punctuate afterwards. This is not a good thing to do. One reason is that if you let the punctuation go until you have finished writing, you will end by neglecting it altogether. Another reason is that if you ever learn to use a typewriter, you then must punctuate as you write, for to put the marks in afterwards would be a waste of time and would be very difficult besides. So it is best to form the habit of finishing your work as you write.

EXERCISE IN CRITICISM

156. Some of you will read before the class the conversations you have written, so that the class may judge them. You will in all probability find that some of them are mere fragments, that is, conversations that do not seem to be about anything in particular. Others will seem to be complete, like stories. Perhaps they will be little stories; they will have some definite point and leave you in a satisfied state of mind when you have heard them read.

Again, let some of the conversations be copied on

the blackboard, so that the class may pass judgment upon them in the following particulars:

a. The end punctuation of the sentences.

b. Writing each speech and its explanation in one para

graph.

c. The use of quotation marks.

d. The use of the comma after yes and no.

e. The use of the comma after well when it means that the writer is passing on to a somewhat different topic.

f. The use of the apostrophe in such contractions as don't.

g. The punctuation of nominatives of address, and of appositives when they are read with slight pauses. h. Spelling.

i. Indentation of first lines of paragraphs.

j. Good grammar.

GROUP WORK

157. For several days write conversations at the blackboard according to instructions given in section 155. Incidents that have fun in them are always enjoyable. Learn to select subjects for yourselves.

STUDY OF A PICTURE

158. On the opposite page is a picture of some children and a donkey. Answer the following questions about it:

a. Something of interest is going on; which one of the children is the ringleader? How do you know? Do all of the children

b. The scene is in the country. live in the country?

c. Which of the children are enjoying the situation? Which ones are not?

d. Does it seem likely that one of those who disapprove is going to do something about it? What?

e. Can you guess what may be the outcome of the adventure?

f. If a story were made from the picture, what title might it have? Of course you may not all have the same idea about the outcome; and it follows that you may not all choose the same title. A title, of course, should fit the story.

WRITING AND READING STORIES

159. Take a class period to write the story of the picture. The next day find out who has done the work well. Several of you will read before the class what you have written, and the rest will answer the following questions:

a. Who gave the best description of the scene?

b. Who made you feel the most interest in the characters of the story?

c. Who wrote the best train of events that brought the story to a satisfying end?

It is quite possible that no one in the class succeeded in making a real story, such as you read in books. For such stories come to an end that satisfies everybody who reads them. To do this requires practice and skill. You can learn to do better next time by helping some one now. Select one of the stories that were read and have a conversation in class about it; try to suggest to the author a chain of events leading up to an outcome that