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Daniel Boone, in September, 1773, as told in his Autobiography, was making one of his visits to Kentucky, In addition to five families, he had with him about forty young men. Just as Boone with his main body was passing through the Gap, a band of Indians attacked the men who were driving herds of cattle and a number of pack horses, a short distance in the rear. Word quickly reached Boone, who repulsed the savages with heavy loss, but with the sacrifice of six men, one of them being his only son.

1. Put Yourself in His Place. Think of yourself as a lad in the party attacked by the Indians. Ordered to carry word to Boone, you set out afoot, but catching a pony, you mount it and ride up to Boone, tell your story, and return with him to the scene of the attack. Tell the story, trying to give it as it happened.

2. A Roadside Meal. You are a girl of fifteen, a member of an automobile party, which stops for lunch near Cumberland Gap. Tell how the meal was prepared, and describe the scene.

3. Historical Paper. - Look up the facts, and write the life of some pioneer hero or heroine.

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4. Visit to Some Historical Spot. Give orally a three-minute account of your visit to some historical spot, in this country or elsewhere.

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5. A Pioneer Story. If you can get some one to tell you a story of pioneer days, repeat it to the class. If your parents have but recently come to America, tell some story of old times in the old country. Tell it orally in three minutes.

6. Dramatization. - Plan a simple story of how the Indians attacked the early settlers, and act it out. It will not be hard to design and make appropriate costumes for both settlers and Indians.

PART FOUR

THE COMPONENT PARTS OF EFFECTIVE ENGLISH

CHAPTER XXI

WORDS

Words are but pictures of our thoughts. - Dryden.

Diction Defined. Diction deals with the choice of words in which to express the thought in the mind of the writer. It implies a command of words.

In the two lines quoted below there are by actual count sixteen words. With what multitudes of words must the poet have been familiar, to paint the picture the words convey. It would be hard to crowd more meaning and more descriptive power into two lines.

One effort, one, to break the circling host;
They form, unite, charge, waver, all is lost.

- Byron.

Diction will be treated under these heads, — purity, propriety, and precision.

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Purity. By purity of diction is meant the use of what is known as good English, and of that alone. It prohibits the use of (1) foreign words; (2) words that were once good English but are so no more; (3) words not yet accepted as pure English; and (4) slang.

Foreign Words. The prohibition of foreign words in good English does not mean that a foreign word is never to be used, for there are sometimes foreign words that have no exact representatives in our language. But it means that you are not to multiply the use of such words. Any noticeable use of words from other languages is contrary to good usage.

Usage. Use is the law of language. What is termed good usage is the court of last resort in all cases of disputed words. A word is in good use when it is approved by the best writers and speakers of the present day.

Good usage depends also upon the place and way in which a word is used. A scientific term in good use in a technical article may not be so in ordinary writing. A colloquial term, allowable in the pages of a novel, or in a good newspaper, might not be in good use elsewhere. The fact that the term is colloquial stamps it as not being in the best use.

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Obsolete Words. Obsolete words are words which were once in good use, but are now no longer used. Hamlet, endeavoring to follow the ghost of his father, as it beckons him on, exclaims as he shakes himself free from the detaining grasp of the companions of his watch :

"Still am I called?. Unhand me, gentlemen!

By heaven, I'll make a ghost of him that lets me,"

meaning, of him that hinders me. The word let has lost this signification, except in tennis, and is, therefore, so far as this meaning is concerned, obsolete. Many words are now obsolete which were once the best English.

The Oxford Dictionary thus speaks of the word cunning, which formerly meant "knowledge to do a thing; ability, skill, expertness, dexterity, cleverness.' It says that cunning is now used for the most part in a bad sense:

"skill employed in a secret or underhand manner, or for purposes of deceit; skillful deceit, craft, artifice." When we speak of a child as cunning, meaning pretty or pleasing, the term is correct colloquially, but it is not the best English. The Use of New Words. - New words must win their way. With every great war, with every new trade route, with each political or social rearrangement, with each invention, new terms appear, and if they are worthy to survive, they take their place in the language and are thenceforward English words. But until a word is fully acknowledged, its use is not permissible by ordinary speakers and writers. Not every new word has come to stay.

The rule of use in English as stated by Alexander Pope has never been improved upon.

In words, as fashions, the same rule will hold,
Alike fantastic, if too new or old;

Be not the first by whom the new is tried,
Nor yet the last to lay the old aside.

Slang. Slang has been variously characterized, but for the purposes of Effective English it may be defined as words or phrases, either newly coined or with new meanings, and as yet unaccepted by good usage. They have attained considerable currency and popularity, locally or nationally, and are capable for the time at least of a variety of applications, generally with a witty or humorous touch, Every profession, occupation, business, trade, and call ing has, in addition to its technical terms, a slang of it、 These slang terms very often get into general circulation by lucky or unlucky accident,

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Words of poor repute come from the lower and even the criminal classes, finding quick circulation in the lower grade of stage entertainments, and often in the newspapers.

Politics adds a considerable quota to current slang, as do national and international happenings. In the nature of things, the use of slang adds a certain sprightliness to the conversation. But this is only apparent. One slang phrase takes the place of a dozen correct expressions, and its use on the part of some bright boy or girl soon palls on you, when the thin and sickly vocabulary becomes noticeable.

Acquiring a Vocabulary. From now on, it should be your constant aim, in addition to any work required in class, to add to your working vocabulary. Otherwise, you will use the same word in a variety of senses, some of which will be inexact and perhaps meaningless. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance of your observing the directions below, or of some intelligent and persistent method of acquiring a vocabulary.

Directions for Acquiring a Vocabulary

1. Note the vocabulary of good speakers and writers. Especially, note the conversation of a really good talker.

2. Make a study of some masterpiece of English prose, deciding for yourself why you admire it; what is the secret of the author's success; and what are its main characteristics. Make notes of his diction.

3. Study synonyms.

4. Study the derivation of words.

5. Cultivate the art of careful and exact definition.

6. Have a definite plan of your own, persisted in and used daily, for adding words to your vocabulary.

7. Practice in translating from some other language into English, not only with sight reading, but in written translation. 8. With a good English book in hand, translate into colloquial English as you read.

9. Avoid the use of objectionable slang. Make a list of the correct expressions for all the various uses of your favorite slang phrases.

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