CHAPTER V

EFFECTIVE SEEING

Imagination is the eye of the soul.

- JOUBERT.

Imagination plays an important part in all effective speaking and writing. Many a dull passage may be brightened by the use of what Wordsworth terms the "inward eye." If the student will endeavor to bring before his mind's eye the scenes which he wishes to tell about, he will readily learn to do what Coleridge describes in his Day Dreams where he says,

"My eyes make pictures when they're shut."

The power of the mind to see things in fancy is called visualizing. The ability to visualize is a great help in securing a good imaginative effect, and in seeing clearly those things which the imagination is to enliven and develop.

EXERCISES IN VISUALIZING

(a) Visualize the continent of North America. Think of yourself at some high point where you can sweep the continent with the eye of your fancy, better than any human instrument yet devised. See it all stretching out under you.

To the east, the Appalachian system. To the west, the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific, then the great plains of the Mississippi Valley. To the north, the hills that separate the rivers of the Hudson Bay country from the rivers of the United States. See the Great Lakes and valley of the St. Lawrence. Far to the south, view the wide alluvial plains and the

Gulf, encircling the southern border. Last of all, let your glance sweep over Mexico.

(b) Glance back over this same stretch of country, and view the people at their amusements. How do they enjoy themselves? With the "inward eye" of your imagination, see and detail what you see on some great holiday.

(c) Visualize a pretty church wedding. Put everything else out of your mind, and picture it as happening while you write. Hold your mind to it until you see it. Make your account consistent. Make it brief. Make it interesting. See it all as happening in some church with which you are familiar, and which is worth describing. Use the following outline if you wish.

A PRETTY CHURCH WEDDING

(1) The time; (2) the church decorations; (3) the crowd waiting for the coming of the wedding party; (4) "They're coming!" (5) the wedding march; (6) the ceremony, including a description of the bride; (7) the recessional.

(d) Using the selection below as suggestive, picture a rescue by the Life Saving Crew on the Atlantic Coast, during a storm in winter. Do not write until you have clearly in mind what you intend to say. Then write rapidly.

men.

The element of danger cuts little figure in the minds of the The excitement of the wreck, the launching of the boat, the tough, long pull to the vessel, the battle with the seas, the careful work in approaching the wreck, and all the incidents in connection, are life and action to them. The danger is part of the day's work.

-With the Life-savers, Chas. T. Gwynne.

(e) Visualize the voyage of the Titanic. See her from the time she lay at the busy docks of Southampton, with eager crowds hurrying aboard. She has left the land, the finest ship afloat; and is in midocean, a thousand miles from shore. The air is touched with sudden chill. Icebergs are near. But still she steams ahead, for she is making a record. See her in the midst of floating mountains of ice. She has struck an iceberg. She is sinking by the head.

Shut your eyes and see the wreck, the icy waters of the North At

lantic covered with wreckage, and dotted with men struggling for life. Many men are still on board the Titanic. She is pointed head down just ready for the plunge. Boats and life rafts are pulling away from the ship, some of them already quite a distance away.

Your imagination will suggest something in keeping with such a scene. See it for yourself, and describe it as you see it.

(f) Visualize a glimpse of kingly hospitality. In the Odyssey, book iv, Bryant's translation, lines 49-380, there occurs a bit of word painting detailing the visit of Telemachus, son of Ulysses, to the palace of King Menelaus and his wife Helen, once of Troy. Their conversation is a fine example of table talk. During this conversation, the king tells Telemachus the story of the Wooden Horse, and his own part and that of Ulysses in that dire stratagem. The passage affords as excellent a picture of ancient life and hospitality as exists in literature.

Read the story over until you have it well in mind. Then picture · it and tell it. Do not allow anything to hinder the story.

Word Pictures. Word pictures are vivid bits of description. The object or scene to be described should be visualized and its striking features noted. The effect of a word picture is greatly enhanced by judicious use of the imagination.

EXERCISES ON WORD PICTURES

(a) Select any two or more of the following. Picture the scene suggested, and when it is clear in your mind, tell about it, as you see it. Aim to make your hearer or reader see it as you do.

1. Sheep feeding on the hillside in the early morning, or at sunset. Picture it as in summer time.

2. Cattle standing in the pools at midday, under the trees. 3. A glimpse of a waterfall, showing through the forest. If you have seen a waterfall, recall it and describe it. If not, look up a picture of the Yosemite Falls. Study it, then tell it as you see it. 4. "On behind!" The streets are covered with snow. Boys and girls are out with their sleds. They are catching on behind wagons and sleighs, and stealing rides. See the children in your mind's eye, then tell the story as you see it.

(b) Try to paint a word picture of any two of the following scenes.

1. Picture a road, winding its way by the side of a river, seen now and then through the trees.

2. Picture the scene on Christmas eve, with the family gathered about the Christmas tree. Tell about it.

3. There has been an accident at a crowded corner of your city. The "Red Cross" ambulance comes at a gallop, and the police patrol auto swings around the corner. Picture it, then

describe it.

4. You are passing the doors of an engine house of the city fire department, when the alarm rings. The doors fly open, and the firemen are off to the scene of the fire. See it mentally, then tell it.

5. You are out in a blinding snowstorm. You see a little newsboy on the corner, trying to shelter himself from the blizzard. Picture him.

EXERCISES BASED ON PICTURES

The Black Prince. Refer to Charles Dickens' Child's History of England, chapter xviii, or any other history of England, and tell the story of this favorite hero of the English people.

Edward, eldest son of Edward III of England, was called the Black Prince from the color of his armor. He led the most gallant division of the English forces in the battle of Crécy, 1346. Ten years later he won the battle of Poitiers against overwhelming odds, and captured the French king, John II. His tomb in Canterbury Cathedral is shown at the right in the picture on page 62.

Important Cautions.

The permanent editorial committee should note the following items1 and add them to the lists on previous pages.

XVII. Make careful inquiry into the use of the period at the end of sentences in continuous composition, on the part of all students of the English class in their daily written exercises.

Make a list of such pupils as are careless in this regard. Watch their daily work with increasing care. Students who in speaking begin too many of their sentences with and, or still worse, with and-ah, are most likely to have no regard for sentence-forming. They multiply the use of the comma, using it even at the end of sentences. In speaking, this is called the running-on fault. In writing, it is referred to as the comma fault.

In general, it is advisable that no pupil should be promoted to second year who still has the comma fault, that is, the socalled "running-on" fault.

XVIII. Be careful to require the use of the comma in at least such cases as the following.

(a) To set off words of address:

Charles, where are you going? Mr. Chairman, I second the motion.

1 From the English Syllabus, Board of Regents, New York, and the Requirements in Form, Illinois Association of Teachers of English.