LESSON LXIX.

REVISION AND CORRECTION OF COMPOSITIONS.

§ 410. Revision of Compositions.-When a composition has been prepared according to the suggestions in the last two lessons, the next thing is to revise it. Before this is attempted, a short interval should be allowed to elapse, so that the writer may, in a measure, forget the expressions he has used, and criticise his work as severely and impartially as if it were the production of another.

To insure time for this important examination, at least a week should be allowed for the preparation of each exercise; the first part of which should be appropriated by the student to its composition, and the remainder to its careful correction. In revising, each sentence should be read aloud slowly and distinctly, that the ear may aid the eye in detecting faults. The principles laid down for the promotion of Propriety, Precision, Strength, &c., should be strictly followed. Whatever violates them must be altered, no matter what the expense of time or trouble. Even such passages as seem doubtful to the writer, although he may be unable to detect in them any positive error, it will be safest to change. The commonest faults are solecisms, tautologies, redundancies, and a want of unity; for the detection of these, therefore, the reviser should be constantly on the alert. Having satisfied himself that, in these particulars, his sentences will pass criticism, he should next seek to increase their effect and enhance their beauty, by improving, polishing, and ornamenting his style, when this can be done without the appearance of affectation. He should insure that a proper connection is maintained between the parts, supplying omitted matter that may be essential to a proper understanding of the train of thought, and omitting whatever of a foreign nature he may at first inadvertently have introduced.

A clean copy is now to be made, in doing which regard must be had to neatness of chirography. A careless habit of writing is apt to lead to a careless habit of composing, a careless habit of study, and a careless habit of life. What is worth doing at all, it has been remarked, is worth doing well; and, therefore, though it may seem to some a trifling matter,

§ 410. After a composition is written, what is next necessary? What is said with respect to allowing an interval between the act of composing and revising? Describe the process of revision. In making a clean copy, what must be re

the careful student will see that his exercise is presented in the neatest possible form. The most convenient paper, as regards size, is the ordinary letter sheet. A margin of an inch and a half should be allowed on each side for the remarks of the teacher. The subject should occupy a line by itself, should be equally distant from both margins, and should be written in a larger hand than the rest. Attention must be paid to the spelling and punctuation. When there is not room for the whole of a word at the end of a line, it must be divided after one of its syllables, and the hyphen must connect the separated parts as directed in § 202.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE TEACHER.

§ 411. Correction of Compositions.-Most teachers have their own system of examining and correcting compositions: those who have not, may find the following suggestions of service:

I. Read the exercises presented in the presence of the class, and invite criticism from all. The credits allowed should be based, as well on the promptitude and soundness of the remarks thus made, as on the merits of the performances submitted. It is surprising to see how soon this simple exercise develops a critical taste, and what a salutary effect this taste in turn produces on the style of those in whom it is awakened. Underline words in which errors of any kind occur, and require the student to correct them himself. Remarks on the style may with advantage be made by the teacher, and their substance embodied in the margins left for that purpose.

II. In certain words, errors in orthography are very common; business is apt to be written buisness; separate, seperate; believe, beleive, &c. When such errors occur, let the words be spelled by the whole class in concert. If, as is often the case, special difficulty is found in spelling particular words, it is well for the teacher to keep a record of the latter, and to give them to the class from time to time as a lesson in orthography.

III. In correcting compositions, do not criticise so closely or severely as to discourage the pupil; but adapt your remarks to his degree of advancement. Let your corrections, in every case, be in harmony with the

garded? What is said of a careless habit of writing? What suggestions are made with respect to paper, &c. ?

scope and style of the exercise. With beginners, it is well to make no other alterations than such as are absolutely required. As the composer advances, his performances may be more closely criticised, and his attention may be directed to those nicer points, to which, at an earlier period, it would be injudicious to refer.

IV. After a criticism by the class and remarks by the teacher, the student should make the required corrections, and submit them for approval. He should then copy his exercise in a book provided for the purpose, a comparison of the different parts of which will at any time show what progress he has made.

V. In correcting, the student will save time and trouble by availing himself of some of the marks used in the correction of proof, and exhibited on a specimen sheet at the close of this volume.

EXERCISE IN AMPLIFICATION.

I. Amplify, according to the example in § 404, in five or more successive sentences, each of the following simple propositions :

1. Alfred the Great died.

2. Richard Cœur de Lion engaged in one of the Crusades.

3. A storm wrecked the Spanish Armada.

4. Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.

5. Can we doubt the immortality of the soul?

II. According to the example in § 406, construct an introduction asserting,

(Generally) that a knowledge of music is becoming rapidly extended in this country; (Particularly) that singing and instrumental music are studied in different sections and by all grades of society; and (Individually) that almost every household contains some performer. These propositions must be amplified, and constitute not less than three distinct sentences.

III. Write, on the same plan, an introduction laying down the proposition that dissimulation is one of the prominent faults of the present generation.

IV. According to the example in § 407, write introductions stating,

1. That a virtue carried to an extreme becomes a fault; and that,
therefore, by those who do not look closely enough to discern
the line which distinguishes the two, they are apt to be con-
founded: apply this in the case of frugality and parsimony.
2. The general consequence of becoming familiar with any thing,
and the particular consequence of becoming familiar with vice.
3. The fact that every tongue may be regarded as an index to the
peculiarities of the people speaking it, and that this is the case
with the English language.

LESSON LXX.-EXERCISE IN AMPLIFICATION.

Prepare an Essay on ANGER from the analysis in Lesson LXVII.

LESSON LXXI.-EXERCISE IN AMPLIFICATION.

Write an Essay on EDUCATION from the analysis already prepared.

LESSON LXXII.-EXERCISE ON PLAIN AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

Compose two sentences for each of the following words, one of which shall contain it in its literal, the other in its figurative, signification:

EXAMPLES.-WEIGH. [Literal.] On weighing the goods he had purchased that morning at the market, he found they were deficient by at least two pounds. [Figurative.] After well weighing the matter in his mind, he determined upon pursuing the plan he had first intended.

BITTER. [Literal.] Among the fruits we met with in this country, was a sort of bitter apple, very disagreeable to the taste.

[Figurative.] He is now no longer the gay, thoughtless, creature of former years; his face is furrowed, his look haggard and anxious, and his heart a prey to the bitterest anguish.

Rest-stand-watch-cover-mask-idle-deep-sleep refulgent overwhelm —

monument

constellation

sepulchre-response-burn-discover-observation—enter

tain — carnation-illuminate-eradicate-torment—laby

rinth-emanate-pliable.

LESSON LXXIII.-EXERCISE IN EXTENDED SIMILE.

Trace, at length, the points of resemblance between the given subjects that follow, carrying out the comparison as in the Example:

EXAMPLE.-Old Age, Sunset. Old age has been called the sunset of life; it is then that the mind, free from the agitation and tumult of the passions, is calm and tranquil, like the still serenity of the evening, when the busy sound of labor is hushed, and the glare of the meridian sun has passed away. The soul of the just man, conscious of his own integrity, like the glorious orb enveloped in those mellow tints which are then reflected from it in a thousand hues, sinks into a peaceful slumber, again to rise in brighter splendor, and renew in another world the course destined for it by the Almighty Ruler of the universe.

1. Youth-morning. 2. Life-an ocean. 3. Joy and Sorrow-light and shade. 4. Knowledge—a hill. 5. Earth

a mother. 6. Uncultivated genius-an unpolished diamond. 7. Neglected talent a flower in the desert. 8. Death of a child—blighting of a blossom. 9. Charity diffusing its blessings-the sun imparting light and heat. 10. Honor appearing through a mean habit--the sun breaking through clouds.

LESSON LXXIV.-EXERCISE IN EXTENDED SIMILE.

Select natural objects to which the following abstract qualities may be compared, and carry out the simile as in the Example in the last Lesson :

LESSON LXXV.-EXERCISE IN METAPHORICAL LANGUAGE.

Compose sentences containing the following words used, metaphorically, in the sense of the words placed after them in italics :

EXAMPLE.-PATH, Career. Notwithstanding all the temptations held out to him, he resolutely pursued the path of integrity, untouched alike by the follies and licentiousness of a corrupt court.

1. Crown-glory. 2. Dregs-vice. 3. Cloak-covering. 4. Yoke-power. 5. Abyss-ruin. 6. Spring-source. 7. Fruits-results. 8. Curb-restraint. 9. Blow-affliction.