1. Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria. LESSON LXXXIII.-EXERCISE IN PARALLELS. Draw Parallels between, 1. The Torrid and the Temperate Zone. 2. The European and the Oriental. 3. The Eloquence of the Bar and that of the Pulpit. LESSON LXXXIV.—EXERCISE IN DEFINING SYNONYMES. Analogous to the drawing of Parallels is the defining of the shades of difference between synonymous terms, models of which will be found on pp. 280, 281. In a similar manner, show the distinction between the following synonymes, and illustrate their use in different sentences: 1. Invention, Discovery. 2. Genius, Talent. 3. Pride, Vanity. 4. Handsome, Pretty. 5. Wit, Humor. 6. Poison, Venom. 7. Peaceful, Peaceable. 8. Continuation, Continuance. LESSON LXXXV.-EXERCISE IN DEFINING SYNONYMES. Show the difference between the following synonymous terms: 1. Associate, Companion. 2. Idle, Lazy, Indolent. 3. Great, Large, Big. 4. Sick, Sickly, Diseased. 5. Contemptible, Despicable, Pitiful. 6. Right, Claim, Privilege. 7. Disregard, Slight, Neglect. 8. Anecdote, Tale, Story, Novel, Romance. LESSON LXXXVI.-EXERCISE IN PARAPHRASING. A Paraphrase is the amplified explanation of a passage in clearer terms than those employed by its author. Paraphrases frequently occur in versions from foreign languages; when, instead of a literal translation of the original text, the substance is given in an amplified form and in a style which is regarded as more intelligible. Maxims, Aphorisms, Proverbs, and Saws, are often paraphrased. A Maxim is a proposition briefly expressed, which teaches a moral truth and is susceptible of practical application. An Aphorism (which corresponds with the Apophthegm of the ancients) is a speculative rather than a practical proposition, embodying a doctrine or the principles of a science. A Proverb, or Saying, (the Adage of the ancients) is a terse proposition current among all classes, relating to matters of worldly wisdom as well as moral truth. A Saw is a vulgar proverb. The following examples will show the difference between them : Maxim.-Forgiveness is the noblest revenge. Paraphrase the following Maxims, Proverbs, &c. :— EXAMPLE.-Wealth begets want. Paraphrase.-The desires of man increase with his acquisitions. Every step that he advances, brings something within his view, which he did not see before, and which, as soon as he sees it, he begins to want. When necessity ends, curiosity begins; and no sooner are we supplied with every thing that nature can demand, than we sit down to contrive artificial appetites. 1. Either never attempt, or persevere to the end. 2. Poor and content is rich, and rich enough. 3. Good news doeth good like medicine. 4. No pains, no gains. 5. Fear is the mark of a mean spirit. 6. One swallow does not make a summer. 7. Nothing venture, nothing have. 8. Between two stools one comes to the ground. 9. One good turn deserves another. 10. Money makes the mare go. 12. Penny wise, pound foolish. LESSON LXXXVII.-EXERCISE IN PARAPHRASING. Paraphrase the following passages: 1. Make no man your idol, for the best man must have faults; and his faults will insensibly become yours, in addition to your own. 2. He that argues for victory is but a gambler in words, seeking to enrich himself by another's loss. 3. Distress and difficulty are known to operate in private life as the spurs of diligence. 4. The love of gain never made a painter; but it has marred many. 5. Complaints and murmurs are often loudest and most frequent among those who possess all the external means of temporal enjoyment. 6. The want of employment is one of the most frequent causes of vice. 7. A wound from a tongue is worse than a wound from the sword: for the latter affects only the body; the former, the soul. 8. Trust him little who praises all; him less, who censures all; and him least, who is indifferent about all. 9. He that finds truth, without loving her, is like a bat; which, though it hath eyes to discern that there is a sun, yet hath so evil eyes that it can not delight in the sun. 10. They who have never known prosperity, can hardly be said to be unhappy; it is from the remembrance of joys we have lost, that the arrows of affliction are pointed. 11. Every man has just as much vanity as he wants understanding. 12. The strongest passions allow us some rest, but vanity keeps us in perpetual motion. "What a dust do I raise !" says the fly upon a coach-wheel. “At what a rate do I drive!" says the fly upon the horse's back. LESSON LXXXVIII.—EXERCISE IN ABRIDGING. Abridging (sometimes called Epitomizing) is the opposite of Amplification, and consists in expressing the substance of a passage, article, or volume, in fewer words. EXAMPLE.-Tradition says, that Foo-tsze, the Chinese philosopher, was in his youth of so impatient a temper, that he could not endure the drudgery of learning, and determined to give up literary pursuits for some manual employment. One day, as he was returning home with a full determination to go to school no longer, he happened to pass by a half-witted old woman, who was rubbing a small bar of iron on a whetstone. When the young student asked her the reason of this strange employment, she replied, "Why, sir, I have lost my knitting-needle, and just thought I would rub down this bar to make me another." The words acted like magic on the young philosopher, who returned to his books with tenfold diligence; and, whenever he felt impatient and despondent, would say to himself, "If a half-witted old woman has resolution enough to rub down a bar of iron into a needle, it would be disgraceful in me to have less perseverance, when the highest honors of the empire are before me." He lived to see the justice of these reflections. His acquirements, in process of time, made his name a proverb, and procured for him those very honors, which, but for this fortunate incident, he would have thrown away, and which without exertion none can hope to attain. Abridged.-Foo-tsze, the Chinese philosopher, was possessed of so little diligence in his youth that he determined to abandon literary pursuits. Returning from school with the resolution of at once seeking some manual employment, he observed a half-witted old woman rubbing a bar of iron on a whetstone. Asking the reason of this strange proceeding, he learned from her that she had lost her knitting-needle and was endeavoring to make another by rubbing down the bar. The words acted like magic on the young philosopher. "Shall an old woman," he said to himself, "have more resolution and perseverance than I, within whose reach are the highest honors of the empire?" Inspired with new vigor, he returned to his books; his good resolutions were kept; and history still names him as among the wisest of philosophers. LESSON LXXXIX.-EXERCISE IN ABRIDGING. Abridge, and present in your own words, the matter contained in Lesson XXXIX. of this volume, on "The Sublime" LESSON XC.-EXERCISE IN ABRIDGING. Abridge, and present in your own words, the matter contained in Lesson LXVI., on Criticism. LESSON XCI.-EXERCISE IN CRITICISM. In the style of the Examples presented in Lesson LXVI., write a criticism on the Allegory entitled "The Palace of Vanity", quoted in Lesson LXXVI. LESSON XCII.-EXERCISE IN CRITICISM. Questions on the Remarks in the Preceding Lessons.-What is an apologue, or fable? What is an allegory proper? What is a parallel? What figure is used with advantage in parallels? What is a paraphrase? In what do paraphrases frequently occur? What are often paraphrased? What is a maxim? What is an aphorism? What was it called by the ancients? What is a proverb? What is a saw? Give examples of each. What is meant by abridging? What other name is sometimes given to this process? Write a criticism on Dr. Johnson's Parallel between Dryden and Pope, quoted in Lesson LXXXI. LESSON XCIII. DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL OBJECTS. § 412. Composition is the art of inventing ideas and expressing them by means of written language. A Composition is a written production on any subject, and of any length or style. § 413. There are two great divisions under which all compositions may be classed,—Prose and Poetry. Those compositions are embraced under the head of Prose, in which a natural order and mode of expression are employed, without reference to an exact arrangement of syllables or the recurrence of certain sounds. Poetry embraces such compositions as are characterized by a departure from the natural order and mode of expression; or, by an exact arrangement of syllables or the recurrence of certain sounds. § 414. The parts of composition, whether Prose or Poetry, are five; Description, Narration, Argument, Exposition, and Speculation. Either of these may separately constitute the bulk of a written production; or, they may all, as is frequently the case, enter, in a greater or less degree, into the same composition. § 415. Description consists in delineating the characteristics of any object by means of words. It forms an important part of almost every variety of composition; and allows the widest scope for ornament and beauty of language. The style used in description should correspond with the character of the object treated. If the latter is grand, the language § 412. What is composition? What is meant by a composition? § 413. What are the two great divisions under which all compositions are classed? Which are embraced under the head of Prose? Which, under Poetry? § 414. Enumerate the parts which enter, in a greater or less degree, into different compositions. § 415. In what does description consist? For what does it allow wide scope? |