PART II

VIII.  Description

IX.  Narration

X. Exposition

XI.  Argument

Appendix

I. Elements of Form

II.  Review of Grammar

III.  Figures of Speech

IV.  The Rhetorical Features of the Sentence

V. List of Synonyms

VI.  List of Words for Exercise in Word Usage

Index

PART 1

1.  EXPRESSION OF IDEAS ARISING FROM EXPERIENCE

+1.  Pleasure in Expressing Ideas.+—­Though we all enjoy talking, we cannot write so easily as we talk, nor with the same pleasure.  We seldom talk about topics in which we are not interested and concerning which we know little or nothing, but we often have such topics assigned to us as subjects for compositions.  Under such conditions it is no wonder that there is little pleasure in writing.  The ideas that we express orally are those with which we are familiar and in which we are interested, and we tell them because we wish to tell them to some one who is likewise interested and who desires to hear what we have to say.  Such expression of ideas is enjoyed by all.  If we but choose to express the same kinds of ideas and for the same reason, there is an equal or even greater pleasure to be derived from the expression of ideas in writing.  The purpose of this book is to show you how to express ideas clearly, effectively, and with pleasure.

+2.  Sources of Ideas.+—­We must have ideas before we can express them.  There are three sources from which ideas arise.  We may gain them from experience; we may recombine them into new forms by the imagination; and we may receive them from others through the medium of language, either by conversation or by reading.

Every day we add to our knowledge through our senses.  We see and hear and do, and thus, through experience, acquire ideas about things.  By far the greater part of expression has to do with ideas that have originated in this way.  The first chapter in this book is concerned with the expression of ideas gained through experience.

We may, however, think about things that have not actually occurred.  We may allow our minds to picture a football game that we have not seen, or to plan a story about a boy who never existed.  Nearly every one takes pleasure in such an exercise of the imagination.  The second chapter has to do with the expression of ideas of this kind.

We also add to our knowledge through the medium of language.  Through conversation and reading we learn what others think, and it is often of value to restate these ideas.  The expression of ideas so acquired is treated in the third chapter.