+59.  Subjects should be Definite.+—­Both the writer and the reader are more interested in definite and concrete subjects than in the general and abstract ones, and we shall make our writing more interesting by recognizing this fact.  One might write about “Birds,” or “The Intelligence of Birds,” or “How Birds Protect their Young,” or “A Family of Robins.”  The last is a specific subject, while the other three are general subjects.  Of these, the first includes more than the second; and the second, more than the third.  A person with sufficient knowledge might write about any one of these general subjects, but it would be difficult to give such a subject adequate treatment in a short theme.  Though a general subject may suggest more lines of thought, our knowledge about a specific subject is less vague, and consequently more usable.  We really know more about the specific subject, and we have a greater interest in it.  The subject, “A Family of Robins,” indicates that the writer knows something interesting that he intends to tell.  Such a subject compels expectant attention from the reader and aids in arousing an appreciative interest on his part.

On first thought, it would seem easier to write about a general subject than about a specific one, but this is not the case.  A general subject presents so many lines of thought that the writer is confused, rather than aided, by the abundance of material.  A skilled and experienced writer possessing a large fund of information may treat general subjects successfully, but for the beginner safety lies only in selecting definite subjects and in keeping within the limits prescribed.  The “Women of Shakespeare” might be an interesting subject for a book by a Shakespearean scholar, but it is scarcely suitable for a high school pupil’s theme.

+60.  Narrowing the Subject.+—­It is often necessary to narrow a subject in order to bring it within the range of the knowledge and interest of ourselves and of our readers.  A description of the transportation of milk on the electric roads around Toledo would probably be more interesting than an essay on “Freight Transportation by Electricity,” or on “Transportation.”  The purpose that the writer has in mind, and the length of the article he intends to write, will affect the selection of a subject.  “Transportation” might be the subject of a book in which a chapter was given to each important subdivision of it; but it would be quite as difficult to treat such a subject in three hundred words as it would be to make use of three hundred pages for “The Transportation of Milk at Toledo.”

A general subject may suggest many lines of thought.  It is the task of the writer to select one about which he knows something or can learn something, in which both he and his readers are interested, or can become interested, and for which the time and space at his disposal are adequate.

EXERCISES