(After writing this theme, read it aloud to yourself.  Does it read smoothly?  Have you told what actually happened?  Have you told it so that the hearers will understand you?  Have you said what you meant to say?  Consider the introduction.  Has the story a point?)

+9.  The Conclusion.+—­Since the point of a story marks the climax of interest, it is evident that the conclusion must not be long delayed after the point has been reached.  If the story has been well told, the point marks the natural conclusion, and a sentence or two will serve to bring the story to a satisfactory end.  If a suitable ending does not suggest itself, it is better to omit the conclusion altogether than to construct a forced or flowery one.  Notice the conclusion of the incident of the Civil War related on page 18.

+Theme II.+-Write a short theme suggested by one of the following subjects:—­

1.  A school picnic. 2.  A race. 3.  The largest fire I have seen. 4.  A skating accident. 5.  A queer mistake. 6.  An experience with a tramp.

(Correct with reference to meaning and clearness.  Consider the introduction; the point; the conclusion.)

+10.  Observation of Actions.+—­Many of our most interesting experiences arise from observing the actions of others.  A written description of what we have observed will gain in interest to the reader, if, in addition to telling what was done, we give some indication of the way in which it was done.  A list of tools a carpenter uses and the operations he performs during the half hour we watch him, may be dull and uninteresting; but our description may have an added value if it shows his manner of working so that the reader can determine whether the carpenter is an orderly, methodical, and rapid worker or a mere putterer who is careless, haphazard, and slow.  Two persons will perform similar actions in very different ways.  Our description should be so worded as to show what the differences are.

+Theme III.+—­Write a theme relating actions.

    Suggested subjects:—­
  1.  A mason, blacksmith, painter, or other mechanic at work.
  2.  How my neighbor mows his lawn.
  3.  What a man does when his automobile breaks down.
  4.  Describe the actions of a cat, dog, rabbit, squirrel, or other
     animal.
  5.  Watch the push-cart man a half-hour and report what he did.

(Have you told exactly what was done?  Can you by the choice of suitable words show more plainly the way in which it was done?  Does this theme need to have an introduction?  A point?  A conclusion?)

+11.  Selection of Details.+—­You are at present concerned with telling events that actually happen; but this does not mean that you need to include everything that occurs.  If you wish to tell a friend about some interesting or exciting incident at a picnic, he will not care to hear everything that took place during the day.  He may listen politely to a statement of what train you took and what you had in your lunch basket, but he will be little interested in such details.  In order to maintain interest, the point of your story must not be too long delayed.  Brevity is desirable, and details that bear little relation to the main point, and that do not prepare the listener to understand and appreciate this point, are better omitted.