Perfect form consists in the “ability to convey thought and emotion with perfect fidelity.”  The general qualities characteristic of perfect form, which have been outlined by Professor Winchester, in his Principles of Literary Criticism, are:  (1) precision or clearness; (2) energy or force; (3) delicacy or emotional harmony; and (4) personality.  Precision or clearness demands the precise value and meaning of words.  It requires that words have the power of denotation.  It appeals to the intellect of the reader or listener and demands that language be neither vague nor ambiguous nor obscure.  Energy or force demands that perfect form have the quality of emotion.  It requires that words have especially the power of connotation.  It appeals to the emotions of the reader or listener and has the power to hold the attention.  It demands of language that sympathy which will imply what it would suggest.  Delicacy or emotional harmony demands that perfect form please the taste.  It requires that an emotional harmony be secured by a selection and arrangement of the melody of words and of the emotional associations which, together with the meanings, are tied up in words.  It demands that words have the power of perfect adaptation to the thought and feeling they express, that words have both the power of denotation and of connotation.  It appeals to the aesthetic sense of the reader or listener, it gives to form beauty and charm.  Personality is the influence of the author, the charm of individuality, and suggests the character of the writer.

At the same time that perfect form is characterized by the general qualities of precision, energy, delicacy, and personality, as composition consisting of words, sentences, paragraphs, or large wholes, its elements must be controlled by certain main principles, which have been presented by Professor Barrett Wendell in English Composition.  Perfect form cannot possess the four general qualities above mentioned unless its elements are controlled by these main principles.  These are:  (1) the principle of sincerity; (2) the principle of unity; (3) the principle of mass; and (4) the principle of coherence.  Sincerity demands of perfect form that it be a just expression.  Unity demands that every composition should group itself about a central idea.  There must be one story, all incidents subordinated, one main course of action, one main group of characters, and one tone of feeling to produce an emotional effect.  Variety of action must lead to one definite result and variety of feeling to one total impression.  Unity demands that the tale must have a plan that is complete, with no irrelevant material, and that there must be a logical order and a climax.  Mass demands that the chief parts of every composition should readily catch the eye.  It maintains a harmonious proportion of all the parts.  Coherence demands of any composition that the relation of each part to its neighbors should be unmistakable, and that the order, forms, and connections of the parts preserve this relation.