No wonder Rebecca Meyer is grateful        III.  CONCLUSION
for the 45 minutes a day in which               Rebecca again made
button-sewing has given place to study—­no      the central figure
wonder she thinks America must                  Appeal to reader’s
be the wonderland of all the world!             pride in his country.

ARTICLES COMPOSED OF UNITS.  The study of the two special feature stories on the factory school shows how articles of this type are built up out of a number of units, such as examples, incidents, and statistics.  A similar study of the other types of articles exemplified in Chapter V will show that they also are made up of various kinds of units.  Again, if we turn to the types of beginnings illustrated in Chapter VII, we shall find that they, too, are units, which in some cases might have been used in the body of the article instead of as an introduction.  Since, then, every division of a subject may be regarded as a unit that is complete in itself whatever its position in the article, each of the several kinds of units may be studied separately.  For this purpose we may discuss five common types of units:  (1) examples, (2) incidents, (3) statistics, (4) scientific and technical processes, and (5) recipes and directions.

METHODS OF DEVELOPING UNITS.  In order to present these units most effectively, and to vary the form of presentation when occasion demands, a writer needs to be familiar with the different methods of developing each one of these types.  Four common methods of handling material within these units are:  (1) exposition, narration, or description in the writer’s own words; (2) dialogue; (3) the interview; (4) direct or indirect quotation.  Statistics and recipes may also be given in tabular form.

When a unit may be developed with equal effectiveness by any one of several methods, a writer should choose the one that gives variety to his article.  If, for example, the units just before and after the one under consideration are to be in direct quotation, he should avoid any form that involves quoted matter.

EXAMPLES.  In all types of articles the concrete example is the commonest and most natural means of explaining a general idea.  To most readers, for instance, the legal provisions of an old age pension law would be neither comprehensible nor interesting, but a story showing how a particular old man had been benefited by the law would appeal to practically every one.  That is, to explain the operation and advantages of such a law, we give, as one unit, the concrete example of this old man.  Actual examples are preferable to hypothetical ones, but the latter may occasionally be used when real cases are not available.  Imaginary instances may be introduced by such phrases as, “If, for example,” or “Suppose, for instance, that.”

To explain why companies that insure persons against loss of their jewelry are compelled to investigate carefully every claim filed with