A Practical Course in English Composition. By ALPHONSE G. NEWCOMER, Assistant Professor of English in Leland Stanford Junior University. 12mo. Cloth. x + 249 pages. Mailing price, 90 cents; for introduction, 80 cents. THIS is an eminently practical book. It is intended for the regular English course of High Schools and Academies to accompany or follow such a book as Lockwood's Lessons in English or for elementary work in colleges. The author has a definite, practical aim. He "fires low." It is believed that this historic injunction has nowhere a more salutary application than in books on English Composition. In Newcomer the art of Composition is given the distinct treatment which its importance warrants. While it may not be entirely dissociated from the science of Rhetoric, there are no formal rules and no "rhetorical exercises." The writing of compositions whole compositions is insisted upon from first to last. A systematic course is followed, beginning with simple narration and leading up to the more difficult forms of discourse. Under each exercise subjects are proposed, followed by suggestions and illustrations. Henry N. Dickinson, Instructor in English, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Newcomer's book is the best that I have seen of its kind. Enoch Perrine, Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa.: The aim as well as the execution of the plan is certainly to be commended. Bliss Perry, Professor of English, Princeton College: I like the plan of the English composition very much. D. E. Bowman, Principal High School, Waterville, Me.: I consider this a model work. H. A. Hartman, Professor of Languages, State Experimental College, Athens, Ala. The method used in presenting the subject of English composition is very simple, plain and concise. J. G. Wight, Principal Classical High School, Worcester, Mass.: It is an admirable and needed supplement to grammar and rhetoric. H. H. Robinson, Superintendent of Schools, Geneva, Ill.: I consider it the freest, the most unconventional, the most ambition-stirring book on English composition that I have ever seen. Robert F. Pennell, Principal State Normal School, Chico, Cal.: I am pleased with it. B. H. Patterson, Teacher of English, High School, Pittsburgh, Pa.: It is an admirable book, full of good suggestions and helpful where help is most needed. The Practical Elements of Rhetoric. By JOHN F. GENUNG, Ph.D., Professor of Rhetoric in Amherst College. 12mo. Cloth. xiv + 483 pages. Mailing price, $1.40; for introd., $1.25. THE treatment is characterized by good sense, simplicity, originality, availability, completeness and ample illustration. It is throughout constructive and the student is regarded at every step as endeavoring to make literature. All of the literary forms have been given something of the fulness hitherto accorded only to argument and oratory. No important principle has been presented without illustrations drawn from the usage of the best authorities. Genung's Rhetoric, though a work on a trite subject, has aroused general enthusiasm by its freshness and practical worth. Among the many leading institutions that have introduced it are Wellesley, Smith, Vassar Colleges; Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Northwestern Universities; and the Universities of Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Michigan. like C. F. Richardson, Prof. of English, T. W. Hunt, Prof. of Eng. LiteraLiterature, Dartmouth College, and ture, Princeton College, Princeton, author of a History of American N. J. It impresses me as a philo Literature: I find it excellent both sophic and useful manual. in plan and execution. especially its literary spirit. Miss M. A. Jordan, Prof. of Rhet- W. H. Magruder, Prof. of English, oric, Smith College, Northampton, Agricultural and Mechanical College Mass. The critic is conscious of a of Mississippi: For clearness of feeling of surprise as he misses the thought, lucidity of expression, aptorthodox dulness. The analysis of ness of illustration,-in short, for topics is clear, the illustrations are real teaching power, I have never pertinent and of value in themselves, seen this work equalled. the rules are concise and portable. A Handbook of Rhetorical Analysis. Studies in Style and Invention, designed to accompany the author's Practical Elements of Rhetoric. By JOHN F. GENUNG, Ph.D., Professor of Rhetoric in Amherst College. 12mo. Cloth. xii + 306 pages. Mailing Price, $1.25; Introduction and Teachers' Price, $1.12. THIS handbook follows the general plan of the larger text-book, being designed to alternate with that from time to time, as different stages of the subject are reached. J. H. Gilmore, Prof. of Rhetoric, University of Rochester, N. Y.: This strikes me as a very significant attempt to open a road that college students especially need to travel. C. L. Ehrenfeld, Prof. English, Wittenberg College, Springfield, Ohio: Its actual use in class work has confirmed my former favorable judgment of it, Outlines of Rhetoric. Embodied in Rules, Illustrative Examples, and a Progressive Course of Prose Composition. By JOHN F. GENUNG, Professor of Rhetoric in Amherst College. 12mo. Cloth. viii+ 331 pages. Mailing price, $1.10; for introduction, $1.00. GENUNG'S Outlines is in no sense a condensation or adaptation of the author's "Practical Elements of Rhetoric," but an entirely new book prepared for a different field after a long and careful study of its peculiar needs. The book is designed for use in high schools, academies, and seminaries, and for elementary courses in colleges. Great care has been devoted in the "Outlines to giving the principles in such plain and simple language that the pupil will not fail to understand; and such is its clearness that even beginners will find many of the deeper principles of expression, as well as the simpler, both lucid and interesting. From beginning to end the principles of rhetoric are condensed into brief, well-worded rules, such as can be easily carried in the memory. This, a unique feature of the present book, will enable the student to carry the whole science of rhetoric in very small and very usable compass. Beginning with sentences to be corrected, compositions to be rewritten, problems to be worked out, it goes on by degrees to work that is more originative, all needed directions being given by means of notes and references, until by the time the student has gone through the book he has exemplified all the great processes of composition, from choice of words up to the planning and working out of complete essays of his own. In every part the endeavor is made to develop and foster that contriving, originative spirit which every young person has in doing what interests him, and which every writer must have in order to bring anything to pass. All the parts of the book are so arranged as to be easily found and consulted; and the Appendix contains, arranged in alphabetical order, a large body of words and phrases that a writer ought to heed if he would conform his work to good usage. D. W. Hoyt, Principal of High School, Providence, R. I.: Our teachers are much pleased with it. W. J. Milne, President State Normal College, Albany, N. Y.: It is a book of real merit. Sarah H. Melvin, Professor of Rhetoric, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.: It is a unique work, clear and practical, well arranged, suggestive. Edmund H. Sears, Principal of Mary Institute, Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.: I desire to express my cordial approval of the work. John M. Clapp, Instructor in Rhetoric, Illinois College, Jacksonville: I do not know an elementary rhetoric so interesting and at the same time so complete. Charles Graham Dunlap, Professor of Rhetoric and English, University of Kansas: I regard the Outlines as the most satisfactory textbook on elementary rhetoric, that I have seen. F. E. Schelling, Professor of English Literature, University of Pennsylvania: It seems to me wholly admirable for its directness and simplicity of exposition. Albert Leonard, Principal High School, Binghamton, N. Y.: The work seems to me most admirably suited to the needs of high school classes. Harry H. Burnham, Teacher of Rhetoric, High School, Biddeford, Me.: A thorough examination of the book convinces me that no other would suit my purpose as well. Charles C. Ramsay, Principal High School, Fall River, Mass.: I regard it as a clear cut, admirably methodic, and practical book. Margaret Hill, Head of English Department, High School, Springfield, Mass.: I am using the book in my classes. G. B. Turnbull, Principal of High School, Colorado Springs, Colo.: It is an admirable book. It is accurate without pedantry, logical in method, abundant in illustration and exerThe cise. . . . It is suggestive. teacher who uses it will only have to follow out the lines laid down to ensure development of the pupils' powers. It is full of the literary spirit. George W. Waite, Superintendent of Schools, Oberlin, O.: I heartily commend it for high school use. J. W. Knappenberger, Allentown College for Women, Pa.: It is clear, thorough, suggestive, and in every way well adapted to interest and instruct students. Herbert Bates, Instructor in English, University of Nebraska: It pleases me more than any elementary rhetoric that I have yet seen. It is as thorough as it is practical. Luella C. Carson, Professor of Rhetoric, University of Oregon: It is clear, fresh, vigorous, and full of the same spirit that is found in the author's Practical Rhetoric. F. B. Sawvel, Professor of English, Thiel College, Greenville, Pa.: It is logical, fresh and interesting. M. Calloway, Jr., Adj. Professor of English, University of Texas: I am constantly recommending the Outlines to our auxiliary schools. I should be glad to see it used in all our high schools. |