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Ex.

DIVISIONS OF DISCOURSE

II

"The atmosphere is just as much a part of the earth as is the water or the solid rock; it is the outer part of the earth, and moves with it in space." — REDWAY.

Argument is discourse giving reasons for or against a certain belief.

Ex.

"Hyp. Thou art jealous.

Vict. No, I am not jealous.
Hyp. Thou should'st be.

Vict. Why?

Hyp. Because thou art in love.

And they who are in love are always jealous —

Therefore thou should'st be."— LONGFELLOW.

III. EXERCISE

1. Bring to school an example of narration; of description; of exposition; of argument.

2. Write a narrative telling your experiences during one day at

school.

3. Write a short description of some person whom you know, or of some place that you have visited.

4. Write an exposition explaining the fact that at $20 apiece $180 will buy 9 bicycles.

5. Write an argument to prove that honesty is the best policy in school.

IV. DIVISIONS OF DISCOURSE

Discourse may be divided, according to its form and purpose, into prose and poetry.

Prose is discourse written in language as ordinarily used, having reference, mainly, to a clear and distinct statement of the author's meaning.

Poetry is discourse written in metrical language. Its aim is to please, by addressing the imagination and the sensibilities.

The divisions of a prose work are chapters and paragraphs.

A paragraph is the expression of a thought or of a series of thoughts closely related to one topic.

A chapter is the division of a book relating to one subject, and is usually made up of many paragraphs.

The divisions of a poem are usually stanzas.

A stanza is a group of lines forming a division of a poem.

A stanza consists of a certain number of lines, but it need not be about one division of the subject. Hence it does not correspond to a paragraph.

Paragraphs and stanzas are composed of sentences.

A sentence is an assemblage of words making complete

sense.

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Ex. "Birds fly." "Man is mortal." "The great throat of the chimney laughed." "When the farmer came down in the morning, he declared that his watch had gained half an hour in the night.”

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1. Prove from one of your schoolbooks that a chapter treats of a division of a subject, and that a paragraph treats of a subdivision of a chapter.

2. Select a short poem. Reproduce it in prose, making several paragraphs. Insert this mark (¶) in the poem at the places where the prose paragraphs occur.

VI. DEFINITIONS

Grammar treats of the principles which govern the forms and relations of words in sentences, and teaches

ANALYSIS OF A NARRATIVE

13

what usages of language are correct. It is divided into four parts: orthography, etymology, syntax, and prosody.

Orthography treats of the parts of words.
Etymology treats of the classes of words.
Syntax treats of the construction of sentences.
Prosody treats of the construction of stanzas.

VII. ANALYSIS OF A NARRATIVE

1. Nimrod, the tabby cat, kept her kittens a fine batch of threebehind the stove in the grocery store, where they could be warm, for it was cold winter weather. 2. So far in their short lives they had never been outside.

3. There they lay basking when John Logan came in with a basket on his arm and a bag over his shoulder. 4. Flinging the bag down on the counter, he said, "I want a few groceries, Mr. Donn, and then I'll take those kittens you promised me." 5. "All right," said the grocer.

6. When the groceries had been weighed, measured, and packed into John's basket, he picked up the bag and looked for the kittens. 7. Nimrod lay as before behind the stove, blinking at the lights and purring contentedly, but not a kitten was to be seen. 8. And no hunting or coaxing brought them to light, either. 9. So John went off with an empty bag, wondering who had stolen poor Nimrod's kittens.

10. Early next morning, Jack, the driver, saw Nimrod slyly sneaking out from among the boxes in the vacant lot behind the store, and on searching there he found all three of the kittens safely stowed away in an empty box. "Well, Madam Nimrod," said he, "I'll tell no secrets; you're too clever for a cat."

This narrative consists of four paragraphs, each upon one topic, as follows:

1. Where the kittens stayed.

2. John Logan's announcement.

3. The disappearance.

4. The discovery.

Outline and write an anecdote about an animal.

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