CHAPTER XIII

THE WHOLE COMPOSITION

138. THE WHOLE COMPOSITION.—139. UNITY. -140. EMPHASIS. 141. COHERENCE. - EXERCISE 60.-142. THE FIRST STAGE: THE PLAN. 143. THE SECOND STAGE: THE DETAILS. 144. THE FORMULA FOR A COMPOSITION. EXERCISE 61.

138. The Whole Composition. Following our ascending scale (see § 123), we now come to the largest unit of style, the whole composition, by which we mean a long theme, a book, a chapter of a book, a speech, a sermon, or any other combination of paragraphs developing a single larger idea. Let us apply, first, to the whole composition the three principles of unity, emphasis, and coherence which we have already applied to the sentence and to the paragraph.

139. Unity.—The principle of unity prescribes that the unit or element which is under consideration-in

this case the whole composition shall concern one, and only one, subject, and that there shall be in it no extraneous matter. There are several hints which will help the student in applying this principle.

(1) Choose a subject about which you know something, or can find out something. Avoid such vague and unnatural subjects as "The Pleasures of Spring,"

"The Evils of War," "Unity is Strength," or "Virtue is its Own Reward," in regard to which it is scarcely possible for a young man to have knowledge or to feel interest. Write within the limits of your own experience, write earnestly, and it will not be hard to stick to the subject which you have proposed for yourself.

(2) Limit your subject rigidly. Choose a small, definite subject, and try to treat it thoroughly. With a large or ill-determined subject the temptations to stray aside are much greater. As the topic for a short essay, for instance, "Abraham Lincoln " is better than "American Statesmen." Better than the former would be "Lincoln as President"; and even further restriction might be advantageous.

(3) Be sure that your title suggests your subject. If, for instance, your essay is an account of the way in which a humming-bird fed her young and taught them to fly, your title should not be "A Widow and Twins," but something which will indicate to the reader what the subject-matter really concerns. Plain, specific titles, for instance, are "On the Study of Geography," "Rowing at Oxford," "What the Southern Negro is doing for Himself," "Classical Literature in Translation." Be sure, too, that your title is not a mere catchpenny, sensational heading, such as are common in certain newspapers.

(4) The subject once definitely determined, and a plain, appropriate title chosen, be sure that every sentence and every paragraph have a distinct bear

ing on that subject and come rightfully under that title.

sis prescribes that

140. Emphasis. In the whole composition emphaimportant ideas should occupy With this result in view the writer should bear in mind the following hints:

prominent places.

(1) Treat at length what is important or significant. Pass rapidly over or omit entirely what is relatively unimportant or insignificant. Many a theme, for instance, which purports to give an account of a day's fishing is spoiled because the writer expends four-fifths of his time and space in relating how he got up and off in the morning, and leaves only a remnant of them for the more important part of his narrative. Many a theme on the life of Napoleon, or some other historical character, has proved worthless because the writer has wasted his strength on the insignificant details of his subject's childhood, instead of economizing rigorously on time and space in order to state adequately the important facts of his manhood and great career.

(2) Let your beginning indicate clearly what your subject is, and how you mean to treat it. The two following examples will show plainly how explicit such indications may properly be:

(a) "I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time which is within the memory of men still living. I shall recount the errors which, in a few months, alienated a loyal gentry and priesthood from the House of Stuart. I shall trace the course

of that revolution which terminated the long struggle between our sovereigns and their parliaments, and bound up together the rights of the people and the title of the reigning dynasty. I shall relate how the new settlement was, during many troubled years, successfully defended against foreign and domestic enemies; how, under that settlement, the authority of law and the security of property were found to be compatible with a liberty of discussion and of individual action never before known; how, from the auspicious union of order and freedom, sprang a prosperity of which the annals of human affairs had furnished no example; how our country, from a state of ignominious vassalage, rapidly rose to the place of umpire among European powers; how her opulence and her martial glory grew together; how, by wise and resolute good faith, was gradually established a public credit fruitful of marvels which to the statesmen of any former age would have seemed incredible; how a gigantic commerce gave birth to a maritime power, compared with which every other maritime power, ancient or modern, sinks into insignificance; how Scotland, after ages of enmity, was at length united to England, not merely by legal bonds, but by indissoluble ties of interest and affection; how, in America, the British colonies rapidly became far mightier and wealthier than the realms which Cortez and Pizarro had added to the dominions of Charles the Fifth; how, in Asia, British adventurers founded an empire not less splendid and more durable than that of Alexander."

- MACAULAY: History of England.

(b) "For twenty-six years the negro has had his freedom, and now the question is, What use has he made of it? I have just returned from an extended trip through the South, arranged and made solely for the purpose of getting an answer to the question, What is the colored man doing for himself? I have travelled through Virginia, the Carolinas,

Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, returning through Tennessee, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. In the course of this journey, covering thirty-five hundred miles, I have visited schools, colleges, and industrial institutions in most of the large centres of the South, from Baltimore to New Orleans. I have gone through the Black Belt, inspected the agricultural districts, visited farms and cabins, and have seen every phase of negro life, from the destitution of the one-room cabin to the homes of the comfortable and prosperous, and every degree of social standing, from the convicts in the chain-gang in the New Orleans Parish Prison and the Birmingham mines to ministers, lawyers, doctors, and bankers on the top round of the social ladder. As a result of this observation and experience, I have some clearly defined impressions and some interesting evidence as to what the negro is doing for himself."

- BARROWS: What the Southern Negro is doing for Himself.

(3) Look no less carefully to the end than to the beginning. Be sure that the reader leaves your work with a clear idea of what your main points are.

"To sum up, then, the facts which show what the negro is doing for himself, it is clear that the new generation of Afric-Americans is animated by a progressive spirit. They are raising and following their own leaders. They are rapidly copying the organic, industrial, and administrative features of white society. They have discovered that industrial redemption is not to be found in legislative and political measures. In spite of oppressive usury and extortion, the colored man is buying farms, accumulating property, establishing himself in trade, learning the mechanic arts, devising inventions, and entering the professions. Education he sees to be the pathway to prosperity, and is making immense sacrifices to secure it. He is passing into the higher states