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8. The itinerant banana-man.

9. Life on a farm.

10. How a city is governed.

II. Uncle Sam's mints.

12. The early life of Goldsmith (see Irving s Life of Goldsmith).

13. Lamb's picture of his school days in Christ's Hospital (see the Essays of Elia).

CHAPTER II

THE WHOLE COMPOSITION

9. The structural units of the discourse. - In the actual writing of every composition exceeding the limits of a single paragraph the writer has to concern himself at one and the same time with three structural units, namely, the whole composition itself, the paragraph, and the sentence. This means a constant endeavor to adapt one unit to another, to adjust one part to another and all the parts to the whole. The word "composition," indeed, literally means "putting things together," with the implication that the things so put together, taken collectively, make up a whole or unit.

That this adjustment of part to part and of parts to the whole is not a matter of mere mechanics, of simply adding sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph, any one who has ever tried his hand at writing will at once recognize. Sentences or paragraphs which are models in themselves may be far from effective when used with other sentences or paragraphs as parts of a larger whole. They must be made to fit into their places. In other words, the composition, if it is to produce any definite effect, must be made unified and coherent.

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10. The purpose of the discourse. To adapt the

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part to the whole, the writer must have more or less clearly in mind the purpose for which the whole exists. He must know what it is that he wishes to do. Does he wish to explain to his friend some new doctrine or creed, or does he wish to persuade his friend to accept that doctrine or creed as his own? Upon the answer to this question will depend the character of his discourse, the nature of the material he will use, and the shape into which he will mold that material. It is the purpose or aim of the discourse which determines the nature of the parts and gives form to the whole.

- The purpose or

II. Selection of the material. aim of the discourse being determined, the first great problem which confronts the writer is the selection of his material. Here the beginner must be reminded that selection implies a stock of material from which to select. It is necessary to think before one begins to write. Invention must always precede composition. As the old cookery book says, first catch your hare, then proceed to dress it. It is impossible to write a composition without ideas to start with. No amount of revision quite takes the place of a little prevision.

12. Sources whence material may be derived. There are two sources whence a writer may derive his material. He may derive it from life or nature through his own observation or experience, or he may derive it from the writings of others. The one source is just as legitimate as the other, for reflection upon

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the thought of others may be just as truly invention as direct observation. The mind invents either by direct contact with phenomena, or by reaction upon the results of the contact of other minds with phenomena. In both cases there is something added to the world's stock of ideas, which is the really important thing in writing.

A word of caution to the beginner may not be amiss here. In going to the writings of others for his material, he must be careful as to the way in which he uses that material. He is not at liberty to appropriate bodily the thought of others and give it forth as if it were his own. That is not composition, but stealing, or, as it is usually termed, plagiarism. In converting to his own uses thought not really his own the beginner may, of course, be innocent of any intention to offend, but he cannot be too careful in the matter. He should remember that if he borrows he should expect to pay interest; and the only way he can afford to do that is to put his borrowed capital to some productive use. He must see to it that he is really adding something, however little that something may be, to the world's stock of ideas. He must assimilate his borrowed thought and give it out again in new combinations, or as modified by his own thought. Then, and then only, will his borrowing be legitimate.

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13. The importance of individuality. advice that can be given to a beginner, apropos of the problem of getting his material, is that which urges

him to put as much of himself into his work as he can. It is the individuality of the writer that, in most cases, gives value to a piece of writing. In any case, the chances are that the closer the writer adheres to his own experience the better will his work be. With the beginner, of course, the value of his work lies rather in the discipline it gives him than in the work itself; but even here individuality is to be encouraged. Nothing develops self-confidence like the effort to stand alone, and nothing more quickly gives the beginner that sense of mastery over his material which it is the aim of every writer to possess than the practice of putting his own thought into presentable form. In remolding the thought of others, he gets inevitably some suggestions as to form from his original; but in putting the results of his own observation and experience into shape he has no such help. Here he must walk alone, and the exercise will be good for him. The difficulty most beginners experience when they try to depend upon themselves for their material is in finding something to say. They have nothing to say, they protest, when urged to make use of their own thought rather than that of others. They are, of course, mistaken. They have something to say if they only knew how to get at it; no mind is an absolute blank. If they can do nothing else, they can at least open their eyes and describe what they see. And how much there is to be seen, even in the most commonplace object, if only they knew how to see it!

John Burroughs, who has sketched for us many

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