both are definitely related to the paragraph subject. The second and third sentences are more closely related in thought, but even they would not form a harmonious unit.

In all writing, then, endeavor to have a composition deal with one subject, a paragraph deal with one definite part of that subject, and a sentence deal with one thought about the part of the subject which is considered in the paragraph.

Exercise.

Tell of an experience of your own somewhat like the one told of above. For example, tell how you made a raft, how you took a photograph, how you trapped some animal, how you caught a butterfly, how you caught a fish, how a game was won, how you made the garden, how you made a window garden, etc. Be careful to tell of the events in the order of their occurrence, and to make your explanation simple and clear. Have at least a beginning paragraph, two middle paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

Have you any general suggestions to make to others trying to do something of the same kind, as the author has suggested something in the last paragraph quoted?

51. WORDS TO WATCH.

Ain't is a form often used for am not, is not, or are not. This form is incorrect. The contraction I'm not may be used. You're not, He isn't, and They're not are also allowable, as are We're not and We, You, or They aren't. BUT NEVER USE

66

AIN'T."

52. DRIVING HOME THE COWS.

Out of the clover and blue-eyed grass
He turned them into the river lane;
One after another he let them pass,
Then fastened the meadow bars again.

Under the willows and over the hills
He patiently followed their sober pace;
The merry whistle for once was still,
And something shadowed the sunny face.

Only a boy! And his father had said

He never could let his youngest go; Two already were lying dead

Under the feet of the trampling foe.

But after the evening's work was done,

And the frogs were loud in the meadow-swamp,

Over his shoulder he slung his gun,

And stealthily followed the foot-path damp;

Across the river and through the wheat,

With resolute heart and purpose grim; Though the dew was on his hurrying feet And the blind bat's flitting startled him.

Thrice since then had the lanes been white,
And the orchard sweet with apple-bloom;
And now, when the cows came back at night,
The feeble father drove them home.

For news had come to the lonely farm

That three were lying where two had lain; And the old man's tremulous, palsied arm Could never lean on a son's again.

The summer day grew cool and late ;

He went for the cows when the work was done;

But down the lane as he opened the gate

He saw them coming, one by one:

Brindle, Ebony, Speckle, and Bess,

Shaking their horns in the evening wind;
Cropping the buttercups out of the grass;
But who was it following close behind?

Loosely swung in the idle air

An empty sleeve of army blue;

And worn and pale from the crisping hair,
Looked out a face that the father knew.

The great tears sprang to their meeting eyes,
For the heart must speak when the lips are dumb;
And under the silent evening skies

Together they followed the cattle home.

- Kate Putnam Osgood, in" Harper's Magazine."

Exercises.

Ex. I. Why is the whistle still? Why the sunny face shadowed? Who has said "Only a boy"? Does the son agree? Do we now sympathize with the father or with the son? Why does he go stealthily? Where is he going? Why is this sturdy young man startled by the bat? What makes us know the length of time that intervenes before the second part of the poem? Would it be better to say that the son had lost an arm than thus to make it known indirectly? Why the tears? Why are the lips dumb?

With closed eyes try to see clearly the pictures suggested by each line of the poem. Try to smell the clover and to hear the rustle of the willows, as well as really to enjoy the sweetness of the orchard. In each line determine upon the one or two words that especially appeal to the feelings.

Ex. II. Write a paragraph about a boy or a girl in the woods. Try to suggest a half dozen pictures, remembering that almost every line in this poem suggests a picture.

Have one of your grandparents or an aged friend tell you about an incident connected with the war; then write an account of it.

Write an imaginary story of the life of this young man during the three years he was away. Tell of his reaching the army, of his being wounded, of his hospital experience, and of his trip home.

53. THE COMMA (Continued).

Last summer, during July and a part of August, while spending my vacation at Chautauqua, I kept my sailboat fastened to a keg buoy about sixty yards from the shore.

The leading thought in the sentence just quoted is, "Last summer I kept my sailboat fastened to a keg buoy about sixty yards from the shore." In the original sentence, then, there are two parts that in meaning are of secondary value: during July and a part of August, and while spending my vacation at Chautauqua. Each of these is set off by commas from the part of the sentence containing the important idea; for they convey ideas of less than prime importance. Such expressions are said to be

parenthetical.

Parenthetical expressions should be set off from the rest of the sentence by a comma or by commas.

Notice the following sentences, each of which contains an Appositive, that is, a substantive expression meaning the same as the noun or pronoun that it follows:

APPOSITIVE PARENTHETICAL.

1. Mr. Brown, the well-known carpenter, has recently visited Cuba. 2. My dog, a fine collie, must be kept tied.

3. Have you met my sister, the girl with the black hair?
4. John Stuart Mill, the philosopher, was born in Scotland.

APPOSITIVE RESTRICTIVE.

5. My sister Elizabeth is to go abroad soon.

6. The artist Millet was a French peasant.

7. My dog Noble must be kept tied.

8. The philosopher John Stuart Mill learned the Greek alphabet when he was three years old.

Most appositives (probably all of over two words except an occasional proper name) are parenthetical, or non

restrictive (see 1 to 4, p. 284). They are not absolutely necessary to the expression of the author's primary thought, but are inserted for emphasis or for explanation.

A few appositives, however, including the great majority of those consisting of a single word, of a noun and its article, or of a proper name, are restrictive in their nature (see 5 to 8, p. 284). They are needed in order to express the author's primary meaning, and are never set off by

commas.

A parenthetical or Non-restrictive Expression, as has been explained, is one that can be omitted without changing the author's primary meaning. It is one that adds a new idea or an emphasizing idea of secondary importance. (See left column below.)

But a Restrictive Expression is one that is absolutely necessary in order to express the author's primary meaning. To omit a restrictive expression is to lose or change the meaning of the sentence. (See right column below.) This explains why a non-restrictive expression is set off by commas and why a restrictive expression must be written without commas.

As the correct use of the comma depends largely upon a power to determine quickly and accurately whether an expression is restrictive, the following illustrative examples are inserted to show how clauses, the various kinds of phrases, and even single words may be either restrictive or non-restrictive:

NON-RESTRICTIVE-SET OFF.

1. His only son, John, was present.

2. A Greek philosopher, Diogenes, lived in a tub.

RESTRICTIVE -NOT SET OFF. 1. His son John was present. (He has other sons.)

2. The Greek philosopher Diogenes lived in a tub.