PREFACE

THE widespread favor with which the Brooks and Hubbard Composition-Rhetoric has been received would seem to argue against the need for a new book. This book, however, has been prepared to meet the requirements of many high schools that prefer a smaller book for the first two years' work.

The aim of the book is to enable every pupil to express in writing freely, clearly, and forcibly whatever he may find within himself worthy of expression. To this end, exercises are provided for training the pupil how to think as a condition of progress in writing. Special attention, therefore, is given to the thought side of composition, and overemphasis of form, which restricts freedom in thinking, is avoided.

The three fundamental principles considered in the preparation of the Brooks and Hubbard Composition-Rhetoric are equally applicable to this book, namely:

First, improvement in the performance of an act is attained through repetition of that act with conscious effort to avoid the imperfections of the former attempt. Therefore the writing of a new theme in which the pupil attempts to avoid the errors that occurred in his former theme is of much greater educational value than the copying of the old theme for the purpose of correcting the errors in it. To copy the old theme is to correct a result, to write a new theme correctly is to improve a process; and it is this improvement of process which is the real aim of the teaching of composition.

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Second, the needs of the pupil should determine the method of presentation. While While a logical arrangement might require the completion of each subject when first taken up, the needs of the pupils may often be better satisfied by a briefer, simpler introduction to a subject with a more extended treatment later. In this book, many topics are repeated on a slightly increasing scale of difficulty adapted to the increasing power and maturity of the pupil.

Third, expression cannot be compelled; it must be coaxed. Only under favorable conditions can we expect that reaction of intellect and emotion which renders possible a full expression of self. One of the most important of these favorable conditions is that the pupil shall write something he wishes to write, for an audience that wishes to hear it. Therefore the subjects suggested are those in which high-school pupils are interested and about which they wish to write. It is hoped that the teacher will so conduct the work that every theme will be read aloud to the class. The criticism of a theme so read should, as far as possible, be complimentary, pointing out and emphasizing that which the pupil has done well; and destructive criticism should, in general, be impersonal and directed toward a single definite point. Only by this means may we avoid personal embarrassment to the pupil, give him confidence in himself, and assure him of a sympathetic audience—all of which conditions are essential to the effective teaching of composition.

In composition, as in other things, it is better to do only one thing at a time. Each theme, therefore, differs from the preceding theme by a single point, and it will be found desirable to confine the teaching effort, and particularly the criticism, to that point. It is a false standard of accuracy that requires the correction of all errors every time they appear. By such a course the main point is lost

sight of in a multiplicity of details; instruction is rendered ineffective by scattered effort; hopeless confusion is produced in the mind of the pupil; and composition is robbed of that inspiration without which it cannot succeed.

The total effect of the themes and exercises should be to give the pupil confidence in his ability to express to others, with accuracy and fluency, his own thoughts and feelings. No mastery of the minor matters of technique, or improvement in the polish of his sentences, will compensate him for the failure to accomplish this end.

The text should not be recited, but should be used as a basis for discussion between teacher and pupil, before the pupil attempts to write. The real test of the pupil's mastery of a principle discussed in the text will be his ability to put it into practice in his theme writing.

The author wishes to express his obligation for advice and assistance to all who coöperated in the making of the Brooks and Hubbard Composition-Rhetoric; to Miss Mabel L. Warner, Roxbury High School, Boston; to Miss Josephine L. Hammond, Practical Arts High School, Boston; to Mr. Henry Hall, Phillips Brooks School, Boston; to Mr. Gilbert S. Blakely, Morris High School, New York; to Mr. Harold E. Foster, Morris High School, New York; to Miss Ellen E. Garrigues, DeWitt Clinton High School, New York; to Mr. F. A. Vogt, Central High School, Buffalo; to Mr. Eugene D. Holmes, Albany High School; and to Miss May McKitrick, Cleveland Technical High School.

The selections from Hawthorne, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, Warner, and Burroughs are used by permission of, and special arrangement with the Houghton Mifflin Company. Grateful acknowledgment is made to Harper and Brothers, The Century Company, Doubleday, Page, and Company, and Charles Scribner's Sons for permission to use the selections to which their names are attached; to the publishers