13. The three of them set out for Boston. 14. Ten miles, did you say? Is that all the farther it is? 15. She was determined on having her own way. 16. Everything I tried to do seemed like it was my hardest task. 17. I took the car, as I thought I would enjoy the ride. 18. I just started to run when the gong sounded. 19. I worked all morning and played all afternoon. 20. Of him I will write at the best of my ability. 21. He did pretty good for a new beginner. 22. He went to the woods in search for a pole. 23. Henry said he wished he brought a stove. 24. He eludes from the policeman's grasp and slipped away. 25. I know a remedy equally as good. 26. She attended a business college, but she did not take a position from there. 27. When one is at the theatre, he or she will note many things of interest. 28. How do I feel? Pretty good, thank you. 29. He walks like he was tired. 30. I think probably it might have been father. 31. The cause of much evil is due to the abandoned writings of men of wit. 32. I am fond of sports and football. 33. Soon we saw three boys who we recognized as them. 34. I do not know who the picture was painted by. 35. Soon we reached a place where there was fewer trees. 36. Here comes four or five girls. 37. It was all one could do to keep themselves on the seat. 38. I could not make head or tail of it. 39. I left undone many things I would like to have done. 43. In the rear of the house is barns. 44. There was from ten to fifteen courses. 45. This accounts for Banquo being up late. 46. If one has ability, they should use their talents. 47. Looking off to the west is the ocean, now red with the sinking sun. 48. She was well built, medium height, blue eyes, and beautiful hair. 49. The rest of the ride was uneventful, reaching New Orleans at ten. 50. It is painful to hear his talk, being not unlike a dry sermon. 51. The building was too small, so a right and left wing were added. 52. There was a crowd of ragged people who, whenever they picked up a book, it turned into a garment. 53. On entering the hall, everything was decorated with yellow and black. 54. The last, but by no means not the least, was Peter. 55. Macaulay's style of writing is graphic. 56. As a general rule he is punctual. 57. If I had have known, I should have been prepared. 58. I'd as leave go as stay. 59. You might of guessed. 60. He said you was absent. 61. I would of thought he would of telephoned. 62. We hadn't ought to of left him alone. 63. If he had have cared to, he could have gone. 64. You had ought to of seen him! 65. Will I need an overcoat? 66. Let's you and I stay behind. 67. He learned me how to skate. 68. Have either of the boats returned? 69. Each of the men were told what to do. 70. Everyone must look out for hisself. 71. Whom shall I say called? 72. I did not think he would go that far. 73. What hotel does he stop at? 74. I can't go no farther. 75. It is as large, if not larger, than the others. 76. I don't care which boat you take, for they are both alike. 77. I reckon he's going fishing. 78. John, mother, and myself made up the party. 79. A foul, he said, is when the ball goes to the right of the first base line or to the left of the third base line. 80. This is good, but I like the other equally as well. 81. Wave your arms like I do. 82. The life here is very different than I expected. 83. It was on the third of June when the boat was launched. 84. I got the book off Tom. 85. I did not notice him, as my eyes were turned aside. 86. We had no wood or coal with which to build a fire. 87. He took the glove from Henry and hid it on him. 88. Aint it cold! 89. When the conjunctions are omitted, a comma should be placed between each word. 90. The furnace fire went out on me. CHAPTER III CLEARNESS Clearness is a term so familiar that it does not need defining; nor should it be necessary to dwell on the importance of making whatever one has to say Clearness easy to understand. The reminder cannot come too often, however, that to convey even a simple message with absolute accuracy is such a difficult matter that seldom do we succeed in saying precisely what we mean. Clearness depends on four things: first, mastery of subject; second, ability to plan; third, skill in the selection of words and the construction of sentences and paragraphs; fourth, skill in the employment of a few simple devices. Four sources Mastery of subject That mastery of subject is essential is quite evident; for of course one cannot give what he does not possess, cannot impart to others that which he himself does not know perfectly. We may have found through unpleasant experience that a half-mastered proposition in geometry leads to a hazy demonstration; or that it is safer to trust to compass, when traversing a strange country, than to follow the directions of a guide who is not quite sure of the trail. On the other hand, one would be right in concluding that the remarkable clearness of Macaulay's essay on Samuel Johnson is due in large measure to the fact that Macaulay was at home in the London of Johnson's day almost as truly as in the London of his own century. He knew his field. With equal certainty we may attribute the obscurity in the typical school composition to the fact that the young, too commonly unwilling to write on simple, homely topics growing out of their familiar experience, select subjects lying beyond the range of their intimate knowledge. Moreover it is difficult to realize that one may be deeply interested in certain things and have a grasp of them sufficient for most purposes, without knowing them well enough to impart his knowledge to others. Careful planning Mastery of subject, though of first importance, does not bring us quite to the threshold of expression; for before the message is entrusted to words, whether it be through song or story or plain statement of fact, there must be careful planning. The writer when about to compose is like a traveler preparing for a journey. The traveler must decide where to go and how to make the journey, how long to stay in this place, how long in that, and what he would best try to see and do, that the purpose for which the journey is taken may be accomplished. Or we may compare the writer to a builder who, before setting his laborers at work, decides what manner of structure he will erect, how large it shall be, how constructed, how divided into rooms and what shall be the plan of each room, that all may serve the purpose for which the structure is intended. That is to say, the trained writer, before penning a sentence, will have his entire message pretty well mapped out in his mind, its ending as well as its beginning, and the intervening parts all in their proper sequence and proportion-mapped out so clearly that when he has written, the reader will readily see that the composition follows a definite route or plan or pattern. If the character of the subject is such that the plan followed is necessarily complicated, the writer may find it necessary to outline it in an introductory sen |