THE APOSTROPHE

16 Use the apostrophe (a) to distinguish the possessive case of nouns, (b) to indicate the plurals of letters and figures, and (c) to show the omission of letters or figures.

These three uses are illustrated in the following sentence: 'Tis true John's b's and 6's look alike. Do not forget that the possessive forms of pronouns do not call for the apostrophe. It's is not the possessive form of it, but a contraction of it is. Who's is not the possessive form of who, but a contraction of who is.

THE DASH

17 Use the dash to indicate a sudden change in the sense or the grammatical construction, particularly after a series the terms of which are in apposition with a word following the series.

Meanwhile Henry-but that is another story.

Dickens, Thackeray, Scott-these are my favorite novelists.

18 Use the dash, but with great caution, between short, snappy sentences, or even between single words or wordgroups, to give the impression of haste or excitement.

The dash has a number of other dramatic uses, but these will not be given; for, as one manual remarks, the dash "is more misused and overused than any of the other punctuation marks."

THE PARENTHESIS AND THE BRACKET

19 Use the parenthesis (a) to enclose figures or letters employed to mark divisions, (b) to enclose matter which does not belong strictly to the sentence.

The bracket is employed in much the same way, yet with this difference: as a rule the words enclosed in a bracket belong to an editor or reporter. In reported

speeches, for example, we may find bracketed expressions like the following: [Loud cheers!], [At this point the speaker was interrupted by the member from

NOTE. For exercises in punctuation see page 23.

—].

].

B

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Any departure from plain, ordinary expression, for the purpose of gaining a desired effect, is called a figure of speech. There are many kinds of figures, one investigator recognizing over two hundred varieties. But not a few of these are so common, and represent departures so slight, that they may be disregarded. The following are, without much question, the most important:

A simile is a definitely expressed comparison. Usually the things compared are named, the point of resemblance or dissimilarity indicated, and a word denoting comparison employed, as in the line

Red as a rose is she.

Sometimes, however, the point of resemblance or dissimilarity is not mentioned, as in the line

Her cheeks like the dawn of day.

But in every case the things compared are quite dissimilar in all respects save one. No simile is present, for example, in the assertion James is taller than Henry, since the comparison is between things of the same class or kind, and there is no departure from ordinary, matter-of-fact statement. Similes are an aid to clearness, for through comparisons the reader is enabled to get more completely the

thought, the fancy, the image, in the writer's mind. Moreover a good simile brings a degree of pleasurable surprise, by pointing out that things apparently not at all resembling each other possess one characteristic in common. Finally, that which a simile brings to mind is often beautiful in itself, or stirring, uplifting.

A metaphor is an implied comparison-a simile condensed, usually into a single word. Marullus employs metaphor when he cries out to the rabble

You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! So too does Coleridge in the line

Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship.

In each case a likeness is implied, but not fully expressed as in simile. The Roman citizens are like blocks and stones in that they are senseless, Marullus thinks; but he merely calls them blocks and stones, assuming that the point of resemblance is evident. The ship is like a bird in that it moves swiftly, as if its sails were wings. Birds are not mentioned directly but simply suggested in the word flew. Many similes are easily changed into metaphors; all metaphors may be changed into similes. Simile is the quieter, more deliberate form of expression; metaphor is swifter, often more startling. Our common speech is crowded with metaphors, some so worn, so "faded," that they are no longer recognized as figures. It is the basis of perhaps nine-tenths of our slang. "Jones plowed to second base," writes the baseball editor. "The fielding on both sides was green, with saffron touches."

The man whose mind

is not right is said to be "off his trolley"-as if he were an electric car, or to have "bats in his belfry." The son who goes wrong is a "black sheep"; whatever is disagreeable "goes against the grain," and the unexpected "beats the

Dutch." It is hardly necessary to multiply examples, nor to caution against the use of expressions which, even if not coarse or vulgar, are cheap and commonplace-secondhand wit.

Personification is a form of metaphor in which something inanimate-for example a tree, an animal, or a quality like patience-is treated as if it had mind and personality. Metaphors which imply that natural objects such as flowers, or forces of nature such as the winds or the ocean, are animals of lower order than man are also classed as personifications. It is a simple figure. Children use it unconsciously when talking to their playthings. Poetry is full of it, for the poet realizes that mind, heart, and soul are more interesting than inanimate rocks and trees. Notice the examples in the following passage:

O Cicero,

I have seen tempests, when the scolding winds
Have riv'd the knotty oaks, and I have seen
The ambitious ocean swell and rage and foam,
To be exalted with the threatening clouds.

Scolding, ambitious, rage, and threatening are terms applicable to persons, not to things.

An allegory is an expanded metaphor taking the form of a story emphasizing a truth which the reader is left to discover. When Gareth, who wishes to go to Arthur's court and become a knight, is urged by his mother to remain at home till he is older, contenting himself with the harmless chase and a "comfortable" wife, he tells her a story. It is of a royal prince who asked for a bride; and the king, his father, set two before him.

One was fair, strong, arm'd-
But to be won by force-and many men
Desired her; one, good lack, no man desired.

The king declared that unless the prince won the first by force, he must wed the other,

A red-faced bride who knew herself so vile
That evermore she long'd to hide herself.

The name of one was Fame; the name of the other, Shame. Here, then, is a comparison implied between Gareth and the royal prince. Just as the royal prince might escape hardship by accepting Shame, so Gareth might, yet not without shame, stay at home and lead a safe, comfortable life. Fame, he is trying to show his mother, comes only through hardship and daring; ease and inactivity are shameful.

Sometimes an allegory is a metaphor so fully expanded as to fill an entire volume. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is an example of such. It purports to be the adventures of Pilgrim on his long and perilous journey to Celestial City; yet there is a half-hidden meaning. Bunyan is but trying to show the struggles a mortal must make in purging his character of sin. The parables in the New Testament, short, imaginary narratives used by Christ in his preaching, are briefer allegories; so too are fables, in which frequently, though not always, the actors are animals or inanimate things. Yet all, whether long or short, are but metaphors, or in some cases similes, expanded into stories; all contain truths left for the reader to discover. They are impressive because stories are more interesting than plain statement, more easily remembered.

Metonymy is a figure in which there is a substitution or transfer of names, a thing being indicated by the name of something so intimately associated with it that the one immediately suggests the other. There are at least a score of varieties, a common form being that in which the name of a part is substituted for the name of the whole. We