She seemed to think the poles had come up beautifully. I thought they did look well: they are a fine set of poles, large and well grown, and stand straight. They were inexpensive too. Polly noticed that the beans had not themselves come up in any proper sense, but that the dirt had got off from them, leaving them uncovered. She thought it would be well to sprinkle a slight layer of dirt over them; and I indulgently consented. It occurred to me, when she had gone, that beans always come up that way-wrong end first; and that what they wanted was light, and not dirt. CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER. From My Summer in a Garden. I. Oral Composition What was the mistake Polly made? Give the substance of each paragraph. this story is a humorous one. Show in what way In what part of the story is the mistake told? What is the value of putting it there? Tell the story of a mistake you have made or that some one else has. Follow this outline: 1. Circumstances. Time; place; people. 2. The trouble. (a) Its cause. (b) Its remedy. 3. Disclosure of mistake. II. Written Composition Write your story. Try to tell it in a humorous way and to keep the interest to the end. Correct your work as you have done in other compositions. III. Correction Exercise If a classmate has not kept the telling of the mistake to the end, try to recast his composition. XVI. ORAL AND WRITTEN REPRODUCTION The Sense of Fellowship I once crossed the Atlantic in late December. We had been shut down in the cabin for several days, but one afternoon just before nightfall, when the wet, wintry sunset smeared the southern sky, I crawled up to the slippery, solitary decks. Around me was the great waste of waters, heaving like a fevered bosom, and already black with the shadows of approaching night. There was not a human being that I could see on deck, and one never felt more acutely the sense of absolute loneliness. On every hand were the tumbling, chasing, foam-streaked waves; underneath, the creaking, laboring ship-but not a sign of life in the darkening day. Just as I was about to turn to go down to the warmlylighted cabin, suddenly upon the ragged edge of the hori zon I saw the flashing of a light. Nearer and nearer it drew to us, and in a few minutes we picked out the lines of a gayly-lighted ship upon its voyage. Signals were exchanged, and in its presence there came into that wintry night a sense of fellowship that destroyed the loneliness that a few moments before had been so oppressive. From The Other Little Ships. I. Oral Exercise DONALD SAGE MACKAY. Give other words for-smeared; crawled; solitary; acutely; laboring; fellowship; oppressive. Give the meaning of—heaving like a fevered båsom; ragged edge of the horizon; picked out the lines; destroyed the loneliness. Express in another way-in late December; shut down in the cabin; just before nightfall; great waste of waters; black with the shadows of approaching night; sense of absolute loneliness; tumbling, chasing, foamstreaked waves; darkening day. Show in what way these words and expressions are particularly well-chosen-wet, wintry sunset; solitary; great waste of waters; absolute; tumbling, chasing; ragged; flashing; oppressive. To the teacher.-To create an appreciative atmosphere, the teacher should first read this description to the class. Then should follow the analysis, to show the pupils the modus operandi by which the author put such beauty into his writing. Why were the people shut down in the cabin for several days? What is the contrast between the second and the third paragraph? What is the effect of this contrast? Why was the loneliness so oppressive? What brought the sense of fellowship? How does the author make you feel the slow approach of the vessel? If you have ever been on the ocean when nothing could be seen but sky and water, tell how you can appreciate the feelings of the author when he saw the approaching ship. Using this outline, reproduce, as closely as you can, "The Sense of Fellowship": 1. The trip. (a) When taken. (b) Kind of weather. 2. On deck. (a) Appearance of ocean. (c) Feeling of loneliness. 3. The other ship. (a) Flashing light. (b) Its approach. 4. The effect. (a) Sense of fellowship aroused. II. Written Composition Following the outline, write the description in your own words. Correct by comparing your work with the model. III. Correction Exercise Exchange papers with a classmate and, with the model before you, correct his work. XVII. LETTER WRITING SOCIAL Train between Edinburgh My dear Friend: and Chester, August 8, 1874. My father and mother reading. I think I shall talk to you for a moment or two. This morning at Swanston, the birds, poor creatures, had the most troubled hour or two; evidently there was a hawk in the neighborhood; not one sang; and the whole garden thrilled with little notes of warning and terror. I did not know before that the voice of birds could be so tragically expressive. I had always heard them before express their trivial satisfaction with the blue sky and the return of daylight. Really, they almost frightened me; I could hear mothers and wives in terror for those who were dear to them; it was easy to translate, I wish it were as easy to write; but it is very hard in this flying train, or I would write you more. ་ R. L. Stevenson. |