ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.
In the paragraphs quoted above you were told of the effects on health of overwork and of insufficient sleep. Perhaps you can write of exercise, of proper food, of clothes, or of some other things on which health may depend.
+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph+.
ADAPTED FROM DR. JOHN BROWN—"RAB AND HIS FRIENDS."
Rab belonged to a lost tribe—there are no such dogs now. He was old and gray and brindled; and his hair short, hard, and close, like a lion's. He was as big as a Highland bull, and his body was thickset. He must have weighed ninety pounds at least.
His large, blunt head was scarred with the record of old wounds, a series of battlefields all over it. His muzzle was as black as night, his mouth blacker than any night, and a tooth or two, all he had, gleamed out of his jaws of darkness. One eye was out, one ear cropped close. The remaining eye had the power of two; and above it, and in constant communication with it, was a tattered rag of an ear that was for ever unfurling itself, like an old flag.
And then that bud of a tail, about an inch long, if it could in any sense be said to be long, being as broad as it was long! The mobility of it, its expressive twinklings and winkings, and the intercommunications between the eye, the ear, and it, were of the oddest and swiftest.
Rab had the dignity and simplicity of great size. Having fought his way all along the road to absolute supremacy, he was as mighty in his own line as Julius Caesar or the Duke of Wellington in his, and he had the gravity of all great fighters.
+To the Teacher+.—We suggest exercises on the uses of words similar to those preceding. Before attempting this it may be well to let the pupils go over these condensed expressions and supply the words necessary to the analysis. For instance, in the first paragraph hair may be followed by was and Highland bull by is big. In the next paragraph wounds may be followed by marking, as night by is black, etc. In the third paragraph and then may be followed by there was, etc. The pupils will determine whether supplying these words makes the description stronger or weaker.
Pupils may note especially the offices of nouns, verbs, and adjectives. This selection abounds in descriptive nouns and verbs that are particularly well chosen. Let the pupils point out such.
+The Description+.—How does the description above impress you? Are only characteristic parts and features selected? Are these few features enough to give you a distinct and vivid picture of Rab? What comparisons do you find? How do they help? Pick out some words or phrases that seem to you very expressive. Find some words that are used, not in their first or common sense, but in a figurative sense. How do they help?
+Paragraphs+.—Which paragraph puts before you the dog as a whole? Where must this paragraph naturally stand? Why? Which paragraph describes Rab's character? What does each of the other paragraphs describe? If you think the arrangement of paragraphs above is the best, tell why.
Make a framework for this description.