Exercise 2

In the following quotations place the commas, semi-colons, colons and periods in their proper places, and be able to give a reason for what you do:

The man who stabs his brother to death is a criminal and is hanged the general who under a flag slays a regiment is a hero and is decorated with a cross

The most thrilling oratory the most powerful and impressive eloquence is the voice of the disinherited the oppressed the suffering and the submerged it is the voice of poverty and misery of wretchedness and despair it is the voice of humanity crying to the infinite it is the voice that resounds throughout the earth and reaches heaven it is the voice that wakens the conscience of the race and proclaims the truths that fill the world with life liberty and love

The number of lives lost in the great wars of the world have been as follows Napoleonic wars 1900000 our Civil War 656000 Franco-German War 290000 Boer War 90898 Russo-Japanese 555900 and in the present world-war untold millions

Walt Whitman who represents individualism at its best writes "I sing the song of myself" To this the Socialist replies "Inasmuch as my redemption is bound up in that of my class I sing the song of my class"

We believe with John Ruskin "whether there be one God or three no God or ten thousand children should be fed and their bodies should be kept clean"

My dear Mr Smith Your letter of the 15th has been received

Through the dreams of all the ages rings the voice of labor beginning as a murmur growing in volume and grandeur as it rolls round the world And this is the burden of its message By the sweat of no other's brow shalt thou eat bread

The sun of the new world is rising it is rising out of the solidarity of the working class Its rays of light are bursting through the dark horizon which ignorance and deceit have so long riveted upon us It is lighting up the faces of a new order of men and women supermen and women men and women not discouraged by defeat god-like men and women who have found the secret springs of life and are already drinking deep and glorious draughts men and women who are standing erect and whose joined hands encircle the world men and women who see the world's wretchedness and the world's poverty and are ready to throw away their lives with a song on their lips that such things shall not be

Exercise 3

Note the punctuation in the following poem and determine for yourself, in accordance with the rules we have studied, why the commas, semi-colons, colons and periods are used as they are:

JOHN BROWN

States are not great

Except as man may make them;

Men are not great except they do and dare.

But States, like men,

Have destinies that take them—

That bear them on, not knowing why or where.

The why repels

The philosophic searcher—

The why and where all questionings defy,

Until we find,

Far back in youthful nurture,

Prophetic facts that constitute the why.

All merit comes

From braving the unequal;

All glory comes from daring to begin.

Fame loves the State

That, reckless of the sequel,

Fights long and well, whether it lose or win.

And there is one

Whose faith, whose fight, whose failing,

Fame shall placard upon the walls of time.

He dared begin—

Despite the unavailing,

He dared begin, when failure was a crime.

When over Africa

Some future cycle

Shall sweep the lake-gemmed uplands with its surge;

When, as with trumpet

Of Archangel Michael,

Culture shall bid a colored race emerge;

From boulevards

O'erlooking both Nyanzas,

The statured bronze shall glitter in the sun,

With rugged lettering:

"JOHN BROWN OF KANSAS:

HE DARED BEGIN;

HE LOST,

BUT, LOSING, WON."

SPELLING

LESSON 29

Last week we studied words which had the same, or nearly the same, meaning. There is always a slight distinction in the meaning of words, but some of them are so nearly the same that it makes very little difference which word we use. Some writers, however, are very careful and spend a great deal of time in the selection of just the right word to express their meaning.

Robert Louis Stevenson once said a good writer would wait half a day in order to secure the best word to convey a certain idea.

A very amusing story is told of Thomas Carlyle, who was very careful to use words expressing just the shade of meaning which he desired to express. He had a habit of writing in a note book these words as they occurred to him, so he would have them for ready reference and use. One day he had searched all day for a certain word which eluded him. Suddenly in the middle of the night he wakened with the word flashing in his mind. He wanted to write it down immediately lest he should forget it in the morning, but it was cold and he dreaded getting up in the cold to secure his note book so he nudged Jeanie, his wife, and said: "Jeanie, Jeanie, get up! I have thought of a good word, and I want you to write it down." Now it was equally cold for Jeanie, so Jeanie nudged Thomas and said: "Thomas, Thomas, get up yourself. I have thought of a bad one!"

Nevertheless, it is a good idea when these good words occur to you to write them down. Possibly to save trouble, you had better write them for yourself!

But in addition to words which have the same meaning, or almost the same meaning, there are also words which express just the opposite meaning, and it is well for us to be master of these words also.

These words which express opposite meaning are called antonyms. Words and their antonyms are given in this week's spelling lesson in the words for the first three days' study. For the last three days, words only are given. Look these words up in your dictionary and determine upon the most suitable antonyms.

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Write the proper word in the following blanks: