6. Principles of Composition
In connection with the writing and correction of themes must be studied the principles of composition and their application. These rhetorical principles may be presented either inductively or deductively. The pupil may either learn them from a definite statement in the text-book, which illustrates their application by selected examples, or he may be led to discover the principles of effective expression from the literature that he is studying in class as a part of the work in reading. While much may be said for the merits of each of these methods, the inductive plan seems to commend itself particularly, since it makes possible a close and effective correlation of the two elements of the English work—composition and reading.
During the first two years, when particular attention is given to the principles of sentence and paragraph construction in the composition work, these principles can be developed and their application readily illustrated from the selections that are read and studied in class. The object of the work in reading, as has already been stated, is to teach the pupil to get the thought clearly from the printed page. In order to do this effectively, it is necessary to study with some degree of care the sentence and paragraph structure of the selection which he is reading. To get the thought of each sentence it is necessary to understand clearly the relation of all its parts. By noting the separate ideas as expressed in words, phrases, and clauses, and by determining their relation in the sentence as the expression of the whole thought, the pupil is taught the principles of sentence unity and coherence. If his attention is properly drawn to these principles as they are exemplified in the literature before him, the importance and application of them may be clearly demonstrated without spoiling the masterpiece of literature. In fact the appreciation of the skill of the literary artist is thereby increased, provided the teaching is done in a proper manner.
To follow the chain of thought in the paragraph, it is necessary to see clearly the relation of each thought as expressed in the sentence to the preceding and succeeding thoughts in order that the development of the topic may be clear, and that the pupil may grasp the subject in its entirety. In teaching the pupil to get the whole thought in the paragraph, it is necessary to consider the whole topic treated in the paragraph; that is, to study the unity of the paragraph; and also to consider the relation of each thought to the one central topic; that is, the principle of paragraph coherence. Thus, in the effort to teach the pupil how to get the thoughts of others by reading, the essential principles of composition are absolutely necessary. In a similar manner all the principles of narration, description, exposition, and argumentation may be developed inductively from the reading. By seeing the application of the rhetorical principles in literature, the pupil comes to realize their importance in effective writing, and is impressed by the varied forms of their application as he is not likely to be by selected examples isolated from their context, in text-books.