+The Style+.—We shall not here say much about what we may call the style of the author—his way of putting his thought, or manner of expressing it. But this you will notice: his words are few, plain, and simple; the arrangement of them is easy; and so what is said is said clearly. You are nowhere in doubt about his meaning unless it be in the second paragraph. It may puzzle you to see what their, they, and they in the second sentence of this paragraph stand for. Let an astonishing number of worms and out of their holes change places, and substitute birds and worms for they and they, and see whether the meaning would be clearer. Clearness is worth all it costs. You cannot take too much pains to be understood.
+First-hand Knowledge+.—As you know, we get our knowledge in two ways. We get it by seeing and by thinking about what we see; and we get it by listening to other people and reading what they have written. What we get by seeing, by observation, is first-hand knowledge; what we get from others is second-hand knowledge. Both kinds are useful; we cannot have too much of either. But the kind that it does us most good to get and is worth most to us when got is first-hand knowledge. This especially is the kind which you should make your compositions of. In the first two paragraphs of the selection above, Darwin is telling what he saw, and in the third he is explaining what he saw. That is why what he says is so fresh and interesting.
And just one thing more. If such a man as Charles Darwin thought it worth his while to spend much time in studying and experimenting upon angleworms and then to write a large book about them, surely you need not think anything in nature beneath your notice.
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.
Tell in two or three short paragraphs what you have observed of some worm, insect, or other creature, and what you think about it.
+To the Teacher+.—We suggest that what is said above be read by the pupils and discussed in the class, and that the substance of it be reproduced in the pupils' own language. Such reproduction will serve as a lesson in oral composition.
It may be profitable for the pupils to reproduce the selection from Darwin.
+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph+.
SELECTION FROM HABBERTON—"HELEN'S BABIES."
The whistles completed, I was marched with music to the place where the "Jacks" grew. It was just such a place as boys delight in—low, damp, and boggy, with a brook hidden away under overhanging ferns and grasses.