Accepted:—
Condition of cotton industry before invention of cotton gin.
Method of removing seeds before invention of cotton gin.
Price of cotton.
Whitney becomes interested in problem.
His first attempt to make a machine.
His success.
Price of cotton after invention of cotton gin.
Description of Whitney's cotton gin.
Result of invention as to cotton raising.
Relation between slavery and the cotton gin.
Amount of cotton exported after the invention.
Effect of invention on manufacturing at the North.
Rejected:—
Boyhood of Whitney.
Visit to South.
Whitney's character.
These points are rejected because they do not bear directly upon the main theme, although suggested by it.
Close attention to the selection of material in this way will give your composition unity.
After selecting your facts, the next point is to arrange them in an orderly way, so that one paragraph will lead naturally to the next. You would then have some such arrangement as this:—
I. Condition of cotton industry before invention of cotton gin.
A. Method of removing seeds before invention of cotton gin.
B. Price of cotton.
II. Whitney's solution of the problem.
A. His first attempt to make a machine.
B. His success.
C. Description of Whitney's cotton gin.
III. Result of invention.
A. Price of cotton after invention of cotton gin.
B. Amount of cotton exported after the invention.
C. Effect of invention on manufacturing at the North.
D. Relation between slavery and the cotton gin.
Here, for further illustration, is a similar outline for a composition on cotton.
I. Description of plant.
A. Root.
B. Stem.
C. Leaves.
D. Flowers.
E. Cotton boll.
F. Seeds.
II. Where grown.
A. Of what country a native.
B. Where grown most extensively.
III. Preparation.
A. Picking.
B. Ginning.
C. Packing.
IV. Manufacturing.
A. Articles manufactured.
V. History of Plant.
A. Discovery.
B. In America before invention of cotton gin.
C. In America after invention of cotton gin.
D. Value to-day.
Exercise 76.—I. Make outlines for composition on such topics as the teacher indicates.
Suggested topics:—
1. Our Fourth-of-July Celebration.
2. The Lost Child.
3. Tobacco.
4. The Battle of Bull Run.
II. Write compositions, using the outlines you have made. Be sure you reject everything, no matter how interesting, that does not relate to your subject. Arrange your paragraphs carefully, using connecting words when possible. Treat the most important facts at greatest length.