Begin the study of separate forms of discourse. Teach what rhetoric is, and the reasons for studying it.
Special Work.
1. Narration, with its involved problem of structure.
2. Continued drill on punctuation.
3. Continued drill in grammar if needed.
Method.
1. Begin with narration. Teach during the term the essentials of a successful narrative.
a. Action (something happening). b. Point (an idea, a climax). c. Unity (it must hang together). d. Style (it must be interesting and entertaining).
Emphasize this kind of work while teaching narrative poetry and prose (the novel), but do not draw subjects from the literature lesson. From this term on, composition work should be original. (See Sampson & Holland’s Composition and Rhetoric for excellent suggestions on teaching narration).
2. While studying Ashmun’s “Prose Literature for Secondary Schools,” follow the general line of composition work there suggested.