(1)
FORWARD! THE TRACTOR BRIGADE
(2)
IT'S LO, THE RICH INDIAN
(3)
LEARNING BY UNDOING
(4)
THE GUILELESS SPIDER AND THE WILY FLY
Entomology Modifies our Ideas of the Famous Parlor
Since every question is like a riddle, a title in question form naturally leads the reader to seek the answer in the article itself. The directness of appeal may be heightened by addressing the question to the reader with "you," "your," or by presenting it from the reader's point of view with the use of "I," "we," or "ours." The sub-title may be another question or an affirmation, but should not attempt to answer the question. The following are typical question titles and sub-titles:
(1)
WHAT IS A FAIR PRICE FOR MILK?
(2)
HOW MUCH HEAT IS THERE IN YOUR COAL?
(3)
WHO'S THE BEST BOSS?
Would You Rather Work For a Man or For a Machine?
(4)
"SHE SANK BY THE BOW"—BUT WHY?
(5)
HOW SHALL WE KEEP WARM THIS WINTER?
(6)
DOES DEEP PLOWING PAY?
What Some Recent Tests Have Demonstrated
(7)
SHALL I START A CANNING BUSINESS?
The reader may be addressed in an imperative form of title, as well as in a question, as the following titles show:
(1)
BLAME THE SUN SPOTS
Solar Upheavals That Make Mischief on the Earth
(2)
EAT SHARKS AND TAN THEIR SKINS
(3)
HOE! HOE! FOR UNCLE SAM
(4)
DON'T JUMP OUT OF BED
Give Your Subconscious Self a Chance to Awake Gradually
(5)
RAISE FISH ON YOUR FARM
(6)
BETTER STOP! LOOK! AND LISTEN!
The attractiveness of titles may be heightened by such combinations of sounds as alliteration and rhyme, or by rhythm such as is produced by balanced elements. The following examples illustrate the use of alliteration, rhyme, and balance:
(1)
THE LURE OF THE LATCH
(2)
THE DIMINISHING DOLLAR
(3)
TRACING TELEPHONE TROUBLES
(4)
BOY CULTURE AND AGRICULTURE
(5)
A LITTLE BILL AGAINST BILLBOARDS
(6)
EVERY CAMPUS A CAMP
(7)
LABOR-LIGHTENERS AND HOME-BRIGHTENERS
(8)
THE ARTILLERY MILL AT OLD FORT SILL
How Uncle Sam is Training His Field Artillery Officers
(9)
SCHOLARS VS. DOLLARS
(10)
WAR ON PESTS
When the Spray Gun's Away, Crop Enemies Play
(11)
MORE HEAT AND LESS COAL
(12)
GRAIN ALCOHOL FROM GREEN GARBAGE
How to Frame a Title. The application of the general principles governing titles may best be shown by means of an article for which a title is desired. A writer, for example, has prepared a popular article on soil analysis as a means of determining what chemical elements different kinds of farm land need to be most productive. A simple label title like "The Value of Soil Analysis," obviously would not attract the average person, and probably would interest only the more enterprising of farmers. The analysis of soil not unnaturally suggests the diagnosis of human disease; and the remedying of worn-out, run-down farm land by applying such chemicals as phosphorus and lime, is analogous to the physician's prescription of tonics for a run-down, anæmic person. These ideas may readily be worked out as the following titles show:
(1)
PRESCRIBING FOR RUN-DOWN LAND
What the Soil Doctor is Doing to Improve Our Farms
(2)
THE SOIL DOCTOR AND HIS TONICS
Prescribing Remedies for Worn-Out Farm Land
(3)
DIAGNOSING ILLS OF THE SOIL
Science Offers Remedies for Depleted Farms
Other figurative titles like the following may be developed without much effort from the ideas that soil "gets tired," "wears out," and "needs to be fed":