those who overtax their minds through months and years, forgetful that
there is a close connection between overwork and dyspepsia. Everyone should
remember that there is a point beyond which he cannot urge his brain
without harm to his stomach; and that, when he loses his stomach, he loses
the very citadel of health. The whole body is renewed from the blood, and
the blood is made from the food taken into the stomach. The power of the
blood to renew bone and brain and muscle depends upon a good digestion.
Too little sleep is fatal to health. Perhaps you have to work hard all day;
but that is no reason why you should resolve, "If I cannot have pleasure by
day, I will have it at night." You are taking the very substance of your
body when you burn the lamp of pleasure till one or two o'clock in the
morning. God has made sleep to be a sponge with which to rub out fatigue. A
man's roots are planted in night, as a tree's are planted in soil, and out
of it he should come, at waking, with fresh growth and bloom. As a rule,
you should take eight hours of the twenty-four, for sleep.
+The Uses of Words and Groups of Words+.--In the exercises under the
selection from the Brothers Grimm what did you learn about _there_ as used
twice in the second sentence above? What does _those_ mean? What long
adjective clause is joined to _those_ by _who_? Does this clause read so
closely as not to need a comma before _who_? Does _forgetful_ describe the
persons represented by _who_? Why is a comma used before _forgetful_? You
learned in a preceding exercise that a noun may do the work of an adverb
phrase without the help of a preposition. A noun clause may do the same.
The adjective _forgetful_ is modified by the noun clause _that ...
dyspepsia_. If we say _forgetful of the fact_, we see that the noun clause
means the same as _fact_ and has the same office. What two long noun
clauses aroused to complete _should remember_? What conjunction introduces
each of these clauses? What conjunction joins them together? What mark of
punctuation between? If one of these noun clauses were not itself divided
into clauses by the comma, would the semicolon be needed? The clause
_beyond ... stomach_ goes with what word? _When ... stomach_ modifies what
verb? Classify the sentences of this paragraph as simple, complex, or
compound.
+To the Teacher+.--We have here treated informally some difficult points.
Perhaps these may be better understood when the book is reviewed.
+The Various Objects Writers Have+.--From your study of the preceding
selections you learn that a writer may have any one of several objects in
writing. He may wish simply to instruct the reader, as does Darwin in what
he says of earthworms. He may wish merely to amuse the reader, as does Mr.
Habberton in our extract from "Helen's Babies." He may wish only to put
before them a picture which, like that of George Eliot's, shall afford
delight. Or he may wish to get hold of what we call our wills and lead us
to do something, perform some duty. This is what the story from the
Brothers Grimm aims at. And you saw how it does this--by working on our
feelings. There are at least these four objects that a writer may propose
to himself. Which of these four objects has Mr. Beecher in the paragraphs
we quote? Does he instruct? Does he try to get us to do something? Would it
help you to have clearly before you from the beginning the object you are
seeking to accomplish?
+Figurative Expressions+.--In these paragraphs Mr. Beecher calls a man's
stomach the citadel of health, and sleep a sponge to rub out fatigue with,
and says a man's roots are planted in night. He does not use these words
_citadel_, _sponge_, and _roots_ in their first or common meaning. He uses
them in what we call a +figurative+ sense. He means to say that a man's
stomach is to him what a fortress is to soldiers, a source of strength;
that in sleep fatigue disappears as do figures on a slate or blackboard
when a wet sponge is drawn across them; and that a man gets out of night
what a tree's roots draw out of the soil, nourishment and vigor. Such
figurative uses of words give strength and beauty to style.
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.
In the paragraphs quoted above you were told of the effects on health of
overwork and of insufficient sleep. Perhaps you can write of exercise, of
proper food, of clothes, or of some other things on which health may
depend.
+Exercises on the Composition of the Sentence and the Paragraph+.
ADAPTED FROM DR. JOHN BROWN--"RAB AND HIS FRIENDS."
Rab belonged to a lost tribe--there are no such dogs now. He was old and
gray and brindled; and his hair short, hard, and close, like a lion's. He
was as big as a Highland bull, and his body was thickset. He must have
weighed ninety pounds at least.
His large, blunt head was scarred with the record of old wounds, a series
of battlefields all over it. His muzzle was as black as night, his mouth
blacker than any night, and a tooth or two, all he had, gleamed out of his
jaws of darkness. One eye was out, one ear cropped close. The remaining eye
had the power of two; and above it, and in constant communication with it,
was a tattered rag of an ear that was for ever unfurling itself, like an
old flag.
And then that bud of a tail, about an inch long, if it could in any sense
be said to be long, being as broad as it was long! The mobility of it, its
expressive twinklings and winkings, and the intercommunications between the
eye, the ear, and it, were of the oddest and swiftest.
Rab had the dignity and simplicity of great size. Having fought his way all
along the road to absolute supremacy, he was as mighty in his own line as
Julius Caesar or the Duke of Wellington in his, and he had the gravity of
all great fighters.
+To the Teacher+.--We suggest exercises on the uses of words similar to
those preceding. Before attempting this it may be well to let the pupils go
over these condensed expressions and supply the words necessary to the
analysis. For instance, in the first paragraph _hair_ may be followed by
_was_ and _Highland bull_ by _is big_. In the next paragraph _wounds_ may
be followed by _marking_, _as night_ by _is black_, etc. In the third
paragraph _and then_ may be followed by _there was_, etc. The pupils will
determine whether supplying these words makes the description stronger or
weaker.
Pupils may note especially the offices of nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
This selection abounds in descriptive nouns and verbs that are particularly
well chosen. Let the pupils point out such.
+The Description+.--How does the description above impress you? Are only
characteristic parts and features selected? Are these few features enough
to give you a distinct and vivid picture of Rab? What comparisons do you
find? How do they help? Pick out some words or phrases that seem to you
very expressive. Find some words that are used, not in their first or
common sense, but in a figurative sense. How do they help?
+Paragraphs+.--Which paragraph puts before you the dog as a whole? Where
must this paragraph naturally stand? Why? Which paragraph describes Rab's
character? What does each of the other paragraphs describe? If you think
the arrangement of paragraphs above is the best, tell why.
Make a framework for this description.
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION.
Write a description of some animal which you have closely observed and in
which you are interested. Be careful to pick out leading or characteristic
features that will bring others into the reader's imagination. First
prepare a framework.