THE GATHERING OF MATERIAL FOR WRITING
Two main sources exist from which you can get the material for
expository themes: books, including magazines and papers; and lectures
or interviews of any kind. Libraries differ greatly in the degree of
convenience, and some lecturers are much more readily intelligible than
others, and their lectures much more easily codified in notes. Even
the most conveniently arranged library, with the most accommodating
librarian, is rather formidable unless one knows the method of approach.
And until one has thought out the problem of taking notes from lectures,
even the most intelligible speaker presents great difficulties. Perhaps
a few words here will be of some use in unriddling the mysteries.
First of all a word needs to be said about the greatest slavery of
modern times--slavery to the printed word. "I read it in a book!"
is still for many people sufficient reason for believing anything,
however untrue, illogical, impossible it may be. It is well to remember
that nearly everybody writes books and yet very few of us are wise.
Obviously, not everything can be authoritative, especially when it is
contradicted in the next book. A reader without a good steadying sense
of balance, a shrewd determination to weigh what he reads and judge
of its value for himself is as helpless as a man in a whirlpool. You
need not be too stiff-necked toward a book, need not deny for the mere
sake of denial, but you do need to stand off and regard every book with
reasonable caution. Sometimes you can see for yourself that what is
said is not true. Sometimes you can at once feel that the spirit of the
book is unsafe, wild, unthinking. Sometimes you will detect at once a
blinding prejudice. Then be cautious. If the subject is unknown to you,
so that you have no safe basis for judgment about it, you are, to look
the matter squarely in the face, at the mercy of the book. But shrewd
inquiries as to the author's reputation, his opportunities for knowledge
of the subject, and an ever-watchful eye for reasonableness and good
judgment, will save you from many mistakes. And always remember that the
mere fact of a statement's being in print does not make it more true
than it was when merely oral. Don't, then, believe a printed statement
which you would hotly deny if you heard it from the lips of some one. It
is a matter of intellectual self-respect to read and judge, not to read
and blindly swallow.
Whether you read or listen, you will need to make notes. It would be
delightful if our flattering feeling that we can remember whatever we
read or hear were true--the trouble is, it is not. It is better to play
safe and have the record in notes, than to be too independent and find a
blank in your mind when time to write arrives.
The chief virtue in note-taking is economy. Economy saves time, space,
effort. The three interweave and are inextricable, in the total, but
may be somewhat distinguished. As to time: there is no virtue whatever
in slaving for hours over notes that need only a few minutes. Notes
are tools: their object is temporary, to be of service for composition
or future reference; they are not an object in themselves. Do not
worship them. On the other hand, since dull tools will not cut, don't
slight them. No greater pity can exist than for the pale student who
wrinkles her brow--it usually is _her_ brow--and attempts to make of
notes a complete transcription of a lecture or a book, with each comma
and every letter in proper sequence joined--only to pack the notes
away in a box in the attic--or perhaps burn them! A builder who should
have too meticulous care for his scaffolding is in danger of never
seeing his building completed. Notes seek essentials, and therefore
time should not be wasted on non-essentials. But, since slovenly,
ill-assorted, illegible notes require extraordinary time for deciphering
and arranging, it is of the greatest importance that you conserve
your future minutes by making your notes neat, ordered, legible. Any
abbreviations that you can surely remember are most useful. A complete
sentence--which really has no special need for completeness--that you
cannot read is worthless, but a few words that indicate the gist of
the thought, and are immediately legible, are most valuable. Moreover,
if you take time enough for every word, you are in danger of becoming
so engrossed in penmanship as to lose the broad sweep of the lecture
or book. Notes must drive toward unity and away from chaos. Your first
principle, then, should be to set down neatly what will be of real
service, and let the rest go.
As to space--any one who has made manuscripts from notes has learned
how irritating, how bewildering a huge mass of material can be. Some
subjects require such a mass, and in such a case the note-taker will use
as much space as he needs. But economy, which is the cardinal virtue,
will require as little diffusion, as great concentration as possible. If
you can succeed in including everything of value on one sheet, instead
of scattering it over several, you are to be congratulated. Only, be
sure that you do not neglect something of real value. You can often
save much space and effort and the use of stores of connecting words
and phrases if you will indent and subordinate sub-topics so that the
eye will show the relation at once. Such practice is admirable mental
training, also, for it teaches the listener or reader to keep his brain
detached for seeing relationships, for grasping the parts in relation to
the whole and to each other. If interesting remarks which do not bear
directly upon the main subject attract with sufficient intensity to
make record worth while, set them down in brackets, to indicate their
nature. Remembering, then, that a concentrated barrage is of more value
in attack than scattered fire, use as little space as may suffice for
the essentials. That is the second principle.
As to effort, remember that the old sea-captain whose boat was so leaky
that he declared he had pumped the whole Atlantic through it on one
voyage would have entered port more easily with a better boat. If you
do not take time and pains for grouping and ordering as you make your
notes, be sure that you will have much pumping to do when the article is
to be made. Grouping and ordering require concentration in reading or
listening--but there is no harm in that. You ought to be able to write
one thing and listen to another at the same time. Watch especially for
any indication in a lecture of change in topic. And don't be bothered by
the demands of formal rhetoric: if a complete sentence stands in your
way, set your foot on it and "get the stuff." And, of course, avoid a
feverish desire to set down every word that may be uttered; any one who
has seen the notebooks of students in which reports of lectures begin
with such records as "This morning, in pursuance of our plan, we shall
consider the topic mentioned last time, namely,--etc." become aware of
the enormous waste of energy that college students show. Essentials, set
down in athletic leanness--that is the ideal.
In taking notes from books, people differ greatly. Some use a separate
slip for each note, and much can be said in commendation of this system.
Some are able to heap everything together and then divine where each
topic is. In any case, strive for economy, catch the "high spots,"
and as far as possible keep like with like, notes on the same topic
together. It is always well, often imperative, to jot down the source of
each note, so that you can either verify or later judge of the value in
the light of the worth of the source.
Note-taking, in other words, is a matter of brains and common sense:
brains to see what is important, and sense to see that neatness and
order are essential to true economy, the great virtue of notes.
With the best of intentions, then, you enter the library. Since each
library is arranged on a somewhat individual scheme, and different
collections have different materials, you will need to examine the
individual library. A wise student will inquire at the desk for any
pamphlet that may help to unriddle the special system. Librarians are
benevolent people, do not wish to choke you, and are glad to answer any
reasonable question. If your questions are formless, if you really do
not know what you want, sit down on the steps and think it over until
you do, and then enter boldly and politely ask for information. Don't,
if you wish to learn about ship subsidies, for example, stroll in and
inquire for "Some'n 'bout boats?" The complimentarily implied power
of reading your mind is not especially welcome to even a librarian
who is subject to vanity--and incidentally he may think that you are
irresponsible. Any one who has been connected with a college library
knows that the notorious questions such as "Have you Homer's Eyelid?"
are not uncommon--and seldom bring desired results.
Since you have entered for information, summon all your resourcefulness
to try every possibility before you agree that there is no help for
you there. You can use the Card Catalogue, the Reference Books, the
Indexes, Year-Books and Magazine Guides, and finally, if every other
source fails, can lay your troubles before the librarian--but not until
you have fought bravely. Too many students are faint-hearted: if they
wish for information about, let us say, employers' liability, and do
not at once find a package of information ready-wrapped, they sigh,
and then smile, and then brightly inform the instructor, "The library
hasn't a single word about that subject!" The Card Catalogue does not
list employers' liability, let us say, and you do not know any authors
who have written on the subject. Do not despair; look up _insurance_,
_workmen_, _accidents_, _social legislation_, _government help_, and
other such titles until your brain can think of nothing more. Only then
resort to outside help.
The Card Catalogue will contain a card for each book in the library:
if you know the title, look for it. If you know the author but not the
title, look for the "author card." If you know neither author nor title,
look for the general subject heading. For each book will usually have
the three cards of subject, author, and title. If the subject is a broad
one, such, for example, as _Engineering_, do not set yourself the task
of looking through every card, but, if you wish for a treatise on the
history of engineering, look for the word _History_, in the engineering
cards, and then examine what books may be collected under that heading.
If you find cross references, that is, a recommendation to "see" other
individual cards, or other subject headings, do not overlook the chance
to gain added information.
Most of us too often forget the encyclopædias. If the catalogue has been
exhausted, then see what the encyclopædias may contain. Look in the
volume that contains the index, first, for often a part of an article
will tell you exactly what you wish, but the article as a whole will
not be listed under the subject that you are seeking. The _Encyclopædia
Britannica_, the _New International_, the _Nelson's Loose Leaf_ will
be of service on general topics. For agriculture consult _Bailey's
Encyclopædia_. For religion see the _Encyclopædia of Religion and
Ethics_ (Scribner), the _Jewish Encyclopædia_, the _New Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge_ (Funk and Wagnalls), the _Catholic
Encyclopædia_ (Robert Appleton).
For dictionaries you will find the _Murray's New English Dictionary_,
often called the _Oxford Dictionary_, _The Standard Dictionary_, _The
Century_, _Webster's New International_, _Black's Law Dictionary_ and
others.
Often you will wish to find contemporary, immediate material. The
magazines are regularly catalogued in the _Reader's Guide_, month
by month, with a combined quarterly and yearly and then occasional
catalogue, with the articles listed under the subject and the title or
author. Use your resourcefulness here, as you did in the card catalogue,
and do not give up. _Poole's Index_ will also help.
Many annuals are of value. The _World Almanac_ has a bewildering mass
of information, as does the _Eagle Almanac_ for New York City and Long
Island especially. The _Canadian Annual Review_, the _Statesman's
Year-Book_, _Heaton's Annual_ (Canadian), the _New International Year
Book_, which is "a compendium of the world's progress for the year,"
the _Annual Register_ (English), the _Navy League Annual_ (English,
but inclusive), and the _American Year-Book_, among others, will be of
service. Often these books will give you the odd bit of information that
you have hunted for in vain elsewhere. For engineering, the _Engineering
Index_ (monthly and collected) is useful.
For biography you will find Stephen's _Dictionary of National Biography_
useful, and Lamb's _Biographical Dictionary of the United States_.
Do not forget the _Who's Who_, the _Who's Who in America_, and the
corresponding foreign books for brief information about current people
of note.
For what may be called scattered information you can go to the _American
Library Association Index_ to general literature, _The Information
Quarterly_ (Bowker), _The Book Review Digest_ (Wilson), _The United
States Catalog_ (with its annual _Cumulative Book Index_), and the
(annual) _English Catalogue of Books_.
In using a book, employ the Table of Contents and the Index to save
time. For example, you will thus be referred to page 157 for what you
want. If instead you begin to hunt page by page, you will find that
after you have patiently run your eyes back and forth over the first 156
pages, your brain will be less responsive than you would wish when you
finally arrive at page 157. Moreover, there is all that time lost!
Often individual libraries have compiled lists of their own books on
various subjects. If you can find such lists, use them.
In other words, the search for material and the taking of notes is a
matter of strategy: it requires that the seeker use his wits, plan his
campaign, find what is available, and in the briefest time compatible
with thoroughness assimilate whatever of it is of value. Caution and
indefatigable zeal and resourcefulness--these are almost sure to win the
day.
INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIVE SELECTIONS
Amiel's _Journal_, "Mozart and Beethoven", 277-278
Antin, Mary, _The Promised Land_, "The Making of an American",
186-189
_Atlantic Monthly_, The Contributor's Club, "The Privileges of
Age", 245-247
Aumonier, Stacy, "Solemn-Looking Blokes" (_Century Magazine_),
29-33
Bagehot, Walter, _Works_, vol. III, "A Constitutional
Statesman", 227-229
Belloc, Hilaire, _First and Last_, "On a Great Wind", 244
Bradford, Gamaliel, _Confederate Portraits_, "Judah P.
Benjamin", 264
Brooke, Rupert, _Collected Poems_, "The Great Lover", 234-235
Bullard, F. Lauriston, _Famous War Correspondents_, "A
Definition of the Correspondent", 78
Burdick, Francis M, _The Essentials of Business Law_--
"Definition of the Clearing-House", 76
"Definition of Sale", 105
Burroughs, John, _Birds and Bees_, "An Idyl of the Honey-Bee",
48-55
Outline of "An Idyl of the Honey-Bee", 64-66
_Birds and Poets_, "Emerson's Literary Quality", 224
_Leaf and Tendril_, "A Breath of April", 247-249
Burton, Richard, _Little Essays in Literature and Life_, "The
Nature of the Informal Essay", 243-244
Butler, Samuel, _The Note-Books of Samuel Butler_, "A Group of
Definitions", 109
Cannon, J. G, _Clearing-Houses_, "Classification of
Clearing-Houses", 140
Carlyle, Thomas, _Essay on Biography_, Selection from, 275-276
Sartor Resartus, "The Entepfuhl Road", 40
_Century Magazine_, "The Hydraulic Cartridge", 161-162
"The Phonopticon", 171-172
Corbin, John, _An American at Oxford_, "How to Handle a Punt",
163-164
Corbin, T. W, _Engineering of To-day_, "Cargo Steamers", 203-205
"The Oxygen Blow-Pipe", 161
"Launching the Neptune", 178-181
Cram, R. A., _The Heart of Europe_, "Definition of the Heart", 104
Croly, Herbert, _The Promise of American Life_, "The American
Business Man", 197-199
Dilley, Arthur U, _Oriental Rugs_, "A Classification of Rugs",
119-122
Eliot, George, _The Mill on the Floss_, "The Scenery of the
Rhone", 124-125
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, _Conduct of Life_, "Fate", 27-28; 36-37
_Nature, Addresses, and Lectures_, "A Definition of
Conservative and Innovator", 93-95
_Society and Solitude_, "Definition of Civilization in
America", 98-99
Escott, T. H. S, _Great Victorians_, "Balfour", 271
Gardiner, A. G., _Prophets, Priests, and Kings_, "Balfour", 148
"King Edward VII", 148-149
"Lord Morley", 19
"Thomas Hardy", 149-150
Garland, Hamlin, _A Son of the Middle Border_, a sentence from, 45
Gissing, George, _The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft_--
"Apples for Diet", 21-22
"A Definition of Art", 7
"A Definition of Poverty", 84-85
"English Cooking", 210-211
"Military Drill", 225-226
"The Sportswoman", 128-129
"The 'Tempest'", 213-214
"Vegetarianism", 222-223
Green, J. R., _Short History of the English People_, "Estimate
of the Character of Elizabeth", 122-123
Greenough and Kittredge, _Words and Their Ways in English
Speech_, "The Process of Radiation", 181-183
Haweis, Rev. Mr., _Music and Morals_, "The Character of J. R.
Green", 268-269
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, _Our Old Home_, "English Weather", 126-128
Henderson, W. H., _What is Good Music_--
"Criticism of Musical Performances", 230
"The Modern Orchestra", 152-153
Howells, W. D., _A Boy's Town_, "The Difference Between Boys
and Men", 107
Hungerford, Edward, _The Personality of American Cities_,
"Boston", 68-69
Judy, A. M., _From the Study to the Farm_, "The Farmer's
Life", 150-151
Lounsbury, T. R., _English Spelling and Spelling Reform_,
"Final e", 205-208
Lucke, C. E., _Power_, "The Mechanical Engineer", 98
"The Problem of Power Machinery", 137
"Water Power", 151-152
Masefield, John, _Gallipoli_, "The Horror of the Fight", 69-70
Morley, John, _Miscellanies_, vol. I, "The Distinction Between
the Poetic and the Scientific Spirit", 105-106
Morman, J. B., _The Principles of Rural Credit_,
"Amortization", 85-86
Pollak, Gustav, _Fifty Years of American Idealism_--
"Jingo Morality", 220-222
"Lowell at St. James", 193-194
"Moral Atmosphere", 91-93
"Responsible Statesman", 87
Prelini, Charles, _Dredges and Dredging_, "The Operation of
Dredges", 170
Royce, Josiah, "Nietzsche" (_Atlantic Monthly_), 131
Russell, Bertrand, _National Independence and Internationalism_--
"National Sentiment", 226-227
"State and Nation", 89-90
_Why Men Fight_, "Impulse and Desire", 132-135
Sainte-Beuve, "Definition of a Classic", 91
_Scientific American_, "The Catskill Water Supply", 185-186
_Scribner's Magazine_, The Point of View, "The New Poetry", 200-201
Sedgwick, H. D., _The New American Type_, "Honor", 108
Shakespeare, William, _King Henry IV_, "Bardolph on
'Accommodate'", 81-82
Sharp, Dallas Lore, _The Hills of Hingham_, "The Carpet
Layer", 173-174
Shaw, G. B., _Dramatic Opinions and Essays_--
"The Odds Against Shakespeare", 116-117
_Sanity of Art_, "Definition of Artist", 103
"Indispensability of Law", 153-156
"Passion", 146-147
"Pattern Designers and Dramatic Composers", 111-112
_Society and Superior Brains_--
"Ability that Gives Value for Money", 85
"Superiority of Status", 109-110
Slicer, T. R., _From Poet to Premier_, "O. W. Holmes", 272
Standard Dictionary, Definition of "Correspondent", 78
Stevenson, R. L., "Pulvis et Umbra", 55-57
"The sun upon my shoulders", 45
Talbot, F. A., _The Making of a Great Canadian Railway_--
"The Stone Boat", 165
"The Track Layer", 166-168
Taylor, B. L., _The Line o' Type Column_, "Highbrow," etc., 102
Thackeray, W. M., _The English Humorists of the Eighteenth
Century_, "Oliver Goldsmith", 285-294
Warner, Frances L., "The Amateur Chessman" (From The Point of
View, _Scribner's Magazine_), 249-252
Webster's New International Dictionary, Definition of "Art", 6
A series of definitions, 100-101
Wendell, Barrett, _English Composition_, "Carlyle's Frederick
the Great", 279-280
Weston, E. M., _Rock Drills_, "Hammer Drills", 115-116
"Tappet Valve Drills", 219-220
Wister, Owen, _Quack Novels and Democracy_, "The Quack Novel", 88-89
INDEX
Ability of the critic to analyze, 192-194.
Adaptation of treatment to subject, 6.
Addison, Joseph, 233-236.
Aids in gaining clearness in Mechanisms, Processes, and
Organizations, 169-172.
Aids in gaining interest in Mechanisms, Processes, and
Organizations, 172-175.
Aids in solving the problem in Expository Biography, 261-265.
Amiel, Frederic, 277.
Amount of expository writing, 2.
Analysis, 8, 113-143;
definition of, 113;
enumeration as one kind of informal analysis, 129;
equation as one kind of informal analysis, 130;
formal analysis, 118;
informal analysis, 129-137;
kinds of analysis, the two, 115-118;
kinds of informal analysis, 129-137;
object of informal analysis, 124;
the principles of analysis, 138-143;
relationship as a form of informal analysis, 131;
statement of a problem as a form of informal analysis, 136;
statement of significance as a form of informal analysis, 130;
the two virtues of analysis, 114.
Analyzing the character in Expository Biography, 270-275.
Antin, Mary, 189.
Appreciative method of criticism, 209-215.
Aumonier, Stacy, 29.
Bagehot, Walter, 229.
Balfour, Arthur James, 273.
Barrie, Sir J. M., 241, 263.
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 278.
Belloc, Hilaire, 239, 244.
Biography, Expository, 257-296;
aid in solving the problem of, 261-265;
analyzing the character of the hero, 270-275;
beliefs of the hero, 273;
choice of events in hero's life for, 276-277;
defining the hero's character, 266-270;
deeds of the hero, 274;
events in hero's life, use of, 275-280;
friends of the hero, 274;
heredity of the hero, 270-272;
interests of the hero, 272;
kinds of, 257;
lesson, danger of making one, 282;
life problem of the hero, 258-260;
object of expository biography, 258;
problem, the chief, of expository biography, 258-261;
problem of telling the truth, 280-281;
process of solving the problem, 266-274;
relation of events to personality, 277-278;
relation of hero to society and times, 278-280;
rhetorical form of expository biography, 282-285;
rhetorical value of events, 280.
B. L. T., 102.
Boswell, James, 267, 279, 281.
Bradford, Gamaliel, 264, 267, 281.
Breadth of interest in writer of Informal Essays, 233-234.
Brooke, Rupert, 234.
Brooks, Sidney, 43.
Brown, John, 238, 241.
Browne, Sir Thomas, 262.
Bullard, F. Lauriston, 78.
Burdick, Francis M., 76, 105.
Burroughs, John, 40, 41, 47, 224, 238, 247.
Burton, Richard, 243.
Butler, Samuel, 109.
Byron, Lord, 200, 274.
Cannon, J. G., 140.
Carlyle, Thomas, 40, 258, 265, 272, 275, 279.
Catalogs, use of, 301-302.
Cause for stupidity in expository writing, 4, 25.
Cause, method of showing, in definition, 97.
Cautions about definitions, 80.
Cavour, 266.
Centralization, finding the root principle in mechanisms, etc.,
159-162.
Chesterton, Gilbert, 240, 241.
Cicero, 12.
Classification, 8, 117.
Clearness:
aids in gaining, 169-172;
in explaining mechanisms, etc., 157, 162.
Coleridge, Samuel T., 215.
Comparison and contrast, method of in defining, 86.
Controlling purpose:
definition of, 16;
emotional reaction to, 26-33;
practical use of, 39-47;
proper use of, 33-38;
source of, 16-26;
source of in reader's attitude, 22-25;
source of in subject, 16-18;
source of in writer's attitude, 18-22;
stated in one sentence, 37;
value, relative, of sources for, 25.
Cooper, James F., 196.
Corbin, John, 164.
Corbin, T. W., 161, 181, 205.
Cowley, 232.
Cram, Ralph Adams, 104.
Critic, the:
ability to analyze, 192-194;
common sense, 195;
knowledge of the general field of criticism, 194-195;
open-mindedness, 195-196.
Criticism, 190-217;
ability to analyze, possessed by the critic, 192-194;
common sense of critic, 195;
criticism and comment, 91;
definition of, 190;
diction in, 216-217;
knowledge of general field, possessed by critic, 194-195;
methods:
appreciative, 209-215;
historical, 196-202;
standards, 202-209;
open-mindedness of critic, 195-196;
practical helps for writing, 215-217;
range of criticism, 191.
Croly, Herbert, 129, 199.
Crothers, S. M., 237, 240.
Da Vinci, Leonardo, 273.
Deeds of hero in Expository Biography, 274.
Defining the character of the hero in Expository Biography,
266-270.
Definition of analysis, 113;
of criticism, 190;
of informal essay, 231.
Definition: 8, 73-112;
cautions, general, about, 80;
definition of, 73;
differentia and genus, 77;
difficulty in discovering genus, 74;
methods of defining:
of comparison or contrast, 86;
of division, 90;
of elimination, 95;
of illustration, 83;
of repetition, 93;
of showing origin, cause, and effect, 97;
process of definition, 74;
restricting the genus, 77;
two classes of, 78.
Demosthenes, 12.
De Quincey, 242.
Dictionaries, use of, 302.
Dilley, Arthur U., 122.
Douglas, Stephen A., 274.
Economy, in note-taking, 298-299.
Edwards, Jonathan, 27.
Elimination as a method in definition, 95.
Eliot, George, 124-125.
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1, 27, 93, 95, 98, 224, 271, 282.
Emotions, the, and the controlling purpose, 26-33.
Encyclopædias, use of, 302.
Enumeration as a form of informal analysis, 129.
Equation as a form of informal analysis, 130.
Escott, T. H. S., 271.
Essay. _See_ Informal Essay.
Events in hero's life for expository biography, 275-280.
Exposition:
amount of, 2;
answers questions, 1, 2;
causes for stupidity in writing exposition, 4, 25;
emotions and exposition, 27;
problem, the, in writing, 11;
success of, 12;
task of, 9-10;
truth of, 7.
Formal analysis, 118.
Franz, Robert, 276.
Freeman, Mrs. M. E. W., 199.
Friends of the hero in expository biography, 274.
Gardiner, A. G., 19, 148, 149, 150.
Garland, Hamlin, 45.
Gissing, George, 7, 21, 84, 103, 128, 209, 214, 223, 226.
Goethe, Johann, 270.
Goldsmith, Oliver, 267, 284, 285.
Gray, 270.
Green, J. R., 28, 268.
Greenough and Kittredge, 183.
Hardy, Thomas, 294.
Haweis, the Rev. Mr., 268.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 126.
Hazlitt, 195, 231, 232, 236, 238, 243.
Henderson, W. H., 153, 230.
Henry, Patrick, 12.
Heredity in expository biography, 270-272.
Historical method of criticism, 196-202.
Holmes, O. W., 271-272.
Howells, W. D., 107.
Humor in the informal essay, 241-242.
Hungerford, Edward, 69.
Hunt, Leigh, 238.
Husband, Joseph, 239.
Huxley, Thomas, 44.
Illustration as a method of definition, 83.
Imaginative sympathy in expository biography, 261-265.
Informal analysis, 123-138.
Informal Essay, 231-244;
breadth of interest in author of, 233-234;
definition of, 231;
humor in, 241-242;
nature as subject for, 238-239;
not too exhaustive, 242;
not too serious, 240-242;
not too rhetorically strict, 242-243;
people as subjects for, 237-238;
personal nature, 232-233;
range of subject, 237;
things as subjects for, 239-240.
Interest in writing, 2;
aids to gain, in mechanisms, processes and organizations,
172-175;
of two kinds, 3;
relation to underlying thought, 8.
Interpreting and reporting, 5.
James, William, 4, 44, 266.
Jefferies, Richard, 239.
Jewett, Miss S. O., 199.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 81, 233.
Judicial criticism, here treated as criticism by standards,
202-209.
Judy, A. M., 151.
Labouchere, Henry, 9.
Lamb, Charles, 6, 26, 232, 235, 242, 262.
Lamb, Mary, 259.
Lee, Robert E., 274, 277.
Libraries:
catalogues of, 301-302;
dictionaries, 302;
encyclopædias, 302;
use of, 301-304.
Lincoln, Abraham, 2, 16, 87, 269, 270.
Liszt, Franz, 276.
Lounsbury, Thomas, 205.
Lowell, J. R., 271.
Lucke, C. E., 98, 137, 152.
Masefield, John, 69, 70, 71.
Materials:
ordering of, 41-47;
selecting of, 39-41.
Mechanisms, 157-175;
aids for gaining clearness, 169-172;
aids for gaining interest, 172-175;
cautions, 158-159;
centralization, 159-162;
expression of root principle in one sentence, 160-161;
necessity for clearness, 157-158;
orders to be followed, 164-168.
Meredith, George, 241.
Methods, in criticism:
appreciative, 209-215;
historical, 196-202;
standards, 202-209;
in definition:
comparison and contrast, 86;
division, 90;
elimination, 95;
illustration, 83;
origin, cause, and effect, 97;
repetition, 93.
Middleton, Richard, 240.
More, P. E., 115, 123.
Morley, John, 18, 105-106.
Morman, J. B., 85.
Mozart, W. A., 277.
Notes:
care in taking, 300;
economy the chief virtue, 298-299;
methods of taking, 300;
space of notes, 299-300.
Order of Material, 41-47.
Organizations: 157-162 (general discussion), 168-169;
aids to clearness, 169-172;
aids to interest, 172-175.
Parkman, Francis, 236.
Parr, 279.
Partition, 8, 117.
People as subjects for informal essays, 237-238.
Pericles, 273.
Poe, E. A., 12.
Pollak, Gustav, 86, 93, 194, 222.
Prelini, Charles, 170.
Problem, statement of a, in informal analysis, 136.
Problem of expository biography, 248-261.
Processes: 157-162 (general discussion), 162-164;
aids to gaining clearness in, 169-172;
aids to gaining interest in, 172-175.
Relation of events to personality in expository biography, 277-278.
Relation of hero to society and times in expository biography,
278-280.
Repetition as a method in definition, 93.
Reporting vs. interpreting, 5.
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 208.
Rhetorical strictness absent in informal essay, 242-243.
Rhetorical value of events in expository biography, 280.
Royce, Josiah, 131.
Russell, Bertrand, 90, 135, 227.
Sainte-Beuve, 91.
Scott, Sir Walter, 200.
Sedgwick, H. D., 108.
Selection of material, 39-41.
Shakespeare, William, 12, 60, 81, 257.
Sharp, Dallas Lore, 173, 174, 237, 238.
Shaw, G. B., 85, 102, 110, 112, 117, 146, 147, 156.
Sidney, Sir Philip, 9.
Significance, statement of, as form of informal analysis, 130.
Slavery to printed word, 297.
Slicer, T. R., 277.
Smith, Sydney, 241.
Socrates, 263.
Sources of the controlling purpose, 16, 26.
Standards, criticism by, 202-209.
Steele, Richard, 232.
Stevenson, R. L., 6, 41, 45, 55, 58, 66, 237, 238, 241, 257, 259,
260, 263, 271, 274, 281.
Strategy, the problem of, in writing, 11.
Sympathy, imaginative, in expository biography, 261-265.
Taft, Wm. H., 46.
Talbot, F. A., 165, 168.
Taylor, Bert Lester, 102.
Tennyson, Alfred, 26, 274.
Thackeray, Wm. M., 258, 284.
Truth, as related to interest, 7-8.
Unification, 13-14.
Warner, C. D., 238, 239.
Warner, Frances L., 249.
Webster, Daniel, 173.
Weston, E. M., 116, 220.
Whibley, Charles, 266, 269, 283.
Whistler, 212.
Wilson, Woodrow, 12, 176.
Wister, Owen, 89.
Transcriber's Note
Obvious typographical errors were repaired, as listed below. Other
apparent inconsistencies or errors have been retained. Missing,
extraneous, or incorrect punctuation has been corrected. Most of the
inconsistent hyphenation has been retained as many appear in quoted
passages.
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold (=bold=).
Although oe ligatures have been expanded, other diacritical marks are
enclosed by square brackets. For example, [)i] represents a breve over
the letter i, and [=y] represents a macron over the letter y.
Page 87, "wihe" changed to "with". (The value of this method lies in its
liveliness and the ease with which it makes an idea comprehended.)
Page 97, "aboveall" changed to "above all" for consistency. (And above
all, he will never forget the gleam of idealism that he received in the
old halls, the vision of his chance to serve his fellows.)
Page 203, "froward" changed to "forward". (... and my trivial story of
his humoring a forward child weighs but as a feather in the recorded
scale of his benevolence.)