Dear Comrade:
We are beginning with this lesson the study of the use of capitals and
of punctuation. The use of capitals as well as punctuation has nothing
to do with our spoken words, but both are very important in our written
language.
There is nothing that will mark us as uneducated more quickly than bad
spelling, faulty punctuation and the incorrect use of capitals.
The rules for the use of capitals may seem somewhat arbitrary. After an
understanding of them, however, you will discover that they are not
arbitrary, but are based upon a single principle. The word which is of
the most importance, or which should receive the most emphasis is the
word which is capitalized, as for example, the principal words in a
title, the first words in a sentence, proper names, etc.
Study these rules carefully, note the use of the capitals in your
reading and watch your written language carefully for a time. Soon the
proper use of capitals will seem easy and most natural. In the meantime
do not fail to keep up your study of words. Add at least one word to
your vocabulary every day.
Did you ever consider how we think in pictures? Nearly every word that
we use calls up a certain image or picture in our minds. The content of
words has grown and developed as our ability to think has developed.
Take, for example, words like head or hand. Head originally referred to
a portion of the body of a living thing; then it was used to refer to
some part of an inanimate object which might resemble or call up a
picture of an animal's head, for example, the head of a pin. Again, it
was used to refer to some part of an inanimate thing which was
associated with the head of a human being, as the head of the bed. Then,
by the power of association, since the head was considered the most
conspicuous and important part of the body, that which was most
conspicuous and important was called the head, as the head of the army,
the head of the nation.
Then, since the head was the seat of the brain and of the mental
faculties, the head was often used instead of the brain or mental
faculties. We speak of a clear head or a cool head. Thus we have a
number of idiomatic expressions. We may speak of the head of the river;
or the subject matter was divided under four heads; or again, the matter
came to a head; he is head and ears in debt; we cannot make head against
the opposition, etc.
This transfer of our ideas from the physical to the mental and spiritual
marks vividly the growth of the language and the development of thought.
Trace the words like hands, arm, foot, eye, tongue, in their use, first
as physical then as mental or spiritual.
This will be the most interesting pastime and will enlarge the content
of the words which you use.
Yours for Education,