play, he would not learn his lessons, even though be punished for not knowing them. 6. He was not good at a game, because he want own way' in everything; and he did not succeed because he would not do what he was told. In liked him, on account of his bad temper and his w 7. Try was a very little fellow, and the younges But he had a brave heart, even if he was little, a ways ready to do what his parents and teachers to 8. If Try was asked whether he could do any v he would say, "I don't know whether I can do it, b Sometimes he would fail, but almost always he w what he tried to do. 9. Once he tried to jump across a brook, but i that little Try fell into the water. Still, he did made up his mind that, when he was a little old make another trial; and before long he could ju brook in its widest place. 10. When Try first went to school, his teacher sa read?" 'No, sir," said he, "but I will try to learn all I ask," said the teacher; "I want boys in my sc try to learn." II. In a few months Try was at the head of hi was still at the foot of his, and Won't had gone do of his. Which do you think was the happiest of th 12. All three are grown men now. Can't is serva named Must; Won't is a soldier under Captain Shal a partner in the great firm of Success & Co. VI. Mark the thought emphasis. Is there peculiar in the form of the sentences? If s THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON. A false balance is abomination to the Lord; But a just weight is his delight. When pride cometh, then cometh shame; But with the lowly is wisdom. But the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. But righteousness delivereth from death. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way; The righteous is delivered out of trouble, And the wicked cometh in his stead. A hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor; VII. LORD BYRON. The pretty fable by which the Duchess of Orleans illustrates the character of her son, the regent, might with little change be applied to Byron. All the fairies, save one, had been bidden to his cradle. All the gossips had been profuse of their gifts. One had bestowed nobility, another genius, a third beauty. The malignant elf who had been uninvited came last, and, unable to reverse what her sisters had done for their favorite, had mixed up a curse with every blessing. In the rank of Lord Byron, in his understanding, in his character, in his very person, there was a strange union of extremes. He was born to all that men covet and admire. But in every one of those eminent advantages which he possessed over others, there was mingled something of misery and debasement. He was sprung from a house, ancient indeed and noble, but degraded and impoverished by a series of crimes and follies, which had attained a scandalous publicity. The kinsman whom he had succeeded had died poor, and, but for merciful judges, would have died upon the gallows. The young peer had great intellectual powers, yet there was an unsound part in his mind. He had naturally a generous and tender heart, but his temper was wayward and irritable. He had a head which artists love to copy, and a foot, the deformity of which beggars in the streets mimicked. Distinguished at once by the strength and by the weakness of his intellect, affectionate yet perverse, a poor lord and a handsome cripple, he required, if ever man required, the firmest and most judicious training. But, capriciously as nature had dealt with him, the relative to whom the office of forming his character was intrusted, was more capricious still. She passed from paroxysms of rage to paroxysms of fondness. At one time she stifled him with her caresses, at another she insulted his deformity. He came into the world, and the world treated him as his mother had treated him-sometimes with kindness, sometimes with severity, never with justice. It indulged him without discrimination, and punished him without discrimination. He was truly a spoiled child, not merely the spoiled child of his parents, but the spoiled child of nature, the spoiled child of fortune, the spoiled child of fame the spoiled child of society. His first poems were received with a contempt which, feeble as they were, they did not absolutely deserve. The poem which he published on his return from his travels was, on the other hand, extolled far above its merits. At twenty-four he found himself on the pinnacle of literary fame, with Scott, Wordsworth. Southey, and a crowd of other distinguished writers beneath his feet. There is scarcely an instance in history of so sudden a rise to so dizzy an eminence.- MACAULAY'S Essay on Byron. STUDIES. I. Mark the words having thought emphasis and explain why. 2. Notice how he sometimes places one part of a sentence, or even a whole sentence, over against another. Such a placing of thought is called antithesis. Select the antitheses found in the extract. 3. Now turn to the preceding exercise, Proverbs, and find antitheses there. Of what use is antithesis? 4. Find instances in the above where Macaulay repeats words in the sentence, which he does not absolutely need to repeat. Why does he do it? CHAPTER III. EMPHASIS OF FEELING, OR FORCE. When any deep feeling moves us, any passion, any emotion, we throw unusual energy into some or all the words of the sentence. This is emphasis of the highest degree, and is called the emphasis of feeling. Sometimes it is called force. In the following selections notice that it overrides the other two forms, or, if coinciding with them, becomes by so much the stronger. I. "On the play ground a little boy with both fists clenched and his face flushed said to another, "Hit me if you dare!" Put three lines under each word which you think he said emphatically. Are there any words in that sentence which are not emphatic? Why did he emphasize so many words? What other kinds of feeling make one emphasize so many words? What becomes of grammatical stress here? What becomes of thought emphasis? Write a sentence that you have heard some pupil say that had the feeling of joy in it-of sorrow-of fright. How was each one said? Mark the words that were made emphatic in each. Use three lines. II. A little girl was holding a room door against her brother who was trying to get in. A smaller girl was sitting on the floor cry. ing. A bottle of ink was upset on the carpet. The girl holding the door was saying: "No, I shall not let you get in! You hid my hat, and you let Belle spill the ink! I shall not let you in, and I shall tell that you hit Belle! I think you are a bad, bad boy, and I shall not let you in." From Appleton's First Reader. 1. What was the little girl's feeling? 2. How did she say those words? 3. Mark all the words which she made strong on account of her feeling. 4. On which words does grammatical emphasis also come? 5. What is the effect when both come together? 6. On which words is thought emphasis implied? 7. What effect? III. Ned stood looking at his beautiful boat which his cousin had given him. Some one had broken the masts and had bored a large hole in the bottom. For a moment he stood pale and motionless, then the blood rushed to his face and he exclaimed: "I know who did it,- the mean scoundrel! It was Fritz Brown, because I did not ask him to come to the launch; but I'll pay him for doing this, see if I don't." 1. What was Ned's feeling? 2. What words did he make strong? 3. What words in the paragraph have the strongest feeling in them? 4. Mark the selection and study to read it just as Ned said it. 5. What words have thought emphasis? Why do you think so? Ned is persuaded to try "coals of fire" on Fritz. When he met him next time, he asked about what Fritz had to read, and Fritz said he had nothing. Then Ned said, "How would you like to take my new book of travels"? Fritz's eyes fairly danced. “O, may I? May I? I'd be so careful of it." Ned promised him some others also. After talking a little while he told Fritz about someone ruining his new boat. Fritz's head dropped on his breast, and with a choke in his voice he said, "O Ned! I did it; but I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am! You didn't know I was so mean when you promised me the books, did you? |