Practical English Composition: Book II by Edwin L. Miller (best books to read fiction .txt) 📕

 III

Sense and Sensibility. A Novel. By Jane Austen. London: Egerton. 1811.

Though inferior to Pride and Prejudice, this work is about as well worth reading as any novel which, previous to its publication, had been written in the English language. Its interest depends, not on its descriptive and narrative power, but on character portrayal and humor.

Though both lovable girls, the two heroines, Elinor and Marianne, are as imperfect and as different as sisters are apt to be in real life. Vulgar match-making Mrs. Jennings, as Austin Dobson calls her, like many a flesh-and-blood dowager, at first repels us by her foolish prattle and finally wins our respect by her kindness. Sir John Middleton, with his horror of being alone; Lady Middleton, with her horror of impropriety; Miss Steele, who can always be made happy by being teased about the Doctor; Lucy Steele, pretty, clever, not over-fastidious in her principles, and abominably weak in her grammar; Robert Ferrars, whose airs are justly punished by his marriage to Lucy; Mrs. Ferrars, who contrives to be uniformly unamiable; Mrs. John Dashwood, fit daughter to such a mother; and Mr. John Dashwood, fit husband to such a wife—together form a gallery of portraits of which any author might be proud.

The book, too, is rich in humor. Among other delightful things we read of a will which, like almost every other will, gave as much disappointment as pleasure; of a child of three who possesses the usual charms of that age, an imperfect articulation, an earnest desire of having his own way, many cunning tricks, and a great deal of noise; of apricot marmalade applied successfully as a remedy for a bruised temple; of a company who met to eat, drink, and laugh together, to play at cards or consequences, or any other game that was sufficiently noisy; of a husband who is always making remarks which his wife considers so droll but cannot remember; of Constantia wine, which is equally good for colicky gout and broken hearts; of a face of strong natural sterling insignificance; of a girl who was pleased that a man had called and still more pleased that she had missed him; of a woman of few words, for, unlike people in general, she proportioned  them to the number of her ideas; of a newspaper item that interested nobody except those who knew its contents before; and of a man who was perfectly the gentleman in his behavior to guests and only occasionally rude to his wife and mother-in-law.

It is true that the two heroes are not very heroic, Edward Ferrars being only a curate and Col. Brandon a poor old man of 36 with a flannel waistcoat; but the latter is pretty thoroughly the gentleman and the former gives up a fortune of 30,000 pounds in order to marry a girl whom he does not love, thereby furnishing, if not an example of good sense, at least an agreeable contrast to Marianne’s lover, Willoughby, who marries a girl whom he does not love in order to get the money which he is too genteel to earn.

On the whole, it is a wonderful book to have been written by a girl of twenty-one.4

III. Notes, Queries, and Exercises Among the important functions of a newspaper is the task of announcing the appearance of new books, describing their contents, and commenting on their merits. The style of such notices should, above everything else, be clear. Most of them are unfortunately disfigured by a jargon which repels readers instead of inducing them to peruse the books reviewed. What information should the heading of a book notice furnish? Model I is an excellent example of what a review in a single paragraph should be. The first sentence bridges the intellectual and geographical space between the United States and Argentina, between the reader and the subject, which is just what an introduction should do. The second sentence describes the country in general terms, ending in a clause that leads directly to the most striking single fact about Argentina, its importance as an agricultural country. The three sentences that follow give concrete facts in support of this clause. The final sentence drives home the point stated in the first.  Discuss the meaning and etymology of “dissipate,” “Rio Grande,” “annually,” “approximate,” “exports,” “enterprise.” Point out one restrictive and one non-restrictive clause. Describe orally the location and character of the Rio Grande, Mexico, the Panama Canal, the Atlantic, the Andes, the Tropic of Capricorn, the British, and the Straits of Magellan. What figure of speech have we in the phrase, “the Amazing Argentine?” In Model II we have an illustration of a biographical review in three paragraphs. It presents a vivid picture of Cecil Rhodes in spite of the fact that it is not well organized. Try the experiment of rewriting it according to this plan: Par. I—Introduction, or Bridge; Par. II—Rhodes’s Services to Mankind; Par. III—Rhodes’s Faults; Par. IV—Rhodes’s Private Life. Find in the model an example of alliteration and an example of antithesis. Explain the allusions in “Clive,” “Julius Cæsar,” “buccaneer,” “Jameson Raid,” “Kruger,” “Boer War,” and “Oxford.” Define “financier,” “nefarious,” “politician,” “notorious,” “ambition,” and “omnivorous.” From what language do these words come? Analyze Model III as I and II have already been analyzed for you. Find in III an antithesis and an alliteration. Which of the books do you wish most to read? Why? Do these models observe the law of presenting concrete rather than abstract statements? Make a list of the books you have read, putting in one column the books of travel, into another the biographies, and into a third the novels. Choose one of these as the subject of a review which you are to write. IV. Oral Composition

In preparing for this observe the following points:

Remember that your main purpose is to persuade others to read the book.  In your first paragraph make a bridge from the minds of your audience to the book. In the body of your review describe concretely the one most interesting feature of the work. In your last paragraph restate the idea of the first but do it in some other form. V. Written Composition

Concentrate your attention on perfection of sentence structure.

VI. Suggested Time Schedule Week I Week II Monday —Dictation Oral Composition. Tuesday —Dictation. Oral Composition. Wednesday —Notes, Queries, Exercises. Written Composition. Thursday —Notes, Queries, Exercises. Revision. Friday —Speaking. Program. VII. Suggested Reading Macaulay’s Frederic the Great, Clive, and Hastings. Mark Twain’s Roughing It. Scott’s Ivanhoe. VIII. Memorize

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