162 S. Clark St., Chicago, Ill., Messrs. Jones & Co., Gentlemen, Having set up in business here with prospects of good success, I desire to open an account with your house, and trust it will be to our mutual advantage. With this view, I enclose order to be filled with the least possible delay, and on your lowest terms. As this is a first transaction, upon the receipt of the invoice, less the discount for cash, I will send my check for the amount. Referring you to Messrs. Henderson & Co., of this place, I am, gentlemen, W. L. STEVENS. DIRECTION. EXERCISE LXXXIX. LETTERS. Write the following in the proper form of a letter as illustrated in the specimens. Give attention to the position of the parts, to capitals, punctuation, and all other points. 1. 249 nassau st. hamilton o august 10th 1891 messrs moss james & co richmond n y gentlemen. tlemen yours respectfully harper henderson & co. we remain gen 2. washington d c march 14th 1890 my dear son your father henry jameson samuel jameson 97 fifth st cincinnati. 3. brooklyn april 21st 1891 gentlemen yours obe diently mills & tilton to messrs c moore & co 100 45th n y. 4. Write a letter to a supposed cousin, Andrew King, at 169 Jefferson Avenue, Detroit. Date the letter at your own home. 5. Illustrate the form of a letter to Messrs. Jones, Smith, & Co., Toledo, Ohio, remitting a check. Date the letter at your place of business. LESSON XLIII. THE PLAN. Invention means finding out what to say and the best plan on which to arrange what is said. The Difficulty. In the former part of this work, we have spoken chiefly of the dress in which our thoughts are clothed, now we come to speak of the thoughts themselves and of the methods of discourse. With young writers, this is the most difficult and discouraging part of composition. When they have thoughts, as in conversation or in letter-writing, they can always manage to express them in some way. But how to get the thoughts? how to tell what to say? that is the real difficulty. The following hints, if carefully attended to, will afford some assistance. How to begin. When a subject has been selected, the student must set to work to think over it. As thoughts come into the mind he should note them down. It is not necessary to write them out in full, but merely to make such a note of them as will enable him to recall them when needed. How to get Thoughts. When thoughts do not come, they can sometimes be drawn out by asking How? When? Why? Where? Then, again, ideas may be found by conversing with people who know something of the subject; they may also be gathered from the works of those who have written on the same or on similar subjects. The learner should always think over what is acquired in this way and try to make the thoughts his own, so that when he comes to express them, he may be able to do so in his own language. Construction. After all available material has been collected, and the subject has been thought over till it is fairly understood, the next thing to do is to arrange the matter under distinct heads. Usually it is well to have but few divisions; they should be entirely separate, and should lead naturally and easily from point to point in the subject. Ample time should be given to making a simple, clear, and logical framework. When the material is all under the eye in the form of notes, search it carefully for the leading thoughts. Be sure you do not rank as principal, any of the thoughts that may be classified under some one of the general heads. See that no point is allowed to appear twice, disguised under different words. If you find any points that at first seem relevant, but on further consideration, are not so, throw them out without hesitation. In every kind of discourse the question of order is vital. No subject can be written out clearly unless the framework is regular and symmetrical. (There is always one order that is superior to all others. Study your material till you find it. Amplification. When the material has been arranged under the different heads, the next thing to be done is to treat each head as a separate subject, but also as forming part of a whole. In thinking these over, note down carefully, as before, all the thoughts that arise; seek for illustrations of the main idea in the topic, and of each thought or view that it contains. Find also, if you can, some apt quotation by which your point may be enforced. When all the thoughts and illustrations that can be obtained are noted down, begin to arrange them in logical order. Then in thought review the whole again and again, till the mind has mastered every part of it and is in a manner filled with it. When this is done, all is ready to begin the labor of writing out. Form. - Every theme, when complete, consists of three parts -the Introduction, the Discussion, and the Conclusion. The Introduction usually consists of two parts. The first part contains one or more sentences that prepare the way for the second part. This consists of a statement of the proposition or subject to be discussed. Sometimes the two parts are combined, or the first part is omitted altogether. The Discussion is the methodical development of the proposition. This should grow naturally from the leading thought, and should proceed on a well arranged plan. The Conclusion is that part of discourse by which it is properly completed. It may be used to repeat the chief points, to remove doubts, to explain difficulties, to enlist sympathies, or to strengthen convictions. In it the most elaborate expressions may be used; the last sentence should be one of such finished beauty that it will linger in the hearer's mind. Writing out. It has been said that teachers never can be good writers, because their mind is so much set on correctness of form, that the warmth of feeling is chilled, and the flow of ideas is cramped. There is much truth in this, as a general proposition. If the mind is trammelled with rules and formulas, it does not act with freedom, but with a stiffness that mars the beauty of the production. In view of this fact, it will be found best to write on as freely and rapidly as the thoughts come to the mind, without paying much attention to the words used, to the rhetorical form of the sentences, to grammatical rules, or to anything except the expression of the thought. It is a good plan to write the lines some distance apart, so as to allow space for interlining. Review. After the whole essay, or any one of the parts, has been written out, read it over carefully to see if all the thoughts have been expressed, and expressed in the proper place, as well as in the most suitable manner. If the first writing seems generally unsatisfactory, rewrite the whole again, and even a third time. Such labor will be amply repaid. Criticism. - After the writing out has been finished, the work of criticism should begin. In this part of the task, the following points should receive due attention: 1. The spelling and the grammatical structure of the sentences should be carefully examined. 2. The words employed should be examined under the rules laid down for Diction. 3. The sentences should be closely considered, to see whether they conform to all the principles that govern the Formation of Sentences. 4. The figures of speech should be examined to see that they are well conceived and appropriate. |