The Art of Speaking and Writing an English Language

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Sundays, when I contrived to be in the printing-house alone, evading as much as I could the common
attendance on public worship which my father used to exact of me when I was under his care, and which
indeed I still continued to consider a duty, though I could not, as it seemed to me, afford time to practise it."
A Practical Method.
Aristotle's method, though perfect in theory, has failed in practice. Franklin's method is too elementary and
undeveloped to be of general use. Taking Aristotle's method (represented by our standard textbooks on
rhetoric) as our guide, let us develop Franklin's method into a system as varied and complete as Aristotle's.
We shall then have a method at the same time practical and scholarly.
We have studied the art of writing words correctly (spelling) and writing sentences correctly (grammar).*
Now we wish to learn to write sentences, paragraphs, and entire compositions effectively.
*See the earlier volumes in this series.
First, we must form the habit of observing the meanings and values of words, the structure of sentences, of
paragraphs, and of entire compositions as we read standard literature---just as we have been trying to form the
habit of observing the spelling of words, and the logical relationships of words in sentences. In order that we
may know what to look for in our observation we must analyse a little, but we will not imagine that we shall
learn to do a thing by endless talk about doing it.
Second, we will practise in the imitation of selections from master writers, in every case fixing our attention
on the rhetorical element each particular writer best illustrates. This imitation will be continued until we have
mastered the subject toward which we are especially directing our attention, and all the subjects which go to
CHAPTER XV. 74
the making of an accomplished writer.
Third, we will finally make independent compositions for ourselves with a view to studying and expressing
the stock of ideas which we have to express. This will involve a study of the people on whom we wish to
impress our ideas, and require that we constantly test the results of our work to see what the actual effect on
the mind of our audience is.
Let us now begin our work.
CHAPTER I. 75
CHAPTER I.
DICTION.
"Diction" is derived from the Latin dictio, a word, and in rhetoric it denotes choice of words. In the study of
grammar we have learned that all words have logical relationships in sentences, and in some cases certain
forms to agree with particular relationships. We have also taken note of "idioms," in which words are used
with peculiar values.
On the subject of Idiom Arlo Bates in his book "On Writing English" has some very forcible remarks. Says
he, "An idiom is the personal---if the word may be allowed---the personal idiosyncrasy of a language. It is a
method of speech wherein the genius of the race making the language shows itself as differing from that of all
other peoples. What style is to the man, that is idiom to the race. It is the crystalization in verbal forms of
peculiarities of race temperament--- perhaps even of race eccentricities . . . . . English which is not idiomatic
becomes at once formal and lifeless, as if the tongue were already dead and its remains embalmed in those
honorable sepulchres, the philological dictionaries. On the other hand, English which goes too far, and fails of
a delicate distinction between what is really and essentially idiomatic and what is colloquial, becomes at once
vulgar and utterly wanting in that subtle quality of dignity for which there is no better term than distinction."*
*As examples of idioms Mr. Bates gives the following: A ten-foot (instead of ten-feet) pole; the use of the
"flat adverb" or adjective form in such expressions as "speak loud." "walk fast," "the sun shines hot," "drink
deep;" and the use of prepositions adverbially at the end of a sentence, as in "Where are you going to?" "The
subject which I spoke to you about," etc.
We therefore see that idiom is not only a thing to justify, but something to strive for with all our might. The
use of it gives character to our selection of words, and better than anything else illustrates what we should be
looking for in forming our habit of observing the meanings and uses of words as we read.
Another thing we ought to note in our study of words is the suggestion which many words carry with them in
addition to their obvious meaning. For instance, consider what a world of ideas the mere name of Lincoln or
Washington or Franklin or Napoleon or Christ calls up. On their face they are but names of men, or possibly
sometimes of places; but we cannot utter the name of Lincoln without thinking of the whole terrible struggle
of our Civil War; the name of Washington, without thinking of nobility, patriotism, and self-sacrifice in a pure
and great man; Napoleon, without thinking of ambition and blood; of Christ, without lifting our eyes to the
sky in an attitude of worship and thanksgiving to God. So common words carry with them a world of
suggested thought. The word drunk calls up a picture horrid and disgusting; violet suggests blueness,
sweetness, and innocence; oak suggests sturdy courage and strength; love suggests all that is dear in the
histories of our own lives. Just what will be suggested depends largely on the person who hears the word, and
in thinking of suggestion we must reflect also on the minds of the persons to whom we speak.
The best practical exercise for the enlargement of one's vocabulary is translating, or writing verses. Franklin
commends verse-writing, but it is hardly mechanical enough to be of value in all cases. At the same time,
many people are not in a position to translate from a foreign language; and even if they were, the danger of
acquiring foreign idioms and strange uses of words is so great as to offset the positive gain. But we can easily
exercise ourselves in translating one kind of English into another, as poetry into prose, or an antique style into
modern. To do this the constant use of the English dictionary will be necessary, and incidentally we shall learn
a great deal about words.
As an example of this method of study, we subjoin a series of notes on the passage quoted from Franklin in
the last chapter. In our study we constantly ask ourselves, "Does this use of the word sound perfectly natural?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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