1892 printing of 1892 copyrighted text. The author is credited as a Ph.D and as Professor in the School of Pedagogy, University of the City of New York. The introduction breaks the text down into punctuation, reproductions, inventions, short papers, letter-writing, and essay writing from outlines. Copying is recommended for exercises, the reproductions are to be rewritten from memory, the inventions take the form of interrupted stories. The chapters are punctuation, variety of expression, variety of sentence-form, paraphrase and abstract, essentials of sentence structure, figurative language, letter-writing, diction, essay-writing, common errors, and capitals. The appendices cover rules for punctuation, marks used in correcting compositions, additional material for compositions, and brief biographical notes. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
No edition or printing information is given in the copy. The author has a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College. As indicated by the subtitle, the work is intended for secondary and college students. Includes topics historical, imaginative, argumentative and subsequent brief chapters on: plan, or analysis; elaboration of points; criticism of one's own work; form of finished composition; composition an essential factor in the study of rhetoric; and figures of speech. The work seems addressed more to the teacher of the students than the students themselves. It attempts to explain how to students should mentally approach the act of writing but its language suggests a teacher thinking about the student’s mental habits rather than the student working though his own thoughts.
1844 printing of the 1844 copyrighted text. The title page says the book is designed as a sequel to Progressive Exercises in English Composition. As with its predecessor, this text seeks to address two primary obstacles for student writers: obtaining ideas and expressing ideas. The author's approach to obtaining ideas is based on what he terms the principle of association. The exercises herein are not presented as a progressive course, but rather are meant to be selected by teachers as they deem useful. The material varies from sample sentences for punctuation practice, to models of the various kinds of compositions, to long lists of subjects for different kinds of compositions. There are seventy-five lessons in all. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1841 and 1842 copyrighted texts. The author is credited as "author of the prize essay on education, entitled 'The Teacher's Manual.'" A series of four books designed to connect pure feelings and correct moral ideas with intellectual instruction through narratives accompanied by questions for students. Many of the stories are given titles indicative of the moral theme explored, such as "Cruelty and Oppression" and "Envy, Hatred, and Malice." Pictorial illustrations also appear throughout. The Schultz Archive's copy includes selections from each of the four books, but none of the four is complete.
1893 printing of the 1893 copyrighted text. The author is credited as Assistant Professor of English in the Leland Stanford Junior University. Designed to be a supplement to a more technical grammatical and rhetorical treatise, this text shows students how to find material and work that material into good, interesting compositions. Seventy-three exercises deal with particular kinds of composition, specimen subjects and themes are given with observations and suggestions for treatment, and models of various kinds of composition are provided (but these models are of student work or writing of a similar level of accomplishment). The work is divided into two parts. Part one, Composition Based on Experience and Observation, has sections on finding material, narration, description, and narration and description combined. Part two, Composition Based on Reading and Thought has sections on principles of composition, exposition, argumentation, persuasion, and miscellaneous forms (such as news, book reviews, letter, dialogue, as humor). John Genung's Rhetoric is listed as an influence. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1894 printing of the 1893 copyrighted text. It is apparently identical to the Schultz Archive's 1893 printing, with the exception of a few pages of advertisements at the end. The author is credited as Assistant Professor of English in the Leland Stanford Junior University. Designed to be a supplement to a more technical grammatical and rhetorical treatise, this text shows students how to find material and work that material into good, interesting compositions. Seventy-three exercises deal with particular kinds of composition, specimen subjects and themes are given with observations and suggestions for treatment, and models of various kinds of composition are provided (but these models are of student work or writing of a similar level of accomplishment). The work is divided into two parts. Part one, Composition Based on Experience and Observation, has sections on finding material, narration, description, and narration and description combined. Part two, Composition Based on Reading and Thought has sections on principles of composition, exposition, argumentation, persuasion, and miscellaneous forms (such as news, book reviews, letter, dialogue, as humor). John Genung's Rhetoric is listed as an influence. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1838 printing of the 1838 copyrighted text. The author is credited as Principal of Green Street Seminary and the author of other books. A collection of composition exercises consisting of stories to be analyzed, descriptions, skeletons of letters, analysis of poetry and scripture, general subjects, discussions, poetical exercises, an epitome of rhetoric, an a list of subjects for compositions. The method proposed is in opposition to teaching children in language they do not understand. It emphasizes given children clear conceptions of things before providing them with those things' names. The text includes some pictorial illustrations. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1939 printing of the 1838 copyrighted text. This later printing contains additional text and illustrations, despite the same copyright year as the prior edition. The author is credited as Principal of Green Street Seminary and the author of other books. A collection of composition exercises consisting of stories to be analyzed, descriptions, skeletons of letters, analysis of poetry and scripture, general subjects, discussions, poetical exercises, an epitome of rhetoric, an a list of subjects for compositions. The method proposed is in opposition to teaching children in language they do not understand. It emphasizes given children clear conceptions of things before providing them with those things' names. The text includes some pictorial illustrations. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1894 copyrighted text. The author is credited as having a Ph.D. from Leipsic and as Professor of the English Language in Wesleyan University. The preface explains the book is the result of teaching composition in secondary schools and college and aims to give brief practical suggestions to young writers (and is not a guide to English criticism). It puts special emphasis on the choice and treatment of themes, and the author argues that the study of composition should be combined with the study of literature, as the best models of English prose provide a standard for students to measure their writing against. The book is in two sections: theory and practice. Theory chapters cover words, sententences, paragraphs, the theme, the plan, kinds of composition (description, narration, exposition, argument, persuasion), composition and revision, and style. Practice chapters cover words, sententences, paragraphs, the theme, the plan, kinds of composition (description, narration, exposition, argument, persuasion), studies in literature, and punctuation. Excerpts from celebrated writers are used as illustrative examples. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
No printing information is given. The copyright date is 1913. Thomas H. Briggs is Instructor of English in Teachers College at Columbia University. Isabel McKinney is Teach of English in the Eastern Illinois State Normal School. The book states it is designed to furnish material for a two year (high school) course, to be followed by "rhetoric of the conventional type" or "work on the collection and organization of material." It emphasizes good composition over the four types. The chapters are: sincerity, good form, definiteness, interest (including a section on writing various forms of letters/epistles), unity, variety, and coherence. The appendix has sections on symbols for grading/correcting, words often confused, parts of verbs misused, and misspelled words. It includes oral and written exercises for students. The Schultz Archive includes the complete text (albeit with pages 13-14 and 186-87 missing), and the text is in good condition.
