THE EXPOSITORY
PARAGRAPH AND~ SENTENCE

AN ELEMENTARY MANUAL
OF COMPOSITION

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BY

"

CHARLES SEARS

~ALDWIN,

A.M., P1-1 . D.

IN S T R U CTOJ< I N l< ll l!TOl< I C I N Y A LE l:N l\' ERSIT\'

NEW YORK

LONGMANS, GREEN, ANO CO.
LONDON AND BOMBAY

PREFACE·

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LONGl\IANS , GREEN, AND CO.

This little manua! aims to supply for the
first term in college such elementary instruction as seems necessary in reviewing and su pplementing the work of the preparatory
schools before proceeding to more special
courses. To this end it deals cxciusivcly ~vit h
structure, and with expository structure as
being at once more o1)Vious, more useful, and
less artistic than the oth er kinds. The hook
may thus be used as a direc t introduction to
Mr. Lamont's Specimens {~f Fxposition, for in stance, or to .\lr. Brewster 's .Sludi,·s ill Structur[
and Style. But it aspires to more generai use - _
fulness as a students' pocket-book of rhetoric.
For advice on the manuscript and for corrections in proof I am indebted to my colle::igu e,
Mr. Chauncey \Vetmore Wells; for the iJ.t ter
favour, to Professor Thomas R. Price a ncl
Professor G. R . Carpenter of Columbia Universitv.
C. S. BYAU:

Press of T. T. L ittle ..~ Co .
A-.t11r P L1 ;1_· , 0nv Y urk

UNIVERSiTY , Ju~v.

1397.

CONTENTS
PAGES.

INTRODUCTION

I.

I- 2

THE COMPOSITION AS A WHOLE

(§§

1-<))

3-10

A. The Composition Considered as a Brief

Undivided Whole rn§ 1-7)
B. The Composition Considered as a Series
of Paragraphs (§§ 8-9)

II.

' THE PARAGRAPH (~§ 10-22)

3- 8
8-IO
II-27

A . The Paragraph Conside red as an U ndi -

vided Whole (§§ IO-IS)
B. The Paragraph Considered as a Seri es of
Sentences (§§ 19-22)
III.

THE SENTENCE

(§§

23-42)

II-21
22-27

28--tS

I NDEX TO TH E SECTIONS

49-5 I

INDEX TO THE EXTRACTS

52-53

vu

INTRODUCTION

r*

Beneath all forms of prose lie four kinds
of writing, which, though variously combined,
are yet distinct and separate. These are description, the methods of suggesting mental
images corresponding in some degree to scenes
beheld or imagined by the writer; narration,
the methods of conducting a story; persuasion,
the methods of moving men to action, whether
through their reason or through their feelings;
and exposition, the methods of lucid explanation. The principles set forth in this book,
though they are generally applicable to all four
kinds, are here applied exclusively to expos1t10n. All brief pieces of exposition are included in the extended sense given here to the
term essay.
The direct use of these rules of construction
is confined to revision. Indirectly, sound
principles, and even sound rules of detail, may

2

Unity

Introduction

lead to good habits ; but cl irectly they are of
no use till something , at least, is written. 'To
write by rul e, in the sense of pausing to apply
rules in the process of composition, is, of
course, futile. In that sense probably nobody
ever wrote by rule. To rewrite by rule 1s
simply to follow the method of progress in
any art.

I.
A.

3

THE COMPOSITION AS A WHOLE.

The Composition Considered as a
Undivided Whole.

Brief

Composition in any art is guided by
three fundamental principles: unity, coherence, emphasis. The principle of unity demands that the whole composition shall show
one main purpose and have one main effect,
and that every part of it shall harmonize with
that purpose and contribute to that effect.
Negatively, unity means the exclusion of
everything irrelevant or incongruous. In
writing it expresses the difference between an
accumulation of notes and an essay.
2 . Unity appears plainly in the following
essay of Bacon :
I.

[
I,

OF ADVERSITY.

It was a high speech of Seneca (after the
manner of the Stoics) , tlzat the good things
wlziclt belong to prosperity are to be wislud

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Unity of Bacon's

4

Essay on Adversity
but tlu good t!tings t!t at belong to ad7;ersity
5 are to be admired. Bona rerum secundarum
optabilia, adversarum mirabi!ia. Certainly
if miracles be th e command over na ture, they
appear most in adversi ty. It is yet a higher
speech of his than the othe r (m uch too high for
10 a heathen), ft is tr ue greatn ess to lwve in one
t!t e frailty of a man, and tlu secttrity of a
god.
Vere m agnum, luzber e fr agilitatem
!tomh1is, suurit atem dei. This would have
done better in poesy, where transcend ences 1
I 5 are m ore allowed .
And the poets, indeed,
have bee n busy with it ; for it is in effec t the
thing which is figured in th at s tra nge fiction
of the ancient poe ts, w hich seemeth not to be
with o ut my stery; n ay, and to have some ap20 proach to the state of a Christ ian ; that J-!ercu !es, wlun !te went to unbind Promet!tetts
(by whom human nature is represe nted) , sailed
the !cngt!t of tlu grea t ocea n in an earthen
pot or pitclur; lively describi ng C hristian
25 res ol ution, that saileth in the frail bark of the
fles h through the waves of the world. But to
speak in a mean.~ The virtue of prosperity is
temperance, th e virtu e of adve rsity is fortitude ;
which in morals 3 is the more heroical virtue.
30 P rosperity is the blessing of the Old Testa·

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h ype rbol es.

1

i. 1'. , in plain prose.

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n:ient; adversity is the blessing of the New,
whic h carrieth the greater benediction, and
the cleare r revelation of God's favour. Yet even
in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's
harp, you shall hear as ma ny hearse-like airs
as carols ; and the pencil of the Holy Ghost
hath laboured more in describing the afflictions
of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes ; and
adversity is not without comforts and hopes.
We see in needleworks and embroideries, it is
more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad
and solemn ground, th a n to have a dark and
melancholy work upon a lightsome ground.
Judge therefore of the pleasure of the heart by
the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue is
like precious odours, most fragrant when the y
are incensed 1 or crushed : for prosperity doth
best discover vice, but adversity doth best
discover virtue.

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3. Here is nothing that does not contrib ute
to the elucidation of the theme-The blessings
of adversity are superior to the blessing s o.f
prosperity. To test the unity of any brief
essay, try to sum it up thus in a single

' ethics.

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Colterrnce

Emphasis o.f Position

sentence. And, in shaping rough notes into
an essay, let the first step be to express the
theme, not in a topic, as J!1e Uses o.I Translations, but rather in a sentence, as The use o.f
frans!atio11s is a hiwlrrrnce in t/1e acquisitioll o.f
a language, or Some knowlet!. zc o.f a literature
may be gat"?zed throug h translatiom. Then, by
successive modifications of this trial sentence
and of the notes, bring the two into harmony.
4. The principle of coherence demands that
the composi tion shall proceed in natural
sequence without break or jar, that one thingshall lead to another. This means, of course,
that the thou ghts must be brought into orde r.
It usually means also that the logical rebtion
between each thought and the preceding shall
be, not merely latent, but explicit. In the
essay quoted above, the second thought is
explicitly connected with the first by the correspondence of phrase : .ft was a hig h speech
-It is J'et tt !1(1.;her speech. The transitional
phrase, But to spc,r/..~ in a m r a11 ( 26), leads
naturally to the following- summary . But the
thought, Prosperi!)• is 11.J/ 7i'il!t /1 11t 111a11y /ca rs
(38), etc., is brought in abruptly. It is not

out of relation, but its relation is not shown.
Most students will find it necessary to make
a separate revision solely to insure the exp! icit
reference that is so important a part of
coherence.
5. The principle of emphasis demands that
those parts which elucidate the theme directly
shall have prominence of position and of
space. Negatively, this means that whatever
is merely indirect or subsidiary must be kept
subordinate. Now the most prominent position in any piece of writing is the end . Thus
of all laws of composition the most familiar
is climax. In the essay above, Bacon closes
with a pithy iteration of the theme in a sort
of proverb.
The reference to the Psalms
(line 34) or the figure of embroidery (line 41)
would make an ending obviously inferior
because those parts are subsidiary. The law of
emphasis, then, coincides with the law of unity
in keeping uppermost in mind the conclusion.
6. Next to the end the most emphatic
place is the beginning. Introduction being
often unnecessary in brief essays, a direct
statement of the theme, such as that which

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Emphasis of Space

T!te Essay in Paragraphs

results from the revision for unity, may often
be made in the very first sentence. In any
case, wherever the essay begins, with or
without introduction, the theme should usually
be stated there. Thus many good essays
begin and end with the theme.
7. Prominence of position, however, is not
more important than prominence of space.
In a short essay especially, nothing of indirect
bearing should receive more than a few lines.
In the essay above, the illustrations from the
myth of Hercules and from embroidery are
the only ones stated, and these doubtless
because neither would have been plain from
mere allusion. Mere allusion suffices for the
rest, and here appears a due proportion of
space. Proportion, in fact, sums up in a word
this aspect of the law of emphasis.

division of the subject into parts. A paragraph 1 is a part which, during the process of
composition, has defined itself as one distinct
stage in the progress of the essay. It is a
unit, but a component unit. As a unit it is
marked for the eye by indentation,~ and is
governed by the principles of unity, coherence,
and emphasis. As a component, being like a
link in a chain or a step in a stair, it contains
in its first sentence some reference to the preceding paragraph.
9. By expressing the gist of each paragraph
in a single sentence, one may reduce an essay
to its lowest terms without affecting its coherence. By conceiving, on the other hand, each
paragraph amplified into a chapter, one has a
graphic idea of what is meant by the clevelThe term paragraph is commonly applied also to
wh:-1t are sometimes cal led " isolated " or " unrelated "
paragraphs. Thus a brief editorial is often ca ll ed a
paragraph. In this book the term is used only in the
sense defined above.
2 Since indentation is the accepted indication of a
new paragraph, the student is warned never to indent
except for that purpose.
1

B.

The Composition Considered as a Series of
Paragraphs.

8. So soon as an essay is developed beyond
a certain len gth , it falls naturally into paragraphs corresponding more or less to some

9

The Paragraph

The Essay ill Paragraphs

IO

opment1 of a theme. Bacon mi ght easily
have presented the extremely concise essay
on Atbersity in more ample form. The ends
of the undeveloped paragraphs may be discerned at lines 8, 26, 38.
No refere nce is to be understood here to the actual
process of composition .
1

IL
A.

II

THE PARAGRAPH.

The Paragraph Considered as an Undivided
Whole .

.. IO. The paragraph being already defined

in its main relation, there remains only the
application to it of those fundamental principles that govern the whole composition. A
paragraph has unity when it can be summed
up readily in a single sentence. In many
paragraphs such a sentence appears at the
beginning, or at the end, or in both places;
but unity requires only that the read er should
be able to sum up, not necessarily that the
writer should sum up for him. Note which
paragraphs, q not ed in the following pages, state
their themes, and which merely imply them .
I I. The material proper to the development
of a paragraph within the limits of unity is set
forth by Professor Genung 1 in the following
table for a typical paragraph:
1

Practical Elements of Rhetoric, page 199. Professor Genung adds : '' Of course this scheme is too

12

The Paragrap!t: Unity

The subje ct proposed :
I. Whatever is ne ecle<l to explai n the subject.
Repet ition.
Obverse (i.e., presenting the contrary).
Definition.

II. Whatever is needed to esta bl ish the subject.
Exemplificatio n or de tail.
Illustration.
Proof.
III. 'Wha te ver is n eecl ecl to a pply the subject.
Result o r consequence .
Enfo rc e ment.
Summary or rec apitulation.

In the paragraph next quoted point out
these clements.
I2. Co her e nce in a parag raph demand s ( r)
a logical sequence of sente nces, (2) usu ally
the indication of th is seque nce by words of
explic it refere nce.
l n the following paraextens i\· e for a ny parti cular pa r:q~ raph; it merely represe nts the nat ural place fo r eac h mann e r of trea tm e nt
adopted . Some parts may be conden sed or altogeth e r
elided, ot hers expanded so as to take up a promi nent,
even predominating proportion of th e paragraph."

Coherence: Explicit Reference

13

graph the words of explicit reference are
printed in italics.
First, the people of the colonies are descendants of Englishmen . England, Sir, is a nation
whic h still I hope respects, and formerly adored,
her freedom. The co lo n ists emigrated from
you when t!lis part of your chara cter was most 5
predominant; and they took this bias an<l direction th e moment they parted from your hands.
T hey are tlz erefor e not only devoted to liberty,
but to liberty a cco rding to English ideas, ancl
on English principles. Abstract liberty , like IO
other mere abstractions , is not to be found.
Liberty inheres in some sensibl e object; and
every na tion has formed to itself some favorite
point, which by way of e minence becom es the
criterion of their happiness. It happened, you 15
know, Sir, that the great contests for freedom
in this coun try were from the e a rliest times
chiefly upon the question of taxing. Most of the
contes ts in the an cient commonwealths turned
primarily on the ri gh t of election of m ag is- 20
trates, or on the bala nce a mong the sev eral
orders of the State. The question of mon ey
was not with them s o immedi a te. But in England it was otherwise. On tit is point of ta xes
the ablest pens and most eloquent tongues have 25

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35

40

45

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Explicit Reference £n a
been exercisecl; the g reates t spirits have acted
and suffered. In order to give the fullest satisfaction concerning the importance of tllis point,
it was not only necessary for those who in
argument defended the excellence of the English Constitution to insist on this privilege of
granting money as a dry poin t of fact, and to
prove that the right had been acknowledged in
ancient parchments and blind usa ges to reside
in a certain body called a House of Commons.
They went much .furtlur; th ey attempted to
prove, ancl they succeeded, that in theory it
ought to be so, from the particular nature of a
House of Commons as an immediate representative of the people, wh ethe r the old records
had delivered this oracle or not. They took
infinite pains to inculcat e , as a fundamental
principle, that in all monarchies the people
must in effect themselves, mediately or immediately, possess the power of granting their
own money, or no shadow of liberty coulcl subsist. The co lo nies draw from you, as with
their life-blood, tliese ideas and principles.
Their love of liberty, as with you, fixed and
attached on this specific point nf taxing. Liberty might be safe, or might be endangered,
in twenty other particulars, without their being
much pleased or alarmed. I-Jere they felt its

Paragraph from Burke
pulse; and as they found that beat, they
thought themselves sick or sound. I do not 55
say wheth e r they were right or wrong in
applying your general arguments to their
own case. It is not easy indeed to make a
monopoly of theorems and corollaries. The
fact is, that they clicl tltus apply those general 6o
arguments; and your mode of governing them ,
whether through lenity or indolence, through
wisdom or mistake, confirmed them in the
imagination, that they, as well as you, had
an interest in these common principles.- 65
Burke: On Conciliation wit!t America.

IJ. On analysis, the logical connection appears to be indicated mainly in three ways:
(a) by conjunctions, etc.; (b) by demonstratives; (c) by repetition of important words.
·w ith so great a range of choice the student
is inexcusable who confines himself to perpetual and and but. For though Burke's nicety
of adjustment is a distinguishing mark of his
mastery, some care in adjustment must be
taken from the beginning, or there will be
small progress in composition. Examine also
the following paragraph, and compare § 22.

Explicit Reference w a

Paragraplt from De Quincey

The situ:ttion here contemplated exposes a
dreadful ulcer, lurking far down in the depths
of human nature. It is not that men generally
are summoned to face such awful trials; but
5 potentially, and in shadowy outline, such a
trial is moving subterraneously in perhaps all
men's natures .
Upon the secret mirror of
our dreams such a trial 1s darkly projected,
perhaps, to every one of us. That dream, so
IO familiar to chiidhoocl, of meeting a lion, and,
through languishing prostration 111 hope and
the energies of hope, that constant sequel of
lying down before the lion, publishes the secret
frailty of human nature-reveals its deepJ 5 seated falsehood to itself-records its abysmal
treachery. Perhaps not one of us escapes that
dream ; perhaps, as by some sorrowful doom
of man, that dream repeats for every one of
us, through every generation, the original
20 temptation in Eden.
Every one of us, in this
dream, has a bait offered to the infirm places
of his own individual will; once again a snare
is presented for tempting him into captivity to
a luxury of ruin ; once again, as in aboriginal
25 Paradise, the man falls by his own choice ;
aga111, by infinite iteration, the ancient earth
groans to heaven, throug-h her secret caves,
over the weakness of her child : "Nature, from

her seat, sighing through all her works," again
"O"ives
si bo·ns of woe that all is lost,· " and a2'ain 30
b
the counter sigh is repeated to the sorrowing
heavens for the endless rebellion against God.
It is not without probability that in the world
of dreams every one of us ratifies for himself
the original transgression . In dreams, per- 35
haps under some secret conflict of the midnight
sleeper, lighted up to the consciousness at the
time, but darkened to the memory as soon as
all is finished, each several child of our mysterious race completes for himself the treason of 40
the aboriginal fall.-De Quincey: The Englislt

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Mail- Coac It.

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14. But observe that by no means all the
sentences in the paragraph at § 12 have
explicit reference, that some stand in asymleton. Moreover, many of these sentences are
not less closely connected than the others.
Connection they have, but not connectives.
Examination will show here the rule that
asyndeton occurs: (a) when the succeeding
sentence is an expansion, iteration, example,
or illustration of the preceding-in other
words, when the connection is obvious; (b)
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Asymleton

The Paragraph : Emphasis

when, as at line 15, a slight bre.'.lk is intended
to mark a wider transition. (Compare § 4.)
15. In the following paragraph, which has
asyndeton throughout, observe the effect of
abruptness.
But now, on the new system of travelling,
iron tubes and boilers have disconnected man's
heart from the ministers of his locomotion.
Nile nor Trafalgar has pow e r to raise an extra
5 bubble in a steam-kettle. The galvanic cycle
is broken up for ever; man's imperial nature
no longer sends itself forward through the
electric sensibility of the horse; the inter-agencies are gone in the mode of communication
10 between the horse and his mas ter, out of which
grew so many aspects of sublimity under accidents of mists that hid, or sudden blazes that
revealed, of mobs that agitated, or midnight
solitudes that awed. Tidings, fitted to con15 vulse all nations, must henceforwards travel by
culinary process ; and the trumpet that once
announced from afar the laurelled mail, heartshaking when heard screaming on the wind,
and proclaiming itself through the darkness to
20 every village or solitary house on its route, has
now given way for ever to the pot-wallopings

of the boiler.-!Je Quincey:
Mail-Coaclt.

The English

Compare also the second example in § r9.
In revising for coherence, then, look first to
the sequence of sentences, then to the indications of that sequence ; and, except in the
cases noted above, or in the rare cases where
abruptness is desired, avoid asyndet011.
16. The principles of emphasis as stated
in §§ 5-7 apply without modification to the
paragraph.
Of the emphasis secured by
prominence of position Bacon furnishes a
more striking instance in the opening paragraph of his essay on Ceremonies and Respects:

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He that is only real had need have exceeding
great parts of virtue, as the stone had need to be
rich that is set without foil. But if a man mark
it well, it is in praise and commendation of men
as it is in gettings and gains. For the proverb is
true that light gains make heavy purses ; for light
gains come thick, whereas great come but now
and then. So it is true that small matters win
great commendation, because they are continually in use and note, whereas the occasion of any
great virtue cometh but on festivals. Therefore

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The Paragraph : Emphasis

Parallel Construction

it cloth much add to a man's reputation, and is,
as Queen Isabella said, like perpetual letters
commendatory, to have good forms.

18. A particular means of paragraph emphasis is parallel construction, the balancing
of sentence against sentence . It is most natural in successive expansions or iterations, or
in an oratorical cumulation like the followin g :

20

17. Of the emphasis gained by proper proportion of space an admirable example is the
paragraph quoted in § i z. The proposition
developed by this paragraph may be stated as
follows: Since the American colonists are descemlants of EnglislzmeJ1, their love of liberty is
fixed on this specific point of taxing. The part
concerning English descent, being subsidiary, is compressed within ten lines : the part
concerning taxation, being the main point,
occupies practically all the rest of the paragraph, fifty -five lines. The last sentence,
though summing up only this latter part, is
skilfully made to close with a reminder(" these
common principles") of the former. 1
1

Professor \Ven<lell's formula for paragraph emphasis
is useful, but too rigid : "A paragraph whose unity can
be demonstrated by summarizing its substance in a sentence whose subject shall be a summary of its opening
sentence, and whose predicate shall be a summary of its
closing sentence, is theoretically well massed."-E1lglish
Co111pusilion, page I 29.

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Carry the principle on by which you expelled Mr.
Wilkes, there is not a man in the House, hardly
a man in the nation, who may not be disqualified.
That this House should have no power of expulsion is a hard saying. That this Hous~ should
have a general discretionary power of cl1squalification is a dangerous saying. That the pe op le
should not choose their own representative is a
saying that shakes the constitution. That this
House should name the representative is a saying
which, followed by practice, subverts the constitu tion.-Bur/.:e: Spee cit on t!ie Middlesex Election.

'T his last means of emphasis is somewhat
too artificial to be commonly available. On
the other hand, the first means, a strong close,
is practically always useful ; and the second,
due proportion of space, is obligatory.

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B.

The Paragraph tn its Se11tmccs :

The Paragraph Considered as a Series of
Sentences.

19. A paragraph is commonly defined as a
group of sentences with unity of purpose;
and though a paragraph is not primarily a
group of sentences, yet ultimately it must be
considered in this as pect. "In how many
sentences shall this paragraph be developed ?"
is a question, not merely of the extent, but
also of the manner of development. Compare the two following paragraphs:
For my religion, thou g h the re be several
circumstances that might persuade the world I
have none at all, as the general scandal of my
profession, the natural course of my studies,
5 the incl ifferency of my behaviour and discourse
in m atte rs of religion,-neither violently defending one, nor with th at common ardou r
and contention opposing another-yet in despite hereof, I dare, ·without usurpation, asIO sume th e honourable style of a Christian.
Not that r merely owe this title to the font,
my education, or the clime wherein I was born,
as being bred up either to confirm those princi-

Number of Sentences
ples my parents instilled into my unwary understanding, or by a general consent proceed 15
in the religion of my country : but having in
my riper years and confirmed jud gment seen
and examined all, I find myself obliged, by the
principles of grace, and the law of mine own
reason, to embrace no other name hut this. 20
Neither doth herein my zeal so far m ake me
forget t he general charity I owe unto humanity, as rather to hate than pity Turks, infidels, a nd (what is worse) Jews; rather contenting myself to enjoy that happy style, than 25
malign ing those who refuse so glorious a title.

Sir T!tomas Browne: Re!igio Medici.
What is the hardest task in the world ? To
think. I would put myself in the attitude
to look in the eye an abstract truth, and I
cannot. I blench and withdraw on this side
and on that. I seem to know what he meant 5
who said, No man can see God face to face and
live. For example, a man explores the b asis
of civil government. Let him intend his mind
without respite, without rest, in one direction.
His best heed long time avails him nothin g . 10
Yet thoughts are flitting before him. We all but
apprehend, we dimly forebode the truth. We
say, I will walk abroad, and the truth will take

-The Paragraph in its Sentences:
form and clearness to m e. vVe go forth, but
I 5 cannot find it.
It seems as if we ne eded on ly
the s tillness a nd composed att itu de of the
library to seize the th o ugh t. But we co me in,
and are as far from it as at first. Then, in a
moment, and un a nnoun ced , the truth appears.
20 A certain wanderin g light appears, a nd is
t he distinction , the p r incip le . we wanted . But
the oracle comes because w e had previously
laid siege to th e shrin e. I t se em s as if th e la w
of the intellect resembled that law of na ture
25 by which we now in spi re, now expire the
breath ; by which the heart n ow draws in,
t hen hurls o ut the blood,-the law of undul a tion. So you mu s t labor with yo ur brains, a nd
now you m ust forbe a r you r activity and see
30 what t he great Soul sh owet h . Emerson: ln-

tellect.1
20. Apparently the quest ion is "Long sentence~

or short?" And the answer is twofold . First, as a matter of logic, a g iven
state ment is left as an independent sentence or
is combined in t he same se nten ce with oth er
statements according :is it is coordinate or

Number of Sentences

25

subordinate. Logically, then, the question
becomes: "Should this statement receive the
prominence of a separate sentence, or should
it be reduced to a clause or a phrase?" 1
Here also is involved the principle of emphasis.
2I. In the second· place, as a matter of
rhetoric the succession of sentences in the
'
first paragraph is smooth, in the second paragraph abrupt. And the difference, though it
lies partly in explicit reference, lies mainly in
the predominance of long or of short sentences. A paragraph of long sentences, then ,
has the advantage over a paragraph of short
sentences in a nicer subordination , and an
easier flo w.
But it will not do to think of
a paragraph as limited to one or the other.
Each has its purpose, and both are necessary
to variety.
Moreover, since monoto ny of
style means monotony in sentence-forms, variety in length is an end in itself.
22. Again, it is evident from §~ r 2- r 5
that a paragraph is a group of sentences

1

Quot<::<l in Carpenter's Ex,·r riscs in Rhc:toric a111!
E ng l/sit Cu111position in thi s connection .

1

Practice in reduction of thi s kind is a direct means
of ove rco ming a habit of redunda ncies.

26

The Paragraph rn its Sentences:

Form of Sentences

when we consider its coherence. But paragraph cohe rence affects even the form of the
sentences, by wh at has been called '' inversion for adjustment." A striking example of
this is the following oratorical paragraph :

and interrogati ve forms, to emphasis an d variety ; secondly, that inversion, exclamation,
interrogation, all three must be regarded as
exceptional. The frequent use of these devices makes style laboured and pompous.
The length of a sentence, then, and its
form are to be decided, not absolutely for
the sentence itself, but relatively to the paragraph.

But the age of c hivalry is gone . Tha t of sophisters, cec onomists, a nd calculators, h a s succeed ed ; and t h e glory of E urope is extinguished
fo r ever. Never, n ever more, shall we behold
that generous loyalty to rank and sex, th at proud
submi ss io n, that di g nified obedie nc e, tha t subordin atio n of the heart , which kept alive, eve n in
se rvitu de itself, the spirit of a n exalted freedom.
Th e unbought grace of li fe , the cheap de fence of
nations, the nurse of manly sentiment and heroic
ente r p rise, is gone ! It is gone , th a t sensibility
of p rin ciple , that c h as tity of honour, which felt a
stain like a wound, w hich in sp ired courage whilst
it mitiga te d ferocit y, which ennobled whatever it
to u ched, and un der which vice itself lost h al f its
evil, by los ing all its gross ne ss.-B11r!.-e : R eflec-

t ion s on tl1 e R evolution in Fra n ce.

It sho uld be ad ded, first, t hat such inversions, besides co ntributin g to paragraph coherence, contribute also, lik e the exclama t ory

'
....
'

Tile Sentence : Unity

28

III.

P1111duation

f
f

verse errors are erad icated, nothing further
can be done. No one can revise for sentence
unity until he recogni zes the unit.
24. Except in that it is easier to unify a
short sentence than a long one, the length of
a sentence has nothing to do with its unit y.
Above are seven words not in unity, and at
lines 27-35 in the paragraph at§ 12 are seventy
wor<ls ent irely in unity. Besides. the length
of a sentence depends. partly upon the exigencies of the individual thought, partly upon
the emphasis of the wh ole paragraph
20 ) .
Length, then, is not the test, but relevance,
the bearing of the modiiicrs on the main pa rt.
In the following sentence the modifiers move
steadily away from the main part:

t

new and cruel :1ffiiction, the de::ith of his clau~htcr

r

Tullia, w hich happened soon after her divorce
from Dolabelia, whose manners and humours
were entirely disagreeable to her.

THE SENTENCE.

23. In English every statement is punctu ated as a sentence unless it be definitely
subordinated to some other statement as a
dependent clause, or coordinated as an equal
member. It is a common error to writeTi1c ti de was rising, so we ran .

'f

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I

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rn

Those seven words make two sentencesThe tide was rising.

So

\\'C

ran .

For the two statements are left independent,
side by side. Not punct:iation, but only a
defi nite

subordi11~tiun

\\'i il m; d-:c Lhcm unc

In

sentence\Ne ran because the tide wa:; rising ;

or, bet ter,
Since the tide was risin g-. we ran.

It is a grosse r error to punctuate a clause

as if it were a sentence.

f

Until these two con-

t
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this uneasy s tate Cicero

\v;i s

oppressed by

. .•,;·.
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...

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·.~'." .
~ '.•·.,

'

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.

a

The reme dy here is simple. Cast out the
irrelevant modifiers. If they are not worthy
the dignity of separate sentences, suppress

'.

.

JI

. The Sentence : Unity

Logical Subordination

them altogether. In general, beware of theHouse-that- Jack-bu_ilt sentence.
25. But the trouble is deeper. ·wherein lies
the absurdity of the following sentence?

attending results of six wars with the natives and
with a mixture of natives and Dutch settlers.

I turned to reply, wh en th e platform on which
I was standing gave way with a crash.

Here the writer unintentionally represents
himself as unmoved in the midst of disaster :
vVhen t he platform on which I was standi ng
gave way with a cra s h, I turned to reply.

The sentence is logically upside clown, the
main tho ugh t being expressed as subordinate,
the subordinate thou g ht as main . This corrected, the sentence is at once logical.

rn

Wh e n I turned to reply, the platform on which
I was standing ga ve way with a crash.

Tbe follo win g sentence has the same fault,
but the remedy is to cut the sentence in two :
Vasco de Gama first doubled Ca pe Colony, and
later, in 1652, the Dutch came and made settlemen ts there , when England , al ways anxious for
new territory, seized all South Africa, with the

I n a word, a complex sentence must have
only one main part, and that part must be expressed as the main clause.
26. In compound sentences, where there is
no one main part, unity demands that there
shall be real coordination, that the members shall be co-equal parts of one main idea.
Unity appears in th e balanced sentences at
§ 40. Most of the compound sentences that
violate unity, except such as make merely
irrelevant additions with and, do so because
they violate coherence
2 8).
In revising sentences for unity, then :
( r) See that the punctuation tells the truth.
( z) See that the main thought is in the
main clause, not in some modifier.
(3) See that the modifiers are relevant.
(4) See that the members of compound
sentences are really coordinate parts of one
idea.
27. Coherence in a sentence is primarily
correctness in syntax, and, as such, is hardly

i

32

matter of rhetoric. Almost all solecisms are
but forms of \-vhat the Greeks called a11aco!uthon. Thus t!if!erent than puts a conjunction
after a word logically followed by a preposition ; thus the so-called hanging participle 1
is a construction left unfinished ; thus and
which~ tries to make a clause at once coordinate and subordinate ; and so of faults in
correlation 3 and in the sequence of tenses.•
28. But coherence in a sentence is also
1

"Coming nearer, the shores were seen to be
wooded."
2
The combination and w/zirh is correct onlv when
wh ic/1 -clauses are coordinated, a.s in the last s~nte nce
of the paragraph quoted at § 22 .
3
The rule for correlatives (n't/1er-or, nrithcr-nor,
rather than, partly-partly, etc., etc.) is that they should
stand in positions absolute ly corresponding, each to
each (compare § 32, b, c). The error is the slipshod
" Neither by sea nor land. "
4
e.,f., "He intended to have gone," for " !Ie intended to go." Professor Genung states th e rule thus :
" In dependent clauses and infinitives the tense is to
be counted relatively to the principal assertion, not
absolute ly in itself. "--Practical E!<·mmts o.f Nhl'toric,

page

Grammar and Logic

The Sentence: Coherence

I 12.

matter of logic.
carsAvoid danger.

33

The legend in open electric
Keep your seats till the car stops,

or
Avoid danger and keep your seats, etc.,

is illogical. The error of the former wili
appear on reference to § 20. Substantially
the same is the error of the latter. The writer
has made two requests where he meant to
make one.
He has written as coordinate
a clause that is clearly subordinate. He
meansTo avoid clanger, keep your seats, etc.

The connecting thus by the coordinating conjunction and or but of two statements that are
not coordinate is one of the commonest, as it
is one of the gravest, phases of incoherence.
The remedy is to be found not so much in the
avoidance of and and but as in educating oneself to distinguish readily what is subordinate
from what is coordinate.
In brief, avoid
illogical compound sentences.
3

;«j

·'

.,.

,.

34

The Sentence : Coherence

Clearness

29. Thus unity and coherence unite in demanding that the sentence adhere throughout
to one plan. But, furthermore, that plan must
at every point be clear. Failure in this may
almost always be traced to one of three kinds
of error : (a ) undue ellipsis, (b) faulty reference, (c) faulty placing of modifiers.
(a) undue ellipsis.

35

and there started upon him a passing foul churl,
and he smote his horse on the nose so that he
turned abo ut and asked him why he rode over
that bridge without his license [ambiguity of personal pronouns. Compare (c) ] .

}

'

.. .

Blac k Death was the name given to an Oriental
plague marked by inflammatory boils which in
the fourteenth century desolated the worlcl [am biguity of the relative pronoun. Compare (c)].

Cardinal Richelieu hat ed Buckingham as sincerely as the Spaniard Olivares (ell ipsis of the
verb).

(c) faulty placing of modifiers.
They are separated from the class to which
they belonged in consequence of t!uir criMes.

Daudet is nearer Trollope than Dickens (ellipsis
of the preposition).

Though we are all by no means connoisseurs,
yet we all go to exhibitions, not because it is t he
fashion, but because we think it elevates our minds.

Even to-day many people a re found who could
not be induced to sit down in a party of thirteen
at tahle, in the d read that one of the numbe r would
die within a short time, or would surely faint if a
white cat were to enter the house (ellipsis of the
relative) .

In this chapter is seen the master of Thornfiel<l
led about like a child crushed in attempting to
save !tis wife who perished in the flames she had
created.

(b) faulty reference.

30. Blunders of these types have given rise
to the following cautions :
( 1) A given pronoun must refer throughout
a given sentence exclusively and unmistakably
to one antecedent.

If a man has done an Indian a wrong his only
safety lies in killing him (ambiguity of personal
pronouns).

So on the third day he rode over a long bridge,

·~ 1 ~~

-

~-

l

.·
'

~·' ,•

,.
The Sentence: Coherence

36

( 2) The position of any modifier should be
next to the word it modifies, or as near as
possible. Negatives and the words 011{y,
merely, hardly, etc. , demand especial attention .
(3) Non-restrictive ("coordinate") relative
clauses are always set off by com mas, restrictive clauses never. 1
31. The unity and coherence of a sentence
being properly matters of grammar, under
emphasis is included all that may strictly be
called the rhetoric of the sentence, the rules,
that is, of effective form. For most effective
sentence-forms are applications of the rule
(§§ 5- 6) concerning prominence of position.
Of all such forms two stand as types, the
period and the climax. A third, the balance,
though not logically distinct from the two
former, is so marked as to deserve separate
treatment. None of these terms, in fact, is

Empliasis
1.

f

37

exclusive of the others; but each marks a
model of construction.
32. The periodic sentence, or period, keeps
its construction incomplete up to the end. l t
closes grammatically with the last word, not
before All sentences that are not periodic
are technically called loose. In general, that
suspension of the sense which is characteristic
of the period is accomplished (a) by putting
all the modifiers before the main part, or (b)
by the use of correlatives and other words of
suspense, or (c) by a combination of these
methods.

useful.

-,,_

(a)
Apart from such an assertion, or such a result,
I myself am li ttle aware of the pace.- De Quincey:
Tlie English J"v!ail- Coach .
Such now being at that time the usages of mailcoaches, what was to be done by us of young
Oxford ?-ibid.

1

It is a practice with some careful writers to accentuate this distinction by confining who and which , so
far as is possible, to non-restrictive clauses ; i.e., by
using that always for restrictive clauses.
Though
this practice may not be insisted on, it is undoubtedly

,,,.;

I

'I

Many a stern republican, after gorging himself
with a full feast of admiration of the Grecian commonwealths and of our true Saxon constitution,
and discharging all the splendid bile of his virtuous indignation on King John and King James,

•- i

r·
•.. '
;;;

The Sentence : Emphasis

Tlze Period

sits down perfectly satisfied to the coarsest work
and homeliest job of the day he lives in.-Burke:
Tft0uglzts on t!ze Present Discontents.

large their decayed bottom, than bring he r in to
be new trimmed at the dock, who had rather
promiscuousiy retain all, than abridge any, and
obstinately be what they are, than what they have
been, as to stand in diameter and swords' point
with them.-Sir Thomas Browne: Rdigio 1ifedici.

An influence which operated without noise and
without violence ; an influence which converted
the very antagonist into the instrument of power;
which containc<l in itself a pcrpetu<d principle of
growth an<l renovation ; and which the distresses
and the prosperity of the country equally tended
to augment, w a s an admirable substitute for a
prerogative that, being only the off;pring of antiquated prejudices, had moulded in its original
stamina irresistible principles of decay and disso1ution.-ibid.

Compare the first sentence in the paragraph
quoted at § 19.
(b), (c)
This doctrine , as applied to the prince new on
the British throne, eitlzer is nonsense, and therefore neither true nor false, or it affirms a most
unfounded, dangerous, illega l, and unconstitutional position.-Burke: Reflections on the Revolution in France.
Yet have I not so shaken hands with those desperate resolutions who had rather venture at

39

The little cany carriage-part!.Y, perhaps, from
the violent torsion of the wheels in its recent
movement, partly from the the th undering blow
we had given to it-as if it sympathized with human horror, was all alive with tremblings and
shiverings.-De Quincey: The English JlfailCoac!t.
Som e twenty or more years before I matriculated at Oxford, Mr. Palmer, at that time M.P.
for Bath, had accomplished two thi ngs, very hard
to do on our little planet the Earth, however cheap
they may be held by eccentric people in cometshe had invented mail-coaches, and he had married
the daughter of a cluke.-ibid.
Among them, indeed, I sa\v some of known
rank, some of shining talents; but of any practical
experience in the state, not one man was to be
found.-Burke: Reflections on tlie Re'vo!ution in
France.

T!te Sentence: Emphasis

Tlze Loose Sentence

33. The main characteristics of this periodic form are four:
( 1) It is more formal than the loose sentence.
(2) It tends toward unity, the suspense
tending to force out irrelevant modifiers.
(3) It tends toward cohe ren ce.
(4) It is decidedly em phatic, both because
the mai n part comes at the close and because
the suspense stimulates the mind to receive
the close with attention. Naturally, therefore, it has been a favourite form with all
g reat orators. Moreover, Herbert Spencer 1
explicitly maintains that by presenting the
whole idea at once to the mind, instead of
building it up bit by bit as the loo"e sentence
does, the period secures the g reatest economy
of attention.
34. In all these respects, except the single
one of formality, the loose sen tence seems inferior. But formality is hardly to be sought,
and most certainly to be sought is variety
(§ 2 1 ). Therefore no one is free to use the
period exclusively, even if he wou ld. Be-

sides, the term loose sentence, being so much
more inclusive than the term period, being in
fact only a negative, needs further elucidation.

1

Phi!osopl1y of Style, pages

20-22

41

\Ve frequently hear the ha bit of reading lauded
highly and the acquiring of it recommended, to
the young in particular, usually in very genera l
terms, as if its advantages were truths so self-evident that no one would think of denying them,
very much indeed as we hear religion praised, or
industry, no matter to what applied, or any other
of what are considered the safeguards of society.

I

The weakness of this loose sentence lies in
the fact that it sounds, in great part, like a
succession of after-thoughts. Instead of receiving a definitely formulated idea, the reader
feels as if he were called on to assist at the
process of formulation. The successive modifiers call for successive revisions of the original statement. Few styles are more tiresome
or more irritating than one in which such
sentences are habitual.
He sent a life of Milton to the Edinburgh Review, and contributed several articles to that

(American ed ition).

.i
, I

_

42

- The Sentence : Emphasis

Climax

magazine up to the time he entered Parliament,
where he made himself immediately famous as an
orator.

This loose sentence violates emphasis by
violating unity.
In western cities the theatres are open on Sunday, but in New York Sunday entertainments o f
that class are confined principally to so-called
sacred concerts , although it is doubtful what se lections that are played could be rightly termed
s:icrccl music.

·Here the writer evidently has not even decided which is bis main id ea.
35. All th ree loose sentences above violate
the principle of emphasis ; all are typical of
the clanger of the loose sentence. the dan,g-cr
of mere aggregation. But in the foilowing
loose sentence the principle of emphasis ts
just as evidently observed ;tS in the period :

;j-

1

l
,,.f

combines with the spirit of freedom, fortifies it,
and renders it invincible.-Burke: On Concilia-

tion with America.

Equally emphatic are the loose sentences
in the paragraph quoted from the same author
at§ 22 . Sentences in which, ::is in these, the
parts succeed in ascending scale are s:iid to
have dimllvi-·.
36. Climax, moreover, does not mean merely
that the succeeding clauses have stronger and
stronger words. The climax in the following
is gained by such successive expansions of
the thought as make it grow in significance
while one reads :

l

Such preeminently is Shakespeare among ourselves; such preeminently Virgil among t he
Latins; such in their degree are :ill t hose \ni te rs
who in every nation go by the name of Classics,-

t

Newman: Literature.

{

A sentence has climax when there is a logical advance from clause to clause up to the
point of the sentence. Both the following
sente nces exemplify this, and at the same
time, by the way in which the first leads up
to the second, show how sentence emphasis
is involved in paragraph coherence
2 2 ).

1
T
!·
j

l

In such a people the haughtiness of domination

43

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-

~..~~ ....__ . ~·l.;\.r.
~

44

The Sentence: Emphasis

Inversion

38. So far only one position of emphasis

And what that e nergy, which is the life of
genius , above everything de ma nds and insists
upon, is freedom; entire independence of all
authority, presc ri ption , and rout ine,-the fullest
room to expand as it wi ll. Therefore, a na tion
whose chief spirit ual characteristic is energy,
will not be v_e ry apt to set up, in intellectual ma tters, a fixed standard , an authority, like an academy.-flfatthew Arn old : Tiu Literary Influence of Academies.

37. " Period or loose sentence ? " then, in
so far as the question concerns the single
sentence, not the whol e paragraph, should be
answered with an eye to certain maxims :
(r) Either form may be good or bad.
( 2) The period is more sti mulating to closeness of thought, in the reader and in the writer.
(3) A short period is more commonly useful th a n a lon g one. The short period, in
fact, might be called the most useful of sentence-forms.
(4) The loose sentence has often a more
direct, a more co nversational effect.
(5 ) The loose sentence is emphatic m proportion as it has climax.

45

has been considered, the end. The beginning
is also emphatic, but not in the same degree
as the beginning of a paragraph. For the
fact that most English sentences, on account
of the lack of inflections in English and the
consequent dependence of clearness upon the
order of words (§ 29, c), begin with the subject, detracts somewhat from the emphasis of
the subject in this position. Conversely, some
other part of the sentence, not so naturally
expected in that position, receives emphasis
at the beginning :

l

j

I

At Sens, thirty miles away to the west, a place
of far graver aspect, the name of Jean Cousi n
denotes a more chastened temper, even in th ese
sumptuous decorations.-Pater: Imaginary Portraits.

39. Observe also that additional emphasis
is thrown upon the opening phrase of the
sentence above by the break that follows.
Even the subject may be emphasized in this
position by a following parenthesis :
The Cecils, we suspect, did their best to spread

~

"-~-·

I

The Sentence : Emphasis

Balance

this opinion by whispers and insinuations.-..t'Vfacaulay: Francis Bacon.

as in substance they should be halves of one
whole. Developed more highly, this desi re
for balance has led to many memorable sentences :

Stran gers , meanwhile, were less unjust to the
young barrister than his nearest kinsman had
been .-ibid.

It should be remembered, however, that
the beginning of any sentence, more than any
other part of it, is subject to the paragraph .
40. The term balance, as applied to sentences, is self-defining (compare § 18). Balance to a certain extent is required of all
sentences (§ 27).
In all ordinary collocations symmetry has been made a part of correctness. Lapses in this jar upon the ear.
And such sentences as the following, though
they cannot be called incorrect, have the
same effect of discord :
The Roman Catholic goes to mass and devotes
the rest of the day to pleasure, while the Protestan t goes to church and rests the remainder of the
day.

One feels that the two contrasted statements should be alike in form, that in form

47

When his imagination wells up, it overflows in
ornament ; when his heart is touched, it thrills
along his verse.-Newman: Literature.
The power of French literature is in its prose
writers ; the power of English literature is in its
poets.-1Jfatth ew Arnold: The Literary Influence of Academies.

)

41. Here the sentence is cast in halves.
This, technically speaking, is the balanced
sentence, as distinguished from such sentences as contain balance incidentally.
Where the effect of correspondence is heightened by repetition, the balance approaches
epigram:
The party whose principles afforded him no
g uar antee would be attached to him by interest :
the party whose interests he attacked would be
restrained from insurrection by principle.-Macaulay: History of England.

'

·''

The Sentence: Emphasis
To make us love our country, our country
ou gh t to be lovely.-Burle: Reflections on the
Revolution in France.
I t was dangerou s to trust the s incerity of Au -

gust us : to seem to cl is trust it was still more dangerous.-Gibbon: Decline and Fall o/ the Ro-

man Empire.

42. The last example has the inverted balance called by the Greeks chiasmus. It is
hardly necessary to point out that the English sentence is not flexible to such forms .
Even simple balance easily conveys in English an impression of artificiality hardly felt
in the more flexible Greek and Latin. For
this reason, and on account of the obvious
monotony of a series of balanced sentences,
the form has in English a limited use. But,
though limited, its use is very distinct and
very great. Pithy summaries, especially such
as approach epigram, are much heightened
by the balance ; and, in general, it is an
admi rable mould for emphatic compound
sentences.

:I

I

I
1:

I

!!
11

~

~

INDEX TO THE SECTIONS
Anacoluthon, 27.
asyndeton, q, 15 .
Balance, in the pa ragraph, 18.
in the sentence, 26, 40-42.
Chiasmus, 42.
climax, 5, 16, 18, 34-37.
coherence, in gene ral, 4.
in the paragraph, 12-15, 22.
in the sentence, 27-30.
correlation, 27, 32 b, 40.
Development of a theme, 9.
Ellipsis, un due, 29.
emphasis, in general, 5-7.
in the paragraph, 16-18, 20.
in the sentence, 31-42.
after parenthesis, 39.
explicit reference, 12, 13, 2r.
Genung , Professor, quoted, II, 27.
Indentation to mark a paragraph, 8.
inversion, 22, 38.
Long sentences or short, lC)-21, 24.
loose sentences, 34-37.
Modifiers, placing of, 29, 30.
4

~· .

50

Index to the Sections

Paragraph defined, 8, 19.
indentation, 8.
first sentence of, S, IO.
unity, I O, l I.
last sentence of, IO, 16, 17.
subject of, 10.
coherence, I 2-IS, 22.
parallel construction, 18.
emphasis, I6-1 8, 20.
num ber of sentences, 19-2L
pe riod, or periodic sentence, 32, 33, 37.
pronouns, reference of, 29, 30.
proportion, 7, 17, 40 (see emphasis).
Redundancy, practice to avoid, 20.
Sentences , long or short, 19-21, 24.
un ity, 23-26, 33, 34co~rdin at ion and subordination, 23, 25, 26, 28.
coherence , 27-30, 33.
solecisms, 27.
clearness, 29, 30.
emphasis, 31-42.
periodic, 32, 33, 37.
loose, 34-37.
climax, 35-37.
bal,anced, 40-42.
chiasmus, 42.
solecisms, 27.
Spencer , 1-ierbert, cited, 33.
The me, statement of the, 3, 6.

Index to the Sections
Theme, development of the, 9, II.
Unity, in general, 1-3.
test of, 3.
in the paragraph, IO, II.
in the sentence, 23-26.
Variety, in sentence-forms, 21, 22.
Wendell, Professor, quoted, 17.

51

