Part 49 (1/2)

Pupils may study the meaning of the six adjectives last mentioned, and use them to fill the following blanks:--

| distinction ----------+ workmans.h.i.+p | calculation

| stillness ----------+ chasm | rumbling

| child ----------+ features | character

| palace ----------+ victory | illumination

| manners ----------+ taste | furniture

| deeds ----------+ dreams | butchery

This work may very profitable be extended.

A word picture is often spoiled by using too many adjectives; as,

”A _great_, _large_, _roomy_, s.p.a.cious hall”; ”_Superb_, delicious, _magnificent_ pumpkin-pie”; ”A _stingy_, miserly, _close-fisted_ fellow.”

The italicized words may be omitted.

Pupils should be taught to watch for such errors, and to correct them.

Pupils may be required to copy choice selections from literature, and to note carefully capitals, punctuation, and the use of adjectives. We offer the following exercise as a specimen:--

We piled with care our nightly stack Of wood against the chimney-back,-- The oaken log, green, huge, and thick, And on its top the stout back-stick; The knotty fore-stick laid apart, And filled between with curious art The ragged brush; then, hovering near, We watched the first red blaze appear, Heard the sharp crackle, caught the gleam On whitewashed wall and sagging beam, Until the old, rude-furnished room Burst, flower-like, into rosy bloom.

_Whittier.--Snow-Bound_.

+Observation Lesson+.--Of what are the lines above a picture? Where, and in what kind of house, do you think this picture was seen?

What object is pictured by the help of five adjectives? Are the adjectives that precede the name of this object of the same rank? Are those that follow of the same rank? What noun is modified by three adjectives of different rank? What noun by three adjectives two of which are of the same rank? What difference is found in the punctuation of these several groups?

Notice how the noun _crackle_ crackles as you p.r.o.nounce it, and how the adjective _sharp_ makes it penetrate. Notice how strong a picture is made in the two lines immediately before the last. The adjectives here used bring out the most prominent qualities of the room, and these qualities bring along with them into the imagination all the other qualities. This is what we must try to make our adjectives do.

Point out all the adjectives in the selection above, and explain the office of each.

What peculiar use of capitals do you discover in these lines of poetry?

Much that has been suggested above concerning the use of adjectives will apply to adverbs also.

ARRANGEMENT.

The following exercises are given to show how pupils may discover for themselves the _natural order_ of words and phrases:--

(_a_) Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.

(_b_) William's sister Mary is an excellent musician.

(_c_) Everything suddenly appeared so strangely bright.

(_d_) We saw it distinctly.

(_e_) We had often been there.

(_f_) Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo.

+Observation Lesson+.--The words and the phrases in the sentences above stand in their _Natural Order_.

From (_a_) and (_b_) determine the natural order of the subject, predicate, and complement. From (_b_) determine the natural order of a possessive modifier, of an explanatory modifier, and of an adjective. From (_c_), (_d_), and (_e_) determine the several positions of an adverb joined to a verb. Determine from (_c_) the position of an adverb modifying an adjective or another adverb. Determine from (_a_) and (_f_) the natural order of a phrase.