Part 25 (1/2)

A figure of speech makes both for conciseness and for economy of mental effort on the part of the reader To say in a personality sketch, for example, that the person looks ”like Lincoln” is the si aelectric ,” instantly makes the reader hear the sound Scores of words iven, by the judicious use of figures of speech

As the faures frequently have associated eurative expressions often ain, to say that a person looks ”like Lincoln” not only creates a enerally associated with Lincoln The result is that readers are inclined to feel toward the person so described as they feel toward Lincoln

Even in practical articles, figurative dictionold kitchen boilers in order to hs, a writer in a far out a narrow shaving of steel and rolling it away much as theeffect of a paragraph abounding in figurative expressions is well illustrated by the following passage taken from a newspaper personality sketch of a popular pulpit orator:

His ht There are no subtle half-tones, or sensitive reserves, or significant shadows of silence, no landscape fading through purple mists to a romantic distance All is clear, obvious, emphatic There is little atmosphere and a lack of that huht is simple and direct and makes its appeal, not to culture, but to the primitive emotionsHis strenuousness is a battle-cry to the crowd He keeps his passion white hot; his body works like a winds; he seizes the enemy, as it were, by the throat, pommels him with breathless blows, and throws hi the prirammatical structure shall be evident; in other words, that the reader shall be able at a glance to see the relation of its parts

Involved sentences that require a second perusal before they yield their azine Short sentences and those ofones, but for rapid reading the structure of the sentence, rather than its length, is the chief consideration Absolute clearness is of paraht by the first group of words at the beginning of a sentence These words make more of an impression on the reader's mind than do those in the middle or at the end of the sentence

In all journalistic writing, therefore, the position of greatest enificant idea should be placed Such an arrangement does not mean that the sentence need trail off loosely in a series of phrases and clauses Firh the strongest e his article a writer often finds that he reatly increase the effectiveness of his sentences by so rearranging the parts as to bring the i

LENGTH OF THE SENTENCE Sentences th as (1) short, containing 15 words or less; (2) , 30 words or more Each of these types of sentence has its own peculiar advantages

The short sentence, because it is easily apprehended, is er one Used in coains pro and a strong conclusion for a paragraph As the last sentence of an article it is a good ”snapper” In contrast with longer statements, it also serves as a convenient transition sentence

The sentence of th lends itself readily to the expression of the average thought; but when used continuously it gives to the style asentence is convenient for grouping details that are closely connected In contrast with the rapid, emphatic short sentence, it moves slowly and deliberately, and so is well adapted to the expression of dignified and ihts

To prevent th is desirable Writers who unconsciously tend to use sentences of about the sath and of the same construction, need to beware of this uniforle short sentences, of series of short sentences, of ive variety, to express thoughts effectively, and to produce harmony between the movement of the style and the ideas advanced, is well illustrated in the selection below It is the beginning of a personality sketch of William II, the former German emperor, published in the London _Daily News_ before the world war, and written by Mr AG Gardiner, the editor of that paper

When I think of the Kaiser I think of a bright MayParade, and across froathered under the s of the old palace the household troops are drawn up on the great parade ground, their helmets and banners and lances all astir in the jolly sunshi+ne Officers gallop hither and thither shouting coiain A noble background of trees frae There is a sudden stillness The closely serried ranks are rigid and moveless The shouts of command are silenced

”The Kaiser”

He coer, hel his horse as if he lived in the saddle, his face turned to his en, s out at intervals in the clearair And back froen, Majestat”

And as he rides on, ure in Europe, reviewing his troops on the peaceful parade ground at Potsdam, one wonders whether the day will ever come when he will ride down those ranks on another errand, and when that cheerful response of the soldiers will have in it the ancient ring of doom--”Te morituri salutaure on the white charger What is he? What has he done?

By the three short sentences in the first paragraph beginning ”Officers gallop,” the author depicts the rapid movement of the soldiers By the next three short sentences in the sa, ”There is a sudden stillness,” he produces an i up ”slowly,” he uses a long, leisurely sentence The salutations ”ring out” in short, crisp sentences The ht of the possibility of war finds fitting expression in the long, 64-word sentence, ending with the sonorous--”ring of doom,”

”Te morituri salutamus”

The transition between the introduction and the body of the sketch is acco of three short sentences, in marked contrast with the climactic effect hich the description closed

PARAGRAPHS The paragraph is a device that aids a writer to convey to readers his thoughts coed in his own rasped than a large one, paragraphs in journalistic writing are usually considerably shorter than those of ordinary English prose In the narrospaper column, there is rooraph of 250 words, which is the average length of the literary paragraph, fills between forty and fifty lines of a newspaper colu Moreover, the casual reader cannot readily coroup of sentences Although there is no standard coluazines, the nuht

A paragraph of 250 words that occupies 30 eight-word lines seeth The nor seldom exceeds 100 words and not infrequently is raph contains notpublic has little difficulty in coraph, like the beginning of the sentence, is the part that catches the eye Significant ideas that need to be i If his attention is arrested and held by the first group of words, he is likely to read on If the beginning does not attract hi et the drift of it” An eraph will insure attention for its contents

REVISION It is seldom that the first draft of an article cannot be i over his work, word by word and sentence by sentence, the writer will generally find many opportunities to increase the effectiveness of the structure and the style Such revision, moreover, need not destroy the ease and naturalness of expression