A MODERN RHETORIC 122395 BY GEORGE E. MERKLEY, M.A. Oxon., PH.D. ENGLISH MASTER IN THE BETHLEHEM NEWSON & COMPANY 15 EAST SEVENTEENTH STREET, NEW YORK 15-37 7 F p PREFACE THIS book purposes to be what the title implies, "A Modern Rhetoric," a working text-book primarily designed for class-room drill. The teacher, therefore, will not find in it the old-time formal treatise on rhetoric, but, on the contrary, the practical application of the leading principles which underlie good composition. The plan of the book is psychologic. Informal composition is taken up almost at the beginning, and is treated broadly as a whole before the closer study of sentences and paragraphs is introduced. The pupil is thus encouraged to express himself freely, before he is required to write, as Quintilian puts it, "with force, point, and vehemence of style." The stages through which he passes from elementary to formal composition are easy and gradual. All help is given to make him feel that composition is a practical and profitable exercise, and that it is not a task to be performed grudgingly and painfully. The method of treatment is analytic. Few of the old stereotyped rules are given, but essential principles are drawn from an examination of carefully chosen extracts, and the application of these principles is taught by means of abundant exercises, The pupil thus learns the use of principles before he is required to formulate them into rules; in short, he learns the art of composition by writing. By this method it is hoped that the formidable "don'ts" which so often confront the student of rhetoric may be dispensed with, and that by learning what to do in his composition work the pupil will learn what to avoid. Throughout the book much stress is laid on exercises. These are so arranged that they may be abridged to suit the convenience of the teacher, who, owing to an overcrowded curriculum, labors too often under the disadvantage of having to shorten the work in English under pressure of socalled "subjects of more importance." Poetry and figures of speech-subjects which are ignored in many recently published works on rhetoric are treated in as thorough a manner as the scope of a school text-book will allow. It would seem that a modern school rhetoric should not merely lay down rules for correct and effective writing, but that, by directing the attention of the pupil to the higher qualities of style, it should lead him to an appreciation of what is good in literature. Especially important is the study of beauty in diction and imagery, when it is remembered that pupils in high schools and secondary institutions of learning are required to study portions of Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson, Coleridge, Macaulay, and Burke-authors whose merit lies so largely in their wealth of imagery and in their artistic finish of expression. The author takes this opportunity to acknowledge his indebtedness to Mr. Huber Gray Buehler, author of "A Modern English Grammar "-a text-book that has laid all teachers of elementary English under obligations for his kindly criticism of the manuscript and proofs, and for encouragement and valuable help in the preparation of this volume. |