d conversations its theories
are often freely discussed and fully substantiated. Many great reforms
have been brought about by novels of this character.

Description deals with the individual and not with the class. A fine
description is a work of art in its highest sense and is closely allied
to painting, than which it is even more delicate and refined; for while
the painter lays his color on the canvas and our eyes see the entire
picture in all its minutest detail, the writer can only suggest the idea
and stimulate the imagination to create for itself the picture in the
mind of the artist. Yet such is the marvelous power of words when
handled by a master that one can see by them almost as vividly as by the
sense of sight. The reader is transported to far-away lands, strange men
and animals surround him, the skies glare above him, silver lakes
sparkle in the sun, brooks murmur against their fern-covered sides, and
birds move the soul with their sweet music. Evening draws on, and the
landscape glimmering fades away; the stars come out one by one and by
and by the moon steals slowly up the sky. Peace and quiet reign over the
darkened world. Neither sculpture nor painting can depict these changes;
it rests with the magic of words. But the reader must do his share. He
must give time to his reading, must yield himself gently to its
influence, must not force himself into the writer's mood but must
receive and accept. Then descriptive literature will yield its keenest
pleasures.

Exposition deals with the class, and is abstract. So the demands made
upon the reader are infinitely greater. It assumes that the concrete
examples and specific instances necessary to interpret the abstract are
already in mind and that the barest allusion to them will be sufficient.
So exposition naturally follows narrative and description.

Successful argumentation depends upon proof and persuasion. It is
addressed to the reason or to the emotions. Burke and Webster endeavor
to establish their respective positions by irrefutable arguments. When
Beecher addressed the people on the slavery question he appealed
strongly to their emotions and sought to make them act because of their
intense feeling. One characteristic of all literary masterpieces is
unity, but in none is this of more importance than in the expository and
argumentative types.

As we study it, literary material may be grouped as fiction, essays,
speeches (orations), and dialogue (dram