e in the Seven Ages of Man (Appendix 4). Do the
changes in substance, make these changes in tone desirable?

4. In the following passages, make such changes and omissions as are
necessary to unify the tone:

How I loved to stroll, on those long Indian summer afternoons, into the
quiet meadows where the mild-breathed kine were grazing! An old cow that
switches her tail at flies and puts her foot in the bucket when you milk
her, I absolutely loathe. How I loved to hear the birds sing, to listen to
the fall of ripe autumnal apples!

It wasn't the girl yclept Sally. This girl was not so vivacious as Sally,
but she had a mug on her that was a lot less ugly to look at. Gee, when
she stood there in front of me with those mute, ineffable, sympathetic
eyes of hers, I was ready to throw a duck-fit.

Old Grimes is dead, that dear old soul;
We'll never see him more;
He wore a great long overcoat,
All buttoned down before.

<I. Abstract vs. Concrete Terms; General vs. Specific Terms>

Abstract terms convey ideas; concrete terms call up pictures. If we say
"Honesty is the best policy," we speak abstractly. Nobody can see or hear
or touch the thing _honesty_ or the thing _policy_; the
apprehension of them must be purely intellectual. But if we say "The
rat began to gnaw the rope," we speak concretely. _Rat_, _gnaw_,
and _rope_ are tangible, perceptible things; the words bring to us
visions of particular objects and actions.

Now when we engage in explanations and discussions of principles,
theories, broad social topics, and the like--when we expound, moralize, or
philosophize,--our subject matter is general. We approach our readers or
hearers on the thinking, the rational side of their natures. Our
phraseology is therefore normally abstract. But when, on the other hand,
we narrate an event or depict an appearance, our subject matter is
specific. We approach our readers or hearers on the sensory or emotional
side of their natures. Our phraseology is therefore normally concrete.

You should be able to express yourself according to either method. You
should be able to choose the words best suited to make people understand;
also to choose the words best suited to make people realize vividly and
feel. Now to some extent you will adopt the right method by intuition. But
if you do not reinforce your intuition with a careful study of words, you
will vacillate from one method to the other and strike crude discords of
phrasi