o say of Unity,
Mass, and Coherence; Mr. Wendell said all concerning these in his book
entitled "English Composition." So in paragraph development, Scott and
Denney hold the field. Other books which I have frequently used in the
classroom are "Talks on Writing English," by Arlo Bates, and Genung's
"Practical Rhetoric." These books I have found very helpful in
teaching, and I have drawn upon them often while writing this
text-book.

If the field has been covered, then why write a book at all? The
answer is that the principles which are here treated have not been put
into one book. They may be found in several. These essentials I have
repeated many times with the hope that they will be fixed by this
frequent repetition. The purpose has been to focus the attention upon
these, to apply them in the construction of the different forms of
discourse, paragraphs, and sentences, and to repeat them until it is
impossible for a student to forget them. If the book fulfils this
purpose, it was worth writing.

Acknowledgments are due to Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons for their
kind permission to use the selections from the writings of Robert
Louis Stevenson contained in this book; also, to Messrs. D. Appleton &
Co., The Century Co., and Doubleday & McClure Co. for selections from
the writings of Rudyard Kipling.

W. F. WEBSTER.

MINNEAPOLIS, 1900.

CONTENTS

Chapter I.--Forms of Discourse

Composition 1
English Composition 1
Composition, Written and Oral 2
Conventions of Composition 2
Five Forms of Discourse 3
Definitions 4
Difficulty in distinguishing 4
Purpose of the Author 6

Chapter II.--Choice of Subject

Form and Material 8
Author's Individuality 8
Knowledge of Subject 9
Common Subjects 10
Interest 11
The Familiar 11
Human Life 12
The Strange 12

Chapter III.--Narration

M