ELEMENTARY

ENGLISH COMPOSITION

BY FREDERICK HENRY SYKES M·A· Ph.D.

HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand nine hundred, by FREDERICK HENRY SYKES, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture.

ELEMENTARY ENGLISH COMPOSITION.

PART I.-NARRATION.

CHAPTER I.-HOUSEHOLD TALES.

LESSON I.

MEMORIZATION.-FROM "THE LADY OF THE LAKE."

Then each at once his falchion drew,

Each on the ground his scabbard threw,
Each look'd to sun, and stream, and plain,
As what they ne'er might see again ;
Then foot, and point, and eye opposed,
In dubious strife they darkly closed.

-Sir Walter Scott.

THEME: JACK OF CORNWALL.

In the days of good King Arthur there lived in Cornwall a lad named Jack. He was a brave boy, and his ambition was to kill all the giants who lived on the high rocks and troubled the people who dwelt below. After he had killed three or four of these giants, he heard of an enchanted castle, kept by a giant and a bad fairy. They seized people, carried them to the castle, and there turned them into beasts and birds.

So Jack determined to go to the rescue.

He put on

his coat that made him invisible, and climbed up to the castle. Hanging on the castle gate was a trumpet, and under it these lines :

"Whoever can this trumpet blow,
Shall cause the giant's overthrow."

Jack boldly seized the trumpet and blew a shrill blast, and as he blew the gates flew open and the castle shook. When the giant.and the fairy heard the sound of the trumpet they quaked with fear. Jack killed the giant with his sharp sword, and the fairy flew away in a high wind. The people who had been changed into birds and beasts returned to their own shapes.

Jack's fame spread through all the land, and the king gave him great rewards.

EXERCISE* I. A.-Tell something about each of these: (1) good King Arthur, (2) a giant, (3) a castle, (4) blowing a trumpet, (5) rewards.

B. Re-state the following sentences, but use other words to express the meaning of the italicized words :(1) He heard of an enchanted castle. (2) Jack determined to go to the rescue. (3) Jack boldly seized the trumpet. (4) He blew a shrill blast. (5) The giant and the fairy quaked with fear. (6) Jack's fame spread through all the land.

C.—(1) Tell what Jack's ambition was. (2) Tell how Jack reached the giant's castle without being seen. (3) Why had no one blown the trumpet before?

CAPITAL LETTERS.

I. Note the kind of letter used at the beginning of a

sentence:

In the days of good King Arthur...

He was a brave boy.

2. Note the kind of letter used to begin all the important words in a title :

:

Jack of Cornwall.

The Children in the Wood.

The Disappointed Fox.

* Exercises on the text are suggestions for conversations between teacher and pupils.

EXERCISE II.-Re-write these sentences, taking care to put in the capital letters needed: (1) the best book to read is Andersen's fairy tales. (2) many hundred years ago Chaucer wrote the canterbury tales. (3) the poet Gray is the author of the elegy in a country churchyard. (4) our next story will be called the children in the wood. (5) Shakspere wrote the merchant of Venice, the merry wives of Windsor, all's well that ends well. (6) Milton wrote Paradise lost; Tennyson, the idylls of the king; Browning, The ring and the book. (7) have you read Alice in wonderland?

THE PARAGRAPH.

Unity.-Note that the story is given in three parts or paragraphs. The sentences that tell why Jack fought the giant are put in one paragraph; the sentences that tell how Jack killed the giant are put in one paragraph; the sentences that tell of Jack's reward go into one paragraph. Each paragraph, then, must tell one and only one chief part of the story. The paragraph must have unity.

Margin.-Notice that each paragraph has a margin to right and to left of it. In writing, leave a margin to the left side of the page. A margin is also necessary at the top and the bottom of the sheet.

Indentation.-Notice that the first line of each paragraph has a wider margin than the lines that follow. Imitate this in writing.

REPRODUCTION.-Tell the story of "Jack of Cornwall" in your own words, following this outline:—

Title.

Introduction: The country-Where it was.

The Story:

The time-Who was king.

Jack-Who he was.

The giant-Where he lived and what he did.
Jack's resolve. His preparations.

The castle-Where it was.

The trumpet-What was written under it, who blew
it, and what happened.

The people captured by the giant-What Jack's
Ideed did for them.

Conclusion: Jack's fame and recompense.