Practical Exercises in English

Huber Gray Buehler

Practical Exercises in English

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Table of contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER IV

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VIII.

APPENDIX

PREFACE

The art of using one's native tongue correctly and forcibly is acquired for the most part through imitation and practice, and is not so much a matter of knowledge as of habit. As regards English, then, the first duty of our schools is to set before pupils excellent models, and, in all departments of school-work, to keep a watchful eye on the innumerable acts of expression, oral and written, which go to form habit. Since, however, pupils come to school with many of their habits of expression already formed on bad models, our schools must give some attention to the special work of pointing out common errors of speech, and of leading pupils to convert knowledge of these errors into new and correct habits of expression. This is the branch of English teaching in which this little book hopes to be useful.

All the Exercises in English with which I am acquainted consist chiefly of sentences to be corrected. To such exercises there are grave objections. If, on the one hand, the fault in the given sentence is not seen at a glance, the pupil is likely, as experience has shown, to pass it by and to change something that is not wrong. If, on the other hand, the fault is obvious, the exercise has no value in the formation of habit. Take, for example, two sentences for correction which I select at random from one of the most widely used books of its class: I knew it was him, and Sit the plates on the table. A pupil of any wit will at once see that the mistakes must be in him and sit, and knowing that the alternatives are he and set, he will at once correct the sentences without knowing, perhaps, why one form is wrong, the other right. He has not gained anything valuable; he has simply slid through his exercise. Moreover, such sentences for correction violate a fundamental principle of teaching English by setting before the impressionable minds of pupils bad models. Finally, such exercises are unnatural, because the habit which we hope to form in our pupils is not the habit of correcting mistakes, but the habit of avoiding them.

Correct English is largely a matter of correct choice between two or more forms of expression, and in this book an attempt has been made, as a glance at the pages will show, to throw the exercises, whenever possible, into a form consistent with this truth. Though a pupil may change who to whom without knowing why, he cannot repeatedly choose correctly between these forms without strengthening his own habit of correct expression.

This book has been prepared primarily as a companion to Professor A.S. Hill's Foundations of Rhetoric, in answer to the request of many teachers for exercises to use with that admirable work.[1] Without the friendly encouragement of Professor Hill the task would not have been undertaken, and to him above all others I am indebted for assistance in completing it. He has permitted me to draw freely on his published works; he has provided me with advance sheets of the revised edition of Principles of Rhetoric; he has put at my disposal much useful material gleaned from his own experience; he has read the manuscript and proofs, and, without assuming any responsibility for shortcomings, he has suggested many improvements. I am also indebted to Mr. E.G. Coy, Headmaster of the Hotchkiss School, for many valuable suggestions, and to my colleague, Mr. J.E. Barss, for assistance in the proof-reading.

The quotations from The Century Dictionary are made under an arrangement with the owners of the copyright of that work. I am also indebted to Professor Barrett Wendell, Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., and Messrs. Macmillan & Co. for permission to use brief quotations from their works.

CHAPTER I.

OF GOOD USE

Why is it that for the purposes of English composition one word is not so good as another? To this question we shall get a general answer if we examine the effect of certain classes of expressions.

Present Use. —Let us examine first the effect produced by three passages in the authorized version of the English Bible—a version made by order of King James in 1611:—

For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be  earing  nor harvest (Gen. xlv. 6).

O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after  leasing ? (Psa. iv. 2).

Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, but was  let  hitherto (Rom. i. 18).

See also Gen. xxv. 29; Matt. iii 8; Acts viii. 3; 1 Thess. iv. 15.

An ordinary reader of our time cannot without assistance fully understand these passages, because the words earing, leasing, and let convey to his mind either no idea at all or a wrong idea. Two hundred and eighty years ago, when this translation of the Bible was made, these words were common words with plain meanings; but earing and leasing have since dropped out of common use, and let has acquired a different meaning; consequently an ordinary reader of the present time must consult a dictionary before he can be sure what the passages mean. Words and meanings which have gone out of use are called  obsolete . There is not much temptation to use obsolete words; but the temptation sometimes comes. Therefore we note, as our first conclusion, that a person who wishes to be understood must avoid expressions and meanings which are not in  present use .

National Use. —A boy from southern Pennsylvania was visiting in New York State. In the midst of some preparations for a fishing excursion he said to his host, Shall I take my  gums  along? His host burst out laughing and said, Of course; did you think of taking them out of your mouth and leaving them at home?[2] Unconsciously the boy had used a good English word in a sense peculiar to the district in which he lived; his host had understood the word in its proper sense.

On another occasion a gentleman who had just arrived at a hotel in Kennebunkport, Me., agreed to a proposal to go down to the beach in the  barge . Going to his room, he prepared for a little excursion on the river which flowed by the hotel. When he returned, he was greatly surprised to find his friends about to start for the beach in  a large omnibus . Another gentleman once asked a young lady to go riding with him. At the appointed hour he drove to her house in a buggy, and she came down to meet him in her riding habit.

These incidents show that if we use expressions that are only local, or use words in local senses, we are liable either to be misunderstood or not to be understood at all. Obscurity also arises from the use of words in senses which are peculiar to a certain class or profession. For example, to a person who is not familiar with commercial slang, this sentence from the market columns of a newspaper is a puzzle:—

Java coffees are  dull  and  easy , though they are  statistically strong .

The following directions for anchoring in a gale of wind are taken from a book called How to Sail a Boat:—

"When everything is ready, bring the yacht  to the wind , and let

the sails shake  in the wind's eye ; and, so soon as she gets

stern-way , let go the  best bower  anchor, taking care not to

snub her  too quickly, but to let considerable of the cable run

out before checking her; then take a turn or two around the

knight-heads ," etc.

If a landsman's safety depended on his understanding these directions, there would not be much hope for him.

The following extract is from a newspaper report of a game of ball:—

"In the eighth inning Anson jumped from one box into the other and

whacked a wide one into extreme right. It was a three-base jolt

and was made when Gastright intended to force the old man to

first. The Brooklyns howled and claimed that Anson was out, but

McQuaid thought differently. Both teams were crippled. Lange will

be laid up for a week or so. One pitcher was batted out of the

box."

This narrative may seem commonplace to school-boys, but to their mothers and sisters it must seem alarming.

Our second conclusion, therefore, is that a person who wishes to be understood must avoid words and phrases that are not understood, and understood in the same sense, in every part of the country, and in every class or profession.[3]

Reputable Use. —Let us examine now the effect produced by a third kind of expression, namely, words and phrases not used by writers and speakers of established reputation.[4] Let us take as our illustrations the familiar expressions, He  done  it and Please set  in this seat. Each of these expressions is common at the present time, and its meaning is instantly clear to any one who speaks English. But these expressions, not being used by well-informed and careful speakers, produce in the mind of a well-informed bearer an impression of vulgarity like that which we get from seeing a person eat with his knife. In language, as in manners and fashions, the law is found in the custom of the best people; and persons who wish to be classed as cultivated people must speak and write like cultivated people. There is no moral wrong in a person's saying Please  set  in this seat, and if he does say it he will probably be understood; but persons who use this or any other expression which is not in reputable use run the risk of being classed as ignorant, affected, or vulgar.

Good Use. —It appears, therefore, that words and phrases, in order to be proper expressions for use in English prose, (1) must be in common use at the present time; (2) they must be used, and used in the same sense, in every part of the country, and in every class and profession; (3) they must be expressions used by writers and speakers of established reputation. In other words, our expressions must be in  present, national , and  reputable  use. Expressions which fulfil these three conditions are said to be in  good use .

The next question that presents itself to one who wishes to use English correctly is, How am I to know what words and expressions are in good use?

Conversation and Good Use. —Good use cannot be determined solely by observing the conversation of our associates; for the chances are that they use many local expressions, some slang, and possibly some vulgarisms. You often hear it is not proof that an expression is in good use.

Newspapers and Good Use. —Nor can good use be learned from what we see in newspapers. Newspapers of high rank contain from time to time, especially in their editorial columns, some of the best modern prose, and much literature that has become standard was first printed in periodicals; but most of the prose in newspapers is written necessarily by contributors who do not belong to the class of speakers or writers whom the world deems the best. As the newspaper in its news records the life of every day, so in its style it too frequently records the slang of daily life and the faults of ordinary conversation. A newspaper contains bits of English prose from hundreds of different pens, some skilled, some unskilled; and this jumble of styles does not determine good use.

No one Book or Writer Decisive. —Nor is good use to be learned from our favorite author, unsupported by other authority; not even, as we have seen, from the English Bible, when it stands alone. No writer, even the greatest, is free from occasional errors; but these accidental slips are not to be considered in determining good use. Good use is decided by the prevailing usage of the writers whose works make up permanent English literature, not by their inadvertencies. The fact that Shakspere uses a word, or Sir Walter Scott, or Burke, or Washington Irving, or whoever happens to be writing earnestly in Melbourne or Sidney, does not make it reputable. The fact that all five of these authorities use the word in the same sense would go very far to establish the usage. On the other hand, the fact that any number of newspaper reporters agree in usage does not make the usage reputable. The style of newspaper reporters is not without merit; it is very rarely unreadable; but for all its virtue it is rarely a well of English undefiled.[5]

Reputable use is fixed, not by the practice of those whom A or B deems the best speakers or writers, but by the practice of those whom the world deems the best,—those who are in the best repute, not indeed as to thought, but as to expression, the manner of communicating thought. The practice of no one writer, however high he may stand in the public estimation, is enough to settle a point; but the uniform or nearly uniform practice of reputable speakers or writers is decisive.[6]

Good Reading the Foundation of Good Speaking and Writing. —To the question how to become familiar with good use the first answer is, read the best literature. Language, like manners, is learned for