Prev | Current Page 229 | Next

"A work on english grammar and composition"

Find proof of what we have just said--proof of (2), in
paragraphs 1 and 3; proof of (3), in sentences 3, 4, and 5, paragraph 2;
proof of (4), throughout; of (5) and (6), in paragraphs 3 and 4; and of
(7), in the first three paragraphs.
In paragraph 3, a remarkable sameness prevails. The sentences here are
framed largely on one plan. They are mostly of the same length. The order
of the words in them is the same; often the words are the same; and, even
when they are not, those in one clause or sentence seem to suggest those in
the next. This sameness is not accidental. The more real the murderer's
fancied security is made in this paragraph to appear, the more startling in
the next paragraph will be the revelation of his mistake. Hence no novelty
in the words or in their arrangement is allowed to distract our attention
from the dominant thought. The sentences are made to look and sound alike
and to be alike that their effect may be cumulative. The principle of
+Parallel Construction+, the principle that sentences similar in thought
should be similar in form, is here allowed free play.
TO THE TEACHER.--Do not be discouraged should your pupils fail to grasp at
first all that is here taught. They probably will not fully comprehend it
till they have returned to it several times.


Pages:
217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241