Practical English Composition: Book II.: For the Second Year of the High School
John Stuart Mill · en
On the other side of the hall, in front, is the dining-room,
16 feet by 14 feet. This room has a fireplace, which faces the
street, and a French door, which leads to a side porch 8 feet by
10. The latter is enclosed with glass and is used as a breakfast
porch. Directly behind this porch is a small sewing-room, and,
partly behind the sewing-room and partly behind the dining-room,
is the kitchen, which is 12 feet square. In the northwest corner
of the house, directly north of the sewing-room and west of the
kitchen, are a small back porch and an entry large enough for a
refrigerator. East of the kitchen, between it and the main hall,
are a passage and service stairways leading to the cellar and
the upper floors. The kitchen is thus separated from the rest of
the house, either way, by two doors, which prevents the odors of
the cooking from escaping.
The walls of the first floor are finished in oiled and waxed
gumwood. The floors are oak, except in the kitchen, where hard
pine is used.
On the second floor the rear of the space above the main hall is
occupied by a passage, the front by a bathroom. On the eastern
side of this passage, above the den, is a bedroom 16 feet by
14 feet, and back of this, above the living-room, a bedroom
14 feet by 11 feet. The latter has a fireplace in the north
wall. On the western side of the passage, in front, above the
dining-room, is the owner's chamber, 16 feet by 14 feet. From
its southeast corner a door leads to the bathroom already
mentioned; on its southwest side is a porch, and in its northern
wall are two closets and a fireplace. In its rear a passage
leads to a fourth chamber, 14 feet by 10 feet, which has an
alcove, 9 feet by 8 feet. This alcove is directly above the
sewing-room and the chamber is in the northwest corner of the
house. Between it and the service stairway is a second bathroom.
On the third floor are three large chambers, an unfinished room
for storage, and a servants' bath.
The cellar contains a laundry, a vegetable closet, coal-bins,
and a hot-water heating-plant.
III. Analytical Discussion
1. Note the framework:
(a) "Four W's"--Par. 1.
(b) First Floor--
Par. 2. Main Hall.
Par. 3. Right Side.
Par. 4. Left Side.
Par. 5. Floors and Walls.
(c) Second Floor--Par. 6.
(d) Third Floor. Par. 7.
(e) Cellar--Par. 8.
2. _Words._ Define and explain the etymology of "suburban,"
"located," "reinforced," "concrete," "Colonial," "reception,"
"piazza," "porch," "refrigerator," "separated," "except,"
"servant," "closet," "effect."
3. _Sentences._ (a) Tell whether they are simple, complex, or
compound. (b) Do any of them lack unity?