Practical English Composition: Book II.: For the Second Year of the High School
John Stuart Mill · en
1. The Fable, which is here illustrated, is a simple story told to
point a moral or to make clear a complicated situation. Æsop and
George Ade are perhaps the most interesting authors of
fables--at least to twentieth-century Americans. An entertaining
program may be arranged by assigning each member of the class a
fable of one of these writers for oral reporting. The model
illustrates well the value of the fable form in newspaper
exposition.
2. Note the paragraph structure: (1) Introduction; (2) "Four W's,"
or Situation 1; (3) Climax, or Situation 2; (4) Dénouement,
Result, or Situation 3; (5) Moral, or Point.
3. Define and discuss the etymology of "antiquity," "apologue,"
"apology," "edition," "fable," "impostor," "accomplice,"
"confederate," "knave," "ghee," "caution," "puffers."
4. What proportion of Macaulay's words in Paragraphs 2, 3, and 4
are monosyllables and dissyllables? Does he here use more or
fewer big words in proportion than in Paragraphs 1 and 5? What
is the effect on his style?
5. What proportion of his sentences are simple? Compound? Complex?
6. Topics for reports or speeches: Mr. Robert Montgomery; Pilpay;
The Brahmins; Æsop; Sanscrit.
7. Explain the allusion in the phrase, "the Sanscrit Æsop."
8. Explain some episode in American history by means of a fable.
9. Write an editorial on some question of local and current
interest, using the fable method to illustrate the situation.
IV. Model II