CONCORD HYMN

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;

Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;

And Time the ruined bridge has swept

Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare

To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare

The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Our young men lack idealism. A man for success must not be pure idealist, then he will practically fail; but he must have ideas, must obey ideas, or he might as well be the horse he rides on. A man does not want to be sun-dazzled, sunblind; but every man must have glimmer enough to keep him from knocking his head against the walls.-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Write a biographical sketch of the poet Emerson. Choose your own outline.

COMPOSITION

TOPICS AND PARAGRAPHS

Every composition has a general subject or topic. To make it easier to read and to understand, the composition is usually divided into parts or sections, each of which has a topic of its own.

A composition about a picnic may be divided naturally into five sections. The general topic and the five sectional topics may be as follows:

A Picnic in the Wood

The Preparation

The Journey to the Wood

The Celebration of the Picnic
The Return home

Reflections

The sentences used to give an account of the preparation for the picnic are arranged in the first group and make the opening section. The sentences used to describe the journey to the wood comprise the second paragraph; and similarly for the three remaining paragraphs.

Let us study the following selection from Captain John Smith's account of

INDIAN CUSTOMS

The men pass their time in fishing, hunting, wars, and such manlike exercises, scorning to be seen doing any womanlike work. The woman and children do all the work. They make mats, baskets, pots, mortars; pound their corn, make their bread, prepare their victuals, plant and gather their corn, and bear all kinds of burdens.

For fishing, hunting, and wars they use their bows and arrows. They bring their bows to the form of ours by scraping

with a shell. Their arrows are made, some of straight young sprigs, which they head with bone two or three inches long. These they use to shoot at squirrels in trees. Another sort of arrow is made of reeds. These are pieced with wood headed with splinters of crystal or some other sharp stone, the spurs of a turkey, or the bill of some bird.

In this selection there are two sections or paragraphs. Each of these has its own topic. The general topic is Indian Customs. A little study will show that the topic of the first section is Their occupation and of the second, Their weapons. The sectional topics are not usually expressed but are left for the reader to discover.

To show where each paragraph begins the first word is set a little to the right of the first words in the other lines and is said to be indented.

Name the topic of each of the three following paragraphs to be found in

THE CHILD'S STORY

By Charles Dickens

Once upon a time a good many years ago, there was a traveller, and he set out upon a journey. It was a magic journey, and was to seem very long when it began, and very short when he got half through.

He travelled along a rather dark path for some little time, without meeting anything, until at last he came to a beautiful child. So he said to the child, "What do you do here?" And the child said, "I am always at play. Come and play with me!"

So he played with the child, the whole day long, and they were very merry. The sky was so blue, the sun was so bright, the water was so sparkling, the leaves were so green,

the flowers were so lovely, and they heard sweet singing birds and saw so many butterflies, that everything was beautiful. This was in fine weather. When it rained they loved to watch the falling drops, and to smell the sweet scents. When it blew, it was delightful to listen to the wind, and fancy what it said, as it came rushing from its home.

It is an excellent plan to discover the topics of paragraphs. Your readers will furnish many enjoyable exercises of this kind.

A paragraph should possess unity, that is, all the sentences should be about the same thought or topic. For example the second paragraph of the selection from Captain John Smith tells all about the weapons. If a sentence from the first paragraph were included in the second paragraph, it would destroy the unity.

A paragraph should have completeness. The first paragraph has this quality since the occupation of all Indians, men, women, and children, is completely told.

The sentences in a paragraph should be arranged in their proper order, those relating to the earlier events coming first and the others following after.

So, too, the topics of a composition should be taken up in the order in which the happenings took place. This is shown in the outline of the composition on The Picnic.

In each paragraph there is usually a sentence that more clearly than any other hints at the sectional topic. This is called the topic sentence. The first sentence in each paragraph in the selection from Charles Dickens is the topic

sentence.

See list of subjects for themes, page 307.