PREFACE

THIS book is the outgrowth of two convictions. The first of these is that greater emphasis ought to be placed upon the fact that writing is not merely self-expression, but communication; in other words, that composition must be regarded chiefly as "a double-ended process" in which the writer is successful only when he has produced the desired effect upon his audience. The second is that this communication through writing is an art, and must be studied very much as other arts are studied.

The authors have endeavored, first of all, to show the student that writing is a normal kind of activity. They have, therefore, thought it necessary to do more than state a few well-established principles and discuss the rhetorical forms of composition, important as these matters are. As may be observed in the introductory chapter, they believe that the student should early come into the learner's frame of mind by seeing the advantage of being able to write well. They are convinced, moreover, that when the student is once ready to learn, the teacher ought to help him find material in which he can have genuine interest, to guide him in making his vocabulary more serviceable, to show him what the actual processes of composing are, and to suggest, means of testing the effectiveness of what he does. Unless the student can be brought in some such manner to feel that his work is a very natural kind of thing to do, he is likely to look upon all writing, as well as every course in composition, as something mechanical and quite removed from his life thing apart."

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The authors hold two or three other opinions about method of presentation. They believe it is a grave educational error to teach composition as if every attempt at writing were an effort to produce literature. On the other hand, they believe it is no

less a fault to teach the subject as if writing were never anything more than a means of reporting sales or securing larger orders for goods. It seems to them that a proper balance in the character of the student's work in an elementary course can be maintained best only when the two kinds of writing, that which is an artistic end in itself, and that which serves the purposes of everyday life, — are considered side by side. Throughout the book, therefore, they have observed the division of all writing into æsthetic and instrumental, and have sought to show the student how the two very different purposes implied in these terms make necessary two standards of effectiveness. The second opinion is concerning argumentation. They have thought it absolutely essential to treat this subject as if it were in truth mainly a form of composition, and not oral debate. There seems to be little more reason for attempting, in a book on writing, to restrict the whole field of argument to its one most rigid and all in all least usable form, than for dealing with exposition as if it were used solely as a means of making exegetical sermons. They have endeavored, too, to give informal argument at least a part of the consideration it deserves.

Any intention of trying to write either a series of pleasant essays for vacation reading or a body of condensed directions for ready reference is hereby disclaimed. The authors are glad to admit that they have tried to make the treatment of their subject fresh and simple enough to enable the layman to read the book with a degree of ease and with profit. They have, however, written primarily for the classroom; and they have assumed that the teacher would in many instances desire to illustrate and amplify according to the needs of individual students. Although the text may possibly have some value as it stands alone, the authors wish to insist that its real significance becomes evident only when it accompanies regular practice in composition and in criticism. They are firm believers in Carlyle's "Properly thou hast no other knowledge but what thou hast got by working." The following chapters aim only to give fundamental suggestions about "working"; their function is not to serve as a system of arbitrary guideposts, but rather as a vantage point from which

the student can choose his own way intelligently. It scarcely heed be said that the book presupposes the very necessary drill in elementary details.

Thanks are gratefully extended to Professor J. S. Kenyon, of Butler College; Professor C. W. Park, of the University of Cincinnati; Professor Roderick Scott, of Earlham College; Professor P. D. Sherman, of Oberlin College; and Mr. Meredith Nicholson, for reading parts of the manuscript; to Mr. H. W. O'Connor, Mrs. Mabel Bonnell Barnes, and Mr. D. L. Clark, for valuable suggestions and substantial assistance of many kinds; to several of the authors' students for illustrative matter, especially to Mr. Phil Clugston for the brief and the parts of the completed argument used in Chapter VIII; and to a half hundred professional writers for the information they cheerfully contributed about their methods of work. All other conscious obligations are acknowledged in the text or the footnotes.

The selections from T. B. Aldrich, Arlo Bates, John Burroughs, S. M. Crothers, R. W. Emerson, B. Harte, G. L. Kittredge, J. R. Lowell, B. Matthews, G. H. Palmer, Bliss Perry, E. A. Ross, and H. B. Stowe are used by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company. Gratezul acknowledgment is made to The Century Company; Doubleday, Page, and Company; Harper and Brothers; Henry Holt and Company; John Lane Company; J. B. Lippincott Company; Longmans, Green, and Company; Macmillan Company; and Charles Scribner's Sons for permission to use copyrighted material; and to the publishers of The Nation and The Outlook for the use of extracts.

R. W. B.

N. W. B.