model.
IV. Make a diagram of Example III. showing
sentence relation. Does this paragraph belong to
the second or the third type ? Can you classify the
material used here ? Find several effective epithets.
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CHAPTER XIV.
THE EXPOSITORY THEME
215. The Subject-Matter of the Expository
Theme. The two forms of the expository theme
with which this chapter expressly deals are the Book
Review and the Historical Essay. These are special-
ized forms of the essay that the student may be asked
to write in school outside of the English class, and
even out of school if he belongs to a literary club.
In both the book review and the historical essay
narrative material may be used, but it is thrown into
the expository form.
216. The Book Review. — Theme-models X.
AND XI. Our work in the book review will deal
with the novel, the play, the epic, the longer narra-
tive poem, the collection of short stories, essays or
poems, and the scientific book. The writing of liter-
ary criticism based on definite canons of taste is
beyond the scope of the work attempted in this
volume; the treatment here given is that of the
ordinary brief in the Dial and kindred journals, or of
the critical introductions to editions of the classics.
217. Theme-model X.— Review of the Novel
OR Play. The following outline for the summary
of longer narrative books should be studied in con-
nection with the series of models for each paragraph
which follows in sections 218-223. These models
(3U)
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The Expository Theme 315
have been taken from book reviews found in maga-
zines, or from the introductions to editions of The
Mill on the Floss^ Silas Marner^ Middlemarch^ RomoUiy
The Lady of the Lake, The House of the Seven Gables,
and The Lay of the Last Minstrel,
First paragraph — the setting. (See §218.)
Second paragraph — the plot. (See §219.)
Third paragraph — the characters. (See §220.)
Fourth paragraph — striking occasions. (See
§221.)
Fifth paragraph — the geographical or social
background. (See §222.)
Sixth paragraph — the general impression of the
book. (See § 223.)
218. The Setting. A study of the following
models will show that there is some resemblance
between what is here called the Setting, and the
Situation which we learned about in Chapter I.
The Setting is a paragraph which states {a) the
scene of the story; {b) the period to which the
events narrated belong, whether modern, ancient,
mediaeval, etc., or whether they are connected with
some particular historical event; {c) the general
theme or purpose of the story.
Models
I.
"It was about 1783 that the events narrated in this
story happened, and the center of action was New York
during the last year of the British occupation. The
unity of the narrative is in the matrimonial destiny of
the dominie's daughter, Miss Montayne."
II.
" The story deals with a few days only, in the sum-
mer of 1862, and with a single episode of the struggle.
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3i6 Composition and Rhetoric
The scene of the book is the city of Cincinnati, and its
theme the attempted capture of the city by a sudden
Confederate raid, abetted by the southern sympathiz-
ers who formed a large part of the population of Cin-
cinnati."
III.
"Hostilities with the Indians on the western frontier
during the second war of independence against Great
Britain give Mr. James Ball Naylor the materials for
The Sign of the Prophet^ General Harrison and Chief
Tecumseh both appearing among the characters."
IV.
" There is a humorous side to house-moving, for all
Franklin's ranking it among the calamities ; and this is
brought out to the full by Mr. Albert Bigelow Paine in
The Van Dwellers, Though concerned with New York,
the name is not derived from the Knickerbockers, but
signifies those mortals who spend so much time in
changing their domicile that they are said to dwell in
the furniture vans which convey their chattels."
Suggestion. — The time element is not directly stated in the
last example, but it is implied. Where?
Exercises
I. Find the mention of the theme, the place,
and the period in each of the above models for the
setting. Find in the Dial, or some other magazine
which devotes space to book reviewing, examples of
the setting. Note any happy expressions or touches
of humor in the extracts you make.
II. Write a summary of the setting of some
novel or play familiar to you.
III. Write a summary of some imaginary book
written ten years hence by one of your schoolmates.
Make the scene of the story the town in which you
both live at present.
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The Expository Theme 317
219. Summary of a Plot. The paragraph used
to summarize the incidents of a story should not
attempt plot criticism, but should be a mere setting
forth of the main events in the life of the leading
character. There is always danger that the young
student will be so interested in the details of the
story that he will allow himself, in giving an account
of it, to be burdened with details, and so confuse his
reader or listener. The story should, therefore, be
told very briefly in this summary. The two follow-
ing models give only the main points in the plots
of Silas Marner and Middlemarch,
Models
^^The story is exceedingly simple, A weaver, falsely
accused of theft, is driven from his home and friends in
Lantern Yard. The injustice of his fate causes him to
revolt in his heart against God and to become a mis-
anthrope. He emigrates to a distant village, lives in
a hermit's solitude, and centers his efforts upon the
hoarding of gold. Then his money is mysteriously
taken from him, and for a time his life is blank. One
night in a storm, a waif, a helpless child, comes stray-
ing by chance to his door. The lonely man takes her
in, cares for her and learns to love her, and this love,
taking the place of his former miser's greed, redeems
his lost human nature and makes him once more a
man. A psychological study t his ^ for it shows the changes
whichy under varying conditions ^ take place in the souiy
II.
^^Middlemarchy at bottom^ is a criticism on social lim-
itations and conventions. It shows how the noble aims
and ideals of the ardent are crushed and shattered by
the sordid facts of reality. Dorothea Brooke is a mod-
em St. Theresa. Lured by a Quixotic sense of duty
she weds a marrowless recluse, hoping to make him
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3i8 Composition and Rhetoric
happy and to help him in his monumental work of
pedantic scholarship. It is a mistake, and the happiness
of both is destroyed. Middlemarch is a laborious but
powerful novel. In spite of some defects it possesses an
unostentatious solidity whuh leaves a strong impression
on the memory'*
Ezerdses
I. Prove that the details of each of the above
summaries enforce the thought of the characterizing
sentence with which they beg^n. Are the summa-
rizing sentences at the close satisfactory? Find in
magazines or books of criticism other examples
of the summary of plot. Bring several of such
examples to class.
II. Write a summary of the plot of some play
or novel familiar to you, using as a model either of
the paragraphs quoted in section 219.
III. Summarize the plot of the imaginary book
on which you were asked to write in section 218.
Introduce the local element into this paragraph as
well as into the setting.
220. Summary of the Characters. The models
given below show two methods for writing a brief
of the characters in a book ; namely, one in which
all of the characters are mentioned by dividing
them into groups, and the other in which a short
account of only the leading characters is given.
Models
I.
^^The characters in her [George Eliofs'X books ^ as we
have noted, are not photographs or sketches taken in a
single pose or moment of time ; they are souls developing
and transforming amid the tortures of the inquisitorial
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The Expository Theme 319
chamber of experience. In Silas Marner we can divide
these persons into three groups : first, the upper circle
of village gentle folk, the Cass family, the Lammeters,
the Gunns, — the people, that is, who give the social
standards ; then the group of village gossips and wise-
acres : the plain folk who haunt the Rainbow Tavern,
Mr. Snell, the landlord, Mr. Macey, Mr. Tookey, and
Mr. Dowlas ; and last of all, Silas Marner, living for the
most part by himself, his solitude broken, however, by
the coming of Eppie and the religious consolations of
Dolly Winthrop. The reader should study Silas Mar-
ner*s misanthropy^ Nancy Lammeter's prudence^ Eppie's
sunbeam witchery^ Dolly Winthrop* s faith in the unseen
Providence^ and Godfrey's lack of courage when facing
the consequences of his own acts"
II.
^^The characters of the 'Lay* are, with one or two
exceptions y mere lay-figures ; with the characters of the
^Lady of the Lake ' the case is very different. The three
rivals for Ellen's hand are real men, with individual-
ities which enhance and deepen the picturesqueness of
each other by contrast. The easy grace and courtly
chivalry of the disguised king, the quick kindling of
his fancy at the sight of the mysterious maid of Loch
Katrine; his quick generosity in relinquishing his suit
when he finds that she loves another, make him one of
the most life-like figures of romance. Roderick Dhu,
nursing darkly his clannish hatred, his hopeless love,
and his bitter jealousy, with a delicate chivalry send-
ing its bright thread through the tissue of his savage
nature, is drawn with an equally convincing hand.
Against his gloomy figure the boyish magnanimity of
Malcolm Graeme, Ellen's brave faithfulness, made
human by a surface play of coquetry, and the quiet
nobility of the exiled Douglas, stand out in varied
relief. Judged in connection with the more conventional
character-types of 'Marmion* and with the draped au-
tomatons of the ^Lay* the characters of the 'Lady of the
Lake* show the gradual growth in Scott of that dra-
matic imagination which was later to fill the vast scene
of his prose romances with unforgettable figures^
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320 Composition and Rhetoric
III.
^^*^When a writer calls his work a romance* writes
Hawthorne^ Ht need hardly be observed that he wishes
to claim a certain latitude^ both as to its fashion and
materials! This fashion is shown by the dimly outlined
characters in ^The House of the Seven Gables' The old
spinster, full of a dreary family pride, yet preserving
in her withered heart a warm devotion to her unfortu-
nate brother, is the spirit of the ancient family in its
decay, rather than an actual inhabitant of Salem. All
her material surroundings — the aged elm and musty
house, with its memories of former stateliness, even
the dwarfed hens in the neglected garden — harmonize.
Into this atmosphere of dreary decay enters Phoebe, —
the spirit of normal health and bloom. Phoebe, also, is
no more defined than the faded Hepzibah ; she is a
beautiful angel of hope and joy. Moreover, Clifford,
the delicate, sensitive lover of beauty, who, without the
power to resist his awful fate, brings from his imprison-
ment an enfeebled intellect, is another spirit of decay.
Perhaps Jaffrey, the embodiment of the evil character-
istics of his race, is more nearly individualized than
any other one of the group. Yet his * sultry' smile, his
gross self-satisfaction, which the romancer makes us
feel whenever he appears, typify universally the coarse,
hard soul of the successful sinner. Of the minor char-
acters. Uncle Vedder is a charming package of humble
philosophy, while Holgrave stands apparently for the
new democratic ideals in conflict with decaying family
pride. His marriage with Phoebe ^ the fresh flower from
the exhausted race, provides an appropriate conclusion"
Exercises
I. In which of the above models are all the
leading and minor characters mentioned ? In which
only the leading ones ? Show that the first sentence
in each of the above paragraphs describes, if only
in a general way, all the characters. Prove that the
last sentence summarizes or gives the reader a sense
of finality. What expressions in each of the models
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The Expository Theme 321
enforce the thought of the topic sentence with which
each is introduced? Find in the magazines and
bring to the class other examples of the summary
of the characters in a book. Be able to point out,
as before, any clever touches which such paragraphs
contain. Do you notice in them any of the minor
devices treated of in Chapter VIII.?
II. Write a summary of the characters in some
novel or play you have read.
III. Write a summary of the characters in the
imaginary novel referred to in section 218. Intro-
duce as some of the characters certain people in
the town known to members of the class.
Caution. — Do not use too many adjectives in a para-
graph upon the characters in a story,
221. Summary of Striking Occasions. The.
parts of a book which we recall with least mental
effort long after reading it are particular occasions
— sometimes called scenes or situations — ^which have
impressed us because of their intensely dramatic
power. These are the portions that a playwright
would use if he were dramatizing the book. The
following quotations show how to treat these occa-
sions in an expository paragraph. In the first of
the models they are merely enumerated ; in the sec-
ond each is briefly described.
Models
I.
^^ There is in ^ Silas Marner* a moderate amount of
dramatic incident^ the accusation and casting of lots in
Lantern Yard, the quarrel of the Cass brothers, the
dispute at the ale-house, the theft of the money, the
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322 Composition and Rhetoric
New- Year party, the coming of Eppie, the renunciation
of her father in Mamer's cottage, and the return visit
to Lantern Yard. No one of these incidents is wildly
exciting^ it is true ; but excitement is not one of the
authors ambitions'*
II.
^^ But the most significant advance which this poem
\^The Lady of the Lake*^ shows over earlier work is in
the greater genuineness of the poetic effect. In the de-
scription, for example, of the approach of Roderick
Dhu's boats to the island, there is a singular depth of
race feeling. There is borne in upon us as we read, the
realization of a wild and peculiar civilization ; we get a
breath of poetry keen and strange, like the shrilling of
the bagpipes across the water. Again, in the speeding of
the fiery cross, there is a primitive depth of poetry which
carries with it a sense of 'old, unhappy, far-off things';
it appeals to latent memories in us which have been
handed down from an ancestral past. There is nothing
in either The Lay of the Last Minstrel or Marmion to
compare for natural dramatic force with the situation
■ in The Lady of the Lake when Roderick Dhu whistles
for his clansmen to appear, and the astonished Fitz-
James sees the lonely mountain-side suddenly bristle
with tartans and spears; and the fight which follows
at the ford is a real fight, in a sense not at all to be
applied to the tournaments and other conventional
encounters of the early poems. . . . This gain in
subtlety of treatment will be made still more apparent by
comparing with any supernatural episode in the ^Lay'
the account in the ^Laay of the Lake * of the unearthly
parentage of Brian the Hermit''
Exercises
I. Prove that the first sentence characterizes all
the occasions, and that the last sentence summarizes
the general impression they make. Point out the
expressions that enforce the thought of the topic
sentence. Find in the magazines and bring to class
other examples of this kind of summary.
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The Expository Theme 323
II. Write such an account of the dramatic occa-
sions in some book you have read.
III. Give a summary of the occasions in the
imaginary book previously referred to.
Caution. — Do not use too many long sentences in
writing such a paragraph.
222. Summary of the Background. Under the
term background we may include two things : the
scenery, or place-descriptions, in a book, — descrip-
tions of either interior or out-of-door scenes; or
we may mean the social background, the general
mode of life or customs of the community in which
the scene of the story is laid. The following model
combines both of these kinds of background, the
geographical and the social :
Model
^^Descriptions are most effective when they reproduce a
real atmosphere^ full of local color ^ local traits^ and indi-
vidual details. In Silas Marner there are faithful pic-
tures of Lantern Yard, Raveloe, the ale-room at the
Rainbow, the halls of the Cass House, the Stonepits,
and the cottage of Silas Marner. In these the acts of
the little drama take place. Social and . provincial
touches are seen in the village superstitions, the mys-
terious regard for Marner because of his supposedly
unnatural powers over disease, the discussion concern-
ing ghosts, the petty rivalries of the village despots, all
of which localize and individualize the place. In hold-
ing us close to fact ^ the author gives a true portraiture of
a provincial English county in the days before railroads
covered the kingdom with a cobweb of iron''
Exercises
I. Prove that the above model contains topic and
summarizing sentences. Prove that it mentions
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324 Composition and Rhetoric
both the geographical and the social backgfround.
Point out the expressions which carry out the
thought of the first sentence. Bring to class other
examples of this kind of summary. Mention some
books in which the background is very interesting.
II. Write a summary of the social background
of some book you have read; of the geographical
background of another.
III. Summarize the background of the imagi-
nary book on which you have been asked to write
in sections 218-221. Use local touches individual-
izing places known to the class.
Caution. — In writing the paragraph on background
do not confuse ^^ place'' with ** occasion*' which is treated
of in section 221.
223. The General Estimate of a Book. Stu-
dents often resort to vague, unmeaning generalities
in gfiving the effect which a book as a whole has
had upon them. They should avoid the hackneyed
remarks which they find in critical essays and his-
tories of literature and tell truthfully the impression
the book has made upon them. The word truthfully
should be emphasized because students are often
more concerned with the question of what they are
expected to think about a book than with what
they do actually think about it. In writing this
kind of paragraph, let the student imagine himself
telling a friend the effect some book has had upon
him. The following account by Lamb of the im-
pression The Ancient Mariner made upon him con-
tains the personal element which makes criticism,
sincere and interesting.
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The Expository Theme 325
Model
^^For me^ I was never so affected by any human tale.
After first reading it I was totally possessed with it for
many days. I dislike all the miraculous side of it ;' but
the feelings of the man under the operation of such
scenery dragged me along like Tom Pipe's magic
whistle. I totally differ from the idea that the Mari-
ner should have had a character and profession. This
is a beauty in Gulliver*s Travels where the mind is
kept in a placid state of little wonderments; but the
Ancient Mariner undergoes such trials as overwhelm
and bury all individuality or memory of what he was,
— like the state of a man in a bad dream."
Exercises
I. Point out in the above model the expressions
which enforce the thought of the first sentence.
Bring to class other examples of this kind of sum-
mary which you will find in books or magazines.
Point out in these examples any minor devices or
any touches of humor that they may contain.
II. Write a paragraph giving your personal feel-
ing or views about a story you have read ; another
on an imaginary book.
224. Material for Theme-model X. In writing
the following exercise on Theme-model X. an effort
should be made to keep the introductory and sum-
marizing sentences of each paragraph from becom-
ing trite. The student should also take pains with
his expression and should use the minor devices
discussed in Chapter VIII. This kind of compo-
sition should stimulate an interest in the reading of
literary criticism, not only in the magazines but in
critical essays, such as those of Lawell, Matthew
Arnold, Birrell, and Mabie.
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326 Composition and Rhetoric
Exercise
Choose any of the following subjects :
1. Irvmg's Rip Van Winkle or The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow,
2. Any novel, epic, or play in the list of college
entrance requirements.
3. An imaginary novel or play by some well-known
person, John D. Rockefeller or Andrew Carnegie, for
instance.
4. An imaginary novel, using for the background,
the Philippine or Cuban wars, the labor troubles in
America, life at a fashionable summer resort, or the
Colonial period in America.
5. A review commending an imaginary novel or
play, and another severely criticising the same.
General Directions for the Book Review
1. Do not neglect the time element in ^^the setting'*
2. Mention the title of the book in " the setting'*
3. Do not put into the paragraph on plot, material
that properly belongs in the paragraph on character, or
vice versa,
4. Do not make too frequent use of the expressions,
''It deals with;* '' It gives r
5. The present tense may be used throughout this
theme,
6. The paragraphs should not vary much in length.
Special care must be taken not to make that on plot too
long,
7. The general tone of the book may be indicated in
the characterizing sentence of the paragraph on plot. It
may be stated that the book is sombre or light, etc,
8. Keep the idea of contrast in mind as you write the
summary of character, (See § 220.)
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The Expository Theme 327
225. Theme-model XL— The Review of a
Collection of Stories. In the following plan
for reviewing a book that consists of a number of
stories, the paragraphs should be made expository
by introducing each of them with a characterizing
sentence and closing it with a summarizing sen-
tence, even when the material used in the para-
graph is narrative.
First paragraph — should contain a statement of
the type of life with which the stories as a whole
deal (New England life, Kentucky sketches, etc.).
It should also show what special aspect of this life
is contained in each of the four or five most inter-
esting of the stories. This may be done by giving
the theme of each. ( For the meaning of the term
theme, see section 218.) A model for this para-
graph follows in section 227.
Paragraphs two to five — should each give a brief
account of the plot of one of the stories mentioned
in the first paragraph. The characterizing and sum-
marizing sentences in each paragraph should not be
forgotten. A model for this series of plot summaries
is given in section 228. The number of paragraphs
needed here will vary with the book which is being
reviewed.
Sixth paragraph — a summary of the characters.
Use the model of section 220. Select characters for
mention not from a single story, but speak of the
leading characters of each story referred to by name
in the first paragraph. ( See § 227.)
Seventh paragraph — a general estimate of the
book, its merits and faults. Use the model of sec-
tion 223.
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328 Composition and Rhetoric
A series of short biographies, such as Thacke-
ray's English Humorists, James T. Field's Yesterdays
with Authors, or Thomas Wentworth Higginson's
Contemporaries, may be treated in the same way as
a volume of short stories.
226. New Paragraph-types Required in Theme-
model XL The sixth and seventh paragraphs fol-
low the models given in sections 220 and 223, as we
have seen. The introductory paragraph and those
dealing with plot (paragraphs 1-5) require new mod-
els, which are given in the two following sections.
They are but slightly different from the correspond-
ing models in Theme-model X.
227. The Introductory Paragraph. Section 225
stated of what the first paragraph of Theme-model
XI. should consist. The following paragfraph con-