For a plate of turtle green and glutinous)
" Only a scraping of shoes on the mat ?
Anything like the sound of a rat
Makes my heart go pit-a-pat ! **
— Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
" Famous, eh ? " I said, looking after the pursy figure
of the miller y in his floury canvas roundabout.
b. Description of mood.
"No, no, sirs, I did not know that you were the
Italians." She was quite flustered and frightened^ and
said cordially enough how glad she was to have us both,
c. Description of cfiaracter,
"Ah, I remember," said the stranger, turning away,
like one whose appetite for contemplation was soon satis-
fied,
d. Description of place.
"You have a pleasant little adytum there, I see,"
said the stranger, looking through a latticed screen
which divided the shop from a room of about equal size.
. . . . "I suppose your conclave of eruditi meets
there?" " ^
Digitized by
Google
94 Composition and Rhetoric
" There, and not less in my shop/* said Nello, lead-
ing the way into an inner room, tn which were some
benches, a table with one book in manuscript and one
printed in capitals lying open upon it, a lute, a few oil
sketches, and a model or two of hands and ancient masks,
— George Eliot, Romola,
2. By means of narration.
a. By the use of retrospective narrative.
The retrospective narrative used in elaborating
dialogue refers to events which took place before
the remark was made which it is used to amplify.
" Well, won't you light it now ? " asked mother again,
when all the unscrewed things had been put back into
their places, and father had hoisted the lamp up to the
ceiling again,
" Did you know John Sherwood ? ** asked Barwood.
"Why, of course I did."
" What a small world it is, to be sure ! " said Barwood,
the mention of Sherwood bringing back for a moment
a remembrance of their last meeting and conversation,
and the strange pursuit into which it had led him,
b. By the use of forward-moving narrative.
This kind of narrative refers to events which fol-
low in time the remark the narrative amplifies.
" But now I am through with him," said James, and
folding up his pocket-book, he said farewell and walked
away.
Suggestion.— Find the narrative and descriptive passages in
the illustrations quoted above.
60. Elaboration of Dialogue on the Side of
Form. Students of elementary composition often
need to review English grammar. The following
examples of elaboration by means of certain gram-
matical units — the phrase, clause, etc. — will afford
Digitized by
Google
Retrospective Narrative 95
material for a slight review of English grammar and
will show at the same time how the various gram-
matical units may be used in giving the accessories
of a conversation ; such as, details in regard to the
persons who are talking or the place in which the
dialogue is carried on.
1 . The prepositional phrase,
a. The preposition in :
**Give it to me/* he said, in a low tone.
h. The preposition with :
With a shrug of the shoulders, he said, "Give it
to me."
c. The preposition without :
Without a tremor, he said, " Give it to me."
rf. The preposition upon :
Upon hearing the news, he said, "Give it to me."
2. The present participle :
"Give it to me," he said, glancing down the street.
3 . The perfect participle :
Filled with misgiving, he said, " Give it to me."
4. The adverbial clause — introduced by as, while,
when, though, since, etc:
As he trembled with fear, he said, "Give it to me."
While he trembled with fear, he said, "Give it
to me."
Though he trembled with fear, he said, " Give it
to me."
" Give it to me," he said, for he was hungry.
5. Tlie adverb :
He said wistfully, " Give it to me."
Digitized by
Google
g6 Composition and Rhetoric
6. The relative clause :
"Give it to me," said the professor, who was as
modest as he was amiable.
7. The nominative absolute :
" Give it to me," he said, his face filled with joy.
8. The adjective :
" Give it to me," he said, full of zeal.
9. Coordinate statement — showing accompanying
action :
He closed his eyes with a sigh and said, "Give it
to me."
10. Independent statement — showing accompany-
ing action or condition :
John was broken-hearted. " Give it to me," he said.
11. Independent statement — giving a comment:
" No," he answered, " I have never been used to any-
thing but common victuals, and I can't eat that now."
Experience had bred no fancies in him that could raise
the phantasm of an appetite.
Exercises
I. Write original sentences in illustration of
each of the examples given under the formal side
of dialogue elaboration (§ 60). Write also sentences
illustrating each example of dialogue elaboration
on the side of thought (§ 59).
II. Write an original dialogue which shall con-
tain all of the means of elaboration on the sides of
both thought and form. Be sure that each of your
phrases, clauses, etc., tells something significant
about the speakers — something that has point in
the context.
Digitized by
Google
Retrospective Narrative 97
General Directions for Writing Dialogue
In the dialogue portions of Theme-model II. observe
the following directions :
1. Vary the expression for the introductory verb,
2. Vary the position of the introductory verb,
3. Vary the subject of the introductory verb,
4. Vary the position of the subject of the introduc-
tory verb,
5. Elaborate the dialogue, so as to give descriptions
of place, personal appearance, mood, character,
6. Use different grammatical elements, the phrase,
clause, etc, in the elaboration,
7. Never use dialect or slang in the dialogue you
write.
We are learning to write English that conforms to the
laws of good use.
61. The Paragraphing of Theme-model II. A
story written according to the second theme-model,
sections 49 and 50, should be paragpraphed as follows,
the word paragraph meaning break in the text :
First paragraph — the situation. The situation
should be written according to Situation-type I.
(§25.)
Three or four paragraphs — transition in dia-
logue (see § 50, 2). The transition should give the
occasion for the telling of the story.
A number of paragraphs varying with the length
of the story — retrospective narrative in monologue
or dialogue.
Three or four paragraphs — conclusion in dia-
logue (see §50, 4). The conclusion should recall
the mind of the reader to the situation and summa-
rize or comment on the story.
7
Digitized by
Google
98 Composition and Rhetoric
62. Theme-model II. in Reproduction. Repro-
duce according to Theme-model II. V^h\it\%t*s Among-
the Hills (see Appendix II., §2), or Wordsworth's
We are Seven, or, if you prefer, the following story.
Each of these selections contains retrospective nar-
rative in dialogue, a situation, a transition, and a
conclusion.
THE MAN WHO PUT UP AT GADSBY'S
Situation: When my odd friend Riley and I were
newspaper correspondents in Washington, in the
winter of '67, we were coming down Pennsylvania
Avenue one night, near midnight, in a driving storm
of snow, when the flash of a street lamp fell upon a
man who was eagerly tearing along in the opposite
direction. This man instantly stopped, and ex-
claimed,
"This is lucky! You are Mr. Riley, ain't you?"
Riley was the most self-possessed and solemnly
deliberate person in the republic. He stopped,
looked his man over from head to foot, and finally
said, —
" I am Mr. Riley. Did you happen to be looking
forme?"
"That's just what I was doing," said the man,
joyously, "and it's the biggest luck in the world
that I've found you. My name is Lykins. I'm one
of the teachers of the high school — San Francisco.
As soon as I heard the San Francisco post-master-
ship was vacant, I made up my mind to get it, — and
here I am Now I want you, if you'll be
so good, to go around with me to the Pacific dele-
gation, for I want to rush this thing through and
get along home."
" If the matter is so pressing, you will prefer
that we visit the delegation to-night," said Riley, in
a voice which had nothing mocking in it, — to an
unaccustomed ear.
"O, to-night, by all means! I haven't got any
time to fool around. I want their promise before
Cc
Retrospective Narrative 99
I go to bed, — I ain't the talking kind, I'm the doing
kind." ....
Transition: The storm was raging, the thick snow
blowing in gusts. Riley stood silent, apparently
deep in a reverie, during a minute or more, then he
looked up and said, —
" Have you ever heard about that man who put up
at Gadsby's, once ? • . . But I see you haven't."
He backed Mr. Lykins against an iron fence,
buttonholed him, fastened him with his eye, like
the ancient mariner, and proceeded to unfold his
narrative as placidly and peacefully as if we were
all stretched comfortably in a blossomy summer
meadow instead of being persecuted by a wintry
midnight tempest :
Retrospective Narrative: "I will tell you about that
man. It was in Jackson's time. Gadsby's was the
principal hotel, then. Well, this man arrived from
Tennessee about nine o'clock, one morning, with a
black coachman and a splendid four-horse carriage
and an elegant dog, which he was evidently fond and
proud of ; he drove up before Gadsby's and the clerk
and the landlord and everybody rushed out to take
charge of him, but he said, 'Never mind,' and
jumped out and told the coachman to wait, — said
he hadn't time to take anything to eat, he only had
a little claim against the government to collect,
would run across the way, to the Treasury, and fetch
the money, and then get right along back to Ten-
nessee, for he was in considerable of a hurry.
"Well, about eleven o'clock that night he came
back and ordered a bed and told vthem to put the
horses up, — said he would collect the claim in the
morning. This was in January, you understand, —
January, 1834, — the 3d of January, — Wednesday.
"Well, on the 5th of February, he sold the fine
carriage, and bought a cheap second-hand one, —
said it would answer just as well to take the money
home in, and he didn't care for style.
"On the nth of August he sold a pair of the fine
Digitized by
Google
lOO Composition and Rhetoric
horses, — said he*d often thought a pair was better
than four, to go over the rough mountain roads with
where a body had to be careful about his driving, —
and there wasn't so much of his claim but he could
lug the money home with a pair easy enough.
"On the 13th of December he sold another horse,
— said two wam*t necessary to drag that old light
vehicle with, — in fact one could snatch it along
faster than was absolutely necessary, now that it was
good solid winter weather and the roads in splendid
condition.
"On the seventeenth of February, 1835, he sold
the old carriage and bought a cheap second-hand
bugey, — said a buggy was just the trick to skim along
mushy, slushy early-spring roads with, and he had
always wanted to try a buggy on those mountain-
roads, anyivay.
"On the I St of August he sold the buggy and
bought the remains of an old sulky, — said he just
wanted to see those green Tennesseans stare and
gawk when they saw him come a-ripping along in a
sulky, — didn't believe they'd ever heara of a sulky
in their lives.
" Well, on the 29th of August he sold his colored
coachman, — said he didn't need a coachman for a
sulky, — wouldn't be room enough for two in it any-
way, — and said it wasn't every day that Providence
sent a man a fool who was willing to pay nine hun-
dred dollars for such a third-rate negro as that, —
been wanting to get rid of the creature for years,
but didn't like to throw him away.
"Eighteen months later, — that is to say, on the
iSth of February, 1837, — he sold the sulky and
bought a saddle, — said horse-back riding was what
the doctor had always recommended him to take,
and dog'd if he wanted to risk his neck going over
those mountain-roads on wheels in the dead of win-
ter, not if he knew himself.
"On the 9th of April he sold the saddle, — said he
wasn't going to risk his life with any perishable
saddle-girth that ever was made, over a rainy, miry
^pril road, while he could ride bareback and know
Digitized by
Google
Retrospective Narrative loi
and feel he was safe, — always had despised to ride
on a saddle, anyway.
"On the 24th of April he sold his horse, — said
*I'm just 57 to-day, hale and hearty, — it would
be a pretty howdy-do for me to be wasting such
a trip as that and such weather as this, on a
horse, when there ain't anything in the world so
splendid as a tramp on foot through the fresh spring
woods and over the cheery mountains, to a man that
is a, man, — and I can make my dog carry my claim
in a little bundle anyivay, when it's collected. So
to-morrow 1*11 be up bright and early, make my
little old collection, and mosey off to Tennessee, on
my own hind legs, with a rousing Good-bye to
Gadsby's.*
"On the 2 2d of June he sold his dog, — said,
* Dem a dog, anyivay, where you're just starting off
on a rattling bully pleasure-tramp through the sum-
mer woods and hills, — perfect nuisance, — chases the
squirrels, barks at everything, goes a-capering and
splattering around in the fords, — man can't get any
chance to reflect and enjoy nature, — and I'd ablamed
sight ruther carry the claim myself, it's a mighty
sight safer ; a dog's mighty uncertain in a financial
way, — always noticed it, — well, g-ood-hyey boys, — last
call, — I'm off for Tennessee with a good leg and a
gay heart, early in the morning ! ' "
There was a pause and a silence, — except the
noise of the wind and the pelting snow. Mr. Lykins
said, impatiently, —
"Well?"
Riley said, —
"Well, — that was thirty years ago."
"Very well, very well, — what of it?"
"I'm great friends with that old patriarch. He
comes every evening to tell me good-bye. I saw him
an hour ago, — he's off for Tennessee early to-morrow
morning, — as usual; said he calculated to get his
claim through and be off before night-owls like me
have turned out of bed. The tears were in his eyes,
he was so glad he was going to see his old Tennes-
see and his friends once more."
Digitized by
Google
I02 Composition and Rhetoric
Conclusion : Another silent pause. The stranger broke
it-
"Is that all?"
"That is all."
" Well, for the time of night, and the kind of night,
it seems to me the story was full long enough. But
what's it all /^r.?"
" O, nothing in particular."
"Well, Where's the point of it?"
"O, there isn't any particular point to it. Only,
if you are not in too much of a hurry to rush oflf to
San Francisco with that post-office appointment,
Mr. Lykins, I'd advise you to ^ put up at Gadsby's*
for a spell, and take it easy. Good-bye. God bless
you!"
So saying, Riley blandly turned on his heel and
left the astonished school teacher standing there, a
musing and motionless snow image shining in the
broad glow of the street lamp.
He never got that post-office.
— Samuel E. Clemens (Mark Twain), A Tramp Abroad.
63. Theme-model II. in the Description of
Pictures. Before giving an oral and a written
description of the picture facing page 132, according
to the plan of Theme-model II., answer the follow-
ing questions : What does the attitude of the priest
indicate? How do the attitudes of the children
differ from one another? Is the place an unusual
one for a catechism lesson ? Is the background of
the picture poetical ?
The description should contain :
1. A situation — according to Situation-type I.
Group the children as "Character B."
2. A transition — in dialogue, between the
priest and the children.
3. Retrospective narrative. Imagine that the
Digitized by
Google
Retrospective Narrative 103
boy who is standing is reciting some familiar Bible
story in such a way as to interest the children.
4. The conclusion — in a dialogue between the
priest and the children who are sitting.
Suggestion. — Apply the general directions given in section 60.
64. Theme-model II. in Subjects from Life and
History. Stories that are written according to
Theme-model II. sometimes have in them a personal
element which makes them interesting. The person
who is telling the story may either reveal his own
character in his conversation or give us a conception
of the character of those to whom he is talking by
the way in which he adapts his narrative to the
interests and capacity of his listeners. A parent
telling a child a story would choose details suited
to the child's tastes and understanding ; a child nar-
rating something to his parent would reveal his
own interests and capacity. Thus we may have a
story from the speaker's or the listener's point of
view. It is the personal element in this kind of
theme that makes it possible for one to tell by means
of it even a commonplace incident with spirit and
vigor. The following narrative is tinged by the
personality of both the speaker and the listener :
Situation : They had not gone far before they saw the
Mock Turtle in the distance, sitting sad and lonely
on a little ledge of rock ; and, as they came nearer,
Alice could hear him sighing as if his heart would
break. She pitied him deeply.
"What is his sorrow?" she asked the Gryphon,
and the Gryphon answered very nearly in the same
words as before, ....
" It*s all his fancy, that .... Come on ! "
So they went up to the Mock Turtle, who looked
Digitized by
Google
I04 Composition and Rhetoric
at them with large eyes full of tears, but said
nothing.
Transition: "This young lady," said the Gryphon,
" she wants to know your history, she does."
" I'll tell it her," said the Mock Turtle in a deep,
hollow tone : " Sit down, both of you, and don't
speak a word till I've finished." ....
Retrospective Narrative : " Once," said the Mock Turtle
at last, with a deep sigh, " I was a real Turtle."
These words were followed by a very long
silence, broken only by an occasional exclamation of
" Hjckrrh » " from the Gryphon, and the constant
heavy sobbing of the Mock Turtle
" When we were little," the Mock Turtle went on
at last, more calmly, though sobbing a little now
and then, " we went to school in the sea
Yes, we went to school in the sea, though you mayn't
believe it."
" I never said I didn't ! " interrupted Alice.
" We had the best of educations — in fact, we went
to school every day."
"/'z/^ been to day-school, too," said Alice ; " you
needn't be so proud as all that."
"With extras?" asked the Mock Turtle a little
anxiously.
" Yes," said Alice, " we learned French and music."
" And washing ? " said the Mock Turtle.
" Certainly not ! " said Alice, indignantly.
" Ah ! Then yours wasn't a really good school,"
said the Mock Turtle in a tone of great relief. " Now
at ours they had at the end of the bill, French, music,
and washing — extra."
— Charles L. Dodgson (pseud. Lewis Carroll),
Alice in Wonderland,
Exercise
Write a theme according to Theme-model II. on
one of the following subjects :
I. A story of some incident in the Civil War.
Let the incident be told to a child by a soldier.
Digitized by
Google
From a painting by Alphonse Cordonuier
JOAN OF ARC — BURNING AT THE STAKE
{See pages bq and 142)
Digitized by VjOOQ IC
Digitized by
Google^
Retrospective Narrative 105
2. The life story of some one you have known per-
sonally ; of one of your ancestors whom you know by
tradition; of an eccentric character in the town in
which you live, or of some historical character.
Make the narrator reveal his own personality by the
details he puts into the story.
3. A boy's account, in conversation with his mother,
of a quarrel with some friend, or of trouble at school,
or of some other boyish escapade for which he has been
called to account. Let the boy reveal his own charac-
ter by little touches in his story.
4. A mother telling a caller of the experiences of her
son, who has been having marked success in his profes-
sional or business career, in a distant city. Let the
mother reveal her pride in her son. Make this sketch
humorous if possible.
5. A girl's account, in conversation with her teacher,
of the events of her summer's vacation.
6. A pioneer telling his son the story of his hard-
ships in winning his way.
7. A business man describing to a friend the various
steps by which he has risen to wealth, and telling what
he considers the chief factor in his success.
8. A young man applying to a lawyer for a position
in his office, and giving an account of the positions he
has previously held ; the kinds of employers he has had ;
the reasons why he gave up positions he previously
held.
9. A child who has been injured telling the phy-
sician who is attending him the story of the accident.
10. A woman giving a history of her experiences
with servants.
11. Is Theme-model II. too formal to be used in
telling, in a letter to a friend, some incident in your
recent experience? Try it.
Digitized by
Google
io6 Composition and Rhetoric
65. Theme-model IL Repeated. In Theme-
model I. we learned how to find the three most impor-
tant situations in a story ; in Theme-model II. how
to use retrospective narrative to explain the events
which precede a situation and lead up to it. If
we repeat Theme-model II. three times (see out-
line below), placing the first situation in the prepa-
ration, the second at the climax, and the third in the
sequel, we shall have a plan for telling a longer
story than any we have yet attempted. The plan is
as follows :
Chapter I. (According to Theme-model II.)
Situation — in the preparation — Situation-type I. or
Situation-type II.
Retrospective narrative in monologue — giving the events
in the story which precede in time the first situation.
Chapter II. (According to Theme-model II.)
Situation — at the climax — Situation-type I. or Situ-
ation-type II.
Retrospective narrative in monologue or dialogue — giv-
ing the events in the story between the time of the
first situation and that of the second.
Chapter III. (According to Theme-model II.)
Situation — in the sequel — Situation-type I. or Situ-
ation-type II.
Retrospective narrative in monologue or dialogue — giv-
ing the events in the story between the time of the
second and that of the third situation.
Use in each chapter a transition and a conclusion,
each containing dialogue. (See § 50.)
It is well not to use Situation-type II. in all of
the chapters, because too much dialogue may be-
come tedious.
Digitized by
Google
Retrospective Narrative 107
66. The Selection Used as a Model. Matthew
Arnold's Tristram and Iseult repeats the situation
and retrospective narrative, and has suggested the
theme-model outlined above. The poem is too long
to be quoted here, and too difl&cult for elementary
classes to read. The following story is simple and
has the same arrangement; namely, Theme-model
II. repeated. It will be noticed that the three
chapters of this selection have all the same plan;
namely, a situation, a transition, retrospective nar-
rative, and a conclusion.
CHANGEABLE CHARLIE
Chapter I.
Situation : It was one day when on a summer tramp
that, entering a decentish town and looking about
at the shop windows, I began to bethink me of the
necessity that had fallen upon me, by the tear and
wear o£ the journey, of being at the expense of a new
hat : so I entered a magazine of miscellaneous com-
modities, when who should astonish me in the person
of the shopkeeper but my old pupil, Charlie Cheap !
Transition: "Merciful me, Charlie," said I; "who
would have expected to find you at this trade ! I
thought you had gone to the college to serve your
time for a minister of the gospel."
Retrospective Narrative : " Indeed," said Charlie, " that
was once the intent; but in truth, my head got
rather confused with the lair and the logic. I had
not the least conjugality to the Greek conjugations,
and when I came to the Hebrew, that is read every
word backwards, faith, I could neither read it back-
wards nor forwards, and fairly stuck, and grew a
sticked minister. But I had long begun to see that
the minister trade was a poor business, and that a
man might wait for mustard till the meat was all
eaten, and so I just took up a chop like my father be-
fore me ; and faith, Dominie, I'm making a fortune."
Digitized by