Elementary Composition · Part 7

Exercise 67.--Condense the following paragraphs, making your sentences pleasing to the ear:--

1. In order to begin at the beginning of the story, let us suppose that we go into a country garden one fine morning in May, when the sun is shining brightly overhead, and that we see hanging from the bough of an old apple tree a black object which looks very much like a large plum pudding. On approaching it, however, we see that it is a large cluster or swarm of bees clinging to each other by their legs; each bee with its two fore legs clinging to the hinder legs of the one above it. In this way as many as twenty thousand bees may be clinging together, and yet they hang so freely that a bee, even from quite the center of the swarm, can disengage herself from her neighbors and pass through to the outside of the cluster whenever she wishes.--ARABELLA BUCKLEY: Fairyland of Science.

2. This warning stopped all speech, and the hardy mariners, knowing that they had already done all in the power of man to insure their safety, stood in breathless anxiety, awaiting the result. At a short distance ahead of them the whole ocean was white with foam, and the waves, instead of rolling on in regular succession, appeared to be tossing madly about. A single streak of dark billows, not half a cable's length in width, could be discerned running into this chaos of water; but it was soon lost to the eye amid the confusion. Along this narrow path the vessel moved more heavily than before, being brought so near the wind as to keep her sails touching. The pilot silently proceeded to the wheel, and with his own hands undertook the steering of the ship. No noise proceeded from the frigate to interrupt the horrid tumult of the ocean; and she entered the channel among the breakers in dead silence.--JAMES FENIMORE COOPER: The Pilot.

28. Method in Condensation.--The length of any piece of writing depends upon the purpose for which it is intended. For instance, the answer to the question, "Who was Abraham Lincoln?" might, according to the circumstances, be given in a paragraph, in a page, or in a chapter; or it might be expanded into a work of many volumes. If you were required, in preparation for a written lesson in history or geography, to read several pages, you would not be expected to write all you had read, but to be able to condense; that is, to omit details and select the most important points. The ability to decide which points are the important ones, and which may be omitted with least loss to the passage, will be of great value to you in all your serious reading and study.

The following suggestions will help you in condensing:--

1. Read the whole passage through carefully.

2. Pick out the things so important that they must be retained. As a rule, the more important the point, the greater the space the author allots to it. Drop the minor points.

3. Arrange the facts you decide to retain in order of importance, and in condensing the passage give most space to the most important points.

Read, for example, the following narrative, and notice the condensation printed below it:--

In the reign of the great caliph, there lived in the city of Bagdad a celebrated barber, of the name of Ali. He was famous for a steady hand, and could shave a head, or trim your beard or whiskers, with his eyes blindfolded. There was not a man of fashion at Bagdad who did not employ him; and such a run of business had he that at length he became very proud and insolent.

Firewood was always scarce and dear at Bagdad; and it happened one day that a poor woodcutter, ignorant of the character of Ali, stopped at his shop, to sell him a load of wood, which he had just brought from a distance on his donkey. Ali immediately offered him a certain sum "for all the wood that was upon the donkey." The woodcutter agreed, unloaded his beast, and asked for the money.

"You have not given me all the wood yet," said the barber. "I must have your wooden pack saddle into the bargain: that was our agreement."

"What!" said the other, in great amazement; "who ever heard of such a bargain? It is impossible."

But after many words the overbearing barber seized the pack saddle, wood, and all, and sent away the poor peasant in great distress. The woodcutter then ran to the judge and stated his griefs; the judge was one of the barber's customers, and refused to hear the case. Then he went to a higher judge; he also patronized Ali, and made light of the complaint.

The poor woodcutter was not disheartened, but forthwith got a scribe to write a petition to the caliph himself. The caliph's punctuality in reading petitions is well known, and it was not long before the woodcutter was called to his presence. When he had approached the caliph, he kneeled and kissed the ground; and then, folding his arms before him, his hands covered with the sleeves of his cloak, and his feet close together, he awaited the decision of his case.

"Friend," said the caliph, "the barber has words on his side: you have equity on yours. The law must be defined by words, and agreements must be made by words. The law must have its course, or it is nothing; and agreements must be kept, or there would be no good faith between man and man. Therefore the barber must keep all his wood, but"--

Then calling the woodcutter close to him, the caliph whispered something in his ear, and sent him away quite satisfied. The woodcutter, having made obeisance, took his donkey by the halter, and returned home.

A few days later he applied to the barber, as if nothing had happened between them, requesting that he, and a companion of his from the country, might enjoy the dexterity of his hand; and the price for which both operations were to be performed was settled. When the woodcutter's beard had been properly shaved, Ali asked where his companion was. "He is standing just outside," said the woodcutter; "he shall come in at once." Accordingly he went out, and led in his donkey by the halter. "This is my companion," said he: "shave him."

"Shave him!" exclaimed the barber, in a rage: "is it not enough that I should degrade myself by touching you, but you must insult me by asking me to shave your donkey? Away with you!"

The woodcutter immediately went to the caliph and related his case. "Bring Ali and his razors to me this instant," exclaimed the caliph to one of his officers; and in the course of ten minutes the barber stood before him. "Why do you refuse to shave this man's companion?" said the caliph to the barber: "was not that your agreement?" Ali, kissing the ground, answered, "It is true, O caliph, that such was our agreement; but who ever made a companion of a donkey before?"

"True enough," said the caliph; "but who ever thought of insisting upon a pack saddle's being included in a load of wood? No, no, it is the woodcutter's turn now. Shave this donkey instantly!"

So the barber was compelled to prepare a great quantity of soap, to lather the beast from head to foot, and to shave him in the presence of the caliph and of the whole court, whilst he was jeered and mocked by the bystanders. The poor woodcutter was then dismissed with a present of money; and all Bagdad resounded with the story, and praised the justice of the caliph.

There was once in Bagdad a barber who was so skillful that he was employed by all the men of fashion, and who became so proud that he would seldom work for any but men of rank. One day a poor woodcutter came to his shop to sell a load of wood. Ali offered him a sum of money for "all the wood upon the donkey." The woodcutter agreed, whereupon Ali seized the wooden pack saddle as well as the wood, saying it was included in the bargain.

After in vain seeking redress from the judges, the peasant went to the caliph, who decided that, according to the terms made, the bargain must stand; but, calling the woodcutter to him, he whispered something in his ear.

A few days afterward the woodcutter asked the barber to shave him and a companion from the country, agreeing to pay the price asked by the barber. After the woodcutter had been attended to, the barber asked for the companion, whereupon the woodcutter led in his donkey. The barber in rage drove them from his shop, but the woodcutter immediately went to the caliph and stated his case. The tables were now turned, for the caliph decided in favor of the woodcutter. The barber was obliged to shave the beast in the presence of the caliph and the whole court, who mocked at him; and the woodcutter was dismissed with a rich present.

Exercise 68. In a similar way condense this account of the battle of Hastings into about two hundred words.

In the middle of the month of October, in the year one thousand and sixty-six, the Normans and the English came front to front. All night the armies lay encamped before each other in a part of the country then called Senlac, now called Battle. With the first dawn of day they arose. There, in the faint light, were the English on a hill. A wood lay behind them, and in their midst was the royal banner, representing a fighting warrior, woven in gold thread, adorned with precious stones.

Beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, stood King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his side; around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole English army--every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his hand the dreaded English battle-ax.

On an opposite hill, in three lines,--archers, foot soldiers, and horsemen,--was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle cry, "God help us!" burst from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own battle cry, "God's Rood! Holy Rood!" The Normans then came sweeping down the hill to attack the English.

There was one tall Norman knight who rode before the Norman army on a prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and singing of the bravery of his countrymen. An English knight, who rode out from the English force to meet him, fell by this knight's hand. Another English knight rode out, and he also fell; but then a third rode out and killed the Norman.

The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for the showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman rain. When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with their battle-axes they cut men and horses down. The Normans gave way. The English pressed forward. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that Duke William was killed. Duke William took off his helmet, in order that his face might be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before his men. This gave them courage.

As they turned again to face the English, some of their Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the English from the rest, and thus all that foremost portion of the English army fell, fighting bravely.

The main body still remaining firm, heedless of the Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting down the crowds of horsemen when they rode up, like forests of young trees, Duke William pretended to retreat. The eager English followed. The Norman army closed again and fell upon them with great slaughter.

"Still," said Duke William, "there are thousands of the English firm as rocks around their king. Shoot upward, Norman archers, that your arrows may fall down upon their faces."

The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through all the wild October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. In the red sunset, and in the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men lay strewn, a dreadful spectacle, all over the ground.

King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman knights now dashed forward to seize the royal banner from the English knights and soldiers, still faithfully collected round their blinded king. The king received a mortal wound and dropped. The English broke and fled. The Normans rallied, and the day was lost.

Oh, what a sight beneath the moon and stars when lights were shining in the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the spot where Harold fell--and he and his knights were carousing within--and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro without, sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead--and Harold's banner, worked in golden thread and precious stones, lay low, all torn and soiled with blood--and the Duke's flag, with three Norman lions upon it, kept watch over the field.--CHARLES DICKENS: A Child's History of England.

Exercise 69.--Condense such of the passages suggested below as your teacher may indicate.

1. The passage quoted on pages 88-90.

2. The passage quoted on pages 144-148 (or 182-185).

3. A passage from your text-book in history or geography.

4. An account (of a fire, for instance), from a daily or weekly paper.

29. Expansion.--An exercise just the opposite of the preceding is also highly profitable to young writers. Here, for example, are two sentences that will suggest a good deal to you. You will see at once that it is easy to expand them into a larger piece of writing, and just below is an entire paragraph which is based on these sentences.

1. Lord Fairfax asked George Washington to survey his lands in Virginia. The boy was very glad to do so, for he loved a wild and adventurous life.

2. Lord Fairfax wished very much to have his lands in the valley of Virginia surveyed, and he asked young George Washington if he would undertake the work. The boy was very glad to do so. Nothing could have pleased him better than work of this sort. He loved the open air and horseback riding; he would delight to explore that grand and beautiful country where Indians and wild animals still roamed at will; and he at once began to make ready for his journey.

Here is another example of the same process:--

1. The Mayflower sailed on the 16th of September. After a long and stormy voyage the Pilgrims sighted land.

2. On the 16th of September the sails were spread once more, and the Mayflower glided out upon the waters of the broad Atlantic. Fierce storms arose, and the vessel was tossed like an eggshell upon the waves. The main beam was wrenched from its place, and the ship was in danger of breaking in pieces. One passenger fell overboard and was lost. At length, on the 19th of November, the joyful cry of land rang through the ship. All eyes were strained to see the welcome sight. There it was--a long reach of sandy shore with dark forest trees in the background. The hard, dangerous voyage was almost at an end. The Pilgrims were nearly home.

Exercise 70.--You will now be ready to try this form of writing for yourselves. Below are given a number of short and suggestive statements. Expand them, using your own imagination to fill out the material, and trying, in each case, to make your sentences pleasing to the ear.

1. Rip Van Winkle was a great favorite among the good wives of the village. The children, too, loved him, and followed him about.

2. The Catskill Mountains lie to the west of the Hudson River. They are very beautiful.

3. The news of Lexington and Concord was sent to Philadelphia. Here the Continental Congress was assembled. The members agreed upon Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.

30. The Purpose of Expansion.--We sometimes expand passages in order to make them clearer by explanation or illustration.

EXAMPLES. 1. In the Old World there are various grades of society, and it is almost impossible for a boy born in the lower to rise into the higher ranks. In this country this is not so; every man is as good as his neighbor.

2. In the aristocracies of the Old World, wealth and society are built up like the strata of rock which compose the crust of the earth. If a boy be born in the lowest stratum of life, it is almost impossible for him to rise through the hard crust into the higher ranks; but in this country it is not so. The strata of our society resemble rather the ocean, where every drop, even the lowest, is free to mingle with all others, and may shine at last on the crest of the highest wave. This is the glory of our country, and you need not fear that there are any obstacles which will prove too great for any brave heart.

Exercise 71.--Expand into a paragraph such of the following statements as your teacher may indicate:--

1. The early bird catches the worm.

2. If you would be well served, serve yourself.

3. For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the rider was lost; for want of the rider, the army was lost.

4. Benedict Arnold's last request, it is said, was that he might die in his old American uniform; his last prayer, that God would forgive him for ever having put on any other.

5. After Washington's retreat from Long Island in September, 1776, he needed information as to the British fortifications. A young American officer, Nathan Hale, volunteered to get the information. While inside of the enemy's lines he was taken prisoner and hanged as a spy. With his latest breath he regretted that he had only one life to lose for his country.

31. Paraphrase.--There is just one further kind of writing, in which the ideas are given you, that will be profitable to you as practice. This is paraphrase. To paraphrase a piece of writing is to restate it in your own words and in a simpler form.

You used one form of paraphrasing in the exercise on page 60, when you explained figurative expressions by changing them into simpler or plainer language. In figurative language a resemblance between things otherwise unlike is pointed out or taken for granted, and in order to understand the author's meaning you must be able to discover the resemblance. By reducing the figure to plain language you make sure that you understand it; and you are often led in this way to see much more clearly the beauty or the force of the figure.

In a similar manner paraphrasing will aid you in understanding difficult passages, whether in verse or in prose, which you may come on in your reading. It is said of Lincoln that whenever he read anything that seemed to him very difficult, he would try to express it so simply that people who knew less than he could understand it. Perhaps this is one reason why Lincoln's speeches and writings are so beautifully clear.