Chapter VII: Paragraphs (2)

"The prejudiced man travels, and then everything he sees in
Catholic countries only serves to make him more thankful
that his notions are so true; and the more he sees of
Popery, the more abominable he feels it to be. If there is
any sin, any evil in a foreign population, though it be
found among Protestants also, still Popery is clearly the
cause of it. If great cities are the schools of vice, it is
owing to Popery. If Sunday is profaned, if there is a
carnival, it is the fault of the Catholic Church. Then,
there are no private houses, as in England; families live in
staircases; see what it is to belong to a Popish country.
Why do the Roman laborers wheel their barrows so slow in the
Forum? why do the Lazzaroni of Naples lie so listlessly on
the beach? why, but because they are under the _malaria_ of
a false religion. Rage, as is well known, is in the Roman
like a falling sickness, almost as if his will had no part
in it and he had no responsibility; see what it is to be a
Papist. Bloodletting is as frequent and as much a matter of
course in the South as hair-cutting in England; it is a
trick borrowed from the convents, when they wish to tame
down refractory spirits."[39]

"Excuse me, Sir, if turning from such thoughts I resume this
comparative view once more. You have seen it on a large
scale; look at it on a small one. I will point out to your
attention a particular instance of it in the single province
of Pennsylvania. In the year 1704 that province called for
L11,459 in value of your commodities, native and foreign.
This was the whole. What did it demand in 1772? Why, nearly
fifty times as much; for in that year the export to
Pennsylvania was L507,909, nearly equal to the export to all
the colonies together in the first period."[40]

The following illustrates the weakness of closing with a specific instance when it does not rise to the level of the remainder of a paragraph. The last sentence would better be omitted.

"We often hear of the magical influence of poetry. The
expression in general means nothing; but, applied to the
writings of Milton, it is most appropriate. His poetry acts
like an incantation. Its merit lies less in its obvious
meaning than in its occult power. There would seem, at first
sight, to be no more in his words than in other words. But
they are words of enchantment. No sooner are they pronounced
than the past is present and the distant near. New forms of
beauty start at once into existence, and all the
burial-places of memory give up their dead. Change the
structure of the sentence, substitute one synonym for
another, and the whole effect is destroyed. The spell loses
its power; and he who should then hope to conjure with it
would find himself as much mistaken as Cassim in the Arabian
tale, when he stood crying, 'Open Wheat,' 'Open Barley,' to
the door which obeyed no sound but 'Open Sesame.' In the
miserable failure of Dryden in his attempt to translate into
his own diction some parts of the 'Paradise Lost' is a
remarkable instance of this." ("Essay on Milton," by
Macaulay.)

Length of opening and closing Sentences.

By examination, one finds that the first sentence of a paragraph of exposition and of argument is usually a terse statement of the proposition; and that after the proposition has been established there follows a longer sentence gathering up all the points of the discussion into a full, rounded period which forms a suitable climax and conclusion of the paragraph. Of Macaulay's "Milton" one is quite inside the truth when he says that of those paragraphs containing an opening topic-sentence and its restatement as a conclusion, the closing sentence is the longer in the ratio of two to one. In Burke's "Conciliation," the ratio rises as high as four to one. There are, however, exceptions to the rule. Paragraphs sometimes close with a shorter statement of the proposition, a sort of aphorism or epigram. As this kind of sentence is fascinating, some books have said that paragraphs should close so; that it is like cracking a whip, and gives a snap to the paragraph not gained in any other way. Even if readers enjoyed having paragraphs close in this cracking manner, it must be borne in mind that not all conclusions are capable of such a statement, and, what is worse, that the tendency to seek for epigrams leads to untruth and a degenerated form of witticism. Such forced sentences are only half truths, or they are a bit of cheap repartee. Such a close is effective, if the whole truth can be so expressed; but to seek for such sentences is dangerous. The best rule is the one already stated; it applies to the long sentence and the short sentence alike. It is that a paragraph should close with words that deserve distinction.

Proportion.

The body of a paragraph should have the matter so proportioned that the more important points shall receive the longer treatment. In a paragraph of proof, details, or comparison, that point in the proof, that particular, that part of the comparison, which for the specific purpose has most significance, should have proportionately fuller treatment. It is the same principle already noticed in exposition. Indicate the relative importance of topics in a paragraph by the relative number of words used in their treatment.

For mass in a paragraph, then, keep in mind that the last sentence should contain matter and form worthy of the position it occupies; that the position of next importance is at the beginning; and that the relative importance of the matters in the body of a paragraph is pretty correctly indicated by the relative length of treatment.

Coherence and Clearness.

Coherence, the third principle of structure, is the most important; and it is the most difficult to apply. For one can make a beginning and an end, he can select his materials so that there is unity, but to make all the parts stick together, to arrange the sentences so that one grows naturally from the preceding and leads into the next, requires nice adjustment of parts, and rewriting many times. How essential coherence in a paragraph is, simply to make the thought easy to grasp, may be seen by taking a paragraph to pieces and mixing up its sentences, and at the same time removing all words that bind its parts together. The following can hardly be understood at all, but in its original condition it is so clear that it cannot be misunderstood. If the sentences be arranged in the following order, the original paragraph will appear: 1, 5, 3, 9, 8, 6, 2, 4, 7, 10.

1. "The first question which obviously suggests itself is
how these wonderful moral effects are to be wrought under
the instrumentality of the physical sciences. 2. To know is
one thing, to do is another; the two things are altogether
distinct. 3. Does Sir Robert Peel mean to say, that whatever
be the occult reasons for the result, so it is; you have but
to drench the popular mind with physics, and moral and
religious advancement follows on the whole, in spite of
individual failures? 4. A man knows he should get up in the
morning,--he lies abed; he knows he should not lose his
temper, yet he cannot keep it. 5. Can the process be
analyzed and drawn out, or does it act like a dose or a
charm which comes into general use empirically? 6. It is
natural and becoming to seek for some clear idea of the
meaning of so dark an oracle. 7. A laboring man knows he
should not go to the ale-house, and his wife knows she
should not filch when she goes out charing, but,
nevertheless, in these cases, the consciousness of a duty is
not all one with the performance of it. 8. Or rather, does
he mean, that, from the nature of the case, he who is imbued
with science and literature, unless adverse influences
interfere, cannot but be a better man? 9. Yet when has the
experiment been tried on so large a scale as to justify such
anticipations? 10. There are, then, large families of
instances, to say the least, in which men may become wiser,
without becoming better; what, then, is the meaning of this
great maxim in the mouth of its promulgators?"

Coherence, so necessary to the easy understanding of a paragraph, is gained in three ways: by the order in which the sentences are arranged; by the use of parallel constructions for parallel ideas; and by the use of connectives.

Two Arrangements of Sentences in a Paragraph.

Material which has been selected with regard to the principle of unity is all informed with one idea. Yet though one thought runs through it all and unites it, the parts do not stand in an equally close relation to the conclusion, nor is each part equally related to every other part. Had they been, the last paragraph quoted would have been as well in one order as another. Rather the sentences seem to fall into groups of more closely related matters; or at times one sentence seems to follow as the direct consequence of the preceding sentence. With respect to the way in which the sentences contribute to the topic of the paragraph, whether the topic be announced first or last, sentences may be said to contribute directly to the proposition or indirectly. If directly, the paragraph is a collection of sentences, each having a common purpose, each having a similar relation to the topic, arranged, as it were, side by side, and advancing as one body to the conclusion. This may be termed an individual arrangement of sentences, since as individuals they each contribute to the topic. The conclusion derives its force from the combined mass of all. If indirectly, the paragraph is a series of sentences, each growing out of the one preceding it, each receiving a push from the sentence before, and the last having the combined force of all. This may be styled a serial arrangement of sentences, since in such a case each contributes to the topic only as one in a chain. The former overcomes by its mass; the latter strikes by reason of its velocity. The one advances in rank; the other advances in single file.

An illustration of each will help to an understanding of this. In the following paragraph from Macaulay's essay on Milton, each of the details mentioned points directly to "those days" when the race became a "byword and a shaking of the head to the nations." Their aggregate mass enforces the topic of the paragraph. They are all one body equally informed with the common principle which is the topic. Notice that one sentence is not the source of the next, but that all the sentences stand in a similar relation to the conclusion. This arrangement is common in description. In the second paragraph, from Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," each detail contributes to the appearance of Ichabod, not through some other sentence, but directly.

"Then came those days, never to be recalled without a blush,
the days of servitude without loyalty and sensuality without
love; of dwarfish talents and gigantic vices; the paradise
of cold hearts and narrow minds; the golden age of the
coward, the bigot, and the slave. The king cringed to his
rival that he might trample on his people; sank into a
viceroy of France, and pocketed with complacent infamy her
degrading insults and her more degrading gold. The caresses
of harlots and the jests of buffoons regulated the policy of
the state. The government had just ability enough to
deceive, and just religion enough to persecute. The
principles of liberty were the scoff of every grinning
courtier, and the Anathema Maranatha of every fawning dean.
In every high place, worship was paid to Charles and James,
Belial and Moloch; and England propitiated those obscene and
cruel idols with the blood of her best and bravest children.
Crime succeeded to crime, and disgrace to disgrace, till the
race, accursed of God and man, was a second time driven
forth to wander on the face of the earth, and to be a byword
and a shaking of the head to the nations."

"Ichabod was a suitable figure for such a steed. He rode
with short stirrups, which brought his knees nearly up to
the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck out like
grasshoppers'; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his
hand, like a sceptre, and as his horse jogged on, the motion
of his arms was not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings.
A small wool hat rested on the top of his nose, for so his
scanty strip of forehead might be called, and the skirts of
his black coat fluttered out almost to the horse's tail.
Such was the appearance of Ichabod and his steed as they
shambled out of the gate of Hans Van Ripper, and it was
altogether such an apparition as is seldom to be met with in
broad daylight."

The following paragraph in the essay on Milton contains an example of the second method of arrangement. Each sentence is the result of the one before it. The sentences advance in single file. Notice that each sentence does not contribute directly to the conclusion, but that it acts through the succeeding sentence. The phrases from which a succeeding sentence springs are in small capitals; and the phrases which refer back are in italics.

"Most of the remarks which we have hitherto made on the
public character of Milton apply to him only as one of A
LARGE BODY. WE SHALL PROCEED to notice some of the
peculiarities which distinguished him _from his
contemporaries._ _And for that purpose_ it is necessary to
take a short survey of THE PARTIES into which the political
world was at that time divided. We must premise that our
observations are intended to apply only to THOSE WHO
ADHERED, from a sincere preference, to one or to the other
side. In days of public commotion, _every faction,_ like an
Oriental army, is attended by a crowd of camp-followers, a
useless and heartless RABBLE, who prowl round its line of
march in the hope of picking up something under its
protection, but desert it in the day of battle, and often
join to exterminate it after defeat. England, at the time of
which we are treating, abounded with fickle and _selfish
politicians,_ who transferred their support to every
government as it rose; who kissed the hand of the king in
1640, and spat in his face in 1649; who shouted with equal
glee when Cromwell was inaugurated in Westminster Hall, and
when he was dug up to be hanged at Tyburn; who dined on
calves' heads or broiled rumps, and cut down oak branches or
stuck them up, as circumstances altered, without the
slightest shame or repugnance. _These_ we leave out of
account. We take our estimate of parties from _those who_
really deserve to be called partisans."

(For other examples of the same arrangement see the next quotation, and also a paragraph quoted on page 222.)

Paragraphs are most frequently found to combine the two methods. In the following, notice that the second sentence grows out of the first, the third from the second, and so the serial arrangement is maintained until the eighth is reached. Sentences nine, ten, eleven, and twelve give body to sentence eight. Then begins again the regular succession. Sentences sixteen to twenty are the outgrowth of the phrase "on his account."

"1. The Puritans were men whose minds had derived a peculiar
character from the daily contemplation of superior beings
and eternal interests. 2. Not content with acknowledging in
general terms an overruling Providence, they habitually
ascribed every event to the will of the Great Being, for
whose power nothing was too vast, for whose inspection
nothing was too minute. 3. To know Him, to serve Him, to
enjoy Him, was with them the great end of existence. 4. They
rejected with contempt the ceremonious homage which other
sects substituted for the pure worship of the soul. 5.
Instead of catching occasional glimpses of the Deity through
an obscuring veil, they aspired to gaze full on the
intolerable brightness, and to commune with Him face to
face. 6. Hence originated their contempt for terrestrial
distinctions. 7. The difference between the greatest and the
meanest of mankind seemed to vanish when compared with the
boundless interval which separated the whole race from Him
on whom their own eyes were constantly fixed. 8. They
recognized no title to superiority but His favor; and,
confident of that favor, they despised all the
accomplishments and all the dignities of the world. 9. If
they were unacquainted with the works of philosophers and
poets, they were deeply read in the oracles of God. 10. If
their names were not found in the registers of heralds, they
were recorded in the Book of Life. 11. If their steps were
not accompanied by a splendid train of menials, legions of
ministering angels had charge over them. 12. Their palaces
were houses not made with hands; their diadems, crowns of
glory which should never fade away. 13. On the rich and the
eloquent, on nobles and priests, they looked down with
contempt; for they esteemed themselves rich in a more
precious treasure, and eloquent in a more sublime language,
nobles by the right of an earlier creation, and priests by
the imposition of a mightier hand. 14. The very meanest of
them was a being to whose fate a mysterious and terrible
importance belonged, on whose slightest action the spirits
of light and darkness looked with anxious interest; who had
been destined, before heaven and earth were created, to
enjoy a felicity which should continue when heaven and earth
should have passed away. 15. Events which short-sighted
politicians ascribed to earthly causes had been ordained on
his account. 16. For his sake empires had risen, and
flourished, and decayed. 17. For his sake the Almighty had
proclaimed His will by the pen of the Evangelist and the
harp of the prophet. 18. He had been wrested by no common
deliverer from the grasp of no common foe. 19. He had been
ransomed by the sweat of no vulgar agony, by the blood of no
earthly sacrifice. 20. It was for him that the sun had been
darkened, that the rocks had been rent, that the dead had
risen, that all nature had shuddered at the sufferings of
her expiring God."

This division has been made because by its aid an approach can be made toward rules for arrangement. In the paragraph quoted on page 183, the different sentences are equally related to the topic. Is there, then, no reason why one should be first rather than another? Notice the topics of the sentences and the order becomes a necessity. King, state policy, government, liberty, religion,--it is an ascending scale. On page 96 is a paragraph on the charmed names used by Milton. "One," "another," "a third," "a fourth,"--for all one can see as to the relation of each to the topic, "a fourth" might as well have been "one" as fourth. But upon reading the paragraph it is evident that Macaulay thought the last more important than the first. So in the paragraph just quoted about the Puritans, when the arrangement of the first eight sentences changes in sentences nine through eleven, and again in sentences sixteen to twenty, the order is a climax. Moreover, those topics are associated which are more closely related in thought. King is more closely related to government than to religion, and religion is more intimately associated with the idea of liberty than with king. The order, then, is the natural order of association. From these examples we derive the first principle of arrangement. In a paragraph where several sentences contribute individually to the topic, they must be arranged in the order in which the thoughts are associated and follow each other; and, when possible, they should take the order of a climax.

Definite References.

In the paragraph made up of sentences in a series, each linked to the sentence before and after, the difficulty is in transmitting the force of one sentence to the next one undiminished. This is done by binding the sentences so closely together that one cannot slip on the other. In the paragraph about the Puritans, of the second sentence the "Great Being" goes back to "superior beings" of the first; and "Him" in the next springs from "Great Being." "To know Him, to serve Him, to enjoy Him,"--what is it but the "pure worship" of the fourth? while "ceremonious homage" of the fourth is the "occasional glimpses of the Deity through an obscuring veil" of the fifth. One sentence grows out of some phrase of the preceding sentence; the sentences are firmly locked together by the repetition, a little modified, of the thought of a preceding phrase. There is no slipping. To get this result there must be no question of the thought-sequence in the sentences. Each sentence must be a consequence of a preceding sentence. And there must be attention to the choice and position of the words from which the following sentence is to spring. Such words cannot be indefinite, mushy words; they must be definite, firm words. Moreover, they must not be buried out of sight by a mass of unimportant matters; they must be so placed that they are unhindered, free to push forward the thought toward its ultimate conclusion. This often requires inversion in the sentence. That phrase which is the source of the next sentence must be thrown up into a prominent position; and it is usually pressed toward the end of the sentence, nearer to the sentence which is its consequence. In a paragraph quoted on page 222, where this same subject is taken up in connection with sentences, there is an excellent illustration of this. "Slow and obscure," "inadequate ideas," "small circle," and the numerous phrases which repeat the thought, though not the words, are firm words binding the sentences together indissolubly.

Use of Pronouns.

Not all sentences permit such clear reference as this. Still it must be said that where the thought is logical and clear, the reference is never missed: the binding words are important words and they occupy prominent positions. There is, however, a whole group of words whose function is to make the references sure. They are pronouns. Pronouns refer back, and they point forward. Their careful use is the commonest method of making sure of references, and so of binding sentences together. The ones in common use are _this, that, the former, the latter;_ the relatives _who, which,_ and _that;_ and the personal pronouns _he, she, it._ To these may be added some adverbs: _here, there, hence, whence, now, then, when,_ and _while._ The binding force of these words is manifest in every paragraph of composition.

The following paragraph, from Burke's speech on "Conciliation with the Colonies," illustrates the use of pronouns as words referring back, and binding the whole into one inseparable unit.

"As to the wealth which the colonies have drawn from the sea
by their fisheries, you had all that matter fully opened at
your bar. You surely thought _those_ acquisitions of value,
for _they_ seemed even to excite your envy; and yet the
spirit by which _that_ enterprising employment has been
exercised ought rather, in my opinion, to have raised your
esteem and admiration. And pray, Sir, what in the world is
equal to _it?_ Pass by the other parts, and look at the
manner in which the people of New England have of late
carried on the whale fishery. Whilst we follow _them_ among
the tumbling mountains of ice, and behold _them_ penetrating
into the deepest frozen recesses of Hudson's Bay and Davis's
Straits, whilst we are looking for _them_ beneath the arctic
circle, we hear that _they_ have pierced into the opposite
region of polar cold, that _they_ are at the antipodes, and
engaged under the frozen Serpent of the south. Falkland
Island, which seemed too remote and romantic an object for
the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and
resting-place in the progress of _their_ victorious
industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to
_them_ than the accumulated winter of both the poles. We
know that whilst _some_ of _them_ draw the line and strike
the harpoon on the coast of Africa, _others_ run the
longitude and pursue _their_ gigantic game along the coast
of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by _their_ fisheries; no
climate that is not witness to _their_ toils. Neither the
perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, nor the
dexterous and firm sagacity of English enterprise ever
carried _this_ most perilous mode of hardy industry to the
extent to which _it_ has been pushed by _this_ recent
people; a people who are still, as it were, but in the
gristle, and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood. When
I contemplate _these_ things; when I know that the colonies
in general owe little or nothing to any care of ours, and
that they are not squeezed into this happy form by the
constraints of watchful and suspicious government, but that,
through a wise and salutary neglect, a generous nature has
been suffered to take her own way to perfection; when I
reflect upon _these_ effects, when I see how profitable
_they_ have been to us, I feel all the pride of power sink,
and all presumption in the wisdom of human contrivances melt
and die away within me. My rigor relents. I pardon something
to the spirit of liberty."

Of Conjunctions.

Another group of words which give coherence to a paragraph is conjunctions. They indicate the relations between sentences, and they point the direction of the new sentence. The common relations between sentences indicated by conjunctions are coordinative, subordinative, adversative, concessive, and illative. Each young writer has usually but one word, at the most two words, in his vocabulary to express each of these relations. He knows _and, but, if, although,_ and _therefore._ Each person should learn from a grammar the whole list, for no class of words indicates clear thinking so unmistakably as conjunctions.

Two words of advice should be given regarding the use of conjunctions. If the thought all bends one way, if this direction is perfectly clear, there is no need of conjunctions. It is when the course of the discussion is tortuous, when the road is not direct, when the reader may lose the way without these guides, that conjunctions should be used. On the other hand, conjunctions are an annoyance when not needed. Just as guideposts along a road where there is no chance to leave the direct path are useless, and their recurrence is a cause of aggravation, so it is with unnecessary conjunctions. They attract attention to themselves, and so draw it from the thought. The first caution is, Do not use conjunctions unless needed.

In the following, the repetition of _and_ is unnecessary and annoying.

"Six shillings a week does not keep body and soul together
very unitedly. They want to get away from each other when
there is only such a very slight bond as that between them;
and one day, I suppose, the pain and the dull monotony of it
all had stood before her eyes plainer than usual, and the
mocking spectre had frightened her. She had made one last
appeal to friends, but, against the chill wall of their
respectability, the voice of the erring outcast fell
unheeded; _and_ then she had gone to see her child--had held
it in her arms and kissed it, in a weary, dull sort of way,
_and_ without betraying any particular emotion of any kind,
_and_ had left it, after putting into its hand a penny box
of chocolate she had bought it, _and_ afterwards, with her
last few shillings, had taken a ticket _and_ come down to
Goring.

"It seemed that the bitterest thoughts of her life must have
centred about the wooded reaches and the bright green
meadows around Goring; but women strangely hug the knife
that stabs them, and, perhaps, amidst the gall, there may
have mingled also sunny memories of sweetest hours, spent
upon those shadowed deeps over which the great trees bend
their branches down so low.

"She had wandered about the woods by the river's brink all
day, _and_ then, when evening fell _and_ the gray twilight
spread its dusky robe upon the waters, she stretched out her
arms to the silent river that had known her sorrow and her
joy. _And_ the old river had taken her into its gentle arms,
_and_ had laid her weary head upon its bosom, _and_ had
hushed away the pain."

The other word is: When possible put the conjunction that connects two sentences into the body of the sentence, rather than at its beginning. In this way its binding power is increased. This principle should limit the use of _and_ and _but_ at the beginning of a sentence. Rarely is _and_ needed in such a place. If the thought goes straight forward--and it must do so if _and_ correctly expresses the relation--there is usually no gain in its use. At times when the reader might be led to expect some change of direction from some phrase in the preceding sentence, then it would be wise to set him right by the use of _and._ Moreover, there are times when coordinate thoughts are so important, and the expression of the coordination is so important, that a sentence beginning with _and_ is the only adequate means of expressing it. However, be very sure that there is need for every _and_ that you use. The same caution may be given about _but._ _But_ indicates an abrupt turn in the thought. Is such a contrast in the thought? If so, is there no other word to express the thought? Some persons go so far as to say that these words should never begin a sentence. This is too pedantic and not true. When coordinative and adversative relations are to be expressed, however, it is certainly more elegant if some variety can be obtained, and the union is closer if the conjunction be placed in the body of the sentence. This requires the use of other words besides _and_ and _but._ _Also, in like manner, besides, too, nevertheless, however, after all, for all that,_ should be as familiar as the two overworked words _and_ and _but._ Look for ways to bind sentences in the middle rather than at the end. It is more elegant and it is much safer.

Parallel Constructions.

A third principle of arrangement is the use of parallel constructions for parallel thoughts. By parallel structure is meant that the principal elements of the sentences shall be arranged in the same order. If subordinate clauses precede principal clauses in one sentence, they shall in the other; if they follow in one, they shall follow in the other. If an active voice be used in one, it shall be used in the other; if the predicate go before the subject in one, it shall in the other. The use of parallel structure frequently demands repetition of forms and even of identical words and phrases. It is very effective in giving clearness to a paragraph and in securing coherence of its parts.

In the first of the two illustrations below, read one sentence this way and observe the ruin that is wrought. "The North American colonies made such a struggle against the mother country." In the second paragraph, change two of the sentences to the passive voice. The effect is evident loss in clearness and strength.

"All history is full of revolutions, produced by causes
similar to those which are now operating in England. A
portion of the community which had been of no account,
expands and becomes strong. It demands a place in the
system, suited, not to its former weakness, but to its
present power. If this is granted, all is well. If this is
refused, then comes the struggle between the young energy of
one class and the ancient privileges of another. Such was
the struggle between the Plebeians and Patricians of Rome.
Such was the struggle of the Italian allies for admission to
the full rights of Roman citizens. Such was the struggle of
our North American colonies against the mother country. Such
was the struggle which the Third Estate of France maintained
against the aristocracy of birth. Such was the struggle
which the Roman Catholics of Ireland maintained against the
aristocracy of creed. Such is the struggle which the free
people of color in Jamaica are now maintaining against the
aristocracy of skin. Such, finally, is the struggle which
the middle classes in England are maintaining against an
aristocracy of mere locality, against an aristocracy, the
principle of which is to invest a hundred drunken
pot-wallopers in one place, or the owner of a ruined hovel
in another, with powers which are withheld from cities
renowned to the furthest ends of the earth for the marvels
of their wealth and of their industry."[41]

"Man is a being of genius, passion, intellect, conscience,
power. He exercises these various gifts in various ways, in
great deeds, in great thoughts, in heroic acts, in hateful
crimes. He founds states, he fights battles, he builds
cities, he ploughs the forest, he subdues the elements, he
rules his kind. He creates vast ideas, and influences many
generations. He takes a thousand shapes, and undergoes a
thousand fortunes. Literature records them all to the
life.... He pours out his fervid soul in poetry; he sways to
and fro, he soars, he dives, in his restless speculations;
his lips drop eloquence; he touches the canvas, and it glows
with beauty; he sweeps the strings, and they thrill with an
ecstatic meaning. He looks back into himself, and he reads
his own thoughts, and notes them down; he looks out into the
universe, and tells over and celebrates the elements and
principles of which it is the product."[42]

(The principles of Mass and Coherence in paragraphs are closely allied with these same principles regarding sentences. Some further discussion of these important matters, as well as more illustrations, will be found in the next chapter.)

Good sense must be exercised in the use of parallel constructions. Although a short series of sentences containing parallel thoughts is common and demands this treatment, it is not at all frequent that one has such a long series as these paragraphs contain. In these paragraphs the parallel is in the thought; it has not been searched out. Because one is pleased with these effects of parallel construction, he should not be led to seek for opportunities where he can force sentences into similar shapes. The thoughts must be parallel. If the thought is actually parallel, a parallel treatment may be adopted with great advantage to clearness and force; if it is not parallel, any attempt to treat it as such is detected as a shallow trick. To search for thoughts to trail along in a series results in thinnest bombast. As everywhere else in composition, so here a writer must rely on his good taste and good sense.

Summary.

Whatever may be the special mode of development, of whatever form of discourse it is to be a part, the three fundamental principles which guide in making a paragraph are Unity, Mass, and Coherence. The unity of the paragraph is secured by referring all of the material to the topic, including what contributes to the main thought and excluding what has no value. Paragraphs excessively long or very short may lead to offenses against unity. Mass in a paragraph is gained by placing worthy words in the positions of distinction; by treating the more important matters at greater length; and, when possible without disturbing coherence, by arranging the material in a climax. Coherence is secured by keeping together matters related in thought; by a wise choice and placing of all words which bind sentences together; and by the use of parallel constructions for parallel ideas. Carefully chosen material, arranged so that worthy words occupy the positions of distinction, and all so skillfully knit together that every sentence, every phrase, every word, takes the reader one step toward the conclusion,--this constitutes a good paragraph.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS

THE OLD MANSE.
(Riverside Literature Series, No. 69.)

In the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 19, what do you think of the selection of material? Does the last detail give the finishing touch to the paragraph? Is it a real climax?

On page 25 a paragraph begins, "Lightly as," etc. In the second sentence "bound volume" goes back to what words in the first sentence? "he," of the third, to what of the second? "thus it was" to what before?

Now take the paragraph on pages 34 and 35 and trace the connection of the sentences, drawing two lines under the phrase from which a succeeding sentence springs, and one line under words that refer back to a preceding phrase; also trace out the dovetailing in the sentences on pages 6 and 7. In the paragraph on pages 18 and 19 the development is not so. Each sentence emphasizes "the sombre aspect of external nature." What is the law of their arrangement? (See text-book, pages 181-187.)

Find other paragraphs arranged in this way. (See pages 35, 36.)

What is the topic of the second paragraph?

Can you divide the paragraph filling the middle of page 8? Where?

What is the relation between the first sentence and the last in the paragraph at the bottom of page 11? Give the words that join the sentences of the paragraph together.

In the paragraph beginning on page 13, what is the purpose of the first two sentences?

On page 14, does it seem to you that Hawthorne had forgotten the Old Manse enough so that it could be called a digression? or do you think that the delightful, rambling character of the essay permits it? Can you divide this paragraph on pages 14 and 15? Where?

What figure at the bottom of page 15? Is it the custom to use a capital letter in such a case? Has the paragraph in which the figure occurs unity? Where could you divide it? Give the topic of both new paragraphs.

Of the paragraph on pages 16 and 17, what is the relation of the last three sentences to the topic?

What comment would you make upon the last sentence of the paragraph ending at the top of page 25?

At the opening of the paragraph beginning on page 29, do you like the figure? Trace the relation between the first and second sentences; between the second and the third. Could this paragraph be divided?

RIP VAN WINKLE AND THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.
(Riverside Literature Series, No. 51.)

In the paragraph on page 11, what is the relation between the first and last sentences? Why is the middle of the paragraph introduced? Is it effective?

What method of development is adopted in the next paragraph?

Trace out the connection of the paragraphs in the first five pages of this essay. What words at the beginning of each paragraph are especially helpful in joining the parts?

On page 13 Irving writes, "Times grew worse and worse for Rip Van Winkle," etc. How many paragraphs are given to this topic? Could all of them be put into one? Should they? What is the last part of the first sentence of this paragraph?

Why are there so few topic sentences in this essay? How did Irving know where to paragraph? Give topics of the paragraphs on pages 16, 17, 18. In the paragraph beginning at the bottom of p. 17, why are the clothes of the man mentioned first?

What method of paragraph development is adopted in the paragraph beginning in the middle of page 23? Is the last detail important?

From the use on pages 24 and 25, what do you gather as to the rule for paragraphing where dialogue is reported?

In the paragraph on page 40, what reason has Irving for saying "therefore"? From what sentence does the last of this paragraph arise? Do you think the specific closing of the paragraph worthy of the position?

When Irving says on page 41 that he was "an odd mixture of small shrewdness and simple credulity," did he mean that he was shrewd, or that he was not shrewd? Can you find anything in the paragraphs to develop the thought that he was shrewd? How many paragraphs are given to his simple credulity? Why so many?

In the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 42, what advantage is there in the exclamatory sentences?

Would it be as well to divide the next paragraph into three sentences? Give your reasons. As the paragraph stands, is the sentence loose or periodic?

In the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 45, what is the method of development? Why is the chanticleer mentioned last?

Are Irving's sentences long? Do they seem long? Why, or why not?

What is the relation of the first sentence of the first paragraph on page 55 to the last?

What is the topic of the next paragraph? Do you think it would be just as well to put the second sentence of this paragraph last?

In the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 55, what method of development has been used? Why is the "blue jay" mentioned last?

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER.
(Riverside Literature Series, No. 119.)

Do you think the first paragraph too long? Where can you divide it? What is the test of the length of a paragraph?

At the bottom of page 67, do you think the first sentence of the paragraph the topic? or is it the last sentence? Give reasons.

Is the detail at the end of the paragraph beginning on the middle of page 71 upon the topic of the paragraph? Is it good there? How do you know that Usher did not say "him"?

Of the paragraph on page 73, what sentence is the topic?

What proportion of the paragraphs have topic sentences? Have the others topics? Give them for the paragraphs on the first five pages.

What method of paragraph development has Poe adopted in the paragraph beginning in the middle of page 81? What is the relation between the opening and the close of the paragraph? Why is the middle needed?

Do you like the second sentence of the next paragraph? What is there disagreeable in it?

As you read along do the paragraphs run into one another? Is such a condition good?

SILAS MARNER.
(Riverside Literature Series, No. 83.)

Divide paragraphs on pages 10 and 11. What is the topic of each of the new paragraphs?

In the first paragraph of chapter two each sentence grows out of the one preceding. Put two lines under the words in each sentence which are the source of the next sentence. Draw one line under the words in each sentence which refer back to the preceding sentence.

In the paragraph beginning at the bottom of page 94, what is the topic sentence? What relation has the last sentence to the first? What method of development in the paragraph?

Can the paragraphs of exposition usually be divided? Do they violate unity? If not, upon what principle can you divide them?

What is the tendency in regard to the length of paragraphs in recent literature?

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