Chapter VII: The Use of Contrast

"Give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."--ISAIAH.

I. Introduction

Antithesis, or contrast, is one of the two most effective devices at the disposal of any artist, whether he works with words or colors. Its skillful use often enables a newspaper writer to make a good item out of trifling material. The object of this week's work is to teach a little of the art of using antithesis effectively in reportorial work.

II. Models

I

LONDON, Dec. 25.--Mrs. Rebecca Clarke, who is 109 years of age,
presided this morning at the wedding breakfast of her baby son,
Harry, who is 67. This is Mr. Clarke's second venture on the
matrimonial sea. His two brothers are sprightly bachelors of 70
and 73 years. Mrs. Clarke toasted the newly married couple and
ate the first slice of the wedding cake. She attended the
Christmas wedding celebration in the evening.

II

Commuters in Yonkers took advantage of the Christmas holiday to
mow their lawns. The grass has been getting longer and longer,
owing to the spring weather, until it just had to be cut.

Players on the Dunwoodie Country Club course, also at Yonkers,
had to keep moving to keep warm yesterday, but they played on
greens which had been mowed only a few days ago, and those who
were fond of flowers stopped now and then to pick a buttercup.

The greens keeper at Dunwoodie says that the greens have been
mowed four times since the latter part of September, when in
ordinary seasons the grass is mowed for the last time until
spring. The condition of the course is about the same as in May,
according to the greens keeper.

Up in Bronx Park the grass has not been mowed recently, but it
is unusually long for the time of year, and so it is in the
other city parks. The same condition prevails in the nearby
cemeteries. Out in New Jersey a fine crop of grass is in
evidence.

Farmers in the vicinity of New York are saving on their usual
bills for winter fodder, for with the spring weather and the
long grass the animals can pick up a living out of doors.

III

NEW YORK, Dec. 31.--An order for $2,000,000 worth of shrapnel,
to be used in the war in Europe, has been rejected by the
Commonwealth Steel Company of Granite City, Ill., it was learned
to-day, because Clarence H. Howard, president of the
organization, believes warfare should not be recognized.

Mr. Howard, who lives in St. Louis, is known all over the
country as the "Golden rule steel man," because he tries to run
his plant in accordance with the Golden Rule by sharing profits
with the employes.

He is stopping at the Biltmore Hotel. Although he talked freely
of the trouble in Europe, he frowned at the report about the
$2,000,000 shrapnel order, and then said with blazing eyes:

"Why, our company would not accept an order for $15,000,000
worth of shrapnel! The war itself is a bitter shame. It is
something that does not belong in the general scheme of
enlightened humanity. If men would only think in unison, and
think purely and strongly for the abolition of war, it would
stop. There should be a general movement in the United States in
this direction.

"When I was a youngster I left my home in Centralia, Ill., to
win my own way in the world, and my mother gave me five
maxims--one for each finger--which I since have followed with
great profit. They are:

"'Seek company among those whom you can trust and association
with whom will make you better.

"'Never gamble or go where gambling is done.

"'Never drink or go where drinking is done.

"'As to smoking, it isn't so bad as drinking or gambling, but
take my advice and let it alone.

"'When in doubt about where to go, stop and ask if it would be a
good place to take your mother.'

"Platitudes, eh! Some might call them that; but they have
brought me happiness, and they have brought happiness to others.
Not long ago I sat down and figured how much I had saved by not
drinking, gambling, or the like. I figured it out at $1,000 a
year, and it had been 30 years since my mother gave me the
advice."

III. Notes

1. The contrast in Model I consists in the incongruity between the
ages of the people and their occupations; in II the contrast is
obviously the same as that alluded to in Byron's famous line,

"Seek roses in December, ice in June";

in III Mr. Howard's ideas, ideals, and conduct are in contrast with
those of some men.

2. Antithesis between the actual and the normal is always
interesting.

IV. Queries and Exercises

1. Explain the syntax of all nouns, adverbs, and infinitives in the
models.

2. Find a metaphor in I.

3. Discuss the meaning and etymology of the following words:
matrimonial, commuters, Christmas, December, animals.

4. Is "nearby" a better word than "adjacent"?

5. Where is Yonkers?

6. Tell whether the sentences are simple, compound, or complex.

7. What is the subject of each paragraph in II and III?

8. Write double headings for I and II. "Double" means in two parts.
For example:

| SHAKESPEARE |
| CELEBRATION |
| PLANS ADVANCE |
| |
| President of Drama League Tells |
| of Interest in Tercentenary |
| Observances |

Remember that you can use only a fixed number of letters in each
line.

9. Define antithesis and metaphor. Find an example of each in
to-day's paper.

V. Composition

1. _Choosing a Subject._ Select an incident that has come within
the circle of your own observation; that has never, as far as
you know, been described in print; and that is sufficiently
unique to present a good contrast to the usual course of events.

2. _Collecting Material._ Get as many concrete details as possible.
Generalities never glitter. They are useful only to cure
insomnia.

3. _Arranging Material._ Look out for the "Four W's." Make a
framework that is definite. It should be determined, in the last
analysis, not by the model but by the material.

4. _Oral Composition._ Rehearse your article to your mother or to
any other person whom you can induce to listen.

5. _Written Composition._ "Festinâ lente." "Hasten slowly." When a
French student takes his college entrance examinations, he is
plucked if he misspells one word, misplaces one capital letter,
or makes a single mistake in punctuation. Lord Bacon somewhere
says: "Let us proceed slowly that we may sooner make an end."
Sheridan wrote:

"You write with ease to show your breeding,
But easy writing's curst hard reading."

Care in No. 5 will eliminate No. 6.

6. _Revision and rewriting._

VI. Suggested Reading

Coleridge's _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_.

VII. Memorize

MUSIC

Let me go where'er I will,
I hear a sky-born music still:
It sounds from all things old,
It sounds from all things young,
From all that's fair, from all that's foul,
Peals out a cheerful song.

It is not only in the rose,
It is not only in the bird,
Not only where the rainbow glows,
Nor in the song of woman heard,
But in the darkest, meanest things
There alway, alway something sings.

'Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cup of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings.
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

TO TEACHERS. At this point a review of Chapter XII, "Vade Mecum, or Catechism," of _Practical English Composition_, Book I, will be found an invaluable exercise.