The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1880-08-20

school ocsr and friend of education IN the county
earnestly requested " aid IN sustainIng this column
literally Communications Tor this column should b.
ssnt 10 J. y. PLEASANT. JAsPkH, INDIANA.
Composition.
English Composition is not down il
the curriculum Of our common SCHOOL,
and IL not recognized rs a branch. Tech
nical grammar has entirely usurped IL,
place, Ii IL ever had any place 10 usurp
and the entire time which Is devoted Il
the study Of language. is employed In
teaching the barren technicalities o.
grammar; barren because the fruitags
of such instruction il SO mcager. Oul
pupils are taught grammar but they fai
to make proper use Of their know ledge
They know the parts Of speech and thcil
accidents; they can rattle through The
various paradigms with voIubility and
ease they know the rules and exceptions
according TO Harvey as they formerl y
knew them according 10 Pinneo," and
they can do violence 10 the "king's En-
glish" with the accomplished innocence
and ease OF those who have never gazcd
upon the pages Of modern English
grammar. Now the object OF q knowl-
edge Of English grammar 10 to correct
the infelicities in our language, Of which
everyone has an abundant supply, and TO
lead us to use the mother tongue with
grace, accuracy and ease. Grammar in
The public school should he MEANS ard
not an END, and IL Ii il not taught IN con-
ucction with language lessons. the time
spent upon il by the pupil Is. in a meas
ure, wasted. Our pupils come TO US
using great mass OF crooked English,
which requires constant attention on the
part of the teacher 10 straightcn. We
cannot correct this crookedness BY put
ling = textbook on grammar into their
hands. aud having the set lessons learned
and recifed.
Horace Greeley said. that the way TO
resume specie payments was TO RESUME
The way 10 teach our pupils the correct
use Of the English language Is 10 have
Them use the English language correctly.
They must have constant exercise in
and the language must be
corrected by the teacher. II Is
better 10 teach the child correct use OF
language than 10 teach MIN how to cor
rect errors which he may make ia using
il Very few OF our pupils recollect any
IhiEg about the technicaIities Of grammar
alter leaving school.
Now. in our opinion, so far a. the COM
mon schools are concerned. llarvey's iai-
ger grammar Ia entirely snpertluous.
There is no time Tor iis study. aud taking
Into consideration the advancement OF
the average pupil when he leaves our
schools no need for il. The elementary
work contains all the information on
he will really ever need, and =
great deal more than he will ever make
use Of unless he has had constant exer-
else in composition writing along with
his grammar lessons. There are num-
bers Of teachers, who will disscct pass
agcs la Shakespcre with all the skill and
llexferity Of q grammatical eurgcon. yet
are absolutely horrificd ii asked to write
! short essay upon al ordinary topic.
They are afraid 10 attempt 10 cl0the their
thoughts in becoming dress, because they
DO not know when the clothing fi,s. Do
they know where the fault In their in
strnciion was? Let us stop, then, 80
much OF this ''dry-ss-dust" analysis Of
extracts from Shakespeare and Milton,
and use part Of the time in teaching the
pupil how To arrange and express his
thoughts concisely and clearly. The
practice Of composition writing will fur
nish the child with q more extensive vo-
cabulary and teach him its proper use !;
the study Of English grammar a. COM
monty conducted will never do this.
will develop his powers OF
reflection and original suggestion the
study OF grammar will never do this
will develop his powers OF
observation by leading him to examine
the subjects which he discusses.
will English grammar, as ordinarily
Taught? 1t il to be hoped, that, IL the
schools Of Dubois county this winter. the
teachers will give fair portion Of their
lime, such . portion as tho importance
Df the subject demands, to giving in
,truction in this too much neglected
branch. That they will make the study
ii grammar subsidiary, and an aid to the
'tudy Of language. Let each teacher dill
gently follow some system In giving in
in composition, and we shall
,evcr hear from the pupils the complaint
hat s'they know but cant tell
II. NJ.