The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-11-23

his hand trying to saysn sSee our cow"
some one in the class soon replies We
talk about the cow, and perhaps the next
thing set down is, I'VE feed her hay.n Do
Call this composition? Yes.
A series OF papers has recently appeared
In leading magazine on collaboration in
authorship" l know nothing practically
Oh us advantages in authorship, but in eul-
t!vatlng the incipient powers Of express
SION In school, it is most valuable. '.As
iron sharpeneth iron,n SO the action and re-
action OF youthful wits sharpen the mental
faculties and quicken the flow of ideas
a Iavorlte way to use occasionally with
Inc children of the intermediate classes,
Ior STIMULATING interest in descriptive COM
position is to ask them to imagine that
nttle bind boy sits on the front seat with
MS Slgntless eyes turned toward the object,
ana that they must lend their good eyes to
see 1t with, and their words to picture it to
his ears
In like manner we may write letter to
some one living on the prairie in Iowa, who
mas never seen mountain or valley, and
Try Dy our words to enabln them TO see
these grand mountains and this beautiful
valley.
Let each one furnish part of the descrip-
tlon and let all criticise, improve and polish
90 ~ uCu aS Seems prO0Ga0le.
Inc following is a composition about a
mouse, written day before yesterday in NY
school by first, second and third reader
puplis from eight to twelve years DID,
hacn sentence was given by different
pupil, and are here given in Just the order
tney gave them. We had a little mouse
from my trap passing from hand to hand as
we composed.
"A little Swedish girl naively began:
"A mouse is a little creature" 1T is
covered with soft gray fur excepting it's
ears. its tail and its feet" said the next
and so on. 1T has Wniskers for feelers.n
IN has two eyes like little black beadsn
1T has two pretty round ears, go thin we
can see through them.n at has long
slim tail nearly bare" SIT has four slim
ieet with five toes and claws On each foot. u
IL has long, sharp nose" When alive
1t Is full of Mischief
agreed with the girl who said, THAT
would DE pretty lesson to put in reader
with picture of a mouse"
Before copying into their note books, it
IS well that they should be encouraged to
ada anything they may think Of, Oh make
any changes which they think will improve
Wnat Das been jointly composed
Every DAY, and with almost every lesson
there should be something in the line Of
composition work, if 1t is only a sentence
10 paraphrase hgurative, explain an alLu-
sion, Or give an original and INDEPENDENT
OPINION upon some matter read about or
talked about, in the intermediate and gram
mar grades.
Children studying geography should be
permitted, nay, required, to write letters
TO thelrfrlends about the countries studied.
t'or composition work one term III Nor
mai school once gave out series of ''im
a9inary journeys in Europe and some of
the students made them very interesting
ana to quite degree realistic.
a school paper to be read aloud by two
pupils at the end of each month is pleas
ant vehicle for miscellaneous compositions
II sufficient oversight is given by the
teacher to secure an agreeable FarieJy and
tlmellneSs IN the subjects. Winter before
last, or rather in the fall during the presi
DENTAL campaign, three pupils were asked
to write political articles recommending
the candidate and platform each preferred
l knew that one was from a Republican
family. one from g. Democratic and one
from Prohibitionist household. That
was a very lively number of our paper
though nothing in the least offensive was
INDUCED in by any of the youthful politi-
clans.
One of the girls undertook to furnish a
brief review OF some standard poem.
romance, or article in current literature
each month, and one or two others had
their speclalties.
Advanced pupils should not only be for
mally instructed in the elements OF style.
but they should constantly be led to the
study OF examples in the bes authors. Ia
no other way can pure and elevated taste
become fixed possession but by drinking
at the purest streams of literature
Students must be held to study of
words, their derivation and synonyms, their
history and poetry.
The all EN- bracing newspaper has its
uses, many and important, out as literary
models it must be said of them generally.
as the lutte girl said of pins ''many lives
are saved by not swallowing them" And
the youthful omnivora must be led to per-
cieve the solecisms in language, the crudi-
ties and exaggerations in style and the in
sincerity of tone, all too prevalent, else
their own mode and matter will suffer
from the influence.
There are journals whose regular and
constant perusal for term of years fairly
constitutes a liberal education, but unfor-
tunately in these days, even where they
are taken, their influence is almost swept
away by the tide Of locals, dailies and
specials, which sweep through our houses
and which none of US knows how to do
without.
do not stop to particularize
a fashy and meritricious class of
storypapers, and an even lower
class of reading matter, but when teach
ing in the higher grades of our public
schools, l have been made painfully aware
of their blasting effect upon the youthful
taste for such matter as is set forth in our
textbooks and school libraries, and l have
also seen what uphill work it is to secure
any genuine and substantial composition
work from such readers.
Nevertheless, if one has the patience of
Job and the persistence of the irnportunate
widow, and eau get those whose reading
has been thinner and less nourishing than
foam, to take up some study of natural his
tory, or of human nature, or of occupations,
or Of almost anything, and to do some sin
cere writing upon it, it will be apt to prove
an excellent corrective. They should be
restrained from imaginative writinr.
though another class of pupils will be
benefited by inventiug stories.
But in all cases let excellent models be
held before the growing, plastic mind, in
whatever department of literature, and
there will be gradual development and
Improvement in the matter and manner of
expression. JOSEPHINE KELLOGG,
Provo.
THE DEsERET SAVINGS BANK.
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