The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-07-02
How to Write a Composition.
By Margaret E. Sangster.

n NE day in the early summer. it was
~ my great good fortune to be in
vited to what was called "A Com
position Reading in a girls school of
nigh character and wide reputation. II
was a pretty sight that greeted my
eyes The girls of all ages, from 10 TO
IL, were dressed in white, and their
sweet faces and lovely manners entitled
them to be called, if ever girls de-
served the name. winsOme schoolgirls
The programme of the morning in
Guided essays in English composition.
written by members of every class in
the school from the lowest to the
highest. There was great variety both
In subjects and in treatment Full
play was given to originality and no
two compositions were alike. The
teacher who had charge of the work
tod me that so far from disliking TO
write, the girls loved the exercise. and
that the classes were the most popular
in the curriculum.
/ don't know how il may seem to
the girls whom l am talking with to-
day They may enjoy writing cOmpO-
sitiOnS or they may dread and dislike
this part of school duty. 1t depends
q good deal on the way one begins.
whether one likes or dislikes anything
If one is called upon to write a cOmpO-
Sition on a topic which does not inter
est her, and which she knows aDsO-
lutely nothing about. she cannot ex-
est in SO dry a task. The important
thing Is to have something to say
Composition is the art of having some
thing to say, and. saying it agreeably,
with due regard to the rules of good
English.
If one wishes to excel in this branch
of education. one must first of all be
willing to take great pains. If | were
teaching grOup-Of girls, 1 would say
Write your theme at the top of your
what
you know about it. If you are TO write
the story of a journey. go back in
memory to the day you started, and tell
in an orderly fashion the various steps
you took by what train or boat you
travelled what incidents arrested your
attention on the way, and how you
were impressed when you arrived at
your destination.
There are people VINO go through the
world as if they had no eyes. They
see little, because they do not look,
The one who looks around her will
find interesting incidents in the short
est walk. or drive, or trip by train.
In describing a place or a Jaunt there
is this to be remembered, that you
wish to fix the emphasis on the strong
est points, and slide over without men
ton little details that are simply COM
monplace For instance it is not
necessary to say that the conductor
came through the train and took up
the tickets As everybody knows,
conductors always do this. But if
you had an experience that I once had,
on a leisurely train, in southern
state when the conductor signaled the
engineer while some of the lady pas
Eengers went out of the cars and gath
cred flowers by the roadside, you
might tell about it. In other words.
tell of the unusual not of the ordinary
II your composition is to be hiStOTi-
cal and it's central figure is one of the
countrys men of renOwn. as for in
stance, George Washington. Robert +.
Lee or some other man whose deeds
have passed into history. you would
best read what YOU can find about the
man and his period. on no account
write your composition with the book
YOU have read before you. AS you
read make notes. if you choose, so that
YOU may be accurate when you mention
a place OF a date, but put wholly aside
before you begin to write the volume
YOU have been consulting. You wish
to write your composition in your own
words. not in the wrOds of an author