PART I

PROSE COMPOSITION

A. LOGICAL COMPOSITION

(PERSUASION AND EXPOSITION)

B. LITERARY COMPOSITION

(NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION)

CHAPTER I

THE ELEMENTS OF LOGICAL COMPOSITION

I. THE COMPOSITION AS A WHOLE

a. The Composition considered as a Brief Undivided Whole

5. Composition in any art is guided by three fundamental principles: unity, coherence, emphasis. The principle of unity demands that the whole composition shall show one main purpose and have one main effect, and that every part of it shall harmonize with that purpose and contribute to that effect. Negatively, unity means the exclusion of everything irrelevant or incongruous. In writing it expresses the difference between an accumulation of notes and an essay.

6. Unity appears plainly in the following essay of Bacon:

OF ADVERSITY

It was a high speech of Seneca (after the manner of the Stoics), that the good things which belong to prosperity are to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired. Bona rerum secundarum optabilia, adversarum mirabilia. Certainly if miracles be the command over 5 nature, they appear most in adversity. It is yet a higher speech of his than the other (much too high for a heathen), It is true greatness to have in one the frailty of a man, and the security of a god. Vere magnum habere fragilitatem

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hominis, securitatem dei. This would have done better in 10 poesy, where transcendences are more allowed. And the poets, indeed, have been busy with it; for it is in effect the thing which is figured in that strange fiction of the ancient poets, which seemeth not to be without mystery — nay, and to have some approach to the state of a Christian; that 15 Hercules, when he went to unbind Prometheus (by whom human nature is represented), sailed the length of the great ocean in an earthen pot or pitcher; lively describing Christian resolution, that saileth in the frail bark of the flesh through the waves of the world. But, to speak in a mean,2 20 the virtue of prosperity is temperance; the virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in morals is the more heroical virtue. Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New, which carrieth the greater benediction and the clearer revelation of God's 25 favour. Yet even in the Old Testament, if you listen to David's harp, you shall hear as many hearse-like airs as carols; and the pencil of the Holy Ghost hath laboured more in describing the afflictions of Job than the felicities of Solomon. Prosperity is not without many fears and 30 distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. We see in needleworks and embroideries it is more pleasing to have a lively work upon a sad and solemn ground, than to have a dark and melancholy work upon a lightsome ground. Judge therefore of the pleasure of the heart by 35 the pleasure of the eye. Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed; for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.

Here is nothing that does not contribute to the elucidation of the theme- The blessings of adversity are superior to the blessings of prosperity. To test the unity 1 hyperboles. 2 i.e. in plain prose. 8 ethics. 4 burned.

of any brief essay, try to sum it up thus in a single sentence. And, in shaping rough notes into an essay, let the first step be to express the theme, not in a topic, as The Uses of Translations, but rather in a sentence, as The use of translations is a hindrance in the acquisition of a language, or Some knowledge of a literature may be gained through translations. Then, by successive modifications of this trial sentence and of the notes, bring the two into harmony.

7. The principle of coherence demands that the composition shall proceed in natural sequence without break or jar, that one thing shall lead to another. This means, of course, that the thoughts must be brought into order. It usually means also that the logical relation between each thought and the preceding shall be, not merely latent, but explicit. In the essay quoted above, the second thought is explicitly connected with the first by the correspondence of phrase: It was a high speech - It is yet a higher speech. The transitional phrase, But to speak in a mean (line 20), leads naturally to the following summary. But the thought, Prosperity is not without many fears (line 30), etc., is brought in abruptly. It is not out of relation, but its relation is not shown. Most students will find it necessary to make a separate revision solely to insure the explicit reference that is so important a part of coherence.

8. The principle of emphasis demands that those parts which elucidate the theme directly shall have prominence of position and of space. Negatively, this means that whatever is merely indirect or subsidiary must be kept subordinate. Now the most prominent position in any piece of writing is the end. Thus of all laws of composition the most familiar is climax. In