WEBSTER-COOLEY COURSE IN ENGLISH SECOND BOOK BY W. F. WEBSTER 'Principal of the East High School, Minneapolis, Minnesota AND ALICE WOODWORTH COOLEY Recently Assistant Professor in the Department of Education, Uni- BOSTON, NEW YORK AND CHICAGO 593623 COPYRIGHT, 1903 AND 1905, BY HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Acknowledgments for kind permission to use ex- SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS Unity in the Study of English Subjects ENGLISH is a unit of study. Including, as it does, not only what is commonly called "language" in the lower grades, but spelling, reading, composition, and grammar, it is by far the most important subject in our common schools. All parts of this great whole are very closely bound together; and the study of any one of these branches is the study of all. An understanding of grammar helps toward correct expression; a knowledge of the difficulties of composition lays a foundation for the true appreciation of literature; and literature itself is the best instructor in the art of graceful and powerful composition. Importance of the Study of Composition The term language, in its usual interpretation, means composition and grammar. Of these two, composition, or the art of expression, is the more important subject for study in elementary education. Every child, when he completes his common-school education, should be able to express correctly, either by writing or by word of mouth, the thoughts he has to exchange with his fellows. In social communication with friends, in the world of business, and in the performance of his duty as a responsible citizen of this nation, the man with the ability to |