Why dwell particularly on the action of Salem? Why speak of appeals, resolutions, and addresses? If they are mentioned, why not go into details?

PARAGRAPHS 24-26. Address to Lafayette. Lafayette is said to have arisen and remained standing during this portion of the address. Are Webster's remarks in good taste? Explain.

PARAGRAPHS 27-40. The great changes in fifty years. Look up the facts of the revolution of South America (18101824) and the struggle of Greece for independence (18201828). What English poet died fighting in the cause of Greece? What poems of his treat of the struggle in Greece? Carry into further detail the contrast between the American and the French revolutions.

Webster says, "A chief distinction of the present day is a community of opinions and knowledge amongst men in different nations, existing in a degree hitherto unknown." Compare our own day with Webster's in this respect.

How does Webster narrow his theme in this division? Is this narrowing appropriate to the occasion? Explain. PARAGRAPHS 41-44. Exultation in the influence of our country on human freedom and human happiness. Explain how this conclusion presents the direct application of the theme. Give reasons to show that the country has become in some measure a vast and splendid monument, not of oppression and terror, but of Wisdom, of Peace, and of Liberty." Are there any limitations to be put upon it? Have any changes in American ideas of government taken place since Webster's time?

STRUCTURE AND STYLE

Is the criticism that the oration is "a succession of eloquent fragments" a just criticism? Would the following arrangement of the principal headings be more logical?

1. The deep feeling of the occasion.

2. The monument itself.

3. Address to the survivors.

4. Address to Lafayette.

5. Immediate causes and results of the battle.

6. The fifty years since the battle.

7. The great changes in fifty years.

8. Conclusion. Influence on human freedom and human happiness.

Would anything be lost by such an arrangement? Why not begin with paragraph 6?

Read the chapters on the sentence and the paragraph in Scott and Denny's Paragraph Writing and Wendell's English Composition.

PARAGRAPH 1.

Read the second sentence aloud. Does

its dignity and sweep seem pompous? Speakers of our own day cultivate a more simple and conversational style, especially at the beginning.

PARAGRAPH 2. What effect has the parallel structure of the sentences? What is the function of this paragraph as part of the introduction?

PARAGRAPH 3. Point out an illustration of "balance" in sentence structure.

PARAGRAPH 4. Why is the natural order inverted in the first sentence? Discuss the sentence structure throughout the paragraph, i.e., parallel structure in the second sentence, inversion in the third, balance in the fourth, etc.

PARAGRAPH 6. Explain the Biblical reference.

PARAGRAPH 7. What form of sentence structure is noticeable at both the beginning and the end of the paragraph? Explain how the careful structure of sentences is an aid to clearness. Which is the topic sentence? Read the paragraph in a way to bring out the emotional climax.

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PARAGRAPH 8. This is a clear example of a paragraph with a topic sentence at the beginning developed by particulars and details.

PARAGRAPH 11. Explain how this paragraph makes the transition from one main heading to another.

PARAGRAPH 12. A specific and picturesque style has been much cultivated by the great orators. Learn this paragraph by heart, visualize the pictures, imagine Webster's audience before you, and try to speak the paragraph with sincere feeling.

PARAGRAPHS 13-14. Is the use of the apostrophe a mere rhetorical device, artificial in its nature, or has it a deeper justification?

paragraph and the

PARAGRAPH 15. What is the purpose of this paragraph? PARAGRAPH 17. Explain the transitional nature of this admirable way in which it is managed. PARAGRAPH 18. How is this an unusually fine example of the effective use of quotations? Notice how each sentence seems to grow out of the preceding one. This coherence is due partly to the use of connecting words and partly to skillful formation of the sentences. Illustrate. Compare other paragraphs.

PARAGRAPH 23. What is the function of this paragraph? PARAGRAPH 28. Note the method by which this paragraph is developed: (1) the topic stated; (2) repetition with a more specific aspect, a negative aspect, and a positive aspect; (3) details; (4) an emotional aspect impressed by a variety of imagery; (5) a summary expressing the result.

Analyze other paragraphs; e.g., 8, 9, 12, 21, 29. In analyzing paragraphs, use the following scheme: 1. The topic sentence.

2. Methods of development.

3. Unity.