Practical English Composition

Practical English Composition.

by Edwin L. Miller.

PREFACE

This volume is the second in a series of four, each of which has been planned to cover one stage in the composition work of the secondary-school course. These books have been designed to supply material adapted as exactly as possible to the capacity of the pupils.

Most of the exercises which they contain have been devised with the idea of reproducing in an elementary form the methods of self-instruction which have been employed by successful writers from Homer to Kipling.

Nearly all of them have been subjected to the test of actual cla.s.sroom use on a large scale. They may be used independently or as supplementary to a more formal textbook. Each volume contains rather more work than an ordinary cla.s.s can do in one hundred recitations.

In each volume will be found exercises that involve each of the four forms of discourse; but emphasis is placed in Book I on description, in Book II on narration, in Book III on exposition, and in Book IV on argumentation. Similarly, while stress is laid in Book I on letter-writing, in Book II on journalism, in Book III on literary effect, and in Book IV on the civic aspects of composition, all of these phases of the subject receive attention in each volume.

In every lesson of each book provision is made for oral work: first, because it is an end valuable in itself; second, because it is of incalculable use in preparing the ground for written work; third, because it can be made to give the pupil a proper and powerful motive for writing with care; and, fourth, because, when employed with discretion, it lightens the teacher's burden without impairing his efficiency.

Composition is not writing. Writing is only one step in composition. The gathering of material, the organization of material, criticism, revision, publication, and the reaction that follows publication are therefore in these volumes given due recognition.

The quotation at the head of each chapter and the poem at the end are designed to furnish that stimulus to the will and the imagination without which great practical achievement is impossible. On the other hand, the exercises are all designed on the theory that the sort of idealism which has no practical results is a snare. Indeed, the books might be characterized as an effort to find a useful compromise between those warring types of educational theory which are usually characterized by the words "academic" and "vocational."

The specific subject of this volume is newspaper writing. The author has himself had enough experience in practical newspaper work to appreciate the difficulties and to respect the achievements of the journalist. He knows that editors must print what people will buy. It seems probable, therefore, that instruction in the elementary principles of newspaper writing, in addition to producing good academic results, may lead pupils to read the papers critically, to discriminate between the good and the bad, and to demand a better quality of journalism than it is now possible for editors to offer. If this happens, the papers will improve.

The aim of this book is therefore social as well as academic. It is also vocational. Some of the boys and girls who study it will learn from its pages the elements of the arts of proof-reading and reporting well enough to begin, by virtue of the skill thus acquired, to earn their bread and b.u.t.ter.

For the chapters on advertising I am indebted to Mr. Karl Murchey, of the Ca.s.s Technical High School of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. John V.

Brennan, Miss Grace Albert, and Miss Eva Kinney, of the Detroit Northwestern High School, have rendered me invaluable help by suggestions, by proof-reading, and by trying out the exercises in their cla.s.ses. Mr. C. C. Certain, of Birmingham, Alabama, and Mr. E. H. Kemper McComb, of the Technical High School, Indianapolis, by hints based on their own wide experience and ripe scholarship, have enabled me to avoid numerous pitfalls. My thanks are due also to Mr. Francis W. Daire, of the _Newark News_, and Mr. C. B. Nicolson, of the _Detroit Free Press_, who have given me the benefit of their experience as practical newspaper men. Above all, I am indebted to my friend, Mr. Henry P. Hetherington, of the _Detroit Journal_, whose untimely death in June, 1914, deprived me of a never-failing source of wisdom and a critic to whose ripe judgment I owe more than I know how to describe.

E. L. M.

CHAPTER I

THE NEWSPAPER

"Truth is the highest thing that man may keep."

CHAUCER.

I. Introduction

The object of this book is to teach high-school boys and girls how to write plain newspaper English. Next to letter-writing, this is at once the simplest and the most practical form of composition. The pupil who does preeminently well the work outlined in this volume may become a proof-reader, a reporter, an editor, or even a journalist. In other words, the student of this book is working on a practical bread-and-b.u.t.ter proposition. He must remember, however, that the lessons it contains are elementary. They are only a beginning. And even this beginning can be made only by the most strenuous and persistent exertions. English is not an easy subject. It is the hardest subject in the curriculum. To succeed in English three things are required: (1) Work; (2) _Work_; (3) WORK.

II. The Newspaper

The modern city newspaper is a complicated machine. At its head is usually a general manager, who may be one of its owners. Directly responsible to him are the business manager, the superintendent of the mechanical department, and the managing editor.

The business manager has under him three sub-departments: (1) Advertising; (2) Circulation; (3) Auditing. To the first of these is entrusted the duty of taking care of those small advertis.e.m.e.nts which, owing to the fact that each occupies only a line or two, are called "liners"; the management of a corps of solicitors; and the maintenance of amicable relations with the business men of the community. The circulation department includes not only the management of local and foreign circulation, but also the collection of money from subscribers, dealers, and newsboys. The auditor keeps the books, has charge of the cash, and manages the payroll.

The superintendent of the mechanical department has three subordinates.

These are the foreman of the composing-room, the foreman of the pressroom, and the foreman of the stereotyping-room. Each, of course, always has several a.s.sistants and often many.

The managing editor has charge of the collection and distribution of news. He has no routine duties, but is responsible for the conduct of his subordinates, for the character of the paper, and for its success as a business enterprise. The relation of the paper to the public is in his keeping. Not infrequently he has serious differences of opinion with the business manager, especially when he publishes news which does not please important advertisers. Among his chief occupations are devising methods of getting news and avoiding libel suits. The subordinates who report directly to him are the writers of special columns, the cartoonists, the editorial writers, the editor of the Sunday paper, and the a.s.sistant managing editor, or news editor. It is with the latter and his staff that we are at present chiefly concerned.

The news editor, or night editor, as he is called on a morning paper, has charge of all the routine that is involved in the production of the paper. Its make-up is in his hands. An autocrat on s.p.a.ce and place, he is seldom praised, but must take the blame for everything that goes wrong. Under him are: (1) A telegraph editor, whose business it is to handle news from outside the State; (2) a State editor, who directs as best he may a horde of local correspondents who represent the paper in the rural and semi-rural districts; (3) one or more "rewrite men" or copy-readers, whose business it is to write out the news sent in by telephone, to correct the errors of illiterate reporters, and to rewrite articles when necessary; and (4) the city editor.

This last functionary is frequently the most important man on the paper.

He is responsible for gathering nearly all of the original news that goes into its columns. To be able to do this he must have a wide and exact knowledge of the people and the history of the city. He works like a slave; and the reporters, who are under his direct control, find in him a stern but appreciative taskmaster.

These reporters, or news-gatherers, lead a strenuous but not unhappy life. It is somewhat like that of the huntsman, their business being to stalk news, which is perhaps the biggest and certainly the most elusive game which the world produces. Their lives are sometimes, their liberty oftener, and their jobs always, in danger. If one of them permits a rival paper to get a "scoop," he is apt to find himself in the situation of the warrior described in Shakespeare's sonnet:

"The painful warrior, famoused for fight, After a thousand victories once foiled, Is from the book of honour razed quite, And all the rest forgot for which he toiled."

Some reporters hunt everywhere; others are a.s.signed to special "beats."

Of the latter the city hall is the most important, but the central police station yields the largest number of good stories, because it is there that tales of human folly, crime, and tragedy are most promptly known. On most papers the law courts, politics, sport, drama, religion, education, marine affairs, and society provide other "beats."

The organization thus briefly sketched is fairly typical, though by no means universal. The outline on page 5 may make it a little clearer.

{Liner Department {Advertising Manager {Street Men { { {Newsboys { {Local Dealers {Business {Circulation Manager {Mailing Department { Manager { {Collections { { { {Auditor {Bookkeeping { {Treasury {Sup't of {Composing Room { Mechanical {Stereotyping-Room { Dep't {Pressroom { General { {Editorial Manager { { Writers { {Cartoonists { {Special { { Writers { { {Editor of {Artists { { { Sunday {Special Writers {Managing { { Paper { Editor { { { {Telegraph { { Editor {a.s.sistant { { Managing {State Editor { Editor { { or {Copy-Readers, { News { or Rewrite {City Hall { Editor { Men {Police { {Politics {City Editor, in {Stock Market { charge of six {Courts { to twenty-five {Sport { reporters {Society {Marine {Religion {Drama {Music

Good reporters are not numerous. The reason is that, to succeed in this work, a man or a woman must be able to gather news and to write. There are plenty of people who can do either, but few who can do both.

In order to get news one must be physically tireless, fond of adventure, persistent, unabashed, polite, courageous, and resourceful in the highest degree. To the successful reporter an impossibility is only an opportunity in disguise. In his lexicon there is no such word as "fail."

He must know how to make and keep friends. He must have that kind of originality which is called "initiative." Above all, he must be scrupulously honest. He must be actuated by a fixed determination to get the news, the whole news, and nothing but the news.

In order to write well one must be able to spell, punctuate, and capitalize; know the laws of grammar and how to apply them; be familiar with the principles of rhetoric; and have a wide acquaintance with good books. These qualities are not usually found in company with those which make a successful news-gatherer. A person who has both is therefore worth his weight in gold to a newspaper. The fact that this combination of qualities is so rare leads many papers to employ special rewrite men whose business it is to put into good English the raw material furnished by the news-gatherer.

One other newspaper functionary remains to be noticed, the writer of editorials. News items are confined to facts. Editorials contain expressions of opinion. Everybody reads news, because it speaks for itself. Editorials are designed to mould public opinion. Unless they are characterized by extreme good sense or brilliancy, n.o.body heeds them, though, if he makes a mistake in one, the writer of editorials is apt to conclude that everybody reads them. The writer of editorials must therefore be a person of exceptional qualifications.

III. Cla.s.s Organization

For the present the teacher of the cla.s.s studying this book may act as city editor and the pupils as reporters. Later, perhaps, a more formal organization may be effected, with pupils as managing editor, a.s.sistant managing editor, city editor, etc.

IV. Newspaper Cooperation

The editor of the local paper will probably be willing to print any really good material that the cla.s.s produces. If possible, an arrangement for this purpose should be made with him. It is also possible that he may be willing to supplement this chapter by talking to the cla.s.s.

V. Topics for Oral Discussion

1. What Is a Newspaper?

2. The History of Journalism.

3. Why is a Study of Journalistic Writing Practical?

4. The Organization of a Newspaper.

5. The Managing Editor.