Practical English Composition: Book II by Edwin L. Miller (good books for high schoolers .txt) 📖
- Author: Edwin L. Miller
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Thomas Gray’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard.
X. MemorizeLong has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;—
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;—
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale.
Oliver Wendell Holmes.
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ADVERTISEMENTS
“I hold every man a debtor to his profession; from the which as men of course do seek to receive countenance and profit, so ought they of duty to endeavour themselves by way of amends to be a help and ornament thereunto.”—Francis Bacon.
I. IntroductionIn no field is the writer of English more generously rewarded than in advertising. The annual expenditure for advertising in the United States is close to $1,000,000,000 and is rapidly increasing. Writers skilled in presenting goods to the public command very large salaries in the distribution of this great sum. The profession has been steadily attaining higher standards and has made a place for its members in nearly every business house in the country. It is certain, however, that there is still a vast field open for advertising development.
II. Assignment IMake a list of the reasons that would induce you to buy a particular kind of fountain pen; suit of clothes; set of books; stove or range; lead pencil; candy.
III. Example(See page 109.)
IV. DefinitionAn advertisement is an argumentative composition cut down to its simplest elements, a composition in which single words represent sentences or even paragraphs of ordinary writing. A sentence in an advertisement frequently conveys the meaning that in ordinary writing would be expanded into a long descriptive essay. The principles of composition-writing apply to advertising in the superlative degree. Above all things else, an advertisement must be clear, coherent, and forceful. In addition to these things it must be brief.
make happy, handsome feet.
Model Shoesare made on natural foot-fitting lasts and feel right the first time.
Model Shoesare made of carefully selected hides tanned by the special process which increases their wearing quality thirty per cent. Every operation from cutting to final packing is under the supervision of experts who are specially trained in their line.
Model Shoesare designed by shoe artists who watch every turn in the smart productions of fashionable New York and London bootmakers and combine the most favored lines with model comfort into distinctive model designs.
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Write for Style Booklet
Model Shoemakers
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From the reasons that you have listed in Assignment I, pick out the one that most attracts you in the case of each of the articles named. Give a reason for your choice. Find a quality in each article that you especially desire but rarely find.
VI. Forcefulness in AdvertisingAn advertisement must first of all demand and win attention. The first word, the first sentence, must be strong enough to arrest the eye of the average reader, who runs hastily through the advertising matter of a magazine, newspaper, or other medium. It must catch the reader’s interest, and hold his attention long enough to lead him into the remainder of the argument.
So far as possible the first sentence, in some cases the first word, should contain the heart of the message, the one big thing that you have to say about the article you have to advertise. If you fail to get your reader’s interest with your first sentence, the word or words that attracted his attention to your advertisement, you have lost him forever. You will have no opportunity to present to him the argument that may follow. Your attention words are read by your maximum audience. Your most attractive argument in its most striking form should therefore be presented to them at once.
VII. Assignment IIIWrite a sentence presenting the arguments selected in Assignment II in the strongest and most attractive sentences that you can devise. Reduce the sentences to the single words that express the ideas most vividly.
VIII. Humor in AdvertisingAs an attention feature, a touch of humor is valuable in advertising. It tends to put the reader into a pleasant frame of mind, a frame of mind in which he is likely to listen more attentively to what you have to say. It operates in the same way as the funny story that usually prefaces the remarks of the after-dinner speaker. The humor, however, must have a direct and unmistakable bearing on the body of your advertising. Irrelevant humor is as much a waste of valuable advertising space as an irrelevant illustration. Advertising space costs too much to be used for anything but advertising. Grotesque illustrations and far-fetched puns are no longer found in advertising columns, because they have been found ineffective.
IX. IllustrationsIn advertising practice the attention feature is frequently supplied by an illustration showing the article advertised in the use that is emphasized in the body of the advertisement, or in a way to illustrate the special argument presented. The importance of the attention factor is indicated by the large amount of space that is occupied by such illustrations. Some experiments have indicated, however, that a well-written attention line is fully as effective as an average illustration.
X. Suggested ReadingCarl Schurz’s Life of Abraham Lincoln.
XI.At Aulis, and when all beside the king
Had gone away, took his right hand, and said:
“O father! I am young and very happy.
I do not think the pious Calchas heard
Distinctly what the goddess spake; old age
Obscures the senses. If my nurse, who knew
My voice so well, sometimes misunderstood,
While I was resting on her knee both arms,
And hitting it to make her mind my words,
And looking in her face, and she in mine,
Might not he, also, hear one word amiss,
Spoken from so far off, even from Olympus?”
The father placed his cheek upon her head,
And tears dropt down it; but the king of men
Replied not. Then the maiden spake once more:
“O father! sayest thou nothing? Hearest thou not
Me, whom thou ever hast, until this hour,
Listened to fondly, and awakened me
To hear my voice amid the voice of birds,
When it was inarticulate as theirs,
And the down deadened it within the nest?”
He moved her gently from him, silent still;
And this, and this alone, brought tears from her,
Although she saw fate nearer. Then with sighs:
“I thought to have laid down my hair before
Benignant Artemis, and not dimmed
Her polished altar with my virgin blood;
I thought to have selected the white flowers
To please the nymphs, and to have asked of each
By name, and with no sorrowful regret,
Whether, since both my parents willed the change
I might at Hymen’s feet bend my clipt brow;
And (after these who mind us girls the most)
Adore our own Athene, that she would
Regard me mildly with her azure eyes,—
But, father, to see you no more, and see
Your love, O father! go ere I am gone!“
Gently he moved her off, and drew her back,
Bending his lofty head far over hers;
And the dark depths of nature heaved and burst.
He turned away,—not far, but silent still.
She now first shuddered; for in him, so nigh,
So long a silence seemed the approach of death,
And like it. Once again she raised her voice:
“O father! if the ships are now detained,
And all your vows move not the gods above,
When the knife strikes me there will be one prayer
The less to them; and purer can there be
Any, or more fervent, than the daughter’s prayer
For her dear father’s safety and success?”
A groan that shook him shook not his resolve.
An aged man now entered, and without
One word stepped slowly on, and took the wrist
Of the pale maiden. She looked up, and saw
The fillet of the priest and calm, cold eyes.
Then turned she where her parent stood, and cried:
“O father! grieve no more; the ships can sail.”
Walter Savage Landor.16
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ADVERTISEMENTS (continued)
“Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in good order.”—Francis Bacon.
I. Assignment IClip from current newspapers or magazines five advertisements which in your opinion have effective attention lines. Pick out five advertisements which in your opinion have ineffective attention lines. Give your reasons for your choice.
II. Assignment II Taking the attention arguments selected in the preceding chapter, set down all the questions that you might ask as a possible customer if you had been attracted by the attention line. In the five examples of effective advertising selected from newspapers or magazines, set down the questions that are answered in the matter following the attention lines. III. Coherence in AdvertisingAn effective advertisement must be a logically developed argument leading from the attraction of attention to the point where the reader is convinced that he wants your goods, and beyond that to the point where he will take some definite physical action to get them.
The steps intervening between attention and action may be sketched in the briefest terms, may in some exceptional cases be omitted entirely from the final form of the advertisement, but must be carefully worked out in the mind of the writer, no step being omitted that is essential in the chain of reasoning that the ordinary mind must follow.
Obviously the chain of reasoning must start from the attention line. If you have attracted your reader by saying “Prices Cut,” you must tell him how much the reduction is and why you have made the reduction. If, on the other hand, you have attracted the attention by saying “Our Goods are the Best,” you must explain the reasons why they are the best. That the mind of the reader may be held to the line of the argument from attention to action, all material that has no bearing upon this line of argument must be excluded.
IV. ExerciseAnswer the questions about the various articles set down in Assignment I, being careful
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