ORAL AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE 73 



the child by many suggestions and corrections, which are 

 made far more effective by being grouped around simple, 

 elementary principles of grammar. The children see rea- 

 sons for the corrections; several of a kind are grouped 

 together, thus forming a basis for a rule ; systematic arrange- 

 ment leads to an assurance through which the children are 

 often guided into self-help, where incidental corrections 

 would have left them helpless on generalizing out into new 

 corrections. The pupils are not retarded in this progress if 

 the teacher uses proper grammatical terms, adverb, noun, 

 pronoun, verb, adjective, phrase, clause, sentence. Indeed, 

 it is a help rather than a detriment in the work itself and 

 in the preparation for coming years. 



In the composition work original writing is more clearly 

 differentiated from imitative than heretofore. The latter 



includes reproductions, copying, dictations, 

 Composition . 



illustrations given by the teacher either orally 



or by reading. Its purpose is well denned in the mind of 

 the teacher ; it is to aid in developing ease and grace of style, 

 accuracy in the mechanics of writing, and improvement of 

 the vocabulary. Reading a choice description or a vivid nar- 

 ration from some good writer and commenting a little on 

 how the effect was produced is an incentive to personal 

 efforts in similar lines. Original writing is the purpose of 

 a course in composition, but the steps leading into it are 

 made easier and quicker for all, while the road itself is 

 opened to many, if these imitative steps precede attempts at 

 originality. A desire for individuality can be fostered by 

 leading the children to enjoy the most original papers and 

 by seeing the weakness when someone accepts another's 

 thought in place of his own. Papers should be frequent, 



