Read Ebook: Elementary Composition by Carpenter George R George Rice Fisher Dorothy Canfield

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Mrs. William Morris Miss Morris At Home On Wednesday, March tenth, from four until six o'clock. 23 Grant Avenue.

Extremely formal invitations, especially to public and semi-public functions, are often impersonal in form, as in the following:--

The Annual Concert of the Elementary Schools of St. Joseph, Michigan, will be held in the Assembly Room of the High School, Tuesday evening, May twentieth, at eight o'clock. You are cordially invited to be present.

The President and Members of the School Board request the honor of your company at the formal dedication of the New High School, on Wednesday, November third, at half past three o'clock.

For instance, you wish your brother, who is visiting in another town, to meet you at a certain train on Monday and spend the day hunting with you, if the weather is good. You would word your telegram in some such way as this:--

September 9, 1906.

MR. PETER WHITING, DANFIELD, MD.

Meet me eight thirty, ready for hunting, if weather favorable.

JOHN WHITING.

Although you have used incomplete sentences, you have said enough so that your brother will understand what you mean.

Dear Sir; My dear Sir; Dear Sirs; Dear Madam; Dear Mesdames; Sir; Gentlemen; Madam; Mesdames.

The complimentary ending is usually one of the following:--

Truly yours; Very truly yours; Faithfully yours; Respectfully yours.

Sometimes, in letters slightly more formal, these endings are written thus:--

I am, Very truly yours, ANDREW D. JORDAN.

I remain, Respectfully yours, ANDREW D. JORDAN.

Under the signature of the writer is frequently put his title; and if a clerk has written the signature, per followed by his initials is placed below.

Very truly yours, ANDREW D. JORDAN, Secretary.

Truly yours, MATTHEW BENNETT, per D. C.

The following is a correct and usual form for a business letter:--

MESSRS. CHARLES WRIGHT AND SONS, 42 HILTON STREET, NORWOOD, PA.

DEAR SIRS,--

Please send me the latest catalogue of your goods, and state whether you pay cost of transportation for large orders.

Very truly yours, HENRY L. PERKINS.

The writing of business letters should be taken up after the exercise in writing telegrams, for brevity is almost as essential in the one as in the other. There is, of course, no need to write incomplete sentences as in the telegram, but the same general process should be followed; that is, to see what are the really important points you wish to state, to express these with unmistakable clearness, and to say no more.

It is proper to add that a person of education and cultivation is recognized at once as such by the letters he writes. Even in a matter-of-fact letter, too, you may often reveal, without realizing it, your courtesy and kindliness as well as your intelligence. We constantly judge people by their letters.

Do not begin to write your letter until you have made a brief outline of what you wish to say, in the order in which it should be said. For instance, you wish to apply for the position of errand boy. To write a complete letter, you need some such outline as the following, even though it be only in your head and not written down:--

Give the reason for applying for the position by stating how you have heard of the need for errand boys ; state your own qualifications for the work as simply and plainly as possible, mentioning your age, education, health, experience, recommendations, and any other facts that may bear on your capacity to give satisfaction; and when you have given these essential points, close your letter.

A letter written on such lines follows:--

MESSRS. JOHN HAMPTON AND SONS, 225 FULTON ST., NEW YORK.

DEAR SIRS,--

I have heard through your agent here that you are looking for boys as messengers and errand boys. My family is about to move to New York and I wish to make application for one of those positions with your firm.

I am fifteen years old, in good health, and have just graduated from the public schools in this city. For the last three summers I have acted as errand boy for the firm of Clancy Brothers here, which work I am told by your agent is similar to what you wish. I inclose letters of recommendation from the head of that firm and from the principal of my school.

Hoping to hear from you favorably, Very truly yours, PETER MILLER.

If you will study notices of various kinds, you will see that good ones, that is, notices which are brief, clear, complete, and not clumsy, are not common; and, when you try to write them, you will probably find it more difficult than you thought to be a good town crier.

A meeting for the purpose of forming a club for the study of birds will be held on Thursday afternoon at half past three, in the Seventh Grade room. Any pupils in grades higher than the Fourth, who are interested in bird study, are eligible for membership, and are cordially invited to attend the meeting.

If a sufficient number appear before four o'clock, an expedition to the Wright Woods will be made, under the leadership of the teachers of the Seventh Grade.

In studying this notice you will see that a great deal is contained in it. Place, date, hour, and purpose of the meeting are contained in the first sentence. In the next is definitely stated the condition for membership in the club, and in the last is placed an inducement to make the meeting a large one.

Another example follows:--

A Christmas entertainment will be given by the pupils of the Eighth Grade on Friday afternoon at three o'clock, in the Seventh Grade room. A short play will be presented, and the Glee Club of the school will sing twice. Admission, ten cents. It is hoped that there will be a large number present, as the proceeds go to the piano fund.

In writing notices for an address or entertainment it is often desirable to give a little space to a brief description or characterization of the speaker, as in the following:--

Dr. William T. Harris, the former National Commissioner of Education at Washington, will speak on Education and Philosophy at the morning session on Tuesday, at half-past nine o'clock, in the large Assembly Hall. Dr. Harris is one of the most distinguished of living educators. A general discussion will follow the address.

The public school which has just been completed near the iron foundries has no library of its own and there is no public library near it. Good reading matter is much needed there, and the pupils of other public schools in the city are earnestly requested to contribute books and magazines toward the formation of a school library. Anything in the way of interesting reading will be welcomed, in German as well as English, for there are a great many Germans among the pupils. Old magazines and old books will be of as much value in the beginning as new ones.

Contributions may be left in the office of the principal of any public school.

To the Mayor and Common Council of the city of Wakefield, Indiana, we, the undersigned, members of the Eighth Grade of Public School No. 12, respectfully petition that the west end of Elliott Park, above the driveway, be set apart for a school picnic on the afternoon of Tuesday, May the fourteenth, between two and six o'clock.

There is no other place suitable for a picnic within walking distance of the school and all the members of the Eighth are not able to pay carfare. If our petition is granted, we guarantee that no damage will be done to the trees or shrubs, that the park will be vacated promptly at six o'clock, and left in good condition.

The above are virtually notices without having the real characteristic of the advertisement, which differs from the notice in that it not only gives information but seeks to do this in so attractive and pleasing a manner that people will be induced to buy the wares offered.

NARRATION

As the soldiers were crossing the bridge, they noticed a man running down from a hill shouting to them and waving his arms. They could not hear what he was saying, because a strong wind was blowing away from them. As they were struggling in the water, one soldier noticed a large tree trunk floating down toward them and called to his fellows to try and save themselves by holding on to that.

A well-told fable is often a model for clear and connected simple narration.

A crow sat on a tree, holding in his beak a large lump of cheese. A wily fox, attracted by the delicious smell, came to the foot of the tree and said to the crow, "How splendid you look up there, with your fine black feathers glistening in the sun! I wish I had feathers instead of fur. It is really not fair that you should have all the gifts, beauty and skill, and perhaps even talent. Do you sing as wonderfully as you fly?"

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