Imagens das páginas
PDF
ePub

class, the dates of their births (day, month, and year), and the year in which they will become of age.

EXAMPLE.

John Henry Smith, 5th in the class, born August 12, 1865, will be of age in 1886.

James Stephens, 6th in the class, &c.

2. Write the names of any twenty-four articles in the room in which you are sitting, the materials of which they are composed, and the purpose for which they are intended.

[blocks in formation]

3. Make out a list of your school-books, giving the title, the name of the author, the names of the publishers, the place of publication, the number of volumes, and the number of pages in each volume.

EXAMPLE.

English History, by Harris, published by Williams & Co., at London, in 1872. 3 volumes. Vol. 1 contains 220 pages; vol. 2, 230; vol. 3, 229.

Geography, by Jones, &c.

4. Take a chapter of English History, give its number, and state the pages on which it begins and ends, the reign or reigns which it includes, and the names of any persons or places which it mentions, with the line and the page on which each such name occurs.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small]

5. Take any country in your atlas, and write the names of the principal places on the coast, stating whether on the north, west, east, or south coast, and the parallels of latitude between which they come.

EXAMPLE.

England, West Coast. Between 54° and 55°. Maryport, Workington, Whitehaven. Between 55° and 56°. Liverpool,

&c.

6. Make out a table of the way in which your time is divided at school, showing the hours of lessons, meals, play, rising, and going to bed for each day of the week.

[blocks in formation]

the number

7. Make a table of the months of the year, of weeks in each, and the days over, with totals.

[blocks in formation]

8. Make a table of the number of words and letters in each line of the following sonnet, with totals:

How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,

But my late spring no bud or blossom showeth.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth
That I to manhood am arrived so near;

And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endueth.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,

It shall be still in strictest measure even
To that same lot, however mean or high,

Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven;
All is, if I have grace to use it so,

As ever in my great Taskmaster's eye.

Note.-These papers should be kept for after use.

11

CHAPTER III.

CLEARNESS.

CLEARNESS of handwriting is of course essential, for a précis is not only meant to be read, but to be read quickly and easily. It is a matter of comparatively little importance whether the hand be what is called 'elegant' or not, but it should be as legible as print.

Clearness of handwriting should therefore be considered in awarding marks to exercises in précis.

The following hints may not be useless to students who have not practised handwriting with especial regard to legibility:

The writing should be of a good size, so as not to strain the sight or to require to be looked at close. There should be a clear space between each word and the next, and at least a third of an inch between the lines. Each letter should be carefully formed, n's distinguished from u's, and I's from t's; long tails and loops should be avoided. The general character of the writing should be round and short and upright, and all figures and proper names should be written with the utmost distinctness.

The lines should be straight horizontally, and all commence from exactly the right point. Of course accuracy and clearness in this respect can be ensured by ruling lines down and across the page, but this is an aid which should not be necessary to a neat writer, who should be able to write such a précis as that on p. 3 without any assistance from lines.

Exercises in writing scenes from Shakespeare, ? poetry in different stanzas, will be found very

practice for learning to commence writing a line on the proper spot.

Another of the difficulties to the beginner in writing précis will be found in his want of familiarity with the subject of the letters or other documents with which he has to deal, and with words foreign or technical which are contained in them. We therefore give a few exercises in simple copying, for the purpose of training his eye and hand to transcribe unfamiliar words accurately, and to commence lines on the proper spot. The matter of the following pieces will be further utilised subsequently, so that the space they occupy will not be lost, if the student be too clever a penman to need such exercises.

Exercises (B).

1. Copy the précis on p. 3.

2. Copy the sonnet on p. 10.

3. Diaphenia like the daffadowndilly,
White as the sun, fair as the lily,
Heigh ho, how I do love thee!

I do love thee as my lambs
Are beloved of their dams;

How blest were I if thou would'st prove me!
Diaphenia like the spreading roses,
That in thy sweets all sweets encloses,
Fair sweet, how I do love thee!

I do love thee as each flower

Loves the sun's life-giving power;
For, dead, thy breath to life might move me.

Diaphenia like to all things blessed,
When all thy praises are expresséd,

Dear joy, how I do love thee!

As the birds do love the spring,
Or the bees their careful king:

Then, in requite, sweet virgin, love me!

H. Constable.

« AnteriorContinuar »