Higher Lessons in English | Page 2

has been systematically
trained to discover the functions and relations of words as elements of
an organic whole, his knowledge of the parts of speech is of little value.
It is not because he cannot conjugate the verb or decline the pronoun
that he falls into such errors as "How many sounds have each of the
vowels?" "Five years' interest are due." "She is older than me." He
probably would not say "each have," "interest are," "me am." One
thoroughly familiar with the structure of the sentence will find little
trouble in using correctly the few inflectional forms in English.

+The Study of the Sentence for the Laws of Discourse.+--Through the
study of the sentence we not only arrive at an intelligent knowledge of
the parts of speech and a correct use of grammatical forms, but we
discover the laws of discourse in general. In the sentence the student
should find the law of unity, of continuity, of proportion, of order. All
good writing consists of good sentences properly joined. Since the
sentence is the foundation or unit of discourse, it is all-important that
the pupil should know the sentence. He should be able to put the
principal and the subordinate parts in their proper relation; he should
know the exact function of every element, its relation to other elements
and its relation to the whole. He should know the sentence as the
skillful engineer knows his engine, that, when there is a disorganization
of parts, he may at once find the difficulty and the remedy for it.
+The Study of the Sentence for the Sake of Translation.+--The laws of
thought being the same for all nations, the logical analysis of the
sentence is the same for all languages. When a student who has
acquired a knowledge of the English sentence comes to the translation
of a foreign language, he finds his work greatly simplified. If in a
sentence of his own language he sees only a mass of unorganized
words, how much greater must be his confusion when this mass of
words is in a foreign tongue! A study of the parts of speech is a far less
important preparation for translation, since the declensions and
conjugations in English do not conform to those of other languages.
Teachers of the classics and of modern languages are beginning to
appreciate these facts.
+The Study of the Sentence for Discipline+.--As a means of discipline
nothing can compare with a training in the logical analysis of the
sentence. To study thought through its outward form, the sentence, and
to discover the fitness of the different parts of the expression to the
parts of the thought, is to learn to think. It has been noticed that pupils
thoroughly trained in the analysis and the construction of sentences
come to their other studies with a decided advantage in mental power.
These results can be obtained only by systematic and persistent work.
Experienced teachers understand that a few weak lessons on the
sentence at the beginning of a course and a few at the end can afford

little discipline and little knowledge that will endure, nor can a
knowledge of the sentence be gained by memorizing complicated rules
and labored forms of analysis. To compel a pupil to wade through a
page or two of such bewildering terms as "complex adverbial element
of the second class" and "compound prepositional adjective phrase," in
order to comprehend a few simple functions, is grossly unjust; it is a
substitution of form for content, of words for ideas.
+Subdivisions and Modifications after the Sentence.+--Teachers
familiar with text-books that group all grammatical instruction around
the eight parts of speech, making eight independent units, will not, in
the following lessons, find everything in its accustomed place. But,
when it is remembered that the thread of connection unifying this work
is the sentence, it will be seen that the lessons fall into their natural
order of sequence. When, through the development of the sentence, all
the offices of the different parts of speech are mastered, the most
natural thing is to continue the work of classification and subdivide the
parts of speech. The inflection of words, being distinct from their
classification, makes a separate division of the work. If the chief end of
grammar were to enable one to parse, we should not here depart from
long-established precedent.
+Sentences in Groups--Paragraphs+.--In tracing the growth of the
sentence from the simplest to the most complex form, each element, as
it is introduced, is illustrated by a large number of detached sentences,
chosen with the utmost care as to thought and expression. These
compel the pupil to confine his attention to one thing till he gets it well
in hand. Paragraphs from literature are then selected to be used at
intervals, with questions and suggestions to