profits and which do not, so the careful student must test each idea to see whether it helps the author to impress the point of his essay.

To answer whether the writer has made his point in the most effective manner, the reader should inquire whether the main ideas could be arranged in a different order so as to be more logical or more forceful. He should also ask whether the most important ideas have been given the most emphatic places in the essay the beginning and the end. He should further question whether each idea has been given space proportional to its importance. If an important idea is hidden away in an essay like a "joker" in a law, and if an unimportant idea is given ten paragraphs while an important idea receives but three, then the reader may rightfully doubt whether the author has been as effective as he should be. Finally, the reader should examine whether the author has expressed himself clearly and compactly, with skill and ease; whether he has used the right word in the right place; whether his phrases are felicitous; and whether he has so ordered his thought as to keep the reader mentally alert and interested. If a writer is to be really effective, he must be able to satisfy all these tests.

In analyzing essays, the student will find that the Thought Analysis, the Summary, and the Criticism are guides to careful work. In order to secure uniform results, the student should use the following definite rules:

THE THOUGHT ANALYSIS

1. Summarize the point of the entire essay in a single complex sentence.

The principal clause should contain the leading thought; the subordinate elements, the limiting thoughts. Matthew Arnold's essay, "Literature and Science," may be summarized as follows:

1 See pages 326-348 of this book.

In spite of the present movement in favor of science, humane letters are not in much danger of being thrust out from their leading place in education, since they are related to the instinct for self-preservation in mankind in a way that science is not.

2. Summarize using a single sentence for each the main ideas which the author uses to enforce his point. Unless the student proceeds carefully, he will confuse these main ideas with subordinate material. An author does not employ, usually, more than five main ideas; often he limits himself to two or three. The main ideas of Matthew Arnold's essay, "Literature and Science," may be summarized as follows:

I. Humane letters will, in the long run, keep their leading place in education, since they satisfy the aim of culture- I which is to know the

best that has been thought and said in the world.

II. Science cannot long maintain the chief place in the education of the majority of mankind, since it leaves one important thing out of account - the constitution of human nature.

III. Humane letters will not long remain neglected because they satisfy the need which the vast majority of men feel for relating what they have learned and known to the sense which they have in them of beauty and of conduct.

IV. Greek letters will continue to be studied since they satisfy the sense of beauty better than do any other letters.

3. Summarize using a single sentence for each - the subordinate thoughts which the author uses to enforce each of his main ideas. Main idea II of Matthew Arnold's essay, "Literature and Science," may be summarized as follows:

A. The powers which go to the building up of human life are conduct, intellect and knowledge, beauty, and social life and manners.

B. Science is in the sphere of intellect and knowledge and does not relate itself to the other powers which go to the building up of human life.

4. Condense, whenever it is consistent with clearness, the author's statement of each idea.

5. Match the statement of coördinate ideas by parallel construction.

6. Relate the principal ideas to the subordinate by the use of connectives. The most common of these are, "in that," "that is," "for," "because," "the following." The tendency to use "therefore," "accordingly," and "hence" will be found, upon careful analysis, to be due to the confusion of principal with subordinate ideas.

7. Use the following system of symbols to distinguish between coördinate and subordinate ideas:

I.

A.

I.

a.

I'.

a'.

8. Remember that every statement in the Thought Analysis must be in the form of a complete sentence.

COMPLETE THOUGHT ANALYSIS OF MATTHEW ARNOLD'S "LITERATURE AND SCIENCE"

The Point of the Essay

In spite of the present movement in favor of science, humane letters are not in much danger of being thrust out from their leading place in education, since they are related to the instinct for self-preservation in mankind in a way that science is not.

The Thought Analysis Proper

I. Humane letters will, in the long run, keep their leading place in education since they satisfy the aim of culture, which is to know the best that has been thought and said in the world, for,

A. Professor Huxley's objection to this study because it is an elegant one, but slight and ineffectual, — because it is a superficial humanism, - the opposite of science or true knowledge, is without weight because he confuses humane letters with belles lettres.

B. Knowing Greek and Roman antiquity helps us to know ourselves and the world in that it helps us to know who these ancient peoples were and what they did in the world; what we get from them, and what is the value of their bequest.

II. Science cannot long maintain the chief place in the education of the majority of mankind, since it leaves out of account the constitution of human nature; that is,

A. The powers which go to the building up of human life are conduct, intellect and knowledge, beauty, and social life and

manners.

B. Science is in the sphere of intellect and knowledge, and does not relate itself to the other powers which go to the building up of human life.

III. Humane letters cannot long remain neglected, because they satisfy the need which the vast majority of mankind feels for relating what they have learned and known to the sense which they have in them of beauty and of conduct, because,

A. Medieval education so deeply engaged men's hearts because it so simply, easily, and powerfully related itself to their desire for conduct and beauty through the logic of scripture and church. B. Since modern science has changed man's view of the universe, there is a greater need than ever for humane letters to establish a relation between the new conceptions and our instinct for beauty and for conduct.

C. We shall find as a matter of experience, if we know the best that has been thought and uttered in the world, that humane letters have a fortifying, elevating, quickening, and suggestive power.

D. Humane letters call out a man's being at more points and make him live more fully than do the natural sciences, for the former are always coupled with a knowledge of the great general conceptions of modern physical science, while a study of the natural sciences brings no knowledge of humane letters. IV. Greek letters will always continue to be studied, since they satisfy the sense of beauty better than do the letters of any other nation, for, A. While English letters have striking ideas and well-executed

details, they have not the high symmetry combined with the satisfying and delightful effect which characterizes Greek letters.

B. So long as human nature remains what it is, the instinct for self-preservation in humanity will bring men back to Greek by their wants and aspirations.

THE SUMMARY

1. Condense the entire essay into a single paragraph. Make the point of the essay the topic sentence.

2. Take up the main ideas in the same order in which the author uses them.

3. Give each main idea space proportional to the author's treatment of it.

4. The summary should contain the author's thought and not the student's reaction toward the thought.

5. The sentences should be fitted together so that they read smoothly.

In spite of the present movement in favor of science, humane letters are not in much danger of being thrust out from their leading place in education. This is true because they satisfy the aim of culture, which is to know the best that has been thought and said in the world, in a way that science does not. They relate themselves to the powers which go to the building up of human life—to conduct, to intellect and knowledge, to beauty, and to social life and manners - in a way that science does not. It has been through this ability to relate itself to these various powers that education in the past has been able to engage men's hearts so deeply. Now that science has overturned all the past conceptions of the universe, there is a greater need than ever before for humane letters to establish a relation between the new conceptions and these instincts. We shall find, if we give them a chance, that humane letters will have a fortifying, an elevating, and a quickening power upon us. We shall find, too, that they will call out our lives at more points and make us live more than science is able to do. We shall therefore find, so long as human nature remains what it is, that the instinct for self-preservation, the wants and aspirations in humanity will keep men from substituting the natural sciences for Greek and the humane letters of other nations.

THE CRITICISM

1. The criticism should answer the following questions: I. Has the author made his point?