Do not try to tell too much about the man or woman Confine yourself to one incident.

you select.

suggestions may serve as titles.

1. Washington and the Cherry Tree.

2. Washington and the Colt.

3. The Capture of Nathan Hale.

4. Sir Walter Raleigh and the Cloak.

5. John Smith and Pocahontas.

194

These

LEARNING ABOUT COMMON AND PROPER

NOUNS

Roger's home is in Detroit, Michigan. Last summer he went to Boston, Massachusetts, to visit his cousin Edgar. Edgar took him to see many interesting places. They went to the North Church, where Paul Revere hung out his lantern, to Faneuil Hall, and to the State House. They also went out to Cambridge, where they saw the Washington elm, the home of Longfellow, and the buildings of Harvard University. Roger greatly enjoyed learning his history in this way. Name all the nouns in this story.

Some of these nouns are the names of common objects of the same kind or class. Thus, lantern is a name common to all objects of that class. Such nouns are called common nouns.

Some of the nouns in the story refer to a particular person, place, or thing. These particular names are called proper nouns.

Name all the common nouns in this story.

Name all the proper nouns in this story.

With what kind of letter does each proper noun begin?

Read the following list and see if you can write a proper noun suggested by a common noun. For example, river is a common noun; Mississippi, the name of a particular river, is a proper noun.

Name all the proper nouns in the story, The Magic Sword, on page 90.

A common noun is the name of any one of a class.

A proper noun is a particular name.

A proper noun begins with a capital letter.

195

WRITING FROM MEMORY

The world must be made safe for democracy.

We have no selfish ends to serve.

We desire no conquests, no dominion.

We are but one of the champions of the rights of mankind.

We shall be satisfied when these rights have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of nations can make them.

From The War Message.

-Woodrow Wilson.

Learn these sentences by heart.

Write them from memory.

196

TALKING ABOUT POSTERS

A BOY SCOUT COLLECTOR

Eldred became a Boy Scout the year that the United States entered the World War. He wished he were old enough to join the army, but as a Boy Scout he tried to help by selling Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps, and also by working for the Red Cross. He and his chums spent many Saturdays putting up war posters in the windows of the stores and office buildings down town.

Towards the close of the war, the boys decided that a collection of the different kinds of war posters would make an interesting souvenir. As they lived in Washington, Eldred and his scout friends found it easy to get the posters from the public buildings where the war work was carried on. Among the posters that Eldred had were the following:

Navy Recruiting
Y. M. C. A.
Red Cross

War Gardens

Y. W. C. A.

Better Speech Campaign

Many of the posters were by well-known American illustrators, and all were interesting or beautiful. Eldred put the different kinds together, and then made a list of them in a note-book. Of course the Boy Scout poster was a favorite with all the boys.

Can you describe the Boy Scout poster?
Describe other posters you have seen.

How many of you have made collections of other things?

Here are some things of which interesting collections may be made:

Write a paragraph about a collection you have made.

197

A STORY TO FINISH

The wind was blowing a gale, and that always means comical sights. I was standing on the corner waiting for a car when I saw a very small man struggling with a very large

Your teacher will copy the last sentence on the blackboard, and then you may all together work out the ending of the story.

Several of you may suggest the ending of the unfinished sentence.

Your classmates will vote to decide which ending is the best, and your teacher will write that one on the board.

In the same way you may suggest new sentences until the story is completed.

When the story is finished, you may select a title for it. Then several of you, in turn, may read aloud the story which is on the blackboard.

198

LEARNING ABOUT SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

1. The birds return from the south early in the spring. 2. The song sparrow is one of the first to come. 3. He sings his merry song early in March,

4. The return of the birds brings joy to every one.

Who return from the south?

What does the first sentence tell about the birds? Notice that there are two parts to every sentence. One part names the person or thing told about. The other part tells something about the person or thing.

The part of the sentence about which something is told is called the subject.

The part of the sentence which tells something about the subject is called the predicate.