VII. FORMAL NOTES.

TO THE TEACHER. - Before assigning work on formal notes, have a talk with your class on the social events that make such notes customary. See note, page 6.

In formal notes of invitation, acceptance, regret, congratulation, or condolence, the writer refers to himself by name instead of using a pronoun. These notes should be written upon small note paper, or upon cards, and equal margins should be left at top and bottom. Should the note occupy more than one page, it may be continued upon the third or the fourth page.

In formal notes the heading, salutation, and conclusion are omitted. The place and date are written. below the note, at the left-hand side. The day of the week is usually written, while the year is omitted. The letters R.S.V.P. are often written at the lower left-hand corner of invitations. They are taken from the French, Répondez, s'il vous plaît, and mean Please reply. Instead of these letters the words An answer is requested, or Please reply, may be written.

No figures appear in these notes except the number of the residence.

Copy the following formal notes:

Mr. and Mrs. John L. Morrison request the pleasure of the company of Mr. and Mrs. Irving Hancock at dinner on Thursday evening, May the ninth, at six o'clock.

492 Lincoln Avenue,

Monday, May sixth.

Mr. and Mrs. Irving Hancock accept with pleasure Mr. and Mrs. John L. Morrison's kind invitation for Thursday evening.

14 Eddy Street,

Tuesday, May seventh.

Mr. and Mrs. Irving Hancock regret that, owing to sickness in the family, they are unable to accept Mr. and Mrs. John L. Morrison's kind invitation for Thursday evening, May the ninth.

14 Eddy Street, May the seventh.

Write the following formal notes from dictation :

Miss Laura Metcalf requests the pleasure of the company of Miss Kate Merritt on Wednesday evening, December the fifteenth, at eight o'clock, to meet Miss Flora Wayland, of Peoria, Illinois.

634 South Desplaines Street.

The honor of your presence is requested at the Graduating Exercises of Smith Street Grammar School, to be held at the Opera House on Thursday evening, June the nineteenth, at eight o'clock.

Mr. and Mrs. Allan F. Green
At Home

Wednesdays in October,

From eight until ten o'clock.

378 Washington Street.

Exercise.

Write the following formal notes:

I. A note declining to attend a concert. 2. An acceptance of an invitation to a lecture, sent by Mr. Arthur Gamble to Miss Ella Conine.

3. An invitation to a class reunion.

4. An invitation to a birthday party.

5. A note of acceptance.

6. A note declining the invitation.

VIII. TELEGRAMS.

A telegram should be brief, clear, and definite. No unnecessary words should be used.

Copy the following telegram:

Mrs. H. S. Sinclair,

Hackettstown, N. J., Dec. 8, 1898.

47 Wayne St.,

New Bedford, Mass.

Missed train. Arrive at eight-thirty this evening.

H. S. Sinclair.

Write the following telegrams in the fewest words possible :

Baltimore, Md., Aug. 5, 1882.

E. H. Turner, Camden, Maine.

me.

I will telegraph you Monday when you may expect I am unable to travel now, as I am suffering from a sprained ankle. If I do not telegraph you on Monday, do not expect me before another week.

J. W. Blake.

H. M. Rich,

Albany, N. Y., June 10, 1885.

Board of Trade Building,

Philadelphia, Pa.

Do as you think best regarding Jones. Shall we accept the notes of Harland, Marsh & Co.? You know their condition. Let us know at once. Have no advice to offer regarding Jones. To what extent shall we trust Harland, Marsh & Co. ?

E. F. McWhirter.

Exercise.

Write the following telegrams:

I. A business telegram containing not more than ten words.

2. A telegram ordering a stateroom on a certain steamer for a certain date.

3. A telegram to a firm in New York City inquiring why certain goods have not been forwarded.

4. A telegram in answer to the last.

5. A telegram asking a friend to meet you at a certain train.

6. A telegram congratulating your friend who has won a gold medal at school.

7. A telegram making a business appointment.

Telegrams are usually condensed into ten words or less, since an extra charge is made for each additional word over ten.

CHAPTER III.

DESCRIPTION.

TO THE TEACHER. One purpose of this Chapter is to train pupils to write in paragraphs rather than in series of sentences. To accomplish this will require constant and careful attention.

It will be noticed that the descriptions called for in these exercises are of two kinds : one, the rudiments of scientific description, valuable in connection with nature study, the description which records results of observations, and dwells upon details which distinguish species; the other, the beginning of effective rhetorical description of persons or interesting objects, in which petty details are discarded, and the person or thing described is individualized by a forceful portrayal of a few distinctive characteristics. Both kinds of description furnish valuable training for pupils of grammar grades.

Let the pupils study the selections from good authors (pages 31, 40, 43) and the bits from standard juvenile fiction (pages 34-38) to find what it is that makes the word picture so vivid. Call attention to the fact that the wise omission of features that might have been dwelt upon adds to the force of the description.

I. DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTS.

Study the following description of an iceberg:

An iceberg is an immense mass of ice which has broken from the ice-fields near the poles and has floated out into the ocean. It is sometimes laden with fragments of rock taken from the coast where it formed.