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earliest and simplest times men depended upon memory for the preservation of important compositions. Verse is much more easily remembered than prose. So the earliest prose compositions were forgotten, while the compositions in verse were remembered and repeated, chanted or sung, from one generation to another. After men began to read and write, prose compositions, speeches, and chronicles and legends began to be written, and Prose Literature began to be; all which, of course, was long before the birth of American Literature. The earliest American Prose is better than the earliest American Verse, which is one of the characteristics of American Literature, due to the fact that it is not original, but derived from the British.

The only way to classify Prose Literature is according to the subjects about which the author writes and the general method employed, which will usually be determined by the subject. Thus one great class of Prose writings is "Narration," that which deals Narration. with events, "which recounts in order the particulars which make up a transaction," according to Professor Genung's definition. This needs to be further divided into History, Biography, and Fiction. American Literature has taken very high rank in Historical History. writing, Bancroft, Prescott, Motley, and Parkman being among the most distinguished authors in this division of Literature.

Biography differs from History in that it makes the Biography. life of one person central, and groups all the events around it.

Fiction.

Romance.

Novel.

Drama.

Fiction narrates imaginary events as if they were actual, not of course for the sake of deception, but for the sake of interest, sometimes with the further purpose of illustrating a period of History or enforcing a moral lesson. Fiction again may be divided into the "Romance," which deals with the extraordinary and improbable in events and character; and the "Novel," which seeks to represent life and character as they really are in ordinary times and among ordinary people.

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The Drama was spoken of as a form of verse. is quite as often a form of Prose Fiction. Modern acting plays are usually written in prose. Some of the greatest Dramatic compositions combine both methods, changing between verse and prose according to the nature of the action and the subject of the conversation.

The second great division of Prose Composition is Exposition. called Exposition. It includes "Essays," whether they discuss moral, political, social, or scientific questions, as well as extended treatises on such topics. The great and important group of critical writings which discuss the nature, elements, and characteristics of literary productions comes. under this general division. Also under this class would be grouped such books as discuss theological or religious questions. American Literature has some great names in this division, such as Edwards, Franklin, and the authors of the "Federalist" in the earlier period, and Emerson and Lowell in later times.

The third great division of Prose Composition is Oratory. All writings whose object is to convince or Oratory. persuade come under this head. It takes three chief forms: Forensic, the arguments or appeals of law- Forensic. yers, addresses to judges or to juries, such as those of Rufus Choate; Political,- addresses or written argu- Political. ments before legislative bodies or popular audiences on subjects connected with national or state politics, of which class some of the most famous examples in our Literature are the speeches of Daniel Webster and Abraham Lincoln; and Religious or Pulpit Ora- Pulpit. tory, sermons or addresses on religious subjects, examples of which are the sermons of W. E. Channing, Horace Bushnell, and Phillips Brooks.

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It will be noticed that there are forms of Prose Composition which, if the lines are strictly drawn, can hardly be included under any of these divisions. Still the classification will serve to guide us in our study of the great authors, and will be especially useful as indicating the qualities we ought to look for in each sort of composition. Thus it is evident that Narrative composition should be clear and simple in its style; that in it figures of speech should be sparingly used; that the language should be of an imaginative or impassioned character only in descriptive or oratorical passages. Even more important is it in Exposition that the language should be perfectly clear, although here for the sake of clearness illustrations and those figures of speech which help to make the thought plain will be largely employed. Oratory will give opportunity for every type of language. Force

Summary.

will here be the chief consideration, and the language may sometimes be as imaginative and impassioned as that of verse. The style of Henry Ward Beecher, for example, is remarkable for the number, aptness, and beauty of the figures of speech he uses.

Recent writers on the subject of English Composition name, in addition to these forms, "Description" and "Argumentation." While I recognize the usefulness of this further classification for purposes of rhetoric, it seems best not to employ it here, inasmuch as in Literature, Description is almost always found in connection with Narration or Exposition, and Argumentation in connection with Exposition or Oratory.1

Thus we have noticed that American Literature has taken the forms already worked out in English Literature. It falls into two great classes: Verse and Prose. Verse again falls into two great divisions, Stychic, in which the lines are continuous; and Stanzaic, in which they are divided into groups. The principal forms of stychic verse are: The unrimed iambic pentameter, or Blank Verse; the rimed iambic pentameter, or Heroic Verse; and the rimed iambic tetrameter. A foot consists of one accented and one or more unaccented syllables. The principal feet are the Iambus, the Anapest, the Dactyl, the Trochee. The lines take their names

1 In this study of Prose Form I am under obligations especially to Genung's "Practical Rhetoric," A. S. Hill's "Principles of Rhetoric," and Wendell's "English Composition."

from the number of feet, as Dimeter, Trimeter, Tetrameter, Pentameter, etc. The stanzas are groups of lines, and are named from the number of lines, as Couplet, Triplet, Quatrain, etc. Verse is divided according to subject and style into Epic, Lyric, and Dramatic. Prose is divided according to subject and method of treatment into Narration, Exposition, and Oratory; and the first of these, Narration, has three important subdivisions: History, Biography, and Fiction.

In all the types of prose and forms of verse American authors have written with distinguished success. In the succeeding chapters we shall proceed to study the history and character of these writings, noting how the different forms have been developed in connection with the history of our national life, and trying to search out some of the peculiar excellences and striking characteristics of our greatest authors. It is a side of our history more important than the record of our wars, and more instructive than the proceedings of Congress and Legislatures. There is much in it to make us glad that we are Americans. Simplicity and purity of thought and language, fervent patriotism, hopefulness for the future of mankind, and a broad and at the same time profound faith in spiritual things are characteristics which we shall find very prominent in the great writers of our Literature.

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