When a man makes a speech, he naturally begins in a way that will attract and hold the attention of his audience. If in the course of his talk he at times grows less interesting, when he comes to the conclusion he rouses himself to leave a lasting impression. As the closing words naturally linger longest in the ears of the listeners, we may say that the most important part of the speech is the end. The part of next importance is the beginning. So it is with a book, a chapter, a paragraph, and a sentence. What first strikes the eye of the reader will repel or attract; the image that is last to leave his eye he will be most likely to remember. We may say, therefore, that the last sentence in a paragraph is in the most conspicuous position, and that the first sentence is in the position of second importance; that the last words in a sentence are by position the most emphatic, and that the opening words are only less emphatic.

Let us, then, look to the beginning and the ending of our paragraphs. In self-defense we need to attend to this matter of emphasis; otherwise the reader may lay stress on what we consider of slight importance.

Exercises

888. Point out the purpose of the opening and the closing sentence of the following paragraph.

The Shell And The Book

A child and a man were one day walking on the seashore when the child found a little shell and held it to his ear. Suddenly he heard sounds, - strange, low, melodious sounds, as if the shell were remembering and repeating to itself the murmurs of its ocean home. The child's face filled with wonder as he listened. Here in the little shell, apparently, was a voice from another world, and he listened with delight to its mystery and music. Then came the man, explaining that the child heard nothing strange; that the pearly curves of the shell simply caught a multitude of sounds too faint for human ears, and filled the glimmering hollows with the murmur of innumerable echoes. It was not a new world, but only the unnoticed harmony of the old that had aroused the child's wonder. - W. J. Long, "English Literature."

334. Write a paragraph on the three most desirable traits in a boy or a girl, on the three most attractive ways of spending leisure time, or on any other subject.

885. Arrange the following sentences so that they shall make a paragraph which has unity, coherence, and emphasis.

But there was both luster and depth in her eyes.

Neither did her face - with the brown ringlets on either side, and the slightly piquant nose, and the wholesome bloom, and the clear shade of tan, and the half a dozen freckles, friendly remembrances of the April sun and breeze - precisely give us a right to call her beautiful.

She shocked no canon of taste; she was admirably in keeping with herself, and never jarred against surrounding circumstances.

She was very pretty; as graceful as a bird, and graceful much in the same way; as pleasant about the house as a gleam of sunshine falling on the floor through a shadow of twinkling leaves, or as a ray of firelight that dances on the wall while evening is drawing nigh.

Her figure, to be sure, - so small as to be almost childlike, and so elastic that motion seemed as easy or easier to it than rest, - would hardly have suited one's idea of a countess.

336. Make a plan for either the second selection on page 186, or the first on page 254. Can you rearrange the topics so as to give the paragraph greater emphasis? Discuss the present arrangement.

337. Rewrite the following paragraph. Omit useless words, and secure paragraph emphasis.

The Morning Transcript is, in my opinion, one of the best papers in the city. It gives the news from all parts of the world. I like the paper for three reasons': first, it tells me all the news; second, it expresses the ideas plainly so that every one can understand the meaning. This paper tells the exact truth, and most of the people in the city buy it.