Elementary Composition

Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 455K words
Chapters: 46

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Elementary Composition by George R. Carpenter and Dorothy Canfield FisherAuthor: Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958,Language: English, Class: PE: Language and Literatures: English, Release Date: Apr 9, 2015

Editor's review

Co-authored by Carpenter and Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Elementary Composition is a practical textbook of early twentieth-century English writing instruction. Organized around sentences, paragraphs, and whole compositions, it stresses step-by-step training from concrete observation to clear expression, with plain language and examples drawn from everyday life. It offers both a window into early ideas about teaching writing and plain, effective exercises for today's writers. Its step-by-step exercises in description, narration, and exposition are especially useful. There is no need to read every page; select chapters by writing type and practice with the book's exercises. English learners can also use it to absorb a concise, concrete habit of expression.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students and self-learners who want systematic practice in basic English writing
Teachers of English writing, who can borrow exercise designs from it
Researchers interested in early twentieth-century ideas about writing education
English learners who want to improve sentence and paragraph organization

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking advanced academic writing or literary creation techniques
Beginners with weak English who cannot yet read an English textbook comfortably
Readers who only want the latest in modern writing theory

Reading tips

Read by type—description, narration, exposition—doing chapter exercises before comparing with model texts
After each section, rewrite a passage of your own using the book's method
English learners can copy example sentences and imitate their concise, concrete expression
No need to read cover to cover; consult chapters that target your current weaknesses

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What English level is this book suitable for?

The original is an English textbook on basic writing, suited to learners with intermediate English reading ability who can understand the example sentences and exercise instructions; those with weaker English can use a dictionary or translation as support.

Are the writing methods in the book still applicable today?

The book stresses concrete observation, clear expression, and orderly structure—principles that have not gone out of date. Although its examples and teaching context bear the marks of their time, its approach to sentence and paragraph training remains a useful reference for writing practice.

Do I need to read it from beginning to end?

No. The book is arranged by writing type and level of training, so readers can choose chapters based on their weak points and do the exercises as they read; practice matters more than reading straight through.

Comments

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About the author

Fisher, Dorothy Canfield, 1879-1958 Author

Dorothy Canfield Fisher (1879–1958) was an American writer. Public information about her is limited, yet the nine works held in this collection show considerable variety in subject and genre. They include Understood Betsy, The Bent Twig, The Brimming Cup, Hillsboro People, Home Fires in France, The Squirrel-Cage, Rough-Hewn, and What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes. Judging from these titles, she wrote children's literature and coming-of-age stories as well as adult fiction, local character sketches, and domestic life, and also compiled practical books on games and pastimes. Her works often concern childhood education, family relationships, and everyday ethics, with a gentle, delicate style that attends to character psychology and the details of daily life; her children's fiction is especially natural and warm. Spanning both fiction and practical writing, she holds a place in early twentieth-century American popular literature and children's reading.