Produced by Andrew Hodson
Language = USA English. Characters with { } around them show those addedas there are some mistakes in the book & for other reasons & ¤¬ִªЪđəפּזłһ$show the extras of #-.abdegilns. (I changed mathematical & meter (rhythmicarrangement of syllables in verse) but maybe they are correct and theothers are wrong). I did not change Shak{e}spe{a}re, mortgagəor &some words in lists. Broad a has 1 dot before & 1 under instead of2 dots under it & the character ұ should have its line over the letter y.This arrow sign after a word shows that the next 1 should start thenext column. “Special SYSTEM Edition” brought from frontispiece.The 2nd. book of “Composition & Rhetoric” is also in this file.
THE ART σƒ WRITING & SPEAKING ךђℓ ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Special S Y S T E M Edition
The Old Greek PressChicago New{ }York Boston
Revised Edition.
Copyright,1903,
By SHERWIN CODY.
Note. The thanks of the author are due to Dr. Edwin H. Lewis, of theLewis Institute, Chicago, and to Prof. John F. Genung, Ph. D., of AmherstCollege, for suggestions made after reading the proof of this series.
The Art of Writing and Speaking the English Language
If there is a subject of really universal interest and utility,it is the art of writing and speaking one's own language effectively.It is the basis of culture, as we all know; but it is infinitely morethan that: it is the basis of business. No salesman can sell anythingunless he can explain the merits of his goods in effective English(among our people), or can write an advertisement equally effective,or present his ideas, and the facts, in a letter. Indeed, the waywe talk, and write letters, largely determines our success in life.
Now it is well for us to face at once the counter-statement that themost ignorant and uncultivated men often succeed best in business,and that misspelled, ungrammatical advertisements have brought inmillions of dollars. It is an acknowledged fact that our businesscirculars and letters are far inferior in correctness to those of GreatBritain; yet they are more effective in getting business. As far asspelling is concerned, we know that some of the masters of literaturehave been atrocious spellers and many suppose that when one can sin insuch company, sinning is, as we might say, a “beauty spot”, a defect inwhich we can even take pride.
Let us examine the facts in the case more closely. First of all, languageis no more than a medium; it is like air to the creatures of the land orwater to fishes. If it is perfectly clear and pure, we do not notice itany more than we notice pure air when the sun is shining in a clear sky,