Read for sug

Do not read for words or even for sentences. gestive thoughts, for good points, for paragraph topics that will suggest whole paragraphs. At the close you will be expected to make a talk or several talks on America. You will find abundant material in these brief selections.

I

In the first place, America is a blend of many peoples. I do not like the term "melting-pot," but I like the way an American poet expresses the thought in these lines. Remember that sunburst is the name given by the Irish to their national banner, just as we call ours the Stars and Stripes. You will not often find a more inspiring thought than that contained in the last two lines of this selection:

In her form and features still

The unblenching Puritan will,
Cavalier honor, Huguenot grace,
The Quaker truth and sweetness,

And the strength of the danger-girdled race
Of Holland, blend in a proud completeness.
From the homes of all, where her being began,
She took what she gave to Man:
Justice, that knew no station,

Belief, as soul decreed,

Free air for aspiration,

Free force for independent deed!
She takes, but to give again,

As the sea returns the rivers in rain;
And gathers the chosen of her seed
From the hunted of every crown and creed.

Her Germany dwells by a gentler Rhine;
Her Ireland sees the old sunburst shine;

Her France pursues some stream divine;
Her Norway keeps his mountain pine;
Her Italy waits by the western brine;
And, broad-based under all,

Is planted England's oaken-hearted mood.
Fused in her candid light,

To one strong race all races here unite;
Tongues melt in hers, hereditary foemen
Forget their sword and slogan, kith and clan.
'Twas glory, once, to be a Roman :

She makes it glory, now, to be a man!

-BAYARD TAYLOR: From the National Ode, America (July 4, 1876).

II

But though America is a blend of many nations, she is yet distinct. She has an individuality of her own. Just as every child inherits some traits but has other traits that are not inherited, so America owes much to foreign nations but more to herself:

We of the United States need above all things to remember that, while we are by blood and culture kin to each of the nations of Europe, we are also separate from each of them. We are a new and distinct nationality. We are developing our own distinctive culture and civilization, and the worth of this civilization will largely depend upon our determination to keep it distinctively our own. Our sons and daughters should be educated here and not abroad. We should freely take from every other nation whatever we can make of use, but we should adopt and develop to our own peculiar needs what we thus take, and never be content merely to copy.

- THEODORE ROOSEVELT: Americanism (1915).

EXERCISES

I

1. What do we owe to the Puritans? the Cavaliers? the Huguenots? the Quakers?

2. What is meant by

"She takes, but to give again"?

3. What other countries besides Holland are mentioned? 4. Memorize the last four lines and tell what they mean. 5. Talk for not more than two minutes on America, a Blend of Many Nations."

6. Write a paragraph on the same topic.

II

1. Is there anything in the second selection that contradicts the first? Give reasons.

2. What is meant by taking but not copying?

66

3. Talk for not more than two minutes on America's Duty to Herself."

4. Write a paragraph on the same topic.

CHAPTER XLVI

SUBJECT AND PREDICATE

What is the subject of a sentence? the predicate?

Examine these sentences:

1. Fish swim.

2. Who did this?

9. The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot.

10. The body of the soldier was found under a scarred tree. II. His having been wounded was the cause of his despondency. 12. The accident might have been avoided by a little precaution.

The perpendicular line divides each of these sentences into a naming part and an asserting part. All that precedes the line is the complete subject; all on the right of the line is the complete predicate. The underscored words on the left indicate the grammatical subject; those on the right indicate the grammatical predicate.

Before dividing interrogative sentences beginning with a word other than the subject the order should be changed,

as:

How did you manage it? = you | did manage it How?

It is evident from these sentences:

1. That if a sentence contains only two words, these must be the subject and the predicate.1

2. That the grammatical subject and predicate are the most important parts of the complete subject and predi

cate.

3. That the complete subject and predicate are nothing more than the grammatical subject and predicate plus their modifiers.

4. That the grammatical subject is always a noun or some word or group of words used as a noun.

5. That the grammatical predicate is always a verb or verb phrase.

6. That interrogative sentences, beginning with a word other than the subject, must be rearranged before the dividing line is run.

The subject of a sentence is the part that names what is spoken of.

The predicate of a sentence tells what is asserted of the subject.

The subject with its modifiers is called the complete subject.

The predicate with its modifiers is called the complete predicate.

The words subject and predicate, used alone, always mean grammatical subject and grammatical predicate.

1 Such a sentence as "Come here" contains three words, you being understood.