WORDS AND THEIR OPPOSITES

201

flow along noiselessly, then they rush over rapids and falls with a roar; here their banks are low and green, there they are high, steep, and rocky.

A great lake or the ocean is a sparkling sheet of silvery water, often dotted here and there with white. sails. Sometimes the color is green, again it is blue; and when the clouds hang over it, it is dark and gloomy. There are beautiful sunrises and sunsets to watch; and one can see the storms come and go, with the waves dashing into the whitest of foam. In fact, the water, the sky, and the coast are always changing in appearance, so that the lake shore and the seashore are among the most attractive of places.

- Adapted from TARR AND MCMURRY'S Geographies

IV. WORDS AND THEIR OPPOSITES The description in the paragraphs studied in the last exercise is made beautiful, clear, and interesting by using close together words of opposite or contrasted meanings. In the last two paragraphs find these contrasted words. Note how the contrast makes the meaning of each word stand out more clearly.

1. Use each of the above groups of contrasts in sentences, as:

Outside a wild storm raged, but inside all was quiet.

What two pairs of contrasted words are used in the above sentence?

2. Below are some other words taken from the description of forms of water. Copy them, and after each write a word that means the opposite.

The First Voyage of Columbus

For ten years Columbus endeavored to persuade some European government to send him on a voyage of discovery across the Atlantic Ocean. Finally Queen Isabella decided to fit out the expedition at the expense of her kingdom.

1 Note to the teacher: For material and directions for this exercise, consult your Manual, page 166.

MAKING AN OUTLINE

203

In three months the expedition was ready to sail. But sailors were unwilling to go; and Columbus had to drive some of them by force into the service. There were three ships - the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Niña.

They sailed from Palos, August 3, 1492.

It took them a month to reach the Canary Islands; but after they had passed those, and found themselves on the lonely ocean at night, many of the sailors wept, and declared they never should return. Columbus quieted them, and they sailed on, day by day; sometimes hopeful and sometimes mutinous. Once the sailors plotted to throw Columbus overboard. Often they thought they saw signs of land; once they were sure of it, and it proved only a cloud. At last land birds were seen and floating twigs with red berries, and a piece of wood rudely carved, and drifting seaweed to which live crabs were clinging. Finally one evening at ten o'clock Columbus saw a light glimmering across the water; and the next morning a gun was fired from one of the smaller vessels, as the signal agreed upon for "making land." It was a very welcome sound; for they had been seventy-one days in crossing the ocean, which is now crossed by steamers in less than nine.

We may imagine how Columbus felt, when, at daybreak, he was rowed to the shore, with waving banners and to the sound of music, and when he stepped upon the beach where no European had ever before landed. He bore the great flag of Spain, gorgeous with red and

gold; and his captains bore each a green flag, inscribed with a cross. All knelt, and kissed the ground; then Columbus, rising, and drawing his sword, took possession of the island in the name of Spain, and called it "San Salvador."

THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON

Make an outline of the story, The First Voyage of Columbus, in the form given on page 199; write the title, and under it, in order, topics suggestive of the contents of each paragraph.

VII. TELLING A STORY FROM AN

OUTLINE

Close your book, and from your outline think out -say to yourself -the story of the first

voyage of Columbus.

Do not try to repeat the story in the author's words, but do try to tell the chief events recorded in each paragraph.

Before telling the story make sure that you know the meaning of "mutinous" and "plotted."

VIII. WRITING A STORY FROM AN
OUTLINE

Read again The First Voyage of Columbus. Close your book, and from the outline you made write the story. Do not try to remember

TELLING A STORY FROM A GIVEN OUTLINE 205

the words of the book.

Your outline tells you

what happened and the order of events.

Make your reproduction as simple and as interesting as the story in your book.

IX. TELLING A STORY FROM A GIVEN OUTLINE

Here is the outline of a story. The topic of each paragraph is given in a full sentence, which we may call a paragraph sentence.

The Hunt

(1) Two men went hunting.

Tell where, for what, what time of the year.

(2) To their surprise, they came across the tracks of a bear, which they determined to follow.

What did they say to show their surprise? to show their determination to follow the tracks?

(3) After walking some time, they discovered that they were traveling in a circle. How did they find this out? (4) They separated to go

around the circle.

Why? What did they say?

What did they say? in opposite directions

(5) One man dropped his gun, and before he could recover it, he found himself face to face with a great bear.

How did he drop his gun? Was it far away? Did the bear appear friendly or otherwise?