g together is the composition. Much of the desired result is
gained by care in the selection of materials. Placing together a
well-worn book, a lamp, and a pair of heavy bowed spectacles makes a
suggestive picture. The selection and grouping of these objects is
spoken of as the composition of the picture. So in music, an author
composes, when he groups certain musical tones and phrases so that
they produce a desired effect. In literature, too, composition is,
strictly speaking, the selection and arrangement of materials, whether
the incidents of a story or the details of a description, to fulfill a
definite purpose.

English Composition.

In practice, however, English composition has come to include more
than the selection and arrangement of the materials,--incidents,
objects, or ideas, as the case may be; the term has been extended to
include the means by which the speaker or writer seeks to convey this
impression to other persons. As a painter must understand drawing, the
value of lights and shades, and the mixing of colors before he can
successfully reproduce for others the idea he has to express, so the
artist in literature needs a knowledge of elementary grammar and of
the simpler usages of language in order clearly to represent to others
the idea which lies in his own mind. As commonly understood, then,
_English composition_ may be defined as _the art of selecting,
arranging, and communicating ideas by means of the English language._

Composition, Written and Oral.

The term "English composition" is now generally understood to mean
written composition, and not oral composition. At first thought they
seem to be the same thing. So far as the selection and arrangement of
matter is concerned, they are the same. Moreover, both use words, and
both employ sentences; but here the likeness ends. If sentences should
be put upon paper exactly as they were spoken, in most instances they
would not convey to a reader the same thought they conveyed to a
listener. It is much more exacting to express the truth one wishes to
convey, by silent, featureless symbols than by that wonderful organ of
communication, the human voice. Now, if to the human voice be added
eyes, features, gestures, and pose, we easily understand the great
advantage a speaker has over a writer.

Conventions of Composition.

Moreover, there are imposed upon a writer certain established rules
which he must follow. He must spell words correctly, and h