;" neither could write a convincing essay on
"The Advantages of Free Trade."

Common Subjects.

This will seem to limit the list of subjects to the commonplace. The
fact is that in a composition exercise the purpose is not to startle
the world with some new thing; it is to learn the art of expression.
And here in the region of common things, things thoroughly understood,
every bit of effort can be given to the manner of expression. The
truth is, it does not require much art to make a book containing new
and interesting material popular; the matter in the book carries it in
spite of poor composition. Popular it may be, but popularity is not
immortality. Columns of poorly written articles upon "Dewey" and "The
Philippines" have been eagerly read by thousands of Americans; it
would require a literary artist of great power to write a one-column
article on "Pigs" so that it would be eagerly read by thousands. Real
art in composition is much more manifest when an author takes a common
subject and treats it in such a way that it glows with new life.
Richard Le Gallienne has written about a drove of pigs so beautifully
that one forgets all the traditions about these common animals.[2]
Choose common subjects, then,--subjects that allow every particle of
your strength to go into the manner of saying what you already know.

The requirement that the subject shall be common does not mean that
the subject shall be trivial. "Sliding to First," "How Billy won the
Game," with all of this class of subjects, at once put the writer into
a trifling, careless attitude toward his work. The subjects themselves
seem to call forth a cheap, slangy vocabulary and the vulgar phrases
of sporting life. An equally common subject could be selected which
would call forth serious, earnest effort. If a boy knew nothing except
about ball games, it would be advisable for him to write upon this
subject. Such a condition is hardly possible in a high school. _Choose
common subjects, but subjects that call for earnest thinking and
dignified expression._

Interest.

Interest is another consideration in the choice of a subject. It
applies equally to writer and reader. _Choose subjects that are
interesting._ Not only must an author know about the subject; he must
be interested in it. A pupil may have accurate knowledge of the uses
of a semicolon; but he would not be likely to succeed in a paragraph
about semicolons, largely because he is not much interes