tories, are told in the third person. In
this case the author assumes the position of an omniscient power who
knows everything that is done, said, or thought by the characters in
his story. Not only what happens in the next room, but what is thought
at the other side of the world, is comprehended in his omniscience.
This is the position assumed by Irving in "The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow," by Kipling in the series of stories included with "Wee Willie
Winkie," by Scott in "Marmion," and by most great novelists.
Omniscience is, however, a dangerous prerogative for a young person.
The power is so great that the person who has but recently come into
possession of it becomes dizzy with it and uncertain in his movements.
A young person knows what he would do under certain conditions; but to
be able to know what some other person would do and think under a
certain set of circumstances requires a sure knowledge of character,
and the capability of assuming entirely different and unaccustomed
points of view. It is much safer for the beginner to take the point of
view of one of the actors, and tell the story in the first person.
Then when the grasp has become sure from this standpoint, he may
assume the more difficult role of the omniscient third person.

To sum up what has been said about the selection of materials: only
those materials should be admitted to a story which contribute to its
main incident, which are consistent with one another, and which could
have been known by the narrator.

The Climax.

When the materials for a story have been selected, the next
consideration is their arrangement. If the materials have been
selected to contribute to the main incident and converge toward it, it
will follow that _the main incident_ will come last in the story; it
_will be the climax_ towards which the several parts of the story are
directed. Moreover, it should be last, in order to retain the interest
of the reader up to that time. This is in accordance with the demands
of the second great principle of structure, Mass. An essay is well
massed if the parts are so arranged that things of importance will
arrest the attention. In literature to be read, to arrest the
attention is almost equivalent to catching the eye. The positions that
catch the eye, whether in sentence, paragraph, or essay, are the
beginning and the end. Were it not for another element which enters
into the calculation, these positions would be of nearly equal
im