portance. Since, however, the mind retains the most vivid impression
of the thing it received last, the impression of the end of the
sentence, paragraph, or essay is stronger than the impression made by
its beginning. The climax of a story should come at the end, both
because it is the result of preceding incidents, and because by this
position it receives the additional emphasis due to its position.

Who? Where? When? Why?

The beginning is the position of second importance. What, then, shall
stand in this place? A story resembles a puzzle. The solution of the
puzzle is given at the end; the thing of next importance is the
conditions of the puzzle. In "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" the story
culminates in the surprise of a devoted mother when she discovers that
her boy is a secretive little liar, who now deserves to be called
"Black Sheep." This is the end; what was the beginning,--the
conditions necessary to bring about this deplorable result? First,
they were _the persons;_ second, _the place;_ third, _the time._ In
many stories there is introduced the reason for telling the story.
These conditions, answering the questions Who? Where? When? and Why?
are all, or some of them, introduced at the beginning of any
narrative, and as soon as it can be done, they ought all to be given.
In a short essay, they are in the first paragraph; in a novel, in the
first chapters. In "Marmion" the time, the place, and the principal
character are introduced into the first canto. So Irving begins "The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow" with the place and time, then follow the
characters. In all stories the beginning is occupied in giving the
conditions of the story; that is, the principal characters, the time,
and the place.

In what Order?

Having the end and the beginning clearly in mind, the next question is
how best to get from one to the other. Shall the incidents be arranged
in order of time? or shall other considerations govern? If it be any
narrative of the journal form, whether a diary or a biography, the
chronological arrangement will direct the sequence of events. Again,
if it be a simple story with a single series of events, the time order
will prevail. If, however, it be a narrative which contains several
series of events, as a history or a novel, it may be wise, even
necessary, to deviate from the time sequence. It would have been
unwise for Scott to hold strictly to the order of time in "Marmion;"
after introducing the principal c