ers, and there was rain
a great per cent of the time. [This sentence mingles the
language of poetry with the language of science. It should be
fanciful, or else literal, throughout.]

Right: Spring came scattering flowers and rain. [Or] Spring
came with much rain and many flowers.

Inconsistent use of irony: The phonograph was shrieking, "Waltz
me around again, Willie." I am sure I love that beautiful song.
The taste of the people who attend these cheap theaters is
deplorable. [The three sentences should be ironical throughout,
or not ironical at all.]

Exercise:

1. We should meet the future from the optimistic point of view.

2. General Wolfe put every ounce of his life into the capture
of Quebec.

3. A key-note of sincerity should be the mainspring of a
well-built speech.

4. He went drifting down the sands of time on flowery beds of
ease.

5. The blank in my mind crystallized into action.

USE OF CONNECTIVES

=The Exact Connective=

=36. Use a connective which expresses the exact relation between two
clauses. Distinguish between time and cause, concession and condition,
etc. Do not overwork _and_, _so_, or _while_.=

Misleading: _While_ he is sick, he is able to walk. [Use
_though_.]

Misleading: Miss Brown sang, _while_ her sister spoke a piece.
[Use _but_.]

Faulty. Work hard _when_ you want to succeed. [Use _if_.]

Faulty: They will be sorry _without_ they do this. [Use
_unless_.]

Faulty: Little poetry is read, _only_ at times when it is
compulsory. [Use _except_.]

Faulty. The early morning and evening are the best times to
find ducks, _and_ we did not see many flying. [Use _and for
that reason_.]

Faulty: Corbin says: "In America sportsmanship is almost a
passion," _and_ in England "the player very seldom forgets that
he is a man first and an athlete afterward." [Use _whereas_.]

Note.--_So_ is an elastic word that covers a multitude of vague
meanings. Language has need of such a word, and in many instances
(especially when the relation between clauses is obvious and does not
need to be pointed out) _so_ serves well enough. Use it, but not as a
substitute for more exact connectives. Beware of falling into the
"_so_-habit."

Abuse of _so_ as a vague coordinating connective: So I went to
call on Mrs. Woo