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GLOBAL This is a special edition of an established title widely used by colleges and
universities throughout the world. Pearson published this exclusive edition
GLOBAL
EDITION for the benefit of students outside the United States and Canada. If you EDITION

EDITION
GLOBAL
purchased this book within the United States or Canada, you should be aware
that it has been imported without the approval of the Publisher or Author.

The Little, Brown Handbook


The fourteenth edition of The Little, Brown Handbook continues to address
both the current and the recurrent writing needs of students and teachers.
The Little, Brown
Handbook
This textbook is actually many guides in one. It serves as a reference to,
among other things, academic writing, research writing, documentation,
writing as a process, media literacy, and usage, grammar, and punctuation.

For students, this textbook is an essential reference tool, designed to help


them find the answers they need quickly and easily. For teachers, it is designed
to support the different roles they serve, from writing coach and mentor to
research guide, editor, and reader. FOURTEENTH EDITION

New and Updated in This Edition


• Included in the text are 90 new samples of student papers on issues
attuned to student interests. Examples of these student papers include
critical analyses of text, informative essays, literary research papers, critical
H. Ramsey Fowler
analyses of visuals, and lab reports in the Council of Science Editors style. Jane E. Aaron
• All model papers and sample citations in the text have been updated to
align with the eighth edition of the Modern Language Association Handbook Michael Greer
and the seventeenth edition of the Chicago Manual documentation styles.
• Chapter 48, on writing about literature, is new to this edition. It follows

FOURTEENTH
a student as she reads, responds to, and writes about The Country of the
Pointed Firs, a novel by Sarah Orne Jewett.

EDITION
• Throughout the handbook, hundreds of new and revised examples
and exercises clarify grammar rules, highlight common errors, and test
important concepts.
Greer
Aaron
Fowler

CVR_FOWL1191_14_GE_CVR_Vivar.indd All Pages 06/09/22 5:22 PM


The Little, Brown

Handbook
Fourteenth Edition
Global Edition

H. Ramsey Fowler
St. Edward’s University

Jane E. Aaron

Michael Greer
University of Arkansas at Little Rock

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text.

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© Pearson Education Limited. All Rights Reserved.

The rights of H. Ramsey Fowler, Jane E. Aaron, and Michael Greer to be identified as
the authors of this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Authorized adaptation from the United States edition, entitled The Little, Brown
Handbook, 14th Edition, ISBN 978-0-134-75972-2 by H. Ramsey Fowler, Jane E.
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Preface
The Little, Brown Handbook always addresses both the current and
the recurrent needs of writing students and teachers. This edition is
no exception. Writing and its teaching change continuously, and the
handbook has changed substantially in content. At the same time,
much about writing does not change, and the handbook remains a
comprehensive, clear, and accessible guide to a host of writing situ-
ations and challenges.

What’s new in the 14th edition


As a new author on this edition, I have made revisions guided by
reviewer feedback and by my own experience teaching college writ-
ing in online and face-to-face classrooms. Students today read and
write using their medium of choice: the mobile phone. I have made
revisions throughout the book to speak to student experience and
needs, while respecting the longstanding effectiveness of The Little,
Brown Handbook.
New sample student papers: All of the student samples in the
book, from short works in progress to complete papers, are new to
this edition. More than 90 student samples are included. The topics
and sources used in these new sample papers are timely and attuned
to student interests.
• Sample informative essay on funding for college athletics
(Chapter 2)
• Sample essay responding to a reading, “Is Google Making Us
Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr (Chapter 3)
• Sample critical analysis of a text, analyzing an essay on selfies
from Psychology Today (Chapter 7)
• Sample critical analysis of a visual: a Web advertisement for
Savethefood.com (Chapter 7)
• Sample proposal argument on online courses (Chapter 9)
• Sample research paper in MLA style, on sustainable agriculture
(Chapter 47)
• Sample literary research paper in MLA style, on Rachel by Ange-
lina Weld Grimké (Chapter 47)
• Sample literary analysis paper in MLA style, on The Country of
the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett (Chapter 48)
• Sample research paper in APA style, on perceptions of mental
illness on college campuses (Chapter 50)
• Sample lab report in CSE style, on caterpillar self-defense
(Chapter 51)

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 3 23/08/22 8:41 AM


4 Preface

New learning objectives and chapter architecture: Every


chapter now begins with a list of learning objectives that help stu-
dents understand what they are expected to learn and do in each
chapter. These objectives are written using language that reflects
Bloom’s taxonomy of learning, and the objectives also align in many
cases with the WPA Outcomes Statement for First-Year Composition.
These learning objectives not only guide students, they also help
instructors tasked with aligning course content with departmental
or institutional outcomes statements for their courses.
Main sections of each chapter are aligned with the chapter
learning objectives, reinforcing the active learning model built into
the language of the objectives.
Updated documentation coverage: MLA published the 8th
edition of its Handbook in 2016, and the Chicago Manual of Style
was published in a new 17th edition late in 2017. All model papers
and sample citations in the book have been updated to align with the
new documentation styles.
New chapter on writing about literature. Chapter 48 is
entirely new to this edition, and it follows a student as she reads,
responds to, and writes about a novel, The Country of the Pointed
Firs, by Sarah Orne Jewett.
New coverage of multimodal and online composing (Chap-
ter 5).
New coverage of composing for social media in workplace
and public situations (Chapter 11).
New coverage and visual examples of database searches
(Chapter 42).

A handbook for many purposes


The Little, Brown Handbook is actually many books in one. It is
designed to support the different roles writing teachers serve, from
writing coach and mentor, to research guide, editor, and reader.
A guide to academic writing
The handbook gives students a solid foundation in the goals and
requirements of college writing.
• Chapter 6 on academic writing includes an overview of com-
mon academic genres, such as responses, critical analyses,
arguments, informative and personal writing, and research
papers and reports. The discussion highlights key features of
each genre and points students to examples in the handbook.
• Eighteen examples of academic writing in varied genres appear
throughout the handbook, among them a new critical analysis
of an advertisement and a new social-science research report
documented in APA style.
• With each of the sample papers, a summary box titled “The writ-
ing situation” gives an overview of the situation to which the

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 4 23/08/22 8:41 AM


Preface 5

student responded—subject, purpose, audience, genre, and use


of sources—thus connecting concepts with actual writing.
• Emphasizing critical analysis and writing, Chapter 7 on critical
reading and writing includes two full-length opinion pieces as
exercises in critical reading, a new advertisement with a stu-
dent’s analysis, a revised discussion of writing critically about
texts and visuals, and a new critical analysis paper.
• Pulling together key material on academic integrity, Chapter 6 on
academic writing and Chapter 44 on plagiarism discuss devel-
oping one’s own perspective on a topic, using and managing
sources, and avoiding plagiarism. Other chapters throughout
the handbook reinforce these important topics.
• Synthesis receives special emphasis wherever students might
need help balancing their own and others’ views, such as in
responding to texts and visuals.
• Parts 9 and 10 give students a solid foundation in research writing
and writing in the disciplines (literature, other humanities, social
sciences, natural and applied sciences), along with extensive cover-
age of documentation in MLA, Chicago, APA, and CSE styles.

A guide to research writing


With detailed advice, the handbook always attends closely to
research writing. The discussion stresses using the library Web site
as the gateway to finding sources, managing information, evaluating
and synthesizing sources, integrating source material, and avoiding
plagiarism.
• Coverage of the working bibliography groups sources by type,
reflecting a streamlined approach to source material through-
out the handbook.
• The discussion of libraries’ Web sites covers various ways students
may search for sources—catalog, databases, and research guides.
• A revised discussion of keywords and subject headings helps
students develop and refine their search terms.
• A streamlined discussion of gathering information from sources
stresses keeping accurate records of source material, marking
borrowed words and ideas clearly, and using synthesis.
• A chapter on documenting sources explains key features of
source documentation, defines the relationship between in-text
citations and a bibliography, and presents pros and cons of bib-
liography software.
• To help students develop their own perspectives on their
research subjects, the text advises asking questions, entering
into dialog with sources, and presenting multiple views fairly
and responsibly.
• The discussion of evaluating sources—library, Web, and social
media—helps students discern purposes and distinguish between

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 5 23/08/22 8:41 AM


6 Preface

reliable and unreliable sources. Case studies show the application


of critical criteria to sample articles, Web documents, and a blog.
• The extensive chapter on avoiding plagiarism discusses deliber-
ate and careless plagiarism, shows examples of plagiarized and
revised sentences, and gives updated advice about avoiding pla-
giarism with online sources.
• Two complete research papers illustrate MLA style. One of them
is a paper-in-progress, following a student through the research
process and culminating in an annotated essay on sustainable
agriculture.

An updated guide to documentation


The extensive coverage of four documentation styles—MLA,
Chicago, APA, and CSE—reflects each style’s latest version.
• Chapters for all four styles group sources by type, thus simpli-
fying the process of finding appropriate models and clarifying
differences among print, database, Web, and other sources.
• Updated, annotated samples of key source types illustrate MLA
and APA documentation, showing students how to find the bib-
liographical information needed to cite each type and highlight-
ing the distinctions among different source media.
• The chapter on MLA documentation reflects the new 8th edition
of the MLA Handbook. In addition, the sample papers and other
examples that show MLA have been updated to reflect the latest
MLA guidelines.
• A complete social-science research report shows APA style in
the context of student writing.
• The chapter on CSE documentation reflects the new 8th edition
of Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Edi-
tors, and Publishers.
• For all styles, color highlighting makes authors, titles, dates,
and other citation elements easy to grasp.

A guide to writing as a process


The handbook takes a practical approach to assessing the writ-
ing situation, generating ideas, developing the thesis statement,
revising, and other elements of the writing process.
• An expanded discussion of thesis covers using the thesis state-
ment to preview organization.
• A reorganized presentation of drafting, revising, and editing dis-
tinguishes revising more clearly as a step separate from editing.
• A revised discussion of preparing a writing portfolio gives an
overview of common formats and requirements.
• Chapter 4 on paragraphs offers new, relevant examples illustrating
important concepts of coherence, organization, and development.

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 6 23/08/22 8:41 AM


Preface 7

• A revised and streamlined chapter on presenting writing focuses


on essential information related to document design, visuals
and other media, writing for online environments, and oral pre-
sentations.

A guide to usage, grammar, and punctuation


The handbook’s core reference material reliably and concisely
explains basic concepts and common errors, provides hundreds of
annotated examples from across the curriculum, and offers frequent
exercises (including end-of-part exercises that combine several kinds
of problems).
• Throughout the handbook, revised explanations of grammar
concepts and rules simplify the presentation and emphasize key
material.
• Dozens of new and revised examples and exercises clarify and
test important concepts.
• Two common trouble spots—sentence fragments and passive
voice—are discussed in great detail and illustrated with examples.
• Examples in Part 8 on effective words show common short-
cuts of texting and other electronic communication and how to
revise them for academic writing.
• Summary and checklist boxes provide quick-reference help
with color highlighting to distinguish sentence elements.

A guide to visual and media literacy


The handbook helps students process nonverbal information
and use it effectively in their writing.
• A student work-in-progress illustrates the process of analyzing
an advertisement and culminates in a sample critical analysis.
• Detailed help with preparing or finding illustrations appears in
Chapter 5 on presenting writing and Chapter 42 on finding sources.
• Thorough discussions of critically reading advertisements,
graphs, and other visuals appear in Chapter 7 on critical read-
ing, Chapter 8 on reading arguments, and Chapter 43 on work-
ing with sources.

A guide for writing beyond the classroom


Chapter 11 on public writing extends the handbook’s usefulness
beyond academic writing.
• Discussions of writing for social media encourage students
to consider their potential audience now and in the future,
whether they are writing to express themselves or to represent
an organization.
• Updated coverage of writing a job application discusses cover
letters, résumés, and professional online profiles.

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 7 23/08/22 8:41 AM


8 Preface

A guide for culturally and linguistically diverse writers


In sections labeled Culture and Language, the handbook pro-
vides extensive rhetorical and grammatical help, with examples, for
writers whose first language or dialect is not standard American
English.
• Fully integrated coverage, instead of a separate section, means
that students can find what they need without having to know
which problems they do and don’t share with native SAE
­speakers.

An accessible reference guide


The handbook is designed to be easy to use.
• Streamlined explanations and new explanatory headings make
key information easier to find.
• A clean, uncluttered page design uses color and type clearly to
distinguish parts of the book and elements of the pages.
• Color highlighting in boxes and on documentation models dis-
tinguishes important elements.
• Annotations on both visual and verbal examples connect prin-
ciples and illustrations.
• More than 160 boxes provide summaries and checklists of key
information.

Supplements
Make more time for your students with instructor resources that offer
effective learning assessments and classroom engagement. Pearson’s
partnership with educators does not end with the delivery of course
materials; Pearson is there with you on the first day of class and
beyond. A dedicated team of local Pearson representatives will work
with you to not only choose course materials but also integrate them
into your class and assess their effectiveness. Our goal is your goal—
to improve instruction with each semester.
Pearson is pleased to offer the following resources to qualified
adopters of The Little, Brown Handbook. These supplements are
available to download from the Instructor Resource Center (IRC);
please visit the IRC at www.pearsonglobaleditions.com to register
for access.
• Instructor’s Resource Manual Create a comprehensive roadmap
for teaching classroom, online, or hybrid courses. Designed
for new and experienced instructors, the Instructor’s Resource
Manual includes learning objectives, lecture and discussion
suggestions, activities for in or out of class, research activities,
participation activities, and suggested readings, series, and
films.

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 8 23/08/22 8:41 AM


Preface 9

• PowerPoint Presentation Make lectures more enriching for students.


The PowerPoint Presentation includes a full lecture outline and
photos and figures from the textbook. Available on the IRC.
• The Little, Brown Handbook Answer Key provides answers to the
handbook’s exercises.

Acknowledgments
Instructors around the country have provided valuable feedback and
suggestions. For the 14th edition, many thanks to the following for
their time and insight: Keith Huneycutt, Florida Southern College;
Beth Bradford, Florida Southern College; Anita Nordbrock, Embry
Riddle Aeronautical University; Jeneen Surrency, Florida A&M Uni-
versity; Tom Perrin, Huntingdon College; David Kaloustian, Bowie
State University; Robin Gunther, Huntingdon College; and Karoline
Szatek, Curry College.
My first and most important debt of gratitude is to Jane E.
Aaron, whose work through many editions of this handbook leaves
me with some very large shoes to fill. I can only hope to carry on her
legacy of quality, accuracy, and usefulness. Having pored over every
page of this handbook many times now, I continue to be awed by its
gentle, guiding awareness of the needs of student writers.
Karon Bowers at Pearson and Carolyn Merrill and Aron Kees-
bury at Ohlinger Publishing Services have guided the project
throughout this revision cycle. Cynthia Cox, Rachel Harbour, and
Stephanie Laird at Ohlinger have been there every step and every
page of the way through the editorial and production processes,
working on four books (two print, two digital) at the same time.
Susan McIntyre has been an incredible copy editor, helping to make
sure that the new material is seamlessly woven into the text and
smoothing out many awkward sentences. Heather Tolliver at the
University of Arkansas at Little Rock contributed a number of exam-
ples and sources as an adept research assistant. David Kear has been
a wonderful contributor of ideas, energy, clarity, and creativity as
development editor, keeping both sanity and humor intact through a
long and challenging publishing journey.

Global Edition Acknowledgments


Pearson would like to thank Jon Sutherland and Diane Sutherland
for contributing to the Global Edition.

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 9 23/08/22 8:41 AM


This page intentionally left blank

A01_FOWL1191_14_GE_FM.indd 10 23/08/22 8:41 AM


Part 1

The Process of
Writing
1 Assessing the Writing Situation
2 Discovering and Shaping Ideas
3 Drafting, Revising, and Editing
4 Writing and Revising Paragraphs
5 Presenting Writing

11

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 11 01/09/22 12:36 PM


Chapter 1
dev
1.1
Assessing the Writing
Situation
Learning Objectives

1.1 Describe writing as a process.


1.2 Analyze the writing situation.
1.3 Define and analyze your audience.
1.4 Define your purpose.
1.5 Choose and narrow a subject.
1.6 Identify your genre and medium.

1.1 How Writing Happens


1.1 Describe writing as a process.
Every time you sit down to write, you embark on a writing ­process—
the term for all the activities, mental and physical, that go into cre-
ating what eventually becomes a finished piece of work. Even for
experienced writers the process is often messy, which is one reason
that it can be difficult. Though we may get a sense of flow and order-
liness from a published essay, we can safely assume that the writer
had to work hard to achieve those qualities. Most good writers revise
and rewrite several times as their ideas take shape.
No single writing process works for all writers in all situations.
Even an individual writer may adapt his or her process to the task
at hand. You may use one process for writing a personal essay for a
blog and a different process for a formal research report. Still, most
writers experience writing as a recursive process in which the fol-
lowing stages overlap and influence one another:
• Analyzing the writing situation: considering the audience, ­purpose,
subject, genre (type of writing), and other elements of a project.
• Discovering and planning: posing a question, gathering informa-
tion, focusing on a central theme, and organizing material.
• Drafting: answering the question and expressing and connect-
ing ideas.
• Revising: reconsidering the central question or idea, rethinking and
improving content and organization, developing supporting ideas
more thoroughly, and deleting unnecessary or tangential material.
• Editing: improving sentences and checking grammar, punctua-
tion, word choice, and presentation.
12

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 12 01/09/22 12:36 PM


The writing situation 13

Figure 1.1 The writing process


dev

Drafting
1.1
1.2
Revising

Discovering Analyzing the


and planning writing situation Editing

Exercise 1.1 Starting a writing journal


Think about successful writing experiences you have had. Then think
about contrasting experiences, where you felt stressed or challenged by
a writing task. What do these experiences reveal to you about writing,
particularly your successes and problems with it? Consider the follow-
ing questions:
Why are some writing tasks easier than others?
What stages of the writing process are you good at? Which stages chal-
lenge you? Why?
Do you have trouble finding ideas or expressing them?
Do you worry about grammar and spelling?
Do your readers usually understand what you mean?
Do you like to experiment with language?
Record your thoughts as part of a continuing journal (or blog) that tracks
your experiences as a writer. As you complete writing assignments, keep
adding to the journal, noting especially which strategies seem most help-
ful to you. Your aim is to reflect on your writing so that you can develop a
dependable, repeatable writing process that works for you.

1.2 The Writing Situation


1.2 Analyze the writing situation.
Writing never happens in a vacuum. As a writer, you compose a
project in response to some situation. For example, you may be
asked to write a statement of purpose as part of an application to
a college or degree program. You may need to write a cover letter
to include with a résumé when you apply for a job. Or you may be
assigned to write a lab report in a chemistry class. In each case,
your writing responds to the needs of a specific writing situation
(sometimes also called the rhetorical situation), and learning how
to analyze a writing situation is an important skill.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 13 01/09/22 12:36 PM


14 Assessing the writing situation

Figure 1.2 The elements of the writing situation


dev
1.2 Audience

Purpose Subject

Genre and
medium

The main elements of a writing situation include the audience


(who are you writing for?), your purpose (why are you writing?),
your subject (what are you writing about?), and the genre and
medium (what form will your writing take?). To analyze a writing
situation, take some time to ask questions about your audience, pur-
pose, subject, genre, and medium, and consider how these elements
interact with each other in the context of the situation as a whole.
Audience
• Who will read your writing? Will your readers be interested in
your writing or not? If not, how can you make your writing
interesting to them?
• What do your readers already know and think about your subject?
What characteristics—such as education or political views—
might influence their response?
• Where and when will your audience encounter your writing? Busy
professionals in a workplace setting may have very different
needs as readers than, say, a friend reading a personal narrative
for enjoyment.
• How should you project yourself in your writing? What role should
you play in relation to your readers, and what information should
you provide? How informal or formal should your writing be?
• What do you want readers to do or think after they read your writ-
ing? How will you know if your writing has successfully con-
nected with your audience?
Purpose
• What aim does your assignment specify? For instance, does it ask
you to explain a process or argue a position?

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 14 01/09/22 12:36 PM


The writing situation 15

• Why are you writing? What do you need to achieve in your writ-
ing? Are you writing to fulfill an assignment, to express yourself,
to provide information, to argue a case, or to propose a solution? dev
• What do you want your work to accomplish? What effect do you 1.2
intend it to have on readers?
Subject
• What does your writing assignment require you to write about? If
you don’t have a specific assignment, what subjects might be
appropriate for the situation?
• What interests you about the subject? What do you already know
about it? What questions do you have about it?
• What kinds of evidence will best suit your subject, purpose, audi-
ence, and genre? What combination of facts, examples, and
expert opinions will support your ideas?
• Does your assignment require research? Will you need to consult
sources or conduct interviews, surveys, or experiments?
• Even if research is not required, what information do you need to
develop your subject? How will you obtain it?

Genre and medium


• What genre, or type of writing, does the assignment call for? Are
you to write an analysis, a report, a proposal, or some other
type? Or are you free to choose a genre in which to write?
• What are the conventions of the genre you are using? For example,
readers might expect a claim supported by evidence, a solution to
a defined problem, clear description, or easy-to-find information.
• What medium will you use to present your writing? Will you
deliver it on paper, online, or orally? What does the presentation
method require in terms of preparation time, special skills, and
use of technology?
• What are the basic requirements of the writing task? Consider
requirements for length, deadline, subject, purpose, audience,
and genre. What leeway do you have?
• What format or method of presentation does the assignment spec-
ify or imply? Does the situation call for a written essay, or can
you use a slide presentation or other visual media?
• How might you use illustrations, video, and other media to achieve
your purpose?
• What documentation style should you use to cite your sources?

Exercise 1.2 Analyzing a writing situation


The following writing project was assigned in a course in writing for the
workplace. What does the assignment specify about the elements of the
writing situation? What does it imply? Given this assignment, how would
you answer the preceding questions about the writing situation?

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 15 01/09/22 12:36 PM


16 Assessing the writing situation

Assignment: Write a short informative report. Your report should


present an answer to this question: What types of writing do people in
dev my field produce? Your audience for the report is other students in your
field. Your report should cite at least three sources and include at least
1.3 two visual elements (sample documents, photos, icons, charts, or other
graphic elements). Your report can be delivered in one of three formats.
You have the option of delivering a written memo report (two to three
pages in length), a slide presentation (six to ten slides, with presenter
notes to represent the “speaking script” you would use to deliver the
report to a live audience), or an infographic.

1.3 Audience
1.3 Define and analyze your audience.
Your audience will often be specified or implied in a writing assign-
ment. When you write an editorial for the student newspaper, your
audience consists of other students at your school. When you write
a report on a physics experiment, your audience consists of your
physics instructor and perhaps your classmates. Considering the
needs and expectations of your readers can help you form or focus
a question about your subject, gather answers to the question, and
ultimately decide what to say and how to say it.

1.3.1 Knowing what readers expect


As a reader yourself, you know what readers expect from writing:
• Context: a link between what they read and their own knowl-
edge and experiences.
• Predictability: an understanding of the writer’s purpose and how
it is being achieved.
• Information: the specific facts, examples, and other details that
make the subject clear, interesting, and convincing.
• Respect: a sense that the writer respects their values and beliefs,
their backgrounds, and their intelligence.
• Voice: a sense that the writer is a real person whose thoughts
and values are expressed in the writing.
• Readability, clarity, and correctness: writing that is organized,
focused, and free of unnecessary stumbling blocks and mistakes.
For much academic and public writing, readers have definite
needs and expectations. In other areas where the conventions of
structure and presentation are less well defined, for example in
blogs or personal essays, your choices are even more numerous.
The following questions can help you define and analyze your audi-
ence in order to make more informed choices.

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Audience 17

Questions about audience


dev
Identity and expectations
• Who are my readers?
1.3
• What are my readers’ expectations for the genre of my writing? Do
they expect features such as a particular organization and f­ormat, dis-
tinctive kinds of evidence, or a certain style of documenting sources?
• What do I want readers to know or do after reading my work?
How should I make that clear to them?
• How should I project myself to readers? How formal or informal
will they expect me to be? What role and tone should I assume?

Characteristics, knowledge, and attitudes


• What characteristics of readers are relevant for my subject and
purpose? For instance:
Age and sex
Occupation: students, professional colleagues, etc.
Social or economic role: subject-matter experts, voters, car buyers,
potential employers, etc.
Economic or educational background
Ethnic background
Political, religious, or moral beliefs and values
Hobbies or activities
• How will the characteristics of readers influence their attitudes
toward my subject?
• What do readers already know and not know about my subject?
How much do I have to tell them? What aspects of my subject will be
interesting and relevant to them?
• How should I handle any specialized terms? Will readers know
them? If not, should I define them or avoid them?
• What ideas, arguments, or information might surprise, excite, or
offend readers? How should I handle these points?
• What misconceptions might readers have of my subject and/or
my approach to it? How can I dispel these misconceptions?

Uses and format


• What will readers do with my writing? Should I expect them to
read every word from beginning to end, to scan for information, to
look for conclusions? Can I help readers by providing a summary,
headings, illustrations, or other aids?

1.3.2 Expressing your voice


Your sense of your audience will influence three key elements of
what you write:
• The specific information you use to gain and keep the attention of read-
ers and to guide them to accept your conclusions. This information

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18 Assessing the writing situation

may consist of concrete details, facts, examples, or other evidence


that makes your ideas clear, supports your assertions, and suits
dev your readers’ needs. The evidence may come from your experi-
1.3 ence or from outside sources.
• The role you choose to play in relation to your readers. Depend-
ing on your purpose and your attitude toward your topic, you
will want readers to perceive you in a certain way. The possible
roles are many and varied—for instance, scholar, storyteller,
lecturer, guide, reporter, advocate, inspirer.
• The tone you use. Tone in writing is like tone of voice in speak-
ing: words and sentence structures on the page convey some
of the same information as pitch and volume in the voice.
Depending on your aims and what you think your readers will
expect and respond to, your tone may be formal or informal.
The attitude you convey may be serious or light, forceful or
calm, irritated or cheerful.
These three elements contribute to what’s often called voice:
your projection of yourself into the writing. Your voice conveys
your sense of the world as it applies to the particular writing situa-
tion: this subject, this purpose, this audience. Voice can vary quite
a bit from one writing situation to another, as the following memos
illustrate. Both were written by a student who worked part-time in
a small company and wanted to get the company to recycle paper.
But the two memos address different readers.
To coworkers
Ever notice how much paper collects in your Voice: a peer who is thought-
ful, cheerful, and sympathetic
trash basket every day? Well, most of it can be
Information: how employees
recycled with little effort, I promise. Basically, all could handle recycling; no
you need to do is set a bag or box near your desk mention of costs
and deposit wastepaper in it. I know, space is Role: colleague
cramped in these little cubicles. But can’t we all Tone: informal, personal
accept a little more crowding when the earth’s at (Ever notice; Well; you; I know,
stake? . . . space is cramped)

To management
In my four months here, I have observed that all Voice: a subordinate who is
thoughtful, responsible, and
of us throw out baskets of potentially recyclable serious
paper every day. Considering the drain on our Information: specific rea-
forest resources and the pressure on landfills that sons; view of company as a
paper causes, we could make a valuable contri- whole; reference to another
company; problem of cost
bution to the environmental movement by help-
Role: employee
ing to recycle the paper we use. At the company
where I worked before, employees separate clean Tone: formal, serious
­(Considering the drain; forest
wastepaper from other trash at their desks. The resources; valuable contribu-
maintenance staff collects trash in two receptacles, tion; no you)
and the trash hauler (the same one we use here)
makes separate pickups. I do not know what the
hauler charges for handling recyclable material. . . .

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Purpose 19

Exercise 1.3 Considering audience


dev
Choose one of the following subjects and, for each audience specified, ask
the questions about audience (above). Decide on four points you would 1.4
make, the role you would assume, and the tone you would adopt for each
audience. Then write a paragraph for each based on your decisions.
1. The pros and cons of single-use plastic bottles: for those seeking
a ban and for those who are in favor of their use
2. Cancel culture on social media: for those who support calling out
and for those who think it is unfair
3. Global warming: for those that see it as an immediate threat and for
those who deny climate change

Exercise 1.4 C
 onsidering your past work: Writing
for a specific audience
How did audience figure in a piece of writing you’ve done in the recent
past—perhaps an essay for an application or a paper for a course? Who
were your readers? How did your awareness of them influence your
voice? At what point in the writing process did you find it most produc-
tive to consider your readers consciously?

Exercise 1.5 Analyzing the audience for your essay


Use the questions about audience (above) to determine as much as you
can about the probable readers of your informative report (Exercise 1.2).
What might be an appropriate voice for your writing? What specific
information will your readers need? What role do you want to assume?
What tone will best convey your attitude toward your topic?

1.4 Purpose
1.4 Define your purpose.
When you write, your purpose is your chief reason for communicating
something about a topic to a particular audience. Purpose connects
the specific situation in which you are working to the goal you hope to
achieve. It is your answer to a potential reader’s question, “So what?”

The general purposes for writing


• To entertain readers
• To express your feelings or ideas
• To explain something to readers (exposition)
• To persuade readers to accept or act on your opinion (argument)

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20 Assessing the writing situation

1.4.1 Defining a general purpose


Your purpose may fall into one of four general categories: entertain-
dev
ment, self-expression, explanation, or persuasion. These purposes may
1.4 overlap in a single piece of writing, but usually one predominates. The
dominant purpose will influence your particular slant on your topic,
the supporting details you choose, and even the words you use.
In college or public writing, by far the most common purposes
are explanation and persuasion:
• Writing that is mainly explanatory and informative is often called expo-
sition (from a Latin word meaning “to explain or set forth”). Using
examples, facts, and other evidence, you present an idea about
your subject so that readers understand it as you do. Almost any
subject is suitable for exposition: how to pitch a knuckleball, why
you want to major in business, the implications of a new discov-
ery in genetics, the interpretation of a short story, the causes of an
economic slump. Exposition is the kind of writing encountered
most often in newspapers, magazines, and textbooks.
• Writing that is primarily persuasive is often called argument. Using
examples, facts, and other evidence, you support your position
on a debatable subject so that readers will at least consider
your view and perhaps agree with it or act on it. A newspaper
editorial favoring more bike lanes, a business proposal for a
new hiring policy, a student paper recommending more foreign
language courses or defending a theory about human psycho-
logical development—all these are arguments.

1.4.2 Defining a specific purpose


A writing assignment will often specify or imply both a general
and a specific purpose. Say, for instance, that a psychology teacher
assigns a review of the research on infants’ perception of color. You
know that the purpose is generally to explain and, more specifically,
to summarize and analyze the established research on the subject.
You want readers to understand the current state of the investiga-
tion into the subject. In addition, you want your instructor to see
that you can competently read and write about others’ work.
Here are more examples of specific purposes:
To explain the methods and results of an engineering experiment so
that readers understand and accept your conclusions
To explain the reasons for a new policy on technology use in classrooms
so that students understand why the guidelines are needed
To persuade readers to support the college administration’s plan for
more required courses

With any writing assignment, try to define your specific pur-


pose as soon as you have formed a question about your subject.

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Subject 21

Don’t worry if you feel uncertain of your purpose at the start. Some-
times you may not discover your purpose until you begin drafting,
or you may find that your initial sense of purpose changes as you dev
move through the writing process. 1.5

Exercise 1.6 Finding purpose in assignments


For each of the topics in Exercise 1.3, suggest a likely general purpose
(entertainment, self-expression, explanation, persuasion) and try to
define a specific purpose as well.

Exercise 1.7 C
 onsidering your past work: Defining
a purpose
Look over two or three things you’ve written in the past year or so. What
was your specific purpose in each one? How did the purpose influence
your writing? Did you achieve your purpose?

Exercise 1.8 Defining a purpose for your essay


For your informative report, use your thinking so far about your subject
(Exercise 1.2) to define a general and specific purpose for your writing.

1.5 Subject
1.5 Choose and narrow a subject.
For most college writing, you will write in response to an assign-
ment. The assignment may specify your subject, or it may leave the
choice to you. Whether the subject is assigned or not, it will prob-
ably need thought if it is to achieve these aims:
• The subject should be suitable for the assignment.
• It should be neither too general nor too limited for the length of
the project and the deadline assigned.
• It should be something that interests you and that you are willing to
learn more about.

1.5.1 Responding to a specific assignment


Many assignments will set boundaries for your subject. For instance,
you might be asked to discuss what makes psychotherapy effective,
to prepare a lab report on a physics experiment, or to analyze a char-
acter in a short story.
Such assignments may seem to leave little room for you to
move around, but in fact you’ll have several questions to answer:
• What’s wanted from you? Writing assignments often contain
words such as discuss, describe, analyze, report, interpret, explain,

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 21 01/09/22 12:36 PM


22 Assessing the writing situation

define, argue, and evaluate. These words specify your approach


to your subject, the kind of thinking expected, your general pur-
dev pose, and even the form your writing should take.
1.5 • For whom are you writing? Many assignments will specify or
imply your readers, but sometimes you will have to figure out for
yourself who your audience is and what they expect from you.
• What kind of research is required, if any? Sometimes an assignment
specifies the kinds of sources you are expected to consult, and
you can use such information to choose your subject. (If you are
unsure whether research is required, check with your instructor.)

1.5.2 Responding to a general assignment


Some assignments specify features such as length and amount of
research, but they leave the choice of subject entirely to you. Others
are somewhat more focused—for instance, “Respond to a reading
assigned in this course” or “Discuss a proposal for solving a local
social problem”—but still give you much leeway in choosing a par-
ticular reading or a particular proposal. To find your approach, con-
sider your own experiences or interests:
• What subject do you already know something about or have you
been wondering about? Athletic scholarships? Unemployment in
your town?
• Have you recently disagreed with someone over a substantial issue?
The change in relations between men and women? The cost of
health insurance?
• What have you read or seen lately? A fascinating book? A violent
or funny movie? An effective Web advertisement or television
commercial?
• What topic in the reading or class discussion for a course has in-
trigued you? An economic issue such as taxes? A psychological
problem such as depression?
• What makes you especially happy or especially angry? A volunteer
activity? The behavior of your neighbors?
• Which of your own or others’ dislikes and preferences would you
like to understand better? The demand for hybrid cars? The deci-
sion to become a vegetarian?
Once you have a subject, you’ll also need to answer the questions in
the bulleted list on specific assignments.

1.5.3 Narrowing a subject to a question


Let’s say you’ve decided to write about social media or about a char-
acter in a short story. You’ve got a subject, but it’s still broad, wor-
thy of a lengthy article if not a whole book. For a relatively brief
paper, you’ll need a narrow focus in order to provide the specific
details that make writing significant and interesting—all within the
required length and deadline.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 22 01/09/22 12:36 PM


Subject 23

One helpful technique for narrowing a subject is to ask focused


questions about it, seeking one that seems appropriate for your
assignment and that promises to sustain your interest throughout dev
the writing process. The following examples illustrate how ques- 1.5
tioning can scale down broad subjects to specific subjects that are
limited and manageable:
Broad subjects Specific subjects
Social media What draws people to social media?
How do sites like Snapchat or Instagram alter the
ways people interact?
What privacy protections should the sites provide
for users?
Mrs. Mallard in What changes does Mrs. Mallard undergo?
Kate Chopin’s Why does Mrs. Mallard respond as she does to
“The Story of news of her husband’s death?
an Hour” What does the story’s irony contribute to the
­character of Mrs. Mallard?
Lincoln’s What was Lincoln’s most significant error as
weaknesses ­commander-in-chief of the Union army?
as President Why did Lincoln delay emancipating the slaves?
Why did Lincoln have difficulties controlling his
cabinet?
Federal aid Which students should be entitled to federal aid?
to college How adequate are the kinds of federal aid available
students to college students?
Why should the federal government aid college
students?

As these examples illustrate, your questions should not lend them-


selves to yes-or-no answers but should require further thinking.
Here are some guidelines for posing questions:
• Reread the assignment. Consider what it tells you about purpose,
audience, genre, sources, length, and deadline.
• Pursue your interests. If questions don’t come easily, try freewrit-
ing or brainstorming or use a tree diagram.
• Ask as many questions as you can think of.
• Test the question that seems most interesting and appropriate by
roughly sketching out the main ideas. Consider how many para-
graphs or pages of specific facts, examples, and other details
you would need to pin those ideas down. This thinking should
give you at least a vague idea of how much work you’d have to
do and how long the resulting paper might be.
• Break a too-broad question down further, and repeat the previous
step.

Don’t be discouraged if the perfect question does not come eas-


ily or early. You may find that you need to do some planning and
writing, exploring different facets of the general subject and pursuing

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 23 01/09/22 12:36 PM


24 Assessing the writing situation

your specific interests, before you hit on the best question. And the
question you select may require further narrowing or may shift sub-
dev tly or even dramatically as you move through the writing process.
1.6

Exercise 1.9 Narrowing subjects


Following are some general writing assignments. Use the given informa-
tion and your own interests to pose specific questions for three of these
assignments.
1. For a writing course, consider how YouTube is altering the experi-
ence of popular culture. Length: three pages. Deadline: one week.
2. For a course in sociology, research and analyze the effects of a
proposed immigration policy. Length: unspecified. Deadline: four
weeks.
3. For a writing course, read and respond to an essay in a text you are
using. Length: three pages. Deadline: two weeks.
4. For a government course, consider possible term limits on legisla-
tors. Length: five pages. Deadline: two weeks.
5. For a letter to the editor of the town newspaper, describe the effects
of a proposed new power plant on your community. Length: two
pages. Deadline: unspecified.

Exercise 1.10 C
 onsidering your past work: Choosing
and narrowing a subject
Think of something you’ve recently written—perhaps an application
essay, a business report, or a term paper. How did your subject evolve
from beginning to end? In retrospect, was it appropriate for your writ-
ing situation? How, if at all, might it have been modified?

Exercise 1.11 C
 hoosing and narrowing a subject
for your essay
As the first step in developing a three- to four-page essay for the instruc-
tor and the other students in your writing course, choose a subject and
narrow it. Use the guidelines in the previous section to come up with a
question that is suitably interesting, appropriate, and specific.

1.6 Genre and Medium


1.6 Identify your genre and medium.
Writers use familiar genres, or types of writing, to express their ideas.
A genre is a pattern or form that is commonly used by writers in
a particular situation. For example, in college you will be asked to
write in a wide range of genres such as analyses, lab reports, reviews,
proposals, oral presentations, even blog posts. In a workplace setting,

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 24 01/09/22 12:36 PM


Genre and medium 25

writing situations often call for genres like reports, memos, and
proposals.
A genre is the conventional form that writing takes in a cer- dev
tain context. In academic writing, genre conventions help to further 1.6
the aims of the disciplines; for instance, the features of a lab report
emphasize the procedures, results, and conclusion that are impor-
tant in scientific investigation. The conventions also help to improve
communication because the writer knows what readers expect and
readers can predict what they will encounter in the writing. Sup-
pose your instructor assigns an argument essay and asks classmates
to read one another’s drafts. As you approach one paper titled “Ani-
mal Rights,” you expect the essay to contain the conventional ele-
ments of argument: an introduction, a main claim or thesis about
animal rights, paragraphs that develop that claim with evidence,
and a conclusion. When the draft meets your expectations in these
respects, you can settle into its substance. However, if instead of an
argument you find a funny narrative about the writer’s dog, your
thwarted expectations will throw off your response. Searching for
the argument, you might even miss the humor in the story.
When you receive a writing assignment, be sure to understand
any requirements relating to genre:
• Is a specific genre being assigned? An assignment that asks you
to write an analysis, an argument, or a report has specified the
genre for you to use. In contrast, an assignment that asks you
to write for the purpose of recruiting new members to a club
leaves the choice of genre up to you—perhaps a flyer to post on
campus, a brochure to hand out in the cafeteria, an e-mail mes-
sage, or a Facebook post.
• What are the conventions of the genre? Your instructor and/or
your textbook will probably outline the requirements for you.
You can also learn about a genre by reading samples of it.
• What flexibility do you have? Within their conventions, most
genres still allow room for your own approach and voice. Again,
reading samples will show you much about your options.
Closely related to genre is the concept of medium. Medium
refers to the technology or platform you might use to present a spe-
cific genre. For example, a proposal (genre) might be presented in
the form of a written essay, a slide presentation, or an online video.
Your choice of medium should be determined by the needs of the
audience and by the other elements in the writing situation.
• Is a medium being assigned? Sometimes an assignment will
specify that you deliver a project in a medium. You may be
asked, for example, to deliver a proposal in the medium of a
slide presentation.
• What does your audience expect? If your audience expects a for-
mal written report, you may not want to deliver your project in

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26 Assessing the writing situation

the medium of a comic video. In other situations, your audi-


ence may welcome a more casual or innovative use of medium.
dev • What flexibility do you have? In some writing situations, you may
1.6 have a choice of medium. You might decide, for example, that a
process explanation showing nursing students how to insert an
IV line would be better delivered as a video than as a detailed
set of written instructions.

Exercise 1.12 Thinking about genre


Following is a list of writing genres in no particular order. You should be
familiar with most of them even if you haven’t studied or written in them.
personal essay blog post
video presentation memoir
oral report written report
letter to the editor slide presentation
For each of the following subject-audience pairs, suggest one of the
above genres that might be appropriate and explain why you think its
features would work.
1. Subject: your memories of learning to read. Audience: your writing class.
2. Subject: state laws against texting while driving. Audience: sixteen-
year-olds.
3. Subject: a new cyberbullying policy on your campus. Audience:
students on your campus.
4. Subject: the carbon footprint of dogs. Audience: people in your city.
5. Subject: results of a survey on dating behavior on your campus.
Audience: a psychology class.

Exercise 1.13 C
 onsidering your past work:
Analyzing genre
Look over two or three things you’ve recently written, such as an appli-
cation essay, a report, an essay for class, or a letter of complaint. Can
you identify the genre of each piece? How does what you wrote meet
your readers’ expectations for the genre? How does your writing change
from one genre to another?

Exercise 1.14 D
 etermining the medium for
your project
Exercise 1.2 includes an assignment for an informative report with three
options for the choice of medium (memo report, slide presentation,
or infographic). Use your thinking so far about the audience, purpose,
and subject of your report to make a decision about which medium you
would choose. Why did you make that choice? What expectations do
readers have for a project in that medium?

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Chapter 2
Discovering and dev
2.1
Shaping Ideas
Learning Objectives

2.1 Use invention strategies to discover ideas.


2.2 Develop a thesis.
2.3 Organize ideas.

2.1 Invention
2.1 Use invention strategies to discover ideas.
Many college writing projects ask you to address a significant ques-
tion related to your subject. For some projects, you may have little
difficulty finding something substantial to say. But when you’re
stuck for ideas, you’ll have to get your mind working to coax out
serious and interesting thoughts.
The following pages describe strategies for discovering ideas.
These methods are to be selected from, not followed in sequence:
some may help you during early stages of the writing process, even
before you’re sure of your topic; others may help you later on; and
one or two may not help at all. Give yourself ample time with the
strategies, experimenting to discover which ones work best for you.
Whatever discovery techniques you use, do your work in writ-
ing, not just in your head. Your work will then be retrievable, and
the act of writing will help you concentrate and lead you to fresh,
sometimes surprising, insights.

Figure 2.1 Discovering and planning

Drafting Revising

Discovering Analyzing the


and planning writing situation Editing

27

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 27 01/09/22 12:36 PM


28 Discovering and shaping ideas

Culture and language


dev
Reading books originally written in your native language and then
2.1 translated into English can be an interesting experience. Often, you
­
­wonder whether the book was poorly written in the first place or was
it simply badly translated. Try comparing a popular fiction or nonfiction
book written in your native language alongside its English translation.
Does the translation convey the same meaning? How does the translation
impact your understanding? How true to the original is the translated
version?

2.1.1 Reading
Many assignments require you to respond to reading or to con-
sult texts as sources for your writing. But even when reading is not
required, it can help you locate or develop a subject by introducing
you to new ideas or by expanding on what you already know.
For example, say you were writing in favor of amateur athlet-
ics, a subject to which you had given a lot of thought. You might
be inclined to proceed entirely on your own, drawing on facts,
examples, and opinions already in your head. But a little digging in
sources might suggest new ideas. For instance, an article in Sports
Illustrated could explain recent lawsuits about payment of college
athletes, or a comment on a blog could suggest an argument in
favor of amateurism that hadn’t occurred to you. Remember: when-
ever you use the information or ideas of others in your writing, you
must acknowledge your sources in order to avoid the serious offense
of plagiarism.

Techniques for discovering a subject


• Read
• Keep a journal
• Observe your surroundings
• Freewrite
• Brainstorm
• Mind map
• Use the journalist’s questions
• Use the patterns of development

Often you will be given an assignment that asks you to use a text
or texts in your writing. In a composition course, Erica Vela’s instruc-
tor distributed “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” in which Nicholas Carr
analyzes the effects of the Internet on reading and the human mind.
The instructor’s assignment calls for a response to reading.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 28 01/09/22 12:36 PM


Invention 29

Instructor’s assignment
Nicholas Carr poses a question: “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Carr
argues that the Internet is changing the way we read and process infor- dev
mation. He describes his own experience as a reader using a colorful
metaphor: “Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along
2.1
the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski.” The Internet, in short, is turning us
into superficial readers who lack the capacity for sustained, deep engage-
ment. As a college student, how do you respond to Carr’s argument?
How does the Internet affect the way you read? How does the Internet
also affect your learning process and your interactions with other people?

To respond to Carr’s essay, Vela had to digest its argument. On first


reading the essay, she had found it convincing because Carr’s descrip-
tion matched her own experience: she noticed her own tendency to
get distracted when reading online. After rereading the essay, however,
Vela was not persuaded that the picture was as dark as Carr suggests.
She began to think of many benefits that come from reading online,
and she began to develop her own angle on the topic in her journal.
Student’s journal entry
Carr makes some excellent points. The Internet is absolutely changing the way I
read and the way that I process information. It seems like I used to be able to read
entire books in a single sitting, but now I struggle to read more than twenty pages
at a time. Plus, I can’t concentrate very well if I’m logged on the Internet. I tend to
jump from Web site to Web site, constantly stimulating my brain with new informa-
tion. However, I do see a benefit—especially as a college student. I’ve never set
foot in the university library. I can complete my research through the online data-
base, accessing scholarship from across the globe. I’ve also taken multiple online
classes where I’ve interacted with my professors and classmates through video
calls and online collaboration. I appreciate all the benefits of the Internet, but
sometimes I miss curling up with a good book, too.

When you read for ideas, you need to be active, probing the text
and illustrations with your mind, nurturing any sparks they ignite.
Always write while you read, taking notes on content and—just as
important—on what the content makes you think.

2.1.2 Keeping a journal


A journal is a place to record your responses, thoughts, and obser-
vations about what you read, see, hear, or experience. It can also be
a good source of ideas for writing. It is a kind of diary, but one more
concerned with ideas than with day-to-day events. Journal comes
from the Latin for “daily,” and many journal keepers do write faith-
fully every day; others make entries less regularly, when the mood
strikes or an insight occurs or they have a problem to work out.

Advantages of a journal
When you write in a journal, you are writing to yourself. That means
you don’t have to worry about main ideas, organization, correct

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 29 01/09/22 12:36 PM


30 Discovering and shaping ideas

grammar and spelling, or any of the other requirements of writing


for others. You can work out your ideas and feelings without the
dev pressure of an audience “out there” who will evaluate your thinking
2.1 and expression. The freedom and flexibility of a journal can be liber-
ating. Like many others, you may find writing easier, more fun, and
more rewarding than you thought possible.
You can keep a journal either on paper (such as a notebook) or on
a computer. If you write in the journal every day, or almost, even just
for a few minutes, the routine will loosen up your writing muscles and
improve your confidence. Indeed, journal keepers often become depen-
dent on the process for the writing practice it gives them, the concen-
trated thought it encourages, and the connection it fosters between
personal, private experience and public information and events.

Culture and language


A journal can be especially helpful in improving your language skills.
You can practice writing to improve your fluency, try out sentence pat-
terns, and experiment with vocabulary words. Equally important, you
can experiment with applying what you know from experience to what
you read and observe.

Uses of a journal
The writing you produce in your journal will help you learn and
grow. Even the personal and seemingly nonacademic entries can
supply ideas when you are seeking a subject to write about or you
are developing an essay.
In 2.1.1, you read Erica Vela’s journal response to an essay. The
next two student samples give a taste of journal writing for different
purposes. In the first, Chris Eller tries to work out a personal prob-
lem about communication with his spouse.
Student’s journal entry
It seems like Elizabeth and I fight all the time. Marriage is more difficult than I
expected. We argue about everything—money, housework, our extended fami-
lies. We even argue about breakfast cereal. I don’t doubt our relationship; we’ve
just lost the ability to communicate with each other. How do we stop arguing and
start talking again?

In the second example, Mandy Powers ponders something she


learned from her rhetoric textbook.
Student’s journal entry
How do modern-day commercials use Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals? Advertis-
ers want to persuade viewers to take an action by developing an argument. In
these shortened arguments, advertisers tend to focus on quick appeals to ethics
(ethos) or emotions (pathos) and avoid longer appeals to logic (logos) as evi-
denced by countless celebrity endorsements and images of animals in danger.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 30 01/09/22 12:36 PM


Invention 31

Two uses of a journal are discussed in other chapters: a reading


journal, in which you think critically (in writing) about what you
read; and a research journal, in which you record your activities dev
and ideas while you pursue a research project. But you can use a 2.1
journal for other purposes as well.
• Prepare for or respond to a course you’re taking by puzzling over a
reading or a class discussion.
• Build ideas for specific writing assignments.
• Sketch possible designs for a Web composition.
• Explore your reactions to events, trends, or the media.
• Write about your own history: an event in your family’s past, a
troubling incident in your life, a change you’ve seen.
• Analyze a relationship that disturbs you.
• Practice various forms or styles of writing—for instance, poems or
songs, reviews of movies, or reports for TV news.

2.1.3 Observing your surroundings


Sometimes you can find a good subject or good ideas by looking
around you, not in the half-conscious way most of us move from
place to place in our daily lives but deliberately, all senses alert. On a
bus, for instance, are there certain types of passengers? What seems
to be on the driver’s mind? On campus, which buildings stand out?
Do bicyclists and pedestrians coexist peacefully?
To get the most from observation, you should have a device or a
notepad and pen handy for taking notes and making sketches. Take
photos with your phone to remind yourself of details later. (When
observing or photographing people, keep some distance, take pho-
tographs quickly, and avoid staring. Otherwise your subjects will
feel uneasy.) Back at your desk, study your notes, sketches, or pho-
tographs for oddities or patterns that you’d like to explore further.
In some academic writing, you’ll be expected to formalize observa-
tion and perhaps combine it with surveys, interviews, or experiments.

2.1.4 Freewriting
Writing into a subject
Many writers find subjects or discover ideas by freewriting: writing
without stopping for a certain amount of time (five or ten minutes) or
to a certain length (one page). The goal of freewriting is to generate
ideas and information from within yourself by going around the self-
critical part of your mind. The physical act of freewriting may give
you access to ideas you were unaware of. You let words themselves
suggest other words. What you write is not important; that you keep
writing is. Don’t stop, even if that means repeating the same words
until new words come. Don’t go back to reread, don’t censor ideas that
seem off-track or repetitious, and above all don’t stop to edit: gram-
mar, punctuation, vocabulary, and spelling are irrelevant at this stage.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 31 01/09/22 12:36 PM


32 Discovering and shaping ideas

The following freewriting by Daquan Cook drew him into the


subject of funding for college athletics.
dev
Student’s freewriting
2.1 Seems like some colleges and universities value athletics more than the academ-
ics. Our football coach makes more than the chancellor—he’s the highest paid
public employee in the state! Is his job truly worth that much? Why? Out of bal-
ance. Maybe too much money in college sports like football and basketball? Ads?
TV? March Madness is huge. Madness everywhere in college sports. Schools build
stadiums, arenas, and facilities—academic programs get cut at the same time.
Time for colleges and universities to rethink their priorities—are they focused on
educating students or giving alumni something to do on Saturday afternoons in
the fall? How to push for change?

If you can dim your screen, try invisible writing to keep moving
forward while freewriting. As you type on a dark screen, the computer
will record what you type but keep it from you and thus prevent you
from tinkering with your prose. Invisible writing may feel uncomfort-
able at first, but it can free your mind and allow very creative results.

Focused freewriting
Focused freewriting is more concentrated: you start with your ques-
tion about your subject and answer it without stopping for, say, fif-
teen minutes or one full page. As in all freewriting, you push to bypass
mental blocks and self-consciousness, not debating what to say or
editing what you’ve written. With focused freewriting, though, you let
the physical act of writing take you into and around your subject.
An example of focused freewriting can be found in Erica Vela’s
journal response to Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”
(2.1.1). Because she already had an idea about Carr’s essay, Vela was
able to start there and expand on the idea.

Culture and language


Focused freewriting can work well if you have a stimulus. For example,
search for an image of a Cambodian jungle online. Choose the very first
image and enlarge it to full screen. Study the image for one or two min-
utes. Write a description of the image you have found without paying
attention to the way you express your thoughts. What thoughts does
the picture bring to mind? Try to write for at least five minutes without
repetition or ­deviating from the image.

2.1.5 Brainstorming
In brainstorming, you focus intently on your subject for a fixed
amount of time (ten or fifteen minutes), pushing yourself to list
every idea and detail that comes to mind. Like freewriting, brain-
storming requires turning off your internal editor so that you keep
moving ahead instead of going back over what you have already

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 32 01/09/22 12:36 PM


Invention 33

written to correct it. It makes no difference whether the ideas and


details are expressed in phrases or complete sentences. It makes
no difference if they seem silly or irrelevant. Just keep pushing. If dev
you are working on a computer, the technique of invisible writing, 2.1
described above, can help you move forward.
Following is an example of brainstorming by a student, Joy-
anna Logan. She was responding to the question What can a sum-
mer internship offer?
Student’s brainstorming
summer internships offer—
real-world experience
learned how to communicate in the workplace after years of
­communicating as an academic
allowed (forced?) to work collaboratively with different teams
realized that the work in this field is difficult with little to no reward
decided to change majors—this field is absolutely not for me!
opportunity to build a professional network
Mrs. Queen: quiet but extremely intelligent; offered a lot of wisdom
during my crisis of major
Mr. Jones: mean and nasty; do not want in network—only supervisors
interacted with him on purpose
résumé entry
not in my field since major change, but still shows evidence of
­abilities
gained skills in résumé writing and job interviews
maybe use Mrs. Q as a reference?
possible job offer post-graduation
would not willingly work in that office . . . maybe as a very last resort
with no other options
confidence builder
applied skills learned at university to workplace
challenged to meet and interact with new people—can be difficult as
an introvert

When you have exhausted your ideas on a topic, you can edit and
shape the list into a preliminary outline of your paper.

2.1.6 Mind mapping


Like freewriting and list making, the technique of mind mapping
uses free association to produce rapid, unedited work. But it also
emphasizes the relationships between ideas by combining writing
and nonlinear drawing. Start with your topic at a center point and
then radiate outward with ideas. Pursue related ideas in a branch-
ing structure until you have exhausted that line of thinking. Then
do the same with other ideas, staying open to connections, continu-
ously branching out or drawing arrows.
Figure 2.2 shows how Daquan Cook used the technique for ten
minutes to expand on the topic of money in college football, an idea
he developed through freewriting (2.1.4).

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 33 01/09/22 12:36 PM


34 Discovering and shaping ideas

Figure 2.2 Mind mapping


dev Stadium upgrades Faculty salaries

2.1 Coach salary Athletic costs Academic cuts Programs cut


New facilities Priorities?

Money in college
sports
TV networks Voice?
Advertisers Input
Alumni groups Who profits? Students Build awareness

2.1.7 Using the journalist’s questions


Asking yourself a set of questions about your subject—and writing
out the answers—can help you look at the subject objectively and
see fresh possibilities in it. Asking questions can also provide some
structure to the development of ideas.
A journalist with a story to report poses this set of questions:
• Who was involved?
• What happened, and what were the results?
• When did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

These questions can also be useful in probing an essay subject,


especially if you are telling a story or examining causes and effects.

2.1.8 Using the patterns of development


The patterns of development—such as narration, definition, and
classification—are ways we think about and understand a vast range
of subjects, from our own daily experiences to the most complex sci-
entific theories. They also serve as strategies and patterns for writing
about these subjects, and can be used to organize paragraphs.
To see your subject from many angles and discover ideas about
it, you can ask the following questions based on the patterns of
development. Not all these questions will be productive, but at least
a few should suggest possibilities.
How did it happen?
In narration you develop the subject as a story, with important
events usually arranged chronologically (as they occurred in time):
for instance, an exciting basketball game or the steps leading to a war.

How does it look, sound, feel, smell, taste?


In description you use sensory details to give a clear impres-
sion of a person, place, thing, or feeling, such as a species of animal,
a machine, a friend, a building, or an experience.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 34 01/09/22 12:37 PM


Invention 35

What are examples of it or reasons for it?


The pattern of illustration suggests development with one or
more examples of the subject (one student’s experience as a cam- dev
paign volunteer, say, or three states’ laws against Internet gambling) 2.1
or with the reasons for believing or doing something (three reasons
for majoring in English, four reasons for increasing federal aid to
college students).

What is it? What does it encompass, and what does it exclude?


These questions lead to definition: specifying what the subject
is and what it is not in order to give a precise sense of its meaning.
Abstract terms—such as justice, friendship, and art—especially need
defining.

What are its parts or characteristics?


Using the pattern of division or analysis, you separate a subject
such as a bicycle or a short story into its elements and examine the
relationships among elements.

What groups or categories can it be sorted into?


Classification involves separating a large group (such as cars)
into smaller groups (conventional gas, hybrid, plug-in electric)
based on the characteristics of the individual items (the kinds of
engines). Another example: academic, business, personal, literary,
and other types of writing.

How is it like, or different from, other things?


With comparison and contrast you point out the similarities
and differences between ideas, objects, people, places, and so on:
the differences between two similar computer systems, for instance,
or the similarities between two opposing political candidates.

Is it comparable to something that is in a different class but


more familiar to readers?
This question leads to analogy, an extended comparison of
unlike subjects. Analogy is often used to explain a topic that may be
unfamiliar to readers (for instance, the relationships of atoms in a
molecule) by reference to a familiar topic (two people dancing close
together).
Why did it happen, or what results did it have?
With cause-and-effect analysis, you explain why something
happened or what its consequences were or will be, or both: the
causes of cerebral palsy, the effects of a Supreme Court decision,
the causes and effects of a gradual change in the climate.

How do you do it, or how does it work?


In process analysis, you explain how the subject happens (how
a plant grows, how a robot works) or how to accomplish it (how to
write an essay).

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36 Discovering and shaping ideas

dev
Exercise 2.1 C
 onsidering your past work: Discovering
ideas
2.2 In the past how have you generated ideas for writing? Have you used
any of the techniques described above? Have you found the process
especially enjoyable or difficult? If some writing tasks were easier than
others, what do you think made the difference?

Exercise 2.2 Keeping a journal


If you haven’t already started a journal, try to do so now. Every day for
at least a week, write for at least fifteen minutes about anything on your
mind. At the end of the week, write about your experience. What did you
like about journal writing? What didn’t you like? What did you learn about
yourself or the world from the writing? How can you use this knowledge?

Exercise 2.3 U
 sing freewriting, brainstorming,
or mind mapping
If you haven’t tried any of them before, experiment with freewrit-
ing, brainstorming, or mind mapping. Continue with the subject you
selected in Exercise 1.11, or begin with a new subject. Write or map for
at least ten minutes without stopping to reread and edit. When you fin-
ish your experiment, examine what you have written for ideas and rela-
tionships that could help you develop the subject. What do you think of
the technique you tried? Did you have any difficulties with it? Did it help
you loosen up and generate ideas?

Exercise 2.4 Sending an online query


When you have spent some time developing your subject, consider any
doubts you may have or any information you still need. Send a message
to your classmates posing your questions and asking for their advice
and insights.

Exercise 2.5 Developing your subject


Use at least two of the discovery strategies discussed above to develop
a topic. (Later exercises for your essay-in-progress will be based on the
ideas you generate in this exercise.)

2.2 Thesis
2.2 Develop a thesis.
Your readers will expect your essay to be focused on a central idea,
or thesis, to which all the essay’s paragraphs, all its general state-
ments and specific information, relate. The thesis is the controlling

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 36 01/09/22 12:37 PM


Thesis 37

idea, the main point, the conclusion you draw from your evidence.
In answering your question about your subject, the thesis is the
intellectual position you are taking. dev
Often the thesis is expressed in a one- or two-sentence thesis 2.2
statement toward the beginning of an essay. As an expression of the
thesis, the thesis statement serves five important functions.

Functions of the thesis statement


• The thesis statement narrows your subject to a single, central
idea.
• It claims something specific and significant about your subject.
• It conveys your purpose for writing.
• It establishes your voice and stance toward your readers.
• It previews the arrangement of ideas in your essay. (Not all thesis
statements work as a preview, but many do.)

2.2.1 Starting with a thesis question


A thesis statement probably will not leap fully formed into your head.
Many writers begin the process of developing a thesis by turning the
assignment into a thesis question. If you used questions to narrow
your subject (2.1.7), the thesis question continues this approach but
with a sharper focus. A thesis question can help you figure out your
position, organize your ideas, start drafting, and stay on track.
Consider again Erica Vela’s assignment:
As a college student, how do you respond to Carr’s argument? How
does the Internet affect the way you read? How does the I­nternet also
affect your learning process and your interactions with other people?

Responding to the assignment, Vela first rephrased it as two questions:


To what extent do I agree or disagree with Carr’s argument that the Internet is
changing the way we read and process information?
How have my learning process and personal interactions changed?

Then Vela reread Carr’s essay to clarify the disagreement she first
expressed in her journal writing and to begin applying this response
to her own experiences as an online reader and student. The result
was a single question that would guide her thinking:
How does my positive educational experience counter Carr’s argument that the
Internet is negatively changing the way that we process information?

2.2.2 Moving from thesis question to thesis statement


Drafting a thesis statement can occur at almost any time in the writ-
ing process. Some instructors suggest that students develop a thesis

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 37 01/09/22 12:37 PM


38 Discovering and shaping ideas

statement when they have a good stock of ideas, to give a definite


sense of direction. Other instructors suggest that students work
dev with their thesis question at least through drafting, to keep their
2.2 options open. And no matter when it’s drafted, a thesis statement
can change during the writing process, as the writer discovers ideas
and expresses them in sentences.
Erica Vela chose to try writing her thesis statement before
drafting. Working from her thesis question, she wrote a sentence
that named a topic and made a claim about it:
The ability to shrink the globe and bring information and education to my
fingertips proves that Nicholas Carr’s reservations about the Internet are
shortsighted.

Vela’s topic is the influence of the Internet on reading and learning,


and her claim is that Carr’s argument is too pessimistic. Although
Vela later revised her thesis statement, this draft statement gave her
direction, and she used it in the first draft of her paper.
Following are more examples of thesis questions and answering
thesis statements. Each statement consists of a topic and a claim.
Notice how each statement also expresses purpose. Statements 1–3
are explanatory: the writers mainly want to explain something to
readers, such as the benefits of military service. Statements 4–6
are argumentative: the authors mainly want to convince readers of
something, such as the need to outlaw drivers’ use of cell phones.
Most of the thesis statements you write in college papers will be
either explanatory or argumentative.

Thesis question Explanatory thesis statement


1. What are the advantages Military service teaches teamwork,
of serving in the US discipline, and job-related skills that
military? transfer well to civilian life. [Topic:
military service. Claim: teaches skills
that transfer to civilian life.]
2. Why did Abraham Lin- Lincoln delayed emancipating any
coln delay in emancipat- slaves until 1863 because his primary
ing the slaves? goal was to restore and preserve
the Union, with or without slavery.
[Topic: Lincoln’s delay. Claim: was
caused by his goal of preserving the
Union.]
3. What steps can prevent Juveniles can be diverted from crime
juvenile crime? by active learning programs, full-time
sports, frequent contact with posi-
tive role models, and intervention by
consistent mentors. [Topic: juvenile
crime. Claim: can be prevented in
four ways.]

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 38 01/09/22 12:37 PM


Thesis 39

Thesis question Argumentative thesis statement


4. Why should drivers’ Drivers’ use of cell phones should
use of cell phones be be outlawed because people who dev
banned? talk and drive at the same time cause
accidents. [Topic: drivers’ use of cell
2.2
phones. Claim: should be outlawed
because it causes accidents.]
5. Which college students As an investment in its own economy,
should be entitled to the federal government should pro-
federal aid? vide a tuition grant to any college
student who qualifies academically.
[Topic: federal aid. Claim: should be
provided to any college student who
qualifies academically.]
6. Why should strip-mining Strip-mining should be tightly con-
be controlled? trolled in this region to reduce its
pollution of water resources, its
destruction of the land, and its devas-
tating effects on people’s lives. [Topic:
strip-mining. Claim: should be tightly
controlled for three reasons.]

Culture and language


A thesis statement can be argumentative (to motivate the reader to
accept your claim), analytical (to analyze, interpret, evaluate, and then
conclude), or expository (provide explanation and facilitate discussion).
Try each approach using the same topic. Remember, the statements
determine the objectives of the thesis. They ensure relevance and make
the thesis more interesting.

2.2.3 Using the thesis statement to preview organization


You can write a thesis statement that suggests the organization of
your essay. Readers often appreciate such a preview, and students
often prefer it because it helps them organize their main points and
keep on track during drafting. Several statements in the preceding
section preview the organization:
Thesis statement Organization of essay
Military service teaches teamwork, Three aspects of military
discipline, and job-related skills that ­service that transfer well to
transfer well to civilian life. civilian life.
Juveniles can be diverted from Four ways to reduce juvenile
crime by active learning programs, crime.
full-time sports, frequent contact
with positive role models, and
intervention by consistent mentors.

M01_FOWL1191_14_GE_P01.indd 39 01/09/22 12:37 PM


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
— Hänen miehellään oli hyvät tulot ja jätti jälkeensä melkoisen
omaisuuden. Hän itse on kertonut minun isälleni, että hänellä on
viisitoista tuhatta…

— Niin, onhan tuo melkoinen omaisuus, — huomautti Przyjemski.

— Eikös ole? — jatkoi Klaara. — Mutta niinpä hän käyttääkin sitä


hyvin.
Paitsi meitä hän auttaa vielä muutamia toisia…

— Se on aivan oikein. Onhan eukolla jaettavaakin.

— Onpa kyllä, ja tästä työstä hän tuntee suurta iloa; muutoin


hänen elämällään ei olisi mitään päämäärää… Hänellä ei ole lapsia.

Mies päätti:

— Koskapa hänellä on viisitoista tuhatta, niin hän muistuttaa


parisilaista jumalanäidin kuvaa…

Przyjemski nojasi kyynärpäänsä portaita vastaan, painoi päänsä


käteen ja vaipui niin syviin mietteisiin, että Klaara sen huomasi.
Hänkin vuorostaan hetkesi äänettömäksi eikä uskaltanut
sanallakaan miestä häiritä. Hiljaisuutta kesti muutamia minuutteja,
sitte oikasi Przyjemski itsensä ja katsahti tähtiin. Klaara huomasi,
että ryppy kulmakarvojen välissä syveni.

Mies virkkoi:

Tähdet lentelevät.

Myöskin Klaara vaistomaisesti hiljensi ääntään, vastatessaan:


— Elokuussa aina tapahtuu paljo tähdenlentoja, väitetään, että
kun tähti lentää, tarvitsee vaan ajatuksissaan lausua toivomus
ennenkuin tähti sammuu, niin toivomus varmasti toteentuu…
Katsokaas tuossa taaskin yksi lensi! Tuossa toinen, kolmas!

Przyjemski loi katseensa taivasta kohden, jossa tähtiä lenteli ristiin


rastiin, ja lausui verkalleen:

— Lausua toivomus… niin monta tähteä lentää, että Te kerkiätte


aina jotakin toivoa, ennenkuin joku niistä sammuu.

Klaara vaikeni. Mies nyt kääntyi häneen päin ja istui niin lähellä,
että Klaara selvästi huomasi silmien ilmeen.

Koettaessaan vapaasti lausua, sanoi hän:

— Minä olen hyvin itsekäs. Jos uskoisin, että lentävä tähti voisi
täyttää ihmisten toivomukset, niin aina rukoilisin siltä tuota samaa
asiata: että isäni tulisi terveeksi, että lapset lukisivat ahkerasti ja että
heistä tulisi hyviä ihmisiä.

— Mitäs Te rukoilisitte itsellenne! Klaara katsoi kummastuneena.

— Itselleni! Tuota juuri itseni tähden ensin toivon.

— Onhan tuo oikein ilkeätä itsekkäisyyttä! Mutta ettekö todellakin


tahtoisi, että tähti tuottaisi Teille niin suurta onnea, että se sydämen
muuttaisi leimuavaksi tähdeksi ja kohottaisi sen korkealle, korkealle
ylemmäksi kaikkia mitä maailmassa löytyy.

Nämät sanat kuullessaan Klaara tunsi, että hänen sydämensä


muuttui leimuavaksi tähdeksi, ja juuri sen tähden, että hän tuon
tunsi, hän virkkoi leikillisesti:
— Jos jotakin anoisin itseäni varten, niin anoisin sitä, että saisin
olla ulkona metsässä kokonaisen päivän. Minua metsä eniten
miellyttää. Sitte hän lisäsi:

— Mitäs Te anoisitte lentävältä tähdeltä?

Przyjemski vastasi ajatuksiinsa vaipuneena:

— Minä anoisin kultaiselta tähdeltä vakuutusta siitä, että on


olemassa hyviä, puhtaita sydämiä maailmassa, ja sitte anoisin, että
tuollaisen sydämen saisin omakseni…

Mies hetkeksi vaikeni ja sitte jatkoi:

Minä anoisin: Kirkas tähti, anna minun unhottaa kaikki synkät


uneni…

Samalla kertaa suloisella ja katkeralla tunteella kuunteli Klaara


hänen sanojaan. Ääni hyväili hänen korviaan, mutta sanoissa piili
jotakin käsittämätöntä, joka sydäntä ahdisti.

Przyjemski nousi pystyyn ja virkkoi keveästi:

— Emmekö hiukan kävelisi puutarhassa?

Klaara nousi nöyrästi ja he vaelsivat pitkin kasteista nurmikkoa


kahden karviaispensasryhmän välitse sireenimajaa kohden.

— Te sanotte anovanne lentävältä tähdeltä, että isänne tulisi


terveeksi… Eikö hän sitte ole terve?

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— Mikä häntä oikeastaan vaivaa?


— On jotakin vikaa rinnassa.

— Tuohan on hyvin ikävää. Millä hän koettaa sitä parantaa?

— Muutamia vuosia sitten hän oli pitemmän hoidon alaisena,


mutta nyt ei hän enää kysy keltään lääkäriltä neuvoa. Lääke on
kallista ja auttaa vähän, kun saa tehdä voimia kysyvää työtä.
Pääasia on, että hän mahdollisuuden mukaan noudattaa terveyden
sääntöjä. Hänen täytyy mennä aikaiseen levolle, juoda maitoa ja
syödä paljon hedelmiä.

— Tuo viimeinen keino pitäisi olla hyvin helppo — huomautti


Przyjemski, — kun asuu suuren puutarhan keskellä ja on toinen vielä
suurempi aivan vieressä… Ruhtinaan puutarhassa on paljon
erinomaisia hedelmiä.

Klaara hymyili puolihämärän suojassa. Kuinka lystikäs mies! Mitä


se tähän kuului, että hänen isänsä eli määrätty syömään paljo
hedelmiä, ja että semmoisia oli ruhtinaan puutarhassa? Nuo olivat
kaksi eri asiaa, ilman minkäänlaista yhteyttä keskenänsä.

Przyjemski katsoi häneen äänetönnä, aivan kuin olisi odottanut,


että hän jotakin sanoisi. Sitte hän jatkoi huolettomasti:

— Ruhtinas ja minä olimme juuri tänään katselemassa


kasvihuonetta ja siellä oli niin paljo hyvää tavaraa, että ruhtinas käski
minun lähettää mielin määrin Perkowskin herrasväelle ja muille
tuttaville, jos minulla semmoisia täällä oli… Taaskin mies vaikeni ja
katsoi Klaaraan. Klaara huomautti:

— Ruhtinas mahtaa olla hyvin herttainen. Sitte hän osotti linnaa.


— Kylläpä se näyttää kauniilta valaistuine ikkunoineen! Tiedättekö
mitä? Kun tänä iltana ensi kertaa katsoin sinnepäin, pidin noita
ikkunoita tähtinä, jotka pilkottivat puiden lomitse.

He seisoivat aitauksen kupeella aivan lehtimajan vieressä. Puiden


latvoista kuului hiljainen humina ja ikäänkuin vastaukseksi kaikui heti
soitonsäveliä. Ne kaikuivat linnasta, valaistuista ikkunoista, mutta
äkkiä vaikenivat.

— Mitä se oli? Soittaako joku linnassa? kuiskasi Klaara.

Przyjemski vastasi:

— Ruhtinas soittaa, hän on suuri soiton ystävä, ja me usein


soitamme yhdessä.

— Vai soitatteko Tekin?

— Minä soitan selloa, ja hän säestää minua pianolla taikka


päinvastoin.
Pidättekö soitosta?

Linnasta jälleen kaikui muutamia säveleitä, mutta tällä kertaa eivät


heti tauonneet. Ne sulivat puiden hiljaiseen huminaan, ja kun tuo
taukosi, kaikui vielä pianon säveleitä yksinänsä.

Klaara vastasi hiljaa:

— En voi koskaan soittoa kuulla tulematta liikutetuksi.

— Onko Teillä siihen usein tilaisuutta?

— Äidin kuoltua — hänen oli tapa soitella isälle iltaisin — vain pari
kolme kertaa tuttavien luona.
— Onko tuo mahdollista? huudahti Przyjemski. — Neljään vuoteen
kuullut soittoa ainoastaan pari, kolme kertaa! Kuinka voitte elää
ilman musiikkia?

Klaara myhäili.

— Pitääkö minulla sitte välttämättömästi olla tuota nautintoa?

— Ei suinkaan, ei elämässä välttämättömästi tarvitse olla


nautinnolta, varsinkin kun on Teidän ijässänne — vakuutti mies.

— Olenhan minä jo aivan täysikasvuinen — tokasi Klaara


kiihkeästi.

Przyjemski katsahti ylöspäin.

— Joko tähdet lakkasivat lentämästä? Klaara myöskin katsahti


taivaalle.

— Oi ei, katsokaa, tuossa lensi yksi tuon korkean puun


yläpuolella, tuossa taaskin toinen linnan ylitse. Näittekö?

— Kyllä näin… Sanokaapas nyt: »Minä haluan kuulla hyvää


soittoa».

Klaara purskahti nauramaan, mutta mies toisti: Sanokaa se!


Sanokaa näin! »Kultatähti, anna sisaresi täällä alhaalla kuulla
kaunista soittoa juuri tällä hetkellä». Sanokaa se!

Hymyillen, vaikka vapisevin äänin alkoi Klaara tottelevaisesti:

Kultatähti, anna sisaresi täällä alhaalla… Mutta Klaara keskeytti,


sillä tuuli toi hänelle kokonaisen säveltulvan. Hänen silmänsä, jotka
yhä katsoivat ylöspäin, saivat ihastuksen ilmeen. Suu hymyssä ja
säteilevin silmin seisoi hän kuin maahan naulattu ja kuunteli.

Przyjemski hiljensi äänensä melkein kuiskailuun.

— Näettekö, kuinka pian lentävät tähdet täyttävät maallisten


sisartensa toivomuksia! Mutta miksikä vertaisin Teitä tähteen? Tuota
vertausta on jo paljon väärinkäytetty ja se johtaa ajatukset aivan
muihin ilmiöihin. Aivan toista nyt johtuu mieleeni. Tiedättekö kuka
Heine oli?

— Saksalainen runoilija, — kuiskasi Klaara.

— Aivan niin, nyt tulin ajatelleeksi erästä Heinen runoa, jonka


sopisi minun sanoa Teille jäähyväisiksi tänä päivänä.

Przyjemski painoi päänsä alas ja seisoi hetkisen äänetönnä,


ikäänkuin muistellen runoa.

Soitto kaikui yhä selvemmin, puut hiljemmin suhisivat. Näihin yhtyi


sametinhieno ääni, lausuen:

Sä olet niinkuin kukka,


niin kuulas kaunoinen;
Kun katson kasvois, murhe
mun hiipii mielehen.

Ma taivaalt’ anon, että


sois kaikkivaltias
sun saastumatta olla
noin kaunis, kuulakas.
Lausuessaan viimeiset sanat, tarttui Przyjemski Klaaran käteen ja
painoi siihen keveän suudelman. Sitte hän oikasihe ja jatkoi:

— Haluatteko viipyä täällä hetkisen, niin minä ja ystäväni


soitamme
Teille.

Przyjemski poistui nopein askelin, kadoten puiston tuuheitten


puitten varjoon. Jonkun aikaa vallitsi hiljainen äänettömyys, mutta
sitte ilma taas täyttyi sävelillä, jotka nyt kaikuivat kahdesta
soittimesta. Selloa säesti piano ja säveleet tunkeutuivat joka
sopukkaan sekottuen puiden huminaan ja laskeutuivat
tenhovoimallaan Klaaran yli, joka nojasi aitaa vasten, pää käsien
peitossa.
III.

Klaara nukahti hyvin myöhään ja heräsi hyvin aikaiseen. Tavallisesti


hän herättyään heti hypähti vuoteelta ja kiiruhti pesuvadille, jonka
vettä hän polskutteli iloisesti kuin lintu purossa. Tänään hän istuutui
vuoteen reunalle ja kuunteli. Hänen päänsä, koko olentonsa täyttivät
säveleet, jotka hyväilivät korvaa ja sydäntä.

Sä olet niinkuin kukka, niin kuulas, kaunoinen…

Piano ja sello jatkoivat:

Ma taivaalt’ anon, että sois kaikkivaltias…

Mutta sitte hän tukahutti tunteensa ja hypähti vuoteelta. Puolessa


tunnissa oli hän puettu. Niin kauvan kuin hän peseytyi, harjasi
vaatteitansa, puuhaili yhtä ja toista, niin kauvan oli hänen
sisimmässään hiljaista. Mutta hän tarvitsi vaan asettua ikkunan
ääreen hetkiseksi, niin kajahti taas koko hänen olennossaan:

Sun saastumatta olla noin kaunis kuulakas.

Mitä oikeastaan oli tapahtunut? Voi kuinka hän oli onnellinen. Hän
ei koskaan ennen ollut aavistanut, että sydän kykeni sellaista
autuutta tuntemaan… Minä ja ystäväni soitamme Teille…» He olivat
kauvan soittaneet ja he olivat kauvan kuunnelleet. Mikä yö! Ja
hänelle olivat soittaneet — — — hänelle. Ei koskaan ennen ollut
kukaan hänelle soittanut! — — — Przyjemski oli hänelle soittanut!
Voi kuinka hän oli hyvä!

Klaara puristi käsiään ja ajatteli päättävästi:

— Tarpeeksi!

Hän heitti kauluksen olkapäilleen, sitoi pienen villahuivin päähänsä


ja otti korin pöydältä, ei työkorin, vaan toisen kannellisen ripakorin.
Hänen täytyi lähteä ulos ostoksille. Isä ja veli saisivat nukkua vielä
runsaan tunnin, mutta Frania oli herätettävä ja sanottava hänelle,
että keittäisi maidon ja kattaisi aamiaispöydän. Ennenkuin Klaara
hänet herätti, tuli hänen kumminkin juosta puutarhaan noutamaan
vesisankoa, jonka eilen oli kukkalavan viereen unhottanut. Frania
saattaisi sitä tarvita eikä silloin tietäisi, missä se on. Klaara kiiruhti
kuistiin, mutta äkkiä hän jäi sinne seisomaan kuin kiinnikasvanut.
Mitä tuo oli? Mistä johtui? Noin oivallisia hedelmiä! Hän ei ollut
koskaan elämässään sellaisia nähnyt!

Kapealla penkillä oli kori, täynnä mitä maukkaimpia hedelmiä.


Keskellä kartionmuotoinen ananas, joka loisti kuin aamuauringon
kulta. Ympärillä helakoita persikoita, keltaisia luumuja, vihertäviä
viinirypäleitä, ja niiden alta hohti punaisia omenoita, suuria
päärynöitä ja hienoja melooneja.

Ne kaikki olivat taiteellisesti ympäröidyt vihreillä lehdillä, jotka


peittivät koko korin, ja siitä tulvi ihana haju, johon vielä yhtyi
tuoreitten ruusujen tuoksu.
Klaara seisoi kädet ristissä. Näin ensi yllätyksen huumaamana
olisi hän voinut itseltään kysyä: »Mistä tuo tulee?» Heti olisi vastaus
ollut Valmiina: »Häneltä!» Joku oli varhain aamulla asettanut penkille
korin »hänen» käskystään. Olihan »hän» itse eilen sanonut, että
ruhtinas oli kehottanut lahjottamaan hedelmiä kaikille tuttaville.

Leimuava puna kohosi Klaaran poskille.

— Antakoon hän hedelmänsä kelle haluaa, mutta ei meille, ei


vaan minulle, ei millään muotoa! Lahja ventovieraalta henkilöltä, ei
millään muotoa!

Klaara herkästi tunsi tällä hetkellä, että Przyjemski oli hänelle


sentään vieras, ja tätä tunnetta seurasi katkera tuska. Entäs sitten?
Olkoon tuska kuinka tuima tahansa, tosiasiana pysyi, että tuo mies
sittekin oli hänelle vieras. Kuinka isä sallisi vastaanottaa vieraan
ihmisen lahjaa? Ei, lahja oli palautettava, mutta millä tavoin, kun ei
ollut, kenenkä lähetti. Ehkäpä lähettäisi Stasin, mutta ei sekään
käynyt laatuun. Klaaraa oikein kauhistutti ajatellessaan, että Frania
tahi Stas heräisi ja tulisi kuistiin. Mitä hän silloin heille sanoisi?

Sitten Klaara ajattelisi, mitä hänen oli tehtävä, nyt oli kori
mahdollisimman pian piilotettava, ettei kukaan sitä näkisi. Klaara
pisti sen kiireessä ruokakaappiin ja avaimen taskuunsa. Olipa onni,
että kaikki vielä nukkuivat. Nyt piti hänen herättää Frania ja kiiruhtaa
torille —

Tuntien kuluessa, jotka nyt seurasi, tunsi hän itsensä milloin täysin
tyyneksi ja välinpitämättömäksi, milloin niin syvästi suruiseksi, että
tuskin saattoi kyyneliään pidättää. Hän päätti ottaa hedelmäkorin
mukaansa lehtimajaan ja pyytää, että Przyjemski, jos hän sattuisi
tulemaan, lähettäisi jonkun sitä noutamaan. Toisinaan hän tunsi
olevansa aivan varma siitä, että mies tulisi, toisinaan taas hän sitä
epäili. Jollei hän tulisi, asettaisi Klaara korin aitauksen toiselle
puolelle. Siellä Przyjemski tai joku muu sen huomaisi ja niin asia oli
lopussa. Varmaankin mies loukkautuisi eikä tahtoisi Klaaraa enää
tavata ja sitte, sitte olisi kaikki lopussa. Oli hetkiä, jolloin Klaara ei
tuntenut vähintäkään tuskaa tätä ajatellessaan. Jos Przyjemski luuli,
että Klaara piti hänen seurastaan lahjojen tähden, niin oli paljo
parempi, ettei ollenkaan lähestynyt. Asiat jälleen muuttuisivat
ennalleen, sellaisiksi kuin ne olivat kolme päivää sitten, jolloin Klaara
ei häntä vielä tuntenut.

Eihän siitä ollut mitään vahinkoa hänen isälleen eikä Franialle eikä
Stasille tahi kelle hyvänsä maailmassa. Mistä hän siis olisi
suutuksissaan? Ja mitä se häntä oikeastaan liikutti?

Mutta puoli tuntia myöhemmin hänen sydämensä täytti niin


valtaava tunne, ettei tietänyt mitä tehdä, ja hän viskasi työnsä
luotaan, asettui kyynärpäät vanhaa piironkia vastaan ja painoi kädet
kovasti silmilleen, ettei vaan puhkeisi kyyneleihin.

Tunti ennen päivällistä istui hän lehtimajassa, innokkaasti


ommellen, allapäin. Hänen vieressään seisoi penkillä hedelmäkori.
Äkkiä kuului kuivien lehtien kahinaa. Klaara painoi päänsä yhä
syvemmälle ja ompeli yhä kiivaammin. Hän tunsi poltetta
kasvoissaan ja silmäluomet tulivat raskaiksi. Silmiä rupesi
hämärtämään, että työtä tuskin erotti.

— Hyvää päivää, neiti! lausui tuttu ääni aidan takaa.

Klaara nosti päätään, mutta hänen katseensa ei kohdannut


Przyjemskin katsetta, joka jo oli hedelmäkoriin kiintynyt.
Mies seisoi hattu kädessä aivan liikkumattomana
kummastuksesta. Ryppy oli kulmakarvojen välissä ennestään
syventynyt ja suun ympärillä väreili harmin piirre, joka kumminkin
kesti vain muutamia sekunteja. Sitte kirkastuivat kauniit kasvot ja
saivat valoisamman ja lempeämmän ilmeen kuin mitä Klaara
hänessä koskaan ennen oli havainnut. Klaara kalpeni ja hänen
kätensä vapisivat. Przyjemski ojensi kätensä aidan takaa ja lausui
hymyillen:

— Tervehtikäämme nyt ensinnäkin kunnollisesti toisiamme!

Klaaran kovettunut, punottava ja hieman vapiseva käsi tarttui


nöyrästi hänen valkoiseen, pehmeään käteensä.

— Ja sitten tulee Teidän minulle puhua, mitä merkitsee, että kori


on saapunut mukananne tänne.

Klaara nosti päätään ja vastasi, häneen vakavasti katsahtaen:

— Otin sen mukaani, kun ajattelin, että Teidät mahdollisesti täällä


tapaisin, Olkaa hyvä ja ottakaa se aidan toiselle puolelle ja
lähettäkää sitte joku sitä noutamaan.

Klaara sitten nosti hedelmäkorin molemmin käsin aidan yli ja


Przyjemski teki niinkuin käskettiin, mutta sitte hän virkkoi tytölle:

— Kas niin, nyt on tuomio toimeen pantu, mutta tahtoisin myöskin


tietää syyn.

Klaara huomasi, ettei mies suinkaan ollut loukkaantunut,


päinvastoin, leikilliset sanat kaikuivat ehkä sydämellisemmin kuin
koskaan ennen Klaara sen vuoksi vastasi jotenkin nopeasti:
— En luule voivani asiata oikein selittää. Mutta onhan
mahdotonta… me emme koskaan… ei isäni enkä minä… voihan olla
köyhä ja kumminkin…

— Seistä omin jaloin, — päätti Przyjemski.

Mies seisoi hetkisen mietteissään, mutta katse ei osottanut


vähintäkään harmia. Sitte hän jatkoi:

— Mutta otatte lahjoja rouva… eläinlääkärin leskeltä?

— Oi, se on vallan toista! — huudahti Klaara vakuutuksella. —


Rouva Dutkiewicz pitää meistä ja me pidämme hänestä. Ja siltä,
joka rakastaa ja jolle tarjoo vastarakkautta, voi kaikkea vastaanottaa.

Ja hetken kuluttua hän vielä lisäsi vakavasti:

— Sellaista täytyy tehdä, sillä jos ei niin tekisi, näyttäisi siltä kuin
ystäviään pitäisi vieraina!

Przyjemski ei hänestä silmiään kääntänyt. Sitte hän kysyi


verkalleen:

— Eikö vierailta saa mitään vastaanottaa?

— Ei, — vastasi Klaara, katsoen miestä kiinteästi silmiin.

— Ja minä olen Teille vieras, vai kuinka?

Silloin Klaaran kasvoissa tuska väreili.

— Olette, — kuiskasi hän.


Przyjemski vielä hetkisen nojasi aitaa vastaan, mutta ei enää
häneen katsonut, vaan kauas etäisyyteen. Sitte hän oikasihe, poistui
muutaman askeleen päähän aidasta ja hattuaan nostaen virkkoi:

— Minulla on kunnia käydä Teidän isäänne tänään tervehtimässä.

Kulkien verkalleen lehtokujaa hän ajatteli:

»Niiltä, jotka meitä rakastavat, ja joille me tarjoomme


vastarakkautta, täytyy vastaanottaa kaikki, sillä joll'emme niin tekisi,
näyttäisi siltä, kuin pitäisimme ystäviämme vieraina.»

Varsin hienosti ajateltu, varsin hienosti. Ja mikä ihanteellinen usko


rakkauden voimaan Me rakastamme, he rakastavat! Mutta sanoa
noin nauramatta. Jos edes kerrankaan elämässäni voisin sanoa:
»Minä rakastan, sinä rakastat» nauramatta, niin suutelisin sinun
jalkojasi, sinä pikku idylli risaisissa kengissäsi!

Olisi kysynyt suurta itsensähillitsemistä, jos Klaara olisi ilosta


läiskyttänyt käsiänsä Przyjemskin vielä läsnä ollessa. Mutta hän teki
tämän, kun säteilevin silmin ja hehkuvin poskin kiiruhti kotiin.

Niinmuodoin ei Przyjemski ollut häneen suuttunut, vaan


päinvastoin, vieläpä luvannut tulla hänen isänsä luokse viereisille
tänään, jo tänään! Oi, kuinka hän olikaan hyvä, kuinka hyvä! Klaara
kyllä ymmärsi odottamattoman lupauksen syyt. Kun tuo vieras olisi
tutustunut Klaaran perheeseen, lakkaisi hän olemasta hänelle vieras,
ja Klaara voisi pitää häntä läheisenä tuttuna, ehkäpä ystävänäkin.
Klaaran sydän oli täpötäynnä kiitollisuutta. Hän muisti joka sanan,
minkä mies oli lausunut, joka liikkeen, minkä hän oli ottanut.
Hymyillen hän varsinkin muisti sen juhlallisen tavan, millä mies oli
hänen lupauksensa täyttäen vastaanottanut hedelmäkorin ja
laskenut sen alas nurmelle aidan toiselle puolen. Hän oli silloin
osottanut sellaista käytöstä, kuin olisi toimittanut jotakin erinomaisen
tärkeätä ja kiireellistä, ja samalla oli tuskin huomattava hymyily
väreillyt hänen kapeilla, hieman ivallisilla huulillansa. Hänellä oli
viehättävä suu ja samallaiset silmät ja otsa! Klaara ei edes tietänyt,
mikä hänessä oli kauneinta. Ehkäpä hieno profiili tuuheine, tummine
kulmakarvoineen, joiden välissä näkyi syvä ryppy, antaen kasvoille
surumielisyyden ja elämänkokemuksen leiman… Mutta ei sittekään
profiili, ei suu eikä silmät olleet hänessä kauneinta, vaan sielu, tuo
ylpeä ja samalla tunteellinen sielu, jonka pohjan surumielisyys peitti.
Entäs hänen hyvä sydämensä, sen täytynee olla hyvä, koskapa ei
Przyjemski Klaaraan suuttunut, vaan pikemmin pyrki entistä
lähemmäksi.

Näin ajatellessaan harsi Klaara kiireesti valkoisen reunuksen


hameenliiviin ja sitte hän otti piirongista nahkavyön teräs-solkineen.

Pienessä ruokasalissa, joka samalla kertaa oli vierashuoneena,


läheni päivällinen loppuaan. Huone, missä suuri, vihreä kaakeliuuni
otti melkoisen suuren tilan, oli matala, siinä oli punaseksi maalattu
lattia ja siniset seinäpaperit, punasilla kukilla kaunistetut.

Kahden ikkunan välissä istui Teofil Wygrycz kapealla, petsatulla


sohvalla päivällispöydän ääressä, jota vahakangas peitti. Pöydällä oli
muutamia lautasia ynnä ruoanjäännöksiä, vesikarahvi, suola-astia ja
lasilautanen, jonka päällä oli piparjuurta. Piirongin päällä, joka oli
vastakkaisella seinällä, seisoi pienen lampun vieressä lasi, tuoreita
reseedoja täynnä, isän molemmin puolin istuivat molemmat
nuorimmat lapset. Klaara tuli sisään keittiöstä, mukanaan päärynöillä
täytetty lautanen ja rupesi, pöydän ääressä seisten, niitä kuorimaan.
— Minä olen tänään ostanut aivan erinomaisia päärynöitä, isä
kulta.
Frania ja Stas myöskin saavat niistä osansa.

— Olivatko ne kalliita? — kysyi Wygrycz.

Hän oli vanhanpuoleinen mies, jolla oli soikeat, luisevat kasvot,


kellertävä iho ja puoleksi tylsistynyt ulkomuoto, joka on pitkällisten
tautia sairastavien sekä sellaisten ihmisten tuntomerkki, jotka ovat
toimeensa tyytymättömiä. Ryppyisen otsan alta kumminkin pilkistivät
älykkäät, lempeät silmät, joita ympäröi yhtä pitkät silmäripset kuin
Klaaran.

Hänen vieressään istui vaalea, kalpea, noin viisitoistavuotias tyttö,


jolla oli soikeat kasvot ja ohuet huulet kuin isälläänkin. Tyttö yht’äkkiä
sanoa tokasi:

— Miksi olet tänään noin hienoksi pukeutunut?

Klaaralla oli yllänsä tavallinen, punaraitainen pumpulihame, mutta


hänellä oli valkoinen reunus kaulassa ja nahkavyö solkineen. Hänen
tukkansa ei ollut edes kammattu eikä se millään ehdolla
tahtonutkaan sileäksi asettua. Pieniä lyhyitä kiharoita kiemurteli alas
otsalta kaulalle ja heleä leukoija hohti kiharoiden lomitse. Juuri silloin
kuin sisar teki huomautuksensa kumartui Klaara ottamaan päärynän
kuorta lattialta, ja oikaistessaan itseään hän tyynesti lausui:

— Minä en totta totisesti ole pukeutunut hienoksi, olen vaan


pannut puhtaan kauluksen kaulaani.

— Entäs uusi vyö? — tokasi Frania kiduttavalla äänellä.


Vastaamatta sisarelleen, jolla oli hyvin riidanhaluinen luonne,
asetti
Klaara kuoritun päärynän ynnä veitsen isän eteen.

— Me saamme tänään vieraita, isä — sanoi hän.

— Vieraita? — toisti vanha kanslisti kummastuneena. — Ketä


sitte! Rouva
Dutkiewicz? … Mutta eihän hän ole mikään vieras.

Kuoriessaan toista päärynätä, vastasi hän tyynesti:

— Olen pari kertaa puutarhassa tavannut herra Przyjemskin,


ruhtinas Oskarin sihteerin, ja olemme kauan puhelleet. Tänään hän
sanoi tulevansa isän luokse viereisille.

Wygrycz virnisti.

— Mitä tuo nyt hyödyttää? Sillä tavoin vaan menetän ruokaleponi.


Olen väsynyt enkä jaksa istua ja jutella.

Tämän hän sanoi ärtyisellä äänellä; hän todellakin tunsi itsensä


aina väsyneeksi ja kantoi vastenmielisyyttä vieraita ihmisiä kohtaan.

Terävää kieltä ilmaisevalla vilkkaudella, puuttui Frania ohuella


äänellään puheeseen:

— Vai niin, Klaara, sinä pyrit nuorten herrain tuttavuuteen.

— Elä ärsytä sisartasi! lausui Wygrycz nuhdellen nuorinta


tytärtään, joka heti vaikeni.

Sen sijaan jatkoi pieni, puseroon puettu poikapahanen:


— Minäpä tiedän, kuka tuo Przyjemski on, sillä ruhtinaan
puutarhurin poika on samalla luokalla kuin minäkin, ja hän on
kertonut, että ruhtinas on saapunut tänne mukanaan sihteerinsä,
josta hän paljon pitää. Sihteeri soittaa pianoa ja vielä muutakin, jota
en muista… Hänen nimensä on Przyjemski, hän on hyvin hilpeä ja
leikkii yhä puutarhurin lasten kanssa, kun vaan saa ne käsiinsä.

— Hiljaa, Stas tiuskasi Frania — Klaaran sulhanen on jo täällä.

Tukevia, Varmoja askeleita kuului pihalta. Kohta aukeni kuistin ovi


ja sisään astui pitkä mies, jonka täytyi kumartua sisään päästäkseen.
Yhdellä ainoalla silmäyksellä hän oli kaikki havainnut, pienen
matalan huoneen, vihreän kaakeliuunin ja siniset, punaruusuilla
kaunistetut seinäpaperit, neljä ihmistä ruokapöydän ääressä,
resedakimpun piirongilla. Puna kasvoillaan, mutta jotenkin vapaasti
Klaara lausui isälleen:

— Herra Julius Przyjemski…

Ja sitte vieraalle:

— Minun isäni…

Wygrycz nousi pystyyn ja ojensi pitkän, luisevan käden.

— Minulla on varsin suuri ilo… Olkaa hyvä ja istuutukaa, olkaa niin


hyvä!

Klaaran posket olivat nyt saaneet takaisin tavallisen värinsä.


Tyynesti ja keveästi hän puhdisti pöydän ja läjä lautasia
käsivarrellaan hän pujahti keittiöön, samassa kuin hän katseellaan
antoi sisaren ymmärtää, että tämän pitäisi ottaa vesikarahvi ja
vahakangas. Kankaan alla oli valkoinen, virkattu liina, levitetty
maalaamattomalle honkapöydälle. Stas otti resedakimpun piirongilta
ja asetti keskelle pöytää.

Kun Klaara muutaman minuutin kuluttua palasi keittiöstä, havaitsi


hän iloiseksi hämmästyksekseen, että isänsä oli antautunut
vilkkaaseen keskusteluun vieraan kanssa. Tuo lyhyt hetki oli riittänyt
karkottamaan väsymyksen ja mielipahan sävyn hänen kasvoistaan.
Todellakin mahtoi Przyjemski olla oikea taikuri!

Asian laita oli sellainen, että Przyjemski oli alkanut tehdä vanhalle
kanslistille muutamia kysymyksiä siitä kaupungista, missä tässä oli
ikänsä elänyt, ja tällä tavoin kosketellut ainetta, josta Wygrycz oli
huvitettu. Kanslisti laajasti selitteli kaupungin väestöä, sen
yhteiskuntakerroksia ja taloudellista asemaa.

Ensi aluksi puheli Wygrycz hitaasti ja sanoja haeskellen, niinkuin


on tapana ihmisten, jotka ovat tottumattomia lausumaan
ajatuksensa, mutta vähitellen alkoi puhe sujua yhä keveämmin.
Tummat silmät vilkastuivat ja saivat valppaan, älykkään ilmeen, ja
luisevat kädet säestivät sanoja vilkkailla liikkeillä.

Tehtyään selkoa kaupungin sisällisistä oloista, lisäsi hän:

— Huonosti on asiat ylhäällä, huonosti alhaalla, huonosti


keskikerroksissa. Kaikkialla vaan puutteita ja epäkohtia. Ja —
suokaa anteeksi, että sen sanon — vika on varmaankin osaksi
sellaisissa varakkaissa ja samalla nerokkaissa ihmisissä kuin
ruhtinas Oskari…

Hän keskeytti, mutta jatkoi kohta epäröiden:

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