Paxton High School - Reflector Yearbook (Paxton, IL)

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Paxton High School Reflector 9 ng a torrent of words poured forth, the meaning of which they can not even guess. Micawber liked to make an impression, so Dickens makes him say: “Circumstances beyond my individual control have, for a considerable lapse of time, effected a severance of that intimacy which, in the l'mited opportunities conceded to me in the midst of my professional duties • has ever afforded me. as it even mus. continue to afford, gratifying emotions of no common description.” Micawber doubtless made an impression on his hearer —and we still smile at him today. In these days when good English” is one of the signs of culture, refinement. and good taste, let us make car motto, “Correct grammar first— then, the right word in the right place.” a « tt It is believed that the recognition cf the importance or the “Better English” movement indicated by these assembly talks is doing much 10 reenforce and dignify the more specific and detailed work that is being done, incidentally and otherwise, in the class rooms. Morever, the conviction is becoming more general among teachers and students that the responsibility for effective training in the ar. of using good English can not be wholly placed upon the teachers of the grades and the high school instructors in the department of English, but that all other teachers must share in that responsibility. A mastery of good English can only he acquired as a result of many fences. These forces must be Kept active in every department of school work, until correct speech habits are formed, and ur.til in the student mind the highest ideals of good English become sufficiently permanent and attractive to take the place of all school room Instruction and training as incentives for each individual to work out for himself some worthy degrees of facility and propriety, of grace atd effectiveness in the use of our beloved English language. Only some small, though very essential beginnings may ne reasonably expected from elementary and secondary school instruction. The larger possibilities of a mastery of its treasures of wisdom and of its most skillful and effective use. may only be attained by long years of reflection and study, and of literary labor and toil.—O. J. B. OTHER “BETTER SPEECH TALKS TO BE GIVEN Other talks on the better use of English will he given before the close of the year. Among those already provided for are the following: “Wrong Use and Correct Cse of Verts”—.Miss Hummel. “Adjectives. Adverbs and Prepositions to Watch”—Mis3 Dooley. “Vocational English”—Mr. Eator. The Relation of ‘Better Speech- to ‘Better Thinking1 -Mr. Cunningham. “Beauty and Power of the English Language when Correctly W ritten or Spoken”—Mr. Bainum.

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8 Paxton High School Reflector clear his emotions, desires and interests by means of them, words have fulfilled their original purpose. “Shor.ny” and all or us, no doubt, comprehend the venerable German’s meaning, but the effect of his choice of words, was anything but pleasing. Gur purpose in our “Better English Campaign is a clear expression of ideas by means of good choice of words. Good diction is a worthy aim. Our friends—or rather enemies—who use slang and shift the responsibility of “better English” to us, may ask, Why did ‘rihonny's lather use poor diction? He got his ideas across!” And we gladly explain, Gcod usage regulates our choice of words.” Language is a growing thing—the language of our fathers may be defective in some respects now, for some words come and go. National acceptance and usage give us our power to permit one word in our vocabulary and cast out another. There are two forces which, today, tend to weaken the legitimate and refined power of good diction. One is the daily newspaper—great as is its value in scores of ways. Its purpose is to educate the people with the latest news of the day. and it often takes glaring means of attaining this end. The striking sentence, the statement, condensed at the price of good English.” are ever present in our daily editions. Such words as enthuse” and “donate.” have been coined without respect for the standard which says— aronse enthusiasm, ar.d make a donation. A second type of poor diction is provincialisms. The people of southern Illino's use the word, “kin to mean relative, yet that sense of the word is ro longer permissible as gcod English. Our neighbors from eastern I’nited States, add. er, to many words ending in vowels, saying “plazzer.” “verander. etc. A young woman, a graduate of Kadcliffe College was even heard to say. “Oh dear! I must not forget my umbrclier.’ Hut we can not always criticize, for these people think our choice of words equally peculiar. They think unusual our use of “sack” for “bag,” “bucket for “pail.” and s«ch expressions as ornery,” and “I reckon.” Most of 11s allow such words t creep into our daily speech and must admit that “by their speech, ye shall know them.” There are three types of people whose expressions we do rot wish to copy 1st. the man who speaks in general terms. He may deliver a lecture, yet upon leaving his presence, we say, “That man could not talk.” Probably it is because he talks about pleasant days and pleasant parties and pleasant people and does rot know how to put the right word in the right place. He does not knew—and probably does not care—that each word in the English language has a meaning and a purpose different from every other word. , The man who leads his speech with superlatives, we are not apt to1 follow—for he is very boresome. He wearies 11s with descriptions of awful, horrid, terrible, frightful things; and he disgusts us by their contrasts— elegant, fine, lovely, nice and splendid. His brother, the bookish talker, may attract more admirers. For even some modern Americans still seem to enjoy sitting open-eyed and hear-

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10 Paxton High School Reflector OUR BETTER ENGLISH ENTERTAINMENT (By Grace Larson, ’22) The “Better English Campaign” which is being observed all over the Cr ited States, has aroused a great deal of interest in the schools. Our own school has taken upon itself the task of improving .he English of the community. Fosters were placed in the shop windows to remind us of our faulty diction, and a ‘ Better English” entertainment was given in the High School assembly. January 11th. This entertainment consisted ot two short plays which were given under the direction of Miss Wade. The first—given by a Sophomore English class—was a modern version of the mythological story ‘Fandom's Box.” Th s play was secured from Prof. H. G. Paul of the Department of Er gl.sh a. the University of Illinois. It was written by Miss Nila Banton Smith, and published by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. The following is a short synopsis of the play: “Pandora (Phyllis Ncrdgren) receives a strangely carved box from Epimelheus (Howard Hill) but is cautioned not to open it. However, overcome by curiosity to discover what it contained, Pandora unloosens the cord with which the hex is tied, and gazes eagerly into it. But instead of disclosing a beautiful gift, a great many imps rush out. representing such menaces as “Harsh Voice, “Small Vocabulary.” Indistinct Speech” and “Unpleasant Oral Reading.” These imps are followed by a multitude of slang and dialect “Pests. Pandora is thoroughly frightened at what she sees and quickly closes the lid. Soon a sweet voice within the box is Heard, but she hesitates before opening it again. When she does sc, Hope” (Frances Watts) appears. followed by the staunch soldiers, “Good Grammar,” ‘ Distinct Speech, and “Large Vocabulary,” and by their aid the imps and “pests ’ are overcome and forced to return to the box.” The second part of the entertainment was a comedy entitled, “Rosie Reforms the Rollisters.” This was presented by members of the Junior class. The sketch was especially enjoyable, because it was written by Emily Johnson, our Junior authoress. The characters were well chosen and the “Better English” theme was cleverly woven into the plot. Emily deserves much credit. The play, in addition to the entertainment it furnished, proved tc be highly effective in emphasizing the hateful character of incorrect English. It appears in full in another part of this issue. The cast «r characters was as follows: Rosie Hollister....................Kathryn Jane Dunnan Angeline Rollister.....................................Emily Johnson Mrs. Rollister.......................................Emeline Kollman Mr. Rollister................................Francis Henry Dick Van Replen..............................Kenneth Larson Jack Rollister...............................Sherman Olson Professor Doodle...............................Herbert Gee Aunt Priscilla Patterson...................Elizabeth Patton Katie G’Haligan.........................Elizabeth .VlcDevitt