Ricker Classical Institute - Aquilo Yearbook (Houlton, ME)

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The Aquilo Page Twenty-f ive able words to express yourself. In case one line of thought runs down, you can always use that old standby, however. Many's the time--but I must go on. As a last resort you can use another of my little devices for theme writing, which, in mathematics, is known as The Trial and' Error Method. Take a sizable dictionary and opening pages, pick out words at random until you have around two or two hundred and fifty words. Then connect them, iby the judicious use of however, yet etc., so that in the end you have a finished theme. In case you cannot connect them try again. Patience, as philosophers have also pointed out, will overcome all obstacles. And that, dear reader, is my im- proved method for writing themes. Later, I intend to ferret out and solve some of the other problems that con- front my fellow students. Just now I do not have time. I must study my Wooley's Handbook of Composition for tomorrow. sf va: V Na 0 653' M' X 7 N ! 4040 agffli cvgX iQ, X ' X Q i mifmpizi 4k!ff760 q i!-pil: Q ,mil tilt, Ex I

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Page Twenty-four W -A The Aquilo exercises .in English composition. However, when we get out in life things won't be all sunshine, and we will have to face the ups and downs of every day life. ' Perhaps we are too easily discour- aged. Famous people who have accomplished great things did not do it in a day. As a person learning to play the piano has to practice tire- some scales hour after hour before becoming an accomplished' player, so the person who wants to reach the top, in any work, must overcome many things and perform irksome duties to obtain his desire. On the ladder of success, we do not go from the bottom step directly to the top ibut step after step, and he who has cultivated the characteristic of perseverance will reach the top, though the pace of ascent may be slow. HOW T0 WRITE THEMES I was stretched out on my bed, deeply buried in my Physics lesson. QI had the book over my face to keep the light out of my eyes.J From time to time the gritting of teeth from fthe study table awoke me. It was my worthy roommate grinding out his weekly theme. The gritting annoyed me. Don't grit, I pleaded. How can I study Archimedes' principle when you grit all the time? His contorted lips formed a single word. Theme, he growled, as if I were responsible for a monstrous injustice that had been heaped upon him. Oh, Theme , I said, quickly going back to sleep, still buried in my Physics book. Callous though I may have seemed at the time, yet I was deeply moved by his misery and by the misery of my fellow classmates who attempt to write themes. 'Realizing that the difficulty comes from ignorance of the fundamental procedure of com- position, I have prepared my short but weighty treatise on the writing of themes, a work which I hope will be very helpful. Happiness, as philosophers have pointed out, comes from helping our fellow men. Now I shall outline my procedure for writing themes. First, you must have a subject, so list all the topics you can think of on paper. Then shut your eyes and go eeny-meeny-miny- mo to choose the topic that you are to write upon. This quaint little device eliminates all the effort that goes into picking out a topic in the usual manner, and is only one of my ways of increasing efficiency, Having chosen a topic, which, nine times out of ten, will be A Fishing Trip, take a sheet of white Paper and scowl at it fifteen or twenty minutes, meanwhile muttering and chewing at one end of your pencil. If no results are forthcoming, change your policy, and chew on the other end, This will .invariably produce two results: tal you will break the lead' off your pencil, and lbj you pro- bably will poison yourself slightly. By this time you should have had an inspiration. Now, for instance, if you are writing about fishing you might describe trolling for pickerel. Personally, I do not approve of this method of fishing pickerel, but as that is irrelevant to my present topic, I shall take it up in a later volume under Fish, How to Catch. But, as I was saying, you should have had an inspiration by this time. - Now that you have your inspir- ation, you may find difficulty, if your vocabulary is limited, in finding suit-

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- 'Q-Q... I Pwr . if It I or 'l 'tx t il All xii XI rx -1,1 ' Q Xy 5 X, l ff ' L af Z, 1 5-A f 7, I f MOUNTAIN BREEZES The great moon was slowly sinking below: the western hills. Here and there a star twinkled and faded into nothingness. An owl. 'hooted and flew into the great pine tree on the clear- ing, as the breeze gently swayed the firry branches to and fro. At the foot of this giant pine and' near a steep incline stood a tiny cabin. Uip the trail to the cabin door there stumbled a boy of some seventeen years. He was hatless and the dark curls lay on his brow in a hopeless mass. His feet, which were bare, were cut and bleeding from the num- erous sharp rocks over which they had trod. His ragged overalls hung limp- ly from his shoulders, while the much patched shirt was nearly in shreds. He was panting as one who had run a long race: and what a race it was- a race with death. He stumbled to the door and throwing his 'whole weight against it, flung it open and burst into the little room. It was nearly empty. A tiny stove stood in one corner, a table in the center, two broken chairs on one side and in the other corner was a small cot. On the bed lay a woman, not young, not old, though her face, still showing the traces of her girlhood beauty, bore marks of suffering and care which had proven too much for the thin weak shoulders to endure, Mother-I Mother! cried the boy as he flung himself beside the bed. I'm here and I had to come alone. Here he broke into hard sobbing and buried his face in the ragged coverlid. My little Peter, my poor little Peter! Don't grieve so, dear. It would do no good for old Mrs. Deering to come at all Peter, and her fingers, weak and trembling, stroked his curly head as it lay quivering at her side. Peter! She spoke again and this time the boy raised his head. You muslt listen to Mother for she 'is very tired and soon must go to her rest. You must do just as I say, Peter. If anything should happen to me, you must promise that you will not stay here. You mustn't, dear. It isn't meant that you should. Some day you will be famous, I know it. Oh! my poor little Peter, it will be hard for you when I am gone. We've