ANALYTICAL AND SYNTHETICAL OF ORTHOGRAPHY AND DEFINITION. By James N. McElligott, PRINCIPAL OF THE MECHANICS' SOCIETY SCHOOL, NEW YORK. NEW YORK: MARK H. NEWMAN & Co., No. 199 BROADWAY. ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1846, by MARK H. NEWMAN & JAMES N. McELLIGOTT, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. I SUBMIT, with the greatest deference, this volume of Exercises to those engaged in the business of education, content with little beyond a brief statement of the most important features of the plan of instruction pursued therein. The plan, then, requires each exercise to be written ;* and thus engages the eye as well as the ear in the study of Orthography, while, at the same time, it serves to improve the pupil in penmanship. It renders necessary a due application of the Rules for Spelling; and so familiarizes the mind with those circumstances, under which, in the formation of derivative words, letters are so frequently omitted, inserted or exchanged for others. It obliges the student to compare words, variously related, one with another; teaching him, in this, the most effectual way, to mark and mind those delicate distinctions, both in sense and sound, upon which accuracy and elegance in the written expression of thought, mainly depend. It resolves derivatives, as also compounds, into their elements; explains the parts, both separately and in combination, and thus evolves their literal, or primary meanings. Going beyond this, especially in relation to those * Should any one prefer that course, the Exercises may all be conducted orally. To written Exercises, however, I have never heard but one objection urged, and that is, that they would exhaust too much of the teacher's time in making corrections. This is a great mistake. If written in a clear and legible hand, as they always should be, experience will soon prove this objection to be utterly groundless. But supposing additional time to be required, is there not more than a fair equivalent for this in the additional advantage? |