Theme model 1

Theme model 1 A STORY TOLD BY A SERIES OF SITUATIONS.

Let us look at the following poem, which catches the attention by the method of the four w's, and keeps it by the very simple device of using three situations, one at the beginning, one in the middle, and a third at the end of a series of events. This plan will enable us to tell a story in an effective and inter¬esting way, and is our first theme-model or pattern.

The Lights of London Town

ANALYSIS OF THE MODEL

Observe in the first paragraph :

1. The mention of time: "The night was dark and stormy."

2.	The mention of place: "The heavy road," "The Lights of London Town."

3.	The mention of characters: "A country lad and lassie."

4.	The mention of the occasion, 1. e., the reason why the characters are in the place named. This is implied in "What fortunes lie within you, O Lights of London Town ! "

Find the situation elements in the second and third paragraphs of this poem.

Plan of Situations in Theme-model I. Theme- model I. is derived from The Lights of London Town, which has the following plan :

Situation I. The first paragraph gives The Preparation—a lad and a lass starting out to seek their fortune.

Situation II. The second paragraph gives The Climax—the failure of their hopes.

Situation III. The third paragraph gives The Sequel—the course of action which follows the climax.

The first sentence of the second situation should show that a period of time has elapsed since the time of the first situation.

In The Lights of London Town the expression,' The years passed on," is the time sentence at the beginning of the second situation.

The first sentence of the third situation should also begin with a time sentence, clause, or phrase, showing that some time has passed since the second situation. In The Lights of London Town the expression, " With faces worn and weary," suggests that a somewhat longer time has elapsed between the second and third situations.

When you are asked hereafter to tell or write a story according to Theme-model I., give three situ¬ations, each in a separate paragraph. The situations should follow the order of time, that is, the natural sequence, so that the first occurs in the preparation of the story, the second at the climax, and the third in the sequel./ Such a theme resembles a chain of three links of the same size and shape, if we consider the resemblance of the separate units (the situations) to one another. If we consider their relations, one to another, this kind of theme is like a flowering plant, for one situation grows out of the preceding, as the stalk from the root and the blossom from the stalk. To change the figure, writing a story accord¬ing to this plan is also like climbing a hill. The starting to climb corresponds to what we have called the preparation; reaching the summit, to the climax; and descending on the other side, to the sequel.

Story model 1 told through diolog, monolog, impersonal.

Uses of Theme-model I. We shall find Theme-model I. convenient for analyzing other poems constructed on the same general plan,—that of a series of situations,— such as George Eliot's Two Lovers, and Longfellow's The Hanging of the Crane. It will serve also for original narratives, for the description of pictures that contain the four w's, and for the reproduction of stories, both those built on the same and on a different plan.

Reproduce the following anecdotes or some others that may occur to you : I. A certain king besieged and took a castle in his enemy's country: By the terms of surrender all the men were to be made prisoners, but the women were to be allowed to leave the castle with as much of their treasure as they could convey. To the surprise of the king, each woman came down the hill from the castle carrying on her back her husband, father, or brother —her greatest treasure. The men were given their freedom, and the women allowed to return, for their possessions. Tell this story in three situations according to the following plan :

Situation I. The king announcing the terms of the surrender.

Situation II. The exit of the women carrying the men.

Situation III. The king bidding the men go. free, and permitting the women to return to the castle for their treasure.

The poet Rogers was very kind to his servants, and kept them many years in his employ, in fact, generally until they died. On the occasion of the death of one of these old servants, a friend of the poet was offering his condolences. "Well, I don't know," said Rogers, "that I feel his loss so very much after all. For the first seven years he was an obliging servant ; for the second seven years, an agreeable companion, and for the last seven, a tyrannical master."

Situation I. The obliging servant.

Situation II. The agreeable companion.

Situation III. The tyrannical master.

"The Rope of Ocnus " is the name of a celebrated picture painted by F'olygnotus, a distinguished Greek painter who died about 426 B C Ocnus was the name of a poor but industrious Greek, whose extravagant wife spent his money as fast as he earned it. He complained to Polygnotus of his trials and tribulations in this respect, and Polygnotus painted the picture alluded to above. The picture represents a poor man weaving a rope out of straw, while behind him stands a donkey eating off the other end of the rope. The silent lesson conveyed by the picture is said to have had the desired effect upon the wife of Ocnus, and by her frugality and thrift she enabled him soon to rise from obscurity to great prosperity.

—S. H. KILLIKELLY, Curious Questions.

Situation I. Ocnus discussing his troubles with Polygnotus.

Situation II. • Ocnus explaining the picture to his wife.

Situation III. The wife of Ocnus reformed.

You could try to reproduce The Three Fishers, Excelsior according to Theme-model I.

Then try describing these three pictures in the form of theme model 1.