Continued from
Part 1
That man, I think, has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength, and in smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work, and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of Nature and of the laws of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience;* who has learned to love all beauty, whether of Nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself.
By
Thomas Henry Huxley
1825-1895
From ‘A Liberal Education: and Where to Find It — An Address to the South London Working Men’s College’ in ‘Science and Education: Essays’ (1897), by T. H. Huxley (1825-1895). The lecture was delivered in 1868.
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author
aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that
strike you. How do they help the author communicate his
ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you?
How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939)
by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at
Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn,
Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University,
USA.
Précis
Huxley went on to say that a truly ‘liberal’ education would train students to make appropriate use of their physical abilities, to be creative whether on a grand scale or in fine details, and use common sense to live a full, warm and active life without losing self-control, going against good conscience, or showing disrespect for other people.
(58 / 60 words)
Huxley went on to say that a truly ‘liberal’ education would train students to make appropriate use of their physical abilities, to be creative whether on a grand scale or in fine details, and use common sense to live a full, warm and active life without losing self-control, going against good conscience, or showing disrespect for other people.
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Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words.
2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.
3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, besides, despite, if, may, since, unless, whereas.
Archive
Word Games
Suggest answers to this question. See
if you can limit one answer to exactly
seven words.
Variations:
1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words.
2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words.
3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Express the ideas below in a single
sentence, using different words as much as possible.
Do not be satisfied with the first answer you
think of; think of several, and choose the best.
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1
Free.
He.
Scatter.
2
I.
Fire.
Vigorous.
3
Crime.
Full.
Hate.
Variations:
1.
include direct and indirect speech
2.
include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who
3.
use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
prn
(5+3)
See Words
apron.
paranoia.
preen.
prone.
prune.
porn.
porno.
prion.
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