Introduction
A well-known politician once told entrepreneurs to stand back, look at their handiwork and say not ‘I built that!’ but ‘We built that!’, since no one does anything without the help of wider society. On the surface, this little Aesop’s Fable appears to back him up: the reader must be left to judge how deep the similarity goes.
As two Men were travelling through a wood, one of them took up an axe which he saw lying upon the ground. “Look here,” said he to his companion, “I have found an axe.”
“Don’t say ‘I have found it’ says the other, “but ‘We have found it.’ As we are companions, we ought to share it between us.” The first would not, however, consent.
They had not gone far, when they heard the owner of the axe calling after them in a great passion. “We are in for it!” said he who had the axe. Nay,” answered the other, “say, ‘I’m in for it!’ not ‘We’. You would not let me share the prize, and I am not going to share the danger.”
By
J.B. Rundell
?-1889
From ‘Aesop’s Fables’ (1878) revised and rewritten by Joseph Benjamin Rundell.
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
A man who stumbled across an axe claimed it for himself, much to his companion’s annoyance. When the rightful owners came along, the finder assumed his friend would share the blame; but his friend refused, saying that after being denied a share in the axe, he accepted no share in any punishment.
(52 / 60 words)
A man who stumbled across an axe claimed it for himself, much to his companion’s annoyance. When the rightful owners came along, the finder assumed his friend would share the blame; but his friend refused, saying that after being denied a share in the axe, he accepted no share in any punishment.
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Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.
2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 45 words.
3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, just, may, must, otherwise, unless, whereas, whether.
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
He.
Man.
Ought.
2
Say.
Share.
Up.
3
Axe.
Lie.
Upon.
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.
hll
(5+3)
See Words
hall.
hell.
hello.
hill.
hull.
halal.
hallo.
hullo.
Post Box
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or ask for help with any of the
exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
nicholas@claylane.uk
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