After the end of the play and the action have been worked out, it is time to write the conversation. The conversation must explain the situation and make the action clear. To make the conversation seem real you must imagine yourselves in the situation of the characters and talk as they would talk. Writing the Play. -You should appoint two or three members of the club to write down the conversation and the stage directions as you go along. It is a good plan to have a different pupil take down the conversation of each character; in that way you will save time by dividing the labor of writing. All this should be worked out by the club together, and each member should be free to make suggestions and criticize the work of the others.

Acting the Play. - When the play has been written, the club may decide who are to act it. It will not be difficult to learn the parts after they have been worked out by the club, for all are familiar with the words already. The actors should meet outside of the class and practice the play. One member of the club may be appointed to take charge of rehearsals. When all are ready, the play may be given before the club.

Other Plays. The suggestions given above are very simple, and the situations are easy to develop. As the pupils learn the method of handling these simple plays they may work out more complicated plots. Plays based on scenes from history and literature, as well as on scenes from actual life, may profitably be written. The more elaborate plays may require costumes and scenery. These furnish opportunities for pupils to invent suitable accessories. Groups of pupils may plan the costumes and the scenery with great profit to themselves. It is always best to keep school plays simple, and to make them the spontaneous work of the pupils.

XVIII. THE PREPOSITION AND ITS

OBJECT

Phrases. We know that often the modifiers of the subject or of the verb are not single words but groups of words, which we call phrases. For example, in "The man in the gray suit is my brother," in the gray suit is a phrase that modifies ¡man. The words in this phrase are bound together. A phrase is a group of related words used as a single part of speech. A family, you know, is a group of related people, so a phrase may be, in a way, thought of as a family. In the phrase above the important word is suit. We see at once that gray modifies suit. What, then, is in? In is a preposition; the word preposition really means something placed before, and as the preposition is usually placed before a noun we can see why it is so called. A preposition and its object make up a phrase. The object of a preposition is in the accusative case. Let us look at some sentences containing prepositional phrases:

1. We rowed across the river.

2. The house on the hill is the oldest house in town.

3. The girls in my class are good students.

4. Life at the factory is often difficult.

5. The boy across the aisle is always talking to me.

6. Jim threw the ball over the house.

7. Please give the candy to me.

8. She brought the water for her mother.

9. They took the child from its mother.

10. The people under us keep a dog.

11. We jumped into the car.

12. His house is beyond the forest.

13. I depend on you and him.

14. He sat between her and me.

EXERCISES

A. In each of the fourteen sentences on page 93 select the preposition and give its object.

B. Tell whether each phrase in the sentences on page 93 is used as an adjective or as an adverb.

How can you tell? Remember that anything that modifies a noun is an adjective; while anything that modifies a verb is an adverb.

C. Make a list of the prepositions used in the sentences on page 93. Make up other sentences in which you use the same prepositions.

Prepositions and Adverbs. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between a preposition and an adverb; but if you remember that the preposition always takes an object and that an adverb never does, this difficulty will soon be overcome. In "He called across to me," across is used as an adverb; it has no object. But in "He called across the lawn to me," across is a preposition with the object lawn. Always remember that a preposition must have an object.

EXERCISES

A. In the following sentences tell whether the italicized words are prepositions or adverbs:

1. The child sat in my lap.

2. I must go in now.

3. Can you come over this afternoon?

4. I am looking over my lessons.

5. I saw him through the window.
6. I am chilled through and through.
7. He ran down the street.
8. I can throw him down.

B. In the following sentences select the prepositions and their objects and tell what each phrase modifies. Also give the subject and the predicate of each sentence:

1. Women are naturally fitted for gardening.

2. Schools of gardening for women have a recognized place in England and the countries of Europe.

3. Graduates from these schools hold important positions. 4. We keep a daily record of our work.

5. They offer courses in canning and preserving.

6. The teachers come from well-known colleges.

7. The costumes worn by the students are durable.

8. Two hundred boys applied for work at the employment office. 9. The boys are between sixteen and eighteen years of age.

The object of a verb or of a preposition must always be in the accusative case. When two or more objects are used, be sure that both have the accusative form; as,

"Mother invited him and me."

EXERCISE

Fill each blank in the following exercise with the correct form of the pronoun. Then answer the questions aloud.

Paragraphs.

You have already learned that the first word of each paragraph is indented. The selection given below, as you see, is made up of three paragraphs, each of which is built around one particular subject.

FEEDING ESKIMO DOGS

The duty of feeding the dogs is often intrusted to the boys, and it is no easy work. The most common food for the dogs is walrus skin, about an inch to an inch and a half thick, cut in strips each about as wide as it is thick, and from a foot to eighteen inches long. The dog swallows one of these strips as he would a snake; and it is so tough that when he has swallowed about twelve pieces, it is no great wonder that he does not want anything more for two days. Sometimes the men cut the food up into little pieces inside the igloo, where the dogs cannot trouble them, and then throw it out on the snow. This is not altogether a good way; for then the little dogs get it all while the big dogs are fighting, for these big burly fellows are sure to have an unnecessary row over each feeding. If pieces too large to swallow at a gulp are thrown out, the large dogs get the food; and so, between the