EXPANSION OF PASSAGES
This exercise is the exact opposite of Precis-writing. In Precis-writing
we have to compress; and in these exercises we have to expand. A sentence, or a
short passage, has to be enlarged into a paragraph by the fuller and more elaborate
expression of its meaning, or by adding illustrations, details or proofs to a
simple statement. Such exercise practically amounts to the writing of miniature
essays on the subject of the original sentence or passage. No strict rule can
be laid down for the length of the expansion; it must not be too short, or it
will scarcely be an expansion, or so long as to become an essay. On the
average, eighty to one hundred words should be aimed at.
METHOD OF PROCEDURE
Carefully read the original sentence or passage until you feel that you
clearly understand its meaning. (It is a good practice to try to express the
main idea in a word or a phrase; e.g., the real subject of the second specimen
is, "Pride in One's Work.")
Having grasped the subject and meaning of the passage, proceed to expand
it by adding details, illustrations, proofs, examples etc., until it is a tiny
essay only long enough to make a paragraph.
The expansion must contain all that was in the original passage; and
more can be added, so long as it is strictly relevant to the subject. [For
instance, in Specimen No. 3 (Let thy secret, unseen acts, etc.) the story of
the Greek sculptor is not in the original, but it well illustrates the meaning
of the passage.]
The
sentence for expansion is a conclusion or finished prod-
uct: and
it is your work to trace the steps by which this thought has been arrived at.
If it is a metaphor, explain its full meaning in plain language, and
give reasons to support it.
Your expansion should read as a complete piece of composition, expressed
in good English; such that it can be clearly understood apart from the original
passage. So, when you have written it, go over it carefully to see that nothing
essential has been omitted or left obscure.
Correct
all mistakes in spelling, grammar and punctuation.
SPECIMENS
-1-
A great
deal of talent is lost in the world for the want of a little courage.
EXPANSION
SELF-CONFIDENCE
Timidity and self-distrust are almost as great faults as conceit and over-confidence.
There are many people who have real talent in different lines, and yet who
never accomplish anything, because they are afraid to make the first venture;
and in this way good and useful things are lost to the world. A reasonable
amount of confidence in one's own powers is necessary for success.
-2-
If I were a cobbler, it would be my pride The best of all cobblers to
be; If I were a tinker, no tinker beside Should mend an old kettle like me.
EXPANSION
PRIDE IN ONE'S WORK
It is a great thing to take a pride in our work.
Anything that is worth doing at all. is worth doing well. Even in the humblest
task we should be ambitious to do it as well as we can, if possible better than
anyone else. For example, a cobbler should not think that because his job is a
humble one, it can be scamped and done anyhow; he should be determined to make
better shoes than any other cobbler; and a tinker should take pride in mending
even an old kettle better than any other tinker can.
-3-
Let thy
secret, unseen acts,
Be such
as if the men thou prizest most
Were
witnesses around thee.
EXPANSION
TOWARD GOODNESS
A Greek sculptor, when he was asked why he carved the backs of his
statues, which no man would ever see, as carefully as he carved the front, said
: “The Gods
will see them !" So it is not enough for us to live outwardly good
lives while in secret we allow evil in our hearts, for God knows even if men do
not! We should never do in secret what we should be ashamed of doing in the
presence of our most valued friends. However mean your life is, meet it and
live it; do not shun it and call it hard names.
EXPANSION
MAKING THE BEST OF LIFE
Men who are always grumbling about their poverty, complaining of their difficulties,
whining over their troubles, and thinking that their lot in this world is mean
and poor, will never get any happiness out of life or achieve any success.
However mean our life may be, if we face it bravely and honestly and try to
make the best of it, we shall find that after all it is not so bad as we
thought: and we may have our times of happiness and the joys of success. There
is nothing common or unclean, until we make it so by the wrong attitude we
adopt towards it.
-5-
Peace
hath her victories No less renowned than war.
EXPANSION
THE VICTORIES OF PEACE
The word victory is generally associated in our minds with war, and
calls up visions of battles, bloodshed, and conquest by force : and we think of
war as a glorious thing because of its famous victories and splendid triumphs.
But when we think of the achievements of great men - statesmen, scholars,
social reformers, scientists, philanthropists, explorers, discoverers and
honest workers - for the betterment of the human race and the progress and
civilization of the world, we realize that the victories of peace are even more
glorious than the victories of war.
Exercise
Expand
the idea contained in each of the following :-
It is a
great loss to a man when he cannot laugh.
Charity
is a universal duty, which it is in every man's power sometimes to practise.
Slow and
steady wins the race.
He who
follows two hares catches neither.
A great
city is, to be sure, the school for studying life.
'Mid
pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.
The
noblest men that live on earth,
Are men
whose hands arc brown with toil.
Where
there's a will there's a way.
Perseverance
is the very hinge of all virtues.
Honour
and shame from no condition rise :
They are slaves who dare not be In the right with two or three.
Great
talkers are never great doers.
The crown
and glory of life is Character.
Life
indeed would be dull, if there were no difficulties.
Only the
actions of the just
Smell
sweet, and blossom in their dust.
Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream.
To anyone
who wishes to amend his life there is no time like the present.
The real
dignity of a man lies, not in what he has, but in what he is.
He that
is humble, ever shall
What is this life, if full of
care, We have no time to
stand and stare?
Home-keeping
youths have ever homely wits.
Houses
are built to live in and not to look on.
Nothing
was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
Train up
a child in the way he should go.
Whatever
is worth doing at all, is worth doing well.
Custom
reconciles us to everything.
Do the
work that's nearest,
Each
man's belief is right in his own eyes.
The good
are always the merry, save by an evil chance.
The
heights by great men reached and kept,
One crowded hour of glorious life. Is worth an age without a name.
Breathes there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said,
This is
my own, my native land?
Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean
bear; Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on
the desert air.
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