Excerpt from College Readings in English Prose
The specimens included in this volume may lay claim to representing a greater range in subject matter, in typical forms, and in levels of style than other compilations of the same kind. Here will be found a good deal of that literature of ideas which forms the staple of some recent volumes of selections. But in addition to those things which form a common ground of interest to all students, the editors have taken account of the special interest of the engineering and agricultural student, and aimed to provide material which should appeal particularly to his taste without being so technical in treatment as to baffle the lay intelligence. To diminish further the literary and classical odium, the volume includes a few models which do not rise above respectable mediocrity, mechanically correct and workmanlike pieces of writing, devoid of all distinction of style but fulfilling certain definite requirements of modern journalistic practice. A similar purpose is served by the appendix of student themes, which have been chosen as affording a standard of writing which the undergraduate might reasonably be expected to attain. It is in accordance, furthermore, with the same principle of immediacy of appeal that a considerable proportion of the matter has been taken from contemporary writers. Contempo rary models are of value in the first place as illustrating the standard practice, but they have an additional advantage in that they do not overawe the beginner as the mighty masters of old are likely to. They are helpful indeed in emphasizing the enduring force of the principles which underlie the practice of the traditional masters of writing. Between the acknowledged masterpieces and the less tried material in this volume the editors have aimed to preserve an equal balance.
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