Note-taking is a practical kind of exposition with which every high-school pupil must of necessity become somewhat familiar. No other form of writing requires so ready a pen and so clear a brain as does this. In condensed form the notes on a lecture of any kind are an abstract; when revised and amplified after the lecture is over, they become an exposition pure and simple. In taking notes we should remember the following directions:

1. Try to discover the plan of the address in the opening remarks.

2. Indicate in some way transitions from one division of the subject to another.

3. Be on the watch for helpful summary sentences.

4. Get all the help you can from the closing remarks.

5. A few simple abbreviations are helpful; avoid an elaborate scheme.

At first it is desirable to use headings and other suggestive words as the basis of a fuller report to be written out at leisure, but gradually the pupil should learn to take his notes so well that he will not need to rewrite.

The following notes were based on a talk by Mr. Jacob A. Riis, of New York, author of "How the Other Half Lives."

Every child has four rights.

1. The right to live.

Anecdote: child brought into court on a horse blanket under the only law that would protect it - one against cruelty to animals.

Conditions of tenements in New York City. There is to be no killing with a house any more than with an ax.

2. The right to play.

The child should learn through play that he has rights and that he is to respect the rights of others.

Upon it depend our liberties. Whole child, whole man.

3. The right to be fed - aesthetically.

Statistics show that many of the children in one of our largest cities never saw a robin or a dandelion.

4. The right to a home.

Every child is entitled to a pair of mother's arms about its neck. Summary. These children of the slums are ours to care for. In almost every instance they are worthy. People who think their own children are far superior to any of those who live in the slums should have less pride and more common sense.

Anecdotes to show that real worth may be found where one least expects it: (1) "Fighting Mary"; (2) the child who rushed back into a burning tenement to save the deed of her dead mother's grave.

Exercises

614. Using the preceding information and illustration, give directions for taking notes.

615. Write a secretary's report (a) of the next recitation in English, or (b) of the next recitation in history.

616. Take notes in class while the teacher or a classmate reads some selection.

617. Write notes on a chapter in some history that you are reading, and be prepared to read them to the class.

618. Bring to class notes on a talk given in some class.