The peculiar office and sacredness of the queen consists in the fact that she is the mother of the swarm, and the bees love and cherish her as a mother and not as a sovereign.  She is the sole female bee in the hive, and the swarm clings to her because she is their life.  Deprived of their queen, and of all brood from which to rear one, the swarm loses all heart and soon dies, though there be an abundance of honey.

The common bees will never use their sting upon the queen,—­if she is to be disposed of they starve her to death; and the queen herself will sting nothing but royalty—­nothing but a rival queen.

—­John Burroughs:  Birds and Bees.

+Theme LXXXVI.+—­Write an expository theme.

Suggested subjects:—­
  1.  Duties of the sheriff.
  2.  How a motor works.
  3.  How wheat is harvested.
  4.  Why the tide exists.
  5.  How our schoolhouse is ventilated.
  6.  What is meant by the theory of evolution.
  7.  The manufacture of ——.
  8.  How to make a ——.

(Consider the arrangement of your statements.)

+157.  Use of an Outline.+—­Before beginning to write an explanation we need to consider what we know about the subject and what our purpose is; we need to select facts that will make our explanations clear to our readers; and we need to decide what arrangement of these facts will best show their relation to each other.  We shall find it of advantage, especially in lengthy explanations, to express our thoughts in the form of an outline.  An outline helps us to see clearly whether our facts are well chosen, and it also helps us to see whether the arrangement is orderly or not.  Clearness is above all the essential of exposition, and outlines aid clearness by giving unity and coherence.

EXERCISES

Select three of the following subjects and make lists of facts that you know about them.  From these select those which would be necessary in making a clear explanation of each.  After making out these lists of facts, arrange them in what seems to you the best possible order for making the explanation clear to your classmates.

1.  The value of a school library. 2.  Sponges. 3.  The manufacture of clocks. 4.  Drawing. 5.  Athletics in the high school. 6.  Examinations. 7.  Debating societies.

+Theme LXXXVII.+—­Following the outline, write an exposition on one of the subjects chosen.

(Notice the transition from one paragraph to another.  See Section 87.)

+158.  Exposition of Terms—­Definition.+—­Explanation of the meaning of general terms is one form of exposition (Section 63).  The first step in the exposition of a term is the giving of a definition.  This may be accomplished by the use of a synonym (Section 64).  We make a term intelligible to the reader by the use of a synonym with which he is familiar; and though such a definition is inexact, it gives a rough idea of the meaning of the term in question, and so serves a useful purpose.  If, however, we wish exactness, we shall need to make use of the logical definition.