Fraternity (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 1, 1914 Page: 3 of 8
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FRATERNITY
changeably with climax, and while the
two may be one, it is by no means always
so. The crisis is the point or period of
change, opportunity or devision, the
"turn" in the plot, the cross roads, the
critical moment, and while every true
story has one or more such crucial situa-
tions, yet the crisis is not confined to a
single point. It may be broken into by
periods of suspense. An incident may
be introduced developing the foundation
and leading upward to the crisis in full
immediately before the climax.
The short story is one not only of im-
pression, but also of expression and com-
pression. It must be invested with an
atmosphere that will enfold the reader
and lay a spell upon his senses. It must
be so expressed that figment and fact
become a composite. The characteristic,
the delineative, the salient in emotion
and situation, character and conversation,
must be so highly selective as to pro-
duce a convicting semblance of reality,
by cleverly blending fact with fiction. It
must be so compressed that there will
be no words wasted, no feebleness, no
dilly dallying with situations, everything
must go forward to a single point with
such dynamic force that the climax will
be the natural result.
The "great divide" may also be reached
by reduction qr augmentation. In the
former the writer works backward. For
a simple illustration, we will say that a
husband separated from his wife, not.
divorced, is treading the primrose paths
spending his evenings with many women,
thinking thus to revenge himself upon
one. Meeting a charming woman at a
masqued ball, he makes advances which
are reluctantly accepted. The masques
are raised, and he discovers the siren to
be his wife. Here is an idea, but not the
whole of it. It must be shown that
neither knew of the other's whereabouts.
The reason why an innocent woman, for
she must appear innocent to hold the
interest and sympathy of the reader, mis-
takenly accepts the advances of a strange
man. In other words, we must create a
crisis of cause and effect, showing that
the wife labored under a wrong impres-
sion when the invitation was accepted.
To augment the action in the same
idea, it must be builded upon, added to.
From the recognition ensuing at the rais-
ing of the masques must issue a logical
progression of events in the cause and
effect, showing the husband to be no
worse than the majority, the wife inno-
cent, the suspicions as well as the love
to be mutual, and a reconciliation result.
Thus an idea may be worked from both
ends, beginning in the middle, in the
shadow of the "great divide," and adding
to, or subtracting from, linking cause and
effect into a complete chain.
In the illustration just used, the revela-
tion arising from the raising of the
masques, establishing the identity of th*
characters, would be termed the anti-
climax, or crisis. The climax proper
being the reconciliation.
' An excellent example of the anti-climax
or crisis, is found in "Hamlet" in the
scene where he is watching the effect of
the play within the play upon the king,
who, conscious of Hamlet's knowledge,
is planning to send him to England, there
to be put to death. Previous to this com-
plications have been thickening, imme-
diately after, resolution sets in with the
death of Polonious, leading directly to
the climax, the tragic deaths of the king,
queen and Hamlet.
There is, of necessity, a similarity in
the play, the novel and the short story.
There must be one scene creating the
greatest tension, the keenest suspense
in the relation of the characters to each
other. In such passages the personal
forces so used are for the instant in equi-
librium, thenceforth the plot rushes for-
ward to the rising or falling action.
The reading of this is comparable to
the watching of a rocket in its upward
course, turn to fall, and while it may not
be accompanied by the keenest excite-
ment, that being reserved for the burst-
ing of the rocket, or the catastrophe, still
the climax scenes are always indellibly
stamped upon the memory.
To make a natural climax you must
write of what you know. Get close to
real pulsating life. Know it, believe it,
live it, feel its heart-throbs, and as it
surges through your own being it will
qualify you to picture it to others inter-
estingly. As Wilkie Collins says, "Make
'em laugh, make 'em cry, make 'em wait."
It is the human interest that makes the
story, that gives it the "punch," yet we
must mix our paint with brains, deal
with vital things, but not over do them
at the critical moment, and if the climax
be a quiet one, at least let it be satisfy-
ing to the reader, making him to feel that
everything possible has been made out of
the situation.
As the crisis leads directly to the cli-
max, so the climax to the conclusion, or
as the French put it, denouement, the
word means literally, untying. And the
foundation of the denouement is usually
laid quite early in the plot, that the
snarls may not be too difficult to ad-
just, the tangles too great to unravel
with few words after the climax. Thus,
being bone and sinew of the story, blood
of the beginning, the end is inevitable,
and the reader feels its inevitability with
perfect approval.
o
COMPLETE FAMILY PROTEC-
TION.
The idea is growing that fraternal in-
surance societies should admit to their
benefits not only men but also all the
other members of the family. At the
recent convention in Detroit of repre-
sentatives of the Federated Fraternities
resolutions were passed which included
the following:
"We believe that complete family pro-
tection is a form of operation which has
been given too scant consideration in the
past. We believe that, where juveniles
need protection, be they either children,
wards, dependents or blood relatives of
the members of our societies, this pro-
tection should be provided by our socie-
ties on a proper and adequate basis. We,
therefore, recommend that the member-
ship of this organization work in har-
mony with other organizations or asso-
ciations of similar character for the
amendment of existing laws in their re-
spective states."
The so-called industrial insurance com-
panies take away from our people a large
amount of money every week and return
only a comparatively small part of it in
payment of policies. The same insur-
ance could be furnished "by existing fra-
ternal organizations at a far less cost,
and still leave a margin of profit to
accumulate a safety fund. At the same
time the whole family could enjoy the
advantages of fraternalism.
The question of providing complete
family protection deserves serious con-
sideration. The decision may be adverse
in this society or in that society, for one
reason or another, and in some other as-
sociation it may be favorable; but, at
least, the subject will be critically exam-
ined, and the pros and cons be weighed.
This paper has reached no opinion of its
own in the matter, and refers to it only
as a live topic of the day in fraternal in-
surance circles.—Western Review.
DANCING MASTERS
PUT BAN ON TWISTS
AND DIPS OF TANGO
CLEVELAND, June 10.—War on dips,
twists, glides and all objectionable fea-
tures of the tango and other modern
dances, was renewed yesterday at the
Dancing Masters' convention in session
in this city. Before 300 dance instructors
from many parts of the world, Prof. D.
G. MacLennan of Edinburg, Scotland,
yesterday demonstrated the newer
dances as they will be expected nex|
season.
Among the newer dances, the Parisian
version of the tango and the maxixe, the
La Fuelrana, suggested by Pope Pius as
a substitute for the tango, and the tatato,
a Chinese dance, are the most popular
with the delegates*
The tendency the coming season, ac-
cording to Louis Krettlow, Chicago,
president of the association, will be to-
ward the oldtft and more dignified
dances.—Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
e
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Schmidt, Henry C. Fraternity (Fort Worth, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 7, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 1, 1914, newspaper, July 1, 1914; Fort Worth, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth233201/m1/3/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.