How to Improve the Memory/Lesson 3
LESSON III
APPOSITION
THE AUTHOR, in his use of the word apposition in these lessons, means the addition of one word or phrase or object to illustrate another. Apposition is the placing side by side of two or more things. With the aid of apposition the mind is assisted in perceiving, and as perception is one of the principal attributes of memory, apposition must be a power in strengthening that faculty. By means of apposition we are enabled to see the similarity of things; as,
Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, issued a proclamation on January 1, 1863, freeing three million slaves.
Abraham Lincoln and president of the United States are one and the same, and by means of apposition we learn that Abraham Lincoln was president of the United States. President of the United States is added to Abraham Lincoln to show that at the time the Proclamation of Emancipation was issued Abraham Lincoln was the chief executive of the United States.
How does apposition assist the memory?
It assists the memory in that it causes the mind to put forth effort in comparing one object to another, in this way intensifying the application and causing an impression to be made on the mind; as,
My friend lives at Ridgway, which is located in a beautiful section of country about one hundred miles from the city of Buffalo.
In order to remember the name of the place where the friend resides, it is only necessary to examine the word and associate it with two things: ridge and way. Think of a ridge and then of a way through the ridge, and the name Ridgway is stamped upon the mind. This mode of remembering is by means of apposition or similarity.
Similes are aids to the memory. A simile is a form of comparison. It directs the mind to one object by comparing it to another; as,
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.[1]
—Longfellow.
Here the poet compares the darkness falling over the earth to an eagle winging his flight, and represents how softly the darkness falls by comparing it to the almost imperceptible dropping of a feather from the eagle to the earth. The picture that the poet wishes to convey is the gradual coming on of night, and he fastens this point upon our minds by calling our attention to the fact that the darkness falls as slowly, gently, and noiselessly as does the soft, light feather from the bird in the air. By noting closely the similarity of the falling of darkness and the wafting downward of the feather, it will be impossible to forget that the darkness came slowly. Had the darkness suddenly fallen upon the earth, the poet would have compared it to the blowing out of a light, or the action of some quickly moving object.
Homer, in the Iliad, in order to show the vast number of the Greeks, uses this simile:
As the bees came forth continually in fresh numbers, so fresh bands of Greeks keep continually pouring forth from the ships and tents.
This gives a clear and comprehensive idea of the number of Greeks, because of their being compared to bees continually coming forth in fresh numbers. We think of bees swarming from their hives, and this gives us a vivid understanding of the hordes of Greeks pouring from the ships and tents. Nothing would more clearly explain the number of the Greeks, nor impress upon our minds the fact that they were many, better than does this statement made in the form of a simile.
Here is a portion of a speech which Shakespeare places in the mouth of Othello after Iago has convinced him of the wantonness of his wife. It is a passage from the thrilling drama which is difficult for many persons to memorize:
Like to the Pontick sea,
Whose icy current and compulsive course
Ne'er feels retiring ebb, but keeps due on
To the Propontick, and the Hellespont;
Even so my bloody thoughts, with violent pace,
Shall ne'er look back, ne'er ebb to humble love,
Till that a capable and wide revenge
Swallow them up.—Now, by yon marble heaven,
In the due reverence of a sacred vow
I here engage my words.[2]
What have we here to aid the memory? Many things, after the passage is understood. We should be aware that the ancient historians stated that the Pontick (or Black) Sea ever flowed out into the Propontick (or Marmora) Sea, but that it never flowed back again to the Pontick. Here, then, is the means of easily memorizing the passage. The idea is of something ever going in the same direction, and by means of the similarity of action of the Pontick Sea and Othello's thoughts, both ever flowing out but never returning, we get a clear understanding of Othello's fixed determination not to retire from his purpose until his object is accomplished. As the Pontick ever flows into the Propontick, never ebbing back, so will his bloody thoughts of vengeance continue, never turning back to his earlier fond thoughts of love. Here is a clear case of apposition, and by means of the simile the idea is quickly perceived, firmly impressed upon the mind, and easily recalled.
Names of persons, places, and things are easily memorized and recalled by means of noting the similarity between them and others; as,
1. Shakespeare (Shake-speare)
2. Blackstone (Black-stone) 3. Portchester (Port-Chester)
4. Williamsbridge (William's-bridge)
5. Recollect (re-collect)
6. Disease (dis-ease).
Thus by means of thinking of the shaking of a spear the name of the great dramatist is recorded; of a black stone, that of the expounder of legal principles is deposited in the keeping of memory; of the Port of Chester, the name of the city of Portchester is introduced to the mind; of William's bridge, that of Williamsbridge. By analyzing the word recollect we find that it means re-collecting, a second gathering together, a reuniting of scattered things, and thus the word is ours for all time. In the same manner, disease means dis-ease, the prefix dis signifying apart or asunder, thus showing that disease means apart or away from ease, consequently when we are ill we are away from ease, because to be at ease is to be well. In this way, which is nothing more than a careful examination of objects, the names of persons, places, and things can be easily perceived, retained, and reproduced. In other words, they can be remembered.
By the same means speeches can be memorized; as,
When you come to a good book, you must ask yourself, "Am I inclined to work as an Australian miner would? Are my pickaxes and shovels in good order, and am I in good trim myself—and my sleeves well up to the elbows, and my breath good, and my temper?" And, keeping the figure a little longer, even at the cost of tiresomeness, for it is a thoroughly useful one, the metal you are in search of being the author's mind or meaning, his words are as the rock which you have to crush and smelt in order to get at it. And your pickaxes are your own care, wit, and learning; your smelting-furnace is your own thoughtful soul. Do not hope to get at any good author's meaning without those tools and that fire. Often you will need sharpest, finest chiselling, and patientest fusing before you can gather one grain of the metal.
In the first place lay hold of the things used for illustrating the thought: The Australian miner as representing the reader; the pickaxes and shovels symbolical of the working tools; the metal compared to the author's mind, his words to the rock, the smelting-furnace to the thoughtful soul. Now we are prepared to see the picture which the simile produces, to grasp the thought, and to commit it to memory with ease.
By means of analogy (apposition) facts are readily recalled; as,
Andrew Johnson was the only president of the United States whom it was ever sought to impeach, and he escaped impeachment by one vote.
The singular words "only," and "one," and the initial letter "A" in the word Andrew, are the means by which the facts contained in the above sentence can easily be remembered. A, in Andrew, is the first letter of the alphabet, only (one or first) qualifying president of the United States, one qualifying vote, are the simple means whereby we may remember that Andrew Johnson was the only president of the United States whom it was ever sought to impeach, and that he escaped impeachment by the narrow margin of one vote. The analogous facts that Andrew Johnson was the only president whom it was sought to impeach, and his escaping impeachment by one vote, will enable a person to recall them without trouble, because of their similarity. This being another instance where memory is strengthened by means of apposition. At the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact that we should lay hold of the thought.
We have now reached the end of the third lesson of the series, and the author urges a thorough study of this lesson, so that the next in order, Opposition, may be the better understood.