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College Success
A Concise Practical Guide
Seventh Edition

David L. Strickland Carol J. Strickland

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2.2 Places 33
Learning Centers or Academic Centers 33
Computer Labs 33
Counseling Center 34
The Library 35
Organization 35
Locating Materials and Information 35
Research Help 36
Atmosphere 36
Special Collections 36
Campus Athletic Fitness Center 36
The Campus Bus System 37
2.3 Things (Technologies) 37
Your College Portal 37
College Webmail 37
Anatomy of an Email to Your Professor 38
Things You Should Know About Most College Webmail 39
Course Management Systems 40
Using Your College Database Software 40
2.4 Summary 42

Chapter 3 63
Learning and Grades: Why Am I Really in College?
3.1 Focus 63
3.2 Goals 65
3.3 Pace 67
3.4 Depth 68
3.5 Responsibility 71
3.6 Summary 74

Chapter 4 95
Learning Preferences: How Do I Learn Best?
4.1 How Do We Learn? 95
Learning Involves Doing 95
Learning Involves Thinking 96
4.2 Why Do We Learn? 97

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4.3 I’ve Learned Something—Now What? 98
4.4 Individual Learning Preferences 98
4.5 Orientation to Learning 99
4.6 Learning Preferences and Strategies 101
4.7 Discovering Your Own Learning Preferences 105
4.8 Practice What You Have Learned 107
Analyzing Your ILS Results 107
4.9 Summary 109

Chapter 5 131
Getting Organized: Plan Your Work and Then Work Your Plan
5.1 Time Management: A Myth 132
Time Pirates 132
How Much Time Do I Have, Anyway? 134
How Much Time Do I Have for Studying? 134
Plan Your Work, Then Work Your Plan! 135
5.2 The Study Plan 135
Components of the Study Plan 136
Creating Your Study Plan Tools 137
Tool 1: The Monthly Calendar 137
Tool 2: The Weekly Appointment Calendar 138
Tool 3: The Study Session Ticket 140
5.3 The Alphabet Approach 143
A = Anticipate and Plan 143
B = Break Tasks Down 143
C = Cross Things Off 143
D = Don’t Procrastinate 144
5.4 Summary 145

Chapter 6 177
Listening and Taking Notes: Do You Hear What I Hear?
6.1 Listening for Success 177
Preparing to Listen 177
Complete Required Reading and Other Assignments in Advance 177
Prepare Questions in Advance 178
Prepare Your Physical Environment in Advance 179

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Active Listening During Class 180
Avoid Defining the Topic as Dull 180
Avoid Distractions 180
Don’t Let Points of Disagreement Stop You from Listening 180
Engage the Professor and Others in the Class 180
6.2 Taking Notes for Success 181
The Cornell Method of Note Taking 182
Step 1: Record (During Class) 184
Step 2: Reduce (Immediately After Class) 185
Step 3: Recite (During a Routine Study Session Prior to the Next Class) 186
Step 4: Reflect (During a Routine Study Session) 186
Step 5: Review (During Every Routine Study Session) 187
6.3 Summary 187

Chapter 7 207
Reading Textbooks: What They Never Taught You in Kindergarten!
7.1 What Is Reading? 209
7.2 Why Textbooks? 209
7.3 How to Read a Textbook 211
Expect to Devote Time to Reading 211
Don’t Try to Multitask 211
Read in an Environment That Supports Studying 212
Employ Proven Strategies for Reading 212
SOAR 212
SQ3R 213
7.4 Road Signs for Reading 215
7.5 Responding to New Vocabulary 216
Identifying New Vocabulary 216
Use Phonics to Sound Out the Word 216
Use Context Clues to Derive Meaning 216
Use Resources Such as a Glossary or a Dictionary 217
Learning New Words and Definitions 217
Moving Beyond Definitions to Associations 217
7.6 Summary 219

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Chapter 8 239
Writing College Papers: I Have a Paper Due!
8.1 Guidelines for College Writing 239
Follow the Professor’s Instructions 240
Use the Proper Format 240
Do Not Plagiarize, and Keep a Copy of Your Sources 241
Write with Purpose 242
Tips for General Writing 242
Tips for Writing a Research Paper 242
Proofread, Do Your Best Work, and Grade Yourself First 243
8.2 Resources for College Writing 244
Using Sources from the Internet 244
Using Scholarly Publications 244
8.3 Planning the College-Level Paper 246
Identify the Tasks Involved and Estimate the Time Required for Each 247
Add the Tasks to a Calendar 249
8.4 Summary 250

Chapter 9 265
Psychological Balance: Walking the Tightrope
9.1 Balance Defined 265
9.2 Elements of Balance 266
Academic 266
Financial 266
Physical 267
Psychological 267
9.3 Maintaining Psychological Balance 270
Reducing Stress Levels 272
Monitoring Your Behaviors, Moods, and Feelings 274
Anxiety 274
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) 274
Depression 275
Eating Disorders 277
9.4 Summary 280

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Chapter 10 297
Physical Balance: An Apple a Day
10.1 Elements of Physical Balance 297
Maintaining a Healthy Diet 298
Maintaining Proper Exercise and Sleep Regimens 300
Maintaining Proper Exercise for Health 300
Good Sleep Habits 301
Sex and Romance in College 302
Sexual Identity 304
Drug, Alcohol, and Nicotine Use in College 304
Drug Use in College 305
Alcohol Use in College 305
Nicotine Use in College 307
10.2 Summary 307

Chapter 11 331
Managing Your Money: Cashing in on the College Experience
11.1 The Value of a College Education 332
11.2 Money for College 334
Scholarships 334
Financial Aid 335
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 335
Loans 336
11.3 Money for Every Day: Buying Goods and Services 337
Distinguish Wants from Needs 337
Inexpensive Ways to Supply Your Needs 339
Textbooks 339
Food and Other Day-to-Day Goods and Services 339
Health and Recreation 339
Entertainment 340
11.4 Managing Money 340
Banks 341
Credit Unions 342
Savings 342
Checking 342
Debit Cards and ATMs 343
Your Budget: Credit Versus Debit (Income Versus Expenses) 343

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11.5 Managing Credit and Debt 346
What Is Credit? 346
What Is Interest? 346
What Is Debt? 346
Debt-to-Income Ratio 347
Credit Card Debt 347
Reports You Can Obtain About Your Credit 348
Credit Report and Credit Score 348
11.6 Summary 350

Chapter 12 371
Planning Your Future: What Courses Should I Take?
12.1 Graduation Requirements 372
The Core Curriculum 372
The College Catalog 373
Courses and Credit 373
Courses to Avoid 374
Online Courses 375
Planning Your Semester Course Load 376
How to Calculate Your GPA 378
Graduation Application 379
12.2 Designing Your Long-Term Graduation Plan 380
Step 1: Select an Academic Major 380
Step 2: Identify Prerequisites 381
Step 3: Determine When Specific Courses Are Available 382
Step 4: Record When You Plan to Take Each Required Course 382
12.3 Summary 384

Appendix 403
Answer Key for Reading Comprehension Questions 403

References 407
Index 417

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Figures & Tables

Table 1.1 High School Versus College 4
Figure 1.1 Venues for Studying and Learning at Various Academic Levels 7
Table 1.2 Examples of Attitudes and Resources for Success 11
Table 2.1 Successful Students Connect to Campus Resources 30
Table 2.2 Examples of Student Organizations 32
Table 2.3 Services Offered by Most Counseling Centers (CCs) 34
Table 2.4 Topics Addressed by Many CC Websites 35
Figure 3.1 Two Approaches: Comparison of a Focus on Grades
with a Focus on Learning 64
Table 3.1 Contrasting Questions Associated with Academic Focus 65
Table 3.2 Example of Study Guide Questions Based on a Lesson Objective 66
Table 3.3 Comparison of Deep Learning and Surface Learning 69
Figure 4.1 Each Person Has Their Own Individual Orientation to Learning 100
Table 4.1 Learning Preference Descriptions and Tips for Studying 102
Figure 4.2 Index of Learning Styles Results (NC State University) 107
Table 5.1 Study Tools 136
Figure 5.1 Record Assignments and Deadlines on the Monthly Calendar 138
Figure 5.2 Weekly Appointment Calendar 139
Figure 5.3 Example of a Completed Study Session Ticket 141
Figure 5.4 Example of a Completed Worksheet 142
Figure 5.5 Example of a Ticket Before and After a Study Session 174
Figure 6.1 The Cycle of Learning 178
Figure 6.2 Diagram of the Cornell Method of Note Taking 182
Figure 6.3 Example of a Note Page During Class 183
Figure 6.4 Example of a Note Page After Class 186
Table 7.1 Failing and Succeeding Dispositions Toward Reading a Textbook 210
Table 7.2 Description of the SOAR Method 213
Table 7.3 Description of the SQ3R Method 213
Figure 7.1 Example of a Flashcard 217
Figure 7.2 Example of a Concept Map 218
Table 8.1 Research Journal Article Headings 245
Table 8.2 Task List Planning Example 247
Figure 8.1 Example Monthly Calendar with Tasks Planned 250
Figure 9.1 Four Elements of a Balanced College Student 268
Table 9.1 Symptoms of Eating Disorders 278

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Figure 10.1 Building Blocks for a Healthy Diet 299
Figure 10.2 Achieving Maximal Effect: Ways to Incorporate
Exercise into Your Campus Life! 301
Table 11.1 Goals and Objectives 329
Table 11.2 Example Goals and Objectives 330
Figure 11.1 2014 Median Weekly Earnings by Education Level 333
Figure 11.2 Banked Versus Unbanked 341
Figure 11.3 The Cycle of Budgeting 344
Figure 11.4 Tips on Preventing Identity Theft 345
Table 12.1 Credit Hour Scenario for the First Two Years
(Without Summer Courses) 377
Table 12.2 Credit Hour Scenario for the First Two Years (with Summer Courses) 377
Figure 12.1 Partial Example of a Graduation Plan Worksheet 382

Assignments
Assignment 1.1 Maintain a Record of Your Progress 23
Assignment 2.1 Identifying Campus Resources 55
Assignment 3.1 Study Group (2–4 people for four meetings) 91
Assignment 4.1 Learning Preference Assessment 125
Assignment 5.1 Mark Your Monthly Calendar 157
Assignment 5.2 Develop Study Plans for Courses 163
Assignment 5.3 Weekly Appointment Page 167
Assignment 5.4 Study Session Tickets 171
Assignment 6.1 Practice Taking Notes 203
Assignment 7.1 Practice Identifying New Vocabulary 235
Assignment 8.1 Practice Finding Resources 261
Assignment 9.1 Maintaining Balance in Life During College 293
Assignment 10.1 Maintaining Physical Balance During College 325
Assignment 11.1 Monthly Budgeting 367
Assignment 12.1 Design Your Long-Term Graduation Plan 399
Assignment 12.2 Plan Semester Registration 401

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Preface
To the Student
Welcome to College! College Success: A Concise Practical Guide is especially designed to help you
succeed in college. It contains twelve brief—but rich—chapters on topics proven to make a
difference for academic success. This book is written by two professors who have over forty-six
years of combined teaching experience. They have taught in small two-year colleges as well as in
large public and private universities. The book can be used alone or in conjunction with a course
that focuses on student success in college.
Following are ways in which you will benefit from reading this book and completing all of
the assignments:
• You will learn to approach the challenge of college with a perspective and attitude that
will help you be successful—not only in college but in life after graduation.
• You will learn techniques that will help you plan, organize, listen, learn, read, and write
in college.
• You will learn how to connect with people on campus who will support your success.
• You will learn how to connect with resources on campus that will support your success.

If this book is used while you are taking a course about being successful in college, read the
chapters thoughtfully before your instructor discusses them in class. You will be glad you did.

How This Book Works

College Success includes exercises and assignments that you can complete on your own or as part
of a course. The classroom is a great place to discuss techniques for success and your new college
experiences with your instructor and your peers. A student success class can be like a support
group for new college students.

The Chapter Roadmap

Each chapter begins with the chapter roadmap page. The chapter roadmap includes a brief abstract
or summary of the chapter, a list of the learning goals for that chapter, and a checklist to help you
work through the chapter.

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The Learning Goals   One of the most important features of this textbook, and possibly any text-
book, is the list of learning goals. The learning goals are a series of statements that describe what
College Success: A Concise Practical Guide

you should be able to do after you have read and studied the chapter. These goals help you iden-
tify what aspects of the chapter are most important; therefore, if used properly, they can help you
sharpen the focus of your study. In a well-designed course, the learning goals and the questions you
see on exams will be linked—that is, the exam questions will be specifically designed to measure
whether you have successfully achieved the learning goals. Thus, you could use the learning goals
to develop a study guide that would enable you to efficiently prepare for exams. We will describe
how to do this in more detail under the section titled “How to Use the Study Guide.” The checklist
will help you connect the learning goals to the study guide pages found at the end of each chapter.
The study guide pages, if used properly, will help you identify and learn the important concepts of
the chapter. Those concepts are the same ones that you can expect to see represented on exams.
The Checklist   The checklist presents a series of activities to complete as you study the chap-
ter. You will benefit most if you complete the activities in the order in which they appear since they are
deliberately ordered to give you the best learning experience. For example, the first item on the
list is the “Critical Thinking Activity.” This should be done before you read the chapter, because
if you have completed it prior to reading, you will better understand the chapter. The same
principle applies to the second item on the checklist: compiling a series of questions about the
learning goals that you can reference as you read.

Critical Thinking Activity

As mentioned earlier, immediately following the chapter roadmap page is a critical thinking activity.
Remember that college-level study is more about thinking and understanding than about memo-
rization. Some memorization may still be necessary—especially when you encounter concepts that
are completely new to you; however, thinking critically about and analyzing those concepts are
central to a college education. Please note that the critical thinking activity is the first item on the
checklist and is designed to be completed before you read the chapter.

Reading Comprehension Questions

As you read, you will periodically come across reading comprehension questions. There are four types
of these questions in each chapter. When you encounter one of these questions, pause from your
reading and try to answer it. When you finish the chapter, check your answers for all four questions
against the answer key located in the back of the book. If you missed any of the questions, go back
and review that section of the chapter and try to figure out why.
This activity is designed to help you improve your reading comprehension in four areas:
1) knowledge, 2) literal comprehension, 3) inferential comprehension, and 4) analysis. The answer
key is not just for checking your work—you can also use it to assess your strengths and weaknesses.
Simply count the number of questions you got correct in each of the four categories. This will give
you a general idea of which types of reading comprehension you do best and which types you may
need to work on.

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Chapter Summary
The brief chapter summary can be used to quickly grasp the topics that will be covered. Reading it

Preface
and the learning goals before you begin the chapter will create a framework for all the information
to follow, so that you will learn and remember more.

Review Questions
Near the end of each chapter you will find a page of review questions with five true-false questions.
You should mark your answer and then, in the space provided, write your rationale (reason) for
selecting true or false. If you are using this book for a student success course, then your instructor
will have the answer key for the chapter review questions.

Assignments
One or more practical assignments can be found at the end of each chapter (with directions
provided). If you are taking a student success class, your professor may assign some of these for
a grade.

How to Use the Study Guide

Each chapter has a study guide, designed to help you understand and discuss material from the
chapter. As already mentioned, the learning goals for each chapter are listed at the beginning (on
the chapter roadmap page). These goals are then repeated on the top of each study guide page.
The learning goals tell you what is important in the chapter. If you want to seriously study the
chapter and accomplish the learning goals, you will need to do more than simply read the learning
goals. You will need to break them down into one or more questions. Below is a five-step method
for using the study guide.

Step 1: Convert the Learning Goals into Questions

Before You Read the Chapter
The learning goals are expressed as statements. Therefore, if you want to make sure that you thor-
oughly understand each goal, you will have to first convert them into questions. Do this before you
read the chapter in the space provided for you on the study guide pages. Simply write the questions in
the left-hand column of the study guide page. Look at Figure 1 as an example. The fictional student,
Sharon Cooper, has converted Learning Goal 1 for Chapter 3 into five different questions. Each of
these questions will help Sharon with a different aspect of the goal. Notice how the questions are
broken down into the smallest parts possible. Thus, there are many questions covering just one goal.
You should try to break down the goal into as many questions as you can. This will allow you to focus
on the details of the goal, rather than just skimming the chapter’s contents.

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Figure 1
College Success: A Concise Practical Guide

Example of Study Guide Page Based on a Lesson Objective

Sharon Cooper
Name: _____________________________________

Study Guide | Goal 1

The student will be able to compare and contrast the focus-on-grades approach with the focus-on-
learning approach.

Questions Answers & Notes

1. What is the focus-on-grades approach? It is an approach to learning in which the student
thinks of the grade as something separate from
learning. Given this focus, he or she attempts
to achieve the desired grade with the least
investment possible.
2. What is the focus-on-learning approach? It is an approach to learning in which the student
seeks to learn as much as he or she can in the
course.
3. How are the focus-on-grades and the focus-on- These approaches are similar in that they are both
learning approaches similar? (compare) ways in which students approach the way they
learn in college. They both result in grades that are
reflective of the approach taken.
4. How are the focus-on-grades and the focus- These approaches are different in that the student
on-learning approaches different? (contrast) is trying to learn at a different level, resulting in
good grades if the student has learned but not
necessarily a good grade if the student has not
learned at a deeper level. The focus-on-grades
approach involves focusing on what is on a test
and on shortcuts that the student can use to learn
quickly. The focus-on-learning approach involves
focusing on learning the most a student can learn
in the course and on what the most important
material to learn is.
5. What are at least two ways in which the The focus-on-learning approach is more effective
focus-on-learning approach is more effective because it results in deeper learning than the focus-
than the focus-on-grades approach? on-grades approach. Deeper learning means that the
student will retain the information for the longterm,
and not just for a short-term test. In addition, the
focus-on-learning approach automatically results in
higher exam scores because the student has learned
the material he or she needs to know.

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Step 2: Read the Chapter

Once you have clarified exactly what it is that you need to learn from the chapter, you are ready

Preface
to start reading. As you read, keep the learning goal questions in mind. When you encounter informa-
tion pertaining to one of your questions, you should make a note of it. Some students like to
highlight the information and then write a note for themselves in the margin reminding them
why it is highlighted.

Step 3: Answer Your Study Guide Questions

Once you understand the answers to your study guide questions, you should record the answers in
the right-hand column of the study guide (see Figure 1). Why? This will allow you to create a series
of questions and answers that you can use as a study and regulation tool (see Step 5).

Step 4: Read Your Study Guide Pages

With your study guide completed, you can now study simply by reading through it. It is often
helpful to read the pages aloud as a study activity. Read and repeat. You should read your study
guide on a regular basis throughout the semester.

Step 5: Use the Study Guide to Test Yourself

Testing yourself as a part of your regular study routine is called regulation. This is a key to success,
especially if you are going to have an exam based on the learning goals. Hold a blank piece of
paper in your hand and use it to cover the right column (the answers). Then read the first ques-
tion to yourself. Try to answer it. After you state your answer, slide the blank page down to reveal
the answer and check your progress. Repeat this with the next questions, and so on, until you
finish all the questions. Note any questions that you miss and spend additional time studying those
before your next regulation session. Use this regulation strategy on a regular basis throughout the
semester. Then, on the night before an exam, you will not need to stay up long hours cramming.
By then, all you will probably need to do is read your study guide and regulate one last time. After
a good night’s sleep, you can wake up refreshed and go tackle the exam with confidence. If you
regulate on a very regular basis, as we have described here, you will be so familiar with the most
important questions of the course that by the time you take the exam, you are sure to score very
high. What’s more, the knowledge you have gained will be imprinted in your long-term memory,
where it will serve you for years to come.

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Student Resources
College Success: A Concise Practical Guide

The following student resources are available for this textbook at www.BVTLab.com:

Practice Questions
Students can work through hundreds of practice questions online. Questions are multiple
choice or true/false in format and are graded instantly for immediate feedback.

Flashcards
BVTLab includes sets of flashcards that reinforce the key terms and concepts from each chapter.

Chapter Summaries
A convenient and concise chapter summary is available as a study aid.

PowerPoint™ Slides
All instructor PowerPoints™ are available for convenient lecture preparation and for students
to view online for a study recap.

From the Author

We hope this book will help you navigate through your first year of college as
successfully as possible! Feel free to contact either one of us with questions or
suggestions for improving this book.

David L. Strickland (dstrick@ega.edu) & Carol J. Strickland (ccornwel@gmail.com)

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To the Instructor

Preface
This book was written with the student in mind and has been developed as a comprehensive
reading and study guide that both student and instructor can use in a course focusing on
college success. The book is also written so that students can use it independently, in case they
are not enrolled in a college success course. The book is learner centered and will hopefully
capture the interest of students and keep them engaged throughout the semester.
This text has several features that we hope will provide additional resources and enrichment to
assist the student in becoming a successful college scholar. Many of the features and resources can
also be useful in the classroom as activities that will provide valuable experiences for your students.
These include 1) chapter roadmaps (which comprise a brief chapter summary, chapter learning
goals, and a study checklist), 2) critical thinking activities, 3) a comprehensive test bank, 4) reading
comprehension questions, 5) links to websites that complement the chapter, 6) study guide pages
for each chapter, and 7) learning activities and assignments designed specifically for each chapter—
all in a student-friendly format.

Student-Friendly Format
This text is written in plain, everyday language that is designed to be student friendly and easily
understood. Multiple features were designed to be helpful to the student as he or she progresses
through the text.

Chapter Roadmaps
Chapter roadmaps are located at the beginning of each chapter. They include an overview of the
entire chapter, along with learning goals and a checklist designed to help students focus on the
most important concepts as they work through each chapter. The learning goals presented in the
chapter roadmap are linked to the study guide (where they are repeated) and also to exam, quiz,
and homework questions in the test banks.

Critical Thinking Activities

Immediately following the roadmap page is a critical thinking activity, which is intended to be
completed by the student prior to reading the chapter. Note that this order is reinforced in the
checklist. Each activity poses a problem or issue that will stimulate further critical thinking by
students and will help mentally prepare them to get the most from the chapter. This feature was
developed in order to engage the student in deeper thought about a topic; the critical thinking
activities are also well-suited for use by the instructor in the classroom as a discussion starter.

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Reading Comprehension Questions

College Success: A Concise Practical Guide

Four questions have been included throughout each chapter so that students can self-regulate
their reading comprehension. The questions have been designed to assess the following four
major aspects of reading: 1) knowledge, 2) literal comprehension, 3) inferential comprehension,
and 4) analysis. At the end of the book is a table that can be used by the student to record his or
her answers and to check them against an answer sheet. The table then allows students to tally the
number of questions they got correct in each of the four categories, giving them a general idea of
their reading strengths and weaknesses.

Links to Websites
Links to relevant websites are included in each chapter. They are designed to provide additional
information and to pique students’ interest about the topic.

Study Guide Pages

At the end of each chapter are study guide pages based on the learning goals. Space is provided
for student-generated questions and answers. Please refer to “How to Use the Study Guide” (in the
section titled “To the Student”) for more detailed information.

Learning Activities and Assignments

The learning activities and assignments include specific interactive exercises that encourage the
student to apply concepts covered in each chapter.

Instructor Supplements
We have created the following teaching package for instructors:

BVTLab
An online lab is available for this textbook at www.BVTLab.com, as described in the BVTLab
section below.

Instructor’s Manual
The Instructor’s Manual (IM) provides many resources for the instructor, including teaching sugges-
tions and strategies for each chapter; instructor checklists; student handouts; a catalog of carefully
evaluated, lesson-related videos for each chapter; and suggested “tweets” and blog posts for each
chapter. New in the seventh edition are lesson plans for each chapter, including both a traditional
lesson plan and a flipped class lesson plan for each chapter.

PowerPoint Slides
PowerPoint slides are provided for each chapter. New in the seventh edition are annotations with
materials from each chapter to assist you in teaching the content.

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Test Bank Files

Test questions were developed to reinforce chapter concepts and to measure progress toward the

Preface
learning goals, as well as to verify that students have read the chapter. This test bank is available to
the instructor for use in homework, quizzes, and/or exams, and can be found at the faculty ancil-
lary website for this text. The test bank includes questions in multiple formats (including multiple
choice, true/false, short answer, and essay) for each chapter, and they are linked to each learning
goal. The test bank is available in three database formats: Respondus®, Microsoft® Excel®, and
a comma-separated text file. The questions from the test bank are also available as a Microsoft®
Word® or text document.

Course Management Software

BVT’s course management software, Respondus, allows for the creation of tests and quizzes that
can be downloaded directly into a wide variety of course management environments such as
Blackboard®, WebCT™, Desire2Learn®, Canvas™, and others.

BVTLab
BVTLab is an affordable online lab for instructors and their students. It includes an online class-
room with a grade book and chat room, a homework grading system, extensive test banks for
quizzes and exams, and a host of student study resources. Even if a class is not taught in the lab,
students can still utilize the resources described below.

Course Setup
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 xxiv

Instructor Resource Edition

College Success: A Concise Practical Guide

Hopefully you are reading this from the preface of College Success: Instructor Resource Edition (IRE)!
The IRE includes, for each chapter, a summary of the objectives, tips and advice from the authors,
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From the Author

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David L. Strickland (dstrick@ega.edu) & Carol J. Strickland (ccornwel@gmail.com)

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Guide
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
the actor Sato, whom I sent to release Hanako at Antwerp, is now
the husband of the little Japanese doll.
 XIX
SARDOU AND KAWAKAMI

“W HO is author of the play that Sada Yacco is playing?” a

writer friend asked me one day.
“Kawakami, her husband.”
“Really. Well, then he ought to belong to the Society of Authors.”
And we proposed his name.
On the appointed day I took him to the Society of Authors. I was
quite surprised to note that the gentlemen of the committee had
turned out to a man to receive him.
We were ushered into the committee room, where these
gentlemen awaited us, seated round a large table.
Sardou, who presided, received us with a very appropriate
address. He greeted Kawakami as the man who first forged a literary
bond between France and Japan. He warmly congratulated
Kawakami on having been the first manager who had the courage to
bring a company from his distant native land to a city where no one
understood a word of Japanese. He complimented Kawakami and
complimented him again, and ended by calling him his “dear
comrade.”
After which he sat down.
There was silence, and I knew that they were expecting some
response from Kawakami. But he seemed in no wise to suspect that
he had furnished the theme for the discourse just ended. He
remained calmly in his seat and surveyed the gentlemen one by one.
I realised the necessity for immediate action. Some one must
sacrifice himself. In the present crisis, cost what it may, it devolved
on me to intervene. Turning toward Kawakami, I asked, in
pantomime: “Do you understand?”
 He shook his head to say no.
Thereupon M. Sardou added:
“Speak to him, Miss Fuller. Translate to him what has just been
said.”
Finally, since there was nothing else for it, I summoned all my
strength, and at some length I explained in good English to
Kawakami, who did not understand a syllable of it, that this speech
Sardou had prepared expressly for him because he was a Japanese
author, and because the French were greatly pleased that he had
brought his Japanese company to Paris, and that the Society of
Authors received him with pleasure. I then explained to Kawakami,
with the indispensable assistance of appropriate gestures, that the
time had arrived for him to get up and say something in Japanese.
Was it not the essential fact that these gentlemen believed that
M. Sardou’s words had been translated?
Kawakami immediately arose and delivered an address which
must have been most carefully thought out. To judge from the
seriousness of the orator’s aspect, and from the length of his
harangue Kawakami is a great political orator. When he had finished
he sat down, while everybody looked at him admiringly, with
beaming faces.
No one, however, had understood a single word of what he said.
I, naturally, was in the same plight as the others. There ensued a
second somewhat painful silence, broken by Sardou asking:
“What did he say, Miss Loie?”
That was a poser. For there was no reason why I should
understand Japanese any better than these gentlemen of the
Society of Authors.
As, however, I had a feeling that I was a little responsible for what
took place, in order not to cause them any disappointment I screwed
my courage up again, rose and began to make a speech. Those who
know me can fancy what this speech was like. It was in French, but I
would take my oath that it was as hard to understand as Kawakami’s
Japanese. However, I managed to ring the changes on the words
“Japanese gratitude, Japanese pride,” and I did my best to paint in
glowing colours Kawakami’s joy at having established a bond
between the theatrical worlds of the two countries.
My speech was only a bad imitation of what M. Sardou had said,
and what I had vaguely understood of Kawakami’s views. I tried, in
fact, to say what Kawakami would have said in my place and, with as
much emphasis and big sincere words, I came to a close. Then
before sitting down I asserted once more: “There, gentlemen, that is
what he said.”
My role of being an interpreter without understanding the
language was finished. There was a storm of hurrahs and the ice
was broken. The conversation became general, and the meeting
ended in being a great success so far as Kawakami was concerned.
It was Kawakami’s day. As for me, I was not in it.
The result of this meeting was that Kawakami played Sardou’s La
Patrie in Japan, obtaining for this work a success as great as for the
Shakespearean plays he likewise represents there, and whose parts
he plays with such truth that he is called at home, “the Japanese
Mark Antony.”
He brought to the theatres of his native land certain
modifications, which have radically changed their dramatic methods.
It is customary in Japan to begin a play at nine or ten o’clock in the
morning and to make it last at least until midnight. One lunches and
dines at the theatre during the intervals, which, it is needless to say,
are interminable.
Kawakami changed that condition of things by beginning at half-
past six or at seven o’clock in the evening and ending before
midnight. And how do you suppose he managed to prevent people
eating between the acts? for that was the most difficult innovation.
He made the intervals so short that there was no time even to go to
the refreshment-room. It was really an easy thing to compel the
public to alter its habits. Instead of appealing to people’s reason,
Kawakami simply made it impossible for them to continue doing what
they had previously done.
 European theatres are now building in Japan, in order that actors
from Europe may go there and produce their plays. The Nipponese
public is learning to give them a more favourable reception.
All that is due to Kawakami and to his sympathetic reception at
the Society of Authors. I cannot refrain from congratulating myself on
this, for, after all, it was I who “translated” the addresses and thus
sealed in words this new entente cordiale.
That brings to mind a little story.
It happened at the Athénée in 1893. We were rehearsing the
“Salome” of Armand Silvestre and Gabriel Pierné. Behind the scenes
one day I encountered a man with an enormous muffler, which went
several times around his neck, and a tall hat of a style that came
down over his ears. I chatted with him in the indifferent French I had
at command, and this without knowing who he was. While talking to
him I noticed a hole in his shoe. He was aware of my discovery, I
suppose, for he said to me:
“I had that hole made expressly. I prefer a hole in my shoe to a
pain in my foot.”
This man was Victorien Sardou.
A word more about my Japanese friends.
Kawakami has a son who was five years old when I first saw him.
He passed his time drawing everything around him.
I observed in his simple childish drawings a very peculiar manner
he affected in representing people’s eyes. They were always drawn
like billiard balls emerging from the face. I asked Kawakami:
“Don’t you think that it is an odd way to draw eyes?”
“Yes, but it is because the European eye is quite like the eye of a
fish,” the father replied.
That aroused in me a desire to know more intimately his
impressions of our race, and I asked him what Europeans look like
from the Japanese point of view.
 “All Europeans,” he said, “resemble pigs. Some of them look like
dirty pigs, some like clean pigs; but they all look like pigs.”
I never said anything about this to M. Sardou.
 XX
AN EXPERIENCE

I T happened in February, 1902. I arrived at Vienna with my

Japanese company, headed by Sada Yacco. We had with us an
artist to whom I had been delighted to be of service. In Paris my
close friend, Madame Nevada, the celebrated American singer, had
presented her to me, and the dancer had given me a performance as
an example of her skill. She danced with remarkable grace, her body
barely covered by the flimsiest of Greek costumes, and she bade fair
to become somebody. Since then she has arrived. In her I saw the
ancient tragic dances revived. I saw the Egyptian, Greek and Hindoo
rhythms recalled.
I told the dancer to what height I believed that she could attain,
with study and persistent work. A short time after I left for Berlin,
where she rejoined me. During our stay there she was ill most of the
time and could do hardly any work.
Finally, on our return to Vienna, we began our studies seriously,
and I decided to organise some evening affairs as a means of
bringing her before an audience of people capable of appreciating
and understanding her.
To this end I took her to every drawing-room that was open to me
in Vienna. Our first call was upon the wife of the English
ambassador, whom I had known at Brussels when her husband
represented the United Kingdom there. On this day I came near
going in alone and leaving my dancer in the carriage, because of her
personal appearance. She wore an Empire robe, grey, with a long
train and a man’s hat, a soft felt hat, with a flying veil. Thus gowned
she appeared to so little advantage that I rather expected a rebuff.
However, I pleaded my dancer’s cause so warmly, and I obtained a
promise that both the ambassador and his wife would be present on
the first evening.
 I went next to see the Princess of Metternich.
“My dear Princess,” I said to her, “I have a friend, a dancer, who
has not yet succeeded in coming to the front because she is poor
and has no one to launch her. She is very talented, and I am anxious
that Viennese drawing-rooms shall come to know her. Are you willing
to help me?”
“With pleasure. What must I do?”
“To begin with, come to my hotel, and see her dance.”
“Why, certainly. You can count absolutely upon me.”
The princess is impressively simple. Where one expects to find a
grande dame arrayed in finery and of lofty bearing, one discovers a
charming woman, receptive, simple, witty, and possessed of
extraordinary youthfulness of manner. When Prince Metternich was
ambassador at Paris she was given the nickname one applied to
Adelaide of Savoy; she was called “the pretty, homely one.” The
princess went one better by saying, “I am the best dressed ape in
Paris.” I wonder if she could ever have been plain. There is such
intelligence implicit in every feature of her face.
Under the light grey locks the black eyes have preserved the
sprightliness, the sweetness of youth. Her smile gave me
confidence. It was thus that I had always pictured the gentlewoman,
revealed by everything that she is herself and not solely by the
things that surround her or by the high rank she occupies in society.
I had heard it said that this woman had the greatest influence at
the Austrian court, and looking at her I understood it. Her carriage,
her countenance and everything else inspired respect and affection.
When I took leave her last words were:
“I shall be delighted to help your friend since I shall be thus able
to please you.”
I went away, gratified and thankful on my own account as well as
on my friend’s.
 Then I went to the Embassy of the United States. I saw the
ambassador immediately, but I was obliged to wait to see his wife.
She entered breezily, bringing with her, as it were, a whiff of her own
far west. Kind, energetic, jolly, she was a free born woman, cordial
and sincere, and I felt at once that I could rely on her.
While I spoke of my protégée, the ambassador’s wife
remembered having seen her dance at her sister’s house in Chicago
some years before. The dancing, to tell the truth, had not particularly
interested her, but if it would be of any help to us she would be very
glad to come to our performance.
Sure of having a good audience I returned to the hotel and told
my friend that the occasion she had desired so long had at last
arrived.
I decided to give an evening for the press on the same day on
which my friend would appear at a matinee before the Princess and
members of the diplomatic corps.
I then sent invitations to the Viennese artists and art critics. When
the day came everything was in readiness. I had engaged an
orchestra; the hall had floral decorations; the buffet was most
appetising.
The English ambassador, his wife and daughter, were among the
first arrivals. There was a great gathering in front of the hotel to
admire their carriage with the magnificent liveries.
Then came the turn of the American ambassador and his wife, in
a black carriage, very simple, but very elegant. Finally all the others
arrived. Suddenly the princess’ turnout, so well known to all Vienna,
paused before the door.
After having welcomed my guests I begged them to excuse me
for a minute and I went in to see the débutante.
It was half-past four. In ten minutes she was due to begin. I found
her with her feet in warm water, in the act of dressing her hair, in a
very leisurely manner. Startled, I begged her to hurry, explaining that
she ran the risk through her negligence of offending an audience that
would definitely give her her start. My words were without effect.
Very slowly she continued her preparations. Feeling that I could do
nothing with her I returned to the drawing-room and made the
greatest effort of my life to get out of this delicate situation.
I was obliged to make a little impromptu address. What I said I
have never known, but I remember having vaguely fashioned
something like a dissertation on dancing and its value in relation to
the other arts and to nature. I said that the young woman whom we
were going to see was not an imitator of the dancers depicted on the
Etruscan vases and the frescoes at Pompeii. She was the living
reality of which these paintings were only an imitation. She was
inspired by the spirit which had made dancers of them.
All at once she made her entrance, calm and indifferent, looking
as if she did not care in the least what our guests thought of her.
But it was not her air of indifference that surprised me most. I
could hardly refrain from rubbing my eyes. She appeared to me
nude, or nearly so, to so slight an extent did the gauze which she
wore cover her form.
She came to the front, and, while the orchestra played a prelude
from Chopin she stood motionless, her eyes lowered, her arms
hanging by her side. Then she began to dance.
Oh, that dance, how I loved it! To me it was the most beautiful
thing in the world. I forgot the woman and all her faults, her absurd
affectations, her costume, and even her bare legs. I saw only the
dancer, and the artistic pleasure she was giving me. When she had
finished no one spoke.
I went up to the Princess. She said to me in a low voice:
“Why does she dance with so little clothing on?”
Then I suddenly realised the strange attitude of the public, and
guided by a sort of inspiration, I answered in tones loud enough so
that everybody should hear:
“I forgot to tell you how kind our artist is. Her trunks upon which
she relied absolutely for the day have not arrived. Accordingly, rather
than give you the disappointment of not seeing her dance, she
appeared before you in the gown in which she practises.”
At nine o’clock the press performance took place. Everybody was
enthusiastic, but none more so than I.
Next day I arranged a third performance for painters and
sculptors, and this affair was likewise a great success.
A lady finally asked my friend to dance at her house. The star
demanded a very high price. Persuaded by me the lady consented to
pay the big fee my dancer claimed to be worth. For several weeks
her success increased day by day.
Then, all at once, people seemed to have forgotten the dancer.
She was engaged only rarely, but I was not discouraged.
Meantime, I had forgotten to mention it, my friend’s mother had
joined us at Vienna, and in place of one guest I now had two.
A little while after these performances we went to Budapesth,
where I gave a new entertainment to launch my protégée. I invited all
the best people of the city to this.
The leading actress of the Théâtre National heard of the affair,
and was anxious to take part in it. I invited the theatrical managers
as I had done at Vienna. This time one of them was to make up his
mind regarding an engagement. The next day he came to see me,
and proposed twenty performances in one of the first theatres of
Budapesth. My friend was to rehearse, beginning the next day. On
that same day I had an interminable rehearsal with my Japanese
actors, and I was detained from home until late in the afternoon. On
returning to the hotel I learned that the dancer and her mother had
gone to Vienna to give there an evening performance I had arranged
for her before our departure. My orchestra leader accompanied
them. I was, I must confess, a little surprised at the abruptness with
which they left, but I thought no more about it until my orchestra
leader returned.
He came back alone. At first he evaded questions. Then he
confessed that these ladies did not expect to rejoin me. I could not,
and would not, believe him.
 “Very well,” he said. “These are the precise words which the
mother uttered while we were on the train. ‘Now that she has started
you,’ she said, to her daughter, ‘you have no more use for her.’ To
which the daughter replied, ‘Well, I haven’t the least desire to go
back to Loie.’”
When these ladies were ready to return to Budapesth they
allowed my orchestra leader to go without sending any message to
me. I telegraphed to find out if I was not to see them again. My
dancer replied with a telegram so worded: “Only in case you will
deposit to my credit ten thousand francs in a Viennese bank before
nine o’clock to-morrow morning.”
This proceeding was all the more cruel as she knew that I had
just lost more than one hundred thousand francs through a Viennese
manager who had broken his contract with my Japanese company.
Besides, my expenses were very heavy and I was badly
embarrassed. After I left Budapesth the dancer came there to fill the
engagement I had secured for her. Then she went to Vienna and
gave some performances there. I have been told that she went to all
the people to whom I had presented her and asked them to take
tickets. She thus disposed of seats amounting to some thousands of
florins. Everybody was ready to help her, including the wife of the
English ambassador and the Princess of Metternich. Above all, I
must have gained a reputation as an impostor, for my friend
continued to appear in public in what I had called her practising
gown.
Some years later at Brussels I learned that my dancer said to
somebody who wanted to know whether she was acquainted with
Loie Fuller that she did not know me.
 XXI
AMERICAN AFFAIRS

A STRANGER, and especially a Frenchman who has never

travelled in America simply cannot imagine what our country is
like. A Frenchman may get an idea of Germany without having
seen it; of Italy, without having been there; of India even, without
having visited it. It is impossible for him to understand America as it
is.
I had proof of the truth of this observation in certain
circumstances that were altogether unexpected. This experience I
recall frequently as one that was peculiarly amusing, so amusing
indeed that I regard the incident as one of the most comic I have
ever encountered.
The hero of the adventure was a young journalist and man about
town named Pierre Mortier. One might imagine that from the fact of
his profession, which usually gives those who follow it a reasonable
smattering of everything, that he would be less liable to surprise and
astonishment than some shop assistant or railway employee. The
actual occurrences proved the contrary.
But let us view this farce from the rising of the curtain.
I embarked on a steamer at Cherbourg, with my mother and
some friends, bound for New York. Pierre Mortier came on board to
offer his best wishes for a delightful voyage. We made him inspect
our state-rooms, my friends and I, and we shut him in one of them. In
vain he battered the wooden door with fist and foot. We were deaf to
his appeals, for we had decided to release him only when the boat
was already out of the roadstead and bound for the shores of the
new world.
At first he protested, not without vehemence, for he was not at all
equipped as regards wardrobe for such a voyage, but he soon
cooled off and gaily assumed his part in the rather strenuous farce
into which we had precipitated him.
“Be quiet,” I said to him, “everything will come out all right.”
“But how? I haven’t even a spare collar with me.”
His appearance was so disconsolate that I began to laugh
heartily. Gaiety spreads from one person to another as easily as
gloom. He began, in his turn, to laugh.
Arrived in New York we went to the best hotel in Brooklyn. The
first thing that caught Pierre Mortier’s eye in the hotel lobby was the
unusual number of spittoons. They were everywhere, of all sizes and
shapes, for Americans do not hesitate, if they have no receptacle
within easy reach, to spit on the floor, and to throw the ends of their
cigars anywhere, without even taking the trouble to extinguish them.
We reached our rooms. There in an array along the wall some
buckets, filled with water, attracted his attention. “Some more
spittoons!” cried Mortier.
Everybody laughed, and he said in a somewhat peevish tone:
“Then what are those buckets for?”
“Why, in case of fire.”
“I thought,” said Mortier, “that all American buildings were fire-
proof.”
“That is what you hear in Paris, but houses of that sort are really
very rare.”
“Yet you pay enough in your country to have more comfort and
security than anywhere else. For instance, that carriage just now. It
was nothing short of robbery. Twenty-five francs to take us from the
station here. And such an old trap! I don’t understand why your laws
tolerate such things.”
Already he was beginning to protest. There was sure to be
something else the next day.
 On awakening on the first morning he pressed once on the
electric button in his bedroom. A bell-boy appeared, bringing a
pitcher of ice water. Thinking this a form of cheap wit Mortier
sputtered some of his worst insults, happily couched in French. The
bell-boy, a huge negro, looked calmly down upon this excited little
man with the fair hair and skin, and then, without asking for his tip,
quietly closed the door and went away.
This attitude of unconcern was not calculated to assuage our
friend’s bellicose mood. He rang the bell again, and three times
instead of once. That was the summons to be made when a guest
wanted a boot-black sent to take his boots. Such a personage
presented himself.
The personage explained to Mortier that if he touched the bell
once that brought ice water; three times a boot-black. But Mortier did
not understand a word of English. Accordingly the boot-black did
what the bearer of ice water had done before, quite unconcernedly
he went away.
Pierre Mortier was in a furious rage when a third boy presented
himself, as black as the two preceding, for all the attendants are
negroes in American hotels. This fellow was willing to remove his
boots. Some minutes passed. Mortier was almost apoplectic with
anger. The boy reappeared. He explained to his client that he gave
the boots back only in return for a dollar. Mortier was still in bed. To
make him understand, the negro lifted his clothes, which were folded
on a chair, and, whistling, all the while, rifled the pockets. He picked
out a dollar, and put it carelessly into his own pocket. Then he left
the boots on the floor and disappeared.
In a paroxysm of rage our friend dressed himself in a great hurry
and went to the hotel desk, where he made the place resound with
curses that no one paid any attention to since no one understood
them.
On the evening of the same day Mortier put his boots outside his
door in order that they might be cleaned before next morning, as is
done everywhere in England and France.
 In America when something is left in front of the door it is only as
a sign that the object can be thrown away. Mortier never saw his
shoes again.
He rang, a negro presented himself. Mortier demanded his
shoes. He cried, stormed, threatened. The negro backed up against
the wall and unconcernedly whistled a cakewalk.
Speechless with rage, Mortier hurled himself upon the black. The
hotel negroes, especially when they are not armed, are ordinarily
lacking in courage. Besides, this one had good reasons for believing
that his client had gone mad. So he hastily decamped.
After that nothing could induce any one of the negroes of the
establishment to enter Mortier’s room as long as he remained at this
hotel.
We did our best to explain to M. Mortier that the domestics were
nowise in the wrong. He would not listen to a word, but kept
exclaiming, with his eyes sticking further out of his head than usual
(his eyes were naturally prominent):
“No, no! In America you are savages, all savages. Yes, savages
and thieves. It is much worse here than I had supposed.”
One morning he went down alone into the restaurant for
breakfast. Some minutes after we saw him bounding up the stairs.
He was livid and trembling with rage. On reaching the door of our
apartment, he burst out:
“This time it is too much. What is the matter with these brutes
here? Has some change come over me? Tell me. Am I an object of
ridicule? What is the matter with me? When I entered the restaurant
a great fool looked me over from top to bottom, and said something,
thereupon everybody began to stare at me. What is the trouble with
me? Tell me what is the matter?”
What was the matter? He wore a straw hat with very narrow brim,
one of those hats called “American” in Paris and of a kind that is
never worn in America. He also had “New Yorkey” trousers such as
were never cut in New York. That was enough to let loose the
risibilities of this Yankee public, a public that is far from being
indulgent of little eccentricities in other people.
Instead of calming him our explanations exasperated him, and it
was only after he had spent his violence that we succeeded in
getting him down to breakfast again.
The breakfast was not extraordinarily expensive. But when he
looked over his account Mortier went into a rage. He had ordered the
same things that we did, and his bill was two dollars and a half, that
is about twelve and a half francs, higher than ours. These twelve and
a half francs represented the price of a bottle of very ordinary red
wine, which he had ordered.
“Do you want me to tell you what your Americans are,” he
shouted. “Well, they are, and don’t you forget it either, they are every
one thieves, savages, hogs. They are hogs, hogs! That one word
expresses it.”
One morning at eight o’clock, after we had had coffee together,
he left us.
“I am going to take a little walk,” he said. “I shall be back in half
an hour.”
The half hour lasted until seven o’clock in the evening. You can
imagine how anxious we became.
This is what happened.
Seeing that everybody, almost without exception, was headed in
the same direction, he followed the crowd along the side walk.
Presently he found himself on Brooklyn Bridge, black with people
and burdened with cars, those bound to New York filled to
overflowing, the others returning to Brooklyn completely empty.
Mortier did not know that all Brooklyn goes to work on the New
York side, where the business district is situated, and that everybody
goes to work at the same hour in this peculiar country. Astonished,
curious, a little bewildered, he followed the crowd. Once across the
bridge he found himself in one of the innumerable streets of New
York.
 On the New York side he looked round him to establish a
landmark by which he could find his way back. He did not discover
one, but it seemed impossible to get lost, as he had only to return to
the base of this big bridge to retrace his steps to Brooklyn. He kept
on, therefore, until he had completely satisfied his curiosity. Then he
retraced his steps, or at least he thought he was doing so. He looked
for the bridge, but in vain. Everybody walked so quickly that his very
courteous “Pardon, Monsieur,” met with no response. Once or twice
he made a bad effort at asking for “Brooklyn Bridge.” This met with
no better success.
All the while he was unable to find a policeman.
The idea occurred to him, a magnificent idea, of going into a
shop. No one made the slightest effort to help him. The assistants
were interested only in trying to sell him everything which the house
contained. Finally he found himself in a street where there were only
clothing merchants. Hardly had he set foot there when he was
seized and dragged into a shop. An hour passed before Mortier
could escape, more dead than alive, from the merchant’s clutches.
The information he gave led us to suppose that this must have been
the famous Baxter Street, the quarter in which Jewish second-hand
dealers ply their trade. It was past five o’clock when he succeeded
finally in regaining the bridge, and then it was only with difficulty that
he got across, for it was already overcrowded with workers returning
to their homes in Brooklyn.
Finally he found the hotel again, swearing that he was going to
take the first steamer for Europe.
“Anywhere,” he would groan; “I would rather be anywhere in the
world than here. I’m not going to stay another hour in such a country.
A rotten country! Rotten people!”
This time, in Pierre Mortier’s eyes, we were “rotten.” It would be
hard to estimate how many discourteous adjectives this young man
applied to our people in a short time. He must have made a record.
However, the Brooklyn hotel at which we were staying was
equipped “on the European plan” with carefully chosen menus à la
carte.
In the city to which we went later there was a purely American
hotel, at which we put up. A central plate surrounded by a dozen little
plates stood in front of each guest. All these were filled
simultaneously with soup, entrees, fish, meat, vegetables and fruit.
The guests with hasty movements gobbled smoked salmon, roast
beef, chicken, mashed potatoes, badly cooked “pie,” salad, cheese,
fruit, pudding, ice-cream, with apparently no regard for the effect of
the hazardous mixtures on their digestive organs.
Mortier left the table completely disheartened by this spectacle.
“What are those savages made of,” he said. “Upon my word they
make me look back with regret to the thieves in New York. And when
you consider that to urge down their hideous mixtures they
incessantly guzzle ice water and keep chewing olives, just as
civilised people eat bread!”
When we returned to New York Mortier went to the Holland
House, a hotel at which French was spoken, and where things were
done in a manner approximating nearer to what he was accustomed
to.
America—this America which on the steamer he had assured
himself would be perfect—had come to interest him only in places
where it had lost its own character. He found it good only in the few
spots where it resembled Paris. In this was not this young journalist,
after all, like most of his compatriots when they undertake to travel
even in other countries than in America?
At the Holland House Pierre Mortier relaxed a little. He even
became more polite in his expressions regarding America and
Americans. But an incident occurred that brought the young
reporter’s distaste for the country to a head, and precipitated his
departure.
One day on returning to the Holland House he forgot to pay his
cabman and found him ten hours later still standing in front of the
hotel. His charge was a dollar and a half an hour. That meant that
Mortier had to give up fifteen dollars.
 Our friend thought at first the house porter should have paid for
the trip, and had the charge made on his bill. Accordingly he
complained at the hotel desk regarding what he called a piece of
negligence.
Although the house was conducted on the French plan they gave
him a thoroughly American answer:
“Well, that has nothing to do with the porter. You ordered the
carriage, didn’t you? Yes. You had the use of it, didn’t you? Yes.
Well, then, what do you expect? If you don’t know what you want, it
isn’t up to the employees to run after you to find out. They’ve got
something else to do.”
By the next steamer Pierre Mortier left the United States for good
and all, swearing never again to set foot there.
Mr. W. Boosey, the English publisher, had some very different
experiences in the United States.
On board the steamer he had become acquainted with a very
interesting and companionable American, who invited him to lunch at
Delmonico’s.
“Thanks awfully,” said the Englishman as he accepted. “On what
day?”
“Any day you please.”
That was a little vague, but Mr. Boosey assured him that he
should be delighted, and would come as soon as he had a free day.
He was afraid of not having said the proper thing, from the American
point of view. This notion bothered him for several days.
Finally, just before sailing, he asked the American again when
they should lunch together at Delmonico’s.
His friend replied: “On Thursday or Saturday, whichever suits you
best.”
The Englishman decided on Thursday.
The day set for the lunch arrived and Mr. Boosey was prompt to
keep the appointment. He asked for Mr. X., and they showed him to