Since the purpose of a story is to entertain, any story falls short of its
purpose when it ceases to be interesting. We must at all times say what we
mean and say it clearly; but in story telling especially we must also take
care that what we say shall arouse and maintain interest.


+6. The Introduction.+--The story of an event should be introduced in such
a manner as to enable the hearer to understand the circumstances that are
related. Such an introduction contributes to clearness and has an
important bearing upon the interest of the entire composition. In order to
render our account of an event clear and interesting it is usually
desirable to tell the hearers _when_ and _where_ the event occurred and
_who_ were present. Their understanding of it may be helped further by
telling such of the attendant circumstances as will answer the question,
_Why_? If I begin my story by saying, "Last summer John Anderson and I
were on a camping trip in the Adirondacks," I have told when, where, and
who; and the addition of the words "on a camping trip" tells why we were
in the Adirondacks, and may serve to explain some of the events that are
to follow. Even the statement of the place indicates in some degree the
trend of the story, for many things that might occur "in the Adirondacks"
could not occur in a country where there are no mountains. Certainly the
story that would follow such an introduction would be expected to differ
from one beginning with the words, "Last summer John Anderson and I went
to visit a friend in New York."

It is not always necessary to tell when, where, who, and why in the
introduction, but it is desirable to do so in most cases of oral story
telling. These four elements may not always be stated in incidents taken
from books, for the reader may be already familiar with them from the
preceding portions of the book. The title of a printed or written story