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CHAPTER LXIII 317 19. But it cannot be said that the characters are well chosen. They are clean-cut and well indicated. Jack is the protagonist, Cort the antagonist, and the revenge the objective. In employing the usual nomenclature it might be supposed that Jack was the hero, Ruth the heroine and Flanders the Villain, but Ruth and Flanders have but a secondary part in this story. They are merely the reason for the desire for revenge. Jack and Cort are the principals. Jack really draws less sympathy than Cort, who is innocently accused. We have no keen desire to see Jack win, because his objective, the death of Cort, is improper. The characters are well drawn, but they are not well chosen. They are not selected to give the interest to the story that is required. 20. Pride rises again on the next question. The settings are cor- rect because the story is told in a series of scenes which harmonize with the story being told. Ruth and Flanders are not brought into the saloon until the descent in society makes this a fitting place for them to be. No fault is to be found in the placement of the scenes in their settings. 21. An affirmative may also be returned on the next question. The plot is closely adhered to. No person is permitted to intrude who does not belong to the story being told and no extraneous incident is permitted to interfere with the direct recital of the plot. Here the technique is impeccable. 22. The question of climax is answered both in the affirmative and negative. In this the story is peculiar in that the successful attain- ment of the objective, which is supposed to provide the happy end- ing, is lacking, and yet the outcome is better than though Jack had been permitted to attain his end, since we know that the revenge he seeks is improper. Here technique has been employed to overcome the oJ)jectionable feature of the plot, but we have been told that tech- nique cannot sell a story. This seems to prove it. 23. It is very evident that this story will not stand much chance of a sale. The motivation is correct, there is enough suspense to save the second half of the second reel, the plot is told compactly, but our protagonist is not a person in whom we can become greatly inter- ested, and this- is largely because his objective is one with which we cannot sympathize. Good sense would urge the author to with- hold the story. As a matter of fact it was sent out only once, with others, on the slight chance that the latter scenes would pull the story through. It is offered here not as an example to be followed, but be- cause it serves a more useful purpose than would a better story. 24. But if the test questions are all asked in the affirmative, then there still remains a study of the action scene by scene. Study the scene as a unit and in its relation to other scenes and to the action as a whole. Consider even the little points. One thing that at- tracts notice is the fact that three times Jack enters the library and finds Ruth with a man. Each time he is first seen at the door. This is necessary in twelve and nineteen because we must bring him from