Part 4

In the first year one or two short themes a week will give sufficient practice in composition. A short theme should consist of one well-rounded paragraph of about 150 words. The one-paragraph theme of this length has several advantages. First, the pupil is taught from the beginning of his high school composition work to regard the paragraph as a unit of some length, which may be complete in itself. Second, the pupil usually has enough ideas for a short theme, and can present them simply and directly without writing to fill space, as he sometimes must do when longer themes are required. Third, a teacher can correct these short single page themes in less time, and yet see clearly the pupil’s faults, for he is likely to make the characteristic errors as evident in one page as in three or four. If the teacher has time to correct carefully two short themes a week, one of these may be prepared outside the class room, and the other may be written during part of one of the recitation periods. This plan gives the pupil practice in carefully prepared written work for the writing of which he has plenty of time, and also in writing rapidly in class when he has time to prepare but a single draft of his theme.

As in all composition work, these themes must be promptly and carefully corrected by the teacher; and the errors, as has already been pointed out, should be indicated by signs and abbreviations so that the pupil may have the benefit of correcting his mistakes. This correction by the pupil may be done either by rewriting the theme or by revising it and making corrections neatly between the lines, or in some other convenient place. In either case, the work should be returned to the teacher so that he may glance over the original and rewritten forms, or the original as revised, and may see whether the errors have been corrected and the changes properly made.

In the first year the conferences of teacher and pupil on composition work are of great importance. By talking over the work, the teacher can do much towards encouraging a pupil who becomes disheartened because of the difficulties in expressing his ideas in writing. In these conferences, also, the teacher can learn much concerning the pupil’s interests and character, and by sympathy and insight can be as helpful to the excellent pupil as to the mediocre or poor one.

5. Reading

The selection of suitable masterpieces for reading and study in the first year must be made with particular care, since the pupils’ attitude toward the reading and study of literature is often influenced for some time by their first impressions. As the purpose of the reading is not only to have the pupils understand what they read by teaching them to read carefully and accurately, but also to interest them in reading good literature, it is desirable to begin on material that does not present too many difficulties. The length of the selection is also an important element. The piece of literature must not be so long that interest in it flags or that the pupil can not grasp it in its entirety and study it as a unit. Short stories, tales, and narrative and descriptive sketches combine more of the desired elements than other forms of literature. Prose narratives of this type also make possible the close and effective correlation of the reading and composition, the importance of which has already been emphasized. Among the short stories and sketches that have been used successfully in the first year and that may be taken as typical are Hawthorne’s “Twice Told Tales”, Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” and “Legend of Sleepy Hollow”, Holmes’ “My Hunt After the Captain”, Warner’s “A-Hunting of the Deer”, Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Mythology and folk tales have also been tried with considerable success in the first semester of the first year; the available selections include Hawthorne’s “Wonder Book”, Church’s “The Story of the Iliad” and “The Story of the Odyssey”, Peabody’s “Old Greek Folk Stories”, Bryant’s translations of the “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” and Palmer’s translation of the “Odyssey”.

The advantages of using prose for reading and study in the first year in preference to poetry or the poetical drama, are important ones. In the first place since it is desirable to teach pupils to get the whole thought contained in what they read, it is undoubtedly best to begin with those forms in which ideas are expressed in the usual order, which, of course, is that of prose rather than that of poetry or the poetical drama. The training in following and grasping in their entirety the expressed thoughts of others as they appear in the simplest logical order of prose should be one of the first aims of the first year reading. In the second place poetic inversions and figurative expressions increase so greatly the pupils’ difficulties in understanding what they read, that at the beginning of the course it makes too great a task of that which should be a source of interest and pleasure. To pass over these difficulties and emphasize simply the story or description in the study of poetry is to encourage the bad habit of careless, inaccurate reading. If the pupil is taught to understand fully the prose that he reads in the first year, his progress in reading poetry in the following years will be much more rapid. These advantages together with close correlation possible between the study of prose and the theory and practice of composition should determine the choice of reading for the first year.

What has already been said in regard to the reading in general (p. 23) applies particularly to the first year work.

VI SECOND YEAR ENGLISH

1. Composition

In the second year the composition and the reading which have been begun in the first year may be continued in about the same proportion, that is, about one-half of the five periods a week may be devoted to each. The work should be largely a development and expansion of that of the first year. In the study of the rhetorical principles the consideration of sentence construction should be continued, and the principle of emphasis and its application should be studied. The several types of sentences, such as long, short, loose, periodic, and balanced, and their uses should receive considerable attention, and the importance of variety in sentence structure may be emphasized. In the discussion of paragraph structure more study may be given to the details of its construction by developing the importance of the principles of emphasis, as well as by considering again the principles of unity and coherence. The methods of developing the paragraph topic will naturally form a part of the work of paragraph construction, particularly in the second semester, when the principles of exposition are studied. The application of the same principles of unity, emphasis, and coherence to the whole theme, where it consists of a number of paragraphs, may also be developed, for in the second year it is desirable to have the students write longer themes, as well as the short ones.

The forms of discourse, narration and description, studied in the first year, will also be developed and expanded during the second year, and more emphasis can be placed upon the several forms of description. From description the pupil can be led by gradual steps to the study of exposition, and this subject may be developed as fully as the maturity of the pupils will permit. It is also possible in some schools to undertake the elementary forms of argumentation toward the end of the second year, particularly if there is considerable interest and activity in the school debating society, but it is not desirable to undertake much of this work with immature pupils.

The reading of the second year will also furnish material for a study of words and figures of speech. In the analysis and writing of description it is natural to note the effects of different kinds of words, and to discriminate between the general, colorless term and the specific, picture-making expression. In description, likewise, the effectiveness of contrast, or of a comparison in the form of a simile or metaphor may be pointed out. In exposition emphasis must be given to the importance of using the exact term to make clear the idea, and to the dependence of clearness upon this accurate choice and use of words. The use of comparisons, contrast, and other figures of speech, may also be studied in relation to exposition.

In the second year, as in the first, the subjects for composition should be drawn largely if not entirely, from the pupil’s own experiences. In narrative and descriptive themes the pupil, after his practice in the first year, will find little difficulty in choosing the right kind of subjects. In exposition he can be encouraged to write explanations of those subjects with which he is thoroughly familiar. Simple manufacturing processes, the operation of machinery or of mechanical devices generally, methods of doing any kind of work, directions for playing games, and many other similar subjects that the pupil understands thoroughly, furnish excellent material for simpler expository themes. If argumentation is undertaken, the pupil may be led to discuss questions constantly arising in connection with the life of the school and the community, and thus he can obtain most of his material from his own experiences.

The plan of having one or two paragraph themes of from 150 to 200 words each week should be continued throughout the second year. Every month or six weeks pupils should write a longer theme of from 600 to 800 words, that is, a theme of four or five paragraphs. Both the short and the long theme should be promptly and carefully corrected by the teacher and revised or rewritten by the pupil. In the second year a careful revision of the corrected themes by the pupils is usually sufficient, but all themes that can be sufficiently improved to make rewriting worth while, should be rewritten.

2. Reading

The general purpose and the character of the reading in the second year are the same as in the first. During the first part of the year narrative and descriptive material should be read, and during the second semester some of the simpler types of essays may be used as a basis of a study of exposition. As has already been indicated in connection with the composition, the pupils’ attention should be directed to the use of words and figures of speech in the masterpieces. The plot and its development, and the form in which the story is told can be studied in more detail than in the first year.

Methods of describing persons and places and of delineating character, taken up in connection with description, will frequently be exemplified in the reading. Direction may be given to the study of essays by considering them as examples of exposition. All this analytical work ought to be carried on with a view not only to developing inductively or illustrating the principles of composition which it is desired to have the pupils apply in their own writing, but also to having the pupils understand the author’s purpose and the methods which he uses to accomplish it; that is, to understand fully what they are reading.

The following may be taken as typical of the character of the reading best adapted for the purposes outlined: Irving’s “Sketch Book” and “Tales of the Alhambra”, Poe’s “Gold Bug”, Thoreau’s “The Succession of Forest Trees”, Burroughs’ “Birds and Bees” and “Sharp Eyes”, Macaulay’s “Lord Clive” and “Life of Samuel Johnson”, Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Speech.” If at the end of the first semester the pupils have learned to read prose of average difficulty, it is often advantageous during the second semester to study a play of Shakespeare’s, and “Merchant of Venice” or “Julius Caesar” is well adapted for this purpose. Narrative poetry such as Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”, Arnold’s “Sohrab and Rustum”, Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner”, or Scott’s “Lady of the Lake” may also be used successfully during the second semester.

VII THIRD YEAR ENGLISH

1. Reading and History of Literature

The plan for the third year reading provides for a survey of English and American literature, in which about three-fourths of the time is to be devoted to English literature, and one-fourth to American literature. In designating the reading as a study of English and American literature, it is not intended that the history of literature, as such, should occupy any considerable portion of the time. It is not desirable to devote more than one-tenth to one-fifth of the time, that is, from one-half to one period a week, to text-book work in the history of literature. The greater part of the time (about four periods a week) should be spent in the reading of selections from representative authors. In the study of the history of literature, emphasis should be placed upon general movements and tendencies in literature, and their relation to national conditions and ideals. In each period one or two typical authors should be selected whose works are to be studied in the class room. Selections from writers contemporary with these authors may be read by the pupils as library reading. In a course of this kind it is much more important to have the pupils read the literature than to have them read about literature. It is also much more important to lead the pupils to perceive the characteristics of the author in a selection read in or out of the class room than to have these characteristics called to their attention by the teacher or by reading criticism. In connection with the course in the history of literature, a list of books for outside reading should be prepared, and the pupils should be encouraged to supplement the class room study by reading other works of the authors studied in class. It seems desirable to follow as far as possible the chronological order in the reading done in and out of the class room so that the pupil may be led to see the development of English and American literature and the relation of the work of one author to that of those preceding and succeeding him.

The detailed study of selections from the most important English and American authors, is a large task for one year’s work, but experience has shown that much can be accomplished toward widening the pupils’ knowledge and appreciation of literature by a course of this kind. After two years of intensive study of the elements of expression, the average pupil will be able to comprehend more readily what he reads, and less time will have to be spent on the details. The selections studied may also be regarded from a somewhat different point of view from that taken during the first two years. The piece of literature may be considered in relation to the author’s personality and the age in which it was written, as well as in comparison with other literature that has been read by the pupils.

In the history of English literature characteristic selections from most of the following authors should be studied in class: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Bacon, Milton, Pope, Addison, Goldsmith, Gray, Burns, Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Tennyson, Browning, Lamb, George Eliot, Dickens, and Thackeray.

In the survey of American literature the same general method should be followed. As the pupils have generally read considerable of the poetry of Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, and Holmes, as well as selections from the prose of Irving, Hawthorne, and Thoreau, a brief review of these will be sufficient. The class work should therefore consist largely of the reading and study of works of authors not previously read in class, such as the poems and short stories of Poe, essays of Emerson, Lowell, and Holmes, and novels of Hawthorne and Cooper.

2. Composition

During the third year about one-fifth of the time, or one period a week, should be devoted to English composition. One short theme a week, and one long composition once in six weeks will furnish the necessary practice in writing. While the narrative and descriptive work of the first two years may be continued, more emphasis should be placed upon expository composition, in continuation of the study of exposition begun in the second semester of the second year. Besides explaining the various processes and simple mechanical devices with which he is familiar, the pupil may be encouraged to express his own opinions in regard to what he reads in literature. If the conditions are favorable, the kind of elementary argumentation suggested for the second year, may also be used in theme work.

VIII FOURTH YEAR ENGLISH

1. Reading

In the fourth year about four-fifths of the time should be allotted to reading and about one-fifth to composition. The time assigned to the reading may most profitably be devoted to an extensive study of a few typical examples of the most important forms of literature. The novel, the drama, the lyric, and the essay, may be taken as the types to be studied. The maturity of the pupils in the fourth year will make possible a detailed analysis of the essential elements of these forms, which cannot be undertaken earlier in the course. By a careful study of a few of the best examples of each form to be found in English literature, the pupils not only come to know and appreciate some of the best literature in our language but are given some canons by which to judge what they read independently after they leave school.

2. The Novel

The novel is a convenient form with which to begin the fourth year work. George Eliot’s “Silas Marner” is one of the novels which lends itself admirably to intensive study. The kind of novel, the theme, the author’s point of view, the plot, the characters, the setting, and other important elements are all to be carefully studied. In the detailed analysis of plot, the introduction, the situation, the development of the plot, the secondary plots, the interweaving of principal and subordinate plots, the means of sustaining interest and suspense, the climax of the action, the unraveling, the denouement and the probability and plausibility of action, should receive consideration. The study of character presented in the novel will include the interaction of plot and character, the types of character, the grouping of characters, the methods of delineation, the truth to life, and similar points. It is also important to consider the novel as the expression of the author’s personality, of his attitude toward life, and of his interpretation, or “criticism,” of life.

Since time will permit of the detailed analysis, in class, of but one novel, use for comparison may be made of other novels which the pupils have read or are reading as a part of their library work. Novels of such different types as Goldsmith’s “Vicar of Wakefield,” Dickens’ “Tale of Two Cities,” Scott’s “Ivanhoe,” and “Talisman,” Thackeray’s “Henry Esmond,” Hawthorne’s “House of Seven Gables,” and George Eliot’s “Romola,” will furnish ample supplementary material.

3. The Drama

The consideration of plot, character, etc., in the novel will prepare the way for a similar study of the drama. Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” offers excellent opportunity for thoughtful study. The important elements in the technique of dramatic construction may be brought out inductively in the course of the reading. The indirect and suggestive method of describing character of the drama will give rise to much discussion, for pupils will naturally differ in their estimates of the characters as a result of different interpretations which they give to the words and actions of the characters. To give a better conception of the drama as it is to be acted, important scenes may be presented in the class room by the pupils. The greater appreciation of the drama and dramatic action which comes from the preparation for an informal presentation of this kind, makes it well worth undertaking.

Some attention should also be given to the style and the versification in so far as these are necessary for a better understanding of the author’s methods.

4. The Lyric

The study of lyric poetry, although often difficult alike to teacher and pupils, should be undertaken during the second semester of the fourth year. Much of the success will depend upon the character of the lyrics selected for reading and study. Palgrave’s “Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics,” containing as it does much of the best English poetry of this type, is the most convenient book to use. While interpretative reading and the memorizing of these poems often lead to a real appreciation of their music, and the emotions which they express, a judicious analysis of metrical structure and poetic expression will result in a better understanding of the essentials of good poetry.

5. The Essay

The expository essay, as the most difficult form of literature for high school pupils, may well be left until the last part of the fourth year. The analysis of the logical development of the subject of the essay is of particular value at this stage of the course. The outlining of the plan of the essay with its divisions into sections, sub-sections, topics, subtopics, and details is excellent practice. Macaulay’s essays, Burke’s “Speech on Conciliation,” and Webster’s “First Bunker Hill Oration” although, of course, the latter two are orations rather than essays, afford material for this kind of study. Burke’s “Speech on Conciliation,” although difficult for young pupils, is particularly well adapted for analysis of logical structure, and may be used to study methods of exposition and argumentation.

The elements and qualities of prose style illustrated in the essays should also be considered. Balance, parallelism, antithesis, hyperbole, climax, terse and epigrammatic expression, methods of transition and connection, and similar elements of Macaulay’s style are sufficiently obvious to be readily recognized by the high school pupil after his attention has once been called to them. The rhetorical qualities of Burke’s or Webster’s style are also evident enough to make possible the study of them by high school pupils.

6. Library Reading

The library reading for the fourth year can be arranged to supplement the work done in class. Several standard novels, two or three plays of Shakespeare, considerable lyric poetry, and a number of essays may be assigned from time to time so that the library and class room reading will run parallel. Reference by teacher and pupils to these pieces of literature by way of comparison with those under consideration, will lead to a close correlation of these two phases of the reading.

7. Composition