Some poetry will appeal to boys, even though they may look askance at most of it. Some lyrics are virile and powerful, well worthy the study of the keenest minds. There is an unfounded prejudice against poetry in many men because of the fancied puerility of it and its silly sentiment. Such a prejudice always disappears if the person reads enough and selects the things that are worthy of study. Narrative poems are more likely to appeal to men and boys than the lyrics. When the narrative is a stirring one and the action dramatic, the poetic form adds decidedly to its interest and effectiveness. Take, for instance, that little poem by Robert Browning that is known as Incident of the French Camp (Volume IV, page 174). No man can read it without being stirred by it, and its appeal to boys is immediate and strong. But strong as it is, the whole influence of it may be intensified if it is discussed in the manner indicated on the pages immediately after the poem. What we would have you do is to read the little epic with your boy and talk it over with him along the lines of the comments given. It will not be necessary for you to point the moral. He will see it for himself, but if you can show a little enthusiasm and delight in the incident he will go away feeling better toward you and will be a convert to poetry, at least to some kinds of it. Later in life the lesson will come back to him and he will seek for more of the same sort.
There are a great number of poems of similar import in the books. Any one of the following will be capital for reading aloud with your boy. Try them and be convinced.
- Beth Gelert, Volume III, page 42.
- Sheridan’s Ride, Volume IV, page 223.
- Bernardo Del Carpio, Volume IV, page 270.
- The Wooden Horse, Volume IV, page 383.
- Little Giffin of Tennessee, Volume IV, page 461.
- Bruce and the Spider, Volume V, page 314.
- How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, Volume V, page 335.
- Sohrab and Rustum, Volume VI, page 173.
- How’s My Boy? Volume VII, page 169.
- The Battle of Ivry, Volume VIII, page 76.
- Hervé Riel, Volume VII, page 168.
Any one of the national anthems or patriotic poems is fine reading and a source for many a kindly talk that will tend to make a better citizen of your son and perhaps give you a fresher and truer conception of your own duties and responsibilities to the government. These you may readily find from the index in the tenth volume, under the title, Patriotic Poems.
For older boys there are plenty of good selections, and the discussion of some of them must help to bring nearer to the lad his increasing responsibilities. A normal boy of sixteen has a lot of the man in him and wants to be treated as a man, at least to have his ideas, hopes and ambitions given some consideration. He does not want always to be called “Bobby” or “Jimmy” or “Tommy.” He likes better to be called “Smith,” “Jones,” or “Robinson,” or whatever his last name is. He is tired of being told to do this and that and would like to join in some of the family councils and feel that father is beginning to see the man and forget the “kid.” He will be interested in anything that relates to commerce, or manufacture or government if it is presented to him in such a way that he can “be somebody” in the discussion.
It is easy to interest boys in speaking, in orations, in debates. In Journeys (Volume IX, page 321) is printed the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. It is the one great, masterly American address, noted not only for its perfect construction, but for its sentiment, its power and its brevity. In no other great address are all these elements combined. Tested by any standard it rings true in thought and is perfect in form. It is worth while to commit it to memory, and father and son should be equally interested in the task, if it can be called a task. Preceding the address is a note giving its historical setting, and following it is an analysis of the thought and a series of questions tending to give the thought a more personal application. The Fate of the Indians and A Call to Arms, both in Volume IX, are good orations accompanied by studies.
An essay that is in effect almost an oration is the extract from the Impeachment of Warren Hastings by Macaulay (Volume IX, page 32), and in this volume are studies on that essay (page 248).
The Boston Massacre by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a pleasing bit of history which in this volume (page 370) is used as the basis of a study in argument. You may prefer to read the studies first and arrange the arguments for your sons or for yourself and your boy. It is surprising into what different directions the argument will lead you and how many interesting questions will arise which will make good subjects for discussion. To make conversation worth while there is needed only something interesting to talk about. To be a good talker is worth a great deal to any young man and there is no better way to give him this power than by conversing freely with him while he is young.
Moral instruction is difficult. A thousand little things tend to neutralize it and there is an almost universal spirit of opposition to moral teaching, on the part of youth. And yet it is easy to give moral lessons in an indirect way that shall arouse no opposition and that shall be effective for lifetime. Journeys is full of what for lack of a better name we call character-building literature. Some of it is adapted to boys and girls of a very tender age and more of it to the older children. The Cubes of Truth (Volume VI, page 406), by Oliver Wendell Holmes, is a beautiful little essay that expresses a great truth in a way to impress it indelibly upon the memory of every person who reads it. So clear is the language, so clever the idea that the selection is read with absorbing interest, and so impressive is the lesson that no real attention need be called to it. In reading it the beauty of the language and the quaintness of the figure are the real subjects of discussion, but all the time the great lesson is making its subtle appeal. Cardinal Newman’s Definition of a Gentleman (Volume IV, page 170) is more obviously a didactic selection, but here again the definition is given so clearly and so forcibly that no possible offense can be taken and the weight of the statements will produce their effect without much comment.
In this connection it should be necessary merely to call attention to the chapter on character-building, to be found in this volume. In preparing that chapter the writer had in mind children of all ages and both sexes, but it will be an easy matter for you to select the things which you know will appeal to your son.
In fact, you will find in every chapter of this volume something to help you in making your way into the thoughts and the hearts of your family, and we know that as the years pass away and manhood comes to your boys they will look back upon the hours spent in reading with you as the most momentous of their lives. Do you want your son to say in his manhood, “I look upon Mr. A or Mr. B as the person who most influenced my life”? Do you want him to say, “I might have been a cultured man with a wide range of interests if my father had given to me a little of the time he spent at his club”? Do you want your boy to think that he was a wanderer from home, because he could not find in that home the manly sympathy that his soul craved? In many a family there is no trouble in keeping the boys off the streets. There is no place half so attractive as the home and for them no inclination to seek among others the fun and intellectual stimulus they crave as they crave their food.
Usually the reading habit must be formed early or not at all. A man in middle life will not acquire the habit easily unless there is some stimulus which keeps him reading for a time, in spite of himself. In the active minds of his boys he may find just that stimulus, and in his declining years when time weighs heavily upon his hands and great activities are denied him he will find in his later acquirement an unfailing source of enjoyment. In such hours will come to recollection the days he spent with his boys and his heart will fill with joy that he did not neglect his rich opportunities.
CHAPTER VII
Memorizing
Whenever children are interested in any selection, it is well to encourage them to commit it to memory, if it be brief, or if they find in it phrases or sentences which seem to them beautiful or filled with meaning. If, however, the young people are driven to memorizing selections of any kind, the practice is of little value, and it is likely to create a prejudice against the very things for which they should feel admiration. By a show of interest, however, the parents may, without difficulty, lead the children to learn a great deal of the best literature, and thus not only strengthen their knowledge but improve their style of writing as well, for unconsciously the young will follow the style of those whom they admire. Moreover, it frequently happens that some of the inspiring thoughts which children have learned become rules of action to them in after life. If the practice is begun early enough children will form the habit of learning those things which they like, and such a habit is of greatest value. In many schools, during certain years, the learning of “memory gems” is a daily practice; it should be no less a practice at home.
Some of the many things in these books which may well be learned in their entirety are the following:
While usually it is better to allow each person to learn the lines that most appeal to him, yet some help should be given children. No two people will select all of the same things, though probably all would agree on some few things as being of the highest excellence. Some lines should be learned because of their beauty in description, others because of beauty in phraseology, and still others because of beauty in sentiment. Search should be made, too, for those things which are inspirational, and which will be strong aids in the building of character.
We append a few pages of quotations taken at random from the volumes. They will prove handy when the parent or teacher is pressed for time, and the references to volume and page will enable the busy person readily to find the context, if that seems desirable.
The quotations below are arranged in the order of their appearance in Journeys Through Bookland. This will enable anyone to locate them easily. The lines cover a wide range of thought and will furnish an endless variety of material for stories, comment, question and conversation. Some of them cannot be appreciated without a knowledge of their setting in the original poem or prose selection, while others are complete and perfect as they stand.
One of the best ways to teach a poem or selection is to begin by creating an interest in a quotation from it. For instance, “Write me as one who loves his fellow men,” will lead the way to an acquaintance with the old favorite Abou Ben Adhem. In fact, only after the poem has been read and appreciated will a person get the full force of the idea, “Write me as one who loves his fellow men.”
One Hundred Choice Quotations
(Volume I)
Early to bed, and early to rise,
Is the way to be healthy, wealthy and wise. —Page 48.
Had it not been for your buzz I should not even have known you were there. —Page 70.
The Rock-a-by Lady from Hushaby street,
With poppies that hang from her head to her feet. —Page 94.
I saw the dimpling river pass
And be the sky’s blue looking-glass. —Page 130.
In through the window a moonbeam comes,
Little gold moonbeam with misty wings. —Page 133.
Oh, the world’s running over with joy. —Page 147.
The honorable gentleman has not told us who is to hang the bell around the Cat’s neck. —Page 197.
Here is the mill with the humming of thunder,
Here is the weir with the wonder of foam,
Here is the sluice with the race running under—
Marvelous places, though handy to home. —Page 349.
Then she smooths the eyelids down
Over those two eyes of brown—
In such soothing, tender wise
Cometh Lady Button-Eyes. —Page 367.
One must be content with the good one has enjoyed. —Page 379.
Oh, not in cruelty, not in wrath,
The Reaper came that day;
’Twas an angel visited the green earth,
And took the flowers away. —Page 411.
It matters nothing if one is born in a duck yard, if one can only be hatched from a swan’s egg. —Page 427.
(Volume II)
Did you ever hear of a bird in a cage, that promised to stay in it? —Page 2.
The very violets in their bed
Fold up their eyelids blue. —Page 32.
Rejoice in thy youth, rejoice in thy fresh growth, and in the young life that is within thee. —Page 70.
You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot—
You can love and think, and the Earth cannot. —Page 67.
Thank him for his lesson’s sake,
Thank God’s gentle minstrel there,
Who, when storms make others quake,
Sings of days that brighter were. —Page 214.
You must expect to be beat a few times in your life, little man, if you live such a life as a man ought to live. —Page 242.
Those that wish to be clean, clean they will be. —Page 247.
Reckon not on your chickens before they are hatched. —Page 376.
He saw the rocks of the mountain tops all crimson and purple with the sunset; and there were bright tongues of fiery cloud burning and quivering about them; and the river, brighter than all, fell, in a wavering column of pure gold, from precipice to precipice, with the double arch of a broad purple rainbow stretched across it, flushing and fading alternately in the wreaths of spray. —Page 420.
(Volume III)
In darkness dissolves the gay frost-work of bliss. —Page 96.
Peace and order and beauty draw
Round thy symbol of light and law. —Page 349.
Lips where smiles went out and in. —Page 386.
All the little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and flaxen curls,
And sparkling eyes and teeth like pearls. —Page 391.
(Volume IV)
Prince thou art,—the grown up man
Only is republican. —Page 3.
O’er me, like a regal tent,
Cloudy-ribbed, the sunset bent,
Purple-curtained, fringed with gold,
Looped in many a wind-swung fold. —Page 6.
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she was long years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn. —Page 8.
I chatter over stony ways,
In little sharps and trebles,
I bubble into eddying bays,
I babble on the pebbles. —Page 60.
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on forever. —Page 61.
And looks the whole world in the face,
For he owes not any man. —Page 86.
Thus at the flaming forge of life
Our fortunes may be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
Each burning deed and thought. —Page 88.
And when the arrows of sunset
Lodged in the tree-tops bright,
He fell, in his saint-like beauty,
Asleep by the gates of light. —Page 129.
Save me alike from foolish pride,
Or impious discontent,
Or aught thy wisdom has denied,
Or aught thy goodness lent. —Page 173.
And there through the flash of the morning light,
A steed as black as the steeds of night,
Was seen to pass as with eagle flight. —Page 224.
Noiselessly as the springtime
Her crown of verdure weaves,
And all the trees on all the hills
Open their thousand leaves. —Page 267.
Who dies in youth and vigor, dies the best,
Struck through with wounds, all honest, on the breast. —Page 369.
(Volume V)
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path, but now
Lead thou me on;
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years. —Page 111.
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man’s censure, but reserve thy judgment. —Page 112.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man. —Page 112.
the knotted column of his throat,
The massive square of his heroic breast,
And arms on which the standing muscle sloped,
As slopes a wild brook o’er a little stone,
Running too vehemently to break it. —Page 150.
Ye think the rustic cackle of your bourg
The murmur of the world! —Page 156.
For man is man and master of his fate. —Page 158.
Perseverance gains its meed
And Patience wins the race. —Page 316.
Forever float that standard sheet!
Where breathes the foe but falls before us,
With Freedom’s soil beneath our feet,
And Freedom’s banner streaming o’er us? —Page 398.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat;
O, be swift, my soul, to answer him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on. —Page 399.
Silence! ground arms! kneel all! caps off!
“Old Blue-Light’s” going to pray.
Strangle the foe that dares to scoff!
Attention! It’s his way. —Page 401.
(Volume VI)
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his gods. —Page 8.
When by my bed I saw my mother kneel,
And with her blessing took her nightly kiss;
Whatever Time destroys, he cannot this;—
E’en now that nameless kiss I feel. —Page 122.
Sweet and low, sweet and low,
Wind of the western sea;
Low, low, breathe and blow,
Wind of the western sea!
Over the rolling waters go,
Come from the dying moon, and blow,
Blow him again to me;
While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps. —Page 122.
Sublime words make not a man holy and righteous, but it is a virtuous life that maketh him dear to God. —Page 134.
Who hath a stronger battle than he that useth force to overcome himself? This should be our occupation, to overcome ourselves and every day to be stronger and somewhat holier. —Page 136.
And the sheen on their spears was like stars on the sea,
Where the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. —Page 142.
Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God. —Page 144.
For we are all, like swimmers in the sea,
Poised on the top of a huge wave of fate,
Which hangs uncertain to which side to fall. —Page 186.
Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home. —Page 224.
“God bless us every one!” said Tiny Tim. —Page 309.
All hail’d, with uncontroll’d delight
And general voice, the happy night,
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of Salvation down. —Page 357.
The short and simple annals of the poor. —Page 363.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave. —Page 363.
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. —Page 365.
Along the cool, sequestered vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way. —Page 366.
He gained from Heaven (’twas all he wished) a friend. —Page 368.
Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears; while the used key is always bright. —Page 410.
He that riseth late must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night; while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. —Page 410.
Have you somewhat to do tomorrow? Do it today. —Page 412.
For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost. —Page 414.
Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship. —Page 415.
’Tis foolish to lay out money in the purchase of repentance. —Page 416.
Fools make feasts and wise men eat them. —Page 415.
’Tis hard for an empty bag to stand upright! —Page 418.
Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. —Page 420.
(Volume VII)
That inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude. —Page 1.
Then doth thy sweet and quiet eye
Look through its fringes to the sky. —Page 5.
The bonny lark, companion meet,
Bending thee ‘mang the dewy weet
Wi’ spreckled breast,
When upward springing, blithe to greet
The purpling east. —Page 8.
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small. —Page 57.
The rank is but the guinea’s stamp,
The man’s the gowd for a’ that! —Page 149.
By fairy hands their knell is rung,
By forms unseen their dirge is sung. —Page 151.
Still stands Thine ancient Sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget—lest we forget! —Page 164.
The remarkably adult yet innocent expression of their open and serene eyes is very memorable. All intelligence seems reflected in them. They suggest not merely the purity of infancy, but a wisdom clarified by experience. Such an eye was not born when the bird was, but is coeval with the sky it reflects. The woods do not yield such another gem. —Page 263.
Sound of vernal showers
On the twinkling grass,
Rain-awakened flowers,
All that ever was
Joyous, and clear, and fresh, thy music doth surpass. —Page 278.
Imagine a stream seventy yards broad divided by a pebbly island, running over seductive riffles and swirling into deep, quiet pools where the good salmon goes to smoke his pipe after his meals. —Page 287.
I once had a sparrow alight on my shoulder for a moment while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance than I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn. —Page 299.
And while in life’s late afternoon
Where cool and long the shadows grow,
I walk to meet the night that soon
Shall shape and darkness overflow,
I cannot feel that thou art far,
Since near at hand the angels are;
And when the sunset gates unbar,
Shall I not see thee waiting stand,
And, white against the evening star,
The welcome of thy beckoning hand? —Page 389.
He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright. —Page 397.
(Volume VIII)
Go tell the Spartans, thou that passeth by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie. —Page 90.
Thermopylae had her messenger of defeat:
The Alamo had none. —Page 152.
England expects every man to do his duty. —Page 297.
An’ Oh! be sure to fear the Lord alway!
An’ mind your duty, duly, morn and night! —Page 322.
They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright. —Page 322.
The best acid is assiduity. —Page 332.
(Volume IX)
Write me as one who loves his fellow men. —Page 11.
When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes. —Page 145.
Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once. —Page 145.
Et tu Brute! Then fall, Cæsar. —Page 154.
Surely man is but a shadow, and life a dream. —Page 286.
All service ranks the same with God. —Page 301.
The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hillside’s dew-pearled:
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in his heaven—
All’s right with the world. —Page 303.
For what are the voices of birds—
Ay, and of beasts—but words, our words,
Only so much more sweet? —Page 314.
I will pass each, and see their happiness,
And envy none—being just as great, no doubt,
Useful to men, dear to God as they! —Page 317.
CHAPTER VIII
How to Read Fiction
1. Different Kinds of Literature
If there were but one kind of literature, it would be an easy matter to give the few directions that would be necessary to make good readers. In reality there are, however, several types, so different in their purpose, style and content that the reader must study them in many different ways if he would get the varied and inspiring messages. To appreciate what this means, let us look over the field.
For our purposes, as has been said, true literature, as distinguished from the practical literature of fact, may be grouped under the two general heads of poetry and prose. At first thought the difference between the two seems wide and unmistakable. Poetry differs from prose not only in form, but also in rhythm, music, beauty and sentiment. The former is usually more figurative, and aims to stimulate the imagination more keenly and to enthral the feelings more completely. Upon a closer consideration it is seen that poetry and good prose have much in common, and that often it is really but a question of form, for lyric beauty glows in the phrases of our finest prose, and both heart and soul are moved by its powerful appeals.
There are narratives and arguments in both poetry and prose, and essays in the form of both. For this reason our general method of study may be the same for both, except when form alone is considered.
The simplest and most universal form of literature is found in the catchy little nursery rhymes which the children of the nation learn at their cradles from the lips of their elders. In these, if careful search be made, may be found most of the elements which in broader and more complex forms appear in the favorite selections of maturer years. Following the nursery rhymes appear the fables, fairy tales, myths and legends that have formed the literature of earlier races and have come down to us to be amplified and placed in modern form for the children of this age.
It has been said that in every child is seen the history of the race, and that from infancy to manhood he typifies every stage of progress the race has seen. In early years he loves the fables where animals speak, feel and act like human beings; for in former times mankind believed the fables to be truth. A child peoples his world with fairies, good and bad, and believes in the limitless power of magic. A little later he loves the deeds of the legendary heroes and revels in the marvelous acts of the more than human beings in whom the ancients believed. Later the stirring adventures of the real heroes of discovery and exploration, the heroic exploits of warriors on land and sea, and the courageous acts of noble men and women in every walk in life appeal to him; while still later, real history seizes the imagination of the youth, who now looks for the causes of things and learns to trace out their effects. He learns to reason and to separate truth from falsehood. Casting aside the wild tales of boyhood, he gathers up instead the facts of life and experience, and draws his inspiration from the noble works of the world’s greatest writers.
2. Reading Stories
In the development of literary taste, fiction plays as prominent a part as fact, and to fiction, considered in its broadest sense, every child is deeply indebted. Many err in thinking that a stern diet of facts is the only nutriment the child mind needs, and still others err only in a less degree when they look upon fiction as perhaps a necessary evil, but one which must be avoided as much as possible and set aside at the earliest possible moment. All fiction has in it some elements of truth, and they are the sources of the inspiration which comes to children when, in their world of make-believe, they live with their beautiful and heroic friends of the story books.
To read fiction properly is to get from it the truth, which, however, is often liable to be lost by the reader in the excitement of the tale, or to pass undetected in the easy-running sentences. As fictitious narratives in prose and poetry in the great majority of cases form the larger part of children’s reading, it is to them we should turn our attention. Before we begin their specific study a few principles claim our attention:
Good stories are the most helpful things a child can read.
The more intelligently and sympathetically a story is read, the more powerful for good it is.
The imagination of a child is the most powerful agent in the development of his mind.
The imagination acts only to combine, enlarge, or diminish ideas that enter the mind. It never creates.
On the nature of the ideas presented will depend the character of the imagination.
A vivid imagination fed with bad ideas is most destructive to human character. Good stories with high ideals can do no harm: but evil stories, particularly if attractive and entertaining, will undo the careful teaching of years.
As evil must appear in life, it may appear in stories, but it must be brought in in such a way that it is known as evil, and children must be taught to recognize it as evil.
The motives which govern the words and actions of the persons who appear in a well-written story are more easily discerned than the motives which actuate the human beings around us. Thus a child who reads intelligently is helped to discover in the words and deeds of the people whom he meets the elements of real character. A study of the heroes of fiction is a study in human life.
Improbable stories and those presenting impossible or unreal things are not necessarily bad; in fact they are often good and distinctly serviceable. No matter how true they appear to a child, the time comes when he rejects them as impossible, although he may always be indebted to them for keen pleasure and the awakening of his imagination. Belief in the myth of Santa Claus never destroyed a child’s love and respect for his parents; faith in the unlimited power of good fairies never made a child less able to recognize the laws of nature. It is the halfway truths that are troublesome; it is the little misrepresentations not liable to be detected that may permanently deceive.
To understand the good and the true, to discriminate between the bad and the false, to find pleasure that shall awaken, enliven and inspire, to arouse curiosity and interest in wider, more thoughtful and helpful study, are some of the important aims of story-reading.
Purposeful reading on the part of children may be brought about by direct instruction from parent or teacher or it may be acquired by the child through his own efforts. Manifestly the former is the really efficient way and its efficiency may be increased if it is carried on systematically. The following outline will assist those who have children in charge to do their part easily and in the best manner.
In reading any story there are several things to be considered if one is to get the most out of it. These things are mentioned in natural order in the outline, each item of which will be treated at length in the pages immediately following.
In reading stories consider:
- Primarily,
- A. The Plot.
- B. The Persons.
- C. The Scenes.
- Secondarily,
- D. The Lesson.
- E. The Author’s Purpose.
- F. The Method and Style of the Author.
- G. Emotional Power.
In the volumes of Journeys Through Bookland, intended as they are for reading by children, it was not thought wise to make the studies extensive nor to attach much comment to the selections, lest the young readers weary of the task or neglect it entirely. In this volume a different case confronts us and we put the discussions on a higher plane. If these suggestions are used in the instruction of children, some care in adaptation will be necessary. The age and sex of the children, their advancement in their studies, their surroundings at home and in school, will all need to be taken into account in determining what selections to use and how far to carry the method. A good general principle to follow is to present to the children only so much as will hold their interest; present it in the manner that will best retain their interest, and change the subject or the method when interest flags.
Speaking in general terms, children are most interested in that of which they already know something, and prefer to study intensively something which is “easy to read.” The familiar selections of old readers often are found to be alive with interest, if studied by a new method. A method is understood most easily when it is applied to a simple subject; in this case, to a story in which the youngest children will be interested. A word of caution may be worth while: Especially with young children,—“Do not let the method be seen; it is the story that is to be brought out.”
It is evident that the Plot, the Persons and the Scenes of the story will interest children of all ages; that all will be benefited by the Lesson if it is judiciously presented; but that only the older children can be interested to any great extent in the Author’s Purpose, Method or Style or in the study of the Emotional Power of the selection, however much it may be felt.