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to feel more sensitively and deeply, and to imagine more vividly, but to think more accurately and intelligently, that they may have the power not only of correct interpretation but of sane and wise application to life of the literature to which it is the duty of the teacher to lead them.

II. CHOICE OF LITERATURE TO ATTAIN THESE ENDS.

1. Literature chosen for any given school should make a natural appeal to the pupils concerned, for without interest, which depends upon this appeal, there will be no enjoyment; without enjoyment, there will be no beneficial result. All literature that in the light of experience contains no such appeal should be excluded, no matter how respectable it may be from age or reputation.

2. The literature chosen for study, as distinguished from that used as supplementary reading, should be above the level of the pupil's unguided enjoyment, otherwise there is no raising of the standard of taste. It is the task of the teacher to discover to the pupil undreamed-of interest, and to lead him to find enjoyment in literature. increasingly rich and fine.

3. In order to attain the first end of literature, the broadening of the mental and spiritual horizon of the student, the books chosen for study should be worth while; that is, they should contain stimulating thought, sound ethical ideals, normal and strong characters, noble conduct, pure feeling. This does not imply that every book should point a moral, but that the pervading ethical tone of every book should be without question sound, in order that its effect may be wholesome, at a period in which standards of conduct are being formed that may last through a lifetime. The morbidly introspective, the vicious, the mentally abnormal, even when drawn with great art, should not be presented to adolescents.

4. In order that the literature course may leave with students an abundance of rich material from which, throughout life, to make choice in reading, some historical view of literature should be given. To do this, it is not necessary to study the history of literature with any thoroughness, nor to study or even mention writings whose importance is mainly historical or whose appeal is to an experience of the world far beyond the possibility of high-school students. It is important, however, to cover all the greater writers of our past who approach the young mind, in either its experience or its ideals; to extend as far as possible the mental reach of the pupils, by making them feel the lasting values of some of our older literature. It is also important to encourage, by means of supplementary reading lists and library reference topics, individual excursions into literary fields not the province of regular class work.

5. In general, the trend of choice should favor the "classics." We hear much to-day of the need for contemporary literature, as if a substitution of current books for those that have endured or are enduring the test of time, would solve the problems of English teaching. The main trouble lies not in our choice of books. Classic literature still has an appeal for healthy-minded young people, if it is sympathetically and wisely presented. However, students must be shown how to find the riches in great books; their gold does not lie on the surface, but yields only to patient search. Great books still have the power to strengthen and uplift, to furnish solace and good cheer. Who shall say that boys and girls of to-day will not need their clear note of inspiration and courage as much if not more than their fathers and mothers of yesterday. It is the joyous prerogative of the teacher of literature to lead his pupils to this source of permament riches. If he fails, it is not because the wealth is no longer of value, but because he is unable to point the way.

6. But while the general tendency in forming a course in literature should be toward that which years have made still richer, the modern and the easy have still their legitimate place in high-school work. Modern literature reflects life as we are living it to-day. Its problems and emotions are ours; its atmosphere is that in which we live. Because of this, current magazines and modern books quickly win the interest. If they are human and true they will ultimately enlarge the idealism of our students and thus prove of permanent value. Any reading, therefore, with a high ethical or social message, no matter how short its life, may well find a place in the literature hour. Moreover, with the admission of a large foreign element into our schools, and the steadily increasing number of boys and girls seeking a directly utilitarian education, there comes of necessity in many places a demand for literature closely enough connected with the daily life and thought of the pupil to secure his attention and create an interest upon which to build. Such conditions may justify, in many industrial and vocational schools, the reading in class of books not truly deserving the name of literature. But although such books may be temporarily necessary where there is little previous cultivation to build on, it should never be forgotten that their use is but a means to an end, and the end the introduction to a literature broad in its humanity, and rich and full in its spiritual appeal. The boy and the girl seeking a strictly practical training need to have life enriched, not less, but more than their brother and sister in the academic or classical curriculum, whose period of schooling will be longer, and whose lives, therefore, will be more likely to be surrounded by educative influences.

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7. The English course should provide a variety of literary types. A true education should offer a range of material wide enough to encourage a versatility of tastes; it should also give some conception of the comprehensiveness of literature. More important still, it should offer variety enough to make it possible for each student to find the type which holds for him the highest pleasure and greatest good. The boy for whom lyric poetry has little appeal may be roused to thought and action by the drama or novel; one attracted by none of these may be caught and held by the essay or great public speech. Moreover, the young mind craves change; it is incapable of the long-sustained attention of the maturer student of college grade. School literature, therefore, must be varied enough to permit of necessary adaptability and change.

III. GENERAL PRINCIPles to be considereD IN FORMING A COURSE IN LITERATURE.

There are certain fundamental principles a consideration of which will help in the formation of high-school courses in literature. The general aims of literature teaching apply to all schools, even the most practical, but to attain them varying means must be employed to meet varying conditions. In the past the course of study has been shaped solely for the academic curriculum, and has presupposed no variety in needs, tastes, or mental background. On the contrary, the greatest diversity exists; consequently different types of literature should be stressed in different types of schools, and the treatment should vary to suit the conditions.

1. In a purely academic or classical curriculum the course in literature may with safety be made more frankly literary than in any other type. The student may be encouraged to linger more in the past; to learn the facts of literary history and to read to know what the world has produced that is fine and lasting. He may be led to a conscious examination of literary types, and may be introduced more definitely to the study of literature as an art. We need give less attention with him to contemporary writers. He has definitely entered upon a prolonged course of studies, and it may be taken for granted that he will get, somewhere along the way, a good deal of modern literature that students going directly from high school to practical life must get early if they are to get at all; moreover, we may with some confidence rely on his classroom work to form standards of taste that will make him at the end of his high-school course a safe guide for himself in the field of contemporary literature.

. 2. The course in literature for vocational and technical curriculums must never lose sight of the fact that its reason for being is its inspirational value. It may present any literature that the pupils can grasp which is full of power to stimulate by reason of its broad human

interest. Students in such curriculums will usually profit more by the study of literature that is objective and positive than that which is more delicate and imaginative. The poetry, in general, should be strong in human interest and should consist of short, fine wholes 1ather than long, classic masterpieces. Modern poetry, with its strong humanitarian trend, will furnish many fine examples. More emphasis should also be given to modern prose. Novels and dramas will make a certain appeal to this class of students, and should be chosen solely with a view to their power to arouse a broader and deeper knowledge of human nature and of life. The discursive literary essay of the past or present has no place here, but in its stead should be strong, meaty, ethical prose, stimulative of serious discussion of conduct. The modern public speech, if it sounds a clear note of idealism, should also be used, especially that which can be related to the experience of the reader. In general, the literature in these schools should be chosen primarily for its content and its immediate effect on the lives of the students.

A course in literature for vocational and technical curriculums should also make a special effort to give help for future leisure hours. Attention should be given to newspapers, magazines, and theaters. Periodicals such as the Outlook, Independent, and System well deserve class time. In every way, by talks from the librarian, visits to libraries, various types of reading lists, talks on new books, illustrated lectures on authors, their homes, and their writings, a constant effort should be made to arouse the interest of the students in books and reading.

3. The rural school presents still other problems. In general, the development of the country boy and girl, both mental and spiritual, is slower than that of young people in cities and large towns. The country furnishes little community life, therefore many opportunities for entertainment and instruction are lacking that city children enjoy. The home life, with its long hours of labor, offers little to stimulate mental growth beyond the narrow range of family interests. Books are hard to get; libraries poorly developed, if they exist at all; magazines and newspapers, even, are beyond the reach of many; the country grammar school, too, is usually far less thorough and stimulating than that of the city. As a result, the high school can count on practically no foundation for culture, but must build often from the bottom up. Where such conditions exist, no greater lack of wisdom could be shown than to attempt to teach the course of study suited to the more highly stimulated youth of the city. The pace set must be slower, the literature must be simpler, the treatment must be more concrete and objective; moreover, the course must furnish, especially at the beginning, something of the great body of folklore, fable, legend, myth, and hero story which has, almost without help,

become a part of the mental life of children in communities of a higher intellectual development, and has furnished a foundation upon which, in all our higher work in literature, we have constantly built. It is our special duty, in the rural school, to open up this practically unknown world of the imagination, ranging freely over it, until the country boy and girl are caught by its glamour and are willing to linger in its beauty and splendor. That the task is hard, the facilities few, and most of those working in this field are yet inadequate to it, only makes greater the need that we should clearly see the piece of work that is waiting to be done, for only so can even a beginning be made.

4. The time allotment, as well as the course, may well differ in different curriculums. Students preparing for a liberal-arts college should be able to get along with less time for literature; partly because they will, in most cases, start with a better literary inheritance, and partly because, through their other languages and their later education, they will get far more. The time allotment should be increased in curriculums where vocational work is stressed. This applies especially to the final year in short-course vocational curriculums and to rural schools.

5. As already suggested, the general treatment of literature should also vary in different curriculums. For pupils who are going immediately to work, it is important to treat literature approximately as it is treated by men and women of the world who are not scholars, so that they may take habits of intelligent reading to their afterschool life. Teachers in rural schools and technical and vocational curriculums must give more and expect the pupil to dig out less than is the usual custom. The English lesson here may well be turned into a literary club, in which only the big things gain attention, and where success is tested by interest and enthusiasm, not by knowledge of details. On the other hand, students who are to be scholars in higher fields may well be given more severe and critical habits of reading.

6. In the larger schools, in which more than one section of a given subject is necessary, the regular literature courses may be profitably enriched by elective courses. It is rarely possible to find literature appealing equally to all members of a class, no matter what the type of school nor how thoughtful the selection, and yet the necessities of the present public-school system preclude the absolutely individual method of teaching. Students in their senior year, or if well trained, in their junior year, may wisely be permitted to follow their strongest interests, either by electives taken as options or as supplementary to the regular courses. Pupils who are not going to college will profit especially by such courses. A real advantage, sometimes overlooked, is the stimulus to a teacher that may come from the op

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