1. Read the autobiographical books, _A Son of the Middle Border_ and _A
Daughter of the Middle Border_, to get the background of Mr. Garland's
work. Then read his essays called _Crumbling Idols_, for the literary
theory on which his work was created.
2. Two literary landmarks in Mr. Garland's history are: Edward
Eggleston's _The Hoosier Schoolmaster_ (1871), and Joseph Kirkland's
_Zury: the Meanest Man in Spring County_ (1887). Read these and decide
how much they influenced _Main-Traveled Roads_ and similar volumes of Mr.
Garland's.
3. Mr. Garland says that he presents farm life "not as the summer boarder
or the young lady novelist sees it--but as the working farmer endures
it." Find evidence of this.
4. Consider how far Mr. Garland's success depends upon the richness of
his material, how far upon his philosophy of life and his honesty to his
own experience, and how far upon his technical skill as a writer.
5. What are his most obvious limitations? What is the relative importance
of his novels and of his short stories?
6. Consider separately: (1) his power of visualization; (2) his choice of
significant detail; (3) his originality or lack of it; (4) his range in
characterization; (5) his power of suggestion as over against his
vividness of delineation; (6) his economy--or lack of it--in expression.
Where does his main strength lie?