1. For just appraisement of Mr. Howells, it is necessary to be familiar
with the facts of his life, and with his theories of fiction. For his
life the two autobiographical books _Years of My Youth_ and _My Literary
Passions_ are most valuable. After reading these, it is possible to see
the large use of autobiographical material in the novels.
2. It is interesting to group the books of Howells according to the
sources of the material: (1) those growing out of his early life in Ohio;
(2) those growing out of his life abroad; (3) those growing out of his
life in Boston and New York. This last class might well be subdivided
into those written before he came under the influence of Tolstoi and
those written after. The turning-point is in _A Hazard of New Fortunes_.
Does Mr. Howells's interest in sociological problems add to or lessen the
final value of his work?
3. The realism of Howells set a standard for American literature, the
effect of which has not yet passed. Study his theories of fiction
(_Criticism and Fiction_, and _Literature and Life_) and consider the
good and bad effects of his work upon the development of the novel.
4. Use the following quotation from Van Wyck Brooks, on Howells's
"panoramic theory" of the novel as a test of his work:
To make a work of art, it is necessary to take a piece out of life
and round it off; and, so long as the piece is perfectly rounded off
and complete in itself, so long as the chosen group of characters
are perfectly proportioned in relation to one another, there is no
need to introduce an artificial chain of action.
5. Howells's style has often been admired. Try to analyze it into its
elements. Consider Mark Twain's judgment:
For forty years his English has been to me a continual delight and
astonishment. In the sustained exhibition of certain great
qualities--clearness, compression, verbal exactness and unforced and
seemingly unconscious felicity of phrasing--he is, in my belief,
without his peer in the English-writing world.
6. Can you make any judgment now as to Howells's future place in American
literature?