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
The fourth year is in some respects the most important for the work in
composition. The ability to write good English fluently, acquired by
most of the pupils from several years of constant practice; the maturity
of the pupils; their larger stock of knowledge and wider experience; and
the possibility of making practical application of their ability to
write in preparing orations and debates, reporting for local newspapers,
or editing the school publications; all tend to make composition a more
attractive and significant subject in the fourth year than it seems to
be at any other period of the course. The emphasis will naturally be
shifted from the mechanical details of expression which necessarily
occupy the greater portion of the time in the earlier years of the
course, to the larger and more interesting problems of expression. The
study of the principles of exposition and argumentation, and of the
development of the theme, as they appear in the plan and outline of the
essay, take on new significance when their application to the writing of
a debate or a commencement oration is made clear. The pupil discovers
that the periodic sentence, parallel construction, climax, and other
rhetorical devices, are effective means that he may use to accomplish
his ends. For those with literary inclinations the study of plot,
characterization, and poetic form and expression furnishes new
inspiration for their own work. The teacher who fails to take advantage
of this new interest in writing for practical purposes, by correlating
it closely with all the English work of the fourth year, is losing the
best opportunity of the course to teach the art of effective expression.
The amount of written work should be about the same as in the third
year; that is, a weekly theme of about 250 words, or a fortnightly one
of from 400 to 500 words; and a long theme of from 800 to 1200 words at
intervals of six weeks. The subjects chosen for both long and short
themes, in the course of the year should give practice in all the forms
of discourse, narration, description, exposition, and argumentation,
especially in combinations as they are found in the literature that is
read in and out of the class room. The writing of a short story or of a
chapter of a novel proves an interesting form of composition when
fiction is being studied. The consideration of problems of character in
the novels and dramas read and studied, permits pupils to express their
opinions in essay form, while debates on questions growing out of class
room discussions will give practice in argumentation. The preparation of
commencement essays and orations, as has already been suggested, can
readily be made a part of theme writing during the second semester.
8. Writing of Verse
The writing of verse has frequently been tried in the fourth year, and
has generally proved an interesting and valuable exercise. The reading
of poetry in the third and fourth years makes necessary some study of
metre and verse forms, and with the information thus obtained as a
basis, many pupils, it has been found, can write creditable verse.
Exercises beginning with blank verse, octosyllabic and heroic couplets,
and continuing with the quatrain, the triolet, the rondeau, the
Spenserian stanza, and possibly the sonnet, can be given from time to
time in place of weekly themes and will usually arouse considerable
interest. Efforts to write verse, whether entirely successful or not,
give the pupils a keener feeling for rhyme and rhythm, a better
understanding of metrical forms, and of the nature of poetical
composition; and to that extent should heighten their appreciation of
poetry.
IX
OUTLINE OF HIGH SCHOOL COURSE IN ENGLISH
The following outline is designed to show in general the amount and
character of each part of the English work to be considered in each year
of the course. The order in which the details are arranged in each year
is not intended to be the order in which these parts of the subject are
to be taken up in the class room.
First Year
A. COMPOSITION (one-half of the time).
I. Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization.
1. Work based on errors in pupils’ written work.
2. Occasional review of general principles.
II. Sentence.
1. Grammatical construction.
2. Unity.
3. Coherence.
III. Paragraph.
1. Length.
2. Unity (topic, selection of material).
3. Coherence (order, connection).
IV. Forms of Discourse.
1. Narration.
2. Description.
V. Theme Writing.
At least one and not more than two, one-paragraph themes of from
150–200 words, every week; to be carefully corrected by teacher and
to be rewritten by pupil.
B. READING (one-half of the time).
Short stories and descriptive sketches.
Second Year
A. COMPOSITION (one-half of the time).
I. Sentence.
1. Length (long, medium, short).
2. Rhetorical form (loose, periodic, balanced).
3. Unity.
4. Coherence.
5. Emphasis.
II. Paragraph.
1. Unity.
2. Coherence (subtopics, order, and connection).
3. Emphasis (selection, proportion, position).
4. Methods of developing topic.
III. Whole Composition—Unity, Coherence, Emphasis.
IV. Words.
V. Figures of Speech.
VI. Forms of Discourse.
1. Narration.
2. Description.
3. Exposition.
VII. Theme Writing.
At least one and not more than two, one-paragraph themes of from
150–200 words, every week; and one four or five paragraph theme of
from 600–800 words, every six weeks; both long and short themes to
be carefully corrected by teacher and to be revised or rewritten by
pupil.
B. READING (one-half). Descriptive and expository essays.
Third Year
A. READING (four-fifths).
1. History of English Literature (one-fifth to one-tenth for ¾ of
year).
2. History of American Literature (one-fifth to one-tenth for ¼ of
year).
3. Study of selections from representative English and American
authors (three-fifths to four-fifths).
B. COMPOSITION (one-fifth to one-tenth).
I. Exposition.
1. Kinds.
2. Methods.
II. Structure of Whole Composition.
1. Unity.
2. Coherence (transition, connection).
3. Emphasis (proportion, position).
III. Words, figures of speech, sentences, and paragraphs.
IV. Theme Writing.
One short theme not exceeding 500 words every week; and one long
theme of from 700–1000 words every six weeks; to be carefully
corrected by teacher and to be rewritten or revised by pupil.
Fourth Year
A. READING (four-fifths).
Study of typical examples of the novel, the drama, the lyric, and the
essay.
B. COMPOSITION (one-fifth).
I. Narration, Description, and Exposition.
II. Argumentation.
Methods.
III. Words, figures of speech, sentences, paragraphs, and whole
composition.
IV. Verse writing.
V. Theme writing.
One short theme not exceeding 500 words, every week; and one long
theme of from 800–1200 words every eight weeks; to be carefully
corrected by teacher and revised or rewritten by pupil.
X
LIST OF READINGS FOR FOUR YEARS
The following list contains the college entrance requirements in English
for the years 1906 to 1911, and other selections adapted for reading and
study in high school English classes. The Roman numerals following the
titles indicate the year or years of the course herein outlined, in
which the books may most profitably be read:
Addison’s De Coverley Papers. II, III.
Addison and Steele’s Spectator. II, III.
Arnold’s Sohrab and Rustum. II.
Bacon’s Essays. III.
Blackmore’s Lorna Doone. IV.
Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part One. I, III.
Byron’s The Prisoner of Chillon, and Mazeppa. III.