STATE SERIES SCHOOL TEXT-BOOKS ENGLISH LESSONS BOOK TWO COMPILED BY THE STATE TEXT-BOOK COMMITTEE AND APPROVED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ORARY SACRAMENTO 142926 Copyright, 1906, by THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Copyright, 1903, by AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON. In the compilation of this book certain matter from Steps PLAN AND PURPOSE. THIS book is intended to provide a practical teaching manual of English for the three years preceding the high school. It consists of two parts, a Grammar and a Composition, which should be studied together. While each part is complete in itself, constant inter-reference welds the two into a unit. In many instances the same subjects are treated in both parts, in the one rather from the side of theory, in the other more directly from the side of practice. It is believed that this dual arrangement makes each part more logical, more practical, and more pedagogical. The lessons both in the Grammar and in the Composition are largely inductive. From usage as seen in sentences and in selections the pupil is led to develop the principles of correct speaking and effective writing. and definitions are made clear before they are stated. Rules As valuable knowledge comes only from doing, many examples and illustrative exercises are provided. Where practicable these examples are given in contrast, that the pupil by comparison may discover principles and make distinctions which, otherwise presented, might not be clear. As adequate expression in language can be acquired only by talking and writing, under proper guidance, about that which is familiar, all composition work is based on the child's experiences, -on the things he himself has done or has seen done. In dwelling on these experiences the fact also has been emphasized that real appreciation of litera ture depends largely upon a vivid remembrance of details and of acts seen and performed; without such remembrance the suggestions in literature can not be understood. The practical value of grammar is emphasized in the Composition. Its use and importance are constantly kept before the pupil by the application of its principles in oral and written work. In other words, the fact that a book on English must help to make fluent, correct, and effective speakers and writers has been the guiding principle in the preparation of this work. The Grammar is divided into three parts, and the same is true of the Composition. The time given to the book in each week should be divided about equally between grammar and composition. The importance of the subjects seems to call for at least a daily lesson in each, that some schools may be unable to attain. an ideal For the courtesy of permitting the use of copyrighted selections the authors wish to express their appreciation to Charles Scribner's Sons for selections from F. Hopkinson Smith, Paul du Chaillu, and Robert Louis Stevenson; to the Century Company for selections from Jacob A. Riis and General Grant; to Houghton, Mifflin and Company for the selections and passages from Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Charles Dudley Warner, Lucy Larcom, Emerson, Longfel low, Whittier, Holmes, Hawthorne, and Bronson Alcott, which are used by permission of and by special arrangement with this firm, the authorized publishers of the writings of these authors; to Harper and Brothers for the poem by Kate Putnam Osgood and the letters by Macaulay and Lowell; and to the other publishers and authors who are mentioned in connection with the selections. |