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HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY

AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

All rights reserved

W. P. 4

PREFACE

THIS Reader is designed to supply material for pupils in either the eighth grade of the regular school course or the second year of the junior high school. In the first case it supplies a fitting culmination to the work of previous grades and at the same time an introduction to the world of books outside of school or to the more extended and intensive study of literature in the regular high-school curriculum. In the second, it comes at the pivotal point in the course, supplying the necessary transition from the use of a Reader to the study of literature.

It therefore undertakes to induce that interest in literature as an art and as a source of pleasure which should come when the mechanics of reading have long ceased to be a problem, when proper habits of study have been established, and when the chief end to be attained by the teaching of reading is the setting up of standards of judgment and appreciation of both literature and life.

CONTENT. The choice of material has been made with this end in view. The dramatic, narrative character of the larger part of the selections has been thought necessary, to insure interest; but elements of style, form, etc., have been made important considerations.

With the same purpose in mind, the study material in the book has received especial attention and has been made as stimulating as possible. The questions and study suggestions are not only interpretative of plot or of exact meaning, but consider literary form, atmosphere or background, æsthetic value, and the author's method of obtaining his effect,

and suggest comparison with other compositions of similar

type.

The selections include work of the classic masters in each department of literature represented, as well as much good writing of our own day. Interest, literary quality, and typical excellence have been the determining factors in the choice of material.

CORRELATION. The attempt has been definitely made to correlate this year's reading rather with interests arising outside of school than with school activities themselves. For instance, the boy or girl at this stage is beginning to read with interest newspapers and magazines; the "Newspaper Clippings" and "Short Story" sections will furnish a natural connecting link between their reading for pleasure and their reading for instruction. In the same way "Among Great Books" takes advantage of developing interest in the novel, and "Science Readings" of the enthusiasm many pupils will have for magazines of travel or of popular science. "Gleanings from History" and "Political Literature" have of course a direct correlation with other school work and should prove a valuable source of interest. "A Packet of Letters" and "Essays" may furnish models for composition, and the wide range of authors and subjects included in all the sections should give many opportunities for use in explanation and illustration.

ARRANGEMENT. The arrangement of the selections in this reader has been determined by form rather than by content, following the principle that as the pupils are at this stage beginning to meet these forms in their outside reading they should be introduced to examples of excellence in each, and thereby furnished with standards by which they may make their own judgments. Accordingly, examples of the more

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important literary forms - essay, novel, Short Story, verse, oratory, journalistic writing, letters, historical narrative, scientific exposition - have been grouped together under suitable headings.

Each of these sections is prefaced by a brief foreword, which, with the study material accompanying the selections themselves, explains the importance, distinguishing features, and ideal treatment of the form under discussion.

MECHANICAL FEATURES. Pains have been taken by editor and publisher to make the book an attractive one in size, proportions, typography, and make-up. Abundant white space, artistic illustrations, clear-cut and legible type, and convenient size and shape have all been secured.

In order to fit this book for its purpose, the aim in making it has been to furnish reading material of an interesting and useful character; to introduce and make intelligible the simpler literary forms; to awaken an interest in the problems of literary art and their solution by great artists; to create interest in the makers of literature; to connect the academic study of "English" with the reading for pleasure and instruction of daily life; and finally, to inspire and cultivate an appreciation of the best in every department of literature.

MANUAL. The Teachers' Manual contains detailed lesson plans and pedagogical helps for each selection in this book; also an introductory article on the Teaching of Reading, which discusses Silent Reading (with detailed directions for speed tests), Oral Reading, Dramatization, Appreciative Reading, Memorizing, Word Study and Use of the Dictionary, Reading Outside of School, Use of Illustrative Material, and Correlation.

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