ΤΟ AMERICAN LITERATURE INCLUDING ILLUSTRATIVE SELECTIONS WITH NOTES. BY F. V. N. PAINTER, A. M., D.D. PROFESSOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES IN ROANOKE COLLEGE. KD 237 23 HVARD 044-219 COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY LEACH, SHEWELL, & SANBORN. C. J. PETERS & SON, TYPOGRAPHERS, BOSTON. BERWICK & SMITH, PRINTERS. PREFACE. THIS work is intended to be a companion volume to the "Introduction to English Literature," which has been cordially received by teachers in all parts of our country. As will be seen on examination, it follows substantially the same plan, though its limited field makes a fuller treatment desirable and feasible. What was said in the preface to that work about teaching literature may be substantially repeated here. Literature cannot be learned from the ordinary manuals. While they furnish many bare facts about literature, they do not present literature itself. As a result, the student knows nothing by his own investigation, and his literary training is reduced to an exercise of memory. The present work aims to introduce the student to American literature itself, with such helps as will give him an intelligent appreciation of it. The introductory chapter contains, it is hoped, some helpful observations. The "General Survey" of each period presents the conditions under which the various authors wrote. The sketches of the representative writers give with considerable fulness the leading biographical facts, together with a critical estimate of their works. The selections for special study, which are chosen to illustrate the distinguishing characteristics of each author, are supplied with explanatory notes. In this way, it may fairly be claimed, the student will gain a clear and satisfactory knowledge of our best authors. |