LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Class MBRAR> THE READER'S BASIS BY ANGELINE PARMENTER CAREY Department of English, Shortridge High School INDIANAPOLIS "The clearest and most imperative duty lies on every one of you to be assiduous in your reading; and learn to be good readers, which is, perhaps, a more difficult thing than you imagine." Edinburgh Address. THE ECHO PRESS. INDIANAPOLIS 1908 ' COPYRIGHT, 1908, BY ANGELINE PARMENTER CAREY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED . TO THE ALUMNI OF SHORTRIDGE HIGH SCH6OL NOW LARGE IN NUMBER WHO IN MY CLASS-ROOM HAVE BEEN THE REAL THOUGH UNCONSCIOUS EDUCATORS 193638 PREFACE This book has been prepared for the use of ad- vanced classes in the English course of secondary schools. It is the outcome of the class-room, and has been justified by experience. It presents the subject of literary composition from a point of view other than that taken by the usual text-book in English Composi- tion, and it answers a purpose not yet met by other text-books. Experience has shown that the subject of literary composition, taught in successive grades during a period of two or three school years, is not grasped by the student with any sense of the unity of the whole, and that, therefore, near the end of the required course in English, a review should be given which will unify what the student has previously learned. Moreover, since it is the main purpose of the early part of the English course to stimulate and train a student's power of expression, and to present the subject of literary composition from a writer's or speaker's point of view, so it should be the main purpose of the latter part of the course to train the student's power to read, and to present the same subject from the reader's point of view. It is, therefore, the object of this book to unify the impressions received by students during a course PREFACE vi in English by giving in condensed statement the whole theory of literary composition, presenting the subject from a reader's rather than a writer's point of view. The book is intended to be used during the last half- year of a required English course, and is intended to lay the basis for advanced elective courses, and for the regular English courses in college. Although the book is intended primarily for use in the class-room, it is purposely put in a form which may be acceptable to the general reader. ANGBLINB CAREY. Indianapolis, June, 1908. CONTENTS INTRODUCTION. Page. CHAPTER I. The Use of the Public Library. . . 1-15 The Public Library the People's University . . 1 Universal Need for the Public Library . . .2 The Purpose of the Public Library .... 2 The Means for Correcting Provinciality . ... 4 The Reading Room 4 Magazines . . . . . .4 Tables of Contents 5 Poole's Index ..!.... 5 Resources 6 Illustrated Magazines 7 Newspapers 7 The Art Room 8 Resources 8 The Educator of Public Taste . . .8 Crafts 9 The Field of Art 9 The Fine Arts 10 The Reference Room . . . . . . 11 Bulletins .11 The Card Catalogue . . / . .12 The Finding Lists . . . . . 13 Standard Indexes 14 Reference Clerks . . . . .14 School Reference Room . . .. .14 The Children's Room . . . . . . 15 Conclusion . . . . . . ... 15 CHAPTER II. The Reader's Field . . " . . 16-112 Classification of Books . . . ... . . 16 Classes of Books . . . .... - 17 Reference Books . . . . . . . 17 Dictionaries . 17 Encyclopaedias . . . , . .18 Concordances 18 viii CONTENTS PAGE Bibliographies . . . . . .18 Year Books 19 Atlases 19 Literature or Literary Criticism ... 19 Poetry, Drama, Fiction 20 Biography ........ 21 History 21 Travels 22 Fine Arts 22 Useful Arts 23 Natural History . . 23 Natural Science 23 Political Science 'and Economics . . .24 Sociology ........ 25 Law . .25 Medicine 26 Education . .26 Language . . 27 Philosophy and Occult Science . . .27 Religion 29 Greek and Roman Classics . . . .29 Polygraphy . . . . . . .30 Conclusion . . .30 Literary Forms .32 Prose, Poetry, Oratory 36 Narration 38 Principles of Narration . . . .39 History, Biography, Fiction ... 42 History 43 The Chronicle .... 44 Narrative History . . . .44 Philosophical History ... 44 Scenic History 45 Biography 45 Complete History . . . .45 Essay 46 Memoirs 46 Autobiography . . . .46 Journals, Letters . . . 46 CONTENTS ix PAGE Tales ...... 47 Fiction 47 The Novel 48 The Romance 48 The Short-Story . . . . 49 Tales 50 The Allegory . . . . 50 Fable 50 Myth ..... 50 Parable 50 Apologue . . . .51 Fairy Tale . . . .51 Prose Drama . . . 51 Farce . . . . .51 Dialogue . . 51 Description . .52 Principles of Description . . . . 52 Exposition . . 54 Principles of Exposition .... 57 The Treatise .61 The Monograph 61 The Essay . . 62 The Didactic Essay . . . .63 The Personal Essay . . .64 The Moral Essay . . * .. 65 Editorial . . , ... .65 Public Addresses . . . . 65 Criticism . . . . . . .66 Higher Criticism ". . . . 66 The Abstract . . ... .66 Book Reviews . . . . 67 Essayists, Old and New ... .69 Argumentation . . . . . . . 70 Nature of the Question . . . . 72 Limits of the Question . . . . 72 Material . . . .... .72 Evidence . . . .... . 73 Kinds of Argument . . . . .74 Induction ... .74 CONTENTS PAGE Inductive Methods . . . .74 Deduction 75 Indirect Proof . . 76 Directions to Judges 78 Poetry ....... .79 The Literature of Emotion 79 Language Music 79 Picturesque Literature .... 80 The Literature of the Senses . . .81 Ideal Language 81 Versification 81 The Foot 81 Kinds of Metrical Feet ... 83 Irregular Accent .... 85 The Verse 86 The Time Scheme ... 86 Standard Lines . . .88 The Rhyme Scheme ... 88 Rule for Rhyme . . .90 Middle Rhyme ... 90 Alliteration . . . .90 Assonance .... 90 The Refrain . . . .91 Unrhymed Verse ... 91 The Stanza 92 Stanza Forms .... 94 Hymn Stanzas . . 94 Elegiac Stanza ... 95 Spenserian Stanza . . .95 Sonnet 96 Kinds of Poetry 97 Lyric Poetry ..... 97 The Ode 98 The Elegy or Threnody . . 98 Epic Poetry 98 The Grand Epic .... 99 The Legendary Epic . . .99 The Mock Epic . . , 100 CONTENTS xi PAGE The Metrical Romance - . . 100 The Metrical Tale ... 100 The Ballad . ' . . . .100 The Idyll or Pastoral . . 101 The Allegory . . . .101 Descriptive Poetry .... 101 Dramatic Poetry 102 Tragedy and Comedy . . 103 The Tragedy . . . .104 The Comedy ... 105 The Subjective Drama . .105 The Mask 106 The Morality . . . .106 Oratory 107 Persuasion 107 Orations as Permanent Literature . . 108 Oratorical Form 109 Conclusion Ill CHAPTER III. Courses of Reading .... 113-132 Foundational Reading 113 Course One 115 Basis: Subject Matter. Purpose: Widening of Interest. Course Two .118 Basis: Literary Form. Purpose: Cultivation of Literary Taste. Course Three 119 Basis: Criticism. Purpose: The Facilitating of Reading. Course Four .123 Basis: World's Masterpieces and Mythology. Purpose: The Understanding of Classic Allu- sion. Course Five . . 126 Basis: Historical Periods. Purpose: The Trac- ing of the Growth of a National Literature. Course Six 129 xii CONTENTS PAGE Basis: Miscellaneous Reading. Purpose: The Fostering of Individual Interests. CHAPTER IV. Literary Art ..... 133-171 The Reader's Art-Sense 133 The Thought Side and the Form Side of Literary Composition 135 The Creation of the Art-Form 137 First Condition for a Good Art-Form . . 137 Second Condition for a Good Art-Form . .139 A Summary of Literary Art 141 The Two Fundamentals of Literary Art . . 142 The Elements of Structure . . . . 144 Unity 144 Paragraph Unity . . . . 145 Sentence Unity 146 Punctuation 146 Coherence 148 Emphasis 149 Proportion . . . . . . . 150 Summary of Structure . . ..-.-.. . 151 The Elements of Quality 151 Clearness 151 P Energy 154 Melody . .158 The Theory of Musical Utterance . . 158 The Melody of Prose . . . .159 Melodious Words ... 159 Harmonious Combinations . . 159 Rhythm . . . . 159 Cadence .161 Onomatopoeia .... 161 Alliteration 161 ^Esthetic Emotion 162 The Beautiful 162 r The Sublime . . . . 163 The Pathetic 164 The Humorous . . . .165 CON TEN IS xiii PAGE The Witty 167 Summary of Structure and Quality . . .169 Conclusion 170 CHAPTER V. Composition Practice .... 172-181 The Creative Impulse 172 Method of Composition 172 Subject 173 Theme 174 Scale ........ 175 Accumulation of Material 175 Plagiarism. 17(5 Organization of Material 177 The First Rough Draft 178 Revision 178 Title . . 180 Preparation for the Eye 181 CHAPTER VI. Making Acquaintance with an Author . 182-200 Means for Making Acquaintance .... 182 Preparatory Reading .184 Preceding History 184 Contemporary History . . . . 184 Race 184 Biography . 184 Criticism 184 The Reading of an Author's Works . . .184 Scope . . . . . . . . 184 Doctrines . 185 Quotations . . 185 Test Questions on Author's Personality . . 185 Test Questions on Author's Style . . 186 Final Result ..187 The Reading of Contemporary and Subsequent Literature "187 Illustration of the Study of an Author . . 188 Thomas Carlyle . . 189 John Ruskin 195 "Old things, in proportion to their living value, need from time to time to be newly defined and distributed, their perspec- tive and emphasis need to be freshly determined to suit chang- ing conditions of thought." John F. Genung. INTRODUCTION Thomas Oarlyle summarizes educational training as training in the power to read. He says: "If we think of it, all that a university or final high school can do for us, is still what the first school began doing tach UB to read." In this teaching to read, the schools undertake to do no more for the student than to lay a basis which will insure liberality in his future reading. A student is expected to learn in school how to read understand- ingly and appreciatively, and to form intelligent and systematic habits of reading, so that he will leave school with what it is the object of the school to fur- nish namely, a basis for continuing his education indefinitely. A good reader will in time become well educated. The terms well read and well educated are synonymous. Whether one ever becomes well-read or not depends largely upon the basis laid when one is first learning to read. It is therefore the object of this course to give some instruction concerning what constitutes a basis for becoming a good reader, and, in time, becoming well-read. OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHAPTER I THE USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY The Public Library the People's University. Free education for the citizens of the United States does not end with the high school. Higher education is sup- ported at public expense, not only by appropriations for the support of State Universities which, in Indiana, makes university education free , but by the main- tenance of public libraries where education may be continued throughout life. The public library is the people's university, and a part of our great system of public schools. "The true university of these days, says Oarlyle. "is a collection of books. A man has not now to go away to where a professor is actually speak- ing, because, in most cases, he can get his doctrine out of him through a book, and can read it, and read it again and again, and study it. I don't know that 1 know of any way in which the whole facts of a subject may be more completely taken in." Our government, by making provision for liberal education, demands an educated body of citizens. The fact that the public library is supported at great public expense! is proof that it serves a purpose, in the making of 'citizens, as important as that served by the primary schools. Any one who neglects any of the provisions for education will fall below the national^ standard ofjcitizenship. 1 2 THE READER'S BASIS The public library is therefore no more to be neglected by any individual than is any other part of our public- school system. Universal Need for the Public Library. For high-school students, a fundamental step towards be- coming a good reader is to take advantage of the resources of the public library. The conception of what it is to be well read has so broadened that a reader can no longer direct his own reading. Even when a reader has access to a large and well-chosen private library, and even when he is able to buy books for his own use, he still will find in the public library ad- vantages which no private library offers, and constant, imperative occasions for the use of these advantages. This fact will become evident so soon as a reader real- izes the purpose for which the library is supported as a public institution. So many erroneous ideas prevail about the use of the public library, and so many per- sons make no more use of it than to get books with which to pass an idle hour, that the purpose of this great institution should be emphasized to all readers. The Purpose of the Public Library. The great purpose of the public library is to do for a whole com- munity what Oarlyle says it is the function of the university to do for its students namely, to furnish means by which every individual may "relate, with a wondrous new contiguity and perpetual closeness, the Past and Distant with the Present time and place; all times and all places with our actual Here and. Now," Public provision is made for connecting the Distant with the Here in order that a community may not become provincial, for provinciality is the foe of progress. It THE USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 is as a corrector of provinciality that the public library serves an important function to every citizen. Provinciality is a self-satisfied ignorance of what the world as a whole is thinking and accomplishing. A provincial person is self-centered and narrow-minded ; his interests are confined to one locality and to a few things ; he has the language, manners, and opinions of those with whom he daily associates, and supposes that these forms of speech, manners, and opinions are those of the whole world ; he appears peculiar when he goes outside his own locality, and is apt to think that others are wrong because they are unlike himself; he is self- satisfied and therefore unprogressive. Everyone uncon- sciously becomes provincial unless definite means are used to prevent it. Comparison is the only means for correcting this tendency to become provincial. Nothing will correct provinciality but a wide acquaintance with the world, and a comparison of local standards with those of other localities. Every individual needs to compare himself with others. A nation needs to make constant comparison of its own products, ideas, and cus- toms with those of other nations. Travel is, for the few, the means of observing our own personal and national life in comparison with that of the world in general ; but the public library furnishes this means to all by bringing the whole world to our own doors. The effect of the public library in a community is, there- fore, to make provinciality disgraceful. A. provincial person is not a good citizen. He con- tributes nothing to the progress and improvement of national life, since he does not see his own province, or locality, in its relation to the nation as a whole, and does 4 THE READER'S BASIS- not see his own nation in its true relation to other nations. It is important for national prosperity that every citizen should be cosmopolitan that is, a citizen of the world, as well as a citizen of the locality in which he happens to live. The public library under- takes to furnish the means for making such citizens. The Means for Correcting: Provinciality. The public library serves the purpose of a corrector of pro- vinciality only to the person who will take the pains to frequent it. The public library is not merely a place where one may get books to read ; it is a place wkere one should drop in casually and frequently as often as once a month not necessarily for the purpose of car- rying away a book, but to look about and to pick up information by observing those means for keeping abreast of the times which it is the business of the library to furnish. These means are found in four dif- ferent rooms the reading-room, the art-room, the reference-room, and the children's room. THE READING ROOM. The reading-room is the place where one may correct provinciality of thought and interest. MAGAZINES. The magazines are the chief means for regulating one's interests. The purposeless picking up of one magazine, and the reading of any article that the eye may chance upon, is not recommended as a wise employment of time. If the visitor to the library will go to the magazines with a conscious purpose, he will soon recover from the usual habit of idly dawdling over magazines. This purpose should be to see what the world is thinking about, in order to direct one's own. THE USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 5 interest in the same channels that the public mind is taking. TABLES OF CONTENTS. Few people have the time to read extensively, and so the reader must learn to econ- omize time. The greatest widening of interest may be accomplished in the shortest time by scanning the tables of contents of many magazines. This will put one in touch with contemporary thought. This getting of nothing more than the subjects of the world's thought is a great corrector of mental provinciality. It is more important, for the purpose of correcting provinciality, to get the range of public interest than to read a few articles thoroughly. One can get an idea.of the gen- eral direction of public thought each month by noticing the similarity of topics treated in the leading articles of most of the magazines. If, at the beginning of every month, one will take the exercise of scanning tables of contents, one will be prepared to choose intelligently the few magazine articles that he will have time to read during the month. Moreover, having had atten- tion called to certain topics, one will casually pick up bits of information about them that will prevent one from getting hopelessly behind the times. POOLERS INDEX. If one has not enough time even to scan the tables of contents of magazines, one can get the same result more quickly by using Poole's Index of magazine literature. This index, found in the reading- room, is published in yearly supplements, and gives the title, author, and magazine of every magazine article published. The articles are classified under subjects arranged alphabetically, so that at a glance one may know all the magazine articles published on 6 THE READER'S BASIS a certain subject. Thus one can quickly see what sub- jects have held public interest during any year, and how many magazines have given space to the same subject, and can get in this way an idea of the rela- tive importance of certain subjects. THE READER'S RESOURCES. The reader's interests are broadened by having access to a larger number of magazines than are likely to be found in a private house. A person's taste and culture determine the selection of the magazines which are regularly sub- scribed for; whereas, in the public library, one's lim- ited interest is broadened by seeing the magazines which appeal to all classes of people. A bulletin of all the magazines to be found in the library hangs in the reading-room, by means of which one may become familiar with at least the .names of the leading maga- zines. It is worth while to study this list in order to broaden one's conception of the variety of interests which the magazines represent. A reader should early make himself familiar with all the leading magazines. By examining a different group each month, a reader with limited time may soon become acquainted with the large number which now deserve to be called lead- ing magazines. One should continue this process until one has become able to recognize the distinctive char- acter of each magazine, and has made an almost uncon- scious classification of them, so that finally one comes to know in what particular magazine to look for the best treatment of certain classes of subjects. Provinciality is also corrected by observing what those subjects are which, from time to time, become of such universal interest that a magazine is devoted exclusively to that THE USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 7 one subject; for instance, periodicals devoted exclu- sively to electrical engineering, geneology, sociology, photography, domestic science, manual training. ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINES. The illustrations in the magazines leave no one an excuse for not being trav- eled, and for not having at least a sight acquaintance with the prominent people of the day. At least one visit a month to the library should be devoted to nothing else but the rambling through strange coun- tries and among eminent people which the illustrations in the magazines make possible. NEWSPAPERS. The newspapers must not be neg- lected as a means for correcting provinciality. The newspaper files in the reading-room are provided with the leading papers of several large cities. An occa- sional visit to these, even to do no more than to glance hurriedly over the headlines and first-page cartoons, will keep one in touch with the -life in different com- munities. Newspapers headline and cartoon events which are important to the locality in which the news- paper is published, and also events of universal impor- tance ; so, by a comparison of events headlined or cartooned by papers of widely separated localities, one learns the relative importance of daily events better than one can learn it from the reading of any one newspaper, even though that newspaper aims to pub- lish the events of the whole world, and to give these events in their proper relation. The great illustrated newspapers, such as Frank Leslie's Weekly, Harper's Weekly, Illustrated London News, or The Graphic^ make us spectators at every event of im- '8 THE READER'S BASIS portance, so that our private circumstances cannot cut us off from participation in the world's doings. THE ART ROOM. The art-room is the place where one may correct a provincial taste. RESOURCES. The art-room, as much as the reading- room, is the place for short, casual calls for the purpose of observing more than reading. Taste can be cultivated only by looking upon the best things that the world has produced. The art-room cultivates, pub- lic taste by {putting within the reach of all persons those expensive books of plates that reproduce all the achievements of human skill which could otherwise be seen only by extensive travel. These plates, pic- turing all the arts and crafts, afford the means for wide comparison, and will thus correct that provincial con- ceit which arises from insufficient comparison of one's own work and surroundings with the work and sur- roundings of others. Thus any one, however poor his environment may be", can become a fair judge of what is beautiful and what is ugly, and so contribute his share in the general modern effort to secure beautiful surroundings. THE EDUCATOR OF PUBLIC TASTE, The art-room is as important as the reading-room, because a provincial taste is as damaging to good citizenship as is a provin- cial ignorance of current thought and events. Good taste has become a modern requirement of the good citizen. He is expected to have opinions about such things as public architecture, public sculpture, land- scape treatment in public parkland the beautifying of suburbs, as well as about ihe building and furnish- ing of pri vate horn e s . * it>- the ar t<-room may be found THE USE OE THE PUBLIC LIBRARY :0 illustrated books .by means of which one may compare one's ;own city with the cities of the world their pub- i lie squares, architecture, monuments, bridges, foun- tains, and parks. Also, there are books in which one '' may study . , home decorations books showing home architecture, gardens, and every smallest detail of in- terior furnishing, showing the taste of every period, from ancient to modern times, and giving examples of the best modern taste. A sense for harmonious color- corn bin aiioris'ah'd for good designing can be cultivated by studying the colored plates of oriental rugs, tapes- tries, wall-papers, textile fabrics of all kinds, and of famous decorated vases. There is, therefore, no ex- cuse for provincial ideas concerning one's own city or home. CRAFTS. Art is now so associated with the crafts that anyone can find, in the art-room , books and illus- trations of special interest to himself. Any craftsman is expected to make use of the means offered by the art-room to compare his own handiwork with tha.t of the experts, so that his own work may be progressive, . and finally equal or excel that done anywhere else in the world . ; . .--. .:..- THE:EiELi) OF< ART. The field of art is, more ex- tensive than qne who never visits the art-room may imagine. : It includes book-binding, book-cover designs, book-plates^, methods ^illustrating literature, printing- j-type v alphabets and illumination, posters, photographs, i -bronzes.-,- ; tiles* enamels anct- mosaics, art-glass, leather : and nietul work, wood-carving, china and glass-painting, i pottery,; embr/pMery and laces, costumes of all countries and .ages^^niforinsigf v armies and clans, heraldry, fur- 10 THE READER'S BASIS niture, jewelry and musical instruments. All these are things of common public interest, concerning which one may quickly become provincial, or behind the times in taste and knowledge. Anyone can get a fair knowledge of these subjects by merely looking at the illustrations which fill the books devoted to these arts. THE FINE ARTS .The fine arts painting, sculpture, architecture, music may be thoroughly studied by means of books provided in the art-room. There are dictionaries of art terms, histories of art, biographies of artiste, and art periodicals. A good public library will carry a collection of copies of the works of noted artists in each branch of the fine arts. There are folios of the masterpieces of painting, sculpture, architecture, etching, engraving, and mural-painting. There are books showing interesting collections : for instance, the lover of these arts who cannot travel -can see in one book good representations of all the works of art ex- hibited at the Paris Exposition ; in the same way he may^ roam through the London Royal Academy, and through the castles and country-houses of England with all their treasures of art, and visit the great cathedrals of the world. One can make a study of any individual artist of note by means of a collection of reproductions, accompanied with criticisms. Musicians may find in the art-room the scores of all the standard operas, sym- phonies, oratorios^ cantatas, masses, national songs, or noted compositions of any sort, of all periods, and for all kinds of instruments and occasions. Any individual composer may be studied by means of the collection of his own compositions, accompanied by explanations. THE USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 11 There are books explaining the methods of different great teachers, giving the principles of vocal and instrumental music, and all kinds of advice to musi- cians. There are year-books published, by means of which one may watch the progress of art in different countries from year to year. There are collections by means of which one may study different schools of art, and collections which show comparative development in art matters among the nations of the earth. To remain provincial in taste when all these means are provided to correct taste, or to disregard art as a civilizing influence, is to forfeit, in these days, any claim to a liberal education. THE KEFERENOE ROOM. The reference-room is the place where, by frequent calls, one can guard against the danger of becoming provincial in one's reading. Visits to this room will keep one in sympathy with the general reading public, and prepare one to make an intelligent choice of books when time is found for reading. BULLETINS. The reference-room is the center of information about books, and where every pains is taken to keep the public informed about new books. By means of bulletins hung about the room, attention is called to the books lately purchased by the library. It is worth while to notice these purchases as an indica- tion of public demand, or the direction that the public mind is taking. Sometimes biography will predominate, sometimes psychology, and again literary criticism seems to be the demand. This gives one a hint for one's own reading. There will always be a long list of fiction among the new books, but it broadens one to notice how 12 THE READER'S BASIS great a number of non-fiction books are being bought in answer to the popular demand. Attractive posters proclaim the books that everybody is reading, and a special book-case invites the visitor to examine the newest books before they are put away in the stock- room. There is usually posted somewhere a list of books suggested by the season of the year, or a list of books upon a subject that some event of the day has made of public interest. Attention is often called to some anniversary by the list of books posted for that day. THE CARD CATALOGUE. The reference-room is the place w r here the reader gets acquainted with the resources of the library. The reader should learn to command these resources rather than to depend upon the assistance of the clerks. To do this, the reader must become expert in using the card-catalogue which is found in this room. Every book is catalogued three times in the card-eatalogue ; namely, under the prin- cipal word in the title of the book, under the author's name, and under the name of the subject treated. If a student is interested in a subject, his first step is to find that subject in the card-catalogue and learn what books are available on that subject. It requires some practice to become expert in using the catalogue for this purpose, because any subject may be expressed by several different words, and it is difficult to determine under what particular word the desired books are in- dexed. Some of the books on a subject may be cata- logued under one name of that subject, and some under another, and it is only by ^ingenuity in trying different words which might possibly express the sub- THE USE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY 13 ject that all the desired reading may be found. For instance, if a student is interested in the subject of public speaking, he will find books upon his subject catalogued under all the following words : elocution, oratory, eloquence, expression, speeches and speech- making, addresses, toasts and tributes, briefs and debate, language, forensic*, voice, parliamentary prac- tice. If the puzzled student will ask for the A. L. A. List of Subject-Headings, he may find under one word the other words under which books on the same subject may be catalogued. The card-catalogue is useful in pointing out the reading which may be done in con- nection with some one author. Look for the author's name, and upon the successive cards bearing his name will be found the books written by this author, and also the books or articles giving biographical information about the author and criticisms of his work. THE FINDING LISTS. The finding-list*, scattered about on the tables in the reference-room, are another means for learning the resources of the library. The card-catalogue is for the use of those readers who have already become interested in some subject or author ; the finding-lists are for those persons who need sug- gestion as to what subjects there are to choose among. In the finding-lists, books are classified under a few grand-divisions, a separately-bound list for each grand- division ; for instance, one for history, one for fiction^ one for .biography, one for science,, etc: - in each finding-list, the subject is shown in all vfesr ^sub- divisions, and under each sub-division are the titles of the books treating that particular phase of the subject. In this way the whole field of literature is spread out 14 THE READER'S BASIS to the eye. Familiarity with these finding-lists is the basis for wide and well-balanced reading. STANDARD INDEXES. The card-catalogue and the finding-lists give only those books which are owned by the library. If one wishes to know all tfye books that are published on a subject, the A. L. A. Index, or the Peabody Catalogue, both found in the reference-room, will give the information. REFERENCE CLERKS. Not the least of the advan- tages found in the reference-room is the privilege of conversation with the reference clerks, and of their assistance in pursuing' some line of investigation. There are some matters of book-news that can be obtained only through the reference clerks, such, for instance, as the class of people to whom certain books appeal, or the comparative circulation of certain books. Moreover, it is through the reference clerks that one may get access to the books-of-help for readers those books so full of advice concerning everything that a reader needs to know that they take the place of the teacher and the class-room. These books, usually found back of the clerk's desk, cannot be well classified in the catalogues, and the reader must depend upon the clerk for getting those "helps" suited to his individual needs. SCHOOL REFERENCE ROOM. In connection with the reference-room, there is the school reference-room where pupils in the schools may be directed in their reading. The clerk is acquainted with the character of the work done in different school grades and is pre- pared to give assistance in looking up any subject con- nected with school work. The character of the work THE USE OF THE PURLIC LIBRARY 15 done in this room is indicated by the bulletins posted ; for instance, in the month of April, the visitor to this room might have seen the following lists Books on Early Spring Flowers, Best Articles in the April Maga- zines, Books on the Subject of the High School Debate, Books for Students of Civics. THE CHILDREN'S ROOM. The children's room is the place where the child learns to extend the boundaries of his own environment, and where the grown person may correct his provincial notions about the methods of education for the young. Nothing bet- ter shows the enormous advance made in civilization than the character of the books and periodicals pre- pared for children. A visit to this room will change one's views as to what is and what is not suitable for children, and will afford valuable suggestions about child-nature and how to meet it helpfully. CONCLUSION. The purpose of this chapter hag been to urge that the public library be used as a means for shaking off provinciality, which is the foe of cul- ture and progress, and to show what can be done towards keeping abreast of the times by spending an occasional half-hour in the library, and using one's power of observation rather than doing much reading. CHAPTER II THE HEADER'S FIELD Classification of Books. At the outset of a reader's career, it is important that the reader should not have a provincial conception of what it is to be well-read. A first step is to get a view of the whole range of literature and see what ground must be cov- ered before a reader may call himself well-read. This wholeness of view at the beginning is made possible by two classifications of literature one classification based on subject-matter, the other based on literary form. The first classification, based on subject-matter, reduces the great mass of books to a few classes which enable the reader to see at a glance the whole field of knowledge. The other classification, based on literary form, shows the variety of forms in which any subject- matter may be presented. It is the reader's first busi- ness to learn the names of the classes of books, and of the literary forms, and to get some idea of the nature of the books belonging to each class, and the distinc- tive features of each literary form. The following classification is that adopted by libraries. In different libraries, the classification may vary slightly, but the following list covers all the real distinctions based upon subject-matter. 16 THE READER'S FIELD I CLASSES OF BOOKS 1. Reference Books 12. Natural Science 2. 3. 4. Literature or Literary Criticism Poetry Drama 13. 14. 15. Political Science and Economics Sociology Law 5. Fiction 16. Medicine 6. 7. 8. Biography History Travels .17. 18. 19. Education Language Philosophy and Occult Science 9. 10. Fine Arts Useful Arts 20. 21. Religion, includ- ing Mythology Greek and Latin Classics 11. NaturaJ History 22. Polygraphy 17 REFERENCE BOOKS. The object of reference books is to make information easy of access. To know one's helps and how to use them is the foundation of scholarship. It is impossible to give in small space an adequate idea of the great variety of books in this class. The latest supplements of the library finding- lists make the attempt to classify the great mass of books in this class; and by looking at the 'titles of books in this finding-list, one will be impressed with the fact that in books of this class every sort of guid- ance and advice may be found for pursuing any line of study. DICTIONARIES. A dictionary is a book containing the terms and definitions belonging to some one subject ; for instance, the dictionary of the English language, 18 THE READER'S BASIS the dictionary of architecture, of music, of carpentry, of antiquities. Every subject has its dictionary a fact which makes this class of books endless in variety. The terms and definitions in these books furnish first suggestions for extended study. The thorough study of any subject should begin with the dictionary devoted to that subject. ENCYCLOPAEDIAS. An encyclopaedia gives information about all subjects. The reader goes to the encyclopaedia to get the fundamental facts of a subject upon which to build later information. The encyclopaedia aims to give every subject in its most condensed form, and to have the information reliable as far as it goes. CONCORDANCES. A concordance is a book of quota- tions from one author, classified as to subject. There are concordances of the Bible, of Shakespeare, and of most of the great writers. A concordance furnishes the quickest way to get some acquaintance with an author, for, by glancing at the quotations arranged under sub- jects, one can get a fair idea of the author's general line of thought. The main objection to this use of the concordance is that a single quotation, separated from its context, never truly represents an author's thought. A concordance is mainly useful for furnishing an index to an author's writings. BIBLIOGRAPHIES. A bibliography is a list of selected best books or magazine articles on one subject. Bibli- ographies of many subjects are published, accompanied by advice as to the best way to pursue the study of a subject. The reference clerk of a library will, upon request, make a bibliography of any subject desired. THE READER'S FIELD . 19 A bibliography saves a reader's time, and prevents desultory reading. YEAR-BOOKS. Year-books furnish information about the events of a single year. The great newspapers annually, get out a year-book of events. Some maga- zines publish ja^year- book of literary events. Progress from year tp,iye&r,;in many lines, may be traced by the year-books.^,; i ATLASEs;-^Atlases are among the most interesting of reference-books.' There are atlases prepared in the interest of nVany different subjects; for instance, the railroad atlas, the atlas of explorers' routes, the ship- pers' atlas, the seaman's atlas, the atlas showing the routes of marine commerce, the atlas of the classics, and atlases in which one may study the history of the expansion of national territory. Examples : The Century Dictionary of Names. The New International Encyclopaedia. ,#.* The World's Almanac. Who's Who in America. History for Ready Reference. J. N. Lamed. LITERATUKE OR LITERARY CRITICISM. Next after reference-books, the books classed as criticism should most engage the attention of the reader who is laying a basis for future reading, for here are the books about books. It is in the books of this class that the reader gets his introduction to the wide field of literature a field so wide that, without'gui dance from the critics, the reader would lose much time in aimless wandering, and would probably miss the things of greatest interest. It is by reading books in this class 20 THE READER'S BASIS that a literary taste is awakened, developed, and cor- rected. One may indefinitely extend his culture by continuing, throughout life, an acquaintance with the books of this class. The character of the books is that of the conversation of literary people, most of the books being light, popular essays about all sorts of literary matters. There are also interpretive studies of all the masterpieces of literature and of all eminent authors, as well as histories of literature, and books containing all information necessary to intelligent reading. In connection with the books of this class, one should read such periodicals as The Bookman, The Nation, The Dial, The Literary World. Examples : A Study of Prose Fiction Bliss Perry. Varied Types. G. K. Chesterton. Younger American Poets. Jesiie Rittenhause. Counsel Upon Reading of Books. H. M. Stephens. POETRY, DRAMA, FICTION. The subject mat- ter in these three classes is the same namely, the social relations of human life. Writings in these classes have for their object the expression of human emotion, the portrayal of human life, and the inter- pretation of the problems of human existence. These three classes are really the three literary forms in which this subject matter is set forth, but it is ctistom- ary to speak of them also as classes of books. Examples : Poetry: The Golden Treasury. Francis Palgrave. Drama: Nathan Hale. Clyde Fitch. Fiction: Library of the World's Best Mystery Stories, Edited by Julian Hawthorne, 21 THE READER'S FIELD BIOGRAPHY. The purposes of biography are, first, to give permanence to the fame of distinguished persons, and to interpret their lives for the inspiration of later generations ; and second, to make a study of social life by means of the facts of a single individual's life. The history of any period may be read in the biographies of representative men, and a fair idea may be had of the arts and sciences through biographies of persons eminent in those fields. It is worth while to study the library finding-list of biography just to get the names of people who have been considered worthy of biographies, and thus to test one's general acquaint- ance with great names. B ) )ks for pursuing the study of genealogy are found in this class. Examples : Theodore Roosevelt : The Boy and the Man. James Morgan. Four American Leaders. Charles W. Eliot. Stare of the Opera. Mabel Wagnalls. Series: American Men of Letters, American Statesmen, Great Writers. HISTORY. The books classed as history give an account of the means and the events through which the world has reached its present state of social develop- ment. The object of reading in this class is not so much to know the past as an end in itself, as it is to get an intelligent understanding of the present by seeing how it has evolved out of the whole past. The reader is recommended to study the latest finding-lists in the library in order to get, by means of the classifications of history, the range of historical reading as the modern reader should know it. One should as early as possible trace the story of the development of the nations of 22 THE READER'S BASIS the world, so as to be prepared to watch the progress of contemporary history. Examples : Recollections of the Civil War. Charles W. Dana. The Great Locomotive Chase: An Incident of the Civil War. William Pittenger. Ian Hamilton's March: The South African War. Winston Spencer Churchill. Human Bullets: A Story of Port Arthur. Tadayoshi Sakurai. The Rulers of the South. F. Marion Crawford. The Expansion of the American People. Edwin Erie Sparks. TRAVELS. Books of travel not only prepare the reader for travel, but can be made the substitute for it. Books in this class extend one's knowledge of geography, make all parts of the world familiar, and add much to a reader's culture as well as enjoyment. This class includes accounts of explorers. Examples : A White Umbrella in Mexico. F. Hopkinson Smith. Winged Wheels in France. Michael Myers Shoemaker. Across the Plains. R. L. Stevenson. FINE ARTS. The class of fine arts includes not only what has long been recognized as the fine arts namely, painting, architecture, sculpture, music, but also many other arts which, because beauty is their aim, are now classed with the fine arts. A reader can get an idea of the extent of the field of art by examin- ing the finding-list supplements in the library, and noticing the subjects treated by books in this class. Examples : Stones of Venice. John Ruskin. The Music of the Masters : Wagner. Ernest Newman. A Short History of Architecture: Europe. Russell Sturgis. THE READER'S FIELD 23 USEFUL ARTS. The useful arts include all the trades, inventions, manufactures, machinery, mining, civil engineering, military and nautical arts, sports and games, domestic economy, agriculture, horticul- ture, in fact, all the industries engaged in by man. It will be an education merely to look at the subdi- visions of this class in the finding-lists, and the titles of the books in each subdivision. Examples : Yard i and Garden. Tarkington Baker. Three Acres and Liberty. Bolton Hall. Food and Dietetics. Alice Norton. Camp and Trail. Stewart Edward White. The Book of Camping and Woodcraft. Horace Kephart. NATURAL HISTORY. Science books which mere- ly describe natural objects are classed as natural history. They are divided into three classes : biology, the study of life in all its forms ; geology, the study of the structure of the earth ; mineralogy, the study of minerals. Biology includes: anthropology and ethnol- ogy, the study of man ; zoology, the study of animals, birds, insects, fishes ; botany, the study of plants, in- cluding bacteriology, the study of germs. Examples : The Study of Man. Alfred C. Haddon. The Indians' Book. Natalie Curtis. The Life ot the Bee. Maurice Maeterlinck. Science Sketches. David Starr Jordan. Gleanings from Nature. W. S Blatchley. Birds of Buzzard's Roost. William Wation Woollen. Nature Study and Life C. F. Hodge- NATURAL SCIENCE. Science books which ex- plain phenomena are classed as natural science. They 24 THE READER'S BASIS are divided into five classes : astronomy, the study of heavenly bodies ; chemistry, the study of the com- position of matter ; physics, the study of the properties of matter; physiography, the study of the exterior features of the earth ; meteorology, the study of the atmosphere. Books on the subject of mathematics are classed in this group because of the use made of mathe- matics in solving the phenomena of nature. Examples : The Romance of Modern Electricity. Charles R. Gibson. The Wonder Book of Volcanoes and Earthquakes.Edward J. Houston. School Science and Mathematics. A monthly magazine. Science Primers. A Series edited by Huxley, Roscoe, and Stewart. Ecce Coelum. E. F. Burr. POLITICAL SCIENCE AND ECONOMICS. Books classed as political science treat of the science of national government, and discuss the problems con- nected with the preservation, regulation, defense, and development of the nation. The two divisions of the subject of political science are politics and economics; politics is the science of national policy, and economics is the science of the acquisition of wealth. The. books classed under politics treat all questions of national policy in such readable form that all citizens may keep informed concerning administrative measures ; some of the subjects treated are : the history and principles of political parties, civil service methods, colonization, foreign diplomacy. The books classed under economics treat the problems of the business world, the reading of which will tend to harmonize the self-interests of the individual with the public needs of a community ; THE READER'S FIELD 25 some of the subjects treated are: wages, tariff, monopoly, competition, currency, financial panics, transportation rates, insurance, and all the questions involved in the contest between labor and capital. Examples : American Ideals. Theodore Roosevelt. Straight Talks on Business. William Gamble. Choosing a Career. Orison Sweet Harden. Imperial Democracy. David Starr Jordan. Annual Reports of the George Junior-Republic Association. Unto This Last. John Ruskin. Crown of Wild Olive. John Ruskin. SOCIOLOGY. Books classed as sociology treat the problems of social life, or those problems involved in men's treatment of each other. Sociology is defined as the science of social customs and ideals. All the subjects of sociology might be classed under the gen- eral title, Altruism. Some of the most vital questions of the day are those classed under sociology. These questions are treated largely in novels, but the books in this class are essays. A good citizen should find in the books of this class the important distinction be- tween socialism and those subjects often confused with it communism, nihilism, and anarchism. Some of the subjects treated in this class are : crime and its cor- rection, charities, social settlements, child-labor, race questions, temperance, equal suffrage, pensions, and all the various industrial, social, and religious organ- izations. Examples : The Cry of the Children. Mrs. John Van Vorst. The Future of the American Negro. Booker Washington. Waifs of the Slums and Their Way Out. Leonard Benedict LAW. Books classed as law treat of men's rela- tions toward one another from the point of view of 26 THE READER'S BASIS public security. Here are discussed those rules of con- duct which are founded on long usage or on the decisions of courts of justice. Besides the technical books classed as jurisprudence, there are readable books that show the relation between statutes and the conscience of the community. The effect of read- ing in this class is to awaken a sense of justice, and to lead one to compare the principles of justice with the decisions of law courts. Some of the subjects treated are : accounts of celebrated cases in court, accounts of arbitration conferences, parliamentary practice for club meetings, and all questions involving property rights. Examples : The Prisoner at the Bar. A. 0. Train. Extraordinary Cases. H. L. Clinton. MEDICINE. The technical books in the class of medicine treat of anatomy, physiology, and the treat- ment of disease. But there are many books in this class besides those intended only for the medical profession. There are popular books treating all the problems of healthy living classed as hygiene, and books about health resorts, hospitals, the nursing profession, the red-cross society, the different systems of physical training used in gymnasiums, and all the problems connected with pure food. Examples : The Efficient Life Luther Gulick. Health Lessons.- J. N. Hurty, M. D. Emergency Notes. G. R. Butler. EDUCATION. The technical books in the class of education treat of the theory and practice of teach- ing, or pedagogics. But there are popular books giv- THE READER'S FIELD 27 ing information about all the great schools, colleges, and universities, and about special educational systems, and books which treat the subjects of co-education, courses of study, the training of the blind and the deaf, kindergarten methods, manual training, normal train- ing, and books giving all sorts of advice about self- education. Examples : Education, and the Larger Life. C. Hanford Henderson School, College, and Character. Le Baron Russell Briggs. Educational Aims and Educational Values. Paul H. Hanus. LANGUAGE. The technical books in the class of language treat the origin and development of the dif- ferent languages of the world, or the science called philology. The popular books give all possible direc- tions and advice about ordinary usage of language in conversation, about public speaking, and about literary composition. In this class are found th,e dictionaries of foreign languages, and systems by means of which one may be self-taught in the modern languages. Examples : The Gentle Art of Good Talking. Beatrice Knollys. Every Day English. Richard Grant White. Words and Their Uses. Richard Grant White. The Worth of Words. Ralcy Husted Bell. Talks on Writing English. Arlo Bates. ' Words: Their Use and Abuse. Brander Matthews. PHILOSOPHY AND OCCULT SCIENCE. Philos- ophy is defined as a process of reasoning applied to phenomena in order to find causes; it is sometimes called the science of causes and effects. By derivation it means the love of, or search after, wisdom. All knowledge has been gained by philosophy and by 28 THE READER'S BASIS experiment. When by reasoning and experiment the laws governing a certain class of phenomena have been discovered and formulated, we have a science. There- fore all the sciences have had their origin in philoso- phy. It is customary to speak of a subject as a phi- losophy when the phenomena of the subject have not been sufficiently observed to give any conclusions that can be laid down as laws. The occult sciences are really philosophies, for observations of phenomena have not been sufficiently verified and classified to make a science. Subjects are called occult or, as the word means, hidden when the phenomena of the subject are being investigated, but about which little has been discovered which is universally accepted as conclusive. There have been different systems or schools of philosophy, each reasoning from a different point of view. The branches of philosophy are: logie, or the laws of reasoning; psychology, or the laws of mind; ethics, or the laws of morality ; aesthetics, or the prin- ciples of taste. Metaphysics is a general term for the science of that kind of being of which the five physical senses are not cognizant. The subjects usually classed as occult are : certain psychic phenomena such as telep- athy, hypnotism, mental-healing, -and the older sub- jects of astrology, phrenology, physiognomy, palmistry, spiritualism. Popular books are found in the class called ethics, and much attention is now being given to psychology in its application to unexplained psychic phenomena. Examples: Philosophical Classics for English Readers. A Series edited by W. Knight. Laws of Daily Conduct. Nicholas Paine Oilman. THE READER'S FIELD 29 The Unknown. Camille Flammarion. Multiple Personality. Sidis and Goodhart. The Mystery of Sleep. John Bigelow. Essays on the Meaning of Life. Carl Helty, translated by Francis Peabody. In Tune With the Infinite -Ralph Waldo Trine. RELIGION. The technical books in this class, classified as theology, treat the subject of the nature of God and man's relation to God. Here also are books about the Bible, usually classed as Higher Criticism, and books about the history of the Christian church, its sects, and its organizations. The popular books are those which serve as helps in Christian living, and in forming religious opinions. Books in this class are not confined to the Christian religion, but there are books about the other religions of the world, and translations of the sacred books of all religions. Mythology is also found in this class, for myths express in story form the religious beliefs of all ages. Mythology is subdivided into myths, legends, fables, fairy tales, and folk-lore. Examples : Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan. The Religion of a Gentleman. Charles F. Dole. The Smoke and the Flame. Charles F. Dole. The Life of the Spirit. Hamilton Wright Mabie. The Legends of Parsifal. Mary Hanford Ford. Natural Law in the Spiritual World. Henry Drummond. The Greatest Thing in the World. Henry Drummond, Influence of Christ in Modern Life. Newell D wight Hillis. Sermons. Phillips Brooks. Ten Great Religions. James Freeman Clark. Aspirations of the World. Lydia Maria Child. Myths and Legends of Our Own Land. Charles M. Skinner. GKEEK AND KOMAN CLASSICS. The Greek and Roman classics are in the form of poems, dramas, 30 THE READER'S BASIS orations, philosophy, and history. They may be found in the original and in translations. A reader should be careful to get the best translation as there is con- siderable difference among translators. Examples : TheOdlLey I Homer - Trans, by William Cullen Bryant. Plutarch's Lives. Trans, by C. E. Byles. Select Orations of Cicero. Trans, by C. D. Yonge. Antigone. Sophocles. Trans, by John S. Phillimore. Agamemnon. ^Eschylus. Trans, by John S. Phillimore. The Prometheus Bound of ^Eschylus Paul Elmer More. The Trial and Death of Socrates.- Plato's Dialogues. Trans, by F. J. Church. POLYGRAPH Y. In the class called polygraphy the word meaning writings of many kinds are found complete editions or collected works of authors, besides collections of many kinds, especially collections of speeches and orations. Books which cannot be exactly classified under any of the other classes are found here. Examples : The Poems and Prose Sketches of James Whitcomb Riley. The Complete Works of John*Ruskin.[;. Edition de Luxe. CONCLUSION. The foregoing description of the different classes of books gives but an imperfect idea of what there is to be enjoyed in each of these classes ; the object has been only to arouse curiosity. The pur- pose of such a cursory view of the reader's field is to get some idea of the extent of the field, and to become persuaded that, since the number of classes is com- paratively small, it is not an impossible task for a reader to be fairly intelligent concerning the whole THE READER'S FIELD 31 field of knowledge. The finding-lists found at the public library serve the reader as a map of the whole field. Having once become familiar with the main features of the field as laid out to the eye in these finding-lists, the reader needs only to watch the new supplements as they come out in order to keep his in- terest fresh in the subject-matter of these several classes. A very little reading, if well-balanced, will save a reader from falling into the provinciality which comes from confining one's reading to some one part of the whole field. The examples given are, with but few exceptions, purposely selected from contemporary literature, and are the books which young people will like, and which, therefore, will agreeably lead them into the company of the masterpieces of each class with which they should later become acquainted. 32 THE READER'S BASIS II. LITERAKY FORMS Narration HISTORY PROSE Chronicle The Hebrew Chronicles. Narrative History The Story of the Nations. (A Series) Philosophic History The Critical Pe- riod of American History, ^by John Fiske. Scenic History The French Revolu- tion, by Carlyle. / Complete History Lockhart's Walter Scott. Biographical Essay Essay on Burns, by Carlyle. Memoir Alfred Tennyson, by his son. Autobiography Praeterita, by John BIOGRAPHY / Ruskin. Journal Maurice de Guerin, trans. by Frothingham. Letters Lowell's Letters. Biographical Tales and Sketches Folk! Tales'; of [Napoleon, by George Kennan. FICTION Description THE READER'S FIELD 33 The Novel The Right of Way, by Gilbert Parker. The Romance Ivanhoe, by Walter Scott. The Short-Story Marjorie Daw, by T. B. Aldrich. Tales Jungle Books, by Kipling. The Allegory The King of the Golden River, by Ruskin. Fable Indian Fables, by P. V. R. Roja. Myth The Great Carbuncle, by Hawthorne. Parable Parables of Life, by Mabie. Fairy Tale The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Anderson. Prose Drama I/Aiglon, by & Edmond Rostand. Farce The Unexpected Guests, by Howells. Dialogue The Dolly Dialogues, by Anthony Hope. Monologue Mrs. Caudle's Cur- . tain Lectures, by Douglas Jer- rold. Nature Studies Walden, by Tho- of Places, by reau. Travels Portraits Henry James. 34 THE READER'S BASIS Descriptions in Stories : Placejs The Hall Farm, in Adam Bede, by Eliot. Persons Dinah Morris, in Adam Bede, by Eliot. Exposition Argumentation The Treatise Monographs in Politi- cal and Historical Science. Johns Hopkins University Studies. The Essay Virginibus Puerisque, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Editorials From the Easy Chair, by G. W. Curtis. Sermons Sermons to Young Men, by Henry Van Dyke. Book Reviews John Ruskin, by Alice Meynell. Forensic (delivered in courts of law) Exordium in the Knapp Murder Case, by Daniel Webster(in series, World's Best Orations, Vol. X.) Deliberative (delivered in legisla- tive assemblies) Conciliation with America, by Burke,. Demonstrative (public addresses) Sesame of Kings' Treasuries, by John Ruskin. THE READER'S FIELD 35 POETRY Lyric Ode Commemoration Ode, by Lowell. Elegy or Threnody In Memoriam, by Tennyson. Sonnet Sonnet on Sonnets, by Wordsworth. Sacred Lyric Eternal Goodness, by Whittle*. Patriotic Lyric The Battle Hymn of the Republic, by Julia Ward Howe. Love Lyric John Anderson, My Jo, by Robert Burns. Nature Lyric The Cloud, by Shelley. Reflective Lyric Tinturn Abbey, by Wordsworth. Grief Lyric Annabel Lee, by Poe. Convivial Lyric Hands All Round, by Tennyson. Epic Grand Epic Paradise Lost, by Milton. Legendary Epic Idylls of the King, by Tennyson. Mock Epic Rape of the Lock, by Pope. Metrical Romance Lady of the Lake, by Scott. Metrical Tale Evangeline, by Long- fellow. 36 Descriptive Dramatic THE READER'S BASIS Ballad Lays of Ancient Rome, by Macaulay. Idyll or Pastoral Cotter's Saturday Night, by Burns. Allegory and Symbolism The Vis- ion of Sir Launfal, by Lowell. The Deserted Village, by Gold- smith. Tragedy Macbeth, by Shakespeare. Comedy As You Like It, by Shakes- peare . Mask Comus, by Milton. Morality Play Everyman. ORATORY The March of the Flag, by Albert J. Beveridge (in series, Modern Elo- quence, Vol. XI.) Prose, Poetry, Oralory. A good reader never expresses himself as preferring either one of these grand divisions of literature to any other, for each gives expression to a different side of human nature, and all three of these literary forms are required to express the whole nature of man. Prose expresses the intellect; poetry, the passions; oratory, the will. Of course, each expresses all three to some extent, since these three elements of human nature are never en- THE READER'S FIELD 37 tirely separated; but one or the other element may, for the time, predominate sufficiently to class the literature which expresses it under/' one rather than another of these forms. While it is true that the foregoing distinction is the true basis of classification, there is a more formal or evident means of distinction namely, the form which the language takes. Prose takes the form of ordinary conversation. Poetry is a measured or met- rical language, called verse, a word derived from versus, a turning, because when the succession of words reaches a certain measured length, the line turns back and begins the measure over again. The prose line goes straight forward, and so prose is called straght-forward discourse. The language of oratory is rhythmical without being confined to regular measure. However, each form of language is but the natural expression of the three phases of human nature intel- lect, passion, and will. The intellect expresses itself calmly, the language naturally moving straight on, from point to point, to a definite end, direct progress towards an end being the natural course which the intellect takes. On the other hand, the passions naturally swing back and forth in rhythmic motion, the accompanying language, therefore, giving the swinging effect of a tune, or even of a dance. A sense of sound-effects, as well as a sense of motion, accompanies the expression of emotion, a regular recurrence of some sound as well as of some beat making a rhyme scheme and a time scheme which is the distinctive feature of the language of poetry. Further, the will expresses itself with the restraint of intellect and yet with the motion of pas- 38 THE READER'S BASIS sion ; and so, the language of oratory, called eloquence, has a noticeable rhythmic swing, though not quite so regular as that of poetry, and at the same time it has the appearance of the prose form. The difference between these three fundamental forms of literature is not a difference of subject, but a difference in form of expression a difference which shows not only in the form of the line, but also in sen- tence structure, in vocabulary, and in the divisions of the material, called paragraphs in prose, and stanzas or strophes in verse. Everyone is of course interested in human nature as a whole; and, therefore, when a reader understands that the three fundamental literary forms are the natural expression of the three fundamental elements in human nature, he will be equally interested in all three literary forms. Narration. Narration is that form of prose which seems most natural, and includes the greater part of the whole body of literature. The object of narration is to set forth a succession of events in such a way that the reader feels himself a participator in these events. The reader judges the merit of narration by the degree to which he loses a sense of his own personality and environment, and lives in the action that he is reading about, seeing and feeling the action as if it were going on before his eyes. There are means by which a narra- tor can produce this effect, and these are called the principles of narration. THE READER'S FIELD 39 Principles of Narration: 1. The fundamental principle of narration is that the action must move swiftly. The^quick succession of scenes and events must leave no chance for the reader's interest to lag. Therefore the problem for the narrator is the choice of detail. The skillful narrator knows what details are significant, and uses no others. The significant detail is the one which makes the narration move forward, and without which some link would be lost in the chain of events. Exclusion of unnecessary detail is the first essential of successful narration. The reader judges a narrative by his ever increasing in- terest which is nowhere interrupted, and by his feeling that he is not missing anything necessary to under- standing, or by his feeling of impatience towards some details which seem to stand in the way of his progress. 2. The second principle is that events must move in the natural order of time, or what is called chrono- logical order, or else events must be arranged to show the operation of cause and effect. If events move in chronological order, the narrative is said to have no plot. A narrative is said to have plot if the reader feels the cause" and effect relation of all the events. In a good plot, a number of minor causes and effects combine as the cause of a final, total effect which is called the climax. This involves a nice balance of fore- shadowing and surprise, up to the denouement, which should not be wholly unprepared for, but about which there should be enough doubt to make the denouement exciting. The element of plot is what distinguishes narration of a high order from that of inferior rank. 40 THE READER'S BASIS 3. Next in importance is the principle that the progress of the action must be in stages, so that the reader can keep tragk of the progress. Some scenes, situations, or events make natural landmarks in the progress of the narrative. To recognize what these landmarks are, and then bring them out in high relief, is an important element of a narrator's success. The effort to do this is what determines the divisions or chapters. A large part of the narrator's art consists in letting the reader stop at the right places, and in keeping the story well-balanced that is, not letting one part get ahead of another part. 4. The fourth principle is that narration must have some unifying element. The chronological narra- tive has no unifying element except time, and is there- fore elementary composition. The anecdote has for its unifying element the single point for which the story is told. A narrative of high order also is unified by the single point for which the story is told ; this point, however, is so obscured by many details that it does not stand out conspicuously as it does in the anecdote, but is suggested to the reader by the movement of events and the climax. This point is called the theme. A narrative is said to have a theme when the final effect upon the reader of having read the narrative is that some one point, or sentiment, or truth, stands out clearly proved by the logic of events; in fact, the narrative seems to have been told for the purpose of making this truth apparent. In other words, some lesson or truth must survive in the reader's mind after the details of the events have passed from the reader's memory. Thus, a narrative of high order will add to a THE READER'S FIELD 41 reader's wisdom, or his understanding of the meaning of events. Of course, this moral purpose must not be obtrusive. The reader must feel that he himself has drawn the conclusion from his own sense of the mean- ing of the events. The central truth, or theme, is usually embodied in the principal charcter. If no lead- ing character unifies the narrative, then the situation which is the climax will so embody a truth which has been all the time more and more plainly suggested, that the climax makes the required unity. 5. The fifth principle is that events shall be made to grow out of the characters of the human participa- tors in the action. Of course, a narrative must involve the fortunes of some one individual, or of several indi- viduals, and it is the play of human nature as the causes of the events which happen that makes a narrative have human interest. Whether the narrative be fact or fiction, the characters participating in the action must act out what is recognized as common human nature, or else the narrative will not have universal interest. The test for the characters in a narrative is that they are so true to life and common human nature that they seem alive, and that the reader is made so well acquainted with the characters, by many descriptive details and dialogue, that he sees the events as the inevitable outcome of human nature. 6. The final principle oi narration is that the place, or places, where the action occurs be so repro- duced to the senses of the reader by vivid description that the reader sees the events occur in their proper environment and atmosphere. The reader must see the whole action as if he were present, and he cannot 42 THE READER'S BASIS do this without the accompanying scene. Perhaps the most delicate art of the narrative lies in reproducing, not only the scenery and objects that compose the en- vironment of an action, but also the very atmosphere of the period and locality in which the action occurs. These six principles of narration apply equally to history, biography, and fiction, and may be used by the reader as tests of the excellence of either of these three literary forms. Besides these principles, the reader needs some basis for judging the merit of the literary forms which are the subdivisions of narration. History, Biography, Fiction. The modern reader will find that there is not so sharp a distinction between these literary forms as has generally been supposed. The distinction which is usually accepted is the distinction of fact and fiction. It is true that history and biography are narration of actual occur- rences, and that fiction is the narration of fictitious occurrences; but the reader soon finds that everything found in history and biography is not fact, and that the impression of human life gained from fiction is generally true. The historian, biographer, and writer of fiction all aim to tell the truth : the historian or biographer by recounting the events which, accord- ing to such evidence as he can find, have actually occurred; the writer of fiction by recounting events which, according to his observation of life, might occur. As the historian and biographer may be mis- taken in their evidence, because of insufficient investi- gation, so the writer of fiction may be mistaken in his THE READER'S FIELD 43 observation of life, because of narrow experience, and so either kind of writer may fall short of the truth. All three literary forms require both accuracy of in- vestigation; and* powerfullimagination. The historian must not only secure facts which he believes to be authentic, but in his imagination he must so clearJy see the relation of these facts to each other that he can create a sequence and unity of events which truth- fully reproduces or restores the past to the reader, allowing of no misconception, and making the signifi- cance of events become evident. The writer of high- class fiction creates his scenes, but not wholly in his imagination; he is just as thorough as the historian in his investigations, just as careful to verify his impres- sions, and no bolder in imagination. Fiction creates; history and biography re-create. Each literary form may be either with or without plot, according as it is ranked as literature^or not literature. The main distinction between the three forms is the purpose with which the writer of each form does his, work.t The* purpose of the historian and the biographer is to make the real take on greater interest; the purpose of the fiction- writer is to make the unreal seem real. The tests for either form are truth, interest, consistency. HISTORY. The reader of history must learn to distinguish between the modern, scientific history, and those great works of literature styled histories, which will always be read, but which will be read as litera- ture rather than for accuracy of information. Old writers of history had other objects in view than 44 THE READER'S BASIS merely to tell how things happened ; they had some political or religious aim, some interest to be pro- moted. They were concerned not so much with dis- covery of facts as with the proof of their own theories. They used the generally accepted data without investi- gation, and drew conclusions which suited their own purposes. Before accepting what an old historian says, the reader needs to learn the writer's nationality, religion, and politics. The modern scientific school of history has made the documents of the past so much more accessible now than formerly that history written before the nineteenth century, with one or two exceptions, is found to be inaccurate, and should be read only as masterpieces of literary style. Some modern books which are styled history, are really essays, and should be classed as exposition, for they are written to express the personal opinions of the writer. There is nothing of the writer's person- ality in scientific history. No one judges history any more by its literary style and great ideas, but by the truthfulness with which the past is reproduced. Interesting and brilliant but inaccurate historical works, and those which give a personal point of view, are now spoken of as literature rather than as history. 1. THE CHRONICLE is the earliest and crudest form of history. It is the bare record of events in just the order in which they occurred. 2. NARRATIVE HISTORY is narration without any more plot than is necessary to make a readable story. 3. PHILOSOPHIC HISTORY is more than a narration of events; it is a comment on events. It is narration THE READER'S FIELD 45 with plot, all the incidents arranged to show the rela- tion of cause and effect, all tending towards a denoue- ment which is of absorbing interest. This kind of history so clearly shows the great originating forces in a chain of events, and so exhibits moral conse- quences, that the writer has been said to have l 'pene- trated into the intimacy of the counsels of Providence, and produced a sort of Bible." 4. SCENIC HISTORY is the kind which "proceeds upon principles of selection, presupposing in the reader a general knowledge of the great, cardinal incidents, and bringing forward into especial notice those only which are susceptible of being treated with distin- guished effect/' De Quincey. This kind of history, in which description is as much used as narration, makes a panorama ,of events, dividing a period into separate scenes, and producing the effect of a drama. It leaves much for the reader's previous knowledge to supply, but it is the most thrilling form of history. BIOGRAPHY is so associated with history that in the best books the two are combined in such a way that it is impossible to class a book as distinctly one or the other. A good biography will have for a background the history of the period in which the subject lived, and will have a plot which shows how character and achievement evolve out of environment, circumstances, and heredity. 1. COMPLETE HISTORY is useful for reference, and its chief merit is accuracy of fact. The objection to 46 THE READER'S BASIS this form is that it is apt to be gossipy, and does not create in the reader's mind a well-defined figure of the whole man. Wrong impressions of the subject are often carried away by readers of this form of biography, since the reader's mind is apt to fix upon minor details, there being so many details that it is difficult to realize the man as a whole. 2. BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY is the best form in which to read biography, for the writer creates for the reader, out of a mass of facts, a whole man, and comments upon him as he exhibits him. To be sure, the reader gets the author's personal estimate of the man, which may differ from the estimate of the next biographer, but it is usually a better estimate than a reader can create for himself out of a mass of unrelated facts. The essay also has the merit of being short, and there- fore leaves a distinct impression. 8. MEMOIRS are personal memories of the author, and therefore interesting and reliable. They are writ- ten in a light, familiar style, and have the air of in- timacy which makes them popular. 4. AUTOBIOGRAPHY, or self-biography, is good read- ing, but does not usually give a whole view. Perhaps the best way to understand a man is to let him reveal himself by the way he tells his own story, even though some points of his. life are missed. Some autobiogra- phies are written in journal form. 5. JOURNALS, LETTERS, represent the modern ten- dency to employ every means for making a subject tell his own story. The objection to this form of biogra- phy is that the reader is burdened with much that is of THE READER'S FIELD 47 small interest, or else the selections made by the editor give too much opportunity for misrepresenting the subject. Moreover, it is hardly fair to judge a man by expressions of himself that he intended to be private. The value of this form of biography is probably over-estimated as a means for getting an all- around view of a man. It should be read as supple- mentary to a wider view obtained from other forms of biography. 6. BIOGRAPHICAL TALES AND SKETCHES are narration without plot, not ranking as literature. FICTION. Fiction is invented narrative ; but since it purports to be a representation of life, it must be truthful to life as seen by the average observer. The writer of fiction constructs such a story as will embody his own conception of some phase of human life a conception founded upon his own observation and experience of real life. Fiction deals with things that do happen and that might happen. In a sense, then, fiction is true. It is true in the degree that the writer gets the true meanings out of the events which he himself has observed in real life, and therefore understands life so well that he can construct a story that will, truthfully represent real life. The writer of fiction thus becomes an interpreter of life; he is a teacher of human motives, and of the causes which lead to results in the complications of social life. It is because fiction serves this purpose, rather than because it interests the reader and temporarily absorbs his 48 THE READER'S BASIS attention, that it holds high rank as literary art. The estimation in which a reader holds fiction depends upon whether he regards it as a valuable interpretation of life, or as merely a recreation for leisure hours. The unintelligent reader uses fiction-reading as form of dissipation ; but the reader who is trying to understand human life, uses fiction as his guide and teacher. 1. THE NOVEL deals with everyday life, or life as it is known to the majority of human beings. It is the mirror of life, or an attempt to show life as it is. It is therefore known as realism. This is the most modern form of fiction. It portrays the complexity of modern life, and the intricate workings of human motives. Modern fiction is mainly psychological : its purpose is to analyze character ; its interest does not depend so much on incident as on the play of different characters upon each other. Since it is the object of this form of fiction to set forth life as it is, much discussion has arisen as to what phases of life it is worth while to por- tray, and whether there should or should not be limits put upon the phases of life which literature may ex- pose. In his choice of a novel, the reader is guided by the particular phase of life which the novel portrays. 2. THE KOMANCE deals with the unusual, with adventure, mystery, and surprising incidents. The romance deals with a somewhat primitive form of life with the few elementary human passions rather than with complex motives. It depends largely upon inci- dent for interest, and it idealizes human character. The purpose of romance is not to present life as it is, but as we fancy it to be, or as we desire it to be. It is therefore ealled idealism. Such fiction has been the THE READER'S FIELD 49 source of what is called the ideal in life, and has fur- nished ideals of conduct; it is therefore called romantic. The novel is more modern than the romance in that it follows the scientific spirit of investigating what is, rather than fancying what might be or should be. The reader needs both forms of fiction, in order to balance two natural tendencies of the human mind. 3, THE .SHORT-STORY differs from the novel or romance not so much in length as in unity of impres- sion. The theory of the short-story is entirely differ- ent from that of the novel. The theory is that the events of a few minutes, or a single situation, may be set forth in such a way that the reader shall get a knowledge of occurrences that may have extended over years. The treatment of one situation is made to reveal something of the past and of the future. Its merit, then, consists in its suggestiveness. The advan- tage of this form is that the reader can estimate human character in the same way as he does in real life ; namely, by what happens at some one crisis. The short-story gives what would be the climax of a novel, and ingeniously suggests what led up to it and what may follow. The amplified anecdote is altogether dif- ferent from the short-story. The anecdote narrates an incident which is a detached event, independent of any long series of events. It does not^ suggest any more than it tells. However much the point of the anecdote may be delayed by amplifying details, there is an impression of a single, detached event. On the other hand, the short- story is the account of an event from which the reader looks backward and forward over a long series of related events. 50 THE READER'S BASIS 4. TALES are narratives without plot. The story leads to no denouement, but is bounded only by some lapse of time, such as the end of a day, of a journey, or of an adventure of some kind. Such narratives are largely descriptive, and are as often called descriptions as narratives. 5. THE ALLEGORY is a truth or lesson embodied in a narrative. It is amp]ied metaphor. By means of certain events and characters, the reader is made to think of something else which these events and char- acters typify. The story illustrates some truth which the reader is left to infer. The characters in the story are not individuals, but are personifications of certain motives or human characteristics. Fable is the general name for a fictitious narrative intended to enforce a moral. Myth is afabulous narrative about the action of gods, divinities, and heroes, involving super- human or supernatural incident, which con- veys a great, universal truth, of a religious nature. The myth has a meaning other than that which it at first appears to have, the very improbability of the events indicating the symbolic nature of the events described. The myth is the vehicle by means of which the ancients gave concrete expression to their con- ception of the spiritual. Parable differs from myth in the use of the ordinary objects and events of every- day life with which to enforce the moral. THE READER'S FIELD 51 Apologue differs from parable in the use of the speech and action of animals and inani- mate things to enforce the moral. Fairy Tale differs from myth only in the im- portance of the truth conveyed, and the dig- nity of the characters. Instead of the universal truths which myths perpetuate, the fairy tale perpetuates superstitions concerning the meddling of minor supernatural agencies, for both good and evil, in the affairs of men. 6. PROSE DRAMA differs from the novel and the romance in being more compact, in using only such action as can be displayed on a stage, and in telling the story entirely by the speech and action of the characters, the story falling into a few separate scenes. The ideal of the drama is to have the fewest scenes which, with the least amount of explanation and con- nection, will carry the story. The drama, like the novel, may be realism ; or, like the romance, it may be idealism. The melodrama corresponds with the sensa- tional story in depending upon the startling for inter- est, and in giving unnatural and exaggerated views of life. Farce exists frankly to furnish amuse- ment, and has no higher purpose. It there- fore presents those situations which are merely ludicrous and which have no moral signifi- cance. Dialogue and monologue are forms of con- versation between two or more persons who are present, or with some imaginary person 52 THE READER'S BASIS not present. These forms are dramatic in effect because the idea is conveyed wholly by speeches; but they may be classed either as narration or as exposition, according to whether the writer's purpose is to tell an incident or to set forth an opinion. Description Description can hardly be called an independent literary form. It is used in combina- tion with other forms; indeed, no literary form is effective without the introduction of some description. The purpose of description is to create pictures in the mind of the reader. Such a purpose is not sufficient in itself to create an independent form ; pictures are created in the mind only that some larger purpose may be carried out. In narration, description supplies all that the eye might see, and so makes the reader see the events as if they were occurring before the eyes. In exposition, description is used to illustrate the opinion that is set forth, by picturing some concrete instance. In argumentation, description is used to arouse the emotion, and thus assist the writer to con- vince the reader. In poetry, it is used for esthetic enjoyment, and for suggestion of some truth. These purposes of description determine the principles which govern this literary form, and by which the reader makes his tests. Principles of Description: 1. The first principle of description is that a clear picture be presented to the eye. In order to make a THE READER'S FIELD 53 clear picture, (1) the details must be of such a number, and given in such order, that the mind can grasp them all at once, so as to see the picture as a whole ; (2) the details must be consistent that is, there must be nothing in the picture that would not naturally be there, or which could not be seen from one point of view, and from the same distance ; (3) the picture must have perspective that is, some details must stand out prominently as foreground, some be indis- tinct as background. The picture will then have unity, coherence, and emphasis qualities necessary to a clear picture. 2. The second principle of description is that the length of a description, and the amount of it used throughout a composition, be determined by the effect desired. The amount of description scattered through a literary composition, as well as the length of each description, is determined by the number and kind of pictures necessary in order to make a narrative seem real, an opinion well founded, or an argument persua- sive. Description is never used merely to ornament, nor to exhibit "fine writing." The reader, therefore, tests description by the perfection with which it ful- fills the evident purpose of the writer ; and unless the writer makes plain his purpose in using description, the reader has no basis for judging its merit. 3. The third principle is that description should not only create a picture in the mind, but should also create in the reader the same emotion with which the writer saw the picture. Seeing a picture should insure an emotion. This is accomplished mainly by the char- acter of the language used. Emotion is aroused through 54 THE READER'S BASIS the physical senses, and therefore words expressing color, sound, odor, flavor, feeling, and motion, help to produce the right feeling. Figures of speech which compare one object with another create emotion, and the choice of adjectives and verbs conveys the emotion with which the writer would have the reader see the picture. The principles apply equally to long, detailed de- scription, or word-painting, found in books of travel, and to those descriptive touches found scattered through all forms of literary composition. Exposition. Exposition is a form of expression whicn is a step in advance of narration and descrip- tion, and which is the foundation for the still more advanced forms of expression called argumentation and persuasion. It is a primitive impulse to describe what one sees, or to narrate what has occurred; it is a progress in culture to expose the processes of one's own thinking. When a person meditates upon w T hat he has seen, or upon what has occurred in other words, when he turns the process of thought upon the great mass of observations which lie in his memory, and which constitute his experience of life, then the mass of unrelated impressions begin to separate into groups as the relations between them begin to appear, opinions begin to form, and finally conclusions are reached. These conclusions exposed, or set forth, in literary composition, constitute a very interesting and valuable body of literature called exposition. Since THE READER'S FIELD 55 literature classed as exposition is the expression of the author's understanding of some phases of life which have come under his own observation, it assists readers to understand their own observations of life, and to form opinions of their own. The most general definition of exposition is, therefore, that exposition is commentary upon life in general. The derivation of the word exposition indicates the nature of this form of literature. The word is derived from the Latin root positum, which, with the prefix ex, and the suffix ion, means the act of putting out, or setting forth for inspection. This kind of writing sets forth what has grown in the writer's mind by the process of thinking. The word expound is derived from the same root, and means to lay open the full meaning of, to clear of obscurity, to explain or inter- pret. Exposing and expounding what is in the writer's mind constitutes the whole of exposition. Exposition may, therefore, be defined by the one word, explanation. The idea to be explained can always be reduced^to a single term or to a proposition. For instance, the writer's purpose may be to explain what he under- stands to be the meaning of the term honor ; or it may be his purpose to* explain the proposition : Our honor is in our own keeping. The writer's views about honor must have grown out of his own peculiar opportunities for judging what honor is, and so his explanation of either the term or the proposition will be influenced by the point of view which his experience has given him. The point of view will not be just the same for any two persons, since the experience of two persons is never exactly alike, and so the interest of the explana- 56 THE READER'S BASIS tion consists in the individuality of the point of view taken. The opinion itself may be commonplace, but the writer's explanation of his opinion should put even a familiar subject in a new light because of the new point of view that the reader will get. Explanation should consist in setting forth the circumstances which have led the writer to have his opinion, and in tracing the process of thought by which he arrived at his con- clusion. This makes the reader see the subject from the writer's point of view, which is the object of ex- pository writing. In exposition there is more explana- tion of propositions than of terms ; indeed, a combina- tion of both is usually found. For instance, the writer who explains what loafing means, may make use of this explanation of a term to make clear the proposition that loafing is the best way to spend a holiday. Or if the writer wishes to expound the proposition : The energetic person is the happy person, he will begin by defining the term energy, and will not enter upon his main theme until he has made clear that by an ener- getic person he means the one who always "gets into the game." But, whether exposition be the explana- tion of a term or of a proposition, or of both, it is valuable only as it" is the writer's own view, resulting from his own thought about the occurrences which have constituted his own experience. Exposition may there- fore be further defined as the setting forth of the writer's understanding of a part of his experience in the form of explanation of a term or a proposition. The purpose of exposition is to set forth the writer's knowledge or his opinion. Because of this, there are two distinctly different classes of exposition : the one, THE READER'S FIELD 57 called treatise, is scholarly and scientific ; the other, called essay, is popular and conversational. The trea- tise aims to give information, and its value lies in the accuracy and reliability of the writer's knowledge. The essay aims to express opinion and give counsel upon all sorts of subjects, trifling and serious, and its value lies in the charm of the writer's personality. The knowledge which the writer offers may be pro- found, and gained by scholarly investigation ; or it may be a common kind of knowledge, gained by experience with common affairs of life. In either case, the knowledge set forth is the writer's first-hand knowledge, gained by his own investigation, experi- ment, or experience. The essay sets forth some opinion arising from some set of observations and experiences which are peculiar to the writer himself. So, whether the writer's aim be to (jive information or to express opinion, exposition is always the setting forth of the writer's per- sonality. Principles of Exposition: 1. The first principle of exposition is that the writer shall set forth that knowledge or opinion which lias developed in his own mind by his own thinking about his own experience. The material for exposi- tion, then, is the writer's own thoughts, together with the scenes or events or experiences which led to those thoughts. 2. The second principle is that the form in which knowledge or opinion is set forth shall be explanation of a term, or of a proposition, or a combination of the two. Narration and description may be used only to 58 THE READER'S BASIS set forth the scenes or events which the writer has been thinking about in order to have reached the opinion or knowledge he is setting forth. However much narra- tion and description may be necessary in order to make a clear explanation, the reader is never allowed to forget what the proposition is, or what term is being defined. 3. The third principle is that one central idea, one proposition, or one term, shall be kept constantly before the reader. Unity of impression is essential, as in all kinds of writing. The reader must finish read- ing with no doubt about what the one idea is which the writer has exposed in the form of a single opinion which may be stated as a proposition. It is a part of the writer's individuality to devise means for keeping this one idea before the reader's mind without being tiresome or formal. The statement of the proposition may be found in the writing, and is called the key sentence ; but if it is not there, the reader should be able to supply it readily. 4. The fourth principle is that, since exposition is explanation, clearness is essential. For this reason the writer's plan is made apparent. Headings, or divisions of the subject, stand out plainly. Strongly marked transitions and frequent summaries are found in exposition, except in the lightest kind which is clear without them. The bearing of successive points upon each other is shown by lapping the thought of one paragraph over upon the thought of the next. At the beginning of each paragraph some statement is made which summarizes what has been said and states. what is to come. Thus the reader can take in the whole THE READER'S FIELD 59 treatment by glancing at the beginning of successive paragraphs and" reading the conclusion. Also, frequent reference to what has gone before keeps freshly before the reader the points which have been made. All kinds of exposition do not require such formal means for making the explanation clear; there is as little formality as possible in any good composition. Again, clear explanation requires illustrative examples which should be the actual experiences which have led the writer to his opinion. It is in the use of these exam- ples that the writer often fails to be clear. The bear- ing of an illustration upon the main idea must not be left to the reader's power to make the connection ; the point which is being illustrated should be clearly stated, and the bearing of the illustration upon it clearly explained. 5. The fifth principle is that all terms used in ex- position shall be clearly defined. The main idea or proposition is expressed by one or two main words, or by a phrase, which should be strictly defined. Also, there should be no term in the whole writing about which there could be any doubt as to the sense in which the writer uses it. There are many terms in common use which are connected with ^o many associ- ations that the idea expressed by each term has become complex, and each person uses the term with a differ- ent meaning. Such terms as religion, culture, style, justice, poetry, nature, eloquence, education, need definition in order to be understood as the anthor in- tends them to be, and so exposition is full of defini- tions. This does not make the writing formal and dry, because a definition is not necessarily the concise and 60 THE READER'S BASIS purely logical thing found in dictionaries. Oarlyle's definition of religion is an example: "The thing a man does practically believe (and this is often enough without asserting it even to himself, much less to others) ; the thing a man does practically lay to heart, and know for certain, concerning his vital relations to this mysterious universe, and his duty and destiny there, that is in all cases the primary thing for him, and creatively determines all the rest. That is his religion." A good definition is enough to make a literary reputation ; for instance, Mathew Arnold's "Literature is a criticism of life." A good definition gains currency at once and becomes an epigram ; for instance, Buffon's "The style is the man himself." Any definition must put limits upon the meaning of a term, and must be adequate to distinguish the thing defined from other things ; but a definition may be made to have literary quality by associating the term defined with something well known. For example, Oarlyle defines human greatness as "not the greatness of a hewn obelisk, but of an Alpine mountain unsub- duable granite, piercing far and wide into the heavens, yet in the clefts of it fountains, green, beautiful valleys with flowers/' Defining is usually limited to a single sentence, but may be extended by means of an example, such as defining ill-temper by giving the example, in Christ's parable, of the elder brother of the prodigal son ; or by means of comparison and con- trast, as is done in St. Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians, in which charity is contrasted with eloquence, with prophecy, and with generosity ; or by explaining the derivation of the term ; or by means of description if THE READER'S FIELD 61 the term is the name of an object. This defining of terms is, of course, thrown in by the way, but is a characteristic feature of expository composition. 6. The sixth principle is that expository writing, like any other kind of writing, must express the author's feelings in order to be classed as literature. Knowledge may be expressed with some touch of emotion, and popular exposition, which is the expres- sion of opinion in essay form, fairly glows with per- sonal feeling. The object of exposition is to make the reader understand how the author feels as well as what he thinks. THE TREATISE. The treatise is that form of ex- position which has for its object the setting forth of the writer's knowledge for the information of the reader. The treatise aims to treat a subject with com- pleteness and accuracy, in a style that is formal and orderly, and distinguished for its clearness of meaning. A treatise may be long enough to fill several volumes, or it may be short, like the articles found in encyclo- paedias. The value of the treatise lies wholly in the accuracy of the information given. A text- book is an example of the treatise. THE MONOGRAPH. The monograph is the popular form of the treati se . It s aim is to popularize knowledge . The subject is some important question of the day, and the treatment is both scientific and popular. It is calleli monograph because it treats some one phase of a wide subject. The characteristic feature is that the writer sets forth some new bit of knowledge which 62 THE READER'S has resulted from his own original investigation. The material consists of the writer's records of his own ob- servations, discoveries, or experiments, and his resulting knowledge or theory. Examples of this class are the theses which universities require of candidates for degrees. The modern experiments and discoveries in science are published in this form for the ordinary reader, the treatise being intended for the specialist. THE ESSAY. The essay is that form of exposition which has for its object the setting forth of the writer's opinions, impressions, feelings, or whims. 'By deriva- tion, the essay is an attempt on the part of the writer to assay the mass of impressions lying in his mind, and to produce an idea of some worth, just as the assayer discovers precious metal in the rough ore. Mr. Mabie describes the essay as "that form of writing which deals with matters instinct with hum an interest; which is skillfully compounded of observation, insight, humor, and judgment; which is touched with the charm of delightful personality, expressed in a style full of character and distinction." The essay is personal and confidential, like a chat with a familiar friend. It is "written talk," and whatever would be banished from familiar conversation, such as pompous phrase, intri- cate structure, rhetorical display, or heavy thought, is banished from the essay. The language is colloquial, and yet gives the effect of nice finish. There is just the right amount of negligence, and also the right amount of care, to give the effect of an ease that is polished and elegant. THE Two MAIN FORMS OF THE ESSAY. The form of the essay is determined by the nature of the subject THE READER'S FIELD 63 chosen and by the writer's temperament. One kind of essay, called the personal essay, seems to be the natural overflow of the writer's feelings. Another kind, called the didactic essay, seems to be the result of the writer's set purpose. In the personal essay, the writer takes the attitude of a confidential friend, and in set- ting forth his opinion indulges in much self-revelation. In the didactic essay, the writer takes the attitude of an instructor, and gives information and expresses opinion with an air of authority which is not offensive, but which is the natural dignity of the person who is talking about something concerning which he really is an authority, on account of his personal experience with the subject. The writer of the personal essay is at his best when he is playful and humorous ; the writer of the didactic essay, when he is logical. In the per- sonal essay the interest centers chiefly in the writer's personality; in the didactic, it centers in the proposi- tion, or subject-matter. In the personal essay the opinion or proposition is delicately suggested ; in the didactic essay, it is flatly stated. Both forms of the essay are good art. THE DIDACTIC ESSAY. A writer with a clear mind, one which naturally acts logically, will be apt to develop so strong an opinion that he will be rather serious in setting it forth, and will naturally use the didactic or logical method, and simple, direct, and vig- orous expression. Such a writer makes one clearly- defined theme the nucleus of his essay, and chooses only such material as is appropriate for expanding that theme, for detaining the reader's mind upon it, and for directing the reader's attention to its different 64 THE READER'S BASIS aspects, until it becomes as interesting a subject of thought to the reader as it is to the writer. He aims at careful plan. Divisions are few and distinct. The whole leaves a sense of completeness. The reader feels that just the points are given which are necessary to make a satisfactory whole ; he does not feel that some- thing may have been forgotten, or that anything could be left out. The author seems to have seen, before he started, the limits within which he would keep, and so completes a circle of thought. The art of this kind of essay consists in the choice of illustrations, and the way they are applied. All the facts and illustrations stand in perfectly clear relation to the theme, they are themselves full of suggestiveness and beauty, and are so arranged as to give them their greatest effect- iveness. It is selection of material, combination of material, and style of language, which count in this kind of literary composition. THE PERSONAL ESSAY. On the other hand, a writer with a social disposition, who loves to talk, and who is willing to take anyone into his confidence, will be apt to develop an opinion which is rather whimsical, and which is the result of a mood rather than of logical deduction, and in setting it forth will naturally use a discursive method which seems at first to violate unity. He will introduce his personality by the use of the pronoun ll l" and by a conversational style. This kind of personal essay is charming because it is apparently un- restrained and yet in good taste. The reading of such an essay is like actually meeting the author on familiar terms. Such an essay has no formal structure, but takes the course of conversation. The writer seems to THE READER'S FIELD 65 have no plan, and yet there is a thread of connection that leads the reader easily from point to point. The reader is almost unconscious that any one definite theme is being revealed, until, at the last, one single idea stands out as the effect of the essay as a whole. The value of this kind of essay consists in the new point of view which is furnished by the writer's indi- vidual way of seeing things. THE MORAL ESSAY. There are essays which have the general characteristics of the personal essay, but which are distinguished from it by nobility of subject and seriousness of tone. These are classed as moral essays, of which the essays of Bacon and of Emerson are examples. THE EDITORIAL. The editorial differs from the essay only in being written from the point of view of the general public, rather than from the individual point of view of the writer. An editorial is a com- ment upon some event reported in the news columns, or else the subject is some principle of conduct or politics suggested by some current event. The aim of an . editorial is to show the significance of passing events, to comment on them and set forth their salient features, and to influence public opinion by counsel or direct appeal. PUBLIC ADDRESSES. Any public address, such as a sermon or a lecture, is an essay, provided the speak- er's aim seems to be to set forth some subject in a convincing, interesting, and instructive way. If there is a direct appeal to the will of the hearers, urging some specific action, the address is called an oration. 66 THE READER'S BASIS CRITICISM. A large part of the writings classed as essay, is devoted to the subject of literature. Essays which are classed as criticism have for their object the explanation of a single literary composition, or of literary art in general. Some of these essays are mas- terly interpretations and appreciations of great works of literary art, full of the personality of the writers, and ranking high as creative, original composition. Other classes of criticism are strictly didactic, their object being to give instruction about a book, or literary matters of any sort. HIGHER CRITICISM. The term "higher criticism" is usually understood to apply only to critical study of the Bible. The term, however, may be applied to the critical study of any book of importance, if the critical study is limited to the study of the history of the book how the book came to be what it k, the circumstances surrounding its production, the effect of the environ- ment of time and place, and the author's personality. The object is to get a basis for interpretation. THE ABSTRACT. The abstract is used to report pub- lic addresses, and to furnish the general outlines of a book as foundation for further comment. The writer's purpose is to reproduce a speech or any literary com- position in narrower compass, for the use of persons who have not heard or read the original. An abstract gives the gist of thought with the same proportion and emphasis that it had in the original. Success in writ- ing abstract depends on the writer's power to distin- guish in the original those points which are essential from those which are subordinate, and passing by all minor points, to trace the main line of thought. The THE READER'S FIELD 67 art of abstract writing consists in reducing the scale of the original without eliminating any important matter. This requires a rearrangement of the writer's thought, and the packing of points into comprehensive phrases and single epithets. An abstract may make some slight reference to the merit of the original, and may comment slightly on style ; but this is a subordinate purpose, and such reference is usually made by some qualifying word or phrase, rather than by direct state- ment. An abstract has some value as interpreta- tion, and therefore is classed as criticism, since the direct line of ^an author's thought may be obscured to the ordinary reader by the amplifying graces of literary style, and the abstract makes the line of thought stand out clearly to any person's apprehension. BOOK REVIEWS. A book review is properly the test- ing of the value of a book by established principles or current standards, and furnishes reasons why a book should be praised or condemned. The value of this kind of writing depends upon the writer's power to subordinate his personal views and tastes to accepted standards. The reviewer must, of course, have a broad knowledge of art principles, a cultivated taste, and the judicial faculty which can compare a specific work with general principles, and decide wherein the work conforms to these principles and wherein it fails. In making his decision, the reviewer is sup- posed to think only of the interests of literary art, and not of the interests of the individual writer whom he is reviewing, and therefore a book review may be a valuable part of permanent literature. There is a lighter form of review, also classed as literature, and 68 THE READER'S BASIS considered more artistic because less didactic, which comments on literature entirely from a personal point of view. It is conversational in style, and aims to give impressions rather than decisions. It is the expression of the writer's personal taste, without reference to ac- ceptQd standards. Again, reviews of hooks dealing with subjects of popular interest, often become essays which treat ideas suggested by the book reviewed. The book notice is sometimes spoken of as a re- view, but it is not real criticism. The writer has merely a commercial purpose, and he gives information only about such points as the buyer of abook will be interested in. He gives the publisher, price, and size of a book, something about its author, its popularity as compared with that of other books, a little notion of the character of^its contents, and a crude estimate of its worth. The true book review gives similar facts, but in a foot note. Typical book reviews may be found in the intro- ductory chapters of edited classics, in which the editor aims to give a full explanation of the book reviewed. An examination of an editor's prefatory chapter will reveal the following points as those which constitute the scope of a typical book review : 1. Sources what suggested the book, how it started in the author's mind, how it took final shape. 2. Circumstances under which it was written and published just enough of author's life to show the relation between his life'and his book. 3. Scope of book the germ thought, and the general plan of treatment. THE READER'S FIELD ' 69 4. Brief abstract of writer's thought. 5. Discussion of doctrines how the author's ideas differ from the opinions of the general public, and what ideas were new to the first readers. 6. Popularity the class of readers for whom the book is intended; the different lights in which the book may strike different readers; its reception at first, subsequent editions, and present sales ; what critics have said; answers to adverse criticism. 7. Characteristics of style the author's self- revelations pointed out. 8. Relation the book bears to the author's other books. 9. Estimate of value from both scientific and per- sonal point of view. 10. Effects that have been produced by the book, and effects upon present readers. ESSAYISTS, OLD AND NEW: WRITERS OP THE PERSONAL ESSAY. Montaigne, Addi- son, Steele, Charles Lamb, Goldsmith, Thackeray, Washington Irving, Oliver Wendell Holmes, George William Curtis, Robert Louis Stevenson, Austin Dob- son, Agnes Repplier. WRITERS OF THE DIDACTIC ESSAY. Macaulay, De- Quincey, Hazlitt, Carlyle, Ruskin, Herbert Spencer, John Fiske, Arlo Bates. WRITERS OP THE MORAL ESSAY. Bacon, Emerson, Sir Arthur Helps, Charles Kingsley, Henry Drum- moiid. 70 THE READER'S BASIS LITERARY CRITICS. Walter Pater, Matthew Arnold, George Saintsbury, J. A. Symonds, James Kussell Lowell, Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse, Frederic Harri- son, Leslie Stephen, Augustine Birrell, Richard Holt Button, Edward Dowden, Walter Bagehot, E. P. Whip- pie, Richard Garnett, William Archer, J. 0. Shairp, Edmund Clarence Stedman, Richard Moulton, Denton J. Snider, Hiram Corson. POPULAR ESSAYISTS OP THE DAY. Hamilton Wright Mabie, Brander Matthews, Charles Dudley Warner, Henry Van Dyke, F. W. H. Myers, W. D. Howells, Henry James, Justin McCarthy, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, A. T. Quiller-Couch, Richard Le Gallienne, Maurice Maeterlinck, John Burroughs, Julian Ralph, Eugene Field, Maurice Thompson, Alice Meynell, Vida Scudder, Charles W. Eliot, Dwight Hillis, Charles F. Dole, Bishop Henry Potter, Henry Thurston Peck, Elbert Hubbard, F. P. Dunne, Jerome K; Jerome, Henry Cabot Lodge, George Brandes, Charles Wagner, Barrett Wendell, George Woodberry, Woodrow Wilson, Parke Godwin, W. 0. Brownell, A. Ainger, G. K. Chesterton, Kenneth Grahame, A. 0. Benson. Argumentation. Argumentation is closely re- lated to exposition and persuasion. Exposition sets forth a proposition so that its various aspects.are clearly understood; argumentation proves the truth or falsity of a proposition ; persuasion addresses the will for the purpose of securing the action which naturally follows upon the proof of a proposition. Exposition and argu- THE READER'S FIELD 71 merit prepare the way for persuasion. In literature the three forms are usually found in combination; argument cannot proceed until the proposition is made perfectly clear, and argument seems to be without purpose unless the conviction it creates leads to some definite action. A literary composition is classed as one of these forms according as one form seems to pre- dominate over the others. When a proposition is fully expounded, its truth or falsity may be plain without argument, and the writing is classed as exposition. But the reader is not always convinced, even when he understands the writer's opinion, and argument is necessary to prove the truth of the opinion, the writer seeming to be satisfied as soon as the proof is com- plete ; this writing is classed as argument. Again, a particular action, or line of conduct, may be pointed out as the natural result of conviction, and the climax of the whole composition being an appeal to the will, the writing is classed as persuasion. Argument differs from exposition in that it not only explains some proposition, but pushes aside some other proposition. Argument implies opposition; it involves two opposing theories. The aim of argument is to put into the reader's mind one explanation in- stead of another in other words, to fortify one propo- sition and demolish another. Difference of opinion is caused by difference in point of view ; so the one gen- eral aim of argument is to change the reader's point of view. Argument in its strictest sense is used in addresses before courts of law and in legislative assemblies; some of these addresses, in celebrated cases, form a 72 . THE READER'S BASIS part of permanent literature. Argument found in literature is not so formal, but the same principles underlie any form of argument. In literature, argu- ment is used with the sincere desire to reveal and advance the truth. It is used by writers on science, ethics, politics, and religion by those who put for- ward new theories. But the process of argument is essentially the same when reasoning about the simplest subjects and everyday matters. The reader needs to know something of the princi- ples of argument in order that he may judge the weight of any argument he reads, and may protect him- self*from undue influence by knowing to what extent he may allow the argument to affect him. NATURE CP THE QUESTION. First of all, the question must be one which can have a conclusion. Some sub- jects belong entirely to the field of speculation, and are open to exposition but not to argument. LIMITS OF THE QUESTION. Next, the question must be definitely limited. It should be reduced to a single statement or resolution that completely covers its scope. In addition, argument should be preceded by exposition wnich explains whatever in the question is obscure, which defines all terms, which points out what is the main issue and what is of secondary importance, which explains whether the question admits of direct decision or is one concerning which only a probability can be established, and which makes plain the limits within which the discussion can be applied. MATERIAL. The. character of the material used is of next importance. The value of the material is deter- mined by whether it has any real bearing on the case. THE READER'S FIELD 73 It is in the misuse of material, obscuring the point by irrelevant material, that a writer gets undue influence over his reader. EVIDENCE. The reader should remember that a question is argued on evidence. The testing of the validity of evidence constitutes the basis of decision. A question is settled when the opposing side can pro- duce no evidence as satisfactory as that produced by the other side. Evidence consists largely in facts. A4 Know your facts" is the basis of all argument. Facts are secured by testimony and by authority. Affirma- tions of what a witness has himself observed is testi- mony ; declarations of opinion based on research and skill is authority. In judging the value of testimony, the character of the witness must be considered his power to tell the truth, as affected by his willingness to testify, his prejudices, the nature of his mind upon which depends the accuracy of his observation and statement, and his reputed honesty. In judging the value of authority, the judgment of the witness, or his opportunities for forming a true opinion, must be taken into account. Having secured facts, theories are built upon them, and the reader should see that the theories are justified by the facts, and that all the facts are satisfied by the theory. Whoever makes the most rational explanation of facts wins an argument, for argument is really an effort to "harmonize a mass of facts by an explanation. Skill in argument consists in setting forth those facts which only the writer's view will explain ; or massing as many facts as possible that support, the writer's view, aud then making of light importance those opposing facts which cannot be over- 74 THE READER'S BASIS looked. The reader's power to judge argument consists in his power to seize the central fact and see if that is satisfactorily explained ; or to see if the facts piled up are explained by the writer's theory better than by any other theory offered. KINDS OP ARGUMENT. The proof of truth consists not only in the massing of facts, but in drawing logical inferences from them. These inferences are drawn by two processes of reasoning called induction and deduc- tion. INDUCTION. The inductive method starts with facts and reaches general principles. Facts- themselves are not proofs, but are indications from which an hypothesis is made probable. Induction consists in finding an hypothesis which accounts for all the facts. It is customary to give a few facts, showing their bearing upon each other, and then state an hypothesis, corroborating it by other facts until the hypothesis is accepted as a general truth. Induction, then, is a pro- cess of setting forth the relations between facts until a principle is discovered that includes them all. The conclusion of the inductive method becomes a princi- ple or general truth. INDUCTIVE METHODS : 1. Given a set of facts which may be called effects, the effort is to find a cause that accounts for them. The cause must be adequate to produce the effect, and the cause must not have been interfered with by other causes. This cause when found is the conclusion of the induction process, and is used as a general truth to support some theory. From this gen- eral truth, the argument proceeds to other truths or THE READER'S FIELD 75 particular cases. This is called Argument from Cause. 2. Another way to arrive at a conclusion from the examination of facts is to make use of the principle that some things are always accompanied by others, and that some things are the usual or probable accom- paniment of others. If a fact shows the presence of one thing, it is an indication of the presence of its usual accompaniment. This is called circumstantial evidence, and, if good for anything, adds to the store of indications by means of which a conclusion may be formed. This is called Argument from Sign. The strength of this kind of induction depends on the uniformity with which the known fact accompanies its sign. The danger of the argument is that it may be applied from an experience too limited to be just. 3. Another way to arrive at a conclusion is to use parallel cases. Instances of what has occurred are taken as indications of what may occur again. What is true in a given case is taken as indication of what will be true in a parallel case. This is called Argu- ment from Analogy. It is weak argument since it is doubtful if there are any really parallel cases, and since conditions which appear to be alike are really not alike. Analogy counts as illustration rather than as argument. Induction is used to introduce some new truth, or to convince of something not generally believed. DEDUCTION. The deductive method starts with a general truth or principle and reaches another truth not yet accepted as general, and so called a particular truth. The process consists in establishing two prem- ifees which if admitted makes the conclusion inevita- 76 THE READER'S BASIS ble. A general truth is affirmed as covering all cases, and it is called the major premise ; something is then affirmed to be a particular case to which the major premise must apply, and this is called the minor pre- mise ; if both are established, there is no doubt about the conclusion. In ordinary affairs, we affirm many things to be true, which we believe because we uncon- sciously believe some general principle with which we associate the thing affirmed to be true. To associate a certain affirmation with its proper principle, so that a certain conclusion will be inevitable, is the method of deductive argument. Either the major or the minor premise, or both taken separately, may be an undis- puted truth ; the question lies in their association, and upon this the conclusion depends. Deduction is used to apply old truths to new cases. It strengthens ideas already held by furnishing new evidence. It is the natural method of the teacher, or one who speaks with authority. INDIRECT PROOF. Argument consists both in the proof of truth and the refutation of error. The direct establishment of the truth is sometimes the sufficient refutation of error; but there are cases where the destroying of error is the best way to establish truth, since truth, freed from whatever obscures or obstructs it, needs no support. The first method is called direct, and is constructive ; the second is called indirect, and is destructive. We have seen that in the direct method of proving truth, .[there is first the exposition of facts, then from these facts other facts are inferred until a general truth is established, then from general THE READER'S FIELD 77 truths particular truths are inferred. The indirect method consists in showing all the possible aspects of a case, and, by a process of elimination, proving only one of them to be true by showing that the other aspects lead to conclusions that are absurd. Or it consists in refutation which analyzes the opposed idea (1) by ex- amining the tendency of the idea, exposing the underly- ing principle of it, and showing its natural outcome, till it stands out in its true light; (2) by showing that the conclusion drawn from a premise does not necessarily fol- low, or that the argument is not logical ; (3) by attack- ing the premise on which the argument is founded, and disproving it by showing that it is not universal, or that it proves too much if carried out to its finish ; (4) by objecting to the circumstances offered for proof, as not conclusive enough, not in sufficient number, or that an example used is not a parallel, or that what was re- garded as a cause was only a coincidence ; (5) by dis- crediting some testimony or authority, or by bring- ing out counter testimony or authority; (6) by applying the principles used by the opponent to more^familiar subjects, and showing that they lead to conclusions not tenable. The strength of refutation should correspond with the strength of the opponent's position, no more effort being used than is necessary to refute, or to dis- lodge an erroneous idea from the minds^of hearers or readers. The best refutation discovers and attacks the central error in the opponent's position, and that fall- ing, all others fall/of themselves. Refutation is often used to prepare the way for a new and direct argument, because the negative or destructive effect of refuta- tion needs to be balanced by constructive argument, 78 THE READER'S BASIS DIRECTIONS TO READERS. Have an open mind, free from prejudice, and a fair and honest attitude towards the question, ready to be convinced if the argument is sufficient. Set aside preconceived ideas for the time, that the argument may have its full effect. Pay special attention to the statement of the question. Keep in mind the exact point at issue, its extent and limita- tions. Keep on guard to detect fallacies, or that which r _may weaken the argument. Fallacies may be in alleged facts; in the use of terms, or v in reasoning. Watch to see if the evidence is consistent with ordi- nary experience and with known facts, and see if it is consistent with itself. See if there is a lack of defini- tion of terms, so that words could be mistaken in meaning, or even used in more than one sense. See if there are unwarranted assertions, or assertions unsup- ported by fact. See if a conclusion is drawn from in- stances too few or too unimportant. See if there is any begging of the question, or arguing beside the point which is an attempt to prove what is not in the question. See if there is any shifting of ground, or any tendency to stop arguing the point and to appeal to the sensibilities and interests and prejudices of the reader or hearer, to make him forget logic. Is time used on trivial points to distract attention from the main issue? Do the arguments really outweigh any oppos- ing theory, or is the reader or hearer influenced by graces of style? Judicial balance of .mind is rare, but by regarding these directions one should be a fairly good judge of argument. The great orations of litera- ture, such as Burke 's Conciliation with the American Colo- nies* furnish the best models of argumentative dis- THE READER'S FIELD 79 course for readers ; but it is as a judge of oral argument, in some debate or speech, that a student will find these directions most useful. o- Poetry. Poetry is the expression of passionate emotion in metrical language. THE LITERATURE OF EMOTION. The theme of poetry is always something which stirs the emotions. Poetry reveals the soul of the writer rather than his mind. The writer seems to be enthralled by his sub- ject, and the reader's pleasure consists in getting enthralled with him. The reader feels the perfect abandon of the writer to his feelings, and the pleasure of reading poetry is the pleasure in sharing in this abandon of feeling. The reading of poetry develops the emotional nature, and poetry is enjoyed more and more as the emotional nature is developed. The reader values poetry in proportion to the rank which he gives to the emotions among the human faculties. LANGUAGE MUSIC. A rhythmical movement of some kind always accompanies deeply-stirred feeling. Wherever there is something deep and good in the meaning, the reader will find rhythmical and strongly- accented language. When passion rises to its greatest height, the accent is heard at regularly recurring in- tervals, and this is called metrical language. The mood of the writer makes him instinctively choose such words and arrange them in such order that the effect upon the ear suggests the mood. The poet is an artist in sound. He has learned the tone-value of con- 80 THE READER'S BASIS sonants and of vowels, and how effects may be pro- duced by them. He has an ear for sound-series, or sequences of sound, and so knows how to make language have correspondences of sound at regular intervals, which produce the effect of tune. He has also an ear for the accents of w r ords, and the sense for time in movement, and so he instinctively chooses words the accents of which make the voice rise and fall in regular beats. There are poems which convey a simple idea with a simple tune; other poems express such exalted feeling that words give a rather vague meaning, and the language-music is a complicated harmony, like that of an ode. The reading of poetry is for pleasure. The rhythmic scheme furnishes as much interest as the theme of the poem does. The swing of the tune is the musical accompaniment of the idea. It is the in- dication of the writer's pulse, and unless the reader's pulse takes the same beat, and the reader allows him- self to sway with the tune, he does not get the full pleasure of reading metrical composition. Poetry should be read aloud, for the effect of the music is likely to be lost in silent reading. PICTURESQUE LITERATURE. The imagination of the poet makes his theme take the form of pictures in his own mind, and he expresses what he has to say mainly by making objects pass before the reader's eye. These pictures suggest the poet's idea or feeling. The attraction of poetry is largely this quality of suggest- iveness, leaving something for the reader to fill out. This use of pictures is called the imagery of poetry. It takes the form of descriptions, epithets, comparisons, and what are called figures of speech. THE READER'S FIELD 81 THE LITERATURE OF THE SENSES. The ap- peal which poetry makes to the ear by its music, and to the eye by its suggestive pictures, and the use which the poet makes of words expressing colors, odors, flavors, sounds, and all effects upon the physical senses, gives poetry a quality called sensuous. The reader whose physical senses are acute, and who de- rives pleasure from their gratification, will enjoy poetry largely for its sensuous quality. IDEAL LANGUAGE. The language of poetry differs from the language of ordinary conversation, and so affords delightful surprise's in the way of peculiar phrases and expressions. The poet shuns conventional or stock phrases, and aims at grace of expression. Moreover, poetry has the great merit of condensation. Excited feeling hastens to the point, and so words which have the greatest significance are chosen in order to secure brevity. The language of poetry is also free and bold in its adaptation of old words to new uses, and in artistic violations of syntax, called poetic license. Part of the pleasure of reading poetry, then, is a study of its diction, thereby getting a new light upon the pliancy and adaptability of words. Versification. A reader needs to know only a little about the science of verse. 1 The following ele- mentary facts constitute a sufficient basis for apprecia- tive reading of poetic form. THE FOOT. The basis of versification is that words have accented and unaccented syllables, and that *A full treatment of the subject may be found in Science of English Verse*. Lanier . 82 THE READER'S BASIS every word of more than one syllable has at least one accent : delight is accented on the second syllable ; mur- muring, on the first: unpremeditated, on the first, third, and fifth ; impetuous, though having four syllables, may be so pronounced as to have upon the ear the effect of three, its accent on the second. In the line " Beneath | the burn | ing east | ern sky | " the accent of the words plainly makes the line divide into four groups of two syllables each, accent on the second syllable. Sometimes all the words in a line are monosyllables ; but in a succession of words of one syllable, some words are naturally more emphasized than others, and so even monosyllables can be ar- ranged to give the effect of accent. In the line which follows the one just quoted "The cross | was raised | at morn | " the voice naturally accents the second, fourth, and sixth words. So, this line, too, divides into groups of two syllables, accent on the second syllable. In poetry there is a combination of accented words and mono- syllables, so arranged that the accents of the accented words, and the reader's natural tendency to accent some monosyllables more than others, will make, the voice rise and fall at regular intervals. "I know | not where | his is | lands lift | Their fron | ded palms | in air, | I on | ly know | I can | not drift | Beyond | His love | and care. | " Whittier. In this stanza there are only five words of more than one syllable, or five accented words, and yet the whole THE READER'S FIELD 83 stanza naturally divides into groups of two syllables each, accent on the second syllable. The five words having accent are so placed that the accented syllable of each word fits in with the regular time-scheme. In English poetry, the accent comes at every sec- ond or third syllable. The group composed of one ac- cented syllable and one lighter syllable, or two lighter syllables, is called a metrical foot. In beating time, the beat comes on the accented syllable, and so the foot is sometimes called the beat. It corresponds with the bar in music, and is sometimes called by that name. The regular and continuous recurrence of the foot is one element of rhythm, but it is only a part of the whole metrical scheme. KINDS OF METRICAL FEET. The character of the rhythm depends partly upon the composition of the foot. Four kinds of metrical feet are common in English verse ; namely, the iambus, the anapest, the trochee, the dactyl. The iambus is composed of two syllables, accent on the last : "The west | ern waves | of ebb | ing day | " Scott. The iambus is the most common foot, being suited to all kinds of poetic feeling. It is especially adapted to narrative and dramatic poetry. Our greatest poems have this rhythm. The anapest is composed of three syllables, accent on the last : 'I am mon | arch of all | I survey. | " Cowper. The anapest, by its sweeping movement, is suited to excited feeling. It is usually found in combination with the iambus, pleasantly breaking the monotony: 84 THE READER'S BASIS "And the state | ly ships | go on | To their ha | ven mi | der the hill. | " Tennyson. The trochee is composed of two syllables, accent on the first: "Every | moment | lightly | shaken | ran it | self in | golden | sands." Tennyson. The effect of the trochee is that of light and rapid movement, suited for exhilarated feeling, and for such narrative as that of Hiawatha. The dactyl is composed of three syllables, accent on the first: "Hail to the | chief who in | triumph ad | vances." - Scott . The dactyl has a bounding movement, and is most effective in combination with the trochee ; as "Blossomed the | lovely | stars, the for | get-me- | nots of the | angels." Longfellow. In the usual metrical scheme, one kind of foot con- tinues throughout the poem, or there is a prevailing foot, with occasional substitutions of other feet. An intentional irregularity often adds to melody and vig- orous effect. The irregularity of the following stanza is part of its charm : "When the hounds | of spring | are on Win | ter's trac | es, The moth | er of months | in mead | ow or plain | Fills | the shad | ows and wind | y pla | ces With lisp | of leaves | and rip | pie of rain. | ' Swinburne. THE READER'S FIELD 85 Sometimes the foot changes at the turn of the line. The effect of ebbing and flowing tides is felt in the change of foot at the turn, in the following lines, en- titled Memory. "This hour | the fate | ful tide | runs up | the beach, | As the sea | wills it; | It seeks | each hoi | low loved | of yes | terday, | Finds it and | fills it. | " Meredith Nicholson. IRREGULAR ACCENT. Every foot, of course, has one accented syllable, and when each foot has the same number of unaccented syllables, the verse is said to be regular. Very little verse is regular. There is an in- tentional irregularity, as seen in the stanzas last quoted, but there is a careless or awkward irregularity that mars the effect. Irregularities, which mayor may not be defects, consist in an incomplete foot at the beginning or end of the line, accent thrown on some word not naturally accented, and more than two light syllables in a foot, requiring the syllables to be slurred, or pronounced rapidly. The line "But I | goon | for ev | er" is irregular because of incomplete last foot, and would be a defect if the irregularity did not occur regularly. The line "I find | him wor | thier to | be loved" is irregular, because in the third foot the accent is thrown on the word to; and, since all the rest of the stanza is strictly iambic, this third foot requires slur- ring. The reader does not pay much attention to separate feet, but tries to get the general movement of the whole, which can be done only be getting the swing of 86 THE READER'S BASIS the whole stanza, instead of trying to get it from a single line. THE VERSE. Another important part of the metrical scheme is a different and a longer swing than that afforded by the accent of words. This is secured by making the succession of feet turn back at regular intervals, dividing feet into groups called lines or verses. V A verse is a single line of poetry; the use of the term verse as equivalent to stanza in provincial. The rhythm made by the regularly recurring accent is thus measured into regular lengths, or into regularly varying lengths, and this makes another kind of rhythm, and another element of the metrical scheme. THE TIME SCHEME. The measuring of sound into feet and verses makes what is called the metre of poetry, and constitutes the time-scheme of word-music. The turn which constitutes the verse may come after the second beat, or foot, or the succession of feet may run on for six or eight beats. In speaking of the time- scheme of a poem, the time effect produced by the regular turns of the verses is named by the classical names - monometer for one beat, dimeter for two, tri- meter for three, tetrameter for four, pentameter for five, hexameter for six, heptameter for seven, octameter for eight. Or the time-scheme may be named by the number of beats as, three beats to the measure, four beats to the measure, abbreviated to 3's, 4's. The verse "The splen | dor falls I on cas I tie walls I " is described as iambic tetrameter, or it may be de- scribed as iambic measure, four beats to the measure. THt READER'S FIELD 87 Any incomplete foot that has the accented syllable is counted as a foot. The verse " What a | gush of | eupho | ny vo | lumi | nously | swells" is counted as heptameter, or seven-accent line. The verse "Not once | or twice | in our | rough is | land sto | ry" having the incomplete foot unaccented, or having what is called a light syllable at the end, is counted as pen- tameter. The time effect has a very simple regularity if the verses are all of the same length. But a variety of verse lengths, well-balanced into a less obvious reg- ularity, produces a variety in the swing which is a pleasing effect. The following stanza illustrates a very simple time scheme': "Let knowl | edge grow | from more | to more, | But more | of rev | erence in | us dwell ; | That mind | and soul | acQord | ing well, | May make | one mu | sic as | before. | ' Tennyson. The following stanza has a slight variety, having a three-accent line alternate with a two-accent line: "The night | has a thous | and eyes, | And the day | but one ; | Yet the light | of the bright | world dies | With the set | ting sun. | " Bourdillon. In Meredeth Nicholson's dedication of his Poems to James Whitcomb Riley, there is a plea'sing time scheme : 88 THE READER'S BASIS "You came | when song | itself | was tame, | Though man | y strove | with i | die aim | Like moths | about | the sa | cred flame | On ig | nprant wing; | You scorned, | in beat | en trails | of fame, | To walk | and sing. | ' Length of line is capable of infinite combinations, and makes time-schemes of infinite variety. STANDARD LINES. -The standard English line is the Iambic Pentameter. This is the measure of heroic verse, like Pope's translation of the Iliad', of epic blank or unrhymed verse, like Tennyson's Idylls of the King; and of dramatic blank verse, like that of Shakespeare's plays, although in dramatic blank verse there is an extra unaccented syllable at .the end. The Iambic Tetrameter, an easy measure, is generally adopted for narrative poetry. The Ballad Measure is iambic tetram- eter alternated with trimeter. The Alexandrine, which is iambic hexameter,, and the Dactylic Hexameter, are celebrated measures. THE RHYME SCHEME. The end or turn of the verse needs to be strongly marked in order to emphasize the time-scheme. The turn of the verse may coin- cide with the completion of a grammatical phrase or clause, and then the sense leads one to make a pause which serves to mark the turn of the time-measure. But frequently the sense is wholly independent of the time scheme, the sense running^over^from'jme verse into the next, and even from one stanza over into the next. The means generally used to mark^the turn is a correspondence of sound called rhyme. The sound THE READER'S FIELD 89 recurrence, identical with the turn of the verse, not only serves to mark the time, but makes another rhythm, and is thus a third element in the metrical scheme. In rhyming couplets, such as "The summer dawn's reflected hue To purple changed Loch Katrine's blue. Mildly and soft the western breeze Just kissed the lake, just stirred the trees." Scott. the rhyme merely serves to punctuate the time, and does not furnish an additional rhythm. But in the stanza "Enjoy the spring of Love and Youth, To some good angel leave the rest ; For Time will teach thee soon the truth, There are no birds in last year's nest!" Longfellow. the alternating rhymes, continued through several stanzas, not only punctuate the recurring four beats, but make a slight rhythm of their own, and form a very simple rhyme-scheme. The rhyme-scheme is de- scribed by using the letters of the alphabet, the repe- tition of a letter designating the recurrence of the rhyming syllable, and each new rhyming syllable tak- ing a new letter. . This is called the rhyming formula. The metrical scheme of the stanza quoted above is described as abab, four iambic 4's. The rhyme- scheme may vary from the simple form in which there are only two rhyming syllables, to a rhyme-scheme in which six or more rhymes a're intricately combined 90 THE READER'S BASIS with the effect of a rich chord. For instance, the fol- lowing rhyme-scheme found in the Choric Song of the Lotos-Eaters, by Tennyson, has only four rhymes, but they recur with a beautifully balanced rhythm : aaabebbeedcdc In Tennyson's Ode on the Death of the Duke of Welling- ton, the sound of the vowel o is heard at the end of lines 4, verybody is supposed to know. For this reason the student is urged to use his school-days for the purpose of getting in the foundations. That there are definite foundations for the culture of later life, there can be no question. The following courses are suggestions for laying such foundations. ,it is expected that the student will use judgment in carrying out the suggestions made by these courses. There should be no rigid adherence to a system nothing that will be so burdensome as to kill the natural love for reading. The student will find that much of what is suggested has already bee.n accom- plished, and he will find his own way for accomplish- ing what these courses show him yet remains to be COURSES OF READING 116 done. There is an orderly way, of course, for getting in foundations, which insures their fitness for support- ing. something to be built upon them, and for this reason the courses have been numbered in a natural sequence. But it is not necessary to complete one course before beginning another, or to follow any fixed system that is obnoxious to the reader. Of course, considerable resolution is necessary in order to get any kind of education, or to lay any kind of foundation. At the very least, the reader must have enough system to decide in advance what book he is going to read next. The main purpose in setting these courses before a student is to indicate the amount and kind of reading which should be accomplished by the time the student reaches the end of high-school days, or possibly the end of a college course, because such reading is the basis for further progress. ONE Basis: Subject Matter. Purpose: Widening: of Interest. A chief test of one's education is the question whether it has awakened in one's mind some permanent and valuable interests. Everyone makes his own world by the number of interests to which he has accustomed his mind to attend. A growth in char- acter and experience is the enlarging of the circle of one's interests. High-school study should open the whole field of human interests, deepen and fix inter- est in a fiew definite directions, and gradually enlarge the range of individual interest. In order that the few interests which become permanent shall be wisely chosen, it is of the first 116 THE READER'S BASIS importance to take a view of the whole field of human interests. The first course of reading recom- mended is, therefore, one which is suggested in Section I of Chapter II. It is a course which will give the reader a survey of the whole field of interests by read- ing a few books from each class of the twenty-two classes of books. The books mentioned in that section as examples would constitute such a course. The ex- amples are selected chiefly from the popular books of the day, since they are most appropriate for the pur- pose intended. In such a course, the reader reads for information, and his attention is limited to subject- matter. This sort of reading belongs to an early stage in one's development as a reader. Such a course should be finished by the time that one has completed a high-school course, for'soon after that time the tendency to specialize" should begin. After taking this course, the specialist will have a reasonable regard for other interests than his own. In this course of reading, more than in any other, it is desirable that the reader should make out his own course. This may be done as follows. Go to the ref- erence-room of the public library and get a finding-list for^each of the.twenty-two classes of books. Get, also, two or three of the latest supplements, and observe that in each supplement all the classes of books are given, and the newest books in each class. Ask also for a bulletin of the books bought since the latest supplement was published, and beside the title of each book will be found a letter to indicate the class to which the^book, belongs; on the card-catalogue case will be found the list of these letters, and the class COURSES OF READING \\1 they indicate. Use the finding-lists to make a quick survey of the field, noticing how the classes of books are subdivided into interesting divisions. Now make a list of those titles which strongly appeal to your own interest, getting at least one title from each of the twenty-two classes, or, if the subdivisions are not too numerous, one from each subdivision. Begin with the bulletin and latest supplements and look back towards the older books until a title has been found in each division which thoroughly arouses your interest. This need not be a very lengthy task, though you should not be too easily satisfied with a title. In every class of books except fiction, the title is sufficiently explicit to guide your choice. If doubtful, the refer- ence clerk will bring you a book for examination, and a glance at the table of contents will decide you. Make the list as short as will represent each class, for the object of this course of reading is to get, as soon as possible, an acquaintance with the whole field of inter- ests. The list should not be lengthened by special interest in any class, for the object is to get a quick survey of the whole field, and not to indulge one's in- terest in any one class. Opportunity for such indul- gence should come later. The making out of this course for oneself, not only makes a course of reading that has a personal interest to the reader, but gives one the opportunity, through the handling [of the finding-lists, to see the whole field mapped out before him. This experience should correct provincialism by showing how much there is to be interested in. 118 THE READER'S BASIS COURSE TWO Basis: Literary Form. Purpose: Cultivation of Literary Taste. The reading of Course One is for the purpose of making one well-informed ; the reading of Course Two is to make one appreciative of literary art. The reading of books should furnish not only informa- tion but enjoyment. There is a higher kind of enjoy- ment than that afforded by subject-matter; it is the satisfaction afforded to the taste. Literary taste may be instinctive, but it is possible to make the exercise of it conscious and enjoyable. Taste should be awakened, corrected, and cultivated, if literature ever becomes to the reader the well-spring of pleasure that many have- found it to be. Taste is a sense for form. Literary taste is cultivated by cultivating a sense for literary form. A taste for literary form consists in recognizing the many different forms in which thought and feeling may be expressed. Knowledge is altogether different from thought and feeling. When an author aims only to set forth his knowledge for the reader's information, the reader does not notice the form of expression, since its only merit is clearness; but when an author reveals his' own thoughts and his feelings, he does it in a form that corresponds with his thoughts and feelings, and with his own mood or temperament. There are books classed as books of information, and books classed as literature. It is the expression of one's thoughts and feelings in appropriate form which constitutes litera- ture. It is the form of expression that makes writing an art. In order to appreciate literature as art, one must appreciate literary form. COURSES OF READING 119 The second course of reading recommended .is, therefore, one which is suggested in Section II of Chapter II. It is a course which will give the reader a survey of the variety of forms in which one ma.y ex r press himself. The course should consist of at least one example of every literary form. The literary com- positions given as examples in the list of literary forms, together with those mentioned in the explanation of the different forms, would constitute such a course. The examples given in the list are, as far as possible,, simple, modern types, suitable for high-school stu r dents, or for those who are beginning to study form. Masterpieces of these forms should be read later, for after becoming acquainted with a form through a sim- ple example, one is prepared to appreciate the master- piece of that form. The reading of this course should prepare the reader to get enjoyment not only from subject-matter, but also from noticing the form which the subject is made to take. A student may make his own course by looking in the A. L. A. Index, and in the card-catalogue, for each word which is the name of a literary form, and choos- ing, among the titles indexed under each, one title for each form. But this choice cannot be made by the student so easily as it can be made in Course One, because a title is not here so good a guide as to what selection to make, since the reader's object is not subject-matter but form. COURSE THREE Basis: Criticism. Purpose: The Facilitating of Reading. Courses One and Two introduce the 120 THE READER'S BASIS reader to such a vast array of books that he might get discouraged if left to himself. Plainly, no reader can read more than a small fraction of the great body of books called literature. Plainly, too, since a reader can read so few books out of the great number, it is important that his choice should be a wise one. More- over, no reader is contented with entire ignorance of the books he will never have time to read. It is therefore well to begin early to read those writers who have made it a profession to read extensively, and who serve as guides for those who have less time to spend among books. We must read some few books, and read about a vast majority of them. The critics tell us what to read and why, and tell us all that we need to know about other books. Also, there are books which we find too difficult for us, and which we are apt to put aside for want of assistance in under- standing them ; the critics know how to assist us in understanding, so that the great books need not be closed books to us. The critics, therefore, make the young reader's path more easy than it would seem to be possible to make it, when the reader takes his first bewildering survey of the reader's field. The third course of reading recommended is, there- fore, one that is limited to that class of books named Literature or Literary Criticism. In making a list of books for this course, the reader is again best guided by his own sense of what he needs. The library finding- list supplements of this class, or cards indexed under Literature and Criticism in the card-catalogue, will furnish titles that will be sufficient guides^for^choice. This course should include the periodicals devoted to COURSES OF READING 121 this subject, and some magazine articles which may be selected from Poole's Index. The number of books to be read must be limited by the amount of time one may spend on this course without neglecting the others. Indeed, the high-school student may be satisfied if he has learned what are the great names in literature, names of authors and names of works, and has caught enough of the literary spirit and atmosphere so that he will not be satisfied with knowing names only, but will, at his earliest opportunity, make the acquaintance of the authors to whom he will be introduced by this course. The main object of this course is to lay the basis of future selection. It should include hand-books and manuals which take the place of the advice of a teacher. For instance, Baldwin's The Book-Lover gives a number of schemes for getting hold of the best litera- ture and associating it properly. Although these schemes are far too extensive for the ordinary student, they will furnish many valuable suggestions. The World's Best Books, a compilation by different authors, gives Tables of books, which serve as maps of the field of literature, in which the great names stand out plainly to the eye. In Books Worth Reading, by Frank Raffety, there is a list of one hundred famous books with explanations of them, besides other chapters that will assist the reader to a wise choice, particularly the chapter on The Ancients, and the one on Foreign Books. In Hints for Home Reading, edited by Lyman Abbott, there are suggestions for household libraries which set before one all the books worth knowing. The school- reference clerk, at the public library, will assist one in finding many useful books of this class. 122 THE READER'S BASIS In choosing books for this course, the reader should take special pains to find those books that will point out the world's masterpieces, known as classics, (not confined to Greek and Roman literature) ; others that will guide one in the reading of mythology, and the great race-epics ; and other books which are intended for guides in reading history and biography. Any History of English Literature, such as George Saintsbury's, or Austin Dobson's, or Stopford Brooke's, will point out the English classics ; Collins' Ancient Classics for English Readers, will point out the Greek and Roman classics; and Mrs. Oliphant's Foreign Glassies for English Readers will point out the other European classics. Bulfinch's Age of Fable, and Gayley's Classic Myths in English Literature,wi\\ introduce one to mythology, and the stories of the race-epics are easily found in many forms. A little browsing among those books which by title suggest that they are about the great men and women of the world, should lead one to see that the men or women to know are those who have been associated with great historical movements; such, for instance, as Oonstantine, St. Augustine, Peter the Great, Peter the Hermit, Charlemagne, Alfred the Great, Simon de Montfort, Savonarola, Cromwell, Luther, Mahomet, William of Orange, Coligny, Richelieu, Victor Emanuel, Giordano Bruno, Chevalier Bayard, John Wesley, Michael Angelo, Wagner, Thorwaldsen, and so on > through a great company. Plutarch's Lives, and Kingsley's Greek Heroes will introduce the reader to the ancients, and John Morley's English Men of Letters series, will point out the great English writers. Other books for this purpose may be easily selected by title, such COURSES OF READING 123 as Book of Golden Deeds, of the Golden Treasury series. If the reader learns no more than names, and the main fact connected with each name, he will be prepared to take up the reading of Course Four. COURSE FOUR Basis: World's Masterpieces and Mythology. Purpose: The Understanding 1 of Classic Allu- sions. Modern literature and public addresses are full of allusions, the explaining of which would seem to insult the intelligence of the reader or hearer. This indicates that there are some things which have become so well known that mere allusion to them is all that is considered necessary. The sources of allusions are the world's masterpieces in literature chiefly the Bible, Shakespeare's plays, and great fiction ,classic mythology, and the leading events and characters in history. For example : "A Daniel come to judgment", we say about a shrewd decision, alluding both to the prophet Daniel, and to the remark about Portia, in Merchant of Venice; Portia herself is recognized by the title "unlessoned girl", alluding to her description of herself; "His manner is Pecksniffian", we say, allud- ing to Dickens' character in Martin Chuzzlewit; "The con- queror of an Austerlitz is pretty apt to find himself finally on a St. Helena", we say, alluding to the fate of Napoleon ; "His words are dragon seeds, whose growth is armies", alludes to the myth of Cadmus ; "Get corn laws established dealing in bread made of Arabian grain, the Sesame, which opens doors", alludes to the tale in The Arabian Nights; "Let Christian mothers lead forth their sons, saying 'These are my jewels' ", alludes 124 THE READER'S BASIS to Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi. Allusions can, of course, be looked up in Brewer's The Reader's Hand- book, and Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, or Smith's Dic- tionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, and such books of reference. But a course of reading which will make such allusions intelligible at once, belongs to foundational reading. The fourth course of reading recommended is, therefore, the reading of the classics, the mythology, the epics, the history and biography, which the reader found suggested by the critics while pursuing the reading in Course Three. The reading of this course will not be completed during school days, but it will be well begun. The high school graduate should know the Bible thorough- ly; should know eight or ten of Shakespeare's plays; should have read a little, at least, of Homer, ^Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Vergil, Dante, Spenser, Milton, and Goethe, for these are the great poets ; should know something of Greek, Roman, Norse, and Celtic mythol- ogy ; should know the great movements of European history and the names connected with them ; and should have read the very few (perhaps twenty) great works of fiction English, French, German, and Russian which are universally known. No two persons would make an identical list of great prose fiction, but the following will serve to show what is meant by founda- tion books. The Arabian Nights Entertainments, ^ Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan. u^ Robinson Crusoe. Daniel De Foe. */* Gulliver's Travels. Jonathan Swift. Wilhelm Meister. John Wolfgang Goethe. William Tell (drama). Friedrich Schiller. COURSES OF READING 125 Les Miserables. Victor Hugo. The Count of Monte Cristo. Alexandre Dumas. Pere Goriot. Honor e de Balzac. The Wandering Jew. Eugene Sue. Gil Bias. Alain Le Sage. The Vicar of Wakefield.-OZwer Goldsmith. ^ Waverley. Walter >Scott. f David Copperfield. Charles Dickens. Vanity Fair. William Makepeace Thackeray.*^ Adam Bede. George Eliot. Resurrection, Count Tolstoi. ^ Last of the Mohicans. James Fenimore Cooper. The Scarlet Letter.- Nathaniel Hawthorne. * Uncle Tom's Cabin. Harriet Beeeher Stowe 4X It is a question when masterpieces should be read. If the reader does not read these early, he should know that until he does read them he is without founda- tion for judging, and enjoying modern literature. It has probably been the practice of the best readers to read the masterpieces early.. This leaves the later years free for the enjoyment and discussion of current literature. In this case, the masterpieces need reread- ing. Probably the wisest course is to protect the youthful mind from the great flood of inferior books by occupying it with classics. The only danger to be avoided, in this case, is a blind hero-worship of the classics, which might prevent, in later years, the rank- ing of some moderns by the side of the classic writers as they undoubtedly deserve to be ranked. The reading in this course brings up the question of translations. The highest authorities declare that there are entirely adequate English translations of the literature of every land. In his essay on books, the scholarly Emerson says: "I do not hesitate to read all 126 THE READER'S BASIS good books in translations. What is really best in any book is translatable I rarely read any Greek, Latin, German, Italian, sometimes not a French book, in the original, which I can procure in a good version. I should as soon think of swimming across Charles river when I wish to goto Boston, as of reading all my books in originals, when I have them rendered for me in my mother-tongue." Philip Gilbert Hammer- ton, a great English critic, takes the same view. He says: "Those who care for culture most earnestly and sincerely, are the very persons who will economize time to the utmost. Now, to read a language that has been very imperfectly mastered is felt to be a bad economy of time. Suppose the case of a man who can read the original, but he reads it so slowly that it would cost him more hours than he can spare, and this is why he has recourse to a translation. In this case there is no indifference to Greek culture ; on the contrary, the very earnestness of his wish to assimilate what he can of it makes him prefer it in modern language." There- fore, remembering that the poet Keats knew not a word of Greek, although, more than most poets, he showed evidence of Greek culture, we will enjoy the Iliad in the translation of William Oullen Bryant, the JEncid in William Morris' translation (or Oonington's), Dante's Divine Comedy by the aid of Longfellow, and Goethe's Wilhelm Meister by Oarlyle's masterpiece of translation. COURSE FIVE Basis: Historical Periods. Purpose: The Tracing: of the Growth of a National Literature. The expression "epoch-making names" is applied to COURSES OF READING 127 writers as well as to warriors and statesmen. Great names in literature usually accompany the great names in political history, so that literature and history can- not be disassociated. The tracing of the growth of a national literature is the tracing of national history. The history of a nation is divided into epochs, and each epoch is known by the names of the representative men of the epoch, both political and literary. This brings into prominence a few great men, to know whom is sufficient for tracing national or literary development. To make the acquaintance of the few representative writers of the successive epochs in English and Ameri- can history, is a part of the preparation that a student in school should make for intelligent reading in after years. The fifth course of reading recommended is, there- fore, one which is limited to the writers who made successive epochs in the history of English and Ameri- can literature. These successive epochs are as fol- lows : ENGLISH LITERATURE. THE AGE OF CHAUCER fourteenth century; reign of Edward III ; language Middle English ; literature story- telling verse. THE AGE or SPENSER, SHAKESPEARE, AND BACON six- teenth century; Elizabethan Age; language, Modern English ; printing in use ; literature romantic poetry, dramatic poetry, and prose exposition. THE AGE OF MILTON, BUNYAN, AND DRYDEN seven- teenth century; Age of Cromwell and the Puritans, 128 THE READER'S BASIS and of the Restoration; literature religious creeds in form of the grand epic and the allegory, political satire in the form of drama, and philosophy in the form of psychology and natural science (Locke and Isaac Newton) . THE AGE CF POPE, SWIFT, GOLDSMITH, AND JOHNSON eighteenth century ; Age of Queen Anne ; the age of orthodoxy and formality ; literature mechanical verse, satires, novels, essays in periodical publications (Addi- son and Steele), history (Hume and Gibbon), oratory (Burke). THE AGE OF WORDSWORTH, BYRON, AND SCOTT end of eighteenth century and beginning of nineteenth ; the age of dissent, of the French Revolution, and of Ger- man philosophy ; literature the second-growth of great poets (Coleridge, Burns, Moore, Shelley, Keats), poetry of human passion and of nature, historical romances and the novel of manners (Jane Austen), essays (Charles Lamb and Thomas De Quincey), literary criticism (Hazlitt). THE MODERN AGE, OR THE VICTORIAN AGE not yet designated bynames. Possible names for representing the epoch: Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Carlyle, New- man, Dickens, Thackeray, Macaulay, Browning, Tenny- son, Arnold. AMERICAN LITERATURE. THE AGE OF JOHN SMITH AND COTTON MATHER First Colonial Period (1607-1689). THE AGE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND JONATHAN ED- WARDS Second Colonial Period (1689-1763), COURSES OF READING 129 THE AGE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON, ALEXANDER HAMIL- TON, AND THOMAS PAINE The Revolutionary Period (1763-1825). THE AGE OF EMERSON, IRVING, POE, AND HAWTHORNE The First National Period (1815-1861). Important groups are : The Cambridge Group Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes ; The Knickerbocker Group Irving, Cooper, Bryant; The Transcendentalists Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Margaret Fuller Ossoli ; The Essayists Bayard Taylor, George William Curtis; The Anti- Slavery Group Whittier, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wendell Phillips, Edward Everett, William Lloyd Gar- rison ; The Historians Bancroft, Prescott, Parkman, Motley; The Orators Lincoln, Webster, Sumner, Choate, Channing, Parker, Beecher, Calhoun, Clay, Henry. THE PRESENT AGE The Second National Period. Possible names for representing the epoch : Walt. Whit- man, S. L. Clemens (Mark Twain), T. B. Aldrich, W. D.Howells, Bret Harte, John Fiske, Marion Crawford. This fifth course, in which the reader masters a literature author by author, from epoch to epoch, is the foundation for judging what advance literature has made up to the present time. COURSE SIX Basis: Miscellaneous Reading*. Purpose: The Postering: of Individual Interests. The preceding courses are those which are equally useful to everyone. But individual interests should begin to occupy atten- tion before school days are over. The reading of Course One, which gives a survey of the whole field of interests, 130 THE READER'S BASIS should lead the student to some one great interest, or to several minor ones ; such, for instance, as interest ' in some public character, some particular author, some phase of religion or branch of science, some part of the country, some craft, art, profession, business enter- prise, or philanthropy, or some branch of literature like the drama, or some political policy. Such an in- terest points to a career. Every girl and boy should, as soon as possible, have some career in view, either public or domestic, either in business or in social life, and reading that will make one intelligent concerning some career should begin along with those courses which are the foundation for general culture. An example of such a course is the following one which was actually used as the foundation for a pro- fession that involved public speaking. It represents the character of the reading needed by any one who intends to follow any profession that may be called literary. It is a difficult course, suitable only for advanced students, but every book in it was pronounced indispensable by the person who used the course. 1. Taine's History of English Literature. Trans, by Van Lann. (A philosophical history) 2. English Literature. Stopford Brooke. (A text-book) 3. Manual of English Prose. Minto. 4. English Literature, Vol. I, Poetry. Baldwin. 5. English Prose. Earle. 6. Studies in Early Victorian Literature. Frederic Har- rison. (Harrison, the supreme judge) 7. Talks on the Study of Literature. Arlo Bates. 8. English Composition and Rhetoric. Bain. (Good forFigures, Sentences, Orations, Words, Rhythm) COURSES OF READING 131 9. Study of English Literature. if. Hudson. 10. A Short History of the English People. Green. 11. Bible Job, Paalms, Parables. 12. Shakespeare. (Read aloud every day) 13. Pilgrim's Progress. Bunyan. (Art in words, idioms, sentences) 14. Paradise Lost. Books I, II. Milton. 15. Divine Comedy. Dante. 16. Some Aspects of Greek Genius. Butcher. 17. Imaginary Conversations. Landor. 18. Plato's Monologues. Trans, by Jowett. (The best literary style in the world) 19. Plato and Platonism. Walter Pater. 20. Homer's Odyssey, Horace's Odes, Vergil's Georgics. 21. Greek Poets./. A. Symonds. 22. Pindar's Odes. Trans, by E, Myers. 23. Cicero's Letters. 24. Lives of the Poets. Johnson. 25. Morte d'Arthur. Malory. 26. Poetic Interpretation of Nature. /. C. Shairp. 27. Poems, and Science of English Verse. Sidney Lanier. 28. Wordsworth's Sonnets. 29. Bacon's Essays. 30. Selections from Matthew Arnold. Gates, (Read all essays about Arnold) 31. Essays on Addison and Milton. Macaulay. 32. Essays on Literature. De Quincey. 33. Emerson's Essays. 84. Emerson and Other Essays. John Jay Chapman. 35. Religio Medici. Thos. Browne. (Fine rhetorical composition) 36. Marcus Aurelius. (For reserve and directness) 37. The French Revolution. Carlyle. 38. Heroes and Hero- Worship. Carlyle. 39. Carlyle's Essays on Voltaire, Burns, German Char- acteristics. (The mighty line. High model of method and manner) 132 THE READER'S BASIS 40. Lowell's Essays. 41. Orations, Addresses, Essays. G. W.Curtis. (Model for idiom and sentence) 42. Virginibus Puerisque. It. L. Stevenson. 43. Revolt of the Tartars. De Qmncey. 44. Autobiography. Bertj. Franklin. 45. Boswell's Johnson. 46. Life of Macaulay. Trevelyan. (To see a writer in process of making) 47. Grant's Memoirs. 48. Wilhelm Meister. Goethe. 49. Les Miserables, and Essay on Shakespeare. Hugo. 50. Vanity Fair. Thackeray. 51. Vicar of Wakefield, and Essay on the Citizen. Goldsmith. 52. Scott's Novels. 53. Burke's Speech on Conciliation, and Letters to a Noble Lord. 54. Selected Speeches by Webster. (Read aloud daily) 55. Lincoln's Speeches. 56. Selections from Milton's Prose. 57. Plutarch's Lives. 58. Selections from Gambetta's Speeches. 59. Selections from Erskine's Speeches. 60. British Eloquence. Goodrich. (Introductory essay to Fox) CHAPTER IV LITERARY ART "It is a popular fallacy that art is to be appreciated with- out especial education. Common feeling holds that the reader, like the poet, is born and not made. The only element of truth in this is the fact that all human powers are modified by the personal equation. Every reader is at liberty to like or dislike even a masterpiece; but he is not in a position even to have an opinion of it until he appreciates why it has been admired. " Arlo Bates. I The Reader's Art-Sense. The first condition for appreciative reading is the understanding of the author's thought. This requires a temperament which may be described as "hospitality of mind"; it is an openness to new ideas, the ability to look from an- other's point of view, a disposition to give respectful consideration where agreement is impossible. Under- standing also requires trained attention to words, in order that the writer's meaning may not be mistaken. The second condition for appreciative reading is the capacity for strong emotion ; for it is the sharing of mighty passions rather than the receiving of merely intellectual impressions which constitutes the reading of literature. The third condition for the full appre- 133 134 THE READER'S BASIS elation of literature is some knowledge of the technique of the writer's art. The good reader reads with a cultivated taste, as well as with understanding and feeling. Taste is a sense for form. The reader's taste for form, for method and manner, is called his art-sense. The real appre- ciation of a writer consists more in the appreciation of his manner or method, than in the appreciation of his subject. A writer's subject is the common property of every man, to do with it what he can, and it is likely that the writer's ideas upon the subject are not new, or strictly original. But the method by which a writer makes a subject appear to a reader with the same force and vividness, the same shades rr of meaning, and the same emotion, with which it appears to himself, is the writer's art, and it is the appreciation of this which is the appreciation of literature as one of the fine arts. It is true that any form of art is the product of the artist's own individual nature, and it might therefore seem impossible to discover universal art-character- istics; but observation of the work of artists has resulted in some doctrines which consti-tute the princi- ples for all art composition. The^basis, then, for ap- preciative reading is not only a reader's natural under- standing and feeling, and his natural instinct for good form, but, in addition to that, a cultivated art-sense, developed by a definite knowledge of art principles, and a conscious application of them to literary com- position. When a reader's art-sense has thus become developed, the application of principles to what is read becomes an unconscious process in the reader's enjoy- ment of literature. LITERARY ART 135 II The Thought Side and the Form Side of Literary Composition. The value of a literary com- position is, first of all, the value of its subject-matter, or what may be called its message. A writer is tested primarily by the accuracy of his knowledge, the worth of his ideas, or by what he adds to human knowledge and culture. The value of the thought-side of literary composition, each reader must determine for himself, judging by means of his own previous knowledge of the subject treated, by his. own wants, and by his experience of life. No directions can be given for appreciating the message of a book. A writer's message is his reason for writing, but it is not his art. His power to observe fact and dis- cover truth is a part of his genius, but it is not his art. A writer's art is his manner of presenting his subject. Mere statement will not present an idea so as to give it full value. Gradual development and beautifying accessories are requisite to make a writer's thought take effect upon a reader. The art of the writer consists in making a subject appear to a reader in its most attractive form. The writer is a creator in the sense that he creates a new form with which to set forth some old idea. A good literary form is one which is beautiful enough in itself to attract the attention of the reader, and, at the same time, is capa- ble of conveying to the reader's consciousness all that is in the mind and heart of the writer. Creating a form that will best express what a writer has to say, is called giving a subject an embodiment. For instance, Lowell's poem. The Vision of Sir Launfal, embodies the 136 THE READER'S BASIS subject of human brotherhood. Lowell's art consists in using the melody of verse, and an old legend, with which to construct a story which is attractive in itself, and by means of which the subject of human brother- hood is made to reach the interest and sympathy of the reader. The same subject has been embodied by other writers in the art-forms of oration, essay, and prose fiction. The best art-form is the one which gives the greatest effectiveness to the subject. When the art- form is so effective that the thought which the form embodies takes hold upon all readers, and is adopted as their own, then the art-form has achieved its purpose, which is to make thought imperishable. The thought-side and the form-side of literary composition have an inseparable relation. One de- mands the other. Appreciative reading consists in paying attention to both thought and form. Many readers miss one or the other. For instance, a casual reader might enjoy Lowell's description of June, find interest in the story of the knight, and listen with pleas- ure to the music of the lines, and yet miss the subject of human brotherhood, for which every slightest detail exists. Another reader might recognize the theme without taking enjoyment in all the delicate means by which the author's emotion for his subject is revealed, and by which the theme is made effective upon the reader. Readers of fiction, particularly, are apt to find pleasure or displeasure in the form alone, not observing what is the central theme for which the story-form exists, and therefore not being able to judge whether the form is good or not. A. reader's basis for appreciative reading, there- fore, partly consists in knowing that what attracts the LITERARY ART 137 casual reader in a literary composition is only the form which embodies some subject of universal importance, and that the form should not be judged altogether by its own attractiveness but largely by the effectiveness with which it presents some theme. Ill The Creation of the Art-Form. The creation of the art-form is a natural, not an artificial process. It begins with an unconscious process in the author's mind a process of associating some subject with the author's own knowledge, experience, and feelings, and ends with the conscious effort to reproduce to others the form which the subject has taken in the author's own mind. This effort, though conscious, is not arti- ficial, but is the natural result of the maturing of some mental process, for mature thought always seeks ex- pression. FIRST CONDITION FOR A GOOD ART-FORM. A good art- form is the result, first of all, of a subject of such deep interest to the writer that it is held constantly in thought without any effort on the writer's part. This is necessary because then the mental faculties will con- stantly work upon the subject, associating it with what lies in the memory and with what is brought in by daily experience, giving the subject a natural develop- ment. The subject gradually begins to take form around some idea as a center. This idea is the germ-thought, upon the vitality of which the growth of an art-form depends. For instance, Lowell's interest in the subject of slavery centered around his belief in the brother- 138 THE READER'S BASIS hood of man. This germ thought was vital enough to him to account for the beautiful art-form in which it found expression. It was a vital germ-thought to Lowell because it was the outgrowth partly of his own nature, and partly of the anti-slavery strife in which he was engaged. A vital germ-thought is one which is closely related to the writer's usual interests, and to his usual line of thinking and feeling. With such a germ-thought, the material for its growth will be supplied in a natural way, by the writer's usual habits of thought, and his resources of knowledge and experience. Material gathered in this way is assimilated naturally, and contributes to a har- monious development of the germ ; whereas, material which is collected by a conscious and unusual effort, for the express purpose of getting something to say about a subject, is not harmonious with the natural condition of the writer's mind, and is assimilated very slowly, or not at all. The nature of the material, and the rapidity with which it is supplied to the mind, depends upon the writer's stock of information, already assimilated and laid up in the memory, upon his power to recall and to associate what he knows, and upon his power to draw out of his daily experience new material which will fit with what is already in his mind. Thus gradually the germ-thought becomes expanded by the addition of facts which explain it, arguments which con- firm it, circumstances which illustrate it, literature which enriches it, and strong feeling which endears it. The writer is usually unconscious that any growth of an idea is taking place in his mind, the idea being one that is so thoroughly a part of his nature and sur- LITERARY ART 139 roundings that material for the growth is supplied unconsciously. Expression is the natural result when the mental growth has matured. The indication of maturity is the natural tendency to express. Expression then seems to be the result of a sudden inspiration. When ex- pression is spontaneous, it is a sign that thought has been unconsciously maturing for a long time. Whether expression takes the form of essay, novel, drama, poem, or oration, depends upon the familiarity of the writer with the different literary forms. The form may be the result of conscious choice ; but if the mind is equally familiar with all forms, it will, by unconscious process, give the material that form which is best suited to it, or the form suitable to the occasion which calls it forth. When the unconscious process of (Development be- comes conscious, then success in perfecting the art- form becomes dependent upon something else besides having a subject which will allow of a natural mental development. SECOND CONDITION FOR A GOOD ART-FORM. A good art-form is the result, in the second place, of acquired skill in the use of some medium of expression. The sculptor's medium of expression is marble; the mu- sician's is sound; the painter's is color; the literary artist's is words. No artist can express himself until he masters the use of the medium with which he works. Even an experienced artist must patiently labor with his medium in order to satisfy the demands of his own taste. Mastery of a medium of expression consists in 140 THE READER'S BASIS revealing through that medium all that the imagina- tion has created. The artist in words has the same mechanical diffi- culties to overcome that an artist in any other medium has. He cannot hope to give his thought art-form in language without having previously made himself ac- quainted with the possibilities of language, by close observation of the art of the best writers. The training which should precede any attempt at artistic expres- sion, consists (1) in getting a thorough acquaint- ance with words their derivation, their relation- ships, their capabilities for conveying delicate shades of thought and feeling, their connoting power, and the possibilities in the way they may be asso- ciated; (2) in getting acquainted with sentence- forms their variety and their possibilities for pro- ducing rhythmical effects; (3) in experimenting with language, and observing the effect of his own attempts how his language falls short of expressing the idea, how ambiguity is produced by carelessly placed phrases, and what constitutes an effective or ineffective ar- rangement of words. For judging his own attempts, the writer's standard is one which he has formed for himself by being familiar with the art of others. Thus the writer gradually acquires skill in the use of language as a medium for expression, so that what- ever his mind creates, his language is adequate to ex- press. The writer then appears to his readers not only as a thinker, a discoverer and revealer of truth, but also as an artist in language. There will be perfect correspondence between the thing imagined and the LITERARY ART 141 thing expressed ; in other words, thought will have an adequate embodiment. IV A Summary of Literary Art. There are some characteristics which are found in any good writing, whatever be its form, and which have, therefore, come to be regarded as the essentials of literary art. The reader is without a basis for judging literary composi- tion until he has become so accustomed to noticing these essentials that he feels a sense of loss when any are lacking. The following is a list of the essentials of literary art, given in tbe order of their importance, or in the order of their dependence one upon another. Each characteristic is an essential, but some are the founda- tion for others ; for instance, without the first the second has no foundation, without the first five the last five are worthless, and the first five without the last five are ineffective. 1. A definite theme, possibly other than the title, which becomes clearly apparent to the reader. 2. Material which explains, illustrates, and beauti- fies the theme, and which has had its source in alert observation, thorough reflection, sincere emotion, and wide reading. 3. A plan which makes thought progress in a regu- lar sequence. 4. Divisions by means of which the reader can see the steps of shis progression. 5. A conclusion which is inevitable, and which serves to show what has been the writer's constant pur- pose throughout the writing. 142 THE READER'S BASIS 6. An introduction which makes the theme at- tractive. 7. Diction which is pure, precise, and in good taste. 8. Sentences which have unity, clearness, variety of construction, and which are forcible and melodious. 9. Figurative language which increases the vivid- ness of the idea. 10. An appeal to the emotions by means of the beautiful, the sublime, the witty, the humorous, or the pathetic. V The Two Fundamentals of Literary Art. Every work of art, of whatever kind, expresses its idea by a form which has two fundamental elements ; namely, structure and quality. Whatever may be the number of details which are essentials, a work of art may be judged by these fundariientals alone. A reader may judge a literary composition by the ten essentials, or he may judge it in a more comprehensive way by thinking of nothing but its structure and quality. STRUCTURE. Structure is the form into which thought is shaped. It is the framework which is necessary in order that the completed whole may have definite outline. It bears the same relation to the completed composition that an architect's plan bears to the finished house. The writer, like the architect, consciously builds his material together, shaping and placing each bit of material, studying the effect of this and that grouping, working all the time to get a har- monious effect by the union of many details. The LITERARY ART 143 reader judges structure by the ease with which he can take in the composition as a whole, and, at the same time, be conscious of the effectiveness of parts. Walter Pater says that a literary composition has structure if the reader can recognize that the author has "foreseen the end in the beginning, and has never lost sight of it, and in every part has been conscious of all the rest. Ruskin's rule for structure is : "Everything in a deter- mined place, everything performing an intended part, and acting in that part advantageously for everything connected with it." This is another way of saying that structure is the result of having had a plan. According to Pater, having a plan is having "a whole- ness of view at the beginning, with many after- thoughts." It is this wholeness of view at the begin- ning that insures the effective use of each bit of mate- rial. Structure gives strength to a composition, and gives the impression that the writer has a definite pur- pose. Whatever graces of style a composition may have, the demand, first of all, is that it be well-built. QUALITY. Quality is an effect produced by the writer's personality. It is the manner of saying any- thing, and is called the writer's style. It is an effect upon a reader's sensibilities like that produced by meet- ing with a person who has strong individuality, and it is what creates an emotional response to what is being read. The effect is indefinable and unexplainable, just as personal attractiveness is. Since "the style is the man", those words which describe personal quality such as graceful, piquant, arch, suave, robust, grave, lofty describe also the quality of literature. The best writer is the one who has strong enough person- 144 THE READER'S BASIS ality to make it felt in his literary form. Writing may be without quality, just as a person may be without individuality; but as a person's attractiveness is meas- ured by the strength of his personality, so the grade of. writing is determined by its quality. Structure and quality are the two fundamentals of literary art because art is self-expression, and, since most ideas and material are common property, the only opportunity a writer has for self-expression is to build old material together in some new form, and to transfer himself to the written page. The Elements of Structure. In order to appre- ciate structure, the reader needs to have a clear idea of the elements of structure, and the relation they bear to one another. All critics do not agree about the number of elements, but the reader has a sufficient basis for recognizing structure if he has a clear idea of unity, coherence, emphasis, and proportion. All agree that these are fundamental, but all do not use the same names for the same elements. A reader needs a clear enough idea of the nature of these fundamentals to recognize them under any name. UNITY. A composition has unity when a reader gets a definite impression about one theme. Success in achieving unity depends upon the writer's power to leave one, single, clear impression, no matter how much has been said. The reader recognizes unity by the single theme which remains in his mind after the amplifying details have been forgotten. The reader gets this single impression because the writer has had one definite theme in his own mind to start with, has constantly borne it in mind, has used no material that LITERARY ART 145 did not bear evident relation to the theme, and has successfully estimated how far his theme could be elaborated without losing definiteness of impression. The problem of unity is the problem of what is rele- vant and what is digression in using material to amplify a theme. In literary art, the unity of the composition as a whole consists in having the theme of each para- graph bear an evident relation to the theme of the whole composition. PARAGRAPH UNITY. Paragraphs are for the purpose of showing the steps of the progress in a theme's devel- opment. The reader expects to find that each para- graph is one complete step forward in his progress towards some end. Therefore, each paragraph must have a single theme, so definite that it can be reduced to a single statement. This statement may be made in a topic sentence, or else the reader should be able to make it easily for himself after having read the para- graph. This theme should be one that is different from that of any other paragraph, so that the separate- ness which appears to the eye shall be found to corre- spond with the separateness of the thought. The length of the paragraph is determined by the principle that each paragraph shall contain all the material which explains or illustrates a certain theme, so that following paragraphs may each have a different theme. If a paragraph is too long for comfortable reading, the theme of the paragraph is branched into two or more phases, giving each phase a separate paragraph. The two essentials for paragraph unity are, first, that the paragraph have one definite theme, to the explana- tion of which every sentence directly contributes, and, 146 THE READER'S BASIS second, that the theme of the paragraph be distinctly different from that of any other paragraph. SENTENCE UNITY. A sentence represents one com- plete statement. The reader expects to find that the words which are set off in a separate sentence represent the amount that he is to take in as a whole ; if it is not a whole, but an incomplete statement, or a group of unrelated statements, the reader is confused by the sentence form. The careful writer uses the sentence to measure off the amount which he wishes the reader to comprehend at one time. The length of the sen- tence is always determined by this purpose on the part of the writer, and the period should therefore be heeded as the means by which the writer controls the thought of the reader. The writer has clearly in mind the one statement he wishes to make, and he modifies it by word, phrase, or clause, until he thinks it cannot be misapprehended. The sentence, therefore, is usually composed of parts, and its unity consists in having one main subject and predicate, just as the paragraph has one theme, and only such additions as modify this one subject and predicate. PUNCTUATION. Punctuation is used to show the number of parts in a sentence and the relation between the parts. The unity of a long sentence becomes ap- parent to a reader when he can see the parts which compose it; and so the writer uses punctuation to measure off the parts to the eye, in order that each part may have its full effect upon the reader's mind. Any one can punctuate who consciously measures off his thought with the purpose just described, for then he is conscious of how many parts there are in his sen- LITERARY ART 147 tence, and how much he intends to be taken as one part. Punctuation thus becomes as truly a part of composition as is the choice of words. It is a part of one's thinking, a part of the scheme by which writing can be made to produce a certain effect upon a reader. Punctuation should be an individual matter, instead of a mechanical following of rules, and is satisfactory if it indicates to the eye all the parts of a sentence which need to be taken separately in order to get the full effect of the whole. The rules of punctuation are all based on the principle that the reader needs to see the parts which compose a sentence unity. The different kinds of punctuation are used to show the relation between parts. The semicolon shows parts that are co-ordinate. It usually stands between two grammatically complete statements, each of which might stand alone as a sen- tence, and are therefore co-ordinate in value. Or it is used to give separateness to a list of details which stand out in co-ordinate relation. The comma shows parts that are not co-ordinate, such as dependent phrases or words, parenthetical ex- pressions, and even clauses when the clause is added in such a way as to give a subordinate rather than a co- ordinate effect. Sometimes the subject of a verb is a phrase which is so long that it is a part by itself, and of course its relation is a dependent one, and is indicated by a comma. The use of the comma to mark an ellipsis makes the comma stand in the place of a part. The colon is used to introduce something. It stands between the thing introduced and some formal remark of introduction. The thing introduced may be a list 148 THE READER'S BASIS of items, a quotation, some important or long remark, or a remark which is itself divided by semicolons. The colon is formal in effect, and when the introduction is informal, the part introduced is indicated by comma. The dash shows such parts as are abrupt or unex- pected, such as a repetition, a slipped-in explanation, a parenthesis, or a sudden change in thought. Of course, these are only general principles of dis- tinction a mere basis for observing the great variety of special cases, for punctuation, like everything else, can be learned only by observation and experiment. COHERENCE. Coherence in the whole composi- tion, in paragraph, or in sentence, is the logical succes- sion of parts. By unity of structure we mean that the parts bear an evident relation to the one main theme ; by coherence we mean that successive parts bear an evident relation to one another. When a reader fol- lows easily from one part to the next, the writing is said to have coherence. It is this which makes easy reading. The problem of coherence is the problem of the best order in which to arrange parts so that they will follow one another logically in other words, so that there will be sequence. Success in getting coher- ence is success in arranging thought. The giving of right order to material is not a mechanical process for which rules can be given ; it is the result of logical thinking. When a writer's style is coherent, the re- lation of successive parts is so evident that there is no impression of parts, but an impression of a whole. For this reason, unity and coherence seem to be the same until one sees that the problem of each is different, and that the unity secured by having every- LITERARY ART 149 thing relevant to one theme, is hardly a perfect unity until the parts cohere by means of logical arrange- ment, EMPHASIS. A composition is said to have em- phasis if it has parts that are more noticeable than other parts. Every writer in his own mind sees some parts of his composition as more important than others ; his ideas have not sameness to himself and they should not have to the reader. Giving some parts of his com- position prominence, so that the reader's mind has some points upon which to catch with greater atten- tion, relieves the monotony of an arrangement which is merely logical. The problem of emphasis, like that of coherence, is a problem of arrangement, but ar- rangement for a different purpose. Coherence is log- ical arrangement, and emphasis is effective arrange- ment. To achieve both without loss to either is the nicest problem in structure. Emphasis is secured by means of certain positions and forms in the composition. There are locations in a composition, a paragraph, and a sentence, which are so prominent that attention is called to an idea by placing it there. The beginning and the end of a composition, of a paragraph, or of a sentence, is a prominent position. There are also paragraph and sentence forms which give prominence to an idea. A very short paragraph or a very short sentence is prominent. A paragraph which treats a theme at a length which does not correspond with the general scale of treatment is a prominent par- agraph. A series of short paragraphs all treating the same subject attracts attention. The order of climax and the order of antithesis are conspicuous. Periodic, 150 THE READER'S BASIS balanced, and interrogative sentences, are emphatic sentence forms. Reiteration at stated intervals is noticeable. Breaking the logical flow of thought by a short description or anecdote which leads up to the next thought, makes that thought emphatic. A figure of speech well fitted into a logical structure gives accent to an idea. The author who attends to emphasis in building his structure reserves these locations and forms for the ideas which he wishes to emphasize, in- stead of using them indiscriminately. PROPORTION. A composition has proportion when each part is given the amount of space it should occupy relatively to every other part and to the whole. Both emphasis and proportion serve to show the rela- tive importance of parts, emphasis by means of position and of form, proportion by means of the amount of space occupied. It is a bad defect in structure to give an undue and uncalculated amount of space to any one part. The problem of proportion is the problem of giv- ing to each part of the composition a length of treat- ment which is justified by the relative importance of that part to other parts of the whole. It is the same problem that a map-maker has. A map is made upon a uniform scale ; the size of everything put upon the map is in proportion to the size of everything else ; also, what is put upon the map and what must be omitted from it, is determined by the size of the scale adopted. A writer adopts a scale of treatment, large or small, according to the limits which circumstances require, and he preserves that scale throughout. He tests all his material by this scale, using only that which will preserve the balance of the whole. This equipoise of LITERARY ART 151 parts completes the unity, coherence, and emphasis of parts, making together what is called the structure of literary art. SUMMARY OF STRUCTURE. The purpose of structure is to present a unit "a body, not a mere collection of members." The several elements of structure contribute to this oneness of effect. When parts are all relevant to one theme and follow one an- other logically, and when each part has its effective position or form and its due proportion of space, then parts have the effect of a whole. When this is accom- plished, writing has the fundamental requisite of all art namely, unity of design. The Elements of Quality. In attempting to analyze quality, or the writer's personality, critics do not agree about the number of elements nor their names. All elements of human nature are elements of literary quality, and any words used to describe per- sonal quality are used to describe the quality of litera- ture. The attempt of critics is to find a few terms general enough in meaning to describe the quality which is found in every work of literary art. It is quite gen- erally agreed that what every writer reveals of himself in literature is the clearness of his mind, the energy of his nature, his musical sense, and his aesthetic emotions- emotions of beauty, of sublimity, of humor, and of pathos, and that therefore the quality of writing is its clearness, energy, melody, and emotion. CLEARNESS. Present criticism uses the term clearness to express the nature of the author's mental processes, and the ease with which the reader can follow these processes. Clearness is a quality that a writer 162 THE READER'S BASIS gives to his composition primarily because of his power to define his ideas clearly to himself, and secondarily because of his experience with language. He not only thinks clearly, but, because of this, he observes those laws of language that are natural to a logical mind, instinctively rejecting irrelevant material or slovenly phrasing, and so expresses his clear thought in language equally clear. The quality of clearness seems to depend entirely upon grammatical accuracy, unity and coher- ence of structure, and upon the completeness of ex- planation and illustration. But this is the craft side of clearness. These mechanical means convey an idea which has first been clear in itself and which demands this sort of expression. So we conclude that the quality called clearness is the effect upon us, through language, of the depth and clearness of the writer's mind. Olear writing requires precise words, which exactly express the meaning, as many words as are needed and no more, no omission of small words which are neces- sary to the sense, no careless misuse of pronouns and participles, the use of enough connectives, the careful placing of phrases and clauses, and the organizing of thought so that the expression of it has unity and co- herence of structure. Olear writing requires not only this use of language, which is instinctive to a clear think- er, but also requires conformity to arbitrary grammatical usage, so that there will be nothing about the language to distract attention from the thought or obscure its meaning. There is another consideration which affects the reader's impression of clearness. An author is compre- hensible only as his ideas correspond with what the LITERARY ART 153 reader has experienced or can imagine to be true. If an author's ideas are beyond the range of the reader's mind, the author will be obscure to that reader though he is clear to another. So clearness, like all quality, is not absolute, but relative to the reader's development. The author who has a general reputation for clearness is the one who has something to say which is within the range of universal knowledge and experience. Writings which become classic have this universality that is, they mean something to every one, though limited minds will not see in them all that there is to be seen. A literary masterpiece may be defined as a composition which reveals some meaning to every reader with whatever views of life, a new meaning to the reader as often as he approaches the masterpiece with some new view of life, and a fresh meaning to every generation of readers in spite of the changing views of life. % There is a vocabulary of critical terms useful to the reader who may wish to express himself about the clear- ness of what he reads. In speaking of the quality of mind which conduces to literary clearness, we say that the author has : Compass Insight Kange Vision Grasp Scope that he is :-^- Thorough Broad Sane Profound In speaking of the lack of this quality we say that he is : Narrow Abstruse Restricted Provincial 154 THE READER'S BASIS In speaking of the way an author expresses the clearness of his mind through his language, we say that his style is : Definite Graphic Explicit Transparent Intelligible Luminous Straightforward - Lucid or else that it is: Ambiguous Obscure Vague Puzzling In speaking of an author's structure as contrib- uting to clearness, we say that his style is : Complete Connected Consistent Continuous Sustained Homogeneous or else that it is : Digressive Disconnected Discursive Disjointed Desultory Rambling ENERGY. Energy is that quality in writing which holds the attention of the reader. The com- pelling power of a writer lies in himself, not in the subject that he is treating. The subject may be com- monplace, the ideas in no way extraordinary, and yet the natural energy which a vigorous personality puts into whatever he has to say commands attention. Writing which has the quality of energy makes the reader feel sure that the writer is sincere and that he writes with a purpose. The forcible writer seems to "move forward under the influence of his own clear knowledge and deep feeling, with constantly acceler- ated motion, and constantly increasing momentum, LITERARY ART 155 to a definite coilclusion that has been constantly in his mind." The reader feels that he is carried along with the writer, and that the conclusion is inevitable. There are some external signs of this energy of mind. The most noticeable is the writer's choice of single words. A vigorous writer with a thought which he considers vital, uses a vocabulary quite unlike that used by a calmer nature. The sympathy which he feels with the reader and with his subject rouses his energy to seek such words as may be trusted to reach the intelligence of the reader, and, at the same time, give his subject an adequate expression. There is always the one word which is the right one for the place, and when it is once spoken it seems to be the inevitable word, but it is usually the result of the most earnest determination on the part of the writer to do full justice to his thought and to his reader. It is in this that the writer shows a personality that is capable of taking such an affectionate interest in his subject that no sacrifice of time or effort is too great in order that the subject may have an expression that will make it appeal to his readers as it has to himself. It is evident, then, that a full comprehension of an author and sympathy with him, requires a close observa- tion of his use of words. It is not enough that the reader know by definition what words mean. With such a for- mal knowledge of words, the reader might apprehend an author's meaning, but not comprehend it. The reader must learn to recognize a personality in the way words are used. The way an author uses nouns, adjectives, and verbs, and the new meanings he puts into words by the way he associates them, convey delicate shades 156 THE READER'S BASIS of thought and feeling to a careful observer. Words not only denote a meaning, but they connote, or make one think of something beyond what they literally say. The word damozel, for instance, arouses ideas of old tapestries, and of noble ladies and mailed knights in castles, whereas the world girl, which denotes the same thing, makes us think of a girl and of nothing else, and therefore does not connote anything. Only by feel- ing what words connote, in addition to knowing what they denote, can a reader grasp the full intention which a forcible writer puts into his vocabulary. Therefore a reader should have early had a preparation for reading by a study of words their derivation, his- tory, synonymous uses, and their associations in litera- ture. Another external sign of energy of mind is that words are not wasted ; a general effect of condensation is noticeable in all writing which has the quality of energy. The writer hastens to his point with all the directness that the securing of clearness and impress- iveness will allow. There is nothing which makes clear, condenses, and impresses more than good figures of speech, so a forcible writer makes much use of them. In the use of figures, as in the use of words, sympathy is the secret of his choice. Sympathy with the average man makes the writer use only such figures as the average man will find effective. A forcible figure of speech likens one thing to another thing with which everybody is familiar, and the analogy is one that will be instantly perceived. Another noticeable sign of a writer's force of char- acter is that he does not neglect structure. He builds LITERARY ART 157 well, laying the foundation of unity and coherence be- fore he allows his ardent nature the pleasure of em- phasis. A forcible writer sometimes disregards good usage, obeying only his intense emotions. This IB considered good art if the reader finds a correspondence between the writer's evident state of mind and his form of ex- pression. A reader's taste may find in the intensity of thought a justification for violating the convention- alities of ordinary expression. There are other names besides "energy" which describe the impression made upon the reader by this quality. It may be called : Force Terseness Life Strength Vigor Impressiveness In speaking of the forcible writer's personality, we say that he has : Fervor Ardor Spirit Power Enthusiasm Sincerity or else that he is : Feeble Flat Insipid Vapid Tame Weak If this quality in a writer is not controlled by good taste and reason, then we say that his writing is : Rash Frantic Impetuous Violent Hysterical Vehement 158 THE READER'S BASIS MELODY. Melody is that quality in a writing which pleases the ear by agreeable sound. The per- sonality which is revealed through melody of language is one which is highly emotional, with restraint enough to give the impression of elegance. Melody of lan- guage indicates a higher degree of emotion than is in- dicated by the quality of energy. The writer who has energy of style seems never to lose sight of his audience and of his definite aim ; the writer whose style is melo- dious seems to lose consciousness of an audience, and to be completely absorbed in a passionate realization of some subject, expression being a natural overflow of feeling. One writer exhibits a passion for influencing his fellows; the other, a passion for some subject. A forcible writer will, for moments, seem to forget his audience, and become wholly absorbed in a passionate realization of his theme, his language then becoming rhythmical. In prose, musical quality is usually found in climaxes of feeling, here and there, throughout for- cible writing, rather than as a continuous quality of style, though there are some prose compositions in which a rhythmical swing can be felt throughout. A very marked degree of this quality is the characteristic of poetry rather than of prose. The theory of musical utterance is that a writer who is capable of intense thought gets not only an in- tellectual realization of his subject but also an emotion- al one, and this emotion sets all his faculties in a rhyth- mic motion which communicates itself to his vocabulary and phrasing, so that he balances word against word, and phrase against phrase, with a symmetry which makes language have the effect of music. Everyone LITERARY ART 159 feels the instinct for symmetry a tendency to balance one thing against another, or an inclination to swing back and forth in a motion called rhythm. A passion- ate mood, free to express itself, will exhibit this tend- ency in some form. Perfect mastery of a great subject allows the nature of a writer to have such free play that thoughts are tossed forth with a swing of language, because that motion is the natural accompaniment of freedom and emotion. The melody of prose consists in melodious words, harmonious combinations of words, and rhythm. A melodious word has a large proportion of vow- els and liquids. The word melody, for instance, is melodious because, of the six letters, three are vowels and two are liquids. A word is unmelodious which has an accented first syllable followed by several unaccent- ed syllables, or which for any reason is hard to pro- nounce. A harmonious combination of words is one which has a large proportion of vowels and liquids, and in which the syllables flow smoothly into one another, or one in which the words are so arranged that the accent falls at agreeable intervals . An inharmonious combina- tion of words is one in which there is a succession of sounds hard to pronounce together, or two like sounds in succession, such as "and destiny," called an hiatus, or a jingling recurrence of tbe same sound, or an inad- vertent rhyme, or a word used is one sense standing near the same word used in another sense, or a long succession of monosyllables. Rhythm in prose is a smooth, easy rise and fall of sound at irregular but pleasing intervals. The rhythm 160 THE READER'S BASIS of prose differs from that of poetry chiefly by its irregularity. A uniform measure of sound is a defect in prose. Words are so arranged that a succession of accented and unaccented syllables makes the voice rise and fall with irregular but musical motion ; also, clauses and phrases are of such lengths that the natural pauses required by the sense contribute to the rise and fall. Rhythm of prose, then, is produced by the suc- cession of accented and unaccented syllables and by the length of grammatical phrases and clauses. The following passage selected by Prof. Genung from Burke 's writing, has a musical rhythm : "In the morn | ing of our days, | when the sen | ses are unworn | and tender, | when the whole man is awake | in ev | ery part, | and the gloss of nov | elty fresh upon all the ob | jects that surround us, | how lively, | at that time, | are our sensations, | but how false and inac | curate the judg | ments we form | of things! | " Observe that the fall, and therefore the length of measure, is sometimes caused by the accent of a word and sometimes by a natural pause at the end of a clause or phrase. Observe that there is no long succession of unaccented syllables, and that the different lengths balance in a total harmony. The time scheme begins as in poetry, with the alternate swing of 5, 4, 5, 4; then comes a very short measure and a very long one, followed by two short ones and two long ones; then after a medium measure, comes the swell to the climax, and the gradual falling off 5, 4, 6, 4, 3, 2. LITERARY ART 161 Cadence is a part of the melody of prose. It is a gradual falling-off of sound before coming to a full stop. At the end of a long sentence, the ear requires, not a sudden halt, but a gradual fall. Cadence is pro- duced by a gradually shortening measure, as in the ex- ample quoted, or by a word of several syllables, stand- ing at the end of the sentence, and so accented that some sound, perhaps two or three syllables, is heard after the last fall of the voice. At the end of a para- graph it is particularly gratifying to find a sentence which has a pleasing cadence, for this seems to give cadence to the whole paragraph. The writer who is sensitive to sound uses the sound of words to make the sense clearer. The words shriek, crack, burst, swash, buzz, describe by their own sound, .the sounds which they represent. Such a use of words is called onomatopoeia. Alliteration, which is thought to belong only to verse, is sometimes used in prose to assist in convey- ing a meaning. For instance, Thackeray more per- fectly conveys his idea of a life of folly by the following alliteration than he could without the assistance of sound. "All was fiddling, and flowers, and feasting, and flattery, and folly." The sound conveys his con- tempt, and so his use of alliteration in prose is justified. Other names which may be given to this quality of literary art are : Euphony Ease Smoothness Grace 162 THE READER'S BASIS This quality may be described as a style which is : Lilting Modulated Liquid Sonorous Musical Tuneful Measured Fluent AESTHETIC EMOTION. ^Esthetic emotion is a general term for the emotions of beauty, sublimity, pathos, and humor. These are pleasurable emotions, the expression of which contributes to the beauty of a literary production, and so are called aesthetic emotions. Whether emotion expresses itself in one or another, or in all of these forms, depends upon the writer's subject and personality. Sometimes one of these will be the predominant characteristic of a whole production; but it is usual to find aesthetic emotion expressed occasionally, at intervals, giving a tone to whatever other quality the production may possess. THE BEAUTIFUL. The quality of beauty in litera- ture is the expression of the writer's sense of beauty, and his emotion concerning something which is beauti- ful. A sense of beauty is a sense of the harmony of parts. The emotion caused by a sense of beauty may be described as a glad but quiet contemplation of some- thing which is harmonious. The expression of this emotion is in language which corresponds with the calm nature of the emotion; it is characterized by epithets which show attention to small details, by a pro- fusion of similes, some personification, and melodious words and phrases. A whole production may be ex- pressive of a writer's sense of beauty, since that emotion is calm enough to be continuous. But, usually, LITERARY ART 163 beautiful passages, mostly description, are found scat- tered through the composition. The treatment of any theme will usually permit the introduction, somewhere, of a description of beautiful scenery, or a beautiful character, or the expression of a beautiful sentiment. The writer may thus give ex- pression to his own sense of beauty without interfering with the logical treatment of a theme, provided the reason of the reader is satisfied with the appropriate- ness of that which is introduced. Description of natural scenery is introduced for the purpose of giving a setting for some important point; but it serves the double purpose of increasing the effectiveness of the point which is to be made to the mind, and of satisfying the senses with beauty. The description of a beautiful character is introduced to illustrate, or make concrete, some idea that would otherwise be abstract and unin- teresting. A burst of beautiful sentiment in the midst of some argument or narration, gives beauty to the whole, provided it does not detract from the reasonable- ness of the whole. THE SUBLIME. The quality of sublimity in litera- ture is the expression of the writer's sense of the sub- lime, and his emotion concerning something which is sublime. A sense of the sublime is a sense of great- ness or power. The emotion caused by a sense of the sublime may be described as awe, or a feeling which is at the same time humility and an exaltation of soul. Such a feeling may take the form of wonder, astonish- ment, adoration, veneration, heroic resolve, joy, or noble indignation. The expression of this emotion is in language which corresponds with the sublime 164 THE READER'S BASIS mood; it is characterized by few but precise words, forcible short sentences or else long rhythmical ones, and extravagant figures of speech, such as vision apos- trophe, personification, and metaphor. The emotion caused by a sense of the sublime is so intense that it cannot last long, and so the sublime is not a continuous quality of style, but is found in short passages and only at climaxes of feeling. Opportunity for the expression of such feeling is found in connection with almost any subject. A writer may find occasion to express his sense of power by some reference to the forces of nature, or to those powerful spiritual forces which move men to action ; or his sense of mystery by some reference to the workings of divine providence; or his sense of majesty by de- scripton of a great forest, a solitary lake, mountain scenery, or some instance of moral heroism ; or his sense of vastness by an allusion to the ocean, or to eternity; or his sense of right by his expression of noble, indignation against wrong; or his sense of joy by a noble burst of exultation . THE PATHETIC. The quality of pathos in literature is the expression of the writer's sense of pathos, and his emotion concerning something which is pathetic. A sense of pathos is a sense for that which is at the same time both pitiful and beautiful. The emotion caused by a sense of pathos may be described as a com- bination of pity and admiration. It is a tenderness of feeling which does not reach the degree that is painful. An idea, or an occurrence, or a situation is pathetic if it inspires pity and also gives rise to some beautiful sentiment, or calls attention to beauty of character. LITERARY ART 165 Anything is pathetic which makes one sad, but which awakens just that degree of grief which is pleasurable emotion. That which is merely distressing is not pathetic. The words pathetic and sad are not quite synonymous. Pathos in literature is a delicate quality ; it is so unobtrusive that the reader is aware of no more than a quiet stirring of humane feeling, a softened mood, or a kindly gentleness. THE HUMOROUS. The humorous quality in litera- ture is the expression of the writer's emotion arising from his sense of humor. A sense of humor is not the same as a sense of the ludicrous. It is a sense of that which is at the same time both ludicrous and pathetic. It is the power to see the pathetic in ludicrous situ- ations. The sense of humor may be defined, then, as a sense of the ludicrous governed by kindly feeling and good taste. The words humorous and funny are not syn- onymous. The humorous is a mixture of the ludicrous and pathetic which compels not only laughter but sym- pathy; the funny appeals only to the sense of the ludicrous, which is merely the sense of the incongru- ous. Humor recognizes the incongruous, but it is the recognition of the incongruity between the actual, as we see it in everyday life, and the ideal, and hence* has always the element of pathos. The emotion ex- cited by a sense of humor may be described as ridicule combined with gentle tolerance. Human nature is the humorist's subject its fol- lies, vices, absurdities, and also the virtues inseparably mixed with these. Custom makes us blind to much that is ridiculous and pathetic in human nature. The humorist is the discoverer of incongruities the illusions 166 THE READER'S BASIS and falsehoods mixed with the truth in human beliefs, the hypocrisies and inconsistencies mixed with noble actions, and the worth and sweetness underneath a ridiculous exterior. He sees these things as both ridiculous and pathetic, and so a vein of pathos softens the censure of his ridicule, and an aesthetic effect is produced. A true humorist is known by his faculty for finding ludicrous aspects in common life, his shrewd but sympathetic observation of human nature, and his keen perception of truth. The mission of the humorist is to disturb the com- fortable sense of satisfaction with things as they are, to show human nature as it really is, and to promote a fel- low-feeling by showing the faults which all men have in common. The humorist is not a joker merely; he is a philosopher who disguises his sound sense by a playful manner. He influences opinion as much as the moral- ist does, but he corrects human folly by making it ridiculous rather than tragic. A moral, or at least some serious feeling, lies hidden not far below the sur- face in all humorous writing. But a reader who has no sense of humor will not see the serious purpose through the disguises which a humorist uses. The title does not usually indicate a humorist's theme ; his real point he drops in some casual remark which is easily overlooked. For instance, the title Old China, gives no indication of a lesson in human absurdity, illustrated by the absurdity of the Chinese decoration on an old china tea-cup. Bridget's mind is as lacking in perspective as is the landscape decoration on the cup. In her old age, she absurdly forgets that her days of poverty were happy because they were days of LITERARY ART 167 youth, and this absurdity, constantly suggested, is stated only in Elia's incidental remark : "It is true we were happier when we were poorer ; but we were also younger, my cousin/' Thus Charles Lamb treats the universal human tendency to overrate some past con- dition on account of discontent with the present. Again, the humorist is apt to conceal his fun beneath a serious title and an air of gravity, and the reader who does not detect the mock-seriousness will find his writing mere nonsense, For instance, in A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig, Charles Lamb, by his mock-seriousness, throws ridicule upon the extravagant gratification of physical appetite. A humorist is, therefore, frequently misjudged. He is really an advanced thinker, and has a salutary influence upon society. Some humorous writings have become permanent literature, or classics, partly on account of the artistic finish of their literary style, but chiefly on account of the universality of the human trait which is treated, and the appropriateness of the embodiment which has been given to the trait. For instance, it is a common human trait, and one that is humorous, to take with serious- ness and intensity what is intended to be a diversion or sport. Charles Lamb embodied this trait in the im- mortal Sarah Battle, who sat bolt upright at the whist table, and insisted upon "the rigor of the game". THE WITTY. Wit and humor are usually asso- ciated, but they are different in nature. Wit is the product of the intellect; humor, of the moral nature. Wit is called intellectual because it is a sense for ludicrous combinations of ideas. Wit is the power to detect hidden resemblances and contrasts, and so it 168 THE READER'S BASIS makes new combinations^: ideas which are so sur- prising to the reason that a comic effect is produced. It is intellectual quibbling, and depends upon surprise for its effect. Wit is a tendency to the whimsical and fantastic in ideas. It always associates that which is not usually associated ; in other words, it flashes sud- denly upon the mind some correspondence in things supposed to be unlike, or some difference in things sup- posed to be identical. This is purely intellectual play with ideas. Wit is, therefore, intellectual cleverness. Wit may be used for pointing out human weakness, for attacking some public abuse, or for comparing ideals with actual conditions. It is then that wit and humor enter the same field, and their difference is in method. Wit is quick, flashing an idea upon the mind by means of sudden surprise ; humor is slow, gently disabusing the mind of some wrong notion by kindly ridicule. The spirit of each differs just as derision differs from ridicule. Wit has the effect of being spontaneous, and comes in occasional short flashes. Surprise cannot be continuous, and so continuous wit is a weariness. Humor pervades a whole composition, producing a continuous, quiet amusement. The following are some of the forms of wit. A pun is a play upon words having the same sound but different sense ; it is something which depends for its fun upon an unexpected coincidence in sound or in idea. A repartee is a perversion of an intendedjneaning by means of a quick reply. A bull (or blunder) makes an incongruity appear like a congruity. A burlesque is a ridiculous imitation of something for the purpose of debasing it. The mock-heroic elevates the insignificant LITERARY ART 169 by means of lofty style, and thus makes it ludicrous. Satire exposes that which deserves rebuke by means of open ridicule. Irani/ exposes faults by seeming to approve or defend them ; it is an apparent assent to something, but given with such a tone, or under such circumstances, that opposite feelings are implied. VI A Summary of Structure and Quality. STRUOTUKE : UNITY Everything centered around one fun* damental idea. COHERENCE Clear, unmistakable relation be- tween parts. EMPHASIS The arrangement of parts in such positions and forms that principal parts are distin- guished from those which are subordinate. PROPORTION Each subject treated at that length which shows its value relatively to the other parts and to the whole. QUALITY : CLEARNESS The quality of being easily intelli- gible. ENERGY The quality of being impressive. MELODY The quality of being agreeable to the ear. ^ESTHETIC EMOTION The quality of arousing responsive feeling by means of the beautiful, the sub- lime, the pathetic, and the humorous. TOTAL EFFECT : Unity of design and emotional expression. 170 THE READER'S BASIS VII Conclusion. This chapter sets forth the ele- ments of literary art as the basis for appreciation of a literary composition as a consistent whole. It gives the foundation knowledge required for reading the whole of a book, or shorter composition, and for judging it as a whole. Judging a literary composition consists in judging its message, its structure, and its quality, since that takes in both the thought side and the form side. This requires that the reader have the power to discover the main, underlying theme of the composi- tion, and to see everything else as embodiment. Ma- terial, structure, and quality will then be seen as means to an end, and the reader's interest will consist in noticing. the suitability of the means used for the end sought, and the skill with which every smallest detail is made to contribute to the one total impres- sion. For instance, a story which in itself is revolting, may be satisfactory to a reader if he can see that the revolting material is the best means for conveying the message. In order to see a book in this light, it may be necessary to read it twice ; first, to discover what the main theme is, arid again to enjoy the fitness of parts, or the way they contribute to the bringing out of the theme. Satisfaction with an author's material and form should depend, primarily, upon the suitabil- ity of them for bringing out the theme, and, seconda- rily, upon the interest and beauty which they have in themselves. So, although a reader may find delight in detached passages, and in bits of material, the charm of parts will lie chiefly in their significance when seen in the light of the whole, The less cultivated linger LITERARY ART 171 over details and separate parts ; the more cultivated keep the whole iirmind when judging of parts. When the reader gets an'impression of some one, great, uni- versal truth, and realizes that the writer's material, structure, and emotion contribute directly to that one impression, he has appreciated literary art, and the writer has found a reader. Reading may therefore be defined as the power to enter understandingly into an author's thought, to feel and share his emotions, and to recognize and enjoy the cleverness of the art by which he makes his thought clear and his emotion contagious. CHAPTER V COMPOSITION PRACTICE The Creative Impulse. The reader, by long practice in following the literary inventions of others, finds himself stimulated and skilled to make some in- vention of his own. Seeing how a thing is done, natural- ly makes one wish to try one's own skill, "Books are for nothing but to inspire," says Emerson, and he urges readers to be thinkers and then creators, for, he says, literary creation is "not the privilege of here and there a favorite, but the sound estate of every man." To absorb without creating is a deadening process. Read- ing is a dissipation unless the reader's mind acts vigor- ously upon what is read, shaping it into some new product which the reader in turn passes on to others. The creative impulse is the natural result of a full and active mind, and of association with creators and ob- servation of their methods. Method of Composition. The writer who con- sciously sets about the task of literary composition, in response either to the demand of the full mind for ex- pression, or to some demand from others such as the demand for a club paper, an address, or a school com- position seeks some method of procedure which has been tested by the experience of others. Method is partly individual. But the experience of other work- 172 COMPOSITION PRACTICE 173 ers is always a guide to the best method for the inex- perienced. Writing is seldom an involuntary and un- conscious process. Much good writing is done with the same conscious intention, preparation, and method with which a workman of any kind goes about his task. Of course there is no arbitrary method laid down for writers to adopt. But the testimony of authors with regard to their own methods has furnished a theory of method which applies to the process of composing any literary form. This testimony shows that literary method consists in a succession of separate steps or stages. SUBJECT. The fundamental stage is the discovery of what subject is suited to the individual author. A subject suitable in itself may not be at all suitable for a particular writer. Authorship implies the giving forth of what has already matured in the mind. Choos- ing a subject, then, consists in studying what subjects have become one's own special interests. It is a pro- cess of self-examination for the purpose of discovering what one's interests are. Great writers do not choose subjects ; they write what is uppermost in their minds. When one is merely practicing composition, and must seek a subject, one should, as nearly as possible, do the same thing that is, a subject should be found in what has for a long time been a frequent and absorbing topic of one's thought. As a consequence, the subject suitable for an individual writer is the subject most closely related to his everyday interests. The only chance a writer has for giving his writing quality, is to get a subject in the treatment of which he can expose his own personality, his own views, feelings, and information. 174 THE READER'S BASIS Any writing is read either to become acquainted with the writer his opinions, feelings, point of view, or else to become informed about something which the writer, for some reason, is peculiarly fitted to give information about. Therefore, choosing a subject for writing consists in finding out what subject has already given the writer food for his own thought what he already has opinions, feelings, or convictions about, something about which knowledge and opinion have been growing for a long time ; or else it consists in recalling some experience of his own, or a personal association with something about which he alone is best fitted to give information. THEME. The next stage is the deducing of a theme from a subject. After a writer settles upon a general subject, he next searches his mind to see what definite opinion he has developed by his association with that subject. For instance, all that one knows about music may develop the opinion that a musical education is a liberal education ; all that one knows about Oliver Cromwell may develop the opinion that despotism may be patriotism ; all that one knows about the events of the industrial or the social world may develop some opinion about the evils or the benefits of competition ; all that one knows about the history of Indiana may develop the opinion that Indiana is a suitable back- ground for historical fiction. Thus every general sub- ject may be given a turn that will adapt it to the individual writer. This opinion is the theme, but it is not ready for use until it has been reduced to a sin- gle statement, so concise and yet so comprehensive that, in the form of one sentence, it reveals the scope that will be given to the subject. To this one state- COMPOSITION PRACTICE 175 ment should be added a definition of any word or phrase that needs defining in order to make the whole theme stand distinctly outlined. This statement and accompanying definitions is the writer's theme, which carried constantly in mind, in just this form, insures the unity of the composition, and makes it possible for the writer to leave one clear and definite impression by what he writes. SCALE. The writer next considers the limitations under which he must work. If he is limited in the time he may have for preparation, and if the length of the composition is limited, he must adapt his thought to those conditions. He first takes pains to get a dis- tinct impression of the length limit. Little by little his subject takes the shape suitable to that limit that is, the number of points and the amount that can be said about each becomes apparent. In other words, he begins to see the scale upon which the subject may be treated. The length limit fixes the scale, and the writer's problem is to' discover what points will har- monize within such a space, and what must be omitted. A realization of scale is what keeps the parts of a com- position in proportion. ACCUMULATION OF MATERIAL. A definite theme and a sense of the required scale prepares one to collect material, for with these as guides no time will be lost in collecting an unnecessary amount of material, or that which will not harmonize. Even with a familiar subject the writer spends considerable time in search- ing for material, because his object is to get that which is not common, but will attract attention and interest. The search is made mainly among the stores 176 THE READER'S BASIS in his own memory and if these are inadequate he uses his own powers of observation and reason to discover new stores. Reading will be done only to set his own mind to thinking, never for the purpose of borrowing more than can be used as quotation. Talks with friends assist him in finding his own views. Everything will be done to agitate the subject thoroughly in the writer's mind. During this agitation of the subject, so many stray thoughts and bits of information come to one that memory is not trusted to retain them, and they are caught on paper in a few suggestive words. A bunch of notes is therefore the result of the time spent in agitating the subject. The search for material continues until something is found which can be used for contrast, or for showing the difference between the subject treated and something which might he confused with it ; un- til there are many interesting details and exam- ples and instances with which to illustrate points ; until some fitting allusions and quotations and com- parisons have been found ; until an appropriate anec- dote or a beautiful description has occurred to the mind ; until arguments both for and against the position of the writer have developed, in short, until the amount and kind of material is at hand, ready to use, that will detain the reader's attention until the theme has been thoroughly impressed. The question of plagiarism is an important one in connection with the gathering of material. Plagiarism is the use, without acknowledgment, of what another person has written. A writer needs to know what con- stitutes literary property in order to avoid such theft. It is the form side of composition which is the writer's COMPOSITION PRACTICE 177 property. What is called material is open to everyone, but the form which an author gives to material is his own invention. Therefore the outline plan of a compo- sition, the arrangement of ideas, and the language form, either in whole sentences or in striking phrases, is literary property which cannot be appropriated by an- other. The danger of plagiarism will be avoided if, in taking notes while reading, the reader does not allow himself to take down the language of what he reads, but only a note of the idea expressed in his own words. Ideas may be collected from any source and be made into original composition by letting them lie in the mind until the process of assimilation gives them new arrangement and association. ORGANIZING OF MATERIAL. After a sufficient amount of material has been collected in the form of rough notes, the first step towards writing is to take inven- tory of material, and sort it into groups. The inventory should result in finding from three to five main points, under one or another of which all the material collected can be grouped. The grouping of related matter under separate heads, and arranging these groups in orderly sequence, is called the organizing of material. This organization may take the form of an outline plan which will be constantly modified as the process of composition goes on, or, at the very least, the writer will know, before he starts to write, just how many points he is going to treat, and can give each point in the form of a definite statement. The process of organ- izing thought includes a consideration of these main points and the material grouped under them, to see if something needs to be added or omitted to give the 178 THE READER'S BASIS effect of completeness. The rapid flow of language, when one begins to write, depends upon the perfectly clear view that the writer has of what are to be his main points, and what material he is going to use in connection with each. THE FIRST KOUGH DRAFT. The actual writing of the composition, in the first rough draft, should be a rapid process, done if possible at one sitting, or at least without much interval of time, so that the whole can be done under the influence of one mood. It is best done under the pressure of excitement. All notes should, by this time, be banished from sight, so that the mind will be free to follow a natural course. If the writer has made himself perfectly familiar with his notes, as he should have done before he began to write, the mind may be trusted to use such of the material as will naturally harmonize, and to discard that which does not perfectly fit. In this rough draft the mind may also be trusted to reach a logical conclusion, pro- vided the writer clearly defined his theme to himself before he started, and keeps it constantly in mind. But an artistic introduction will probably not be a part of this first draft. The draft is laid away for some time the longer the better so that the writer may lose familiarity with both material and form. REVISION. Up to this time the writer should have no set intention as to what literary form he will use. The first rough draft is likely to be ''written talk" whatever form the final draft may have. When the first draft is taken out for revision, whether the form is to be changed or not, there will be a disposition to re- make to a considerable extent. What seemed to make COMPOSITION PRACTICE 179 good sense and good connection when written in the heat of first composition, may lack both when read in cool reason. So, there will probably be necessity for revision of matter, and there surely will be necessity for some correction of language form. This is the time for the final writing of what will stand as introduction. The purpose of the introduction is to catch the attention and prepare the reader gradu- ally and pleasantly for what is to follow. This is usually accomplished by taking a subject apparently remote from the main subject but so related to it that the writer can use it to make a gradual approach to his theme. For instance, Ruskin ridicules the scramble to get into what is called "good society", as intro- duction to his description of the society of books, his subject being "How and What to Read." The intro- duction must be attractive in itself. It is usually a description which creates the right setting for the theme ; an anecdote, or some form of narration, which will put the reader in the right attitude to listen further; a dialogue, or some form of conversation, that will dramatically introduce the theme ; some quotation, the explanation of which will prepare for what follows ; or some remark so pointed and striking that attention is caught by it. It is a pleasing device for giving a sense of completeness to refer in the few last lines of the com- position to the subject treated in the introduction, thus completing the circuit of thought. Revision may consist in writing an entirely new draft, or in making alterations in the first. Changes will consist in the addition of illustrative examples, in new arrangement to improve unity, sequence, tran- 180 THE READER'S BASIS sition, and climax, in change of sentence structure where the sentence falls short of expressing just the right idea, and in substitution of more precise words. Re- vision should be done in three separate processes. In the first, the mind should be upon nothing else but the general effect of the composition as a whole. In the second, attention should be wholly upon sentence form, and revision should include the reading aloud of each sentence separately to see that all parts are well placed, and that the punctuation will give the reader the right impression of parts. In the third, attention should be limited to vocabulary, including attention to the spelling of words. Revision is well done only by those who have literary ideals, and who will labor to realize them. TITLE. The title is usually decided upon after the composition is finished. The wording of it depends upon the turn which the subject finally takes a turn which cannot always be foreseen. For instance, sup- pose that a writer's purpose is to show that Indiana has beautiful scenery, and thus show the folly of the current idea that one must go outside of Indiana to enjoy natural scenery. The writer's' material is his own observations of the scenery around Pendleton. Without changing that material, he might talk of In- diana scenery in general, and use as his title "The In- diana Landscape" ; or he might talk about Pendleton itself and yet carry out his purpose, and would then use the title, "Around Pendleton"; or if that part of his purpose becomes paramount in which he shows the folly of depreciating Indiana scenery, and the climax of .the essay consists in showing that there is beauty COMPOSITION PRACTICE 181 anywhere if there is an eye to see it, then his title might be, "The Seeing Eye". In each case, the pur- pose and material remain the same, but the writer gives them a slightly different turn. The title should furnish only a hint of the subject-matter, or else it should be the exact and concise statement of what is to be found in the composition. The object of a title is either to rouse curiosity or to inform ; in either case the title must not be found to be a misleading one. PREPARATION FOR THE EYE. If a writer is to prepare, in writing, a copy of his composition for the eye of an- other, he must remember the requirements of written form. Neatness of page, legible handwriting, punctu- ation, and spelling, all contribute to the effect made by the composition as a whole, and in these things a writer reveals his personality as much as by other elements of style. CHAPTER VI MAKING ACQUAINTANCE WITH AN AUTHOR Making acquaintance with an author, like making acquaintance with any one, is a slow process, requiring perhaps years, and never accomplished without good- natured persistence and much charity. A reader will have time to become really acquainted with few au- thors, but a good reader has his few literary intimates, or perhaps only one author whom he thoroughly knows. Means for Making- Acquaintance. The means for making an author's acquaintance are about the same as those for making acquaintance with any one. In the social world, making acquaintance consists in be- coming familiar with a person's general appearance, hearing what he has to say, observing his acts, listen- ing to what people say of him, and paying no attention to those gossipy statements which are of such a nature that they cannot be verified. Making acquaintance with an author consists in becoming familiar with his portraits, listening to what he has to say in his books, learning of his acts through biographies, weighing what critics say of him, and refraining from any attempt to spy upon his personal privacy. The reading of biography and criticism is useful only when the reader remembers that he is getting somebody's personal view, and that therefore he can- 182 , MAKING A CQUAINTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 183 not rely upon any one biographer or critic, but must read as many as possible, and from their conflicting statements create for himself his own figure of the author whom he is studying. The reader depends upon biographies for seeing the author in his daily life, and judging him by his acts ; but so much depends upon what acts are given and what omitted since no biog- raphy succeeds in giving them all, and acts may be so differently interpreted and even falsely reported, that biography furnishes less assistance than is generally supposed in coming to a real acquaintance with an author. The reading of an author's own books may not lead to real acquaintance if the environment of the author differs greatly from that of the reader. In that case the reader makes no acquaintance with the author unless he is able, by means of his general knowledge, to transfer himself to the author's environment and to feel those prejudices of race, nation, period, class, and family, that made the author what he was, and which explain why he wrote what he did. Acquaintance with an author is the power to judge him correctly and sym- pathetically. Justice consists in judging him by the standards of his own time and locality, by his own aim, and by the effects he produced. This requires consid- erable general reading along with the reading of the author's works, for in choosing an author to become thoroughly acquainted with, it will be natural to take some one of such importance that his environment will greatly differ from that of the reader, and his aims and effects will be associated with the whole of a his- torical period. 184 THE READER'S BASIS Acquaintance with an author, then, may be best made by three stages of reading which, when finished, will result not only in acquaintance with some author, but in a liberal education. PREPARATORY READING. HISTORY. This includes, first, the reading of pre- ceding history in order to learn what events transpired just before the author's birth, and were the topics he heard discussed while growing to manhood ; and to learn the standards and conditions into which he was born. It includes, secondly, the reading of contem- porary history in order to learn the general line in which progress seemed to be moving during his own time, and to learn what were the needs of his time. RACE. This includes reading about the history and characteristics of the author's race in order to know the reasons for his peculiarities of temperament. BIOGRAPHY. This should not be indiscriminate reading, but limited to finding out how ancestry, local- ity, and social relations account for the author's point of view. CRITICISM. This should include just enough read- ing of the critics to learn the general aim or tendency of the author's books. THE READING OF THE AUTHOR'S WORKS. SCOPE. A study of the complete list of works, and of the tables of contents, will reveal the scope of an author's work, the relations between different books, and a unity of aim. This makes the reading of any one book more intelligent. MAKING A CQUAINTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 185 DOCTRINES. The reading of the author's books, one after another, should result in knowing the specific doctrines which are characteristic of an .author. These doctrines represent what an author stands for, and the reader should be able to state the principal ones so definitely that no injustice is done to the author by repeating them. QUOTATIONS. Acquaintance with an author should include the power to quote some representative pas- sages to illustrate the author's thought and style. TEST QUESTIONS CONCERNING AN AUTHOR'S PERSON- ALITY. Mr. Symonds suggests six questions by which a reader may test his knowledge of an author's person- ality. These questions indicate the kind of inquiry a reader should make all the time he is reading an au- thor's books, and indicate the kind of knowledge which should result from the reading. The answering of these questions is proof of a reader's acquaintance with an an author. The questions are as follows : "How far is the author's representation of human life or nature adequate to fact? "To what extent is the author in harmony with the best thoughts, the noblest emotions, and the worthiest sentiments of all time? "What kind of individuality is indicated in his work? "Does the writer show himself to be a man of nor- mal or abnormal temperament? "By right of what particular quality, moral, intel- lectual, or sensuous, does he claim attention? 186 THE READER'S BASIS "How is he related to the spirit of his age and nation, and what has he contributed to the sum of culture?" TEST QUESTIONS CONCERNING AN AUTHOR'S STYLE. The following questions indicate the kind of inquiry and observation which constitutes attention to style or art-method. Acquaintance with an author includes the power to answer these questions, which should be possible after two or three books have been read. What is the character of the diction? Attention to diction consists in noticing how the author associates words, what words are so well chosen as to give distinction to the general style, what words are used with new meanings, what words con- note, what words express the sense by their sound, and what words are melodious. What is the character of the sentence structure? Attention to sentence structure consists in noticing how words and phrases are arranged so as to make easy reading, what variety there is in sentence forms, how sentences vary in length and the reasons for it, and what sentences have a pleasant rhythm. By what means does the writer make his thoughts clear? Attention to clearness consists in noticing the order of points, or the plan, the amount of definition and illustration, the fullness of explanation, the fre- quency of reiterations, the character of the allusions, figures, or quotations, the number of connectives, the articulation of points by paragraphing or summary, and the way transitions are made. MAKING A CQUA INTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 187 How does the author make his thought impressive? Attention to impressiveness consists in notic- ing the means that are taken for expressing emotion the figures, allusions, climaxes, the short bursts of elo- quence, stories characterized by humor and pathos, and beautiful descriptions. What is the general character of the style as a whole? Attention to general character of style is a feeling for a pervading tone or atmosphere, and the naming of it by the name of some human quality, such as elegant, pretentious, showy,. gay. FINAL KESTJLT OF BEADING AN AUTHOR'S WORKS. The reading of the principal works of an author should re- sult in the discovery of the author's one great aim, and the associating of this aim with the needs of his time as discovered in preparatory reading. The author's place in the world of letters depends upon the charac- ter of his aim, its correspondence with the need of the times, and his success in achieving his aim. THE READING OF CONTEMPORARY AND SUB- SEQUENT LITERATURE. CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE. The reading of con- temporary literature is for the purpose of comparison, since acquaintance with an author must include opin- ion as to his standing among his contemporaries. This stage includes much indiscriminate reading of the crit- ics, in order to see how the author's contemporaries regarded him. SUBSEQUENT LITERATURE. The reading of subse- quent literature is for the purpose of tracing the effects 188 THE READER'S BASIS left upon succeeding generations. This is the climax of acquaintance, for it is the discovery of the author's success.' This stage includes much reading of latest criticism in order to see how opinions concerning the author have changed and continue to change. The reader is thus finally prepared to join in the never- ending argument of which any great man is a subject. Illustration of the Study of an Author. For the purpose of illustrating what constitutes an acquaint- ance with an author, the following lists are given. The student should notice, first, the points or subjects upon which he should have some information ; second, he should notice the character of the information given in the lists, and regard it as the basis on which to build further knowledge ; third, he should understand that Oarlyle is taken as an author typical of those whose thorough acquaintance it is worth while to make ; fourth, he should understand that, since Ruskin is a professed and recognized disciple of Oarlyle, that he is taken as an example of an author in whom may be studied the effects which one author produces on a later generation. By these lists the student can see the advantage of comparing two or more representa- tive authors of a certain literary age. First, it gives the student an understanding of what is meant by per- sonality to compare two authors whose aims and sur- roundings were the same, but whose methods were dif- ferent ; second, by comparing two representatives of the Victorian Age, the student will get a fair view of the main features of the age. MAKING A CQUAINTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 189 THOMAS CARLYLE 1795-1881 THE VICTORIAN AGE RACE : Scotch. NATION: British. ANCESTRY : Born of the border race in the debatable land be- tween Scotland and England, where his ancestors led a life of warfare. "Carlyle was as undaunted and res- olute in meeting the moral and spiritual lie, however high in the world's esteem, as were his fathers in con- quering their foes/' SOCIAL CLASS : Born a peasant, he became the greatest man of let- ters of his time. LOCALITIES : Ecclefechan, Scotland (Birthplace and place of burial) ; Edinburgh University ; Craigenputtoch, Scot- land (The place of the six years of seclusion) ; London Oheyne Row, Chelsea (Residence during forty-seven years, now national Oarlyle museum). LITERARY CONTEMPORARIES : Macaulay and Froude, historians ; Cardinal New- man, Gladstone, and DeQuincey, essayists ; John Stuart Mill, the political economist; Tyndall, Darwin, Hux- ley, natural scientists ; George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Thackeray, Dickens, Scott, novelists ; Wordsworth, Coleridge, Browning, Tennyson, Arnold, poets. Goethe in Germany and Emerson in America were his inti- mate friends. 190 THE READER'S BASIS PRECEDING HISTORY : The first French Revolution ; the American Revo- lution; the reigns of "the enlightened despots'' Joseph II of Austria, Catherine II of Russia, and Fred- erick the Great'of Prussia ; the Great Period of German Literature. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY : A period of revolution in social, religious, and polit- ical life, unequaled in history. Every" country of ^im- portance had recently had its insurrection, w or revolu- tion and reconstitution : there were^the wars of Napo- leon and the succeeding changes in the government of France until the fall of the Second Empire, the inde- pendence of Greece, insurrections in Belgium, Spain, and Portugal, revolutions in Italy, Austria, and Ger- many, the Crimean War, and the Civil War in the United States. In England, the new science was rev- olutionizing thought ; it was the time of the birth of democracy ; socialism was being introduced ; trades unions were developing. The agitations of the day in- cluded parliamentary reforms, the corn-law struggles, chartism, labor riots, Irish famines, and the slavery question in the West Indies. The evils of the indus- trial world were over-production and unemployment ; bhe evils of the social world were cant, insincerity, decay of true religion, and a utilitarian philosophy. A social transition was in progress, and a .'revolution in government was threatened. Thejgreat* need of the age was to discover what the great issues were ; reme- dies would naturally follow. MAKING A CQUAINTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 191 His AIM : His aim maybe stated in one word Regeneration. To this end, he made a careful estimate of his time, disclosed the roots of misgovernment, denounced idle- ness and selfish luxury, and instilled into the new democracy principles of industry, economy, and integ- rity. Government was the subject which absorbed his thought; he saw misgovernments and revolutions; and, with the aim of saving his nation from becoming such a victim as France had been, he became a profound student of history and biography. Social conditions, too, became his deep concern ; and with the aim of making a way for new and better things, he confronted the cherished beliefs and measures of his time, un- masked hollow pretense, probed social injustice, and thus became a disturbing, overturning force. His SUCCESS : In spite of the antagonism which he at first aroused, he lived to be universally revered and to receive pub- lic honors ; his books became the basis of all sincere thought about social problems ; he reversed the nation's judgment of Oliver Cromwell; and opened German lit- erature to the English. He fulfilled his aim by becom- ing a great moral force. His effects may be traced in subsequent sociology, in the novels of Reade, Kingsley, Thomas Hardy, and in the work of John Ruskin. His DOCTRINES : Warfare against inherited conditions that obstruct progress. Salvation of society through the individual, and salvation of the individual through work. 192 THE READER'S BASIS The judgment of the few wise and strong safer than popular opinions and movements. The waste of dividing men into hostile camps, parted by watch-words, banners, and tokens, which we designate by name of party, secular or religious. All social disorder and order caused by decay and renewal of belief. State-aided emigration, co-operation, and national education. The efficacy of silence. QUOTATION : "What an umpire nature is; what a greatness, composure of depth and tolerance there is in her! You take wheat to cast into the Earth's bosom ; your wheat may be mixed with chaff, chopped straw, barn- sweepings, dust, and all imaginable rubbish; no mat- ter; you cast it into the kind, just Earth; she grows the wheat, the whole rubbish she silently absorbs, shrouds it in, says nothing of the rubbish. The yellow wheat is growing there ; the good Earth is silent about all the rest, has silently turned all the rest to some benefit, too, and makes no complaint about it!" CRITICAL ESTIMATES : From an address presented to him on his eightieth birthday, by nearly all the persons of eminence in England, including Tennyson, George Eliot, Kobert Browning, and Huxley: "A whole generation has elapsed since you described for us the hero as a man of letters. We congratulate you and ourselves on the spacious fullness of years which has enabled you to sustain this rare dignity* amongst mankind in all its possible splendor and completeness." MAKING ACQUAINTANCE WITH AN AUTHOR 193 11 You shall wear the crown at the Pan-Saxon games with no competitor in sight, well earned by genius and exhaustive labor, with nations for your pupils and praisers." Emerson. "The greatest figure in modern literature." Clem- ent Shorter. "The most accurate student of the constitutional development of the British, French, and German na- tions at their most critical periods." David Nicol. CLASSIFICATION : Historian, biographer, essayist, translator. TITLES : The Censor of His Age. The Sage of Chelsea. The Modern Ezekiel. LIST OF WORKS : HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY The French Revolution. 1837. Friedrich II. of Prussia. 1858-1865 Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell, 1845 Life of Schiller. 1825. Life of John Sterling. 1851. Heroes and Hero- "Worship. 1841 Reminiscences. Edited by Froude 1881 Early Kings of Norway. 194 THE READER'S BASIS SOCIOLOGY /*Sartor Resartus. 1833 I tPast and Present. 1843 1 Latter Day Pamphlets. 1850 (Chartism. 1840 Signs of the Times. 1829 tlnaugural Address. 1866 Well Known Essays : tBurns. 1828 tOn Biography. 1832 On History. 1830 Mirabeau. 1837 Goethe. 1828 Voltaire. 1829 Scott. 1838 Richter. 1827 {Goethe's Wilhelm Meister Other German Writings MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS LETTERS f Correspondence with ( Emerson, Goethe, and Mrs. Oarlyle *Masterpieces. tPopular books. MAKING A CQUAINTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 195 JOHN RU SKIN 1819-1900 THE VICTORIAN AGE RACE : Scotch-Celt. NATION: British. ANCESTRY : His father, a lover of art, gave him an art bias ; his mother, a strict Puritan, gave him a religious bias. SOCIAL CLASS: Born in wealthy merchant class, he became pro- fessor of fine arts at Oxford, a reformer, a philanthro- pist, and a writer of books. LOCALITIES: London (Birthplace Hunter street, Brunswick Square); Oxford University; "Brantwood" on Lake Coniston in northern England (Place of death and burial). CONTEMPORARIES : His contemporaries were the same as those of Carlyle, but"Ruskin was particularly associated with two groups of people: one, the promoters, of a move- ment towards new and broader views, which was called the romantic revival, of whom Scott, Carlyle, Cole- ridge, Wordsworth, Freeman. Francis Newman, Mat- thew Arnold, and Tennyson were leading spirits ; the other, a group of artists known as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, who protested against the lifeless con- ventions of the art schools, a group of whom Rossetti, Madox Brown, Holman Hunt, and John Millais were 196 THE READER'S BASIS the founders, Kuskin the champion, and William Morris the earnest supporter. CONTEMPORARY HISTORY : His time was the same as that of Oarlyle ; the same problems challenged both . Kuskin's attention was first attracted to the conditions of his time by the prevailing bad taste and unnatural conventions. He associated bad morals with bad taste. Being a profound student of art, he believed that the principles which he had found in art and in nature were the true principles of right living, and that national life could be purified and elevated by an art revival. His AIM: His aim, like that of Oarlyle, was the regeneration of his time, but his methods were different. He an- nounced his aim as this: "To make the English nation understand that the beauty which is to be a joy forever must be a joy for all", and to get his nation interested in the following question : "What is the noblest tone and reach of life for men ; and how can the possibility be extended to the greatest numbers?" To this end he taught the people, through books and public lec- tures, to look at nature, and to have a higher sense of art, and so led up to a higher understanding of moral- ity, industry, and religion. He aimed to make this practical by attempts to secure greater freedom for the industrial class, opportunities for them to come under the influence of beauty, and opportunities to apply their sense of beauty in the mechanical arts. His SUCCESS : He effected a moral and aesthetic revolution in English thought. Ridiculed and thwarted in his MAKING A CQUAINTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 197 economic measures, his efforts were the forerunners of what has today become common. His success as a critic of painting, or as a political economist may be questioned, but there is no question of his success as a great ethical teacher, and as a master of English prose. His DOCTRINES : Art consists in fidelity to nature. 4 'Government and co-operation are in all things the Laws of Life ; anarchy and competition, the Laws of Death." The delusion of the commonly accepted theories in economics. QUOTATION : "What is chiefly needed today is to show the quantity of pleasure that may be obtained by a consistent, well- administered competence. We need examples of peo- ple who, leaving Heaven to decide whether they are to rise in the world, decide for themselves that they will be happy in it, and have resolved to seek not greater wealth, but simpler pleasures ; not higher for- tune, but deeper felicity ; making the first of posses- sions, self-possession; and honoring themselves in the harmless pride and calm pursuits of peace." CRITICAL ESTIMATE : "No man in England has in him the divine rage against iniquity, falsity, and baseness that Ruskin has, and that every man ought to have." Carlyle. Read Frederic Harrison on Ruskin in Literary Estimates. CLASSIFICATION : Essayist, prose-poet, critic, prophet. 198 LIST OF WORKS ART CRITICISM 1857 NATURAL SCIENCE THE READER'S BASIS /Art in General : Oxford Lectures on Art. 1870 The Political Economy of Art. Pleasures of England. 1885 Art of England. 1874 Val d'Arno. 1877 /tMornings in Florence. 1877 Architecture : Poetry of Architecture. 1837-1839 *Seven Lamps of Architecture. 1849 *Stones of Venice. 1851-1853 St. Mark's Rest. A history of Ven- ice. 1877 Lectures on Architecture. 1853 Painting : *Modern Painters. 1843-1860 Pre-Kaphaelitism. 1851 Elements of Drawing. 1857 Laws of Fesole. 1877 Sculpture : Aratra Pentelici. 1870 Engraving : Ariadne Morentina. 1872 Crafts : Two Paths on Art. 1859 Ethics of the Dust The laws of crys- talization. 1865. Love's Meinie. A study of birds. 1873 Proserpina. A study of flowers. 1879 Deucalion. A study of geology. 1876 The Eagle's Nest. The relation of natural science to art. 1872 SOCIOLOGY MAKING A CQUA INTANCE WITH AN A UTHOR 199 /tThe King of the Golden River. A j myth teaching self-sacrifice. 1841 \ Construction of Sheepf olds. The duty ) of pastors. 1851 ETHICS tSesame and Lilies. On the influence of books and of women. 1865 tThe Queen of the Air. The meaning of the worship of Athena, and its application to British life. 1869 *Unto This Last. Christ's parable on wages. 1860 Munera Pulveris. Benefits of labor. 1863 tOrown of Wild Olive. War, work, traffic. 1866 Time and Tide. A study of profits, fair and unfair. 1867 Fors Olavigera. Letters to working- men on the dignity of labor. 1871-78 Arrows of the Chace. Collected let- ters. 1880 Hortus Inclusus. Letters and selec- tions. 1887 MISCELLANEA f Praeterita. An autobiography. 1887 Poems. Collected in 1859 Our Fathers Have Told Us. History of Christendom, for boys and girls. 1885 *Masterpieces. tPopular books. 200 THE READER'S BASIS BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CRITICISM ON OARLYLB : Introduction to Carlyle's Essay on Burns, edited by Willard 0. Gore, published by the Macmillaii Company. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CRITICISM ON RUSKIN : Introduction to Ruskin: Essays and Letters, edited by Lois G. Hufford, published by Ginn & Company. OF THF UNIVERSITV OF 3 FOURTEEN DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED SCHOOL LIBRARt This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. DEC 2 6 1956 LD 21-100m-2,'55 (B139s22)476 General Library University of California Berkeley 'Reader^ Nov 2*12 YC177400