Stories for Older Pupils : "Ivanhoe."-Scott. "The Talisman."-Scott. 66 The Spy."-Cooper. "The Pilot."-Cooper. "Leatherstocking Tales."-Cooper. "In His Name."-E. E. Hale. "The Man Without a Country."-E. E. Hale. "Ten Times One is Ten."-E. E. Hale. "The New Crusade."-E. E. Hale. "Tom Brown at Rugby."-Hughes (parts). "The Great Stone Face."-Hawthorne. "Zenobia."-Ware. "Aurelian."-Ware. "The Odyssey." (Translation.) "The Boys' King Arthur." "Lamb's Tales From Shakespeare." "Tales From the Iliad." "The Pilgrim's Progress."-Bunyan. CHAPTER VII. INVENTION. AS many of the preceding lessons contain sug gestions for exercises in invention, little more need be said on this subject. But attempts at making up stories will be found to be good indexes of what is going on in the minds of children, and, indirectly, are sure to tell much about their intellectual and moral health. Discountenance extravagance and nonsense, and show that in order to make a good little story probabilities must be regarded; when certain conditions are taken for granted, nothing out of harmony with, or opposed to, those conditions must be made a part of the story. Example 1: "Suppose yourselves to be writing a little story to please a six-year-old child, or ten-year-old child, of your acquaintance. Having this child, with what you know of his likes and dislikes, in mind, write in simple language what you think would please him. Take your paper home and read it to him and notice his attention and what ΙΟΙ he says. Write the results on your paper and hand it to me." Example 2: A short story illustrating one of the following moral statements: (1) It is always best to speak and act the truth; (2) to be good-tempered; (3) to be neat; (4) to be prompt; (5) to be polite; (6) to be punctual; (7) to be industrious; (8) to be obedient; (9) to be kind to animals; (10) to be obliging to strangers; (11) to take care of the health. Let the story, itself, without any preaching, show what is to be illustrated. Example 3: An original fable illustrating (1) The Wisdom of Contentment; (2) the Duty of Kindness to all, even the Most Insignificant; (3) the Folly of Procrastination; (4) the Fate of the Idle; (5) the Effect of Noble Companionship; (6) the Effect of Selfishness on the Character; (7) the Value of System in Work. BEF CHAPTER VIII. PURE DESCRIPTION. EFORE giving this lesson, read aloud a short description from Scott, Irving, or Hawthorne; of a woodland scene, or of the fields, as in Irving's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow," or from some simpler writing, selecting characteristic phrases and other expressions from the piece read. Write, not these, but similar ones on the board. Choosing a subject from the familiar surroundings of the children-a field, a hillside, a bridge-ask them to describe it, giving them leave to use any of the phrases placed upon the board as they proceed in their description. A second time, read another description, select a similar object, and require a description without the help of the phrases. Again, choose a well-known hill, stream, forest, or building, and with the aid of the whole class write at the board a description of it. Require each to copy it, and, at the next lesson, to rewrite it, bettering it so far as he is able. Subjects: An Old Bridge-At Sunrise-At Sunset. : 104 A Pond. PURE DESCRIPTION. A Country or City Church. A Hill or Mountain. A Court House. A City Hall. A Country Barn. A Vegetable Garden. A Farmer at Work. A Blacksmith. A Child. My Neighbor at School. My Grandfather. A Boy I Know. My Baby Sister. NOTE I. Let early attempts of this kind be wholly from fact, not from imagination. NOTE II. See that each child writes according to some plan of his own, and arranges what he has to say clearly and in good order. NOTE III. Name a particular one of each object in the list,-one familiar to the pupils. |