,,literature ,,in ,,the ,,elementary    
,,school   ,,the ,,university ,,of      
,,chicago ,,press ,,chicago1 ,,illinois 
,agents  ,,the ,,cambridge ,,university 
,,press ,,london ,,and ,,edinburgh      
,,the ,,maruzen-,,kabushiki-,,kaisha    
,,tokyo1 ,,osaka1 ,,kyoto  ,,karl ,w4   
,,hiersemann ,,leipzig  ,,the ,,baker   
,,taylor ,,company ,,new ,,york         
,,literature ,,in ,,the ,,elementary    
,,school  ,,by ,,porter ,,lander        
,,macclintock1 ,a4,m4  ,,the            
,,university ,,of ,,chicago ,,press     
,,chicago1 ,,illinois   ,,copyright     
#aijg ,,by ,,the ,,university ,,of      
,,chicago  ,all ,rights ,reserved       
,published ,november #aijg ,second      
,impression ,october #aijh ,third       
,impression ,september #aiji ,fourth    
,impression ,november #aiaj ,fifth      
,impression ,march #aiab ,sixth         
,impression ,october #aiac ,seventh     
,impression ,november #aiad  ,composed  
and ,printed ,by ,the ,university of    
,chicago ,press ,chicago1 ,illinois1    

,u4,s4,a4     ,,to ,w4 ,d4 ,m4  ,,to ,a4
 ,c4 ,d4  ,,and ,,to ,,my ,,dear        
,,friends ,,and ,,fellow-,,students     
,,lander ,,paul ,,hilda ,,elizabeth     
,,hermann ,,josephine  ,,isabel ,,beth  
,,albert ,,irene ,,henry ,,ruth  ,,this 
,,little ,,book1 ,,the ,,outcome ,,of   
,,our ,,common ,,studies1 ,,is ,,most   
,,loyally ,,and ,,lovingly ,,dedicated  
,,preface   ,this book had its origin in
 several years of experience and        
experiment in teaching classes in       
literature in the ,laboratory ,school of
 the ,university of ,chicago1 when that 
fruitful venture in education was being 
conducted by ,professor ,john ,dewey2 in
 many years of private reading with     
children2 and in many years of lecturing
 to teachers of children4 ,indeed1 all  
the material bears the unconcealable    
marks of its origin as lectures1 it     
being extremely difficult to turn into  
decorous chapters in a book1 stuff which
 first took shape as spontaneous and    
informal lectures4  ,the central matter 

of the book was published as a series of
 articles in the ,elementary ,school    
,teacher of ,october1 ,november1 and    
,december1 #aijb1 and a synopsis of the 
whole book was printed and widely       
circulated in ,january1 #aijd4 ,these   
facts may partially account for a       
certain familiarity that many readers   
will perceive4 ,may ,i venture to hope  
that this sense of familiarity may also 
be partly accounted for by the fact that
 the views expressed are consonant with 
those arrived at independently by many  
recent students of literature and of    
children8  ,were it not a matter of mere
 justice1 this would be scarcely the    
place to mention my debt of many kinds  
to ,professor ,w4 ,d4 ,mac,clintock of  
the ,university of ,chicago2 the        
incalculable value of ,professor        
,dewey's influence and sympathy2 and the
 unforgettable stimulation of ,mrs4     
,dewey's criticism4 ,neither is it more 
than justice to express my gratitude for
 the patience of my publishers1 which   

has endured both much and long4  ,p4 ,l4
 ,m4  ,,university ,,of ,,chicago ,june1
 #aijg     ,,table ,,of ,,contents      
,,chapter                               
,,page     ,i4 ,,literature ,,in ,,the  
,,elementary ,,school                   
#a     ,,ii4 ,,the ,,services ,,we ,,may
 ,,expect ,,literature        ,,to      
,,render ,,in ,,the ,,education ,,of    
,,children                 #af    ,,iii4
 ,,the ,,kinds ,,of ,,literature ,,and  
,,the ,,elements ,,of                   
,,literature ,,serviceable ,,in ,,the   
,,elementary ,,school        #ch        
,,iv4 ,,story                           
#ee      ,v4 ,,the ,,choice ,,of        
,,stories                               
#gg     ,,vi4 ,,folk-,,tale ,,and       
,,fairy-,,story                         
#ib    ,,vii4 ,,myth ,,as ,,literature  
#aac   ,,viii4 ,,hero-,,tales ,,and     
,,romances                              
#aca     ,,ix4 ,,realistic ,,stories    
#aef      ,x4 ,,nature ,,and ,,animal   
,,stories                               

#agj     ,,xi4 ,,symbolistic ,,stories1 
,,fables1 ,,and ,,other ,,apologues     
#ahc    ,,xii4 ,,poetry                 
#aic   ,,xiii4 ,,drama                  
#bab    ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,presentation ,,of
 ,,the ,,literature                     
#bbi     ,,xv4 ,,the ,,return ,,from    
,,the ,,children                        
#bdb    ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,correlations ,,of
 ,,literature                           
#bei   ,,xvii4 ,,literature ,,out ,,of  
,,school ,,and ,,reading        ,,other 
,,than ,,literature                     
#bgg  ,,xviii4 ,a ,,course ,,in         
,,literature ,,for ,,the ,,elementary   
,,school      #bib     ,,chapter ,i     
,,literature ,,in ,,the ,,elementary    
,,school   ,according to the naively    
formal method of division of the        
old-fashioned homiletics1 the title     
itself offers a quite inevitable outline
 for the discussion in this chapter--an 
outline that takes this form3 7#a7      
literature2 7#b7 literature in the      
school2 7#c7 literature in the          

elementary school2 and while we may     
smile at the pat formality of the little
 syllabus1 we cannot resist its logic4  
,perhaps we can retain the logic while  
we disguise the formality4  ,when one   
proposes to enter for any purpose or    
from any point of view1 a large field1  
especially a field that has already been
 much explored1 he feels that he must   
hasten to define his bounds1 to stake   
out his particular claim4 ,but he makes 
a mistake if1 in his haste to do this1  
he fails to make clear his understanding
 of the location of the large field and 
his conception of its nature4 ,any new  
discussion of literature must justify   
itself at the beginning by declaring    
from what point of view it will proceed 
and in what direction it will move4     
,this seems a good place1 then1 to      
declare that this whole discussion will 
concern itself with literature as a part
 of the training of children4 ,yet this 
discussion must constantly proceed in   
the light of certain fundamental        

conclusions concerning literature in    
general1 and in its essential nature1   
and it will help us to stand upon common
 ground to state these conclusions4     
,literature1 like every other subject   
that would claim a place as a discipline
 in school1 is called upon in our day of
 re-examination and readjustment of the 
curriculum to make good its claim by    
showing that it has in its nature       
something distinctive by virtue of which
 it performs in the child's education   
some distinctive service4 ,it is true1  
that no subject of human interest is a  
quite detached island2 pursued far      
enough1 its edges blur and mingle with  
the edges of neighboring interests1 so  
that there are regions where the two are
 indistinguishable4 ,but every body of  
material has a characteristic center    
where it declares itself unmistakably4  
,however widely it radiates from this   
center1 however many or however distant 
areas it touches and mingles with upon  
its borders1 in this center it is itself

 and nothing else4 ,this becomes clear  
when we consider some of the larger     
subjects of educational discipline4     
,there is1 for example1 a well-defined  
subject1 geography1 though if one       
pursues it far1 he comes in one         
direction upon geology2 in other        
directions1 upon history or economics or
 sociology or politics4 ,or to take     
another group of subjects1 there is a   
region in which you are dealing with    
anatomy1 though on the edges of it you  
pass imperceptibly into physiology or   
general biology4  ,for several reasons  
it is especially difficult to fix the   
bounds of literature4 ,it touches the   
margins of every other human interest2  
it may reach into any of the areas about
 it for subject-matter2 it shares with  
all other subjects its means of         
expression2 it lends to all other       
subjects certain of its methods and     
devices1 when these other subjects must 
be presented effectively2 its very name 
is applied loosely and half figuratively

 to writing upon any subject1 and for   
whatever purpose produced4 ,but for all 
this1 literature1 too1 has its          
distinctive center1 where it can be     
differentiated from everything else4    
,we begin to make this differentiation  
when we say that literature is art--that
 it is one of the fine arts4 ,we set it 
apart from the other arts by the fact   
that it uses language as its medium1 and
 we set it apart from other writing by  
the fact that it uses language in the   
way art must use it--not for technical  
purposes1 not as a medium for teaching  
facts or doctrines1 not to give         
information1 but to produce artistic    
pleasure2 not to conserve use1 but to   
exhibit aesthetic beauty4  ,when one's  
mind is clear on this point1 he will not
 be confused by the fact that literature
 handles matter from other              
provinces--history for example--or by   
the fact that other kinds of writing    
borrow the devices of literature to     
beautify or otherwise make effective    

their own material4 ,when ,scott takes  
from history the figure of ,richard     
,coeur de ,lion1 it is not for the      
purpose of teaching historical fact1 but
 for the sake of putting into his       
picture a striking person and an        
effective motive4 ,when ,macaulay       
employs many figures of speech1 when he 
rounds out his periods and balances them
 carefully1 when he uses picturesque    
concrete and particular persons and     
objects rather than abstractions and    
generalizations1 all to make clear and  
vivid the information he is giving1 he  
is still writing history and not        
literature1 since he is aiming first at 
fact and not first at beauty4  ,this    
recognition of literature as art1 and   
the differentiation of it from the other
 kinds of writing1 so far from being a  
mere bit of aesthetic theory remote from
 the teacher and his child1 is the      
fundamental and essential step in the   
teacher's procedure1 because it         
constitutes at once a clue to lead him  

in his choice of material1 a guide to   
direct him in the method of using it1   
and a standard to indicate the nature of
 the result he may reasonably hope for4 
,when the teacher knows that he is to   
choose his literature as art he is freed
 from the obligation of selecting such  
things as will contain technical        
information1 historical facts1 desirable
 moral lessons1 or other utilitarian    
matter4 ,this is far from saying that in
 choosing he will be indifferent to the 
actual material details or to the moral 
atmosphere of his bit of literature4    
,the fitness or unfitness1 the beauty or
 ugliness of these will often be the    
ground of his adoption or rejection4 ,it
 does mean1 however1 that technical and 
professional details of fact and        
teaching1 matters which are always      
subsidiary and secondary in literature  
as literature1 cannot dictate his choice
 when he is choosing from the point of  
view of art4  ,the habit of regarding   
literature as art clarifies immediately 

the teacher's conception of his method  
of handling it4 ,to teach literature as 
literature is not to teach it as an     
adjunct to some other discipline2 it is 
not to teach it as reading-lessons1 or  
spelling-lessons1 nor as grammar--though
 incidentally the lessons in literature 
will have great value in all these      
directions2 it is not to teach it as    
botany1 as history1 as mythology1 as    
politics1 as naval or military tactics1 
or as ethics--though again1 by way of   
teaching it as literature1 interesting  
by-products in any of these subjects may
 accrue4  ,it is equally true that a    
clear understanding of the fact that the
 results aimed at and legitimately hoped
 for are to be of the literary1 artistic
 kind1 and not of the utilitarian or    
scientific kind1 will lighten and       
irradiate the teacher's problem and     
through him the children's task1 doing  
away with the sense of burden and       
substituting for a vague and shifting   
end1 a definite and delightful purpose4 

,to take a specific instance--it is very
 little to the purpose of literature to 
have taught a class that ,longfellow was
 an ,american poet who lived in         
,cambridge1 ,massachusetts2 and that1   
though the myth and legend of ,hiawatha 
properly belong to the ,iroquois1       
,longfellow transferred it to the       
,objibways4 ,so far as the distinctively
 literary result goes1 these facts are  
neither here nor there4 ,but the        
enjoyment of the music of the verse1 the
 loving appropriation and appreciation  
of some of the beautiful images and     
pictures1 some grasp of the large       
meaning1 the noble trend1 of the whole  
poem1 a general tuning-up of the class  
to something like unison with its       
emotion1 a better taste in the whole    
class1 and in a few members of it some  
improvement in their own powers of      
expression--these are the kind of result
 at which the teacher aims when he      
teaches literature as art4  ,the        
question of literature in the school has

 taken on a new aspect in this our      
current day1 and especially in ,american
 schools1 owing to the decidedly        
diminished place left for it in the     
modern curriculum4 ,this has come about 
most naturally in the vast enrichment of
 the course on the side of scientific   
and occupational material4 ,and         
naturally1 too1 in the process of       
turning from a purely book-education1 we
 have tended to turn also from          
literature--a field which for many      
generations has seemed to be            
inextricably shut up in books4 ,but it  
is also true that1 in a large part1 this
 turning-away from literature has been  
from literature wrongfully apprehended  
and mistakenly taught4 ,whatever be the 
explanation of the smaller place given  
to literature1 no thoughtful student of 
modern education1 no matter how firmly  
he believes in the function of          
literature1 can regret that it should   
take in the curriculum its due and      
proportionate place4 ,such a student    

knows best the follies and absurdities  
achieved by untrained and inartistic    
teachers1 in whose hands literature is  
made the center to which they attach any
 and all other matters of training2 he  
best knows the fact that literature     
leaves many of the child's powers and   
capacities untouched2 he best knows the 
danger of over-stimulating those powers 
and capacities that literature does     
develop and strengthen1 and that it is a
 misfortune for a child or a class to   
live prevailingly in an atmosphere      
distinctively literary2 and he knows    
that a few specimens chosen aright and  
taught aright produce the essentially   
literary result more surely and more    
safely than such a programme as could   
once be seen in school--a programme that
 seemed to reflect the teacher's desire 
to give the children within the grammar 
school all the reading that they ought  
reasonably to be expected to have up to 
maturity4  ,the choosing of literature  
for use in school creates immediately   

several important conditions4 ,the bit  
chosen is elevated at once into the     
dignity and isolation of a discipline1  
and is set apart from matter to be read 
once and casually1 for recreation or    
amusement1 at home or in hours of       
intellectual play1 to the single child  
or a small group of homogeneous         
children4 ,in view of the fact that the 
specimen is being chosen for use in     
class1 it must be broad and typical1    
appealing1 as it were1 to the universal 
child4 ,it must not be merely fanciful1 
freakish1 satirical1 or witty1 because1 
while there is pretty sure to be some   
child in every class who would          
appreciate its flavor1 the others would 
not1 and could not be brought to such   
appreciation4 ,it should not be too     
imaginative1 since it must make its     
appeal to a group whose experience has  
been of many kinds and degrees1 and it  
cannot count upon any uniform body of   
apperception material that has paved the
 way into a very delicate or very       

pervasive imaginative atmosphere4 ,it   
must not be too emotional1 because the  
teacher must be aware of the hysterical 
children in every class1 and because it 
is next to impossible to tune up any    
social group as large and as mixed as   
the class to anything like a high       
emotional unison or complete artistic   
like-mindedness4 ,what the class1 that  
composite child1 needs are such things  
as display the broader1 simpler aspects 
of life and art1 such as call out in    
them the simpler and more direct        
responses4  ,if one is giving a story or
 a poem a single reading1 and reading it
 merely for recreation1 he may pass so  
lightly over the details1 and may so    
handle its structure1 that its          
weaknesses and faults may not appear1 or
 may easily be lost sight of in the     
emphasis laid upon the pleasant and     
successful aspects4 ,but a bit of       
literature selected for the class must  
be worth while in every particular2 it  
is to be lingered over1 digested1       

assimilated2 it must be fitted to stand 
out in the light of searching           
criticism--and the assembled class soon 
comes to be a very acute and exacting   
critic2 it is to stand the test of      
individual question and community       
judgment4 ,if1 therefore1 it is to      
become1 as one must hope1 a part of the 
children's experience1 a contribution to
 their artistic and moral well-being2 if
 it is to be a bit of real education1 it
 must be sound in structure1 trustworthy
 in detail1 satisfactory in issue4 ,no  
matter how simple it is1 it should be   
good art1 and chosen upon the same      
critical principles that one would apply
 in choosing good literature of any     
degree of complexity4  ,while it is a   
great mistake to suppose that literature
 for children is a bit of garden ground 
to be considered apart from the general 
landscape1 it is true that there are    
certain characteristics of children     
within the elementary period1 and       
certain accepted conclusions concerning 

the nature and spirit of their other    
work1 that must be taken as guides in   
the matter of their literature4 ,it is  
not sufficient--though it cannot be too 
often said that it is necessary--that   
the literature be good2 that1 no matter 
how simple it be or how complex1 it must
 satisfy the demands of good            
criticism--however important it be that 
it be good1 it is equally important that
 it be fit4  ,one who reads the courses 
of study and lists of reading prepared  
for the elementary grades1 and examines 
the manuals for their teachers1 comes   
near concluding that the larger number  
of mistakes1 and the mistakes most      
disastrous1 lie here--in losing sight of
 the principle of fitness4 ,for in these
 formal lists1 and suggested in the     
manuals1 one may find1 first and last1  
heaped up all that various teachers have
 themselves happened to like2 all that  
critics have praised2 all whose titles  
sound as if they ought to be good2 all  
that is concerned more or less remotely 

with other things the children are      
studying2 all that a generation of      
mistaken educational logic has          
suggested2 all that a mature reader     
ought to have read in a life-time2 all  
that a blind interpretation1 both of    
childhood and of literature1 has called 
suitable--historical works1 ,american   
literature1 ,shakespeare's comedies1 the
 ,idylls of the ,king1 sentimental and  
bloodthirsty juveniles--a chaotic and   
accidental jumble4 ,out of some such    
haphazard impulse and some such failure 
to apply the law of fitness come such   
mistakes as the introduction of         
fifth-grade children into the mazes of a
 satiric social comedy like ,a          
,midsummer-,night's ,dream1 or the      
placing of first-year secondary children
 amid the bitter jests and baffling     
irony of ,the ,vicar of ,wakefield4     
,such pedagogical misfits arise out of  
sheer ignorance of the child's nature   
and its needs1 and of the plainest      
principles of literary interpretation4  

,they persist year after year because of
 the blind following of supposed        
authority1 nowhere so blind as in       
matters of literary opinion4  ,the      
preparation that should be made by the  
teacher who is to choose and teach this 
literature is1 after all1 not so very   
formidable4 ,we will leave out of the   
discussion that mystic thing called the 
teacher's gift4 ,undoubtedly there is   
such a thing2 but it descendeth upon    
whom it listeth1 enabling him to choose 
by intuition and to teach by inspiration
 the special bits of literature that    
prove to be best for the children4 ,but 
such a person is not safe1 unless he    
supplement his gift with knowledge2 his 
choice is purely personal and esoteric1 
his principles accidental and           
incommunicable4  ,what is the nature of 
the supplement such a teacher must make 
to his gift8 ,what is the training with 
which the teacher without the gift must 
fortify himself8 ,it is little more than
 one would like to have for his personal

 culture1 and little other than he is   
obliged to have for his contact with the
 children in other directions4 ,by dint 
of much reading of literature and some  
reading in good criticism he must bring 
himself to a sane view of the whole     
subject1 realizing what literature is   
and what it is not2 what it can be      
expected to accomplish in human culture1
 and what we cannot reasonably ask of   
it4 ,he must know something of its laws1
 that he may know how to judge it and   
when he has judged it aright4 ,this     
process will inevitably have refined and
 deepened his taste and broadened his   
artistic experience in every direction4 
,of course1 he will not talk to his     
children about literature as an art1    
about critical problems1 structural     
principles1 and all that2 no more will  
he1 when he is guiding his class in     
evolving for themselves food and shelter
 by way of beginning the study of       
history1 talk to them about primitive   
culture and social evolution4 ,but he is

 an ill-equipped and untrustworthy guide
 if he does not have in his own         
consciousness these large explaining    
points of view4 ,it is precisely so with
 the large fundamental principles of    
literature4 ,one gathers certainty and  
power for the choice and teaching of the
 merest folk-tale1 if he is able to see 
in it the working of the great and      
simple laws of all art4 ,and more       
specifically he must imbue himself with 
the spirit of the childlike literature4 
,he must know and love the wonderful old
 folk and fairy tales1 not regarding    
them as matter for the nursery and the  
kindergarten1 merely1 but learning to   
love them as great but simple art4 ,he  
must read the hero tales and romances   
till he knows them as a treasure house  
out of which he may draw at his need4   
,many1 many children's stories and poems
 he must read to be able to judge them  
and he must read all those artists1     
,carroll1 ,stevenson1 ,pater1 ,hauptman1
 who in ,alice1 ,the ,child's ,garden1  

,the ,child in the ,house1 ,hannele1    
have done so much to interpret for us in
 the artist's way the consciousness of  
the child4  ,in teaching literature1 as 
in all that he does for the children1 he
 will have use for all the knowledge he 
can get of childhood and children2 for  
all that he can learn of the trend of   
conclusion in psychology and educational
 philosophy2 for all knowledge he can   
acquire as to the meaning and import of 
all the other subjects of elementary    
instruction4 ,only then can he choose   
and teach literature that is fit in both
 the necessary senses--adapted to the   
children and harmonious in spirit with  
the other interests they are pursuing4  
,out of such knowledge of his material  
and his children there should grow a    
reasonably clear and consistent vision  
of the result he hopes to reach and the 
steps he must take to reach it4 ,out of 
all these elements should come the      
courage to examine fearlessly the       
traditional material4 ,better still1 out

 of this combination will come that     
faith1 enthusiasm1 and respect for his  
material1 that confidence in its        
usefulness1 that hopefulness as to its  
results1 which are desirable in a       
teacher of any subject1 but which are   
absolutely essential in the equipment of
 a teacher of literature2 because he    
must above all things radiate both light
 and warmth2 he must diffuse about his  
material and his children the breath of 
life and the glow of art4     ,,chapter 
,,ii  ,,the ,,services ,,we ,,may       
,,expect ,,literature ,,to ,,render ,,in
 ,,the ,,education ,,of ,,children   ,it
 would seem to be no part of the present
 discussion to go into the fundamental  
processes of determining and defining a 
child's needs and tastes4 ,in this      
matter we may assume and build upon the 
larger conclusions of psychology and    
educational philosophy4 ,and it is only 
the larger and more general conclusions 
that we need1 both because there is no  
doubt concerning them1 as there may be  

concerning those more detailed and      
remote1 and because when we are dealing 
with children in school1 and in class1  
we are dealing with the type-child--with
 a composite child1 as it were1 to whom 
we can apply only the larger            
conclusions4  ,everyone who helps to    
train a child must realize as a         
practical fact that he has both needs   
and tastes4 ,the emphasis wisely placed 
in our day upon enlisting a child's     
interests and tastes has tended to      
mislead the unwary and undo the         
unobservant1 so as to produce a         
blindness or an indifference as to his  
needs4 ,though1 as a matter of mere     
justice1 one must add that the blindness
 and indifference have had their        
existence chiefly in the indictments of 
those who opposed the movement when it  
was new4  ,few parents or teachers may  
now be found so benighted as to deny the
 delight and profit of letting the child
 grow in all the joy and freedom        
possible1 following his instinctive     

interests1 expressing his original      
primitive impulses4 ,but we must grant1 
however sadly1 that the modern child is 
not to be a member of a primitive       
society2 that he is living and to live  
in a complex1 advanced community1 to    
whose standards he must be1 on the      
whole1 adjusted and adapted4 ,therefore1
 his interests and activities must be   
channeled and guided2 new interests must
 be awakened2 he must be in a certain   
sense put1 while he is still a child1   
into possession of what his race has    
acquired only after many generations4   
,in literature then1 as in the other    
subjects1 we must try to do three       
things3 7#a7 allow and meet             
appropriately the child's native and    
instinctive interests and tastes2 7#b7  
cultivate and direct these2 7#c7 awaken 
in him new and missing interests and    
tastes4 ,what is there in literature    
serviceable for any or all of these     
purposes1 and is there in literature    
anything that is distinctively and      

uniquely useful in the whole process8   
,it seems only reasonable to look for   
the answers to these questions among the
 distinctive features of literature4    
,the most conspicuous and distinguishing
 fact about literature is1 of course1   
its relation to the imagination4 ,now1  
when the student of literature or any   
other art talks about the imagination1  
he must be allowed to begin1 as one may 
say1 where the psychologist leaves off1 
because1 while the psychologist as a    
scientist likes to limit his attention  
to the mind acting as imagination1 the  
literary critic must consider1 not only 
this activity of the mind1 but its      
product--a product that presents itself 
as an elaborate phenomenon4 ,this is the
 reason why the natural process of the  
literary critic seems to the student of 
psychology a beginning at the wrong end2
 because it is a beginning with an      
objective product1 and with the larger  
and more salient features of that       
product4  ,literature finds its material

 in nature1 and in human nature and     
life4 ,it has no source of supply other 
than that of every other kind of human  
thought4 ,but before this material      
becomes literature1 the imagination has 
lifted it from its place in the actual  
world and elevated it to the plane of   
art4 ,working upon this plane with this 
material1 the imagination modifies1     
transforms1 rearranges it1 making new   
combinations1 discovering unsuspected   
relations1 bringing to light hidden     
qualities1 revealing new likenesses and 
unlikenesses2 and at last returns to us 
a product that is a new creation4       
,working in its larger creative         
capacity1 the imagination constructs out
 of material which may be scattered or  
chaotic when gathered by observation1   
unified and organic wholes4  ,indeed    
this large whole1 this completed edifice
 that the art-product presents is itself
 an image1 a vision present from the    
beginning of the process of creating4   
,as the architect sees before he begins 

to build1 the plan of his house as a    
whole and measurably complete thing1 so 
the literary artist has from the        
beginning this large image1 this plan   
presenting the main features of the     
thing he is to produce4 ,this allows for
 the fact that new details are added as 
he goes on1 the plan modified or        
transformed4 ,but the artist's final    
result starts as an image4  ,this is not
 mere aesthetic prosing4 ,we must set it
 down as vitally important in the point 
of view of the teacher of literature1   
that he must look at his material as the
 product of the imagination in these    
four ways3 first1 the imagination       
presents the large image or plan2       
second1 it chooses the material2 third1 
it decorates1 purifies1 or otherwise    
modifies it2 fourth1 it organizes or    
recombines it4 ,this recombination into 
a new whole1 no matter how simple it is1
 will1 if it be art at all1 display in  
some degree the large qualities common  
to all art-form--unity1 variety1        

symmetry1 proportion1 harmony4 ,it is   
the fact that in literature you have a  
large but manageable whole got together 
under laws producing these qualities and
 making for completeness and beauty--it 
is this fact that gives to literature a 
large share of its power in cultivating 
the child's imagination4  ,now1 there is
 a very common misapprehension of this  
phrase cultivation of the imagination1  
many people taking it for granted that  
it invariably and exclusively means     
increasing the amount of a child's      
fancy1 or the number of his fancies4    
,undoubtedly this is one of the effects 
of literature1 and undoubtedly it is    
sometimes a desirable thing4 ,there are 
children born without imagination1 or so
 early crushed down by the              
commonplaceness of the adult world that 
they seem never to have a fancy--to be  
entirely without an inner life or a     
spiritual playground4 ,but the average  
child has abundant imagination1 and an  
abundance of imaginations2 while        

children of the artistic or emotional   
temperament may often be found1         
especially in the period gathering about
 the seventh year1 living in a world of 
their own creating1 moving in a maze of 
fantastic notions and combinations of   
notions1 unable to see actual things1   
and unable to report the facts of an    
observation or an experience1 because of
 the throng of purely fanciful and      
invented details that fills their       
consciousness4 ,to increase the amount  
of such a child's imaginative material  
would be a mistake2 to throttle or      
ignore his imaginative activities would 
be a mistake still more serious4  ,we   
all know the two paths1 one of which is 
likely to be followed by such a child4  
,either he drifts on1 indulging his     
dreams1 inventing unguided fancies1     
following new vagaries1 and later       
reading those loose1 wild1 and          
sentimental things into which his own   
taste guides him1 till all his mental   
processes become untrustworthy2 or he is

 taken in hand1 given fact-studies      
exclusively1 becomes ashamed of his     
fancies1 or loses interest in them      
because they bear no relation to        
anything in the actual world as he is   
learning to know it1 and finally loses  
completely his artistic imaginative     
power4  ,as an aid toward averting      
either of these disasters1 the          
imaginative child--who is the average   
child--as well as the over-fanciful one1
 needs to have developed in him some    
ability to select among his fancies1 so 
as to cling to the beautiful and useful1
 and discard the idle ones4 ,to do this1
 he must get the ability to put them    
together in some plan or system that    
satisfies both his taste and his        
judgment4 ,they are permanently         
serviceable either for work or for play 
only when they attach one to another and
 cohere into a somewhat orderly whole4  
,one is tempted to think that to put the
 children into possession of such a     
faculty or such an accomplishment is the

 most important step in elementary      
training1 because1 as a matter of       
course1 it at once radiates from the    
handling of their invented or fanciful  
material into the ordering of that which
 they gather from deliberate            
observation2 and1 as most often happens1
 the artistic imagination lends a       
helping hand to the scientific          
imagination4 ,undoubtedly the           
pleasantest way and the way that lies   
most readily open in helping the        
children to acquire and develop this    
faculty1 is the way of literature4 ,here
 it is that they see most easily and    
learn to know most thoroughly those     
complete and orderly wholes made up from
 beautiful or significant details1 with 
nothing left fragmentary or unattached4 
,of course the teacher must choose his  
bit of literature with a view to this   
effect--a lyric1 a ballad1 a story1 that
 actually does show economy of material1
 reasonable and effective arrangement of
 details1 and a satisfying issue4 ,not  

all the literature available for        
children does display these qualities4  
,compare1 for example1 ,perrault's      
,cinderella with ,grimm's version of the
 same tale4 ,the former1 whatever the   
faults of style in the ,english version 
we all know1 is so far as structure     
goes1 a little classic1 having plenty of
 fancy1 to be sure1 but exhibiting also 
perfect economy of incident1 certainty  
and delicacy in the selection and       
arrangement of details1 restraint and   
truthfulness in the outcome2 while the  
,grimm story shows the chaotic1         
unguided1 wasteful choice and           
arrangement of the mind which remains   
the victim of its own fancies4 ,the one 
is mere art-stuff1 the other is art4    
,now1 one would hasten to add that there
 are children in every class1 and it may
 be in every family--unimaginative1     
matter-of-fact1 commonplace             
children--who need to have given them1  
and to learn to enjoy1 if possible1 the 
mere vagaries and haphazard inventions2 

and it would be a pity to deprive any   
child of them in his hours of           
intellectual play4 ,but it is from his  
contact1 frequent and deep1 with the    
more artistic and ordered bits of       
literature that we may expect the child 
to find that special cultivation of the 
imagination1 the power of seeing an     
organized imaginative whole2 and out of 
this experience should grow the further 
power1 so important in this stage of his
 education--that of grasping1 and       
constructing out of his own material1   
such complete and ordered wholes4       
,another way in which the imagination   
works in literature is of peculiar      
importance1 for the children4 ,this1    
too1 is precisely one of those          
characteristics that distinguish        
literature from everything else4 ,it    
lies in the fact that1 unlike other     
kinds of writing1 literature proceeds by
 the presentation of concrete1 specific 
details1 the actual image1 or images1   
combined into a definite picture1       

elevated from the world of actuality to 
the plane of art1 or created on that    
plane out of details gathered from any  
source4 ,in proportion as we find in    
literature abstract thinking1 statement 
of general truth or plain fact1         
facsimile description or mere           
sentimentalizing1 in that proportion do 
we find it dull and inartistic4 ,the    
orange is a reddish-yellow semi-tropical
 fruit1 is a statement of fact plain and
 scientific4 ,it would be so inartistic 
as to be absurd in a line of poetry4    
,among the dark boughs the golden orange
 glows1 lifts the object into the world 
of art1 sets it in a picture1 even gives
 it to us in the round1 makes it moving 
and vital4 ,the foxglove blooms         
centripetally1 one may say as dry fact1 
but when the poet says        ,the      
fox-gloves drop from throat to top      
,a daily lesser bell1   while he conveys
 the same fact1 he does it in the terms 
of a definite single image1 a specific  
individual process1 that gives reality  

and distinction4 ,it is by virtue of    
this method of presenting its material  
that literature performs another        
valuable and definite service for the   
child4 ,this lies in increasing and     
supplementing in many directions his    
store of images4 ,of course1 even the   
ordinary child has many images1 since he
 has eyes and ears always open and      
fingers always active4 ,but the sights  
and sounds he sees are not widely       
varied1 and are rarely beautiful4 ,it is
 the extraordinary1 the occasional child
 who sees in his home many beautiful    
objects1 who often hears good music1 who
 sees in his street noble buildings1 who
 is taken to the woods1 the mountains1  
the sea1 where he may store up many     
beautiful and distinguished images to   
serve him later for inner joy and as    
material for thinking4 ,the other child 
whose experience is bounded by the      
streets1 the shops1 or the farm1 will   
find his store of images increased and  
enriched by contributions from          

literature4 ,and the fact that the      
images and pictures in literature are   
given with concreteness1 with vividness1
 with vitality in them1 not as          
abstractions nor as technical           
description1 gives them place in the    
consciousness side by side with those   
registered by the memory from actual    
experience1 and they serve the same     
purposes4  ,indeed1 the mere raising of 
a detail to the plane of art1 the       
fitting of an image or a picture into a 
poem or a story1 gives it new           
distinction and increases its value4    
,says ,fra ,lippo3        444 we're made
 so that we love      ,first when we see
 them painted things we have passed     
,perhaps a hundred times nor cared to   
see4   ,so the child1 when the details  
he knows or may know in real life are   
set in literature1 sees them surrounded 
with a halo of new beauty and value4    
,this halo1 this well-known radiance of 
art1 spreads itself over the objects    
that he sees about him1 and they1 too1  

take on a new beauty1 and so pass into  
his storehouse of images with their     
meaning and usefulness increased4       
,whatever else may be the function of   
the imagination in literature it has    
these two--that of seeing and creating  
organic wholes1 and that of presenting  
concrete images and pictures2 these two 
would entitle it to a distinctive place 
in the training of a child's            
imagination4  ,as an accompaniment1     
perhaps as a consequence1 of the        
tendency of the imagination to unify and
 harmonize its material by seeking      
always a deeper basis and a larger      
category1 and the other tendency to use 
in literature the specific detail rather
 than the generalization1 we have the   
fact of figurative thinking and speaking
 as a characteristic of this art4 ,a    
figure involves the discovery of a      
striking or essential contrast or       
contradiction between objects1 or the   
recognition of a likeness or affinity   
ranging in closeness from mere          

similarity to complete identification4  
,whichever be the process1 the result is
 the universal and typical meanings of  
literature1 its pleasing indirection of 
statement1 its enlarged outlook upon    
many other spheres1 the vista of        
suggestion and association opening in   
every direction1 the surprised1 the     
shocked or delighted recognitions1 that 
await us on every page4 ,we will pass by
 as mystical and not demonstrable the   
inviting theory that a contact with     
these contrasts and resemblances may put
 into the hands of the child a clue to  
the better arrangement of the fragments 
that compose his world1 and may help on 
in him that process of unification and  
identification which is the paramount   
human task2 we must leave out of sight  
here1 as too speculative and            
unpractical1 the enlargement and        
definition of his categories that would 
come to the child as it comes to        
everyone1 with even the most elementary 
recognition of the fundamental          

separations and unions involved in      
figures2 these we may leave aside1 while
 we take the simple and quite obvious   
aspect of the matter--that the study and
 understanding of even the commoner     
figures quicken the child's             
intelligence1 and help to develop mental
 alertness and certainty4 ,not even a   
sense of humor is so useful in his      
intellectual experience as the ability  
to understand and use figures of speech4
 ,what makes so pathetic or so appalling
 a spectacle as the person who never    
catches the transferred and ironic turns
 of expression of which even ordinary   
conversation is full8 ,the poor belated 
mind stands helpless amidst the play of 
allusion that flashes all about him1 and
 not even fear of thunder1 which is the 
most alert sensation ,emerson can       
attribute to him1 can put him into touch
 with his kind4 ,the best place to train
 a child toward quickness1 the mental   
ease and adroitness that come of a ready
 understanding and use of figure is in  

literature1 one of whose signal         
characteristics is the use of figure4   
,the appreciation of remote and delicate
 figures will1 of course1 come later in 
a student's experience than the         
elementary years1 after he has had more 
contact with life and the world and a   
much widened experience in literature4  
,but the child who has been taught to   
understand and to use any of the simpler
 figures has been helped a long way on  
the road of art and philosophy4         
,literature differs from other kinds of 
writing in its use of language1 since it
 constantly aims at beautiful and       
striking expression4 ,since it often    
seeks beautiful and delicate effects1 it
 is more often closely accurate than    
other kinds of writing2 and since it    
sometimes seeks strong1 noble effects1  
it is sometimes more vigorous than other
 writing4 ,for the same and kindred     
reasons it seeks variety of expression1 
and so displays a larger choice of      
words1 including new and rare words4    

,these facts have an immediate and      
beneficial effect upon the style and    
vocabulary of the children4 ,the fact is
 plainly obvious to anyone who has      
observed the superiority as to          
vocabulary and form of those children   
who have had much reading or who come   
from a literary family1 and has seen the
 improvement of all the children in     
these matters as they add to their      
experience in literature4 ,this         
enrichment and refinement of language   
must be reckoned among the distinctive  
services of literature4  ,literature1 in
 common with the other arts1 but unlike 
other kinds of writing1 aims at         
beauty--cares first of all for beauty4  
,one must understand the term1 of       
course1 as artistic or aesthetic beauty1
 as it has been interpreted for us from 
,plato down1 as quite other than mere   
prettiness or superficial               
attractiveness4 ,first1 in the selection
 of its subject-matter it is the        
strikingly beautiful in nature1 in      

character1 in action1 and in experience 
that it seeks out for presentation4     
,when it uses ugly or horrible material1
 it is for one of these purposes3 by way
 of bringing into stronger relief beauty
 actually presented beside it2 by way of
 implying beauty not actually presented2
 by way of producing the grotesque as a 
form of beauty2 by way of awakening fear
 or terror1 which are elements in one   
kind of beauty2 or by way of            
accomplishing some exploitation or      
reform conceived by the artist as his   
duty or his opportunity2 so that the    
artist's use of ugly material produces  
in every case some effect of beauty4    
,now the problem of the child's contact 
with beauty as the material or          
subject-matter of literature is the     
problem of his contact with it anywhere 
else4 ,we cannot too often remind       
ourselves that the material in          
literature is that of life and the      
actual world chosen out1 often freed    
from accidental and temporary qualities1

 and put into suitable setting in art4  
,it therefore makes an appeal not       
different in kind1 and in many cases not
 different in intensity1 from the appeal
 of objects perceived by the actual     
senses4 ,accepting once for all the     
conditions of the imagination1 we must  
conclude that the effect upon the       
child's taste is the same as in his     
contact with beautiful and noble objects
 under conditions of outer space4 ,and  
as1 when we adopt the psychology and    
pedagogy of ,whitman's ,there was a     
child went forth1 believing that all    
that the little traveler encounters     
becomes really and truly a part of him1 
we are eager to have him encounter the  
most beautiful sights and sounds of the 
physical world1 so we earnestly desire  
for him contact with the noble and      
beautiful objects and persons of the    
other-world of literature4  ,in the     
second place1 literature1 whether it be 
handling beautiful material or for any  
reason dealing with ugly material1 is   

always seeking beauty of form4 ,there   
are the larger matters of art-form1 such
 as unity1 harmony1 completeness1       
balance--those large beneficent elements
 of beauty which should be in the       
child's literature as in all his other  
art1 constituting the genial atmosphere 
which he breathes in without knowing it4
 ,of course1 one does not talk to him   
about them1 but there they are in his   
story1 his picture1 his song1 bringing  
their gift of certainty and repose4     
,then there are the more concrete and   
obvious details of formal beauty that   
belong distinctively to the literary    
art1 and are partly matters of          
craftsmanship--the musical effect of the
 spoken word1 prose or verse1 the choice
 word or phase1 the beautiful           
arrangement of clause or sentence4      
,certain of these elements may be       
deliberately brought to the child's     
attention1 others may not4 ,but in      
either case they help to form the whole 
atmosphere of beauty and distinction    

that surrounds a bit of good literature4
 ,and we cannot fail to believe in the  
refining and stimulating influence upon 
the child's taste of his contact with   
formal beauty in this as in the other   
arts4  ,as distinctive of literature1   
setting it apart from other kinds of    
writing1 one must note that it always   
has in it the warmth1 the fervor1 of    
emotion1 ,dowered with the scorn of     
scorn1 the love of love1 the hate of    
hate1 is the poet1 and always the glow  
of feeling lights up his line4 ,the     
foxglove blooms centripetally1 is cold  
and colorless1 however interesting it   
may be as technical fact1        ,the   
fox-gloves drop from throat to top1     
,a daily lesser bell   quivers with     
emotional associations4 ,i come to bury 
,caesar not to praise him--the caesura  
of that line is ,mark ,antony's sob1 and
 the sympathetic throb of the elementary
 class4        ,the king sits in        
,dumfermline toun      ,drinking the    
blude-red wine4   ,what strange thrill  

is this that goes down the              
eight-year-old's spine at the sound of  
these words8        ,it was an ancient  
mariner      ,and he stoppeth one of    
three4   ,the mere lines submerge us at 
once in a new atmosphere tingling with  
charmed excitement4  ,one would like to 
say with some new meaning and emphasis  
that it is precisely this emotion1      
permeating1 warming1 and coloring       
literature1 that gives it its reality1  
that establishes its hold1 that gives it
 its relation to the world--on the one  
side reflecting life on the other       
producing life4  ,but it is about this  
matter of emotion that the teacher's    
dangers and misgivings lie4 ,there are  
those who fix upon its emotional nature 
as grounds for suspicion1 if not of     
condemnation1 of literature as a means  
of discipline4 ,and we must all hasten  
to confess that this atmosphere of      
emotion is the snare of the weak teacher
 and the curse of weak literature4      
,emotion displayed or aroused           

unworthily1 or attached to inadequate or
 ignoble stimuli1 is either mere        
sentimentality or undue enthusiasm4 ,it 
should be reckoned nothing short of a   
crime to stimulate unduly a child's     
emotion1 and to awaken in him feelings  
for which his nature is not ripe4 ,but  
the policy or theory of ignoring his    
emotions1 of suppressing them1 or of    
keeping them subdued in school within   
the bounds of his mild pleasure in      
scientific observation or mathematical  
achievement1 is surely short-sighted4   
,if the day has not already come1 it is 
fast approaching when we shall see that 
education means also the calling out and
 exercising of the feelings--when we    
shall realize the dessicating influence 
of ,american school training upon the   
emotional nature of children4 ,it should
 not be difficult for any teacher who   
has studied the problems of childhood1  
and who has learned something about     
judging literature1 to choose such      
literary things as reflect and invite   

the kind and degree of feeling suitable 
for a child1 as give him legitimate     
occasion for legitimate emotion1 as     
exercise and cultivate this side of his 
nature1 effecting in him that purifying 
discharge of emotion which ,aristotle   
regarded as one of the helpful offices  
of literature4 ,it is a matter for      
rejoicing that in the atmosphere of     
feeling which surrounds literature and  
music we may counteract and balance in  
the child the hardening influence of his
 fact-studies and his general school    
discipline4  ,the mere pragmatism of the
 teaching often turned against          
literature as a discipline1 that every  
emotional state should eventuate in     
activity1 is met by the contention that 
the admiration or contempt called out by
 the record of the courageous or        
cowardly deed1 the apprehension and     
enjoyment of the musical line or the    
beautiful image1 contain their own issue
 and event4 ,they register at once a    
higher moral standard or a quickened and

 deepened taste4  ,it has already been  
said1 and it must be said again1 that it
 is by virtue of this emotional grip    
coupled with the powerful and           
ever-to-be-reckoned-with instinct for   
imitation1 that literature takes hold   
upon us1 passes into our lives1         
affecting our judgment1 our ideals1 our 
conduct4        ,we live by admiration1 
hope1 and love1      ,and even as these 
are well and wisely placed1      ,in    
dignity of being we ascend4   says      
,wordsworth2 and literature affords many
 opportunities of placing well and      
wisely these living and life-giving     
emotions4  ,this brings us at once to   
the vision of another service rendered  
the child by literature4 ,here he is as 
if he looked upon life4 ,he sees events 
worked out to the issue2 he sees people 
expressing themselves in deeds and      
words1 transforming themselves and      
others for good or bad1 calling upon him
 for approval or condemnation1 or for   
sympathy4 ,he finds here his heroes1 his

 ideals1 his models4 ,he learns manners 
without tears and morals without a      
sermon4 ,in some sense he sees life     
steadily1 and sees it whole1 so that he 
widens his social horizon to take in    
these many groups of all sorts of men2  
mentally and morally he must enlarge to 
contain the persons and events he learns
 to know4 ,it is impossible to          
overestimate the importance in a child's
 moral life1 whether we interpret this  
as a social or an individual matter1 of 
the contribution made by literature to  
his vision1 his pattern1 of society and 
of character4 ,this ability of          
literature to influence the child's     
inner life and his conduct is so real   
that it has as many dangers as          
advantages4 ,there must be no mistakes  
in selecting for him1 if he is to ascend
 in dignity of being by the steps of    
literature4 ,it must contain those      
pictures of life and conduct that are   
fit and suitable for the child to       
witness1 and possible for him to        

comprehend4 ,they must be sound to the  
core1 arousing and permanently engaging 
his genuine interest and his best       
feelings4  ,and after all1 the best     
thing we can do for a child in teaching 
him literature is to give him a         
permanent and innocent joy4 ,we all have
 our moods in which we are ready to say 
that the first unconscious1             
unpremeditated pleasure that comes of a 
bit of literature is the only result    
worth having4 ,and we who are professing
 teachers of literature have times of   
abnormal sensitiveness to the scorn of  
the dilettante critics who call us      
academical and pedagogical4 ,and though 
we know that pleasure in literature has 
its elements and its causes1 both easily
 observable1 and that taste may be      
fostered and grown by well-known        
processes1 it is always a wholesome hour
 for us when we are thrust back upon the
 fact that1 though we may have          
disciplined his imagination1 and may    
have quickened his fancy2 we may have   

awakened and strengthened his sense of  
beauty2 we may have exercised and       
cultivated his emotions2 we may have    
enlarged his outlook upon life1 and have
 provided him with social and personal  
ideals2 it is nevertheless1 better than 
all these because it includes most of   
them1 if we have opened up for our      
scholar this permanent avenue of noble  
enjoyment4  ,now1 not all these results 
will appear in all the children4 ,some  
of them the teacher will not see in any 
child of certain classes4 ,they are not 
easily ponderable and measurable--even  
less so than those of other disciplines4
 ,it is easy to know when a child can   
multiply and divide4 ,it is not easy to 
know when he is in a hopeful stage of   
literary experience4 ,but it is only in 
the direction of the results we have    
been discussing that the teacher of     
literature can always hopefully work4   
,,chapter ,,iii  ,,the ,,kinds ,,of     
,,literature ,,and ,,the ,,elements ,,of
 ,,literature ,,serviceable ,,in ,,the  

,,elementary ,,school   ,in modern      
literary study we have been placing much
 emphasis upon the kinds or species of  
literary production4 ,in the light of   
the aesthetics of our day and the newer 
psychology of art we have been learning 
much concerning the nature1 the         
function1 and one might say the habits  
of these species4 ,these studies have   
coincided in time1 most opportunely for 
the teacher of literature1 with those   
that have aimed at the establishing of  
the needs and tastes of the elementary  
and adolescent ages4 ,there is a real   
satisfaction born of the confidence one 
feels in approaching his problem of     
choosing literature for children from   
these two largest points of view--that  
of the species or fundamental kinds of  
literature on the one hand1 that of the 
child's actual needs and tastes on the  
other4 ,this method of approach seems to
 put the whole field adequately before  
his view1 and to give authority and     
certainty to his final choice4  ,as a   

matter of fact there are certain        
characteristics invariable and          
inevitable in each of the five species  
of literature--epic1 drama1 lyric1      
fiction1 essay--that tell us at once    
something of its fitness for our        
purpose4 ,the essay1 for example in its 
typical form is by its essential nature 
inappropriate4 ,the literary essay1 as  
it is actually constituted1 is in       
subject-matter too abstract and remote1 
in mood too complex and intricate1 and  
in style too allusive and evasive4 ,its 
invitation is to a region for which a   
child has neither chart nor map4 ,the   
essay rests upon old1 old               
presuppositions2 these very             
presuppositions it is that must be      
slowly and through many experiences     
built into the mental life of the child4
 ,to be sure1 there are a few bits      
called essays--such as certain of       
,lamb's more anecdotal papers1 some of  
the narrative numbers of ,the           
,spectator1 nature-studies with marked  

literary qualities like some of those of
 ,john ,burroughs--that the grades can  
understand and enjoy4 ,but these are not
 typical essays1 and they have not the  
true essay spirit4 ,this spirit1 which  
creates for itself an atmosphere hard to
 describe1 compounded as it is of       
universal knowingness1 ironic           
indirection1 delicately intellectual    
emotion1 and faintly emotional          
intellectuality--this spirit is quite   
alien to childhood4  ,and as it is      
actually constituted1 the literary      
drama1 too1 represents a life and       
presents an art-form so complex and so  
mature as to be beyond a child's grasp4 
,not until this period is closing--and  
with many children not even then--comes 
the hour of ripeness for the drama4     
,this question of the child and dramatic
 literature has so many conditions and  
modifications that it must be discussed 
at length in another chapter4 ,but it is
 evident to every sympathetic student of
 childhood that this is not the period  

to present the complex situations1 the  
difficult problems1 the over-ripe       
experiences1 that prevailingly          
constitute the material of literary     
drama4  ,the literature we do give the  
children should correspond to the stage 
of their development in matching as     
nearly as may be1 in tone and spirit    
their own activities and interests1 or  
should be calculated to arouse in them  
those interests and activities they     
ought legitimately to have4 ,it should  
be of that kind that gives a large free 
sweep of activity2 that reveals         
character and conduct in their simpler1 
open aspects2 that exhibits literary art
 phenomena in their plainer1 more       
striking varieties4 ,these qualities are
 to be found in chosen specimens of the 
three other species of literature--epic1
 fiction1 lyric4 ,of course one must    
select from each of the three those     
specimens that do exhibit the qualities 
he seeks4 ,he could not offer to        
children a developed epic in its        

entirety2 but there are many things of  
the epic kind--ballads1 hero-tales1     
fairy-sagas1 certain detachable sections
 of the great epics                     
themselves--precisely suited to them4   
,we would not introduce them into a     
mature novel1 but there are ,maerchen   
for them1 tales of conquest and         
adventure1 stories of other children's  
doings4 ,they would be lost and bored in
 the presence of the elegy or the       
sonnet2 but we may find jingles and     
songs1 and later on odes1 fit and right 
for them4  ,in the epic kind of         
literature we include not only the epic1
 but all those other poetic compositions
 whose principles of organization is    
narrative--ballad1 pastoral1 idyll1 etc4
 ,the presupposition in favor of them as
 good for the children 7and it is borne 
out by the demonstration7 lies in these 
two facts3 they are concerned with      
events and achievements1 and are        
therefore likely to be active and       
objective2 they proceed by the method of

 story--the easiest and most helpful for
 the child to follow and to grasp4 ,it  
seems necessary to say again that the   
members of the epic group must be       
scanned as narrowly with reference to   
their fitness in subject-matter and     
suitability in form as those of any     
other group4 ,there is a fallacy in the 
assumption that epic is a childlike     
thing1 the product of the childhood of  
the race4 ,this is akin to the amusing  
opinion that myth--,greek myth1 for     
example--is a childlike accumulation of 
childish inventions4 ,nay1 epic poetry1 
even those epics that seem most nearly  
folk-poetry--the ,beowulf1 for          
example--are built upon hoary           
civilizations1 each of them having      
behind it an art-tradition already old4 
,and if there is an unwarranted         
assumption in the theory that epic is   
childlike1 there is an unwarrantable    
presumption in the theory that the      
mature person outgrows it--that its     
appeal is only to a primitive and       

undeveloped taste4 ,the value to the    
child of the epic is in its objectivity 
and activity1 its large horizons and big
 spaces4 ,the taste for these things    
should survive and grow stronger1 as    
should every good taste planted and     
fostered in childhood4 ,the mature      
person but adds to his enjoyment of     
these things a deeper enjoyment as he   
grows to appreciate the finer details   
and subtler meanings hidden from the    
child4 ,the merest primary child can    
love and enjoy the heroic or amusing    
adventures of ,odysseus2 he should enjoy
 them equally when he is forty2 but by  
that time he will have added the ability
 to appreciate also the wealth of       
artistic detail1 the profound knowledge 
of human nature1 the large mental and   
religious atmosphere of the poem4 ,for  
most of this added enjoyment the child  
has and should have no intellectual     
welcome1 no space yet ready4            
,therefore1 in giving the great epics1  
the teacher must know what aspects1     

details1 and episodes to pass by or to  
pass lightly over4 ,and he must look    
carefully to the fitness of any piece of
 this kind he may consider4 ,it is not  
sufficient that it have a story4 ,for   
example ,sohrab and ,rustum is a little 
epic which fits perfectly certain       
seventh or eighth grades1 because1 in   
addition to a sufficiently good story1  
it has an atmosphere of vast spaces and 
large movements1 a wealth of broad1     
noble details2 and above all1 it handles
 and evokes a simple1 primitive emotion1
 a sorrow which is as impersonal as the 
sorrows of ,odysseus--a true epic       
sorrow4 ,in contrast1 ,enoch ,arden1    
another piece of the epic kind1 is not  
adapted to children of any age1 because 
it displays a complex domestic and      
psychic situation which no child ought  
to be called upon to realize1 while the 
emotion called for is both in kind and  
amount the sentimentality of adults4    
,even among the folk-ballads the same   
discrimination must guide us4 ,sir      

,patrick ,spens is the boy's own2 while 
the poignant pathos of ,young ,waters1  
true and piercing as it is1 is not for  
the boy to feel4  ,so1 as will be said  
many times1 but always with meaning1 we 
choose1 when we are sane1 not the novel1
 complex in plot1 involved in motive1   
overcharged in emotional atmosphere1 but
 the simple1 direct-moving romance1 the 
hero-tale1 whose subject-matter and     
method are so broad and universal as to 
fit even the child4 ,we can welcome1 for
 example1 the hearty boyishness of      
,quentin ,durward or ,kidnapped1 where  
we could not pilot our elementary class 
safe through the social and ethical     
sophistications of ,the ,heart of       
,midlothian1 nor steer them             
intelligently through the involved      
structure and difficult narrative medium
 of ,the ,master of ,ballantrae4  ,so   
with the lyric form4 ,if one's choice of
 a lyric lay between ,the splendor falls
 on castle walls and ,tears1 idle tears1
 he would renounce the complex mature   

moods1 the figures and allusions for    
which the child's experience has given  
him no preparation1 the pervading tone  
of rich melancholy of the one1 in favor 
of the buoyant objectivity and more     
obvious emotional mood of the other4    
,through all the earlier years of the   
elementary school with some classes1 and
 in some communities throughout the     
period1 the literary experience of the  
children may best be made up from       
specimens of these three species4 ,it   
may be1 however1 that certain seventh or
 eighth grades 7merely to name the older
 children7 will be found mature enough  
to profit by the study of certain of the
 more heroic literary dramas4 ,the same 
tests of objectivity and simplicity must
 be applied in selecting these4 ,we     
should choose1 for example1 the obvious1
 and boisterous fun of ,the ,comedy of  
,errors1 rather than the half-hidden    
satire of ,a ,midsummer-,night's ,dream2
 ,julius ,caesar1 since it may fitly be 
taught as a heroic tragedy2 ,macbeth1   

which1 however violent in motive and    
method1 is still direct and simple      
enough to be within the child's         
imaginative realization4  ,in most      
schools also1 we may count upon finding 
in these oldest children in the         
elementary grades some power of         
meditation1 some interest in abstract   
questions1 some appreciation of humor   
and wit1 much love of eloquence2 so that
 in this last year they may profitably  
read in class some essays4 ,to be sure1 
we will choose1 not ,montaigne1 but     
,bacon2 not ,pater1 but ,john           
,burroughs2 not ,dream ,children1 but ,a
 ,dissertation on ,roast ,pig4 ,in      
short1 we will avoid the critical and   
the mystical in essays1 and give them   
objective out-of-door essays like       
,wake-,robin1 humorous anecdotal essays 
like ,old ,china1 eloquent oratorical   
essays like ,gladstone's ,kin ,beyond   
,sea4  ,indeed1 during this seventh and 
eighth grade period begins the child's  
hour of ripeness for eloquence and      

oratory4 ,and it is wise and easy to    
meet and supply his interest with essays
 of the address variety1 which do for   
him the characteristic services         
performed by the literary essay1 at the 
same time that they satisfy his         
awakening hunger for the rolling music  
of the oratorical form1 answer to his   
dawning interest in the big world and   
great questions1 and help to build a    
bridge for him into the public speaking 
and dramatic aspects of his literary    
work that he will find1 or ought to     
find1 in the secondary school4  ,for    
want of a good term1 ,i have used1 in   
the title to this chapter1 the word     
elements to designate all the details   
that go to make up the literary work of 
art4 ,into this term we cover1 for mere 
convenience1 and to avoid cumbering     
ourselves with a tiresome and profitless
 bit of syllabus-making1 these and such 
matters3 structure1 story1 plot1        
incident1 character1 verse1 image1      
figure1 epithet1 and many other details 

used to produce the total effect of a   
bit of literature4 ,it becomes necessary
 to inquire which among these elements  
we shall expect to find serviceable for 
our purpose4 ,of course1 they are all   
valuable even for a child in the sense  
that they all contribute to the general 
effect upon his consciousness2 but      
certain of them may profitably be       
brought into high light and deliberately
 impressed upon the class2 others would 
best be left lying by for his adult     
appreciation4  ,take for example1 the   
matter of structure1 by which we mean   
the larger plan or composition by virtue
 of which the bit of art--poem or       
story--has a beginning a middle and an  
end2 by virtue of which it starts       
somewhere1 proceeds in an orderly       
manner1 and reaches a destination2 as1  
for example1 in our ever admirable ,the 
,old ,woman ,who ,found the ,sixpence1  
where you have the sixpence found1 the  
pig bought1 the obstacles on the road   
home1 the acquiescence of the cat1 the  

unraveling of the difficulties1 the safe
 return home--a most orderly            
interdependence and sequence of         
incidents2 or1 as an example of a       
different kind of structure1            
,stevenson's ,foreign ,lands3 the child 
climbing the cherry tree sees his own   
garden at his feet1 his neighbor's      
garden over the wall1 follows the white 
road to its disappearance1 traces the   
river to its vanishment1 follows it in  
his mind's eye to its fall into the     
far-away sea1 and then strays on and on 
into the other-world of his own fancy--a
 perfect vanishing perspective2 or      
examine with this matter of structure in
 mind ,tennyson's ,bugle-,song1 where   
you will find a balanced1 orderly       
composition--the horn1 the actual echo1 
the spiritual echo4  ,nothing in        
literature has a higher educational     
value than this element of orderly      
structure1 of good composition4 ,it     
should be unobtrusively present in      
practically everything the class learns1

 and should be deliberately brought to  
notice1 and should be provided for in   
everything the children produce4 ,it    
stands to reason that the story is the  
form which will most constantly and most
 easily present this element of         
structure1 and that in their study of   
stories the children can best be        
impressed with a sense of their bit of  
art as a whole made up of parts4 ,this  
aspect of story1 as well as the         
consideration of plot1 incident1 and    
character1 will receive a more extended 
treatment than can be given here1 in the
 special chapter on story4  ,as to the  
smaller elements of literature1 it is   
rather contrary to the best educational 
thinking of our day to expect the       
elementary child to show much           
appreciation of them4 ,it would be a    
mistake to place any emphasis in        
teaching him upon delicate or obscure   
phases of these elements2 though there  
will be1 naturally1 within the period a 
growing fineness of appreciation and    

quickness of perception in these        
matters4 ,among the youngest children   
the elements to be emphasized are       
chiefly those concerned with the musical
 effects of speech4 ,the teacher will do
 everything possible to develop and     
cultivate in the child a love of        
rhythm--the musical flow of language1   
whether of verse or prose4 ,in the verse
 he will try to awaken an enjoyment of  
rhyme and of meter1 of any specially    
musical collocation of words1 of        
instances of tone-color or other poetic 
harmony4 ,this cultivation of the       
child's ear for literature should go on 
through his whole school life4 ,it      
should be one of the considerations that
 weigh in choosing the material for his 
literary training even throughout his   
college experience1 in order that his   
ear for musical speech may grow ever    
more subtle1 more responsive to the     
delicate and noble cadences of poetry   
and of beautiful prose4 ,beautiful and  
musical speech is the crowning quality  

of literature1 and the final note of    
distinction in style1 and no amount of  
originality in image or figure1 no      
degree of delicate fitness in word or   
phrase1 no perfection of skill in       
logical coherence and arrangement1      
should persuade us to forgo it4  ,in a  
class of the younger children the       
teacher may hope to get attention to an 
occasional image or larger picture2 he  
may even occasionally secure some       
deliberate consideration of a figure4   
,and he may be sure1 whether their      
interest in these minor matters be      
steady and deliberate or not1 that he is
 at least helping them all the while to 
new and useful words1 and to a          
constantly improved sentence-form4  ,as 
they grow older1 and capable of more    
attention and patience1 they grow       
rapidly more able to give conscious     
consideration to literary details4 ,the 
children of fifth and sixth-grade age   
will linger over especially beautiful   
and appropriate words1 will stop to     

realize in detail the pictures1 and will
 consider figures long enough to        
appropriate them artistically4 ,the     
normal child has an interesting history 
with regard to figures of speech4       
,personification he accepts at once4    
,indeed1 it is perhaps not a figure to  
him1 but a reality1 though he seems to  
get out of it a conscious artistic joy4 
,such personification as the daffodil   
unties her yellow bonnet he can see and 
appreciate as figure4 ,metaphor is his  
native speech1 and1 so long as it       
involves no material beyond his power of
 realization1 he has no trouble with    
it--in appreciating it or in producing  
it4 ,simile is more baffling2 it is     
easier to go immediately and intuitively
 to the meaning of a metaphor than to   
carry in the mind the two expressed     
sides of the simile4 ,the younger       
children are puzzled and confused by the
 details of a ,homeric simile4 ,but     
children old enough to read ,sohrab and 
,rustum1 if they have been taught how to

 hold their minds on an artistic detail1
 are willing to stop and appreciate the 
two groups of details in each of        
,arnold's similes4 ,but no elementary   
child will make a ,homeric1 or indeed   
any simile1 except as a tour de force4  
,antithesis as a striking and obvious   
figure is easy and illuminating to      
children1 and seems to come to them     
quite spontaneously in their own        
composing4 ,the more subtle figures they
 will neither appreciate nor use within 
our period4 ,the fable as allegory and  
the more extended allegories1 even those
 complex enough to be called symbolistic
 stories1 the seventh and eighth grades 
in the average school will read and     
interpret acceptably4 ,on the whole1 we 
may expect to give most of the children 
some knowledge of the literary nature   
and function of simple figures1 and to  
awaken in them an ability to enjoy and  
understand the figurative and allusive  
atmosphere characteristic of literature4
  ,this seems to be the appropriate     

place to speak of irony1 which1 while   
not1 of course1 a figure of speech1 but 
rather a way of thinking1 does          
frequently help to produce the allusive 
and indirect tone in literature4 ,it    
must be the art-playfulness of irony    
that tempts most people1 when they write
 for children or talk with them1 to     
adopt some form of this method of       
speaking4 ,but this method of communing 
with little people is full of dangers2  
while a pervading and abiding atmosphere
 of irony is most unfair to them4 ,slow 
children are baffled and stupefied by   
it2 quick children all too soon catch   
and adopt the element of insincerity    
underlying it4 ,nevertheless1 passages  
of ironic intent1 together with         
occasional brief bits in the ironic     
manner1 are educative1 quickening the   
children artistically and               
intellectually4 ,a little girl of five  
beamed with intellectual delight and    
artistic triumph when she said to her   
mother3 ,now ,i can almost always tell  

when grown people are speaking irons4   
,concerning the whole matter of wit and 
humor in literature the same thing may  
be said that is said of irony4 ,children
 are quickened and stimulated           
intellectually by frequent calls to     
understand and appreciate passages of   
witty and humorous writing1 or by an    
occasional and short piece whose whole  
atmosphere is of this kind4 ,but from   
the point of view of their literary     
training and general appreciation of    
art1 it is better to awaken in them and 
maintain a serious appreciation of      
greatness and beauty4 ,besides1 the     
child's out-of-school experience may1 in
 many communities1 be relied upon to    
give him sufficient contact with the    
ironic and humorous forms of art1       
literary and otherwise4  ,to sum up1    
then1 may we say that it is safe to     
conclude that within the elementary     
period we will rely for the children's  
literary experience upon specimens of   
the three species--epic1 lyric1         

fiction--introducing1 in the older      
classes1 when the conditions seem to    
justify it1 a few simple and heroic     
dramas1 and perhaps a few essays1       
choosing them from those that exhibit   
the more direct kind of humor1 that are 
objective in character1 or that serve as
 an introduction to oratory and         
eloquence8  ,we may feel contented if we
 have succeeded in cultivating an       
appreciation of the musical side of     
speech--among the younger children an   
enjoyment of the obvious things of meter
 and rhyme1 reaching in the older       
children enjoyment of the rhythm of     
prose1 and many of the more subtle      
harmonies of arrangement and tone-color4
 ,we may hopefully labor to impress upon
 them a sense of structure1 an          
appreciation of composition4 ,we may    
refine and build upon their instinctive 
love of story1 until we see it taking on
 within this period the certainty of a  
cultivated taste4 ,we may develop in    
them some power to linger over epithet  

and image and figure1 thus beginning to 
build up in them a sense of             
craftsmanship1 and love of beautiful    
detail1 both of which must enter into   
one's appreciation of any art before his
 judgment is safe and his appreciation  
satisfying4 ,and the teacher who knows  
how may hope to do all these things     
joyously and unobtrusively1 so that     
literature may remain what it should    
always be--a charming and refined       
variety of play4     ,,chapter ,,iv     
,,story   ,story is1 in general1 the    
narrative of a succession of incidents  
or events4 ,it is a large1 general form 
or device1 useful1 indeed inevitable1 in
 all subjects4 ,like language itself1   
story is a universal medium1 conveying  
the facts of history1 of science1 of    
life4 ,whenever we have the steps of any
 experience arranged according to any of
 the laws of subsequence or consequence1
 we have story2 such as the story of the
 dandelion seed1 the story of the life  
of ,mary ,stuart1 the story of the      

invention of the steam engine1 the story
 of a day in the city4 ,now1 the        
narration of the events in mere         
chronological sequence is story4 ,as    
soon as they are arranged in the order  
of cause and effect--or in any other    
chosen order2 as soon as the narrative  
leads up to an end or a signal event2 as
 soon as it shows that there has been   
for any purpose a selection and ordered 
arrangement of the steps or incidents1  
we have a story4 ,the literary          
story--the story which is art--differs  
from other stories in the fact that in  
it the principle of selection and       
arrangement operates more thoroughly    
than in the others4 ,a narrative        
detailing for technical purposes the    
steps of an occurrence in nature or in  
history must follow closely either the  
sequence of time or the order of cause  
and effect2 and such a report cannot    
choose among the steps or incidents1 but
 must as a matter of mere fairness1     
suppress nothing and heighten nothing4  

,it is otherwise with the literary      
story4 ,here the incidents may be       
selected at the discretion of the author
 and arranged in whatever order may best
 serve to produce his effect2           
insignificant steps may be eliminated1  
certain steps may be elaborated and     
brought into higher light4 ,the will of 
the artist and his artistic effect      
constitute a force which may abrogate   
the laws of cause and effect1 or of     
precedence and subsequence in time4     
,the interest in story is instinctive   
and universal2 the merest string of     
incidents will attract and hold         
attention4 ,interest and attention      
naturally increase and deepen with the  
greater organization of the material4   
,it is this principle of organization   
that gives to literary stories some of  
their unique and distinctive values in  
education4 ,no method of organization   
but that of story keeps the younger     
child's attention long enough and       
closely enough to carry him undistracted

 through a large whole4 ,he cannot      
follow1 as can his elders1 the flow of  
emotion which constitutes the thread of 
continuity in a lyric2 he cannot follow 
a train of thinking through an essay2   
but he can follow the run of a narrative
 through even a long story4 ,this fact  
enables us to put him satisfactorily and
 pleasantly into the presence of a large
 organized bit of material1 in which he 
can discriminate the parts1 yet which he
 can grasp as a whole2 which he can see 
as an entity beginning somewhere1       
proceeding in order1 reaching an end4   
,the temptation to amplify the statement
 of the influence in the child's whole  
mental experience of this fostering and 
disciplining of his powers of attention 
is difficult to resist4 ,but we will    
leave it with these few words in order  
to speak of the specifically artistic   
and literary results of this matter of  
structure in the story4 ,it is a thing  
hard to insist upon as a matter of      
general theory1 because written down in 

cold black and white it seems to convey 
the impression that emphasis is placed  
upon mere colorless organization2 as if 
one obliged his children to make an     
analytical syllabus of their pleasant   
tale before he regarded it as taught4   
,but it is no such dull thing4 ,beauty  
and economy of structure lie upon the   
very surface of the best bits of        
literature1 and need but the most       
unobtrusive reinforcement from the      
teacher to work their effect of pleasure
 and discipline4 ,this pleasure is an   
artistic product which should expand and
 develop with the child's reading1      
until1 when he is a mature student1 the 
formal structure of poem or story gives 
him the same aesthetic and moral        
satisfaction that he gets from a picture
 well composed1 a monument well         
balanced4 ,it is not a fancy or a mere  
pretty theory that a good story1 taught 
as a structure1 becomes a norm1 a model1
 a clue to the child in the preservation
 of his own material1 and in the        

arrangement of it economically and      
effectively4 ,his attention is trained1 
his patience is rewarded1 his taste     
refined1 his judgment exercised and     
steadied1 his imagination guided and    
channeled by his contact with a         
complete1 beautiful1 and logical        
creation1 whose elements he can see and 
handle as he can those of the story4    
,from the point of view of the larger   
structure of the story its elements are 
the incidents4 ,this term is employed in
 this chapter rather arbitrarily to     
designate those smallest separable units
 of progress by which a story goes      
forward4 ,it does not necessarily       
designate a section of the story which  
records a happening2 the introductory   
and explanatory paragraph we call an    
incident2 a paragraph of description is 
an incident2 the separable sections of  
the story as it moves are its incidents4
 ,a new incident begins when a certain  
aspect of the action closes1 when a new 
day opens1 a new person enters1 a change

 of scene occurs1 or even a shift from  
dialogue to narration2 any of these and 
many other things may cause or signalize
 a new incident4 ,study for example1    
,grimm's ,briar-,rose1 which divides    
naturally and inevitably into ten       
separable incidents1 and which exhibits 
a beautiful and artistic organization4  
,a teacher should master this aspect of 
every story he proposes to teach4 ,he   
should know it intimately as a series of
 incidents2 for these are the things he 
can manipulate as he uses the story--in 
case he must shorten it or dramatize it1
 or otherwise modify it to suit his     
needs4 ,if he knows how to handle       
incidents1 he may often by a little     
editing eliminate superfluous matter and
 convert a loose1 overburdened1 or      
merely long story into a usable bit of  
art4  ,practically every story that has 
the length and dignity to justify its   
use for a class1 gathers its incidents  
into movements that correspond to the   
three or five acts of a drama4 ,there is

 something almost biologically necessary
 in at least three parts or movements in
 every organized narrative--,aristotle's
 obvious beginning1 middle1 and end4 ,in
 a story it is but natural that we      
should have 7#a7 a section presenting   
the people and their surroundings1 the  
circumstances which call for or dictate 
the action2 7#b7 the central event1 the 
essential adventure2 7#c7 the           
denouement1 conclusion1 reconciliation1 
adjustment1 or what not4 ,these three   
movements are beautifully distinct in   
the ,briar-,rose4 ,it helps to impress  
upon the children the structure of the  
story if in the study of it these       
movements are brought to notice--quietly
 and unobtrusively1 perhaps indicated by
 a mere pause in the telling1 or on     
occasion1 more deliberately by some     
other means4 ,the story should not be so
 handled as to make the impression that 
there are abrupt gaps between the       
movements2 rather these movements should
 be treated as essential parts of a     

larger composition4 ,in the stories of  
the dramas the children may study1 and  
in all such stories as they themselves  
dramatize1 they will inevitably see that
 these stages or movements are essential
 and vital1 dictating the organization  
of the material into acts4  ,within the 
arrangement of the story as incidents   
and movements lies a deeper kind of     
organization which exhibits many kinds  
and degrees of complexity4 ,a story may 
be a run of incidents that report mere  
activity4 ,so deep and eager is the     
hunger for story1 so unfailing is the   
primitive epic interest1 that almost    
anybody's attention may be held for a   
long while by the recital of the merely 
juxtaposed incidents that constitute    
this story of activity4 ,but there is no
 art in this2 it is mere story-stuff1   
not a story4 ,under the manipulation of 
the literary artist1 the tale-teller1 it
 takes shape1 shifts its incidents      
about1 arranges its stages and emerges a
 created and organic thing1 telling now 

of action1 not of activity4 ,it may be a
 long narrative1 or it may be a mere    
anecdote4 ,but it has a purpose and a   
plan1 and it reaches an end4 ,this      
straightforward1 single-minded tale does
 not1 however1 give complete and final  
satisfaction4 ,in the first place1 it   
does not represent life1 which never    
proceeds far by single1 uninterrupted   
threads2 events are interlinked and     
complicated1 modified and diverted in   
many directions4 ,in the second place1  
it does not satisfy the instinct of     
workmanship in the artist4 ,even the    
most primitive artist1 the very folk    
itself1 has this instinct of            
craftsmanship which expresses itself in 
the elaboration and enrichment of its   
product4 ,in story this instinct        
displays itself in the more skilful     
arrangement of the incidents1 looking   
ever to the heightening and deepening of
 effect1 in the enrichment of the       
presentation by weaving together more   
than one action into a more and more    

complex whole4 ,such increased          
elaboration1 and more conscious         
organization either in the arrangement  
of the incidents of a single action1 or 
in the interweaving of two or more      
actions1 gives the story a plot4  ,it is
 from the use of stories elaborate      
enough and developed enough to have a   
plot that genuine disciplinary value may
 be expected4 ,the merely chaotic or    
haphazard run of incidents may amuse and
 interest the children1 but it yields   
nothing of artistic training4 ,two very 
simple specimens 7useful for so many    
purposes7 will illustrate the point4    
,take the story adumbrated in ,the      
,house ,that ,jack ,built4 ,this is a   
series of incidents linked together in  
the accumulative fashion1 but proceeding
 in a straight line and stopping short  
off without issue or event4 ,compare it 
with the equally primitive accumulative 
tale of ,the ,old ,woman ,who ,found the
 ,sixpence1 from which invaluable tale  
one can exemplify all the main devices  

of successful plot-making2 the incidents
 are arranged in a charming pattern1 so 
that the action rises to a summit1      
descends to an end1 and produces an     
effect2 there is the proper proportion  
of involution 7save the mark671 of the  
making of difficulties1 stating the     
problem1 awakening our sympathies2 this 
is followed by the due process of       
resolution1 unraveling the difficulties1
 with the final restoration of the      
action to the normal level with the     
purpose of the story achieved4 ,it is   
this kind of story that adds to interest
 and amusement that additional charm of 
artistic structure which distinguishes  
literature from mere writing4  ,now1    
while it is true that a symmetrical plot
 constitutes in part the educational    
value of a story1 it is quite obvious to
 those who know both children and       
stories that intricate and elaborate    
plots should not be given to folks in   
the elementary classes4 ,a story in     
which the threads of the plot are many  

or disparate1 or one in which the       
actions must be often1 or for any long  
while1 kept separate1 confuses rather   
than trains the young children4 ,better 
for them are those stories whose plots  
are open and simple1 where the actions  
of the interlinked threads coincide as  
much as possible4 ,certain traditional  
plot devices are out of place in a story
 chosen for these children2 suspense and
 mystification1 for example1 those      
devices so dear in their myriad forms to
 the cheap and sensational novelist1 and
 so indispensable to the interest of the
 uncultivated reader1 are not desirable 
in the children's class4 ,their interest
 needs no such stimulus2 their attention
 should not be subjected to the strain1 
nor their nerves to the shock1 of a     
sustained suspense with its consequent  
surprise4 ,rather1 their story should   
move openly and directly1 depending for 
its power upon the skilful interrelation
 of its interests1 yielding the pleasure
 of recognition and sympathy1 so much   

more artistic and disciplinary than the 
pleasure of surprise4 ,for this reason  
plots of the type of ,shakespeare's     
great plots1 of the type of ,perrault's 
,cinderella1 in which the reader is in  
the confidence of the author from the   
beginning1 are to be desired for the    
little people4 ,if for any reason it    
seems well to tell to the younger       
children a long story built upon        
suspense and surprise1 it is generally  
well to let them know very soon the     
issue of affairs--the ultimate disaster 
or reconciliation--so that they may be  
free from anxiety and able to attend to 
the more real matter of the story as it 
proceeds4 ,this teaching applies to the 
younger children2 as they grow older1   
they become able to get desirable       
intellectual experience out of a good   
detective story1 or one with a fairly   
deep mystification in it1 like ,treasure
 ,island4 ,the older children1 too1 may 
profitably handle a more intricate      
plot--,ivanhoe with its four threads of 

interest and activity1 ,the ,merchant of
 ,venice with the action shifting about 
from scene to scene among its various   
groups4  ,by handling a plot as a matter
 of literary study we mean1 examining it
 from these points of view4  #a4 ,what  
are the difficulties set up8  #b4 ,by   
what devices are the difficulties       
constituted--conspiracy1 intrigue1      
disguise1 quarrel blood-feud1           
race-hatred1 etc41 etc48  #c4 ,how are  
the difficulties removed8  #d4 ,how many
 threads of interest has the plot8  #e4 
,how are they linked together or        
interwoven8  #f4 ,how logical and how   
fair is the outcome8  ,other questions  
to be considered in studying the plot   
will arise in the study of an actual    
story with an actual class4  ,of        
fundamental interest in the story are   
the persons or characters1 and it is of 
prime importance that teachers--be they 
mothers or masters--should know how to  
educate the children in this matter4    
,from one point of view--that of the    

activities of the story1 in which the   
younger children are mainly             
interested--there are two kinds of      
persons3 those who do things2 those who 
receive things1 or for whose sake1 or   
merely in whose presence1 things are    
done4 ,the former are the agents--the   
pushing1 active adventurous persons1    
who1 good or ill1 make things happen2   
the latter are often mere figures1      
important and perhaps beautiful1 put    
into the story to represent institutions
 or ideas--like the father of           
,cinderella1 who is merely an           
institutional father2 or they are       
devices for getting on with the plot1   
like the fairy godmother2 or they are   
the rewards of endeavor1 like the       
,king's daughter given in marriage in   
many a folk-tale4 ,from another point of
 view1 which regards the actors in the  
story1 not as persons1 but as           
characters1 they may be divided into two
 types2 those who are fixed1 static1    
from the beginning--who come into the   

story fully equipped1 and do not change 
at all within its limits2 those who     
change or develop under the influence of
 others and of their experiences4  ,in  
the study of characters more than in any
 other aspect of story1 we must allow   
for the growth of the children within   
the elementary period4 ,the youngest    
children are prepared to appreciate the 
activities of people1 and are interested
 in the active persons1 and by transfer 
of sympathy1 in the persons for whose   
sake the deeds are done4 ,their typical 
readiness in reading character does not 
fail them when the character has been   
transferred to literature4 ,they are    
quick to discriminate the main lines and
 the distinguishing traits of           
personality4 ,they need only a few facts
 and signs4 ,the merest nursery child   
will be found to have settled views of  
the general character of ,little ,boy   
,blue and ,jack ,horner1 built upon the 
slender but significant data of the     
rhymes4 ,but the children ,i have known 

have not1 up to the sixth grade1        
followed with much interest or profit   
any but the slightest and simplest      
character progression or modification4  
,they are satisfied that the wicked     
should become more and more wicked1 to  
their final undoing2 that the stupid    
become stupider1 to their ultimate      
extinction2 but any evolution of        
character other than this cumulative    
one1 any transformation more subtle than
 the conversion of ,cinderella's        
sisters1 or more delicate than the      
degeneration of ,struwelpeter1 finds    
them languid4  ,from these facts the    
wise teacher takes his hints and builds 
his plans4 ,he will give these younger  
children very little of what is known in
 mature classes as                      
character-study--which so easily in     
these same older classes1 degenerates   
into gossip and the merely idle or      
pernicious attributing of motives4 ,he  
will help the child1 on the whole1 to   
judge from his deeds whether a man is   

good or bad1 helpful or hindering4 ,but 
no deed is all mere activity2 back of it
 lie motives and passions1 and beyond it
 lie moral and social results4 ,there is
 a name for ,little ,boy ,blue's failure
 in duty1 and for ,jack ,horner's       
self-approval2 and these qualities have 
manifestations in forms and             
circumstances other than those of these 
two heroes4 ,to these simple            
deed-inspiring motives and passions1 and
 to their effects on the persons        
themselves1 the teacher must see that   
the children's attention is directed2 so
 that1 as he builds up stroke by stroke 
the image of his hero and model1 the    
features that he gets from literature at
 least may be supported by his judgment4
  ,of course1 as they advance the       
children awaken1 or should be awakened1 
to some of the more delicate            
discriminations of motive and action--to
 the conception of a man who is mixed   
good and bad2 and to a realization of a 
character changed under our eyes by some

 experience or by the influence of      
another person2 to some estimate of the 
farther-reaching consequences of the    
deeds we witness in our story4 ,and     
before they have finally passed out of  
the elementary grades1 we may expect    
them to be able to consider the problems
 and contradictions that lie1 for       
example1 in the character of ,shylock2  
they could see his fundamental          
passions--race-hatred1 avarice2 they    
could estimate his motives--personal    
dislike of the merchant1 revenge of his 
own wrongs and loneliness2 they could   
try to estimate the effect of his       
character and conduct on the fortunes   
and characters of the whole group1 and  
finally upon his own fortunes4 ,they    
might1 in the same general and simple   
way1 follow the spiritual struggles of  
,brutus3 his great underlying           
passions--patriotism and love of friend2
 his immediate motives to save his      
country2 the effect of his deed2 the    
telling contrasts between him and       

,cassius1 him and ,mark ,antony4  ,the  
study of character in these broader     
lines--the fundamental qualities or     
passions1 the motives that bring about  
the action1 the obvious results in      
personal and social ways of these       
actions--constitutes the utmost we      
should try to do in this direction1     
leaving for a later period1 when the    
children's social interests are         
broadened1 and when they have developed 
from within a deeper sense of moral     
experience1 the more delicate and       
difficult matters of the evolution and  
interplay of character4  ,of equal      
importance in a story with the run of   
events or plot1 and with the persons or 
characters1 is this third thing--the    
outcome or issue4 ,it is surely wise to 
follow1 for the younger children1 the   
hint given by their own tastes and by   
the primitive story-tellers1 to the     
extent of giving them prevailingly such 
stories as have a distinct and signal   
outcome1 leaving the uncertainties and  

inconclusions of a thoroughgoing realism
 for a much later period4 ,it is best1  
on the whole1 that the children see the 
issues of their story settled1 the      
actions passing on to                   
accomplishment--this for the artistic as
 well as for the moral effect of the    
tale4 ,it enables them to regard it as a
 finished whole1 having unity and       
completeness2 and it throws light on all
 the events and persons in the story1 to
 see how things come out in the end4    
,the outcome or issue can be looked at  
from one or the other1 sometimes from   
both1 of two points of view2 as a       
denouement or round-up of the particular
 story in hand2 or as a solution of a   
human problem1 a universal situation4   
,the entirely satisfying denouement of  
,the ,old ,woman ,who ,found the        
,sixpence1 the removal of her many      
difficulties1 goes no farther than      
getting her home that night2 though1 of 
course1 a mature mind of mystic         
tendencies may see in it a triumph of   

social co-operation4 ,it will be enough 
for the third grade to feel a certain   
luxurious physical well-being1 arising  
from the final safe arrival of the old  
woman and the pig that night4 ,but in   
the exquisite little novella of ,beauty 
and the ,beast the outcome of the story 
is not only a settlement of the affairs 
of the persons in whom we are           
interested1 but it is also a comment on 
life of universal application--that in a
 world where things go as they should1  
good1 gentle1 and pretty persons are    
rewarded with their hearts' desire1     
while rude1 haughty1 and cruel persons  
are either punished or left entirely out
 in the award of good things4  ,this    
sort of ending1 conclusive and          
fortunate1 the children and the         
primitive story-makers always prefer2   
any other kind of ending must be        
prepared for and defended4 ,the younger 
children will not accept tragedies2 the 
older ones accept them with difficulty4 
,death and failure are not realizable to

 them4 ,it may be true1 as ,wordsworth  
undoubtedly meant us to see in his      
little cottage-girl in ,we ,are ,seven1 
that this refusal to believe in death is
 due to some supernal truth of vision   
which we1 their elders1 seeing only by  
the light of common day1 have lost4     
,but we all know that tragedy is        
sometimes the way of life1 and often the
 way of art1 being ineradicably written 
in the events of many of the world's    
great stories4 ,it would be an ethical  
and artistic folly to substitute a      
fortunate ending in these stories--quite
 as unpardonable in the tragic folk tale
 as in ,king ,lear or in one of the     
,greek tragedies4  ,it is well to study 
with the children occasionally a tragic 
tale1 to give them that sort of artistic
 experience and to secure the exercise  
of the tender sides of sympathy and     
pity4 ,but because they are not provided
 by their experience with reasons for   
expecting and accepting tragedy they    
should be prepared for the calamity and 

led to justify and accept it--not as a  
visitation of justice1 for a true       
tragedy is never of that kind--but as a 
beautiful pathos or grief4 ,to this end 
one would choose his tragic tale among  
those which have disaster inwoven from  
the beginning1 so that the class may not
 have the shock of surprise and the     
feeling of resentment that come of an   
unexpected and avoidable catastrophe4   
,take for example1 the folk-tale of     
,little ,red ,riding-,hood1 a poor story
 for a class in any form1 but poor as a 
tragedy because there is nothing in the 
events to warn them of the tragic end4  
,to be sure there is the treacherous    
wolf1 but he is stupid and should by    
rights be defeated and outwitted2 it is 
simply preposterous1 in the code of     
childhood1 that he should triumph4 ,this
 lack of the inevitable and necessary   
element in the disaster is doubtless    
what tempted the folk themselves to     
divert it by a denouement1 possibly     
reminiscent of certain mythical         

stories--the recovery of the maiden from
 the wolf's stomach1 which by its       
improbability and grotesquerie tempts   
the skepticism of the class1 however    
young4 ,as an example of the other sort1
 consider the old ballad long ago       
adopted as a nursery tale--,the ,babes  
in the ,wood1 which carries in its very 
nature and in every incident the        
prophecy of tragedy2 so that1 however   
grievous the calamity may be1 it does   
not come upon us with the additional    
shock of surprise and the additional    
injury of unreasonableness4 ,this kind  
of story accomplishes the result of     
discharging the tender emotions without 
complicating them too deeply with anger 
and revenge4  ,but1 on the whole1 the   
stories taught the elementary class     
should be those that end conclusively   
and fortunately4 ,this principle not    
only matches and satisfies the child's  
taste1 but it is in entire consonance   
with the principles of his procedure in 
other things--it grows out of the method

 of affirmation and inclusion1 regarding
 elimination and denial as useful in a  
much later period of his education4  ,as
 to the way in which the conclusion is  
brought to pass1 there is to the child  
and to the childlike mind1 in literature
 as in life1 something eminently        
satisfying in poetic justice4 ,legal    
justice is cold and formal to them1     
except indeed in those frequent cases in
 which it is a vehicle of vengeance4    
,besides1 it seems to produce an effect 
really alien to the cause2 as in the    
penalties of the sufferers in the       
,inferno1 the inevitableness of the     
effect is obscured by the many complex  
stages that intervene between it and the
 cause4 ,logical justice--the natural1  
uninterrupted working of the forces and 
motives to a conclusion1 or to their    
absorption into a new combination--is   
both too slow and not striking enough4  
,besides1 logical justice1 working in   
its impersonal1 undiscriminating way1 is
 too likely to hurt someone in the piece

 whom we love1 or to spare somebody we  
hate4 ,in short1 your elementary class  
demands poetic justice--demands it      
strong and desires it quick4 ,now1      
poetic justice is1 on the whole1 the way
 of art1 until we come practically to   
the realistic art of our own generation4
 ,it tends to secure completeness and   
unity4 ,as a matter of fact1 in         
practically every short and completed   
story of the kind we choose for children
 the end is precipitated and adjusted by
 the operation of poetic justice4  ,one 
would be blind indeed who was unaware of
 the fact that precisely here lies one  
of the dangers of the training in       
literature4 ,it is this that tends to   
give the mind that has had too large a  
diet of literature1 or to which         
literature has been unwisely            
administered1 a distorted view of life1 
obscuring its vision with sentimentality
 and unreality4 ,to guard against these 
effects we should see to it that the    
children do not have an unduly large    

amount of literature2 and we should     
select those stories in which the       
operation of poetic justice is as little
 misleading as possible4 ,poetic justice
 may be1 and usually is1 an ideal1 an   
artistic distribution of rewards and    
punishments2 but it need not be a       
haphazard and lawless distribution4     
,there is an artistic flaw in a story in
 which the rewards go to a person who   
has not legitimately awakened our       
sympathies2 it is not safe to say that  
the reward should go to him who has     
deserved it1 for in some of the most    
acceptable children's stories sympathy  
sets aside deserving--,the ,musicians of
 ,bremen1 for example4 ,we are satisfied
 with the success of the musicians1     
because1 being innocent and persecuted1 
they have gained our sympathy1 and are  
therefore in the line for reward4 ,but  
the youngest child whom ,i have tested  
on this point disapproves the outcome of
 the folk-tale of ,lazy ,jack 7,joseph  
,jacob's ,english ,fairy ,tales71 in    

which a noodle whose stupidity has      
caused a king's daughter1 previously    
dumb1 to laugh1 and so to gain her      
voice1 is rewarded by being married to  
the restored princess4 ,it is not       
difficult to avoid those stories in     
which poetic justice is perverted       
justice4  ,and then1 in the long run1   
when we have studied many stories and   
fitted the literary stories in with     
history and the observation of life1 we 
can counteract any effect of unreality  
we may suspect1 by placing the rewards  
and punishments in their proper places  
and classes--translating them1 as it    
were1 into terms of experience4 ,the    
fairy-tale may say in effect3 ,be good  
and gentle and pretty1 and you will     
marry a prince1 or1 ,if you are mean and
 spiteful1 you will be transformed into 
a toad2 but it is not so difficult to   
convert these propositions into terms   
that have a reality for the third grade1
 so that marrying a prince and being    
turned into a toad take their places as 

typical or symbolistic rewards and      
punishments4     ,,chapter ,v  ,,the    
,,choice ,,of ,,stories   ,as a summary 
and by way of applying the facts1       
principles1 and theories discussed in   
the foregoing chapter1 let us try to    
decide what constitutes a good story to 
study with a class of children under    
thirteen years of age4 ,not to be aware 
of the critical pitfalls that yawn for  
one who would say what constitutes a    
good story for any purpose1 would be    
entirely too naive2 and they beset the  
path of him who would choose a          
fairy-tale quite as thickly as that of  
the critic of mature masterpieces4 ,but 
many of these pitfalls may be avoided if
 one narrows his path and walks         
circumspectly in it4 ,in the present    
discussion the path is narrowed by two  
considerations4  ,first1 we will leave  
out of the discussion matters of mere   
personal taste and instinctive          
feeling--that region in which           
impressionism and amateur criticism     

flourish1 confining it as closely as may
 be to those matters that yield to      
judgment1 and that are1 as nearly as    
possible1 matters of fact4 ,there is    
about every bit of literature a sphere  
in which the individual taste is sole   
arbiter4 ,one man's meat is here another
 man's poison4 ,the merest lay reader   
here makes up his mind3 ,i like it1 ,i  
like it not2 and there is no appeal from
 these judgments1 and no way of         
modifying them short of a complete      
training in criticism1 or a complete    
remaking of the reader's experience4 ,it
 is quite true that the region in which 
these differences lie may be greatly    
reduced by a knowledge of a few         
fundamental critical principles1 and by 
a mere suppression of prejudices and    
sentimentalities4 ,but in the last      
analysis there always remains a margin1 
a border of this every man's territory4 
,if the bit of literature be a story1 it
 is likely to be matters of             
character-growth1 motives of conduct1   

interplay of personal influence1 social1
 philosophical1 and ethical             
interpretation and influence1 that lie  
within this region and are subjects of  
disagreement and uncertainty4 ,here     
lies1 too1 that more or less elusive1   
but very real1 thing that belongs to    
every bit of literature--what we call   
charm4 ,this may be a matter of         
structure1 of style1 even of vocabulary1
 of persons1 of furniture1 of           
architecture or other mere              
accessories--of geography1 of the       
temperament of the reader1 a combination
 of all these or of any number of them1 
or of other things too numerous or too  
elusive to be named4 ,every good story  
has it1 or gets it as soon as a sincere 
and sympathetic reader learns how to    
read it4 ,if one should ever find a     
story which after repeated readings     
develops nothing of this most essential 
and intangible quality of charm1 let him
 not try to teach it4 ,either it is not 
a good story1 or he has no temperament  

for art4  ,but1 however interesting     
these matters may be to readers of the  
gentle guild1 and to the impressionist  
critic1 they do not carry us far upon   
our practical educational choice4 ,this 
must be guided by a study of those      
aspects and elements of story which     
yield to plain observation2 which1      
however artistic1 are yet amenable to   
judgment1 and may therefore be          
impersonally and unemotionally          
discussed--such as the structure of the 
story1 its use of incident1 its         
movement1 its plot1 its outcome1 the    
fitness of the whole for the training   
and best amusement of the children4  ,in
 the second place1 we limit and define  
our discussion1 if another reminder of  
this important fact may be allowed1 by  
the determination to discuss1 not the   
art of literature1 not all or any       
literature1 not all literature for      
children1 but such literature as it may 
be found expedient and desirable to give
 to a class of children4  #a4 ,in order 

to get it into the summary1 it having   
been sufficiently amplified in a        
previous chapter1 and being indeed1     
self-evident1 we will say again that a  
story1 good to teach in class should be 
one whose material corresponds to the   
needs and tastes of the children4 ,the  
experiences portrayed should be1 not    
necessarily those that they have had1   
but such as they can conceive and       
imaginatively appropriate1 or such as   
they might safely experience4 ,and since
 children of this age are living1 or    
ought to be encouraged to live1 active1 
achieving lives1 and are not1 or ought  
not to be1 introspective or too         
meditative2 since they know little or   
nothing of intricate social             
complications or psychic experience1 and
 we do not desire that they should1 we  
will choose their literature with these 
things in mind4 ,we may safely say that 
there should be nothing reflected in his
 story which the inquisitive child may  
not probe to the very bottom without    

coming upon knowledge too mature for    
him4 ,this must be reconciled with the  
fact that one of the valuable services  
of literature is to forestall experience
 and to supplement it4 ,the             
reconciliation is not difficult to make 
when once the teacher has grasped the   
principle of fitness and really walks in
 the light of what he may easily know   
about the nature of children4  #b4 ,the 
larger number of their stories should be
 of things happening1 of achievement1 of
 epic1 objective activity4 ,single      
children should often have a quiet1     
idyllic story to read4 ,the class should
 occasionally have such a story or poem 
to consider and should be carefully     
guided to the enjoyment of it4 ,but for 
the class in the larger amount of its   
work we will choose stories of action1  
as corresponding most nearly to the     
experience and interest of the children1
 as harmonizing most completely with the
 character of their other disciplines1  
as serving best to create an atmosphere 

of artistic rapport in any group large  
enough to compose a class1 while they   
serve equally well with other stories to
 effect those other aspects of literary 
training which we desire4  ,however1 all
 persons who choose and write stories   
for children should suspect themselves  
in regard to this matter of activity4   
,when we say that these stories should  
contain much activity and should move   
forward chiefly by the method of        
adventure1 we do not mean that there    
should be unlimited or superfluous      
activity4 ,the two marks of the         
sensational story are too much activity1
 or merely miscellaneous activity1 and  
activities unnecessarily and unnaturally
 heightened and spiced4 ,it is not      
difficult to test our stories on either 
of these points4 ,a good story has a    
central action to be accomplished2      
toward this many minor activities       
co-operate2 there should be enough of   
these to accomplish the result1 but     
there should be economy of invention and

 skill in arrangement1 so that one does 
not feel that there has been a waste of 
material nor a bid for overstimulated   
interest4 ,the danger to the child's    
culture1 artistic1 intellectual1 and    
moral1 of the ordinary juveniles lies   
just here1 the heaping-up of sensations1
 the effort to provide a thrill for     
every page1 throws the story out of     
balance1 strains the child's nerves1 and
 helps to produce a depraved taste4  #c4
 ,to bear the strain of class use the   
story should present a sound and        
beautiful organization4 ,this plea for a
 good and trustworthy structure should  
not be mistaken for a plea for a formal 
and artificial use of a story4 ,it is   
rather an appeal for the use of the     
logical and rational side of            
literature--an urgency that we bring    
into the training of the children the   
plain and fundamental matters of        
art-form that the story exhibits1 at the
 same time that we get out of it the    
intellectual value it has for the class4

 ,if it be a short story1 it should go  
to its climax by a direct and logical   
path1 and close when its effect is      
produced4 ,if it be a longer story1 it  
should have that arrangement of details 
and parts that corresponds to the       
movements of the action1 and that serves
 to get the material before us in the   
most effective and economical way4      
,stories that are elaborate enough to   
have a genuine plot are desirable for   
all classes except perhaps the very     
youngest4 ,it is not necessary to say   
again1 except by way of an item in the  
summary1 that the plot should be simple 
and easy to see through1 containing very
 little of the element of suspense1 and 
only a legitimate amount of the element 
of surprise4 ,some more elaborate plots1
 with more mystification in them1 are   
intellectually stimulating to the oldest
 grades1 and create an interest of      
curiosity4 ,but all teachers should     
learn to regard this stimulus as a mere 
by-product of literary study1 and this  

curiosity as a merely adventitious ally4
  #d4 ,clearly connected with the matter
 of good and sufficient structure is    
that of economy of incident4 ,a story   
which displays a profusion of details   
may be interesting1 and under certain   
circumstances valuable1 to a child4 ,but
 for the class that is a better story   
which uses just those incidents         
essential to the production of its      
effect4 ,compare our old friend1        
,perrault's ,cinderella1 in this matter 
with ,grimm's4 ,it needs but two nights 
at the ball--one when the maiden        
remembers the godmother's injunction1   
and one when she forgets it4 ,grimm's   
version gives us three nights1 and fills
 the story with all manner of irrelevant
 details1 which indicate1 indeed1 the   
prodigal wealth of the folk-mind and the
 unbounded interest of the              
folk-audience2 but they show no         
superintendence of the folk-artist4  ,of
 course1 when one is judging a story    
from this point of view1 he must take   

into account the effect to be produced  
before he pronounces as to the          
sufficiency or superfluity of the       
incidents4 ,there must always be enough 
to be convincing1 to give to the story  
the atmosphere of verisimilitude1 and to
 justify and reward our interest in the 
affairs of the persons4 ,in ,andersen's 
,the ,ugly ,duckling he needs to produce
 the effect of lapse of time1 the       
experience of many vicissitudes1 and the
 repeated refusals of the world to      
receive his genius2 every incident then1
 though it may to some extent reproduce 
a previous one1 is valuable as          
contributing to the effect4  #e4 ,as a  
part of the artistic economy of the     
story1 it should have a close           
unity--closer than we would demand of a 
story read to our children at home1 and 
closer than we should demand for an     
adult novel4 ,the threads of the action 
should be so closely related and        
interlinked that they are practically   
all in action all the time4 ,this is    

particularly true for the younger       
children4 ,it may not be too great a tax
 upon the patience and attention of the 
older children to leave the hero in     
imminent danger on his desert island1   
while we return for several chapters to 
the heroine in the crypts of the wicked 
duke's castle2 but the little ones      
should not be asked to endure it4  ,the 
action should be all rounded up within  
the one design and stop at the artistic 
stopping-place4 ,to appreciate this     
aspect of unity1 read ,grimm's          
,briar-,rose--that wonderful little     
masterpiece of structure--in comparison 
with ,perrault's ,the ,sleeping ,beauty 
in the ,wood1 which trails after it the 
ugly and inorganic episode of the ogre  
mother-in-law4 ,even in the cycles of   
stories the separate episodes should    
display these qualities of unity4  #f4  
,when we choose our standard            
class-story1 we will have in mind other 
aspects of the principle of economy1 or 
of due artistic measure4 ,in such a     

story there should not be an undue      
appeal to any one emotion4 ,too much    
horror or disgust will undo the very    
effect one desires to produce4 ,such a  
story as ,the ,dog of ,flanders1 for    
example1 affords a sort of emotional    
spree of pity and pathos through which  
the steadier members of a class refuse  
to go1 and which the more emotional     
members do not need4 ,especially should 
there not be any unnecessary profusion  
of magic1 of supernatural agencies1 of  
daring and danger4 ,this brings us to   
the difficult point of the degree or    
kind of unlikelihood one may risk in    
such a story4 ,when one is reading to   
the single child1 or to a few children1 
or if one is a real dramatic genius1    
this unlikelihood is not so important a 
matter1 because it is not difficult     
under either of those conditions to     
create an atmosphere of artistic faith  
in which any story goes4 ,but in a big  
class1 with the ordinary teacher it is  
difficult2 some inquisitive or skeptical

 minds will call for proof or detailed  
statement1 and quite destroy the rapport
 demanded for the perfect appreciation  
of the story4 ,in a class ,i once knew  
such a skeptic1 who was indeed a mere   
scientific realist1 brought the         
otherwise enraptured class violently to 
earth during the reading of the passage 
of ,odysseus between the whirlpool and  
the cliff1 by the sardonic suggestion   
that ,scylla must have had a            
rubber-neck4 ,when it can be avoided1 do
 not tempt your skeptic or your cynic by
 the kind or degree of unlikelihood     
liable to excite his protest4  #g4 ,the 
story should be serious4 ,this does not 
preclude humorous and comic stuff4 ,but 
the funny things should be sincerely    
funny1 as contra-distinguished from     
those things that are ostentatiously    
childlike1 elaborately accommodated to  
the infant mind1 ironical1 or           
sentimental1 and the teacher must so    
know his story1 and so honor it and his 
children1 that he can render it to them 

whether it be an improbable adventure of
 ,odysseus1 or the merest horse-play of 
a folk-droll1 sincerely and cordially4  
#h4 ,in the earlier typical years of the
 elementary school1 through the sixth   
grade 7twelve-year-old children7 at     
least1 the persons of the story should  
be those who do things rather than those
 who become something else4 ,they should
 display the striking1 permanent        
qualities rather than the elusive1      
evolving qualities2 they should act from
 simple and strong motives1 not from    
obscure and complex ones4 ,only in the  
latest years1 if at all within the      
period1 should the class be asked to    
consider more intricate types1 more     
subjective qualities1 and more mixed    
motives4 ,no mistake is likely to be    
made in this matter1 if the stories and 
plays are well chosen from the point of 
view of fitness in other respects4      
,every teacher who is conscientious and 
informed1 will realize that these       
persons in the stories contribute their 

quota--and a very large one--to that    
copy1 that ideal self1 that broods over 
every child's inner life1 inviting him  
on1 giving him courage and hope1 reproof
 and praise1 leading him to whatever he 
attains of social and personal morality4
 ,and every such teacher can help the   
children to build into their ideals the 
permanent and valuable qualities of     
these persons of their story4  #i4 ,the 
story should be ethically sound4 ,on    
this point one would like to make       
discriminating statements4 ,one does not
 teach literature in order to teach     
morals and he cannot ask that his       
fairy-tale should turn out a sermon1 or 
that his hero-tale deliberately         
inculcate this or that virtue4 ,indeed1 
literature may be completely unmoral1   
and still safely serve the purposes of  
amusement and of distinctively literary 
training--as witness the nursery rhymes1
 the ,garden of ,verses1 ,alice in      
,wonderland4 ,but if it be immoral1 it  
is also artistically unsound1 and does  

not yield satisfactory literary results4
 ,no teacher is in danger of teaching a 
story which depicts the attractions of  
vice or glorifies some roguish hero4    
,but let him beware also of those less  
obvious immoralities1 where the success 
of a story turns upon some piece of     
unjustifiable trickery or disobedience1 
or irreverence1 or some more serious    
immorality1 which thus has placed upon  
it the weight of approval4 ,in the      
chapbook tale of ,jack and the          
,bean-,stalk1 to take a chance example1 
the hero's successful adventures hinge  
upon a piece of folly and disobedience2 
the kindergartenized version of ,the    
,three ,bears excuses an unpardonable   
breach of manners4 ,the pivotal issue1  
the central spring of a story must be   
ethically strong1 so as to bear the     
closest inspection and to justify itself
 in the fierce light of class           
discussion4  ,of course1 one should be  
cautious here1 so as not to seem merely 
puritanical or ,pecksniffian4 ,subtlety 

is the savage virtue2 along with        
horse-play it is the child's substitute 
for both wit and humor4 ,the wiles and  
devices of ,odysseus only endear him the
 more to his sympathetic                
child-followers1 as they did to ,pallas 
,athene herself4 ,we cannot give to the 
classes the things best for them in     
other ways1 and exclude all tales in    
which wiliness or subtlety constitutes  
the method1 if not the motive4 ,but we  
can do this3 we can see to it that the  
trick tends to the securing of final    
justice1 and we can discriminate between
 mere deceitful trickiness and that     
subtlety which is1 as in the case of    
,odysseus1 quickness of wit or steady   
intellectual dominance4 ,and we must    
make many allowances1 setting ourselves 
free in the child's moral world as it   
really is to him1 by constant           
imaginative sympathy4 ,according to the 
nursery code there is no harm in playing
 a trick upon a giant2 by very virtue of
 being a giant1 with the advantage of   

size on his side1 and more than likely  
stupid besides1 he is fair game for any 
nimble-witted hero4 ,the children and   
their heroes use the deliciously frank  
and entirely satisfying argument of the 
fisherman who freed the monstrous       
,afreet from the bottle3 ,this is an    
,afreet1 and ,i am a man1 and ,allah has
 given me sound reason4 ,therefore ,i   
will now plot his destruction4 ,the     
butcher and the hen-wife1 hereditary    
villains of the folk-tales1 are such    
unpitied victims4 ,the misfortunes of   
,kluge ,else1 of ,hans in ,luck1 and of 
the countless other noodles1 are but the
 proper fruit of their folly4 ,every    
child will instinctively--and indeed    
ultimately--justify the legal quibble by
 which ,portia defeats ,shylock1 as but 
the just visitation upon his cunningly  
devised cruelty4 ,let it be a clear case
 of the biter bitten1 and of the        
injustice or stupidity of the original  
biter1 and one need not fear the        
result--certainly not the artistic      

result--upon the sensible child or upon 
the average class--the average class    
being1 in the end1 always a sensible    
child4  ,at the same time one hastens to
 say that to use a large number of such 
stories would place the children in an  
atmosphere of trickery and petty        
scheming which would be most            
undesirable4 ,i have read with a group  
of children where the presence of one   
incurably slippery member so poisoned   
the air that it would have been unwise  
to study even one story in which success
 was achieved by the use of a trick or a
 bit of subtlety4  ,let your stories be 
ethically sound1 even the stratagems and
 wiles making for justice1 and the right
 sort of mercy4  #aj4 ,it is best1 on   
the whole1 that the stories given in    
class have a satisfying and conclusive  
ending of the romantic sort4 ,it should1
 of course1 be the ending for which the 
events have paved the way1 and the      
ending which the children1 in view of   
the direction in which their sympathies 

have been enlisted1 will feel to be     
just4 ,when a tragic ending is          
inevitable1 it should1 in the case of   
the younger children1 be provided for   
and justified4 ,all things considered1  
it is better1 emotionally and           
artistically1 for these younger children
 to consider in class those stories     
which have a fortunate ending1          
displaying the working of poetic        
justice1 leaving for the older groups   
the tragedies1 and the logical justice  
of a convinced realism4     ,,chapter   
,,vi  ,,folk-,,tale ,,and               
,,fairy-,,story   ,whatever may be our  
attitude toward the culture-epoch theory
 of a child's training and experience1  
or however much we may vary in our      
conscious or unconscious application of 
it1 no observer of children will have   
failed to notice that in the three or   
four years lying about the seventh1 they
 have their characteristic hour of      
social and psychic ripeness for         
fairy-tales4 ,upon this point the       

philosophical deductions of the         
technical pedagogues coincide perfectly 
with the intuitive wisdom of all the    
generations of mothers and nurses4 ,the 
imaginative activity of the six- or     
seven-year-old person coming to school  
out of the environment of the average   
modern home is practically on the same  
level1 and follows the same processes1  
as that of the folk who produced the    
golden core of folk-tales--not primitive
 savage fragments of legend1 not        
developed artistic romance1 but complete
 little tales1 simple and sincere1      
molded into acceptable form by          
generations of use4 ,the vision of the  
world physical and social that these    
tales present1 and their interpretation 
of its activities1 is that which is     
normal to the seven-year-old child1 and 
constitutes therefore the natural basis 
on which his literary education begins1 
and affords his first effective contact 
with imaginative art4  ,but when we have
 agreed that the fairy-tales constitute 

precisely the right artistic material   
for these children2 when we have fixed  
with satisfactory definiteness the hour 
of their ripeness for them2 when we have
 indicated those elements in the tales  
that render them serviceable1 we are    
still at the beginning of our task4 ,for
 we find ourselves in the presence of a 
vast mass of material from which we must
 choose those things that are so typical
 as to accomplish for our children the  
characteristic service of folk-tales1   
and so beautiful as to perform the added
 service of good literature4 ,and so    
wide is the range of subject-matter and 
form in the stories constituting the    
mass that it becomes evident at a glance
 that the educational and artistic      
efficacy of the fairy-tales depends upon
 the wisdom used in choosing the actual 
specimens4 ,the most useful thing to be 
done1 then1 is to determine a set of    
trustworthy and practical principles of 
selection4  ,we should understand1 to   
begin with1 what we mean by fairy-tales4

 ,it is now impossible to limit this    
term to those stories that deal with the
 activities of an order of invented     
preter-human beings called fairies2 or  
even to those that contain preternatural
 or supernatural elements4 ,with the old
 fairy-tales in this narrow sense1 have 
been incorporated folk-tales dealing    
with matter which involves only natural 
and human material--beast-tales and bits
 of comic adventure1 for example4 ,it is
 possible to treat them1 however1 in one
 category1 because of the fact that in  
all those that are worth using for the  
children in class1 whether there be     
fairies involved or not1 the imaginative
 process is of the same kind1 the vision
 of the world1 its activities and its   
possibilities1 is on the same level of  
imaginative combination and artistic    
interpretation2 and this is the level of
 the children for whom we are choosing4 
,the traditionary stories1 the real     
folk-tales1 have been divided into four 
classes4  #a4 ,sagas--stories told of   

heroes1 of historical events1 of        
physical phenomena1 of the names or     
location of places1 and intended to be  
believed4 ,they are to be differentiated
 from myth by the fact that they have   
never assumed any religious or symbolic 
signification4 ,they are1 as a matter of
 fact1 hero-tales in the making--of the 
same stuff in many cases as the great   
hero-tales1 but having remained in the  
hands of the folk1 have never received  
the enrichment and beauty of those      
hero-tales which the poets took up4     
,such folk-sagas are ,whittington and   
,his ,cat and ,lady ,godiva4 ,most of   
these stories have preternatural or     
supernatural elements1 and even such as 
have no such elements have still the    
atmosphere of wonder1 and those fanciful
 or fantastic interpretations           
characteristic of the folk-imagination4 
#b4 ,maerchen1 or what we call nursery  
tales--those told for artistic pleasure1
 pure imaginative play1 the creative    
exercise of the art-instinct4 ,they may 

or may not exhibit the supernatural or  
preternatural elements2 in some of them 
animals are among the actors4 ,these    
constitute the large mass of popular and
 nursery tales2 ,cinderella1 ,beauty and
 the ,beast1 ,puss in ,boots1           
,briar-,rose1 ,the ,musicians of ,bremen
 will do for examples4  #c4             
,drolls--comic or domestic tales which  
may or may not make use of the          
impossible1 the marvelous1 or the       
preternatural4 ,generally they are tales
 of funny misadventures1 cunning        
horse-play1 tricks1 the misfortunes or  
undeserved good luck of noodles4 ,such1 
chosen from many examples1 are ,kluge   
,else1 ,lazy ,jack1 ,mr4 ,vinegar1 ,hans
 in ,luck4  #d4 ,cumulative tales--those
 in which incident is inter-linked with 
incident by some more or less artificial
 principle of association1 constituting 
in some cases a mere string of          
associated happenings1 in others a      
fairly rounded out story4 ,such1 in its 
simplest form1 are ,the ,house ,that    

,jack ,built and ,titty-mouse and       
,tatty-mouse1 ,henny-penny and the old  
swapping ballads4  ,the modern stories  
corresponding to these are of three     
kinds3 those written in imitation of the
 folk-sagas and ,maerchen2 those which  
introduce preter-human elements as      
symbols2 those which personify the      
phenomena and forces of nature4  ,it is 
not mere convention that leads one to   
choose for the children in class the    
traditionary or folk-tales in preference
 to the modern fairy-story4 ,many new   
so-called fairy-tales are doubtless     
harmless and amusing enough1 and may    
serve a purpose in hours of mere        
recreation4 ,but they lack those abiding
 qualities one seeks in a story he gives
 as discipline and to a class4 ,failing 
to possess the very fundamental         
characteristics of the folk-tale1 they  
fail to perform the typical and         
desirable service of the folk-tale4     
,first of all1 modern fairy-tales are   
neither convinced nor convincing2 they  

are imitations1 which cannot fail to    
miss the soul of the original4 ,there   
can be no new fairy-tales written1      
because there is no longer a possibility
 of belief in fairies1 and no longer    
among adults a possibility of looking at
 the world as the folk and the child    
look at it4 ,the substitution of the    
pert fairies and dapper elves of        
literature and the theater for the      
serious preterhuman agents of the       
folk-tale creates at once in the new    
stories an atmosphere of dilettantism1  
of insincerity4 ,titania and ,oberon1   
flower-fairies1 dew-fairies1 gauzy wings
 and spangled skirts1 were not in the   
mind of the people who told these tales 
of the sometimes grim and schauderhaft  
and always serious beings--fairies1     
elves1 goblins1 or what not4 ,wicked    
little brown men disappearing into a    
green hillock with the human child1 in  
exchange for whom they have left in the 
cottage cradle a brown imp of their own2
 the godmother with the fairy-gift who  

brings justice and joy to the wronged   
maiden2 the slighted wise woman         
foretelling death and doom over the     
cradle of the little princess2 the kind 
and gentle ,beast whom love disenchants 
and restores to his own noble form--all 
these were to those who made them       
serious art1 as they should be to the   
child4 ,if one could make the old       
distinction without dreading to be      
misunderstood in these days of          
opposition to faculty criticism1 he     
would say that the folk-tales exhibit   
the working of the deep human           
imagination1 using all the powers of the
 mind1 and reorganizing the world2 the  
modern fairy-tale exhibits the exercise 
of the fancy1 disporting itself in a    
very small corner of the world of art4  
,it is1 first of all1 as one cannot say 
too often1 the imaginative level of the 
folk-tales that fits them for the       
child's use4 ,they are the creative     
reconstruction of the world by those who
 were rich in images and sense-material1

 unhampered in the use of it by any     
system of logic or body of organized    
knowledge1 simple1 sincere and full of  
faith--as our own well-born children are
 at six-seven-eight4 ,it is this        
simplicity1 sincerity1 and earnestness  
that gives them their childlikeness--all
 qualities that one fails to find in the
 modern fairy-tale written by a grown   
person for children4 ,nothing is so     
alien to the consciousness of the child 
as the consciousness of the grown-up    
educated man4 ,it is by nothing short of
 a miracle that he can keep his own     
sophistications out of what he writes   
for children4 ,his fairy-tale1 failing  
in simplicity1 will betake itself to    
babbling inanity2 failing in            
earnestness1 it gives itself over to    
sentimentality2 failing in belief1 it is
 likely to be filled with cynicism and  
cheap satire under the guise of         
playfulness4 ,these faults may be found1
 all too plentiful1 even in the best    
work of ,hans ,christian ,andersen1     

while they poison practically everything
 done for children by ,kingsley and     
,hawthorne4 ,the immense advantage of   
the traditionary tales is that they were
 not made for children4 ,the ,maerchen  
of our day was the novel or romance of  
the people among whom it had its earlier
 history4 ,it therefore escapes entirely
 the little dears appeal and method4    
,the obviously amateur heat-fairies1    
snow-fairies1 flower-fairies1 and all   
the others which figure in the merely   
fanciful and always misleading          
myth-making of the belated kindergarten 
and the holiday book of commerce1 serve 
chiefly to bewilder the child's         
judgment1 to confuse his imagination1   
and to cheapen the supernatural in his  
art1 which should be sparing and        
serious1 as it should be in all art4    
,besides1 the natural phenomena with    
which these fancies are connected are   
much more beautiful1 more appealing to  
the imagination1 and ultimately more    
serviceable to art1 if they are rightly 

presented as plain nature4  ,there are  
certain modern symbolistic stories      
containing elements of the fantastic and
 supernatural kind that are good and    
beautiful enough to make a genuinely    
desirable contribution to the child's   
experience4 ,it is advisable to reserve 
these1 however1 until the children are  
old enough and experienced enough to    
understand them as symbols4 ,such       
stories are ,stockton's ,the ,bee-,man  
of ,orn1 slightly edited2 ,the ,water   
,babies1 always expurgated of           
,kingsley's ponderous fooling2 ,the     
,snow ,image1 ,the ,ugly ,duckling4  ,it
 is not only that the world of imaginary
 beings and marvelous forces in the     
folk-tale enchant the child and further 
his artistic development in the most    
natural way2 the human world of these   
tales is a delightful and wholesome one 
for him to know4 ,it is a naive and     
simple world1 where he may come close to
 the actual processes of life and see   
them as picturesque and interesting4    

,where else in our modern world can a   
child encounter the shoemaker1 the      
tailor1 the miller1 the hen-wife1 the   
weaver1 the spinner1 in their primitive 
dignity and importance8 ,there are      
kings1 to be sure1 and princes1 but     
except in certain of the stories that   
took permanent literary shape in the    
seventeenth century1 they are1 like the 
kings and princes in the ,odyssey1 plain
 and democratic monarchs1 on terms of   
beautiful equality with the noble       
swineherd and the charming tailor4 ,king
 ,arthur in the nursery ballad stole a  
peck of barley meal to make a           
bag-pudding1 in the homeliest and most  
democratic way1 and the picture of the  
queen frying the cold pudding for       
breakfast seems only natural to the     
little democrats of six and seven in our
 own day4 ,this world of genuine people 
and honest occupations is charming and  
educative in itself1 and constitutes the
 most effective and convincing          
background for the supernatural and the 

marvelous when that element is present4 
,when we have said that it is the folk  
or traditionary tales that we should    
choose1 we do not mean that we should   
consider the whole realm of folk-lore   
material1 primitive and savage          
tales--,african1 ,indian1 ,igorrote2    
though1 as a matter of fact1 every      
teacher of children should be something 
of a scientific student of folk-stories4
 ,it increases his respect and sympathy 
for the specimens he actually chooses to
 know where they stand in the large     
whole--their history and human value4   
,besides1 the experienced teacher will  
often find in the outlying regions of   
folk-tales the germ of a story precisely
 suited to his needs1 and he can have   
the very real pleasure of endowing it   
with an acceptable form and putting it  
into educational circulation4  ,but on  
the whole1 the teacher must be very     
expert1 and must have extraordinary     
needs1 to feel justified in going       
outside the established canon of        

fairy-tales for his material4 ,for there
 is a canon more or less fixed1 into    
which have entered those stories that   
have from long and perpetual use taken  
on a more or less acceptable form2      
stories from those nations whose culture
 has blended to produce the modern      
occidental tradition4 ,the canon        
includes ,grimm's tales1 ,perrault's    
,mother ,goose tales1 a few of ,madame  
d',aulnoy's1 a few ,danish and          
,norwegian stories1 some from ,italian  
sources and through ,italian media1 some
 from the ,arabian ,nights1 some        
unhesitatingly admitted lately from     
collections of ,english folk-tales made 
in our own day1 two or three chapbook   
stories1 a few interlopers like ,the    
,three ,bears1 ,goody ,two ,shoes1 and  
some of ,andersen's--not popular tales  
at all1 but having in them some         
mysterious charm that opened the door to
 them4 ,one cannot attempt to fix the   
limits more narrowly1 for he has no     
sooner closed the list than he realizes 

that every teacher who has used them1   
every mother who has read them to her   
little people1 every boy or girl who    
loves them1 will have some other tale to
 insert1 some perfect thing not provided
 for in this tentative catalogue4       
,besides1 from time to time there does  
appear a new claimant with every title  
to admission1 such as some of the ,irish
 tales told by ,seumas ,mc,manus or     
,douglas ,hyde1 or certain of the ,zuni 
folk-tales collected by ,cushing4 ,but  
on the whole1 may we not agree that the 
list indicated constitutes the authentic
 accepted canon of fairy-tales          
established and approved by the teachers
 and children of occidental tradition   
and rearing8  ,still1 there are choices 
to be made among these folk-tales of the
 accepted list4 ,no child should be told
 all of them4 ,practically all children 
do have too many fairy-tales told them1 
and suffer in this1 as in most of the   
things supplied them1 from the          
discouraging and confusing too much4    

,for a whole year in which the main     
stories are taken from the folk-tales1 a
 half-dozen stories will be enough4  ,it
 is not among the folk-sagas that one   
will find the best stories of this kind 
for his children4 ,these1 indeed1 are   
scarcely to be called literature4 ,most 
of them are tales explaining by a legend
 some natural feature1 the name of a    
place or a person1 or attaching to some 
historic person a stock adventure1      
wonderful or preternatural4 ,some of    
them are1 as has been said1 germs of    
hero-tales that never obtained popular  
artistic favor1 or they are far-away    
echoes of hero-tales1 or they are       
stories of the pourquoi                 
kind--semi-mythical in import1 and      
consequently lacking the universal      
appeal and fitness of literature4 ,any  
teacher may find one of the stories of  
this group adapted to his purpose1 but  
he will not find most of his            
folk-material here4 ,in the cycles of   
hero tales1 ,king ,arthur and ,siegfried

 for example1 we can find many of these 
minor sagas imbedded in the larger      
cycle1 but still detachable and often   
easily adaptable for the younger        
children4  ,it is among the ,maerchen   
that we find our supply of stories4     
,this is not the place to discuss the   
science of nursery-tales1 their origin1 
genesis1 dissemination1 or any of the   
other scholar's aspects1 inviting though
 all these topics be4 ,one is quite     
aware that even in the most social      
,maerchen there may be found detritus of
 myth2 one should be equally aware that 
in certain other ,maerchen he finds the 
original germ which finally evolved into
 a myth-story4 ,but let not the teacher 
and lover of folk-tales as art allow    
himself to become ensnared in myth      
interpretations of his tales2 that way  
literary and pedagogic madness lies4    
,countless generations ago those which  
perchance had a mythical significance   
lost it and became art1 completely      
humanized in life and experience4  ,the 

drolls1 when one chooses well among     
them1 are precisely adapted to add the  
element of fun that should never be long
 absent from the children's literature4 
,there are1 of course1 numberless comic 
folk-tales too coarse and too brutal to 
be used in our day1 except by the       
scientific student of culture4 ,the fun 
of the drolls is1 as a matter of fact1  
not on a high level--practical jokes1   
perfectly obvious contretemps1 the      
adventures and achievements of noodles1 
are their typical material4 ,but this is
 the comic level of the average child   
for whom we choose them4 ,it is the     
first step above physical fun1 and from 
this step we can undertake to start him 
on his delightful journey up the        
ever-refining path of literary comedy4  
,from tricks and horse-play he may pass 
rapidly to humor and nonsense4 ,but at  
six-seven1 having had the ,little       
,guinea ,pig and ,simple ,simon as an   
undergraduate kinder1 he is ready for   
,hans in ,luck and ,mr4 ,miacca4 ,like  

the ,olympians themselves1 he will roar 
at ,hephaestus' limp1 and with the      
council of ,homeric heroes he will laugh
 at the physical chastisement of        
,thersites1 and enjoy the               
none-too-penetrating trick that         
,odysseus played upon the blundering    
,polyphemus4 ,there is no danger that   
the children will not outgrow this stage
 of comic appreciation--the danger is   
that they will outgrow it instead of    
adding to it all the other stages4      
,there is something wrong with the      
artistic culture of the man who cannot  
at forty smile at the follies of the    
,peterkin family1 at the same time that 
he completely savors the comedy of ,the 
,egoist4  ,the accumulative tales have  
their service to render4 ,perhaps their 
characteristic moment comes a little    
earlier than even the first year of     
school4 ,before he is six the little    
citizen of the world will have been     
building up his vision of the           
interdependence and interaction of men  

and things4 ,to this vision the         
accumulative tales bring the            
contribution of art4 ,many of them1     
being the simplest adjustment of        
incident to incident1 such as ,the ,old 
,woman ,who ,found the ,sixpence and    
,the ,little ,red ,hen1 are ideal for   
the nursery and kindergarten child4     
,others still1 built upon the           
accumulative principle1 but more complex
 or more artistic in form1 will charm   
and instruct the first-year             
scholars--,henny-,penny1 for example1   
and ,hans in ,luck1 and ,the ,three     
,billy ,goats ,gruff4 ,from the point of
 view of composition1 they may well be  
studied by the older children1 because  
they permit the examination of the      
separate incidents1 and exhibit in most 
cases the very simplest principles of   
structure4  ,but coming still closer to 
the choosing of the actual specimens for
 the classes1 it would be only fatuous  
to ignore the fact that when we come to 
the matter of the final choice1 we are  

upon difficult ground1 educationally and
 critically4 ,but we can save ourselves 
from presumption and dogmatism by       
discussing a few practical1 but general1
 grounds of choice1 reminding ourselves 
that in the specific school and with the
 specific class many modifying minor    
principles will arise4  ,the teacher    
will be much comforted and steadied if  
he remember that he is teaching         
literature1 and is therefore freed from 
any obligation to the stories as myth1  
or as scientific folk-lore1 as sociology
 or as nature-study2 let nothing tempt  
him to the study of the first member of 
the company of musicians of ,bremen1 as 
a type of the solid-hoofed animals1 of  
,red ,riding-,hood as a dawn-myth1 or of
 ,the ,three ,bears as parenthood in the
 wild4  ,the teacher will select those  
tales that have somewhere in their      
history acquired an artistic            
organization1 rejecting in favor of them
 those which remain chaotic and         
disorganized4 ,compare1 for example1 in 

this matter1 the perfect little plot of 
,madame ,villeneuve's ,beauty and the   
,beast with ,grimm's ,the ,golden       
,bird--a string of loosely connected1   
partly irrelevant incidents4 ,he will   
prefer those that display economy of    
incident--in which each incident helps  
along the action1 or contributes        
something essential to the situation4   
,of course1 it is rather characteristic 
of the folk-mind1 as of the child-mind1 
to heap up incidents a propos de bottes2
 but as this is one of the              
characteristics to be corrected in the  
child by his training in literature1 so 
it is one of the faults which should    
exclude a fairy-tale from his           
curriculum4 ,to make the difference     
among the stories in this regard quite  
clear1 compare the neat1 orderly1 and   
essential flow of incident in ,the      
,musicians of ,bremen with the baffling 
multiplicity and confusion displayed by 
,madame d',aulnoy's ,the ,wonderful     
,sheep4 ,other things being equal1 he   

will prefer for discipline those        
fairy-stories which use the fairy and   
other preternatural elements in artistic
 moderation1 to those that fill every   
incident with marvels and introduce     
supernatural machinery apparently out of
 mere exuberance4 ,this element is much 
more impressive when used in art with   
reticence and economy4 ,even a little   
child grows too familiar with marvels   
when these crowd one another on every   
page1 and ceases either to shiver or to 
thrill4 ,in the fairy-tale1 as in art   
for mature people1 the supernatural     
should appear only at the ultimate      
moment1 or for the ultimate purpose1 and
 then in amount and potency only        
sufficient to accomplish the result4    
,perrault was very cautious upon this   
point2 in all his tales he seems to have
 reduced the element of the marvelous to
 the smallest amount and to have called 
upon it only at the pivotal points4     
,compare in his ,cinderella the         
sufficiency of his single proviso1 ,now1

 this godmother was a fairy1 with the   
tedious superfluity of irrelevant       
marvels in ,grimm's version of the same 
tale4 ,is this bringing the fascinating 
abundance of the ,teutonic folk fancy to
 a disadvantageous comparison with the  
neat and orderly1 but more common-place1
 ,gallic mind8 ,by no means4 ,one has   
many occasions to regret1 when he reads 
,perrault's version of the wonderful    
tales he found1 that he was a precisian 
in style and a courtier in manners2 and 
we may find in the most apparently      
artless tales told by ,grimm or by      
,asbjoernsen the most perfect           
organization and economy2 as1 for       
example in ,briar-,rose or in ,the      
,three ,billy ,goats ,gruff4  ,besides1 
one hastens to add that every child     
should hear and should later on have a  
chance to read some of the free1        
wandering1 fantastic things which his   
teacher cannot feel justified in giving 
to the class4  ,one is obliged to take  
some attitude in mediating the          

folk-tales to the modern child1 toward  
the fact that we often find them        
reflecting a moral standard quite       
different from that which the average   
well-bred child is brought up by2 and   
this situation is complicated by the    
fact that the children are too young to 
understand dramatically another moral   
standard4 ,this aspect of the stories   
has been pretty well covered by the     
general discussion in the previous      
chapter4 ,but1 luckily1 it is quite     
possible to reject all those folk-tales 
of questionable morals and objectionable
 taste and still have plenty to choose  
from4 ,be slow to reject a folk-tale    
unless the bit of immorality--a lie1 an 
act of disloyalty1 or irreverence--or   
the bit of coarseness really forms the  
pivot of the story4 ,only then is the   
story unsafe or incurable4  ,one must   
take an attitude1 not only toward the   
morals of the folk-tale1 but toward its 
manners as well4 ,there is some violence
 in many of the most attractive nursery 

tales2 many of them reflect a rather    
rough-and-tumble state of social        
communion2 many exhibit a superfluity of
 bloodshed or other grisly physical     
horrors4 ,we quickly grant that it is   
not wise to read enough of these1 or to 
linger long enough over the forbidding  
details1 to create a deep or an abiding 
atmosphere of terror4 ,but it is        
certainly true that the modern child of 
six or seven has so little apperception 
material for physical horrors that they 
do not take any deep hold upon him4     
,indeed1 the safety of modern life1 and 
the absence of visible violence1 have   
taken the emotional appeal out of many  
grim lessons of ,spenser's and of       
,dante's4 ,murder in the ,maerchen is to
 the modern child actually a bit of fine
 art--merely a neat and convincing way  
of disposing of iniquitous elder        
brothers and hostile magicians4 ,the    
fact that the child's experience and    
information enable him to make no image 
of the physiological sequelae of the    

cutting-off of heads1 for instance1     
makes it easy for the teacher to carry  
him harmless past details that would    
seem brutal to his nervous and squeamish
 elders4 ,and these details are never   
the point of emphasis in any good story4
 ,and on the whole1 those persons whom  
the children like and are likely to     
incorporate into their pattern1 have    
manners either just or gentle even in   
the folk-tales4  ,it might be well to   
introduce among the folk-tales an       
occasional short story of contemporary  
life1 recording the activities of       
persons such as the children actually   
know4 ,this is not so important in this 
stage of their experience as it will be 
later2 first because the folk-tales do  
not seem antiquated nor1 if they are    
wisely selected1 unduly fantastic to    
them1 since they find themselves        
imaginatively so much at home with      
material and the method2 and1 in the    
second place1 because in every          
well-regulated school their fact studies

 and occupation work are at this time   
concrete and charming1 and keep them    
rightly and sufficiently in touch with  
the world of actuality4  ,of course we  
must accompany and supplement the       
folk-tales by verses1 since even at this
 age we may impress upon the children   
the music of speech1 and some of the    
minor literary beauties4 ,they will     
probably be delighted to repeat 7in many
 classes many of the children will be   
learning them for the first time7 the   
lovely hereditary jingles and ballads   
from ,mother ,goose--,the ,crooked ,man1
 ,i ,saw a ,ship a-,sailing1 ,sing a    
,song of ,sixpence1 the rhymes for games
 and for counting-out4 ,there are a very
 few of ,stevenson's simple enough for  
this period2 and there may be a further 
choice among things found here and      
there1 simple1 objective1 and perfectly 
musical4 ,it is not so much the content 
and meaning of poetry that we can hope  
to impress upon little people under     
eight1 as the music and motion of the   

verse4 ,there will be1 however1 many    
members of every class who will be      
interested in the meaning1 the images1  
and the persons1 if there be persons4   
,we will take all pains1 therefore1 to  
see that these be not unsuitable4       
,these--folk-tales and simple singing   
lyrics--with a fable or two told as     
anecdotes1 and repeated until even the  
little children begin to see that there 
is something more than meets the        
eye--all graded and modified in the     
light of the personnel and experience of
 the actual class1 may constitute the   
literature of the first two years of    
school4     ,,chapter ,,vii  ,,myth ,,as
 ,,literature   ,the presupposition that
 myth is par excellence the literary    
material for young children doubtless   
grew out of a misinterpretation of the  
so-called mythopoeic age in the         
children1 and some fundamental          
misconception of the nature of myth and 
its relation to other folk and          
traditionary material4 ,there is no     

place in this little book even to       
suggest the problems that surround the  
nature and genesis of myth4 ,but it does
 seem desirable to make in a simple way 
a few distinctions that may serve to set
 us on the right road4  ,first of all1  
myth is religion1 and not art4 ,it is   
not a thing of mere imagination4 ,it is 
the explanation or interpretation of    
some physical fact1 some historical     
occurrence1 some social custom1 some    
racial characteristic1 some established 
ritual or worship4 ,it is the religious 
or emotional response to some influence 
or activity in the world so impressive  
or so efficacious as to seem to call for
 explanation in terms of supernatural   
agencies4  ,this explanatory or         
interpretative stage or aspect of myth  
may be first historically1 or it may not
 be4 ,it is probably first in most myths
 in a simple and crude form1 which in   
all developed myths has been enriched   
and modified by influences from the     
other stages and aspects4 ,the second   

stage--or shall we call it merely       
another aspect--is the assigning of     
distinct personality and individuality  
to the agencies assumed to account for  
events and appearances4 ,then follows   
rapidly the interrelations and          
interactions of these persons1 the      
surrounding of them with friends and    
subordinates1 the building-up of a whole
 intricate society of divinities after  
the model of human society--all at first
 symbolistic and of religious           
significance4 ,a third stage or aspect  
is that of the cult1 the worship1 the   
establishment of a priesthood delivering
 authoritative messages1 mediating      
influences to the people1 and adding    
constantly to the body of explanations  
and interpretations surrounding each    
divinity4 ,the fourth stage or aspect is
 that in which it becomes1 or becomes   
identified with1 a body of moral        
doctrines or ethical principles2 where  
the personal divinities1 with their     
qualities1 insignia1 and associations1  

are taken as symbols of inner human     
forces1 of moral and social achievement1
 as expressions of spiritual influences 
operant in human nature and life4  ,let 
it be understood that in naming these   
stages or aspects there has been no     
attempt to place them either in         
chronological or in logical order1 and  
no intention of saying that they stand  
apart from one another in an easily     
recognized distinctness4 ,but1 however  
interlinked and mutually modified they  
may be1 we must in any discussion of    
myth1 be aware of these four sides or   
steps4  ,take1 for example1 the ,greek  
myth of ,apollo4 ,as an explanation of  
physical phenomena he is light or fire1 
sometimes specialized as the spirit of  
the sun4 ,but he is embodied and endowed
 with a personality2 he has social      
conditions and subsidiary functions     
assigned to him4 ,as a person he is the 
son of ,zeus and ,leto1 twin brother of 
,artemis1 leader of the nine ,muses1    
guardian of pastured flocks and herds1  

as ,artemis of the wild creatures who   
feed or frolic by night4 ,as his worship
 spread and deepened1 there gathered    
about him many other functions--he was  
the god of healing1 of music1 of law1 of
 atonement2 and many tributary and      
subordinate divinities were associated  
with him in all these activities4 ,there
 gathered into his myth also an enormous
 and complex body of stories1 romantic  
and mystical1 explanatory and           
prophetic--stories of adventure1 of     
contact with the other gods1 of sojourns
 with men1 of pilgrimages to unknown    
regions2 some of them merely romantic1  
some of them symbolistic1 many of them  
profoundly significant of his powers and
 offices4  ,and the myth of ,apollo is  
remarkable for its ancient and elaborate
 worship4 ,already when the ,homeric    
poems were made1 the shrine of ,apollo  
at ,delphos was the scene of an old and 
complicated ritual4 ,there was even then
 a temple rich with the accumulated     
treasure of the votive offerings of     

generations of worshipers4 ,priests and 
prophets1 the mystic offices of the     
,pythia1 poets and musicians1 stately   
processions of kings and warriors       
seeking oracles1 combined to maintain   
the dignity and sanctity of this most   
impressive worship4  ,from the very     
earliest times of which we have record  
of this myth1 ,apollo was known to be a 
spiritual and ethical force at work in  
man's soul4 ,he was named when men tried
 to speak of those experiences which    
wrought expiation and purification4 ,he 
stood for milder law1 for beneficent and
 benevolent social order1 for art1 for  
the songs of the sacred bard1 the dirge 
of grief1 the paean of victory1 the     
games--all the gentler things of social 
culture and personal experience4  ,in   
these and in many other ways did the    
myth of ,apollo express the human soul  
and act upon it4 ,it was a religion--as 
every developed myth is--to be handled  
reverently4 ,we might have chosen other 
examples quite as elaborate and as full 

of mystic significance--the myth of     
,dionysus1 or the more widespread and   
deeply devotional myth of ,demeter4     
,art1 too1 concerned as it is with      
everything that promotes or reflects    
man's spirit1 has uses for the elements 
of myth1 and has its own way of handling
 them4 ,on two of the four steps of myth
 art1 especially literature1 finds      
acceptable material4 ,on the stage named
 second--the stage in which the         
influence or power becomes personified1 
takes on relations to other personified 
influences1 and calls into being other  
divine persons1 his children1 his       
helpers and subordinates1 takes his     
place in a society of divinities1 and   
exercises his more or less specialized  
function in this society1 and also in   
human life and activity--have the poets 
and romancers found many opportunities4 
,adventures and romantic experiences of 
all sorts easily attached themselves to 
the person of some divinity1 especially 
as the character of the personal        

divinities became more and more         
humanized by the accretion of such      
tales4 ,and while we find echoes of myth
 in ,maerchen and romance1 we quite as  
constantly find apotheosis of merely    
human romance and adventure in myth4    
,among the literary peoples1 poets and  
dramatists found it often desirable to  
use the foundation of this group of     
divine personalities as the             
starting-point for a performance purely 
artistic2 it gave them the immense      
advantage of starting without           
explanation and preparation1 since their
 audiences could be counted upon to know
 the divine personages and              
circumstances2 and the further advantage
 of adding dignity and size to their    
inventions by accrediting them to       
superhuman agents4 ,these literary      
additions1 these variations upon the    
religious meanings1 invented for        
artistic purposes1 often gradually      
incorporated themselves into the myth1  
and by modern students are not carefully

 distinguished from the other1 the      
religious and devotional elements4 ,a   
comic adventure told of ,hermes may not 
have in it any more of myth than a      
similar story told of ,autolycus4       
,literature finds much use for material 
of the mythical kind on what we have    
called the fourth step4 ,to express and 
render concrete1 impulses1 influences1  
and powers that sway and dignify human  
conduct1 and that form and ennoble human
 character1 the literary artist gladly  
employs the persons of the great myths4 
,all human experience has elements and  
influences coming into it from an       
apparently mystic sphere1 that must     
either be described in abstract terms or
 embodied in concrete persons and       
symbols4 ,the latter is ever the method 
of art4 ,so we find everywhere in       
literature the use of the great symbols 
already constituted in myth1 or the     
invention of new symbols for the        
purpose4 ,homer would convey to us the  
sense of the presence that guided and   

guarded the wise and resourceful        
,odysseus2 so the stately ,athene1 ages 
long the goddess who giveth skill in    
fair works1 and noble minds1 comes and  
goes through the poem4 ,hauptmann would 
convey to us in ,the ,sunken ,bell1 some
 impression of the magic and the charm  
of that beauty which lies in the free   
soul and wild nature1 so he invents     
,rautendelein4 ,but neither ,homer nor  
,hauptmann is priest or devotee         
interpreting facts or conserving        
worship4 ,they are artists picturing    
human life and introducing1 each in its 
place1 the various elements of human    
experience4  ,it is in regard to this   
literary use of myth that there exists  
much confusion1 and that most mistakes  
are made as to the educational use of   
myth4 ,many persons who contend that    
myths can be given to children as       
literature call the ,iliad and the      
,odyssey myths2 indeed1 they are likely 
to call all legendary stories in which  
the supernatural element is large myths2

 and they call all romantic stories that
 have become attached to any divinity   
myths4  ,we should distinguish myth from
 saga1 from legend1 from merely fanciful
 symbolistic tales1 from tales of human 
heroes4 ,the ,homeric poems make much of
 the religious side of human nature1 and
 the poet chose in order to give to his 
action and issue a superhuman dignity to
 set that action in the presence of the 
gods themselves4 ,yea1 in the climaxes  
of the ,titanic struggle the ,powers    
themselves take a hand1 so deeply does  
the poet feel that everything noblest   
and most passionate in human nature is  
involved2 and1 despairing1 as it were1  
of conveying to us in merely human terms
 the implications of the strife between 
the two kinds of ideals1 he sets        
,aphrodite over against ,athene1 not    
merely ,trojan against ,greek4 ,but the 
,iliad is1 for all that1 not myth nor a 
collection of myths1 but the story of   
the wrath of ,achilles--a very human    
hero1 who loved his friend4 ,the story  

of ,baldur is myth--explaining and      
interpreting1 personifying and          
glorifying1 a superhuman influence and  
effect beyond the reach of human        
experience2 the story of ,siegfried is a
 saga1 a human experience1 under        
whatever enlarged and idealized         
conditions1 yet still a type-experience 
of the human being4 ,the garden of ,eden
 is myth-interpretation and explanation 
of many1 some the grimmest1 facts of    
man's nature1 and his relation to a     
supernatural power2 the story of        
,abraham is a saga--a typical history of
 human experience1 a typical picture of 
human culture4 ,the whole artistic      
purpose and effect of the hero-tale and 
the saga are different from those of    
myth2 the center of interest is a human 
being2 the emphasis is upon human life2 
the meaning is upon the surface4 ,in    
true myth the purpose is not artistic1  
but religious2 the emphasis is upon     
superhuman activities2 the meaning is   
buried beneath symbols--the more        

beautiful the myth1 the more difficult  
and complex the symbol4  ,so one has    
almost to smile at the statement1       
commonly made that myth1 implying all   
myth1 is childlike1 and should therefore
 be given to little children as         
literature1 especially while they       
themselves are in the mythopoeic        
age--presumably from four to seven4     
,there are so many fallacies in this    
statement that one pauses embarrassed at
 his many opportunities of attack4      
,first as to the childlikeness of myth4 
,there are1 of course1 undeveloped races
 that have a naive and childish myth1   
but it is also so crude and unbeautiful 
that it would never commend itself to   
one seeking artistic material for       
children4 ,the developed myths1 those   
that have achieved the elaboration of   
beautiful episodes1 are most            
unchildlike4 ,they are far1 far away    
from the crude guesses of the primitive 
mind4 ,they have all been worked over1  
codified1 filled with theological and   

symbolistic content by priests and      
poets4 ,one can be very sure that no    
sensible teacher who has mastered the   
material1 would attempt to teach the    
whole of any ,hebrew or ,greek or       
,scandinavian myth as myth within the   
elementary period4 ,if he takes one of  
the especially romantic or beautiful    
episodes out of the myth1 he is obliged 
to thin it out to the comprehension of  
the children1 and to mutilate it so as  
to make of it a mere tale4 ,when one    
reads ,hawthorne's version of ,pandora  
and ,prometheus and realizes the mere   
babble1 the flippant detail1 under which
 he has covered up the grim ,titanic    
story of the yearnings and strivings of 
the human soul for salvation here and   
hereafter1 the very deepest problems of 
temptation and sin1 of rebellion and    
expiation1 he must see clearly what is  
most likely to happen when a complex and
 mature myth is converted into a child's
 tale4 ,to make a real test1 leave the  
alien ,greek myth and try the same      

process with one that we have built into
 our own religious consciousness--the   
temptation and fall in the ,garden of   
,eden2 a story1 which is1 by the way1   
much more naive in conception and detail
 than that of ,prometheus4 ,we must     
conclude that such myths are not        
childlike1 and that to make such a      
version of them as will appeal to the   
little child's attention and feeling    
gives but a shallow and distorted view  
of them4  ,there should undoubtedly be a
 place in education for the study of    
myth as religion and as an influence in 
human culture2 should it not be         
somewhere well within the adolescent    
period1 when the symbols of the great   
myths attract and do not baffle the     
child1 when their religious content     
finds a congenial lodging-place and a   
sympathetic interpretation in his own   
experiences8 ,it would seem only fair to
 reserve the beautiful and reverential  
myths of the ,greeks1 ,romans1 and      
,scandinavians for this period1 rather  

than to use them in the age when there  
is little more to appeal to than the    
tendency1 so short-lived and            
shallow-rooted in the modern child1 to  
see personal agencies behind            
appearances4 ,for this1 confused with a 
degree of grammatical uncertainty of    
speech1 is practically all that we can  
find under close analysis1 of the       
mythopoeic faculty in little children   
brought up under modern conditions4     
,there are still those1 one discovers1  
who contend that myth should be given to
 children as literature1 because later  
in life--when they come to read the     
,aeneid in ,high ,school1 or ,paradise  
,lost in college1 or ,prometheus        
,unbound or even ,macaulay's            
essays--they will come upon references  
to ,zeus1 to the fall of ,troy1 to the  
,titans1 to ,isis and ,osiris1 and they 
ought to be able to call up from what   
they had as literature in the elementary
 school such information as would enable
 them to understand these allusions and 

fill out these references4 ,luckily1 the
 number of people who hold the          
fundamental theory of education         
adumbrated in this view is becoming so  
rapidly smaller that this chapter will1 
let us hope1 be too late to reach them4 
,the multiplication table is a tool2 the
 mechanics of reading and writing are   
partially mere tools2 but mythology1    
especially mythology substituted for    
literature1 can in no sense be regarded 
or treated as a tool4  ,occasionally one
 meets the statement that myth1 and     
mythical episodes1 are more imaginative 
than stories of human life1 and should  
therefore be given to little children as
 literature4 ,so far as the persons who 
hold this view can be pushed to definite
 terms1 they mean either that the       
conditions of ordinary human life are   
completely abrogated in mythical        
stories1 and that therefore they are    
more imaginative than stories of mere   
human experience could be2 or that the  
details given by the imagination are    

arranged in some more unusual way--that 
there is less of judgment and order in  
the arrangement than in stories of men  
and their affairs4  ,of course1 we      
realize that the human mind cannot      
invent ultimate details independent of  
experience4 ,it is in the number and    
arrangement of these details that       
originality inheres--that the varying   
quality or quantity of imagination lies4
 ,now1 it is true that in mythical      
stories the images1 the details1 are    
likely to be more numerous1 and to be   
arranged in a less orderly manner than  
in an art story2 this is of the nature  
of myth4  ,ruskin1 in ,the ,queen of the
 ,air1 makes so clear a statement of    
this principle that ,i shall borrow it  
for this chapter3        ,a myth in its 
simplest definition is a story with a   
meaning      attached to it other than  
it seems to have at first2 and the fact 
that it has such a meaning is generally 
marked by some of its      circumstances
 being extraordinary1 or1 in the common 

use of the      word1 unnatural4 ,thus1 
if ,i tell you that ,hercules killed a  
water      serpent in the lake of       
,lerna1 and if ,i mean1 and you         
understand1      nothing more than that 
fact1 the story1 whether true or false1 
is      not a myth4 ,but if1 by telling 
you this1 ,i mean that ,hercules        
purified the stagnation of many streams 
from deadly miasmata1 my      story1    
however simple1 is a true myth1 only1   
as1 if ,i left it in      that          
simplicity1 you would probably look for 
nothing beyond1 it      will be wise in 
me to surprise your attention by adding 
some      singular circumstance2 for    
instance1 that the water-snake had      
several heads1 which revived as fast as 
they were killed1 and which             
poisoned even the foot that trod upon   
them as they slept4 ,and in             
proportion to the fulness of intended   
meaning ,i shall probably      multiply 
and refine upon these improbabilities2  
or1 suppose if1      instead of desiring

 only to tell you that ,hercules        
purified a      marsh1 ,i wished you to 
understand that he contended with envy  
and      evil ambition1 ,i might tell   
you that this serpent was formed by     
the goddess whose pride was in the trial
 of ,hercules2 that its      place of   
abode was by a palm tree2 that for every
 head of it that      was cut off1 ten  
rose up with renewed life2 and that the 
hero found      at last he could not    
kill the creature at all by cutting its 
heads      off or crushing them1 but    
only by burning them down2 and that the 
midmost of them could not be killed even
 in that way1 but had to be      buried 
alive4 ,only in proportion as ,i mean   
more ,i shall appear more      absurd in
 my statement4   ,is it fair to conclude
 that1 if there is any ground for the   
statement that myth is more imaginative 
than literature1 it is either that it is
 extremely symbolistic1 constantly      
substituting one thing for another1 or  
that1 not being art1 it heaps up details

 profusely1 unregulated by the ordering 
and constructive side of the            
imagination8 ,in the one case1 it would 
have small disciplinary value for the   
class2 in the other1 it would be        
hopelessly beyond their comprehension2  
and in either case it would not perform 
the characteristic service of           
literature4  ,there is much more to be  
said by those who feel that they find in
 the mythic stories a large and vague   
atmosphere1 a sort of cosmic stage where
 things bulk large and sound simple1 a  
great resounding room where the children
 feel unconsciously the movement of     
large things4 ,but this is a religious  
mood4 ,it is precisely the response we  
should like to have when we tell our    
children the ,hebrew myth of the        
creation--an emotional reaction1 vague  
but deep1 to the dim and sublime images 
of the ,days--a response that           
constitutes itself forevermore a part of
 his religious experience4 ,if we are   
willing that he should have a similar   

reaction upon the story of ,zeus and the
 ,titans1 if we are willing that he     
should lay this down1 too1 among the    
foundations of his religious life1 by   
all means tell it4 ,but we can not quite
 fairly tell one to awaken a religious  
response1 and the other an artistic one4
  ,this is all quite consistent with an 
utter repudiation of a hard and fast    
faculty education4 ,there are1 of       
course1 borders where myth and          
literature inextricably intermingle1 as 
there are certain effects of the        
teaching of mythical episodes which are 
not to be distinguished from those of   
the teaching of purely literary         
material4 ,but the teacher should clear 
up his mind upon this point2 telling a  
romantic adventure of a god is not      
teaching myth2 telling a story of a hero
 in which the gods take a share is not  
teaching myth1 any more than the telling
 of the story of the ,holy ,grail is    
teaching ,christianity2 symbolistic     
stories whose setting happens to be     

,greek or ,roman or ,scandinavian are   
not myth4 ,it should not be difficult to
 handle for the children such stories as
 contain a large amount of religious    
element4 ,to have them get out of the   
,odyssey the characteristic and         
desirable effect1 it is necessary to    
give only a few words as to the offices 
of ,athene and ,poseidon in the action1 
and then put the emphasis where ,homer  
puts it--upon ,odysseus1 his character  
and his experiences4 ,it is no more     
necessary in reading the ,odyssey to go 
into the myth of the divinities         
concerned1 than it would be in teaching 
,hamlet to make an exhaustive excursus  
into the pneumatology of the ,ghost4    
,now1 there are a great many folk-tales 
that out of convention have taken on as 
a sort of afterthought1 as it were1 an  
explanatory character4 ,this can be     
noticed in the charming ,zuni folk-tales
 collected by ,cushing4 ,often the      
pourquoi idea is appended in the final  
paragraph1 a belated bit of piety not at

 all inherent in the tale4 ,then there  
are1 of course1 a great many fanciful   
pourquoi tales1 both folk and modern1   
whose purpose was never more than       
playful4 ,these cannot be seriously     
regarded as myth1 and must be estimated 
on their merits as stories4  ,it is hard
 to be so tolerant with the modern      
imitations of mythical tales designed to
 render palatable and pretty facts in   
the life of the world about us4 ,one    
cannot believe much in the dew-fairies  
and frost-fairies and flower-angels1    
speaking plants and conversing worms1   
whose mission in life is really a gentle
 species of university-extension        
lectures4 ,such stories are not         
literature2 neither are they good       
technical knowledge4 ,is it not true1 as
 we shall elsewhere have occasion to    
show1 that1 with our modern facilities  
for teaching the facts of nature1 we can
 make them attractive and impressive    
rather by showing them as they are1 than
 by attributing to them merely fanciful 

and often petty personalities and genii8
  ,of course1 in very advanced          
scientific theory we are driven again to
 myth-making4 ,one cannot speak of      
radio-activity except in terms of       
personality1 nor of the final processes 
of biology without using terms implying 
purpose and choice4 ,so does the wheel  
come full circle and all our lives we   
are mythopoeists4 ,but myth is not      
literature4  ,as has been intimated     
previously1 it would seem that the time 
to teach myth as myth is much           
later--perhaps within the secondary     
period1 when it can be examined as      
religion1 or when the children have     
gained enough experience1 and developed 
enough dramatic imagination1 to take    
hold of it as a vital element in another
 culture4 ,the place for the study of   
the great symbolistic stories1 whose    
background happens to be another        
people's myth1 such as ,king ,midas1 or 
,prometheus1 or ,apollo with ,admetus1  
should be1 in any event1 as late as the 

seventh grade1 by which time the        
children are able to look below the     
surface and begin to understand the     
types and symbols of art4     ,,chapter 
,,viii  ,,hero-,,tales ,,and ,,romances 
,in the days before books1 when a tale  
was a tale1 they knew how to conserve   
interest and economize material4 ,when a
 hero had gained some popular favor1 had
 established his character1 had drawn   
about him a circle of friends1 and had  
just proved himself worthy of our love1 
he was not lightly cast aside for a new 
and unknown hero4 ,he was given new     
conquests1 new sorrows were heaped upon 
him1 new minstrels arose to sing his    
fame1 until there gathered about him and
 his group of friends many1 many songs  
and tales4 ,luckily1 in many cases there
 came a great artist1 bard or romancer1 
who gathered these scattered songs and  
tales together1 gave them a greater or  
less coherence and something of unity1  
and so preserved them4 ,some of these   
cycles of hero-tales are adapted for the

 delight and discipline of the          
elementary children4 ,from the cosy and 
homely atmosphere of the ,maerchen--the 
mother-and nurse-stories--they would    
pass naturally to the wider and bolder  
world of the epic tales4 ,the spirit of 
these tales harmonizes easily with the  
general tone of their work4 ,they are   
simple and bold in spirit1 full of      
action1 generous and noble in plan and  
idea2 they conserve interest and        
attention by centering about a single   
person or a group2 they are made up of  
separable adventures or incidents1 which
 take shape1 or with a little editing   
from the teacher may be made to take    
shape1 as manageable and artistic       
wholes2 it is easy to associate other   
bits of literature with them1 because1  
in the first place1 the tales themselves
 reflect aspects of life and nature that
 have appealed to artists in all ages1  
and because they have themselves        
inspired many more modern artists4 ,it  
is therefore easy to constitute one of  

these cycles the center of the work in  
literature for some long period--in some
 cases for a whole year--joining to it  
such harmonious or contrasted bits of   
literature as the class may seem to     
need4  ,some consideration of the best  
known and most available of the         
hero-tales may help in the matter of    
choosing4  ,the ,iliad is not available 
without a great deal of editing and     
rearranging for such use in class4      
,there are several reasons for this1 the
 first being its want of an easily      
grasped unity4 ,doubtless the mature and
 experienced reader finds the essential 
unity of the ,iliad more satisfying and 
artistic than that which comes of a more
 compact and complete plot4 ,but the    
children cannot easily see that the     
history of ,achilles' wrath and love is 
a complete thing4 ,to them the action   
seems to be suspended1 the events left  
without issue1 the poem unprovided with 
a legitimate ending4 ,the organization  
and the organizing principle are obscure

 to children1 since ,achilles' emotional
 history cannot easily be made clear or 
interesting to them4 ,homer's splendid  
art in glorifying ,hector and dignifying
 the ,trojan cause as a means of        
reinforcing ,achilles' triumph1 and     
deepening the sense of the ,greek       
victory1 is likely to be lost on the    
children1 while it leaves them with a   
hopelessly divided sympathy4 ,helen1 to 
a mature mind so full of interest       
ethical and artistic1 is beyond the     
comprehension of the children as        
anything more than a lay figure4 ,the   
vast enrichment of epic detail that has 
gathered into the ,iliad1 constituting  
it for the grown-up lover of all the    
arts an inexhaustible mine of archaic1  
artistic1 and psychic wealth1 has1      
except in a few picturesque details1    
which the teacher must make special     
effort to bring before them1 no charm   
for the children1 seeming to them to    
cumber and delay the action4 ,so the    
,iliad as it stands is not serviceable  

for the grades in literature4  ,but1 as 
we all know1 the poems that form the    
,iliad were songs out of a much larger  
cycle4 ,if one desires to use sections  
of the ,iliad1 then1 it is comparatively
 easy to collect out of all the material
 a complete and unified form of the     
legend of the siege and downfall of     
,troy--using the ,homeric episodes when 
it is possible4 ,from sources other than
 the ,iliad must be gathered the causes 
of the war1 the education of ,achilles1 
the summons of ,odysseus1 the sacrifice 
of ,iphegenia1 the death of ,achilles1  
the building of the wooden horse1 and   
the fall of ,troy4 ,into this can be    
inserted in their places the parts      
selected from the ,iliad--perhaps the   
quarrel in the assembly from the second 
book2 the deeds of ,diomedes1 from the  
fifth and sixth2 the visit of ,hector   
within the city and his farewell to     
,andromache1 from the sixth2 the ,trojan
 triumph1 in the seventh2 the vengeance 
upon ,dolon1 in the tenth2 the main     

incidents of the battle among the ships2
 the deeds and death of ,patroclus2     
,achilles' arming and his appearance in 
the fight2 the main incidents of the    
funeral of ,patroclus2 the visit of     
,priam to ,achilles4 ,these should be   
arranged in a sort of say and sing      
narrative1 the events previous to the   
action of the ,iliad1 and those         
subsequent to it1 to be told in prose   
narrative2 those taken from the ,iliad  
itself to be read or recited in some    
poetical form1 linked together1 of      
course1 by a running and rapid          
narrative4 ,only a verse                
translation--or1 if a prose translation1
 one much more picturesque and eloquent 
than any we have yet had--will at all   
represent the nobility of the ,iliad4   
,bryant's translation is the best we now
 have1 and it is too formal and         
difficult to be understood by the       
children to whom one desires to give the
 hero-tales4  ,one can easily see that  
an arrangement of the ,iliad made under 

all these conditions would not finally  
convey to the children many of the best 
things we want to give them in their    
literature4  ,the case is quite         
different with the ,odyssey4 ,it is the 
child's own cycle1 full of the interests
 and elements that delight him while    
they cultivate him4 ,the adventures are 
linked together by the central hero1 and
 by the design of getting him home2 the 
cycle1 therefore1 presents a clear      
unity1 and a unity of the kind that     
takes hold upon the children4 ,the      
adventures themselves organize easily   
into smaller separable wholes4 ,they are
 always interesting1 offering us the    
varieties of the grotesque1 the         
humorous1 the sensational1 the horrible1
 the beautiful1 the sublime2 and they   
are practically all on the imaginative  
level of the children in the classes to 
which they are otherwise adapted4 ,the  
details are charming and adapted to     
interest the children1 with very little 
effort on the part of the teacher4 ,it  

is quite unnecessary to point out how   
the occupations and employments1 the    
beautiful buildings and objects--plates1
 cups1 clasps--the raft1 the palace and 
garden of ,alcinoous1 the loom of       
,penelope1 the lustrous woven robes1 the
 cottage of the good ,eumaeus1 the noble
 swineherd1 build up a world full of    
charm1 not only for the grown-up reader1
 but for children if they are being     
properly taught4 ,there is throughout   
the poem what ,pater called the         
atmosphere of refined craftsmanship1 and
 all the occupations and tasks of men   
here appear surrounded by the entrancing
 halo of art4 ,odysseus combines in     
himself all those characteristics that  
endear a hero to the child and the      
childlike mind4 ,he is active and       
ever-ready2 strong1 too1 beyond the     
measure of any ordinary man2 quick in   
the battle2 good at a game1 resourceful 
and handy in any emergency2 subtle and  
quickwitted2 full of tricks and riddles2
 equipped at every point for the        

effective undoing of his foes4          
,inevitably in any class of modern      
children as old as the nine-ten-year    
grade the delicate problem of ,odysseus'
 moral character will come up for       
discussion4 ,it is not likely that      
children younger than this will open the
 matter themselves1 or take any vital   
interest in the discussion4 ,for1 as ,i 
have said elsewhere1 subtlety is a      
child's virtue1 and any device by which 
their hero1 who is in the main just1    
outwits or removes hostile forces1 is   
acceptable4 ,for the older children1 who
 are somewhat instructed1 and who on the
 average will have acquired sufficient  
dramatic sympathy to apprehend an alien 
standard1 a few words as to the ,greek  
notions of truthfulness1 together with a
 few explanations as to the privileges  
allowed to an adventurer hard beset by  
trickery and stupidity1 will generally  
clear the ground2 these explanations    
should take the emphasis from this      
aspect of ,odysseus' character and leave

 the children free to place it where it 
belongs4 ,if the ,odyssey were used with
 children older than ten1 their         
questions as to ,odysseus' truthfulness 
might afford a good occasion for warning
 them to expect some human imperfections
 in a hero with whom in most respects   
they are in complete sympathy4 ,this    
point of view1 acquired somewhat early1 
saves one many shocks and misconceptions
 in later reading4 ,it should not be    
necessary to say that the discussion of 
,odysseus should not amount to          
character-study1 and should not drift   
anywhere near hair-splitting moral      
discriminations4  ,all teachers will    
agree that it is better to start the    
,odyssey with the fifth book--the       
experience of ,odysseus himself--leaving
 the ,telemachiad unread1 or to be read 
later4 ,into his few introductory       
stories the teacher should fit some     
account of the iniquities of the suitors
 and the fact of the journey of         
,telemachus--this to pave the way for   

the delightful story of his return4 ,for
 our generation--and1 one is tempted to 
believe1 for several generations to     
come--,professor ,palmer's prose        
translation of the ,odyssey is the ideal
 reading version4 ,for the sake of the  
slight heightening of style1 the class  
might occasionally hear recited a       
passage in ,bryant's verse translation4 
,but the poetical1 musical1 faintly     
archaic prose of ,professor ,palmer has 
caught perfectly the gentle spiritual   
tone of the ,odyssey4  ,i have known a  
class of nine-ten-year children         
conducted through the ,odyssey making a 
side interest of the ,realien1 the      
pottery and weaving1 and metal working4 
,such hand-work was a part of their     
school tasks1 and there were collections
 of pottery and fabrics which they could
 be taken to see4 ,the experience seemed
 to co-operate with their own hand-work 
to develop in them some of that artistic
 love of beautiful things--things       
costly1 but not expensive--that pervades

 the ,iliad and the ,odyssey2 and they  
were distinctly helped on toward that   
attitude we desire for every child1 that
 of reverence for the life of man upon  
the earth4 ,the ,odyssey will be used1  
however1 in schools where there is no   
handwork and no chance of seeing        
collections of suitable objects4        
,pictures are of some service in getting
 the image of objects--colored prints of
 ,greek pottery and costume4 ,engelmann 
and ,anderson's ,atlas of the ,homeric  
,poems seems to help and interest the   
children1 though there is constant      
danger that the archaic forms will seem 
merely ludicrous to many of them4 ,the  
teacher may correct this by explaining  
them as decoration and as traditional   
figures4 ,but we should not depend much 
upon black-and-white print to help young
 children to visualize objects and      
scenes in which color and motion are    
all-important4  ,now1 what follows must 
be taken as suggestive1 and not as a pat
 formula3 ,you can enrich your central  

bit of literature by other literature in
 one of two ways--by reinforcing the    
impression derived from the main story1 
or counteracting it ,and every long     
story or cycle of stories1 particularly 
the heroic cycles1 has its              
characteristic atmosphere that needs    
both to be reinforced and to be         
counteracted4 ,it is true1 too1 that    
practically all the stories we use for  
the elementary children are translations
 or derived versions of some sort1 and  
do not therefore exhibit the smaller    
beauties of literary form4 ,it is       
therefore well to join with them poems  
or other bits of literature which       
emphasize the matter of inevitableness  
of form4  ,by way of enlarging and      
varying the atmosphere of the ,odyssey1 
we should not add other ,greek things1  
because we are not trying to teach our  
class about ,greek civilization1 nor to 
initiate them into the ,greek spirit1   
still less to give them instruction in  
,greek legend and mythology4 ,we should 

rather read them ballads and lyrics     
which harmonize with the human spirit of
 the ,odyssey1 or which supply something
 which the ,odyssey fails to give4 ,for 
example1 since there is so much of the  
sea in the story1 it would be a good    
moment to teach the children some of the
 fine things in ,english verse about the
 water4 ,they will certainly notice the 
characteristic ,greek dread and terror  
of the sea--the unvintaged1 unpastured1 
homeless brine4 ,it would be well to    
balance this in their minds by some of  
those verses which reflect the ,english 
mastery of the sea and the romance of   
modern sea-going--some of ,kipling's    
sea-ballads1 for example1 or such simple
 things as ,barry ,cornwall's ,the sea1 
the sea1 the open sea4  ,we should not  
fail to build upon another dominant note
 in the ,odyssey much that we should    
like the children to have--the note of  
home and home-coming1 the hearth-stone1 
and the sheltering roof4 ,of the        
exciting adventure and the joy of       

physical contest they will get enough   
from the stories themselves4 ,it is not 
necessary to say again that the         
judgments given here as to the actual   
practical choice1 are always to be taken
 as suggestions1 not as hard and fast   
directions4 ,every teacher may have1 and
 should have1 his own idea1 both as to  
how his central bit of literature should
 be supplemented1 and as to whether or  
not it needs supplementing4 ,later ,i   
shall give the titles of certain of     
these minor things--still by way of     
suggestion2 ballads and lyrics that have
 been found to harmonize with the       
,odyssey either as enforcement or       
addition4  ,most elementary schools have
 found now the value of the ,robin ,hood
 legend4 ,the bluff1 open qualities1 the
 effective activities1 the wholesome    
objectivity of these activities1 the    
breezy atmosphere with which the stories
 surround themselves1 make them         
acceptable in many aspects4 ,teachers   
are saved most of the labor of making   

their own digest of the ,robin ,hood    
material by ,howard ,pyle's ,robin      
,hood4 ,in this he has drawn together   
the whole legend1 using not only the    
,english ballads1 but ,scott and        
,peacock1 and whatever scattered hints  
and details he could gather from what   
must have been a pretty exhaustive      
reading of ,english romantic literature4
 ,everywhere there are charming         
reminiscences of ,chaucer1 of ,spenser1 
of ,shakespeare2 echoes of ballad and   
song and romance2 making1 on the whole1 
a notable introduction to literature and
 the literary method4 ,one quickly finds
 that it is much too literary in places 
for younger children and has to be      
simplified2 here and there are long     
idyllic descriptions that the fifth     
grade1 eager for the story1 will not    
brook2 occasionally a page of false     
sentimentality that the teacher with a  
true ear will infallibly detect and     
skip4 ,but these minor things can be    
forgiven in view of the sheer energy1   

the marvelous objectivity1 the epic     
colorlessness1 of the book as a whole4  
,readings from the ballads themselves   
should be interspersed1 read by the     
teacher to the class4 ,these readings   
should again be arranged in the         
cont-fable fashion1 turning into        
suitable form the less interesting      
passages1 and then reading in their     
original verse form the dramatic and    
picturesque parts4 ,it need not be said 
that much better poems may be found than
 those which ,pyle has composed for his 
,robin ,hood4  ,timid parents and       
teachers who have never used these      
stories have some misgivings as to the  
effect of the strenuous1 not to say     
lawless1 atmosphere4 ,they say that the 
burden of approval is placed upon an    
outlaw1 who constantly and successfully 
flouts the officers and processes of the
 law2 that the merry-men are1 after all1
 the gang2 that the multiplicity of     
quarrels and cracked crowns accustoms   
the children to blood and violence2 in  

short1 that the legitimate outcome of a 
genuine dramatic sympathy with the story
 is general ,hooliganism4 ,the good     
teachers who have used the stories never
 say these things because they never see
 these results4 ,it needs but a word to 
transfer the emphasis from ,robin       
,hood's outlawry to the cruel and unjust
 laws against which he stood2 to keep to
 the front his generosity to his men1   
his tenderness toward those in trouble1 
his sense of personal honor1 his        
readiness to accept and acknowledge a   
fair defeat1 the loyalty of his men4 ,it
 is the transfiguration of the gang2 and
 as a social matter it is the           
transfiguration rather than the         
destruction of the gang which we desire 
to accomplish4 ,one hastens to          
acknowledge1 however1 that the          
rough-and-tumble atmosphere of the      
stories calls for some antidote1 which  
we may find partly in the literature we 
choose to accompany this cycle4 ,very   
naturally one thinks of the greenwood1  

and at once finds many bits that fit    
into the scenic background of the story 
and introduce the gentler aspects of the
 woods and woodland things4  ,with the  
,odyssey we should choose some things to
 reinforce the love of home and the     
longing for the hearth-fire1 and we must
 use some of the same things to provide 
an element otherwise lacking in the     
,robin ,hood1 and to modify the         
fascination of the wildwood life and the
 unattached condition4 ,some of the     
ideas on the surface of the stories may 
be enlarged and enriched--as loyalty and
 devotion to a leader4 ,there is a fine 
opportunity to launch into the          
children's experience upon the wave of  
their enthusiasm for ,robin ,hood1 other
 and nobler ideals of the leader and the
 hero2 though we must never expect the  
child1 glowing with the satisfaction of 
deeds done1 to give any appreciation    
worth considering to the suffering hero 
or to the heroism of peace4 ,this       
properly belongs to a much later        

period--to what it is not mere jargon to
 call the lyric age1 when some more     
effective appeal can be made to those   
powers that come of introspection4  ,the
 cycles of stories of ,king ,arthur     
unquestionably contain much that should 
contribute to the pleasure and wholesome
 culture of the elementary child4 ,epic 
activity1 bold and generous deeds       
tempered by gentleness and              
reverence--this is the atmosphere of the
 best of the ,arthur stories1 and it is 
precisely the atmosphere into which one 
longs to lead the older children of the 
elementary school4 ,but these good and  
suitable ,arthur stories are so tied up 
with others entirely unsuitable that the
 choosing and arranging of them becomes 
the task of the expert psychologist and 
critic4 ,when one chooses stories out of
 this legend1 he must do with his       
material--his ,malory1 his ,chretien1   
his ,mabinogion1 his ,tennyson--as these
 collectors and artists did with theirs3
 regard it as the stuff of human nature 

and life1 a storehouse of treasures out 
of which he may draw according to his   
pleasure or his need4 ,in this case it  
is the safe pleasure and the artistic   
needs of his children that will dictate 
his choice4 ,and he must know thoroughly
 well his stories and his children2 for 
the pitfalls are many--quite as many in 
,chretien de ,troyes and ,malory as in  
,tennyson4  ,the first of the pitfalls  
to be avoided is that fantastic feudal  
gallantry which ,chretien and ,malory   
substituted for the forthright chivalric
 business and earnestness of the older  
legendary stories4 ,in the ,song of     
,roland one fights for reasons of       
patriotism or religion2 in the ,arthur  
romances1 and others of their type1 one 
fights for his lady's sake4 ,in the     
elementary grades the children are still
 undifferentiated human beings1 and     
should be kept so4 ,to thrust upon them 
suggestions of ladies to be won and to  
be served is to usher them into an      
unknown world1 an undemocratic and      

unbrotherly world from which we should  
like to keep them1 especially the girls1
 as long as possible4 ,while it is not  
easy to leave out this element in       
choosing material from these cycles1 it 
is possible to treat it lightly1 since  
there is in the same material a         
sufficiency of lions to be hunted1      
giants to be overcome1 and hostile      
,paynims to be exterminated4  ,everyone 
who has ever read much with children    
knows that to normal children before    
their thirteenth year the psychology and
 modus operandi of love and love-making1
 innocent or guilty1 are so alien as to 
pass harmlessly by them as a mere bit of
 the machinery of a story1 when these   
notions do constitute such a bit of     
machinery in a story otherwise suitable4
 ,but it is a mistake to choose matter  
which obliges us to linger with the     
little people over these experiences or 
to emphasize them4 ,he who would retell 
the ,arthur stories must be wary here1  
so difficult is it to put together any  

series of the adventures that will at   
all represent the material1 and         
constitute a whole1 without using the   
scarlet thread of guilty passion1 or    
substituting for it something nice but  
wishy-washy4 ,we have only to compare   
the grim justice of ,malory's ,modred   
with ,tennyson's sentimental and        
unconvincing handling of his character  
and function4  ,when ,malory wove into  
the ,arthur cycle the legend of the     
,holy ,grail1 he introduced an element  
very hard to handle for children--that  
religious mysticism1 not to say         
fanaticism1 which ,tennyson chose to set
 as the pivotal motive of the downfall  
of the ,table ,round4 ,tennyson1 writing
 for mature modern readers a deeply     
symbolistic poem1 and presenting a whole
 cycle1 could1 stroke by stroke1 build  
up the impression of this burning zeal1 
this hypnotic trance of enthusiasm1 that
 led men away after wandering fires1    
forgetting labor and duty4 ,but         
simplified to fit the comprehension of  

the wholesome twelve-year-old it is     
likely to appear a vague and mistaken   
piety1 producing a practical effect     
quite out of proportion to its          
importance4  ,to the modern teacher1    
with the witchery of the ,tennysonian   
music in his blood1 it is all but       
impossible to keep out of prominence    
that symbolism which lay obvious upon   
the surface1 even in the ,morte         
d',arthur1 but which ,tennyson          
heightened into an almost oppressive    
system of sophisticated and parochial   
doctrine4 ,an occasional symbolistic nut
 to crack is not a bad thing for the    
older children of the grades4 ,but would
 it not be a mistake to immerse them in 
a great system of symbolism8 ,to the    
younger children the sacred outside     
appearance1 the entrancing ,schein1 of  
things is best1 and symbolistic art only
 baffles them or unduly forces their    
powers4  ,the spirit of dilettante      
adventure which pervades the mediaeval  
romances gives them a tone entirely     

different from that of the epics4 ,in   
these latter the activities attach      
themselves to deeds that have to be     
done1 to misfortunes that the hero would
 willingly have avoided4 ,some of these 
sought-out adventures have crept        
insidiously into ,howard ,pyle's ,robin 
,hood2 but they are entirely foreign to 
the spirit of the original epos4 ,the   
idea of worshipfully winning worship1 of
 seeking adventure for mere adventure's 
sake1 or for the mere display of one's  
own powers1 or for the sake of getting  
trained1 is a corrupting one in our     
society1 and should not be implanted in 
our children's consciousness4 ,like the 
old epic heroes1 what we have to do we  
will do--often boldly2 but1 like the old
 epic heroes1 we will do it because it  
needs to be done4  ,we can get together 
a series of stories from the ,arthur    
romance that will touch but lightly the 
exaggerated1 false devotion to ladies2  
that will leave out of sight the guilty 
passion which lies at the center of     

,malory's poem and of most of the other 
literary versions2 that will put into a 
minor place the mystical religious      
element that lingers about the ,holy    
,grail side of the romance2 that will   
make little of the symbolism1 ignore the
 dilettante and merely amateur          
adventure1 handling the heroic rather   
than the romantic deeds--that will do   
all these things and still be a romance 
of ,king ,arthur4 ,he who would make    
such a version must choose out from     
,malory or ,the ,mabinogion1 material   
that belongs in such a series4 ,or he   
may find his material more sifted for   
him in ,lanier's ,the ,boy's ,king      
,arthur1 and ,knightly ,legends of      
,wales4 ,let him make much of ,arthur1  
simple of nature1 guileless and strong1 
looking to conquest and the good of his 
people rather than to his own worship or
 to his own love-affairs2 let him by no 
means neglect ,merlin1 the most         
permanently interesting figure2 he is   
,odysseus among the ,greeks1 the sacred 

bard among the warriors1 ,tusitala in   
,samoa1 the subtle one1 always so       
appealing and so satisfying to a child's
 imagination--the embodiment of that    
intellectual dominance which1 be it     
wisdom or magic1 always stands beside   
epic achievement in the child's         
estimation4 ,and having got it together1
 he may reassure himself1 as regards his
 epos of ,king ,arthur1 that there is no
 one ,arthur2 that the whole legend is a
 mine out of which every student may    
draw a treasure2 or1 to change the      
figure1 a great1 beautiful field in     
which many people may gather grain      
according to their need and their taste4
  ,much later when1 as growing youth1   
they are waking up to certain mature    
social problems1 the children will be   
ready for the style and matter of       
,tennyson's ,idylls4 ,but they will not 
get the characteristic value of the     
legend till1 as mature and experienced  
readers of books and livers of life1    
they come back to ,malory and ,chretien 

de ,troyes4  ,many wise teachers will   
dissent wholly from this view of the    
,arthur stories1 and in many schools    
they are presented in some form in the  
fourth or fifth grade1 and read in the  
,idylls of the ,king in the seventh and 
eighth4 ,suggestions for literature to  
accompany them will be found in a later 
chapter4  ,anybody who has read thus far
 can easily foretell what will be said  
about the ,siegfried legend4 ,in the    
huge accumulation of sagas1 romances1   
and operas that now go to make up the   
legend1 there are all sorts of          
material--much of it totally unsuited   
for children4 ,so far as ,i have been   
able to find1 there has not yet been    
made--certainly not in ,english--a      
collection of the stories good in itself
 and good for children4 ,the teacher    
must do his own sifting and arranging1  
if it seems well to study the ,siegfried
 stories within the grades4 ,the        
collection of the stories that makes up 
the ,niebelungen ,lied is particularly  

poor in fitting material1 being sordid  
and coarse in the domestic parts1 and   
tediously bloody in the heroic parts4   
,among the mass of stories given by     
,morris and ,magnussen in the ,voelsunga
 ,saga1 and in ,morris' ,sigurd the     
,volsung1 one may find material for     
making his own epos of ,siegfried1      
simple1 heroic1 triumphant--the         
,siegfried who killed ,fafnir1 escaped  
the snares of ,regin1 got the ,nibelung 
treasure1 rode through the magic fire   
and freed ,brunhild4 ,you may be sure   
some old saga-singer closed the story   
here and so may we4 ,this leaves for a  
much later day in the child's life the  
tragic ,siegfried1 whose domestic       
experience1 with its sordid motives1 its
 bitter quarrels and ugly subterfuges1  
is surely not beautiful or fitting for  
the children2 and whose treacherous     
taking-off is followed by a vengeance   
too grim and too merely fatalistic to be
 planted in a child's consciousness4    
,as we find a sort of canon of          

fairy-tales1 so we find a somewhat      
accredited list of hero-tales1 and the  
five we have discussed comprise it4     
,occasionally a teacher may enrich his  
material by an episode from ,the ,cid1  
from the ,song of ,roland1 from the     
heroic sagas of ,iceland1 from some     
other mediaeval romance2 but they will  
not detain him long1 nor will any one of
 them constitute a really good center   
for a prolonged study4  ,in the later   
years of this period certain classes and
 certain schools may find it well to    
read some of the literary stories of    
adventure1 such as ,ivanhoe1 or         
,treasure ,island1 or ,the ,last of the 
,mohicans4 ,in the really great stories 
of adventure we find many of the things 
we know to be good for the children--the
 large room1 the open atmosphere1       
forest1 sea1 prairie1 all the most      
disastrous chances of war and of travel1
 noble deeds and generous character4    
,every parent and teacher recognizes the
 danger which lies in the child's having

 too much even of good story of         
adventure4 ,and this sort of story is   
the peculiar field of the cheap         
story-teller1 in whose work the         
weaknesses and dangers of the species   
especially abound4 ,since the out-put of
 such stories is enormous1 and since the
 children's access to them1 in          
communities where they can buy books1 or
 have the use of a public library1 is   
practically unlimited1 all teachers and 
parents should know the marks of the    
undesirable story of adventure1 and be  
able to guard against it4 ,the weakness 
and dangers of such a story are these3  
#a4 ,the details are exaggerated until  
the event is too striking and too highly
 flavored1 so as to corrupt the taste   
and create an appetite that continues to
 demand gross satisfaction4  #b4 ,there 
are likely to be too many sensations4   
,the inartistic story of adventure does 
not work up its incidents with an       
accumulation of details and an effect of
 the passage of time that gives it      

verisimilitude1 but rushes forward with 
a crude and ill-digested happening on   
every five pages4 ,it is hard to believe
 that any artistic impression is made   
upon children whose minds are excited   
and jaded by such books4 ,they are a    
mere indulgence4  #c4 ,in all but the   
best adventure the strain of suspense   
and surprise is more than the children  
should be asked to endure4 ,too many    
experiences of long tension and final   
hair-breadth escape weaken a child's    
credence and harden his emotions so as  
to ruin his power of responding to such 
appeals4 ,the devices of suspense and   
surprise are employed1 to be sure1 by   
the masters1 but generally in due       
amount2 while they are invariably       
overworked by the cheap writer of       
adventure4  #d4 ,the facts of life and  
history are distorted and discolored4   
,this is the condemnation of such books 
as the ,henty books4 ,they profess to   
attach themselves to historical events  
or periods1 while as a matter of fact1  

they have nothing of the event or the   
period in them1 except a few names and  
reflections of the most obvious aspects 
of the mere surface facts4 ,as          
reflection of a period1 or as           
illumination of an event in it1 they are
 worse than useless--they are absurdly  
misleading4 ,only a genius1 or a student
 who has immersed himself in the matter1
 can produce a story whose psychology1  
sociology1 and archaeology will throw   
real light upon a bygone age or event4  
,there are such stories1 but they are   
not for elementary children2 or1 if they
 are1 only as adventure1 not as history4
 ,no one who chooses books for children 
should be misled by these cheap         
manufactured stories which claim as     
their reason for being that they have a 
historical background4 ,after all1 it is
 ,scott who has given us the best big   
stories of adventure4 ,ivanhoe1 ,quentin
 ,durward1 ,anne of ,geierstein1 ,guy   
,mannering1 with the proper             
condensations and adaptations1 are of   

the best4 ,cooper1 in certain of the    
,leatherstocking novels1 creates the    
atmosphere of really great adventure4   
,stevenson knew the art of writing a    
rattling good story1 which yet keeps    
that balance of judgment and sense of   
proportion1 that faithfulness to the    
truth 7not the fact7 of experience1     
which prevent its ever degenerating into
 sensationalism4 ,quiller-,couch and    
,joseph ,conrad are two more modern     
writers who have achieved in many cases 
the level of great stories of adventure4
  ,it is not probable that children who 
are given the older epics and romances  
in school will have time for these more 
modern romances of adventure in the     
class4 ,but whoever guides their        
out-of-school reading1 be it parent or  
teacher1 should have in mind these few  
simple grounds of choice4     ,,chapter 
,,ix  ,,realistic ,,stories   ,in the   
material we use for children1 while it  
is not profitable to draw any close     
distinctions between romantic and       

realistic stories1 we can not fail to   
distinguish in general between the      
hero-tale or the folk ,maerchen1 where  
we must expect preternatural powers and 
marvelous events1 and the story which   
purports to deal with real people1 and  
with experiences which1 however rare1   
are still possible or probable4 ,and    
these stories of real people and actual 
experiences have their value for the    
children--their own value1 first of all1
 as making a distinct contribution to   
the child's education1 and another value
 as tending to counteract and balance   
the effects of the thoroughgoing        
romances4 ,no one questions the fact    
that there are ill effects from too much
 romance and too many marvels4 ,a       
child's vision of the world does become 
distorted if it is too often or too long
 organized upon a plan dominated by the 
wonderful or the fantastic2 his sense of
 fact dulled1 if his imagination is     
called upon to appreciate and to produce
 prevailingly the unusual combinations2 

his taste vitiated1 if he is supplied   
too abundantly with those striking and  
super-emotional incidents which fill the
 romances4 ,all these dangers are       
counteracted in part by the child's     
fact-studies1 and by his experiences in 
actual life4 ,but this is not           
sufficient2 it is artistically due him  
that the antidote should have the same  
kind of charm as the original poison4   
,it is well1 too1 to bear in mind that  
even the small children should be       
appealed to on several sides1 and that  
their taste should be made as catholic  
as possible4 ,one is sorry to find a    
child of eight or ten who likes only    
fairy-tales1 or war-stories1 or         
detective stories2 he should like all   
stories4  ,but we are more interested1  
naturally1 in the positive services     
performed by the stories of real life2  
or to be more explicit1 those stories   
told with the effect of actuality1 and  
with the atmosphere of verisimilitude4  
,of course1 we should require of these  

stories good form and good writing1 so  
that we may expect from them on that    
side what we expect from any good       
literature4 ,in addition1 we may expect 
them to perform for the children and for
 all of us certain distinctive artistic 
services4 ,first1 they operate to throw 
back upon actual life the glow of art4  
,those stories which use people and     
circumstances that we can match in our  
own actual surroundings and experiences 
impress upon us most vividly the fact1  
so important for our real culture both  
in art and in life1 that literature is  
in a very real sense a presentation of  
life2 that these charming people and    
things are but images taken up from the 
real world1 chosen and raised to this   
level1 by which very process they are   
invested with a halo of beauty and      
distinction4 ,this nimbus of art casts  
back upon life some of its own radiance1
 dignifying and enriching it1 and to    
many minds revealing for the first time 
beauty and meaning which they would     

otherwise never have seen2 so that we   
truly see and rightly interpret many of 
the people and things in our own lives  
only after we have seen the mates of    
them in a story or a poem4 ,a group of  
children who had been helped to make a  
verse about rosy radishes1 and had then 
done a water-color picture of a plate of
 the same vegetable1 found for many days
 new and artistic joy in a grocer's     
window4 ,the same children1 having      
learned ,lowell's phrase of the         
dandelion's dusty gold1 were not        
satisfied till they had made a beautiful
 phrase to render the burnished gold of 
the butter-cups4 ,the same class on a   
picnic labored with ardor to make a     
beautiful verse about ,uneeda biscuits  
and ginger-ale1 to match the ,persian's 
,a ,jug of ,wine1 a ,loaf of ,bread4    
,they were much baffled when they       
finally concluded that it would not     
go--that these modern and specific      
articles refused to wear a halo4  ,the  
obverse and counterpart of this glow    

caught by the actual world from art is  
the vital interest that surrounds a     
person1 or an object1 or a sentiment    
which we come upon in a poem or a story1
 and which we recognize as corresponding
 to something in our own experience--a  
recognition all the more satisfying if  
the correspondence be that of actual    
identity4 ,every teacher of younger     
children recalls at once the tingling   
interest they feel in practically every 
story they are told1 as some incident or
 detail parallels or suggests something 
they have known--,my father has seen a  
bear2 ,once ,i found an eagle's feather2
 ,there are daffodils in my             
grandmother's garden4 ,a little girl of 
ten had been given a very simple        
arrangement of a melody from            
,beethoven's ,fifth ,symphony to play on
 the piano4 ,soon after she had learned 
it1 she was taken to hear the symphony4 
,when her melody came dropping in from  
the flutes and violins--birds and brooks
 and whispering leaves--she threw up at 

her friend a flash of radiant surprise  
and delight4 ,her whole soul stirred to 
see here--in this stately place1 with   
the great orchestra1 in the noble       
assemblage of glorious concords--her    
friend1 her little song4 ,for days she  
played it over many times every day1    
with the greatest tenderness of         
expression4  ,the wise teacher sees in  
this eager recognition and              
identification one of the most desirable
 results of literary experience1 and    
utilizes it as the most precious of     
educational opportunities1 since this   
mood of delighted recognition is with   
the younger children also the mood of   
creation1 and with the older children   
the most useful and practical clue to   
the finding of their own literary       
material4  ,it is in this kind of       
story--those that reflect the events of 
actual life and are concerned with      
ordinary people--that we are able to    
introduce our children in art to their  
contemporaries and coevals4 ,it means   

much for a child's consciousness that he
 should develop a quick and dramatic    
sympathy with lives other than his own1 
and yet like his own--with the          
experiences and characters of other     
children1 other folks' ways of living4  
,this sympathy is among the literary    
products1 since it is best developed and
 fostered by literature2 this because it
 is literature only1 that handles its   
material in that concrete and emotional 
way which produces the impression of    
actual reality and serves as a          
substitute for it4 ,teach the little    
children ,stevenson's        ,little    
,indian1 ,sioux or ,crow1      ,little  
frosty ,eskimo1      ,little ,turk or   
,japanese1   and teach it with the      
natural implications that will occur to 
any teacher of expedients1 and you will 
have taught them a certain attitude of  
confidential understanding toward their 
brown brothers 7in spite of the         
decidedly chauvinistic character of this
 masterpiece7 that they would not have  

got out of a year of social history4    
,the difficulties of choosing stories of
 modern child-life for teaching in      
school are serious4 ,they are most      
likely to be thin in material1 flimsy in
 structure1 trivial in style1           
sentimental in atmosphere1 so that they 
fall to pieces under the test of study  
in a class of acute and questioning     
children4 ,it is best not to choose any 
long book of this sort4 ,for the younger
 children use the shorter bits of story1
 such as may be found in ,laura         
,richards' ,five ,minute ,stories1 or   
such as any teacher may collect for     
herself from many sources2 occasionally 
one may find a perfect specimen in one  
of the children's periodicals1 and there
 is now a wealth of such things in      
verse4 ,we must be wary of those books  
about children1 interpretative of       
children1 of which our own day has      
produced so many charming specimens1    
whose appeal is entirely to adults4     
,such are ,pater's ,the ,child in the   

,house1 and ,kenneth ,graham's ,the     
,golden ,age4 ,part of ,a ,child's      
,garden of ,verses is of this kind4 ,of 
this sort1 too1 is the pretty little    
,emmy ,lou1 an interpretation of a      
child's consciousness1 not a children's 
story4  ,the general question of the    
reading of juveniles will be left for a 
chapter of miscellanies farther on4 ,it 
is not possible to make any long book   
about children the center of a class's  
work4 ,such material is best used as a  
sort of reserve1 a recreation from time 
to time1 and is best given in short     
stories that can be read at intervals2  
or if it be a long story1 one that can  
be distributed among the other reading4 
,it is true of this kind of story too1  
that the best results come of using     
material not made especially for        
children1 but which appeals to children1
 however1 because it appeals to         
universal and elemental human nature4   
,among the folk-tales are many of the   
realistic type that are most            

serviceable4 ,like the folk fairy-tales 
they have that mysteriously but truly   
universal appeal1 which makes them      
childlike1 though originally they were  
not made for children4 ,they are those  
comic and realistic tales which may     
originally have been coarse1 but which  
have been refined by years and winnowed 
by use until they have taken on a form  
and value like those of some piece of   
ancient peasant hand-work--they are     
simple1 genuine1 homely art4 ,such are  
,kluge ,else1 ,hans in ,luck1 ,great    
,claus and ,little ,claus1 ,the ,three  
,sillies and all the delightful company 
of noodles1 and the great family of     
plain folks with their homely affairs4  
,of course1 the great classic of the    
realistic method suited for children is 
,robinson ,crusoe4 ,from the days of    
,rousseau who designated it as the one  
book to be given to his ideally educated
 child1 teachers have appreciated its   
value4 ,indeed1 a very curious1 but not 
unnatural1 thing has happened1 in the   

fact that this book has been so long and
 closely associated with children that  
it has come to be considered a sort of  
nursery classic1 a wonder-tale composed 
for infants1 by hosts of people who have
 no idea that it is in reality a        
masterly realistic novel and a          
profoundly philosophical                
culture-document--an epoch-making piece 
of art4 ,fortunately1 it is easy to     
prepare it for the children2 it is      
largely a matter of leaving out the     
reflective passages1 and of translating 
into modern ,english the very few       
phrases and turns of expression now     
obsolete4 ,one would deplore the        
reduction of the story for any purpose  
to mere babble--to words of one         
syllable1 or any other form that        
destroys the flavor of ,defoe's         
convincing style4 ,it is easy to arrange
 the experiences so that the story      
serves the purposes of a cycle--a single
 experience constituting a portion which
 may be treated as a complete thing2 for

 example1 the making of the baskets1 the
 construction of the pots1 the saving of
 the seed4  ,robinson ,crusoe is a      
treasure to many a grade teacher1       
because it really correlates beautifully
 with work that the children are doing1 
or might well be doing1 in the third and
 fourth grades2 whether in their history
 study1 where they are devising food and
 shelter1 or have advanced to the study 
of trades and crafts2 or1 under an      
entirely different scheme1 have started 
on the study of voyagers and colonists4 
,the art and the charm of ,robinson     
,crusoe1 and the secret of its literary 
value for the child1 lie in the power of
 the sheer realism--a realism not so    
much of material as of method--to hold  
and convince us4 ,a part of this realism
 is the richness and homeliness of      
detail2 the painstaking record of       
failures and tentative achievements2 the
 calm1 judicial view of experiments2 the
 colorless flow of long periods of time2
 the homely1 and as it were domestic1   

worth of ,crusoe's successes4 ,oh1 it is
 a great and convincing book6 ,how great
 and how convincing one may realize when
 he reads the only one of the           
innumerable ,robinsons1 taking their    
inspiration from ,defoe's book1 that    
really survives--the ,swiss ,family     
,robinson1 with its facile and too often
 fatuous ease of accomplishment1 its    
total lack of reality1 its stupid and   
blundering didacticism1 its impossible  
jumble of detail1 its commonplace       
romance2 yet1 we must reluctantly add1  
its unfailing charm for the children4   
,that a book with all these faults keeps
 its hold upon the successive           
generations of children is testimony to 
the fact that its basis of interest1    
which is also for children the essential
 interest of ,robinson ,crusoe--the old 
foundation process of getting fire and  
roof and coat and bread--is the romance 
that is forever fresh and thrilling4    
,the exceedingly thoroughgoing realism  
of the method 7notice1 not the large    

frame-work1 which is sufficiently       
romantic7 of ,robinson ,crusoe would    
suggest at once that it might profitably
 be accompanied by some bits of         
literature that would throw a more      
romantic and idealistic coloring upon   
the primitive craftsman and his craft1  
and upon the experiences of voyager and 
colonist4 ,such would be ,bret ,harte's 
,columbus1 ,mrs4 ,hemans' ,the ,landing 
of the ,pilgrim ,fathers1 ,marvell's    
,bermudas 7with a few difficult lines   
omitted74 ,longfellow's ,jasper         
,becerra1 the twenty-third ,psalm1 and  
several chapters from ,treasure ,island4
 ,every teacher could add other titles4 
,the older children--those of the       
seventh and eighth grades--may          
profitably read in school1 for the sake 
of the intellectual experience1 a       
classic detective story or a story whose
 plot and evolution present an almost   
purely intellectual problem4 ,it is true
 that the air of intellectual acumen    
that pervades most of these stories is  

specious1 and that they are in reality1 
and as a rule1 shallow and unlogical    
pieces of reasoning4 ,but it takes an   
older and more expert person to see this
 for himself4 ,the teacher should try to
 qualify his children for judging a good
 story of this kind1 and save them1 if  
possible1 from the detective-story      
habit1 which wastes much good time and  
fills a child's mind with very cheap    
problems4 ,but if he choose a good story
 of this kind for reading with his      
class1 he may help to set their minds   
going in that region where the          
imagination must ally itself with logic 
and with a reasoned and inevitable      
progress of events4 ,properly channeled1
 this is a most valuable experience1    
both from the purely mental and from the
 literary points of view4 ,after all1   
the best detective story in ,english is 
,poe's ,the ,gold ,bug4 ,there is1 of   
course1 that element in ,treasure       
,island1 but1 being there so interwoven 
with the romantic and adventurous       

details of that delectable tale1 it is  
not likely to yield for the children    
that peculiar bit of training which they
 might get from the more unmixed        
intellectuality and more obvious realism
 of ,the ,gold ,bug4  ,it is difficult  
to know what to say1 and where to say   
it1 concerning ,don ,quixote4 ,that     
triumphant book is assuredly a          
masterpiece of the realistic method4 ,it
 came as an antidote and tonic1 helping 
to restore health and sanity to a       
romance-sick world1 and it ought to have
 a place in the discipline of certain   
kinds of young people4 ,but it cannot be
 said that this place is always within  
the elementary period1 unless a certain 
grade or certain children have had a    
peculiar experience and can be said to  
need it4 ,if the grade has had the ,king
 ,arthur stories of ,malory or ,tennyson
 in large amounts with a very earnest   
teacher1 they can very certainly be said
 to need ,don ,quixote--always1 of      
course1 shortened and expurgated1 and in

 carefully chosen episodes2 from which  
process--such is its essential          
greatness1 and such the character of its
 unity--it suffers less than any other  
story in the world4 ,we should be quite 
aware of the danger of giving the       
children any large amount of this       
peculiar kind of realism--that which    
constitutes itself a satire and a sort  
of parody on some over-serious bit of   
romance4 ,nothing is more deadening and 
more commonplace than this peculiar form
 of wit1 when it becomes a habit or     
offers itself in a mass4 ,but the       
peculiar vitality and richness of ,don  
,quixote lifts it far above the level of
 parody1 constituting it a magnificent  
original piece of art in itself4        
,however1 the whole question must be    
left open4 ,it may be that not until he 
is far along in the secondary school or 
in college is the scholar suffering for 
,don ,quixote1 or capable of            
appreciating it4  ,among the older      
children the note of realism and wit may

 be sounded in a wisely chosen essay4   
,of course1 they are not ready for the  
indirect and allusive manner1 nor for   
the lyric egoism1 of the pure literary  
essay4 ,but there are essays of ,lamb's1
 a very few of ,steele's1 some of       
,sidney ,smith's1 some of the more      
literary of ,burroughs' nature-studies1 
bits of ,oliver ,wendell ,holmes and    
,charles ,dudley ,warner1 that are ideal
 for them4  ,shall we sum up by saying  
that1 on the whole1 we find the romantic
 and fanciful stories best suited in    
form and spirit to the elementary       
children2 since realistic stories that  
are really good art1 are1 as a rule1 too
 mature and too difficult for the       
children1 and realistic stories of the  
juvenile type are not good enough either
 in form or in content to justify long  
class study8 ,however1 certain          
distinctive and desirable results may be
 expected from specimens interwoven here
 and there of that kind of story which  
represents real life1 which uses events 

both possible and probable1 and which   
handles its material by the method of   
realistic detail4 ,in the earliest years
 these may be secured by the reading of 
well-chosen little stories of modern    
children--indeed1 of any modern         
material1 provided it be simple         
enough--and by the teaching of verses   
which reflect aspects of actual         
life--human life or nature4 ,in the     
third or fourth grade ,robinson ,crusoe 
forms a desirable basis for the year's  
work4 ,it should always be accompanied  
by shorter bits of a more romantic and  
heroic type4 ,later in the elementary   
period--say in the sixth or seventh     
grade--the reasonable and practical     
element may be introduced in the form of
 a story of the detective kind--a story 
whose plot presents an intellectual     
problem1 whose atmosphere and method    
make the impression of actual fact4 ,and
 in the seventh and eighth grade these  
same purposes--that of exhibiting to the
 children actual human life as art sees 

it1 that of bringing them into          
educational contact with the realistic  
method1 that of counteracting any       
possible mental danger from too much    
romance and adventure--may be served by 
essays chosen on principles already many
 times suggested4     ,,chapter ,x      
,,nature ,,and ,,animal ,,stories   ,in 
a discussion of these stories we should 
again take to ourselves the warning that
 we must guard constantly and carefully 
against too narrow a view of literature4
 ,the reckless lack of knowledge and    
experience that sweeps into the category
 of literature everything expressed in  
words is so irritating to a careful     
student that he is always in danger of  
allowing his irritation to help carry   
him to the other extreme--that of an    
uncatholic exclusiveness4 ,we must1     
however1 be aware of the fact that other
 kinds of writing1 entirely technical   
and special in their simpler varieties1 
are constantly approaching the borders  
of literature1 as they become more and  

more humanized1 draw about them more and
 more of emotional association1 and take
 on more of the graces of the arts of   
writing4 ,we must be aware of this1 and 
we must be1 as it were1 constantly on   
the lookout for a possible new arrival  
among the kinds of literature1 and be   
prepared to give it hospitality2 and we 
must acknowledge that some of the       
results which we desire to accomplish   
through genuine literature are          
accomplished through those things that  
have only some of the characteristics of
 literature4 ,but still1 for the sake of
 the good pedagogical and critical      
conscience1 and for the sake of keeping 
the fundamental distinctions as clear as
 possible1 the teacher needs to know    
precisely what he is doing when he is   
using this material4 ,he must decide1 in
 the very earliest years of a child's   
education1 whether he is teaching facts 
and theories1 or presenting art1 in his 
story4  ,the custom of using animals and
 plants to represent human beings and to

 express human meanings is as old as    
folk-art itself4 ,quite as old1 too1 is 
the revelation that the creatures have  
individualities and personalities of    
their own to be dramatically and        
sympathetically set forth in terms of   
human psychology1 in default of a truer 
one4 ,the mind of man goeth not back to 
the time when the fox1 the cock1 and the
 ass--,reynard1 ,chanticleer1 and       
,brunel--the rabbit1 the eagle1 the oak1
 and the vine1 were not well-defined    
characters1 well provided with affairs4 
,but this early folk treatment of the   
creatures was distinctly art1           
occasionally morals1 but not science4   
,it did not aim to teach the facts as to
 the structure and habits of the        
creatures as life-forms4 ,it interpreted
 human life through them or them by     
means of human terms4  ,precisely here  
we must begin our discrimination between
 real literature and nature-stories4    
,the longing to pass down to the infant 
mind the results of scientific discovery

 has produced in our generation 7perhaps
 it was really produced in the          
generation preceding ours7 an enormous  
crop of most anomalous growths in this  
field of nature-stories4 ,a favorite    
method of teaching a child the facts    
about any object or process in nature   
has been to translate it into a story of
 human affairs1 or draw it up as a      
picture of a human situation1 involving 
naturally and inevitably1 a multitude of
 extraneous or misleading details4 ,for 
example1 we would teach a child about   
the distribution of the dandelion plant4
 ,so we construct the ,story of the     
,dandelion ,seed4 ,now1 there           
undoubtedly is a story of the dandelion 
seed4 ,incident follows incident1 stage 
follows stage1 from bloom to bloom      
again--every step beautiful and         
interesting in itself1 and to be        
completely trusted to make its own      
appeal1 just displayed for itself4 ,but 
some people doubt this4 ,they have lost1
 or have never acquired1 that faith in  

nature and her processes which trusts to
 this appeal2 and then they long--and   
this is quite natural--to enlist in aid 
of their fact-studies the charm and the 
emotion that lies in literature4 ,so    
they endow the ,dandelion ,seed with a  
papa and a mama--a jovial suburbanite of
 a papa1 and a fussy1 sentimentalizing  
mama--with a cradle1 with a vocabulary1 
with a system of morals 7there are even 
naughty ,dandelion ,seeds71 and with    
many feelings4 ,they tell about his     
home1 his infancy1 his training1 his    
departure1 his settling in a new        
home--all the while with the intention  
of teaching their infants the facts1 but
 all the while covering them up under a 
trivial and unnecessary myth4 ,in the   
end the product is scorned by science   
for its overlay of misleading detail1   
and rejected by art for the obnoxious   
intrusion of work-a-day and professional
 fact4 ,now1 let who will believe that  
such stories and verses are a legitimate
 way of conveying or of illuminating    

scientific fact2 but let him not suppose
 that they are literature4 ,the case is 
different when the teacher of fact      
happens to find in art1 in real         
literature1 some picture or detail with 
which to emotionalize and beautify his  
fact4 ,it does sometimes happen that the
 poem1 the folk-tale1 the fable1 has set
 in some charming human light certain   
aspects of the object which the children
 are studying4 ,they are entitled to    
these to help them to see their object  
or event in the round4  ,it is true1 of 
course1 that no piece of literature that
 handles for its purposes natural       
objects can afford to be flagrantly     
inaccurate4 ,we all know how neatly     
,john ,burroughs punctured ,longfellow's
 bit of pathos1 ,there are no birds in  
last year's nests1 by proving that many 
species of birds devote themselves to   
securing and occupying last year's      
nests4 ,but in the main it is truth     
rather than fact that literature gives  
us--truth1 or fact colored and          

interpreted by personal association and 
emotion2 we must not ask colorless fact 
of her1 and it is the most unprofitable 
quibbling to demand of her scientific   
exactness1 which is always prosaic4 ,on 
the other hand1 there is no place in    
nature-study for the imagination of     
invention1 nor for any of those striking
 and dramatic effects arranged and      
calculated1 secured by manipulation and 
choice of material--effects which are   
the very native method of literature4   
,but writing about animals and objects  
in nature may become literature when1   
losing sight of the need of teaching    
fact1 of giving professional            
instruction1 it presents them as        
personalities1 when it humanizes them1  
either by attributing to them human     
qualities and feelings1 or by           
surrounding them with an atmosphere of  
human emotion and experience2 it may    
become good literature when it does     
these things well2 the chances are all  
against its becoming great literature at

 all4  ,if the nature-story making use  
of literary devices1 but designed to    
teach scientific fact1 is anomalous1 the
 case is no better1 artistically or     
educationally1 when the story of an     
animal is made the propaganda of the    
,humane ,society1 or of the             
anti-vivisectionists1 or of any other   
believers1 no matter how just and       
important may be their belief or        
doctrine4 ,i have known a child whose   
outlook was prejudiced1 and whose mental
 repose most seriously disturbed1 by an 
over-earnest and over-colored story of  
the sufferings of a deserving and       
phenomenally sensitive cab-horse2 and   
this morbid sense of suffering was the  
result of reading a book whose style was
 commonplace1 whose structure was       
chaotic1 whose sentiment was            
melodramatic1 and whose psychology was  
guesswork--which did not yield1 in a    
word1 a single one of the desirable     
fruits of literature4 ,we must devise   
some way to preserve and to deepen in   

our little people that humorous1 loving 
sympathy with our furry and hairy       
brothers1 more wholesome and natural    
than stories of suicidal ponies1        
revolutionary stallions1 persecuted     
partridges1 and heart-broken mastiffs4  
,better than any library of books about 
them is the friendship of one dog or    
horse1 or the care of any1 the humblest1
 pet4 ,and at least we may remind       
ourselves that we do not have to        
accomplish the awakening of that or any 
other sympathy at the cost of teaching  
as literature stories undesirable and   
inartistic4  ,the oldest of beast-tales 
available for occidental children is the
 story of ,reynard the ,fox4 ,we all    
know how there grew up about the        
original core of the story a vast       
accretion of material1 which became ever
 more and more satirical and abstract1  
until finally the original folk-cycle   
was buried under it4 ,of course1 in the 
later forms the tales are most          
unchildlike4 ,but it is not so difficult

 to extract from the cycle the original 
simpler one--or at least to get together
 a cycle which has the simplicity1 the  
sincerity1 and the objectivity of       
genuine folk-art4 ,the children love the
 tales1 and get so much out of them that
 it is a pity for any child to miss them
 completely2 though ,i should never     
advise that many of the tales be read to
 them continuously4 ,to do this would be
 to immerse them in an atmosphere of    
trickery4 ,it is better to keep the     
story lying by1 and to read them an     
episode now and then in the intervals of
 something more serious4 ,many people   
will question the moral effect of       
stories in which the rascal uniformly   
triumphs1 as in ,reynard4 ,but ,i have  
observed1 among the children with whom  
,i have read it1 that they are never in 
sympathy with ,reynard1 and are never   
pleased with his triumphs4 ,this is in  
striking1 and in some respects puzzling1
 contrast with the fact that the        
triumphs and successes of ,bre'r ,rabbit

 in ,uncle ,remus always delight the    
children4 ,the tales that ,joel         
,chandler ,harris has assembled in this 
collection constitute a most charming   
and usable beast-epic4 ,the universal   
sympathy with this hero may be          
encouraged and enjoyed without          
misgiving1 because ,bre'r ,rabbit       
succeeds by subtlety1 where ,reynard    
succeeds by knavery4 ,bre'r ,rabbit's   
triumphs are those of sheer intellect1  
as truly as are those of ,odysseus1     
while ,reynard's are those of low and   
cruel cunning4 ,it is impossible to     
exaggerate the access of charm and      
interest that invest the ,uncle ,remus  
stories because of ,uncle ,remus        
himself4 ,he is the genuine folk        
story-teller1 full of faith and         
sincerity1 yet steeped in humor1 and    
gifted with the sense of essential      
reality2 add to this that he is a gentle
 soul1 a devoted lover of childhood1    
with a never-failing sense of the       
reverence due the child4 ,while to those

 who know the negro dialect the stories 
lose much by translation1 still they are
 good enough to bear even this test1 and
 such translation is necessary for some 
groups of children4 ,like the ,reynard  
tales1 those of ,bre'r ,rabbit are best 
inserted here and there throughout the  
year and not read in a mass4  ,the      
fables--all those oriental and classic  
ones that are called ,aesop's1 as well  
as many of ,la ,fontaine's--are1 from   
the literary point of view the best of  
the animal stories4 ,leave quite out of 
view their moralistic and figurative    
meanings1 and most of them are          
sympathetic and dramatic presentations  
of the animals themselves1 with those   
wider human implications that make an   
anecdote about an animal literature     
rather than science4 ,the family or the 
schoolroom that can possess a copy of   
,boutet de ,monvel's ,la ,fontaine has  
in the pictures the most charming and   
penetrating criticism and interpretation
 of the fables themselves1 of the       

animals who appear in them1 and of the  
motives and experiences that lie behind 
them4  ,scattered throughout the        
folk-tales and among the fairy-stories  
that we know best are some fascinating  
animal stories4 ,the folk-mind is always
 impressed in an imaginative way with   
the relation between man and the        
animals--not always a loving or         
sympathetic relation4 ,they feel1 what  
the modern writing humanitarian seems to
 have determined to ignore1 that deep1  
psychic1 inscrutable animosity1 be it   
instinct or race-memory or whatever it  
may be1 that has always existed between 
man and the beasts2 though there are    
among practically all the folk whose    
tales we have collected1 stories of     
grateful beasts1 of friendly and        
serviceable animals4 ,then there are    
such classics as ,the ,little ,red ,hen1
 ,henny-,penny1 ,the ,three             
,billy-,goats1 and ,the ,musicians of   
,bremen1 whose perfection of art as     
stories and as presentations of life is 

beyond criticism4  ,the native stories  
of many of the ,north ,american ,indian 
tribes have a charming way of presenting
 the animals4 ,unfortunately1 most of   
our ,indian folk-lore was collected and 
reduced to literary form in what one may
 call the blaue ,blume period of        
folk-lore collecting1 and is spoiled    
everywhere by the oversentimental strain
 of the period4 ,we could well spare an 
occasional account of what one might    
infer to be a common habit of love-lorn 
,indian maidens--that of casting        
themselves headlong from inaccessible   
cliffs at sunset1--to make room for some
 of the humorous and fanciful tales of  
the animals that the ,indians knew so   
well and to which they lived so near4   
,the ,zuni folk-tales collected by      
,frank ,cushing have much of this       
element in them1 and it constitutes one 
of their many charms4  ,east ,indian    
folk-lore is peculiarly rich in tales of
 animals--fables1 bits of beast-wisdom  
and beast-adventure4 ,it may be that    

this fact co-operated with his own gift 
to make ,rudyard ,kipling the greatest  
of all modern makers of animal-stories4 
,the ,jungle ,books stand unique and    
imperishable as one of the perfect      
art-products of the nineteenth century4 
,like everything else that is true art1 
these stories never become stale4 ,this 
gives them a peculiar value4 ,for the   
children who have had them at home are  
always willing to hear them again with  
the class4 ,we can read them to the     
third grade for the story1 and with the 
sixth grade for the style1 and the      
eighth grade is not above hearing       
,toomai of the ,elephants at any time4  
,the teacher himself will find unfailing
 satisfaction in them because1 in       
addition to all their charms as         
interpretations of the beasts and       
presentation of human nature1 they show 
all the marks of expert workmanship4    
,this appears in the masterly structure 
of the story1 the organization of the   
material1 the economy of incident1 the  

successful style which combines in a    
most unusual way1 a reserve and finish  
that would become a literary essayist1  
with a power of vivid and striking      
phrase that characterizes the most      
successful journalist4 ,so that teacher 
and children are both interested and    
disciplined by every reading of the     
,jungle ,books4  ,among all their verse 
literature1 from the ,mother ,goose     
melodies to ,wordsworth in the eighth   
grade1 the children will find poems     
about animals4 ,a catalogue of the      
nursery and fairy-book animals is a very
 instructive document--indeed1 a        
catalogue of poetical beasts in general1
 is very illuminating4 ,all the verses  
about animals that have come down to us 
in the traditionary jingles are good as 
art and on the whole1 fair to the       
animals4 ,baa1 ,black ,sheep1 ,the      
,mouse ,ran ,up the ,clock1 ,johnny     
,shuter's ,mare1 and all the others1    
yield the fruits of literature1 but only
 after much torturing1 the fruits of    

science4 ,gradually to these we add such
 as ,cowper's tame but touching pictures
 of his pets2 ,wordsworth's tender and  
far-seeing poems about the shepherds and
 their flocks1 the doe and the hart1 the
 pet lamb1 the faithful dogs2 ,blake's  
wonderful pair of poems1 ,the ,tiger and
 ,the ,lamb2 ,mary ,lamb's exquisite    
picture of the boy and the snake2       
,emerson's ,the ,bumble ,bee2 those     
splendid imaginative characterizations  
of the beasts from the thirty-eighth to 
the forty-first chapters of ,job2 ,the  
,jackdaw of ,rheims2 ,how ,they ,brought
 the ,good ,news4 ,why extend the actual
 list8 ,they are all things that place  
the animals which appear in them in     
their romantic or tender relations to   
human beings1 or interpret in a dramatic
 and literary way the imaginary         
consciousness of the animal4  ,there is 
little danger of making poetry that is  
good enough to be given as poetry1 do   
the work of information-teaching4 ,it   
seems easy to see in the case of the    

poem1 with its more imaginative method  
and its more artificial form1 that you  
spoil it as art when you teach it as    
science4 ,this fact is equally true of a
 good literary story4     ,,chapter ,,xi
  ,,symbolistic ,,stories1 ,,fables1    
,,and ,,other ,,apologues   ,it is not  
possible1 in the plan adopted for this  
little book1 to keep the topics always  
strictly apart4 ,it is not possible1 for
 example1 to relegate to one section all
 one has to say about folk- and         
fairy-stories1 and to another all about 
fables1 because each type has so many   
aspects and radiations4 ,fables are     
stories2 most of them are               
animal-stories2 they are symbolistic or 
figurative or allegorical--so that one  
must approach them from many points of  
view1 and take them into consideration  
in many connections4 ,there need be1    
therefore1 no apology for taking up in  
this new section topics partially       
discussed elsewhere4  ,it seems quite   
consonant with our best conclusions     

about younger children to say that1 on  
the whole1 in the earlier years of their
 school life their literature should be 
of that objective kind where no more is 
meant than meets the eye4 ,they may have
 tales of adventure1 of plain           
experience1 of highly imaginative       
experience1 of animal life1 of          
fairyland2 but as far as possible let   
them be such as contain no occult and   
secondary meanings4 ,there are many     
things desirable for all children1 and  
under certain school conditions         
compulsory or indispensable for some    
children1 which do have this secondary  
meaning4 ,such1 if one uses them1 are   
the stories from the great myths2 such  
are practically all of ,andersen's      
,maerchen2 such are the legendary       
stories of the ,hebrew patriarchs4 ,of  
course1 the parent or teacher who       
presents these things to his children   
may say that the children never perceive
 or even suspect an inner meaning4 ,and 
it is true that1 with great care and    

skill1 the objective upper surface may  
be kept before some children4 ,but1 on  
the whole1 it is good morality and good 
pedagogy to give to the children nothing
 that you are not willing1 even         
desirous1 that they should probe to the 
bottom4 ,it is always a misfortune when 
one must say to a child1 ,i can't       
explain that to you now2 ,you can't     
understand that yet2 so much a          
misfortune that no teacher should ever  
invite it4 ,if you have ever looked into
 the faces of the fifth grade when they 
were searching you with questions to get
 at the meaning of ,andersen's          
pessimistic story of ,the ,little ,white
 ,hen2 if you have seen the sixth grade 
grow melancholy1 with a vague augury of 
trouble they could not fathom1 when you 
have read to them the brilliant but     
tragic little apologue of ,mr4 ,seguin's
 ,goat2 if you have been obliged to     
explain to some puzzled and suspicious  
eight-year-old the raison d'etre of the 
clock-ticking alligator in ,peter ,pan1 

you have resolved hereafter to give them
 no symbolism1 or to give them symbolism
 whose presence they could not possibly 
suspect 7a most difficult thing to do in
 the case of that many-minded1          
hundred-eyed child1 the class71 or to   
give such symbolism as would invite them
 into paths where you would gladly have 
them walk1 whose most ultimate          
implication you are at least willing to 
explain to them4 ,of course1 this       
principle cannot be pushed to its       
logical extreme2 merely logical extremes
 are always absurd4 ,one does not go    
into the philosophical depths of the    
special historical epoch he chooses for 
his children1 nor does he instruct them 
in the remote scientific principles     
behind their window-garden or their     
aquarium of polywogs and salamanders4   
,but1 if he is wise1 he hopes to choose 
such work1 and present such aspects of  
it1 as contain no insoluble mystery1 and
 do not tempt the children into paths   
for which their feet are not ready4     

,so1 when one is choosing literature it 
is very easy to fill all the time the   
children have for it in the first four  
or five years of school with things that
 are largely objective1 and that1 so far
 as their large framework goes1 mean    
just what they say4 ,indeed1 will not   
most modern teachers concede that       
throughout the period and in all his    
subjects it is for the mental good of   
the child not to be called upon too     
frequently to formulate principles1 or  
habitually to look below the surface of 
his facts for interpretations and       
secondary meanings8 ,of course1 he must 
be led by the natural stages to see     
through figures of speech1 and to       
understand and apply proverbs1 and the  
proverbial manner of speech4  ,proverbs1
 indeed1 exemplify and epitomize the    
essentially literary type of thinking   
and speaking4 ,they are concrete and    
picturesque rather than abstract1       
specific rather than general1 though we 
are to understand by them also the      

abstract and the general2 this is the   
fact that gives them their unique value 
as literary training4 ,the teacher must 
call upon his wisdom in choosing        
proverbs suitable for the children4     
,many proverbs are pessimistic1 even    
cynical3 ,it never rains but it pours2  
many embody a merely commonplace or     
unmoral code3 ,honesty is the best      
policy2 some are ambiguous3 ,there's    
honor among thieves2 some the modern    
world has outgrown2 many are too mature1
 too occult1 or too worldly for a child4
 ,but a great store remains--vivid1     
practical bits of experience and tested 
wisdom which will develop a child's     
mental quickness1 will do something     
toward equipping him with the common    
wisdom of his race1 and will accustom   
him to one of the most characteristic   
methods of literature4 ,this is a good  
place to say that good results never    
seem to come of asking the children for 
an exposition of the proverb4 ,indeed1  
it is extremely difficult to get from   

children an exposition or definition of 
any kind4 ,the better way of making sure
 that they have appropriated a proverb  
is to ask them to invent or re-call an  
incident or a situation to which the    
proverb will apply4 ,naturally this is  
not an exercise for the youngest        
children4  ,in the earlier years a great
 many of the simple old fables may be   
taught4 ,one is tempted to say that the 
traditionary or given moral should never
 be told to the children2 but that is a 
little too sweeping4 ,as a rule1        
however1 it is better to lead them to   
make their own interpretation or        
generalization1 in those cases where    
such a thing is desired4 ,for1 as a     
matter of fact1 many of the fables are  
so good as stories that they may often  
be left to stand merely as pleasant     
tales4  ,but as the children grow more  
penetrating1 the fable is the best      
possible form of symbolistic literature 
to set them at first4 ,these1 with the  
minor exercise in the apprehension and  

interpretation of figures of speech1    
will be their share of the symbolistic  
kind of writing for several years4 ,then
 we may introduce more specimens1 and   
more complex specimens1 until in the    
sixth- and seventh-grade periods they   
may be able to interpret the universal  
and symbolic side of much that they     
read1 and to handle with ease and       
delight such parables as ,the ,great    
,stone ,face or ,the ,bee-,man of ,orn4 
,their experience in literature will    
then harmonize with their experience in 
other directions2 for they should then1 
or immediately afterward1 be beginning  
to look for generalizations1 to carry   
abstract symbols1 and to substitute them
 at will for concrete matter4 ,at the   
same time1 then1 they will study these  
fables as apologues1 making in all cases
 their own moral and application4       
,perhaps this is the place to insert a  
caution against the practice of         
extracting a deeper meaning out of a    
child when he does not easily see it1 or

 of so instructing him that he comes to 
regard every story that he reads as a   
sort of picture puzzle in which he is to
 find a concealed robber in the shape of
 a moral or a general lesson4 ,it is a  
trivial habit of mind1 a pernicious     
critical obsession1 of which many       
over-earnest adult readers are          
victims--that of wringing from every and
 any bit of writing an abstract or      
moralistic meaning4 ,another practical  
caution may be needed as to these       
interpretations3 ,do not leave the      
discussion until the class has worked   
out from the fable a moral or           
application that practically the whole  
class accepts and the teacher indorses4 
,do not accept numerous guesswork       
explanations and let them pass4 ,even   
the little children1 if they are allowed
 to interpret at all1 should be pushed  
on and guided to a sound and essential  
exegesis--to use a term more formidable 
than the thing it names4 ,do not let    
them linger even tentatively in that    

lamentable state of making their        
explanation rest upon some minor detail1
 some feature on the outskirts of the   
story4 ,help them always to go to the   
center1 and to make the essential       
interpretation4 ,make a point of this   
whenever they have a story that calls   
for interpretation at all4 ,to the end  
that they may be sincere and thorough1  
choose those things whose secondary     
meanings they may as children feel and  
understand4 ,the sixth-grade children   
could1 in most schools1 interpret ,the  
,ugly ,ducking4 ,they may easily be led 
into the inner significance of ,the     
,bee-,man of ,orn or ,old ,pipes and the
 ,dryad4 ,they may go on in seventh     
grade to certain of                     
,hawthorne's--perhaps ,the ,great ,stone
 ,face and others of the ,twice ,told   
,tales2 though ,hawthorne is so sombre  
and so moralistic that it is not good   
for some children to read his tales1    
still less to linger over them and      
interpret them4 ,a mature and           

experienced eighth grade could study    
,the ,snow ,image2 but it is too        
delicate and remote for all eighth-grade
 classes4 ,the ,minister's ,black ,veil 
is an example of the peculiar           
,hawthornesque gloom1 which the children
 would not understand or by ill luck    
would understand1 and suffer the        
consequent dangerous depression4        
,addison's ,the ,vision of ,mirza is an 
example of a standard little allegory1  
simple and easy1 and at the same time   
full of meaning and fruitful of         
reflection for the children4 ,the       
parables of the gospels are quite unique
 in their beauty and ethical            
significance1 and afford an opportunity 
for a most valuable kind of training in 
literary exegesis4 ,certain tales from  
the ,gesta ,romanorum might be read in  
these older grades1 adding the          
interpretations of the ecclesiastics for
 the gaiety of the class1 and as a      
terrible warning against wresting an    
allegory out of a story by sheer        

violence4  ,there are several reasons   
why the extended allegories do not yield
 good results with a class4 ,in the     
first place1 it takes too long to get   
through them1 so that the process keeps 
the children too long in an atmosphere  
of allegorical and symbolistic meanings1
 which will confuse and baffle them4 ,in
 the second place1 all the extended     
literary allegories have each behind it 
a complex system of abstract theology or
 morals1 or some other philosophy1 which
 cannot be conveyed to children1 but    
which cannot be hidden from the class4  
,then in any long allegory1 such as ,the
 ,pilgrim's ,progress or ,the ,fairie   
,queene1 the multiplied detail all      
loaded with secondary significance is   
extremely misleading to all but expert  
readers4 ,as ,ruskin says of myth1 we   
may say of all other allegory3 the more 
it means1 the more numerous and the more
 grotesque do the details become4 ,and  
we would not choose in a child's        
literary training any large mass of     

material in which grotesqueness is a    
prevailing note4 ,nearly all children   
are interested in ,the ,pilgrim's       
,progress1 and will listen with         
eagerness to the romantic and           
adventurous side of ,christian's        
experience1 but not1 of course1 to the  
didactic and theological passages4 ,and 
as a matter of fact1 modern religious   
teaching and the new race-consciousness 
of our generation have taken all sense  
of reality out of ,bunyan's theology and
 religious psychology2 and of course1 it
 can be read to the modern child only   
cursorily1 as in the home--never in     
detail and with the privilege of        
questioning as in the class4  ,one would
 expect a really good eighth-grade child
 to be able to detect and express the   
lesson in ,lowell's ,the ,vision of ,sir
 ,launfal1 or ,tennyson's ,sir ,galahad1
 or ,longfellow's ,king ,robert of      
,sicily4 ,it need hardly be said that   
the exercises in the symbolistic kinds  
of literature are to be inserted here   

and there among the other lessons4 ,it  
would be a serious mistake to give any  
class a whole year--or a whole month1   
indeed--of this experience in reading4  
,,chapter ,,xii  ,,poetry   ,there are  
certain results in literary training    
that can be secured with children only  
by the teaching of poetry4 ,in story we 
and they are intent upon subject-matter1
 and on the larger matters of the       
imaginative creation4 ,and1 while we    
older students know that the choice and 
arrangement of material involved in the 
making of a story are extremely         
important and most truly educative1 we  
also know that they belong in the larger
 framework of the story and do not lend 
themselves to close inspection or       
detailed study when our scholars are    
elementary children4  ,again1 most of   
the stories best suited to the children 
must be used in translated and adapted  
versions1 and all of them should be told
 in a way that varies more or less from 
telling to telling1 in vocabulary1 in   

figure1 and occasionally in material    
detail4 ,as a result1 the stories1 until
 we come down to the very last year of  
the period1 make on the children no     
impression of the inevitableness of     
form1 or of any of the smaller devices  
of style and finish4 ,these may be      
brought to bear in verse4 ,it should not
 be necessary to say again that the     
children will know nothing of larger    
effects and smaller details2 but the    
teacher should know them1 and should    
have some plan that will include both in
 his teaching4 ,neither is it necessary 
to say that these minor matters of style
 and finish that we will pause over with
 our elementary class will prove to be  
very simple matters from the point of   
view of the expert and adult critic4    
,it is verse that gives the child most  
experience in the musical side of       
literature4 ,the rhythm and cadence of  
prose have their own music--perhaps more
 delicate and pleasing to the trained   
adult ear than the rhythm of verse4 ,but

 the elementary children need the simple
 striking rhythm of verse1 of verse     
whose rhythm is quite unmistakable4     
,indeed1 it is profitable in the first  
verses that children learn to have an   
emphatic meter1 so that the musical     
intention may not be missed1 and that it
 may be possible easily to accompany the
 recitation of the verses with movement1
 even concerted movement as of clapping 
or marching4 ,one who is trying to write
 a sober treatise in a matter-of-fact   
way dares not1 lest he be set down as   
the veriest mystic1 say all the things  
that might be said about the function of
 rhythm1 especially in its more         
pronounced form of meter1 among a       
community of children1 no matter what   
the size of the group--how rhythmic     
motion1 or the flow of measured and     
beautiful sounds1 harmonizes their      
differences1 tunes them up to their     
tasks1 disciplines their conduct1       
comforts their hurts1 quiets their      
nerves2 all this apart from the facts   

more or less important from the point of
 view of literature1 that it cultivates 
their ear1 improves their taste1 and    
provides them a genuinely artistic      
pleasure4 ,if it happens that the sounds
 they are chanting be a bit of real     
poetry1 it further gives them perhaps   
more than one charming image1 and many  
pleasant or useful words4  ,most        
children are pleased with the additional
 music of rhyme4 ,this is true of all   
kinds of rhyme1 but of course it is the 
regular terminal rhyme that most        
children notice and enjoy and remember4 
,sing a song of sixpence1        ,a     
pocket full of rye1      ,four and      
twenty blackbirds        ,baked in a    
pie4   all the children will rejoice in 
rye--pie4 ,but there will be some to    
whom sing--song--sixpence--pocket1      
full--four1 blackbirds--baked1 are so   
many delights1 and there may be some to 
whom the wonderful chime of the vowels  
will make music4 ,anyone who knows      
children will have noticed the pleasure 

that the merest babies will take in     
beautiful or especially pat collocations
 of syllables4 ,a child whom ,i knew1   
just beginning to talk1 would say to    
himself many times a day1 and always    
with a smile of amused pleasure1 the    
phrases apple-batter pudding1 picallilli
 pickles1 up into the cherry tree1      
piping down the valleys wild4 ,it is    
probably true that some of his apparent 
pleasure was that species of hysteria   
produced in most babies by any mild     
explosion1 and the little fusillade of  
p's in the examples he liked best would 
account for a part of his enjoyment4    
,but we must think that there was       
pleasure there1 and1 whether it were    
physical or mental1 it arose from the   
pleasing combination of verbal sounds4  
,most children have this ear for the    
music of words2 and some attempt should 
be made to evoke it in those that have  
it not4  ,this quality1 then1 is the    
first thing we ask of the verse we      
choose for the youngest children4 ,the  

mere jingles1 provided they are really  
musical1 are useful to emphasize this   
side of verse1 because1 being free from 
content1 they can give themselves       
entirely to sound4 ,it is also most     
desirable that some of these earliest   
verses be set to music that the children
 can sing2 that the class march to the  
rhythm of recited verses2 that they be  
taught1 if possible1 to dance to some of
 them4 ,some such form of accompaniment 
of the verses1 deepens the impression of
 the music1 records in the child's      
consciousness an impression of the poem 
as an image of motion1 and opens a      
channel for the expression of the mood  
produced in the children by the         
verses--a more acceptable channel of    
expression1 certainly1 for all the      
lyrics and for most of the narrative    
verses1 than mere recitation1 and a more
 artistic one than what we commonly know
 and dread as elocution4  ,the teaching 
of verse gives a chance and an          
invitation to linger over and enjoy many

 fine and delicate aspects of the art   
that we are likely to miss in the story4
 ,something in the nature of verse--the 
condensation1 the careful arrangement1  
the chosen words--seems to call upon us 
to go slowly with it4 ,it may be that we
 linger to apprehend one by one the     
details of an image or picture1 like--  
,daffy-down dilly has come up to town   
,in a yellow petticoat and a green gown1
       ,the captain was a duck1 with a  
jacket on his back2            ,the     
cattle are grazing1           ,their    
heads never raising1           ,there   
are forty feeding like one2       ,in   
the pool drowse the cattle up to their  
knees1      ,the crows fly over by twos 
and threes2   some apt or beautiful     
phrase--        ,snowy summits old in   
story2   some bit of simple wisdom that 
deserves pondering2 some flash of wit or
 epigram1 or enticing touch of nonsense4
  ,these are really about all that we   
would pause over in teaching verses to  
the younger children4 ,indeed1 are not  

these elements about all of what we call
 the smaller matters of literary art    
that elementary children may be expected
 to concern themselves with--the music  
of the spoken verse1 appreciation of the
 beauty or adequacy of striking pictures
 and images1 recognition of some        
specially fit epithet1 interpretation of
 an aphorism or a paradox or a bit of   
nonsense8 ,we will discuss later some   
possible ways of getting these things   
done4  ,when we say that a poem gives us
 our best chance to study these finer   
details1 we should not by any means     
understand that in teaching a poem we   
are to ignore the other matter of plan  
and structure4 ,the very condensation   
and beautiful organization of a poem are
 likely to result in a charming plan1   
which both adds to the children's sense 
of its beauty and helps to fix it in    
their memory4 ,every teacher will       
notice--merely to mention examples--the 
perfect structure1 what we have called  
the pattern1 of ,stevenson's ,dark brown

 is the river1 of ,allingham's ,i wish  
,i were a primrose1 of ,wordsworth's1 ,i
 heard a thousand blended notes2 and    
every teacher will realize the greater  
class utility of a poem with such a     
structure4  ,the kinds of poetry        
suitable by virtue of their content for 
the children throughout the whole       
elementary period are first1 lyrics of  
the simpler varieties1 beginning with   
those which are practically only        
jingles1 and going on to those that are 
more complex in form and more mature in 
thought1 but which still record1 as it  
were1 the first reaction of the mind1   
the primary mood1 not the complex and   
remote moods of developed lyric poetry2 
and second1 poetry of the epic kind1    
beginning with the ,mother ,goose       
ballads1 and advancing to the objective 
heroic ballads in which ,english        
literature is so rich1 and perhaps      
7undoubtedly in certain schools7        
including some of the longer narrative  
poems of the type of idyls4  ,it is     

clear to most teachers that the less the
 earlier lyrics say1 the better4 ,the   
simplicity of the content makes it      
possible to emphasize all the more the  
music and the motion4 ,as the lyrics    
increase in content1 and as we begin to 
expect the children to enter into the   
mood which their poem reflects1 it      
becomes important to select such as     
record a mood or an experience which    
they can apprehend or might legitimately
 apprehend4 ,luckily1 in our day it is  
no longer necessary to remonstrate      
against what one may almost call the    
crime of requiring children to study and
 to return ,the ,barefoot ,boy1 ,still  
sits the schoolhouse by the road1 ,i    
remember1 ,i remember the house where ,i
 was born--adult reminiscence of        
childhood1 which is undoubtedly the most
 alien of moods and processes to the    
child4 ,but we are likely to be caught  
by the apparent simplicity of certain   
verses which1 written after the pattern 
of ,a ,child's ,garden--indeed1 the     

class includes some of these very       
poems--record feelings about children   
and childhood4 ,these verses1 like some 
of the delightful stories and studies   
mentioned in a previous chapter are     
studies and realizations of the child's 
consciousness calculated to delight and 
illuminate the adult reader4 ,if        
children read and understood them1 the  
result would be that ghastly            
spectacle--a child conscious of his own 
childhood4  ,no poetry given to children
 should be too imaginative1 too         
figurative1 or too emotional4 ,here1 to 
be sure1 one must judge afresh for each 
class4 ,it is obvious that children of  
the eighth grade can apprehend a poem   
that would bewilder the sixth2 that     
children in one community1 even in one  
neighborhood1 will understand a poem    
which children of a different community 
and upbringing could not fathom4 ,but   
the standard is1 after all1 not         
infinitely variable4 ,a good average    
seventh grade almost anywhere would     

appreciate without difficulty1 including
 the spiritual application1 ,tennyson's 
,bugle ,song2 they could not find their 
way among the many figures and the alien
 imaginative mood1 the poignant unknown 
emotion1 of ,tears1 idle tears4  ,it is 
not easy to go wrong in choosing the    
ballads4 ,and by ballads we are to      
understand the short narrative poem1    
traditionary or artistic4 ,the          
folk-ballads need translation here and  
there1 and are scarcely available at all
 for the youngest children4 ,but those  
who are old enough to hear the ,robin   
,hood tales will enjoy the folk-ballads1
 if the teacher take pains to prepare   
them and read them aright4 ,as in the   
case of some of the heroic epics1 some  
editing is necessary for most of the    
ballads4 ,they should be given in the   
say and sing1 manner1 turning the duller
 or the link portions into prose        
narrative1 and reading the exciting and 
beautiful passages in the original form4
 ,even this accommodated form of the    

folk-ballads may prove impossible in    
some classes4 ,there are ballads ideal  
for the grades in nearly all the modern 
poets--,cowper1 ,scott1 ,wordsworth1    
,campbell1 ,browning1 ,longfellow1      
,whittier1 ,kipling4  ,it is not so easy
 to choose for elementary children among
 the longer narrative poems4 ,as a      
matter of fact1 a great number of them  
are of the idyllic kind1 and there is in
 this class of poems something soft and 
meditative1 or over-emotional and1 if   
one must say it--sentimental or         
super-romantic1 that fits them for the  
comprehension of older readers1 and     
spoils them for the children4 ,others1  
such as ,scott's narrative poems1 are   
too long and a bit too difficult for    
children younger than the high-school   
age4 ,here and there one finds a poem1  
like ,paul ,revere's ,ride1 really more 
ballad than tale2 a tender simple tale  
like ,king ,robert of ,sicily1 for a    
mature eighth grade4 ,the ,vision of    
,sir ,launfal2 not forgetting ,morris'  

,the ,man ,born to ,be ,king1 ,the      
,fostering of ,auslag1 and perhaps other
 things from ,the ,earthly ,paradise4   
,the simple but lofty style and feeling 
of ,sohrab and ,rustum makes it possible
 for the older children4 ,any teacher   
who knows both literature and children  
will see at once what it is that        
constitutes the fitness of these poems1 
and what the unfitness of ,enoch ,arden1
 ,the ,courtship of ,miles ,standish1 or
 ,lancelot and ,elaine4  ,perhaps the   
only library of literature that is      
perfectly suited to its purpose and its 
public1 and the only collection of      
masterpieces to be put into the hands of
 its readers without misgiving1 is the  
nursery rhymes that we call ,mother     
,goose's ,melodies4 ,it needs no more   
general praise1 and there is no room for
 specifications4 ,but it is always in   
order to urge teachers in this case1 as 
in that of the fairy-tales1 to increase 
their knowledge of those traditionary   
bits of art4 ,when one knows their      

origin and something of their social and
 literary history1 they take on new     
dignity and importance4 ,one ceases to  
look upon them as mere nonsense to be   
rattled off for the amusement of the    
baby1 and learns to see them as little  
treasures of primitive art1 miraculously
 preserved and passed down from baby to 
baby through these many generations3    
bits of old song and ballad1 games and  
charms1 riddles and incantations1 tales 
of charming incidents and episodes--a   
gallery of unmatchable portraits1       
sallies of wit just witty enough for the
 four-year-old1 mild but adequate       
nonsense2 all freed by the lapse of     
years and the innocence of its devotees 
from every taint of utilitarianism and  
occasionalism1 winnowed and tested by   
the generations of mothers and babies   
that have criticized them1 they yield a 
new charm at every fresh reading to the 
most experienced reader4 ,they should   
constitute the first literary material  
of every ,english-speaking child4 ,every

 well-nurtured child will come to school
 already in possession of many of them4 
,but he will be glad to go over them for
 the sake of those less fortunate1 as   
well as for the sake of enjoying them   
with the whole community1 and in        
consideration of the new pictures1      
games1 and songs that will be joined    
with them4  ,stevenson's ,a ,child's    
,garden of ,verses is in some sense a   
quite unique poetic production2 and this
 remains true in spite of the many      
things produced in imitation of it and  
inspired by it4 ,it is a wonderful      
example of the recovery by a grown      
person of the thread of continuity      
leading him back to actual childhood2   
the recovery1 too1 in many instances of 
the child's consciousness4 ,it is the   
gate for us all to the lost garden of   
our own childhood1 pathetic in every    
line with the evanescence of childhood1 
whose hand is ever at his lips1 bidding 
adieu4  ,yet in spite of this most      
poignant appeal to the grown-up person1 

many of the verses are ideally suited to
 children4 ,they do not induce in them  
our mood of pathos and regret1 nor do   
they set their child-readers            
imaginatively in another experience4    
,they do very really constitute1 as     
,stevenson suggests1 a window through   
which the child sees        ,another    
child far1 far away1      ,and in       
another garden1 play2   a child with    
whom he tenderly sympathizes1 at whom he
 lovingly smiles1 at whose games he     
looks on1 whose toys and books he knows 
and loves4  ,the ,child in the ,garden  
is an only child1 a lonely child1 and a 
very individualistic child2 there is no 
comradeship in the verses2 they cannot  
be becomingly recited in concert2 there 
is not a chorus or a refrain in the     
whole book1 in which all the children   
may join2 there is nothing communal     
about them4 ,in spite of all the        
efforts1 they cannot be set to music1   
except as solos2 and if the music       
matches the mood1 it is likely to be    

difficult for a child to sing4 ,several 
of them are too imaginative--,windy     
,nights1 ,shadow ,march2 some are a bit 
ironic--,good and ,bad ,children1       
,system1 ,a ,happy ,thought2 some too   
poignantly pathetic--,the ,land of ,nod2
 some look at childhood too obviously   
with the man's eyes--,keepsake ,mill2   
but all these exceptions leave many     
altogether suitable for children2 and   
their perfect structure1 their musical  
verse-form1 their childlike objectivity1
 and the divine simplicity of their     
style render them an unceasing delight4 
,though the ,child of the ,garden was a 
solitary child1 he had a constantly     
haunting sense of the world             
beyond--other children in other lands1  
the foreign countries he might see by   
climbing higher1 the children who would 
bring his boats ashore far down the     
river1 the children singing in far      
,japan1 the long-ago ,egyptian boys1    
hints at the wider experience and bigger
 world to which the six- and            

seven-year-old children are so eagerly  
reaching out4 ,at the same time nobody  
but ,stevenson--nobody at least1 that   
has written a book--has ever taken      
adequately the point of view of the     
human being three feet high--his tiny   
horizon1 the small exquisite objects to 
which he comes close1 the fairy-dells he
 sees1 the rain-pool sea1 the clover    
tree2 nowhere else in art is the little 
world of the little people adequately   
pictured--the little world1 and its     
obverse1 the colossal grown-ups1 with   
their elephantine furniture amidst which
 the little men and women must          
ordinarily move4  ,many of these poems  
should be read with the single child at 
home4 ,for the class at school we may   
use ,foreign ,lands1 ,singing1 ,where   
,go the ,boats1 ,my ,shadow1 ,the       
,swing1 ,my ,ship and ,i--the more      
objective and universal of them4  ,there
 are many pretty bits for the youngest  
children in ,christina ,rossetti's      
,sing-,song--a book of nursery rhymes   

not sufficiently known4 ,certain of     
,blake's ,songs of ,innocence the       
children should know1 though they are   
always found too delicate and           
contemplative for the whole class4      
,every teacher of children should know  
for his own enlightenment the poems of  
,jane and ,ann ,taylor1 and ,dr4        
,watts's ,poems for ,infant ,minds4     
,psychologically speaking1 they are in a
 world completely alien to the modern   
student of children and of education2   
but there is a stray verse or two like  
,the ,violet or ,how doth the little    
busy bee1 that may some day fit the     
needs of the class4 ,every friend of    
children1 teacher or parent1 should know
 ,keble's ,lyra ,innocentium2 he cannot 
afford to miss the tone and atmosphere  
of ,wordsworth's poems about children   
and childhood4 ,as a matter of fact1 it 
is only a few of ,wordsworth's poems    
that will go well for class study1      
though a really enthusiastic teacher may
 carry even a large class through ,the  

,idle ,shepherd ,boys or ,the ,blind    
,highland ,boy2 the older children      
should know ,heartleap ,well and ,peter 
,bell4 ,the true ,wordsworthian is born1
 only occasionally made2 if he declares 
himself in a class in elementary school1
 the teacher should guide him4  ,but we 
should soon learn1 and aways remember1  
that the contemplative and idyllic      
lyric1 however it may delight the chosen
 child and the adult1 will1 as a rule1  
neither please nor train the class1 and 
that poems written for children and     
about children are not at all likely to 
be the things children love best and    
most profit by2 the poetry should not   
linger long in the nursery stage4 ,the  
class should be pushed on as early as   
possible into simple but heroic ballads1
 into lyrics1 musical and noble1 but    
simple and easy as to content--all      
chosen from the great poets4  ,even if  
one desired it1 it would probably be    
impossible to dislodge ,hiawatha from   
its shrine in ,american elementary      

schools2 and no one ought to covet the  
task1 for the iconoclast is likely to be
 set down as a vulgar and egotistic     
person4 ,hiawatha has become entrenched 
in the schools by some such reasoning as
 this3 ,here is a poem written by an    
,american on aspects of life among the  
,american aborigines2 ,american children
 should study it as literature4         
,children ought to be instructed in     
primitive life and in myth2 therefore   
they should study ,hiawatha as          
literature4 ,children should learn much 
about nature and should learn           
nature-poetry2 therefore they should    
study ,hiawatha as literature4  ,of     
course1 there are pretty things in      
,hiawatha4 ,some of the passages about  
the forest and the waters1 the making of
 the canoe1 the conquest of ,mondanim1  
the picture-writing1 may most profitably
 be interwoven with other things4 ,it is
 instructive both as to literature and  
as to fact to put the making of         
,robinson ,crusoe's boat beside the     

building of ,hiawatha's canoe4 ,but     
there are objections to a long and      
exclusive course in this poem4 ,the     
mythical side of it is baffling and     
discouraging4 ,once more let me say that
 a class is an extremely acute and      
inquiring personality2 after a few days 
it wants to know4 ,and it is puzzled and
 dismayed1 and finally frightened off1  
by the fact that everything means       
something else4 ,furthermore1 the       
details both of ,indian life and of     
,indian belief are so chosen and sifted 
and beautified as to be most misleading1
 if we are emphasizing that side of the 
poem4 ,lastly1 it is not good for the   
young children to have a long-continued 
and constantly renewed experience in the
 alien and wearing meter1 and the       
unmusical rhythm of ,hiawatha2 and the  
verse-form dictates certain trying      
peculiarities of style1 in especial the 
slightly varied iteration of detail3    
,ah1 my brother from the ,north land1   
,from the kingdom of ,wabasso1          

,from the land of the ,white ,rabbit1   
,you have stolen the maiden from me1    
,you have laid your hand upon her1      
,you have wooed and won my maiden4      
,this redundancy and repetition do not  
constitute the direct1 forward-moving   
style we should like to impress on the  
children4 ,all these considerations are 
offered to justify the judgment1 held in
 great modesty1 that ,hiawatha should   
not be given in its entirety nor should 
the children be kept at it for any long 
drill1 but1 if at all1 in chosen        
episodes and from time to time4  ,of    
course1 any teacher may see fit to draw 
out from ,hiawatha the story of any     
episode and treat it as a story1 for    
dramatization1 or as illuminating some  
phase of the children's interest and    
activity4 ,and students old enough to   
interpret the mythical meaning of the   
poem may profitably read it4            
,occasionally1 and as something apart   
from their regular lessons1 the children
 should hear beautifully read passages  

of the incomparable music of some of the
 great masters1 regardless of their     
understanding of the content--the first 
sixteen lines of ,paradise ,lost2 some  
especially musical sonnet of            
,shakespeare's1 or some passage of lofty
 eloquence from the plays2 some vague   
and haunting bit of music from ,shelly1 
or ,poe1 or ,keats2 some fanfare of     
trumpets from ,byron1 or ,macaulay1 or  
,kipling4  ,every teacher will realize  
that all the titles and authors and     
kinds mentioned in this study cannot be 
put into the children's lessons4 ,it is 
to be hoped that he will realize that   
they are mentioned as concrete examples1
 or suggestive instances of things that 
are good1 and to support the principles 
under discussion4  ,the distinctive     
service of poetry will be the           
cultivation of the children's sense of  
the musical side of literature2 the     
opportunity for appreciating some of the
 minor beauties of the literary art2 and
 among the older children1 acquaintance 

with the more highly imaginative method1
 and the more intensely emotional moods4
     ,,chapter ,,xiii  ,,drama   ,there 
are many of the elements of drama that  
are eminently serviceable in the child's
 literary and artistic training4 ,one   
cannot use the word elements in this    
connection without explaining that the  
word as used here does not designate    
absolutely simple and primitive things4 
,they are elements only with respect to 
the complex whole which we call a drama4
 ,the elements of drama are story1 plot1
 character1 impersonation1 dialogue1    
gesture1 stage requirements2 add to     
these the matter of literary expression1
 a pronounced structure which divides   
the production into clearly             
distinguished parts or acts2 and add the
 further fact that in all its developed 
and typical specimens drama is the      
expression and presentation of a complex
 social situation1 or the vehicle of a  
mature philosophy4 ,it is quite evident1
 then1 that the fully constituted       

literary drama will be both too complex 
and too difficult for children under    
twelve1 and in most communities for any 
elementary children4  ,but the elements 
of drama are not of necessity always in 
the difficult and elaborate combination 
which constitutes a literary drama4     
,they appear singly and in simpler      
combinations here and there in many of  
the experiences and occupations of the  
child4 ,they may be selected and        
combined for him in such products as    
will secure for him the distinctive joys
 and discipline of the drama4  ,for     
example1 there is the element of        
gesture1 which in its elaborated form   
becomes technical acting4 ,in its       
primitive and fundamental form it is    
instinctive with children--well-nigh    
purposeless at first1 uncontrolled and  
fantastic like the early activities of  
their imagination1 but easily organized 
and directed toward a purpose4 ,the     
first step in this direction is the     
game4 ,some of the charming group-games 

the children learn even in the          
kindergarten are genuine dramatic art4  
,such games are1 at any rate1 the first 
opportunity to channel and to turn into 
something like artistic expression the  
children's ceaseless activity4  ,we have
 all learned to appreciate the social   
and physical value of play4 ,we may well
 add now a respectful estimate of games 
as art4 ,the group-game may seem at     
first glance far from the child's       
literary training2 but1 as a matter of  
fact1 a good game which has in it1 as a 
good game always has1 an orderly process
 and a climax1 is just such an artistic 
whole as a story4 ,besides1 many of our 
best group-games are accompanied by a   
rhythmic chant1 often by pretty or      
quaint verses1 such as ,itisket1        
itasket1 a green and yellow basket2 or1 
,how many miles to ,babylon8 or ,london 
bridge is falling down4 ,acting upon    
this hint1 we may substitute for these  
verses more artistic lines1 or we can   
furnish more artistic lines with the    

fitting game4 ,and these activities1    
channeled and disciplined by the        
group-game1 are receiving the best      
possible training for dramatic acting by
 and by4  ,we must consider dancing as a
 form of dramatic gesture1 and as a     
training for it4 ,we may all rejoice in 
the current change of attitude toward   
dancing1 which bids fair to replace it  
in education and among the arts4 ,we are
 learning again to regard it as such a  
controlling and refining of motion as   
makes an appeal to one's sense of       
beauty1 not as the vulgar1 one might    
almost say sordid1 accomplishment it has
 been in average society for many       
generations4 ,the rediscovery of the    
charming and simple folk-dances has     
given us a new art for the children1    
which we may substitute for the         
unnatural waltz1 and the mongrel        
two-step we have been teaching them for 
years4 ,a dance is a medium for         
expressing a mood1 and a means of       
communicating it2 like the games1 it is 

a method of channeling and training     
activity4 ,from this point of view one  
may see its two-fold relation3 on the   
one hand1 to the child's natural        
activities1 taking them up1 selecting   
among them1 and combining them into a   
beautiful whole2 on the other hand to   
dramatic acting1 training and           
controlling the physical movements of   
gesture and pose and poise4 ,ideally it 
may have a closer connection with       
literature4 ,not only may dancing       
reflect a mood2 it may tell a story or  
present a situation2 many primitive     
dances were of this kind4 ,in a previous
 chapter ,i have spoken of dancing as a 
method of motion to accompany spoken    
verse1 as a means of deepening the sense
 of rhythm4 ,it is possible to represent
 in this way1 not only the movement of  
the words1 but the mood of the lyric1   
and1 mutatis mutandis1 the events of the
 ballad4 ,i have seen the fourth-year   
class present a little dance of ,hickory
 dickory dock invented for them by their

 teacher1 and another class a little    
older do a humorous dance of ,there was 
a man in our town1 than which two       
performances nothing could be more      
charming4 ,of course1 these were not in 
any sense reproductions of the actions  
suggested by the jingles2 there was no  
gesture that told of running up the     
clock1 or scratching out his eyes2 that 
would be the business of the old        
gesticulating elocution so deplorable in
 the artificiality of its would-be      
realism4 ,the dances were felt to be    
merely the active response to the rhythm
 and the mood of the recited words--bits
 of dramatic tone-color1 as it were4    
,one wonders why all teachers do not    
make a game of ,charades a frequent     
class recreation and discipline1 since  
it has in it so many elements of        
educational value--the contributions to 
the children's vocabulary1 the          
sugar-coated persuasion to attend to    
spelling1 the frequent need for the     
invention of dialogue1 the sharpening of

 everybody's wits1 and1 best of all1 the
 call for significant pantomime1 genuine
 dramatic gesture1 and the fun1 which is
 always educative4  ,when we come to the
 element of impersonation1 we are nearer
 the heart of dramatic art1 and perhaps 
deeper into the circle of the child's   
interests and instincts as well4        
,imitation is one of the absolute and   
fundamental aspects of a child's        
activities4 ,it is impossible to escape 
calling it an instinct1 when one sees   
that it is deeper and more universal    
than any impulse or tendency4 ,the      
interpretation put by more recent       
psychologists upon the term and the fact
 of imitation throws a new and grateful 
light upon it as a principle in drama4  
,in the light of this interpretation1 we
 can not longer think of imitation as a 
servile1 and more or less formal1       
copying of the thing seen4 ,we are now  
saying that in these activities of the  
children1 when they are playing horse1  
or playing hunter1 or playing soldier1  

they are not copying something they have
 seen or heard of2 they are keeping     
house1 they are hunting1 they are       
marching and fighting4 ,not even bodily 
activity is a more incessant and        
absolute aspect of play than this of    
make-believe4 ,imaginative children1 and
 those that have some variety of        
experience1 are rarely at leisure to    
appear in their own characters--so      
constant is the dramatic and imitative  
impulse in exercise4 ,indeed1 two little
 girls ,i knew1 after a forenoon of     
unceasing and strenuous impersonation of
 a repertoire ranging from a door-mat   
and a cake of ice in the ,delaware on   
through the ghost of the murdered       
,banquo1 were finally obliged to sit    
down in utter weariness1 when one of    
them suggested3 ,now let's play we're   
just plain little girls4 ,in the same   
nursery of four children the child who  
returned to the room after any absence  
always cautiously inquired of each of   
the others1 before taking up affairs3   

,what are you being now8  ,in certain   
hours of his study of literature and    
literary appreciation one is ready to   
believe that this impulse toward        
impersonation is the very fundamental   
fact in that appreciation4 ,it is the   
door through which one enters into the  
situations and feelings which make up   
the life represented in the story1 poem1
 or drama4 ,this it is that gives that  
strange grip of reality to literature2  
it is this that turns the appreciation  
of literature into personal culture1 so 
that in a very real sense one may       
substitute literature for experience4   
,it is easy to utilize this passion very
 early1 turning it in the direction of  
art4 ,in the kindergarten they have long
 known how to adapt it in the play which
 they so wisely interchange and         
amalgamate with their games2 and the    
little pantomimes of ,bo-peep and       
,little ,boy ,blue1 of flocks of birds1 
of butterflies on the wing1 and what    
not1 are on the road to true dramatic   

art4 ,but1 alas6 this is cut all too    
short in the school--the average school1
 where the scholars are converted       
immediately into the veriest little     
pitchers--all ears2 and1 instead of     
being twenty selves in a day1 they are  
denied the privilege of being even one  
whole one4 ,this gift for impersonation 
should1 like all their imaginative      
experiences1 be conserved by exercise   
and guidance2 otherwise it remains      
merely chaotic and accidental1 and very 
soon the child himself is ashamed of it 
and regards its exercise as a baby      
performance to be left behind in the    
kindergarten4 ,this exercise and        
guidance may be given by training the   
children in little plays1 which1 to     
begin with1 are not much more than      
pantomime1 but which add1 as they go on1
 other elements of the real drama--an   
organized action and dialogue4  ,of     
course1 there is the dramatic           
monologue--the recitation4 ,but this    
does not meet the needs of the class4   

,it is impossible that all the children 
should sympathetically impersonate the  
same character and realize the same     
experience4 ,neither does this sort of  
exercise--the recitation--give a chance 
for co-operation in the production of a 
bit of social art2 it does not give them
 the discipline of apprehending and     
producing a large whole1 and it tends to
 develop and foster an unendurable kind 
and degree of egoism4  ,where are we to 
get these plays1 since there are        
practically none of respectable literary
 quality ready to our hand8 ,one must   
say practically none1 because there are 
a few in print which can be used1       
chiefly dramatizations of folk- and     
fairy-tales4 ,but1 for the most part1   
and just as it should be1 the teacher   
and the class will have to make their   
own plays1 until in the eighth grade or 
thereabouts they are ready for some     
literary drama4 ,as will be pointed out 
later1 these co-operatively produced    
dramas constitute the best possible     

return which the children can make of   
their literary training1 and at the same
 time the best possible means of        
securing their apprehension of the story
 they use2 since in recasting a story as
 a play they will come to know it as    
plot1 as activity of persons1 and as a  
structure made up of essential parts4   
,almost the first thing the child sees  
is the fact that there is something     
organic and necessary about these       
divisions and subdivisions4 ,he sees    
them separate themselves out from the   
narrative as things in themselves1 and  
then reunite to form a complete whole   
again4 ,it matters not whether the story
 be one that he has been taught1 a      
historical episode1 or a story invented 
by himself1 the emphasis upon structure1
 upon organization1 which is one of the 
elements of drama1 will be helpful1 as a
 matter of literary training4  ,as to   
the dialogue--the actual literature of  
this communal drama--we must be most    
indulgent1 and on the whole uncritical4 

,a marked peculiarity of the            
dramatizations of the little people1 as 
indeed of those of their elders1 is that
 they forget to be literature at all1 so
 that what is not dumb-show must be set 
down as noise4 ,it is a troublesome and 
delicate task for the teacher who is    
guiding them to manage to give the      
dialogue a tone better than mere        
commonplace and different from mere     
bombast4 ,it is wisest1 on the whole1 to
 get them to choose stories and events  
that will sway their dialogue toward the
 bombastic and away from the            
commonplace2 they will certainly be more
 spontaneous1 and probably more         
artistic4 ,and it is easy to set into   
every play some genuine gem of          
literature--a lyric to be sung1 a little
 story to be told4 ,it is desirable to  
introduce as much music as              
possible--really artistic little songs  
that fit into the atmosphere of the play
 and help to create it2 it makes better 
team-work4 ,a dance too1 always provided

 it harmonizes with the tone and spirit 
of the play1 helps the feeling of       
co-operative production4 ,the children's
 acting1 in the sense of gesture and    
stage-business1 is very likely to be    
stiff and artificial4 ,marches and      
dances that belong in the play make an  
imperative call for movement1 and       
accustom them to action without         
self-consciousness and formality4  ,the 
story1 then1 is generally given--it is  
something the children have read1 it is 
a historical event1 though of course it 
may be furnished by some inventive      
member of the class1 or evolved by them 
together4 ,whatever it is1 it will in   
all probability not differ in any way   
from the story of any narrative4 ,the   
plot will be the plot of the narrative  
story2 it will be either an accident or 
a very noteworthy fact1 if the material 
furnished displays a true dramatic plot4
 ,there will probably be no true        
dramatic characterization4 ,the teacher 
cannot aim at it1 and must not expect   

it2 though occasionally the born actor  
declares himself and presents us a man  
in his humor in true dramatic fashion4  
,but1 on the whole1 we are contented if 
up to the time we are twelve or thirteen
 we move about the stage1 as the persons
 move through the story1 delivering     
ourselves of such dialogue as is needed 
to put the action forward--and nothing  
more4 ,it goes without saying that place
 must be made for a large number of     
sups4 ,an army is a great device1 for in
 the marching and manoeuvering most of  
the class can manage to appear upon the 
stage first or last4 ,briar-,rose makes 
a great play for the third or fourth    
grade1 for every man in the grade can   
appear as a thorn-bush in the hedge4    
,there may easily be two different casts
 for every play4 ,occasionally there is 
the opportunity for the whole class to  
appear in character as audience4  ,it is
 almost impossible to say anything      
concerning the staging1 the theatrical  
side1 of these plays that will be       

helpful everywhere because the          
facilities vary so widely in different  
schools and different communities4 ,in  
general1 it is best to have what answers
 for a stage4 ,there is some mystic     
influence in the raised platform1 the   
curtain1 the proscenium arch that cuts  
off this performance from the rest of   
the world and gives it at once the      
distinction of art4 ,every dramatic     
guide of young people should help       
forward as much as possible the movement
 to free drama from the tyranny of the  
stage carpenter1 the scene-painter1 and 
the costumer4 ,and with children as with
 the early folk-players it takes very   
little to create the illusion4 ,a       
feather in his head makes the           
six-year-old a noble red man without    
more ado4 ,a sash over her shoulder     
converts a little maiden of the third   
grade into a haughty princess4 ,but the 
feather and the sash are good pedagogy  
as well as good art4 ,an arm-chair makes
 a parlor2 a half-dozen arm-loads of    

boughs makes a forest4 ,i witnessed a   
stirring performance of ,siegfried1 the 
,child of the ,forest1 where the        
illusion of the deep-forest glades was  
created by three rubber plants1 a potted
 palm1 and a sword-fern in a jardiniere6
 ,a golden-haired ,siegfried with an    
angora rug thrown over one shoulder1 a  
blackened ,mimi with a mantle of burlap 
fastened about him with a               
trunk-strap--the whole atmosphere of art
 was there4  ,as the children grow      
older1 and alas6 in most cases less     
imaginative1 they will require more     
properties4 ,if possible1 they should   
work together to make the scenery and   
provide the properties1 and should be   
prevailed upon to make their own        
costumes4 ,the wise teacher will keep   
the costuming out of the hands of the   
tender mamas all he can2 for in most    
cases the participation of the mothers  
in this side of the preparations1 unless
 they are given specific directions and 
compelled to follow them1 means the     

introduction of the fatal spirit of     
competitive finery4 ,the children should
 be taught to see that the costuming is 
a part of the art1 and that everybody's 
costume must be brought within the      
picture4  ,now1 up through the sixth or 
seventh grades 7this will depend upon   
the average maturity of the children1   
upon the kind of culture in the homes   
from which they come1 upon the character
 and knowledge of the teachers in the   
grades through which they have come7 the
 plays that the children have should be 
of the kind we have been                
considering--epic material1 mere direct 
story put together under the simplest of
 dramatic principles--those of analysis 
into movements1 of dialogue and of      
action in its simpler forms4 ,but in the
 eighth school year 7merely to set a    
limit71 and bridging the children over  
into their ninth or first year of high  
school1 there may be a change4 ,the     
child has gradually become conscious of 
the complexity of life and human        

interests2 he begins to make his        
adolescent readjustment to the world1 to
 realize in a conscious way its history 
and its institutions2 his own studies in
 history have become studies in the     
interweaving of complex factors2 the    
great social institutions begin to press
 their claims and offer their           
attractions2 college looms ahead1       
conditioning all his undertakings2 the  
church makes its appeal or asserts its  
rights2 upon all too many children the  
institutions of business and industry   
make their call2 in most children their 
own moral and religious problems1 and   
those of their mates1 rise to           
consciousness4 ,epic directness and     
singleness now no longer seem an        
adequate picture of human affairs4 ,it  
is now that the child has his first     
moment of ripeness for the              
characteristic inner things of the      
literary drama3 the clash and           
combination of institutions2 the revolt 
of the individual against the           

institution1 with his final destruction 
or adjustment2 the plot which is an     
interweaving of ethical and complex     
social forces--the characters generally 
intricate to begin with1 and undergoing 
profound modification in the process of 
the action1 different from the static   
epic characters he has known hitherto4  
,in short1 we may find that the eighth  
grade is ready for some specimens of    
that literary type which is the truest  
artistic presentation of the social and 
moral complex1 the literary drama4      
,luckily1 there are grades and shades of
 complexity1 and a wide range of choice 
as to the nature and difficulty of the  
problems involved4 ,one would scarcely  
encourage the eighth- or ninth-year     
school children to attack the intricate 
adjustment and interplay of ,hamlet2 he 
would not like them to follow the       
baffling complexities of social1        
personal1 and economic considerations   
through ,the ,pillars of ,society4 ,but 
,the ,merchant of ,venice offers        

problems and situations which he can    
understand2 in ,julius ,caesar and in   
,macbeth1 in ,wilhelm ,tell1 and in the 
,wallenstein plays1 noble and finished  
dramas as they are1 he encounters       
nothing that he cannot grasp4 ,on the   
contrary1 the ideas and the situations  
are such as he readily understands1 and 
such as legitimately enlarge his        
horizon4 ,the ,shakespeare1 at any rate1
 will probably be studied as poetry1 and
 the children should be encouraged to   
act1 in whole or in part1 any play that 
they can study as literature4  ,it may  
be that the facilities of the school    
will prohibit any attempt to stage one  
of these larger plays4 ,in that event   
chosen bits may be given as dialogue or 
monologue fitted into a recital of the  
story1 and a description of the         
situation4 ,the teacher should always   
remember that the drama is oral         
literature1 and the literature of it    
makes its legitimate appeal first to the
 ear4 ,children memorize so easily1 that

 they will know the play by heart       
practically as soon as they have        
finished such a consideration of it as  
enables them to read it intelligently4  
,if not1 the striking and beautiful     
passages should be deliberately         
memorized4  ,should these dramatic      
performances be produced before a       
public8 ,most certainly yes4 ,let it be 
however small a public--two neighboring 
grades1 invited parents and friends2 but
 let the study and effort bear its      
legitimate fruit in the public          
presentation4 ,only when we lead them to
 turn back what they have gained into a 
community asset1 have we done anything  
to train our children in social art4    
,and this is so natural and easy in the 
case of an acted drama that it is a pity
 to miss the opportunity4 ,of course1   
they must love the thing they do4 ,it   
must be made good enough to give1 and be
 therefore offered4 ,we shall gradually 
recover from the fright we have been in 
now for some time as to the children's  

desire to show off4 ,how can we be sure 
we should have had any art1 if this     
motive had not mingled with the others  
in the production and publication of the
 art-product8 ,let us cease to give it  
an invidious name2 instead of calling it
 the desire to show off1 let us call it 
the artists' passion--be he poet1       
painter1 actor1 what not--to            
communicate1 to turn back into the      
common life this thing he has but drawn 
out of the common life to elaborate and 
beautify4  ,the child and the theater   
makes a difficult problem4 ,one need not
 say that a habitual theater-going child
 is a social1 and most likely a moral1  
monster4 ,but children should           
occasionally see a play with the pomp   
and circumstance of the stage4 ,in the  
large cities it is not difficult to find
 a play or two each year that it is good
 for a child to see--something of       
,shakespeare1 or some other heroic      
spectacle2 some innocent programme of   
horse-play and frolic2 some pretty      

pantomime1 and occasionally a melodrama 
neither banal nor over-sentimental4 ,if 
we but realized the theater as an       
educational and aesthetic force1 we     
might secure many more such things by an
 intelligent appeal for them and an     
intelligent reception of them4  ,after  
the children have had these few heroic  
plays we have discussed for the eighth  
or ninth grade1 they mature so rapidly  
that their contact with the literary    
drama ceases to be a child's problem at 
all2 it passes into the field of        
secondary training1 where it must1 as   
things now are in our schools1 be       
approached from a somewhat different    
point of view4     ,,chapter ,,xiv      
,,the ,,presentation ,,of ,,the         
,,literature   ,in this day of reaction1
 not to say revulsion1 against methods  
in teaching1 it is with much misgiving  
that one brings one's self to speak of  
the practical details of teaching a     
subject1 lest he be suspected of having 
a method or even a system1 or lest those

 suggestions which he tries to give out 
as genetic and stimulating merely1 be   
taken as a formalized plan4 ,however1   
each body of material that has any      
degree of separateness has a handle by  
which it ought to be taken2 disregarding
 the poor figure--paths by which one    
most easily comes to the center of it2  
certain points of view from which it    
looks most attractive and manageable4   
,some such handles1 or paths1 or points 
of view it will be the business of this 
chapter to indicate2 and the suggestions
 to be offered are1 it is to be hoped1  
so simple and so reasonable as to have  
occurred to many observing and growing  
teachers4  ,the somewhat small body of  
literature to be used in the classes    
should practically throughout the       
elementary period be read to the        
children in class1 not read by them4    
,the relation of the literature to      
reading-lessons will be discussed       
elsewhere4 ,it may well be that in the  
last years of the period many of the    

members of the class will have reached  
the stage of reading needful for the    
interpretative and apprehensive reading 
of literature2 but the majority of the  
class will not4 ,they will master the   
difficulties of mechanical reading2 they
 may achieve the plane of intelligent   
reading4 ,but here the large majority of
 them linger4 ,vast numbers of people   
never push on to the next plane--that of
 appreciative reading4 ,and it is small 
wonder2 for the combination of          
mechanical1 intellectual1 and emotional 
processes that it involves constitutes  
it well-nigh the most difficult of      
achievements4 ,hosts of estimable and   
intelligent persons1 respectable        
citizens1 live out long years of greater
 or less usefulness1 and never have a   
glimpse of this kind of reading4 ,it is 
by no means true that even every good   
and useful citizen who teaches          
literature1 can do this kind of reading2
 many times he cannot4 ,but he can read 
better than the children4 ,they1        

involved in the difficulties of their   
inexpert reading1 cannot see the woods  
for the trees2 they are obliged to go so
 slowly1 and to absorb so much energy in
 what one may call the manual work of   
reading1 that they miss the essentially 
literary things--the movement1 the      
picture1 the music4  ,of course1 when we
 say read1 we use the word in the broad 
sense of rendering the matter viva voce1
 whether it be actual reading from the  
text or reciting4 ,while the person who 
is reading a story to children must be  
most concerned with spirit and meaning1 
he must not1 if he suppose himself to be
 teaching literature1 neglect the matter
 of style4 ,if the story is a translated
 one1 he must make or choose some       
beautiful translation4 ,everything that 
he reads to them he must work over      
beforehand1 so that he can give it with 
effective certainty4 ,he more than      
defeats his purpose who transmits to his
 children no matter how good a story in 
slip-shod sentences1 commonplace        

phrasing1 go-easy enunciation2 or1 worse
 than that1 in the ostentatiously       
childlike language and manner that      
constitute official kindergartenese1 or 
in the hilariously cheerful manner which
 marks traditional ,sunday-schoolese2   
or1 worst of all1 in that tone of cheap 
irony that so many people see fit to    
adopt for all their communications with 
children4 ,it is the tone of the average
 adult whenever he enters into          
conversation with any acquaintance under
 twelve--an underbred or quite          
uncalled-for tone of badinage1 of       
quizzing1 of insincerity4 ,it is an     
unpardonable misunderstanding of the    
dignity and seriousness of children to  
offer them babble when they ask only    
simplicity1 or to treat with flippancy  
what to them are the serious things of  
art4 ,it should be quite possible to be 
serious without being solemn1 and       
cheerful without being hilarious4 ,this 
matter of a good style and form is so   
important that a teacher should achieve 

it at any cost of trouble and study4 ,i 
like to use every opportunity to say    
that he should so thoroughly know his   
story or poem1 be it the simplest old   
fairy-tale1 or the veriest              
nursery-jingle1 that he loves and       
respects it as art2 and should so know  
and respect his audience and his purpose
 that a good and suitable literary form 
flows from him inevitably2 or1 if he is 
reading an actual text1 that every      
sentence is both appreciative and       
interpretative4 ,but1 if he cannot      
achieve this1 let him in the first      
instance write out a good form of his   
story1 or find one and memorize it4     
,there is no denying that in the hands  
of a cold and mechanical person this    
production will display some            
priggishness and false propriety4 ,but  
the failure as literary training would  
be less disastrous in this case than if 
the same person gave a haphazard and    
commonplace impromptu version4  ,there  
is such a thing as literary reading as  

distinguished from the reading of matter
 technical in content and merely        
intellectual in appeal4 ,teachers1      
accustomed as they are to read for facts
 and intent upon the logical emphasis1  
are peculiarly prone to read literature 
poorly--missing the music and the       
emotion1 rendering it all in the hard   
intellectual manner that is acceptable  
only as the vehicle of the colorless    
matter of a technical treatise4 ,there  
is also such a thing as the telling of a
 literary story1 as distinguished from  
the telling of any other story4 ,a      
narrative of events in history1 an      
account of some occurrence in nature or 
ordinary affairs1 may be expected to    
proceed from point to point without     
arrangement or succession other than the
 order of incidents as they occur4 ,the 
interest is the interest of fact2 the   
thread is that of cause and effect1 or  
any other plain sequence4  ,but in the  
literary story the incidents are sifted 
and arranged4 ,certain details are      

prophecies--foreshadowings of things to 
come2 certain incidents are vital       
turning-points in the action2 certain   
phrases are the key and counter-sign of 
the whole story2 some paragraphs are    
plain narration2 some are calm          
description2 some are poetic            
interpretation2 some roar with action2  
some glow with emotion2 some sparkle    
with fun2 some lie in shadow1 others    
stand forth in the brilliant light2     
there are movements in the story1 marked
 by a change of scene1 a change of      
situation1 a pause in the action--parts 
which would be marked in the drama as   
scenes or acts2 there is the gradual    
approach to the center1 the pivotal     
occurrence1 the readjustment of affairs 
to ordinary life4 ,ideally1 all these   
things will be indicated in the         
presentation that an accomplished       
story-teller makes of a literary story4 
,this seems to set the standard very    
high--too high for the discouraged      
attempt of the overworked grade teacher4

 ,if so1 she may reflect that it is     
triumphantly true that such is the      
affinity between the child and the story
 that he will get much delight and      
nourishment out of any telling of it4   
,who has not hesitated between a smile  
and a tear at the spectacle of a child  
or a class hanging enthralled and hungry
 upon a story rendered by a mother or a 
teacher whose every pronunciation was a 
jar1 whose every cadence a dislocation1 
and whose every emphasis a              
misinterpretation8  ,and remember1 the  
art of story-telling is not the art of  
the theater1 not the art of the actress1
 but the art of the mother1 the nurse2  
the art of the spinsters and the        
knitters in the sun2 the art of the     
wandering minstrel1 of the journeyman   
tailor1 of the exiled younger brother2  
art designed to reach1 not an audience  
beyond the footlights1 but one gathered 
on the sunny bench of the market-place1 
on the hearth-stone1 under the nursery  
lamp1 in the shady garden1 and in their 

own teacher's schoolroom4  ,as a        
practical matter1 the teacher1 in       
presenting a story or a narrative poem1 
should take advantage of the natural    
pauses1 the end of one incident or      
movement and the beginning of the next1 
in dividing his material for the actual 
lessons1 so that in a long story or in a
 drama1 the end of the lesson coincides 
with the close of a series of incidents 
or the close of one of the larger       
movements4 ,nothing spoils a bit of     
literature more effectually than taking 
it in accidental or fragmentary bits4   
,at any cost of time and pains1 let     
there be a sense of completeness in each
 lesson1 a feeling of repose1 if only   
temporary1 at the end of each           
instalment4 ,and whether he closes his  
lesson or not1 the teacher should at the
 close of every such movement in a class
 of older children pause to discuss1 to 
review1 or to summarize4 ,when he makes 
this recognition of the close of a      
series of incidents1 or of a movement1  

he accomplishes two things3 he secures a
 certain amount of completeness1 and he 
helps on in the children the desirable  
sense of organization1 of composition1  
in their story or play4  ,the nature of 
the bit of literature chosen must guide 
the teacher in his first presentation of
 it4 ,when it is a thing in which the   
movement is rapid1 or the interest in   
the action or the plot intense1 it will 
doubtless be best to go rapidly through 
the whole1 not pausing for any details4 
,then go over it slowly again1 pausing  
for appreciation and comment4 ,it seems 
well to repeat here that if the story is
 long and the plot involves any         
intensity of suspense1 it may be well to
 let the children know the issue early  
in the story2 the wisdom of this step   
will depend largely upon the average    
nerves of the class4 ,there may well be 
several readings of a thing worth       
reading once4 ,every teacher knows how  
well content the younger children1      
especially1 are to go over a thing many 

times4 ,the interest of the class of    
older children may be kept up through   
the many readings of a story or poem1 by
 shifting each time the ground of       
comment or discussion1 opening up a new 
question or revealing a new point of    
interest at each reading4 ,in other     
pieces1 the slower moving stories and   
lyrics1 the children are willing to     
linger over the details at the first    
reading4  ,it is all but impossible to  
indicate what such details are1 or what 
we mean by lingering over them4 ,i have 
pointed out in some detail1 in the      
chapter on poetry1 the kind of thing    
that one would linger over for comment  
and question4  ,if it is a new1 rare1 or
 especially picturesque word1 we may ask
 questions and receive comments1 or     
according to the situation1 give quick  
and direct information about it3 ,the   
golden orange glows2 ,he strung the bow 
deftly2 ,the butter-cup catches the sun 
in its chalice4 ,these three words call 
for attention for different reasons1 in 

addition to the fact that any or all of 
them might be new and unknown words to  
the class4 ,in the case of a figure or  
image we would pause and discuss the    
various terms and details of it1 until  
most members of the class have at least 
intellectually apprehended it4 ,such a  
complex little figure and image as      
footsteps of the falling drops down the 
ladder of the leaves calls for leisurely
 appreciation and assimilation4 ,a      
peculiar musical onomatopoeic line will 
interest them2 ,burly dozing bumble-bee1
 is such a line4 ,they will be delighted
 to discover why this peculiar          
assemblage of sounds was chosen in      
connection with this insect4 ,the long  
day wanes1 the slow moon climbs1        
indicating and imitating by its slow    
movement and long vowels the passage of 
the lingering hours1 is an effect they  
should be led to realize4 ,we should    
pause to point out1 or to inquire into1 
the implications of some pregnant or    
pivotal sentence1 such as3 ,now1        

,cinderella's godmother was fay2 or1    
,cyclops1 you asked my noble name1 and  
,i will tell it3 ,my name is ,noman4    
,the bit selected for detailed study may
 be larger1 amounting to a complete     
incident--for example1 ,nausicaa with   
her maids washing her beautiful clothes 
by the river2 some scene or incident    
full of character and symbolical        
meaning1 as the scene with the hen and  
the cat in ,the ,ugly ,duckling2 some   
ethical or moral question that calls for
 judgment1 such as ,robin ,hood's       
treatment of the unjust abbot1 or       
,portia's decision as to ,shylock's     
bond4  ,these examples1 chosen at       
random1 are intended simply to suggest  
the kind of thing to be stopped over4   
,it would be a grave mistake to pause   
over every such detail1 or to try to    
make sure that the children apprehend   
even intellectually every item as it    
appears4 ,leave many of them for        
subsequent readings2 let many of them   
lie permanently1 depending rather on the

 effects of the general tone and spirit 
of the production for your results4 ,one
 of the first lessons to learn about the
 teaching of literature is that it will 
not do to teach the whole art on the    
basis of one specimen--that it will not 
do to teach in any case all that one    
could4 ,one must rather try to teach the
 characteristic1 the inevitable         
lesson--the lesson demanded by the      
genius of his piece4 ,let the teacher   
avoid by all means the pitfall of       
talky-talk and lecture4 ,keep the       
literature as near play as possible--the
 play that cultivates and disciplines   
through the avenues of refined pleasure4
  ,it will often be necessary for the   
teacher to shorten and otherwise edit   
the thing he chooses4 ,there will come  
from time to time dull passages1        
descriptive passages1 passages whose    
subject-matter is too mature1 or in some
 other way undesirable for his class4   
,he will often be able to economize     
effort and to secure a better unity of  

impression1 by omitting what is mere    
enrichment of the picture or            
reinforcement of the teaching2 such     
incidents may be removed without        
altering the meaning or the movement4   
,the teacher must be experienced enough 
to recognize such unnecessary or        
superfluous incidents2 otherwise he only
 mutilates his story in condensing it4  
,when the children have advanced to some
 proficiency in reading1 they will1 of  
course1 begin to read some of their own 
literature1 reading aloud in the class  
and often having the text before them as
 the teacher reads4 ,all the children   
that can read at all should1 as a rule1 
have a printed copy of anything they are
 asked to memorize2 and as a matter of  
social duty1 the teacher of literature1 
or the teacher in the literature class1 
will from time to time have a careful   
exercise in reading for the younger     
readers2 while he will have much reading
 aloud from the older grades2           
remembering that the inevitable obverse 

of receiving literature through the ear 
is the rendering it with the voice4     
,but1 on the whole1 they will fare best 
if up to and probably through the sixth 
grade they receive what is distinctively
 literature through the ear4 ,and even  
after that they should often hear their 
material rendered by a good reader in   
class1 even though they may be required 
to read the same material over          
beforehand1 or subsequent to the class  
reading4  ,every teacher should have in 
reserve a store of stories and poems1   
and beautiful passages from great       
masterpieces which he produces from time
 to time as a surprise to his class4    
,this is many a time the most effective 
lesson possible--adding to the          
children's pleasure the delight of      
surprise1 creating in them the          
impression of the inexhaustible supply  
of beautiful things1 and testifying to  
their teacher's own joy in the things he
 wants them to love4  ,other minor and  
practical matters1 more closely         

connected with the return from the      
children than the presentation to them1 
will be discussed in the next chapter4  
,finally1 the whole matter is           
conditioned and colored by the fact that
 in any case the literature is          
transmitted to the children through the 
personality of the teacher4 ,this is    
partially true of all a child's subjects
 and his whole experience in school2 but
 the fact that literature is so inwoven 
with feeling1 and so bound up with      
matters of personal taste1 that it      
concerns itself so much with matters of 
ethics and conduct1 makes it peculiarly 
liable to take on color1 to narrow or to
 widen with the personality of him who  
chooses and renders it4 ,a teacher must 
accept this fact1 and profit by the     
obvious warnings that arise out of it2  
but better than that1 build his work    
upon the many beneficent aspects of the 
fact4 ,the teacher before his class is  
the sacred bard at the feast2 he is an  
exhaustless spring of joy1 a tireless   

playfellow1 a preacher who never proses1
 a schoolmaster who never scolds4       
,,chapter ,,xv  ,,the ,,return ,,from   
,,the ,,children   ,the discussion must 
naturally limit itself largely to the   
immediate return that we may ask of the 
children from their lessons in          
literature2 since it is not possible to 
do more than hint at their ultimate     
effects4 ,it is1 of course1 a matter of 
pedagogical morality to ask from them   
some immediate and practical return1 or 
some actual literary contributions to   
the lessons4 ,there are certain         
modifications of the modern doctrine    
that every stimulation of the mind or   
the emotions should eventuate in        
activity--modifications that apply to   
all the fine arts4 ,the aesthetic       
experience is a complete experience in  
itself2 the apprehension1 the enjoyment1
 and the final appreciation which one   
passes through in his contact with a    
beautiful piece of art--a picture1 a    
symphony1 an ode--constitute a complete 

psychic experience2 they eventuate in a 
better taste1 a higher ideal1 the record
 of a pure and noble joy4 ,they do not  
demand further activity4 ,we need not   
feel1 therefore1 that it is a matter of 
necessity to ask that in every case the 
class make some tangible response to    
every literary impression4  ,but the    
teacher of literature must feel that he 
shares with all their other teachers the
 responsibility and the duty of making  
social beings of the children1 of       
equipping them with the means of        
expression and communication1 so that   
they may turn back into the sum-total a 
product in exchange for the material    
they draw out4 ,he must1 therefore1     
associate with the lessons a legitimate 
amount of exercise for his class in     
imparting what they have learned and in 
creating literary products for          
themselves4  ,the first and simplest    
return we ask is the oral comment1 the  
immediate discussion that accompanies   
the presentation of the work4 ,when a   

story has been read1 there should always
 be opportunity for question and        
comment4 ,this the teacher must guide   
and restrain4 ,of course1 he should be  
hospitable to suggestions and           
contributions1 patient1 and generous to 
questions4 ,but he must be cautious     
never to let the talk even on the part  
of the smallest children remain mere    
prattle1 or degenerate into an aimless  
scamper around the paddock2 he will see 
that there is a point or a line to cling
 to1 and he will manage that this shall 
be done4 ,every teacher knows how one   
petty or commonplace child1 one would-be
 wit or skeptic1 can drag the discussion
 into the dust and keep it there1 unless
 he is promptly and perhaps vigorously  
suppressed4 ,of course1 in these        
discussions there is very small         
opportunity for training the voice and  
criticizing the language4 ,let there be1
 if possible1 a free flow of comment and
 contribution1 uninterrupted by any     
corrections except those of the most    

egregious errors4 ,the teacher who      
guides it should study his questions1   
and even with the little ones should    
bring into the light of discussion the  
vital and salient things1 and by means  
of a question from time to time1 keep   
the conference away from triviality and 
gossip4 ,he will begin to train his     
children from the beginning to make     
legitimate inductions from their        
material1 and will require them to give 
reasons based upon the actual story or  
poem4 ,he will be able to lead them to  
find the precise point of departure in  
the story for the introduction of their 
personal experience or their new        
incident1 and he will help them in every
 case to make clear the application of  
their own material to the discussion4   
,it is in this spontaneous and free1 but
 guided1 conference that the children   
get most good out of the literature     
lessons4 ,of course1 as they grow older 
the discussion of persons and their     
conduct1 and the ethical and social     

bearing of events and opinions1 may be  
broadened and deepened4 ,as they grow   
older1 too1 more correctness and style  
and fulness may be demanded in their    
impromptu contributions to the          
discussion4 ,a child may1 without       
suspecting it1 and consequently without 
self-consciousness1 acquire some        
considerable skill in extemporaneous    
speaking and some genuine intellectual  
ease in conversation from these class   
discussions4  ,another natural return to
 be asked from the children is the      
repetition of the story1 in whole or in 
part1 by members of the class in their  
own words2 though of course1 after many 
hearings of it well told the children   
will have incorporated into their own   
vocabulary the most useful and          
characteristic words4 ,this exercise    
should never be allowed to pass into a  
careless and slipshod performance2 the  
children should be alive and responding 
alertly to the call made upon them4     
,their grammar1 their sentences1 their  

emphases and intonations may            
appropriately be corrected more         
vigorously in this exercise than in the 
spontaneous discussion4  ,the best      
literary effect is not secured by having
 the story retold immediately after the 
children have heard it1 nor by having   
them understand beforehand that it is to
 be retold as a formal exercise4 ,it may
 be brought out of them on some later   
occasion so as to give it the air of an 
independent contribution to the pleasure
 of the class4 ,nothing is more deadly  
to the atmosphere of a story than the   
certainty on the part of the children   
that they are going to be called upon to
 retell it4 ,this should never become a 
habitual exercise4 ,it helps in a       
literary as well as a social way to     
divide the story in the retelling among 
the children according to movements1 or 
even according to incidents1 since this 
calls attention to its parts and        
organization4  ,we may reasonably expect
 all the poems taught as literature to  

be memorized1 since it does not take    
many repetitions of a poem to fix it in 
a child's memory4 ,the vocal production 
of this poem gives the best opportunity 
for cultivating the child in voice1 in  
enunciation and pronunciation4 ,the     
teacher should not1 of course1 seem     
querulous and exacting in small matters1
 and it is better to leave a few        
careless spots in any one poem than to  
spoil the children's pleasure in it by  
too close criticism2 but he can do much 
to help all the children toward a       
distinguished manner of expression4     
,these memorized poems1 like the stories
 they learn1 should not be regarded as  
formal exercises to be recited once and 
be done with4 ,they should be called for
 from time to time as contributions to  
the pleasure of the whole class4 ,time  
is profitably given now and then to a   
story or verse tournament1 a sang-fest1 
when the whole store of things acquired 
is brought out and enjoyed4 ,in the two 
older classes each child may be required

 to choose1 prepare1 and present to the 
class a bit of literature4 ,the choice  
and preparation must be done in         
consultation with the teacher2 the      
presentation to the class regarded as a 
contribution to their artistic          
experience and accepted without         
criticism4  ,paraphrasing is a process  
of doubtful value4 ,it is never possible
 to express the precise meaning or mood 
in other words1 and in the case of verse
 it serves to destroy the sense of      
inviolability of form that one would    
desire to develop and deepen4 ,the      
direction1 ,state the same thought in   
other words1 should never be given4 ,to 
one delicately alive to the value of    
words and the shades of thought1 it is a
 mere contradiction in terms4 ,the same 
may be said of the practice of getting  
the children to substitute synonyms2 in 
literature1 especially in poetry1 there 
can be no true synonyms1 and no         
precisely synonymous expressions4  ,many
 pleasant experiments are to be made in 

connecting some of the handwork of the  
youngest children with their literature4
 ,the attempt to realize some of their  
images in actual stuff constitutes an   
artistic experiment that has its        
literary reverberations1 and helps to   
deepen the association4 ,let them make a
 cloak for ,little ,red ,riding-,hood1 a
 fairies' coach of a nut shell1 a boat1 
a tent--or whatever little object or    
property is imbedded in the story4 ,out 
of practically every story1 and out of  
many of the poems1 they get an          
inspiration for a picture or a bit of   
modeling4 ,such associations with       
literature are legitimate and natural4  
,this appears very clear when we reflect
 that we are hoping to cultivate the    
taste and imagination of the children1  
and to teach them to love human life1   
with all that this implies1 as well as  
to drill them in language1 grammar1 and 
writing4  ,it seems necessary to handle 
aspects of the problem of language and  
writing in connection with literature in

 several different places1 as we come   
upon the topic from different points of 
view4 ,as has been said before1 it is   
the duty of the teacher of literature1  
and of the lessons in literature1 to    
help along the work in the language     
arts4 ,it is even fair to assume that   
the children will take more interest in 
their composition lessons1 and will get 
more profit out of them1 when they are  
attached to something they have done in 
literature2 but this is because they get
 out of literature more impulse toward  
creation1 and more inspiration toward a 
beautiful and striking manner of        
expression4 ,but composition is not     
merely a medium of creative expression2 
it is a means of plain communication1   
and should be developed in both         
directions and from both sources4 ,this 
means that the children should write in 
connection with all their subjects1 so  
that they do not1 on the one hand1      
associate ,english and writing with     
literature only1 and do not1 on the     

other hand1 run the risk of forming no  
style but a literary style4  ,it is     
certainly true that we disquiet         
ourselves and persecute the children    
unnecessarily concerning the whole      
matter of writing during the elementary 
period4 ,the children scarcely acquire  
the process of writing as a manual thing
 in the first four years4 ,during the   
next four by good luck and much toil1   
most of them manage to reduce it to the 
stage of a tool4 ,their consciousness of
 the process added to their             
consciousness of their spelling and     
grammar1 leaves them little freedom in  
using the written composition as an     
avenue of spontaneous expression4 ,add  
to this the fact that a large part of   
this period--the period of ten to       
fourteen--is the beginning of the great 
reticence4 ,they are not telling what   
they know or feel2 they have narrowed   
their vocabulary down to the absolutely 
necessary terms2 they have seen through 
every device by which the teacher seeks 

to get them to express themselves4      
,their written compositions will be1    
therefore1 dogged exercises1 and should 
be connected1 as far as possible1 with  
colorless information subjects4 ,there  
are exceptional children and exceptional
 classes1 indeed1 to whom these         
generalizations do not apply4 ,we have  
all heard of classes in distant         
elementary schools which loved to write4
  ,but there will of necessity be a     
certain amount of composition that will 
fall in with the work in literature1 and
 will constitute one of the logical     
returns we ask of the children4 ,this   
the teacher would like to have as       
spontaneous and as literary as possible4
 ,in general1 we should like it to be   
creative1 and not critical or           
reproductive4 ,we would encourage them  
to devise new adventures of ,odysseus1  
or of ,robin ,hood1 to give an          
experience of their own organized into a
 genuine story1 an interpretation and   
effective description of some incident  

or event that has interested them or    
been invented by them4 ,it is necessary1
 if you expect to get anything literary 
or creative out of them1 to help to put 
them in the creative and literary mood4 
,talk over with them the thing they mean
 to do2 see that they have the          
vocabulary they will obviously need2    
enlarge their range of comparison and   
allusion by discussion2 lead them to    
divide their material into suitable     
parts with some acceptable sequence2    
enrich their topics by kindred material2
 guide them into the observation and    
interpretation of material in the       
imaginative and literary way4  ,some    
aspects of this process are illustrated 
in the following experience3 ,a teacher 
had been reading ,howard ,pyle's ,robin 
,hood1 with occasionally one of the     
original ballads interspersed 7but not  
the traditional ,robin ,hood and the    
,potter71 for three months2 the children
 had also memorized during the same time
 three short lyrics2 and in every lesson

 there had been discussions2 the time   
had come when they must make something4 
,they decided to follow the plan of     
their book and tell how ,robin ,hood    
added a new member to his band4 ,these  
children were making pottery by way of  
handwork1 and had lately had an         
interesting visit to see a potter       
working with his wheel4 ,so the         
suggestion naturally made by some member
 of the class1 that the new member of   
,robin ,hood's band be a potter1 was    
received with instant favor4 ,the       
teacher read them ,peter ,bell1 and     
their hero promptly became a            
peddler-potter--the very same1 suggested
 an agile child1 whom ,tom1 the ,piper's
 son1 found beating his ass1 and upon   
whom he played the merry trick4 ,by this
 time the class could be restrained no  
longer4 ,they climbed over one another's
 shoulders1 literally and figuratively1 
with eager suggestions and copious      
details4 ,after discussing the plan long
 enough to suggest an organization of   

the material into three natural parts1  
the children were set to work4 ,the     
orderly and patient children produced   
satisfactory stories1 abundant in       
material and beautiful in detail4 ,all  
the others produced stories which1      
however disorderly and careless1 were   
breathless with feeling and overflowing 
with stuff4 ,some of them adopted ,tom1 
the ,piper's son1 as the new member of  
the band1 not being able to forgive the 
potter for beating the ass2 some adopted
 them both2 others1 only the ,potter1   
duly lessoned and converted2 all        
provided for the donkey4 ,when they were
 aroused and provided1 there was a      
spontaneous outflow of what was in every
 case1 allowing for the varying         
temperaments and acquirements of the    
children1 a really literary production4 
,as long as the children are seriously  
hampered with the mechanics of writing1 
they should be allowed to dictate their 
work1 when any practical plan can be    
devised for this4 ,when the class is not

 too large1 they should be taught to    
make a co-operative product1 the teacher
 taking down what they agree upon1      
revising it to suit them4 ,in the case  
of the older children these spontaneous 
and literary productions should not be  
too minutely criticized1 and the        
revising and rewriting of them should   
not become a matter of drudgery4 ,they  
should have other and more colorless    
written work upon which they may be     
drilled1 lest the drill should kill     
their creative impulse or spoil their   
pleasure in the created product4 ,their 
more important productions may be filed 
and given back to them six months later 
for their own correction4 ,this critical
 review of their own work is generally  
an occasion of much pride1 and the      
acquisition of some wholesome           
self-knowledge4  ,it is possible that   
this attempt to distinguish literary    
writing from other composition may      
convey the impression that literature   
and literary production are set off1    

quite apart from life1 and the          
children's other experiences and        
interests4 ,this would be a misfortune4 
,whenever any aspect of their lives1    
their work1 or their play appeals to    
their emotions and their imaginations1  
when they are provided with a large     
vocabulary and have opened for them     
avenues of comparison1 they will turn   
back a literary product4 ,but it is     
seldom desirable to create this         
atmosphere in connection with their     
other studies1 and the literary style   
and method is not a desirable one for   
all subjects4  ,for the sake of the     
practice in writing and composing1 and  
for the sake of acquiring ease in       
telling in writing what they know or    
desire to communicate1 the children may 
write something every day4 ,but not     
oftener than once in six weeks can we   
build up in a class the atmosphere1     
furnish the material1 and bring up the  
enthusiasm for the production of        
something worth while in a literary     

way--story1 essay1 play1 or poem4  ,to  
set the elementary child1 or even the   
high-school scholar1 tasks of           
investigating in literature1 as if he   
were a little college student is a      
serious mistake2 or to set for him      
themes which call for such opinions and 
judgments as could be safely given only 
by a mature person4 ,for instance1 to   
ask the eighth grade in the average     
school to write a character-sketch of   
,shylock is to make a bid for           
insincerity and unfounded judgment4 ,but
 satisfactory results may be obtained by
 giving the children a simple syllabus  
of questions and suggestions1 indicating
 quite suitable problems for them to    
work at in their out-of-school reading2 
this little syllabus is then made the   
basis of class discussion1 and parts of 
it finally1 of written work4 ,it        
requires some skill to make such a      
syllabus1 since it must not be made up  
of leading questions nor of tediously   
detailed suggestions1 neither must it   

attempt to exhaust the material2 but    
must be calculated to stimulate the     
children to observe and to think1 and   
must be designed to guide them into     
those aspects of the story1 play or poem
 that they may suitably and profitably  
consider4 ,such a guide should be placed
 in the hands of young students         
including secondary children1 whenever  
they are studying a mature and complex  
masterpiece4  ,the dramatization and    
acting of any bit of literature that    
yields to this process is in many ways  
the most satisfactory return we can ask4
 ,in a previous chapter much has been   
said about the various dramatic settings
 and accompaniments of literature4 ,from
 the treatment of rhymes and jingles as 
suggestions for games and plays1 on     
through the genuine dramatization of a  
story1 to the presentation of ,the      
,merchant of ,venice or some other      
developed literary drama1 the teacher   
should forward as much as possible this 
mode of calling out the children4 ,they 

must1 of course1 be guided by the       
teacher in the choice of a story for    
dramatization1 seeking one that has     
clearly marked movements1 some distinct 
events1 a pretty well-rounded plot1     
occasion for dialogue1 and other        
dramatic possibilities4 ,the class may  
early be guided to the division of the  
story into its natural acts and scenes1 
which implies the omission of           
superfluous incidents and details4 ,the 
difficulty comes in the supplying of the
 actual dialogue4 ,the resourceful      
teacher will secure this dialogue by    
various means2 for some of the scenes it
 will flow off without effort from the  
class in lesson assembled1 one child    
suggesting a remark1 another the reply1 
these being recorded and criticized by  
the class4 ,for certain other scenes the
 dialogue may be prepared by groups of  
two or more children working apart from 
the class4 ,for certain crucial and     
lofty scenes the teacher should make the
 book4 ,the whole must be submitted for 

discussion in the class1 and may in the 
end call for considerable revision from 
the teacher2 for the younger children   
cannot be expected to know and to meet  
the demands of dramatic dialogue--it    
must not only be speech1 and fairly good
 as conversation1 but it must forward   
the play with every sentence4 ,of       
course1 this revision must never be so  
sweeping as radically to remake the     
play1 or even to alter the essential    
character that the children have given  
it1 no matter how crude it may seem to  
the teacher and to other mature persons 
who hear it4 ,let it stand as a bit of  
child-art1 just as we rejoice to let    
crude productions stand as folk-art4    
,of course1 when the older children     
present a literary play or any part of  
it1 they must memorize and give it      
conscientiously as it is written4       
,indeed1 the rendering with             
understanding and appreciation1 of      
whatever they have learned of good and  
beautiful literature is1 after all1 the 

most satisfactory and natural return4   
,if even in high school we asked this of
 the children1 instead of those themes  
of crude or stale literary criticism    
which we all too often get1 great would 
be the gain in freshness1 in sincerity1 
in appreciation1 and in ultimate taste4 
,if we accustom the children to it from 
the beginning1 and never intimate to    
them that it is difficult1 it is about  
as easy to get verse out of them as     
prose4 ,this is particularly true if the
 exercise is a social or co-operative   
one1 in which the whole class unites to 
produce the ballad or the song4 ,what   
the single child could not accomplish1  
the group does with perfect ease4 ,and  
when the poem is done1 nobody can tell  
who suggested this rhyme1 this word1    
this whole line2 but the whole is a     
product of which each child is proud1   
though he alone could never have        
compassed it4 ,the communal story1      
ballad1 song1 or play is a unique and   
interesting performance1 and any teacher

 who has ever assisted in making it     
feels sure that he has seen far into the
 social possibilities of art and the    
philosophy of literature4 ,every teacher
 must devise his own plan of getting    
this co-operative1 communal1 social bit 
of literature made1 but every teacher of
 literature should try it4  ,all this1  
of course1 has to do with the immediate 
practical return from the studies in    
literature4 ,concerning the ultimate1   
distant return we cannot speak in terms 
of teaching and learning4 ,art is long2 
like the human child1 being destined to 
a long and vicissitudinous life1 it had 
a long childhood2 and this is true of   
its growth in each individual as of its 
growth in the race4 ,so far as regards  
many of the most desired results of     
literature1 we can but sow the seed1 and
 wait years for the bloom--a lifetime1  
maybe1 for the fruit4 ,but though we may
 not reach a hand through all the years 
to grasp the far-off interest of our    
toil1 we have every reason to believe   

that the harvest will be fair4          
,,chapter ,,xvi  ,,the ,,correlations   
,,of ,,literature   ,the term           
correlation is not to be used in this   
chapter in the specialized and technical
 sense that it has taken on in          
pedagogical discussion4 ,it will be     
used1 with apologies1 to designate all  
connections of literature with any other
 subject or discipline in the elementary
 curriculum4  ,no one interested in     
education can have failed to notice the 
fact that the doctrines of              
concentration1 correlation1             
condensation1 by whatever name called or
 under whatever aspect approached1 have 
undergone many modifications and shifts 
of emphasis4 ,like every other          
educational doctrine that has much of   
the truth in it1 it was welcomed in the 
early days of its promulgation as the   
final solution1 and seemed for a time to
 sweep out of existence1 or into its own
 radius1 every other theory or practice4
  ,one is obliged to wonder if          

educational people are peculiarly liable
 to be caught by a formula or an        
apparently axiomatic statement1 build   
everything upon it1 and silence every   
question by a reverential appeal to it4 
,such seemed to be the attitude toward  
the doctrine of correlation when it     
first sifted down from the savants to   
the actual teachers in the actual       
schools2 and many and monumental were   
the follies committed in the name of    
this pedagogical religion4 ,modified and
 adapted under actual practical         
conditions1 and criticized by the       
present generation of educational       
philosophers1 it has come down to the   
school of today--that is to say1 the    
school that is sensitive enough and free
 enough to respond quickly to new       
thinking--as1 on the one hand1 a protest
 against isolation and abstraction1 and 
on the other hand1 an appeal for such a 
conservation of the unity and           
naturalness of the child's consciousness
 as is consistent with the natural and  

legitimate use of material4 ,in its     
present form the doctrine no longer     
justifies the violent wresting of       
subjects and topics from their natural  
settings1 to be fitted together in some 
merely logical and theoretical system of
 instruction4  ,in the days of          
determined and thoroughgoing correlation
 no department of discipline suffered   
more than the arts2 and none of the     
other arts suffered as did literature4  
,this is not difficult to account for4  
,music and painting are quite           
professedly and obviously unconcerned   
with subject-matter--are1 as a rule1    
entirely empty of definite intellectual 
content4 ,but literature has ideas1 it  
embodies concrete images1 mentions      
specific objects1 reflects experience1  
and sometimes even uses actual persons  
and historical events2 above all1 it    
employs the same medium of expression as
 the other subjects4 ,all these matters 
made literature the peculiar prey of the
 ardent correlationists2 to each or any1

 perhaps to all1 of these phenomena in  
literature they could attach bodies of  
teaching in technical subjects1 and     
systems of discipline in formal         
training4  ,the case was equally bad    
when literature was constituted the     
center of the scheme1 and when it was   
attached to a scheme having some other  
center--geography1 for example1 or      
history4 ,for in the first case it was  
altogether likely that some detail or   
aspect of the piece of literature1      
merely subsidiary in the literature1    
would be selected for emphasis and      
elevated into the correlating detail2   
the background or setting would be taken
 out for study and elaboration1 crowding
 the action1 the human and really       
literary elements1 out of sight4 ,as1   
for example--and it is an authentic     
example of a scheme of correlation--the 
first-grade children are given as the   
center of their work ,the ,old ,woman   
,who ,found the ,sixpence2 from this    
story we take out the dog1 which we     

study as the type of digitigrade        
carnivora4 ,or--again an authentic      
example--having read to the first grade 
,the ,musicians of ,bremen1 as one of   
them happens to be a donkey1 we seize   
the opportunity to teach in detail and  
over several weeks of time1 the physical
 peculiarities of the donkey and his    
kinsman the horse1 among many exercises 
drawing out of the children some        
speculation or information as to how    
much water or hay the horse consumes2 to
 which hook we attach instruction as to 
weights and measures2 and so on into the
 remote fringes of information about    
objects and persons used in the story   
only in the literary way4  ,in the      
second case1 that in which literature is
 attached to some other center1 in      
feeling about for some bit of literature
 to fit into a geographical fact1 a     
meteorological condition1 or a          
historical event1 the teacher was quite 
likely to hit upon a third- or          
fourth-rate specimen1 unsuitable for his

 children in other respects1 and in     
teaching it he was likely to force from 
it a meaning and an emphasis that as    
literature it would not bear2 as1 when  
the children were studying the migration
 of birds1 he taught them ,bryant's ,to 
a ,waterfowl1 emphasizing the migration 
and ignoring the true emphasis of the   
poem--the lesson of a guiding           
providence2 or as1 apropos of ,december 
weather1 he set the fifth grade to      
reading ,whittier's slow-moving1        
meditative1 and much too mature         
,snow-,bound4  ,as a matter of fact1 no 
art yields kindly to any method of      
adjustment to other subjects that       
emphasizes the subject-matter or        
information material that may perchance 
be involved in the art4                 
,information-giving is not the method   
nor the mission of art2 the four1 or    
five arts if we include acting1 with    
which we may have to do in elementary   
discipline combine and play into one    
another without difficulty4 ,it is not  

necessary to speak again of the close   
and easy association of literature with 
all the forms of acting that the        
children have1 from marching1 dancing1  
and simple gesture1 on to the acting    
required in an organized drama4 ,on the 
musical side1 particularly the          
verse-form of literature1 it combines   
most acceptably with music4 ,a great    
many of the lyrics that are simple      
enough for the children to learn1 and   
many of the verses that they write1 are 
also adaptable as songs to be sung4 ,and
 even when they cannot be set to        
melodies they share1 in their spoken    
form1 with the actual musical notes1 in 
the training of the ear4 ,the exercises 
in drawing1 painting1 and modeling      
co-operate to fine advantage for the    
objectifying of the visual images1 of   
which the children get so large a store 
from literature4 ,as a matter of fact1  
when the children are set the task of   
objectifying an inner image1 it is most 
likely to be some figure or scene from  

literature that comes up for            
expression--,nausicaa throwing the ball1
 ,robin ,hood stringing his bow1        
,siegfried tempering his sword1 ,paul   
,revere mounting his horse1 the lodge of
 old ,nokomis4 ,this is because the     
images and pictures they find in        
literature retain in the minds of the   
children the glow of imagination1 the   
warmth of emotion1 the vitality of a    
remembered joy4 ,and it is true1 as     
every teacher knows who has taught it   
aright1 that a bit of literature arouses
 in the children a mood of creative     
imagination such as no other subject    
ever can awaken4 ,this mood of          
imaginative creation instinctively      
expresses itself in literary            
composition1 in drawing1 painting1      
designing1 modeling1 acting1 or music4  
,on the very surface of the problem of  
the correlations of literature lies the 
somewhat difficult question of the      
relation of the children's literature to
 their lessons in reading--as regards   

both their beginning to read and their  
later practice in reading4 ,it remains  
true that with all our experimenting and
 in spite of all the enthusiasm we can  
muster1 to the majority of children and 
in the hands of most teachers the       
mechanics of learning to read is        
drudgery4 ,this drudgery literature     
should share with the other subjects in 
its due proportion4 ,one would not      
ignore the fact that this due proportion
 may be very large--larger than that of 
any other subject4 ,it is quite         
legitimate to employ the charm and      
interest of literature in the service of
 reading2 and it would be a serious     
misfortune for the children to learn    
their reading entirely through the      
medium of colorless fact4 ,we have      
agreed that there is such a thing as    
literary reading1 different in many ways
 from the reading of history or science4
 ,even the younger children can feel    
this1 and can produce it if correctly   
guided4 ,but they should not always be  

doing literary reading2 they should     
acquire the colorless but good style of 
merely intellectual reading4 ,this they 
will not do if in their early reading   
exercises they are given more than their
 due proportion of literature4  ,it is  
undoubtedly wise to make upon the       
teacher and the children the impression 
that reading is a tool1 a key--perhaps  
we would better call it a gate through  
which one gets at many things--the joys 
and rewards of literature1 to be sure1  
but also the images of history1 the     
facts of nature1 the details of         
handicraft4 ,a reading-book1 or any     
system of reading-lessons that contains 
nothing but literature is therefore a   
mistake4  ,from another point of view it
 is a misfortune to identify the        
reading-lessons with literature4 ,as has
 been said more than once in these      
chapters1 the alert teacher of our day  
is eager to emancipate literature again 
from its bondage to the printed page1   
and to set free once more its function  

as a truly social art2 making it also   
once more a matter of the listening ear 
and the living voice4  ,to identify the 
reading-lessons of the younger children 
with their literature lessons is to keep
 them at things much too immature1 and  
to retard their mental and artistic     
growth4 ,they can apprehend and         
appreciate many things that they cannot 
read4 ,it is a commonplace that a       
child's listening vocabulary is far in  
advance of his reading vocabulary1 no   
matter how or how early he learns to    
read4 ,of course1 this is the secret of 
the revolt against book-reading of the  
children who learn to read late--the    
simplicity of the thought and expression
 in the matter they are mechanically    
able to read1 makes it unacceptable to  
them intellectually4 ,it is in the      
literature received by his ear that a   
child grows and exercises his maturer   
powers4 ,the older children should be   
taught and exercised in literary        
reading1 the simple interpretative      

reading of their literature4 ,the best  
results in this most profitable aspect  
of the teaching of literature can be    
obtained in the secondary period1 when  
the children are expert enough as       
readers to think while they read1 and   
when their voices are1 as mere          
mechanical organs1 more completely under
 control4  ,the objections to the       
association of drill in writing1 in     
spelling1 in grammar1 and in            
compositions are of like kind4 ,it may  
be granted that there is something in   
the fact that literature represents the 
most effective use of language1 and is1 
all things considered1 the most         
interesting kind of writing4 ,still this
 does not constitute a sufficient reason
 why the burden1 and in all too many    
cases the odium1 of teaching these      
things should attach to literature4 ,it 
is a perfidious breaking of the promise 
of literature1 or of any art1 which     
should keep as much as possible of the  
atmosphere of play4 ,of course1 drill in

 language and in written expression     
should be attached to every subject in  
the elementary curriculum2 and this not 
only for the sake of relieving the      
literature from a burden of unattractive
 tasks1 but because of the fact that the
 literary style and vocabulary are not  
good for all subjects and purposes1 and 
the children should not be trained      
exclusively in these4 ,on the large     
scale of things1 it is a pity at any    
stage of the child's education to       
identify ,english with literature1 since
 there is and should be so much ,english
 that is not literature1 and so much    
literature that is not ,english4  ,one  
of the pleasantest and most profitable  
co-operations of literature is with the 
training in languages other than the    
vernacular4 ,in those elementary classes
 where the children have instruction in 
either ,german or ,french--or1 for the  
matter of that1 in ,spanish or          
,italian--every effort should be made in
 their use of story and verse to secure 

the characteristic and universal        
literary effect4 ,the ,german lyric has 
all the beauty of music and of image    
that the ,english has2 the ,french      
fairy-play has most of elements of      
dramatic art that the children could use
 in ,english translation4  ,a few of the
 fallacies of correlation1 or mere      
co-relation1 of literature with other   
aspects of the children's school        
experience are these3  ,the fallacy of  
setting out to teach children the love  
of home1 or country1 or nature1 or      
animals1 by teaching them literature    
that expresses or reflects those        
emotions4  ,the love of one's own       
country must be in our day a thing of   
slow and gradual growth4 ,our feelings  
about our country should arise out of   
our knowledge of the heroic things in   
her history1 out of the noble plans for 
her growth1 out of the generous things  
she provides for her children and the   
children of other lands4 ,out of this or
 some such basis arises the emotion of  

patriotism1 a poem or a story which     
reflects this emotion has some such     
back-ground by implication4 ,to hunt    
about for a poem or story which teaches 
patriotism is a putting of the cart     
before the horse4 ,first arouse in your 
children the emotion--an original       
personal emotion of their own1 growing  
out of the legitimate background2 then1 
if perchance you are so fortunate as to 
find a poem or a story which also       
reflects this emotion1 and which is at  
the same time good as art1 you are so   
much the richer4 ,the children will find
 their own feeling reinforced and nobly 
expressed1 and consequently deepened and
 dignified4  ,the same thing is true as 
to the love of animals4 ,if the children
 have the literature first1 or only the 
literature1 they may have only a        
second-hand and perfunctory love of the 
beasts4 ,but first give your grade a    
dog1 or a cat1 or a canary2 or give your
 child in the country a pony1 or a lamb1
 or a pig2 that they may feel at first  

hand the throb of dramatic brotherhood1 
of humorous kinship1 that constitutes   
love of animals4 ,then1 when1 judging by
 the proper canons that test good       
literature1 you find a piece that       
reflects and deepens this1 it is so much
 pure gain4  ,the same thing is true of 
nature4 ,the children should have many  
things that reflect feelings about      
nature and natural phenomena1 and that  
give the interpretations which great and
 gifted artists have made of these      
things4 ,but one should no more go to   
literature for creating first-hand love 
of nature than he would go to the same  
source for facts about any specific     
phenomenon in nature4 ,of course1 this  
is not saying that we demand that a     
child shall have had a previous         
experience of every image and phenomenon
 of nature that is presented to him in  
literature4 ,indeed1 we expect          
literature to complement and supplement 
life in the matter of imagery2 to deepen
 and to arouse experience in the matter 

of emotion4 ,but the fallacy lies in    
choosing literature on this ground1 and 
in depending upon literature to create  
at first hand what is1 and should be1 an
 extra-literary feeling4 ,now1 from time
 to time there comes the teacher's way  
one of those rare chances when he finds 
the time1 the place1 and the poem all   
together1 as when on some ,march day of 
thaw he can teach ,the cock is crowing1 
of ,wordsworth2 on the first morning of 
hoar-frost he can read ,the ,frost2 on  
another day1 ,the ,wind--the things that
 harmonize with the spirit of an        
experience4  ,another of the fallacies  
of correlation is the determined1 if not
 violent1 association of the work in    
literature with the festivals4 ,as a    
matter of fact1 there is not much more  
than time in certain schools to teach   
the younger children the things they are
 expected to know about ,thanksgiving1  
,christmas1 ,washington's birthday1     
,easter1 ,june4 ,the work for the next  
celebration begins just as soon as the  

foregoing one is past4 ,the partitioning
 of the year into these very emphatic   
sections1 and the carrying of the       
children through the same round year    
after year1 are questions too general to
 be treated here4 ,but we are interested
 in the fact that in most cases the     
specimens of literature that can be     
considered applicable to the festivals  
would never be chosen from out the world
 of things for their absolute value as  
literature1 nor for their peculiar      
suitability for the children4 ,so it    
comes about that the children--the      
younger classes1 at least--spend as much
 as two-thirds of their time at second- 
or third-rate specimens of literature4  
,there is not much reason for protesting
 in our day against that species of     
correlating literature with something   
else which consists in teaching in      
connection with this literature things  
that the children ought to know later1  
regardless of their immediate fitness or
 acceptability2 as for example the facts

 of ,greek mythology1 the characters and
 plots of ,shakespeare's plays2 we can  
never be too grateful for that          
interpretation of childhood and of      
education which has made this hereafter 
impossible4 ,at the same time1 if we    
choose wisely now1 choose in the light  
of our best knowledge1 the children will
 be glad all their lives to know the    
things we choose for them4  ,the        
connection of literature with history is
 a many-sided question1 and is not      
easily disposed of4 ,as a matter of     
fact1 the partnership between history   
and literature1 so vaguely asserted and 
so complaisantly accepted in many       
quarters1 is a combination in which the 
literature has usually gone to the wall4
 ,indeed1 the practical adjustment of   
history and literature wavers about     
between two equally fallacious schemes4 
,one of these is to give the children   
the literature produced by the nation   
whose history they are studying2 as for 
example1 the ,homeric poems when they   

study the history of ,greece1 that they 
may imbibe the true ,greek spirit from  
the poems4 ,now1 children of elementary 
age cannot distinguish1 or even         
unconsciously feel1 a national spirit in
 a poem4 ,it is the broadly human1 the  
universally true1 elements and spirit   
that they feel4 ,besides1 the ,greek    
national spirit1 the spirit of the      
characteristic ,greek period1 was not   
,homeric1 and the literature of the     
characteristic ,greek period would never
 do for the elementary children4 ,in the
 case of ,greek literature one cannot   
unreservedly demur because the ,homeric 
poems are never bad for the children4   
,but the same principle applied to other
 nations and their literature may bring 
disaster4  ,the other scheme for        
relating history and literature is to   
choose the literature on the basis of   
the fact that it deals with some person 
or event or period with which the       
history is concerned2 as1 when we have a
 class in the history of the ,plymouth  

colony1 we give them ,longfellow's ,the 
,courtship of ,miles ,standish for      
literature1 which1 except for one or two
 picturesque scenes1 one would never    
choose as literature for young children2
 and as1 when we study the ,american    
,revolution1 we give them as literature 
some mature and sentimental modern      
novel1 or some sensational and          
untrustworthy juvenile1 choosing these  
merely because they profess to          
incorporate events connected with the   
historical period4  ,the whole matter of
 the historical romance is important and
 complicated--too complicated and       
involving too many critical principles  
to be handled here4 ,it must be         
sufficient to say in this connection    
what is sufficiently obvious to any     
thoughtful critic--that he who takes up 
and handles legitimately and justly an  
epoch1 an event1 or a group of          
historical persons1 and at the same time
 produces good literature1 is a master  
and produces a masterpiece--much too    

mature and developed for elementary     
children4 ,only ,scott possessed the    
faculty of keeping generally in sight of
 his history1 or of segregating it in an
 occasional longeur1 and adding to it a 
rattling good story4 ,but ,scott is too 
mature and complex for elementary       
children up to the very oldest1 and they
 are not likely to be studying the      
periods in history that interested him4 
,no1 the kinship between history and    
literature1 and the co-operations       
between them in the children's          
experience1 are not of this external and
 artificial kind4 ,it is for the mature 
and philosophical student to study      
literature as a culture product--its    
relation to the country and the times   
that produced it4 ,it is for much older 
students to read the great romances1    
like ,tolstoy's ,war and ,peace1 that   
adequately mirror an epoch or an        
epoch-making event4  ,for the children  
there is a deeper spiritual kinship     
between history and literature4 ,it has 

to do with the personal and dramatic    
side1 the biography and adventure of    
history4 ,it lies in the spirit and     
atmosphere of human achievement1 in the 
identity of the motives that express    
themselves in literature and in actual  
accomplishment4 ,when we study the      
pioneer and the colonist--the born and  
doomed colonist--we find his kinsman and
 prototype in ,robinson ,crusoe4 ,when  
we study the ,revolution1 the revolt    
against unjust laws1 the protest of     
democracy against class-oppression1 we  
find the spirit of ,robin ,hood4  ,i    
hasten to disclaim any intention of     
advising these particular combinations4 
,the examples should merely serve to    
make clear certain aspects of the       
kinship of spirit between literature and
 history4 ,of course one does now and   
again1 and as it were1 by special grace1
 find a story or a poem--like the       
,concord ,hymn1 or ,marion's ,men1 or   
,the ,landing of the ,pilgrim           
,fathers--precisely apropos of his event

 and beautifully adapted to his literary
 needs4 ,and one often comes upon a     
historical document--like ,the ,oregon  
,trail or ,the ,autobiography of        
,benjamin ,franklin--so picturesque and 
concrete1 so observant of effects of    
unity and harmony1 so full of appeals to
 the imagination1 and so effective in   
verbal expression1 as to yield many of  
the effects of literature4  ,in spite of
 all protests against forced and        
mistaken associations of literature with
 other subjects in school1 we must      
constantly insist that it is no isolated
 thing1 detached from life4 ,on the     
contrary1 literature arises out of life1
 and is always arising out of it and    
reacting upon it4 ,it is effective and  
practically operative in a child's life 
precisely because it1 too1 is life4 ,it 
is closer1 therefore1 to his business   
and bosom than any item or system of    
knowledge could be4 ,it is not to       
disturb its trustworthiness and value to
 say that it does not primarily convey  

information and cannot be called upon to
 deliver facts4 ,it does render truth   
and wisdom1 the summary and essence of  
fact and knowledge4 ,it does not destroy
 its educational value to say that we   
shall search it in vain for a body or a 
system of organized discipline2 for1    
since it is art1 it disciplines while it
 charms and teaches us while it sets us 
free4  ,the natural correlations of     
literature are with the other arts1 but1
 above all1 with the spirit of          
childhood1 and with the consciousness of
 children2 with the tone and spirit of  
their other work1 rather than with its  
actual subject-matter4     ,,chapter    
,,xvii  ,,literature ,,out ,,of ,,school
 ,,and ,,reading ,,other ,,than         
,,literature   ,were it not for         
appearing captious or extravagant1 one  
would like to say that in these days of 
cheap and easy books1 and amidst the    
temptations of the free libraries1 the  
problem is that of keeping the children 
from reading too much1 rather than of   

inducing them to read enough4 ,this is  
particularly true of children in our    
large ,american cities1 whom we must1 in
 our first generation of city-dwelling1 
guard against eye-strain1 and           
nerve-strain1 and library-air1 and      
physical inactivity of all sorts4       
,luckily1 our generation has learned    
some things about the educational       
processes that have tended to lessen    
materially the danger of over-reading4  
,in many homes1 and to many children out
 of school1 books and magazines have    
hitherto been a sort of opiate1 from the
 point of view of the child deadening   
the hungry sensibilities and lulling the
 stifled activities2 and from the point 
of view of the parent securing silence  
and providing an apparently innocuous   
occupation4 ,this is all too little     
changed now1 though more and more homes 
are providing opportunity and           
encouragement for other occupations3    
shop and studio1 and more abundant      
material and opportunity for play4 ,in  

the cities the public playgrounds and   
gymnasiums--and all too rarely the      
public workshop and studio for          
children--begin to share with the public
 library the task of safely taking care 
of the children out of school4  ,but    
there will always be time for reading1  
and by all means the legitimate share of
 the children's time should be given to 
it4 ,the so-called supplementary reading
 given them by the school is largely1 ,i
 take it1 a question of the much reading
 that will make the process easier1 and 
not a matter of accumulating facts1 or  
of acquiring a wider knowledge of       
literature4 ,in many schools that ,i    
have observed it is often unwisely and  
carelessly chosen1 so far as the        
literary share of it is concerned4 ,it  
should be selected partly for its       
bearing upon the fact-studies1 and not  
wholly made up of things of the literary
 kind4 ,the bearings of the question of 
the school's supplementary reading are  
not literary1 or1 so far as they are1   

they have been discussed in other       
connections4  ,every child should       
ideally have free access to a collection
 of books got together with reference to
 his needs and tastes4 ,it may be       
serviceable to indicate the kind and    
number of books that might be included  
in such a library of a child up to his  
fourteenth year4  ,there should be in   
such a collection several biographies4  
,on the whole1 let them be of the older1
 idealizing type1 not of the modern     
young university instructor's virtuously
 iconoclastic type4 ,children get at    
their history first through heroic and  
dramatic figures and events4 ,in their  
earlier years it is the imagination that
 appropriates the images and events of  
history4 ,it is therefore only good     
pedagogy to present the figures on their
 heroic and ideal side4 ,let these      
biographies include the record of       
different sorts of men--a statesman1 a  
pioneer1 a preacher1 a soldier1 an      
explorer1 an inventor1 a missionary1 a  

business man1 a man of letters--so that 
many types of character and kinds of    
experience may be reflected4  ,as the   
children grow older1 they will dip into 
history for the images--the persons and 
detachable events4 ,the search for facts
 and philosophy will come many years    
later4 ,some tempting books of history  
should appear on their shelves2 ,the    
,dutch ,republic1 ,the ,conquest of     
,mexico1 ,parkman's romantic narratives1
 and ,john ,fiske's2 if possible the    
illustrated edition of ,green's ,history
 of the ,english ,people4 ,most of the  
history they get from their own reading1
 however1 should be what they get from  
the biographies of the central figures  
in the events--,columbus1 ,william of   
,orange1 ,francis ,drake1 and all the   
other picturesque and heroic persons4   
,other historical reading would best be 
done under guidance and in connection   
with the work in school4  ,there should 
be a few books of travel and            
exploration4 ,among these there should  

be some of the original sources1 if     
possible the ,bradford ,journal1 the    
,jesuit ,relations1 the ,lewis and      
,clark ,journals4 ,froissart and ,marco 
,polo should be included2 the           
fable-making travelers perform a very   
useful function4 ,to these may be added 
a few most recent                       
explorations--,african1 ,arctic1        
,andean1 ,thibetan4  ,children1 barring 
the exceptional child1 will not read    
formal science2 but it may develop or   
help on a desirable taste and interest  
to have some of the many pretty out-door
 books in their collection--not romances
 of the wild1 but simpler treatises     
about the things to be found in the     
door-yard and the home woodland4 ,and   
when a child develops a taste or a gift 
in any scientific direction1 he should  
have access1 as easy as possible1 to    
some good reference books suited to his 
needs4 ,all children should have access 
to some of the more popular technical   
and scientific journals which give      

interesting accounts of current         
discoveries and inventions4  ,by way of 
nature and animal books we will include 
the ,jungle ,books1 an expurgated       
edition of ,reynard the ,fox1 ,aesop's  
,fables1 and1 of course1 ,uncle ,remus4 
,other semi-scientific nature-writers   
will doubtless appear in most           
collections of children's books--and may
 do no harm4  ,a book of ,greek myth    
seriously and beautifully told should be
 accessible4 ,no other myth is so       
beautiful or so imaginative1 or so      
artistically put together4 ,the children
 do not need to have to do with many    
myths until they know something about   
interpreting them4 ,of course1 they     
should have access to the ,bible in some
 attractive form4 ,a large illustrated  
edition--,dore's or ,tissot's--will     
please and instruct them from their     
earliest days4 ,this is one of the cases
 in which pictures--good and imaginative
 pictures--form a desirable gateway into
 a realm where the children are not     

naturally at home1 and where they need  
the help of a great and serious artist  
in finding their way4 ,of course1 poor  
and materialistic pictures are a        
misfortune1 especially those that       
attempt to body forth preternatural     
events and supernatural beings4 ,dore's 
pictures are not undesirable1 because   
they often help a child to a noble and  
imaginative conception of a thing he is 
himself powerless to construct2 while   
,tissot's are good because they set     
forth with beauty and richness of detail
 the many phases of life which the child
 must try to image in reading the       
,hebrew stories--from the nomadic       
simplicity of the saga of pastoral      
,abraham to the luxurious refinements of
 the ,romanized and cosmopolitan        
,jerusalem4  ,the little scholar should 
find on his shelves ,lanier's ,king     
,arthur1 ,pyle's ,robin ,hood1 ,palmer's
 ,odyssey1 some translation of the      
,iliad2 in short1 some form of each of  
the great hero-tales2 a selected few of 

,scott's romances--,ivanhoe1 ,quentin   
,durward1 ,guy ,mannering1 ,anne of     
,geierstein2 a few of ,cooper's2        
,robinson ,crusoe1 ,don ,quixote1       
,william ,morris' prose tales1 a pair of
 ,quiller-,couch's1 and as many of      
,joseph ,conrad's2 these might          
constitute his romances4 ,but unless he 
is a very unusual child1 he will never  
read in these masters1 if he is given   
masses of cheap and easy reading1 such  
as the ,henty books and the ,alger      
series2 or if he finds in his mother's  
sitting-room a stack of the season's    
best sellers and the ten-cent magazines4
 ,the cheap and easy style and the      
commonplace material of this sort of    
books offer the line of least resistance
 to the young reader4 ,they flow into   
his mind without effort on his part1    
while1 if he would apprehend the        
masters1 he must actively co-operate    
with them at every step1 arousing his   
best powers to comprehend their         
expressions and to grasp their ideas4   

,one would hesitate to say that there is
 absolutely no use for books of the     
,henty and ,alger type4 ,one can imagine
 a child whose every bent was against   
reading1 being enticed to begin by some 
such easy and commonplace experience4   
,and one can imagine their being useful 
to wean children away from really       
vicious books4 ,in a certain boys' club 
,i know1 organized in a social          
settlement1 which was really a          
reorganization of a gang1 these         
particular books were for a year or so  
an acceptable substitute for the bloody 
romances they had been reading4 ,many of
 those boys have never passed beyond    
them2 but to many others they were1 as  
was hoped1 stepping-stones to better    
things4 ,there is no place for them in  
the ideal collection of children's      
books4 ,certain books1 harmless and as  
recreation even desirable1 will         
inevitably make their appearance on the 
children's shelves--,miss ,alcott's1    
,mrs4 ,richards'1 and others of the many

 series of girls' books and boys' books2
 they are doubtless innocent enough1 and
 to be discouraged only when they keep  
the children from something better worth
 while2 to be encouraged1 on the other  
hand1 only for those children who must  
be tempted by easy reading into any     
habit of using books4 ,to be sure1 you  
will probably find that your child has  
found one of them1 perhaps a whole      
series1 to which for a certain period   
she seems to have given her whole heart2
 but if treated with wisdom this symptom
 will disappear1 and you will find her  
at some surprisingly early day          
re-reading the tournament at ,ashby1 and
 patronizingly alluding to the time when
 she was enslaved to ,the ,little       
,general series1 or the ,under the      
,roses or the ,eight ,half-,sisters     
series1 or any other particular         
juveniles1 as when ,i was a child4  ,in 
the matter of fairy-tales one must      
discriminate and renounce quite         
resolutely4 ,it is not good for a child 

who has early mastered that edged tool  
of reading to have access to all        
fairy-tales and all kinds of            
fairy-tales4 ,eschew all the modern     
ones4 ,of course1 if you have a personal
 friend who has written a book of them1 
for reasons other than literary your    
children will read them4 ,but as to     
those you choose freely for them let    
them have ,grimm and ,perrault1 and the 
,arabian ,nights1 and after a while     
,andersen2 which1 together with what    
they will pick up here and there in     
magazines and in their friends' houses1 
will be enough4  ,for poetry1 the child 
should have on his own shelves some     
pretty edition of the ,nursery ,rhymes1 
,the ,child's ,garden1 some really good 
collection of little things--,the ,posy 
,ring1 for example1 ,henley's ,lyra     
,heroica1 ,lang's ,the ,blue ,poetry    
,book1 ,allingham's ,book of ,ballads4  
,for the rest he should be read to from 
the poets themselves1 and as soon as he 
is old enough1 sent to the volumes of   

the poets for his reading4 ,as in school
 so at home the children should hear    
their poetry read until they acquire    
some real degree of expertness as       
readers4 ,children who can not          
understand at all1 poetry which they    
read silently1 will delight in it read  
aloud4  ,this little collection should  
contain the classic nonsense1 but not   
all kinds of inartistic fooling and rude
 fun4 ,there should be ,alice in        
,wonderland and ,through the            
,looking-,glass 7always the one with    
,tenniel's pictures74 ,we must remember 
that ,alice is very delicate art1 and   
that its final and deepest appeal is to 
the mature person4 ,certain very        
imaginative children take to it as a    
fanciful tale at the moment of ripeness2
 others miss it then1 and must wait     
until the wonderful dream-psychology of 
it1 and the delicate satire of its      
parodies can make their appeal to them  
as older persons4 ,lear's ,nonsense     
,rhymes in judicious doses every child  

should have2 ,john ,gilpin's ,ride2     
certain of the ,bab ,ballads2 a little  
of ,oliver ,heresford's delightful      
foolishness4 ,among the folk- and       
fairy-tales he will find many comic bits
 whose kind or degree of humor will suit
 him admirably in his younger years4 ,in
 ,clouston's ,book of ,noodles may be   
found a mine of such funny tales4 ,the  
,peterkin ,papers is the best of modern 
noodle-tales4 ,no family can be brought 
up without the help of ,strewel ,peter1 
nor should they miss ,little ,black     
,sambo4 ,most ,american children are    
enchanted with the fun of ,tom ,sawyer  
and ,huck ,finn though one must sadly   
acknowledge that it is woven into       
back-grounds of a sensational kind not  
at all improving to an unformed taste4  
,one cannot feel that parodies are in   
general good for children2 though1 after
 they have had a good share of serious  
enjoyment out of their fairy-tales1 and 
especially if they seem too much or too 
long absorbed in them1 they ought to    

have ,the ,rose and the ,ring and       
,prince ,prigio4  ,picture-books and    
illustrated books are another           
independent little problem4 ,it is a    
curious fact that it is not the         
beautiful lithographs of birds and      
animals1 flocks and landscapes1 children
 in irreproachable ,russian dresses and 
short socks1 seated in the corner of    
ancestral mahogany sofas1 refreshing    
themselves from antique silver          
porringers1 that the little living heads
 hang over by the hour on the nursery   
floor4 ,it is much more likely to be the
 thunderous landscapes of the old ,dutch
 woodcuts in ,great-grandmama's ,bible1 
the queer1 chaotic1 symbolistic plates  
of the ,mother-,play2 the wonderful     
prints of ,comenius' ,orbis ,pictus2 the
 casualties of ,john ,leech's hunting   
fields4 ,true1 they delight in the      
charming details of all ,kate           
,greenaway's books2 and ,walter ,crane's
 pictures so rich in color and beautiful
 detail give ceaseless joy2 but one must

 confess that they are a bit inclined to
 shy at pictures they know to be        
intended for them4 ,every nursery that  
can compass it should have as many as   
possible of the books illustrated in    
color by ,boutet de ,monvel4 ,the       
children should never see comic         
illustrations of their nursery rhymes   
and stories4 ,they are all banal as wit 
and trashy as art1 substituting an ugly 
and distorted image for the possibly    
beautiful one the child might have made 
for himself4 ,after they have passed out
 of infancy1 they do not need pictures  
in their stories4 ,the black-and-white  
print is inadequate when color and      
movement should be a part of the image1 
and children should have the discipline 
of relying entirely on themselves in    
visualizing the images of the text4     
,there should also be in the little     
library1 or accessible to the little    
readers in the big one1 beside the      
illustrated ,bible1 the one big volume  
of ,shakespeare with ,gilbert's         

pictures--an inexhaustible mine of life 
and art2 ,engelmann and ,anderson's     
,atlas of the ,homeric ,poems1 a        
,dictionary of ,classical ,antiquities1 
and an encyclopedia that the older      
children can use1 should have a place on
 these shelves4  ,it is so often said as
 to amount to a mere convention that the
 best possible literary experience for a
 child is to be turned loose to browse  
7they always say browse7 in a grown-up  
library4 ,one always finds a malicious  
pleasure in detecting in these people   
7and they are always to be found in     
great plenty7 those baby impressions1   
still uncorrected that they got of many 
books in the course of their browsing4  
,of course1 in a house where there are  
many books the children will experiment1
 will taste of many dishes1 and possibly
 devour many things not intended for    
them4 ,from some of these they will take
 no serious harm1 while in many other   
cases they will get a permanent warp of 
judgment or of feeling4 ,it would seem  

to me wise to guide the child in his    
explorations1 giving him plenty of those
 grown-up things that you believe to be 
good for him1 and heading him off as    
long as possible from the others4 ,for  
all your caution1 however1 children will
 be found buried in ,tom ,jones1 mousing
 about in ,montaigne1 chuckling over    
,tristram ,shandy1 and befuddling       
themselves with ,ghosts and ,anna       
,karenina4 ,in these cases we can only  
hope that nature has mercifully ordained
 that1 not having the necessary         
apperception experience1 they will not  
get at the real truth of these books1   
and that they will have the luck--rare1 
to be sure--to remove and correct their 
mistaken impressions in some subsequent 
reading4  ,the ideal co-operation       
between home1 school1 ,sunday school1   
and library is yet to be brought about2 
teacher and parents can do much to      
promote it4 ,as a step toward this      
co-operation they should provide every  
child who reads in a library with a list

 of books4 ,the imaginative books in the
 list given out by the public libraries 
are practically all juveniles1          
apparently chosen mainly for the purpose
 of amusing children who have no books  
in their homes4 ,these things are       
undoubtedly amusing2 they are           
superficially appetizing2 and they have 
the same effect that the soda fountain  
at the corner drug-shop has upon the    
children's appetite for true            
nourishment--they take the edge off his 
hunger so that he has no relish for his 
bread and butter1 though he has had     
nothing to eat but a hint of cheap      
flavor1 a dash of formaldehyde1 a       
spoonful of poor milk1 and a glassful of
 effervescence4 ,the lists given by     
parents and teachers may change all     
this1 but only if they include good     
things1 beautiful and interesting enough
 to make these wasteful juveniles seem  
unattractive4  ,every schoolroom in     
which the children are old enough to be 
interested1 and every family should     

devise a method of digesting the news of
 the world every day or every week1 so  
that the children may have some         
knowledge of current events4 ,of course1
 there are children who cannot be kept  
from reading the morning paper--crimes1 
sports1 and all4 ,such a child's family 
should choose its newspaper with all    
possible care ,every self-respecting    
family where there are children should  
be willing to submit to the very small  
sacrifice of foregoing the ,sunday      
paper1 to save the little people from   
the flood of commonplace1 of triviality1
 and of ribaldry that overwhelms them   
from these monstrous productions4       
,perhaps no well-brought-up child would 
be quite well equipped if he has not had
 ,the ,youth's ,companion and ,st4      
,nicholas in his childhood2 but it is a 
mistake to let them linger too long in  
these periodicals1 whose contents are   
somewhat fragmentary as literature1 and 
not quite large enough or full enough as
 to current events and interests4 ,it is

 wise to turn the children as soon as   
possible to the mature and more thorough
 magazines1 among which should be       
included a technical and scientific     
journal4 ,by all means do not subject   
them to the temptation of the various   
story-magazines--those cheap and easy   
chronicles of the questionable affairs  
of undergraduates and chorus girls1 of  
,nietzschean superhumanity gone to seed1
 of imitations of the imitated          
psychology of the wild1 all rendered in 
the ,english of third-year college      
themes4 ,if the adult members of the    
family must have these things1 let them 
be kept1 along with the season's best   
sellers1 out of easy reach of the       
children4  ,it should not need to be    
said that there has been no attempt in  
the foregoing discussion to recommend   
every good thing1 or to give an         
exhaustive list of such things in any   
one line2 no more has there been an     
effort to give warning of all things    
undesirable1 but merely1 as in the whole

 book1 to state the underlying          
principles of choice1 with just enough  
specific examples to make clear their   
application4     ,,chapter ,,xviii  ,a  
,,course ,,in ,,literature ,,for ,,the  
,,elementary ,,school   ,the list of    
titles in literature given below must be
 taken as free suggestion1 not at all as
 dogmatic requirement2 least of all     
should it be regarded as an exhaustive  
and definitive programme4 ,throughout   
this little book there has been a       
deliberate effort to mention no more    
examples and specimens than would serve 
to support and illustrate the principles
 stated or the theories advanced1 so as 
to keep out of it the wearing atmosphere
 of interminable lists1 and to leave    
those who might accept the doctrines    
quite free to apply them in the         
selection of their own specimens4 ,so   
now in the plan appended the titles have
 been carefully sifted and resolutely   
limited4 ,it should not be necessary to 
say that it is not intended that all the

 specimens mentioned in any one year    
should be given within that year in     
every school--perhaps in any school2 or 
that they should necessarily be given in
 the year to which they are here        
assigned4 ,they are rather designed to  
indicate the kind of thing one would    
choose for the average classes in the   
average school1 and to suggest things   
that go well together4 ,i have even     
ventured to hope that those who read the
 book will also take the pains to read  
all the specimens mentioned in the      
programme1 so as to catch their spirit  
and atmosphere1 and after that choose   
quite freely for themselves these or    
other titles4 ,the field of choice is   
especially wide among the folk-tales2   
all those mentioned are good1 and       
suitable for the places in which they   
are put4 ,but there are others good and 
suitable1 which may1 indeed1 better     
satisfy the needs of some special       
teacher or class4 ,in some schools1 no  
doubt1 it will be well to give a third  

year of folk-tales and simple lyrics    
before beginning the hero-tales4 ,in    
that case the whole course would be     
pushed along a year1 making for the last
 or eighth year a combination of bits   
taken from the seventh and eighth years 
suggested here4 ,the course is planned  
for a school whose children go on into  
high school2 though one can see little  
reason for a different course in        
literature for those children who stop  
with a grammar-school education4 ,what  
we covet for such children is not       
knowledge of much literature1 nor       
knowledge of any literature in          
particular1 but a taste for wholesome   
books and some trustworthy habits of    
reading4 ,these results are best secured
 when a few suitable and beautiful      
things have been lovingly taught and    
joyfully apprehended4 ,children thus    
provided will keep on reading2 if they  
have been really fed on ,julius ,caesar 
or ,the ,tempest they will hunger for   
more ,shakespeare2 if they have taken   

delight in ,treasure ,island they will  
pursue ,stevenson and find ,scott and   
,cooper4 ,the chances for implanting in 
them some living and abiding love of    
books are much better if we teach them  
in school the things they may easily    
master and completely contain1 than if  
we try to supply them with what only an 
adult reader can expect to appropriate1 
which therefore takes on the character  
of a task1 or remains in their minds a  
mere chaotic mass4  ,the plan of the    
course is simple and obvious enough4    
,indeed1 the main idea is first of all  
merely that of putting into each year   
such things as will delight and train a 
child of that age in literary ways4     
,with this is joined the equally simple 
and reasonable purpose of giving in each
 year an acceptable variety looking     
toward the development of a generous    
taste--a story1 a heroic poem1 a musical
 lyric or two1 a bit of fun1 a group of 
fables4 ,throughout the programme there 
has been a conscious attempt to use     

things every teacher knows or may very  
easily find1 and of associating things  
that harmonize in spirit4  ,for the     
first two years the folk-tales form the 
core of the course4 ,to the folk-tales  
is joined a group of simple lyrics1 many
 of them the more formal and expressive 
of the traditionary rhymes4 ,as a matter
 of course1 in a school where these     
first- and second-year children have not
 already had in kindergarten or in the  
home nursery the simpler rhymes and     
jingles--,little ,boy ,blue1 ,jack      
,horner1 ,there ,was a ,man in ,our     
,town--they should be taught4  ,in the  
third year ,robinson ,crusoe constitutes
 the large core4 ,as suggested in       
another chapter it is well to treat this
 story as if it were a cycle1 taking it 
in episodes1 and interweaving with it   
other bits of literature which harmonize
 with it1 either reinforcing it or      
counteracting it4 ,it may easily happen 
that a teacher would select a quite     
different group of poems for study along

 with ,robinson ,crusoe1 according as he
 emphasized some other aspect of the    
story and according to the maturity of  
his children4 ,this programme assumes a 
pretty mature third-year group4 ,it may 
be in many schools well to transfer1 as 
,i have suggested1 this whole           
arrangement to the fourth year4  ,the   
fifth- and sixth-year work is arranged  
upon a similar plan--that of            
constituting a story or a story-cycle   
the center of the work1 and associating 
with it shorter and supplementary bits4 
,while the poems in both cases are such 
as harmonize in subject or idea with    
aspects of the two stories that will    
inevitably appear in the teaching1 they 
have not been chosen solely from that   
point of view2 they are also in every   
case beautiful as detached poems1 and   
ideally1 at least1 suitable for the     
children4 ,every experienced teacher    
will have other verses and stories in   
mind which may be added to those given  
or substituted for them4 ,some of them  

will be useful1 not as class studies    
necessarily1 but as a part of that      
reserve stock that every teacher has1   
from which he draws from time to time   
something to read to his class which    
they are not expecting4  ,in the        
programme for the sixth year an         
alternative is suggested4 ,many teachers
 will find enough in the ,arthur stories
 to form the core of the literature for 
the year4 ,others will find material for
 the whole year's stories in the        
,norwegian and ,icelandic sagas4 ,many  
will not like the suggestion of giving  
the antidote of the chivalric           
romances--,don ,quixote4 ,many will     
prefer to drop hero-tales and romances  
in favor of more modern stories4 ,such a
 group of stories is suggested          
introducing the stories that call for   
interpretation1 and the apprehending of 
a secondary meaning4 ,this paves the way
 for the stories of the seventh year    
which call for some genuine literary    
interpretation4 ,in the seventh year    

programme the two dramatic bits of      
,yeats's are suggested1 not only because
 they are charming in themselves1 and   
are in charming artistic contrast1 but  
because they can easily be staged and   
acted1 and are full of suggestion of the
 kind of thing the children can do      
themselves4 ,the ,pot of ,broth is the  
dramatization of a well-known           
folk-droll1 and ,the ,hour-,glass is a  
morality calling for no complexity of   
dialogue1 of staging1 or of dramatic    
motive--the kind of play the children   
can most easily produce both as         
literature and as acting4  ,as suggested
 in a previous chapter1 during this and 
the following year each child should be 
encouraged or required to learn a poem  
or a story of his own choosing1 which he
 presents to the class4 ,this will      
greatly enrich the class programme4     
,only one fable is suggested--one of    
,fontaine's1 the interpretation or moral
 of which should now be given by the    
class2 many other fables may be used in 

the same way1 if this exercise seems to 
be profitable4  ,as every observer of   
schools knows1 it is the eighth-year    
children who need most accommodation and
 understanding4 ,the programme offered  
is designed for the normal class in the 
average school--when the children are   
really passing into the secondary stage 
and should be preparing to go into high 
school without crossing a chasm4 ,but it
 may need much modification for those   
eighth-year classes in which there are  
belated children and unevenly developed 
children4 ,it is quite possible that    
,julius ,caesar1 ,the ,tempest1 and     
,sohrab and ,rustum may prove           
impracticable for such a class1 and that
 something easier would have to be      
substituted4 ,in no case can we hope to 
teach the two plays exhaustively1 either
 as regards their form or their content4
 ,but both these plays are of that kind 
of great art that has many levels to    
which one may climb in turn1 with his   
growing maturity4 ,and the beauty of    

both these plays is that in case the    
class is precocious and does inquire    
deeply into them1 there is nothing in   
the political philosophy of ,julius     
,caesar or in the spiritual and social  
philosophy of ,the ,tempest that may not
 be safely explained to them4 ,this     
programme makes no mention1 as may be   
seen1 of the many minor lyrics and bits 
of drama and story that will be added   
from many sources and in many           
connections3 from their home reading2   
from the teacher's reserve stock2 from  
their reading lessons2 from their work  
in other languages2 from their          
preparation for festivals and           
celebrations2 from suggestions of       
weather and season2 from occasional     
current periodicals1 and possibly from  
other sources4  ,and when all is said1  
one must say again that there cannot be 
a strictly normalized and fixed         
curriculum in literature since in this  
subject more than in any other the      
personnel of the class must be          

considered2 their typical inheritance1  
their tradition1 their social grade1    
their community1 their other interests1 
their passing preoccupation and almost  
their daily mood1 are factors in the    
problem4 ,the teacher who is sensitive  
to these matters in his class will soon 
emancipate himself from the fixed       
curriculum4 ,let him at the same time be
 sensitive to the emphasis and appeal of
 each bit of art he chooses for them1   
and he cannot fail4 ,whatever his       
results they will be good4  ,after so   
long a preamble follows the list of     
specimens3   ,,first ,,year  ,sagas3    
,how ,arthur ,drew the ,sword from the  
,stone4        ,how ,arthur ,got the    
,sword ,excalibur4  ,maerchen3          
,briar-,rose1 ,grimm4        ,snow-white
 and ,rose-red1 ,grimm4        ,the     
,elves and the ,shoemaker1 ,grimm4      
,the ,musicians of ,bremen1 ,grimm4     
,drolls3 ,simple ,simon4        ,the    
,johnny-cake4  ,accumulative ,tales3    
,the ,old ,woman ,who ,found the        

,sixpence4        ,henny-,penny4        
,the ,little ,red ,hen4  ,fables3 ,the  
,crow and the ,pitcher4        ,the     
,hare and the ,tortoise4  ,verses3 ,i   
,saw a ,ship a-,sailing4        ,sing a 
,song of ,sixpence4        ,there ,was a
 ,little ,guinea-pig4        ,tom1 ,tom1
 the ,piper's ,son4        ,birdie1 with
 the ,yellow ,bill1 ,stevenson4         
,my ,shadow4--,stevenson4   ,,second    
,,year  ,sagas3 ,siegfried ,gets the    
,sword from ,mimi4        ,siegfried and
 the ,dragon4        ,siegfried ,rescues
 ,brunhild4  ,maerchen3 ,cinderella1 or 
the ,little ,glass ,slipper4--,perrault4
        ,aladdin and the ,wonderful     
,lamp1 in ,arabian ,nights4        ,the 
,fisherman and the ,genie1 in ,arabian  
,nights4        ,beauty and the         
,beast4--,madame de ,beaumont4          
,the ,poor ,little ,turkey              
,girl4--,cushing4  ,drolls3 ,hans in    
,luck4--,grimm4        ,kluge           
,else4--,grimm4        ,chapters from   
,the ,peterkin ,papers4--,hale4         

,little ,black ,sambo4--,bannerman4     
,the ,gray ,goose4--,pearson4           
,accumulative ,tales3 ,the ,three       
,billygoats1 ,norwegian4                
,munachar and ,manachar1 ,irish4        
,titty-mouse and ,tatty-mouse4  ,fables3
 ,the ,town ,mouse and the ,field       
,mouse4        ,the ,stork and the ,log4
        ,the ,fox and the ,crow4        
,verses3 ,three ,children ,sliding on   
the ,ice4        ,four ,brothers ,over  
the ,sea4        ,the ,fairies1         
,allingham4        ,little ,gustava1    
,celia ,thaxter4        ,singing1       
,stevenson4        ,little ,indian1     
,sioux or ,crow1 ,stevenson4        ,the
 ,wind1 ,stevenson4        ,my ,ship1   
,stevenson4        ,the ,lamb1 ,blake4  
,piping ,down the ,valleys ,wild1       
,blake4        ,the ,pied ,piper of     
,hamelin1 ,browning4        ,the        
,mountain and the ,squirrel1 ,emerson4  
,,third ,,year  ,robinson ,crusoe4      
,sinbad the ,sailor4 ,toomai of the     
,elephants4--,kipling4                  

,rikki-,tikki-,tavi4--,kipling4 ,reynard
 the ,fox4 7,selected stories47 ,uncle  
,remus4 7,selected stories47 ,the       
,landing of the ,pilgrim ,fathers in    
,new ,england1 ,mrs4 ,hemans4 ,columbus1
 ,joaquin ,miller4 ,the ,twenty-third   
,psalm4 ,authorized ,version4 ,the ,idle
 ,shepherd ,boys1 ,wordsworth4 ,spinning
 ,song1 ,wordsworth4 ,the ,village      
,blacksmith1 ,longfellow4 ,tubal ,cain1 
,mackay4 ,the ,wreck of the ,hesperus1  
,longfellow4 ,the ,discoverer of the    
,north ,cape1 ,longfellow4 ,the ,spider 
and the ,fly1 ,mary ,howitt4 ,the ,palm 
,tree1 ,whittier4 ,hiawatha ,builds ,his
 ,canoe1 ,longfellow4 ,dramatization of 
a story of some voyager or pioneer4     
,,fourth ,,year  ,robin ,hood 7given    
partly from ,howard ,pyle's ,robin      
,hood1   partly from the ,ballads74     
,under the ,greenwood ,tree1            
,shakespeare4 ,blow1 ,blow1 ,thou       
,winter ,wind1 ,shakespeare4 ,waken1    
,lords and ,ladies ,gay1 ,scott4 ,meg   
,merriles1 ,keats4 ,the ,chough and the 

,crow1 ,baillie4 ,song of ,marion's     
,men1 ,bryant4 ,my ,captain1 ,whitman4  
,lochinvar1 ,scott4 ,the ,shepherd of   
,king ,admetus1 ,lowell4 ,abou ,ben     
,ahdem1 ,hunt4 ,yussouf1 ,lowell4       
,sherwood1 ,alfred ,noyes4 ,march1      
,wordsworth4 ,when ,icicles ,hang by the
 ,wall1 ,shakespeare4 ,the ,jabberwocky1
 ,alice in ,wonderland4   ,,fifth ,,year
  ,the ,odyssey4--,george ,herbert      
,palmer4 7,translation47 ,gulliver's    
,travels3 ,the ,voyage to ,lilliput4    
,the ,white ,seal1 ,kipling4 ,the       
,coast-wise ,lights1 ,kipling4 ,the     
,sea1 ,barry ,cornwall4 ,sir ,patrick   
,spens1 ,folk ,ballad4 ,the ,inchcape   
,rock1 ,southey4 ,to a ,waterfowl1      
,bryant4 ,lead1 ,kindly ,light1 ,newman4
 ,the ,chambered ,nautilus1 ,holmes4    
,the ,lake ,isle of ,innisfree1 ,yeats4 
,breathes ,there a ,man1 ,scott4        
,uphill1 ,christina ,rossetti4 ,the     
,long ,white ,seam1 ,jean ,ingelow4 ,the
 ,exile of ,erin1 ,campbell4   ,,sixth  
,,year  ,heroic adventures from the     

chivalric cycles of ,king ,arthur1 of   
,siegfried1 of ,roland1 and ,the ,cid1  
and selected episodes from ,don         
,quixote4  or  ,the ,drums of the ,fore 
and ,aft4--,kipling2 ,rip ,van          
,winkle4--,irving2 ,the ,bee-,man of    
,orn4--,stockton2 ,old ,pipes and the   
,dryad4--,stockton2 ,the ,man ,born to  
,be ,king4--,morris4 ,the ,lady of      
,shalott1 ,tennyson4 ,hack and ,hew1    
,bliss ,carman4 ,the ,song of the       
,chattahoochee1 ,lanier4 ,the ,cloud1   
,shelly4 ,the ,walrus and the           
,carpenter1 from ,alice in ,wonderland4 
,,seventh ,,year  ,the ,great ,stone    
,face4--,hawthorne4 ,the ,snow          
,image4--,hawthorne4 ,the ,gold         
,bug4--,poe4 ,the ,pot of               
,broth4--,yeats4 ,the                   
,hour-,glass4--,yeats4 ,a ,dissertation 
on ,roast ,pig1 ,lamb4 ,the ,vision of  
,mirza1 ,addison4 ,king ,robert of      
,sicily1 ,longfellow4 ,horatius at the  
,bridge1 ,macaulay4 ,the ,ballad of     
,east and ,west1 ,kipling4 ,heroes1     

,edna ,dean ,proctor4 ,the ,yarn of the 
,nancy ,bell1 ,gilbert4 ,the ,wolf and  
the ,mastiff1 ,fontaine4   ,,eighth     
,,year  ,julius ,caesar4--,shakespeare4 
,the ,tempest4--,shakespeare4 ,sohrab   
and ,rustum4--,arnold4 ,treasure        
,island4--,stevenson4 ,old ,china1      
,charles ,lamb4 ,wake ,robin            
7selections74--,john ,burroughs4 ,my    
,garden ,acquaintance1 ,warner4 ,the    
,goblin ,market1 ,christina ,rossetti4  
,each and ,all1 ,emerson4 ,hart-leap    
,well1 ,wordsworth4 ,i ,wandered ,lonely
 as a ,cloud1 ,wordsworth4 ,the         
,splendor ,falls1 ,tennyson4 ,the       
,revenge1 ,tennyson4 ,etin the          
,forester1 ,folk ,ballad4 ,thomas       
,rymer1 ,folk ,ballad4   ,anyone who has
 read these eighteen chapters should    
find himself provided with a set of     
maxims and injunctions among which will 
be the following3  #a4 ,choose the      
literature for the children under the   
guidance of those principles by which   
you test any literature4  #b4 ,remember 

that literature is art2 it must be      
taught as art1 and the result should be 
an artistic one4  #c4 ,never teach a    
thing you do not love and admire4 ,but  
learn to suspect that when you do not   
love it the fault is in you1 and is     
curable4  #d4 ,according to the best    
light you have1 choose those things that
 are fitted for the                     
children--corresponding to their        
experience1 or awakening in them        
experiences you would like them to have4
  #e4 ,teach your chosen bit of         
literature according to its nature and  
genius4 ,study it so sympathetically    
that you can follow its hints1 and make 
its emphases4 ,teach each piece for its 
characteristic effect1 and do not try to
 teach everything in any one piece4  #f4
 ,be contented to read with the children
 a limited number of things4 ,you cannot
 read every delightful and helpful      
thing4 ,you can only introduce them to  
literature and teach them to love it4   
#g4 ,when you have led your class1 or   

half your class1 into a vital and       
personal love of literature and set     
their feet on the long path of the      
reader's joy1 you have done them the    
best service you can perform as a       
teacher of literature4   ,,finis