Short stories, American; United States -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
_In Our Town_; _Stratagems and Spoils_, William Allen White.
MISSOURI
_The Man at the Wheel_, John Hanton Carter.
_Stories of a Country Doctor_, Willis King.
MICHIGAN
_Blazed Trail Stories_, Stewart Edward White.
_Mackinac and Lake Stories_, Mary Hartwell Catherwood.
OHIO
_Folks Back Home_, Eugene Wood.
WISCONSIN
_Main-Travelled Roads_, Hamlin Garland.
_Friendship Village_; _Friendship Village Love Stories_, Zona Gale.
IV. THE FAR WEST
ARIZONA
_Lost Borders_, Mary Austin.
_Arizona Nights_, Stewart Edward White.
ALASKA
_Love of Life_; _Son of the Wolf_, Jack London.
CALIFORNIA
_The Cat and the Cherub_, Chester B. Fernald.
_The Luck of Roaring Camp_; _Tales of the Argonauts_, Bret Harte.
_The Splendid Idle Forties_, Gertrude Atherton.
NEW MEXICO
_The King of the Broncos_, Charles F. Lummis.
_Santa Fe's Partner_, Thomas A. Janvier.
WYOMING
_Red Men and White_; _The Virginian_; _Members of the Family_,
Owen Wister.
_Teepee Tales_, Grace Coolidge.
PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
_Caybigan_, James N. Hopper.
NOTES AND QUESTIONS FOR STUDY
THE RIGHT PROMETHEAN FIRE
In Greek mythology, the work of creating living things was entrusted to
two of the gods, Epimetheus and Prometheus. Epimetheus gave to the
different animals various powers, to the lion strength, to the bird
swiftness, to the fox sagacity, and so on until all the good gifts had
been bestowed, and there was nothing left for man. Then Prometheus
ascended to heaven and brought down fire, as his gift to man. With this,
man could protect himself, could forge iron to make weapons, and so in
time develop the arts of civilization. In this story the "Promethean
Fire" of love is the means of giving little Emmy Lou her first lesson in
reading.
1. A test that may be applied to any story is, Does it read as if
it were true? Would the persons in the story do the things they are
represented as doing? Test the acts of Billy Traver in this way,
and see if they are probable.
2. In writing stories about children, a writer must have the power
to present life as a child sees it. Point out places in this story
where school life is described as it appears to a new pupil.
3. One thing we ought to gain from our reading is a larger
vocabulary. In this story there are a number of words worth adding
to our stock. Define these exactly: inquisitorial; lachrymose;
laconic; surreptitious; contumely.
Get the habit of looking up new words and writing down their
meanings.
4. Can you write a story about a school experience?
5. Other books containing stories of school life are:
_Little Aliens_, Myra Kelly; _May Iverson Tackles Life_, Elizabeth
Jordan; _Ten to Seventeen_, Josephine Daskam Bacon; _Closed Doors_,
Margaret P. Montague. Read a story from one of these books, and
compare it with this story.
THE LAND OF HEART'S DESIRE
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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