3. The realism of Howells set a standard for American literature, the effect of which has not yet passed. Study his theories of fiction (_Criticism and Fiction_, and _Literature and Life_) and consider the good and bad effects of his work upon the development of the novel. 4. Use the following quotation from Van Wyck Brooks, on Howells's "panoramic theory" of the novel as a test of his work: To make a work of art, it is necessary to take a piece out of life and round it off; and, so long as the piece is perfectly rounded off and complete in itself, so long as the chosen group of characters are perfectly proportioned in relation to one another, there is no need to introduce an artificial chain of action. 5. Howells's style has often been admired. Try to analyze it into its elements. Consider Mark Twain's judgment: For forty years his English has been to me a continual delight and astonishment. In the sustained exhibition of certain great qualities--clearness, compression, verbal exactness and unforced and seemingly unconscious felicity of phrasing--he is, in my belief, without his peer in the English-writing world. 6. Can you make any judgment now as to Howells's future place in American literature? BIBLIOGRAPHY Poems by Two Friends. 1860. (With John J. Piatt.) Life of Abraham Lincoln. 1860. Venetian Life. 1866. Italian Journeys. 1867. No Love Lost: A Romance of Travel. 1869. (Poems.) Suburban Sketches. 1871. Their Wedding Journey. 1871. Poems. 1873. A Chance Acquaintance. 1873. A Foregone Conclusion. 1875. The Parlor Car. 1876. (Farce.) A Day's Pleasure. 1876. Out of the Question. 1877. (Comedy.) A Counterfeit Presentment. 1877. (Comedy.) *The Lady of the Aroostook. 1879. The Undiscovered Country. 1880. A Fearful Responsibility, and Other Stories. 1881. A Day's Pleasure, and Other Sketches. 1881. Dr. Breen's Practice. 1881. *A Modern Instance. 1882. The Sleeping-Car. 1883. (Farce.) A Woman's Reason. 1883. Three Villages. 1884. The Register. 1884. (Farce.) *The Rise of Silas Lapham. 1884. The Elevator. 1885. (Farce.) Five O'Clock Tea. 1885. (Farce.) Indian Summer. 1885. The Garroters. 1886. (Farce.) Tuscan Cities. 1886. Poems. 1886. The Minister's Charge. 1887. (=The Apprenticeship of Lemuel Barker.) Modern Italian Poets. 1887. *April Hopes. 1888. A Sea-Change or Love's Stowaway. 1888. (Farce.) Annie Kilburn. 1889. *A Hazard of New Fortunes. 1889. The Mouse Trap, and Other Farces. 1889. The Shadow of a Dream. 1890. A Boy's Town. 1890. (Autobiographical.) The Albany Depot. 1891. (Play.) Criticism and Fiction. 1891. An Imperative Duty. 1892. *The Quality of Mercy. 1892. A Letter of Introduction. 1892. (Farce.) A Little Swiss Sojourn. 1892. Christmas Every Day, and Other Stories for Children. 1893. My Year in a Log Cabin. 1893. (Autobiographical.)