There are four outstanding principles of general method that apply particularly in the teaching of Literature. I. The pupil must, at the outset, be placed in a receptive attitude toward the lesson if the best results are to be secured. He must have some _purpose_ in view if he is to be induced to concentrate his attention upon it. His purposes determine his interests, and hence the lesson must, in some way, be related to interests that already exist in his mind. Frequently his instinctive interest in action, in personality, or in excitement is sufficient incentive to secure his attention. A suspicion that a lesson contains a good story is often sufficient to ensure a careful reading of it, and a curiosity as to the writer's devices to make the story interesting will lead to a closer examination of it. But more frequently some special interest resulting from the time of year, the surroundings, or the work taken in some other subject, may be effectively utilized by the teacher. These interests of children are so numerous and so varied that there are few lessons in the Readers for which a receptive attitude of mind cannot be secured. It will be observed that the principle here enunciated corresponds to the "statement of the aim" in the Herbartian "Formal Steps". II. The pupil's mind must be suitably prepared for the assimilation of the ideas contained in the lesson, by recalling old ideas and feelings that are related to those to be presented in the selection to be studied. He must be placed in a proper intellectual attitude to interpret the ideas and in a proper emotional attitude to appreciate the feelings. Neglect of the former may make the selection wholly meaningless to the pupil; neglect of the latter may result in entire indifference toward it. A proper intellectual attitude is necessary in any lesson, but in a lesson in grammar or arithmetic the emotional attitude may be almost completely absent. In literature, however, this emotional attitude is often of the greatest importance, and the neglect of it may mean an utter lack of appreciation of some literary masterpiece. This preparatory work may take the form of a recall of some of the common experiences of the pupil's life or a review of some facts taken, for instance, in a previous geography, history, or nature study lesson. The apperceptive power of the pupil's mind takes the new material of thought and feeling contained in the selection and weaves it into the web of his previous ideas and emotions.