The study of prose is of course directed by the same principles as that
of poetry, but the application is in school-work somewhat modified
in details. In the first place the vocabulary of any prose used
in the schools is not likely to contain obsolete words such as are
found in Shakespeare, and in the second place the length of a novel
forbids its being read aloud in class in its entirety. I have taken my
illustrations chiefly from books included in the College Requirements,
because these books are the ones with which the majority of teachers
are obliged to work. The Sir Roger de Coverley papers are sure to
be taken up in any school-room where literature is studied to-day,
and Burke "On Conciliation" is one of the inevitable obstacles in
the way of every boy who wishes to enter college. Whatever the work,
however, the important thing is that each pupil shall understand, shall
appreciate, and shall connect what he reads with his own life.
The order in which different works are taken up in class is a matter
of much moment. No rules can be given arbitrarily to govern the
arrangement of the readings, since much depends upon the individual
class to be dealt with. On general principles, for instance, it might
seem that Burke's "Speech," as being the least imaginative of the
prescribed work, might well come first; but on the other hand, the
argument demands intellectual capacity and maturity which will often
require that it be not put before a given group of scholars until they
have had all the training they can gain from the other requirements.
A teacher can hardly afford to have any rule in the whole treatment
of literature which is not so flexible that it may be modified or
disregarded entirely when circumstances require. The ideal method,
perhaps, would be to give a class first a few short pieces as tests,
and then to arrange their longer work upon the basis of the result.
If the "Speech" is to be taken up first or last, it must be preceded by
a clear understanding of the history of the conditions with which Burke
dealt. This knowledge should have been obtained in the history class,
and the use of facts obtained in another branch affords one of the
opportunities for doing that useful thing which should be kept always
in sight, the enforcing of the fact that all education is one, although
for convenience of handling necessarily divided into various branches.
If the class has not had the requisite instruction in history, the
teacher of English is forced to pause and supply the deficiency, as
it is hopeless to try to go on without it. The argument of Burke is
pretty tough work for any class of high-school students, and without
familiarity with the circumstances which called it forth is utterly
unintelligible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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