Does the author's devotion to this idea mar at all your interest in the book as a story? What truth does Godfrey Cass's life illustrate? What satire do you find on people or customs? METHOD OF NARRATION.--Who tells the story? Could the author have made one of the characters tell the story just as well? Give reasons. Does the narrator write as though in some mysterious way she knew all about the characters, or does she write only what she might have seen and heard? To what extent does she use dialogue? How do we become acquainted with the characters? Find several passages where the author interrupts the flow of her story to make explanations for our benefit (for example, pp. 100-101). STYLE.--Does the author use the language of her own time? To what extent does she make use of dialect? Is the language of the characters consistent with the author's description of them? Note the difference in choice of words and grace of expression when the author speaks in her own person, and when she speaks through the mouth of one of her characters. Find passages that express humor (pp. 201-203), pathos (pp. 67-69), satire (pp. 184-185). THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--What do we know of George Eliot's early home? education? religious experiences? life while manager of the house at Griff? life at Coventry? early literary work? first attempt at novel writing? success as a novelist? Would you judge from this book that she was fond of social life? simple country life? animals? children? books? Give your reasons. How do you suppose she knew how to describe the horse sale? the evening at the Rainbow? COMPARISON.--Is our interest in this book chiefly in the setting? in the plot? in the characters? in the idea? in the style? or in all of these factors equally? Compare _Silas Marner_ in these five particulars with _Ivanhoe_ and with _The Vicar of Wakefield_. II. THE TEACHING OF NARRATIVE POETRY Much has been said, and said with force, about the impossibility of _teaching_ literature. But while many believe that certain kinds of literature can be taught with marked success, they are apt to feel the force of the above contention when they attempt to teach poetry.