Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

THE

ELSON READERS

BOOK SEVEN

BY

WILLIAM H. ELSON

AUTHOR OF GOOD ENGLISH SERIES

AND

CHRISTINE M. KECK

HEAD UNION JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH, GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.

SCOTT, FORESMAN AND COMPANY

CHICAGO

ATLANTA

NEW YORK

[blocks in formation]

For permission to use copyrighted material grateful acknowledgment is made to Thomas Hardy for "Men Who March Away" from The London Times; to John Masefield for "Spanish Waters" from The Story of a Round House and Other Poems; to Hamlin Garland for "The Great Blizzard" from Boy Life on the Prairie; to Doubleday, Page and Co. for "The Gift of the Magi" from The Four Million by O. Henry; to G. P. Putnam's Sons for "Hunting the Grizzly Bear" from The Wilderness Hunter by Theodore Roosevelt; to the George H. Doran Company for "Trees" from Trees and Other Poems by Joyce Kilmer; to R. W. Lillard for "America's Answer" from The New York Evening Post; to Thomas B. Harned for "I Hear America Singing," "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" and "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman; to Charles Scribner's Sons for "On a Florida River" from The Lanier Book, copyright 1904, by Sidney Lanier; and to Frederick A. Stokes Company for "Kilmeny-A Song of the Trawlers" from The New Morning, copyright 1919, by Alfred Noyes.

243

ROBERT O. LAW COMPANY
EDITION BOOK MANUFACTURERS
CHICAGO, U. S. A.

Quality of
Literature

PREFACE

This book is based on the belief that an efficient reader for the seventh grade must score high when tested on five fundamental features: quality of literature; variety of literature; organization of literature; quantity of literature; and definite helps sufficient to make the text a genuine tool for classroom use First among these features is the essential that the foundation of the book must be the acknowledged masterpieces of American and British authors. American boys and girls may be depended on to read current magazines and newspapers, but if they are ever to have their taste and judgment of literary values enriched by familiarity with the classics of our literature, the schools must provide the opportunity. This ideal does not mean the exclusion of well established present-day writers, but it does mean that the core of the school reader should be the rich literary heritage that has won recognition for its enduring value. Moreover, these masterpieces must come to the pupil in complete units, not in mere excerpts or garbled "cross-sections"; for the pupil in his school life should gain some real literary possessions.

A study of the contents of The Elson Reader, Book Seven, will show how consistently its authors have based the book on this sound test of quality. The works of the acknowledged "makers" of our literature have been abundantly drawn upon to furnish a foundation of great stories and poems, gripping in interest and well within the powers of pupil-appreciation in this grade.

Variety of
Literature

Variety is fundamental to a well-rounded course of reading. If the school reader is to provide for all the purposes that a collection of literature for this grade should serve, it must contain material covering at least the following types: (1) literature representing both British and American authors; (2) some of the best contemporary poetry and prose as well as the literature of the past; (3) important race

stories-great epics-and world-stories of adventure; (4) patriotic literature, rich in ideals of home and country, loyalty and service, industry and thrift, coöperation and citizenship-ideals of which, during the World War, American children gained a new conception, that the school reader should perpetuate; (5) literature suited to festival occasions, particularly those celebrated in the schools: Columbus Day, Armistice Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Arbor and Bird Day, anniversaries of the birthdays of Lincoln and Washington, as well as of Longfellow and other great American authors; (6) literature of the seasons, Nature, and out-of-door life; (7) literature of humor that will enliven the reading and cultivate the power to discriminate between wholesome humor-an essential part of life-and crude humor, so prevalent in the pupil's outside reading; (8) adventure stories both imaginative and real; (9) literature that portrays the romance of industry; (10) literature suited to dramatization, providing real project material.

This book offers a well-rounded course of reading covering all the types mentioned above. Especially by means of groups of stories and poems that portray love of our free country and its flag, and unselfish service to others, this book makes a stirring appeal to the true spirit of good citizenship. Moreover, wholesome ethical ideals pervade the literature throughout.

Organization of
Literature

The literature of a school reader, if it is to do effective work, must be purposefully organized. Sound organization groups into related units the various selections that center about a common theme. This arrangement enables the pupil to see the dominant ideas of the book as a whole, instead of viewing the text as a confused scrapbook of miscellaneous selections. Such arrangement also fosters literary comparison by bringing together selections having a common theme or authorship.

This book has been so organized as to fulfill these purposes. There are four main Parts, each distinguished by unity of theme. Part I aims to develop a wholesome appreciation of Nature;

[ocr errors]

Part II deals with the magic world of adventure (including the great deeds of King Arthur's knights); Part III makes clear the heroic foundation of our Inheritance of Freedom; and Part IV presents certain phases of life in our homeland that will make America more significant to boys and girls. Through these grouped selections, fundamental ideals in the development of personal character and good citizenship are established.

Attention is called to five unique features that keep the plan of the book and the dominant theme of each Part clearly in the foreground: (1) A pupils' Introduction called "The Three Joys of Reading," that emphasizes the joy and value of reading, and makes clear the plan of the book, showing the pupil what to look for in each main Part; (2) Visual "guideposts"-largetype headings, half-title pages, and pictures typifying the theme of each unit; (3) A special Introduction to each main Part, that gives the pupil a graphic but simple forecast of the main ideal that dominates the group; (4) Notes and Questions that stress the contribution each story or poem makes to the main idea of the group; (5) A Review following each main division that serves, first, to crystallize into permanent form the various impressions left in the pupil's mind by the selections within each unit, and, second, to call into play the pupil's initiative, leading him to apply the ideas that dominate the group either through parallel readings or through his own experience.

Literature

Obviously, a book that is to supply the pupil with a year's course in literature must be a generous volume. Variety is impossible without quantity, especially where literary Quantity of wholes rather than fragmentary excerpts are offered. Particularly is this true when complete units are included not only for intensive study, but also for extensive reading-longer units to be read mainly for the story-element. In bulk such units should be as large as the pupil can control readily in rapid silent reading, a kind of reading that increases the power to enjoy with intelligence a magazine or a book.

The Elson Reader, Book Seven, which is a condensation of

« ZurückWeiter »