Chapter XVII · Journeys Through Bookland in Its Relation to the High School

Introduction

All high school students are expected to be well grounded in good literature. It is part of every well planned course of study and the basis of much of the work in every year. Yet very few high schools are able to furnish the material for every student to read, and often the methods of instruction are inadequate to the large classes or fail in character and execution. There is contained in Journeys practically all the real literature that is necessary for the foundation of a broad culture, and though much of it is simple and elementary, it is no less interesting and valuable. As a matter of fact, few high school students have ever read the simpler classics in a manner that brought to them the full message of the selections. Accordingly the most elementary things are often the newest and the most valuable. The simplest of the nursery rhymes, as may be seen by the comments and explanations given in another part of this volume, are full of interest to high school boys and girls, and in not a few schools form the basis of many serious lessons. The fables, the myths and the literature of the legendary heroes are not only interesting, but are of sufficient breadth in meaning to justify hard work on the part of anyone who has not already mastered them. It is a mistake to think that the simple things do not interest young men and young women. The people who scorn the elementary literature of nursery rhymes, fairy tales and fables are the immature boys of thirteen or fourteen years to whom everything juvenile seems beneath their dignity and newly acquired independence.

The reader of Journeys will notice, however, that the quantity of matter that may be called really juvenile is small in comparison with the grand total. As a matter of fact, the selections of the last six volumes are worthy the reading by anyone, old or young, at any time, and to be fully appreciated they must be read with care and discrimination by everyone. The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth volumes are all high-class literature for adults as well as young children and the studies are worthy a place in any high school.

The older a person grows the more he loves the things that were a delight to his childhood and the more keenly he realizes his loss if he never had the opportunity to become well acquainted with the great masterpieces that have been the comfort and inspiration of such countless thousands of people. Men and women of judgment never criticize the selections in Journeys on the ground that they are too simple or are childish. Good literature never dies, never loses its interest. It lives in a day-by-day intimacy with every one of its acquaintances, and the love for it increases year by year for everyone who will listen to its teachings.

Doubtless some high school students will be glad to have pointed out to them more in detail the things which are especially applicable to their work in school and which will help them in the mastery of the subject so that their school work will be made easier and they may raise their rank in the eyes of their teachers and companions.

A

Nearly all of the studies in the other volumes and all of them in this volume are of value to high school students. If they are not difficult enough to cause work they at least suggest ways of reading that will be valuable. In the ten volumes the studies are scattered so that young children may not see too much of the machinery of instruction as they read. On the other hand the high school student wants the material systematically arranged and easy of access.

Accordingly the following arrangement of the studies in this and the other volumes of Journeys will be of assistance:

I. Studies in Character:

(1) Cinderella, Volume I, page 224.

(2) The Hardy Tin Soldier, X, 158.

(3) Rab and His Friends, X, 177.

II. Studies in plot:

(1) The Snow Queen, Volume II, page 124.

(2) The Gold Bug, IX, 232.

(3) Cinderella, X, 150.

III. Studies in description:

(1) The King of the Golden River, Volume II, page 405.

(2) The Reaper’s Dream, VII, 345.

(3) The Recovery of the Hispaniola, VII, 352.

IV. Method of analysis:

(1) The Gettysburg Address, Volume IX, page 321.

(2) Braddock’s Defeat, X, 227.

V. General studies involving several or all of the main points:

(1) Incident of the French Camp, Volume IV, page 174.

(2) The Tempest, VIII, 468. (Extensive studies following the drama.)

(3) The Passing of Arthur, X, 214.

VI. Studies in rhyme, meter and melody:

(1) The Country Squire, Volume VI, page 474.

(2) To My Infant Son, VI, 478.

(3) The Daffodils, VII, 1.

(4) The Old Oaken Bucket, VII, 11.

(5) Bannockburn, VII, 15.

(6) Boat Song, VII, 17.

(7) The Bugle Song, X, 287.

VII. Studies in interpretation, giving various methods and considering different phases of the subject:

(1) Christmas in Old Time, Volume VI, page 356.

(2) The Recessional, VII, 164.

(3) The Cubes of Truth, VII, 406.

(4) America, VIII, 60.

(5) A Descent Into the Maelstrom, VIII, 95.

(6) Dream Children, VIII, 335.

(7) The Vision of Mirza, IX, 285.

(8) Pippa Passes, IX, 293.

(9) Rab and His Friends, X, 225.

(10) The Reaper and the Flowers, X, 272.

(11) Adventures in Lilliput, V, 8.

(12) David Crockett in the Creek War, VIII, 37.

(13) The Impeachment of Warren Hastings, IX, 32.

(14) A Christmas Carol, VI, 244.

VIII. Biographical sketches of authors, suitable for class use:

(1) Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume I, page 128.

(2) Eugene Field, I, 242.

(3) Aesop, II, 1.

(4) Hans Christian Andersen, II, 81.

(5) Henry W. Longfellow, IV, 62.

(6) Alice and Phoebe Gary, IV, 116.

(7) Nathaniel Hawthorne, IV, 180.

(8) Jonathan Swift, V, 1.

(9) Sir Walter Scott, VI, 26.

(10) John Howard Payne, VI, 221.

(11) John Greenleaf Whittier, VII, 381.

(12) William Cullen Bryant, VII, 391.

(13) Oliver Wendell Holmes, VII, 398.

(14) James Russell Lowell, VII, 411.

(15) Elizabeth Barrett Browning, VII, 419.

(16) Washington Irving, VIII, 216.

(17) Charles and Mary Lamb, VIII, 328.

(18) William Shakespeare, VIII, 468.

B

The assistance that literature may give in reading, language, nature study, history and geography is set forth at length in other chapters of this volume, and the high school student is earnestly requested to examine those chapters carefully and utilize whatever appeals to him in his studies. Especially are the chapters on reading and language valuable. Usually the greater part of the criticisms passed upon high school work is aimed against weaknesses in English. No small portion of this criticism is just, and it comes to a considerable extent from the fact that theme work is usually assigned on subjects so abstruse and so far beyond the ready appreciation of the student that the youthful writer is more concerned in finding out what he is to write than in thinking how he shall write. The result is a carelessness that brings errors in construction and an entire lack of clearness and elegance in expression. Even the older pupils can learn more from writing upon simple subjects where the material is easily obtained and is in itself interesting than from the usual difficult and uninteresting subjects.

The close analysis of a masterpiece gives fine models of expression and furnishes the best of material for discussion. The use of capital letters and punctuation marks, spelling and the choice of words are all subjects for study and are all learned best from good models, such as are found in the masterpieces of literature. Students will soon learn that the rules of grammar are not always so hard and fast as they appear and that the practice of authors and publishers varies in minor things, especially in the use of commas and capital letters.

Some studies of special interest that may be based upon the masterpieces in Journeys will be given below. Many of the stories, poems and essays are accompanied by notes, queries and comments that will assist in making the studies profitable. Several good lessons may be derived from each topic and may be pursued at greater length by research in the volumes of reference in the school or public library.

Look in the Index of the tenth volume for the following topics and then find in the proper volumes the several selections named in the Index:

I. Ballads. Eight of the old English ballads and five more modern imitations are given. They are virile poems; simple, direct narratives. The old ones show the peculiarities of the old style English diction before poetry had been refined, while the later ones, breathing still the fire and originality of the earlier, are more polished and show the greater skill and accomplishments of the poets. The old ballads sprang spontaneously from the race, and doubtless many minds contributed to their phraseology, for they were sung and recited and passed on from mouth to mouth for generations before they were fixed in their present form.

II. Essays. In the list of essays (fourteen) are some of the most exquisite ever written and others that are full of information and inspiration. Dream Children is a perfect prose lyric; Some Children’s Books of the Past is an extremely interesting essay of the informational class. Besides the essays listed in the Index there are other selections in essay form that may be studied with profit. Here are some of them:

1. Abraham Lincoln, Volume IX, page 324.

2. The Arickara Indians, IV, 472.

3. The Buffalo, VII, 96.

4. Alfred the Great, IV, 260.

5. The Battle of Cressy, IX, 161.

6. The Battle of Hastings, IX, 330.

7. A Bed of Nettles, VIII, 209.

8. Brute Neighbors, VII, 260.

9. The Buccaneers, V, 359.

10. Stories of the Creation, IV, 159.

11. Trees and Ants That Help Each Other, VII, 306.

III. Fables. The names of more than thirty fables are given in the list. Comparative study of these fables, considering the animals most frequently mentioned, the correctness and naturalness of the traits ascribed to the different animals, the moral precepts inculcated by the fables, etc., will be found interesting and profitable.

IV. Fairy Lore and Folk Lore. Though fairy stories may have lost their intrinsic interest for high school students, the teacher will find in the collection given here the material for many a study. What merits keep the old stories alive and make them perennially fascinating to children of all nations? Which stories are the better for children, those of Hans Christian Andersen or those of the Brothers Grimm? What are the particular merits or demerits of each class? How do the stories by the latter writers compare in originality and beauty with the older stories? What comparisons can be made between The Ugly Duckling and The King of the Golden River? What merits has Cinderella over Bluebeard? What is the effect of Jack the Giant Killer and stories of that kind on the minds of young people?

V. Fiction. Look under the subtitles for the long list of stories suitable for study when the class is dealing with fiction.

VI. Legendary Heroes. What can be more interesting than a study of these characters from the borderland of history? These great figures come forth from the shadows of the past and move before us like living men: Beowulf, the Saxon; Frithiof, the Norse hero; Siegfried, the German; Roland, the French knight; The Cid, Spain’s greatest warrior and gentleman; Hector and Ulysses, the Greeks; King Arthur and his knights from England; Horatius, the Roman, and Sohrab, the Persian.

The literature of the Arthurian legends as given in Journeys, where they cover about 150 pages, is a cycle of great importance to every high school student. The selections concerning Arthur form a series of narratives which, though from different sources, give a vivid picture of the great knight and his times. The cycle is in volume V and the titles are:

a. Arthur Made King, page 117.

b. Arthur Weds Guenevere; The Round Table, page 119.

c. Arthur and Pellinore, page 122.

d. Arthur Gets Excalibur, page 127.

e. Balin and Balan, page 130. (The stories given so far were written expressly for Journeys, but all have followed rather closely the relation of Malory.)

f. Geraint and Enid, page 148. (This is one of the most popular of Tennyson’s Idyls of the King. The poem is given complete.)

g. The Holy Grail, page 207.

(1) The Knighting of Sir Galahad, page 208.

(2) The Marvelous Sword, page 209.

(3) Galahad and the Siege Perilous, page 212.

(4) Galahad draws the Sword of Balin Le Savage, page 213.

(5) The Holy Grail Appears, page 214.

(6) Galahad Gets His Shield, page 217.

(7) The Grail Achieved, page 222. (The story of the search for the Holy Grail, which is taken from the narrative of Sir Thomas Malory, retains his quaint and charming style. The only material changes are in paragraphing and the use of quotation marks.)

h. Dissensions at King Arthur’s Court, page 232. (This was written for Journeys, to cover the interval between the achievement of the Grail by Sir Galahad and the death of Arthur.)

i. The Passing of Arthur, page 237. (This is Tennyson’s beautiful poem given in full. It describes the last days of Arthur’s reign and the strange story of his death.)

VII. Lyrics. This topic gives the titles of about fifty beautiful lyrics.

VIII. Myths. Twelve titles showing stories from the mythology of different nations. Many of the articles have explanatory comments and, though stories and notes are intended primarily for young children, the whole offers a good introduction to a more extended study of mythology.

IX. Don Quixote. The five adventures related give a good idea of the nature of the book and are sufficient for reference when the history class is studying chivalry.

X. Odes. These seven of our finest odes will please the class in literature.

XI. Poetry. Look up the sub-titles for names of poems.

XII. Wit and Humor. It is not always easy to find what is wanted for class study under this head. The selections given are amusing, but at the same time most of them have real literary value, as well, and are worth study.