MAKING YOUR READING CURVE In your notebook, or on a sheet of paper about 8 by 11 inches, draw lines as in this diagram. On line I place a dot at the number representing your rate of reading as it appears on the first trial in the table you made from directions on page 133. On line 2 make a dot for your second trial, and so on for all other trials. Connect these dots by a heavy line. This line is your curve of growth in reading rate. If you improve properly, the curve should rise on successive trials. AMERICA is our country. Four hundred years ago this continent was a wilderness, unknown to civilization, the hunting ground of a red-skinned race. Today it is the home of a hundred million industrious, liberty-loving, peace-loving citizens. Ten generations of European settlers and their descendants have here built their homes, gained riches and power, found freedom and independence, and realized their ideals of justice and human brotherhood. Peoples from many countries, speaking different languages, have come to America and learned to love it as their home. The story of the development of this wonderful New World since Columbus made his famous voyage in 1492 is full of romantic adventure, delightful to read about, and inspiring in its idealism. The basic facts of this American story should be learned in the course in history, but its eventful, colorful side will be better appreciated when we read the tales, the orations, and the poetry which the historical events have inspired. These represent the real life of the nation quite as well as do the less imaginative pages of the history textbooks. In the main, the selections in the pages which follow relate to events occurring prior to 1850, but the ideals which they express belong to the America of our own day. The thrilling story of her past as told in prose and poem brings to us messages which Americans will always cherish. You will best prepare to play your rightful part in the life of your country by understanding well the spirit of those whose work has made the nation what it is today. Out of their achievements comes to you the torch of hope and honor for your generation. What you learn here should give you courage and inspiration to serve your country well. BOOKS TO READ While you are reading this section on AMERICA IN FACT AND SPIRIT, choose several of the books named below and read them. Keep in your notebook a list of all you read. CATLIN, GEORGE. The Boy's Catlin. Charles Scribner's Sons "A famous record of facts reading like romance. It is a standard work on Indian life and customs, here condensed and rearranged for boys." - Stevens. CURTIS, EDWARD S. Indian Days of the Long Ago. World Book Company From a store of lore gathered through a lifetime of intimate contact with many tribes, the author tells in story form of the customs of the Indians. DUNBAR, SEYMOUR. A History of Travel in America. 4 vols. The BobbsMerrill Company Standard books on early travel of interest to children and grown-ups. EARLE, ALICE MORSE. Home Life in Colonial Days. The Macmillan Company Stage Coach and Tavern Days. The Macmillan Company Customs and Fashions in Old New England. Charles Scribner's Sons These books show the inside of the colonial home, the food and clothing of the colonists, their industries and their travels. EASTMAN, CHARLES A. From the Deep Woods to Civilization. Little, Brown and Company Chapters in the autobiography of an Indian. "I am an Indian . . . nevertheless I am an American." Indian Boyhood. Doubleday, Page and Company The education of Mr. Eastman, a full-blooded Indian; playmates, games, hunting, feasts, bear dance. HALE, EDWARD EVERETT. A New England Boyhood. Little, Brown and Company How boys grew up in New England a hundred years ago. Life of George Washington Studied Anew. G. P. Putnam's Sons Tells of Washington as a neighbor, head of a family, and leader of the nation in time of peace. HART, ALBERT BUSHNELL. Colonial Children. The Macmillan Company What children did and what homes were like in colonial days. HAWORTH, PAUL L. George Washington, Country Gentleman. The BobbsMerrill Company A gifted writer tells how Washington managed his Virginia plantation, of his genuine interest in agriculture, and of his home life. HOLLAND, RUPERT S. Historic Poems and Ballads. George W. Jacobs and Company Tells through sixty poems and ballads the story of many of the stirring scenes of history. HOWELLS, WILLIAM DEAN. A Boy's Town. Harper and Brothers "It seems to me that my Boy's Town was a town peculiarly adapted for a boy to be a boy in." "The house was pretty full of children." "There was a family of white rabbits." "My boy was twelve years old by this time." HUSBAND, JOSEPH. Americans by Adoption. Atlantic Monthly Press. Brief biographies of recent immigrants who have achieved distinction in America. IRVING, WASHINGTON. Life of Washington. 8 vols. Thomas Y. Crowell Company ... "The unfreezing of Washington was begun by Irving. . . . His hand first broke the ice, and today we can see the live and human Washington, full length."- Owen Wister. LAING, MARY E. The Hero of the Longhouse. World Book Company The true story of Hiawatha told for "the youth who are growing up in the land where he lived and labored." LANIER, SIDNEY. The Boy's Froissart. Charles Scribner's Sons Froissart's Chronicles of Adventure, Battle, and Custom in England, France, Spain. "Froissart sets the boy's mind upon manhood and the man's mind upon boyhood." The Boy's Percy. Charles Scribner's Sons Old ballads of war, adventure, and love from Percy's Reliques of Ancient English Poetry. "He who walks in the way these ballads point, will be manful in necessary fight, loyal in love, generous to the poor, tender in the household, prudent in living, merry upon occasion, and honest in all things." LARCOM, LUCY. A New England Girlhood. Houghton Mifflin Company How girls grew up in New England a hundred years ago. MONROE, PAUL, and MILLER, IRVING E. The American Spirit. World A collection of prose and poetry dealing with American ideals from PARKMAN, FRANCIS. The Oregon Trail. Little, Brown and Company Heroes of the World War from King Albert to President Wilson. PARSONS, GEOFFREY. The Land of Fair Play. Charles Scribner's Sons "This book aims to make clear the great, unseen services that America renders each of us, and the active devotion each of us must yield in return for America to endure." POWELL, LYMAN P., and POWELL, GERTRUDE W. The Spirit of Democracy. Rand McNally and Company A collection of prose and poetry arranged during the World War. More than one hundred and fifty selections expressive of American ideals. REMINGTON, FREDERIC. The Way of an Indian. Duffield and Company "The work of a splendid outdoor artist who specialized on Western subjects, such as Indians, horses, and cowboys." — Stevens. ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. Episodes from Winning of the West. G. P. Putnam's Sons A good book of pioneers, Indian tales, frontier conditions, courageous men. SCUDDER, HORACE E. George Washington. Houghton Mifflin Company "One of the best single-volume lives of Washington, in language suited to younger readers." Stevens. SEAWELL, MOLLIE E. A Virginia Cavalier. Harper and Brothers An excellent picture of Washington as a boy and young man, and of SHAW, ANNA HOWARD. The Story of a Pioneer. Harper and Brothers SPARKS, EDWIN E. The Men Who Made the Nation. The Macmillan Company Twelve lectures on twelve men from Franklin to Lincoln. |