A HISTORY OF LITERATURE By REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A. (Yale), Louisville Male High School. Price, $1.25 'ALLECK'S HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE traces the development of that literature from the earliest times to the present in a concise, interesting, and stimulating manner. Although the subject is presented so clearly that it can be readily comprehended by high school pupils, the treatment is sufficiently philosophic and suggestive for any student beginning the study. The book is a history of literature, and not a mere collection of biographical sketches. Only enough of the facts of an author's life are given to make students interested in him as a personality, and to show how his environment affected his work. Each author's productions, their relations to the age, and the reasons why they hold a position in literature, receive adequate treatment. One of the most striking features of the work consists in the way in which literary movements are clearly outlined at the beginning of each chapter. Special attention is given to the essential qualities which differentiate one period from another, and to the animating spirit of each age. The author shows that each period has contributed something definite to the literature of England. ¶ At the end of each chapter a carefully prepared list of books is given to direct the student in studying the original works of the authors treated. He is told not only what to read, but also where to find it at the least cost. The book contains a special literary map of England in colors. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY , COMPOSITION-RHETORIC By STRATTON D. BROOKS, Superintendent of TH HE fundamental aim of this volume is to enable pupils to express their thoughts freely, clearly, and forcibly. At the same time it is designed to cultivate literary appreciation, and to develop some knowledge of rhetorical theory. The work follows closely the requirements of the College Entrance Examination Board, and of the New York State Education Department. In Part One are given the elements of description, narration, exposition, and argument; also special chapters on letter-writing and poetry. A more complete and comprehensive treatment of the four forms of discourse already discussed is furnished in Part Two. In each part is presented a series of themes covering these subjects, the purpose being to give the pupil inspiration, and that confidence in himself which comes from the frequent repetition of an act. A single new principle is introduced into each theme, and this is developed in the text, and illustrated by carefully selected examples. The pupils are taught how to correct their own errors, and also how to get the main thought in preparing their lessons. Careful coördination with the study of literature and with other school studies is made throughout the book. The modern character of the illustrative extracts can not fail to interest every boy and girl. Concise summaries are given followingthe treatment of the various forms of discourse, and toward the end of the book there is a very comprehensive and compact summary of grammatical principles. More than usual attention is devoted to the treatment of argument. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY NINETEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH PROSE Critical Essays Edited with Introductions and Notes by THOMAS H. DICKINSON, Ph.D., and FREDERICK W. ROE, A. M., Assistant Professors of English, University of Wisconsin. Price, $1.00. T HIS book for college classes presents a series of ten selected essays, which are intended to trace the development of English criticism in the nineteenth century. The essays cover a definite period, and exhibit the individuality of each author's method of criticism. In each case they are those most typical of the author's critical principles, and at the same time representative of the critical tendencies of his age. The subject-matter provides interesting material for intensive study and class room discussion, and each essay is an example of excellent, though varying, style. ¶They represent not only the authors who write, but the authors who are treated. The essays provide the best things that have been said by England's critics on Swift, on Scott, on Macaulay, and on Emerson. ¶ The introductions and notes provide the necessary biographical matter, suggestive points for the use of the teacher in stimulating discussion of the form or content of the essays, and such aids as will eliminate those matters of detail that might prove stumbling blocks to the student. Though the essays are in chronological order, they may be treated at random according to the purposes of the teacher. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY THE SHORT-STORY Specimens Illustrating Its Development By BRANDER MATTHEWS, LL. D., D. C. L., TH $1.00 HE short-story is distinguished from the novel by its brevity, and from the more brief tale by its unity, its totality, its concentration upon a single effect or a single sequence of effects. In this book a group of twenty-four specimen stories have been selected to show the development of the form the slow evolution of this literary species through the long centuries of advancing civilization. The earlier tales here presented are not true short-stories; each of them lacks one or another of the essential characteristics of the type. The more modern examples are true short-stories; and they have been chosen to exhibit the many varieties possible within the species. They have been selected from the chief modern literatures, English, French, German, Russian, and Norwegian; and they present many contrasting shades of local color. The introduction traces the growth of the form through the history of literature and seeks to set forth the attainment of the type. The notes prefixed to the several specimens outline briefly the biographies of the authors, and discuss succinctly their literary position. The notes appended to each of the specimens are intended to call the attention of the student to the merits and the defects of that particular story considered as an example of the form. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY BOOK INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN EXPOSITION By FRANCES M. PERRY, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, Wellesley College. E $1.00 XPOSITION is generally admitted to be the most commonly used form of discourse, and its successful practice develops keen observation, deliberation, sound critical judgment, and clear and concise expression. Unfortunately, however, expository courses often fail to justify the prevailing estimate of the value of exposition, because the subject has been presented in an unsystematized manner without variety or movement. The aim of this book is to provide a systematized course in the theory and practice of expository writing. The student will acquire from its study a clear understanding of exposition—its nature its nature; its two processes, definition and analysis; its three functions, impersonal presentation or transcript, interpretation, and interpretative presentation; and the special application of exposition in literary criticism. He will also gain, through the practice. required by the course, facility in writing in a clear and attractive way the various types of exposition. The volume includes an interesting section on literary criticism. The method used is direct exposition, amply reinforced by examples and exercises. The illustrative matter is taken from many and varied sources, but much of it is necessarily modern. The book meets the needs of students in the final years of secondary schools, or the first years of college. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY |