originality has appeared for many years." Such a statement seems hardly to be justified in the light of some of Kipling's poetry, though we remember that those things, after all, must remain largely matters of opinion. [The Macmillan Co., Price $1.50.] Many perplexing problems stand in the way of the general student who wishes to be fairly familiar with the numerous departments of learning that best contribute to his general culture, and nowhere is this more true than in literature. Frederick Harrison thinks that "the most useful help to reading is to know what we should not read. Every book that we take up without a purpose is an opportunity lost of taking up a book with a purpose." Manifestly the next best thing is to know what is best to read. In view of the embarrassing abundance any one person cannot read, much less study, more than a small part of the literary product in English. Hence, he who selects, recommends, and explains the best is a benefactor. This has appeared to be the main purpose of Mr. Andrew J. George in a series of studies in English literature. In his latest volume, Chaucer to Arnold, Types of Literary Art, a sentence in his preface expresses so well not only a fine truth but also the author's theory that it is worth quoting here: "Literary education is of the heart rather than of the head, a process of spiritual apprehension and assimilation; and hence histories of literature are of little use until enthusiasm is developed." This is true enough and the plan of presenting types to illustrate an author's style must commend itself to teachers who know how lifeless the socalled study of literature may be made. Although this book is of generous size, 675 pages, there are selections from more than fifty writers, so that the space allotted to each is necessarily small. Not enough is given from any one to be satisfying, just enough, let us say, to whet the appetite for more. Mr. George's long experience as a teacher is a guarantee that his selections are made with judicious appreciation. The notes consist of brief and concise statements of the chief characteristics of each writer with a list of biographical and critical books named for reference. [The Macmillan Co., $1.00.] The first commendable feature noted in How to Teach Reading in the Public Schools, by S. H. Clark, Ph. B., is the author's singleness of purpose as expressed in the title. Professional vocal culture, formal elocution and all that belongs expressly to reading as an art, do not come within the scope of the present treatise. It must appear that such exclusion leaves greater room for a study of the subject that will be of practical value to the average teacher. The first hundred pages are given to the psychology of the four elements of expression-time, pitch, quality and force as the mechanics of vocal expression. These principles are considered, of course, as means only, while the great stress is placed upon thought-getting. As methods in developing this power the author considers the subject under the following heads: Mental attitude of the reader, Grouping, Succession of ideas, Central idea, Subordination, Values, Emotion, Atmosphere, Contrasts, Climaxes. There is a great deal that is helpful, and the order of treatment is logical, but we are sure many teachers will wish that Professor Clark could have gone on just a little farther in the development of some of his principles and analyses. [Scott Foresman & Co., Chicago, 295 pages.] The sixth book in Charles F. King's series of Geographical Readers is devoted to Northern Europe, and is a veritable panorama of bright descriptions and fascinating views. "The Cartmels" leave New York in May for a European tour, and it is the account of their travels, with views of the places visited that supplies material for the book. This feature lends a delightful personal character to the descriptions and makes them doubly entertaining. The profusion of fine illustrations, over two hundred in number, almost bewilders one who knows the cost of such things, and yet the price of the book, 353 pages, is placed at but 60 cents. It is artistic in every way, and as a help in geography its value must be second only to travel itself. [Lee and Shepard, Boston.] Another book that is sure to be a source of combined pleasure and profit to young readers is FourFooted Americans and their Kin, by Mabel Osgood Wright, edited by Frank M. Chapman. The plan of the book supposes a doctor who had traveled for many years as a naturalist but at last settled down in a country home and invited some of his young friends to spend summer, autumn and winter with him. Fourteen characters are introduced, and how they became acquainted with the animals of America is told in 432 pages of delightful reading. The soft satin finish of the paper brings out the best effect of some seventy half-tone cuts. Nature study through the eyes of others is hardly to be commended except as a second best thing, but the methods followed by this group of happy people are so full of suggestion that many readers will surely be led by the story to habits of closer observation. [The Macmillan Co., $1.50.] In these days when we see new and changed valuations placed upon the works of great authors, and when even literary doctors disagree in their judgments, it is comforting to feel that one may go back of the confusion to the principles of a man who, as Leslie Stephen puts it, "combined the first simple impulse of admiration with the power of explaining why he admired." Lowell considered that as a teacher and interpreter in criticism Coleridge's service was incalculable. Matthew Arnold says that it is the stimulus of Coleridge's continual instinctive effort to get at the real truth of his matter in hand that will make his work as a critic endure. It is evident, therefore, that the publication of the present volume, Coleridge's Principles of Criticism, with introduction and notes, by Andrew J. George, will meet with much favor. The book contains chapters I, III and IV from Biographia Literaria which are chiefly biographical, and chapters XIV to XXII which contain substantially Coleridge's principles of literary criticism. It belongs to the series of Heath's English Classics which are published at reduced prices. [D. C. Heath & Co., Boston. Price 60 cents.] Almost every teacher in the upper grades of the public schools has felt at times the need of a working treatise on oratory, with a few examples of complete orations. Such a book is Modern American Oratory, by Ralph Curtis Ringwalt. The first ninety pages are given to an essay on the theory of oratory in which divisions, kinds, elements and features are considered. Several pages of notes and a short bibliography close the volume, leaving the body of the book to seven representative orations which are printed without abridgment. The mere enumeration of these is all that need be given:-"General Amnesty" by Carl "The Right to Trial by Jury" by JereSchurz, miah Black, "Daniel O'Connell" by Wendell Phillips, "Washington's Inauguration" by Chauncey M. Depew, "The Leadership of Educated Men" by George William Curtis, "The New South" by Henry W. Grady, "The Sepulchre in the Garden" by Henry Ward Beecher. [Henry Holt & Co., 334 pp. Price $1.00.] BOOK NOTES. Number 126 in the Riverside Literature Series contains "The King of the Golden River," by John Ruskin, and other wonder stories, by Björnson, Andersen, the Brothers Grimm, and Horace Scudder. [Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Boston, price 15 cents.] New England Publishing Co., Boston, sends Child Study of the Classics, price 40 cents, and Nature Study by Months, price 50 cents. Both are illustrated, attractive, and well calculated for supple mentary reading in elementary grades. The former is an easy adaptation of flower, star, and sea myths, arranged by Grace Adele Pierce. The author covets for children the delight of an early knowledge of these classic tales, and rightly considers them as important means to be used in cultivating the imaginative faculty in children. The latter book, by Arthur C. Boyden, is designed to suggest material for nature study appropriate to the season and month. "To cultivate in the child what may be termed the elementary equivalent of the genuine scientific spirit and the various forms of expression, such as drawing, coloring, and written language," are expressed purposes which will meet the approval of teachers generally. Another supplementary reader is Sprague's Primer, Rand, McNally & Co., Chicago, introductory price 20 cents. It is of the first reader grade and well illustrates the importance which bookmakers place upon attractiveness. Clear, open pages with a profusion of pictures both in black and white and in color are the striking features, while the reading matter appears to have been prepared with great care. The latest volume in the Athenæum Press Series is Selections from Cowper, with introduction and notes by James O. Murray. The appreciative introduction will help much to arouse in Cowper the interest that he deserves but that has been rarely felt because of a general impression that the melancholy of his life pervades all his work. The Task, which best corrects such an impression, is given complete, as are also Retirement and numerous shorter poems. Professor Murray has performed a valuable service for the student in English literature by his admirable estimate of the poet which marks his work as an important factor in the change from classical to romantic poetry. The new German series to which Nathan der Weise, by Geo. O. Curme, and Goethe's Egmont, by Sylvester Primer (Macmillan, 60 cents each) belong, has many good and timely features. The general appearance of the books is neat and substantial. They have an index to the notes and a bibliography, of both of which teachers have often felt the need. The bibliography is especially to be commended pointing the way as it does to more thorough and complete study. The introduction is also more serviceable than in most editions of the kind. It is clear and easily used and does not contain a mass of irrelevant material. It is rather concentrated upon the particular work edited— the history of its origin and its sources, the characters in it, and past criticism of it as a work of art. In the notes of Nathan we find a very helpful and pointed discussion of the peculiarities of the language, and in general such helps as will clear up illusions, etc. The cases are relatively rare where the editor allows himself to be drawn on to a lengthy paragraph on the general situation of a passage-such as are never read by student or teacher. The same cannot be said of the Egmont. It frequently has several lines of explanation on a passage that is, or would with a little thought, be perfectly clear from the text. Such abundant explanation is to be condemned. One great value of the classics as educational material is to stimulate thought and raise the mental tension at just such passages.. It would also seem that the editor of this play has not always been very judicious in his translations. In a number of cases we notice that the spirit of a passage is entirely lost through a prosaic English rendering. A suggestion might be added: Why not do away with the separate paging of the notes and simply have the number of the text page only appear at the head of the page of the notes that refer to it? This would save both time and confusion. A cloth volume of 423 pages, published by the author, Isabel Lawrence of the St. Cloud, Minnesota, Normal School, bears the title Classified Reading. The main heads of the classification are pedagogy and psychology, child study, geography, history, English, nature study, miscellany. The numerous subdivisions under each of these heads are given in the table of contents, so that the student may readily find what books are listed under any particular subject. Besides the author and publisher, the price is given in most cases. The one criticism is the incompleteness of the lists. However, the work is well done so far as it extends, and will be of value to the student as well as to the general reader. A generous margin at the bottom of each page may be used for making additions as desired. [Price $1.50.] From E. L. Kellogg & Co., New York, comes a copy of their new monthly publication “Animals.” Single copies 15 cents; one year $1.50. Each number contains ten pictures, 7 by 10 inches, printed on heavy paper and on one side only. The pictures are from actual photographs and the descriptive matter is claimed to be scientifically accurate. The series already planned, including twenty-four numbers and extending through two years, will doubtless have great educative value. A Physiology Class-Book, by F. M. Walters of the state normal school at Warrensburg, Missouri, is intended to combine the text-book, lecture, and laboratory methods of teaching physiology. There are concise descriptions of the various organs with their structure and functions, suggestions and directions for experiment and observation, and blank spaces on many pages for drawings and notes to record the results of experiments. The price is not named, but the book commends itself as of considerable practical value. INDIANA STATE BOARD QUESTIONS FOR OCTOBER, WITH DISCUSSIONS. SCIENCE OF EDUCATION. 1. Name five characteristics of good teaching. 5. Show that The Symposium is dramatic. 6. Give Alcibiades' characterization of Socrates, in the speech illustrating the nature and power of love. 7. Point out some of the "divine and golden images" in which The Symposium is said to abound. 1. The end is distinguished from the means. Life. Constant development from the finite to the infinite. Definiteness. Love for the work on the part of teacher and pupil. 2. The subject of the hour is an end in itself. Death. Development of bad habits. Indefiniteness. Hate for the work on the part of pupil and teacher. 3. A good question is definite. It stimulates thought. It calls forth the greatest self-activity. It does not depend on mechanical memory for an answer. It is one that cannot be answered by yes or no. 4. Love. 5. Dramatic action rests upon the thoughts that in the human spirit there is a universal element, and that there is a capacity for development. These ideas are shown, at least, in the myth that Aristophanes constructs. 6. Alcibiades says Socrates is exactly like the masks of Silenus, and that his face is like that of a satyr. 7. The most casual reading will disclose the "divine and golden image." GRAMMAR. 1. What is English Grammar? 2. Argue briefly, but pointedly, in favor of the retention of grammar in the schools. 3. To what extent would you have pupils resort to the correction of false syntax? Give reasons. 4. What should be the first form of grammar study required of young students? When should they enter upon the study of technical grammar? 5. Outline briefly the work in grammar that you consider best for pupils of the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth-year grades. 1. Grammar is that English language study which has for its unit or subject-matter, the sentence. 2. A large per cent. of the children that finish the eighth grade never enter the high school or any other school of higher education. If we should abandon the study of grammar in the grades, these children would be deprived of the benefits of the study of it. It is the only subject in the course in which the child studies spirit or pure thought. There is no subject in the course more fruitful of results in the way of moral character. It helps the child to use English more in telligently, and affords excellent discipline for the reasoning and reflective faculties. 3. Do not have children work with false syntax until they are pretty well grounded in the principles of the language and have them work on it very little then. The mind grows to be like that which it dwells upon, therefore keep pure English before the children as much as possible. 4. Pupils should learn to use the language well by imitation and practice. Up to the seventh grade they should take language on the authority of the teacher, learn correct language forms and have a great deal of practice in speaking and writing English under careful, competent, sympathetic criticism. Then technical grammar may be taken up at the beginning of the seventh grade. 5. Below the seventh grade let them have plenty of practice in speaking and writing, learn the forms of irregular verbs, number and gender forms of nouns, etc. In the seventh and eighth grades, let them study technical grammar, beginning with the sentence and closing with "parts of speech." Let them continue writing and speaking under careful criticism during the seventh and eighth years. READING. (As heretofore announced, these questions are based on Chapters IX-XIII of Teaching the Language Arts.) 1. What connection does the ability to read well have with proficiency in other subjects: say, arithmetic or physiology? 2. What is the distinction between reading and the study of literature? 3. Would the ideal school reader be made up of literary selections mainly or of miscellaneous extracts from various fields? Why? 4. Show that the basic element in silent reading is the same as in oral reading. In what sense is there a close similarity between oral reading and grammatical analysis? 5. Why is the influence of books like the Bible, or Shakespear's works or Milton's so great on linguistic usage? Is the rapid multiplication of books and newspapers likely to have a good or bad effect on language? Why? .6. "A man may know all science and yet remain uneducated. But let him truly possess himself of the work of any one of the great poets, and, no matter what else he may fail to know, he is not without education." Make clear the sense in which this quotation is true. 7. What part does apperception play in the process of reading? 8. "No one can really read Shakespeare or Milton unless he has something Shakespearean or Miltonic in him." How does this principle explain the various degrees of pleasure experienced by different readers in reading the same selection? 1. Reading is a necessary means in mastering any subject, the facts of which are recorded in language. 2. The distinction is one of degree rather than kind. Reading shades into literature work. The emphasis in reading rests upon the mastery of the language and the thought as a means, while in literature work the emphasis rests upon the mastery and appreciation of language and thought as ends. 3. Answers will differ. Probably the ideal reader would be made up of purely literary selections, since the final aim of reading is to make the pupil able to read great books. Taking into account the conditions that prevail in most of our school work it is likely that the needs of the school are best served by miscellaneous extracts from a variety of sources. Thus the reader becomes a sort of introduction to a wide field of subjects, more or less "practical" in nature. 4. The essential element in all reading is the mastery of the meaning expressed. Grammatical analysis consists in pointing out the relations which the various words in a sentence bear to each other and to the sentence as a whole. Oral reading points out the same facts by the manner of its expression. 5. (1) Because of the universally high estimate placed upon them as literary classics. Any well-educated person is presumed to be "steeped" in these greater writers, and their influence works its way down even to the lowest classes. (2) Bad. The rapid production results in ill considered work on the part of the writers and the attempt to keep up with current production leads to "mental dyspepsia on the part of the readAnswers may differ on this point, but it seems that the necessarily ephemeral character of most of the books, and especially of the periodical literature sent forth, results in all sorts of strained and far-fetched language effects in the effort to attract, at least, passing attention. ers. 6. Literature deals with spirit: science with matter. The great poet is the one who has had profound insights into the depths of the human spirit coupled with the ability to clothe these insights in beautiful conceptions expressed in language. Hence, to comprehend a great poet means to comprehend so much of spirit, and such comprehension is education. (However, does not the mastery of matter bring us into touch with spirit?) 7. Reading is a continuous process of apperceiving. The new is interpreted by the old. 8. To read is to have "one life with the author," to be "able measurably to think his thoughts, feel his emotions, and will his purposes." Since there are all grades of minds, there will be all grades of pleasure among the readers of Shakespeare, from that of indifference or aversion to that of enthusiasm or absorption of self. The same holds true of any selection read. No two pupils will be impressed in just the same way. (Is this an argument for great variety in the school readers?) SCIENTIFIC TEMPERANCE. (Any five.) 1. What are the effects of alcohol and coffee on (a) digestion, (b) the nervous system? 2. What are the effects of alcohol on the alimentary canal and its glands (a) in small doses, (b) in large doses? 3. What is the effect of alcohol on the working and staying capacity of an individual? Give an example. 4. Is all the alcohol burned in the body? 5. How is the will affected by alcohol? 6. Contrast the effect of alcohol and tobacco. In Coffee 1. In small quantities taken with the food at meals, alcohol or coffee might be used by most persons without injury to their digestion. larger quantities, frequently taken into an empty stomach, alcohol soon deranges the action of the tissues and glands of the stomach and intestines, giving rise to severe forms of indigestion. dyspepsia might result from the excessive use of coffee. Alcohol, in even moderate quantities, causes a dangerous excitement of the organs of the nervous system. Coffee, in general, has a quieting effect, but in large quantities might cause unpleasant symptoms. 2. In small doses with the food alcohol has no appreciable effect on the alimentary canal. In large doses it deranges the action of tissues and glands, possibly by changing the composition of the fluids in the tissues of the canal by its strong affinity for water. 3. Alcohol, in even moderate quantities, lessens the working and staying capacity of an individual. This has been shown by experiments with soldiers on the march, with workingmen, and with athletes in training. 4. Only a small quantity of alcohol is burned in the body. If large or only moderate doses are taken it is not all burned in the body." 5. In general the excessive use of alcohol weakens the will power, making it vacillating and uncertain. 6. In general, alcohol is a stimulant, while tobacco is a sedative. Each affects digestion, and the nervous system. Tobacco does its mischief chiefly by disturbing the heart's action, while the organ most affected by alcohol is the liver. HISTORY. (Any five.) 1. In what particular was the founding of the colony of Georgia different from the other colonies? 2. What were the navigation laws and what their purpose? 3. What provisions of the constitution of 1787 were adopted to cure the defects of the Articles of Confederation as a fundamental law? 4. (a) In the treaty of peace with Great Britain, signed in 1814, what disposition was made of the causes for which we went to war? (b) What did we gain by the war of 1812? 5. What disposition was made of Indiana's share of the "surplus revenue" distributed to the various states in 1837? 6. (a) What was the "Dred Scott decision"? (b) What was the effect of that decision upon Northern sentiment? 7. What great Union victories marked the month of July, 1863, and what did these victories decide? 1. The founding of the colony of Georgia differed from the other colonies in two important particulars: a. It was founded for purely industrial pur- 2. The navigation laws had for their purpose to compel the American colonists to send the goods which they had to sell to English markets in English-built ships and to purchase their goods which they did not produce at home from England. These laws were passed by the English parliament to assist the commercial class of England to develop its trade. 3. The defects of the Articles of Confederation were cured mainly by the following provisions in the constitution of 1787: a. The Constitution provided that the general government should have immediate power over the individual instead of reaching the individual through the authority of the state, as was the case under the Articles. b. A separate body was created to discharge the three functions of government. Namely executive, legislative, and judicial. c. The general government made adequate provision for establishing an independent system of taxation and an independent army. d. The exact fields of work for the central government and the local government were more carefully indicated. 4. a. The treaty of peace signed in 1814 did not directly deal with the causes for which we went to war. b. By the War of 1812 we gained our independence on the sea. This war was, in fact, our second war of independence, and secured for us commercial independence, just as the Revolutionary war secured for us independence on the land. 5. It was given to the common-school fund. 6. a. It was a decision made by the United States Supreme Court respecting the legal standing in the United States courts of a negro named Dred Scott. The Supreme Court decided that Scott, since he was descended from African ancestors, could neither sue nor be sued in a United States court. That he had, in fact, no legal standing in a court any more than a horse or a cow. The effect of this decision, so far as negro slavery was concerned, was that if Scott had no legal standing in a United States court, therefore no negro would have such, and if this were true then negro slavery could spread temporarily all over the United States. b. The decision had a powerful effect in the North, from 1857, in changing public sentiment from the support of the Democratic party to the support of the Republican party in the state and national elections up to the time of the opening of the Civil War. 7. Gettysburg, fought July 1, 2 and 3, '63, Vicksburg July 4, '63. These influenced Lincoln greatly in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and were in a large measure the turning point toward the final defeat of the Southern Confederate government. GEOGRAPHY, (Any eight.) 1. Into what two classes are islands divided? Give examples of each. 2. Compare and contrast the principal mountain ranges of the two continents, eastern and western. 3. What is a watershed? Trace two of the most important. in the United States. 4. Show that the character of vegetation depends chiefly upon two conditions. 5. Name and locate the five chief cities of Indiana. Account for their rank in the commercial world. 6. Compare and contrast the vegetation of the temperate zones. 7. What effect upon the lives of a people do you attribute to climate? 8 Show, as to a class in the fourth grade, the difference between political and physical geography. 9. Name the common minerals. Where found? Show their usefulness to man, as you would explain to third-grade pupils. 10. How would you show pupils that the shape and motions of the earth have an effect upon its temperature? 1. Continental and oceanic. Newfoundland, Cuba and British Isles are continental. The Azores, Cape Verde and Canary Islands are oceanic. |