Book Description

Excerpt from The Private Reading of Public-School Teachers, And, General Suggestions Concerning the Teaching of Music in the Grades A study of literature by types is perhaps the best method of mak ing a first-hand survey of the general field of good writing. Within each of the two general divisions, prose and poetry, there are several definite forms, including the prose types known as history, oratory, biography, the letter, the essay, the novel, and the short story; and the poetic forms called the epic, the lyric, the drama, and the ballad.* The benefits to be derived from reading and reflecting upon some of the best examples of these eleven literary types are in most cases too obvious to need elaboration here; but there are certain large effects that the careful reading of literature of the right kind pro duces, and concerning these a few suggestions may well be made. Some literature is read primarily for entertainment, with the avowed purpose of driving dull care away. One reader may be entertained best by the short story, another by the novel, another by the letter, While still another may find that poetry of a certain type Will lead to the sessions of sweet, silent thought that will rest the mind and relieve it of the cares of the day. A word of caution may be inserted at this point. Let it be remembered that in choos ing material that will entertain there is no need to go outside the bounds of real literature. Many great works have a strong narra tive element, but to appreciate their greatness we must look beyond the story and find qualities that are products less of the imagination than of the intellect. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.