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the rhythm of his lines the music of the bird and its swinging flight? Find lines in each of these poems that describe the skylark's song. Read again what is said in "Literature and Life," page 19, and in the Introduction, page 25, of Bryant's "To a Waterfowl"; does this poem interpret life? What difference do you notice between the poet's treatment of a bird subject and Audubon's?

What lines of "enduring beauty" do you remember in the poems about flowers? Compare "Pine-Trees and the Sky" with "To a Waterfowl"; what likenesses do you find? Show that Rupert Brooke followed the same plan used by Bryant, that is, a fact in the poet's life, the interpretation of the fact, and the poet's sure instinct for beauty of expression. What Nature lyrics. do you find in Part I? Have you heard phonograph records of any of these? Which lyrics can you repeat from memory? What Nature lyrics have you found in current magazines? What acquaintance with contemporary poetry have you made through library reading, other than magazine reading, in connection with Part I? What Nature lyric in the preceding books of this series was most pleasing to you?

What progress have you made in becoming acquainted with your library-the arrangement of the books, the card catalogue, and the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature? Make a list of selections-titles and authors-showing your library reading under three headings-books, magazines, and newspapers. Make a list of books and stories that have been reviewed in class; which review inspired you to read the book or story? What progress has your class made with its scrapbook for newspaper clippings? Which sections of your local newspaper interest you most? Which of the "Suggestions for Theme Topics" brought out the best oral discussion? Explain the aptness of the quotation from Browning, page 21, and of the picture, page 22, as an introduction to Part I.

In the Notes and Questions throughout this book are a number of suggested problems. Working out these problems will

greatly increase your interest in reading and will bring you the added pleasure that coöperation with others in a common project always brings. In many schools the class in English organizes in the form of a club, to give the pupils an opportunity to coöperate in working out suggestions. If your class forms such a club, with regular recitation periods set aside each month for meetings, you can carry out many interesting projects, using the club as a "clearing house" for the various ideas suggested by the individual reading of the club members.

Some of these suggested problems are: (a) Silent Reading, page 11; (b) Library Reading, including Book Reviews, page 43; (c) Magazine Reading, page 53; (d) Newspaper Reading, page 57; (e) Contemporary Writers-Noting selections by them, reading from their works, comparing their writings in theme and treatment with those of earlier writers, reporting any interesting newspaper or magazine references to them, and preparing a program for Contemporary Writers' Day in your school; (f) Collections Making a collection of pictures, cartoons, newspaper and magazine references, humorous sayings, songs, and phonograph records that illustrate particular selections; (g) Dramatization-Planning and presenting scenes from "A Christmas Carol," and from other selections; (h) Public Readings-Readings for entertainment, lyrics, ballads, and passages from short stories, using the club as an audience; (i) Good CitizenshipMaking a list of suggestions you find in this book that help you to be a good citizen, and preparing a program for Good Citizenship Day in your school; (j) Conservation and Thrift-Making a list of measures taken to conserve public health, to protect wild birds and animals, to preserve forests, and to encourage thrift; (k) Excursions-Taking a trip through a library under the guidance of the teacher or librarian, locating various departments, or visiting homes, statues, and monuments of writers located in your town.

PART II

THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE

Great deeds cannot die;

They with sun and moon renew their light Forever, blessing those that look on them. -Tennyson.

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Copyright by E. A. Abbey: from a Copley print, copyright by Curtis and Cameron

SIR GALAHAD

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The basis of all literature is adventure. A cookbook is not literature, because it merely sets down certain rules for the preparation of food. Of course, a boy who knows nothing about cooking may try to apply the rules for making a chocolate cake, and in the process may have a very exciting adventure, but the cookbook itself does not contain adventure; it is not literature.

Adventure is an experience out of the ordinary. It need not be thrilling in the sense that an escape from a wild beast is thrilling. When Rupert Brooke became aware of the beauty of the pine-trees, and of the effect of this vision upon his sadness, that was an adventure. When Wordsworth heard the lark far above him and fell to wondering about the singer and found in it a symbol of life, that was an adventure.

The records of these adventures give us literature. The necessary element is imagination. If the poet's imagination had been asleep, he never would have given us that poem about the pinetrees and the sky. Even daily life is full of adventure if the imagination is active. People who are intensely interested in every form of life have no lack of adventure. For them life is not dull and prosy; it is filled with the spice of imagination.

In this section of your book you will find stories and poems that deal mainly with adventure in the usual sense of the worda thrilling or exciting experience. Some of them, such as the "Incident of the French Camp," are based on real happenings. The poet did not himself pass through the adventures; yet through his imagination, he was able to picture the scenes so vividly that he seemed to have been present. Other stories of adventure, such as "The Highwayman," are based upon old

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