Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1894-06-23
TEACHING THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Tho Scope Of tho Work English Tho Second Year Of
High schoo.-By Miss E. H. Duke, Of the
Salt Lake City High School,

Football, My pet aversion, The mos
beautiful place ] ever saw, Why ] neeJ
exercise. The most disagfceablc pcn0i
] ever met. Why ! would like 10 write
poetry, and similar subjects, will bl
tbIc to express himself much mort
clearly and iorcibly DO his composition
work.
The use Of objects Tor talks IS Offer
/ quite interesting and hclpiul they ar,
! very suggestive and paper knife or
suuvcnicf spoon or sonic little curiosity
handed to the most umii or backWU,
pupil will frequently induce him 90 cN
press his Thoughts DO most clear an.
iorciblc language concerning the Object
OF something suggested by o.
| Conversation lessons, 100 which iht
subject has been previously assigned
the leader OF the conversation ape
pointed, and certain divisions Of thc
subject given TO pupils for special pre-
plrii0u are quite conducive To- original
thought and form OF expression. u the
/ subject be one of general interest," such
as a.l can talk upon. aa THE Scene 9
! Around Salt Lake." with many divisions
u. thc subject suggested, as The noun
iaIns, the sunset. City Creek canyon
! B. Is surprising the amount of valuable
information md drill 300 torn of express
sion that can be- brought out of "a ten or
] fifteen minutes. conversation 40 the be-.
/ ginning Of q recitation.
have been listening che past week 10
some subjects based upon the expert.
cncg Of the recent vacation. Some of
The subjects given were, How !
Rested" 'Au Amusing Incident. 10
Kind Of Reading Tor Vacation, % THE
/ Hardest Work Did" "An Ideal Naca.
tor" "a Beautiful Sunset "Thc
| pleasantcst Day Spent
There b. danger. q b. true. IN permit.
/ ting pupils 10 write from material col
/ lcetcd from encyclopedias. from history
aud from their general reading They
seem TO think IL is easy to p1raphrasc
and to gcncullzc and most OF all TO
copy Yet there are a great many adj.
vantagcs In this method when rightly
conducted. There is the accumulation
81 many valuable facts, the example OF
a good style, the new word, the iounda.
ton for new IDEAS which pupils can gct
no other way. A selection Is beng
studied or read in class, there are many
interesting subjects suggested in most
OF our best selections which may form "a
bass for excellent composition work.
In reading lrylng's Sketch Book We
might select for subjects. IAN English
| Xmas, RIP Van Wrinkles return. lr.
Wngs Pathus, from Couuship 0i Miles
Standsh, The Plymouth OF the go.
grims' Then from books that pupils
have read, The Best Woman In David
Copperdcld, lite is Our Dictionary"
from the American Scholar.
believe that pupils IN the second
| year should be able 10 express accurate
~, clearly and simply such truths rs
! they see, that they should be sent 40
every opportunity TO good literature
and should be taught high ideals OF life,
and with good literature aud high ideals
In mind they should be kept writing
writing always with a view TO accuracy
/ and clcarress and not that they are 10
/ show literary skill Ruskin says, Great
/ art Is precisely that which never was,
nor will be taught II is the expression
Of the spirits Of great men, so that the
| wholesome teaching Is that which sim.
| ply cndeavors 10 tx those characters VI
nobleness IN the pupils mind Of which
u seems easily susceptible, without
holding out TO him as probable result
that he will ever write novels Ike
Thackeray or plays like Shakespeare"
Last, but by no means Of minor i'm.
portance, comes the literary work Of the
second year. We arc told, the aim OF
all teaching Of literature should be to
interest pupils In the best that has been
thought aud said In the world II we
fail IN this we fail utterly, u we succeed
We succeed completely
Literature Is Tor Inspiration and the
work OF the teacher Is that OF a guide.
TINS work may be considered under
three heads current events. reading by
individual pupils, aud sections studied
In class.
As Co the teaching OF current events.
Il IS not easy to say lust how much
should be given or what Kind OF current
events should be considered. We as
teachers are instructed that Il Is our
business 30 make honest. intelligent
citizens so iar as we can. The schools
teach civil government and the Constitu.
ton, but that Is not enough; there Is
need Of the study Of the questions OF
our own day A proper study OF cur.
rent events helps to discriminate against
the worthless, the sensational. and that
which dcmonlizcs. The power OF
gaining aud retaining ideas hy a single
reading is helped by this study.
The work Of looking through the
daily papers should not be given entire.
ly TO pupils, as there are many objection.
able features connected with this.
Simply a tabular statement OF the hap
penlugs, with comments shoW ing why
these events are OF import nce 10 th.
civilized world. aud the lessons 10 Dc
learned from them, Is OF great value.
The writing o, reviews OF articles
from popular magazines is helpful in
learning something Of the different
phases OF literary discussion.
Perhaps the most difficult of 40 the
work boo literature is the directing of the
individual pupils reading, but one means
ul determining the degree OF success
with which Che literature BIS taught in
the English department. is the amount
and CuaraC gT of the books read by the
pupils. The chief end to be gained is
tng formation OF % taste for reading
good literature.
10 r surprising 10 note the various
answers 90 questions calling Tor books
read through during tine previous four
months or during the summer vacation.
There arc several things noticeable in
these answers, the quality OF books
read by pupils of good homes or by
those who are being directed in their
reading and the number of trashy
hoo"a, ll the scarcity of good libraries,
connected with our schools this part 0i
the literature work is NOT success.
There ought lt least 90 be read by
pupils of This grade of work, some