Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1903-11-06
INTERESTING PAPER
On .sLiternture In the High School
Read by Prof. Thompson At
the Hagerman 7eeting-


Joys, their sorrows. and their sins,
History may make US acquainted
with the facts of nations life, but
iiteratDre brings us face to face
with the p ople. Not alone through
the hist 'rians, but through the
poets of ancient times do we see
reflected ancient life, culture and
custom In every age and in
every country literature has stood
as the interpreter OF the civilization,
and those nations having the most
highly developed litcratures have
invariably been those whose cul-
t,lre and refinement far excelled
that Of their contemporaries.
From a culture point OF view,
literature should take first rank
among the subjects of the High
School curriculum. Mathematics
may give discipline to the mind,
History store It with facts, and
Science render more acute t e
power of observation, but literature
alone leaves lasting impressions OF
culture.
How little do we feel of the aes-
thetic or ethical emotions when we
read the formula ar times the
square root of 3, but how the
soul wells up from its purest
depths when we read and contem-
plate the thoughts contained in the
closing lines of-"To Waterfowl
NThanatopsis," or 1.-THE Chambered
Nautilus" What reveller in the
beauties of nature has not read
with charmed interest the poems
OF Thomson or caught the dreamy
contagion of Sleepy Hollow:
Shall all of this universe of
beautiful thought and sen iment
be shut out from the mind of the
student until he reaches the High
SCHOOL,
There has been a growing de- |
Tiand for more literature, more of |
nature and culture studies below
the high school and this demand |
has been brought about largely by /
the Department of English. Tea
chers of English feel that The
groundwork for the best results ini
their department must be well lid
in the grades, and grade teachers
feel that they ought to begin the
work of shaping the literary taste
before the pupil passes into the
High School. In consequence of
t e realization of such needs, tea
chers have been laboring, for the
reformation of school work in the
grades. Many changes have been
made, good literature introduced,
and much go d has been accom-
plished thereby. both in the grades
and for the High school. Until
recent years litera ure was very
poorly taught. The ideal was
wrong and hence the teaching
Too much time was consumed by
pupils learning lengthy biogra-
phies and comments about authors
The critical study If what authors
wrote was overlooked, or neglected
Many teachers, even now, do more
work in b ography than Is really
il the teaching of High
School Literature. In American
many of the biographies
have been learned, briefly, in the
grades and need not be dwelt upon
much in the class. With the great
of inexpensive small clas-
sizes and numerous encyclopedias at
the disposal of both teacher and
pupil, no sp cial text on literature {
is necessary.
The teacher should require each
pupil to provide himself with a
notebook suitable for pen, and
write therein biography of each
author studied. This work should
be done at home after the first BIZ
,graphy has been written. The I
first should be written in the class
room under the care and instruc-
ion of the teacher. These written
sketches should be collected regu-
arly, by the teacher, corrected and
graded.
To add to the attractiveness OF
the books and at the same time