Charlevoix county herald., 1920-07-16

'eoerdI bureau OF Eoucatton GETS ne
ports From Americans Who Are
Pursuing the Home Reading Course
interesting Comments on the
Classics-Divergence Of Opinion
Over "Alice in Wonderland"
If the shade of Shakespeare. of HO-
ner or of any of the other immortals
ever wants to know what the twenti-
eth century thinks of his works he
IAN find out by referring to the filed
'eports of 10000 average Americans
Who are pursuing the home reading
courses of the federal bureau Of edu-
.ation.
There are II of these courses, bur
,ully three-fourths of the govern
nent's readers are registered for the
course in classical books. This fact
night pleasantly thrill the authors OF
he classics, for If they keep up with
The times they must notice the dust
s more apt to gather on their immOr-
sal works than on the novels of Rob-
art w. Chambers and Ethel M. Dell.
The immortals would doubtless be
pleased with the comments on their
art. Most of the readers record their
Impressions in terms flowery and fiat
tering and in the respectful tone pre-
scribed for one who speaks of "the
classics"
Think Ancient Poet Vague.
Now and again, however, a more
daring mortal departs from adjectives
and superlatives to insert an original
idea into a report. Such one is the
young woman who thinks the last
chapter Of Homer's Iliad must have
been lost before it got to the printer,
because the fate of Troy and that OF
Priam are only vaguely explained.
1t is hard to say what Shakespeare
would think of the reader who thinks
it interesting to compare the insanity
Of Hamlet with that of Ophelia. Per-
hapS he would say careleSsly: "Well,
perhaps | did mean Hamlet to be era
~. but | forget now. You see. I-or
was it Bacon?-have written so many
plays"
Most impressions inspired by the
classics are monotonously favorable.
None of the readers seems TO be por
ing over antique literature for the I'M
holy JOY of unburdening a philistinr
soul i'm a scathing report. The home
reading division would certainly not
accept any report written In SANDER
Gus vein. On the other hand, II does
feel that the American public Is prone
TO put on a fixed attitude of mind,
sort of pious prejudice, when IT opens
q classic. This precludes any unbi-
ased or original thinking.
Open Mind Recommended.
IF people would only take up these
books as If they had never heard Of
them I" said Miss Ellen Lombard, d.
rector of home reading. eff the read
er would come TO Shakespeare and
Milton with an open mind, he would
begin TO like them for the qualities
which appeal to him and not spend
his time trying to see what other peO-
pie have found"
Still, Miss Lombard believes people
are getting a great deal out Of the
courses, that they read thoughtfully
and are sincere in their conventional
admiration. All are reading the rec
commended lists, because 1t will add to
their knowledge and enjoyment. Those
who send in reports do so because II
is required, If they are to receive "a
hA h,,r
pletiOn Of the course. Many more out
side of the $1,000 now registered as
trying for certificates send for the out
lines and read without making re-
ports.
Some of the governments readers
are children as young as nine or ten
years of age. Others are more than
seventy. Some are college graduates
and many more never reached high
school, The children's reports are es-
pecially interesting. They are not
yet overawed by the fact that "Ivan-
hoe" or 1.-The Merchant Of Venice" are
on the immortal list and they say
what they think in emphatic terms.
They All Look for Morals.
The greatest Emergencies of opin-
ion seem to be over alice in Wonder
land" which is on the list of books
for girls. One girl of thirteen thinks
the book is clever, but very odd and
queer. Another learned from it that
when people are out in the open air
they have good dreams" A girl of
around ten thinks Alice a good enough
book for young children who like fairy
, tales. but that Ii Is not interesting for
older children while a fourth gathers
moral from Allce's adventures witll
,lagic bottles and cakes, and says at
caches me not to be curious and to
Link before doing things"
The boys and girls almost invariably
twist moral out of a story and hold II
up as their justification for the books
existence. "Evangeline" teaches boy
of thirteen that people ought to be all
kind to one another" A girl says OF
Little Women: 1T has many things