no attraction for the reader. Thus the highest point of interest, the climax, the crisis, may be quite close to the end of the story. It may coincide with the conclusion itself. It may be so effective that it renders unnecessary any conclusion other than itself.

The other limitations of time, locality, characters, plot, scenes, and situations, pupils will be able to deduce for themselves.

Varieties of short stories.-While in a single story there are all the preceding limitations, in range of material and method of treatment there is inexhaustible variety. No one can make a list of different kinds of stories and declare that it covers all possible or existent varieties. As human nature has pronounced tastes and certain forms recognized as successful are likely to be repeated, there are some well marked types, every one of which is represented by hundreds or thousands of examples.

The apologue has a purpose beyond mere temporary entertainment. The simplest form of the apologue is the fable such as Aesop told. In The Bible the parable teaches a moral lesson. More highly developed is the allegory, in which qualities are personified, and then made to act as the characters in the story.

The story of local color is one in which the plot may be intensly interesting, yet it is so closely related to one spot that the mind retains a deeper impression of place than plot. Vividly picturesque parts of the world are utilized in such stories as the Mexican Southwest of our country, the Creole villages of the South, the foreign slums of New York, the languorous isles of the South Pacific, the frontiers of civilization in Asia and Africa, the unreal districts of China and Japan, the unfamiliar steppes of Russia, and the colorful banks of the Nile.

The easily distinguished kinds of short stories require

nothing more than a heading here. Pupils should be able to place in such a list as this all the specimens of short stories which they read or study.

acterize any single short story it is often a better exercise of knowledge and appreciation to use some exact short illuminating phrase than to try to label it with an arbitrary mark.

Methods of writing short stories.-Authors vary greatly in their methods of composing short stories. The general starting point of Hawthorne has already been indicated. Others have declared that they start with an entire theme, which they then localize, and provide with characters. Another method is to start with the conclusion, then to work backward in planning until all the steps are determined. A problem may arise in conversation, or in an author's mind, which he then treats in short story form. One of the entries of Hawthorne illustrates this. What would be the behavior of a man who knew he was going to die as he saw for the last time his familiar associates? Some authors declare they never construct two stories in the same manner. Many pick up bits of actual life by observation, conversation, reading newspapers, and frequenting courtrooms. When pupils try to write short stories of their own they will consider many different methods for their own guidance, and in all likelihood try them all, or combine them. Consideration of this

aspect of study of the short story belongs in the chapter on composition.

Summary. In this discussion of the teaching of prose fiction the emphasis has been placed upon principles underlying the choice of the proper material first, because the best teaching in the world may be vitiated by unsuitable material. This has been followed by general indications of what elements and attributes of prose fiction should be called to the attention of high school pupils, following somewhat the progression of the advancing study through successive years. Finally, there has been anticipated the correlation of this study with composition for which the only complete available unit is the short story. There may be rapid surveys of American and English literature in say the second term of the tenth year, or in the twelfth year, at which time cognizance should be taken of the place in literary development of the modern short story.

Although the contents of this chapter will make plain to the aspiring conscientious teacher that his reading of the best must continue always, it supplements this direction by an admonition to sample contemporary productions as widely as discriminating taste and time will permit. The teacher need not be a bookworm, but it is reasonable to expect that he will like to read for pleasure and instruction. With faculties trained by knowledge of what literature has been, what it may be, and what it should be, he need not be dragged into the mad pursuit of the latest best seller. On the other hand he will know that the days of good books have not faded irrevocably from our earth. If he has to choose between George Meredith and the latest widely-advertised Scandinavian he should not hesitate long or select unwisely. If he knows only two novels of George Eliot he has no time to be paging through the book form of the most recent serial from a woman's periodical. These contemporary stories are

doubtless entertaining. A teacher of English needs for his classroom work a certain equipment which the latest books cannot supply adequately. If his youthful reading has been wisely chosen he will early in life have made the acquaintance of the greatest prose fiction. Endowed with that fortunate background, he may read more and more freely among less assured productions. Nor need he be dwarfed by an immersion in standard literature. It is a disturbing revelation to know how few of the books mentioned in the particular history of literature from which they are teaching, many teachers have even examined, to say nothing of having actually read. Prospective teachers of English may rectify this easily by following professorial precept. Teachers in the profession may remedy lacks and fill hiatuses by systematized indulgence in the most pleasant dissipation in the world-the repletion of the mind by reading good books.

Exercises. See page 345.

CHAPTER III

THE CONTENT OF POETRY

The nature of poetry.-As literary critics are still discussing the essentials to be included in an acceptable definition of poetry, teachers in high schools need not insist too vigorously upon securing from young pupils a satisfactory statement of the component elements of pure poetry. It may be a good thing in the early years not to try to define the form, not to worry too much over details, not to try to draw a distinct line between verse and poetry, not to show boys and girls how some writers publish their compositions under the title of verses, while others boldly claim the right to designate them as poems. Such discussions belong in the last two years of high school study. Before that time pupils should be taught poetry, rather than facts about poetry. When the mind is ready for some statement of what real poetry is, the definitions in the Encyclopedia Britannica and the Century Dictionary may be memorized and explained. If these descriptions seem too intricate and abstract for pupils, an easy approach may be made by starting with the famous definition of the Frenchman who said that poetry was unequal lines upon a page with irregular wide margins. A further step is provided by the qualities suggested in the Encyclopedia Britannica discussion. "No literary expression can, properly speaking, be called poetry that is not in a certain deep sense emotional whatever may be its subject matter, concrete in its method and its diction, rhythmical in movement, and artistic in form." Every word of this, every phrase, every implication, must be absolutely clear