(4) Apparatus and appliances for instruction. Apparatus which illustrates a new method or shows the latest development or new application of an important educational principle will be exhibited in great variety. The commercial sections will display all kinds of geographical apparatus, laboratory fittings and materials and instruments of precision. (5) Pupils' work-literary, scientific, mechanical and artistic. An exhibit of pupils' work may be made to represent the work of a school with considerable clearness and fidelity. Bound volumes of work arranged by years or grades, and illustrating fully the curriculum, are indispensable portions of an exhibit. What will the teacher learn from the educational exhibits? First of all, he will learn the tremendous importance of education in the present life of the world. He will be impressed as never before with the amount of money, the number of men and the quality of brain and heart that are directing the great educational interests of the world. Seven acres of exhibits will proclaim them as no other possible means could proclaim them, and he will be proud of the fact that he belongs to the noble army of men who in every nation and in every clime are preparing youth for manhood and womanhood. He will also learn that others are doing in other ways and often in better ways what he is doing in his way. One is tempted to believe that what he does with his whole heart is done as well as it can be done. An exposition of this kind is a great promoter of modesty. "Where are the heathen?" said 66 one visitor to another, after studying the exhibits of the different nations at the Chicago exposition. In my own county," was the response of the listener. He who will may rise from his humility to better things. He may find the better way in which some other man does the work which he does. As he compares the exhibit of one nation with that of another, he will add to his own knowledge and his own power the knowledge which others have won and the strength of many men. The chief results, however, from the study of educational exhibits are not immediate. The wiser knowledge, the new view, the change in attitude are indeed immediate and important. But the new knowledge is the fruitful seed of future wisdom, the new view is the true view, and the change in attitude is a change in direction that affects all future progress. Outline Study of Silas Marner MAUD E. KINGSLEY, EAST MACHIAS, ME. A. Preparatory Work. I. The Novel. 1. Definition of, varieties of. 2. Place of the novel in literature. 3. Value of the novel. 4. The evolution of the novel: the epic, the drama, the romance, the novel. 5. The rise and growth of the novel. 6. Robinson Crusoe and the Vicar of Wakefield. 7. The first English novelists. 8. Modern English fiction. (a) Thackeray, Dickens, Eliot. B. First Reading of Silas Marner. I. The Narrative. 1. Chapter headings. (a) Chapter i, The Wrecking of Marner's Life. (c) Chapter iii, The Cass Family. (d) Chapter iv, The Theft. SUGGESTION.-Let pupils suggest a heading for each chapter and let class discuss carefully the appropriateness of each. 2. Outline of narrative by chapters. Example :— (a) Chapter i Favorite method of cloth making; weaving: personal appearance of weavers, superstitions connected with the craft, location of the industry, social position of the weavers; character of the old-time peasant; Silas Marner's trade; description of the cottage; reception of curious urchins; pen picture of Silas; opinion of the villagers concerning Silas (interpolation); Raveloe; Marner's long residence in Raveloe; his mode of life; physical infirmity; Jem Rodney's story; Mr. Macey's comments; Silas' medical skill; freedom from persecution; his earnings; story of Marner's early life: religion, character, reputation among his fellows; his friend, contrast between the two; chief topic of conversation; Marner's engagement; effect of Marner's infirmity upon Sarah and William; the deacon's illness; charge against Silas, the outcome; Marner's accusation, his departure. II. Plan of the Story. I. Introduction, Chapters i, ii, as far as "This is the history." (a) Weaving. NOTE. A description of this industry as it arose in the early part of the nineteenth century, with mention of the superstitions clustering around the trade and its followers, and the consequent social position of the weavers as a class, lead up to the introduction of the hero of the tale and account in part for his eccentricities. The introduction is also valuable for the glimpse it gives of the times in which the action of the story is laid. (b) Marner's early history. 2. Body of the story; divided into two parts. (b) Sixteen years after. 3. Conclusion. C. Second Reading. I. Place of the Action of the Story. 1. Description of. II. Time of the Action of the Story. III. Characters of the Novel. 1. Characters in order of their appearance; identification of each. 2. Classification of characters. (a) Six chief characters. (b) Characters directly concerned in the plot development. (c) Characters useless to plot development. 3. Character sketches. 4. Character revealing episodes. (State the significance of each.) The brown pot, scene in the Red House parlor, the selling of Wildfire, Marner's meeting with Jem, Godfrey and the Squire, the yellow gown, Nancy and Miss Gunn, Godfrey and the dead woman, Nancy's reception of Godfrey's confession. NOTE. The characteristics of the actors in this story are brought out by conversation rather than by action. 5. Delineative pictures. IV. Three Aspects of the Story. 1. Story of Silas. (a) Early life. (b) Four great changes in his life. 1. From useful member of the little church to the recluse of Raveloe. Change effected by what means? 2. From recluse to miser. 3. From miser to man with no interest whatever in life. (a) Change effected by what means. (b) Characterization of this change. ("Formerly . . broken," ix.) 4. From heart-broken man to useful member of society. (c) Characters directly or indirectly concerned in these changes. 2. Story of Godfrey Cass: How connected with Marner story? 3. Story of Eppie: How connected with Cass and Marner stories? V. Significant Allusions of the Text. VI. Manners and Customs of Rural England. 1. Daily life: Industries, methods of travel, dress, D. Third Reading. I. Construction of the Novel. 1. Fundamental thought: Found in the title-verse (learn). The same sentiment is repeated in Chapter xiv ("In old days . . . child's "). 2. The plot: The production of the various changes in Marner's character. (a) Chief agencies concerned in the plot development: The loss of the gold; the finding of the child. ་ 3. Underplot: Godfrey's secret marriage. (a) Incidents developing underplot: Dunstan's journey; the robbery; the finding of Eppie; draining the stone pit. NOTE. The scene in the Red House parlor and the finding of the dead woman connect the plot and the underplot. 4. Problem discussed in the story: The influence of individuals upon one another. II. Literary Analysis of Silas Marner. 1. Excellences of style. (a) Great strength in the delineation of character. (c) Plot simple, and field of action narrow, yet the 2. Chief fault in literary style: a tendency to moralize. 3. Details entering into the construction of the story. (a) Dramatic incidents. (6) Expressive similes. (c) Unfamiliar and peculiarly English words and phrases. (d) Bits of noteworthy description: Marner and his loom, the tea-table at Red House, Lantern Yard sixteen years after, Silas amid the gathering at the Rainbow, Aaron singing carols, Raveloe church on Christmas day, the procession marches into the White Parlor, Silas' first glimpse of the child, the bridal procession. (e) Touches revealing the author's subtle humor : Laying up a stock of linen, Marner's idea of the Rainbow, views on pronunciation, story of the glazier's wife, Dolly's opinion of men, Uncle Kimble at cards, description of Mrs. Kimble, etc. (f) Didactic interpolations. E. Supplementary Work. I. George Eliot. 1. Name by birth, by choice, by marriage. |