e the elements of his greatness?

From the three paragraphs (pp. 80-84) the first of which begins: "In
fact, one of the leading features in the mind of Burns is this vigour of
his strictly intellectual perceptions," would Carlyle have us believe
that Burns had a strong character? To what extent, if at all, did he
have a strong character?

Is it true that there was "but one era in the life of Burns, and that
the earliest"? (see p. 99).

To what extent was his life a failure?

What were the causes of his failure? What share of the blame belongs to
his friends and acquaintances?

To what extent was his life a success?

FORM.--Basing your answers on a few specific paragraphs, tell what you
find about the unity of the paragraphs, the clearness of their
development, regularity of sentence structure.

Do you find the words specific or general? forceful and full of feeling,
or conventional?

How much use is made of figurative language?

Does the style seem finished as though the work had been revised with
care, or rough as though written at white heat and not revised?
Illustrate.

THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--What do we know of Carlyle's
parents? his education? the simplicity and severity of his early life?
his perplexity in choosing his life work? his friendship with Edward
Irving? his early manhood struggles with doubt, poverty, and sickness?
his courage? his faith in himself? the slow recognition of his work?
his literary successes? his life in London? his friends? his last years?

What characteristics made Carlyle disagreeable to live with?

What characteristics made him enthusiastically admired by a multitude of
men?

What did Carlyle see in the life of Burns to attract him so strongly?

Why does it seem somewhat remarkable that he should have written
sympathetically of Burns?

Point out passages in this essay that indicate that Carlyle was a man of
deep emotion, of sympathy, of sincerity, of strong moral force.

OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF MACAULAY'S LIFE OF JOHNSON

I. Preparation

The more a student knows of life in London during Johnson's time, and
especially of the life of literary men, the more he will get from this
essay; nevertheless, it is interesting in itself without that knowledge.
It is probable that any boy or girl who takes up the book will have read
_The Vicar of Wakefield_, or at least have studied the life of Goldsmith
and have learned of the "Literary Club." To review so