FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31  
32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   >>   >|  
what they say of one another? INTERPRETATION.--It is fair to suppose in every novel that the author has had a more or less distinct purpose in writing it. It may be to present in life-like pictures some dramatic events in history; or to paint vivid scenes that illustrate the spirit of an age; or to hold up ideals of bravery, patriotism, patience, devotion, or some other virtue; or to show the working out of some great truth or principle of life. What seems to you the purpose of the author in _Ivanhoe_? What ideals of character does he hold up? What service has he done for the reader of history? METHOD OF NARRATION.--Who tells the story? Would it be difficult to rearrange the plan so that Ivanhoe or some other character should tell it? Why? Does the narrator speak from the standpoint of one who somehow or other knows all that the characters do and think and feel, or of one who recounts merely his own feelings and what he sees and hears? Compare _Ivanhoe_ in this respect with _The Vicar of Wakefield_, or with some other novel. STYLE.--Does Scott attempt to reproduce the language of a time other than his own? Does he introduce dialect? Do the characters talk naturally as we should expect persons of different birth and education to talk, or do they talk alike? Note how Scott describes an outdoor scene (p. 6); a man (p. 7); a scene of action (pp. 300-306). Try to imitate his methods in descriptions of your own. Note the parts of the story where the movement of events is very rapid (pp. 322-330), and others where the author introduces description or exposition (pp. 148-152) to retard the movement. Do you find the sentences natural and easy, or formal and hard to read? Are there many unfamiliar words? THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--What are the main facts of Scott's boyhood? his education? his professional career? his success as a poet? his change from poetry to prose? his success as a novelist? his financial distress? his struggle to meet the demands of the law and of his own honor? Would you judge from _Ivanhoe_ that the author was a man of learning? a lover of nature? fond of social life? fond of animals? fond of children? Write what you think we have reason to believe of Scott's character from reading this book. OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF THE VICAR OF WAKEFIELD I. Preparation It is well to suggest to pupils who have read _Ivanhoe_ and now turn to the _Vicar of Wakefield_ that th
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31  
32   33   34   35   36   37   38   39   40   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Ivanhoe

 

author

 
character
 

Wakefield

 

ideals

 

success

 

events

 
movement
 

purpose

 

history


education

 

characters

 

exposition

 
descriptions
 
description
 

methods

 

imitate

 
introduces
 

natural

 

sentences


formal
 

retard

 
change
 

reason

 

reading

 

children

 

animals

 

learning

 

nature

 
social

OUTLINE

 

pupils

 

suggest

 
Preparation
 

WAKEFIELD

 
boyhood
 
professional
 

career

 

AUTHOR

 
CHARACTER

demands

 
struggle
 
distress
 

poetry

 

novelist

 

financial

 

unfamiliar

 
virtue
 
working
 

devotion