{"product_id":"2940014501637","title":"English Literature","description":"PREFACE\u003cbr\u003eThis book, which presents the whole splendid history of English\u003cbr\u003eliterature\u003cbr\u003efrom Anglo-Saxon times to the close of the Victorian Era, has three\u003cbr\u003especific aims. The first is to create or to encourage in every student\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003edesire to read the best books, and to know literature itself rather\u003cbr\u003ethan\u003cbr\u003ewhat has been written about literature. The second is to interpret\u003cbr\u003eliterature both personally and historically, that is, to show how a\u003cbr\u003egreat\u003cbr\u003ebook generally reflects not only the author's life and thought but\u003cbr\u003ealso the\u003cbr\u003espirit of the age and the ideals of the nation's history. The third\u003cbr\u003eaim is\u003cbr\u003eto show, by a study of each successive period, how our literature has\u003cbr\u003esteadily developed from its first simple songs and stories to its\u003cbr\u003epresent\u003cbr\u003ecomplexity in prose and poetry.\u003cbr\u003eTo carry out these aims we have introduced the following features:\u003cbr\u003e(1) A brief, accurate summary of historical events and social\u003cbr\u003econditions in\u003cbr\u003eeach period, and a consideration of the ideals which stirred the whole\u003cbr\u003enation, as in the days of Elizabeth, before they found expression in\u003cbr\u003ePage 1\u003cbr\u003eEnglish Literature\u003cbr\u003eliterature.\u003cbr\u003e(2) A study of the various literary epochs in turn, showing what each\u003cbr\u003egained from the epoch preceding, and how each aided in the development\u003cbr\u003eof a\u003cbr\u003enational literature.\u003cbr\u003e(3) A readable biography of every important writer, showing how he\u003cbr\u003elived\u003cbr\u003eand worked, how he met success or failure, how he influenced his age,\u003cbr\u003eand\u003cbr\u003ehow his age influenced him.\u003cbr\u003e(4) A study and analysis of every author's best works, and of many of\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003ebooks required for college-entrance examinations.\u003cbr\u003e(5) Selections enough--especially from earlier writers, and from\u003cbr\u003ewriters\u003cbr\u003enot likely to be found in the home or school library--to indicate the\u003cbr\u003espirit of each author's work; and directions as to the best works to\u003cbr\u003eread,\u003cbr\u003eand where such works may be found in inexpensive editions.\u003cbr\u003e(6) A frank, untechnical discussion of each great writer's work as a\u003cbr\u003ewhole,\u003cbr\u003eand a critical estimate of his relative place and influence in our\u003cbr\u003eliterature.\u003cbr\u003e(7) A series of helps to students and teachers at the end of each\u003cbr\u003echapter,\u003cbr\u003eincluding summaries, selections for reading, bibliographies, a list of\u003cbr\u003esuggestive questions, and a chronological table of important events in\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003ehistory and literature of each period.\u003cbr\u003e(8) Throughout this book we have remembered Roger Ascham's suggestion,\u003cbr\u003emade\u003cbr\u003eover three centuries ago and still pertinent, that \"'tis a poor way to\u003cbr\u003emake\u003cbr\u003ea child love study by beginning with the things which he naturally\u003cbr\u003edislikes.\" We have laid emphasis upon the delights of literature; we\u003cbr\u003ehave\u003cbr\u003etreated books not as mere instruments of research--which is the danger\u003cbr\u003ein\u003cbr\u003emost of our studies--but rather as instruments of enjoyment and of\u003cbr\u003einspiration; and by making our study as attractive as possible we have\u003cbr\u003esought to encourage the student to read widely for himself, to choose\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003ebest books, and to form his own judgment about what our first\u003cbr\u003eAnglo-Saxon\u003cbr\u003ewriters called \"the things worthy to be remembered.\"\u003cbr\u003ePage 2\u003cbr\u003eEnglish Literature\u003cbr\u003eTo those who may use this book in their homes or in their class rooms,\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003ewriter ventures to offer one or two friendly suggestions out of his\u003cbr\u003eown\u003cbr\u003eexperience as a teacher of young people. First, the amount of space\u003cbr\u003ehere\u003cbr\u003egiven to different periods and authors is not an index of the relative\u003cbr\u003eamount of time to be spent upon the different subjects. Thus, to tell\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003estory of Spenser's life and ideals requires as much space as to tell\u003cbr\u003ethe\u003cbr\u003estory of Tennyson; but the average class will spend its time more\u003cbr\u003epleasantly and profitably with the latter poet than with the former.\u003cbr\u003eSecond, many authors who are and ought to be included in this history\u003cbr\u003eneed\u003cbr\u003enot be studied in the class room. A text-book is not a catechism but a\u003cbr\u003estorehouse, in which one finds what he wants, and some good things\u003cbr\u003ebeside.\u003cbr\u003eFew classes will find time to study Blake or Newman, for instance; but\u003cbr\u003ein\u003cbr\u003enearly every class there will be found one or two students who are\u003cbr\u003eattracted by the mysticism of Blake or by the profound spirituality of\u003cbr\u003eNewman. Such students should be encouraged to follow their own\u003cbr\u003espirits, and\u003cbr\u003eto share with their classmates the joy of their discoveries. And they\u003cbr\u003eshould find in their text-book the material for their own study and\u003cbr\u003ereading.\u003cbr\u003eA third suggestion relates to the method of teaching literature; and\u003cbr\u003ehere\u003cbr\u003eit might be well to consider the word of a great poet,--that if you\u003cbr\u003ewould\u003cbr\u003eknow where the ripest cherries are, ask the boys and the blackbirds.\u003cbr\u003eIt is\u003cbr\u003esurprising how much a young person will get out of the _Merchant of\u003cbr\u003eVenice_, and somehow arrive at Shakespeare's opinion of Shylock and\u003cbr\u003ePo","brand":"All Classic eBooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083768742128,"sku":"2940014501637","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014501637_p0.jpg?v=1763609874","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014501637","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}