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Show HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS OF INTERPRETATION 78 "Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself has said, This is my own, my native land,-" will create a thrill of real patriotic devotion, and an inner spiritual against one who is so "dead." This hum-drum they are usually given in the classroom will have the same effect upon the pupil as the raising of the flag. We do not learn through repetition of words, we learn through reaction of bias repeating of these lines as There must be repetition of experience. or our brain with waste material. (as is often done in classes in worse, real emotional cause, English literature), is useless- unproductive. Choice of Material. a a Memory gems but lumber the Memorization of paragraphs and pages, moral lessons will not stick. Mr. Clark emphasizes the importance of careful choice of material for emotion by warning us, "First, choose emotions near to the child's experience. "Second, transfer his past experiences and emotions to the par ticular poem or stanza to be read. "Third, use direct discourse, in drill work, as far as possible." "Choose selections with simple A fourth might well be added: from and simple to complex." develop emotions, reading books are filled with misfits because these funda mentals are not understood. How can a third grade child under Our stand-and therefore how can he make others comprehend-Field's "Little Boy Blue?" What child of eight can project his imagination -wonderful as it is at that time-to appreciate and, therefore, feel how a father would look back on the death of his boy, and in figure see how he would personify the "tin soldier" and "toy dog" into his own fall," faithfulness. Whittier's "The The same is true of Lowell's "First Snow Barefoot Boy," Field's "Little All-Alony" and hundreds of others which are selected because it is thought that the mention of a child or of childish things will appeal to the child. adolescent, and even the young man or woman all have the forward look: they can imagine anything for the future, but it is impossible for them to project their imagination ahead, and simultaneously contemplate an imagined past. They have an antipathy for looking back. They are always annoyed at father's The child, the |
