5 30. THE AMERICAN FLAG Stanza I. When Freedom from her mountain height And striped its pure celestial white JOSEPH RODMan Drake. 30. More figurative language. Compare No. 13. Line 1. Would a less exalted idea of Freedom or a less elevated position have been in harmony with the imaginative ideas in the succeeding lines? Line 2. Unfurled. - A word that suggests both opening and spreading something large to the wind, as a flag or a sail. Standard. See title, "The American Flag." Line 3. Could this azure robe of night come from the same kind of night as the one that threw her silver mantle o'er the dark in No. 17? Line 4. There. - Where? Glory, distinction accorded by common consent to a person or thing. Line 5. Its. Whose? (Of the azure robe of night or of the standard?) Meaning of dyes? Gorgeous, showy; resplendent; very bright. Line 6. Milky baldric (belt) the Milky Way. Is the poet here using for his comparison the stars of the Milky Way, or the long, white, luminous effect produced by the multitude of stars? Does he refer to the stars of the flag or to the white bars? Line 7. To what does its refer to the standard, the azure robe of night, or the milky baldric? Line 8. To which color does this refer? Line 9. How do you like the figurative language? We cannot apply cold logic to such expressions. They will not stand the test. Still we have no quarrel with the poet. We sense the meaning clearly and pay our tribute to the beauty in which his thought is clothed. In this particular instance, the poet is but carrying out the proportions of the picture as he began it. Freedom, on the mountain height, must find her eagle proportionately above her. Symbol (line 12). — See standard, line 2, and also "The American Flag," title. Memorize. The broad appeal that literature makes to the imagination may be seen in the following list: Chap. I. Nos. 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, etc. Chap. IX. Nos. 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24. Chap. X. Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, etc. TURNER, TEACH. TO READ 30 Chap. XI. (Part I) Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 23, etc. (Part II) Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 17, 18, 20, etc. (Part III) Nos. 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, etc. Chap. XII. Nos. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, etc. Chap. XIII. Nos. 6, 8, 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20. Chap. XIV. Nos. 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, etc. SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN REVIEW I. (No. 2.) Which words appeal to the imagination through the sight? Through the hearing? The feelings? 2. (No. 14.) Describe a picture that would illustrate line I, stanza 1. 3. The same, line 2. 6. (Nos. 14-17.) Which description do you consider the finest? Give your reasons for so deciding. 7. (No. 23.) success? 8. (No. 27.) "The Victor of 9. (No. 28.) 66 azure world"? What was the secret of the artist's What qualities of a good story does Marengo possess? How could an eagle be ring'd with the Explain why the expressions wrinkled sea and crawls may be permissible. 10. (No. 30.) Explain the meaning of lines 5 and 6; lines 7 and 8. Why is the Eagle's mansion placed in the sun? CHAPTER XVI STUDIES IN INTERPRETING THE SPIRIT It is not enough that the reader present the thought of the selection, in a large variety of reading matter; he must present also the spirit of the selection. Considerable work has already been done along this line in preceding chapters. Many selections have contained dialogue and conversation, and although they were being considered at the time from other viewpoints, the reader has been urged to present conversation "naturally," - that is, to try to understand just how the speakers would feel; to try to feel as they felt; and to speak as they spoke. The emotional motives behind Exclamations and behind many Interrogations have been studied and interpreted. Contrasts in emotions have been presented, and Quick Changes in emotions, and many of the studies in Quotations contained spirited parts. The Imagination has painted pictures that have stirred the emotions; Gradations in emotions have been felt; and stanza after stanza of poetry has been studied in the effort to catch the spirit of each refrain, for while a large part of our reading matter appeals to the intellectual powers, an equally large part appeals to the emotional nature. The spirit in which a part is to be read is often plainly indicated by the author in the context (see Nos. 4, 6, 7); and sometimes it must be gleaned from the thought (1, 2). Sometimes it appears in single words (8); often it changes from clause to clause (9); and sometimes it becomes the "atmosphere" of an entire selection (18, 20). No selection of any length is uniformly in but one spirit. PEDAGOGICAL INTRODUCTION Chapter XVI deals particularly with the development of the emotional nature. Its aim is to lead the pupils to feel, and to express what they feel. We never know what a pupil is capable of, along this line, until we test him and train him. There is no normal boy or girl whose feelings cannot be touched along some line. But a pupil who responds admirably to a serious sentiment may require long stimulation before he will loose the rein to jollity or enthusiasm. Another will love the cheerful things, and shrink from the sad. Some will appear to shrink from everything. The cause may be diffidence, self-consciousness, embarrassment, fear, all of which are foes to abandon. She Here again the teacher must be the leader. must be able, through her ability to appeal to the imagination, to throw about the class the "atmosphere " of the selection. She must be able to read facial expression, and to gauge the moment to call for utterance. It has been said that what we need to-day is teachers who are themselves lovers of the beautiful, the sublime, the tender; but what we need is teachers who not only love such things, but who also know how to express |