READING 



4943 



READING 



5. Study the emotions which animate the 

 characters. Napoleon shows ambition, anxiety, 

 joy in victory and sympathy; the unnamed boy 

 displays heroism, pride and love for his em- 

 peror. 



6. Try to feel the inspiration of the poem 

 the natural pride in the heroism which could 

 endure, smiling, the fate of this toy. 



The Recitation. Such explanations as are 



n above should be made to the pupils when 



lesson is assigned, that their appreciation 



of the poem may not be dulled by lack of 



proper background. 



1. Have the poem read aloud, each stanza by 

 a different pupil. 



2. Watch for faulty expression, which indi- 

 cates lack of comprehension. This will be far 

 more frequent in this poem than in a simpler 

 poem, as The Village Blacksmith. 



3. Let the pupils indicate words, phrases or 

 sentences which they do not understand. 



4. Make a list of words which are unusual 

 which would not be used in ordinary prose. 

 See whether you can tell why Browning used 

 each one. 



5. Draw from the pupils their ideas of the 

 characters. A picture of Napoleon in the char- 

 acteristic attitude described here will help. 

 The boy's looks they must imagine. They will 

 doubtless be inclined to picture him as too 

 young. He was probably eighteen or twenty. 



6. If the class is not too large, have each pu- 

 pil read the entire poem aloud. It will give 

 excellent practice in expression. The teacher 

 should bear in mind, however, the caution given 

 above that it is reading and not elocution 

 which is being taught; and only such dramatic 

 power should be insisted upon as indicates an 

 intelligent understanding of the poem and its 

 emotions. A.MC c. 



Book* for Parent*. In the article LITERA- 

 TURE is included a list of books for children. For 

 parents who wish to fit themselves more fully 

 for their great task, the following books are 

 recommended : 



Betts' Mothers and Fathers; St. John's Child 

 Nature and Child Nurture; Johnson's Education 

 I/I/ Plays and Games; Allen's Home, School and 

 Vacation; Allen's Making the Best of Our Chil- 

 dren; Bray's The Town Child; Mills' The Mother 

 Artist; Scott's How to Know Your Child; Har- 

 rison's A Study of Child Nature; Gruenburg'a 

 Your Child Today and Tomorrow; Read's The 

 Mothercraft Manual; Walker's Ch'.ld Cul'ure and 

 Motherhood; Burbank's The Training of the Hu- 

 man Pkni | Mothers and Children; For- 

 bush's The Boy Problem in the Home; Perry's 

 ation the Basis of Association; and The 

 Parents' Guide, published by the University So- 

 ciety of New York. 



Related Subjects. The following articles in 

 these volumes may assist the reader in the choice 

 of interesting and helpful reading matter: 

 American Literature German Literature 

 Ballad Irish Literature 



Bible Language 



Biography Literature 



Canadian Literature Lyric Poetry 

 Drama Novel 



English Literature Ode 



Epic Parable 



Essay Poetry 



Fable Prose 



Fiction Romance 



French Literature 



The articles on DICTIONARY and ENCYCLOPE- 

 DIA may also be consulted, as well as those listed 

 as SPECIFIC REFERENCES in the index under LIT- 

 ERATURE. 



READING, red' ing, PA., a prosperous manu- 

 facturing city, the county seat of Berks County, 

 situated in the southeastern section of the state, 

 on the Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill 

 Canal. Philadelphia is fifty-eight miles south- 

 east, and New York City is 126 miles northeast. ' 

 Transportation is provided by the Pennsyl- 

 vania, the Wilmington & Northern and the 

 Philadelphia & Reading railways. In 1748 two 

 sons of William Penn, the founder of the Penn- 

 sylvania colony, platted the town and named 

 it for the English city of Reading. It was in- 

 corporated as a borough in 1783, became a city 

 in 1847 and since 1913 has been governed on 

 the commission plan. In 1910 the population 

 was 96,071; in 1916 it was 109,381 (Federal 

 estimate). The area was enlarged in 1867 and 

 in 1869, and now exceeds six square miles. 



Parks and Resorts. A number of electric 

 and gravity railways wind about the mountains 

 in the immediate vicinity of Reading, and make 

 possible delightful excursions to various pleas- 

 ure resorts. From the summit of Mount Penn 

 (1,100 feet), crowned by a Chinese pagoda, and 

 that of Neversink Mountain (800 feet), may be 

 seen magnificent views of the surrounding coun- 

 try. Penn Common is the most attractive of 

 the park reservations, which cover 295 acres. 

 It has an immense rink for roller-skating in 

 summer; in winter, this rink is flooded and 

 used for ice-skating. Mineral Spring Park and 

 the Zoological Garden also offer attractions to 

 pleasure seekers, and the Schuylkill River pro- 

 vides boating and bathing. 



Buildings and Institutions. Among the note- 

 worthy structures of the city are the county 

 ft house, city hall, the post office, erected in 

 1887 at a cost exceeding $200,000, the Museum 

 and Art Gallery, the $275,000 Y. M. C. A. 

 building, the Natatorium, and a concrete via- 



