Junior High School English

for any reason prefer to rearrange the details. It is not expected that any class will be taught all of Appendix E; it has been made copious so that selection of any desired material may easily be made.

4. A text should be addressed to the pupils. This one attempts to make pupils feel that they are their own teachers, showing them at each step the goal, making it seem worth attaining, and giving them by exercise the power of selfdirection.

5. Composition, like other subjects, is best taught by problems. These are made of convenient size and strongly motivated, each to accomplish some specific rhetorical end, which should be attained by all pupils in the intermediate school.

6. So far as possible the various ends of composition should be learned in application. The problems contain exercises in composition, both oral and written, in grammar, and in form spelling, pronunciation, enunciation, and punctuation - combined according to the needs of pupils and effectiveness in teaching.

7. A composition book should be practical. This the exercises constantly emphasize by the assignment of subjects and by the selection of details of form and of grammar. Only the elements of grammar useful for preventing or correcting errors are woven into the text. In Appendix E is a complete summary of elementary grammar for those who demand it, with supplementary exercises for those who need them.

8. There should be frequent application of composition to other subjects and to out-of-school needs. This is insisted on by the types of exercises and assignments used.

9. A few simple essentials of composition, especially of form and of sentence structure, should be absolutely mastered by pupils. This is insisted on by repeated attack and drill.

10. There should be adequate drill. This is provided by much interweaving and by definite reviews. At first the work is for accuracy, interest, and clearness; later, for more differentiated qualities. The same qualities are sought again and again by a variety of interesting and graded exercises.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Mr. Edwin Fairley for helpful criticisms of the manuscript and to the following publishers who have kindly permitted the use of copyright matter: The Century Company; Dodd, Mead & Company; Doubleday, Page and Company; Henry Holt and Company; The Independent; Little, Brown and Company; The School News; and Charles Scribner's Sons. The selections from John Burroughs are used by permission of and by special arrangement with Houghton Mifflin Company.

Books