ENGLISH STUDIES IN INTERPRETATION AND COMPOSITION FOR HIGH SCHOOLS BY M. S. WOODLEY AND O. I. WOODLEY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, PASSAIC, NEW JERSEY New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO. LTD. 1906 All rights reserved PREFACE LANGUAGE growth takes place in two ways: by increasing the quantity of language that a person can understand or produce, and by increasing his power to appreciate or produce quality in language. The quantity of language may be increased by adding to the information which a person possesses, and by gaining increased facility in the expression of thought. The power to appreciate and produce quality may be increased by the development of the ability to recognize literary excellence. Those phases of the subject that aid in increasing the facility in the use of language and the development of the language-sense often do not receive the continuous attention which they should, and thus there is but little real language growth. Even in the language recitation, the main energy of both teacher and pupil, in most cases, is chiefly expended in gaining information; and thus this so-called language study contributes to language growth in much the same way as the study of history, geography, and other subjects. More attention should be given to gaining facility in the use of language and to the development of the language-sense than is usually the case, if there is to be any real language growth. Language has its subject-matter which should receive careful consideration at such times as the needs of the pupil require. Less effort, however, should be given to this phase of language study, and more to acquiring a good |