Abilene High School - Orange and Brown Yearbook (Abilene, KS)

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' CHAPEL the four classes of discourse: narration, description, exposition, and argumentation. ln themes, oral and written. he relates stories of his own experience or of his imagi- nation, and presents the results of investigations he has made, in language as clear, as vigorous, and as effective as he can command. Clear seeing and vivid reproduc- tion are encouraged in description, and logical thinking and clear expression go hand in hand in argumentation. The Junior needs also to grasp the elementary princi- ples of the art of short story writing. But not only is the third year student trained in further self-expression but his acquaintance with English literature is extended. Such selections from Dickens, Scott, Thoreau, Huxley, Shakespeare and others as reveal the life and thought of certain epochs, or present the problems of all life, thus furnishing a stimulus to vigorous thinking and expression, are studied in class. Outside reading of three books each semester is required. These are to be chosen from a list comprising the best works of fiction, poetry, essays, biography and travel. lf the Junior reads, from the list, five books in addition to those required, during the semester, he is given five extra points of credit. Finally, with a sufficient glance at the history of literature to enable him to surround his reading with the proper atmosphere, the third year student has com- pleted the required course in English. SENIOR ENGLISH The student of Senior English elects the course. In his fourth year's Work the history of English and American literature and much illustrative reading are corre- lated. The lecture method is pursued in part, that the Senior may have some ex- perience in note taking. Special time is devoted to the study of the novel as an art form, and some works of fiction are more or less analytically studied Both Written and oral reports on topics most closely related to the thought and art of the authors studied, and on those opened up by class discussions are an essential part of the SIXTEEN

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he Work of the .School Department of English FRESHMAN ENGLISH The work in Freshman English is necessarily very elementary. Its aim, in modified form, is that of the other years of the course: to stimulate appreciative reading, and to develop in the pupils the ability to express their ideas, both orally and in writing, with a fair degree of correctness. From the beginning, these two sides of the work, literature and composition, are correlated. During the first year, the pupils are encouraged to read for the storyg that is, to read with the idea of getting the full message of the author, rather than with the idea of criticism. The first book used is Ashmun's t'Prose Literature for Sec- ondary Schools, a collection of short stories, nature studies, and biographies. This, with a little book of ballad poetry, comprises the class reading for the first semester. The second semester, three novels are studied: Ivanhoe, The Last of the Mo- hicans, and David Copperfield. Outside of class, each pupil reads and reports upon at least one book each six weeks. In the composition work, the Freshmen students use no textbookg instead they build a notebook of rules for themselves. These rules are very few, only enough to serve as the necessary tools in the craft of writing. Many themes are re- quiredg during the first term, one oral and one written theme each week, on an average, are given by every member of the class. The pupils help each other by criticizing the composition work heard in class, and soon come to realize points of weakness and of strength. Letter writing, particularly business correspondence, receives special stress. Along with the constructive work goes the persistent combatting of faulty habits of speech, the almost futile endeavor to replace the picturesque High School vocabulary with another which will be equally expressive even if not aggressively up-to-date. SOPHOMORE ENGLISH After having had one year of rudimentary drill in English, pupils now take up a more advanced study of composition. The first portion of Stebbin's English for Secondary Schools is used as a text. Simple rhetorical principles are studied, and many paragraphs and exercises are written. Fewer themes are required than in the first year, the idea being to begin intensive study on certain features rather than to do general work upon a large unit of material. The first classic studied always is Silas Marnerf' in which pupils have their introduction to character study and plot development. Irving's Alhambra,', with its description and legends of enchanted palaces, this Year has replaced the Sketch Book read formerly. The Merchant of Venice marked the high tide of interest in the course, as each division of the Sophomores presented a scene from the play. Just before the end of the term, Goldsmith's The Deserted Village and the 'iTrav- eler were read. The second semester the classes enjoyed Treasure Island, and then added to their nautical knowledge by studying Dana's Two Years Before the Mast. Three of Tennyson's Idylls of the King complete the reading for the year. In addition to these books studied and recited upon in class, each pupil read one book each six weeks from a list of. suggested literature. If five additional books were read during a semester, the pupil received five per cent more on his term grade. Many pupils took advantage of this opportunity. JUNIOR ENGLISH When the student of A. H. S. becomes a Junior he has ahead of him one more year of required English. 'In this year he is to gain a wider practice in the use of FIFTEEN

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course. Outside reading is encouraged by the offer of extra credit for such read- ing, and written reports-or reviews of books so read-are required. In the main, it is a broad and general view of the field of literature which the fourth year student of English gains. He has the opportunity in this course, through a view of the world movements which have written themselves in literature, to classi- fy and assimilate his reading in the earlier years of his course, as well as to add to it. And no less is the opportunity for greater power of expression afforded in the broad and still more vital themes suggested. Department of Modern Language Why should my boy or girl learn to speak and read a foreign language? Is there any sense in it? The same question has had to be answered of late for every subject taught in our schools excepting the three R's. Oh yes, we say, we will admit spelling is useful. We can't read or write without it, and furthermore a man is rather ignor- ant if he doesn't know where New York, Washington and San Francisco are. And we believe that the history of our nation is also a beneficial and profitable subject of study. Oh, do we? Aren't we admitting a little too much? All the sane and sound reasons for this study can be repeated as sane and sound reasons for the study of the history of any other nation on earth. We all admit these reasons and we will not repeat them here. The one that could not be stated for another land is that we want to know the history of the United States because it is our nation. Well, if we are interested in the history because it is ours, we will be just slightly less interested in England's because the English are our first cousins and only a little less interested in Germany's because the Germans are our second cousins, be- ing also of the Teutonic race. The human mind will never be content to know merely useful things. The tendency to investigate and discover is instinctive. Those of us who are calling loudly for practical or vocational education admit the benefits of studying United States history. Why? Largely because we have studied it. If we hadn't, we would- n't know it is beneficial. But see to what that brings us. Are the subjects we have studied the only practical subjects? Again, is there any one of us who would willingly part with any portion of his knowledge, no matter how obtained? No, we are never content with our present fund of information, no one ever wishes to stoll learning. The mind thrives on exercise just as truly and literally as the body does and just as surely degenerates without it. And any study that gives occasion for healthful exercise of mental faculties, no matter what its content, is bound to be practical, We can no more hope to develop mental proportion, symmetry and grace, by means of a very limited course of study than we can hope to develop a perfect body by means of one sort of physical exercise. The latter case is very dif- ficult to picture but it calls to mind the mediaeval Huns, ugly beyond description, stunted and misshapen, as a consequence of practically living on horseback. The first reason then for studying a modern language is the same we would give for studying anything-we like it, it interests us. It is a field that offers it- self where we can satisfy natural human interest. Second, it offers a new field of study, a new line of growth to the High School pupil, and so affords variety, which is as essential to proper mental as to proper phy- sical growth. Third, we have no use for prejudice, have we? We want to know facts. How can we lose our prejudices against peoples, how can a true knowledge Of them be better gained than by learning to speak their language, to be able to talk to them if occasion offers, to read what they think instead of what others say they think? HOW can we better come to sympathize with them and respect them than by reading their noblest literature, or how as Well 1201116 to feel that they are 3 P90910 With very, very SEVENTEEN