Agnes Scott College - Silhouette Yearbook (Decatur, GA)

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Think you that the A. S. I. literary student degenerates into a book-worm, into a something resembling a pedant, from contact with the lore of these musty ( ? ) old authors? Abandon the thought. Our knowledge is not simply stored, it is vitalized . Every effort is made to stimulate thought by means of such illustrious examples. Nor is the student kept entirely in the past. A monthly discussion of current literary news, an exchange of ideas about the best of the new books, and monthly essays on questions of the day, keep us in touch with the outside world. Bv means of these essays the student is made familiar with and initiated into the intricacies of the various styles of writing. Especially are the wits sharpened and the reasoning powers developed by frequent debates upon questions suggested by our studies. The last year ' s work is just what it should be — the finishing touch, a com- prehensive view of the whole. A note-book on English Literature used as a guide, sending the student as it does to the best reference books on this subject, begins with the dawn of this great literature and carries us through the intervening ages to the Victorian epoch. The literature of each era is connected with its history, and the characteristics of each period are brought into such prominence that definite ideas of each period are formed ; and having mastered the important things, the} - can easily be built into one compact whole. Special studies on the develop- ment of the English Drama and on the Romantic Movement in poetry give a fuller knowledge of two important epochs in English Literature. Besides this systematic study of the history of English Literature, the Senior year offers two elective subjects that prove not only interesting, but valuable. A stud}- of Anglo-Saxon, in which a grammar of the language is supplemented with translations from Calderson and other old English writers, offers opportunities invaluable to a thorough student of English. The other subject consists of a full study of poetry, its forms, characteristics, but chiefly its philosophy. This class meets twice a week and is called the Browning, selections from the poetry of Browning forming a conspicuous part of the poetical selections that serve as illustrative studies. Plainly, a course like this, taught as it is, with a view not to cramming the mind with facts, but to furnish it materials out of which it may build something of its own, is a powerful stimulus to thought. That we may learn how a book should be read and develop a taste for good reading, for each year is arranged a pleasant course of reading consisting of works of fiction, biographies and the essays of the best writers. Having thus caught a glimpse of the attractive fields of literature, it is the object to inspire the student to use it as a sure foundation upon which to build a more beautiful superstructure. But life is uncertain; there are examinations (and they sonv times end dis- astrously ) that stand like a barrier between the student and the world for which 15

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The Bnglisb Department EVEN the superficial student seems to realize the necessity of some training in English if she is to move in the better circles of society. As a conse- quence the English classes are always full. In the English Department at Agnes Scott such training is given as enables the student to talk intelligently on the oft-recurring literary topics of the day. In the Freshman year is begun a systematic study of the best English literature. The principles of Rhetoric, discussed and illustrated in written exercises, form a part of the first year ' s work. That this necessary frame-work ma}- not become monotonous, it alternates with a study of those two authors who never fail to appeal to young students — Irving and Scott ; and later is begun a careful study of the life and works of Keats and of Tennyson ; nor is our own sweet Southern poet, Sidney Lanier, forgotten, a collection of his poems, edited with an appreciative introduction and notes by Morgan Calloway, forming an attractive part of the Freshman ' s work. In the Sophomore year the study of Rhetoric is continued and completed, special attention being directed to paragraph structure. The literary work of this year carries the student back to the springtime of English Literature, to the age of Chaucer through the period made brilliant by Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeare to the Puritan poet, Milton. A study of the men and women drawn by the world ' s greatest character painter, and a discussion of the solution by this master mind of world problems, form not the least inspiring and instructive part of the second year ' s work. The Junior year is devoted entirely to the study of the best English prose, selections from Addison, Burke, De Quincy, Coleridge, Newman and Matthew Arnold being studied with special refeience to style. As the stud}- of each of these stylists is completed, an essay discussing the style of the author is required. If there be such a thing as conscious or unconscious influence from contact with great minds manifested in their works, surely the Junior literary student can not escape it. An instructive study from Arnold ' s Essays on Criticism occupies the last month of the Junior year. A knowledge of real criticism, what it should be, its spirit, and what it requires to be a true critic, is useful and necessary to all, but especially to the college student who, as connected with college journalism, is too often ready to hurl philippics at unoffending exchanges without discrimination.

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she is preparing. Are we to wait until we take part in its affairs to use our ideas ? No, we use them as best we can to bring ourselves into prominence in the college world through our publications, of which we have two — a monthly magazine and an annual, which it may be well to state, as it is not universally known, appears once a year. Our magazine, the Mnemosynean, was so named because founded by the Mnemosynean Literary Society, the first that existed at Agnes Scott. Now, however, though it retains its original name, it is no longer controlled exclusively by the M. L. S., but is the product of the combined efforts of the collegiate students from among whom the editorial staff is chosen. The editors are usually six in number and are commonly members of the Junior and Senior classes, though this is b ' no means an invariable rule. Those students not directly con- nected with the paper manifest their interest by frequent contributions. Editorial, Local, Exchange, Alumnas and Literary departments all find a place in the Mnemosynean, and while we realize and have been made to realize that a little more poetry would make its pages more attractive, we note as an encouraging sign that the occasional poetic inspirations of last year did not take flight with those maidens, favored of the muse, who are with us no longer, but have tarried and become an epidemic which none but the most prosaic have escaped. Unlike most such dreadful things, it has produced some good results by which our magazine has profited. Through our exchanges we are enabled to keep in touch with the college world and to profit by the stimulus which never fails to come from success achieved in a kindred enterprise. Among our esteemed exchanges are the Georgian, Hampden Sidney Magazine, Tennessee University Magazine, Mount Holyoke, Emory Phoenix, University of Virginia Magazine, The Reveille, Tar Heel, Crimson and White, as well as others too numerous to mention. But the literary excitement of the year to an A. S. I. girl is the Aurora. From January until April every magazine is ransacked for suitable subjects for pen sketches, the covers and advertisement pages sometimes disappearing in the most mvsterious manner ; every bright idea, each original conception is saved for the annual. And woe unto the careless student who doesn ' t set a seal upon her lips ! part of the annual ' s fun will surely be at her expense. But this is as it should be. What is an annual good for if it does not give a definite idea of our school life as it really is — a peep behind the scenes? The editorial staff of the Aurora is selected from the Junior and Senior classes, four from the Senior and thiee from the Junior. Its object is to reflect school life at Agnes Scott. To accomplish this we call to our aid the photogra- pher ' s art, pictures of the classes and the various clubs contributing largely to the interest of the annual. Though only in the third year of its existence, the Aurora is self-sustaining, thanks to the energetic work of the business managers. Here- tofore, this financial success has, as one member of the Faculty has kindly