Cisco High School - Lobo Yearbook (Cisco, TX)

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' as t f ---W What the Study of Literature has Meant to Me EFORE I began the study of literature, I thought of it merely as something to read-just a pastime. But now I have a deeper appreciation for good literature, and I am beginning to see its real value. I now realize that true literature is the expression of life in words of truth and beauty, it is the written record of man's spirit, of his thoughts, emotions, aspirations, it is the history and the only history, of the human soul. One author has said that since literature preserves to the race the ideals upon which all our civilization is founded, it is one of the most important and delightful subjects that can occupy the human mind. It is this fact-that literature does express all our highest ideals-that makes it of value to me. I love to sit at home in my room, and let my imagination hold sway over me. I love to take a good book of poetry, and read whatever is best suited to my mood at that time, for there can be found a reflection of any mood in poetry. When I am happy, I choose Wordsworth, the man who lived in an atmosphere of plain living and high thinking -how many of us live in an atmosphere of high living and plain thinking-or Burns, whose nature poems are quite as attractive to me as those of Wordsworth. How much better we would all be if, as Burns has expressed it, we had the power to see ourselves as others see us . When I feel adventurous, and wish that I 'were not just an ordinary stay-at- home person, I read Coleridge 's Ancient Mariner , Defoe's Robinson Crusoen, Scott 's Lochinvar , or Lady of the Lake , which make me feel that even if some lives are filled with romanticism and adventure, while mine seems so sordid, I can build up adventures for myself in my own imagination, and enjoy them almost as much as if they were real. I especially like The Ancient Mariner , which is so appealing, vivid, and haunting that I can almost see that idle ship upon a painted ocean . No matter what mood I may be in, I can find a reflection of it in one of Shakespeare 'S plays. This greatest literary light of the world will always shine brightly. Shakespeare never grows old. I could read some of his plays over and over again, without ever tiring of them. Before I really studied him, how- ever, Shakespeare meant nothing to me. He has aided greatly in making me appreciate good literature. When I am thoughtful and slightly melancholy, I take dofwn Gray 's Elegy from the shelf and read it once again. Those lines: The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, The lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea, The plowman homeward plods his weary way, And leaves the world to darkness and to me 1 l 4? . One Hundred Forty-one 'ig ff , . ,,

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:fy Q The Latest from the War Front in China HINA, the Yellow Peril , has always been more or less of a menace to the more civilized and progressive nations of Europe and America, and now affairs are at a crisis. No more can we stand off and say that the land of slant eyes and many-headed dragons will so much fear or respect the outside world that it will with- hold an attack upon any country, or group of persons, that chances to be in the way. China is one of the oldest countries of which we have any record, and until recently was just as little advanced as the China of three centuries past. Then there came a foreign influence and China, ignorant and a hermit among nations, naturally could not cope with it. Everything happened too fast. The Imperial form of government was overthrown, and gradually China became more and more communistic, At times the Chinese are like the people of Latin America, impulsive and with a high tension tem- perament. This, together with ignorance, will ruin any self-governing nation. As China became more modern, she came under the influence of the new Russian government, and, consequently, sank lower and lower among the powers of the world. In fact some parts of China are Russian in everything but name. The Chinese have adopted the Russian standard of living and are as much of the red nation as they were formerly of the yellow. Suddenly there comes a spark that fires the first cannon, and China has gone beyond control. Instead of a once peaceful nation of people living in their quaint little junks on the Hoang-Ho, We now find a country full of the troops and arms of two warring factions. North and South are striving for mastery of government. The same problem which faced Russia now confronts China. Is it to be republican or communistic? Shanghai, China's richest port, is terror stricken. The long reaching arm of war has touched the city of British protection. The country is in the grasp of the Yellow Peril , which will have an effect not only on China itself, but other nations as well. When war broke out, the Chinese stopped at nothing. In American and European settlements, the residents and even missionaries were slain. No man was safe, even though the Stars and Stripes floated overhead. If one army was defeated, it im- mediately retreated, plundering and pillaging as it went. There was built a long and high blockade of barbed wire entanglements which stopped the looters at one place. Seeing such a crisis, Great Britain at once sent her bluejackets, kept emergencies, and the United States dispatched her battleships, or rather of them, and marines to protect the American interests in China. It situation like that of the boxer uprisings, which, if allowed to continue, worse. However, it is believed that China will not really turn communistic, but that the conservatives will win and the country will set up a more perfect republic than it has ever had. After all, people are easily influenced, and Great Britain and the United States ought to make a strong impression on China. Even though the radicals are backed by Russia and the war news creates excitement on the street corners of Moscow and Leningrad, the United States hopes and believes that conservative China will come into its own. Then can the world look on and say, There's a nation that had its revolution and came through it with flying colors for just such a small fleet was really a will be much F rank Langston This essay lvon unanimously in the County Interscholastic Meet and has been sent to compete in the District E One Hundred Forty or a .Qs v .Q . -+ - , . TH K' ! N v , . dl L Ag rv l lvl, :. 1 li 'S' ' 1.

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B.-,.... I +1 I skit: jf I What the Study of Literature has Meant to Me Goncluded always have a soothing effect upon me. Likewise well suited to this pensive mood is Wordsworth 's beautiful poem, I wandered lonely as a cloud. One of the most charming poems in the English language is The Eve of St. Agnes , by Keats. These and many other poems are reflective of the quiet, thoughtful mood. At some time in everyone 's life, come moments of sadness. When sadness comes to me, I read Milton 's Il Penseroson, or The Desertved Village . How- ever, 'I feel much more like reading when I am happy, or thoughtful, than when sad. At times, when I feel no particular mood, but sit in a sort of reverie, I choose at random from the great writers of the world. I may choose a satire, such as the The Rape of the Lock , by Pope. However, there is so much worth while, uplifting literature, that I seldom choose satirical writing. I like to read good prose and novels, and from the many novelists, I choose Dickens as one of the most entertaining. But it is foolish to try to pick out a few writers, when there are so many favored ones. The study. of literature has given me a deeper appreciation and a greater desire for the noble and beautiful. Literature that does not do this fails of its purpose. Beautiful poetry gives to my mind a beautiful thought. That beautiful thought remains in my mind, making me a better person and of more value to the world. The poetry of great writers gives me a greater desirelfor the noble, pure, and best of life. This is what the study of literature has meant 'to me. 4 --Bessie Olson., l w 4 . -W , 57' '- ' p gup . I . p 1 I q g 1 , f i I-rii rt-5 - igmi, , , 4 ? ', Q. I L , , ' ,gl J? 5 4 ' 4 .gy Lug ' I I ' BSYCQKTXPII' HAL- l57'b- J '.'. -Hl