Wyomissing Area High School - Colophon Yearbook (Wyomissing, PA)

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Senior English, Mr. R. T. Milford stand your doctrinef In response the Master pointed to the tide in the mouth of the river, and asked, 'How wide is the sea in this place?' That the best way to study it is to apply it is the foundation principle of gram- mar. Learning to speak and to write entirely by ear is similar to playing the piano by ear, at best a superficial method. A person so trained never knows whether his sen- tences are well or badly constructed. One who understands functional grammar is sentence sure. The English course provides for a review of instrumental grammar pre- viously taught and for advanced work. Exercises are provided which require pupils -to speak and write correct, effective sentences of their own in oral and written composi- tions which remain definite assignments in junior and senior high school. The department of English has enough texts to provide each student with a grammar and literature book. This permits a better correlation between the two divi- sions. or-eign anguagw gxpreadion If any plan for lasting peace is to succeed in the post war world it is necessary for the people of one country to understand truly the people of another. There will be a necessity for comprehension not only of the language itself but also of the customs, 16

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wisest of men-poets and prose-men, past and present--is a 1 and pleasure. Literature covers all reaches and ranges of life, touchi heavens above, the earth beneath, and the waters under th Carlyle: All that Mankind has done, gained or been, it is l tion in the pages of booksf' Thus literature consists of a wid types, each different from the others and offering separate p treatment. There is first the two-fold division into poetry and p worlds, comprehending respectively, narrative, lyric, and dr hand, and the novel, the short story, the formal and informal prose drama on the other. So utterly unlike are these that th e n e earth. In the words of Y C 1' to the same field of art. Yet all of them and many more ar in thousands of classrooms. Merely to read them intelligently O tal and emotional sympathy and a formidable background The writer creates, and, as best he can, the reader re-c own heart and life the beauty and intensity of his conception Thus, it can be said that literature is not an end in its towards an end. This goal is not constant, it changes with turity and is different for every individual. To attain it is rience. Someone complained to the Master, 'After many 21 iaily miracle of privilege g upon everything in the ing as in magic preserva- variety of types and sub- roblems of approach and ose, two separate literary matic poetry on the one ssay, the speech, and the y hardly seem to belong being taught every year ' requires generous men- f knowledge. ' feates after him from his J. lf but definitely a means rowing intellectual ma- satisfying expe- I do not fully under- if-L M-.A Ir. High English, Mrs. Iva Eyrich l 15

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peculiarities and habits of the common man. A study of a tongue provides more than the superhcial knowledge gai supplies a keen insight into the thinking of the nation. The newspapers of the country betray the ideas, the conceptions, the people. It has been the aim of Wyomissing to give its studen required for future citizenship in a complex society. The stu guidance of Mrs. Douds is giving the pupils a thorough know of the Spanish-speaking peoples. The first year is devoted to the learning of the basic fu and vocabulary combined with a study of Spain, its cities, its Second year Spanish is a combination of grammar plus const periodical studies of the South American republics. The thi the literature of the language accompanied by grammar opinions on the good and bad qualities of various novels pll between English and Spanish literature aid the third-year pu philosophy of another nation. With individual and class projects Mrs. Douds present pictures are part of the work produced by the beginners. T have made extensive files on their South American studies vs has edited a newspaper Las Cincasl' after extensive reading 17 Mrs. E. R. Douds, Ma estra de Espanol cipuntry through its own .ed in a geography-it books, novels, and even and the philosophies of ts the necessary training dy of Spanish under the ledge and understanding country, and its history. uction interspersed with d year is spent reading eviews. Discussions and IS extensive comparisons pil in understanding the s her subject. Maps and he second year students 'hile the third year class of La Prensaf, All this ndamentals of grammar'