Do we need a national theatre? Helen of Troy's diary The theatre in 1616 An hour with the dictionary Dogs in literature How to use the library Heroes: Achilles, Palamon, Ivanhoe Everyman, a morality Play-tricks and conventions Louisa M. Alcott Samuel Johnson Hans Andersen Thoreau The literary art of Macaulay The songs of Scotland More, an old time dreamer The Cook's tale (Chaucer) retold for children Stray thoughts about play-going A typical work of the eighteenth century The art of seeing things Rab and Bob, Son o' Battle The historical novel The works of Henty Self-cultivation in English National songs The ideal king Manhood ideals: Macbeth, Banquo, Macduff Walden Good magazines and bad The secret of Burke's power The maxims of Edmund Burke Thoughts from Gray's Elegy The good and the bad in Macaulay's style The manufacture of plays and stories My favorite author Milton's unreproved pleasures My favorite play Readers, old and new Robinson Crusoe Gentlemen of the old school: Sir Roger and Dr. Primrose Goldsmith as story-teller Athletic contests of long ago Tragic heroes: Macbeth and Brutus Æsop The kingly traits of Arthur Mark Twain The love of nature as seen in David's psalms Juvenile literature Review of Last of the Mohicans, Oregon Trail, Bottle Imp, The Great Hoggarty Diamond, Kenilworth, David Copperfield, Mill on the Floss, An Old Fashioned Girl, The Wide, Wide World, Deephaven, Captains Courageous, Waverley, the works of J. M. Barrie 11 Should cartooning the president be prohibited by law? Should a senator be guided by his own judgment or by the wishes of his constituents? Do national expeditions pay? Is Macaulay a greater writer than Burke? Is the Ben Greet idea correct? Should children read Mother Goose literature? Is the Conciliation speech a proper classic for seniors to read? Are Shakespeare's heroines satisfactory? Is Jack London a nature fakir? Should the Old Testament be studied in public schools? Should class day be abolished? For general culture, which offers the greater inducements, a classical college or a scientific school? Would it be well for the debating club to devote one meeting each month to non-argumentative literary exercises? Is the interest in high school athletics declining? If so, why? Should sewing be made a compulsory study for high school girls? Should all high school boys be made to take a course in carpentry? Which offers the greater inducements, Annapolis or West Point? Is a college course necessary for a business career? E A SPECIMEN BRIEF This specimen brief, of Lord Chatham's speech on his motion for the immediate removal of the British troops from Boston, is taken, by kind permission, from Professor Baker's Specimens of Argumentation. Perhaps those of high school age should not be expected to prepare elaborate briefs; yet there are times when it is convenient to have at hand a trustworthy model. INTRODUCTION I The present course of the Ministry suggests unfairness. II The Ministry has been guilty of unfairness, namely of misrepresentation, for (a) Their representations that led to the passage of the measures obnoxious to the American people have been proved false, for (1) The ministers said that these measures would overawe the Americans, but the measures have solidified the resistance of the Americans. III Therefore, the troops should be immediately withdrawn from Boston. IV But a hearer, in considering this attempt at justice, should remember that to try to be just to America is not necessarily to exempt her from all obedience to Great Britain BRIEF PROPER I The removal of the troops is necessary, because A. It will show the willingness of the English to treat amicably. B. The resistance of the Americans was necessary because I. The army of General Gage is "penned up-pining in II. The objection that the presence of this army in Boston is a safeguard is untrue, for (a) It is powerless, and held in contempt. (b) It is an irritation to the Americans. (c) The objection that General Gage is needlessly inactive is untrue, for (1) Any activity on his part would mean "civil and unnatural war." D. If Parliament tries by the aid of the army to enforce its measures, the result will be bad, for I. If Parliament were victorious, it would be over an embittered people. II. The troops are not strong enough to resist three million united, courageous people. III. Persecution of these men whose fathers left their homes to escape it should cease, since (a) The objection of the Ministry that the Americans "must not be heard" is unjust, since (1) It "lumps the innocent with the guilty." E. The statement that "the union in America cannot last" is untrue, for I. The evidence of the so-called "commercial bodies" is unreliable, for (a) They do not really represent the class for whom (b) And they are paid agents of the Government. (1) Not the commercial class, but the farming (2) And the American farmers are unitedly arrayed for liberty. II. The evidence of an authority (Dr. Franklin plainly hinted) proves that the Americans, for the sake of liberty, would endure far more than they have as yet suffered, even war and rapine. F. The statement that the Americans should be punished for illegal violence is untrue, for I. A chance for reconciliation should not be missed. II. Thirty thousand in Boston should not be punished for the fault of forty or fifty. III. Punishment means arousing the unappeasable wrath of the whole American people. IV. Even if the English people are victorious, they cannot control the great tracts of conquered country. V. The resistance should have been foreseen, for (a) The spirit that resists in America is that of all English stock, that which established the essential maxim of English liberty, "No taxation without the consent of the taxed." VI. The resistance will become too strong to be overcome, for (a) The English Whigs will aid them, for (1) The spirit that moves the Americans is that which has always belonged to the Whigs. (b) The Irish will aid them, for (1) They have always maintained the ideas the Americans support. (c) The means to oppose this united body is weak, for |