2. Glowing with plans and good intentions B. Scrooge's discovery that it is Christmas Day 1. Pealing of the church bells

2. The boy in the street

C. Scrooge's gift to Bob Cratchit

1. His chuckles

2. The knocker

D. His conduct on the street

1. Blithe sounds

2. Meeting with the solicitor

3. Everything yielding pleasure

E. At his nephew's house

1. Hearty welcome

2. Wonderful party

F. At the office next morning

1. Scrooge's early arrival

2. Scrooge and Bob

G. The change in Scrooge

1. A good friend, a good master, a good man

2. Knowledge of how to keep Christmas

3. Tiny Tim's wish

A TALE FROM SHAKESPEARE

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (page 236)

The pupils may be asked to read this story, 4158 words, silently during the study, period keeping a record of their reading rate. However, before assigning the lesson the teacher may give a background for the reading aim by telling the pupils that the plot of the story involves the

ownership of the changeling boy and the changing affections of two pairs of lovers: Demetrius and Helena; Lysander and Hermia. Evidently before the opening of the story Demetrius and Helena love each other and Lysander and Hermia are lovers; but when the story opens for some reason or another Demetrius has changed his affection and both men are in love with Hermia.

The diagrams below show, by means of arrows, the changing state of the affections of the lovers in the course of the story. The arrows indicate the direction of the lovers' affections. The teacher may put these diagrams on the board omitting the arrows in Diagrams 3 and 4 and ask the pupils, as their reading aim, to read the story to be able to put in the arrows in these diagrams as was done in Diagrams 1 and 2. In the class period the pupils may like to discuss what the diagrams show so graphically about the constancy of Helena and Hermia and the changing affections of their lovers.

If the teacher wishes to have the pupils tell the story she may find the following outline useful:

I. Scene

A. The wood a few miles from Athens

II. Characters

A. Demetrius, Helena; Lysander, Hermia

B. Egeus, Theseus

C. Fairies: Titania, Oberon, Puck, Pease-blossom, Cobweb,

Moth, Mustard-seed

III. The plot of the story

A. Cause for the flight of Hermia and Lysander

1. The wish of Hermia's father

2. Penalty for disobedience

B. Disagreement of Oberon and Titania

1. Reasons for each wishing to keep the changeling boy

2. Oberon's plan for securing the boy

C. The love-charm of the little purple flower

1. Its nature

2. Effect on Titania

(a) Oberon's demand

(b) Titania's yielding

3. Effect on the lovers
(a) Lysander

(b) Demetrius

D. The love-charm of the other flower

1. Its nature

2. Effect on Titania

3. Effect on Lysander

E. Happy ending

1. The fairy king and queen

2. The lovers

3. The father Egeus

IV. A midsummer night's dream

This simple story of Shakespeare's drama may interest the pupils enough to read the play itself. Some of the scenes may be dramatized and, if played with spirit, will furnish good entertainment, particularly Act I, scene 2; Act III, scene 1; and part of Act V, scene 1.

Some of the lyrics in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" have been set to music, notably Titania's lullaby. Mendelssohn's music for this play is especially beautiful. Interest and pleasure will be added to the reading by the use of phonograph records of the music. (See "Morning-Glories,” page 73, for interesting reference to Titania.)

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" may also be used as a point of contact to teach the class something about the life of Shakespeare and a few elementary facts in the development of the drama.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), the greatest of English poets and one of the greatest of the world's poets, was born at Stratford-on-Avon, England. At the age of twenty-two he moved to London, where for twenty

five years he wrote poems and plays, was an actor, and later became a shareholder in a theater. He returned to Stratford in 1612, where he spent the last few years of his life.

A Midsummer Night's Dream was written by Shakespeare to be played by actors upon a stage. Such a composition is called a drama. The ancient Greeks, as well as the Hindus and the Chinese, had their drama, which developed chiefly from their observance of religious rites. During the Middle Ages stories from the Bible were often presented in connection with church festivals, at first by the clergy and later by the trades-people, certain guilds always playing the stories suited to their trades. Here and there even in the old Biblical plays, a writer, or more likely an actor, would venture away from the story and put in little humorous scenes, to keep alive the interest. From these simple beginnings gradually developed the comedy a form of drama intended to amuse.

During Queen Elizabeth's reign, love for pageants and merry-making made theater-going the fashion, and the drama flourished. Strolling players roamed over England, theatrical companies were formed, and theaters were built. One of these, The Globe, a summer theater, was made especially famous by Shakespeare and his associates. The summer theaters were for daylight performances in the open air, with perhaps a roof over the stage or over the boxes and the galleries around the pit. Spectators were allowed to sit on the stage and mingle with the actors. The female characters in a play were acted by boys. There was only the rudest scenery, or none at all—a change of scene being indicated by printed signs. Because of this lack of scenery, actors were compelled to rely for their effects upon the lines and the acting. This is one of the reasons why the plays of Shakespeare have been read and played, studied and discussed, more than the works of any other writer. In addition, Shakespeare was a man with boundless understanding and sympathy, keen imagination, and a powerful mode of expression.

A REVIEW (page 249)

The Review serves the purpose of helping to fix in the memory the selections studied by recalling them again and viewing them in the light of other selections in the group. The questions on pages 249 and 250 suggest various ways for classifying both the selections and the authors. Ability to classify and to generalize is worth developing for itself but more particularly as an aid to memory. The experienced teacher will see in this informal discussion an opportunity both for aiding the memory and for developing discrimination.

The notebooks will no doubt reflect the study of the ballads in Part II and will probably include a brief paragraph on folk-ballads and their characteristics, lists of both folk and modern ballads accurately written as to titles and authors, a sentence or two on the present-day writers of ballads in this group with newspaper or magazine clippings relating to them. The selections in Part II may be classified according to the three types of adventure, as suggested in the first paragraph, page 249.