FOR THE EIGHTH GRADE WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY M. A. L. LANE GINN AND COMPANY BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO LONDON 765.5684 Educ + 759.11 530 June 10, 1912. Harvard University Dept. of Education Library Gift of the Publishers TRANSFERRED TO HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 1932 COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY GINN AND COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 911.4 The Athenæum Press PREFACE THIS collection of prose and verse "for appreciative reading" in the eighth grade of grammar schools has been made in accordance with the definite requirements of the New York Commissioners of Education, as set forth in the Course of Study and Syllabus for Elementary Schools, published by the University of the State of New York. In preparing notes for these selections, the editor's purpose has been to supply information, not always easily accessible, which a young reader can hardly be assumed to possess. Words that may be found in all dictionaries, and geographical references which ought to be plain to him, are not included. Much of the benefit as well as the pleasure in reading is lost if all the details of an allusion are made clear, and if nothing is left to the student's own intelligence. On the other hand, his time may be unprofitably spent in pursuing some trivial fact or some bit of unusual knowledge. Special points of interest, such as may belong to the history of a word, or of a certain period, have also been suggested in the notes, but as a rule the annotation has been strictly limited to what is essential to the proper interpretation of the text. Various editions have been consulted, and the most trustworthy of these have been followed. The introductory notes have been made as brief as possible, being designed merely to give such information as will increase the pupils' appreciation of the selection. The biographical sketches deal with matters likely to be of interest to young readers, rather than with the bare record of events in each author's life. A pronouncing vocabulary of proper names will, it is hoped, save some time and trouble. |
