Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Michael Zeug, Lisa Reigel, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Transcriber's Notes: In the text, there are symbolic representations of lines of poetry. Where these occur, u represents an unaccented syllable and -' indicates an accented syllable. Words in italics in the original are surrounded by _underscores_. Words in bold in the original are surrounded by +plus signs+. More transcriber's notes follow the text.
PROFESSOR OF MODERN LANGUAGES IN ROANOKE COLLEGE AUTHOR OF "A HISTORY OF EDUCATION," "HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE," "INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LITERATURE," ETC.
BOSTON, U.S.A. GINN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS The Athenæum Press 1903
The aim of the present work, as is indicated by its name, is to help the young student in literary criticism. It is a sort of laboratory manual, in which he will find specific direction for a comprehensive analysis of the principal kinds of literature. It is intended to show him the various points in relation to form, content, and spirit, to which in succession he is to devote his attention. It is hoped that the book will give definiteness and delight to literary study, which, for lack of such a guide, has so often been vague, unsatisfactory, and discouraging.
A glance at the table of contents will clearly reveal the plan. The work is divided into three parts, the first of which treats of fundamental principles. In three chapters the nature of criticism, the relation of the author to his work, and the æsthetic principles underlying literary art are briefly discussed. The facts and principles here presented are designed to give a clearer and deeper insight into the nature and processes of criticism.
Part Second is chiefly concerned with the external elements of literature. In three chapters it briefly discusses the diction, the various kinds of sentences, the use of figures of speech, and the different species of style as determined partly by the nature of the discourse and partly by the mental endowments of the writer. It is intended to embrace the rhetorical elements of form.
In Part Third the leading kinds of literature are discussed, and the general principles governing each are presented. Special effort has been made to throw light upon the nature and structure of poetry, fiction, and the drama; and it is hoped that the chapters in which these subjects are treated will be found particularly interesting and helpful.