c MS'] 3^1 i ®ljr iitarai Bulletin Published Monthly by Miami University And Entered at Postoffice, Oxford, Ohio, as Second Class Mail Matter Series VII. November, 1908. Number 6 A Manual for Teachers of German in High Schools and Colleges I How Do You Teach Elementary German? Do you begin with a grammar, put a table of vowels and consonants on the blackboard the first day, teach the alphabet, assign the articles for memorizing at the first lesson, and dismiss your class? Do you do all this in English? Do you meet your class the next day, read the first set of German sentences, trans- late them into English, hear the alphabet and the declension of the articles recited, and assign the next set of sentences for trans- lation? Do you go on in this way until the end of the semester, with the result that no one in your class ever uses a German sentence spontaneously, that none of your students ever come to feel the German, that they usually lose all interest in German as soon as they quit school, or that they, at best, remain all their lives but nimble translators? Of course, we all know that many teachers are doing this very thing, but a change is rapidly coming. Progressive school- boards feel that this sort of teaching is not what they want. Besides, if you could find a principle and a system of teach- ing which is, after a year or two of experience with it, handled just as easily as the one you are now following, a method which keeps the student’s interest at white heat, which leads him to learn not only to read German without translating it, but to be- come so interested that he wants to learn the forms of accidence, if you could discover such a method, would you not be willing to undergo the incidental labor of learning to handle it in your class room? The object of this paper is to set forth such a principle and course of instruction for elementary German ; not a revolutionary one, for the underlying principle has been in practice in Europe for several decades ; the Committee of Twelve, appointed by the National Educational Association in 1895, endorsed it highly, but owing to the somewhat primitive state of modern language in- struction in the United States at that time, did not recommend it for general use, while Prof. Bahlsen in his book. The Teaching of Modern Languages (Ginn & Co. 1903), expressly recommends this principle of teaching as the one especially adapted to Ameri- can conditions. Moreover, a goodly number of our livest teachers are now using it in their class rooms in some form. To understand this method it will be necessary to cast a cursory glance upon the history of modern language instruction. When the modern languages first became a part of the curric- ulum of secondary schools in Europe, instructors, casting about for a method of teaching them, quite naturally hit upon the only method of language instruction then known, namely ; the gram- mar-translation method as employed by the teachers of Latin and Greek. Now, that may be the proper method of teaching Latin and Greek, but it is an axiom today with all progressive teachers that it is not the proper method to teach a modern language. It was not long either before teachers and patrons perceived the futility of this method as applied to the teaching of modern languages, and protested. Basedow, in Germany, in the fifties and sixties of the eighteenth century, sought to do away with the one-sided memorizing of rules and exceptions, and advocated the use of the living language and of the Real ten in the class room. A long succession of reformers, extending over one hundred years, appeared in various parts of Europe, each contributing something to the betterment of the teaching of the modern lan- guages, but the heat of the decisive fight came twenty- five years ago, when Dr. W. Vietor, a German pedagogue, threw his famous pamphlet, Der Sprachuntcrricht muss umkehren ! into the complacent camp of the translators. 2 Vietor demands a large use of the living language in the school room ; less emphasis on rules and exceptions ; and the abandonment of the easy-going way of teaching employed by the grammar-translation methodists. Others followed Vietor, and soon the teachers of the modern languages were divided into two hostile camps, the progressives and the let-good-enough-alone old-timers. In Germany the upshot of the fierce conflict waged about this reform, was the calling of a conference of the modern lan- guage teachers in 1890 by the Emperor, which recommended (a) abridgement of the instruction in grammar, (b) large written and oral use of the foreign language in the class room. Similar results have been arrived at in other countries. Throughout Europe the old method has been discarded and today old method and old fogy are synonymous. If now we cast a passing glance at the methods of teaching modern languages in our own country, what do. we find? We find the majority of teachers still grinding out the old meaning- less sentences in the same soul-atrophying way in which they themselves were taught. Why? Because it is the easiest way? Because they are afraid of the work which live teaching of the language would entail? To be sure, there are many, who, reared under the old method, know no other. Anyone who reads the technical journals has hit upon discussions of the psychological or phonetic method, but of these in actual operation most teach- ers know little, if anything. And so, although earnest, striving teachers are continually seeking, and, in part, realizing, a better way of instructing, the grammar-translation method has remained the prevalent one, albeit we all know its baneful effects, albeit we all know that after two or three years of such instruction, filled with stunting drudgery for the student and soul-blighting disappointment for the teacher, the pupil has at best stumbled through a beginner’s book and a few classical dramas, while he has no notion of what Sprachgefuehl means, and no understanding whatever of the cul- ture of the nation whose language and literature he has been vainly trying to learn about. Then why have we not demanded a more rational method? There was a committee appointed by the National Educa- 3 tional Association in 1896 to investigate the teaching of the mod- ern languages and to recommend any necessary changes. It was expected in many quarters that the committee would suggest some changes in line with the general reform movement then going on in modern language instruction in Europe, but the committee, whose report was submitted in 1898, brought in a reactionary report. It must be said in justice to these men, however, that they did, as they say in their report, find a some- what chaotic condition in modern language instruction, i. e., teachers of unequal preparation, courses of varying length, etc. They recommended upon the whole an adherence to the old method, which was, however, to be given a strong admixture of the new pedagogy. However, since the sanction seemed to have been given to the old method, and since publishers continued to turn out the old-time books, the majority of teachers found it easy and con- venient not to introduce the new and liver elements. Since the submittal of this report ten years ago, great changes have come. The status of modern language work is vastly im- proved. With the changed conditions — better prepared teachers, longer courses, etc. — better teaching is demanded. And now to the positive side of our task. My experience as a teacher of the old method brought me early to attempts toward a liver mode of instruction; first to a large use of the idiom in the class rot>m, along with the grammar and the reading, and eventually, since the translation habit could not be otherwise avoided, to the composition of a series of exercises modelled on the series of M. Gouin, 1 without, however, adopting all of that great but sometimes over-zealous teacher’s ideas and methods. Our series does not include, e. g., all of the phrases of the lan- guage as M. Gouin intended, nor is it meant to extend over the entire course of instruction. We have preferred to use a number of exercises, sufficient to inculcate in the student a feeling for the spirit of the language, to teach him to read easy compositions without translating them, to understand simple sentences, and to be able to answer in such on the matter in hand. !Cf. Gouin’s very inspiring book. The Art of Teaching and Study- ing Languages; Longmans, Green & Co., N. Y. 1907 (8th ed.) 4 Our series contains for the present one hundred and eleven exercises of from eighteen to twenty-five sentences each, on themes of every-day life. Long before all of the exercises have been assimilated, in fact, just as soon as the teacher deems it wise, reading of easy texts is begun, along with the use of the Exercises ; German, however, remaining the language of the class room as heretofore . 1 Now translating from English into German, but never from German into English, is begun. The best material for this purpose we find to be transcriptions, i. e., sentences based on the text in hand. A text book containing suitable reading matter, transcriptions of the kind mentioned, and a considerable resume of the elements of grammar is used . 2 Grammatical forms are taught from the first day on, and the forms are kept before the student by charts displayed on the walls of the class room. With the introduction of English-into- German translation, grammar is taken up more seriously, but to a considerable extent, inductively, i. e., the rules are elaborated from the forms met with in the course of the reading. Moreover, we deviate from M. Gouin in that we make large use of the Realien 3 in the class room, i. e., lantern slides, post cards, portraits, busts, illustrating the art, architecture, geog- raphy, landscape, customs, costumes, manners, history, inhabi- tants and the great personages of the people, whose language is being studied. We also use folk songs, proverbs and rhymes to illustrate the life of the German people. As to the use of our Exercises in the class room. There is an Exercise for each day 4 which, it is to be especially noted, is lOn the method of teaching texts see below under II. 2 For the present: Wenckebach’s Gluck Auf ! Ginn & Co.; and Allen and Batt, Easy German Stories. Vol. 1. Scott, Foresman & Co. 3 The Realien may be defined as everything connected with the civili- zation of modern nations in their interpretation of life. 4 Later on two lessons may be given for one recitation, or a reading from a reader, or a folk-song may be read and assigned for memorizing, in which case the melody should be taught at the same time, as it proves a great aid in memorizing. We have issued a pamphlet containing twenty- four typical folk songs, which we use, and which may be had of us at five cents per copy upon application. A text, Deutsches Liederbuch fuer amerikanische Studenten, containing the music for the songs, may be had of D. C. Heath & Co., for sixty-five cents. 5 never handed the student until near the close of the recitation. With the opening Exercise 1 thoroughly in mind, the 3-The following are the first and sixty-seventh exercises of our series. 1 Ich lese in einem Buch Ich nehme ein Buch Ich nehme es in die rechte Hand Ich oeffne es Ich wende die Seiten Ich suche die erste Seite Ich finde die erste Seite Ich lese den Titel Ich sehe das Bild an Ich blaettere weiter Ich lese in dem Buch Koennen Sie lesen? Ja? Nein? Ich mache das Buch zu Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch Soweit. Ich danke Ihnen. Verstehen Sie das? Wiederholen Sie das, bitte. Sie koennen gehen 67 Die Huehner trinken geht — Die Magd geht in die Molkerei nimmt — Sie nimmt einen Topf sauere Milch zur Hand verlaeszt — Sie verlaeszt die Molkerei, den Topf in der Rechten. richtet — Sie richtet ihre Schritte gegen den Huehnerhof gieszt — Sie gieszt die Sauermilch in den Trog ruft — Sie ruft die Huehner zusammen traegt — Und traegt dann den Napf in die Molkerei zurueck haben — Die Huehner haben groszen Durst kommen gelaufen — Sie kommen hurtig von alien Seiten gelaufen umringen — Sie umringen den Trog senkt — Jedes Huhn senkt den Kopf steckt — Und steckt den Schnabel in die Milch schnappt — Es schnappt einen Schnabelvoll von der weiszen Milch hebt — Es hebt den Kopf und schluckt hinunter nimmt— Dann nimmt es einen zweiten u. s. w. Schnabelvoll hat — Endlich hat es genug und hoert auf zu trinken, laeuft davon — Es laeuft davon Wenn Tiere trinken, nennt man es gewoehnlich “saufen.” — Das ist merkwuerdig, aber Menschen saufen auch manchmal, denke ich. — Ja, wenn sie unmaeszig trinken, nennt man es auch “Saufen.” — Ich danke Ihnen fuer die Auskunft. — O, bitte sehr. 6 teacher steps before his class. The first day or two, he tells the class the theme of the lesson in a few words, in English, where- upon he begins to speak the Exercise to the class in German, dwelling in each case upon the verb, before speaking the sentence containing it. The class repeats the verb and the sentence after the teacher. Occasionally, when offering a new concept , 1 the teacher invites the class to close their eyes and to form a distinct mental image of the matter under consideration. Thus he goes through the first group of sentences, the grouping having been made to facilitate retaining them in mind, whereupon he invites one of the pupils to repeat the entire group . 2 In this way the entire exercise is inculcated, the whole class repeating each sentence a number of times, and individual stu- dents taking each a paragraph from time to time. Thus, at least five-sixths of the time is spent in learning the new lesson, while the preceding one is run through in a few minutes at the beginning of the hour. The student should actu- ally know the advance lesson each day before leaving the class room. Of course, this does not preclude running over it, or copying it at home. In copying the Exercises the orthography is learned, while tenses, persons, numbers, etc., are learned by having the students transpose the Exercises into another tense, person, number, dwelling on each a sufficient number of days to impart the feeling for the proper form. Such transposition may be done at home. During the recitation also the lessons are occasionally recited in various tenses. At the beginning of the recitation period, greetings, remarks about the weather, inquiry about ill or absent students, counting ITo impress the importance of the verb upon the student, we have it printed at the beginning of the line in occasional exercises. 2 It will be noticed that the sentences are arranged in order as the actions would naturally occur in life, and are thus easily carried in mind. The appended conversational sentences are spoken in the course of the hour from time to time by students called upon to do so, and are found a great aid in instilling an aptitude for conversation. 7 the students instead of calling the roll, counting the lessons with cardinals or ordinals, etc., etc., will serve to impart much to students and teach them to converse in German. How about the drill in phonetics which some European reformers are making so much of? Our first contention is that, with our method of teaching, which is to so great an extent oral, drill in phonetics is not so necessary as in other methods. Be- sides few teachers are qualified to give it. Moreover, it is not so necessary as in Germany, where the many difficult sounds of English and French are to be taught. Again, only the ultra-reformers in Europe are advocating the severe phonetic drill. But we do believe in the use of phonetics in teaching ele- mentary German and make use of it during the first weeks. We believe that every teacher should know at least enough of phonet- ics to be able to correct the faulty use of the vocal organs, 1 which he should attend to assiduously. A Vietors Lauttafel , too, might well be displayed in the class room. But this program does not exhaust our efforts. From the first day on, a large use of cognates and synonyms is made. Con- stant use is made of the grammatical charts, of maps, post cards and pictures illustrating German life, while occasional lantern- slide lectures in German help to enliven the instruction. Care must be taken to obviate the use of English in the class room. To be sure there is no objection, now and then, to telling the meaning of a word in English. In most cases, how- ever, circumlocution, or a bit of pantomime will suffice to convey the meaning of a new word. Remember that the ear, not the eye, is the proper receptive organ of language, and that the sentence, not the word, is the unit of speech. The medium of the class room must be German, and students should be held to it. This will not be found difficult, once the habit has been well formed, and the pleasure of having volunteers for ^Besides Bahlsen, already mentioned, the teacher should consult: Hempl, German Orthography and Phonology, Ginn & Co. ; Grandgent, German and English Sounds, Boston, ’92. Sweet, A Primer of Phonetics, Oxford, 1890. 8 every task and every answer will act like an elixir upon the teacher. Teaching becomes a pleasure. Your pupils come to your class room not like “the galley slave, scourged to his dun- geon,” but as they go to the swimming pool. Thus I would open before you a vista of better trained lan- guage students and better citizens. NOTE. — The Exercises may be had in any quantity at fifty cents per set, postpaid, by applying to the German Department of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. A considerable number of High Schools and Colleges are now using them. The Exercises are sold only to teachers, never through book sellers, since they are not to be given the students at one time, but handed out from day to day, i. e. the student is not to see the printed page until he has learned it by ear. High School teachers are invited to attend the Teachers' Course in Methods of Teaching Modern Languages , given during the Summer Term at Miami University, to visit our classes at any time, and thus learn how to prepare their pupils to go on successfully in our courses. 9 il Teaching Advanced German I am here concerned with the teaching of German in classes above the first year, and my first thesis is that such instruction is best and most profitably imparted by means of the German lan- guage. In the first place the student should never be taught to translate, but to think in German, and in cases where the transla- tion habit has been contracted, it should be overcome as speedily as possible. To do this it will be imperative to bar English from the class room quite completely. But to leave theory and come to practical matters, let us suppose, if you will, a teacher with a second year class and the following portion of text before him: ^-“Konrad Lenz, geboren 1513, gestorben um 1590, Schuler des Christoph Amberger, ausgezeichnet durch den warmen Gold- ton seiner Farbe, malte Historien und Legenden, auch Mythol- ogisches, auf Holztafeln in kleinem Format. Seine Bilder sind sehr selten. “So ungefahr steht’s gedruckt im Katalog einer Galerie, die ich augenblicklich nicht nennen kann. “Dieser merkwfirdige Mann pflegte zu sagen: Das Malen ware die schonste Kunst, wenn die Bilder nur nicht fertig zu werden brauchten. Den er malte gern und gut, allein er wollte immer nur malen, wann er wollte, und das geschah oft nur einmal die Woche, ofters auch gar nicht. Den verabredeten Termin eines bestellten Bildes einzuhalten, war ihm ganz un- moglich. Hatte er’s heuer auf Weihnachten zu liefern versproch- en, so begann er zu Pfingsten fibers Jahr die Tafel zu grundieren. Er gramte sich auch gar nicht fiber diese Eigenschaft, die offen- bar mit der launischen Natur des Planeten zusammenhing, unter welchem er geboren war, sondern sprach: Tch habe malen gel- ernt ; die andern mogen warten lernen/ ” iFrom Riehl, Die Vierzelm Nothelfer. 10 (a) First we suggest that members of the class tell the story of the lesson in their own words in German. Grammatical correctness should be striven for, but there should be as few interruptions as possible by the teacher. This exercise may occupy one-half of the hour, or more. (b) Next, the class should be quizzed on the text, with books open, if desired. This quiz should include grammatical points and should establish whether the student has a thorough understanding of the text. It will be necessary to lead the class up to carrying out the program outlined under (a). No class can do it in a day or a week. To do this it will be well to quiz on the text in order to teach students to express themselves in German. Now the sort of quizzing we have in mind cannot be done off-hand. To make it a success the teacher will have to set about to develop a method of asking questions on the text, which shall be both specific and comprehensive. This method of ques- tioning may be worked out by each teacher to suit his individ- uality, and if undertaken seriously and with a view to the greatest possible efficiency, it will be found no slight task. Texts are not infrequent which have appended lists of ques- tions, but generally because of the sporadic nature of the ques- tions, they will scarcely do as a means of bringing out the stu- dent’s knowledge of the text in hand. Besides, there is the fur- ther objection to this sort of guide, that the questions they contain are far too difficult. They may do for lessons in composition, but they are not suited to our present purposes. Take, for in- stance, a few questions selected at random from a guide for Goethe’s Hermann und Dorothea. “Inwiefern bestatigt der Alte in seiner Antwort die Be- rechtigung des vom Pfarrer gewahlten Vergleichs?” “Durch welche ihrer Handlungen hat uns der Dichter bereits mit Dorotheen bekannt gemacht?” “Wodurch hatte der Pfarrer indessen in diskreter Weise die Aufmerksamkeit der anderen vom liebenden Paare abgelenkt?” These questions are so difficult, I think you will agree, as to necessitate a number of the students of most second or third year classes to study the questions, and with the danger of mis- understanding them eventually. Next, if understood, the ques- tion must be remembered, at least after a fashion, and finally the 11 text itself must be ransacked for an answer. Take for example the second of the above questions. This will necessitate looking through a considerable portion of the text, previously read, and recounting the acts of Dorothea. The other questions are open to similar objections. But how does the teacher fare meanwhile? He will do one of two things : either memorize the questions beforehand or read them from the guide as he asks them, from both of which may the gods protect us ! No guide with printed questions will do, although a good one may point the way for the teacher. The method of questioning on a text, which young teachers, or such as have not heretofore used German as the medium of communication in the class room, should strive to approximate, might be something like this : (using the above passage as a text) . Wann wurde Konrad Lenz geboren? Wann starb er? Wessen Schuler war er? Wodurch zeichnete er sich aus? Was malte er? Sind seine Bilder oft anzutreffen? Wo steht diese Auskunft fiber Konrad Lenz? Wie pflegte Lenz sich fiber die Kunst des Malens zu auszern? Wann malte er am liebsten? Geschah das oft? Was verstehen Sie unter dem “verabredeten Termin’’ hier? Hielt Konrad solchen Termin immer inne? Wenn er’s auf Weihnachten versphrochen, was tat er dann? Woher stammte diese Eigenschaft Lenzens ofifenbar? Schamte er sich dieser Eigenschaft? Wie pflegte er dann zu sprechen? (Full sentences should be insisted on as answers, generally.) Or taking a more difficult portion of text: 1 “Georg stand noch immer scheu und verlegen unweit des Einganges; endlich trat Tertschka an ihn heran. ‘Geh’ schlafen,’ sagte sie und deutete mit der Hand nach einer leeren Stelle des gemeinschaftlichen Lagers. Er folgte ihrem Winke, angstlich bedacht, so wenig Raum als moglich einzunehmen; schob seinen Quersack unter den Kopf, breitete den abgelegten Kittel gleich einer Decke liber sich und schlief mit einem tiefen Seufzer ein. Tertschka aber zfindete noch eine kleine Ollampe an und begann, am Herde niedergekauert, wieder emsig zu nahen. Endlich liesz sie die Nadel sinken und unterzog die Jacke einer genauen Prii- iFrom; Die Steinklopfer, by F. von Saar, Holt & Co. 12 fung. Dann blies sie, mit der vollbrachten Arbeit zufrieden, das qualmende Flammchen aus und legte sich angekleidet, wie sie war, in einem Winkel neben dem Herde nieder. Drauszen duftete die blaue Sommernacht, und zur Dachlucke der Hiitte herein in den dunkeln, vom Atemgerausch der Schla- fenden durchzogenen Raum sahen die zitternden Sterne.” The questions might be as follows: Was tat Georg? Wie stand er da? Tertschka stand auch da? Was tat sie nun? Wie sprach sie zu ihm? Und mit der Hand tat sie was? Sup- posing the answer is : deutet nach der leeren Stelle, the follow- ing question should be: nach welcher leeren Stelle? Sie gab ihm also einen Wink, und was tat er darauf? Er war aber angstlich, was zu tun? Was tat er nun mit dem Sack? und Kittel? Er legte sie also loin, und tat dann was? Aber Tertsch- ka, ging sie auch schlafen? Ja wohl, aber endlich liesz sie die Nadel sinken und tat was? Nun war sie bereit sich schlafen zu legen, und was tat nun? Wo legte sie sich nieder? Hatte sie sich ausgekleidet ? Was ist ein Herd? Wie war’s draus- zen? Wie beschreibt der Dichter die Sommernacht? Was sah man durch die Dachlucke? Und im Raum war’s mauschenstill ? Als der morgen kam, aber hier heiszt es nicht kam, sondern wie? Was geschah da? Or supposing we have in hand Hermann und Dorothea, a still more difficult text. The edition 1 I have before me has appended lists of German questions on the text. I select this edition for discussion simply because the questions and the general plan are typical of many of the texts published today. Aside from the fact that in this edition the questions are often couched in poor German, as shown by the following sentences culled at random: P. 118, Was ist der Schauplatsz des ersten Gesanges? P. 138-1, Wie viel Zeit ist verstrichen, etc.? P. 136-20, Zahlen Sie all die verschiedenen Arten von Aufopferung auf, etc., the questions are again too sporadic, too general, and often too difficult. This is so evident as to make it unnecessary to point out specific defects. The inadequacy of sentences like those cited above is patent. ffiermann und Dorothea. Edited by Philip S. Allen, Ginn & Co. 13 The fact that scarcely anyone makes use of such appended ques- tion lists speaks for itself. Instead of the ten questions found in the quoted edition on the first twenty-three lines of the third canto now, we would suggest the following: Wie lautet der Titel des 3. Gesanges? Und warum hat er wohl den Untertitel: Die Burger? Was tat nun der Sohn, nachdem der Vater seine Rede beendet? Welche Eigenschaft wird (1.) dem Sohn (2.) der Rede des Vaters beigelegt? Schwieg der Vater, als der Sohn entwichen war? Was heiszt entweichen? Wie fuhr der Vater fort? Was sagte er? Schwerlich wird was geschehen? Der Wunsch, dasz der Sohn — ? Denn was ware das Haus, wenn nicht immer was geschahe? Wer lehrt uns so zu erneuern und verbessern? Der Mensch soil nicht der Erde (aber hier heiszt’s nicht Erde sondern wie?) entwachsen, wie was? Und dann was tun? Was kann man am Hause erkennen? Und wenn man ein Stadtchen betritt, tut man was? Denn der Ort ist ubel regieret, wo was geschieht? Mit Tiirmen? in Graben? und Gassen? und wo der Stein — ? und der Balken ? Denn wo die Ordnung und die Reinlichkeit nicht von oben wirkt, was geschieht da leicht? Wie der Bettler was tut? Darum hat der Vater was gewiinscht? 1 But it will not do to have a stereotyped recitation. Nothing worse than that! Judicious surprises are refreshing, e. g., having the class read with assigned roles, or opening with a song, or with a proverb symposium, or a letter written by a German child, or passing pictures, post cards, etc., about the class, or getting up a discussion on some point of the lesson. Or some grammatical forms may be drilled in a live way, e.g., by quoting the words of a character directly, or indirectly, if the text gives them directly, etc., etc., while the regular work in grammar and composition may well occupy some time each period. 2 Sometime during the second or third year, it will be profit- !A large use of synonyms is recommended, as they not only help to avoid English, but offer a continual review of vocabulary. This method allows of much variety and affords the best sort of live grammatical drill, when desired. • 2 On further plans, etc., see Brebner, The Method of Teaching Modern Languages in Germany, London, 1904. 14 able to begin to pay some attention to the literary aspects of the text in hand. There is no danger in beginning this sort of study early, unless the discussions are in English. Aside from the fact that teaching literary science is not pre- eminently the function of the German teacher, excepting, possi- bly, in the most advanced work, there are other grounds for discontinuing the practice of writing English essays in German classes. The attempt in undergraduate courses, where this practice is indulged in, is generally to use the historical-critical method of literary study. But this method has been done to death in German classes of the second, third and fourth years. In many of these classes students have assigned them periodic papers on such themes as : The Genesis of the Drama ; The Characters ; Diction and Style; Fate and Tragic Fault in the Drama; Com- parison with other treatments of the same plot or material; etc., etc. The evil is that this work is necessarily done in English, for no student in this stage of his study can do in German, real, critical work, such as comparing the prototypes, plans, prelimi- nary studies, sketches and variants of a work of literature. More than this. At the age at which the average student does the third and fourth years of German, he should not be taught a negative method, such as the historical-critical method really is. He should not be taught to tear down, but to appreciate and build up. Again, this method, as generally employed, consists more in reading what others have said about the work in hand than in a first-hand knowledge of the work itself, and thus the immature student is often taught to accept the ready-made judgments of others. The place of the hiatorical-critical method is not in the first three or four years in German. Rather should the emphasis be laid on a first-hand knowledge of the text itself. The student should be taught to see for him- self, and to use his wits. In the undergraduate course it is the business of the teacher to teach German and not the science ol literary study. If, however, pointing out the beauties of the piece of litera- ture in hand, and teaching the student to use his judgment in 15 regard to the things he reads, serves to enhance his interest in the study of German; if the further assimilation of the idiom can be made more engrossing by calling his attention to the various aspects of the text, which he is able to discuss in Ger- man, then we shall do well to cultivate such study. The suggestions for such study, which I intend to set forth here, will be restricted to prose fiction, but many of them can be made use of in the study of the drama and the epic equally well. As a good starting point in the first-hand study of a text the student may be asked to look at the language with refer- ence to the forms of writing employed, i. e., the categories of rhetoric, description, narration, argument, criticism and exposi- tion . 1 Each student should be asked to mark and label the passages. This having been done, they can be run through speedily in class and possible errors corrected. Attention should now be called to the effect of the predominance of descriptive, narrative, or other masses. A second exercise may profitably consist in examining the dialogic 2 masses. This will offer opportunity to distinguish between soliloquy, monologue and conversation, to show what good conversation is, and how difficult to manage when more than three take part in it, etc. After the student has seen for himself the proportion of dialogic and non-dialogic masses in the work, attention may be called to the effect of the preponderance of'one. As a third exercise a study may be made of the masses of dramatic 3 and semi-dramatic speech. The foregoing exercises will acquaint the student with the literary vehicle. i}c ;js ifc s}s sjc We may now properly proceed to the consideration of what has been called the consecutive structure. One of the most im- iBeschreibung; Erzahlung; Dialektik; Kritik; Analyse oder Ausein- andersetzung, auch Interpretation. 2 All language presented as spoken is dialogic, all presented as written is documentary. 3 All language of a character, also the author’s own words, when used as in dialogue with a character, is dramatic. Speech of a character re- produced with partial accuracy is semi-dramatic. 16 portant things to be observed here is the speed of the fiction. The best means I have found for the determination of speed is the scheme proposed by Goethe and Schiller, and to be found in their letters for the motives of the drama and the epic. Ac- cording to this scheme motives 1 are of five kinds ; vorwarts- schreitend , 2 vorgreifend , 3 retardierend , 4 ruckwartsschreitend 5 and zuruckgreifend . 6 Attention should be called to the fact that a fiction consists of either onward movement, or depiction of situation , 7 and finally attention should be called to the proportion of the various masses and the effect of such proportion should be noted. As an introduction to the study of character and characteri- zation, lists of the characters of the work studied should be made, which shall include all of the personages introduced, groups as well as individuals being noted. A well-managed study of this sort piques the interest, and delights even the more laggard mem- bers of the class. The student may be asked to make a graded list of the characters and designate the most important (fore- ground) ; the less important (middleground) ; and the least im- portant (background) characters. This may be made to lead up to a study of characterization in that the student is asked to point out how the most important characters have come to be such, i. e., to point out the actions by means of which the character is made to live before us, and to tabulate the qualities which the author attributes to him. In German fictions the Weltanschauung of the author is generally much in evidence. A further exercise, therefore, may consist in labelling the Weltanschauung 8 contained in the work under consideration and in supporting such classification by facts from the book. The interest in plot may be stimulated by having outlines of it made and by having titles supplied for the various chapters iMotive is taken here in the broad sense of mass or material. 2 One that furthers the action. 3 Anticipative, or foreshadowing. 4 One that denotes a standstill in the narrative or action. 5 One that retards very decidedly ; irrelevant motive or matter. 6 Retrospective, i. e., one that takes up past history or events. 7 Situationsmalerei. 8 Standard types of Weltanschauung are: resigniert, pessimistisch, optimistisch. Blendings are frequent. 17 of the book. In all of these subjects the student should be encouraged to express his taste and his opinions freely. The following illustration of what may be done in the study of the idiom itself, and incidentally of style, may not be amiss: Taking Brentano’s “Aus der Chronika eines fahrenden Schu- lers,” for a text, attention will first be called to archaic gram- matical forms, and their effect in creating the historic atmos- phere. The forms to be tabulated by the student. Here Scott’s theory of the language of the historic novel, as found in the introduction to Ivanhoe, may fittingly be quoted, which is : To combine the specialized language of a period or a social class with the language that belongs to all ranks and all countries. And to give the general effect of remoteness, even for bygone centuries, he finds the language of a few generations back suf- ficient. The prevalence of diminutives and their effect, as terms of endearment and in lending the semblance of small and ingratiat- ing proportions, will need to be noted, after which a study should be made of the suggestive and highly poetic words and expres- sions which help to make this tale a prose poem. A further consideration of the Gefiihlszvert of words as compared to the ordinary logical meaning may lead to a discus- sion of language in general. The language of the text will be seen to convey more than a bare meaning of words. This some- thing more is poetry. In music, it may be noted, words become entirely inadequate, and sounds replace them. In mathematics and science, words become superfluous often and are replaced by symbols ; while between music and mathematics stands ordi- nary newspaper prose, in which words are adequate to the task in hand, and convey the meaning and nothing more. Having performed these investigations for himself, the student will, as far as the literary vehicle is concerned, have come to something like a first-hand knowledge of the book. Such and similar exercises may lead to ideas and material for senior dissertations or essays, and thus we shall come nearer performing our primary function, viz. to teach German besides teaching the student to appreciate literature and to judge of it for himself. Charles Hart Handschin. Oxford, Ohio, 18 Dll 2 105657560