Bulletin of Hamline University THf IIRRJBy 0F r ^ JUL 14 j 92b DepartmeiltB*"" w,u,w » of English, English Literature and Public Speaking NOVEMBER, 1923 VOL. XIII NO. 4 INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT Former bulletins of Hamline University have been devoted to the special interests of various departments, Sociology, Biology, Chemistry, Education, Physics, Music, Romance Lan- guages. It is intended that the November number each year should make similar statements concerning the other depart- ments, either singly or in groups. The present number then aims to give concise information concerning regular courses of instruction and extra-curricular activities in the departments of English, English Literature and Public Speaking. There is a natural bond of unity in the work of these departments; they are severally and collectively engaged in the work of improving student powers in speaking, reading and writing, three enormously important functions of all educated men and women. PAGE TWO ENGLISH Professors Beyer and Adams Miss Ackerman, Mr. Banner, Miss Foster and Miss Snyder 11, 12. This is a course in composition, an essential art in college and in life. The habit of mind developed by the way this art is practised is the measure of the student's education. Can he detect similarities in objects or ideas not commonly associated? Does he discriminate with precision between ideas or terms alike in most respects? Can he build these specific details into a logical explanation or a single, vivid impression? The papers written each week are criticized by the instructor, and corrected or revised by the student at once. Each student has several conferences with the instructor during the semester. At least three impromptus are written in class. Fifteen or twenty minutes a week are devoted to discriminating between synonyms. Each section is limited in numbers to twenty-five. 0. At the beginning of the semester, by a series of writing tests, the instructor attempts to discover at once what students have formed habits of expression that need correction and ar- ranges for practice to correct these faults. Those found seri- ously deficient in the mechanics of expression are required to take a semester course in the elements of grammar and writing which carries no college credit, before they are allowed to pur- sue English 11, 12. 13, 14. Sophomore Composition. Required of sophomores whose grade was D in either sem- ester of the freshman year, 11, 12. One hour a week. Professor Adams, who is in active supervision of freshman and sophomore composition, is Assistant Librarian in the J. J. Hill Reference Library, and thus in a position to be of unusual service to students who wish to do research work. 18. Versification. 21, 22. Exposition. 23, 24. Short Story. PAGE THREES 25, 26. Reporting. (See below.) 27, 28. Feature Writing. 29. Argumentation. 30. Editorial Writing. 33, 34. Copyreading. 35, 36. Old English. 37, 38. Middle English. 39, 40. Familiar Essay. 41, 42. Advanced Composition. Graduates and seniors under restrictions. 46. Teaching English in High School. (See below.) 50. Junior Essays. (See p. 5.) TEACHER'S COURSE AND PRACTISE TEACHING English 46 is designed for seniors who expect to teach Eng- lish in high schools. Members must have done satisfactory- work in the departments of English and English Literature or both. Although the prospective high school teacher's best equipment must always be wide reading, sound habits of speech and composition, and a genuine interest in literature and life, some value may accrue from a semester's study of technical problems, and special professional methods. Small classes of freshmen in need of additional instruction in elementary matters are organized and put in charge of pro- spective teachers under supervision of members of the Eng- lish department and under observation by some member of the department of Education. JOURNALISM Within the last few years there has been an increasing demand on the part of the students specializing in the depart- ment of English for practical writing courses leading to the pro- fession of journalism. There are at present four courses: Reporting, Feature Writ- ing, Editorial Writing, and Copy Reading. It is the aim of these courses to acquaint the student with the form and content PAGE FOUR of the best American daily newspapers, to teach him to write acceptable copy, to secure the proper evaluation of news, to offer constructive criticism upon the various problems of the profession, and to understand the significance of an ethical background for all journalistic work. Students enrolled in the courses are encouraged to become columnists for one of the Twin City newspapers, or contributors to the Oracle, a student newspaper published weekly on the campus. Actual laboratory work is thus offered the students by the cooperation of these newspapers. Trips through the largest of the newspaper plants of the Northwest, talks by prominent visiting journalists, and the many excellent oppor- tunities to study the metropolitan journalism of the Twin Cities at close range are points that are not overlooked in the plan of the courses. Steps are being taken to reorganize a chapter of a national journalistic fraternity on the campus. JUNIOR ESSAYS For some years previous to 1921 there had been no required work in English composition after the freshman year. In that year it seemed desirable to place more emphasis upon com- position among members of the Junior and Senior classes. Since numerous "papers" were required in connection with cer- tain upper-class courses, a plan of cooperation between the Eng- lish department and each of the other departments has been adopted. An attempt is made to eliminate the false dualistic conception which separates matter and manner, sub- stance and form, to teach the essential unity of composition. Writing in the Educational Review, June, 1922, Professor Thomas P. Beyer made a plea for cooperation and presented the essentials of the plan. The concluding paragraph follows: "Given an English faculty of the type indicated, the impasse would disappear; the problem could be handled in a variety of ways. The simplest would be for the teachers of composi- tion to devote themselves almost solely to the writing required PAGE FIVE by the other departments. For instance, the history instructor, after reading his papers, would turn them over to the professor of English with a statement of the purpose the paper was sup- posed to have; the latter would return it to the student with suggestions, who, after reading and working upon these, would hand the revised paper back to the history instructor, who would then record a final grade based upon his own standards. The English instructor has made a record meanwhile on the same piece of work, based upon the ideals of such writing that he has been holding up to the student in composition. In this way, although it might happen that the history instructor demands primarily soundness of fact and view, and the Eng- lish instructor demands effectiveness of form, the student will feel that composition is a unit; the false double standard will disappear. If these 'papers' could then be reduced to a mini- mum, not more than one or two at most a semester, permitting the student to devote more time to composition of a more gen- eral character, to develop his observation, his narrative skill, or ease and audacity in the more personal forms of writing, there would be a new heaven and a new earth, and they would be the same." The plan at present in operation at Hamline requires that an essay or essays aggregating 4,000 words shall be written by each junior; and that it shall, if necessary, be revised and im- proved until it merits the grade of C (minimum) both in the English department and in the department of the writer's major study. ENGLISH CLUB The English Club was begun in 1917-1918 by a number of students eager for mutual discussion as an incentive to wider reading. The club was organized as a group of twelve upper- class women majoring in English and doing distinguished work in either department. In the spring of 1923 it was decided to PAOB MX enlarge the membership to sixteen, and to include any men fulfilling the requirements of major work and signal interest in the departments. The reading pursued during the first years centered about books claiming the serious attention of the public at the moment, and the programs included discussions of modern endeavor in other fields than that of pure literature, as history, religion, and art. Since the institution of the General Reading course, the club has chosen its program from the suggested list, attempting to consider certain classics, of immortal interest, along with the more recent publications. The current program includes such fine hardy perennials as Piers Plowman, Plato's Republic, and selections from Moliere, as well as the plays of Shaw, Rolland's Jean Christophe, and Ellwood's Reconstruction of Religion. The present year promises to be one of interest and significance in the life of the club. PAGE HKVKN r ENGLISH LITERATURE Professor Arnold Miss Ackerman and Miss Foster 11, 12. Outline of English Literature. The outline is designed to stress the historical development of English literature, from its beginnings to the present day. Often students who have had a survey course in high school have little conception of the evolution of types or the relation of individuals to groups. In college this information is funda- mental. Moreover, by means of collateral reading and occa- sional lectures, some first hand knowledge of the subject is obtained. All intending to teach and all desiring general cul- ture — indeed, all who attend a college of liberal arts — should elect this course. 21, 22. Shakespeare. The language of one of Shakespeare's plays is studied min- utely, as it is in English 14 at Harvard. Then all of Shake- speare's plays are examined critically, in chronological order. Unfortunately many college graduates know only two or three of Shakespeare's thirty-seven dramas. The object of this course is to gain an extensive as well as an intensive knowledge of the great bard "not of an age but for all time." 31. Milton. 32. Browning and Tennyson, 33. 34. American Literature. 35, 36. Development of the English Drama, \ 37, 38. Development o/ # the English Novel. LeRoy Arnold, Professor of English Literature, goes to New York during the Christmas vacation to give a brief course of lectures on "Writers of the Day" for the Institute of Arts and Sciences of Columbia University. Dr. Arnold has given a course on this subject at Columbia for the last four years, for ■ : ... PAGE BIGHT the Saint Paul Institute for the last three years, and, inter- mittently, for the Brooklyn Institute at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the last eight years. The material for these lec- tures Dr. Arnold uses in his courses at Hamline, in American literature as well as in his advanced courses in fiction and drama. P161 KIXB PUBLIC SPEAKING Professor Wright and Mr. Smith The college graduate who "took" a course in "elocution" ten years ago would discover a very decided change in manner and method if he should visit a class in Public Speaking today. He would notice, first of all, that the term "elocution" is no longer used. In fact, very few teachers of speech today will allow their work to be spoken of as elocution. This attitude is the result of the many undesirable elements that accompanied the older type of work, which was almost exclusively a matter of memorized outbursts of fervid oratory and impassioned poetry, together with a mechanical and pretty definitely fixed system of postures and gestures. The assumption was, appar- ently, that anyone who would submit himself to this rigid sys- tem and would practice certain drills for voice and gesture, could become a great orator or reader. And there were some who did, either because of the method, or in spite of it. But "the old order changeth," and in the field of speech the change has been brought about by comparatively recent developments in the science of psychology. Without attempt- ing a technical definition, we may say that psychology is the science which endeavors to understand the laws that govern human thought and emotions. Since speech is for tne purpose of influencing human thought and emotions, and through them, human conduct, what more logical than that the art of speech should look for aid to that science which can best show how mind and emotion operate. One particular value that the psychologist has given to the study of speech is the knowledge that body, mind, and emotion are so inextricably bound up together that they can not be separated. Man is not body one instant, mind another instant, and emotion the next; he is all of these things all the time, and he is all of these things at once, and the influence of each upon BAGB THN the other is so intricate that it is hardly possible to say where one begins and the other ends. The ancients were wont to hold that certain organs of the body were the seats of the emotions, — the heart was the seat of love, the spleen was the seat of anger, etc. They may have been mistaken in their anatomy, but they were not entirely wrong in their psychology. Today we know that every mental or emotional change produces some corresponding physical adjustment; likewise, that every physical condition is capable of influencing mind and emotion. The young speaker feels a sense of fear, and straightway his knees tremble, his lips and throat become parched, and his organs of speech refuse to function. Contrariwise, many a speaker can trace a speech failure to over indulgence at the dinner table. These facts are common knowledge, and just because they are so common, it took the psychologist to show us how to evaluate and control them. Someone has said that "psychology talks about things that everybody knows in terms that nobody understands." Be that as it may, the fact is that we often understand least that with which we are most familiar. The old method tried to accomplish results by pushing every- thing in from the outside; the new method tries to accomplish results by drawing everything out from the inside. This new method tries to bring out the personality of the student; the old method all too often resulted in forcing upon the student the personality of the teacher. In this older method, the ele- ment of copy and imitation was frequently so powerful that some veterans in the field used to say that they could tell from what school a speaker had graduated by the way he smiled. Today, we are less concerned about the pattern by which the speaker smiles, but we are anxious that when he smiles, the smile shall be his own, and not that of the teacher. We are not greatly interested today in graceful postures and sonorous voices, but we are anxious that these externals shall be a true representation of the real self of the individual. PAGE ELEVEN This, we believe, is in keeping with the true purpose of all educative processes, — to enable the individual to be his owa best self in all circumstances. The Department of Public Speaking offers the following courses: 11, 12. Fundamentals of Speech. Co-ordination of body and mind in oral communication. 21. Extempore Speech, with emphasis on methods of speeck construction for various purposes. 22. Fundamentals of Argumentation and Debate. 23. 24. Oral Expression. 33, 34. Literary and Dramatic Interpretation. ORATORY AND DEBATE Hamline University is a member of the Minnesota State Oratorical Association, and participates in the annual contests of the Association. The orator who represents Hamline is chosen each year in the E. W. Randall Prize Contest. Debate plans for 1923-24 provide for two inter-collegiate contests, one between Hamline, the University of North Dakota, and the University of South Dakota, the other a quadrangular arrangement comprised of Hamline, Macalester, Gustavus Adolphus and St. Olaf. There is also a Freshman debate be- tween Hamline and Macalester. A new feature at Hamline is the Women's Debate, held for the first time in 1922-23. Plans for 1923-24 provide for a Quadrangular League, composed of Hamline, Macalester, Gustavus Adolphus and St. Olaf. In addition to these debates there is an annual Extempore Contest between Hamline and Macalester. In 1922-23 a chapter of Pi Kappa Delta, a national forensic fraternity, was organized at Hamline. THE HAMLINE UNIVERSITY PLAYERS The active membership of the Hamline Players, is composed of students who are minoring in Public Speaking or majoring PAGH TWHLTa in the Departments of English or English Literature. While the membership is limited to forty, an attempt is made to use the best talent Hamline has. The Players meet once a month in the Manor House Club rooms. A one-act play, usually coached by a student, is pre- sented at this time. This year, the club kas presented one of the Harvard 47 Workshop plays, Plots and Playwrights , by Edward Massey. A movable stage has been built and scenery has been secured. Enough permanent equipment has been accumulated to make the presentation of plays a real campus activity. Three one-act plays will be presented later, and a road play, not yet chosen, will tour the Northwest in March. This play- will be presented on the campus in June. PAGE THIRTEEN GENERAL READING The course in General Reading, now entering on its third year, is passing beyond the experimental stage, and seems likely to become a permanent feature of the curriculum, although the exact method of its conduct is not regarded by all as entirely satisfactory. An article outlining the plan at Ham- line, written by one of the members of the committee, appeared in the June, 1923, number of the English Journal. This has occasioned considerable interest in other colleges. The Dean of Women in a Southern college writes, "I think the scheme is an excellent one"; the Dean of the College of Education of a Western State University writes, "Your plan at Hamline is an interesting one. The result of this experiment will be watched with interest by other institutions"; and the Director of Admissions of an Eastern University writes, "I read the paper, every word, with attention, interest, appreciation and benediction." And the Principal of a national Correspondence School writes an enthusiastic letter, ending, "I like your list of books very much. It is marked by high quality and excel- lent variety. Thankfully yours." The list of books is published in the catalog and reprints may be secured from the Registrar. The committee in general charge of the course is composed of Professors Osborn, Walcott, Blegen, Delson and Beyer. page fourteen; RECENT FACULTY APPOINTMENTS PAGE FIFTEEN Faculty and Students, Hamline University, October 1923 RECENT FACULTY APPOINTMENTS RAYMOND BOYD NELL Assistant Professor of Education B. S., PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE; M. A., THIEL COLLEGE. Mr. Nell has studied at Columbia University, Harrard University and the University of Minnesota. His last academic position vra.it that of Professor of Education in Augsburg Seminary, Minne- apolis. OLIVER W. CASS Instructor in Chemistry B. S., HAMLINE UNIVERSITY. Mr. Cass was for three years student assistant in Chemistry and has begun graduate work at the University of Chicago. Member of Kappa Phi. DOROTHY M. McGHEE Instructor in Romance Languages B. A., M. A, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. Member of Phi Beta Kappa. EARL LEWIS MICKELSON Instructor in Mathematics B. A., UNIVERSITY OP MINNESOTA. Member of Phi Beta Kappa. LEILA ELIZABETH MUNSON Instructor in Physics B. A., UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. Member of Phi Beta Kappa. MARGARET SNYDER Instructor in English B. A., HAMLINE UNIVERSITY. Member of Kappa Phi. GLADYS RUTH VAN FOSSEN Instructor in Physical Education for Women B. A., UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. Graduate Work in Teachers' College, Columbia Unirersity. ANNA CONSTANCE LAGERGREN Librarian of Hamline University Library Ph. B., UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO. Miss Lagergren has occupied important positions in the Harper Memorial Library and the Chicago Historical Society. THORA REGINA GRONLID Graduate Nurse Miss Gronlid was a student in St. Olaf College, and i« a graduate of St. Luke's Hospital, St. Paul. PAGB FIFTEEN UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 3 0112 110187967 The Bulletin of Hamline University is published by the University and issued four times a year, in January, March, July and November, with occasional supplements. Entered as second class mail matter in the Postoffice at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the Act of August 24, 1912. FA«K SIXT»»N