The study class : a guide for the student of English literature . elvesto a small membership ; to the old clubs, whocannot do this. Form study-groups, bringing theresults if you like into the larger body, but donot attempt to carry it all. III. THE INTERPRETATION OF LITERA-TURE. ONSIDERABLE uncertainty exists insome minds concerning the true,meaning of the study of , let us distinguish betweenright and wrong conceptions of what constitutesits intrinsic value, between right and wrongmethods of approach to it as a liberal study. At the outset, let us rid ourselves of a consid
The study class : a guide for the student of English literature . elvesto a small membership ; to the old clubs, whocannot do this. Form study-groups, bringing theresults if you like into the larger body, but donot attempt to carry it all. III. THE INTERPRETATION OF LITERA-TURE. ONSIDERABLE uncertainty exists insome minds concerning the true,meaning of the study of , let us distinguish betweenright and wrong conceptions of what constitutesits intrinsic value, between right and wrongmethods of approach to it as a liberal study. At the outset, let us rid ourselves of a consid-erable body of traditions, inherited from school-days. English literature, as we then studied it,meant a barren catalogue of names, works, anddates; its masterpieces, if studied at all, wereconsidered only as so much material for exer-cises in grammar, syntax and etymology; groupsof writers were told off according to their gen-eral characteristics, and marked with labelswhich, being readily committed to memory, wereas readily forgotten long ago. The conception. 26 THE STUDY CLASS. of literature as the expression of art or genius,as being charged with a message which it wasours to master and assimilate, had not thenfound its way into the schools, nor has it yetcome to general recognition there, though it isto be found in some instances under the leader-ship of an occasional enlightened and inde-pendent teacher. Thus it happens that our first duty in ap-proaching literature is to discard the old notions ;regarding it neither as a collection of facts forthe memory, nor merely as material for thestudy of words and phrases, but rising to thehigher conception of literature as an expressionof the truths of life and the world, as seen bythe master minds of each generation. To graspthese truths will tax the highest arts of interpre-tation, — not merely the art of verbal analysis,nor yet alone the art of analysis of form andstyle, but also the still higher art of analysis ofsentiment,
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectenglishliterature
