he place of other
characterization? Is Dickens a master of plot? of style?

Thackeray.--Read _Henry Esmond (Eclectic English Classics)_ and _The
English Humorists of the Fifteenth Century_ (Macmillan's _Pocket
Classics_). Craik, V., and Manly, II. give selections.

Contrast the manner of treatment in Thackeray's historical novel,
_Henry Esmond_, and in Scott's historical romance, _Ivanhoe_.
Thackeray says: "The best humor is that which contains most
humanity--that which is flavored throughout with tenderness and
kindness." Would this serve as a definition of Thackeray's own style
of humor? State definitely how he differs from Dickens in portraying
character. Compare Thackeray's _English Humorists_ with Macaulay's
_Milton_ and Carlyle's _Burns_. Which essay leaves the most definite
ideas? Which is the most interesting? Which has the most atmosphere?
How should you characterize Thackeray's style?

George Eliot.--Read _Silas Marner_ (_Eclectic English Classics_ or
_Gateway Series_), or selections in Craik, V., or Manly, II. In what
does the chief strength of _Silas Marner_ consist,--in the plot, the
characters, or the description? Does the ethical purpose of this novel
grow naturally out of the story? Is the inner life or only the outward
appearance of the characters revealed? Wherein do they show growth?

Stevenson.--Read _Treasure Island_ (_Eclectic English Classics_ or
_Gateway Series_), _Inland Voyage_, and _Travels with a Donkey_
(_Gateway Series_). From the essays read _Child's Play, Aes Triplex_
(both in _Virginibus Puerisque_). Some of the essays and best short
stories (including _Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde_) are given in Canby and
Pierce's _Selections from Robert Louis Stevenson_. From the volume of
poems called _Underwoods_, read _The Celestial Surgeon and Requiem. A
Child's Garden of Verse_ may be read entire in an hour.

_Compare Treasure Island_ with _Robinson Crusoe_. What are the chief
characteristics of _An Inland Voyage_ and _Travels with a Donkey_? Why
is he called a romantic writer? As an essayist, compare him with
Thackeray. What are the special qualities of his style?

George Meredith.--_The Egoist_ is Meredith's most representative
novel. _The Ordeal of Richard Feverel_ and _Diana of the Crossways_
are also masterpieces. From the _Poems_ read _Love in the Valley, The
Lark Ascending, Melanthus, Jump-to-Glory Jane_.

What is the central purpose of The Egoist? Select specially
Meredithian passages w