Select passages that show (a) humor, (b) pathos, (c) sympathy with children, (d) optimism.  Describe some one of the characters.  Can you instance a case here a mannerism is made to take the 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 which show his general characteristics.  Can you find any other author whose humor resembles Meredith’s?  Would he naturally be more popular with men or with women?