QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1.  What is poetry?

2.  What is the purpose of rhyme?

3.  May writing have the essentials of poetry and yet have no regular rhythm?  What of the Psalms?

4.  Why is poetry especially valuable to the teacher?

5.  Show how some poem other than those mentioned in the chapter teaches a lesson or gives an inspiration.

6.  Name, if you can, some methods of treatment that cause poetry to fail to affect the lives of the pupils as it should.

7.  Suggest uses of poetry and the treatment that will insure the right results.

8.  Is there danger that a teacher may become too appreciative or susceptible—­too poetic in temperament?  Recall observations of those who were either too much so or too little.

9.  Is there danger that one may have too much of a good quality, or is the danger not in having too little of some other quality?

10.  Show how a wide and appreciative reading of poetry makes for a proper balance of temperament.

CHAPTER XIX

A SENSE OF HUMOR

=An American story.=—­There is a story to the effect that a certain Mr. Jones was much given to boasting of his early rising.  He stoutly maintained that he was going about his work every morning at three o’clock.  Some of his friends were inclined to be incredulous as to his representations and entered into a kindly conspiracy to put them to the test.  Accordingly one of the number presented himself at the kitchen door of the Jones residence one morning at half-past three and made inquiry of Mrs. Jones as to the whereabouts of her husband, asking if he was at home.  In a very gracious manner Mrs. Jones replied:  “No, he isn’t here now.  He was around here early this morning but I don’t really know where he is now.”  This is a clean, fine, typical American story, and, by means of such a story, we can test for a sense of humor.  The boy in school will laugh at this story both because it is a good one and because he is a normal boy.  If he does not laugh at such a story, there is cause for anxiety as to his mental condition or attitude.  If the teacher cannot or does not laugh, a disharmony is generated at once between teacher and pupil which militates against the well-being of the school.  If the teacher reprimands the boy, the boy as certainly discredits the teacher and all that she represents.  If she cannot enjoy such a wholesome story, he feels that her arithmetic, geography, and grammar are responsible, and these studies decline somewhat in his esteem.  Moreover, he feels that the teacher’s reprimand was unwarranted and unjust and he fain would consort with people of his own kind.  Many a boy deserts school because the teacher is devoid of the saving grace of humor.  Her inability to see or have any fun in life makes him uncomfortable and he seeks a more agreeable environment.