“The autumn leaves are falling,
   They are falling everywhere;
   They are falling through the atmosphere
   And likewise through the air.”

Woe betide the teacher who tries to explain!  There is no explanation—­there is just the humor.  If that eludes the reader, an explanation will not avail.

A teacher of Latin read to his pupils “The House-Boat on the Styx” in connection with their reading of the “AEneid.”  It was good fun for them all, and never was Virgil more highly honored than in the assiduous study which those young people gave to his lines.  They were eager to complete the study of the lesson in order to have more time for the “House-Boat.”  The humor of the book opened wide the gates of their spirits through which the truths of the regular lesson passed blithely in.

QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES

1.  What is the source of humor in a humorous story?

2.  When should the teacher laugh with the school?  When should she not do so?

3.  How does the response of the school to a laughable incident reflect the leadership of the teacher?

4.  What can be done to bring more or better humor into the school?

5.  Compare as companions those whom you know who exhibit a sense of humor with those who do not.

6.  Compare their influence on others.

7.  What can be done to bring humor into essays written by the students?

8.  Distinguish between wit and humor.  Does wit or humor cause most of the laughter in school?

9.  What is meant by an “aptitude for vicariousness”?

10.  How did Lincoln make use of humor?  Is there any humor in the Gettysburg speech?  Why?

11.  What is the relation of pathos to humor?

12.  Give an example from the writings of Mark Twain that shows him a philosopher as well as a humorist.

13.  What books could you read to the pupils to enliven some of the subjects that you teach?

CHAPTER XX

The Element of Human Interest

=Yearning toward betterment.=—­Much has been said and written in recent times touching the matter and manner of vitalizing and humanizing the studies and work of the school.  The discussions have been nation-wide in their scope and most fertile in plans and practical suggestions.  No subject of greater importance or of more far-reaching import now engages the interest of educational leaders.  They are quite aware that something needs to be done, but no one has announced the sovereign remedy.  The critics have made much of the fact that there is something lacking or wrong in our school procedure, but they can neither diagnose the case nor suggest the remedy.  They can merely criticize.  We are having many surveys, but the results have been meager and inadequate.  We have been working at the circumference of the circle rather than at the