Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Literature Part 14

This lesson should be taken when the apple orchards are in bloom. The teacher should prepare the pupils for it, by asking them to observe the blossoms, their colours and odours, the songs of the birds, and the sounds of the streams.

PRESENTATION

Read the poem describing these. What is the main theme of the lesson? The poet tells us how much we have missed if we have not "seen an apple orchard in the spring".

What is his theme in the first three stanzas?

The beauty of an apple orchard.

What, in the last stanza? His memory of it.

In what order does he describe the blossoms? In the first stanza, the buds are turning white; in the second, they are unfolding; and in the third, the petals are dropping.

Where does the author suppose the reader to be standing, in the first stanza? Outside the orchard, where it is possible to see "the spreading trees" and all the orchard at once.

Where, in the next two stanzas, is he supposed to be? He is plucking the blossoms and walking under the trees.

What senses are appealed to in the first stanza? Sight--"seen an apple orchard".

Hearing--"mavis sings its story".

What senses are appealed to in the second stanza? Touch--"plucked the apple blossoms", "touch them a delight". Smell--"caught their subtle odours". Sight--"Pink buds pouting at the light", "Crumpled petals baby white".

What senses are appealed to in the third?

Sight--"pink cascades". Hearing--"silver brooklets brawling", "cuckoo bird soft calling".

Show the appropriateness of "h.o.a.ry", "wealth of promised glory", "pouting", "pink cascades", "silver brooklets brawling", "wonder of the spring", "precious", "tender".

What Canadian birds could be subst.i.tuted for the mavis and the cuckoo? The robins, warblers, and goldfinches.

Lead the pupils to examine the arrangement of the rhythm and the refrain, so that they will appreciate the music of the verse. Let each pupil show his appreciation by reading the stanza he likes best.

LITTLE DAFFYDOWNDILLY

(Third Reader, page 223)

The teacher should require the pupils to read the lesson through and then to reproduce its main incidents without any regard to their allegorical significance. Such headings as the following might be suggested by the pupils, and these would serve to guide in this reproduction:

1. Daffydowndilly's dislike of the schoolmaster

2. His decision to run away from school

3. His meeting with the stranger who accompanies him on his journey

4. The haymakers

5. The carpenters

6. The soldiers

7. The merry-makers

8. His discovery of his companion's ident.i.ty

9. The lesson that he learned.

Having thus obtained the literal meaning of the story--a matter of little difficulty--it remains to get its deeper significance. It is hardly probable that many pupils will be disposed to regard the story as literally true, yet few will be likely, upon a first reading, to see the principle that underlies it. In order to arrive at this, the teacher may proceed as follows:

Are there any parts of the story that strike you as improbable? (1) The reference to Mr.

Toil's long residence upon the earth. (2) The frequent meetings with Mr. Toil's brothers. (3) Daffydowndilly's slowness in discovering another brother in the person of his companion.

(4) Their travelling all day in a circle.

If the story is literally untrue or improbable, what object might Hawthorne have had in view in writing it? Perhaps he wished to teach some lesson; perhaps there is a meaning hidden beneath the story.

Let us discover what that hidden meaning is?

What does the name "Toil" suggest to you? Work.

What, then, may Mr. Toil represent? Work.

And what may his brothers represent? Different kinds of work.

With this idea in mind, we shall now try to understand what each adventure really means.

How are we prepared for Daffydowndilly's troubles with the schoolmaster and for his later unpleasant experience? The author tells us that he "took no delight in labour of any kind".

What flower did he resemble? The daffodil. The boy's name is another form of the name of the flower.

In what respect is he said to resemble a flower? He "loved to do only what was beautiful and agreeable, and took no delight in labour of any kind".

Why is Mr. Toil first represented as a schoolmaster? Because it is at school that a boy is first introduced to real work. (This might be given a still more extended meaning.

The school represents the preparation for our future vocation, whether it be in the school-room, or in an apprenticeship, or elsewhere. This involves hard work, and hence is, to some extent, at least, unpleasant.)

What is meant by saying that Mr. Toil "had done more good ... than anybody else in the world"?

Work does everybody good: (1) It keeps us out of mischief. Criminals often become so because of the lack of profitable employment. (2) It improves character. The people of the best and strongest character are those who have had to work hard. (3) It makes the world happier. The most miserable people are those who have nothing to do.

"A very worthy character." Is "character" used in its usual sense here? It usually means what a person really _is_.

(Distinguish "character" and "reputation".)

Explain what is meant by saying that "he had dwelt upon earth ever since Adam was driven from the garden of Eden". Ever since that time man has had to work. G.o.d said to Adam (Genesis iii, 19), "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread".

Why is Mr. Toil represented as being such a disagreeable person? Because, to some people, work has many unpleasant features.

Any activity that has no compulsory elements in it is no longer work, but play. What is the real meaning of the paragraph describing the schoolmaster's method of discipline? The work of the school-room, being compulsory, and therefore disagreeable to idle boys, becomes exceedingly painful when long continued.

Contrast Daffydowndilly's previous life with his experience at school. Brought up under the indulgence of his mother, his life had been very pleasant. Now, introduced to real work, he finds life very unpleasant.

What gives us a suggestion as to the ident.i.ty of the stranger whom Daffydowndilly met on the road? We are told that he was "trudging" "along the road", and that his voice "seemed hard and severe".

Why is "trudging" a better word than "walking"?