The
second story in each group makes an appeal to the child's reasoning
powers; having secured his attention through the apperceptive story,
the story-teller now takes the child a-field, mentally, and secures
his voluntary attention. It calls for constructive thought; it
presents the theme of the program in a broader way, with wider
application. It is, usually, the longest story of the program. The
third story is, invariably, the dessert of this story meal. Through
its brevity, humor, tenderness, or sharply contrasting treatment of
the program theme, it supplies the necessary relaxation, the fitting
climax for the program.
An analysis of the Trade Life program will illustrate the psychologic
appeal upon which the book is built. The story, The Holiday, opens the
program with its apperceptive appeal, showing the dependence of the
home upon the industrial life of the community and the possibility of
a child's cooeperation in it. The second story in the trade program,
Selma Lagerlooef's Nils and the Bear, gives this wonderful Swedish
writer's presentation of the iron industry as a factor in our growth
from savagery to civilization. The third story, The Giant Energy and
Fairy Skill, by Maud Lindsay, gives the program its climax in fantasy
and contrast.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25