Point out, if you can, some ways in which the author has made her dialogues smooth and natural. Compare with one of your own.
Style.—Note a few of the most humorous passages; of the most pathetic. In the humorous passages is the author laughing at her characters, or laughing with them? Compare in this respect her treatment of Mrs. Jamieson, Miss Barker, and Miss Pole with Scott's treatment of Prior Aymer, Friar Tuck, and Athelstane.
The Life and Character of the Author.—What facts do we know of Mrs. Gaskell's girlhood? her education? her married life? her great sorrow? her first literary success? her acquaintance with the literary men of her day? the regard of her neighbors for her?
Comparison.—Does the value of this book lie in its setting? in its plot? in its characters? in its style? in its teaching? or in all of these factors?
Compare Cranford in respect to each of the above topics with the other novels that you have studied.
Outline for the Study of Silas Marner
I. Preparation
A few facts about George Eliot's early life will help to show how she could write as she did about country people—their ideas, habits, and manner of life.
II. Reading and Study
A rapid reading, followed by a second and more careful one, is quite practicable with so short and interesting a story as Silas Marner. It is especially to be recommended for this book, since the chapters are so full of suggestions of character, of customs of a by-gone time, and of hints for the further development of the story, that it is difficult for a young reader, urged on by his interest in the plot, to stop long enough to grasp all the essential features. So many important lessons for the beginner may be drawn from the structure of this book, from its teaching, and from its representation of life, that it especially repays thorough study.