SYNTHESIS OF THE WHOLE BY CORRELATING THE LESSON WITH ART
1. Make a sketch of the scene in the first stanza, showing the rocky, high, forest-covered banks, with mist rising along the slopes, and the man in a canoe on a small stream below.
2. Make a sketch of the scene described in the second stanza, showing the winding river, with its high banks appearing to meet in the distance, the man in his canoe in the foreground, and over all the dim light of early morning.
3. Make a sketch of the ducks rising from the water. Show the reeds at the mouth of the creek and the rocky spur toward which the birds are heading.
THE LIFE OF THE AUTHOR
As it is not necessary to know anything about the author to fully understand this poem, nothing should be said about his life until the pupils become interested in him through their interest in what he has written. Then teach the main points in his life. See sketch of his life, at the back of the Manual on The Ontario Readers.
DICKENS IN THE CAMP
(Fourth Reader, page 287)
INTRODUCTION
By way of introduction, it might be well to tell the pupils something of Bret Harte—his residence in California, his experience as a prospector in the goldfields, his stories of the mining camps, and his admiration of Dickens. (See Manual on The Ontario Readers, p. 315.) These facts throw considerable light upon the poem, and will be useful in aiding the pupils to interpret it properly. This poem was written shortly after the death of Dickens. It might well follow the study of David Copperfield's First Journey Alone and The Indignation of Nicholas Nickleby.