For the preliminary sketching of characters that might serve as types in fiction, read The Spectator, No. 2, by Steele. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe will be read entire by almost every one.
In Craik, IV., read the following selections from these four great novelists of the middle of the eighteenth century; from Richardson, pp. 59-66; from Fielding, pp. 118-125; from Sterne, pp. 213-219; and from Smollett, pp. 261-264 and 269-272. Manly, II., has brief selections.
Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield should be read entire by the student (Eclectic English Classics, or Gateway Series, American Book Company). Selections may be found in Craik, IV., 365-370.
Sketch the general lines of development in fiction, from the early romance to Smollett. What type of fiction did Don Quixote ridicule? Compare Greene's Pandosto with Shakespeare's Winter's Tale, and Lodge's Rosalynde with As You Like It. In what relation do Steele, Addison, and Defoe stand to the novel? Why is the modern novel said to begin with Richardson?
Philosophy.—Two selections from Berkeley in Craik, IV., 34-39, give some of that philosopher's subtle metaphysics. The same volume, pp. 189-195, gives a selection from Hume's Treatise of Human Nature. Try stating in your own words the substance of these selections.
Gibbon.—Read Aurelian's campaign against Zenobia, which constitutes
the last third of Chap. XI. of the first volume of The Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire. Other selections may be found in Craik,
IV., 460-472; Century, 453-462.
What is the special merit of Gibbon's work? What period does he cover?
Compare his style, either in description or in narration, with
Bunyan's.
Burke.—Let the student who has not the time to read all the speech on Conciliation with America (Eclectic English Classics, or Gateway Series, American Book Company, 20 cents) read the selection in Craik, IV., 379-385, and also the selection referring to the decline of chivalry, from Reflections on the Revolution in France (Craik, IV., 402).
Point out in Burke's writings the four characteristics mentioned on p. 331. Compare his style with Bacon's, Swift's, Addison's, and Gibbon's.
Goldsmith.—Read his three masterpieces: The Deserted Village, The
Vicar of Wakefield (Eclectic English Classics, or Gateway Series,
American Book Company), She Stoops to Conquer (Cassell's National
Library; Everyman's Library).