In the last paragraph of the Forward Look, you are asked to notice the way in which authors tell what they have to say. When Franklin was a young boy he was not at all satisfied with his way of writing, so he sat himself the task of noticing carefully how a certain English writer, whom he admired very much, expressed himself, and tried to pattern after him. Notice how Franklin made the story "An Ax to Grind" seem very real by using direct quotations; where else has he used direct quotations with the same result?
Notice the way Hawthorne added interest to his stories: (a) by touches of fancy; (b) by delicate humor; (c) by apt descriptions. Point out examples of each of these qualities in "The Paradise of Children." Make a similar showing for "The Golden Touch." Compare the two stories in regard to each of These qualities.
Turn to the pictures on pages 282, 297, 302, 321, and 309, and see whether you are able to tell what selection each panel-picture illustrates. You have read many stories in this book that show how fine a thing it is to serve, and so it seems fitting to have on the cover at your reader a picture of Hiawatha, who
"Lived and toiled, so I suffered, That the tribes of men might prosper, That he might advance his people!"
Make a list of the stories you have read in this book that tell about service. Read the lines in "The White-man's foot" that describe "the great canoe with pinions," which you see in the picture on the outside cover of this book. Since you began to use this book what progress have you hade in gaining ability to read silently with speed and understanding?
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GLOSSARY
abashed (a-bashed'), ashamed
abbey (ab'i), the home of monks
abbot (ab'ut), head of an abbey