HAWTHORNE.--At least one of each of the different types of his short
stories should be read. His power in impressing allegorical or symbolic
truth may be seen in _The Snow Image_ or _The Great Stone Face_. As a
specimen of his New England historical tales, read one or more of the
following: _The Gentle Boy_, _The Maypole of Merry Mount_, _Lady Eleanore's
Mantle_, or even the fantastic _Young Goodman Brown_, which presents the
Puritan idea of witchcraft. For an example of his sketches or narrative
essays, read _The Old Manse_ (the first paper in _Mosses from an Old
Manse_) or the _Introduction_ to _The Scarlet Letter_.
_The Scarlet Letter_ may be left for mature age, but _The House of the
Seven Gables_ should be read by all.
From his books for children, _The Golden Touch (Wonder Book)_ at least
should be read, no matter how old the reader.
LONGFELLOW.--His best narrative poem is _Hiawatha_, and its strongest part
is _The Famine_, beginning:--
"Oh, the long and dreary Winter!"
The opening lines of _Evangeline_ should be read for both the beauty of the
poetry and the novelty of the meter. The first four sections of _The
Courtship of Miles Standish_ should be read for its pictures of the early
days of the first Pilgrim settlement.
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