Which of
his short stories do you like best? What is Hawthorne's special aim in _The
Snow Image_ and _The Gentle Boy_? What qualities give special charm to
sketches like _The Old Manse_ and the _Introduction_ to _The Scarlet
Letter_? What is the underlying motive to be worked out in _The House of
the Seven Gables_? Why is it said that the Ten Commandments reign supreme
in Hawthorne's world of fiction? Was he a classicist or a romanticist (p.
219)? What qualities do you notice in his style?
In Lowell's critical essays, what unusual turns of thought do you find to
challenge your attention? Does he employ humor in his serious criticism?
What most impresses you in reading selections from _The Autocrat of the
Breakfast Table_, the humor, sprightliness, and variety of the thought, or
the style? What especially satisfactory pages have you found?
Make a comparison (_a_) of the picturesqueness and color, (_b_) of the
energy of presentation, (_c_) of the power to develop interest, and (_d_)
of the style, shown in the selections which you have chosen from Prescott,
Motley, and Parkman. Compare their style with that of Macaulay in his
_History of England_.
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