105-120. (Begin with the line on p. 105, "A
child said, _What is the Grass?_"), _Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking_,
pp. 154-160, _I Hear America Singing_, p. 100, _Reconciliation_ p. 175, _O
Captain! My Captain_, p. 184, _When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed_,
pp. 176-184, _Patrolling Barnegat_, p. 163, _With Husky-Haughty Lips, O
Sea!_ p. 232.
Selections from his prose, including _Specimen Days_, _Memoranda of the
War_, and his theories of art and poetry, may be found in Triggs, pp. 3-95.
QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
THE PROSE REALISTS.--To what school did the best writers in American
fiction belong, prior to the last quarter of the nineteenth century? What
was the subject of each? What is the realistic theory advanced by Howells?
In what respects does this differ from the practice of the romantic school?
Take any chapter of _Silas Lapham_ and of either _The Portrait of a Lady_,
or of _Roderick Hudson_, and show how Howells and James differ from the
romanticists. What difference do you notice in the realistic method and in
the style of Howells and of James?
What special qualities characterize the work of Mary Wilkins Freeman? What
is the secret of her success in so employing a little realistic incident as
to hold the reader's attention? Compare the two short stories, _The Madonna
of the Future_ (James) and _A New England Nun_ (Wilkins Freeman) and show
how James's interest lies in the subtle psychological problem, while Mrs.
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