INTRODUCTION THERE have been stories, short or long, ever since there have been men, or else the human race would have died of weariness before it had got well started. Men must have always amused themselves by telling stories, and the earliest forms of literature usually are stories of some sort, legends, fables, or myths. But in the literatures that we commonly know they find their earliest form in verse. Verse is almost always earlier in literature than prose. There are various reasons for this which need not be mentioned, but whatever the reason, the fact is that those longer stories that we call novels and the shorter stories that we generally call a "short story," meaning not merely a story that is short, but rather an especial kind of story, these are new in the literature of the world. There is always fiction, and for many centuries there has been prose fiction of a sort, but novels as we understand them to-day began practically in the middle of the eighteenth century, and short stories even later. It is held by some writers that Irving was one of the first to write short stories. This is hardly THE HAWTHORNE CLASSICS AMERICAN STORIES EDITED BY EDWARD EVERETT HALE, JR., PH.D. YONKERS-ON-HUDSON, NEW YORK FOR GRAMMAR GRADES Edited by Edward Everett Hale, Jr., Ph.D., Professor of English in These classics are adapted to higher grammar grades and satisfy the universal demand for complete literary wholes. AMERICAN ESSAYS. For grades 7 and 8. xii +257 pages. Fxamples from our four greatest essayists, that can also be used in the lower classes of high schools. AMERICAN STORIES. For grades 6 and 7. xvi + 270 pages. Eight great American short stories from Washington Irving to Edward Everett Hale. Each is a model of the kind, and is distinct in subject and treatment. BALLADS AND BALLAD POETRY. 254 pages. For grades 7 and 8. xvi + Genuine ballads of the olden time with the true ballad flavor, a group of the best modern ballads, and three stirring poems of greater length which have the ballad character. ENGLISH ESSAYS. For grades 7 and 8. xiv + 240 pages. Some are also By Lamb, Addison, Goldsmith, and Thackeray. well adapted to high school and normal classes. ENGLISH STORIES. For grades 6 and 7. xiv + 240 pages. Five great English Stories of varied type. This volume with "American Stories" will help to develop the literary sense, while gratifying the love for a good story. GREEK MYTHS IN ENGLISH DRESS. 244 pages. For grades 5 and 6. xii + Six immortal Greek myths retold by Nathaniel Hawthorne, LONGER NARRATIVE POEMS. For grades 6 to 8. xiv + 257 pages. SHAKESPEAREAN COMEDIES. For grades 7 and 8. xxii +298 pages. A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, and The Tempest, One, at least, of these comedies should be read in the grammar grades. For English Classics for high schools, note the "Star Series" which is listed in the back of this book. WORLD BOOK COMPANY Yonkers-on-Hudson, New York HC: AS-I Copyright, 1903, by World Book Company. All rights reserved. |