English Literature

 The same method is employed in Literature. If a close acquaintance with a period of English, Literature is desired, the only true plan is to study the actual books of that period, not summaries or analyses written by historians and critics. But no period can be severed from those which go before and come after it, consequently here again the comprehensive survey should be undertaken first of all. Such a survey is found in Pancoast’s Manual of English Literature. The wide sweep of this volume gives the student a sense of perspective; he is less likely to estimate falsely the importance of any special period  he has chosen, and more likely to interpret its authors in the light, of the influence which then prevailed.

Philosophy

 The subject may be Philosophy: Having read a book on Platonism, picked up by chance, a reader has had his curiosity aroused, and desires. to know more about what philosophers have thought and written. How ought he to proceed? He should first read a general history, and there is none better than Lewes’ Biographical History of Philosophy.

Along with this an introduction to the problems of philosophy should be taken in hand. Sellar’s Essentials of Philosophy, is a modern and very competent account of matters as they stand at present. After this, the student can select his own special department, be it metaphysics, time and space, the absolute, or any one of the many branches of so large a subject.

How to Read

 Read with the spirit of Expectation. It is to be presumed that the author whose work is before you and whose name is well known, has given a good deal of time and reflection to the matter and form of his expression, consequently you are justified in your expectant attitude. To approach the book in the spirit of prejudice, or antagonism, may result in your losing much that is good and beneficial. Some authors have a difficult style and they may be secretly proud of it; but their thoughts are often worth digging out Youwill never take the trouble to do this if your mind is full of antipathies.

 A certain measure of , sympathy is necessary for the interpretation of any author; we must sit by his side, so to speak, and see and feel with him, in order to understand his intention, and evaluate his results. Prejudice and antagonism prevent this mental maneuver. They compel us, as it were, to confront the author, consequently we do not perceive his meaning, for we cannot in that position look through his eyes and feel with his heart.

How to Use a Public Library

 Let us suppose you have decided to write an article on “Unused Sources of Energy.” Your own collected information is soon put into shape, and you repair to, the local library for a further supply. What action do you take when you get there? It depends a good deal on whether or not you have a clear idea of what you want. There will be no obscurity in this respect if you have already thought out your own scheme. To go to the reference room with merely a general notion, is to waste a lot of time unprofitably; but if on your slip of paper, 0r in a note-book, you have definite points to look up, you can direct your attention to the most likely quarters.

Index to Periodicals

Let us imagine your notes contain the following:

1. Article in Magazine some years ago on “Harnessing the Sun.”

2. Article on “Using Using the Tides,” by a man of science.

You have other entries, but these are articles you can remember reading at the time they appeared. The problem is to find them and read them again. You therefore ask for Poole’s Periodical Index, and when you have found the references you ask for the bound volumes of the journals concerned. Prosecuting your search in other directions, you ask for The Reader’s Guide, The Cumulative Rook Index or Fortescue’s Subject Index, all the volumes, and under the words “Energy,” “Sun,” “Tides,” and probably “Efficiency,” you may discover that writers have expressed views on the subject which are entirely new to you, even though eventually you may not agree with them. You next consult the London Library Subject Index in the same way; and if Potter Briscoe’s Subject Index is handy, you consult that also, turning last of all to the catalog of the Library itself.

 Then there are the Encyclopedias, large and small; they are all worth looking into, and the articles frequently end by referring the reader to the best authorities. It is hardly possible to pursue a line of investigation such as that suggested without finding material which may confirm previous ideas or modify them considerably.