your own observations, reach the same conclusion? How necessary to the gentleman, then, are formal manners?

Paragraph 8: Gentle manners are irresistible, and make men leaders.

Illustrate from your own experience. Do you observe this fraternity among persons of the same manners? Is it the same as "class prejudice"- aristocratic snobbery?

Paragraphs 9-11: Good manners are natural and sincere, not artificial.

Do you notice in persons "accustomed to good society" the naturalness and independence of forms mentioned by Emerson? Have you ever seen or read of such dignity in a humble person suddenly introduced into formal society? What is objectionable in a "parvenu" — ignorance or pretension? What does Emerson call a man who places all stress on forms? How does Emerson show that self-reliance is necessary to real dignity? That truth is also necessary? Can you give other examples?

Paragraphs 12, 13: Self-respect and deference are necessary to good manners.

Illustrate paragraph 12 from customs of our times. In connection with paragraph 13 discuss the old sayings, "Familiarity breeds contempt" "No man can be hero to his valet." In what words does Emerson express the thought that "Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal marks of good breeding"? Does Emerson deprecate thoughtful care for the comfort of others?

Paragraph 14: Wit is necessary to determine what manners are suitable to circumstances.

Notice the summary under the words "kindness" and "independence" of qualities of good breeding already discussed. What does Emerson say "makes the good and bad of man

ners"? What do we mean when we say a person "is all angles and sharp corners"? Does such a person get on happily with others? Can a person who wants tact appear kind however kindly he may feel?

Paragraph 15: The gentleman is not too strenuous.

Illustrate with examples. "Haste can make you slip-shod, but it can never make you graceful." - Higginson.

Paragraph 16: The gentleman is "good-natured." How does this quality differ from that discussed in paragraph 14? Illustrate its value from your own observation. Paragraphs 17, 18: The basis of good manners is benev

olence.

If one has only external manners, is he likely to betray sometime his cold heart? If he is kind-hearted and thoughtful, will he be likely to commit any serious blunders in his social relations? Nevertheless, have rules and forms of conduct a certain value? Are they ever burdensome or absurd? Can you think of any rules of conduct that are not intended to make us more agreeable to each other, or to express the benevolence we ought, at least, to feel? Do you think of rules of etiquette as "an attempt to organize beauty of behavior"? Paragraph 19: Fine manners do not belong to any one class of society.

Which is

Discuss the relation of manners to character. better, physical beauty or "beauty of manners"? Have you ever seen a person that impressed you as the one Emerson speaks of ("I have seen" etc.) impressed him?

Paragraph 20: Women have a special instinct for manners. Discuss and illustrate the doctrines of this paragraph. With Emerson's quotation compare Wordsworth's She was a phantom of delight. Name some women who have been to the social life of their time what Emerson describes, as

Madame de Staël. Study thoughtfully the account of Lilla. Understand every characteristic named by Emerson. Is this a concrete summary of the essay on Manners?

Paragraph 21: To persons who have them not, forms seem to be more than they really are.

What two virtues will take one safely into every society? Are forms current everywhere? Are the same forms current everywhere?

Paragraphs 22, 23: After all, it is benevolence that gives one currency in society. Conventionalities, though sometimes useful, are not essential.

Explain the meaning of the fable.

Read thoughtfully Emerson's essay on Behavior. Make a list of the thoughts identical in the two essays. Make a list of the thoughts you find in Behavior which you did not find in the essay on Manners. Memorize and recite in the class at least one fine passage, worth remembering all your life. Bring into the class at least two passages which you would like to contradict, discuss, or illustrate by examples.

Outline of Topics Treated in Behavior

Definition of Manners.

They are partly formal.

Influence of manners in society.

The primary use of good manners.

Influence of environment and position on manners.

Relation between power and manners.

Influence of birth on manners.

Expressiveness of the body.

Manners of royal persons.

Importance of manners in business.

Importance of manners in society.

Independence of manners desirable.

Manners and haste incompatible.

Character shows itself in spite of manners.

Manners impressive only as they show personality.

Value of novels in teaching manners.

Heroic manners win confidence.

Manners more potent than beauty.

Relation between benevolence and manners.

It is ill-mannered to talk about unpleasant subjects.
Manners to be taught by principles, not by specific rules.

Write a paragraph on the relation between good manners and formal manners. Are they necessarily the same? Are they ever opposed? Cite rules of form not absolutely necessary to good manners; cite other rules that are necessary. What is the principle on which you have decided whether or not the rule is essential? See the first sentence in paragraph 6 of Behavior.

COMPENSATION

Paragraphs 1-6: Introduction: How long had Emerson been planning this essay? Why did he wish to write on this subject? What was the doctrine set forth by the sermon that occasioned the writing of the essay? Is it commonly held? What is Emerson's criticism of it as moral teaching? Is it a doctrine to live by?

Paragraphs 7-9: Compensation, or balance, is a law of the natural world.

Can you add examples?

Paragraphs 10-12: In human life and society, every gain is accompanied by a loss, every loss by a compensating gain. How many times does Emerson state this truth in an expository sentence? In what figures does he express it? With what examples does he illustrate it? Add other examples. Explain the third sentence in paragraph 11. With paragraph

11 compare Bacon's essay Of Great Place, and these lines from Lowell's Sir Launfal, Prelude I:

At the devil's booth are all things sold,
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells our lives we pay,

Bubbles we buy with the whole soul's tasking.

Paragraphs 13-14: Natural laws are universal in opera

tion.

Find all the sentences that express this thought. What examples are given to prove and illustrate it?

Paragraphs 15-16: The law of compensation is also universal and eternal in its operation.

Explain the third sentence of paragraph 15. How does Emerson prove that "Justice is not postponed" till the next world? Explain the quotation from the Greek. How does Emerson regard punishment for sin? Explain carefully the figure in the last three sentences of paragraph 16.

Paragraph 17: Men fail to see that, in a well-conducted universe, the moral must balance the physical.

Add to Emerson's examples.

Paragraph 18: Men constantly strive for the gain without the loss.

Illustrate by examples.

Paragraphs 19, 20: But the law of compensation operates in spite of us.

Explain the figures and illustrations with which Emerson makes his statement more forcible. Explain the second and third sentences of paragraph 20.

Paragraphs 21-23: The fables of the race teach the law of compensation.

Tell, in such a way as to bring out clearly his moral, the