Excerpt from Five Short Courses of Reading in English Literature: With Biographical and Critical References These courses of reading were prepared originally for college students, and were used for several years by classes under my instruction. It is thought that, as now printed, they may be of service not only to other teachers but to reading clubs, and to any readers who are beginning a systematic study of our literature. It is evident that this little manual is intended as a guide to the general reader or the beginner, and not for the advanced student of literature. The courses are, as they are named, short. Only so much reading has been assigned to each one as it has been found practica ble for a college student to do thoroughly in connection with an elementary study of literary history extending through one year. Each course is, however, followed by a list of Additional Reading for readers who have time and inclination to make a somewhat more thorough study of the period it covers; and it is believed that the five courses, taken together with the supplementary lists, will represent not very inadequately the nature and progress of English literature from the beginning of the Eliza bethan period to the present day. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.