The Bending Of The Twig

Excerpt from The Bending of the Twig And as they looked into my eyes and called my name, my soul responded, com ing forth into the light from out the flesh in which it had been kept too long a prisoner in the dark. 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.

Excerpt from The Bending of a Twig It may seem to abstract criticism that the change of tone between the First Part and the Third is an artistic blunder: and I may perhaps be allowed (having once braved a preface) to point out that it is at least based on a theory, and is intended to show the change from the new boy's irresponsibility to the monitor's fresh sense of duty. No story, it seems to me, which is consistently gay or doggedly grave throughout, can possibly describe school life. 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.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1907 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER X THE POET AT THE BUMPING PACES The loss of Russell's friendship did not worry Lycidas extremely. He had never got to know him as he first hoped he might; indeed, he had no great friendships like those in the story books. Still, he now had a number of acquaintances, with whom he watched matches, played small games, went to the baths, and made Sunday excursions in or out of bounds. They were not, of course, so dazzling as the brilliant Russell, but also they were less bewildering: Lycidas knew what they meant. They, for their part, tolerated him: he wasn't a bad sort, except that he was a rotter at games. Lycidas learnt so much through a ventilator. These ventilators, fixed over the study doors and popularly known as "clappers," are the chief medium by which Salopians learn the wholesome truth about themselves. Lycidas was just about to enter the study of one whom he believed to be a friend, when his own name floated to him through the open ventilator. Unconsciously, he stood in the act of turning the handle. "Oh, he's a decent enough fellow," came in his friend's voice. "I don't know, he's not much good at anything." "No. He's not such a rotter as he was, though." Lycidas silently let go the handle, and crept back to his study, not venturing to close the door; and there he sat, thinking, feeling suddenly alone. Six months ago, he would have cried. Now he set himself, very wretched, to realize the whole meaning of what he had heard. There was nothing against him now, except that he could not play footer. The House was beginning to forget his tears, his idiotic mistakes: he was a decent enough fellow, less of a rotter; but--he was no good at games. Lycidas saw that everything came back to that. To be popular, to have influence, one...

‘Tis education forms the common mind Just as the twig is bent the tree’s inclined —Alexander Pope Augustin G. Rudd in his book, Bending the Twig, clearly points out the implications of a program of liberal teacher training, and its effect on the public schools of the United States where the notions of Progressive or New Education have directly or indirectly influenced every level of our educational system. Part II of this book is especially valuable for its definition of the path the social educators are following. Augustin contrasts the concept of a free society based on the primacy of the individual with the concept of the statist order advocated by many of the New Educators who choose to use the schools as an instrument for social change rather than an agency for instruction in the skills, knowledges, and heritage necessary to maintain our culture. It is interesting to know that the Russians experimented with progressive education until its bad results became evident. Then, using their centralized power, they eliminated it. This return to the essentials of education may have aided Russia in making her recent technological advances. After reading this book, one comes away with the feeling that as generation after generation of students graduate from our schools conditioned to the tenets of socialism, we will eventually lose our republican form of government and individual liberty because our citizens will lack even the basic knowledge of our heritage.—FRANK B. KEITH, The Freeman, March 1958