McGuffey Readers: Difference between revisions
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===Fifth Eclectic Reader=== | ===Fifth Eclectic Reader=== | ||
The Fifth Reader | The Fifth Reader begins with an introductory section concerning the reading of literature, including articulation, inflections, accent, emphasis, modulation, and poetic pauses. Various rules are given concerning these subjects, with examples. The whole is followed by a section of exercises illustrating the rules and providing practice therein. | ||
Next | Next come the reading passages themselves, numbering 117. Included are selections from [[Louisa May Alcott]], [[William Ellery Channing]], [[James Fenimore Cooper]], [[Charles Dickens]], [[Nathaniel Hawthorne]], [[Washington Irving]], [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]], [[William Shakespeare]], [[Robert Southey]], [[John Greenleaf Whittier]], and, of course, the [[Bible]], with sometimes several selections from each. | ||
===Sixth Eclectic Reader=== | ===Sixth Eclectic Reader=== |
Revision as of 18:13, 21 March 2009
The McGuffey Readers, first published in 1836/37, were a set of highly influential school textbooks for use in the elementary grades in the United States. Indeed, owing to their widespread usage over many years, they played an important role in shaping the American character itself. From the year in which they were first published, and for nearly a century thereafter, successive generations of American schoolchildren used these readers to acquire basic literacy and to imbibe the moral and character lessons they taught.
Through the 1850s, William Holmes McGuffey (1800-73) was the author of the first four volumes of what would eventually become a six-volume set, one for each grade level. In subsequent years, a series of editors took over the responsibility for the Readers which nevertheless were faithful in retaining their original character as moral shapers of the youth who used them.
A major revision in 1879 altered the slant of the readers away from the stark Calvinism which had marked the earlier versions, but did so without sacrificing the religious and moral objectives.
Over the course of its history, the readers sold over 125 million copies. That history is yet unfinished, though, as the readers remain in demand among many who are dissatisfied with modern trends in education and seek a return to a more traditional, "values oriented" education of an earlier era.
Publication history
It was at the request of the fledgling publishing firm of Truman & Smith, of Cincinnati, Ohio, and in accordance with their general plan as to size and number, that William H. McGuffey, then the President of Cincinnati College, was contracted to produce the first edition of the readers. Issued in 1836/37, it consisted of four books which were designed not only to teach the young students how to read, but in the Third and Fourth numbers of the series, to provide suitably moral and instructive reading examples.
In the same year, 1837, Alexander H. McGuffey, the brother of William H., was engaged to produce a Speller, which presented information on sounds, pronunciation, syllabication, and spelling.
1838 plagiarism lawsuit
This initial publishing venture was soon involved in court litigation brought by a Boston firm which claimed that certain of the selections in the 1836-37 version violated their copyright holdings. In fact, in December 1838, an injunction was issued against Truman & Smith prohibiting them from further distribution of the materials pending trial on the charges. But by then, the publishers had combed the books and removed all material which could be even unreasonably suspect of offending the copyright statutes and brought forth a new edition - that of 1838 - suitably labeled "Revised and Improved".
The remainder of the suit, dealing with the prior distribution of the original 1836-37 version, was dismissed upon payment of a sum of money to the plaintiffs, although the publishing firm continued to assert that the disputed material was "common property".
The questions surrounding this lawsuit have provoked spirited debate, not only at the time, but in the years since. Opinion is divided on the matter, with critics of Dr. McGuffey asserting that the revision of the material and the payment of money essentially proves the truth of the claims[1].
Further revisions
A few years after this unfortunate incident, in 1841, Alexander H. McGuffey was contracted to produce the Rhetorical Guide which was to be used alongside the Readers as a continuation of the series. When, in 1843, the first four Readers were again revised and reissued as "Newly Revised", the Rhetorical Guide was adduced to the lot as the Fifth Reader of the series. Then, in 1853, the entire series was reordered and issued as a six-volume set, labled the New McGuffey Readers.
Contents and description of the 1879 Revised Edition
First Eclectic Reader
Second Eclectic Reader
two-syllable limit
Third Eclectic Readers
Fourth Eclectic Readers
Fifth Eclectic Reader
The Fifth Reader begins with an introductory section concerning the reading of literature, including articulation, inflections, accent, emphasis, modulation, and poetic pauses. Various rules are given concerning these subjects, with examples. The whole is followed by a section of exercises illustrating the rules and providing practice therein.
Next come the reading passages themselves, numbering 117. Included are selections from Louisa May Alcott, William Ellery Channing, James Fenimore Cooper, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Shakespeare, Robert Southey, John Greenleaf Whittier, and, of course, the Bible, with sometimes several selections from each.
Sixth Eclectic Reader
A is for Axe: the continued use of the McGuffey Readers
In colonial America, the basic function of education was considered to prepare the young students for life as good Christians. This approach had its origins during the Reformation when literacy was promoted as a means of enabling people to read the Bible. Following the Revolution, a gradual change occurred, in which it was considered increasingly important that the citizen's of the newly free Republic, based on the voting franchise, be prepared for participation as a self-governmening people.
At the same time, an effort was made, most notably by Noah Webster, with his Dictionary of the English Language" and his Elementary Spelling Book, to create a lexicon and instructional material uniquely American in tone.
Notes
- ↑ To cite just a couple of examples, Jennifer Monaghan, in The Textbook as Commercial Enterprise, states; "Not only can we not credit McGuffey with any of the subsequent success of the readers, as they were revised by others, but even what we know he did write is somewhat compromised by charges of plagiarism. . . . The truth of this allegation was acknowledged by an out-of-court settlement in favour of the Worcester team for $2,000, as well as the immediate revision of the offending McGuffey Readers." Again, James H. Rodabaugh, in a review of a book by H.C. Minnich, William Holmes McGuffey and his Readers, states; "In this production McGuffey's intellectual honesty is certainly questionable. . . .The charge was made that McGuffey had copied many of Worcester's original articles, rules, directions, notes, questions and exercises, and had adopted the same general plan as that of the Worcester Readers. . . . Suffice it to say, the court indicated a reaction favorable to Worcester, and McGuffey's publishers settled out of court for the sum of $2000. The publications already begun were halted and adequate revisions were made."