direct method of reproof. "I saw," she said, "that the 'goody'
element would have no effect, so I changed the whole atmosphere by
reading to them or telling them the most thrilling medieval tales
without any commentary. By the end of the fortnight the activities
had all changed. The boys were performing astonishing deeds of
prowess, and the girls were allowing themselves to be rescued from
burning towers and fetid dungeons." Now, if these deeds of chivalry
appear somewhat stilted to us, we can at least realize that, having
changed the whole atmosphere of the filthy games, it is easier to
translate the deeds into something a little more in accordance with
the spirit of the age, and boys will more readily wish later on to
save their sisters from dangers more sordid and commonplace than fiery
towers and dark dungeons, if they have once performed the deeds in
which they had to court danger and self-sacrifice for themselves.

And now we come to the question as to how these effects are to be
maintained. In what has already been stated as to the danger of
introducing the dogmatic and direct appeal into the story, it is
evident that the avoidance of this element is the first means of
preserving the story in all its artistic force in the memory of the
child. We must be careful, as I point out in the chapter on Questions,
not to interfere by comment or question with the atmosphere we have
made round the story, or else, in the future, that story will become
blurred and overlaid with the remembrance, not of the artistic whole,
as presented by the teller of the story, but by some unimportant small
side issue raised by an irrelevant question or a superfluous comment.

Many people think that the dramatization of the story by the children
themselves helps to maintain the effect produced. Personally, I fear
there is the same danger as in the immediate reproduction of the story,