McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXXII · Part 8: Dickens, Irving and poems of the heart

88. Taking Comfort (John G. Whittier)

Goal: Your child describes the contrast in this piece between the beauty of an autumn day and the drunken man "taking comfort."

⏱ About 35 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

A prose sketch by Whittier. On a lovely autumn morning he walks along the Merrimac River near Lowell, lies on the bank enjoying the view, and finds a drunken man lying face down in the gravel, who says he is "taking comfort." Definitions and notes follow.

The lesson, step by step

  1. About the author

    This piece is by John Greenleaf Whittier, whose life is described earlier in the book. The notes here say the places named are near Haverhill, Massachusetts, where the old Whittier homestead is.

  2. Words and meanings

    The words and meanings are printed at the end of the lesson. Read a few together before the reading, so they don't trip your child up:

    Transient, of short duration.

    Picturesque, fitted to form a pleasing picture.

    Panorama, a complete or entire view in every direction.

    Malediction, a curse.

    Your child reads each meaning aloud, then uses the word in a sentence of their own.

  3. Read aloud

    Your child reads the lesson aloud. Let the first part be slow and peaceful. The mood changes here:

    I was not alone.

    "I'm taking comfort," he muttered, with his mouth in the dirt.

  4. Talk about it

    SayFind three things Whittier sees from the riverbank. How does he make them beautiful in words?

    SayWhat has the man been doing? Why is "taking comfort" such a sad thing for him to say?

    SayWhy do you think Whittier put the lovely morning and the ruined man side by side?

  5. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me about Whittier's walk and what he found, in the order it happened.

    Older children can write their narration in a short paragraph instead. Don't correct while they talk; just listen.

  6. Copywork

    Your child copies this sentence:

    Insensible, deaf, and blind, in the stupor of a living death, he lay there,

    Talk about why the writer calls it "a living death."

Tip

This lesson is a warning about drunkenness, as several in the book are. Answer questions simply and honestly.

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