McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XCV · Part 10: Granada, Hamlet and the Union

101. Ginevra (Samuel Rogers)

Goal: Your student can tell the sad story of Ginevra and explain how the poet slowly reveals it.

⏱ About 35 minutes · 6 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A notebook and pen
  • A dictionary

What's in the book

Rogers's poem, from his Italy, about a young bride who hid in an old chest during a game on her wedding day. The heading is near the bottom of the page; notes explain Modena, Reggio, the Orsini and Domenichino.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Read the notes printed at the end of the lesson together before reading. The book explains, among others:

    Modena: the capital of a province of the same name in northern Italy

    Reggio: a city about sixteen miles north-west of Modena

    Orsini: a famous Italian family in the Middle Ages

    Zampieri, Domenichino: one of the most celebrated of the Italian painters

    Ask your student to find two other hard words in the lesson, guess their meaning from the sentence, then check a dictionary.

  2. About the author

    The book says Rogers (1763–1855) was a London banker's son and worked in the bank. His Pleasures of Memory appeared in 1792. His father's death left him wealthy, and his home became a meeting place for writers. He published Italy in 1822. His writing is praised for elegance of diction, purity of taste and beauty of sentiment.

  3. Read aloud

    Read it aloud quietly, like a guide telling a story in an old house.

    Listen for these lines:

    If thou shouldst ever come by choice or chance

    To Modena,

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat does the visitor see in the old house first: the picture and the chest?

    SayWho was Ginevra, and what happened on her wedding day?

    SayHow long until the truth was found? How was it found?

    SayWhy does the poet tell us about the picture before telling the story?

  5. Narration

    Your student retells Ginevra's story in order, from the wedding feast to the discovery.

  6. Writing (optional)

    Write a short paragraph describing an old object (a chest, a clock, a photo) and hinting at a story behind it.

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