McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXVI · Part 8: Webster, Evangeline and the poets of death and toil

82. Indian Jugglers (William Hazlitt)

Goal: Your student can explain why Hazlitt admires the juggler's skill and compares it to his own writing.

⏱ About 35 minutes · 7 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

An essay by William Hazlitt, beginning in the lower part of the page after the notes to Thanatopsis. He watches an Indian juggler keep brass balls in the air and then compares that perfect skill with his own imperfect essays.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Words and meanings

    Look over the notes and definitions printed at the end of the lesson before you start, so names and hard words don't trip up the reading.

    Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.

  2. About the author

    The book says Hazlitt (1778–1830) was an English author whose father was a Unitarian clergyman. He had a greater taste for art than theology, so he first chose painting, but later turned to writing. His works are mostly criticism of literature and art.

  3. Read aloud

    Read the first paragraph aloud while your student pictures the juggler. If you can, toss two balls (or rolled socks) in the air to feel how hard it is.

    Listen for these lines:

    the chief of the Indian jugglers begins with tossing up two brass balls, which is what any of us could do

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat does the juggler do that amazes Hazlitt? Describe it step by step.

    SayWhy is the juggler's skill so perfect? What happens if he makes one mistake?

    SayHazlitt then looks at his own writing. What faults does he find in it?

    SayIs it fair to compare juggling with writing? What can practice perfect, and what can't it?

  5. Narration

    Your student explains Hazlitt's comparison in their own words: the juggler on one side, the writer on the other.

  6. Writing (optional)

    Write about something you can do with almost perfect skill, and something you can never quite get right. Which is more worth doing?

  7. Try it

    If you have three soft balls, let your student try juggling for five minutes. Then ask: did that change what you think of Hazlitt's essay?

Tip

Hazlitt is hard on himself in this essay. It's a good chance to talk about doing hard things imperfectly.

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