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

87. Discontent: An Allegory (Joseph Addison)

Goal: Your student can explain what an allegory is and what lesson Addison draws from the mountain of miseries.

⏱ About 40 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

Addison's allegory from The Spectator: in a dream, everyone throws down their troubles in one great heap and may take any other in exchange, with comic and sad results. The heading is in the lower half of the page; the text begins on the next.

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.

    An allegory is a story where people and events stand for ideas. Keep that word in mind.

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

  2. About the author

    The book says Addison (1672–1719) was an English essayist and poet, the son of a clergyman. He died at Holland House and was buried in Westminster Abbey. His fame rests chiefly on his hymns, his tragedy Cato, and his essays in the Tatler and Spectator.

  3. Read aloud

    This is long. Read the first part (the heap of miseries) on day one and the exchanges on day two, if needed.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWhat troubles do people throw on the heap? Which surprised you?

    SayWhat happens when people take someone else's trouble instead of their own?

    SayAt the end, what does the dreamer decide about his own misfortunes and other people's?

    SayWould you trade one of your troubles for someone else's? After reading this, would you still?

  5. Narration

    Your student retells the dream in order: the proclamation, the heap, the exchange, and the ending.

  6. Writing (optional)

    Write your own short allegory: a dream in which people can trade one thing, and what goes wrong.

Tip

The ending teaches never to repine (complain) at our own misfortunes and to pity others'. Ask your student to find the sentence that says so.

@teddyrookbook GitHub