McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson LXXXVI · Part 9: Comedy, Milton, Whittier and Shakespeare's taverns
92. An Evening Adventure
Goal: Your student can follow a story with a surprise ending and explain how the old man won the argument.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- A notebook and pen
- A dictionary
What's in the book
A story with no author named: at a Virginia inn, young lawyers argue all evening about the merits of Christianity while a plainly dressed old man listens quietly. A note names the old man at the end.
The lesson, step by step
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.
Notes name David Hume (a skeptic about religion), George Campbell (who answered Hume's essay on miracles) and John Marshall.
Your student picks three unfamiliar words, guesses each meaning from the sentence, then checks a dictionary.
About the author
The book names no author for this story. The note says John Marshall (1755–1835) was Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death and wrote a Life of Washington. Don't say who the old man is until your student has read the ending.
Read aloud
Read it aloud together. Pause after the old man starts speaking and ask your student to guess who he might be.
Talk about it
SayHow is the old man described when he arrives? What did the young men think of him?
SayWhat were the lawyers arguing about, and for how long?
SayHow did the old man finally answer them? Why did it silence the room?
SayWhat does the story teach about judging people by their clothes?
Narration
Your student retells the story with the surprise held to the very end, the way a good storyteller would.
Writing (optional)
Write a short scene in which someone ordinary-looking turns out to be someone important.