A Philanthropist

Bacon, Josephine Daskam, 1876-1961Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0

Word count: 43K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Philanthropist by Josephine Daskam BaconAuthor: Bacon, Josephine Daskam, 1876-1961,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 6, 2007

Editor's review

A Philanthropist is a short literary work by Josephine Daskam Bacon, released as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. Bacon was an American writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, often using light narrative to observe social roles and the details of human nature. This work centers on the figure of the philanthropist; the title itself carries an ironic and observational edge, and in its brief span readers can sense the author's subtle handling of motive and social appearance. As a public-domain English text, it suits practice in reading English short fiction and will also interest readers drawn to American social subjects at the turn of the century. While reading, note the gap between what characters say and do, and how the narrator's attitude toward good deeds emerges through detail rather than preaching. The work is short and light, but its period context and narrative pace may require some adjustment.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in short fiction about American social subjects at the turn of the century
English learners who want to practice reading short fiction in English
Readers who enjoy irony and the observation of character
Those who need light public-domain English reading to fill out a reading plan

Not a good fit for

Readers who read only Chinese and do not want to engage with the English original
Readers seeking suspenseful, strongly plotted, or fast-paced stories
Beginners who need a systematic literary-historical introduction before approaching the work

Reading tips

Read the title and opening first, entering the text with the question of who the philanthropist is.
Note the differences between characters' dialogue and the narrator's commentary, and make brief annotations.
After finishing, try to summarize in two or three sentences the author's true attitude toward charitable acts.
If English is difficult, read for the gist of paragraphs first, then return to key words and sentences.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What is this work mainly about?

Judging from the title and the author's style, the work offers character observation and narrative around the social role of the philanthropist. The materials do not provide a detailed plot, so readers are advised to go directly to the original and attend to the tension between what characters say and do and the narrative attitude.

Is the English difficult?

The work belongs to late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century American short fiction; its language bears period features, and its sentences may be somewhat more complex than modern popular reading. Readers with intermediate English proficiency can manage with a dictionary; absolute beginners are not advised to read it directly.

Is it suitable for classroom or book-club use?

Its brevity and focused theme make it suitable as supplementary material for English short-fiction reading or literary discussion. Discussion questions can be designed around the motives and appearances of charity, but teachers should supply period background to prevent students from misreading it due to the gap in context.

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About the author

Bacon, Josephine Daskam, 1876-1961 Author

Josephine Daskam Bacon (1876–1961) was an American writer whose life and creative background are only sparsely documented in publicly available sources. The library holds thirteen of her works, showing a considerable range of subjects across fiction, children's stories, and social narratives with a mysterious streak. Books such as In the Border Country and While Caroline Was Growing reveal her interest in childhood and growing up, while The Strange Cases of Dr. Stanchon displays psychological and suspenseful elements. The Courting of Lady Jane, A Philanthropist, and Julia The Apostate focus largely on marriage, social class, and women's circumstances, often with gentle irony and careful observation of character. Her style favors drama in everyday settings and uses dialogue to shape her figures. She was an active author in American popular literary circles from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and her work retains value for rereading and study.