Words for the Wise

Timothy Shay ArthurProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.5

Word count: 268K words
Chapters: 27

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.Words for the Wise by T. S. ArthurAuthor: Arthur, T. S. (Timothy Shay), 1809-1885,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

T. S. Arthur was a representative author of nineteenth-century American popular moral literature, and this book continues his approach of conveying life wisdom through short stories and admonitory essays. Its value lies not in novelty of literary technique but in offering a window onto nineteenth-century American middle-class values, family ethics, and the discourse of personal cultivation: discussions of temperance, honesty, diligence, and measured speech read today with both a sense of distance and a sense of recognition. As a public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg, it is easy to search and cite, and is suitable as research material on popular moral essays or as extensive reading in English. The pleasure of reading often comes from a twofold contrast: the admonitory logic of the stories themselves, and the contemporary reader's reexamination of that logic. It is not for readers seeking plot tension or modern narrative pacing, but for those willing to read slowly, take notes, and treat the text as both historical source and subject for discussion of life's questions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying nineteenth-century American popular literature and moral discourse
English learners who wish to use a public-domain English text for extensive reading practice
Readers interested in early American family ethics and social values
Readers who enjoy short admonitory stories and fragmented reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong plot, complex characters, or modern narrative pacing
Those seeking contemporary psychological self-help solutions and practical tools
Readers sensitive to a preachy tone and moral admonition

Reading tips

Read piece by piece, and after each piece summarize its admonitory theme and narrative pattern in two or three sentences.
Keep a comparison notebook recording similarities and differences between the text's values and contemporary views.
English learners can read through first and then look up unfamiliar words, paying attention to nineteenth-century written syntax and word choice.
If used for research, classify the pieces by theme, such as speech, temperance, honesty, and family responsibility.

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

Is this book a novel or a collection of essays?

Judging from Arthur's usual manner of writing, this book consists of admonitory short stories and essays on life wisdom and moral cultivation rather than a full-length novel. For the specific arrangement of pieces, consult the main text of the eBook; they can be read as independent short chapters.

How difficult is the English, and what level of reader is it suitable for?

The text comes from a nineteenth-century American author, with rather long sentences and period-flavored diction, but it was written for a general readership and is not academically difficult. Readers with intermediate or higher English reading ability who are willing to look up words can attempt it; beginners are better served by annotated editions or selected short pieces.

What should be noted when reading a public-domain eBook?

The Gutenberg edition was prepared by volunteers; the text is reliable, but layout and paragraphing may vary by format, so a reader that supports table-of-contents navigation is recommended. When citing, refer to page numbers or piece titles in the main text, and note differences in punctuation and paragraphing among editions.

What practical help can readers get from this book?

Its practical help lies mainly in providing material for reflection: discussions of measured speech, temperance, and responsibility can prompt self-examination. But it is a nineteenth-century admonitory text and does not offer methodological steps in the modern psychological sense; readers should treat it as a conversation starter rather than an instruction manual.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Timothy Shay Arthur Author · American · 1809–1885

T. S. Arthur (Timothy Shay Arthur, 1809–1885) was a nineteenth-century American popular novelist and editor. Born in Newburgh, New York, he later settled in Philadelphia. He wrote more than 150 novels in his lifetime; 31 of his works are held in this collection, commonly classified under inspirational and personal growth. His writing often centers on temperance and family ethics, using everyday domestic scenes and the changing fortunes of his characters to convey moral lessons, with accessible plots and a strong didactic flavor typical of his era. His best-known work, Ten Nights in a Bar Room, was widely popular across the United States, with sales second only to Uncle Tom's Cabin. His other works include Trials and Confessions of a Housekeeper, Grappling with the Monster; or, the Curse and the Cure of Strong Drink, The Two Wives, and Cast Adrift. Public information on his early education and career is limited, and existing accounts focus mainly on the themes and broad influence of his works.