Böcker av John Willard

The word anthology comes to us from the Classical Greek anthos, meaning flowers, and logia, meaning collection. Thanks to the printing press, a collection of stories, essays, chronicles, and observations, when printed out, would be known as an anthology. Perspectives from Literature is an anthology that invites the reader to explore, as an armchair traveler, writings from Homer in Ancient Greece, to those of Jack London in early twentieth century America. Whether venturesome or pragmatic, the student of Perspectives from Literature will sharpen his reading skills answering the questions posed with each selection. He may seek further journeys of the mind in the other books in the series, Perusals, and Perspectives from History.

The word anthology comes to us from the Classical Greek anthos meaning flowers, and logia meaning collection. In time this collection came to be a selection of poems, wise sayings, stories, essays, and chronicles from history. Today as a selection of such writings, Perusals, edited by John Willard, invites the reader of all ages to explore short examples of the works of the great and eloquent thinkers from over the centuries. Thus the armchair traveler can learn from the ideas expressed by Socrates in ancient Greece to those of Einstein in modern America. At his fingertips, the reader of Perusals discovers if his interpretations yield a proper understanding of the diverse and demanding material, especially if he avails himself of the penetrating questions that appear in exercises that follow each selection. By the same means, the pragmatic student facing a standardized test can test his wits and learn to score and rank his ability to handle demanding passages. Both the venturesome explorer and conscientious student may wish to continue to the next books in the series, Perspectives I, which focuses on literature, and Perspectives II, on history.

These practice tests target abusage: the most common errors in English usage as defined by grammar - the rules for forming correct sentences - and by syntax - the conventions for making sensible sentences. The exercises are intended to issue warnings of prose missteps, to aid in recognizing abusage and offer preventive practice, and to promote, with mastery of usage, a confident writer.