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Audiobook edition · 10 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A short story sharpens your sight; a poem asks you to listen. What happens when you read them side by side?
Modern Prose and Poetry, edited by Margaret Ashmun, gathers essays, stories, sketches and poems into a broad sampler of English writing. Chosen for students, these short pieces offer room to pause, notice a phrase and follow a thought. You meet many voices rather than stay with one storyteller.
The collection moves between quiet reflection, vivid description and verse meant to be spoken aloud. Its prose invites clear thinking and close observation; its poetry draws attention to rhythm, sound and feeling. Ashmun's selection makes contrast part of the pleasure, helping readers build an ear for language and discover what they enjoy.
What you’ll discover
- Many voices within reach Explore different kinds of writing through short selections you can finish in one sitting.
- Ideas worth turning over Follow essays that develop a thought through examples and lead you toward a conclusion.
- An eye for detail Let sketches and descriptive prose draw your attention to the value of close observation.
- Poetry for the ear Read verse aloud and notice how rhythm and sound carry images and feeling.
- Room to find your taste Compare prose with poetry and discover which voices invite you to linger.
Who will love it
This book is for readers who like to sample many voices in one place: stories, sketches, essays and poems. It suits teachers and parents looking for good material to read aloud.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Enjoyment comes first when you teach reading
- A French inn on the Bronx welcomes a hungry painter
- A silent recruit puzzles a tent of soldiers
- Short poems teach a reader to look and listen
- A bishop's open door meets a hardened convict
- Wit and nerve carry two heroes through danger
- An immigrant girl finds liberty in a public school
- Three short stories show how people reveal themselves
- Writers make a place so vivid you can stand in it
- Poets and essayists question the nation they live in
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Prose et poésie modernes
A convict knocks at a bishop's door, a painter crosses to a French inn, and a Roman aqueduct stands.
Medium level10–20 hours to readfrançais
Excellent
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In short
Picture a painter on a muddy bank in the Bronx, shouting for a boat while a cross French cook scolds him from behind the leaves. A few pages on, a hunted convict knocks at a bishop's door, and a pirate captain leans on his sword beside a fresh grave.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Enjoyment comes first when you teach reading
Margaret Ashmun opens her preface with a plain claim. Teachers now agree, she says, that a student's enjoyment of what he reads should be the chief concern of the classroom. Knowledge and ability grow out of that enjoyment.
From this she draws a second belief. Modern writers deal with subjects closer to a young person's own interests than the old approved authors do. She keeps the readable older books, but she wants recent work to get its fair share. Young people meet modern writing every day, so they need standards for choosing what they read.
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Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- Language
- français
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Modern Prose and Poetry. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/modern-prose-and-poetry.
Modern prose and poetry. (2026). Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/modern-prose-and-poetry
Modern Prose and Poetry. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/modern-prose-and-poetry.
@book{anonymous2026modern,
title = {Modern Prose and Poetry},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/modern-prose-and-poetry}
}
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What is Modern Prose and Poetry about?
It is a school anthology of stories, essays, travel sketches, a short play, letters and poems. Study questions, notes, writing topics and reading lists accompany the selections in varying combinations to guide reading and build skill.
Which authors are in Modern Prose and Poetry?
They include F. Hopkinson Smith, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Walt Whitman, Mary Antin, William Dean Howells, Sarah Orne Jewett, Bret Harte, John Muir, Henry James, Lafcadio Hearn and Woodrow Wilson, along with a passage from Homer.
When was Modern Prose and Poetry published?
The preface is signed in New York in February 1914. The selections span different dates and forms, showing what the editor thought high school students of her time could understand and enjoy.
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