Chapter I: The Primitive-Religious Group 1-82

I. MYTH--Classes of myths: primitive-tribal and
artificial-literary--Myth age not a past epoch--How traditional myths
are collected--How original myths are composed--Difference between
myth and allegory, and myth and legend--Working definition--List of
mythological deities: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Hindu, Russian, Finnish,
Norse, Filipino--Examples 1

II. LEGEND--Myth and legend compared--Saga--Saint legends--Geoffrey of
Monmouth--Legendary romance--Modern literary legends--How to select
and record a legend of growth--How to write a legend of art--Working
definition--Examples 22

III. FAIRY TALE--Attitude toward fairy stories--Fundamental
characteristics of fairies--Northern fairies and their attributes--Some
literary fairy tales--How to proceed to write a fairy tale--Summary
definition--Partial lists of fairies of different countries:
Northern, Irish and Scotch, Filipino, Russian, Arabian, and
Miscellaneous--Examples 43

IV. NURSERY SAGA--Origin--The brothers Grimm--English nursery
sagas--Distinguishing elements: kind of hero, rhymes, repetition of
situation, supernatural element--A few specific suggestions--Working
definition--Examples 65

CHAPTER II. SYMBOLIC-DIDACTIC GROUP 83-127

I. FABLE--Æsop--Other early fabulists--"Hitopadesa" and
"Panchatantra"--"Reynard the Fox" and bestiaries--Some more writers of
fables--Working definition--Classes of fables: rational, non-rational,
mixed--How to write an original fable--Maxims upon which fables may be
built--Examples 83

II. PARABLE--Distinguishing characteristics--Tolstoy--Suggestions on
writing a parable--Working definition--A list of proverbs that might be
expanded into parables--Examples 101

III. ALLEGORY--Characteristics--Plato's "Vision of Er"--Modern
allegories--Some famous English allegories--Allegory fable, and
parable differentiated--Working definition--How to write an
allegory--Present-day interest in primitive types--Examples 112

CHAPTER III. INGENIOUS-ASTONISHING GROUP 128-254

I. TALE OF MERE WONDER--Definition--Collections of
wonder stories, ancient and modern--Suggestions for
writing--Characteristic elements--Mediæval tales of chivalry--Heroic
romances--Examples 128

II. IMAGINARY VOYAGE WITH A SATIRIC OR INSTRUCTIVE
PURPOSE--Distinguishing elements--Source of the type--Famous
imaginary voyages--Suggestions on how to write
a satiric imaginary voyage--Examples 150

III. TALE OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY AND OF MECHANICAL
INVENTION--Relation to imaginary voyages--Essential
elements--Kind of stories included in this type--Suggestions
on how to write the type--Examples 194

IV. THE DETECTIVE STORY AND OTHER TALES OF PURE
PLOT--The detective story: connection with stories of
ingenuity--Poe and Doyle--Other stories of plot--Romance--A
few suggestions--Examples 225

CHAPTER IV. THE ENTERTAINING GROUP 255-344

I. TALE OF PROBABLE ADVENTURE--Characteristics and definition--How to
write a probable adventure--A warning--Examples 255

II. THE SOCIETY STORY--Definition--Pastoral Romance--Suggestions on
writing a society story--Examples 277

III. THE HUMOROUS STORY--Definition--Fableaux--Picaresque
romance--Difference between a humorous story and a comic
anecdote--Examples 299

IV. THE OCCASIONAL STORY--The spirit of the occasional story--Its
masters--Suggestions for subjects--Examples 313

CHAPTER V. THE INSTRUCTIVE GROUP 345-394

I. THE MORAL STORY--Differentiated from the symbolic-didactic
group--Great authors who have written this type: Hawthorne, Johnson,
Voltaire, Tolstoy, Cervantes--What to put in and what to leave
out--Examples 345

II. THE PEDAGOGICAL NARRATIVE--Definition--Some famous pedagogical
books--Froebel--Examples 361

III. THE STORY OF PRESENT DAY REALISM--What realism is--The realistic
school--Suggestions on characters to treat--Examples 370

CHAPTER VI. THE ARTISTIC GROUP: THE REAL SHORT-STORY 395-478

I. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL WEIRD TALE--Origin--The School of Terror--Poe,
Stevenson, Maupassant, and others--Suggestions on writing a weird
tale--Material and method--Form--Examples 398

II. STORY THAT EMPHASIZES CHARACTER AND ENVIRONMENT--Kipling--Mary
E. Wilkins Freeman--Hamlin Garland--Bret Harte--Suggestions
and precautions--The "Character": Overbury and Hall--Novel of
Manners--Trollope's Cathedral Town Studies--Examples 426

III. STORY THAT EMPHASIZES CHARACTER AND EVENTS--Difference between
character-place story and character-events story--Component elements
of this type--A scrapbook suggestion--Other suggestions--Examples 455

Part II. Narratives of Actual Events

CHAPTER VII. PARTICULAR ACCOUNTS 479-556

I. INCIDENT--Definition--How to tell an incident--Examples 480

II. ANECDOTE--Meaning of the term--Ana--Collection of anecdotes--How to
write an original anecdote--Examples 490

III. EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNT--What it is and how to write it--An ancient
eye-witness account--Literary eyewitness accounts--Examples 499

IV. TALE OF ACTUAL ADVENTURE--The one necessary element--Suggestions
for writing--Examples 512

V. THE TRAVELER'S SKETCH--What a traveler's sketch includes--Great
travel books--Fielding's gentle warning--A motto for the
narrator--Examples 530

CHAPTER VIII. PERSONAL ACCOUNTS 557-611

I. JOURNAL AND DIARY--The two distinguished--The range of
journals--"Vida del Gran Tamurlan"--Great diaries--How to write
journal and diary--Examples 557

II. AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIRS--Distinction--Cellini, Franklin, and
others--Selection and coherence--Examples 572

III. BIOGRAPHY--Beginning in England of literary biography--Great
biographies in English--Writer and subject--Beginning, emphasis, and
attitude--Outline for a life--Examples 590