The Reading Hour

H. D. Thoreau, The Maine Woods, "The Allegash and East Branch," §1; Sarah Orne Jewett, A Country Doctor, ch. 16

Episode 28 introduces the third, final essay of Thoreau's The Maine Woods, "The Allegash and East Branch," then continues Jewett's A Country Doctor with its 16th chapter, in which Nan acquaints her Dunport aunt and a new friend with her vocational plans.

H. D. Thoreau, The Maine Woods, "Chesuncook," §7; Sarah Orne Jewett, A Country Doctor, ch. 15

In Episode 27 (2.15) we conclude "Chesuncook," the second of three essays in The Maine Woods, where Thoreau stirringly expresses how an ecological regard for the wild may promote the health of a democracy. The episode's second half is devoted to chapter 15 of Jewett's novel, in which Nan finally becomes acquainted with her aunt during an extended visit to Dunport.

H. D. Thoreau, The Maine Woods, "Chesuncook," §6; Sarah Orne Jewett, A Country Doctor, ch. 14

In this episode, Thoreau tries to determine from several Native Americans in a Maine camp what some of the Abenaki place names mean; then, in ch. 14 of A Country Doctor, we move to Dunport and make the acquaintance of Nan's aunt, Miss Anna Prince.

H. D. Thoreau, The Maine Woods, "Chesuncook," §5; Sarah Orne Jewett, A Country Doctor, ch. 13

Episode 25's substantial reading from Thoreau's "Chesuncook" includes some of the most moving prose of the essay as Thoreau moralizes about hunting and poetry; he also expresses Transcendentalist enthusiasm for "the living spirit of the [pine] tree." The episode concludes with Jewett's thirteenth chapter of A Country Doctor, "A Straight Course."

H. D. Thoreau, The Maine Woods, "Chesuncook," §4; Sarah Orne Jewett, A Country Doctor, ch. 12

Episode 24 (2.12) includes only a short passage from Thoreau's second essay in The Maine Woods, "Chesuncook," to leave time for the whole of Jewett's long chapter 12.