that leads us so close to reality as action. We never completely know an
act till we have done it. Dramatization is a matter of carrying an idea
out into action. Ideas give to action its greatest fullness of meaning.

Dramatic representation should, therefore, have a prominent place in the
schools, particularly in the lower grades. If the child is allowed to
mimic the characters in the reading lesson, the meaning of the lesson
becomes fuller. Later on in the school course, dramatic representation
of the characters in literature and history is a means of getting a
better conception of these characters. In geography, the study of the
manners and customs and occupations of foreign peoples can be much
facilitated through dramatic representation. Children naturally have the
dramatic tendency; it is one aspect of the tendency to imitate. We have
only to encourage it and make use of it throughout the school course.

=Imitation in Ideals.= Imitation is of importance not only in acquiring
the actions of life but also in getting our ideals. Habits of thinking
are no less an aspect of our lives than are habits of acting. Our
attitudes, our prejudices, our beliefs, our moral, religious, and
political ideals are in large measure copied from people about us. The
family and social atmosphere in which one lives is a mold in which one's
mind is formed and shaped. We cannot escape the influence of this
atmosphere if we would. One takes on a belief that his father has, one
clings to this belief and interprets the world in the light of it. This
belief becomes a part of one's nature. It is a mental habit, a way of
looking at the world. It is as much a part of one as red hair or big
feet or a crooked nose. Probably no other influence has so much to do
with making us what we are as social beings as the influence of
imitation.